September 12th, 2021 • 3h 25m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
Freedom Passports
Mandates
Dudes named Ben start showing up
"My company wants me to develop a vaccine passport website... "
"I developed a site to display results of covid testing early on in the pandemic but now they want to expand it to include a vaccine passport section. I’ve notified my supervisor that it goes against my principles and I won’t do it. I’m the only person in the building who can code and if it weren’t for me this place would burn to the ground. Wish me luck!"
HIPPOCRATES (fifth century BCE) Hippocratic Oath
I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this oath and this stipulation: to reckon the one who taught me this Art, equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him or her, and relieve his or her necessities if required; to look upon his or her offspring in the same footing as my own brothers and sisters, and to teach them this Art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction. I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own children, and those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine, but to none others.
I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art.
I will not cut persons laboring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by those who are practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and further, from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves. Whatever, in connection with my professional practice, or not in connection with it, I see or hear in the lives of people, which ought not be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this Oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the Art, respected by all people, in all times! But should I trespass and violate this Oath, may the reverse be my lot.
Everyone is unvaccinated when boosters come
Talking point didn't go far enough for planes trains etc
3M will comply with vaccination mandate
Typical email:
Thought you would like to see the current state of workplace policy for outside events. I have put my two weeks notice in
--------------------------
The main stream can’t be depended on for a fair report. People have to know how this is shaking out. We are both vaccinated. We believe in vaccines as a whole but we are incredibly frustrated that this is being forced on people, and now their livelihoods are threatened. For a week now my spouse has been advising military members who want to serve their country but aren’t sure the vaccine is right. These military members are not anti vaccine. Many are weighing the option of having this vaccine forced on them or leaving the service of a country they so dearly love.
White House denies report of exemption for U.S. Postal Service from vaccine mandate
U.S. Postal Service workers will be subject to President Biden‘s new COVID-19 vaccine mandates, according to the White House.
The Washington Post reported Thursday night that the president’s action forcing federal workers to get vaccinated had exempted Postal Service workers but later corrected the error.
Post reporter Jacob Bogage deleted his tweets that cited “a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity” describing the carve-out for USPS.
Fear Porn
Poppies
Lacing Coke with Fent
ITM boys Idk if you are familiar with the term SWIM (Someone Who Isnt Me ) from old-school drug message boards . Suffice to say SWIM told me a couple reasons why people lace with a drug that has the counter effect. SWIM used to inject heroin it was the only drug he used and he got drug tested for rehab or court or some other reason and cocaine was found in his system . He was adamant, he hated coke. He had a decent relationship with his dealer so he went and asked him why there was coke in the dope he was doing . This is what was explained to him it was a small amount put in for a couple reasons. 1 when injecting it would give the dope a bit of a better rush at time of injection . 2 at the time lots of people were making the jump from oxycontin to heroin because it was so much cheaper however the main complaint was that oxycontin gave you an energy boost while heroin made you nod out too quickly by putting in a small amount of coke it took the edge off the nod made the dicetlymorphine (heroin) feel more like oxycodone. SWIM told me the point of putting fent into coke would be to make it feel a bit cleaner on your come down it wouldn't be such a crash . The problem is fent has a somewhat compounding effect and if people were doing heroic amounts of coke or cooking it to smoke or inject they could run into big problems very quickly . Its kinda like when people buy vicodin (hydrocodone 5mg/ 325 mg Tylenol) or percocet (oxycodone 5mg/ 325mg tylenol) off the street and its actually a counterfeit made with fent instead most people who only take a couple at a time will be fine it the people who take upwards of 8 -12 at a time every couple of hours who get into trouble and before claiming bullshit on people taking 8-12 pills at a time SWIM wants me to remind you that and 80 mg oxycontin is equal to 16 5mg percocets . Anyways( I was just rewatching deadwood and they use anyways all the time ) . Cheers have a great weekend keep up the good work. If you ever have anymore questions about any drug SWIM would be glad to inform as they are lucky to be alive and have been sober for several years at this point .
Ivermectin
Letter to Doctors Concerning Disinformation in Wisconsin
WGNTV retracts anti-IVM news story
in the show notes for 1381 there's this link
it now leads to this URL
"EDITOR’S NOTE: A national story shared regarding Ivermectin and a study regarding its effect on men’s reproductive health that KTSM published, has been removed from our website.
Concerns over the scientific research methods, the veracity of the original, peer-reviewed report and public statements by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) saying that infertility is not a known side effect of Ivermectin all led to our editorial decision to remove the story."
Frontline doctors review BOTG
Hi John and Adam,
I caught Covid in mid-August after Blackhat conference in Vegas. As soon as I tested positive, I went to americasfrontlinedoctors.org to get a prescription. I filled out a form and entered my information. There was no direct contact with any Dr. or P.A. They wrote the prescription and forwarded it to a pharmacy that will fill it and mail it. The Pharmacy called me and let me know the prescription was going to be NEARLY $400. They tried to slip in Zinc and Vitamin D and C into the prescription, so I saved money by not filling those. The whole process took 5 days before the Ivermectin arrived and by that point I was feeling a lot worse and taking it did not seem to have an effect. I decided to not take the rest of it and keep it for family so they can use it early after diagnosis.
My advice: if you plan on using Ivermectin get ahold of the medication now so you can use it as soon as you need to and you will not need to wait 5 days like I did. Also, Ivermectin may be cheap, but somebody is making money on it.
Oz Ivermectin rumor
Heard a rumor, still digging, but:
Apparently they are using Ivormectin here in Aus on patient with Covid who have had the vaccine, but not on unvaccinated patients.
Yup. If true, a new level of evil. Brilliant evil. What a way to push the vax...
Just passed on to me 5 minutes ago. While not verified, I felt I had to share....
Climate Change
War on Terror 2.0
Australia
Unvaccinated barred from church Australia
Currently in NSW Australia the churches are closed. They are due to reopen when 70% of the adult population is vaccinated against covid, but only for the vaccinated.
Unvaccinated people will not be allowed to attend churches or religious gatherings, the government says that any unvaccinated person attending church will be in breach of the public health orders
Perth Footie 40k fans
Greetings from down under where we are bathing in an unrestricted life in Paradise. Sooooo.......the c....t Premier has invited the grand footy final here next weekend-40,000 spectators!! Why aren’t the people taking yo the streets to say “no”?
Totally scripted for a hard lockdown afterwards.......all schools and tertiary Ed schools have been instructed to prepare for home schooling ( in case of snap lockdown)..........THEY are not happy our state has lowest jab rate.
Love love.....Karyn
Oz Ivermectin rumor
Heard a rumor, still digging, but:
Apparently they are using Ivormectin here in Aus on patient with Covid who have had the vaccine, but not on unvaccinated patients.
Yup. If true, a new level of evil. Brilliant evil. What a way to push the vax...
Just passed on to me 5 minutes ago. While not verified, I felt I had to share....
The Purge
Shut Up Slave!
Boosters
VAERS
Vaccine Chasing
With the waning success of the Drug Vaccine Biologics and the Pressure Selection of Delta and other variants, the World braces as the unvaccinated are blamed for the failure of the Mass Vaccination program.
A critical look at the published data reveals a quite different picture. When you keep hearing trust the science, maybe it's time we do, and here is what the SCIENCE shows us.
BLM LGBBTQQIAAP+ Noodle Gun
Immunity as a Service
Moderna: Today, we shared positive pre-clinical data demonstrating our ability to combine 6 mRNAs against 3 different respiratory viruses in 1 vaccine: COVID-19 booster + Flu booster + RSV booster
The Flu Is Expected to Make a Comeback This Year, Threatening Hospitals Strained by Delta
STORIES
New study finds unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die from Covid, CDC says
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 13:36
Health care workers examine a 45 year old unvaccinated Covid-19 patient, after being turned from his stomach onto his back, at the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California on September 2, 2021.
Apu Gomes | AFP | Getty Images
Unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely than vaccinated people to die from Covid-19, a large study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
The study looked at Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in 13 states "and found further evidence of the power of vaccination," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing Friday.
More than 600,000 Covid cases from April through mid-July were analyzed and linked to vaccination status.
Those who were unvaccinated were about 4.5 times more likely to contract the virus, more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with the virus, and 11 times more likely to die from the disease.
A previous CDC study based on data from just 43,127 Covid cases in Los Angeles County between May and July found that unvaccinated people were five times more likely to contract Covid and 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with the virus.
About 54% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
"Vaccination works," Walensky said. "We have the scientific tools we need to turn the corner on this pandemic."
Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), takes off a protective mask during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Greg Nash | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The study will be published in the upcoming Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Friday.
President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a broad plan to boost Covid-19 vaccination rates in the U.S., pressuring private employers to immunize their workforce as well as mandating the shots for federal employees, contractors and health-care workers.
China's Ambassador to US Reportedly Asks Biden Administration to 'Please Shut Up' in Zoom Call - 12.09.2021, Sputnik International
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:34
https://sputniknews.com/20210912/chinas-ambassador-to-us-reportedly-asks-biden-administration-to-please-shut-up-in-zoom-call-1089008022.html
China's Ambassador to US Reportedly Asks Biden Administration to 'Please Shut Up' in Zoom Call
China's Ambassador to US Reportedly Asks Biden Administration to 'Please Shut Up' in Zoom Call
China-US relations have degenerated considerably over the past five years, with the countries mired in an economic conflict involving trade, tariffs and... 12.09.2021, Sputnik International
2021-09-12T11:13+0000
2021-09-12T11:13+0000
2021-09-12T11:30+0000
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Qin Gang, China's recently-appointed ambassador to the United States, has reportedly urged American authorities to keep quiet if the ongoing spat between the two economic superpowers cannot be resolved diplomatically.According to the National Review, which reported on Qin's alleged remarks on the basis of a source said to be familiar with the exchange, the ambassador made the comments after Evan Medeiros, a Georgetown University prof and former Obama-era advisor on China issues at the National Security Council, asked what measures the US and China could take to improve relations.Before advising US officials to ''please shut up,'' Qin reportedly asked Washington to stop deliberately exacerbating tensions between the two countries.The National Review expressed shock over the senior Chinese diplomat's comments, pointing out that the National Committee on United States-China Relations meeting included senior American China experts including former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former Clinton and Obama staffer Jack Lew.Chinese and US officials have not commented publicly on Qin's alleged remarks in the call.Qin, a former foreign ministry spokesman and vice minister of foreign affairs, was named China's ambassador to the US in late July. In comments of the Zoom meeting which were made public earlier, the diplomat blasted leaders in Washington and policy thinkers for approaching the China-US competition as a new ''cold war,'' saying this was a ''misjudgement.''''The extreme China policy of the previous US administration has caused serious damage to our relations, and such a situation has not changed. It is even continuing,'' Qin complained.Despite initial hopes in the wake of Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 presidential elections that US policy toward China would shift post-Trump, the Democratic president has not publicly sought to alter the relationship with Beijing, demonstratively inviting Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States to his inauguration in January, and continuing the multi-trillion dollar trade, tariff and tech transfer wars started by his predecessor. The Biden administration has also leveled accusations against China about ''human rights abuses'' and ''genocide'' in the province of Xinjiang, and increased military deployments near the country's borders, including in the contested East and South China Seas. China rejected the allegations levelled by the US, recalling Washington's own spotty human rights record, and calling on America to stop meddling in other countries' internal affairs.China-US tensions have escalated most significantly over Taiwan, which the People's Republic considers an integral part of China, amid the consistent deployment of warships in the Taiwan Strait, and perceived US support for the island's ''separatist'' authorities. Last month, President Biden's promised that the United States would come to the defence of Taipei if was attacked by ''bad guys,'' with his comments prompting Chinese media to accuse him of making ''empty'' and ''reckless'' remarks, and to warn that Washington would ''have to prepare for much greater storms'' in the Taiwan Straits if it did not back away from the president's position.
https://sputniknews.com/20210910/china-shares-video-allegedly-showing-taliban-fighters-using-us-planes-as-swings-1088960797.html
https://sputniknews.com/20210820/white-house-in-damage-control-mode-after-biden-says-us-would-respond-to-chinese-invasion-of-taiwan-1083669119.html
Rock
America is extremely dangerous. Remember their provocative actions against Iran under the Trump regime. Now the Biden regime is not less aggressive and they have shifted their provocative actions towards China. I sincerely hope that China makes wise moves like iran to prevent a war. The time plays against America, so all China, Russia and Iran have to do is hold their ground and wait until America has ruined itself.
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united states, china, relations, ambassador
11:13 GMT 12.09.2021 (Updated: 11:30 GMT 12.09.2021 )China-US relations have degenerated considerably over the past five years, with the countries mired in an economic conflict involving trade, tariffs and technology transfers, and engaged in a diplomatic conflict over issues ranging from Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan to US 'freedom of navigation' missions in waters claimed by Beijing.
Qin Gang, China's recently-appointed ambassador to the United States, has reportedly urged American authorities to keep quiet if the ongoing spat between the two economic superpowers cannot be resolved diplomatically.
''If we cannot resolve our differences, please shut up,'' Qin reportedly said in a private Zoom meeting hosted by the National Committee on United States-China Relations, a New York-based nonprofit, late last month.
According to the National Review, which
reported on Qin's alleged remarks on the basis of a source said to be familiar with the exchange, the ambassador made the comments after Evan Medeiros, a Georgetown University prof and former Obama-era advisor on China issues at the National Security Council, asked what measures the US and China could take to improve relations.
Before advising US officials to ''please shut up,'' Qin reportedly asked Washington to stop deliberately exacerbating tensions between the two countries.
The National Review expressed shock over the senior Chinese diplomat's comments, pointing out that the National Committee on United States-China Relations meeting included senior American China experts including former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former Clinton and Obama staffer Jack Lew.
Chinese and US officials have not commented publicly on Qin's alleged remarks in the call.
Qin, a former foreign ministry spokesman and vice minister of foreign affairs, was named China's ambassador to the US
in late July. In comments of the Zoom meeting which were made public earlier, the diplomat blasted leaders in Washington and policy thinkers for approaching the China-US competition as a new ''cold war,'' saying this was a
''misjudgement.''''The extreme China policy of the previous US administration has caused serious damage to our relations, and such a situation has not changed. It is even continuing,'' Qin complained.
Despite initial hopes in the wake of Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 presidential elections that US policy toward China would shift post-Trump, the Democratic president has not publicly sought to alter the relationship with Beijing, demonstratively inviting Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States to his inauguration in January, and continuing the multi-trillion dollar trade, tariff and tech transfer wars started by his predecessor. The Biden administration has also leveled accusations against China about ''human rights abuses'' and ''genocide'' in the province of Xinjiang, and increased military deployments near the country's borders, including in the contested East and South China Seas. China rejected the allegations levelled by the US, recalling Washington's own spotty human rights record, and calling on America to stop meddling in other countries' internal affairs.
China-US tensions have escalated
most significantly over Taiwan, which the People's Republic considers an integral part of China, amid the consistent deployment of warships in the Taiwan Strait, and perceived US support for the island's ''separatist'' authorities. Last month, President Biden's promised that the United States would come to the defence of Taipei if was attacked by ''bad guys,'' with his comments prompting Chinese media to accuse him of making ''empty'' and ''reckless'' remarks, and
to warn that Washington would ''have to prepare for much greater storms'' in the Taiwan Straits if it did not back away from the president's position.
Reporters May Face 14 Years In Prison For 'Embarrassing' UK Government Officials | ZeroHedge
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:31
People who believe President Obama abused his powers by cracking on journalists are about to be even more shocked by new rules being implemented in the UK. According to the Daily Mail, journalists could face prison sentences of up to 14 years for stories that embarrass the Government under plans to reform the Official Secrets Act.
According to changes to the interpretation of the UK's Official Secrets Act, which is being updated for the "Internet age" (which began more than 2 decades ago) and the fact that data can be transported instantaneously by Priti Patel's Home Office. Patel apparently is opposing a "public interest exemption" that would exclude journalists from being liable under the law.
Under these new provisions, reporters could face up to 14 years in prison for publishing "unauthorized" information in the supposedly "free" and "open" west.
But in a paper released during the consultation on the revisions, the Home Office argued that such a move would "undermine our efforts to prevent damaging unauthorized disclosures, which would not be in the public interest."
Critics of the changes, which include human-rights organizations and the Law Commission, argue that if they had been in effect at the time, they could have lead to the prosecution of the journalists who revealed this month that then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock was breaking COVID rules by having an affair with his married aide, because the scoop relied on leaked CCTV footage.
Already the government is facing backlash for its response to the leak. The Commissioner's Office faced criticism for having two homes searched as part of an investigation into how the information on Hancock leaked.
A Home Office spokesman denied that the changes would curtail press freedoms.
"Freedom of press is an integral part of the UK's democratic processes and the government is committed to protecting the rights and values that we hold so dear."
"It is wrong to claim the proposals will put journalists at risk of being treated like spies and they will, rightly, remain free to hold the government to account."
"We will introduce new legislation so security services and law enforcement agencies can tackle evolving state threats and protect sensitive data."
"However, this will be balanced to protect press freedom and the ability for whistleblowers to hold organizations to account when there are serious allegations of wrongdoing."
In a document explaining the changes, the Home Office argued that "the most serious" unauthorized press leaks can sometimes be even more damaging than when information is stolen for the purposes of espionage.
"As a result, we do not consider that there is necessarily a distinction in severity between espionage and the most serious unauthorised disclosures, in the same way that there was in 1989."
"Although there are differences in the mechanics of and motivations behind espionage and unauthorised disclosure offences, there are cases where an unauthorised disclosure may be as or more serious, in terms of intent and/or damage."
That leaves quite a bit of wiggle room for prosecutors to go after journalists by questioning the shadowy motives behind press leaks.
It's just the latest threat to emerge against European journalists. Just days ago, the UN commented on the growing use of digital surveillance using software like Pegasus, the surveillance software developed by Israel's NSO group, to spy on journalists and dignitaries alike.
There's definitely one thing the two sides can agree on: the nature of spying and information gathering has changed substantially since 1989, the last time these laws were updated.
Is this proof of lab leak lies? - UnHerd
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:29
There are many things we still do not know about the origins of this pandemic '-- including the central issue of whether it began with natural spillover from animals or some kind of laboratory incident. But we do know one thing now beyond debate: speculative ''gain-of-function'' experiments on mutant bat viruses were taking place in Wuhan laboratories.
This research, carried out in labs that did not have maximum level of biosafety, was increasing the infectivity of laboratory-created diseases by constructing chimeric coronaviruses '-- despite strong denial of such practices by the key Chinese scientists. And the bio-engineering was being funded by United States taxpayers '-- channelled through a charity run by a British scientist '-- despite similar denials from America's most senior public health officials that they supported such science fiction activities in Chinese labs.
The details have been confirmed by the latest batch of documents emerging under US freedom of information rules '-- which unlike in Britain, actually assist attempts to break through walls of official obfuscation. The Intercept obtained 900 pages of documents detailing two research grants in 2014 and 2019 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to EcoHealth Alliance. This is the charity headed by Peter Daszak, the controversial Briton who led efforts to squash ''conspiracy theories'' about a possible lab incident after spending years hunting viruses with Shi Zhengli, the now-famous ''Batwoman'' expert at Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
Some of these grant details have emerged previously '-- but these documents include the original proposals along with project updates, so significantly flesh out what we knew. They highlight how US funding bodies outsourced risky gain-of-function research to China, even over a three-year period between 2014 and 2017 when it was banned in their own nation. They also show, with new clarity, the kind of work taking place in secretive Wuhan labs. These disclosures fuel the mystery over the pandemic origins, while also sparking fresh concerns over top scientists in both China and the West who sought to suppress inquiries into the lab leak hypothesis.
A $3.1m grant, according to the documents, was awarded to understand ''the risk of bat coronavirus emergence'' through screening thousands of samples collected from the nocturnal creatures. This included a chunk of funding worth $599,000 for WIV. Bear in mind that three months ago, Shi, director of its Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, angrily protested over the world ''pouring filth on an innocent scientist'' when emphatically refuting that they carried out gain-of-function work. ''My lab has never conducted or co-operated in conducting GOF experiments that enhance the virulence of viruses'' she told the New York Times.
According to NIH ''the term gain-of-function research describes a type of research that modifies a biological agent so that it confers new or enhanced activity to that agent''. Analysis of these papers show US funds supported construction of new chimeric Sars-related coronaviruses, which combined a spike gene from one with genetic material from another '-- and then showed the resulting creation could infect human cells and mice engineered to display human-type receptors on their cells.
One new virus had increased pathogenicity over the original virus and three new viruses increased viral load in lung tissues up to ten thousandfold, which is most definitely ''enhanced activity.'' As scientists pointed out to me, these results demonstrated increased pathogenicity of SARSr-CoVs with different spike proteins in humanised mouse models. And similar construction work was proposed to be done with another type of deadly pathogen '-- the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, which first flared up in Jordan nine years ago after spilling over from camels and has since cropped up in 27 countries, causing 858 deaths.
So yet again it seems Shi '-- probably under intense pressure from the Communist regime '-- has been manipulating not just bat viruses but the truth over her lab's activities. Just like when she claimed a database containing 22,000 virus sequences and samples was taken offline due to hacking in the pandemic when it disappeared on September 12, 2019 '-- several weeks before infections emerged in Wuhan and months before global attention turned on her lab. Or when the name of the most closely-related virus to Sars-CoV-2 '-- the strain of virus that causes Covid-19 '-- was changed in a key scientific paper, thus masking ties to three miners who died in 2012 from a strange respiratory condition while clearing out a copper mine in southern China.
Yet she is not the only key player in this drama telling porkies. Anthony Fauci, the US infectious diseases expert and presidential adviser, insisted earlier this year that his country ''has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology''. His stance led to a furious clash in Congress with Senator Rand Paul, who gleefully tweeted after The Intercept published its article on the papers: ''Surprise surprise '' Fauci lied again. And I was right about his agency funding novel coronavirus research at Wuhan.''
Paul was backed by Richard Ebright, the bio-security expert and professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, who has long been a fierce critic of such work since he argues that the risks of creating new diseases in laboratories vastly outweigh any potential benefits. ''The documents make it clear that assertions by Anthony Fauci and the NIH Director, Francis Collins that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful,'' he said.
There are many fascinating nuggets in these papers such as discussion of isolating coronaviruses using ''transformed bat cell lines'' from nine different species. ''We have used these for virus isolation, infection assays and receptor molecule gene cloning.'' Monali Rahalkar, an Indian microbiologist, said it was clear after combing through the details how such collaborative research could lead to something such as Sars-Cov-2. ''And these are just two projects,'' she said. ''There were other projects and additionally the ones going on in China sponsored by their government.''
Buried in the documents are two more intriguing details. First, the experimental work creating mutant chimeric coronaviruses was carried out at WIV's biosafety level 2 lab and then the work analysing them in humanised mice performed at the biosafety level 3 Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, not at the new maximum level 4 WIV lab built with French assistance. The cluster of labs at the university hospital, incidentally, includes a breeding centre that created at least 1,000 types of genetically engineered animals from mice to monkeys. So this means the details in the papers accord with a previous statement by Shi that their coronavirus research is ''conducted in BSL-2 or BSL-3 laboratories'' '-- although a level 2 lab has, some say, barely higher safety standards than a dental clinic and certainly few safeguards against an lethal airborne virus.
Yet this is where the puzzle intensifies. For six months ago David Asher, who led State Department investigations into the origins, told a Washington seminar the first ''known cluster that we're aware of, of victims of what we believe to be Covid' were three people who fell sick at a BSL 3 lab within a week of each other.
''There is a possibility it was influenza,'' he said. ''But I'm very doubtful that three people in highly protected circumstances in a level three laboratory working on coronaviruses would all get sick with influenza that put them in a hospital or in severe conditions all in the same week, and it didn't have anything with the coronavirus. That's highly hard to believe. From that point forward, it certainly seemed to have started to spread within their community.''
Second, while Daszak has been condemning supposed conspiracy theories and defending his friends in China with whom he has collected thousands of samples, his own charity was pointing out the major risk of accidental infection faced by researchers when collecting such specimens in a project he led. ''Fieldwork involves the highest risk of exposure to SARS or other CoVs, while working in caves with high bat density overhead and the potential for fecal dust to be inhaled. There is also some risk of exposure to pathogens '...while handling bats, civets, rodents or other animals, their blood samples or their excreta.''
It is, at last, largely accepted that there are two plausible theories behind this public health catastrophe, so perhaps these revelations have more political than scientific consequence. Even Peter Ben Embarek, the Danish food scientist who led the dismal World Health Organisation study trip to Wuhan earlier this year, recently admitted the possibility that a field incident sparked the pandemic was ''a likely hypothesis''.
He told a documentary there might have been ''human error'' somewhere but this could not be admitted inside China's repressive autocracy. ''The whole system focuses a lot on being infallible, and everything must be perfect. Somebody could also wish to hide something. Who knows?'' The engima has not been cracked but these are small steps forward in the search for the pandemic origins.
NY hospital to pause baby deliveries after staffers quit over vaccine mandate '' WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:05
LOWVILLE, N.Y. '-- An upstate New York hospital said it will pause the delivery of babies in two weeks because of a spate of resignations by maternity unit workers who are objecting to COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
>> Read more trending news
Lewis County General Hospital, in Lowville, will temporarily stop delivering babies after Sept. 24, WWNY reported. During a news conference Friday afternoon, Lewis County Health System CEO Gerald Cayer said seven of the 30 hospital workers who resigned were from the hospital's maternity ward. He added that another seven maternity unit staffers were undecided about getting the vaccine, the television station reported.
The workers were objecting to a Sept. 27 deadline to receive a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Watertown Daily Times reported. Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the state mandate on Aug. 23.
Twenty of the staff members who resigned worked in clinical positions like nurses, therapists and technicians, the newspaper reported.
''If we can pause the service and now focus on recruiting nurses who are vaccinated, we will be able to reengage in delivering babies here in Lewis County,'' Cayer told reporters.
Cayer said 165 hospital employees, or 27% of the facility's workforce, have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19, WWNY reported. There have been 464 workers who have received the vaccine, Cayer said.
''Our hope is as we get closer (to the deadline), the numbers will increase of individuals who are vaccinated, fewer individuals will leave and maybe, with a little luck, some of those who have resigned will reconsider,'' Cayer told reporters. ''We are not alone. There are thousands of positions that are open north of the Thruway and now we have a challenge to work through, you know, with the vaccination mandate.''
Cayer stressed that the hospital will not be ''shutting down services,'' the Daily Times reported.
''It just is a crazy time,'' Cayer told the newspaper. ''It's not just LCHS-centric. Rural hospitals everywhere are really trying to figure out how we're going to make it work.''
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US pulls missile defenses in Saudi Arabia amid attacks by Iran-backed rebels | The Times of Israel
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:03
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) '-- The US has removed its most advanced missile defense system and Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, even as the kingdom faced continued air attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
The redeployment of the defenses from Prince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh came as America's Gulf Arab allies nervously watched the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, including their last-minute evacuations from Kabul's besieged international airport.
While tens of thousands of American forces remain across the Arabian Peninsula as a counterweight to Iran, Gulf Arab nations worry about the US's future plans as its military perceives a growing threat in Asia that requires those missile defenses. Tensions remain high as negotiations appear stalled in Vienna over Iran's collapsed nuclear deal with world powers, raising the danger of future confrontations in the region.
''Perceptions matter whether or not they're rooted in a cold, cold reality. And the perception is very clear that the US is not as committed to the Gulf as it used to be in the views of many people in decision-making authority in the region,'' said Kristian Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.
''From the Saudi point of view, they now see Obama, Trump and Biden '-- three successive presidents '-- taking decisions that signify to some extent an abandonment.''
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termsPrince Sultan Air Base, some 115 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Riyadh, has hosted several thousand US troops since a 2019 missile-and-drone attack on the heart of the kingdom's oil production. That attack, though claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, appears instead to have been carried out by Iran, according to experts and physical debris left behind. Tehran has denied launching the attack, though a drill in January saw Iranian paramilitary forces use similar drones.
Just southwest of the air base's runway, a 1-square-kilometer (third-of-a-square-mile) area set off by an earthen berm saw American forces station Patriot missile batteries, as well as one advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense unit, according to satellite images from Planet Labs Inc. A THAAD can destroy ballistic missiles at a higher altitude than Patriots.
In this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs Inc., an area of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia that once saw Patriot missile batteries stationed with one advanced Terminal High Altitude Air Defense unit stands empty, September 10, 2021. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
A satellite image seen by the AP in late August showed some of the batteries removed from the area, though activity and vehicles still could be seen there. A high-resolution Planet Lab satellite picture taken Friday showed the batteries' pads at the site empty, with no visible activity.
A redeployment of the missiles had been rumored for months, in part due to a desire to face what American officials see as the looming ''great powers conflict'' with China and Russia. However, the withdrawal came just as a Houthi drone attack on Saudi Arabia wounded eight people and damaged a commercial jetliner at the kingdom's airport in Abha. The kingdom has been locked in a stalemate war with the Houthis since March 2015.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged ''the redeployment of certain air defense assets'' after receiving questions from the AP. He said the US maintained a ''broad and deep'' commitment to its Mideast allies.
''The Defense Department continues to maintain tens of thousands of forces and a robust force posture in the Middle East representing some of our most advanced air power and maritime capabilities, in support of US national interests and our regional partnerships,'' Kirby said.
In a statement to the AP, the Saudi Defense Ministry described the kingdom's relationship with the US as ''strong, longstanding and historic'' even while acknowledging the withdrawal of the American missile defense systems. It said the Saudi military ''is capable of defending its lands, seas and airspace, and protecting its people.''
''The redeployment of some defense capabilities of the friendly United States of America from the region is carried out through common understanding and realignment of defense strategies as an attribute of operational deployment and disposition,'' the statement said.
Illustrative: A damaged silo at the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah, November 24, 2020. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP)
Despite those assurances, Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, the kingdom's former intelligence chief whose public remarks often track with the thoughts of its Al Saud ruling family, has linked the Patriot missile deployments directly to America's relationship to Riyadh.
''I think we need to be reassured about American commitment,'' the prince told CNBC in an interview aired this week. ''That looks like, for example, not withdrawing Patriot missiles from Saudi Arabia at a time when Saudi Arabia is the victim of missile attacks and drone attacks '-- not just from Yemen, but from Iran.''
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on a tour of the Mideast in recent days, had been slated to go to Saudi Arabia but the trip was canceled due to what American officials referred to as scheduling problems. Saudi Arabia declined to discuss why Austin's trip didn't happen after the withdrawal of the missile defenses.
Saudi Arabia maintains its own Patriot missile batteries and typically fires two missiles at an incoming target. That's become an expensive proposition amid the Houthi campaign, as each Patriot missile costs more than $3 million. The kingdom also claims to intercept nearly every missile and drone launched at the kingdom, an incredibly high success rate previously questioned by experts.
While Greece agreed in April to lend a Patriot missile battery to Saudi Arabia, the timing of the US withdrawals comes amid wider uncertainty over the American posture in the region. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries have renewed diplomacy with Iran as a hedge.
''I think we saw in Biden's statements on Afghanistan, the way he said things that he's clearly going to put US interests first and obviously that came as quite a disappointment to partners and allies around the world who maybe hoped for something different after Trump,'' said Ulrichsen, the research fellow. ''He sounds quite similar to an 'America First' approach, just sort of a different tone.''
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US Capitol police Jan 6 riot investigation - CNNPolitics
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 11:47
Washington, DC (CNN)The United States Capitol Police (USCP) announced that disciplinary action has been recommended in six cases against officers following internal investigations into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Violations sustained include three cases for conduct unbecoming, one for failure to comply with directives, one for improper remarks, and one for improper dissemination of information, according to a USCP statement released Saturday. The statement did not specify if the six cases involved six separate officers nor did it name any of them. CNN has reached out to the USCP for clarification.
"The six sustained cases should not diminish the heroic efforts of the United States Capitol Police officers. On January 6, the bravery and courage exhibited by the vast majority of our employees was inspiring," the release said.
The USCP's Office of Professional Responsibility launched 38 internal investigations, and was able to identify the officers involved in 26 of those cases. In 20 of the cases, no wrongdoing was found, according to the statement.
A seventh case regarding an official who is accused of unsatisfactory performance and conduct unbecoming is still pending.
The USCP provided the Department of Justice information on the cases "as part of the ongoing discovery production in the prosecution of the January 6 rioters," and said the US Attorney's Office "did not find sufficient evidence that any of the officers committed a crime," according to the statement.
CNN has reached out to the District of Columbia US Attorney's Office for comment.
CNN has also reached out to the US Capitol Police Labor Committee, the union for Capitol Police officers, but did not receive an immediate response.
In February,
six US Capitol Police officers were suspended with pay, while 29 others were placed under investigation, for their actions in the January 6 riot, a department spokesman said at the time.
Law enforcement officials
are bracing for potential clashes and unrest during an upcoming right-wing rally in Washington, DC, as violent rhetoric surrounding the September 18 event has increased online and counterprotests are being planned for the same day, according to an internal Capitol Police memo reviewed by CNN.
Alabama man dies after 43 hospitals in three states were unable to accept him because ICUs were full | Daily Mail Online
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 11:45
Alabama man, 73, dies of heart failure after 43 ICU's across three states reject him because they are filled with COVID patientsRay DeMonia, 73, of Cullman, died of a cardiac failure after being transported more than 200 miles away to the only hospital with an available ICU bedHis family said their local hospital staff made calls to 43 hospitals across three states before they could locate the bed he needed Alabama's intensive care beds ran out amid a Delta variant surge that brought more than 180,000 new cases across the US on the day DeMonia diedHis family have called on others to get vaccinated to avoid the same tragedy By Ronny Reyes For Dailymail.Com
Published: 11:06 EDT, 11 September 2021 | Updated: 21:59 EDT, 11 September 2021
Ray DeMonia, 73, of Cullman, Alabama
An Alabama man died of heart failure after being turned away from 43 hospitals across three southern states that were overrun with COVID patients.
Ray DeMonia, 73, was eventually admitted to a hospital in Meridian, Mississippi, 200 miles away from his home in Cullman, Alabama, but was too sick to save, and died on September 1.
DeMonia, who ran an antiquing business for 40 years, had suffered a heart incident just days before his birthday and needed a specialized cardiac ICU bed.
His family said that staff at their local hospital had contacted 43 hospitals across three states asking for a free bed before they finally located on in Meridian, Mississippi, according to DeMonia's obituary.
He died shortly after arriving at the Rush Foundation Hospital.
'In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, in an effort to free up resources for non-COVID-related emergencies,' his obit read.
DeMonia's death came on the same day the US reported 180,000 new COVID cases, with a majority concentrated in the South.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations saw a dramatic spike in August in Alabama and the rest of the US
Alabama has been trailing behind in vaccination rates, with the state only recently reporting that about 50% of its eligible population has received at least one dose
The Alabama Health Department recently reported that just over half of those eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine have gotten at least one jab.
That falls well short of the national average of 63.7 per cent who've had at least one dose, and 54 per cent of Americans who are fully-vaccinated.
During the week of DeMonia's death, Alabama reported a shortage of ICU hospital beds, with more than half of them being occupied by COVID-19 patients, CBS 42 reported.
The Alabama Hospital Association had called the situation 'dire.'
'We're certainly not trending in the right direction,' AHA Deputy Director Danne Howard told CBS the day DeMonia died.
'That's why we're so aggressively trying to find additional resources, so those decisions don't have to be made, so those type of life-or-death situations are not something that have to be faced.'
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine found that Alabama ICU beds were at 103% capacity that week, and the Montgomery Advertiser reported that unvaccinated patients continue to make up the majority of COVID-19 patients in the ICUs.
DeMonia's family have asked others to get vaccinated to avoid the situation they went through. Pictured, a woman getting vaccinated in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in August
Russell Griffin, a professor of epidemiology at University of Alabama Birmingham who has studied patients hospitalized at the university's hospital for COVID, said 61 of 66 patients in intensive care for COVID were unvaccinated.
He added that the about half of the vaccinated patients in the ICUs are there because they are immunocompromised due to organ transplants or chemotherapies.
By comparison, the unvaccinated population that ends up in ICU generally lacks comorbidities, or the presence of two or more medical conditions.
'There have been no deaths under the age of 65 in the vaccinated population at UAB,' Griffin said.
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 163,000 new cases in the U.S., and nearly 1,650 new deaths.
More than 75% of adults eligible for the vaccine in the U.S. have gotten at least one jab, according to the CDC.
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Knives taken off supermarket shelves in New Zealand after terrorist attack | TheHill
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 11:14
A New Zealand supermarket chain announced that it was temporarily removing all scissors and knives from its shelves following an attack that left several people injured at one of its stores on Friday.
A general manager of supermarket chain Countdown said it was also considering if they would sell such items in the future.
"Last night, we made the decision to temporarily remove all knives and scissors from our shelves while we consider whether we should continue to sell them," Kiri Hannifin, Countdown's general manager for safety, said in a statement on Saturday.
"This is in no way a reflection on our customers, but an act of support for our team. We want all of our team to feel safe when they come to work, especially considering the events of yesterday," Hannifin said.
Reuters noted, citing local reports, that sharp knives had been taken off shelves at other supermarkets too.
On Friday, a Sri Lankan national who was previously known to security forces in New Zealand entered a Countdown supermarket, going after several customers and stabbing them, witnesses said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted that the attacker ''was a supporter of ISIS ideology.''
Officials said Friday that six people were injured from the attack, with three transported to the hospital in critical condition. One person was in serious condition, and two others were in moderate condition.
The man, who has not yet been identified, was shot and killed within a minute of the attack occurring, Ardern said. She said he was a "violent extremist" and called the incident a "terrorist attack."
''It was carried out by an individual '-- not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person who is gripped by ideology that is not supported here by anyone or any community. He alone carries the responsibility for these acts; let that be where the judgment falls,'' Ardern said.
In 2019, a white supremacist shot and killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. The incident was labeled as terrorism by Ardern following the deadly attack, which also injured 40 others, according to The Washington Post.
Toyota, Honda oppose U.S. House electric vehicle tax plan | Reuters
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 10:10
A man walks past a Toyota logo at the Tokyo Motor Show, in Tokyo, Japan October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Honda Motor Co (7267.T) on Saturday sharply criticized a proposal by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to give union-made electric vehicles in the United States an additional $4,500 tax incentive.
Toyota said in a statement that the plan unveiled late Friday discriminates "against American autoworkers based on their choice not to unionize."
The bill, set to be voted on Tuesday by the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee as part of a proposed $3.5 trillion spending bill, would benefit Detroit's Big Three automakers, which have union-represented auto plants. read more
In a statement, Honda called the bill "unfair" and said it "discriminates among EVs made by hard-working American auto workers based simply on whether they belong to a union. ... The Honda production associates in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio who will build our EVs deserve fair and equal treatment by Congress."
The proposal, estimated to cost $33 billion to $34 billion over 10 years, would boost to up to $12,500 the maximum tax credit for electric vehicles, up from the current $7,500. The $12,500 figure includes a $500 credit for using U.S.-produced batteries.
The proposal is a key part of Democratic President Joe Biden's goal to ensure EVs comprise at least 50% of U.S. vehicle sales by 2030 and boost American union jobs.
The bill, however, does away with phasing out automakers' tax credits after they hit 200,000 electric vehicles sold, which would make General Motors Co (GM.N) and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) eligible again. It would also create a new smaller credit for used EVs of up to $2,500.
GM, Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Stellantis NV (STLA.MI), the parent of Chrysler, assemble their U.S.-made vehicles in plants represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
In contrast, foreign automakers operating in the United States as well as Tesla do not have unions representing assembly workers and many of them have fought efforts by the UAW to organize U.S. plants.
Tesla would be eligible for up to $8,000 credits under the bill.
UAW President Ray Curry said the tax credit provision "would go a long way in supporting-good paying union jobs in (the) EV auto sector that President Biden has championed."
The bill limits the EV credit to cars priced at no more than $55,000, while trucks could be priced up to $74,000.
Toyota added it will "fight to focus taxpayer dollars on making all electrified vehicles accessible for American consumers who can't afford high-priced cars and trucks."
Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
F.B.I. Releases Newly Declassified Document Related to Sept. 11 Attacks - The New York Times
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:58
Politics | F.B.I. Releases Newly Declassified Document Related to Sept. 11 Attacks https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/us/politics/sept-11-saudi-arabia-biden.htmlFamilies of the Sept. 11 victims have long pushed for a deeper investigation into any possible role the Saudi government had in the attacks, but the document offered no conclusive evidence.
The document was disclosed hours after President Biden visited the Sept. 11 memorial in Lower Manhattan on Saturday. Credit... Todd Heisler/The New York Times Published Sept. 11, 2021 Updated Sept. 12, 2021, 1:18 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON '-- The F.B.I. released a newly declassified document late Saturday describing connections that the agency examined between the hijackers and the Saudi government in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, although it contained no conclusive evidence about whether the kingdom played a role in the attacks.
The 16-page report, which was issued hours after President Biden arrived at the World Trade Center memorial in Lower Manhattan, is the first document to be released since the president last week moved to declassify materials that for years have remained secret.
Families of the Sept. 11 victims have long pushed for a deeper investigation into any possible role the Saudi government had in the attacks. Mr. Biden instructed the Justice Department and federal agencies in recent days to release declassified documents over the next six months after a group of hundreds of affected people '-- including survivors, emergency medical workers and victims' relatives '-- told him to skip the memorial event at ground zero this year if he did not move to disclose some of those documents.
The document, which was heavily redacted, describes an interview conducted in November 2015 with a Saudi man, identified only as PII, who was applying for American citizenship. He detailed his work at the country's consulate in Los Angeles and shared anecdotes about his personal interactions with embassy leadership. The document also summarizes his contact with people who investigators said had provided ''significant logistic support'' to two of the hijackers.
Some members of the commission that investigated the 2001 attacks believed that if the Saudi government had any role in the plot, it was likely to have involved consular officials.
But the document released on Saturday provided no new conclusive evidence about the Saudi government's role.
Speculation around the possible Saudi role increased over the years because of the government's refusal to declassify 28 pages of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks that specifically addressed possible connections between the kingdom and the terrorist plot.
The document was finally released in 2016, and it detailed numerous suspicious meetings between Saudi officials and the Sept. 11 hijackers, and checks from Saudi royals to operatives in contact with the hijackers. It was also an unflattering picture of the kingdom's efforts to thwart American operations against Al Qaeda in the years before the attacks.
The question of whether any Saudi officials played a role in the Sept. 11 plot has festered for two decades despite numerous investigations into the attacks.
The Saudi government has long denied any involvement. Its embassy in Washington issued a statement this week saying ''any allegation that Saudi Arabia is complicit in the Sept. 11 attacks is categorically false.''
In its 2004 final report, the Sept. 11 Commission said it had found no evidence that the ''Saudi government as an institution, or senior Saudi officials individually funded'' Al Qaeda. But some former commission staff members have pointed out that the careful wording of the report did not rule out the possibility that lower-ranking Saudi officials had helped the hijackers. They also said that the commission, operating under extreme time pressure, could not run every lead to ground.
Twitch Is Suing Users Who Allegedly Conducted "Hate Raids" On Black And LGBTQ Streamers
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:52
Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Legitimate Interest Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Features: Matching Data to Offline Sources Linking Devices Precise Geographic Location Data Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Features: Matching Data to Offline Sources Linking Devices Precise Geographic Location Data Purposes: Information storage and access Legitimate Interest Purposes: Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Features: Precise Geographic Location Data Purposes: Information storage and access Features: Linking Devices Precise Geographic Location Data Purposes: Information storage and access Measurement Features: Linking Devices Purposes: Information storage and access Measurement Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Features: Matching Data to Offline Sources Linking Devices Purposes: Information storage and access Legitimate Interest Purposes: Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Features: Matching Data to Offline Sources Linking Devices Purposes: Information storage and access Legitimate Interest Purposes: Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Legitimate Interest Purposes: Content selection, delivery, reporting Features: Matching Data to Offline Sources Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Legitimate Interest Purposes: Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Features: Linking Devices Precise Geographic Location Data Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Legitimate Interest Purposes: Measurement Features: Matching Data to Offline Sources Linking Devices Legitimate Interest Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement Purposes: Information storage and access Personalisation Ad selection, delivery, reporting Content selection, delivery, reporting Measurement
Panjshir rebels take to mountains, Tajiks call for Pak PM's boycott
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:51
Members of National Resistance Front observe by a house near Panjshir Valley. Reuters
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 11
On the twentieth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, the Taliban removed the tricolour Afghan flag and replaced it with its white flag at the Afghan Presidential Palace but the banner of defiance in Panjshir Valley remained aloft.
The Taliban corroborated claims by the rebels that the resistance in Panjshir Valley had not been crushed and that its fighters had taken refuge in caves and mountain hideouts.
The Taliban's military offensive against the Panjshiris after just three hours of talks, along with rumours of Pakistani involvement, has further incensed the neighbouring Tajikistan.
A large number of civil society activists petitioned the Tajikistan Government to bar Pakistan PM Imran Khan from attending a summit of regional countries next week. Human rights activist Oynihol Bobonazarova and filmmaker Anisa Sabiri were among the signatories who sought a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) probe into Pakistani involvement in crushing the resistance in Panjshir.
The strong sentiments in Tajikistan towards a Pashtun dominated takeover of Kabul were explicitly flagged by Tajik President President Emomali Rahmon in a meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The Tajik civil society did not want the Pakistan PM to visit Dushanbe till he ''refuses to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs'' and an inclusive government is created in Kabul.
Though the Taliban has claimed to have captured all the districts of Panjshir Valley, the National Resistance Front (NRF) said, ''The Mujahideen, the resistance forces and your sons will fight to the death to defend your values and honour.''
''Right now, resistance forces are present in all the mountains,'' local media quoted Panjshiri politician Abdul Latif Pedram as saying.
The resistance is being led by Ahmad Masood and Amrullah Saleh, both of whom have not been heard of for more than a week.
The Taliban says they have fled to Tajikistan but according to the NRF, they are present in the country but keeping off the Internet for security reasons.
Panjshir residents have told the local media of numerous problems such as shortage of food and the shutting down of telecom services and power.
Members of Congress and Their Staff Are Exempt From Biden's Vaccine Mandate
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:48
President Joe Biden's new vaccine mandates for federal employees don't apply to members of Congress or those who work for Congress or the federal court system.
Biden issued two executive orders on Thursday requiring vaccination against COVID for federal workers and contractors who work for the federal government. He also asked the Department of Labor to issue an emergency order requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis.
However, Biden's order on federal workers applies to employees of the executive branch. The House of Representatives and the Senate belong to the separate legislative branch, and the courts to the judicial branch of the federal government.
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Biden's COVID action plan - "Path Out of the Pandemic" - published on the White House website makes the effect of the vaccine mandate clear.
The plan says: "Building on the President's announcement in July to strengthen safety requirements for unvaccinated federal workers, the President has signed an Executive Order to take those actions a step further and require all federal executive branch workers to be vaccinated."
"The President also signed an Executive Order directing that this standard be extended to employees of contractors that do business with the federal government," the plan goes on.
"As part of this effort, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service, and the National Institute of Health will complete implementation of their previously announced vaccination requirements that cover 2.5 million people."
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the executive order doesn't apply to those who work for Congress or the federal courts, citing White House officials.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference on April 29 that the House couldn't require members to be vaccinated. Video clips of those remarks gained renewed attention online following Biden's announcement.
"So'--so here is the thing. We are'--we cannot require someone to be vaccinated. That's just not what we can do. It is a matter of privacy to know who is or who isn't," Pelosi said.
"I can't go to the Capitol Physician and say, 'Give me the names of people who aren't vaccinated, so I can go encourage them or make it known to others to encourage them to be vaccinated.' So we can't'--we can't do that," she said.
Pelosi's office reiterated that position in a statement to Newsweek on Friday, saying the speaker's April 29 remarks were "referring to the institution in which she serves."
"She's saying she cannot force Members to be vaccinated, which is true," the statement said.
In August, a group of 19 Democrats in the House wrote a letter to the Capitol's attending physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, asking him to consider a vaccine requirement or a minimum of two COVID tests per week for members and staff who can't show proof of vaccination. No requirement has yet been put in place.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about combating the coronavirus pandemic in the State Dining Room of the White House on September 9, 2021, in Washington, DC. Biden's executive order on federal employees does not apply to Congress. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Covid vaccine passports scrapped for winter by Boris Johnson | News | The Sunday Times
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:43
Boris Johnson will announce this week that he is scrapping plans that would have required vaccine passports for entry to nightclubs, cinemas and sports grounds.
On Tuesday, the prime minister will announce plans to try to keep Covid under control over the winter. He will say that he has abandoned the proposed compulsory certification scheme, which would have forced venues to check people's vaccine status.
Johnson tore up the proposals after scientists said vaccinations would be an effective first line of defence against a winter wave of the pandemic. But the move also represents a significant concession to Tory backbench rebels who had complained that enforcing vaccine passports would create a group of second-class citizens.
Companies that already demand proof of vaccination will be
Rolling Stones Tour Manager, Mick Brigden, Dead at 73 After Accident
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 00:05
The Rolling Stones and the music world lost another member on Friday as news broke that longtime manager Mick Bridgen has passed away.
According to the Press Democrat, the 73-year-old died due to a tragic accident. While digging up a grave for his pet dog, an accident occurred per his wife, Julia Dreyer Brigden. The manager was then rushed to a local hospital in his home of Santa Rosa, where he was pronounced dead.
The accident and death happened on September 5, with news not coming out until Friday, September 10.
Julia Dreyer Brigden tributed her husband after his untimely death, praising his work and legacy in the music industry.
''He was so organized. That's why he was so good at his job,'' she said. ''When you arrived at the hotel, the cars were waiting and the venues were set up.''
Besides the Rolling Stones, Mick Brigden Worked with Many IconsIt's hard to say that Mick Brigden's legacy is just due to his work with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, as he was a major name in the scene for many bands.
The list of names is seemingly endless. Bob Dylan and Joe Satriani are just a couple of the biggest that Brigden worked with. Satriani is considered one of the great guitarists of all time, and the legendary musician didn't hold back when responding to the news of Brigden's death.
Foremost, his story of how Brigden connected Satriani to Mick Jagger during a solo tour stands out.
''I was on the East Coast doing a club tour, and Mick Jagger was struggling to find a guitar player,'' Satriani recalled. ''They'd gone through something like 60 guitarists. After the audition, Mick Brigden said, 'Hello again. Let's talk business.'''
It was one of the many moments that brought Satriani to a bigger audience. For that, the guitarist is grateful and only has powerful words to describe the manager after his death.
''Mick Brigden was a force to reckon with. He was just such an original,'' Satriani said. ''I hesitate to say he was an old school rock 'n' roll manager because it doesn't do him justice. He put an emphasis on doing things right and doing right by people.''
Biden Orders VA To Withhold Health Benefits From Unvaccinated Veterans | News Break
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 23:56
View more in Virginia State By Ricardo Paye
delawareohionews.com
1 day ago
President Joe Biden has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to withhold healthcare benefits from unvaccinated veterans as part of an aggressive new initiative to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning November 1st, any veteran seeking medical care at a VA facility must have had at least one shot of the...
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RELATED LOCAL CHANNELSRELATED PEOPLEIN THIS ARTICLEYOU MAY ALSO LIKERelatedU.S. Politics| Posted by 11Alive1dHere's what a legal expert thinks of Biden's vaccine mandateThe President's mandate will require employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly.
U.S. Politics| americanmilitarynews.com 1dIllegal immigrants excluded from Biden's 80M person COVID vaccine mandateIllegal immigrants continuing to cross into the U.S. from Mexico were not included in a wide-ranging COVID-19 vaccine mandate announced Thursday by President Joe Biden that could force an estimated 80 million American workers to get the shot. According to the president, all employers with over 100 employees will be...
Tennessee State| fox17.com 1dTennessee governor calls President Biden's sweeping new vaccine mandate 'a terrible idea'NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) '-- An announcement from President Joe Biden requiring large businesses to mandate vaccines among their employees is getting mixed reviews from Tennessee leaders. Gov. Bill Lee is making it clear: he disagrees with the idea. ''I think that's a terrible idea,'' Gov. Lee said in a news...
Atlanta, GA| WXIA 11 Alive 1dHome Depot responds to Biden vaccine mandateATLANTA '-- The Home Depot, one of Georgia's largest employers, said in a statement Friday it was "evaluating" things after President Joe Biden announced new regulations to require employees of larger businesses to get vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing. The Atlanta-based company, with thousands of employees in Georgia...
U.S. Politics| Marietta Daily Journal 6hRetired seniors in US aren't covered by Biden's vaccine planWASHINGTON '-- President Joe Biden's new COVID-19 plan will mandate vaccines for 100 million working Americans, but one group was conspicuously absent from this week's announcement: senior citizens. They're also the most likely to be hospitalized or die from the virus '-- by a wide margin. Retired seniors have been...
Public Health| ValueWalk 2dBiden Advisors Consider Anti-Smoking Tactics for Anti-VaxxersBiden Advisors Consider Anti-Smoking Tactics for Anti-Vaxxers; Requirements Not Reasoning, Cost Shifting, and Grant Conditions All Worked. Biden' COVID Advisors Consider Anti-Smoking Tactics For Anti-Vaxxers. WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 9, 2021) - Frustrated as things go from very bad to even worse, President Joe Biden' COVID advisors are mulling using the...
Public Health| Posted by Best Life1dYou Could Be Forced to Give Up Your Paycheck If You're UnvaccinatedOver the summer, many companies began to transition back to in-person work after 18 months of Zoom meetings from home. New precautions were put in place in many workplaces to help keep employees safe, including mandatory vaccinations in some cases. From employees of Google to teachers in Washington state, many people were required to get vaccinated in order to work alongside other staff. And that will only become more prevalent now that President Joe Biden announced a rule on Sept. 9 that companies with more than 100 employees must require vaccinations or weekly tests for their workers. But for those who choose to remain unvaccinated, a test may not be a viable option in all cases. Recently, the consequences have started to build for unvaccinated people, and a few major companies are now forcing them out without pay.
Presidential Election| Battalion Texas AM 2dJoe Biden is unfit to be commander-in-chiefIf one had to apply to be president of the United States, an ideal resume would look something like this: a law professor, over three decades in the United States Senate, four years as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, eight years as the chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and eight years as vice president.
U.S. Politics| Washington Examiner 2dBiden's vaccine mandate is a legal mess and a logistical disasterPresident Joe Biden extended an eviction moratorium already deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, so it would come as little surprise that President Norms would ignore the law going forward with his imperiled presidency. But Biden's latest blow in his campaign against the coronavirus isn't just a legal mess destined for endless court challenges; it's a logistical nightmare with little likelihood of doing anything other than further tightening the labor market and inflaming the sentiments of the vaccine-hesitant.
Congress & Courts| washingtonnewsday.com 2dTo avoid another COVID, a Republican senator wants to ban research on 'potentially pandemic pathogens.'GOP Senator Wants to Ban 'Potentially Pandemic Pathogen' Research to Avoid Another COVID. Senator Roger Marshall of the United States is expressing his dissatisfaction with China's apparent role in the COVID-19 outbreak and the US' capacity to hold China accountable for the pandemic. The Kansas senator released an eight-point proposal...
Huntsville, AL| WAFF 1dCommunity reacts to President Biden's vaccine mandateHUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Overreaching or a matter of public safety? There are many opinons after President Joe Biden announced new COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Biden's new mandates require companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccinations or regular testing. Federal employees and contractors will have to get vaccinated... with no option to ''test out.'' Many people in north alabama either work for large companies or jobs with ties to defense contracts.
New York City, NY| Posted by Newsweek1dMembers of Congress and Their Staff Are Exempt From Biden's Vaccine MandateThe president's executive orders apply to employees of the executive branch and federal government contractors.
POTUS| AOL Corp 12hBiden's vaccine mandate: Even Trump-friendly companies seem comfortable with COVID restrictionsOn Thursday afternoon, President Joe Biden announced that U.S. businesses with over 100 employees will soon need to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated or tested weekly. Within hours, the reaction in the political class was intense. The hashtag #wewillnotcomply was trending on Twitter, Biden was called an...
Presidential Election| Posted by Fox News1dPence tells 'Fox & Friends' Biden vaccine mandate 'unlike anything I ever heard from an American president'Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday reacted to President Biden's speech on vaccine mandates, arguing that it was "unlike anything" he has heard from a previous president. "I have to tell you the president's speech yesterday was unlike anything I had ever heard from an American president," Pence told...
U.S. Politics| HuffingtonPost 19hCritics Remind Dan Crenshaw That Mandatory Vaccines Have Existed In U.S. For DecadesRep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) ominously warned of a ''revolt'' after President Joe Biden unveiled new COVID-19 vaccination requirements '-- and critics on Twitter piled on to remind the lawmaker that mandatory vaccinations have existed in the U.S. for decades. He also called vaccine requirements ''cheap governance'' and ordered the Democrats...
Presidential Election| tennesseestar.com 2dConfidence That Biden is Presenting a Clear Plan for COVID-19 Tumbles, Poll ShowsConfidence that President Joe Biden has communicated a clear COVID-19 plan has tumbled, according to a new Gallup poll published Tuesday. The Gallup poll found that 42% of Americans do not believe Biden communicated a clear plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, up from 35% in July. Exactly 40% of Americans think Biden presented a clear strategy to combat COVID-19, making this the first time citizens have been more negative than positive on his communications.
Presidential Election| Posted by Fox News23hRachel Campos-Duffy: Biden admin fully aware of malicious intent behind these mandates"Fox News Primetime" host Rachel Campos-Duffy blasted the Biden administration's newly announced COVID vaccine mandates, calling it a "war on freedom." CAMPOS-DUFFY: Make no mistake, Joe Biden declared war on freedom yesterday and took authoritarianism to a whole new level by forcing vaccines on millions of Americans. Biden threw the constitution out the window as he issued medical mandates for federal employees, schools, and even private businesses, but apparently, Kamala Harris didn't get the memo.
Public Health| Posted by The Grand Rapids Press12hBiden's new COVID mandates: What will it mean for unvaccinated people? Vaccinated?President Joe Biden has unveiled a sweeping new series of COVID-related mandates amid a surge in cases due to the highly contagious delta variant. The plan is a ''six-pronged, comprehensive national strategy that employs the same science-based approach that was used to successfully combat previous variants of COVID-19 earlier this year,'' the White House said. ''This plan will ensure that we are using every available tool to combat COVID-19 and save even more lives in the months ahead, while also keeping schools open and safe, and protecting our economy from lockdowns and damage.''
Virginia State| WSET 21hVirginians say mandate follows unvaccinated being 'dishonest'LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) '-- Employers and workers in the Lynchburg area responded to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 action plan and new vaccination mandates. The president's sweeping new vaccination mandates impact healthcare workers, businesses and educators, affecting nearly 140,000 Virginians. Both Carol Caswell and Elana West-Smith praised the new requirements. They...
U.S. Politics| Posted by WashingtonExaminer1d'Get them out of the way': Biden says 'bullying' governors must quit fighting pandemic restrictionsPresident Joe Biden railed against Republicans he said fostered "bullying in schools" by thwarting guidelines from officials designed to control the spread of COVID-19. "Local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while the governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their job '-- talk about bullying in schools," Biden said in the State Dining Room on Thursday. He said that for those whose pay is threatened, "I promise you, I will have your back."
Town rallies around doctor facing scrutiny over Covid-19 consent comments | Stuff.co.nz
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:42
A Murupara doctor could face medical watchdog scrutiny over comments around informed consent for Covid vaccinations, despite the community rallying round their GP and local leaders saying there was no anti-vax message.
Dr Bernard Conlon is under the spotlight for comments made last month at a MÄori health expo at the Murupara Medical Centre.
According to a newsletter posted by the medical centre on its Facebook page, Dr Conlon had spoken ''around his concerns with informed consent for children and pregnant women''.
STUFF
There are 13 new community cases of Covid-19 in the Delta outbreak, all in Auckland. That brings the total number to 868.
''Unfortunately, this was not well-received by the Public Health representation, and as a consequence Bernard has been reported to the NZ Medical Council who have arranged a hearing next month,'' the newsletter read.
READ MORE: * Doctor who sent anti-vax text to patients says his contract has been terminated * Wellington doctor's anti-vaccination text message to patients being taken 'very seriously' by Medical Council * Health care providers should consider practices, values and beliefs in whÄnau MÄori care, report says
Exactly what was said remains unclear, and staff at the Murupara Medical Centre said he was not at the practice this week.
However, in an email to Stuff Conlon said his priority ''is to continue serving this community as their doctor, particularly when Covid-19 arrives and when I will be most needed''.
''With this in mind I am not prepared to give any interview at this time.''
Dr Curtis Walker, chair of the Medical Council of New Zealand, would not speak specifically on whether the Dr Conlon was the subject of a complaint or hearing, because of privacy concerns.
He said the Council ''has been clear in the recent publication of guidance, that there is no place for anti-vaccination messages in professional practice, nor any promotion of anti-vaccination claims including on social media and advertising by health practitioners.
''Council expects doctors to be aware of, and comply with, its published standards of clinical and ethical practice,'' he said.
However, patients and community members are backing their doctor, who has spent decades serving one of the country's most deprived areas and its remote hinterland.
Murupara Community Board member Alison Silcock, who was present at the meeting, told Stuff she didn't believe Conlon said anything that would be viewed as anti-vaccine.
''He was just talking about informed consent, how important it was,'' she said.
''Bernard was saying it's important people with medical conditions go to their doctor and have a conversation. Definitely not 'anti-vax.''
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
New Zealand is in the midst of a massive vaccination campaign against Covid-19.
Murupara Community Board chair Jackie Te Amo said she did not believe Conlon was anti-vaccine either, but that he had raised concerns about certain vulnerable groups being vaccinated by individuals unfamiliar with them.
''He had some concerns as GP, he thought that was a bit dangerous they [people giving the vaccine] didn't have the history of that person.''
She also spoke warmly of Conlon and his service to the Murupara, Galatea, Kaingaroa, Minginui and Ruatahuna communities.
''Over the years he's been a really good doctor to our community.''
Breakfast
While the shift in Covid alert levels for most of the country will be welcomed, restrictions are still in place.
An online petition in support of Dr Conlon had more than 2200 signatures as of Thursday afternoon, with many messages of gratitude.
One signatory said Conlon treated her husband when he had the incurable disease Mesothelioma.
''Prognosis was 9 months. Dr Conlon continued to research all traditional and non-traditional medical journals. His support gave my husband another 7 months with us.''
Another simply said she owed her life to Conlon.
''Dr Conlon's expert medical practice resulted in a diagnosis of a disease I had that was previously undetected. This vigilance resulted in a successful liver transplant in 2016.''
Tom Lee/Stuff
The message about Covid-19 measures was certainly being taken on board by the Murupara Four Square, just a few metres away from Dr Conlon's practice.
Another person cited the petition itself as a sign of his popularity.
''He 'doctors' instead of 'medicating''', they said.
''What other doctors in this country have had a hearing because they had concerns regarding informed consent for our tamariki and hapu mÄmÄ? Never heard of any.''
Murupara sits in the WhakatÄne District, where 53 per cent of residents have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, Bay of Plenty DHB Covid-19 incident controller Trevor Richardson said.
It's on par with the wider Bay of Plenty DHB, where 54 per cent of residents have had at least one shot.
The DHB declined to comment on whether its public health team was present at the meeting or if its members had reported Conlon's comments.
''This is a matter between the GP and the Medical Council, and it is not appropriate for us to comment at this time," a statement said.
Dr Walker, of the Medical Council said the body's job was to protect the public health and safety of New Zealanders.
''This is the touchstone against which the Council considers every decision about individual doctors.''
Walker said any doctor who failed to comply with the standards set by the council could face a number of measures, including suspension in the most serious cases.
''Council has a number of matters relating to these issues under consideration. However, as mentioned, privacy considerations limit any further comment on individual cases. What we can say that Council treats these matters very seriously, with our primary focus being public safety.''
Vaccine Chasing | Fleming-Method
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:24
Vaccine Chasing
With the waning success of the Drug Vaccine Biologics and the Pressure Selection of Delta and other variants, the World braces as the unvaccinated are blamed for the failure of the Mass Vaccination program.A critical look at the published data reveals a quite different picture. When you keep hearing trust the science, maybe it's time we do, and here is what the SCIENCE shows us.(1) The Emergency Use Authorization Documents filed with the FDA for Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen, has a considerable amount of useful data that isn't being discussed. The following four slides, discussed during EVENT 2021, look at what the actual EUA documents show us.
PFIZERWhen you read through the Pfizer EUA documents, you will not only see the Vaccine Efficacy Data but you will see something much more important. You will find the number of people who were later diagnosed with COVID and those who died. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of people who died who were un-vaccinated compared with those who received the vaccines.In fact the EUA documents for Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen specifically stated that ALL deaths matched those expected and seen in the general population.Each of the following four slides show the number of people who were later diagnosed with COVID following vaccination, something now called "breakthrough" cases, as well as those diagnosed with COVID who were not vaccinated. To the right of each table you will see a graphic showing the numbers of people in both the vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups.Below the graphic of each Drug Vaccine Biologic, you will see a Chi-Square Analysis for each drug vaccine used, comparing the outcomes of what was seen and what was expected, if there is no difference between the Vaccinated and Un-Vaccinated.Finally at the very bottom of each slide you will see the Absolute Risk Reduction (ARR), which is by definition the actual reduction in risk seen with vaccination. These number range from 0.88 and 1.57%.For Pfizer, there was no statistical difference in the number of people who were diagnosed with COVID independent of whether they were vaccinated or not.
MODERNAUsing this same approach, the following graphic shows the results of the EUA data for patients vaccinated with Moderna versus patients not vaccinated with a Drug Vaccine Biologic.Like Pfizer, Moderna showed no statistical difference in the number of people who were diagnosed with COVID, independent of whether they had been vaccinated or not.
JANSSEN (aka Johnson & Johnson)Janssen provided two sets of comparison data. Using the same approach used for Pfizer and Moderna above, we can see that Janssen showed a statistical reduction in the number of people diagnosed with COVID 2-weeks (14-dys) after they were vaccinated. [p<0.05].
However, when the Janssen results were analyzed two weeks later, 28-days after the Janssen injection, that statistical difference was lost, and there was no statistical difference between those who were vaccinated with the Janssen Drug Vaccine Biologic and those who were not.
With an absence of actual clinical benefit to statistically reduce the number of COVID cases or death according to the FDA documents themselves, it is easy to see why the increase in InflammoThrombotic Response disease and Prion associated diseases has a significant number of research scientists Concerned about the consequences of this inadequately tested group of Drug Vaccine Biologic Agents. There is of course also the mounting number of deaths associated with the use of these Drug Vaccine Biologics. https://www.openvaers.com/ (2) Mass Vaccination Pressure Selection of the Variants.As discussed under the "Answers Tab" where we look at the Delta Variant, the Delta Variant, along with all the other Variants are constantly evolving and many of these variants have been around for the better part of the last18-months as you will see in the following graphics.In the next four graphics we will look at 33 countries and the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases reported, along with changes in the variants seen during the last 18+ months. Where the data is available, you will see when the Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen, AstraZenica, Covaxin, Cansino, Gamaleya, and Sinovac Drug Vaccine Biologics were started in each of these countries.What you will not see is a single instance of a country noting a decrease in cases following initiation of these vaccines. You will also see the Pressure Selection of different variants of the virus beginning with Alpha, then Beta, Delta, and now Mu. Like the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, the indiscriminate use of Mass Vaccination has not eradicated the problem, but has promoted Pressure Selection of these Variants.
As the last slide shows us, Israel took the lead in vaccinating it's people and during May to June of 2021 reported almost complete vaccination of it's people and what they thought at the time might be control of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.Less than a month later, Pressure Selection showed the emergence of the Delta Variant, whose spike protein was sufficiently different from the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan Hu-1 (original virus) to allow the variant to emerge among the vaccinated.
Similar results have been reported from the United Kingdom. When cumulatively looked at around the world, the following sobering graphic appears with the emergence of variants, of which, Delta is currently the dominant variant.
As the last slide shows us, Israel took the lead in vaccinating it's people and during May to June of 2021 reported almost complete vaccination of it's people and control of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.Less than a month later, Pressure Selection showed the emergence of the Delta Variant, whose spike protein was sufficiently different from the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan Hu-1 (original virus).
As we continue the Mass Vaccination program of using these Drug Vaccine Biologics, that according to the EUA data itself fail to show a statistical reduction in COVID-19 cases or death, with an increasing number of adverse events including death; we are simultaneously producing a Pressure Selection of Variants that will produce what appears to be a never ending cycle of Pressure Selection-Vaccination.
The Consequence of this Approach is VACCINE CHASING as exemplified in this video. It's Time To Follow The Actual SCIENCE!
Moderna shares rise after company reveals single-shot vaccine booster for Covid and flu
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:16
Anjali Sundararaman, a student nurse at San Francisco State University, administers a dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Cuixia Xu during a vaccination clinic at the Southeast Health Center in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco, California on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.
Stephen Lam | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
Moderna shares rose Thursday after it announced it's developing a two-in-one vaccine booster shot that protects against both Covid-19 and the seasonal flu.
The new vaccine, which the company is calling mRNA-1073, combines Moderna's current Covid vaccine with a flu shot that's also under development, according to a press release. Shares of Moderna jumped by more than 5% after the announcement.
"Today we are announcing the first step in our novel respiratory vaccine program with the development of a single dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu," CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement Thursday. "We are making progress on enrolling patients in our rare disease programs, and we are fully enrolled in our personalized cancer vaccine trial. We believe this is just the beginning of a new age of information-based medicines."
The announcement comes on the heels of Moderna's highly successful launch of its mRNA-based two-dose Covid vaccine, which was authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration in December. More than 147 million of the Moderna shots have been administered in the U.S., according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology has been under development for years, but Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines are the first time mRNA has been cleared for use in humans. The mRNA-based Covid vaccines work by tricking the body to produce a harmless piece of the virus, triggering an immune response. It's said to be easier to produce than traditional vaccines, which generally use a dead or weakened virus to produce an immune response.
Bancel previously said the company hoped to have a booster shot that would combine protection against both viruses.
"What we're trying to do at Moderna actually is to get a flu vaccine in the clinic this year and then combine our flu vaccine to our Covid vaccine so you only have to get one boost at your local CVS store ... every year that would protect you to the variant of concern against Covid and the seasonal flu strain," Bancel said in April.
Moderna also announced Thursday it is developing a pediatric vaccine, called mRNA-1365, which would combine vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus.
'-- CNBC's Kevin Stankiewicz contributed reporting
The Metallica Blacklist. Coming to Digital September 10th, Vinyl & CD on October 1st | Metallica.com
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:13
Alessia Cara & The Warning / Enter Sandman
Mac DeMarco / Enter Sandman
Ghost / Enter Sandman
Juanes / Enter Sandman
Rina Sawayama / Enter Sandman
Weezer / Enter Sandman
Sam Fender / Sad But True (Live)
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit / Sad But True
Mexican Institute of Sound feat. La Perla & Gera MX / Sad But True
Royal Blood / Sad But True
St. Vincent / Sad But True
White Reaper / Sad But True
YB / Sad But True
Biffy Clyro / Holier Than Thou
The Chats / Holier Than Thou
OFF! / Holier Than Thou
PUP / Holier Than Thou
Corey Taylor / Holier Than Thou
Cage The Elephant / The Unforgiven
Vishal Dadlani, DIVINE, Shor Police / The Unforgiven
Diet Cig / The Unforgiven
Flatbush Zombies feat. DJ Scratch / The Unforgiven
Ha*Ash / The Unforgiven
Jos(C) Madero / The Unforgiven
Moses Sumney / The Unforgiven
J Balvin / Wherever I May Roam
Chase & Status feat. BackRoad Gee / Wherever I May Roam
The Neptunes / Wherever I May Roam
Jon Pardi / Wherever I May Roam
SebastiAn / Don't Tread on Else Matters
Portugal. The Man feat. Aaron Beam / Don't Tread on Me
Volbeat / Don't Tread on Me
The HU / Through the Never
Tomi Ow" / Through the Never
Phoebe Bridgers / Nothing Else Matters
Miley Cyrus feat. Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith / Nothing Else Matters
Dave Gahan / Nothing Else Matters
Mickey Guyton / Nothing Else Matters
Dermot Kennedy / Nothing Else Matters
Mon Laferte / Nothing Else Matters
Igor Levit / Nothing Else Matters
My Morning Jacket / Nothing Else Matters
PG Roxette / Nothing Else Matters
Darius Rucker / Nothing Else Matters
Chris Stapleton / Nothing Else Matters
TRESOR / Nothing Else Matters
Goodnight, Texas / Of Wolf and Man
IDLES / The God That Failed
Imelda May / The God That Failed
Cherry Glazerr / My Friend of Misery
Iz¯a / My Friend of Misery
Kamasi Washington / My Friend of Misery
Rodrigo y Gabriela / The Struggle Within
All profits from every track on The Metallica Blacklist will benefit Metallica's charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, along with a charity of each artist's choice.
Alessia Cara & The Warning's rendition of ''Enter Sandman'' helps support Save the Children.
Biffy Clyro's rendition of ''Holier Than Thou'' helps support Music Venue Trust.
Cage the Elephant's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support The Special Olympics.
Chase & Status feat. BackRoad Gee's rendition of ''Wherever I May Roam'' helps support East London Arts & Music.
Cherry Glazerr's rendition of ''My Friend of Misery'' helps support Sweet Relief.
Chris Stapleton's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support Outlaw State of Kind.
Corey Taylor's rendition of ''Holier Than Thou'' helps support Tobie's Small Dog Rescue.
Darius Rucker's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support MUSC Children's Hospital.
Dave Gahan's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support World Central Kitchen.
Dermot Kennedy's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support ALONE.
Diet Cig's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Richmond.
Flatbush Zombies feat. DJ Scratch's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support Save Our Stages.
Ghost's rendition of ''Enter Sandman'' helps support Camp Aranu'tiq.
Goodnight, Texas's rendition of ''Of Wolf and Man'' helps support NAACP Empowerment Programs.
Ha*Ash's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support Save the Children.
IDLES's rendition of ''The God That Failed'' helps support the Trussell Trust.
Igor Levit's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support Freie Ensembles und Orchester in Deutschland e.V.
Imelda May's rendition of ''The God That Failed'' helps support Little Flower Penny Dinners.
Iz¯a's rendition of ''My Friend of Misery'' helps support Les Restos du Coeur.
J Balvin's rendition of ''Wherever I May Roam'' helps support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support Nashville Rescue Mission.
Jon Pardi's rendition of ''Wherever I May Roam'' helps support The Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation For Autism.
Jos(C) Madero's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support Nuevo Amanecer.
Juanes's rendition of ''Enter Sandman'' helps support Mi Sangre Foundation.
Kamasi Washington's rendition of ''My Friend of Misery'' helps support The World Stage Performance Gallery.
Mac DeMarco's rendition of ''Enter Sandman'' helps support Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.
Mexican Institute of Sound feat. La Perla & Gera MX's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support Banda Filarm"nica Municipal de Ayutla.
Mickey Guyton's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support The United Negro College Fund.
Miley Cyrus feat. WATT, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support The Happy Hippie Foundation.
Mon Laferte's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support UN Women.
Moses Sumney's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support Different Wrld.
My Morning Jacket's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support The Waterfall Project.
OFF!'s rendition of ''Holier Than Thou'' helps support Indian Youth.
PG Roxette's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support UNHCR.
Phoebe Bridgers's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support RAINN.
Portugal. The Man feat. Aaron Beam's rendition of ''Don't Tread on Me'' helps support The PTM Foundation.
PUP's rendition of ''Holier Than Thou'' helps support Marsha P. Johnson Institute.
Rina Sawayama's rendition of ''Enter Sandman'' helps support Positive East.
Rodrigo y Gabriela's rendition of ''The Struggle Within'' helps support Whales of Guerrero.
Royal Blood's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support Chestnut Tree House.
Sam Fender's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support Teenage Cancer Trust.
SebastiAn's rendition of ''Don't Tread on Else Matters'' helps support the Novak Djokovic Foundation.
St. Vincent's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support North Texas Food Bank.
The Chats's rendition of ''Holier Than Thou'' helps support The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency.
The HU's rendition of ''Through the Never'' helps support The Giving Day Charity Fund.
The Neptunes's rendition of ''Wherever I May Roam'' helps support YELLOW.
Tomi Ow"'s rendition of ''Through the Never'' helps support Hope for the Old Foundation.
TRESOR's rendition of ''Nothing Else Matters'' helps support UNHCR.
Vishal Dadlani, Divine, Shor Police's rendition of ''The Unforgiven'' helps support The Dharavi Dream Project.
Volbeat's rendition of ''Don't Tread on Me'' helps support B¸rne Cancer Fonden Denmark.
Weezer's rendition of ''Enter Sandman'' helps support the California Vipassana Center
White Reaper's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support Change Today, Change Tomorrow.
YB's rendition of ''Sad But True'' helps support Green Korea.
'Klimaatbewust' en elitair KLM alle geloofwaardigheid kwijt: 'Alleen in economy klasse geen vlees' - De Dagelijkse Standaard
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:11
Luchtvaartmaatschappij KLM dacht mooi goedkoop te kunnen deugen bij klimaatbewuste klanten, maar heeft de plank volkomen misgeslagen. KLM gaat alleen voor de economy klasse stoppen met het serveren van vlees, zogenaamd om te verduurzamen. Klanten in een andere klasse kunnen nog wel gewoon vlees krijgen.
Dit is natuurlijk precies het signaal dat je niet wilt afgeven als bedrijf. De rijkere passagiers behouden alle opties en het gepeupel mag lekker geen vlees. Potverdorie wat zijn ze toch klimaatbewust en duurzaam bij KLM!
De luchtvaartmaatschappij zegt zelf 'de maatschappelijke trends te willen volgen en te willen verduurzamen'. Het was alleen niet de bedoeling van KLM dat iedereen erachter kwam dat alleen de economy klasse geen vlees meer geserveerd zou krijgen.
Bedrijven gaan wel vaker nat als ze een poging doen om hun potentile klanten te laten geloven dat ze groen, duurzaam en milieubewust zijn. Denk aan Shell die doen alsof ze bomen aanplanten. Of aan Volkswagen die iedereen liet geloven dat ze in een zuinige auto reden. Maar dit is wel echt extreem dom en doorzichtig van KLM.
En door dit soort fratsen voelt de politiek (met name links) zich gesterkt om het heft in eigen handen te nemen en via de overheid allerlei maatregelen af te dwingen. 'De bedrijven gaan het niet uit zichzelf doen', zeggen ze dan. En geef ze eens ongelijk? Het vervelende nadeel is alleen dat de maatregelen die zij vaak voorstellen de rekening bij de burger neerlegt, ineffectief zijn en diezelfde bedrijven juist in de kaart spelen.
Een oproep van de redactie: door de coronacrisis heeft DDS het, net als veel andere websites, ontzettend lastig. Wij willen alles gratis leesbaar houden voor iedereen, waardoor we voor onze inkomsten afhankelijk zijn van reclame. Maar bedrijven hebben financile zorgen, en hebben dus niet veel te makken. Daar merken wij de gevolgen ook van. Vandaar onze omroep aan u, onze lezers: steun ons alsjeblieft! Via het betrouwbare Nederlandse BackMe-systeem kunt u maandelijks "f eenmalig doneren. Doe dat alstublieft, en help DDS in de lucht te blijven!
Nou is deze misser van KLM natuurlijk maar een klein foutje in vergelijking tot de eerder genoemde bedrijven. Maar qua beeldvorming doet het zijn werk wel. Het enige wat dit enigszins zou kunnen compenseren is als we aan het eind van de maand een foto van Frans Timmermans in het vliegtuig zien met een groot biefstuk.
sorryantivaxxer.com | A repository of stories of anti-vaxxers who died or came close to dying of COVID.
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:10
The goal of this list is educational. Please share to help keep more people from making the same mistake.
Welcome to sorry antivaxxer .com, a repository of stories of anti-vaxxers who died or came close to dying of COVID needlessly from their own scientifically un-sound and stubborn beliefs.
Contribute Antivaxxer Story All PostsSearch
Vaxman a few seconds ago Jane Treadwell Holston, 56, Helena, AL. Nurse practitioner & Prof. Anti-vaxx and dead of COVID
According to this obituary Jane died Sept 3, 2021. She was a nurse practitioner and professor at Samford University teaching Nursing. She...
5 views 0 comments Vaxman 5 hours ago Kevin O'Neal, 61, Apple Valley, CA. Drummer. Anti-vaxx. Died of COVID but first pushed "the shot"
It was too late. According to this obituary Keven died on August 24, 2021. Kevin was just enough of an anti-vaxxer to not get vaccinated....
2,209 views 45 comments Vaxman 9 hours ago Jason Vice, 41, Montgomery, Al. State Trooper. Anti-vaxxer. Died of you know what.
According to this story Jason Vice, an Alabama State Trooper died of COVID-19. He leaves behind a wife and two kids. Typically, stories...
3,156 views 87 comments Vaxman a day ago This is Jim Sells, An ex-Anti-vaxxer, he lived through COVID. Now he says "Get Vaccinated!"
Meet Jim Sells, a conservative councilman from Georgia. He too admits his conservatism and "self reliance" almost cost him his life. Now...
7,508 views 185 comments Vaxman a day ago Kenneth and Kay Foote, 73, 66, Odessa, TX, Anti-vaxx, both died of covid.
According to this obituary and this obituary Kenneth and Kay both died within 5 days of each other. Kenneth was a vigilant anti-vaxxer,...
7,786 views 248 comments Vaxman 2 days ago Donald P Tice, Anchorage, AK. I'll just let Donald tell you.
Meet Donald P Tice. This will be a short post: Karma. Oh well. His obituary
17,634 views 233 comments Vaxman 2 days ago Suzette Shafer, Zephyrhills, Fl, Anti-vaxx. BF died of COVID, blames remdesivir, posts anti-vax info
This post is part of the Sorry Spouse series. According to this obituary Dan Miller Died on August 23, 2021. Dan was Suzette's...
11,081 views 129 comments Vaxman 3 days ago Fred Lowry, 66, Volusia co. Florida councilman, Qanon, anti-vaxxer, COVID hoaxer, in ICU w/ COVID
According to this story Old Fred is sick in the hospital with COVID. A little investigation into Fred shows he pushes every conspiracy...
15,367 views 188 comments Vaxman 3 days ago Melissa Hedge, 30, Pure Romance Sales, Molalla OR, got some bad info, died of COVID.
Can't we do something to help these people??!! Anyway, Melissa wasn't a pusher of anti-vaxx views like other entries here, but like a lot...
20,143 views 114 comments Vaxman 3 days ago Richard Linderman, 50, Tri-cities, Wash, 'Community Organizer', anti-vaxx, dead from COVID.
According to this story Richard Linderman an ex-con who founded "Incarceration to Inspiration" to give back to the community was an...
7,374 views 54 comments Vaxman 3 days ago Jorge Lis, 46, Valencia, Spain, Professional Motorcyclist. Verdadera antivacuna, muerto por covid
According to this story, Jorge Lis, former profession motorcyclist and more recently coach has died of COVID. He was a stalwart...
4,586 views 29 comments Vaxman 3 days ago Mikel Lowe, 38, San Diego,CA Firefighter. He (and his wife) were adamant anti-vaxxers. Dead, COVID.
According to a lot of stories, but I'll post this one, Mikel and his wife thought that COVID was just a "political game". Now Mikel is...
12,606 views 145 comments Vaxman 4 days ago Lisa Sowards, 56, Hickory, NC. Anti-vaxxer. Her, her mother, and daughter all got COVID. She died.
According to this obituary Lisa died on August 10. Her her mother and her daughter all got infected. Her mother and daughter recovered...
16,414 views 219 comments Vaxman 4 days ago Larry Manen, 73, Harrison, Ark. Anti-vaxxer, pushed Ivervectin. Died of COVID.
According to this obituary Larry has died. As you'll see below he died of COVID. If he tried Ivermectin, it didn't work. He posted...
10,012 views 134 comments Vaxman 5 days ago Mohammad Shaar, Sydney, Au, Muslim Natural Healer, anti-vaxxer. UPDATE: Still fighting COVID.
According to this story Mohammed Shaar, an Australian Muslim preacher and natural healer, had spent weeks preaching that vaccines were...
10,549 views 80 comments Vaxman 5 days ago Josh Tidmore, 36, Montgomery, AL. Vaxx "hesitant". Died of COVID. If you're on the fence read this.
According to this story Josh died of COVID. He wasn't vaccinated. Wasn't against vaccines generally but got suckered by the...
19,310 views 71 comments Vaxman 5 days ago Tristan Graham, 45, Alabama Picker Youtuber. "not planning on getting it". (Update on Dusty 9/7/21)
According to this video of her husband and Youtube partner (now deleted),Tristan has died. I wouldn't throw this couple into the same...
41,152 views 106 comments Vaxman 5 days ago Amanda Fowler, 39, Douglas, GA. EMS nurse, Religious LGBT anti-vaxx and died from COVID
According to this obituary, Amanda died on August 29, 2021.She leaves behind her wife and 5 children. Another sad tragedy. Amanda is...
20,505 views 116 comments Vaxman 5 days ago Randy Mills, 61, Aiken, SC, Business Owner, Anti-vaxxer.
According to this obituary Randy passed away on August 16, 2021. Randy was a successful business owner in South Carolina. He'd just...
6,969 views 98 comments Vaxman 6 days ago Mark Kuronya, 55, Fire Fighter, Bethlehem, PA, re-poster of anti-vaxx memes, dead from COVID.
According to this obituary Mark died from COVID on September 1, 2021. Like most of our entries here, he was a regular re-poster of the...
14,722 views 77 comments 1
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Ivermectin study story correction | WGN-TV
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:09
Posted: Sep 8, 2021 / 10:08 PM CDT / Updated: Sep 9, 2021 / 03:46 PM CDT
EDITOR'S NOTE: A national story shared regarding Ivermectin and a study regarding its effect on men's reproductive health that KTSM published, has been removed from our website.
Concerns over the scientific research methods, the veracity of the original, peer-reviewed report and public statements by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) saying that infertility is not a known side effect of Ivermectin all led to our editorial decision to remove the story.
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Dr. Fauci Faces Call To Resign, Answer For Shocking Report About U.S. Government Funded Wuhan Research | The Daily Wire
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:58
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, is facing calls to answer for a shocking report, published by the Intercept, about the so-called ''gain of function'' research that the National Institutes of Health funded at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The WIV is thought to be a possible origin point for COVID-19.
In May of 2021, Dr. Fauci, in his testimony to a Senate committee investigating whether the U.S. funded ''gain-of-function'' research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, claimed that the NIH ''has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.''
The Intercept, however, found, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, evidence that the NIH issued a ''bat coronavirus grant'' to a group called the EcoHealth Alliance for ''$3.1 million, including $599,000 that the Wuhan Institute of Virology used in part to identify and alter bat coronaviruses likely to infect humans.''
As The Daily Wire reported Tuesday, Dr. Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University and an expert who spoke to The Intercept, elaborated on the findings on Twitter.
''The materials show that the 2014 and 2019 NIH grants to EcoHealth with subcontracts to WIV funded gain-of-function research as defined in federal policies in effect in 2014-2017 and potential pandemic pathogen enhancement as defined in federal policies in effect in 2017-present,'' Ebert noted. ''The materials confirm the grants supported the construction '-- in Wuhan '-- of novel chimeric SARS-related coronaviruses that combined a spike gene from one coronavirus with genetic information from another coronavirus, and confirmed the resulting viruses could infect human cells.''
''The materials reveal that the resulting novel, laboratory-generated SARS-related coronaviruses also could infect mice engineered to display human receptors on cells ('humanized mice'),'' he added. ''The materials further reveal for the first time that one of the resulting novel, laboratory-generated SARS-related coronaviruses '-- one not been previously disclosed publicly '-- was more pathogenic to humanized mice than the starting virus from which it was constructed and thus not only was reasonably anticipated to exhibit enhanced pathogenicity, but, indeed, was *demonstrated* to exhibit enhanced pathogenicity.''
That puts Dr. Fauci in the spotlight. Dr. Ebright even suggested that Fauci was being ''untruthful'' in his remarks to the Senate.
Several Republicans have already suggested that Dr. Fauci must face a full investigation and be totally forthcoming about his agency's '-- and the NIH's '-- involvement in funding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) suggested that Dr. Fauci is ''hiding'' something and should face an investigation.
Your tax dollars funded coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
What is Fauci hiding?https://t.co/TDcwOHZpNP
'-- Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 7, 2021
Former White House physician-turned-Congressman Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) also demanded answers '-- and for Dr. Fauci to be terminated from his role as a top health advisor to the president.
Fauci's NIH funded DANGEROUS gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Laboratory. The same man that wants to mask your kids and keep us LOCKED DOWN forever helped cause this pandemic. How does he still have a job? Fauci needs to be FIRED and INVESTIGATED immediately! pic.twitter.com/BkCvMD1gDt
'-- Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) September 3, 2021
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) had the harshest criticism, demanding that Dr. Fauci resign immediately.
Anthony Fauci has repeatedly and deliberately mislead Congress and the American people. Resign. And face a congressional inquiry https://t.co/o8Bxfvb8jt
'-- Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 7, 2021
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has already referred Dr. Fauci for an investigation for possible perjury related to his testimony in front of Congress.
A previous version of this article referred to Josh Hawley as a representative. He is a senator. This article has also been revised for clarity.
The Daily Wire is one of America's fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.
My company wants me to develop a vaccine passport website - The Donald - America First!
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:51
I developed a site to display results of covid testing early on in the pandemic but now they want to expand it to include a vaccine passport section. I've notified my supervisor that it goes against my principles and I won't do it. I'm the only person in the building who can code and if it weren't for me this place would burn to the ground. Wish me luck!
Worst case scenario start work and never finish it. Drag it out. Make it buggy af.
With lots of back doors and workarounds
Give P.W access to the back doors as well
'' deleted 98 points 1 day ago + 99 / - 1 This ^^. Someone is going to get that contract if you don't. May as well be you. False positive everything, or give just enough truth that gives you credibility for when it's a lie. You know.. Like NY Times, MSNb..... well nevermind, you get the point.
When you get caught say it was a "Noble Lie"
Throw in a bunch of rickrolls for the developers they hire to fix it too.
How about a tik tok nurse dancing rick roll video. Did I just blow your mind?
this.
99.5 % Vaxx ...we good now ?
call their bluff and watch what the tyrants do next
They'll do Vax #4 before they ever hit 99.5%.
Exactly. For someone capable of developing a database, this would be ridiculously easy and if you were smart you could hide it in there so it would be difficult to find.
They took my swing line stapler! And I told them if they kept doing that, I'd... I'd just burn this place down, I sure will.
Smash their printers while you're at it.
Large grains of salt . . .
It's amazing how destructive a few well placed staples can be to expensive replacement equipment...
REVENGE OF THE SWING LINE STAPLER!
Give /pol/ a back door too and watch the fun
Some men just want to watch the world burn ð--¥
You can access my back door anytime.
Big Mike letting you roam free for a bit?
'' deleted 6 points 1 day ago + 6 / - 0 Make it keep glitching, and pulling up the text from the book "1984"!
Fake compliance is still compliance, remember that.
No it's not it's guerilla warfare.
Don't forget to incorporate the proverbial thermal exhaust port in the design if you do.
Wrong, it's collaboration. Collaborators get the hemp neck tie.
''MGTAU 4 points 23 hours ago + 5 / - 1 But muh holocaust! Shut the fuck up about the fucking holocaust for 5 minutes!
Especially Oscar Schindler was the correct answer guy take a fucking chill pill friendly fire
I believe in due process of law. If it can be conclusively proven that the collaborator did more damage to the enemy than their own people, then they may get to walk. It better be damn good though.
The amount of lives Oscar saved greatly outweighed his contributions to the Nazi war effort.
There is a huge difference between just saving your skin, and actively thwarting the enemy's plans.
Uid/pw:Admin/admin
Got it fren ;)
hey... that's amazing, I got the same password on my luggage...
((someone remind me to change my luggage combination))
It would be so funny with a typo: IUD/pw: Admin/admin
Luggage? Isn't that supposed to be 000?
''gunteh 5 points 1 day ago + 5 / - 0 If it works for government, it works for me!!
Dominion has entered the chat
I see your malicious compliance and raise you to
malicious non-compliance
Non-compliance will give them a chance to get someone else to do it as they want. Malicious compliance will drag the thing out and halt rollout for longer by deliberate sabotage. Non-compliance seems more badass but its less effective.
And if he creates something that appears to be what they want, while it is actively subverting what they want, that is top level malicious non-compliance.
It is turning the enemy into unwitting allies.
And if anyone confronts him on it, just blame supply disruptions.
'' deleted 9 points 1 day ago + 9 / - 0 Good sir I ask you, why not both? Lol
'' deleted 1 point 1 day ago + 1 / - 0 I had an asshole boss say that to me and ever since then I wanted a heavy metal band to take up that name.
My butt licker boss took my job over and crashed a shit load of data in just a few weeks. They asked me to come back for double my wages then a bit more I told them to kiss my ass. They went out of business in less than 90 days.
''D__1 61 points 1 day ago + 62 / - 1 If you have to do it, leave a nice big back door open with unencrypted data. Don't do it in a way that gets you in trouble but maybe an easily guessed default password or whatever. Nothing says 'going out of business ' like a class action HIPPA lawsuit.
That's not how HIPPA works. Clinics have to follow HIPPA. Non-healthcare providers don't. Otherwise you could sue google/microsoft/apple because they definitely have your medical data and share it unethically.
Thanks for clarifying this.
Let's please use HIPAA instead of HIPPA. Thanks pedes!
Stacey Abrams enters the chat
'' deleted 6 points 1 day ago + 6 / - 0 Indelibly etched in my...
''BrionK 4 points 1 day ago + 4 / - 0 Sharing of PHI and PII are troublesome things to get patient consent to share.
No, but businesses have a responsibility under a myriad number of data privacy laws to protect PII and employee's private information. It's a regulatory nightmare and largely comes down to the laws in the locality the customer or employee lives so a company may be responsible under a variety of state laws.
wait.. how does "google/microsoft/apple" have my medical data?
Your healthcare provider shared it with them to help "improve quality of care".
links? sounds like bullshit fearmongering. Also my primary care is a 30 year old woman, who is scared when I even take my shirt off. She has no data.
'' deleted 9 points 1 day ago + 9 / - 0 It's true. Use DuckDuckGo.com to search for an article.
are you kidding me? LOL..
It's so much worse than you think. They have been purchasing the ''statistics'' from every medical conglomerate out there, for years now.
And what do they do with all the info?
They use it against us
Even IF they could "purchase" private HIPPA info from medical scammers, how are they using it against us? The VAX is not executed through your primary care, it is a random shot from Walgreens.
''Project Nightingale''
Search it up on Brave browser
Also
''How google uses your medical data''''How Big Tech uses your medical data''
I don't know how you haven't heard about this. People have been screaming about it for years
'' deleted 1 point 1 day ago + 1 / - 0 The Obama era digitizing of health records. Everybody has your records especially government lapdogs. Civil rights lawyer Robert Barnes has stated that while he was on a case that involved health records that the government can see when you went to your therapist & what you talked about. The only protection is that these things aren't "supposed" to be shared.
''BrionK 2 points 1 day ago + 2 / - 0 Woke, Inc.
The better question is what doesn't Google know about you? If you own an android or apple phone, or visited someone with a Google dot or Alexa, then these companies have a profile on you. Many companies contract out their cloud services to Google or Amazon. Microsoft collects tons of analytics and sends all of your documents folder to the cloud by default.
Good thing I haven't used my documents folder since windows 98, and always disable the cloud before anything after a fresh install.
The Google Dot and Alexa privacy concern is wildly overrated. You can monitor your internet traffic and see that it actively does not listen to you.
While it's still a vulnerability, no, it's not a 24/7 listening device.
You honestly think that it can't be turned to active remotely?
You honestly think that Goolag and Jewazon don't save audio for "improvement purposes"? ... '(C)½'(C)½DjangoLaugh.png'º'º
How do they have my medical data?
That is how it works for people who have medical data. I have access to but do not access all sorts of health care data, I do not because my whole career is based of being this level of trustworthy.
If I do not protect that data sufficiently, as a non-healthcare provider we're still up shit creek.. It's OK to remain quite when you don't know what you're talking about.
If someone "voluntarily" gives me their healthcare data, I can do whatever I want with that data. My collection/sharing schemes may not even know that the data is healthcare related and it gets shared just like any other data.
HIPPA was intended to increase trust between patient and healthcare providers. But there's a ton of ways of getting that data outside of the healthcare setting.
Courts would hold OP culpable.
''Annpi 21 points 1 day ago + 21 / - 0 Being direct is best... but if they push... just screw it up. I worked at a place like that... everyone screwed up their work so I ended up with all their work.... until I quit
''Ctor 9 points 1 day ago + 9 / - 0 I have worked in such shitholes too... It does tend to break the system when the 70hr+ employees who fix everything finally say "fuck it" and quit.
''Annpi 3 points 1 day ago + 5 / - 2 Only people that have shitty lives at home want to actually work 70hrs+.... and those people are usually so miserable you don't even want them around.
I actually like my life outside work.... but eh
''Ctor 5 points 1 day ago + 5 / - 0 Oh I agree. I just got pulled into the whole sense of duty thing... this was in startups and I was Trying to keep the company from falling flat on its face and stupid enough to figure management would actually do something about the new hires they brought in who were worse than useless. They didn't... And after I and all the other people who did the work got tired of it and quit they were in a world of hurt.
''Ctor 2 points 1 day ago + 2 / - 0 100% agree. That's why I finally said "fuck it". Dealt with tons of "emergencies" that "have to be done right or we are gonna be completely screwed" and then watched management let others screw up constantly with no repercussions... Finally management got repercussions. One of the places had a CEO who worshipped Ayn Rand but somehow couldn't apply her lessons in real life. So I left him a note that said "who is John Galt?"... After I left my boss, my bosses boss, and two VPs got the ax. Six YEARS later after I quite, a project I was working on and close to having finished still isn't done.
''Annpi 4 points 1 day ago + 4 / - 0 Lol.... I remember those days. EVERYTHING was an "emergency". It only took me a few "emergencies" to realized managements lack of planning DOES NOT equal my emergency.
''Ctor 1 point 23 hours ago + 1 / - 0 Yup. It's really bad in startups since they have this deal where they insist on hiring people with obnoxious phony laughs... As opposed to any technical expertise... Then listening to them. And letting them lie and waste everyone else's time. Complete sociopaths and liars. And yet management still wouldn't do anything about it... I guess they would rather see a company go broke... Oh well.
''Annpi 2 points 22 hours ago + 2 / - 0 Ugh, I despise fake ppl especially ones with annoying unnecessary laughter!! Don't startups usually get funded by friends family angel investors... after they realize they are failing they probably just don't care... not their money...
This might be better than outright refusal. Make it take a ton of time and money. Then keep it broken and breaking. Show random results that don't make any sense.
''NADSAQ 10 points 1 day ago + 10 / - 0 oh no... it got a virus
That's what happens when you don't vaccinate your program.
''TDAF 13 points 1 day ago + 14 / - 1 MAGA++
''Brainz 7 points 1 day ago + 8 / - 1 ''Akyura 210 points 1 day ago + 212 / - 2 If you have to do it, use Angular, Vue, React, and jQuery on top of a PHP Laravel backend with random splices of regular vanilla HTML and JS. Demand to containerize it, and put it on a Kubernetes deployment with the Istio service mesh. Require a CICD pipeline that uses terraform, Jenkins, chef, puppet, and Ansible. Make them pay
''x79q3pb 176 points 1 day ago + 177 / - 1 You web dev guys are nuts.
They practice BDD - buzzword driven development
Fail, you actually spelled out your acronym. It's development 101, puke those out and never explain
IT guy enters the room
Uses 5 acronyms in a row
Refuses to elaborate
Leaves
Yells at normies who continue to autodelete their emails
Well, if it was important enough, they'd come and see me.
It's DNS. It's always DNS.
"AI" is the fucking worst.
You web dev guys are nuts.
I love that this comment doubled
t.softwaredev
I don't know why it does it, but it only seems to be this website where it happens.
some sites do that. It used to happen on reddit, I don't know if it still does. Minds too. Some missed handshake between server and client I guess.
Handshakes enjoy facial "milkshakes"
𤮠I didn't need this visual
''ActNow 0 points 1 day ago + 2 / - 2 Dumb question here. What are the handshakes for?
''TDAF 10 points 1 day ago + 10 / - 0 A process of verification/validation between entities prior to establishing a connection. It can happen between software client and server. But also here on .Win where we have "Trojan" users who join and make seemingly MAGA comments at first to gain credibility (the handshake), but in reality they are nefarious actors coming in to sow doubt and decrease morale. They do this by eventually turning up their signal, voicing deep concerns about our beliefs, disparaging the comments/decisions of Trump and other conservative leaders, or leaving overtly racist comments to paint .Win patriots as something we are not.
Not sure if you're being ironic or not, writing from a handshake account...
It's a logic error in the code. Either a repeated submission or repeated display. I've noticed another bug from time to time where when you are scrolling through posts you'll sometimes see the same post twice. That is an obvious off-by-one bug with the neverending scrolling code.
''zooty 6 points 1 day ago + 6 / - 0 LAMP was kinda done but devs gotta dev.
ONE MORE TIME FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!
All of that is greek to me, but it gives me hope that those of us with measures of control, are USING that control to sabotage the tyrants.
''zooty 33 points 1 day ago + 33 / - 0 As a former web dev, it's become way complex. Of course, that's OP's intent but the number of technologies that often basically do the same thing has become a bit ridiculous.
a 50 million dollar project when the customer just needed a spreadsheet
Obamacare website was a billion dollars. Don't sell yourself short
The consultants mantra:
"There's no money in providing a solution, but you can retire off prolonging the problem."
Thoughts of a cancer cure research team.
Oddly similar to the pharmaceutical company mantra
Or the inverse: A 10 GB ".xls" spreadsheet with macros developed by someone who quit 10 years ago when the department desperately needs a Database and a basic HTML web front end, but the boss won't shell out the money to pay for it because "What we have has always worked."
''zooty 4 points 1 day ago + 4 / - 0 Isn't it ironic, don't you think?
It's like rain on your wedding day.
I think it's more ironic that none of that commie's examples in that song are actually a case of irony.
''zooty 3 points 1 day ago + 3 / - 0 The interesting thing is that that arguably makes the song itself ironic.
''zooty 2 points 1 day ago + 2 / - 0 The commie with an estimated net worth of 45 million, of course.
Id argue 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife is kind of ironic.
I was on Hacker News for years, and those folks are like Nazis when it comes to anything older or something that isn't being peddled by academia.
I'm also a former web dev, but still love it and piddle around every now and then. Maybe will get back in it someday when our lawfully elected prez is back.
but still love it and piddle around every now and then
Updoot for 'piddle around.'
''zooty -1 points 1 day ago + 1 / - 2 A lot of this stuff lowers barriers to entry too. Which makes it easy to find employees but means they often don't understand the implications of what they're doing.
You're an angry person. I like that.
That is how you do a DevOps there. Got your full-stack engineering right here (grabs crotch).
This is how we do it in Clown World. Honk Honk!
Spend a month developing nothing, collect a couple last checks, then give them a url that redirects to patriots.win
Oh, you said "Build a site for Vaccine PASSPORT"? I thought you said "Build a site telling us we can kiss your ass with this Vaccine Passport horseshit. "
Muh bad.
Also in CS, would never code anything like a vaccine passport.
Write in cobal and set a date for it to stop working, after it's been around for a few days then quit.
Also make all the QR codes link to dick pics.
This is how we save the world!
That's considered a logic bomb and is illegal, would not advise OP to do this
Vaccine mandates are illegal. ð¤·''¸
Only if it's intentional. If you accidentally have code that accidentally divides by zero when the date passes something or the number of records exceeds something than that's purely accidental oops.
Of course, delete the shit out of this thread first....
During my CS program at uni, we took an ethics class. I'm morally obligated to not build shit like this.
Any devs that do need to be blacklisted
the problem is the endless pajeets
it's not even pajeet's fault
pajeet's home country is a shithole
so pajeet comes here with an h1-b
why h1-b? democrats want replacement and rinos want slaves
then pajeet gets enslaved with the h1-b and abused
in the end, immoral things get built
The abuse is real, had some colleagues from india at a major CC firm subsidiary working for a shady Indian consulting company charging the client $145 hr, paying them $18 hr and holding their passports hostage. Sick.
''6969 3 points 23 hours ago + 3 / - 0 yeah. very unethical. It is like the engineers that designed the gas chambers in Nazi Germany.
Better yet
Agree to do it
Spend weeks or months on it
Always be at the verge of getting it running
And when it's finally up, have it be totally inaccurate, glitchy, and eventually delete all the vaccine data in the system.
Line 1 Hello Dave.Line 2 Goodbye Dave.
Yes this is war. Deceive and Destroy their war machine
Malicious compliance is a useful tool.
So basically the Obamacare site.
Or develop it and flat out lie.
''Mintap 48 points 1 day ago + 48 / - 0 AI concludes: Passports for everyone. Everyone gets a pass!
if unvaxt:
print('you are a supreme Chad')if vaxt:
print('u r a turbofaggot')''Mintap 21 points 1 day ago + 21 / - 0 if vaxt:
vaxt = random(0,1)
That looks similar the logic for the COVID-1984 "tests".
Kek!
Turbofaggot. That's a new one to me. I'm writing that one down.
Yeah, just false positive everyone. Yay, we reached 100% vaccination Joe!
No lying. That's how we got here.
Fuck it. Build the site and let your employer know that everybody is vaccinated.
Everyone except the C suite executives and HR.
public static bool IsVaccinated(string userId){return true;}
You are very brave and I hope more Americans are like you. At my wife's company they told them they wanted managers to be responsible for their teams ''showing them their (Covid vax) papers''. My wife who is not a political person at all and she really just goes with the flow, she actually took a stand and said she would absolutely not do that and then two other managers in the meeting joined her and said they would also not be doing that. It derailed the meeting and after it was over my wife contacted a company leader who was on vacation and told him what she was asked to do and that it's immoral and potentially offensive to someone with connection to the holocaust. This resulted in the person who ordered the meeting and policies to be reprimanded and it completely de railed any company vaccine mandates of any kind until at least January 2022.
All because my wife said NO.
''ikuyas 3 points 23 hours ago + 3 / - 0 Thanks brother for telling us the story.
YES!!! We are the majority. Don't believe these people that talk as if we have already lost or that we are outnumbered. That is what they want us to think. That we HAVE to go along, we've already lost, our ideas are unpopular, our only option is to accept it. It's part of the plan. Everything they push is based on lies and misrepresentations. The Constitution and Truth are on our side.
The only problem is "your principles" aren't usually enough to keep them from making a business decision. They will either contract it out, or replace you.
What might have been a better approach is to cite some specific law or case law that it violates and say you cannot do it because it would be illegal. Either way, thank you for standing up for your principles. This whole vaccine retardation is insane
Religious exemption or ethical exemption
Good job mate. Stay strong and hold your ground. don't let money corrupt your principles.
Yeah,Print out and use QR codes and screw around with themjust enough that they won't scan.Oh well.
1 in 5 chance of the QR code redirecting to here when scanned
I would code it with backdoors and make it totally fucked up.
My company asked me if we had the capability to make contact tracing software. I lied and said no. lol.
May I suggest . . . burning that place to the ground.
Good luck and Godspeed, patriot. Hope HR doesn't place an ad for one of those fresh off the plane, foreign national IT guys cause Apu doesn't love America
Software pede here too. Only person that can code. Very similar situation.
Threatened walkout if they implemented vaccine mandate.
They caved.
Tech pedes ð'ªð'ª
You should just make one that doesnt work
Is this the same supervisor who has the child pornography on his computer?
So the River Kwai needs a bridge. What to do, what to do....
This is the way! We are SNEK!
Hi, this is your new co-worker, Pajeet.
He will be assisting you in doing the needful (head shimmy).
Stay true to yourself. Good luck! <3
Back door for non vax'd to get passports. Ya know a glitch.
Or maybe go the Obama care website route, make them pay dearly for your work but produce utter garbage that doesn't work at all
Tell them you will but just make it host religious vaccine exemption documents.
''Mintap 9 points 1 day ago + 10 / - 1 ...and nuremberg principles
We love you for anything you can do to hinder, sabotage, delay or injure this insidious CREEP that that is covid, government overreach and tyranny :)
Damn, You fucked up man. Should have went forward with it.
All the power of the passport system in your hands. Imagine the shit you could pull with it. Its was a weapon you could use against them without them knowing.
"I don't know why everyone who got the vaxx is locked out of their work and had their pay withheld!" LOL
"I don't know why everyone who got the vaxx is now being bombarded by Nigerian Prince money laundering emails!" LOL
Holy Shit, if Hollyweird wasn't a pedo paradise THIS would make for the most based sequel to Office Space of all time! Like Burn After Reading with an actual story! What a shame they're such evil faggots.
Alas you'll have to be content with patriotic shitposts and updoots from frens.
Record every talk you have about it. That's golden content
Luck? You don't need luck. You need to keep your spine straight .
Or make it so it's super easy to defeat.
''Pepega 4 points 1 day ago + 4 / - 0 THE ROOF THE ROOF, THE ROOF IS ONE FIRE....
LET THAT CHILDSNIFFER BURN
I'm thinking of a scene out of Fight Club for some reason.
Interested in a start up of patriots who are tech Bubbas too?
I AM DEAD SERIOUS
Fuck yeah. Make it look pretty, but completely useless, then bill the hell outta them hour wise.
Unfortunately my boss is the one who interacts directly with the client and is technical enough to discuss the big picture on it.
I'm the only person in the building who can code and if it weren't for me this place would burn to the ground.
All the same, keep that resume' up to date. Just in case. Your employer might not be a hundred percent rational--and, as we've already seen, there are some companies out there that will gladly "go broke" in order to "get woke". Maybe they're true believers, or maybe they're simply afraid of getting their head office burned down by antifa, or maybe they're genuinely terrified of the covids and think a vax passport will stop it (it won't).
Nice job taking a stand fren. Good luck and God bless.
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As Austin Hits 1,000 COVID Deaths, ICU Capacity Is Strained to Its Limits: Number of available adult ICU beds hovers at zero - News - The Austin Chronicle
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:49
Number of available adult ICU beds hovers at zero By Beth Sullivan, Fri., Sept. 10, 2021 A health care worker prepares to administer a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vacine (Photo by U.S. Secretary of Defense/CC BY-SA 2.0)
This Monday, Sept. 13, marks 18 months since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Travis County.
Now, as much of the nation, including Austin, finds itself in the grips of the most recent surge of the now year-and-a-half-long pandemic, public health leaders remain focused on getting shots into the arms of those who are not yet fully vaccinated. About 68% of vaccine-eligible Travis County residents (ages 12 and up) are fully vaccinated as of Sept. 8, according to data tracked by the Texas Department of State Health Services. That falls just short of local health leaders' collective goal to have 70% of local, eligible residents fully vaccinated by Labor Day.
The impact of increased vaccinations on Austin's COVID-19 numbers is still unfolding. Although the number of local COVID cases and the seven-day average for hospitalizations have plateaued in recent weeks, Austin Public Health has largely attributed the slight shift to behavior modifications, like wearing face masks, avoiding nonessential gatherings, and staying home if you feel sick, rather than vaccinations. Central Texas hospital and intensive care unit capacity is still stretched to its very limits, with the number of adult ICU beds available in Trauma Service Area O '' an 11-county region that includes Travis, Williamson, and Hays '' hovering at or just above zero for the previous seven days.
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Exxon to begin certifying some shale gas emissions amid investor pressure | Reuters
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:45
The Exxon Mobil gas station in Denver, Colorado United States July 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking
HOUSTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) on Tuesday said it will begin measuring methane emissions from production of natural gas at a New Mexico facility, joining a number of shale gas producers seeking to provide the data to buyers.
The largest U.S. oil company, under pressure from investors and environmentalists to address climate concerns, follows shale producers including EQT Corp (EQT.N) in offering independently verified emissions data to buyers seeking to reduce their own carbon footprints.
"Certifying our natural gas will help our customers achieve their goals," Bart Cahir, a senior vice president at Exxon Mobil, said in a statement.
Exxon said it had signed an agreement with independent measuring firm MiQ to certify 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day produced at its Poker Lake facilities in New Mexico.
Poker Lake was chosen in part for having already in place technology solutions to detect leaks and reduce methane emissions. Exxon said it is evaluating additional next-generation applications in the region to mitigate emissions, including satellites and artificial intelligence.
The assessment by MiQ - a partnership between RMI, formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute, and sustainable development consultancy firm Systemiq - will be available to clients in the fourth quarter, Exxon said.
The initiative could be extended later to other shale production areas including Appalachia and Haynesville, it said.
MiQ has signed similar deals with U.S. shale producers Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK.O) and Northeast Natural Energy (NNE).
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies including NextDecade Corp (NEXT.O) and Cheniere Energy Inc also said they plan to offer greenhouse gas emissions data to clients.
Earlier this year a tiny activist hedge fund took three seats on Exxon's board. Its climate strategy was central to the campaign.
Exxon this year began disclosing the emissions that result when customers use its products such as gasoline and jet fuel.
The company by 2025 plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its oil and gas production by 15-20% versus 2016 levels.
Reporting by Sabrina Valle; editing by Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Australia Bans Ivermectin - The Last Refuge
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:44
If you suspect the extremely heavy-handed Australia/New Zealand COVID-19 mitigation efforts might be a beta-test for just how far a government can go to control the citizens therein, well, this latest development appears to be an affirmation in that direction.
The ruling authority in Australia has just banned doctors from prescribing Ivermectin. The Advisory Committee for Medicines Scheduling and the Australian National COVID Clinical Evidence Taskforce, have determined that any effort to mitigate COVID-19 with therapeutics will likely diminish the goal of vaccinating the entire population. Therefore Ivermectin, which has saved thousands of lives and is widely in use in multiple countries including India, is now official banned from use by Australian doctors. Quite remarkable'....
AUSTRALIA '' Today, the TGA, acting on the advice of the Advisory Committee for Medicines Scheduling, has placed new restrictions on the prescribing of oral ivermectin. General practitioners are now only able to prescribe ivermectin for TGA-approved conditions (indications) '' scabies and certain parasitic infections. ['...] These changes have been introduced because of concerns with the prescribing of oral ivermectin for the claimed prevention or treatment of COVID-19. Ivermectin is not approved for use in COVID-19 in Australia. (LINK)
Consider this from Studies within the NIH:
'... (STUDY '' 1) ''Moderate-certainty evidence finds that large reductions in COVID-19 deaths are possible using ivermectin. Using ivermectin early in the clinical course may reduce numbers progressing to severe disease. The apparent safety and low cost suggest that ivermectin is likely to have a significant impact on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic globally.'' (LINK)
'... (STUDY '' 2, INDIA) ''There were no severe adverse drug events recorded in the study. A 5-day course of ivermectin was found to be safe and effective in treating adult patients with mild COVID-19.'' (LINK)
The Australian government is banning a therapeutic treatment with a history of success in order to force the citizens into a situation where they must take the vaccine. Here comes the black-market.
Posted in Australia,
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A Timeline Of The Met Gala's Best Outfits
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:30
It's not ALL Rihanna, but it's a majority of Rihanna.
The Met Gala is on Monday, and to celebrate the upcoming event, please and kindly join me on a trip down memory lane of the best outfits to grace the Met steps: 1. Zendaya's Cinderella gown from the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Neilson Barnard / Getty ImagesI remember the moment that Zendaya arrived like it was yesterday '-- the whole SCENE was stunning. The message behind her shedding her Disney persona as she entered adulthood was *chef's kiss*.
2. Cardi B's crimson head-to-toe gown from the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/VogueMenstrual cycle, but make it FASHION! Seriously though, this was also a moment'. I think Camp was my favorite Met Gala theme.
3. Kim Kardashian's wet look from the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: 4. Jared Leto's double-header from the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: 5. Billy Porter's gold winged bodysuit from the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/VogueWhen Billy came in on that Egyptian daybed, I just about fainted.
6. Lady Gaga's pink moment from the 2019 Met Gala, Celebrating Camp: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty ImagesOne look was not enough.
7. Blake Lively's showstopping burgundy gown from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Taylor Hill / Getty ImagesWhen a gown takes up this many steps, you know it's a vibe.
8. Chadwick Boseman's cross encrusted suit from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Dia Dipasupil / WireImage Dia Dipasupil / WireImageOne of the few men who SHOWED! UP! His presence will be dearly missed at upcoming Met Galas. RIP.
9. Cardi B's pearl-and-jewel bedazzled gown from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Dia Dipasupil / WireImageThe way that Jeremy Scott was able to perfectly fit the jewels over Cardi's baby bump...true magic.
10. Rihanna's Catholic-inspired gown and headpiece from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Hector Retamal / AFP via Getty ImagesIt's the leg posed on the step above for me.
11. Ariana Grande's Michael Angelo themed gown from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Met Museum/VogueBetween this and the iconic gray gown from the Grammys, Ari is the queen of the squat pose.
12. Sarah Jessica Parker's gold moment from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Frazer Harrison / FilmMagicSJP shows UP to the Met Gala, and this time she showed up with a sickening headpiece.
13. Katy Perry's angelic look from the 2018 Met Gala, Heavenly Bodies: Neilson Barnard / Getty ImagesThis 'fit puts the "heaven" in Heavenly Bodies.
14. Zendaya's parrot piece from the 2017 Met Gala, Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Jamie Mccarthy / FilmMagicAvian creature, but make it fashun.
15. Rihanna's avant-garde 3D piece from the 2017 Met Gala, Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Neilson Barnard / Getty ImagesOnly Rihanna can pull off this look.
16. Zoe Saldana's feathered skirt and train from the 2016 Met Gala, Manus X Machina: Taylor Hill / FilmMagicI can't even imagine how long it took for the dressmakers to make this gown.
17. Emma Watson's masculine/feminine ensemble from the 2016 Met Gala, Manus X Machina: Larry Busacca / Getty ImagesHermione, all grown up!
18. Beyonc(C)'s blush latex gown from the 2016 Met Gala, Manus X Machina: Mike Coppola / Getty Images Jamie Mccarthy / FilmMagicOne word: STUNNING!
19. Rihanna's white co-ord from the 2014 Met Gala, Charles James: Neilson Barnard / Getty ImagesDid Rihanna invent crop tops? Methinks yes!
20. Sarah Jessica Parker's black-white-and-red-all-over Oscar de la Renta from the 2014 Met Gala, Charles James: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images Larry Busacca / Getty ImagesCarrie Bradshaw could never...
21. Beyonc(C)'s jewel and organza gown from the 2015 Met Gala, China: Through the Looking Glass: Jamie Mccarthy / FilmMagic Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty ImagesThis dress is 90% nonexistent, and yet, this is the most perfect gown.
22. Florence Welch's three-tiered gown from the 2012 Met Gala, Impossible Conversations: Rabbani And Solimene Photography / Getty Images Kevin Mazur / WireImageMA'AM! CAN WE GET A WARNING, FIRST??
23. Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney's handmaid matching 'fits from the 1999 Met Gala, Rock Style: Mari Sarai / Getty Images New York Daily News Archive / NY Daily News via Getty ImagesName a more iconic duo. I'll wait.
24. Last, but not least, Rihanna's HISTORY-MAKING MOMENT from the 2015 Met Gala, China: Through the Looking Glass: Mike Coppola / Getty ImagesDid Rihanna invent the Met Gala? YES THE FUCK SHE DID! (JK Anna pls don't come for me.)
Did your favorite look make it? If so, which one was it? If not, let us know which ones we missed in the comments below!
26 Lancet scientists who trashed theory that Covid leaked from Chinese lab have links to Wuhan | Daily Mail Online
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:10
Of the 27 scientists who wrote a letter in The Lancet medical journal dismissing the possibility that Covid-19 originated from a Wuhan lab, 26 have links to its Chinese researchers, their colleagues or its benefactors, a new investigation has revealed.
On March 7 last year, the influential journal published the letter in which the 27 scientists said they 'strongly condemned conspiracy theories' surrounding the origins of the coronavirus pandemic that has impacted all corners of the world.
All debate into whether Covid-19 had man-made origins or leaked from the lab in Wuhan - the Chinese city that was ground-zero for the virus - was effectively shut down by the letter.
Of the 27 scientists who wrote a letter in The Lancet medical journal dismissing the possibility that Covid-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (pictured), 26 have links to its Chinese researchers, their colleagues or its benefactors, a new investigation has revealed
However, an investigation by The Daily Telegraph newspaper into the signatories has found that 26 of the 27 had some link to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where the leak was suspected - calling into question their impartiality.
Signatories include Dr Peter Daszak, the British president of EcoHealth Alliance, which funnelled money into controversial research at a Wuhan Institute of Virology, and UK Government scientific adviser Sir Jeremy Farrar.
Only one - Dr Ronald Corley, a microbiology expert from Boston University - has been found to have no links back to funders or researchers at the Wuhan institute.
Below, the MailOnline looks at those signatories named by The Telegraph's investigation - and other key figures and organisations - to have links with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Dr Peter Daszak
Zoologist, EcoHealth Alliance, New York
The orchestrator of the letter, British zoologist Peter Daszak, was already found to have a conflict of interest through him being president of the US-based EcoHealth Alliance, which has funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Despite declaring no conflicts of interest at the time the letter was penned, The Lancet was forced to publish an addendum to the letter acknowledging Daszak's connection to EcoHealth Alliance.
The letter played a key role in suppressing early debate on the pandemic's origins, but its credibility has since been questioned after details emerged of the involvement of Peter Daszak (pictured), a major financial backer of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIU)
Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli (left) is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province on February 23, 2017
In an email made public through Freedom of Information requests, Mr Daszak is said to have revealed on February 8 that he composed the letter after being asked by 'our collaborators' in China for a 'show of support'.
Scandal hit Dr Daszak has since been removed from the UN-backed Lancet commission looking at the origins of the pandemic.
However, The Telegraph has reported that five other signatories also worked for the same organisation. None of whom declared their involvement.
Two such signatories include Dr William Karesh, an infectious disease expert and Professor Hume Field, veterinary sciences expert.
Dr Jeremy Farrar
Tropical medicine expert and SAGE adviser & The Wellcome Trust, London
Pictured: Dr Jeremy Farrar, tropical medicine expert and SAGE adviser. Also of the Wellcome Trust
The newspaper also found that three of the signatories were from Britain's Wellcome Trust, which has also previously funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Signatory Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the UK's Sage and the director of the Trust, has in the past published work with George Gao, the head of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, whom he has described as 'an old friend'.
Dr Gao, who studied at Oxford University, is a former research assistant at the Wellcome Trust. Mr Daszak has claimed Dr Gao supported his nomination to the National Academy of Sciences, according to The Telegraph.
The Chinese scientist also has connections to Shi Zhengli, the scientist who has become known as 'batwoman' on account of her research into bat coronaviruses in Wuhan. Her team discovered a virus in 2013 which is the closest ever previously found to Sars-Cov-2 - the virus that causes Covid-19.
Two other signatories - Dr Josie Golding and Professor Mike Turner - are known to have current or past connections with the Wellcome Trust.
Dr Golding is the Trust's Epidemics lead, while Prof. Turner is a Parasitology expert at the University of Glasgow, and formerly worked with the Trust.
George F. Gao, head of China's Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, attends a session at the China Development Forum in Beijing, China March 20, 2021
Speaking to the MailOnline in June on the lab leak theory, Dr Farrar said: 'The origins of Sars-Cov-2 are not yet certain '-- it is possible the origin will never be fully established '-- but nature is a powerful force and, in my view, the most likely scenario is that the virus crossed from animals to humans and then evolved in humans.
'The best scientific evidence available to date points to this. It is most likely it crossed the species barrier to infect and then adapt to humans at some point in 2019, but there are other possibilities which cannot be completely ruled out and retaining an open mind is critical.
'There is no place for unsubstantiated rumour, or conspiracy theories often fuelled for political purposes.'
Professor Linda Saif
Microbiology expert, The Ohio State University
Microbiology expert Professor Linda Saif, another signatory, spoke at a workshop in Wuhan in May 2017 along with Dr Shi and Dr Gao. The workshop was partly organised by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The level of security in Chinese labs was among the topics discussed at the workshop, while Professor Saif's talk covered animal coronaviruses.
The Global Virome Project
Two more signatories on The Lancet letter are in the leadership team of the Global Virome Project - an organisations whose goal is to detect and identify 99 percent or more of potential zoonotic viral threats.
Mr Daszak is the treasurer of the Global Virome Project, while Dr Gao helped launch it, with EcoHealth Alliance as one of its partners.
The Global Virome Project took over from the Predict project, which discovered more than 1,000 unique viruses in animals and humans.
But according to The Telegraph, the Predict project was also found to have part-funded contentious work by Wuhan researchers on bat coronaviruses, which were altered to see if they could infect humans.
The funds for the research were provided by the EcoHealth Alliance.
Professor John Mackenzie
Tropical infectious diseases expert, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Tropical infectious disease expert Professor John Mackenzie who works out of Curtin University in Perth, Australia, was another of the signatories.
The investigation has found that he did not disclose that he was still listed as a committee member of the the Scientific Advisory Committee of Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan institute.
Professor Kanta Subbarao
Virology expert, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Kanta Subbarao Virology expert, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Kanta Subbarao, another signatory from the University of Melbourne, spoke at a conference on emerging diseases in Wuhan in 2016 which was part-organised by the the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Prof. Subbarao was still chief of the US-based National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) Emerging Respiratory Viruses Section.
Five more of the letter's signatories have all been found by the investigation to have published articles with Professor Ralph Baric.
Professor Prof Ralph Baric
While Prof Baric was omitted from the list of signatories, he was collaborating with Shi Zhengli and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, researching genetically manipulated coronaviruses to see if they could be made to infect humans.
Earlier this year, Republicans in the US argued that the virus was possibly genetically modified, and cite an interview with Baric in which he said it was possible to engineer a virus, 'without leaving a trace.'
Pictured: Ralph Baric, researcher and lab leader at North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, February 14, 2020
Baric was initially asked to add his name to the letter by Mr Daszak, with emails between the pair recently coming to light ahead of The Lancet letter's publication, showing that the pair decided to mask their association with the Wuhan institute to avoid looking 'self-serving'.
Mr Daszak told Prof Baric that he would publish the letter in such a way that it doesn't 'link it back to our collaboration so we maximise an independent voice'.
Professor Peter Palese
Microbiology expert, Icahn School of Medicine, New York
A number of those who signed the letter have since changed their stance with some calling for a full inquiry into the origins of Covid-19.
Speaking to the MailOnline in June, Professor Peter Palese - a microbiology expert from Icahn School of Medicine, New York, said: 'I believe a thorough investigation about the origin of the Covid-19 virus is needed.
'A lot of disturbing information has surfaced since the Lancet letter I signed, so I want to see answers covering all questions.'
Asked how he was originally approached to sign the letter and what new information had come to light specifically, Professor Palese declined to comment.
Professor Stanley Perlman
Microbiology expert, University of Iowa
Signatory Prof Stanley Perlman, of the University of Iowa, told The Telegraph: 'It is difficult to eliminate a possible lab leak as part of the process, so this still needs to be considered.'
Professor Charles Calisher
Microbiolgy expert, Colorado State University
Professor Charles Calisher, who signed the letter downplayed the letter to The Telegraph, saying that the intention behind it was never to suggest Covid-19 might have not originated in nature, but rather that there was a lack of data to make such a claim.
Professor Charles Calisher (left) and Professor Stanley Perlman (right)
Professor Bernard Roizman
Microbiology expert, University of Chicago
Professor Bernard Roizman told the Wall Street Journal in May that since signing the letter, he has become convinced that the deadly virus was released by a 'sloppy' scientists.
Dr Ronald Corley
Microbiology expert, NEIDL Institute, Boston
Out of the 27 signatories of the Lancet Letter, The Telegraph reported that it could find no connection between just one and the Wuhan Institute of Virology - Dr Ronald Corley from Boston University.
Dr Ronald Corley (left) and Professor Bernard Roizman (right)
Reacting to the findings of the investigation, researchers into the lab-leak theory who were blocked and branded conspiracy theorists called it an 'extreme cover up' on Friday, the newspaper reported.
Molecular biologist Prof Richard Ebright, of Rutgers University, fought to uncover the truth behind the Covid pandemic.
He told The Telegraph that after the June addendum that disclosed that Daszak had connections to the Wuhan institute, the other 27 signatories were invited to offer any of their own competing interests.
'Incredibly, only Daszak appears to have done so,' Ebright told the newspaper.
'Conflicts of interest were not reported for any of the other 26 signers of the letter '' not even those with obviously material undisclosed conflicts such as EcoHealth employees and Predict contractors.'
Angus Dalgleish, professor of oncology at St Georges, University of London, warned that it could now be too late to fully learn the origins of Covid-19 because of what he called 'stalling', but remained hopeful that the evidence 'is out there'.
DID COVID LEAK FROM A WUHAN LAB? THE EVIDENCE FOR AND AGAINST Evidence for Wuhan lab-leak theory
An article in the respected Science journal on May 14 kick-started the surge in interest for the lab-leak theory.
Some 18 experts wrote in the journal that 'we must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data'.
Later that month, a study by British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr Birger S¸rensen claimed it had 'prima facie evidence of retro-engineering in China' for a year.
The study included accusations of 'deliberate destruction, concealment or contamination of data' at Chinese labs.
It followed statements from the WHO Director General, US and EU that greater clarity about the origins of this pandemic is necessary and feasible to achieve.
Previously, the theory had been dismissed as conspiracy by most experts, partly because of its association with President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden in May ordered a full investigation into the origin of the pandemic virus and demanded scientists work out whether there is truth to the theory.
The head of the World Health Organization insisted just a day earlier that the theory that Covid emerged from a Wuhan lab has not been ruled out '-- as he said China should help solve the mystery out of 'respect' for the dead.
The body's director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, suggested that Beijing had not cooperated fully as he urged more 'transparency' in the continuing investigation.
Evidence against the theory
Several other sects of the scientific community continue to suggest the virus could only be natural in origin.
A series of recent papers pointed to the virus evolving in animals before being transmitted to humans, in the same way as all other previously discovered coronaviruses.
The first study, published in Scientific Reports, showed some 47,000 wild animals from 38 species were sold across four markets in Wuhan between May 2017 and November 2019.
The authors, including Dr Chris Newman, an evolutionary ecologist at Oxford University, claimed the evidence showed the conditions for animal-to-human transmission were in place in Wuhan.
But they acknowledged there was no proof Sars-CoV-2 was present or originated in any of these animals.
A joint World Health Organization-China investigation also concluded it was 'very likely' the virus jumped from bats to humans via an as-yet-unknown intermediary animal.
No work, no benefits '' Denmark's sensible plans to make migrants work to earn welfare payments should be adopted across Europe '-- RT Op-ed
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:49
Paul A. Nuttall is a historian, author and a former politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019 and was a prominent campaigner for Brexit.
The Scandinavian country, once admired by socialists, now faces their ire for its crackdowns on immigrants and immigration. But its tough policies show the rest of the continent '' and Britain '' the way forward.
The Danish government this week announced that migrants will have to work for their welfare payments. Of course, this has caused uproar on the left, but these proposals are sensible and will, in the long run, be good for both the migrants and Danish society.
The new Danish government policy states that ''if you come to Denmark, you have to work and support yourself and your family '... if one cannot support oneself, one must have a duty to participate and contribute what is equivalent to a regular working week to receive the full welfare benefit.''
If the policy is ratified by the Danish parliament, some migrants will need to work a 37-hour week for their state benefits. Justifying the move, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, ''We want to introduce a new work logic where people have a duty to contribute and be useful, and if they can't find a regular job, they have to work for their allowance.''
Now I have to admit, I had to do a double take at this because it seems, for the first time in ages, a politician is speaking some good old common sense. I also can hardly believe Frederiksen is a Social Democrat and that her government classes itself as centre-left. I mean, can you imagine anything so sensible being proposed by the Democrats in the United States or by the Labour Party in the UK? No, I thought not.
Anyway, the Danish government argues that this new policy will have a number of benefits, and at the top of that list is integration. They claim that unemployment among migrants prevents them from integrating into Danish society.
This is undoubtedly true, because, when people go to work, they mix with people who are generally not from the same community and with those who speak the native language. Therefore, in many ways, work forces integration, which can only be a good thing.
Frederiksen also said the rules were directly aimed at women from ''non-Western backgrounds'' living on benefits. Indeed, in Denmark, six out of 10 women from North African, Middle Eastern and Turkish backgrounds are unemployed.
We have had a similar problem here in the UK for many years. Among Muslim women (both immigrant and native-born), as of 2015, only 28% were in work, and, as of 2016, 22% could not speak English with any proficiency. This is no good for community cohesion, as it prevents integration. I would also argue that it is no good for the women themselves.
The Danish scheme will also be good for society as a whole. At the press conference launching the scheme, the Minister of Employment, Peter Hummelgaard Thomsen, argued that the point was to get migrants used to turning up for work. The job itself, he said, did not really matter, as ''it could be a job on the beach picking up cigarette butts or plastic... (or) helping to solve various tasks within a company.'' He is right, of course, it's not about the job, it's about the lifestyle.
I used to see it in Brussels all the time. Young men '' and it always seems to be young men '' of either North African or Middle Eastern extraction hanging around during working hours looking like they had nothing to do. Now, I am not going to besmirch their characters, as I do not know their life stories, but surely it would be better for society if these men were working rather than standing idly around?
I also suspect that the Danish policy will reduce crime, and particularly petty crime. Indeed, if you look at crime statistics across Europe, you find that migrants are disproportionately arrested and charged. Take Denmark, as an example, where immigrants make up 10% of the population, yet commit 16% of crime. I would argue that, if they were put to work, then those statistics would fall, for, as the saying goes, ''the devil makes work for idle hands to do.''
Then there's the moral aspect. I have never liked the fact that people can take from a society without ever putting in first. It has always seemed unfair to me that those who have just arrived can get as much out of the welfare system as pensioners who have paid tax all their lives. This new Danish policy, I believe, will go some way to righting this wrong.
Denmark has taken a tough stance on immigration and asylum issues over the past few years, and the results are clear for all to see. In 2015, a massive 21,000 asylum seekers arrived in Denmark, yet, between January and July this year, it was a mere 851.
Also on rt.com Evicting migrants from Danish inner-city ghettos is NOT racism, it's common sense - and immigrants will benefit the most The Danish parliament has also voted to process refugees in Africa rather than on Danish soil, and the country has the ambition of having zero asylum applications in the near future. So, in the space of five years, Denmark has been transformed from a soft-touch country into a nation of tough love.
So, as you can guess, I heartily congratulate Denmark for this policy, and I wish other European countries and the UK would follow suit. But I won't be holding my breath that it will happen anytime soon. The human rights lawyers and Labour politicians would be all over this in a flash.
You see, unlike Denmark, the UK doesn't seem able to control its own borders, and once you are here, it is your human right not to work and to access a welfare system that you have never paid into. So, while the UK's immigration policy clearly stinks, there is definitely nothing rotten in the state of Denmark.
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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Amid Delta variant and with almost 50% of NFL positive COVID-19 tests among vaccinated players and staff, union calls for daily testing for all - cleveland.com
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:32
BEREA, Ohio '-- In light of the surging Delta variant and the fact that almost 50% of positive COVID-19 tests in the NFL occurred among vaccinated players and staff in the first week of training camp, the NFLPA will recommend to the NFL daily testing of vaccinated players and staff, same as for the unvaccinated, according to a memo obtained by cleveland.com.
Currently, vaccinated players and staff only have to be covid tested every two weeks. The NFL has no mandate for players, but has placed severe restrictions on the unvaccinated.
In addition, the NFLPA is recommending reducing the number of tiered staff allowed into the locker room.
The memo states that although vaccines have shown a greater than 80% effectiveness against all variants, ''vaccinated people can both contract and spread the Delta variant.''
The union emphasizes that ''based on the guidance of our medical experts and what we know about this new variant, this is the best defense we have to prevent infections and protect you and your families, while also executing a full season. We will recommend BRL PCR testing for vaccinated staff and players each day you/they enter the facility, the goal of which is to detect positive cases quickly and prevent the spread of the virus.
''You will not have to wait for a test result and we will NOT recommend testing on your off days or bye week.''
It states that ''based on our experience from last year, the number of positive tests in the first week of training camp (data below) is cause for concern.''
In a conference call a few hours after the NFLPA memo was sent to players, NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills said on a conference call that the league will remain flexible with COVID protocols, but is not in favor of the daily testing for vaccinated players and staffers that the union wants.
The NFLPA memo says that ''we have tested 2,528 players and 4,549 staff since training camps began (July 25th-August 1st) and have had more than 65 positive cases. 32 of these cases are among vaccinated individuals (again, while vaccines lower the risk of infection, they do not prevent infection; they are proven to prevent serious illness and death).''
But Sills counters that many of the vaccinated individuals who have tested positive are asymptomatic and the rest exhibiting only mild symptoms and some have returned in less than 10 days. ''No one has been seriously ill,'' he said.
The union argues that asymptomatic vaccinated players can spread the Delta variant as easily as as unvaccinated players/
''These 'breakthrough' cases are consistent with what our COVID Taskforce and the CDC have learned about the Delta variant in recent weeks, This Delta variant is NEW and is 50% more contagious than the original strain of the coronavirus,'' the NFLPA memo read. ''Individuals infected with Delta can also spread the virus to more people, spreading it to 5-9 people as opposed to the 2-3 with the original virus.''
Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is one of the unvaccinated players who tested positive and was activated off COVID-19 reserve on Tuesday. He said he remained asymptomatic throughout his 10-day quarantine.
The memo adds that ''we have had two outbreaks inside club facilities (Atlanta and Miami) in the first week of training camp this year when we had no team facility transmission until week 3 last year. We have consistently stated that football will go the way of our communities, and multiple cities and states are experiencing record surges in infections and hospitalizations due to the Delta variant.''
It stated that ''in the event of an apparent virus spread among a club, masking may be required for all players and staff, regardless of vaccination status. This is similar to the intensive protocols last year and designed to prevent an outbreak. We will report back to you after we discuss with the NFL.''
Some NFL players got vaccinated so they didn't have to be tested every day or follow other strict protocols.
''Was basically forced into getting the vaccine. Now I'm just confused. @NFLPA,'' Bears tight end Jimmy Graham posted on Twitter.
The union makes it clear that it had to pivot throughout last season to adjust to the changing COVID-19 landscape.
''Last year, our NFLPA COVID Taskforce, staff and player leadership worked together to recommend a game plan for how we would play a full season while also keeping everyone as safe as possible,'' it read. ''We had to adjust that plan throughout the year given what we learned about the virus, and we achieved our goals thanks to your flexibility, understanding and dedication to the protocols.''
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If Kamala Harris Believes What She Says, She Just Came Out Against Biden's Vaccine Mandate
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:06
Commentary By Christine Favocci September 10, 2021 at 2:24pm President Joe Biden has imposed a sweeping vaccine mandate, but one of the most cogent arguments against it has come from an unlikely source: Vice President Kamala Harris.
As part of the president's ongoing COVID-19 response, Biden announced Thursday that the vaccine will soon be mandatory for workers at private-sector companies with at least 100 employees '-- a provision that experts estimate impacts some 80 million Americans.
Republicans and other freedom-loving people across the nation immediately erupted in outrage at such a government overreach, angry that this edict was imposed without regard to Americans' constitutional rights to bodily autonomy.
And yet it was the vice president's words from an appearance earlier that same day that made the case for allowing people to make medical decisions for themselves as the only way to preserve our democracy.
''When people are able to design their lives in a way that they can determine their own futures, we are a stronger democracy and we are a stronger nation,'' Harris said.
''When people are able to make choices without government interference for themselves '-- in terms of their well-being and the well-being of their family, in consultation with whomever they may choose '-- we are a stronger society,'' she asserted.
Harris went on to stress that she has ''been a strong advocate for '... the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not to have anybody interfere with her ability and her right to make that decision.''
As encouraging as her message sounds in light of the vaccine mandate, those words ring hollow in the context of where she said them: Harris was hosting reproductive rights roundtable to discuss the new Texas law that bans abortions for unborn babies with heartbeats.
Did Harris' words undermine the case for a vaccine mandate?
Yes: 94% (1630 Votes)
No: 6% (101 Votes)
As with many of her like-minded abortion zealots, the vice president supports bodily autonomy and eschews government involvement in health care decisions only as they pertain to a mother's right to kill her baby.
Their logic '-- if one can call it that '-- dictates that babies dependent on their mothers while in utero have no rights and deserve no legal protection whatsoever.
Any attempt to shield the unborn from those actively and willfully seeking to end their lives amounts to medical tyranny and a violation of women's ''reproductive rights.''
But that script gets completely flipped when it comes to imposing an experimental medical intervention on millions of Americans through coercion and threats.
''We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,'' Biden scolded the vaccine-hesitant in his remarks Thursday. ''And your refusal has cost all of us.''
The president argued that medical decisions should be taken out of individuals' hands if those choices harm others '-- an argument that makes sense in the context of abortion.
Abortion is the only procedure that is considered successful when a baby's dead body is delivered or when pieces of the corpse are successfully accounted for before being disposed of as medical waste.
The power to stop such a barbaric, brutal procedure is the clearest case where the government has the right to intervene in a particular medical decision as it is 100 percent fatal for at least one of the parties involved.
Still, Biden is using the full force of the federal government to stop a law designed to protect the smallest, most vulnerable Americans while simultaneously demanding millions of Americans get vaccinated.
Though it would appear Harris was throwing shade at Biden with her advocacy for a woman's right to make her own medical decisions, the context reveals both the president and vice president have a misplaced idea of where individual rights end and government intervention begins.
Biden has crossed the Rubicon, now insisting that Americans accept the COVID-19 vaccine '-- a medical intervention whose long-term safety and medical benefits are unknown '-- in the most insidious and malicious use of governmental force in recent American history.
It used to be that people like Biden and Harris were all about ''My body, my choice'' because the slogan sounded like a reasonable argument when applied to the hidden horror of abortion.
Now they've moved on to ''Get the shot, or else'' to make sure no Americans have any say in what to do with their bodies as long as they can get away with it '-- everyone except those who wish to snuff out their unborn children, of course.
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videoSummaryMore Biographical Information Recent Posts ContactChristine earned her bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University, where she studied communications and Latin. She left her career in the insurance industry to become a freelance writer and stay-at-home mother.
Christine earned her bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University, where she studied communications and Latin. She left her career in the insurance industry to become a freelance writer and stay-at-home mother.
Met een grotendeels gevaccineerde bevolking durft Denemarken weer terug naar 2019 | De Volkskrant
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 17:29
Denemarken ziet corona niet meer als bedreiging en laat alle beperkende maatregelen vallen. Hoe dat kan? Vaccins, is het simpele antwoord.
Dylan van Bekkum 10 september 2021 , 13:38 Heel veel kon alweer in Denemarken, maar sinds vrijdag hebben Denen de vrijheden die ze moesten opgeven om de coronacrisis te bestrijden allemaal weer terug. Afstand houden is niet meer nodig. Bij nachtclubs, festivals of voetbalstadions sta je niet meer in de rij om je vaccinatie- of testbewijs te laten zien. Een maximumaantal aanwezigen bij evenementen is er niet langer.
Corona is in Denemarken gedegradeerd tot 'normale' ziekte. 'De epidemie is onder controle', zei de Volksgezondheidsminister Magnus Heunicke in augustus. 'Corona is niet langer een kritieke bedreiging voor de samenleving.'
De Denen voelen zich voldoende beschermd tegen de pandemie. Van alle Denen boven de 12 jaar is namelijk 83 procent volledig gevaccineerd. In Nederland is dat 74 procent. Van de vijftigplussers, waar vooral de risicogroep zit, is in Denemarken zelfs 96 procent gevaccineerd.
Vertrouwen Wie had willen voorspellen hoe de pandemie zou voorlopen, had tot dusver eigenlijk alleen naar Denemarken hoeven te kijken. Het was een van de eerste landen in Europa dat in maart 2020 in lockdown ging en eind april van dat jaar was het zo'n beetje het eerste land dat weer wat versoepelde.
Toen Nederland in februari 2021 na veel chagrijn eindelijk een beetje op stoom kwam wat betreft vaccineren, was Denemarken al een heel eind verder en koploper van Europa. Het stopte als eerste met AstraZeneca en Janssen-vaccins na ernstige trombosebijwerkingen. Nu gaat het voor het eerst weer helemaal van het slot.
Wat dat betreft gloort er hoop aan de coronahorizon voor andere Europese landen die achterlopen op Denemarken. Maar de belangrijkste reden voor het laten vallen van de laatste maatregelen, de hoge vaccinatiegraad, kwam niet zomaar tot stand. Dat is namelijk het gevolg van het vertrouwen dat de Denen hebben in het coronabeleid, concludeert een grootschalig Deens sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek.
Het vergeleek Denemarken met zeven andere westerse democratien en nam in totaal meer dan 400.000 interviews af. Het vertrouwen in de overheid was in Denemarken voor de pandemie al groot, maar het beleid en de communicatie van de Deense overheid heeft ertoe geleid dat de Denen ook het coronabeleid in grote mate bleven steunen. In vergelijking met andere westerse landen waren er veel minder anti-lockdown demonstraties.
De overheid bracht het als een morele opdracht om overal vroeg bij te zijn en het aantal besmettingen te stoppen. Daardoor voelden de Denen een collectieve verantwoordelijkheid en waren de lockdowns beter te dragen, blijkt uit het onderzoek. De eenzaamheid was in Denemarken minder groot dan in de de zeven andere landen.
De hoge vaccinatiegraad is tevens een gevolg van transparantie over de nadelige gevolgen. Het vroege stoppen met Janssen en AstraZeneca is daar een onderdeel van.
Coronapas Dat de Deense overheid het weer aandurft de samenleving open te gooien, heeft ook te maken met andere gunstige coronacijfers. In het land met 5,3 miljoen inwoners zijn nu dagelijks rond de 500 nieuwe besmettingen. Vrijdag lagen er 132 Denen met een coronabesmetting in het ziekenhuis, van wie 28 op de intensive care-afdeling.
Daarbij spelen vaccinaties natuurlijk een belangrijk rol, maar het is ook een bijeffect van de succesvolle coronapas die Denemarken in mei 2021 invoerde. Omdat het de Denen zeer eenvoudig werd gemaakt zich te laten testen, konden versoepelingen eerder worden doorgevoerd. Ook kreeg het land zo meer grip en overzicht op de verspreiding van het virus.
Bovendien heeft Denemarken de afgelopen maanden in kleine stapjes versoepeld. Van het in een keer laten vallen van een heel pakket maatregelen, zoals in Nederland of het Verenigd Koninkrijk, is geen sprake geweest. Tot een nationale feestdag heeft de Deense overheid het loslaten van de maatregelen dan ook niet gemaakt. De regering heeft al gewaarschuwd dat die snel weer ingevoerd kunnen worden als de situatie weer verslechtert.
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France's former health minister placed under investigation for 'endangering lives' amid widening probe into government's pandemic response - The Washington Post
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 10:15
MARSEILLE, France '-- France's former health minister Agn¨s Buzyn was placed under formal investigation Friday for "endangering the lives of others" in the coronavirus pandemic, court officials told several French news agencies, marking one of the first such judicial cases worldwide.
Buzyn was only in office until the early days of the pandemic '-- she resigned in mid-February 2020 and went on to unsuccessfully run for Paris mayor '-- but the investigation against her could still spell trouble for President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to run for reelection next spring.
Several of his current or former ministers and top officials may similarly be investigated in the coming weeks, including current Health Minister Olivier V(C)ran and former prime minister douard Philippe.
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Amid a widening inquiry into their role during the pandemic, French authorities searched the homes of V(C)ran, Philippe, Buzyn and other French top officials last October. The searches were ordered by France's Cour de Justice de La Republique, a special court tasked with investigating wrongdoing by members of the government.
Ahead of Friday's decision to place her under investigation, Buzyn had defended her track record during the pandemic and vowed to ''reestablish the truth.''
France has so far reported more than 115,000 deaths from covid-19 and almost 7 million cases. It has recorded fewer per capita deaths and infections than the United States, but more than some of its neighboring countries.
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Cases have recently surged again in the country's south, with infection and hospitalization rates particularly high in Marseille, where vaccination rates are lagging behind the national average. France recently imposed a health pass to put more pressure on holdouts to get vaccinated, but critics accuse the government of having failed to sufficiently target disadvantaged citizens.
In neighboring Italy, which has reported a higher total death toll than France, the prime minister and several members of the cabinet were questioned by prosecutors last year in an investigation with a scope similar to the one in France. Nobody has been charged.
France was one of the first countries to impose a strict lockdown in response to the virus, but it still recorded one of Europe's highest death tolls in the first wave.
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Critics blame Macron and his government for having been too slow to procure personal protective equipment, for having confused the public with a U-turn on mask-wearing and for having allowed the virus to spread uncontrolled for too long.
Though the French government has pointed at similar problems in other European countries, Macron acknowledged in April last year that ''our country was not sufficiently ready for this crisis.''
''We will all draw all the consequences,'' he said at the time.
Buzyn drew a similar conclusion, telling France's Le Monde newspaper in March last year that ''when I left the ministry, I cried because I knew that the tsunami wave was in front of us.''
''We should have stopped everything, it was a masquerade,'' she said.
Despite her admission, Buzyn was later named World Health Organization envoy, tasked with multilateral affairs.
Arizona Dumps Bonds After Ben & Jerry's Stops Selling In Occupied Territories : NPR
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 10:12
Trucks are parked at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory in the Be'er Tuvia Industrial area in Israel on July 20. Arizona has sold off Unilever bonds because the company's Ben & Jerry's subsidiary decided to stop selling its ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories. Tsafrir Abayov/AP hide caption
toggle caption Tsafrir Abayov/AP Trucks are parked at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory in the Be'er Tuvia Industrial area in Israel on July 20. Arizona has sold off Unilever bonds because the company's Ben & Jerry's subsidiary decided to stop selling its ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories.
Tsafrir Abayov/AP PHOENIX '-- Arizona has sold off $93 million in Unilever bonds and plans to sell the remaining $50 million it has invested in the global consumer products company over subsidiary Ben & Jerry's decision to stop selling its ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories, the latest in a series of actions by states with anti-Israel boycott laws.
The investment moves state Treasurer Kimberly Yee announced this week were mandated by a 2019 state law that bars Arizona government agencies from holding investments or doing more than $100,000 in business with any firm that boycotts Israel or its territories.
Arizona appears to be the first of 35 states with anti-boycott laws or regulation to have fully divested itself from Unilever following Ben & Jerry's actions. Illinois warned the company in July that it had 90 days after its investment board met to change course or it too would sell. Florida and other states have taken similar action, according to IAC For Action, the policy and legislative arm for the Israeli-American Council.
While Ben & Jerry's, which is based in Vermont, is owned by London-based Unilever, it maintains its own independent board, which Unilever said makes its own decision on its social mission. Ben & Jerry's announced on July 19 that maintaining its presence in the occupied territories was "inconsistent with our values."
Ben & Jerry's decision brought a strong reaction from Israel, which vowed to "act aggressively" in response to the move, including by urging U.S. governors to punish the company under anti-boycott laws. Arizona and 34 other states have laws against boycotts of Israel.
U.S. groups that support Israel are split on whether pushing back on Unilever for Ben & Jerry's decision is appropriate. The Israeli-American Council urged governors to act through IAC For Action.
Then state Sen. Kimberly Yee watches as a vote takes place at the Capitol in Phoenix in 2016. Yee, who is now the state treasurer, announced this week that Arizona has sold off $93 million in Unilever bonds and plans to sell the remaining $50 million it has invested in the global consumer products company. Bob Christie/AP hide caption
toggle caption Bob Christie/AP Then state Sen. Kimberly Yee watches as a vote takes place at the Capitol in Phoenix in 2016. Yee, who is now the state treasurer, announced this week that Arizona has sold off $93 million in Unilever bonds and plans to sell the remaining $50 million it has invested in the global consumer products company.
Bob Christie/AP IAC for Action Director Joseph Sabag called boycotts of Israel antisemitic and said it is important to fight them at the state level.
"The Israeli American community is sensitive to it, because I would say more than other parts of the Jewish American community, we experienced the national origin aspect of antisemitism in a more pronounced way," Sabag said Friday. "That's really why we're very proactive. It's our children who are being affected by this in the classrooms and are being made fearful and intimidated and to feel harassed. ... That's definitely what our community's interest is in the matter."
But the head of J Street, a Washington, D.C.-based pro-Israel organization that backs a two-state solution, supported Ben & Jerry's decision and said punishing the company is "gravely dangerous."
"It's not anti-semitic to criticize Israeli policy or to not sell ice cream in illegal settlements," President Jeremy Ben-Ami tweeted in July. "It's actually a truly pro-Israel decision."
The anti-boycott laws face court challenges, as Arizona's did after it was first enacted in 2016. A Flagstaff lawyer who contracted to help defend jailed people sued on First Amendment grounds, arguing that the law violated his free speech rights.
A U.S. District judge in Arizona blocked enforcement while the case proceeded, but the Legislature changed the law so it only applied to contracts worth more than $100,000, effectively ending the case because it no longer applied to the Flagstaff man. The state was ordered to pay $115,000 for his attorney fees.
In Arkansas, the publisher of a weekly newspaper sued to block that state's law on similar grounds. A trial judge dismissed the case, ruling that "a boycott of Israel is neither speech nor inherently expressive conduct" protected by the First Amendment. But a split three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived the Arkansas Times' lawsuit in February, finding that "supporting or promoting boycotts of Israel is constitutionally protected ... yet the Act requires government contractors to abstain from such constitutionally protected activity."
The ruling is not the last word: In June, 8th Circuit judges agreed to hear the case and vacated the three-judge panel's decision. They are set to hear arguments in the case later this month.
Both cases were brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Meanwhile in Arizona, Yee wrote to Unilever's investor relations department on Sept. 2 to tell the company that although Ben & Jerry's is run independently, Arizona law would require her to sell Unilever assets if the decision was not rescinded.
"I gave Unilever PLC, the parent company of Ben & Jerry's, an ultimatum: reverse the action of Ben & Jerry's or divest itself of Ben & Jerry's to come into compliance with Arizona law or face the consequences," Yee, a Republican who is running for governor, said in a statement. "They chose the latter."
Unilever said in an Aug. 2 letter to Deputy Treasurer Mark Swenson that it has never supported boycotts of Israel, commonly called Boycott Divestment Sanctions, or BDS, but that Ben & Jerry's operates independently. The company had no additional comment.
The Arizona investments were in bonds and commercial paper held in the state's short-term fixed-income investment fund.
The Arizona law enacted in 2016 and revised in 2019 had broad, bipartisan support and was signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. He tweeted that the Ben & Jerry's decision "is discrimination."
"Arizona will not do business with a company that boycotts Israel '-- in 2016 and 2019, I signed bills to make sure of it," the tweet said. "Arizona stands with Israel."
Group of 200+ CEOs 'Welcomes' Biden Vax-or-Test Mandate
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 04:11
Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images Business Roundtable said it "welcomes" Biden's plan requiring companies to mandate vaccines or weekly testing. The group represents executives from Walmart, Amazon, Apple, Google, Home Depot, and more. On Thursday, the group said it "applauds" companies that have already implemented vaccine mandates. See more stories on Insider's business page. Business Roundtable, a lobbyist group whose members include chief executives from companies like Amazon, Walmart, Apple, Google, and Home Depot, said in a statement Thursday that it supports Biden's plan requiring companies with over 100 workers to mandate vaccines or weekly tests.
"Business Roundtable welcomes the Biden Administration's continued vigilance in the fight against COVID," Joshua Bolten, the group's president, said. "America's business leaders know how critical vaccination and testing are in defeating the pandemic."
"Over the past several weeks many companies have decided to implement a vaccine mandate for some or all of their employees, a decision we applaud," he added.
The group represents over 200 chief executives from the nation's most powerful companies that "represent every sector of the economy." According to the Business Roundtable website, members advocate "for policy solutions that foster U.S. economic growth and competitiveness."
Some CEOs were originally hesitant to require all employees to receive the vaccine, fearing that a mandate would cause workers to quit '-- something most companies could not afford amid the national labor shortage.
Home Depot, whose CEO is a member of Business Roundtable, was one company that "urged" employees to receive the vaccine but didn't go as far as requiring it.
United Airlines, Disney, Tyson Foods, Facebook, and Google are among the firms that had already required in-person employees to be vaccinated previous to Biden's announcement.
The president's six-pronged COVID-19 action plan announced Thursday aims to counteract the Delta variant's threat in the US.
The variant accounts for more than 90% of COVID-19 cases in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Insider's Azmi Haroun and Aria Bendix reported.
Though daily cases have begun to decline slightly, they still hover around 136,000 a day on average. Anthony Fauci, the White House's chief medical advisor, told Axios that daily cases should ideally be below 10,000 for the coronavirus to no longer pose a public-health threat.
"Business Roundtable looks forward to continue working with the Administration and leaders across all levels of government to defeat the pandemic," Bolten said.
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ESPN College Football Reporter Allison Williams Pulled Off Air After Refusing COVID Vaccine
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 01:48
Longtime ESPN college football sideline reporter Allison Williams will not be part of the network's coverage this season after refusing the company's policy requiring on-site employees be COVID-vaccinated.
''While my work is incredibly important to me, the most important role I have is as a mother,'' Williams wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. ''Throughout our family planning with our doctor, as well as a fertility specialist, I have decided not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at this time while my husband and I try for a second child.''
''This was a deeply difficult decision to make and it's not something I take lightly,'' she continued. ''I understand vaccines have been essential in the effort to end this pandemic; however, taking the vaccine at this time is not in my best interest. After a lot of prayer and deliberation, I have decided I must put my family and personal health first. I will miss being on the sidelines and am thankful for the support of my ESPN family. I look forward to when I can return to the games and job that I love.''
ESPN issued the following statement to TheWrap: ''''We aren't going to comment on an individual. We are going through a thorough review of accommodation requests on a case by case basis, and are granting accommodations where warranted. Our focus is on a safe work environment for everyone.''
According to an individual close to production, all employees traveling to events including Williams were required to be vaccinated by August 1. This preceded ESPN parent Disney's requirement that employees be vaccinated by September 30. Williams' frequent and direct contact with people on the field at different stadiums presented added challenges, given mandates vary by states and even cities, the individual added.
Williams joined ESPN in March 2011. In her tweet, she said this is the first time in 15 years she won't be on the sidelines but she's at peace with her decision.
This will be the first fall in the last 15 years I won't be on the sidelines for College Football. My heart hurts posting this but I'm at peace with my decision. pic.twitter.com/np5V3gdrfW
'-- Allison Williams (@AllisonW_Sports) September 9, 2021Read the CDC recommendations on vaccinations while pregnant or breastfeeding here.
President Biden's COVID-19 Plan | The White House
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 00:55
President Biden is implementing a six-pronged, comprehensive national strategy that employs the same science-based approach that was used to successfully combat previous variants of COVID-19 earlier this year. This plan will ensure that we are using every available tool to combat COVID-19 and save even more lives in the months ahead, while also keeping schools open and safe, and protecting our economy from lockdowns and damage.
Vaccinating the Unvaccinated
Since January, the Administration has taken actions to make vaccination conveniently available to all. COVID vaccines have been available to every individual age 16 and older since April 19th and to those age 12 and older since May. The Administration took steps to make vaccines available at over 80,000 locations nationwide, worked with pharmacies to offer walk-in appointments, and put out a call to action to businesses and organizations across the nation.
The President announced vaccination requirements for the federal government in July and called on the private sector to do more to encourage vaccination as well. Since that time, employers, schools, nursing homes, restaurants, hospitals, and cities in all 50 states have announced new vaccination requirements. Since July, the share of job postings that require vaccination are up 90%. And we know these requirements work. At the beginning of August, when Tyson Foods announced its requirement'--only 45% of its workforce had gotten a shot. Today, it stands at 72%, meaning half of Tyson's unvaccinated workers have now gotten a shot'--well ahead of the company's November 1st deadline. After United Airlines announced its vaccination requirement, more than half of its unvaccinated employees went out and got vaccinated with weeks left to go before the deadline. In Washington State, the weekly vaccination rate jumped 34% after the Governor announced requirements for state workers.
All told, these efforts'--and countless other Administration initiatives and policies'--have resulted in over 175 million fully vaccinated Americans. But there are still nearly 80 million Americans eligible to be vaccinated who have not yet gotten their first shot.
The President's plan will reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans by using regulatory powers and other actions to substantially increase the number of Americans covered by vaccination requirements'--these requirements will become dominant in the workplace. In addition, the plan will provide paid time off for vaccination for most workers in the country.
The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.
Building on the President's announcement in July to strengthen safety requirements for unvaccinated federal workers, the President has signed an Executive Order to take those actions a step further and require all federal executive branch workers to be vaccinated. The President also signed an Executive Order directing that this standard be extended to employees of contractors that do business with the federal government. As part of this effort, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service, and the National Institute of Health will complete implementation of their previously announced vaccination requirements that cover 2.5 million people.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking action to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement, including but not limited to hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies. This action builds on the vaccination requirement for nursing facilities recently announced by CMS, and will apply to nursing home staff as well as staff in hospitals and other CMS-regulated settings, including clinical staff, individuals providing services under arrangements, volunteers, and staff who are not involved in direct patient, resident, or client care. These requirements will apply to approximately 50,000 providers and cover a majority of health care workers across the country. Some facilities and states have begun to adopt hospital staff or health care sector vaccination mandates. This action will create a consistent standard across the country, while giving patients assurance of the vaccination status of those delivering care.
The President's plan calls on entertainment venues like sports arenas, large concert halls, and other venues where large groups of people gather to require that their patrons be vaccinated or show a negative test for entry.
To continue efforts to ensure that no worker loses a dollar of pay because they get vaccinated, OSHA is developing a rule that will require employers with more than 100 employees to provide paid time off for the time it takes for workers to get vaccinated or to recover if they are under the weather post-vaccination. This requirement will be implemented through the ETS.
Further Protecting the Vaccinated
There are over 175 million fully vaccinated Americans who are largely protected from severe illness from COVID-19. While so-called ''breakthrough infections'' among this group do happen, they remain the exception: In fact, recent data indicates there is only 1 confirmed positive case per 5,000 fully vaccinated Americans per week.
But COVID-19 vaccination protection can be made even stronger. In August, the nation's top health officials'--Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director; Dr. Janet Woodcock, Acting FDA Commissioner; Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy; Dr. David Kessler, COVID-19 Chief Science Officer; Dr. Rachel Levine, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, Chair of the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force'--released an initial plan for booster shots aimed at staying ahead of the virus. The plan released by our nation's doctors allows for states, pharmacies, doctors' offices, health insurers and others to prepare for the administration of boosters. In the beginning weeks of the initial vaccination program in December 2020, the country lost precious time because we were unprepared to administer shots. By planning now, we will be able to quickly get booster shots into the arms of eligible Americans once approved.
A booster promises to give Americans their highest level of protection yet. Three-shot vaccines are common (Hepatitis B, Tetanus) and offer some of the most durable and robust protection.
Implementation of this plan depends on authorization of boosters by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and recommendations by the CDC's independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). As soon as authorizations are given, the Administration will be prepared to offer booster shots, starting the week of September 20th.
The Administration is preparing for boosters to start as early as the week of September 20th, subject to authorization or approval by the FDA and a recommendation from ACIP. Getting a booster will be easy. Booster shots will be free, and widely available across 80,000 locations '' from pharmacies to doctors' offices to health centers.
In the initial vaccine roll-out in December, many Americans were confused about available vaccination sites and supplies. But now, when the booster shots are approved, individuals will be able to find a vaccination site at Vaccines.gov, including what vaccines are available at each site and, for many sites, what appointments are open. A toll-free number, 1-800-232-0233, will also be available in over 150 languages. Americans who have already utilized the text code 438829 or WhatsApp to get vaccine information will automatically receive a text with information on boosters, if and when recommended.
Keeping Schools Safely Open
A top priority for the Biden Administration since Day One has been to reopen schools safely and keep them open. The Administration has taken significant actions to get our kids back in the classroom, including providing $130 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to help schools reopen, accelerate students' academic growth, address inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, allow local school districts to implement CDC-recommended COVID-19 prevention strategies, and support student and educators' social, emotional, and mental health needs. We know how to keep students safe in schools by taking the right steps to prevent transmission'--including getting all staff and eligible students vaccinated, implementing universal indoor masking, maintaining physical distancing, improving ventilation, and performing regular screening testing for students and school staff. The President's plan calls for additional actions to ensure all schools consistently implement these science-based prevention strategies recommended by the CDC so that they can remain open for in-person learning and maintain the health and safety of all students, staff, and families.
As we work to ensure our children are protected, we know that vaccination remains the best line of defense against COVID-19. For those adolescents aged 12 and above who are eligible for vaccination, the most important step parents can take is to get them vaccinated. To date, over half of the nation's adolescents have been vaccinated. For those too young to be vaccinated, it is especially critical that they are surrounded by vaccinated people and mask in public indoor spaces, including schools. Studies released by the CDC found that the rate of hospitalization for children was nearly four times higher in states with the lowest vaccination rates compared to states with high vaccination rates.
The FDA is undergoing a process now to evaluate a vaccine for children under the age of 12, and under the President's plan, the Administration will do whatever it takes to support those efforts, while continuing to respect and defer to the scientific decision-making of the agency.
To help ensure the safety of students, families, and their communities, the President's plan includes requirements that teachers and staff at Head Start and Early Head Start programs, teachers and child and youth program personnel at the Department of Defense (DOD), and teachers and staff at Bureau of Indian Education-operated schools get vaccinated. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will initiate rulemaking to implement this policy for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which provide comprehensive education and child development services to ensure that children are well prepared for kindergarten. The Department of Defense operates 160 K-12 schools for students from military families across the U.S. and abroad, and the Department of the Interior operates 53 schools through the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) across the U.S. on and off tribal lands. These schools and programs collectively serve more than 1 million children each year and employ nearly 300,000 staff. This action will help more schools and early childhood centers safely remain open and give comfort to the many parents that rely on them every day to keep their children safe.
Scientific studies have shown that even one unvaccinated teacher can lead to dozens of sick school children. This is a completely avoidable outcome, and we can protect kids'--especially those in elementary schools and early childhood education and child care centers where children are not yet eligible for the vaccine'--by surrounding them with fully vaccinated adults as the first line of defense against COVID-19. In order to keep all children safely learning in school, the President's plan calls for Governors to require vaccinations for teachers and school staff. Currently, nine states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have vaccination requirements for K-12 school staff, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington. Building on Administration policies to require vaccination among federal employees, including those serving children in DOD and BIE schools, the President is asking more states to join in requiring the vaccine for school employees to make sure we are keeping students safe.
The American Rescue Plan provides $130 billion to states, school districts, and tribes to support the safe reopening of schools. The President has previously announced that, if a state cuts the funding to a local school district or the pay of a local education leader who is implementing CDC-recommended prevention strategies like universal masking, the school district may use ARP funds to fill those gaps. School districts can begin spending their ARP funds right away, including to reimburse for any allowable cost dating back to when the national emergency for COVID-19 was declared. In addition, through the President's plan, the Department of Education plans to make additional funding available'--beyond the ARP dollars'--to help local school districts fill gaps when funding has been withheld by their state for implementing COVID safety measures. Local school districts will be able to apply to the Department of Education in the coming weeks to restore funding withheld by state leaders'--such as for school board member or superintendent salaries who have had their pay cut'--when a school district implemented strategies to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
President Biden has directed the Department of Education to assess all of its available tools to take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure that state and local officials are giving all students the opportunity to safely participate in full-time, in-person learning. To date, the Department has launched investigations in five states that have prohibited mask mandates at schools: Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. These investigations will examine whether statewide mask mandate prohibitions discriminate against students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19 by preventing them from safely accessing in-person education.
In April, HHS provided $10 billion in funding for COVID-19 screening testing for teachers, staff, and students in K-12 schools. As schools return to in-person learning, the Administration is calling on all schools to set up regular testing in their schools for students, teachers, and staff consistent with CDC guidance. CDC currently recommends that screening testing should be offered to students who have not been fully vaccinated when community transmission is at moderate, substantial, or high levels; and screening testing should be offered to all teachers and staff who have not been fully vaccinated at any level of community transmission. In combination with promoting and providing access to vaccination to all eligible members of a school community, schools will better be able to remain open for in-person learning and maintain the health and safety of all students, staff, and families. HHS and the CDC will continue to provide assistance to schools to accelerate the establishment of screening testing programs in all schools.
President Biden's plan supports the independent scientific review of a vaccine for those individuals under the age of 12 and will provide the FDA with any needed resources to support its ongoing efforts to do this safely and as quickly as possible. The nation's public health officials will keep the public updated on the process so that parents can plan.
Increasing Testing & Requiring Masking
It will take time for the newly vaccinated to get protection from the virus. As we continue to combat COVID-19, testing is a key tool to identify infected individuals and prevent spread to others. Likewise, masking can also help slow and contain the spread of the virus'--and the combination of increased vaccinations and masking will have a major impact on COVID-19 transmission. President Biden's plan takes new actions to increase the amount of testing'--in your own home, at pharmacies, and in your doctor's office'--and ensures that strong mask requirements remain in place.
President Biden's plan will mobilize industry due to the urgent and compelling need to accelerate the production of rapid COVID-19 tests, including at-home tests, and continue to ensure that manufacturers prioritize creating these products to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. Using authorities of the Defense Production Act and through the procurement of nearly $2 billion in rapid point-of-care and over-the-counter at-home COVID tests'--280 million tests in all'--from multiple COVID-19 test manufacturers, the Administration will ensure a broad, sustained industrial capacity for COVID-19 test manufacturing. These tests will be available to support a range of needs, including long-term care facilities, community testing sites, critical infrastructure, shelters serving individuals experiencing homelessness, prisons and jails, and other vulnerable populations and congregate settings. Further, the action announced today will provide for tests for use by communities, adequate stockpiles, and the needed sustained production to be able to surge additional manufacturing, should we need it in the future.
To improve access to rapid tests for all consumers, top retailers that sell at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests'--Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger'--will offer to sell those tests at-cost for the next three months. This means that Americans will be able to buy these tests at their local retailers or online for up to 35 percent less starting by the end of this week. The Administration has also taken action so that Medicaid must cover at-home tests for free for beneficiaries, and that states should ensure that any tools they use to manage at-home testing do not establish arbitrary barriers for people seeking care.
To ensure that every American'--no matter their income level''can access free, convenient, at-home tests, we will send 25 million free at-home rapid tests to 1,400 community health centers and hundreds of food banks.
As part of our strategy to ensure the most convenient access to free testing, we will expand the number of retail pharmacy sites around the country where anyone can get tested for free through the HHS free testing program to 10,000 pharmacies.
President Biden's Executive Order, Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel, directed applicable agencies to take action to require mask-wearing in airports and on certain modes of public transportation, including on many airplanes, trains, maritime vessels, and intercity bus services. TSA has extended its implementing orders for air and ground travel through January 18th, 2022, and the President's plan will double fines for those who are not in compliance. The President's plan will also ensure that masking requirements remain in place on the other modes of transportation as we continue to battle COVID-19.
President Biden's Executive Order, Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing, requires masks and specific physical distancing requirements in federal buildings, on federal lands, on military bases, and other overseas locations, consistent with CDC guidance. President Biden's plan will ensure that these requirements remain in place as we continue to battle COVID-19.
Protecting Our Economic Recovery
President Biden's economic plan is working. Since Day One in office, the President has focused on jumpstarting the economy and rebuilding it from the bottom up and the middle out. America is getting back to work, and workers and small businesses are seeing the results. Since President Biden took office, there has been historic job growth'--more than 4 million jobs created'' the most in any President's first six months, with 750,000 jobs created on average per month over the last three months. Despite the challenges posed by the Delta variant, the economy created 235,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since before the pandemic. The average number of new unemployment insurance claims has been cut by more than half since President Biden took office, and more than 70 percent of Americans say that now is a good time to find a quality job, up from less than 30 percent this time last year. The U.S. is the only major economy that has now exceeded its pre-pandemic growth projections, and independent forecasters believe America will this year reach the highest levels of growth in decades.
COVID-19 impacts our economy, no doubt. But, the President's plan will limit the damage and ensure that the Delta variant cannot undo this progress. The policies outlined throughout this plan will ensure that we do not return to lockdowns and shutdowns. Additionally, we will offer new support to small businesses as they continue to weather the surge caused by the Delta variant. Supporting small businesses is critical to our economic growth, since they create two-thirds of net new jobs and employ nearly half of America's private workforce. These reforms include:
The President's plan will help more than 150,000 small businesses by strengthening the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which provides long-term, low-cost loans. The improvements will allow more business to get greater and more flexible support from the $150 billion in loanable funds still available in the program. First, the Small Business Administration (SBA) will increase the maximum amount of funding a small business can borrow through this program from $500,000 to $2 million, which can be used to hire and retain employees, purchase inventory and equipment, and pay off higher-interest debt. This increase will help small businesses: an SBA analysis of current COVID EIDL borrowers who qualify for the increase shows that more than 80% have 25 employees or less. SBA will ensure that no small business has to start repaying these loans until two years after they receive the funding, so small businesses can get through the pandemic without having to worry about making payments. Next, SBA will make it easier for small businesses with multiple locations in hard-hit sectors like restaurants, hotels, and gyms to access these loans. To ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to support businesses that truly need help, SBA has implemented tightened controls and will collaborate closely with the SBA Inspector General to monitor the program. And lastly, to ensure that Main Street businesses have additional time to access remaining funds, SBA will offer a 30-day exclusive window of access where only small businesses seeking loans of $500,000 or less will receive awards after the new improved loan product launches.
Through the PPP, the SBA has made more than 11 million loans to small businesses that can be forgiven and taken off of their books if they use the funds to keep employees on payroll. In order to receive forgiveness, borrowers have to complete an application with their PPP lender. The President's plan will make it easier for more than 3.5 million PPP borrowers with loans of $150,000 or less to get their loans wiped clean. Under the new streamlined approach, SBA sends a pre-completed application form to the borrower who can review, sign, and send back to SBA, which then works with the lender to complete the forgiveness process. Since launching this new process on August 4th, more than 820,000 small businesses have applied for forgiveness, with borrowers spending an average of 6 minutes on the application and 60% of applicants completing the process on their mobile phone. SBA expects more than 2.5 million additional small businesses to take advantage of this streamlined process in the months ahead, helping them avoid needless bureaucracy and avoid costly principal and interest payments on their loans.
The ARP invested $100 million to establish a new SBA Community Navigator program, which will deploy trusted community partners in underserved communities to better connect business owners to federal, state, and local resources. Community Navigators will work with small business owners every step of the way to ensure that they are able to access the help that they need. Under the President's plan, the SBA will complete the competitive review process to select Community Navigators and put them to work in underserved communities this Fall.
Improving Care for those withCOVID-19
As we work to reduce cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, we will maintain our focus on treating people infected with COVID-19'--and helping hard-hit health care systems in the most impacted areas. In early July, the Administration launched Surge Response Teams to help states experiencing case increases. Since then, the Administration has worked with 18 states, deploying nearly 1,000 personnel, including hundreds of EMTs, nurses and doctors on the ground providing emergency medical care; surged hundreds of ventilators, ambulances and other critical assets to support strained health care systems; stood up dozens of new, free testing sites; and assisted with local outbreak investigations.
As we continue to battle the Delta surge, the President's plan will continue to send response teams to states that request them and take additional actions to accelerate this work.
The President's plan will provide additional support for hospitals facing capacity issues. The Department of Defense is announcing a commitment to double the number of DOD teams of clinicians deployed to support hospitals battling a surge in COVID-19 cases. These clinicians will be available for mission assignment through FEMA's response across surge states. Since the Administration launched the COVID-19 Surge Response Teams, nearly 1000 personnel have been deployed to states across the country to respond to the Delta variant, including more than 500 highly skilled health care professionals from across HHS' network of physicians, nurses, and other providers who are called up to respond to emergencies, FEMA's network of emergency medical services providers, and DOD's medical teams. These professionals have surged into COVID-19 ICUs and other acute care hospital settings to support and relieve overburdened local health care workers. In addition, the Department of Veterans Affairs have opened up over 150 hospital beds in Veterans Affairs' facilities across surge states in order to reduce the burden on local hospitals.
The United States government shipped an average of approximately 100,000 doses of monoclonal antibodies per week across July and August. The Administration will increase the average weekly pace of shipments of free monoclonal antibody treatment to states by a further 50% in September, continuing to accelerate the federal government's efforts to deliver lifesaving COVID-19 treatment. Monoclonal antibody treatments have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70% for unvaccinated people at risk of developing severe disease. As hospital systems experience increased COVID-19 cases, many have identified monoclonal antibody treatment as a key tool to improve health outcomes, prevent hospitalizations and reduce the strain on overburdened hospitals.
The COVID-19 Surge Response Teams have conducted in-person technical assistance and virtual trainings for physicians and health system officials to increase education and interest in administering these treatments. To ensure that more patients can access these lifesaving COVID-19 therapeutics, the Administration's COVID-19 surge response effort will launch monoclonal antibody strike teams to deploy clinical personnel through HHS, FEMA, and DOD to help hospitals and health systems stand up the delivery of this key treatment option. HHS will also take action to amend the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act declaration to allow more providers, including pharmacists, to administer this treatment. These actions will ensure that more patients receive lifesaving treatments if they are infected or exposed to COVID-19.
President Biden's plan to continue to combat COVID-19 this fall is comprehensive, science-based and relies on the power of the federal government working hand-in-hand with states, local communities, the private sector, and all Americans to put this pandemic behind us. The strategy outlined here is domestic focused. In the weeks ahead, the President will announce additional steps to build on the progress the Administration has made to combat this pandemic globally. President Biden and his Administration will continue to use every tool necessary to protect the American people from COVID-19.
Statement About Dissemination of COVID-19 Misinformation | The American Board of Pediatrics
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 00:46
Joint Statement from the American Board of Family Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, and American Board of Pediatrics on Dissemination of Misinformation by Board-Certified Physicians About COVID-19The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), which supports its member state medical licensing boards, has recently issued a statement saying that providing misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine contradicts physicians' ethical and professional responsibilities, and therefore may subject a physician to disciplinary actions, including suspension or revocation of their medical license. We at the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), and the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) support FSMB's position. We also want all physicians certified by our Boards to know that such unethical or unprofessional conduct may prompt their respective Board to take action that could put their certification at risk.
Expertise matters, and board-certified physicians have demonstrated that they have stayed current in their field. Spreading misinformation or falsehoods to the public during a time of a public health emergency goes against everything our Boards and our community of board-certified physicians stand for. The evidence that we have safe, effective, and widely available vaccines against COVID-19 is overwhelming. We are particularly concerned about physicians who use their authority to denigrate vaccination at a time when vaccines continue to demonstrate excellent effectiveness against severe illness, hospitalization, and death.
We all look to board-certified physicians to provide outstanding care and guidance; providing misinformation about a lethal disease is unethical, unprofessional, and dangerous. In times of medical emergency, the community of expert physicians committed to science and evidence collectively shares a responsibility for giving the public the most accurate and timely health information available, so they can make decisions that work best for themselves and their families.
Warren Newton, MD, MPHPresident and CEOAmerican Board of Family Medicine
Richard J. Baron, MDPresident and CEOAmerican Board of Internal Medicine
David G. Nichols, MD, MBAPresident and CEOAmerican Board of Pediatrics
Bitcoin to Bucks: Crypto Fans Borrow to Buy Homes, Cars'--and More Crypto - WSJ
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 21:20
Michael Anderson mined bitcoin in his dorm room and left a corporate job to invest in cryptocurrency projects. When he bought his first home in San Francisco this year, he didn't turn to a bank. Instead, he borrowed against his cryptocurrency.
Crypto enthusiasts such as Mr. Anderson are tapping their holdings to buy homes, cars and, often, more crypto. They are getting these loans from upstart nonbank lenders and automated, blockchain-based platforms.
Like banks, these lenders typically take deposits. Unlike banks, their deposits take the form of crypto. The crypto deposits'--which earn higher-than-average interest rates'--are used to fund loans to borrowers who pledge crypto as collateral. These loans take many forms. Borrowers can get dollars or other traditional currencies, or stablecoins pegged to them, depending on the lender they are working with.
The business is growing rapidly. One group of crypto lenders has $25 billion in loans outstanding to individual and institutional clients, up from $1.4 billion a year ago, according to the crypto research firm Messari.
People use crypto-backed loans for the same reason they borrow against their stock portfolios: to reap the benefits of rising prices without diminishing the size of their bets. Ether, for example, has risen nearly 10-fold in the past year, eclipsing the interest on the average ether-backed loan. Borrowers can also use this strategy to avoid capital-gains taxes.
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Celsius Network depositors earn a 6.2% interest rate on up to one bitcoin, worth over $46,000. Borrowers pay between 0% and 8.95% on bitcoin-backed loans, depending on the loan-to-value ratio. Some of the money the company uses to fund the loans comes from hedge funds hungry for yield in a low-rate world, said Celsius Chief Executive Alex Mashinsky. He recommends that customers borrow to pay off their student loans and credit cards and to fund their weddings.
Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner at the crypto lender Nexo Capital Inc., said, ''The idea is to shift some of your digital assets into real-world profits so you can't lose them.''
The strategy, in turn, comes with real-world risks. Like traditional securities-based borrowing, crypto loans are typically for a percentage of pledged holdings. If the value of the collateral falls'--as it often does in the volatile crypto market'--the lender can issue a margin call and seize it all. Should a lender collapse or fall victim to a digital heist, there is no federal insurance to compensate depositors.
Crypto lending has drawn regulators' attention. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Coinbase Global Inc.'s proposed crypto-lending plan and has indicated that it would sue the company if it moves forward with the program. New Jersey's securities regulator in July accused the crypto lender BlockFi of selling an unregistered security, a dispute that could prevent the company from opening new ''interest accounts.'' BlockFi said it is in discussions with regulators and believes the accounts are legal.
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Henderson Le turned to BlockFi when he wanted to borrow 50% of the value of his crypto portfolio.
The loan's rate stands around 10%. Mr. Le keeps much of his loan proceeds in a BlockFi interest account that pays up to 8% on deposits, effectively lowering the interest rate he pays.
He dipped into the fund to buy a new car. ''It wasn't a Lamborghini, just a normal Tesla,'' he said. Mr. Le, a Vietnam native who now lives in the Los Angeles area, also used the fund to purchase a Montblanc pen'--and more bitcoin.
Many borrowers use the loans to amplify their bets on crypto. Kris Kostadinov, who goes by Kris Kay, took out a loan worth $14,000 in the tether stablecoin from the decentralized-finance platform Aave earlier this year and used the proceeds to buy ether. He used the ether to trade in and out of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which are blockchain-based authenticity certificates attached to digital assets such as artwork and sports highlights.
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Though Mr. Kay, 27 years old, almost faced a margin call when the price of ether fell earlier this year, he estimates that he used the loan to fund investments now worth over $60,000.
''If it was in a bank account, my money would just be going down, with inflation eating away at it,'' Mr. Kay said.
Mr. Anderson, 30 years old, began investing in crypto in its early years. ''I'm a crypto Boomer,'' he said. In the decade since crypto's start, the market has come to resemble the traditional financial system, with its own infrastructure of exchanges, market makers and lenders that help investors convert their digital currencies into dollars.
Mr. Anderson was browsing real-estate listings when he spotted a great deal in his San Francisco neighborhood. After his offer was accepted, he logged onto an app linked to the Maker Protocol. He pledged a chunk of his ether holdings in exchange for a loan at a 0.5% rate.
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The loan hit his wallet almost immediately. It was denominated in Dai, a stablecoin whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar. He used an exchange to swap the Dai into a stablecoin called USD Coin. He then used Coinbase to change the USD Coin into dollars. From Coinbase, he sent the money to his bank account. It took several days for the funds to clear. It was the slowest part of the transaction, Mr. Anderson said.
Mr. Anderson declined to give the size of his loan. The median home price in the San Francisco area is just over $1.5 million, according to Redfin Corp. He said he pledged ether worth 2½ times the amount of the loan to lower the odds of a margin call.
The Maker Protocol is a ''decentralized-finance,'' or DeFi, platform, meaning the process behind the loan is automated and participants generally don't have to identify themselves. Other lenders such as Nexo, BlockFi and Celsius operate with more human intervention and obtain information on a customer's identity.
Craig Bickley recently borrowed through another DeFi platform, Anchor Protocol, to help finance a landscaping project at his home in Fort Worth, Texas.
The 45-year-old electrical engineer and father of three, who first invested in crypto earlier this year, used Anchor to set up an elaborate series of deposits, loans and related investments designed to maximize yield. So far, he has earned $1,500 toward the cost of the $10,000 project.
If Mr. Bickley wakes up in the middle of the night, he checks prices on his phone to make sure he isn't facing a margin call. When crypto prices fell Tuesday, he spent part of the day tweaking positions to ward off liquidation.
''What if I was on vacation and had no idea?'' he said. ''It's not for the faint of heart.''
Write to Rachel Louise Ensign at rachel.ensign@wsj.com
Nord Stream 2 has finally been completed, Russia's Gazprom announces, despite US efforts to block major European gas pipeline '-- RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 16:03
The final sections of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline have now been welded into place, Moscow's state energy giant Gazprom has revealed, bringing construction of the underwater link between Russia and Germany to an end.
In a statement issued on Friday, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Saint Petersburg-based energy giant, said that "at 8.45am this morning Moscow time, work on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been completed."
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed that the laying of pipes under the Baltic Sea would be "completed in a few days and (it) will begin working." Bloomberg reports that gas is expected to begin flowing through its network from the start of next month, and that final testing and preparations are underway.
According to Lavrov, efforts by the US government to halt construction through sanctions and political pressure have now failed. However, he added, "there is still a full-frontal attack, in spite of everything, on Nord Stream 2,'' despite the fact ''everyone knows the Americans have realized [it will be completed].''
Last month, American President Joe Biden unveiled a new package of sanctions aimed at firms involved in its construction, saying that completion of the project would increase Russia's influence in European energy markets, while weakening ''Ukraine and Eastern flank NATO and EU countries.'' The pipeline, the White House said, therefore threatens ''the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.''
Also on rt.com Biden has promised to impose sanctions against Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline if problems arise for Ukraine '' Zelensky Washington's measures came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Moscow for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and despite Biden having previously admitted that it was "almost completed."
In May, the US President said that "to go ahead and impose sanctions now, I think is counterproductive in terms of our European relations.'' Berlin and Washington had also penned a deal under which the Americans would cease to oppose Nord Stream 2, provided Germany commits to support sanctions against Moscow if it uses the pipeline for "aggression."
Russia insists that the pipeline is a vital step to secure the continent's energy supply and deliver low-cost gas from Siberia to consumers in Western Europe. Moscow has denied claims that it plans to use the new link to cut ernergy off from neighboring Ukraine.
Also on rt.com 'Common sense has won': Berlin lawmaker from Merkel's party welcomes news about Nord Stream 2 pipeline nearing completion However, Kiev insists that it stands to lose billions in gas transit fees if supplies are moved through Nord Stream 2, rather than its overground network of Soviet-built pipes, which were constructed by Moscow when both countries were members of the Soviet Union.
In June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a visiting delegation from the US Congress that such a scenario would deprive Kiev of about $3 billion annually, leaving it unable to finance its armed forces.
However, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has slammed the claims, insisting that the US "will soon demand we stop breathing immediately." Russia ''has implemented, and will continue to implement, its economic projects regardless of any sanctions,'' she added, insisting that Washington and Kiev were attempting to force Western European states to make decisions against their own best interests.
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Central banks must 'roll up their sleeves' and urgently speed up their work on their own digital currencies before crypto upends the current financial system, the BIS says
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:14
(C) SOPA images A representation of bitcoin and fiat currency SOPA images Benoit Coeure, head of the BIS Innovation Hub, urged central banks to speed up their work on digital cash. In a speech in Ljubljana, he said digital currencies should ensure price and financial stability. He said they must up the pace because "stablecoins and crypto assets are already here". Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell. The Bank for International Settlements is urging central banks to crank up their efforts in developing their own digital currencies while the current financial system is still in place, because stablecoins and cryptocurrencies are already a reality.
Benoit Coeure, who is head of the BIS Innovation Hub, said central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) should be easy to use, low cost, convertible, offer instant settlements, continuously available and offer a high degree of security, resilience, flexibility and safety.
But they're competing with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, as well as stablecoins, which are pegged to the likes of the dollar, or gold, and central banks will need years to develop digital cash that is fit for purpose, he said.
"The time has passed for central banks to get going. We should roll up our sleeves and accelerate our work on the nitty-gritty of CBDC design. CBDCs will take years to be rolled out, while stablecoins and crypto-assets are already here. This makes it even more urgent to start," Coeure said in a speech at the Eurofi Financial Forum in Ljubljana.
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Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and stablecoins, such as tether, have surged in popularity recently, prompting concern among central banks over the risk these assets may pose to the stability of the financial system. And so many are actively looking into, and even developing, their own CBDCs.
"Banks are worried about the implications of CBDCs for customer deposits. Central banks are mindful of these concerns and are working on answers. They see banks as part of future CBDC systems," Coeure said. "But make no mistake: global stablecoins, DeFi platforms and big tech firms will challenge banks' models regardless," he said.
China is already trialling a digital version of the yuan, while the Bahamas have issued the "sand dollar" and Nigeria this week said it would pilot its "e-naira" next month. Major central banks such as the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are still very much at the exploratory stage.
The BIS innovation hub, which focuses on "critical trends in technology affecting central banks", and the central banks of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa announced they are working on "Project Dunbar", which will run trials of cross-border payments in CBDCs.
"A CBDC's goal is ultimately to preserve the best elements of our current systems, while still allowing a safe space for tomorrow's innovation. To do so, central banks have to act while the current system is still in place - and to act now," CÅ'ur(C), who previously served on the executive board of the European Central Bank, said.
New study out of Japan proves that chlorine dioxide (MMS) blocks SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins from binding with human tissue!
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:05
This is what Trump was referencing when he was accused of telling people to drink bleach. It works:
Annals of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutics
Research Article
Published: 18 Jun, 2021
Inhibition of the Binding of Variants of SARS-CoV-2
Coronavirus Spike Protein to a Human Receptor by
Chlorine Dioxide
Norio Ogata* and Takanori Miura
Department of R&D, Taiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Japan
Abstract
Aim: COVID-19 caused by a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has become an ongoing worldwide pandemic. A safe and potent virucidal disinfection system is urgently needed to protect the population from the virus. Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2) is a powerful disinfectant that is known to inactivate both viruses and bacteria. The aim of this study was to investigate whether chlorine dioxide inhibits the binding of the receptor-binding domain of the Spike protein (S protein) from variant coronavirus (British and South African variants) to human receptor, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2).
Materials and Methods: In vitro experiments to determine binding of the purified receptor-binding domain of spike protein to ACE2 were performed in the presence of various concentrations of chlorine dioxide. Purified spike proteins from the British and South African variants were used. Spike protein coated onto a microtiter plate was treated with chlorine dioxide aqueous solution or chlorine dioxide spray solution.
Result: Binding of variant spike proteins was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner (50% Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) of 7.6 μmol/L and 5.8 μmol/L for the British and the South African variants, respectively).
Conclusion: These findings show that chlorine dioxide aqueous solution can inactivate the binding of the variant spike proteins to the human ACE2 receptor protein, indicating that this strategy may be useful in blocking the transmission of variant SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
Keywords: Chlorine dioxide; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Virus; Disinfection; IC50
Introduction
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has become a serious health issue since its emergence in late 2019 [1,2]. The outbreak of this disease originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, before spreading rapidly throughout the world [2]. The COVID-19 pandemic was declared an international emergency in 2020 [3]. As of May 2021, global death toll due to COVID-19 is estimated to be approximately 3.3 million [4]. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus and has a single-stranded negative-sense RNA genome of 29.9 kilobases [5]. The virus attaches to the host cell surface of type I and II pneumocytes, endothelial cells and ciliated bronchial epithelial cells [6]. Although several vaccines against the disease have already been developed and administered [7], the pandemic has not yet ended. Furthermore, currently variant types of SARS-CoV-2 virus have been reported from England (B.1.1.7 variant) and South Africa (variant B.1.351) that appear to be spread more readily than the original virus [8]. Both of these variants carry a common mutation (N501Y) in the Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of the spike protein (S protein) [5]. This mutation is important in binding of the spike protein to human cell surface receptor, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), a type I transmembrane glycoprotein with carboxypeptidase activity [5].
To control the spread of COVID-19, it is essential to develop and deploy safe but effective disinfectants against the virus alongside novel antiviral drugs and vaccines [8]. While ethanol is known to be effective against the virus [9], it cannot eradicate the virus present in the air. Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2) (CD) is a water-soluble yellow gas at room temperature and is a stable free radical [10]. CD can be used as a gas or an aqueous solution to inactivate both viruses and bacteria [11-15]. The powerful disinfection action of CD against microbes is due to its strong oxidizing activity against proteins [16]. Moreover, safe and permissible concentrations of CD have been well documented
OPEN ACCESS
*Correspondence:
Norio Ogata, Department of R&D, Taiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 1-2-1 Hikaridai, Seikacho, 619-0237 Kyoto,
Japan, Tel: 81 774 98 2716; Fax: 81 774 98 2737; E-mail: nogata7@yahoo.co.jp Received Date: 21 May 2021 Accepted Date: 16 Jun 2021 Published Date: 18 Jun 2021
Citation:
Ogata N, Miura T. Inhibition of the Binding of Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Spike Protein to a Human Receptor by Chlorine Dioxide. Ann Pharmacol Pharm. 2021; 6(1): 1199.
Copyright (C) 2021 Norio Ogata. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Norio Ogata, et al.,
Annals of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutics
[17]. Here, we demonstrate that CD aqueous solutions can inactivate the binding of the spike proteins of both the British and South African variant to human ACE2 in in vitro experiments, suggesting it may be effective at inhibiting infection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Materials and Methods
Chemicals
CD, prepared in our laboratory as described previously [16], was dissolved in purified water and stored at 4oC in a tightly capped amber bottle. The stock CD was diluted in purified water to the desired concentration immediately prior to use. A commercially available CD spray solution sold under the brand name of Cleverin (Taiko Pharmaceutical, Osaka, Japan) was also tested. The composition of Cleverin was 1.48 mmol/L CD, 66.34 mmol/L sodium chlorite, 8.70 mmol/L sodium dihydrogen phosphates, 0.24 % (weight/weight) decaglycerol monolaurate, 0.06 % silicone and 98.97 % water, pH 6.01. A tightly capped bottle of the spray solution made 3 years ago, kept at room temperature and protected from the light was used. The CD concentration of the spray solution at the time of the experiment was 1.80 mmol/L (121 ppm (weight/weight)). The spray solution was diluted as required with purified water immediately prior to the experiment.
Binding assay
The spike protein binding assay kit was purchased from BPS Bioscience (San Diego, California, USA). The kit codes for the British and South African variant assay were 78140 and 78151, respectively. The kits consisted of purified Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of spike proteins derived from the corresponding variant virus. The kit was used as recommended by the manufacturer with some modifications. The spike protein RBD provided in the kit was first coated onto a 96-well microtiter plate from the kit as indicated by the manual. A 50 μL aliquot of CD or CD spray solution diluted to an appropriate concentration was placed in each well and incubated at 25oC for 5 min. Next, a 20 μL aliquot of 10 mmol/L sodium thiosulfate in Blocking Buffer 2 provided in the kit was added to each well to terminate the reaction of CD with the protein. Under this condition, the CD is rapidly converted to ClO2- and becomes unreactive with proteins [16]. Next, a 35 μL aliquot of biotin-labeled ACE2 diluted to 1.5 μg/mL by Blocking Buffer 2 was added to each well. Biotin-labeled ACE2 was then bound to streptavidin-labeled horseradish peroxidase and detected using a substrate of the horseradish peroxidase supplied in the kit. The Chemiluminescence signal was measured after 1 min using a luminometer (model SH-9000; Corona Electric, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan). Each concentration of CD was assayed in four wells (n=4). Because the chemiluminescence intensity fluctuated between experiments, the final data was normalized (i.e. 0 μg/ml CD as 100%).
Results and Discussion
As shown in Figure 1, the intensity of the binding of human ACE2 protein to the spike protein RBD decreased with increasing concentrations of CD. The concentration of aqueous CD solution required to give 50% binding inhibition (IC50) was 7.6 μmol/L and 5.8 μmol/L for the British and South African variant, respectively (Table 1). An inhibitory effect of CD was also observed using the CD spray solution (Figure 2). Specifically, IC50 for the binding of ACE2 to the spike protein RBD was 15.3 μmol/L and 4.7 μmol/L for the British and South African variant, respectively (Table 1). Moreover, binding of the Wuhan strain spike protein RBD to ACE2 was also inhibited by the CD aqueous solution with an IC50 of 6.5 μmol/L
Table 1: The concentration of Chlorine Dioxide (CD) aqueous solution required to inhibit binding of the receptor-binding domain of variant SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins (S proteins) to human receptor protein ACE2 by 50% (IC50) is shown.
Variants of spike protein Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) were treated with either Chlorine Dioxide (CD) aqueous solution or CD spray solution at various concentrations, and then assayed for its binding ability to the receptor protein ACE2
(Ogata N, unpublished data). There were slight differences in the inhibitory effect between aqueous CD and the CD spray solution in these experiments. The observed differences may be due to the effect of other constituents in the spray solution, which are added to prolong the shelf life of the product. These results suggest all the CD solutions are effective in inactivating the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to human cell receptor ACE2. As such, CD is likely to have an inhibitory action on the infection of the virus.
The spike protein RBD of SARS-CoV-2 virus is located in the S1
Figure 1: Effects of chlorine dioxide (CD) aqueous solution on the binding of the Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of variants of spike protein of SARS- CoV-2 virus to human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) in in vitro experiments. Binding of the spike protein of the British variant (filled circles) and the South African variant (open circles) to ACE2 are shown. Each point represents an average ± standard deviation of four experiments (n=4).
Figure 2: Effects of the Chlorine Dioxide (CD) spray solution on the binding of the Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of variants of spike protein of SARS- CoV-2 virus to human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) in in vitro experiments. Binding of the spike protein of the British variant (filled circles) and the South African variant (open circles) to ACE2 are shown. Each point represents an average ± standard deviation of four experiments (n=4).
CD aqueous solution against
CD spray solution against
2021 | Volume 6 | Issue 1 | Article 1199
Norio Ogata, et al.,
Annals of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutics
subunit of the spike protein, and the region of RBD that interacts with ACE2 consists of a small patch of 25 amino acid residues [18].
The asparagine 501 (N501) residues, which is mutated to tyrosine in both viral variants, forms part of the RBD patch region of the spike protein [5]. The N501Y mutation is thought to result in enhanced viral transmissibility by increasing the binding affinity to human ACE2 [18]. Furthermore, it is worth noting that this mutation allows the virus to escape from many antibodies raised against the virus [18], suggesting poor effectiveness of vaccines against these variant strains of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We previously demonstrated that the binding of the spike protein RBD of the Wuhan strain to human ACE2 is inhibited by CD aqueous solution [19]. These findings suggested CD may be useful as a disinfectant against virus. Although the mechanism of this inhibition has not been elucidated, we speculated that it may involve oxidization of the tyrosine 453 residue of the RBD of the spike protein, which forms a hydrogen bond with ACE2 [19]. Indeed, CD is known to oxidize tyrosine residues in proteins [16]. Because asparagine 501 is mutated to tyrosine (Y) in the variant strains, treatment of the virus with CD may also oxidize 501Y. Given that vaccines appear to have diminished effectiveness against the variant viruses, disinfection systems employing CD may be invaluable. It is also important to note that CD is a gas at room temperature and can be used in this form to inactivate microbes floating in the air at concentrations deemed safe to human health [17]. As such, gaseous CD could be used to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus floating in the air of a crowded room.
Conclusion
CD solution, whether in water or as a formulated spray solution in water, was found to potently inhibit the binding of spike protein RBD to human receptor protein ACE2 in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings suggest CD may be invaluable for inhibiting the infection of SARS-CoV-2 virus to human.
Acknowledgement
The authors are employees of Taiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. This work was supported by the company.
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Wang C, Horby PW, Hayden FG, Gao GF. A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):470-3.Guan WJ, Ni ZY, Hu Y, Liang WH, Ou CQ, He JX, et al. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:1708-20.Trivedi N, Verma A, Kumar D. Possible treatment and strategies for COVID-19: Review and assessment. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2020;24(23):12593-608.COVID live update. Available from: www.worldometers.info 'º coronavirus.Naqvi AAT, Fatima K, Mohammad T, Fatima U, Singh IK, Singh A, et al. Insights into SARS-CoV-2 genome, structure, evolution, pathogenesis and therapies: Structural genomics approach. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2020;1866(10):165878.Soni S, Jiang Y, Tesfaigzi Y, Hornick JL, ataltepe S. Comparative analysis of ACE2 protein expression in rodent, non-human primate, and human respiratory tract at baseline and after injury: A conundrum for COVID-19 pathogenesis. PLoS One. 2021;16(2):e0247510.Wibawa T. COVID-19 vaccine research and development: ethical issues. Trop Med Int Health. 2021;26(1):14-9.Wang P, Nair MS, Liu L, Iketani S, Luo Y, Guo Y, et al. Increased resistance of SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.7 to antibody neutralization. BioRxiv. 2021;2021.01.25.428137.Hirose R, Ikegaya H, Naito Y, Watanabe N, Yoshida T, Bandou R, et al. Survival of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus on the human skin: Importance of hand hygiene in COVID-19. Clin Infect Dis. 2020;ciaa1517.Shimakura H, Ogata N, Kawakita Y, Ohara K, Takeda S. Determination of the structure of liquids containing free radical molecules: Inter- molecular correlations in liquid chlorine dioxide. Molecular Physics. 2013;111(8):1015-22.Ogata N, Shibata T. Protective effect of low-concentration chlorine dioxide gas against influenza A virus infection. J Gen Virol. 2008;89(Pt 1):60-7.Ogata N, Sakasegawa M, Miura T, Shibata T, Takigawa Y, Taura K, et al. Inactivation of airborne bacteria and viruses using extremely low concentrations of chlorine dioxide gas. Pharmacology. 2016;97(5-6):301-6.Ogata N. Inactivation of influenza virus haemagglutinin by chlorine dioxide: Oxidation of the conserved tryptophan 153 residue in the receptor-binding site. J Gen Virol. 2012;93(Pt 12):2558-63.Morino H, Fukuda T, Miura T, Shibata T. Effect of low-concentration chlorine dioxide gas against bacteria and viruses on a glass surface in wet environments. Lett Appl Microbiol. 2011;53(6):628-34.Morino H, Fukuda T, Miura T, Lee C, Shibata T, Sanekata T. Inactivation of feline calicivirus, a norovirus surrogate, by chlorine dioxide gas. Biocontrol Sci. 2009;14(4):147-53.16.Ogata N. Denaturation of protein by chlorine dioxide: Oxidative modification of tryptophan and tyrosine residues. Biochemistry. 2007;46(16):4898-911.
Akamatsu A, Lee C, Morino H, Miura T, Ogata N, Shibata T. Six-month low level chlorine dioxide gas inhalation toxicity study with two-week recovery period in rats. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2012;7:2.Zhou D, Dejnirattisai W, Supasa P, Liu C, Mentzer AJ, Ginn HM, et al. Evidence of escape of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 from natural and vaccine-induced sera. Cell. 2021;184(9):2348-61.e6.Ogata N, Miura T. Inhibition of the binding of spike protein of SARS- CoV-2 coronavirus to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 by chlorine dioxide. Ann Pharmacol Pharm. 2020;5(5):1195.
FLEOA Opposes Move by Biden Administration to Mandate Vaccination Across the Federal Workforce
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:44
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2021
CONTACT:Natalia Castro(202) 293-1550
WASHINGTON, DC '' Today, Larry Cosme, President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) '' the nation's largest non-partisan, not-for-profit professional association representing 30,000 federal law enforcement officers and agents across 65 federal agencies '' issued the following statement regarding the Biden-Harris Administration's upcoming executive order to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all federal employees: ''The Biden-Harris Administration's action to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all federal employees is misguided. Today, 75 percent of American adults have at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. We are well on our way to herd immunity based on voluntary vaccination. A mandate at this time only undermines these voluntary vaccination efforts and reduces public comfort in getting vaccinated,'' President Cosme said. ''The COVID-19 pandemic is a rapidly evolving and emotional trying situation. In the face of so many uncertainties, our federal government should trust its employees to make their own medical decision under consultation with their doctor, not mandate by their employer,'' Cosme explained. ''Vaccination should be promoted through education and encouragement '' not coercion.'' ''This executive order villainizes employees for reasonable concerns and hesitancies and inserts the federal government into individual medical decisions. People should not be made to feel uncomfortable for making a reasonable medical choice,'' Cosme continued. ''As FLEOA has consistently said, we encourage our members to seek individual medical guidance and, in most cases, get vaccinated. However, we understand that threatening people's livelihood and penalizing employees for making independent medical decisions is not the answer. We will continue to review the legal landscape for this order and act as appropriate to support our members and voice their concerns.'' Cosme concluded, ''We are nation built on freedom. We are law enforcement officers who defend that freedom. And we deserve the freedom to make our own health decisions.''
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Biocompatible near-infrared quantum dots delivered to the skin by microneedle patches record vaccination
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:42
Kevin J. McHugh https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6801-4431 , Lihong Jing https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6115-2743 , Sean Y. Severt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3063-9978 , Mache Cruz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8757-9929 , Morteza Sarmadi , Hapuarachchige Surangi N. Jayawardena https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5866-9346 , Collin F. Perkinson https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5676-1998 , '... Show All '... , Fridrik Larusson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4532-1310 , Sviatlana Rose , Stephanie Tomasic https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3539-1753 , Tyler Graf https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4689-9771 , Stephany Y. Tzeng , James L. Sugarman https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2362-9920 , Daniel Vlasic , Matthew Peters https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2105-2585 , Nels Peterson https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0356-6742 , Lowell Wood https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0965-0459 , Wen Tang , Jihyeon Yeom https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3032-8301 , Joe Collins https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0081-2493 , Philip A. Welkhoff , Ari Karchin , Megan Tse https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4968-7072 , Mingyuan Gao , Moungi G. Bawendi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2220-4365 , Robert Langer https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4255-0492 [email protected] , and Ana Jaklenec https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6096-0538 [email protected] Show Fewer On the recordAbstractSupplementary MaterialREFERENCES AND NOTESOn the recordVaccines prevent disease and save lives; however, lack of standardized immunization recordkeeping makes it challenging to track vaccine coverage across the world. McHugh et al. developed dissolvable microneedles that deliver patterns of near-infrared light-emitting microparticles to the skin. Particle patterns are invisible to the eye but can be imaged using modified smartphones. By codelivering a vaccine, the pattern of particles in the skin could serve as an on-person vaccination record. Patterns were detected 9 months after intradermal delivery of microparticles in rats, and codelivery of inactivated poliovirus led to protective antibody production. Discrete microneedle-delivered microparticle patterns in porcine and pigmented human skin were identifiable using semiautomated machine learning. These results demonstrate proof of concept for intradermal on-person vaccination recordkeeping.
AbstractAccurate medical recordkeeping is a major challenge in many low-resource settings where well-maintained centralized databases do not exist, contributing to 1.5 million vaccine-preventable deaths annually. Here, we present an approach to encode medical history on a patient using the spatial distribution of biocompatible, near-infrared quantum dots (NIR QDs) in the dermis. QDs are invisible to the naked eye yet detectable when exposed to NIR light. QDs with a copper indium selenide core and aluminum-doped zinc sulfide shell were tuned to emit in the NIR spectrum by controlling stoichiometry and shelling time. The formulation showing the greatest resistance to photobleaching after simulated sunlight exposure (5-year equivalence) through pigmented human skin was encapsulated in microparticles for use in vivo. In parallel, microneedle geometry was optimized in silico and validated ex vivo using porcine and synthetic human skin. QD-containing microparticles were then embedded in dissolvable microneedles and administered to rats with or without a vaccine. Longitudinal in vivo imaging using a smartphone adapted to detect NIR light demonstrated that microneedle-delivered QD patterns remained bright and could be accurately identified using a machine learning algorithm 9 months after application. In addition, codelivery with inactivated poliovirus vaccine produced neutralizing antibody titers above the threshold considered protective. These findings suggest that intradermal QDs can be used to reliably encode information and can be delivered with a vaccine, which may be particularly valuable in the developing world and open up new avenues for decentralized data storage and biosensing.
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Fig. S1. Optical properties of organic dyes.
Fig. S2. Evolution of fluorescence emission properties with shelling time.
Fig. S3. Fluorescence lifetime characterization of the S10C QD series.
Fig. S4. Composition and physical properties of S10C5H QDs.
Fig. S5. pH stability of PMMA-encapsulated QDs.
Fig. S6. Finite element analysis of mechanical forces on microneedles.
Fig. S7. Optimization of microneedle geometry using finite element analysis.
Fig. S8. Machine learning training and validation.
Table S1. Spectral characterization of custom QD formulations.
Table S2. Multiexponential fitting parameters for photoluminescence decay curves.
Movie S1. Intradermal administration and imaging of encapsulated QDs.
Data file S1. Individual subject-level data.
Resources File (aay7162_data_file_s1.xlsx)
File (aay7162_movie_s1.mp4)
REFERENCES AND NOTES1
E. Legesse, W. Dechasa, An assessment of child immunization coverage and its determinants in Sinana District, Southeast Ethiopia. BMC Pediatr. 15, 31 (2015).
2
R. E. Black, S. Cousens, H. L. Johnson, J. E. Lawn, I. Rudan, D. G. Bassani, P. Jha, H. Campbell, C. F. Walker, R. Cibulskis, T. Eisele, L. Liu, C. Mathers; Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF, Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2008: A systematic analysis. Lancet 375, 1969''1987 (2010).
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Computer code associated with Biocompatible near-infrared quantum dots delivered to the skin by microneedle patches to record vaccination; doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3571386.
Information & AuthorsInformationPublished InScience Translational Medicine
Volume 11 ' Issue 523 ' 18 December 2019
HistoryReceived: 20 July 2019
Accepted: 27 November 2019
CopyrightCopyright (C) 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
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AuthorsAffiliationsKoch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Present address: Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei Yi Jie 2, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing 100190, China.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Morteza Sarmadi
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Present address: Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Global Good, Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, 14360 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98007, USA.
Sviatlana Rose
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Stephany Y. Tzeng
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Present address: School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 733 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Global Good, Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, 14360 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98007, USA.
Global Good, Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, 14360 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98007, USA.
Global Good, Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, 14360 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98007, USA.
Wen Tang
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Philip A. Welkhoff
Institute for Disease Modeling, 3150 139th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98005, USA.
Ari Karchin
Global Good, Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, 14360 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98007, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Mingyuan Gao
Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei Yi Jie 2, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing 100190, China.
Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Notes*
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Funding Informationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001National Science Foundation: 1122374
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000015U.S. Department of Energy: DE-SC0001088
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000070National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering: F32EB022416
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000865Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: OPP 1150646
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001809National Natural Science Foundation of China: 81671755
Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS: 2018042
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Invisible Ink Could Reveal whether Kids Have Been Vaccinated - Scientific American
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:41
Keeping track of vaccinations remains a major challenge in the developing world, and even in many developed countries, paperwork gets lost, and parents forget whether their child is up to date. Now a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers has developed a novel way to address this problem: embedding the record directly into the skin.
Along with the vaccine, a child would be injected with a bit of dye that is invisible to the naked eye but easily seen with a special cell-phone filter, combined with an app that shines near-infrared light onto the skin. The dye would be expected to last up to five years, according to tests on pig and rat skin and human skin in a dish.
The system'--which has not yet been tested in children'--would provide quick and easy access to vaccination history, avoid the risk of clerical errors, and add little to the cost or risk of the procedure, according to the study, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine.
''Especially in developing countries where medical records may not be as complete or as accessible, there can be value in having medical information directly associated with a person,'' says Mark Prausnitz, a bioengineering professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who was not involved in the new study. Such a system of recording medical information must be extremely discreet and acceptable to the person whose health information is being recorded and his or her family, he says. ''This, I think, is a pretty interesting way to accomplish those goals.''
The research, conducted by M.I.T. bioengineers Robert Langer and Ana Jaklenec and their colleagues, uses a patch of tiny needles called microneedles to provide an effective vaccination without a teeth-clenching jab. Microneedles are embedded in a Band-Aid-like device that is placed on the skin; a skilled nurse or technician is not required. Vaccines delivered with microneedles also may not need to be refrigerated, reducing both the cost and difficulty of delivery, Langer and Jaklenec say.
Delivering the dye required the researchers to find something that was safe and would last long enough to be useful. ''That's really the biggest challenge that we overcame in the project,'' Jaklenec says, adding that the team tested a number of off-the-shelf dyes that could be used in the body but could not find any that endured when exposed to sunlight. The team ended up using a technology called quantum dots, tiny semiconducting crystals that reflect light and were originally developed to label cells during research. The dye has been shown to be safe in humans.
A close-up microscope image of the microneedle array, which could deliver quantum dots into skin. Credit: K.J. McHugh et al. Science Translational Medicine (2019)The approach raises some privacy concerns, says Prausnitz, who helped invent microneedle technology and directs Georgia Tech's Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery. ''There may be other concerns that patients have about being 'tattooed,' carrying around personal medical information on their bodies or other aspects of this unfamiliar approach to storing medical records,'' he says. ''Different people and different cultures will probably feel differently about having an invisible medical tattoo.''
When people were still getting vaccinated for smallpox, which has since been eradicated worldwide, they got a visible scar on their arm from the shot that made it easy to identify who had been vaccinated and who had not, Jaklenec says. ''But obviously, we didn't want to give people a scar,'' she says, noting that her team was looking for an identifier that would be invisible to the naked eye. The researchers also wanted to avoid technologies that would raise even more privacy concerns, such as iris scans and databases with names and identifiable data, she says.
The quantum dots after being administered in the skin of rodents. Credit: K.J. McHugh et al. Science Translational Medicine (2019)The work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and came about because of a direct request from Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates himself, who has been supporting efforts to wipe out diseases such as polio and measles across the world, Jaklenec says. ''If we don't have good data, it's really difficult to eradicate disease,'' she says.
The researchers hope to add more detailed information to the dots, such as the date of vaccination. Along with them, the team eventually wants to inject sensors that could also potentially be used to track aspects of health such as insulin levels in diabetics, Jaklenec says.
This approach is likely to be one of many trying to solve the problem of storing individuals' medical information, says Ruchit Nagar, a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School, who also was not involved in the new study. He runs a company, called Khushi Baby, that is also trying to create a system for tracking such information, including vaccination history, in the developing world.
Working in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, Nagar and his team have devised a necklace, resembling one worn locally, which compresses, encrypts and password protects medical information. The necklace uses the same technology as radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips'--such as those employed in retail clothing or athletes' race bibs'--and provides health care workers access to a mother's pregnancy history, her child's growth chart and vaccination history, and suggestions on what vaccinations and other treatments may be needed, he says. But Nagar acknowledges the possible concerns all such technology poses. ''Messaging and cultural appropriateness need to be considered,'' he says.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)Karen Weintraub is a freelance health and science journalist who writes regularly for the New York Times, STAT and USA Today, among others.
Credit: Nick Higgins
Just the facts: Coronavirus in Australia by the numbers | The Spectator Australia
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:36
Notes: The data below is generally current as at 7 September 2021 however there may be some minor discrepancies due to jurisdictional reporting methods and timeframes etc. A key source of information for this article is the Australian Government Department of Health Coronavirus (COVID-19) case numbers and statistics website, which is updated daily and presents the statistics as a snapshot at a particular point in time. Information from this source used in this article was taken from 7 September 2021. For comparison purposes some reported and referenced raw data has been extrapolated to calculate averages and percentages.
Covid facts
Australia has a population of approximately 25,806,000.
The average life expectancy in Australia is 82.8.
As at October 2020 the average age of death from Covid in Australia was approximately 85 and the median age at death approximately 86.
The overall case fatality rate (CFR) for Covid in Australia is approximately1.6% (1053 out of 63,604) (as at 7 September 2021). This is very similar to the CFR in other developed countries including the USA, UK, France and Spain.
More than 75% (47,897 out of 63,604) of persons diagnosed with Covid in Australia (as at 7 September 2021) are under 50
As at 7 September 2021 the CFR for Covid in Australians aged under 50 is <0.034% (16 out of 47,897). This can also be expressed as approximately 4 out of every 12,000 cases.
From 1 January to 1 August 2021 the hospital admission rate of Covid cases in Australians aged under 50 was approximately 7.2% (287 out of 3973). Of these, 39 cases were admitted to ICU equating to an ICU admission rate of 0.98% (39 out of 3973) in the under 50 age group
The majority of Covid cases recover without clinical intervention. The severity of disease and CFR generally increase according to increasing age, i.e. the older you are the more seriously it is likely to affect you.
The majority of deaths in Australia overall, like other developed countries, occur among older people.'¯Sixty-six per cent of deaths registered in Australia in 2019 were among people aged 75 or over.
Approximately 66% (700 out of 1053) of Covid deaths in Australia (as at 7 September 2021) have occurred in aged care.
Out of 894 cases of people aged over 90 who have tested positive to Covid, 557 have survived (as at 7 September 2021). This means that even those aged over 90 have a statistical chance of over 60% of overcoming Covid.
Outside of aged care the overall CFR for Covid in Australia (as at 7 September 2021) is approx 0.57% (353 deaths out of 61,630 cases). If you are not an aged care resident you have a greater than 99% chance of surviving Covid.
There have been no deaths recorded in Queensland in Covid positive patients aged under 60 out of 1,598 cases (as at 8 September 2021). The average age of death from Covid in Qld is 78.
Approximately 73% of people who have died from Covid in Australia had pre-existing chronic conditions certified on the death certificate. Approximately 87% of all deaths due to COVID-19 have other conditions listed on the death certificate.
In 2021 there have been 35,179 positive Covid cases in Australia. There have been 144 recorded deaths in Covid positive patients. This equates to a case fatality rate in Australia in 2021 of 0.41%.
As at 7 September 2021, the current hospitalisation rate for Covid cases in Australia is 4.6% (1278 out of 27,797). The current ICU admission rate of Covid cases in Australia is 0.8% (220 out of 27,797).
In 2018 (the most recent information available) there were approximately 96,000 hospital beds and in 2020 2,378 ICU beds (baseline capacity prior to surge capacity) in Australia. Currently, 1278 Covid cases account for 1.33% of that hospital bed capacity and 9.25% of ICU baseline capacity (not including surge capacity added since the advent of Covid) in Australia.
Since the start of the 'Delta wave' in Australia on roughly 1 July 2021, there have been 32,920 Covid cases and 144 deaths. This equates to a CFR of 0.44%. This is significantly lower than the overall Covid CFR of 2.97% prior to the 'Delta wave', demonstrating that although it is more infectious it is far less deadly.
Much has been reported on the 'Delta wave' being a greater threat to younger people when compared to the initial Covid strain. From 30 June 2021 to 7 September 2021 the number of positive Covid cases recorded in the under 20 age category has more than tripled (from 4,209 to 14,252). However, there has been only one death recorded as due to Covid in this age group, although this has been denied by the hospital, who stated that Covid was not the cause of death.
From 16 March 2020 to 3 January 2021 there were 38 Covid cases under 18 years old admitted to hospital. From 1 January to 1 August 2021 there were 33 Covid cases under the age of 20 admitted to hospital. This equates to a hospital admission rate of 2.72% in that age group, about half of the overall hospital admission rate. Of these, four cases were admitted to ICU equating to an ICU admission rate of 0.33% in that age group, less than half of the overall ICU admission rate.
Covid vaccination information
In Australia eight people are confirmed to have died due to adverse reactions from the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine. As at 20 August 2021 there had also been 272 other reported deaths following receipt of AstraZeneca.
As of 2 September 2021, there had been 36 people treated in ICU for confirmed thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome following receipt of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
There have been 125 confirmed and probable cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS) as a result of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 99 reports of Guillain-Barre Syndrome following the AstraZeneca vaccine. To 29 August 2021, the TGA has received 61'¯reports of suspected Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) following vaccination with the Astrazeneca vaccine that could be linked to vaccination and no other obvious cause was identified.
As at 20 August 2021, there had been 176 reported deaths following receipt of the Pfizer vaccine.
To 29 August 2021, 293 cases of suspected myocarditis and/or pericarditis following the Pfizer vaccination have been reported to the TGA.
The World Health Organisation states that most people diagnosed with Covid have mild to moderate symptoms and recover without medical treatment. The WHO lists common symptoms of Covid as fever, dry cough, tiredness, aches and pains, sore throat and headaches.
As at 29 August 2021 there were more than 55,000 adverse events following Covid vaccinations. Very common side effects from the Covid vaccine are similar to those experienced by symptomatic Covid cases including tiredness, headache, muscle pain, fever and chills, joint pain and nausea. Similarly to Covid positive cases, most people who have an adverse reaction to the Covid vaccine recover without medical treatment.
The Commonwealth Government has invested over $5 billion dollars of tax payer money into 5 separate agreements to secure more than 195 million doses of Covid vaccines. This is enough for every single Australian regardless of age to be fully vaccinated (receive two doses) 3.75 times.
Covid testing
Each Covid test performed by private providers/health facilities is subsidised through Medicare to the amount of $85.Each Covid test performed through the public health system is subsidised through Medicare to the amount of $42.50.
As of 8 September 2021, there had been 33,227,789 Covid tests performed in Australia. Only 0.19% of these have been positive.
In NSW this testing was performed at a rate of roughly 60% private and 40% public. Extrapolating the data on a national basis and estimated at a rate of an even 50% split between private and public testing, it appears that over $2 billion dollars of taxpayer money has been spent by the Federal Government on Covid testing.
As of 8 September 2021, there had been 4,101,241 Covid tests performed in Qld. Again based on an estimated even split of 50% private and 50% public testing it is estimated that the Medicare bill for Covid testing in Queensland has amounted to over $250,000,000.
Some comparisons with influenza
In Australia in 2019 there were over 300,000 cases of influenza, approximately 4000 hospitalisations and over 800 deaths. There were no restrictions or lockdowns.
In 2017 in Queensland there were 264 confirmed deaths from influenza, with'¯58,616 lab-confirmed cases of the disease officially recorded. This equates to a CFR of 0.47%. The number of deaths attributed to influenza in Queensland in 2017 is 37 times the number of deaths from Covid in Queensland since the beginning of the pandemic. However, there were no restrictions or lockdowns.
In 2019 in Queensland there were again 264 confirmed deaths from influenza, with'¯68,148 lab-confirmed cases of the disease officially recorded. This equates to a CFR of 0.38%. The number of deaths attributed to influenza in Queensland in 2019 is 37 times the number of deaths from Covid in Queensland since the beginning of the pandemic. However, there were no restrictions or lockdowns.
In Qld in 2020 there were 6047 confirmed cases of influenza. 309 were admitted to hospital and 28 of these were admitted to ICU. There were 20 confirmed deaths due to influenza, more than 3 times the number of Covid related deaths.
Queensland specific Covid information
In Queensland in 2021 there have been 729 confirmed cases of Covid. One of these has been fatal. This equates to a 2021 CFR in Qld of 0.14%.
In Queensland since the beginning of the pandemic there have been 1991 confirmed cases of covid, 7 of which have been fatal. This equates to a CFR of 0.35% which is less than the CFR of influenza in Queensland in both 2017 and 2019. However, there have been significant restrictions imposed on all Queenslanders including the vast majority of whom were healthy.
In Queensland in 2021 the highest number of Covid patients hospitalised at any one time is 82. (It is important to note that in Queensland all Covid cases are hospitalised, regardless of the severity of illness). There are approximately 19,270 hospital beds in Queensland (based on an estimated population of 5,195,000 as at 31 December 2020 and a rate of 3.71 beds per 1000 people).
In Queensland in 2021 the highest number of Covid patients admitted to ICU at any one time is three. There were approximately 413 ICU beds (baseline capacity) in Queensland as at 2018.
National statistics on deaths
In Australia there were 58,515 deaths that occurred between January and May 2021 and were registered by 31 July (including 5,043 deaths from respiratory disease).This is 3,475 deaths'¯(6.3%) more than the 2015-19 average and comparable to 2020. Only one of these deaths was due to Covid.
For the month of May, there were 12,973 deaths (including 1,202 deaths due to respiratory diseases), which is 7.6% more deaths than average, and 5.3% more than in 2020. None of these deaths were due to Covid.
From 1 January to 31 July 2020, there were 32,398 deaths in residential aged care in Australia, compared with 33,383 at the same point in 2019.
Covid has had an extremely negligible impact on the overall average number of deaths in Australia and the average age at death.
According to ABS data in the 5 year period from 2015-2019, there were 806,259 deaths recorded in Australia. This equates to a yearly average of 161,251 deaths. There were 116,345 deaths registered by doctors between January 1 and October 27, 2020, compared with the 2015-19 average of 117,484.
In 2020 there were 141,116 deaths recorded in Australia. 909 (0.64%) of these were Covid related.
Comment
A multitude of illnesses, disease and injuries are prevalent in our community. These include many which are directly linked to activities which we are completely free to pursue such as drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, consuming significant amounts of unhealthy foods, sunbaking, playing contact or extreme sports. These are personal decisions made with knowledge and acceptance of risk.
Covid is a virus that poses risks specifically to the elderly and those with existing comorbidities, and extremely negligible risk to those below 50. The vast majority of those who have died from Covid in Australia are over 80 years old and have pre-existing illnesses.
All Australians should be free to make an informed decision (with the knowledge that there is a real risk of an adverse outcome leading to death or serious injury) whether or not to receive a Covid vaccination without coercion or the real threat of being stripped of their job and ability to earn a livelihood for themselves and their families.
Those who support mandatory Covid vaccinations argue that the chances of a severe reaction are very rare and they are correct. However, it must be remembered that these adverse reactions are not some fanciful conspiracy theory and by 'coming into contact' with the vaccine you are exposing yourself to that risk. Those who choose not to receive the vaccine and who practice sensible everyday hygiene are not certain to 'come into contact' with Covid, and therefore not certain to be exposed to a real risk of contracting the virus, let alone a real risk of serious illness or death.
Sensible precautions should be directed towards minimising the risks to those in the at-risk categories. If others outside of those at-risk categories also wish to engage in the same precautions then they should be free to do so. Otherwise, Australians should be free to go about their lives without the significant burden of extreme wide-ranging restrictions.
Premonition of Guinea Coup Came at Soldier's Elite-Training Camp - Bloomberg
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:33
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SF company offers to relocate employees in Texas in light of abortion ban | KRON4
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:30
by: Tristi Rodriguez
Posted:
Sep 9, 2021 / 07:00 PM PDT / Updated:
Sep 9, 2021 / 07:19 PM PDTFILE '' In this Sept. 1, 2021, file photo, Jillian Dworin participates in a protest against the six-week abortion ban at the Capitol in Austin, Texas. Young people on social media have found a way to protest Texas' new law banning most abortions by focusing on a website established by the state's largest anti-abortion group that takes in tips on violations.(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) '-- A San Francisco company is offering to relocate its employees working in Texas in light of Texas's new abortion ban.
Bospar, a San Francisco public relations agency, said Thursday it has formed a Texas Relocation Plan for its employees.
The company said it will pay relocation expenses for employees needing to leave Texas for control of their reproductive health. The offer is open to both men and women.
Bospar said it will offer this plan to other staff members if other states also pass laws restricting reproductive healthcare.
''At Bospar we believe this relocation program '' or evacuation program '' makes good business sense. We predict other companies will take similar action to retain the best talent until Texas reverses this self-inflicted brain drain. While we are disappointed that other agencies and companies have not taken similar stances yet, we realize this is what true leadership is like: taking a stand first and leading the way,'' a statement on Bospar's website reads, in part.
At Bospar, we care deeply about our team members, especially when it comes to their choices about their reproductive healthcare. In light of Texas's new abortion ban, we have formed a #Texas Relocation Plan for team Bospar.Get the full details here: https://t.co/kxCaMKBEfn
'-- Bospar PR (@BosparPR) September 9, 2021The Justice Department is suing Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted ''in open defiance of the Constitution.''
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Texas, asks a federal judge to declare that the law is invalid, ''to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated.''
The Texas law, known as SB8, prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity '' usually around six weeks, before some women know they're pregnant. Courts have blocked other states from imposing similar restrictions, but Texas' law differs significantly because it leaves enforcement to private citizens through civil lawsuits instead of criminal prosecutors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
COVID Mandates: Postal Workers Exempt from Vaccine Requirements | National Review
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:16
A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier pushes his cart in the rain on Manhattan's Upper West Side during the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, April 13, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters)Update 9:00 p.m. : This article was updated following additional clarifications from the Biden administration on vaccine requirements for the Postal Service.
U.S. Postal Service workers are subject to a rule to be developed by the Labor Department mandating coronavirus vaccinations for workers and weekly testing for non-vaccinated employees at companies with over 100 workers, a senior Biden administration official told CNN and the Washington Post.
The clarification came after the Washington Post reported that White House officials said U.S. Postal Service employees are exempt from the Biden administration's new coronavirus vaccine mandates for federal workers.
''We strongly encourage them to comply with these standards,'' White House officials initially told the Post.
President Biden announced that the Labor Department would develop rules to require all companies with more than 100 employees to mandate coronavirus vaccinations or weekly testing for workers. Additionally, Biden signed an executive order requiring all ''federal executive branch workers'' to be vaccinated, along with all federal contractors, according to the White House outline of the plan.
Businesses that ignore the new vaccination and testing requirements could face a penalty of up to $14,000 per violation, a senior administration official told reporters. Biden said the new requirements would help ''protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers.''
The president also called on state governors to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for all teachers and school employees.
''Vaccination requirements for schools are nothing new,'' Biden said. ''They work. They're overwhelmingly supported by educators and their unions.''
Send a tip to the news team at NR.
Edward Snowden: Global Bitcoin Game Theory To Begin Playing Out | Bitcoin Magazine: Bitcoin News, Articles, Charts, and Guides
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:13
The whistleblower has highlighted how El Salvador's "pawn to e4" move will pressure other nations to adopt bitcoin.
The game-theoretic facet of Bitcoin adoption might soon start playing out in global geopolitics. Famous whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted about it yesterday, highlighting that Bitcoin favors those that adopt it early, thereby putting pressure on other nations who might be penalized for being laggards.
"Today Bitcoin was formally recognized as legal tender in its first country," tweeted Snowden on September 7. "Beyond the headlines, there is now pressure on competing nations to acquire Bitcoin'--even if only as a reserve asset'--as its design massively incentivizes early adoption."
Snowden's tweet quoted another from Bitcoin Magazine's Aaron van Wirdum, currently in El Salvador, which announced the journalist's ability to pay for his McDonald's breakfast with bitcoin through the Lightning Network. Van Wirdum said he wanted to test whether he could use bitcoin to purchase everyday goods at a mainstream, global chain when Bitcoin officially became legal tender in the Central American country.
"But low and behold, [McDonald's] printed a ticket with QR [code] that took me to a webpage with Lightning invoice, and now I'm enjoying my desayuno traditional," tweeted van Wirdum.
Natural to a nascent form of money is its consistent growth in purchasing power, compared to well-established monetary goods, as its adoption increases in society. A new money's adoption is directly correlated to its ability to assume different and more practical use cases. A monetary good that isn't widely accepted has limited power and thus has fewer characteristics of fully-fledged money.
Historically, new money starts as a collectible item. Still, as more people begin accepting it and using it, the new monetary good becomes used as a store of value, then as a medium of exchange, and finally as a unit of account. The final stage requires, in theory, that the money be largely accepted in the world '-- such a high level of adoption and monetary preference that its volatility would diminish and make it suitable for that use case.
In its early days, Bitcoin was seen by the mainstream mainly as a gimmicky collectible, but recently the narrative has been shifting towards the store of value and digital gold use cases. However, El Salvador, by adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, is already helping the infant money climb over the store of value use case into the medium of exchange one. Although a global usage of Bitcoin as a medium of exchange depends on a much higher adoption rate globally, the grounds are being set.
As the Salvadoran population and the country's economy start benefitting from Bitcoin's growing purchasing power as a store of value and begin demonstrating actual usage as a medium of exchange, in the long run, game theory suggests that other countries are set to follow suit. The fear of being left behind and the evident opportunity cost will put pressure on competing nations to store Bitcoin as a reserve asset or adopt it as legal currency entirely.
It is unclear where Bitcoin is in the adoption cycle currently, however, it is clear that the vast majority of the world still does not understand it or use it. The Salvadoran move legitimizes Bitcoin's use as a medium of exchange, and maybe the very geopolitical push the currency needed to be put on the global stage. A successful implementation by El Salvador prepares the grounds for Bitcoin adoption to skyrocket as other nations start taking similar actions, fearful of being left behind. As Snowden concluded the tweet, "latecomers may regret hesitating."
The Westwood One 2021 Audioscape: Who Are Podcast Listeners? - Westwood One
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:04
Audio is a huge part of life for Americans. While AM/FM radio dominates the audio landscape with mass reach and significant time spent, new content and distribution platforms represent audio innovations that are experiencing significant consumer adoption growth.
The Westwood One 2021 Audioscape covers two major innovations in the audio space: podcasts and smart speakers. The data is sourced from Edison Research's ''Share of Ear'' study, CUMULUS MEDIA's annual Podcast Download release, and Nielsen's Scarborough USA+ studies.
Who are podcast listeners? The podcast audience is young, employed, educated, and upscale
At 34, the median age of the podcast audience is 14 years younger than the AM/FM radio audience and much younger than broadcast television network audiences.
The podcast audience profile is exceptionally attractive. Podcast listeners are upscale and educated. 53% of persons 18+ who have listened to an audio podcast in the past 30 days are employed in a white-collar occupation. 39% hold management positions and 55% have a household income of $75,000+, making this group an audience advertisers want to reach.
Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer at CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One.
Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.
Mike Pompeo Says 'I Pray' Lindsey Graham Is Wrong About U.S. Return to Afghanistan
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:03
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he hopes GOP Senator Lindsey Graham is mistaken about the need for the U.S. military to return to Afghanistan.
Pompeo was asked about the South Carolina senator's comments to the BBC this week that the U.S. would have to return to the country that the Taliban has taken over because it would be a haven for terror.
"I pray that Lindsey's wrong," Pompeo told iHeartRadio with Lisa Boothe. "Senator Graham and I had worked together on this project, but we had different views.
"He had more confidence in the Ghani government than I ever could muster," Pompeo said, referring to president Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan as the Taliban captured Kabul.
Ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is pictured in Washington, DC, on April 21, 2021. He said President Joe Biden has to "own" the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.In the interview, released Wednesday, Pompeo described Ghani as "one of my most corrupt partners," who was more interested in "working the power corridors of Washington DC" than "the political operations in Kabul and surrounding provinces."
Pompeo was criticized by one of President Donald Trump's former national security advisers, H.R. McMaster, for what he termed a "surrender agreement" in February 2020 with the Taliban to leave Afghanistan.
Some former senior Trump officials have tried to distance themselves from the Taliban deal, which McMaster said laid the groundwork for the group's rapid takeover of Afghanistan.
Biden has faced criticism from all sides over the exit, during which a suicide bombing outside Hamid Karzai International Airport killed 13 U.S. service members and over 160 Afghans.
Biden defended the Afghan exit and blamed the former administration for the chaos, saying Trump emboldened the Taliban.
Despite his criticism of Biden's handling of the withdrawal, Pompeo said he supported the exit and backed the work made by the administration he served, saying: "I think we actually had it right," and that Biden has "to own" the disastrous consequences of the withdrawal from the country.
Pompeo said that the gradual drawdown of troops "put the right conditions in place" to ensure that if "we ultimately were able to successfully get out, which I think we could have, we would have gotten every American out."
"There's only one commander in chief," he said. "In the end, the singular person who's to be held accountable for this is President Biden."
"He made the decision to pick this arbitrary political date to have everybody out," Pompeo said, referring to August 31, adding that "the ramifications of that decision are absolutely tragic."
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.
The graphic below provided by Statista shows how the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated over the last decade.
A Newsweek/Statista graph shows Afghanistan's increasing number of terror attacks and the population's decreasing feeling of safety Newsweek/Statista/Getty Images
Texas passes law that bans kicking people off social media based on 'viewpoint' - The Verge
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 22:40
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill regulating how social media companies moderate content.
The new law, passed as HB 20 in early September, controversially prohibits banning (or demonetizing or otherwise restricting) content based on ''the viewpoint of the user or another person,'' whether or not that viewpoint is expressed on the social media platform itself.
HB 20 also requires social media services to disclose how they promote and moderate content and mandates transparency reports similar to those produced by Facebook, Google, and other major web companies. If platforms are notified of illegal content, the law requires them to evaluate it within 48 hours, a policy that mirrors at least one proposal in US Congress. (Unlike Congress, however, a state legislative body can't override Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act '-- which governs much moderation of illegal content online.)
Email providers can't filter messages based on content... unless they're spam
Companies that break the rules could face a civil lawsuit or action from the attorney general. The law applies to web services with more than 50 million active users that let people ''communicate with other users for the primary purpose of posting information, comments, messages, or images,'' not including internet service providers and news or entertainment sites.
The law also includes a section specifically aimed at email platforms '-- making it unlawful to ''intentionally impede the transmission of another person 's electronic mail message based on the content of the message'' unless the company believes it contains malicious code, obscenity, illegal content, or violations of an existing Texas anti-spam law.
The Texas law is one of several Republican efforts to scare web companies away from removing objectionable but lawful content, a fight conservative politicians have framed as an anti-censorship battle against companies that are akin to phone companies or other communications utilities. It follows a similar Florida law covering social media, although it doesn't include some of that rule's more distinctive provisions, like protections for political candidates and an exemption for companies that own a theme park.
The rule's future, however, is uncertain. It's likely to face legal challenges from critics, and unlike the recent Texas abortion ban, it's not tailored to evade judicial scrutiny. A judge blocked Florida's social media law in June, saying it ''compels providers to host speech that violates their standards.''
NetChoice, one of the plaintiffs in that Florida lawsuit, released a statement condemning the bill. ''HB 20 has the same First Amendment flaws as the Florida law that a federal court blocked this summer. The same outcome will almost certainly occur in Texas,'' said NetChoice president Steve DelBianco in a statement. So far, however, it hasn't committed to a similar lawsuit there.
There's Definitely Something Very Wrong with Pfizer-BioNTech's 'Full Authorization' Docs - Becker News
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 21:51
Update: See further legal analysis from an attorney at the bottom of the story.
The Food and Drug Administration's ''full authorization'' for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 was announced with a fair amount of hooplah and fanfare. The President of the United States announced the monumental development and touted it as rationale for the vaccine mandates to commence in the private sector, throughout the government, and in the U.S. military.
President Joe Biden was on the spot Monday morning with a quick reaction to the FDA's ''full authorization'' of the Covid-19 vaccines.
The FDA has officially approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. While all three COVID vaccines have met FDA's strict standards for emergency use, this FDA approval should give added confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective.
If you're not vaccinated yet, now is the time. https://t.co/XaxFdWHbRc
'-- President Biden (@POTUS) August 23, 2021
''The FDA has officially approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine,'' Biden said. ''While all three COVID vaccines have met FDA's strict standards for emergency use, this FDA approval should give added confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective. If you're not vaccinated yet, now is the time.''
Biden's announcement followed upon the widespread media coverage that the Pfizer-BioNTech had ''full'' approval for the use of the vaccine in the United States.
''The Food and Drug Administration granted Pfizer and BioNTech full U.S. approval of their Covid-19 vaccine '' becoming the first in the U.S. to win the coveted designation and giving even more businesses, schools and universities greater confidence to adopt vaccine mandates,'' CNBC reported.
''Up until now, the mRNA vaccine was on the U.S. market under an Emergency Use Authorization, which was granted by the FDA in December. Since then, more than 204 million of the Pfizer shots have been administered, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,'' the report added.
The Pentagon on Wednesday finally issued its order that U.S. troops get the vaccine '-- or else.
There is it: The Pentagon orders all active duty troops to be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. pic.twitter.com/CW9VnNy9od
'-- Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) August 25, 2021
''To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force,'' the Defense Department memo said. ''After careful consultation with military experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is ncessary to protect the force and defend the American people.''
But a closer examination of the ''full authorization'' documents has some Americans feeling deceived. There is the matter that Pfizer-BioNTech still appears to be afforded the legal protections that accompany Emergency Use Authorization, all while it purportedly has ''full'' FDA approval. How did the pharmaceutical company manage such a commercial 'coup'?
Upon a more critical look at the documents, it now very much seems to be the case that the company, along with the indispensable aid of a complicit media and the Biden administration, has engaged in a classic bait-and-switch.
Before proceeding, examine the technical language used in the awkwardly phrased release. The new label for the 'fully authorized' vaccine is called 'Comirnarty.'
''On December 11, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID'19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 for individuals 16 years of age and older pursuant to Section 564 of the Act,'' the FDA stated in a letter to the Global Senior Director of Pfizer Ms. Elaine Harkins. ''FDA reissued the letter of authorization on: December 23, 2020, February 25, 2021, May 10, 2021, June 25, 2021, and August 12, 2021.''
''On August 23, 2021, FDA approved the biologics license application (BLA) submitted by BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH for COMIRNATY (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 16 years of age and older.''
PhD. biochemistry and molecular biology student Kathleen Lee picked up on the change in language and decided to press further.
I called the Pfizer BioNtech number 1-800-666-7248. The recording clearly states that it has not been approved by the FDA. Pfizer BNT162B2 is still under EUA. This clears up that messy FDA authorization between Comirnaty and Pfizer BioNtech
'-- KAT (@KathMLee1) August 25, 2021
''I called the Pfizer BioNtech number 1-800-666-7248,'' she said. ''The recording clearly states that it has not been approved by the FDA. Pfizer BNT162B2 is still under EUA. This clears up that messy FDA authorization between Comirnaty and Pfizer BioNtech.''
Overlooking the odd choice for an area code, I decided to call and confirmed this is still the case. But it could just be an old recording. Lee continued to express her analysis of the apparent discrepancy.
It's deceitful. If the vial says Comirnaty- It's FDA approved. It the vial says Pfizer BioNtech- it's under EUA and they're not subject to liability. There's millions of doses to get rid of first
'-- KAT (@KathMLee1) August 25, 2021
''It's deceitful,'' Lee claimed. ''If the vial says Comirnaty- It's FDA approved. It the vial says Pfizer BioNtech- it's under EUA and they're not subject to liability. There's millions of doses to get rid of first.''
Yet if the next batch of vaccines being dispensed were being produced under the Cominarty label, then that would appear to reconcile the issue.
Except that isn't the case. Buried deep within the footnotes of the Pfizer-BioNTech documents is one footnote that puts into rather jolting perspective that the currently labeled vaccines are still under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
''Although COMIRNATY (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) is approved to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and older, there is not sufficient approved vaccine available for distribution to this population in its entirety at the time of reissuance of this EUA. Additionally, there are no products that are approved to prevent COVID-19 in individuals age 12 through 15, or that are approved to provide an additional dose to the immunocompromised population described in this EUA.''
The profound implications of this admission was mentioned by notable vaccine critic Alex Berenson, formerly of the New York Times and a best-selling author on the subject.
2/ Or is this another reason @us_fda is going out of its way to say Comirnaty is not available?
"although COMIRNATY (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) is approved'... there is not sufficient approved vaccine available for distribution to this population."https://t.co/XrqIORQZVt
'-- Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) August 25, 2021
''So now that Come-Here-Naughty is approved (ish), the [Moderna] and [Johnson & Johnson] lose their Emergency Use Authorizations, right?'' Berenson asked. ''Because there's an approved alternative and you can't have an EUA when there are 'adequate, approved, and available alternatives'.''
''Or is this another reason [the FDA] is going out of its way to say Comirnaty is not available?'' Berenson continued. ''[A]lthough COMIRNATY (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) is approved'... there is not sufficient approved vaccine available for distribution to this population.''
Attorney Robert Barnes got to the heart of the matter in a post on Wednesday night:
There is no *available* FDA approved licensed vaccine. Here's what is happening. If FDA approved & licensed COVID19 vaccine, it would have to revoke the EUA vaccines & subject the vaccine maker to more liability risk. So it only approved a future vaccine that isn't "available".
'-- Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) August 25, 2021
''There is no *available* FDA approved licensed vaccine,'' Barnes said. ''Here's what is happening. If FDA approved & licensed COVID19 vaccine, it would have to revoke the EUA vaccines & subject the vaccine maker to more liability risk. So it only approved a future vaccine that isn't 'available'.''
When a user questioned his analysis with the extremely persuasive point ''full stop,'' Barnes countered with an indisputable point.
Did you fail to read the part of the FDA letter where it said the licensed vaccine isn't "available" yet? How is there ANY EUA vaccines when the law does not allow them if there is a licensed vaccine available?
'-- Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) August 25, 2021
''Did you fail to read the part of the FDA letter where it said the licensed vaccine isn't 'available' yet?'' Barnes asked. ''How is there ANY EUA vaccines when the law does not allow them if there is a licensed vaccine available?''
Dr. Robert Malone, who is described as the inventor of the mRNA and RNA as a drug, appeared on Steve Bannon's war room on Monday and also delved into the Pfizer-BioNTech/Cominarty controversy.
"So, the little trick that they've done here is they have issued two separate letters'... The Pfizer vaccine, which is what is currently available'... is still under [EUA]'... Once again, the mainstream media has lied to you." '-- Dr. Robert Malonehttps://t.co/boQuU11XQz
'-- Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 26, 2021
''So, the little trick that they've done here is they have issued two separate letters'... The Pfizer vaccine, which is what is currently available'... is still under Emergency Use Authorization,'' Dr. Malone said. ''Once again, the mainstream media has lied to you.''
The entire vaccine rollout has broken the public trust '-- from the lies about ''15 days to stop the spread'' to the lie that the COVID vaccine prevents transmission and thereby protects ''the public'' '-- the pharmaceutical companies, as well as the Biden administration and its bureaucratic arms, no longer get the benefit of the doubt.
If the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is being treated as a 'fully authorized' vaccine, then it should no longer be afforded the protections offered by EUA.
There is one way the American people can find out for sure: Let the lawsuits begin.
NOW READ:
FDA's Authorization Docs Suggest Covid Vaccine Pushes Until at Least 2027
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VIDEO - Gladys Berejiklian hits out at suggestions her daily COVID updates are ending due to ICAC concerns | Sky News Australia
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 14:05
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has ended her final regular COVID-19 update with a fiery exchange over her decision to stop fronting the press daily.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has hit back at suggestions that she will not appear at the daily COVID-19 update due to ongoing ICAC concerns.
On Friday, Ms Berejiklian announced that Sunday's press conference would be the last one she appeared at on a daily basis.
As opposed to a daily press briefing, New South Wales' daily COVID-19 case numbers will be transmitted via an online NSW Health update, with the Premier appearing for significant announcements only.
The Premier said on Sunday that the next two months would be the ''most challenging our state has seen'' and she needed to have a ''clear head'' to best guide the government.
''I was very upfront and honest to say that while there would be ample information provided on a daily basis, I will not necessarily be the one providing the information on a daily basis, and that is because I need a clear head,'' Ms Berejiklian said.
"I need to make sure we are not only making decisions for the next day but for the next week and next month.
''It's really important to make sure all of government is prepared for what the next few months bring us.''
But Ms Berejiklian had to fight back suggestions she decided to end her daily appearance due to an ongoing ICAC investigation into her former boyfriend Daryl Maguire.
The Premier refused to comment on questions thrown at her about the ICAC investigation, adding that it would be ''inappropriate to comment''.
A reporter asked the Premier if she had been ''called to give evidence at private hearings'' and whether that was the reason behind her ending the daily press conferences.
''No, as I said, it is inappropriate to comment on any ongoing matters, and that's always been the proper way to respond to those questions,'' she said.
''This is all about making sure that we provide good government to the people of New South Wales. The Premier of the state should front to the people and she needs to make sure that people know when there is a major milestone or a major issue or when I feel I need to be accountable.
''Some weeks it could be seven days a week. Some weeks it could be three times a week. It depends on what is going on.''
Ms Berejiklian remained tight lipped throughout the questioning regarding Mr Maguire, including when asked whether she would expect a member of her cabinet to resign from their post if they were subject to an ICAC investigation
''Premier, if someone is a person of interest in an independent commission against corruption can they still sit in cabinet in your view, or is there no room for anyone in your cabinet?'' Ms Berejiklian was asked.
''Look, I have made my position on those matters very clear in the past and I don't have anything new to add,'' the Premier replied.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation into Mr McGuire is expected to continue private hearings later this month.
VIDEO - England vaccine passport plans ditched, Sajid Javid says - BBC News
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:35
By Marie JacksonBBC News
media caption "We shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it", Sajid Javid told the BBC's Nick RobinsonPlans to introduce vaccine passports for access into nightclubs and large events in England will not go ahead, the health secretary has said.
Sajid Javid told the BBC: "We shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it."
He said the government had looked at the evidence, adding: "I'm pleased to say we will not be going ahead."
It was thought the plan, which came under criticism from venues and some MPs, would be introduced at the end of this month.
No 10 stressed it would be kept "in reserve" should it be needed over autumn or winter.
Under the scheme, people would have been required to show proof - whether of double vaccination, a negative Covid test or finishing self-isolating after a positive PCR test - in order to gain entry to clubs and other crowded events.
The Night Time Industries Association warned the plans could have crippled the industry and seen nightclubs facing discrimination cases.
The industry body has since welcomed the move, saying it hoped businesses could now plan with some certainty and start to rebuild the sector and regain customers' confidence.
The Music Venue Trust, which aims to protect grassroots venues, also welcomed the announcement, describing vaccine passports as "problematic".
There was opposition too from Tory MPs on the Covid Recovery Group and the Liberal Democrats, whose leader Ed Davey called them "divisive, unworkable and expensive".
Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Javid said: "We just shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it or because others are doing, and we should look at every possible intervention properly.
"I've never liked the idea of saying to people you must show your papers or something to do what is just an everyday activity, but we were right to properly look at it.
"We've looked at it properly and, whilst we should keep it in reserve as a potential option, I'm pleased to say that we will not be going ahead with plans for vaccine passports."
Asked if the government was "running scared" on the policy after criticism from its own backbenchers, Mr Javid rejected this, saying vaccine passports were not needed because of other things in the "wall of defence" including high vaccine uptake, testing, surveillance and new treatments.
image source, Getty Images
image caption Nightclubs were among the last places to reopen as restrictions were easedIn the interview, Mr Javid also said:
he wanted to "get rid" of PCR tests for travel and has asked for advice on the issuehe was "not anticipating" any more lockdowns, although it would be "irresponsible to take everything off the table"if the UK's chief medical officers advised 12 to 15-year-olds should be vaccinated, "we can start within a week" and schools were already preparing for it. The UK's advisory body - the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) - has recommended against doing so except for children with particular health problems - but the final say is with the CMOs.The move to scrap vaccine passports appears to be a sharp U-turn by the government.
On the same TV programme last week, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the end of September was the right time to start the vaccine passport scheme for sites with large crowds because all over-18s would have been offered two jabs by then and it was the "best way" to keep the night industry open.
Analysis: A government under pressure
By Ione Wells, BBC political correspondent
The UK government had faced pressure from a number of its own Tory MPs, as well as from nightclubs and the events sector, to ditch plans for vaccine passports in England.
First, there was a hint they were pushing ahead. Last week, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said they would be required in nightclubs and other indoor venues in England by the end of the month.
Then came the row-back. On Friday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said they would "almost certainly" be necessary for nightclubs this autumn, but said he'd prefer a more limited use of them.
By Sunday at 08:30 BST, the health secretary said on Sky News that the government hoped to avoid having them, and within the next hour told the BBC they will not be going ahead with plans.
Clearly there has been debate within government itself about their use but a decision has, for now, been made - even if the option will be kept in "reserve".
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said the government's approach to Covid passports had been "shambolic from the start" and lacked any clarity from ministers about the purpose of the passports and how they would work.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael accused the Conservatives of needlessly sowing confusion among businesses for months and called for them to scrap the "unnecessary and draconian Coronavirus Act altogether".
Some large venues such as football stadiums, live music venues and music festivals have already been asking people to prove their vaccination status to gain entry.
An Office for National Statistics survey, covering 25 August to 5 September, found about 1 in 10 adults across Great Britain reported that they had been asked to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test to be allowed into a venue or event.
On Saturday, Manchester United introduced Covid spot-checks on match days at Old Trafford, with the club saying it expected proof of full vaccination to become mandatory in the Premier League from 1 October.
The Premier League said at the start of the 2021-22 season that fans would face random spot-checks of their Covid-19 status at grounds over the first few match days. Brighton, Chelsea and Tottenham have introduced mandatory checks for fans at their stadiums.
image source, Reuters
image caption Fans have had to show their Covid status to enter Sunday's Chelsea v Everton Women's Super League football matchScotland is taking a different approach to England - they will bring in a vaccine passport for over-18s for entry to nightclubs and many large events from October.
In Wales, ministers will decide next week whether to introduce the scheme. There are no current plans for a similar scheme in Northern Ireland.
A series of key government announcements and decisions are expected in the coming days.
On Monday, Boris Johnson is expected to outline plans for booster jabs. Mr Javid said that if the JCVI advised having a broad booster programme, he was "confident" it could start this month "as planned all along".
And on Tuesday, the prime minister will set out his Covid Winter Plan for England, likely to include contingency measures that would be implemented if the NHS was at risk of becoming overwhelmed.
VIDEO - GetBackToLife #FREEVICTORIA on Twitter: "@maz314Wa @adamcurry There are ways" / Twitter
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:15
GetBackToLife #FREEVICTORIA : @maz314Wa @adamcurry There are ways
Sun Sep 12 09:28:06 +0000 2021
VIDEO - President Biden Delivers Remarks on his Plan to Stop the Delta Variant & Boost COVID-19 Vaccinations - YouTube
VIDEO - New Zealand terrorist attack: ISIS supporter shot dead by police after shoppers stabbed in Auckland - CNN
Sun, 12 Sep 2021 11:13
(CNN)New Zealand police have shot and killed an ISIS supporter who injured at least six people in a supermarket "terrorist attack" in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn on Friday, authorities say.
"This afternoon at approximately 2:40 p.m., a violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a news conference Friday afternoon. "This was a violent attack, it was senseless, and I am so sorry it happened."
Ardern added that the man was a Sri Lankan national, a "supporter of ISIS ideology," and a "known security threat." He was under constant surveillance by multiple government agencies, and security personnel were able to shoot and kill him within 60 seconds from the start of the attack, she said.
The attacker obtained a knife within the store and used it to stab shoppers before police shot him, said New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, who described him as a lone actor. The man died at the scene.
Videos posted online showed panicked shoppers running out of the LynnMall Shopping Centre and looking for cover as the situation unfolded.
Six people have been injured, emergency crews said, with three in critical condition. Heavily armed police and ambulances remain at the scene, and authorities have cordoned off the surrounding streets.
The attacker came to New Zealand in 2011 and became a person of interest in October 2016, authorities said.
Ardern did not publicly share the man's identity, saying he had faced court in the past and suppression orders prevented officials from releasing certain information about him.
The Prime Minister added that she had been "personally aware" of him before the attack, and authorities were monitoring him because they could not keep him in prison.
"I acknowledge this situation poses questions about whether police could have acted faster or done more," Coster said. "I am confident we have done everything we can within the law ... we were doing everything we could to monitor him. The fact we were able to react within 60 seconds shows that."
Auckland was already under a Level 4 lockdown, the country's most stringent level, due to surging coronavirus cases -- meaning most shops are closed and most people must stay home. Supermarkets remain open as an essential service.
Countdown, the supermarket chain that owns the LynnMall location, said in a statement it was "devastated" by the attack.
"Our hearts are heavy knowing what our team and customers have witnessed and been through," the statement said.
New Zealand has been on alert for attacks since a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on March 15, 2019.
Ardern, asked if the Friday attack could have been revenge for the 2019 mosque shootings, said it was not clear. The man alone who was responsible for the violence, not a faith, she said.
"It was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith," Ardern said. "He alone carries the responsibility for these acts."
Reuters contributed reporting.
VIDEO - Who really benefits from China's crackdown on multiple industries? - YouTube
VIDEO - SHOCKING REVELATION - Doctor Exposes Covid Bioweapons Program & Reveals Vaccine Will Kill MILLIONS
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:00
Trinidad's Dr. Michael McDowell explains how the Covid-19 bioweapon was created as a chimera, he outlines where it was made, and some of the guilty parties who developed it. The doctor then goes on to reveal the Global conspiracy to vaccinate t'...
Trinidad's Dr. Michael McDowell explains how the Covid-19 bioweapon was created as a chimera, he outlines where it was made, and some of the guilty parties who developed it. The doctor then goes on to reveal the Global conspiracy to vaccinate the world's population is intended to cause a mass DIE-OFF on a scale the world has never seen.
This is truly the greatest Crime Against Humanity the world has ever known.
Since every FOIA request had come back stating that the virus had never been isolated, many speculated (including myself) that the symptoms associated with Covid-19 were caused by a weaponized spike protein encased in a graphene oxide nanoparticle that was being introduced into the environment and that there was no actual virus. However, after hearing the information presented by Dr McDowell, perhaps there is another reason why no agency anywhere in the world had been able to provide proof that the virus was isolated. In light of what the doctor just shared, one plausible explanation would be that all the agencies who had received a Freedom of Information Request are in on the conspiracy, and that the reason they could not provide an isolated virus was because doing so would immediately reveal that Covid-19 was a chimera bioweapon and the jig would be up.
VIDEO - How Covid-19 attacks those who aren't fully vaccinated - YouTube
VIDEO - French president took a gamble to increase vaccinations. It worked - YouTube
VIDEO - Dr Bryan Ardis with the most stunning TRUTH about Covid Fauci & Remdesivir you could never imagine
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:25
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VIDEO - Doctor Wants To Be 'Scary To The Public' And Inflate COVID Numbers, 'If You Don't Get Vaccinated, You Know You're Going To Die' - National File
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:13
National File has obtained a recording of a Zoom video conference call between physicians and a marketing director at Novant Heath New Hanover Regional Medical Center, a group of 20 hospitals, clinics, and offices that treat patients in North Carolina and South Carolina.In the recording, Mary Rudyk, MD tells Director of Marketing Carolyn Fisher and another hospital employee that she wants the hospitals to become more ''scary to the public'' by inflating the number of COVID-19 patients, and by using messaging that falsely tells individuals ''If you don't get vaccinated, you know you're going to die.''In the clip, Fisher seems confused by questions raised by Rudyk regarding how COVID-19 patients are counted. After Fisher explains this process, Rudyk asserts that the hospitals should become ''scary'' in their messaging about COVID-19, inflate their total number of COVID-19 patients by counting those who have recovered, and suggest that people will die without taking one of the controversial COVID-19 vaccines.
The video was obtained from an internal source at Novant Health, and was recorded earlier this week. The clip features three speakers: Rudyk, Fisher, and Shelbourn Stevens, president of who promises to speak with MacDonald about inflating the count of COVID-19 patients ''offline.''
SHOCK VIDEO: Senior doctors and a marketing director at in North Carolina discussed inflating COVID-19 numbers by counting recovered patients as active COVID patients.
"We need to be'... more scary to the public'... If you don't get vaccinated, you know you're going to die." pic.twitter.com/66CcIsVR4B
'-- National File (@NationalFile) September 10, 2021
After the first speaker seems to answer a question about how COVID-19 patient counts are determined and shared with the public, MacDonald responds, ''I guess my feeling at this point in time is, maybe we need to be completely a little bit more scary to the public.'' She then introduces her idea to inflate the total number of COVID-19 patients by counting patients who recovered. ''There are many people still hospitalized that we're considering post-COVID, but they're not counted in those numbers,'' Rudyk explains, ''So how do we include those post-COVID people in the numbers of the patients we have in the hospital?''
At this point Fisher, apparently confused, asks Rudyk to clarify if she is suggesting the hospital release the total number of patients treated at the hospital ''since the beginning of COVID,'' which Rudyk says is an even better idea.
''That's better still, and that's something that I can take to someone else, but I think those are important numbers. The patients that are still in the hospital, that are off the COVID floor, but still are occupying the hospital for a variety of reasons,'' said Rudyk, before a male doctor interrupted to inform her that those patients are considered ''recovered.''
Still she persists: ''I think that that needs to be highlighted as well, because once you're off isolation you drop from the COVID numbers, that's exactly right.'' The male doctor agreed, ''Carolyn, we can talk offline about how we run that up to marketing,'' before being cut off by Rudyk.
''So I just want to say we have to be more blunt, we have to be more forceful, we have to see something coming out: 'If you don't get vaccinated, you know you're going to die,''' Rudyk said, laughing. ''I mean let's just be really blunt with these people.''
Since the video surfaced on social media, the hospital has released a statement claiming that the ''team members involved'' in the meeting are stressed and frustrated that more people are not taking one of the controversial vaccines. However, the hospital clarified that Rudyk's suggestion was not taken: ''The data we have been sharing does not include patients who remain hospitalized for COVID-19 complications even though they are no longer COVID positive.'' However, the hospital then suggests it may start inflating its count, as Rudyk suggested, ''it does not provide a complete picture,'' the hospital noted.
VIDEO - BLCKBX on Twitter: "Amper te verstaan maar de boodschap is duidelijk: ''the unvaccinated are going to feel hate!'' zegt de Australische senator op tv. @SkyNewsAust @_evelynrae @RebelNewsOnline @OzraeliAvi https://t.co/yMrL8uUr4C" / Twitter
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:07
BLCKBX : Amper te verstaan maar de boodschap is duidelijk: ''the unvaccinated are going to feel hate!'' zegt de Australische s'... https://t.co/vW3zcsMEci
Sat Sep 11 09:19:17 +0000 2021
mabber48 : @blckbxnews @SkyNewsAust @_evelynrae @RebelNewsOnline @OzraeliAvi Volgens mij zegt ze heat!
Sat Sep 11 19:03:07 +0000 2021
Jennð¸ : @blckbxnews @SkyNewsAust @_evelynrae @RebelNewsOnline @OzraeliAvi Zegt ze niet ''heat''?
Sat Sep 11 17:47:44 +0000 2021
Evelienð...'½¸ð¥ð¤--ð>>ð"ð±ð¬ð§ð : @blckbxnews @SkyNewsAust @_evelynrae @RebelNewsOnline @OzraeliAvi ð¤ð𤮠wat een zieke vrouw is dt zeg!!!
Sat Sep 11 17:27:56 +0000 2021
Richard Thijssen : @blckbxnews @SkyNewsAust @_evelynrae @RebelNewsOnline @OzraeliAvi Ik volg jullie en ben ook kritisch tav huidige be'... https://t.co/Rj1ZeLIyim
Sat Sep 11 17:05:05 +0000 2021
VIDEO - (20) Andrew Solender on Twitter: "George W. Bush, on 9/11, warns of ''violence that gathers within.'' Says domestic extremists and those abroad share a ''disregard for human life'' and a ''determination to defile national symbols.'' ''They
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:47
Andrew Solender : George W. Bush, on 9/11, warns of ''violence that gathers within.''Says domestic extremists and those abroad share'... https://t.co/92PpDx1YEu
Sat Sep 11 15:18:41 +0000 2021
lbhoss06 : @AndrewSolender A former President that equates 1/6 with 9/11 when 9/11 killed over 3000 Americans - while he was s'... https://t.co/rCFjYnRuin
Sat Sep 11 18:44:25 +0000 2021
VIDEO - On the Morning of 9/11 - The Truth In 5 Minutes - James Corbett - YouTube
VIDEO - Vincent Racaniello: Viruses and Vaccines | Lex Fridman Podcast #216 - YouTube
VIDEO - Newsday - Biden toughens Covid vaccine rules - BBC Sounds
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 09:41
Newsday Biden toughens Covid vaccine rules Biden toughens Covid vaccine rules
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NewsdayBiden toughens Covid vaccine rules
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All children over 12 in LA must get the covid-19 vaccine before attending class in person
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VIDEO - Pfizer Releases Brand New Drug 'Pfizermectin' - YouTube
VIDEO - Disclose.tv on Twitter: "NEW - CNN health pundit claims travel within the U.S. is a "privilege" and not a constitutional right, calls for restriction of movement of unvaccinated citizens. https://t.co/PaI8ApIRK2" / Twitter
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 21:34
Disclose.tv : NEW - CNN health pundit claims travel within the U.S. is a "privilege" and not a constitutional right, calls for re'... https://t.co/AJWxUS5fcM
Fri Sep 10 17:26:45 +0000 2021
Mariel Garca : @disclosetv USA died
Fri Sep 10 21:33:41 +0000 2021
Soul T nuts : @disclosetv I want to protect my kids, from this evil regime.
Fri Sep 10 21:31:27 +0000 2021
Brad Nesbit : @disclosetv @kylenabecker You don't dictate my travel!!! It's called freedom witch!
Fri Sep 10 21:29:25 +0000 2021
VIDEO - Eli Klein on Twitter: "Fauci is asked why people who had Covid already are being required to vaccinate, even though they're likely more protected than vaccinated people ''That's a really good point'...I don't really have a firm answer for yo
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 21:32
Eli Klein : Fauci is asked why people who had Covid already are being required to vaccinate, even though they're likely more pr'... https://t.co/8pTQ0rp2yX
Fri Sep 10 17:53:56 +0000 2021
VIDEO - Gonz on Twitter: "'''...stink minority of elected officials'...'' https://t.co/Td000I0ms2" / Twitter
Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:17
Gonz : '''...stink minority of elected officials'...'' https://t.co/Td000I0ms2
Fri Sep 10 03:05:46 +0000 2021
