* Pfizer expects their Covid-19 vaccine to generate $15 billion in sales this year. Making it one of the top selling products and a major contributor to the company's income
* Pfizer CEO believes the profit stream could prove to be long lasting because people will likely need booster shots
*Pfizer is preparing to test an alternate vaccine for variants
*US regulators have allowed Pfizer to now count 6 doses per vial instead of the previously approved 5
Badchad Snowcrash experience
I did have a bit of a scare recently in which I thought you might be interested, at least anecdotally. I caved and went and got the stupid vaccine. It was just hubris maybe that led me to it. At worst I thought, it would do nothing. I expected nothing anyway. It seemed a mere convenience. Work would quit hassling me. I'd have my golden ticket. I figured it to be just another layer of asshole camouflage like a mask or any of these other trendy contrivances. Besides. I'd already been participating as a test subject in a university study to identify antibody rates in asymptomatic first responders and have had at least one of the three studied COVID19 antibodies consistently for the past 6 months. Funny thing about that... about half of the study group was positive for these antibodies among asymptomatic participants. But herd immunity without the vaccine isn't a thing. Science!
I was assigned the Moderna vaccine. I walked into a hospital conference center where I had been told to report and they gave me a little card that said MODERNA on it and wandered into the MODERNA line. The whole thing was weird from the get go. I'm a clinician. I've been inflicting medical care on people for 20 years. I forgot most of the medicine a long time ago but the truly important part, the theatre of medicine is like riding a bicycle. It's the subtle art of manipulation. It's how to talk a crack-head into the back of an ambulance; how to convince someone to let you take take care of them. All the monkey-skills I can teach you in a week. The people-moving is the part that takes years and years. Anyway.... I can appreciate the monolithic clinicality of a metropolitan hospital. A great cathedral to an unquestionable religion. The way the pyramids controlled the egyptians. Great incomprehensible magics healing and sustaining. The kind of thing that just lines you right up in queues and crushes your skepticism under staggering helplessness. Good 'ol fashioned American Medicine.
However, they ruined it.
They had candy and balloons and party music playing. Everyone kept telling me "congratulations" like I'd won the damn lottery. It was surreal. I was dazed by the unexpected nonsense of it all. I even forgot to pop my Alka-Seltzer in my mouth and flop around on the floor fourteen minutes after the injection just for grins. No. It was already far too strange.
The first shot didn't hit me too hard. I had a sore arm and a goofy "brain-fog" for about 12 hours. But the second one knocked me on my ass. Kristi and I both (we are both essential workers, after all) got our second hit within a day of each other and were almost incapacitated for 5 days. Fever, chills, crippling aches, lethargy. Brutal. After about a week everything seemed back to normal.
But then 12 days in, shit got weird. I cannot say definitively that the following was caused by the vaccine, but I can say that I have had almost flawless health to this point. In life. Blood work. Labs. Annual physical. Even my family history is relatively unremarkable. No allergies. No medications. I exercise. I eat pretty well. I point to the vaccine here because it was the next closest significant medical event I can even recall.
I'm at my computer the other night and I start to feel my eyes getting tired. I mention to Kristi that I seem to have a small blindspot that hides parts of words and makes them hard to read. We laugh a bit about getting old and needing new glasses. At the time I was working on a freehand 3D sketch of a loft I was planning on building in the garage. I was getting tired and having a difficult time getting the lines to make sense. I looked back up at the computer and tried to read some news headlines but I found myself reading them several times through to understand them. About this time I started to feel that something was very, very wrong.
I picked up a piece of mail from my desk and tried to read from it. The words were sticking in my head. I tried to read the page out loud, but the words would not come out of my mouth. I tried several times in disbelief, each time fumbling the word. Not garbled or slurred, just not even close. The word "managed" came out "faaaaaa. It was like everything I read became lost on the way to my mouth and got stuck in that place just on the tip of my tongue. I could still speak, for the most part... But I could not read.
This was terrifying Adam. I immediately starting thinking about Snowcrash. About my base programming crashing. That's what it felt like. And anything agnostic in my mind, any question of a human soul beyond this malfunctioning mass of wires and connections in my head was lost and the beautiful but ultimately physical nature of my mind was revealed to me. There was no immortal anything in there, only a fragile assembly of sparks and gaps, as easily and surely disrupted by wiping out files in the root folder as on my laptop. But this was really happening. I began to come to grips with the idea that I was probably having a stroke.
I went to the ER and looked the doctor in the eye and told her that I'd been a paramedic for 20 years and that it should be very easy for me to describe what was happening but that I couldn't. She activated a Stroke Alert and within minutes I was getting a CT scan. By this time my symptoms actually started to subside without any real intervention and by the time the neurologist examined me and reviewed the scans I was back to normal. The neurologist part was pretty funny though. Because you don't get to see the actual neurologist. They wheel this little screen about 5 feet off the ground into your room festooned with cameras and mics and the neurologists face appears and she "examines" you live via satellite and she shows you pictures and you answer questions and then they wheel the little robot doctor away. All the scans were negative for stroke. The official diagnosis: Complex Migraine. Never had a migraine in my life. Hell... I can't even remember ever having a headache that wasn't self-inflicted, and I didn't have any headache then. A couple times Kristi did try to bring up whether this could have been related to the vaccine with the doctors and nurses but there was no room for that in the conversation. No blasphemy would be tolerated in the great church of science. I changed the subject. Another form of asshole camouflage.
But I don't think I'll be heading back for my Booster next fall thank-you-very-much. Fool me once, you know the rest.
So You Got Vaccinated '... And Then You Got COVID. Now What? | FiveThirtyEight
In retrospect, it was probably a mistake to take the mask off. But what are you gonna do? David Flint and his wife had to check in on her father up in the Bronx. Flint's wife is her father's home health aide, and the older man had just come home from having foot surgery. For more than an hour, they were all sitting there around the bedside '-- Flint, his wife and his sister-in-law. It's a long time to wear a mask when not everyone else is. ''After a while, I took it off,'' Flint said.
Flint was vaccinated against COVID-19 already, so he assumed he'd be immune. A social worker in New York who provides home hospice services to the dying, he was one of the first people in the country to get the vaccine. By the time he sat down in his father-in-law's bedroom on Jan. 19, he'd been fully vaccinated for a week. The odds were in his favor.
But odds are fickle things. In a game of chance, not everybody gets to win, even if the odds of winning are high. Flint rolled '... and he lost, diagnosed with a mostly asymptomatic case of COVID-19 on Jan. 25. That, by itself, wasn't a shock. He'd known that some people would still get the virus despite being vaccinated. Even the mRNA vaccines' famed ''95 percent efficacy'' was really a measure of how well the vaccines prevented symptomatic cases. But Flint didn't expect to be one of the people who slipped through the cracks. More importantly, though, he expected somebody to care. ''I thought there'd be some mechanism,'' he said. But nobody asked him about his vaccine status when he got tested. There was nowhere to file that information with his doctor. And that was the part that confused Flint. ''Shouldn't somebody want to know?'' he asked.
Yep, they should. And they do. Efforts are already underway to gather information that will help scientists understand how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are in the real world. But ''How well do vaccines work?'' and ''Should we be counting every vaccinated individual who gets the disease?'' are two different questions.
That complication starts with some basic facts about the effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently available in the U.S. Scientists say there is a difference between ''efficacy'' and ''effectiveness.'' Efficacy is the 95 percent number you get from a clinical trial. Effectiveness is what the number is once you're vaccinating millions more people, some of whom will be older or sicker or more likely to be exposed to a virus than trial participants. It's a metric that encompasses all the messiness of real life, including that vaccines won't always be administered in ideal ways, said Dr. Kelly Moore, deputy director of the Immunization Action Coalition, an organization that works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to educate the public on vaccines. ''You have people who forget to come back for a second dose or come back late. Perhaps there's a dosing administration error, or a storage problem,'' she said. And that's before you even start getting into whether new variants like the B.1.1.7 '-- originally found in the U.K. but expected to become dominant in the U.S. by March '-- might be more resistant to the vaccines than the variants those vaccines were tested against back in the fall.
The CDC will be tracking real-world COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in multiple studies, using different methodologies in different places at different times. Some studies '-- like one that tracks groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated health-care personnel over time '-- are already underway.
Other studies are just getting off the ground. One CDC effort will piggyback on an existing system created to track the effectiveness of flu vaccines. At five medical research centers '-- in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin '-- every person who comes in with a cough or other respiratory symptoms can become a study participant. All of them will be tested for COVID-19. The ones who test positive are the cases; the ones who test negative become the controls. Researchers will then compare rates of vaccination between the two groups. Those studies are just beginning, though, because you can't study the vaccine until people actually start getting it.
''It's only as the vaccine gets rolled out to larger sections of the population that it becomes feasible to do. We're just getting to that point now in Wisconsin,'' said Dr. Ed Belongia, director of the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute's Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Population Health '-- the flu vaccine-effectiveness research center in Wisconsin '-- on Feb. 11. ''You can't learn anything when only 1 percent of the population is vaccinated.''
The CDC is taking multiple approaches to this because the real world lacks something that's easier to control in a clinical trial: randomization. Unlike in that lab setting, you can't pick some people to get the vaccine while denying it to others. What's more, people don't just sign up for clinical trials randomly, and that affects the results. People who want to participate in a study may differ in some ways from the population as a whole. Doing different kinds of studies that compare groups in a variety of ways helps reduce some of the uncertainty in the overall results.
But none of these efforts will study vaccine effectiveness by counting all the individual cases like Flint's. There is CDC research aimed at doing that, but it's not about vaccine effectiveness. Instead, that project, a partnership with state health departments, is meant to spot trends in who the vaccine isn't working for.
Those methods of tracking vaccine effectiveness aren't new, even if the virus is. Scientists study post-introduction vaccine effectiveness for every new vaccine that comes out, said Dr. Katherine Fleming-Dutra, a member of the Vaccine Effectiveness & Evaluation Team in the CDC's COVID-19 Response. And that research has proven crucial to disease prevention.
For example, as part of an effort to eradicate measles in the U.S., scientists began tracking the decades-old measles vaccine in the 1980s. The studies taught them that one dose of this vaccine wasn't cutting it, according to Dr. Walter Orenstein, professor and associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University. In 1989 the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics began recommending that everyone get two doses. If you weren't looking closely, it would have been easy to miss that a second dose was necessary. The first dose of measles vaccine is 93 percent effective. But the disease spreads so easily and rapidly that 93 percent wasn't quite good enough, Orenstein said. With the second dose, the vaccine becomes 97 percent effective at preventing measles.
The flu vaccine, meanwhile, goes through this process every year. That's why there's that network of research centers for the CDC to use to study COVID-19. That system turns out results on flu vaccine effectiveness twice a year, and preliminary results are able to be put together with as little as a month or two of data. But that doesn't mean we'll have results as quickly on the COVID-19 vaccines. As the entire public health system has taken great pains to explain this past year, the flu and COVID-19 are not the same beast '-- and no one I spoke to was willing to estimate how long the results for COVID-19 will take.
That's because a number of complications will make it harder (and possibly take longer) to do the same kinds of studies for COVID-19. For example, the seasonal flu has, at this point, predictable annual checkpoints. Vaccines start rolling out in the fall. By December or January, as flu cases really begin to rise, everyone who is going to be vaccinated already has been, and the proportion of Americans who are vaccinated is roughly the same from year to year. With COVID-19, scientists are looking at a disease that has a high prevalence in some places and not in others as well as rolling out brand-new vaccines.
There are other challenges to tracking the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, said Emily Martin, professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan and co-director of the Michigan Influenza Center. The flu networks have long relied on people coming in to see a doctor about their respiratory symptoms. That's where they get signed up for the studies. But the expansion of COVID-19 testing has taken place largely outside doctors' offices, and those testing centers may or may not leave a record of negative (or positive) diagnoses.
When the data finally does come in, it's likely to show us that David Flint is not alone in contracting COVID-19 after getting two doses of the vaccine. But these studies can also bring good news as well. That's because the fun thing about vaccines is, ''How well do they work?'' isn't just about individuals. For example, when researchers studied the real-world effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccines, they found that rates of the disease fell among older people even though it was only children who were being vaccinated. That's because kids were the primary carriers of the disease. Once they stopped contracting it, so did their grandparents.
And vaccine effectiveness isn't just about how many people test positive. One thing we've learned from flu vaccine studies is that the vaccine can reduce the severity of the disease, even if you do still contract it post-vaccination. These studies will help us figure out what's going on with COVID-19 as well. Stuff like that matters. After all, when Flint got COVID-19, he just had a sore throat. His unvaccinated family members, though, were worse off.
Military & Vaccine
Emergency Use not mandatory
On the last episode, you and John discussed the low rate of military vaccinations. You can use as much or little of this as you choose for the show, however please keep me anonymous. To keep this short I will stick to the wavetops:
-Yes the vaccine is voluntary. Since it was given emergency approval it will remain voluntary. John brought up the anthrax vaccine, but that is fully approved by the FDA, so the military can make it mandatory.
-When one volunteers for the vaccine they are held strictly to the two shot protocol.
-A majority at my unit have not received the vaccine because most of them will not volunteer.
-The most important part of this note is this bullet. Every year the military mandates the flu shot and enforces this with strict severity. For example, if I did not receive the shot I would be removed from jump status, not allowing me to jump from aircraft because I did not have my shot. For pilots, I would assume this would remove them from flying status. This year however, the flu shot has not even been a blimp on the radar. No one has brought it up, ops continue as normal. This is perplexing to me; maybe it can be explained by a lack of supply, no resources to dedicate due to COVID, simply not caring because of COVID, or for some other nefarious reason.
I left out some things that I'm not sure I should pass on, but many of the people I work with understand that what we are being told may not be the truth . I.e. masks, pcr testing, etc. Hopefully this brings some value to you and/or the show.
--
Very Respectfully,
Michael
However:
The military does not follow FDA. They get all sorts of waivers and many other loopholes. The Military is ruled by the UCMJ, not the Constitution. In a nutshell, each service member are property of the US Military.
Nuclear Testing, Agent Orange, Dulram Ammo perhaps? ;-)
Nebulized Peroxide '-- A Simple Remedy for COVID-19
Dr. David Brownstein, who has a clinic just outside of Detroit, Michigan, has successfully treated over 200 patients with what has become my favorite intervention for COVID-19 and other upper respiratory infections, namely nebulized hydrogen peroxide.
A peer-reviewed consecutive case series of 107 COVID-19 patients treated with nebulized peroxide and other remedies, including oral vitamins A, C, and D, iodine, intravenous hydrogen peroxide, and iodine as well as intravenous (IV) vitamin C, along with intramuscular ozone, was published in the July 2020 issue of Science, Public Health Policy, and the Law.1 All patients survived.
Nebulized Peroxide and IodineAt the time of this interview, the number of patients successfully treated with these all-natural strategies exceeds 230, and he has now published a book describing his approach, titled ''A Holistic Approach to Viruses.''
''[Among] our [COVID-19] patients, we've had no deaths,'' he says. ''We've had a couple of hospitalizations, but much smaller than should be for the reported statistics. And we're still using the same protocol we've been using for 25 plus years for flu and flu-like illnesses.
A patient I called over the weekend told me 'There are two things out of what you gave me that I could tell really made me feel better.' I gave him the whole protocol of oral vitamin A, C, D and iodine and nebulized peroxide and iodine.
He said, 'I forgot to use the iodine the first day or two. When you asked me about it, I re-added it back in orally. That made the difference. My mucus thinned out, my breathing was better. I forgot to put the iodine in the nebulizer [too], and [when] I did both at the same time '-- the oral iodine and the nebulized hydrogen peroxide with iodine '-- everything cleared up '...'
His breathing was 80%, 90% better shortly after the first or second dose of iodine. He's another success story that we've had, which is supporting people's immune systems during these viral illness times '... I would implore my colleagues to add iodine into whatever regimen you're using to treating patients who are ill with flu-like illnesses such as COVID-19.''
Early Treatment Virtually Eliminates Long-Haul SyndromeIn my recent interview with Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, in which we discuss hydroxychloroquine treatment, he pointed out that none of the patients treated within the first five days of symptom onset went on to develop the long-haul syndrome.
This has by and large been Brownstein's experience as well. Of the initial 107 patients included in his case report, 2% developed long-haul syndrome. This is in stark contrast to the 20% to 40% reported elsewhere, he notes.
''The huge disaster of COVID-19 that history will tell someday is the powers that be telling us there's nothing we can do. Just stay home, lock yourself in your basement, quarantine yourself from your family, wear your mask, social distance '-- that's it. No therapies, no nothing, just wait till the vaccine comes out.
This has resulted in over 400,000 deaths. Maybe the death numbers are exaggerated, but a lot of people have died because the governments and the powers that be, the AMA and everybody else out there, have said 'There's nothing you can offer' and 'Don't offer anything because it hasn't gone through randomized, double blind, placebo controlled studies '... and if doctors do it, we're going to censor them and hold them accountable.' That's been the biggest disaster of this whole thing,'' Brownstein says.
Most Are Deficient in Basic Immune BoostersIt's important to recognize as long as your immune system is up to par, your body can overcome most if not all viral invaders. And, your immune system function is dependent on proper nutrition, not drugs or vaccines. Brownstein's use of nutritional supplements and other immune-boosting strategies goes back decades, well before there were antiviral drugs available.
He points out that a vast majority of people have low levels of vitamin C, for example, which helps both your innate and adaptive immune systems. About 90% of his patients are also deficient in vitamin D, which is another crucial immune regulator. You have vitamin D receptors in both your innate and adaptive immune systems. Vitamin D deficiency is also associated with sepsis.
Many are also deficient in vitamin A. Here, the devil's in the details. Beta carotene is a water-soluble form of vitamin A that does not provide the immune-boosting benefits of vitamin A. For that, you need the fat-soluble form. So, make sure you're taking emulsified vitamin A.
''Beta carotene does not provide the immune system affects vitamin A does,'' Brownstein says. ''Vitamin A helps minimize cytokine storm. It helps minimize the inflammatory factors '... It helps to lower TNF alpha. And the white blood cells need vitamin A as an integral part of their functioning. So, it helps both the innate and the adaptive immune systems fight back.''
Vitamins A, C, D, and IodineFor decades now, Brownstein has prescribed vitamins A, C, and D to his patients, and at the first signs of illness, he instructs them to jack up the dosages to 100,000 units of vitamin A and 50,000 units of vitamin D3 per day for four days, along with 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C per hour during waking hours until symptoms recede.
''Those were the first three things I did,'' he says. ''What I found was that when people got the flu or flu-like illness, and they started taking these three things immediately they would get better in 24 hours. It was amazing.
A few years later, I learned about iodine and started testing, and found 97% of people are deficient in iodine. The vast majority markedly deficient, meeting WHO standards of severely deficient in iodine. So, I added iodine into that protocol.
My average dose of iodine for most people is '-- if they don't have glandular problems like problems with the breasts, prostates, thyroid, pancreas, ovaries, uterus '-- about 12.5 milligrams a day. If they have problems with those glands, it would be more.
The average dose of iodine over the years that I've had my patients on is 25 milligrams a day. And it's a combination of iodine and iodide, which is found in Lugol's solution. That was quickly added into that four-part regimen, and that made a huge difference. People liked that. They felt better with it.''
As time went on, he discovered case histories describing the treatment of pneumonia, bronchitis, and other lung problems with nebulized iodine. As a result, he added that into his antiviral regimen as well.
If you're using 5% Lugol's solution, simply add one drop to your nebulizer after filling it with the diluted peroxide solution. If you're using 2% Lugol's solution, which is available over the counter, add two drops. Of course, this should be done with a doctor's consultation.
IV Peroxide, Vitamin C, and OzoneA few years after that, he came across hydrogen peroxide, which can be used both intravenously and in a nebulizer. The fact that your body naturally produces huge amounts of hydrogen peroxide in all cells can clue you into its importance.
''I started using IV and nebulized peroxide, and I mixed the nebulized peroxide with a nebulized iodine in one solution. For people developing lung problems, pneumonia, lung cancer or COPD, if they were coughing, couldn't breathe, if they were wheezing and things like that, adding nebulized hydrogen peroxide at 0.04% dilution and one drop of 5% Lugol's solution, which supplies 6.25 milligrams of iodine, really helped a lot of people out.''
Eventually, he started adding in IV vitamin C, hydrogen peroxide, and ozone therapy. When COVID-19 broke out in the winter of 2020, Brownstein decided to try this basic antiviral protocol, finding it worked just as well against SARS-CoV-2 infection as any other viral infection.
During the first wave in March and April 2020, none of the staff that continued working fell ill. Eventually, one staff member got sick, triggering a cascade of infection among the staff. All were treated and all successfully recovered. ''Now we have a herd immunity office,'' Brownstein says. ''Eighty-seven percent of us have antibodies to COVID-19.''
Nebulized Peroxide BasicsI've embraced nebulized peroxide since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and have received many anecdotal reports from people who have successfully used it, even at more advanced stages. Based on Brownstein's experience, I now also recommend adding iodine when nebulizing, as it appears to make it even more effective.
Keep in mind that the peroxide needs to be diluted with saline. I recommend diluting it down to 0.1%. Brownstein recommends diluting it to 0.04%. Tom Levy recommends 3% and higher. Ideally, use food-grade hydrogen peroxide, as it does not have any harmful stabilizers. If you pre-dilute to 0.04%, it will stay potent for about three months when kept refrigerated. If you do a 0.1% dilution, it may stay potent a bit longer.
If you don't have access to saline, you could make your own by mixing one teaspoon of unprocessed salt (such as Himalayan salt, Celtic salt or Redmond's real salt) into a pint of water. This will give you a 0.9% saline solution, which is about the concentration found in body fluids. Using that saline, you will then dilute the hydrogen peroxide as described in this chart.
Do not mix the peroxide with straight distilled water, as this could potentially cause physiological damage. You need the salt in there. You can, however, make your saline using distilled water.
Using small amounts of peroxide, either IV or nebulizer only has a good clinical effect. I do not see negative effects with it. ~ Dr. David BrownsteinAlso, to optimize your benefits, be sure to buy an electric tabletop jet nebulizer. The battery-driven handheld versions simply aren't as effective. As Brownstein points out, in nearly all cases where patients were not getting better, they were using a handheld nebulizer. Once they got a more powerful version that can drive the peroxide deep into the lungs, the treatment started working as it should.
I strongly recommend buying everything you need beforehand so that you can treat yourself or your family at a moment's notice. You don't want to wait days for your order to arrive before starting treatment.
Mechanisms of ActionWhat is it about hydrogen peroxide that makes this nebulizing treatment work so well? Obviously, regular peroxide is a topical disinfectant that kills viruses on contact. But it also seems to have a secondary messenger effect. Brownstein explains:
''It's an oxidative therapy. We're kind of all conditioned that antioxidants are good and oxidants are bad, but really, you need a balance of them. It's called a redox. It's like a teeter-totter. You need oxidants to stimulate the breakdown of old cells, old and injured tissue, and you need antioxidants to stimulate the repair of those old cells and old tissues.
So, the oxidants do have a benefit. They stimulate the redox pathway, and what I think we're getting with hydrogen peroxide, ozone and high-dose vitamin C is that you're stimulating this redox pathway to move electrons around.
When you move electrons around you can make energy molecules, ATP, you can stimulate repair cells and STEM cells and get things moving again. The human body produces a tremendous amount of peroxide. It's produced all over the body in every cell. If this was an oxidant therapy that's dangerous, why would we produce so much of it?
Using small amounts of peroxide, either IV or nebulizer, only has a good clinical effect. I do not see negative effects with it. [Vitamin C also] stimulates peroxide production when you use high doses.''
Aside from having antiviral effects, the nebulizing peroxide will also improve oxygenation and breathing in general and can be very helpful for smokers. This makes sense as peroxide breaks down in your body into water and oxygen. Brownstein believes it also has a detoxifying effect on the lungs.
It's interesting to note that Brownstein and his colleagues never used any of the drug regimens that many doctors swear by, such as ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine.
While he has looked at the scientific literature, noting there's ample evidence to support their use and safety, all of his patients recovered without them, so he never resorted to prescribing either of them. Brownstein didn't even use zinc, which is a staple nutritional intervention for viral infections.
For patients who travel and worry about contracting COVID-19, he simply reminds them to bring their nebulizer, properly diluted hydrogen peroxide, and iodine. That way, they can nebulize when they get to their destination, which should effectively kill off any pathogens they might have been exposed to during their travels.
Remedies to AvoidAside from knowing what to take and what to do, it's also important to know what to avoid. Examples include Tamiflu which, when it works, may reduce symptomatic illness for only a couple of hours at best, while having significant side effect risks. Brownstein also advises against Tylenol and other antipyretics such as aspirin and ibuprofen. The reason for this is because you don't want to suppress your body's ability to mount a fever. Brownstein explains:
''Fever is there for a purpose. We were designed perfectly to survive viral illnesses, to live to old age and have a good brain function into old age. If we support the body, if we give it the basic nutrients it needs and the basic raw materials and support that it needs, it can do really cool things.
The problem is, in the toxic world we live in, enzymes are poisoned and receptors are blocked. We take all these drugs that poison enzymes and block receptors. Fever is your friend and the fever's there for a reason. Bacteria and viruses don't like a raised body temperature. That's why the body raises the temperature during an infection.
It's trying to make the environment inhospitable for a pathogen. So, the worst thing you can do in that situation, unless the fever is too high '-- a fever over 103 degrees Fahrenheit, maybe 103.5 104 F., can cause brain problems and seizures and you can die from a fever.
But most people don't get fevers up that high when they're sick. They get low grade fevers, 99.5 to maybe 101, 102 F. I tell patients, don't take anything for that. Just support the body and let it do its thing.
You can control your temperature much better than using antipyretics like Tylenol or ibuprofen by taking a tepid bath or sponge bathing with tepid water. A bath with Epsom salts was very helpful for my COVID patients, and it's been helpful for other viral illnesses over the years.''
The Problem With TylenolTylenol in particular is also problematic for other reasons. Importantly, it poisons the enzyme that makes glutathione, a very potent antioxidant that your body produces intracellularly. When you're dealing with a bacterial or viral infection, you want your body to make more glutathione to support affected cells. If you take Tylenol, you block that process.
''Tylenol also has a very narrow window of toxicity, meaning that if you go over the recommended dose on the label, but not by much, you can get Tylenol toxicity. The liver starts to break down and people die from this,'' Brownstein warns.
''The treatment for Tylenol toxicity is intravenous N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is the precursor to making glutathione. So, I tell my patients to avoid taking Tylenol. I really made a point of it with COVID-19, because they needed glutathione production.
And as far as Motrin and ibuprofen and aspirin goes, at the beginning of the crisis, I saw three patients who told me when they took the first dose of Motrin for a fever, they collapsed, their system went to hell, they had trouble breathing. Everything got worse an hour or two after that first dose of ibuprofen.
There was an early article that hypothesized taking ibuprofen and NSAIDs might make COVID-19 worse because it can affect the ACE2 receptor and make the virus more likely to latch onto it. That hasn't really been proven. I think it's more [because] you're blocking the body's natural fever response and it's just not a good thing to do.''
Back to BasicsBrownstein stresses that it's not just about taking certain supplements or nebulizing when you're ill. You also need to clean up your diet. The best treatment is prevention, which you'll achieve through a proper diet and a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis.
That said, when you do get acutely ill, if you haven't already eliminated processed foods, which are loaded with sugar and harmful fats, omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) in particular, that's the time to do it.
Research actually suggests hydrogenated LA can radically increase your risk for COVID-19 because the LA is part of the strategy the SARS COV-2 virus uses to infect your cells. I describe this in ''The Type of Fat You Eat Affects Your COVID Risk.'' So, you'll want to dramatically limit vegetable oils and other sources of LA and focus on organic whole foods.
Together, eating ''clean'' and addressing any nutritional deficiencies you may have (and testing is the best way to go about determining that) can go a long way toward preventing severe infections. As noted by Brownstein:
''You have to have a strong immune system. A better immune system is going to fight whatever you're confronted with. And look, SARS COVID-2 is here now. There's going to be SARS-CoV-3, CoV-4 or CoV-5 or some other illness that's out there, so, we got to have a strong immune system.''
To learn more, be sure to pick up a copy of ''A Holistic Approach to Viruses.'' You can also find more information about iodine, ozone therapy, and much more on his website, www.DrBrownstein.com.
Risk of Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among spectacles wearing population of Northern India | medRxiv
AbstractIntroduction Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread mainly through respiratory droplets and contact routes. Long term use of spectacles may prevent repeated touching and rubbing of the eyes. Aim of the study is to compare the risk of COVID-19 in long term spectacles wearers with the risk in persons not using spectacles.
Objectives To know the association between infection with SARSCoV-2 and wearing of spectacles.
Materials and methods In this study, 304 patients of Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were selected. Their spectacles wearing behaviour was assessed through a questionnaire. Spectacles wearing behaviour of general population was obtained from older studies (for comparison). Risk of COVID-19 was calculated in long term spectacles wearers as well as in persons not using spectacles. Chi-Square test was used for statistical analysis.
Results In this study, total 58 patients showed the behavior of using spectacles continuously during day time and always on outdoor activities. The risk of COVID-19 was found 0.48 in spectacles wearing population as compared to 1.35 in population not using spectacles. The calculated risk ratio was 0.36. The protective effectiveness of the spectacles was found statistically significant (p-value .00113).
Conclusion The present study showed that the risk of Covid-19 was about 2-3 times less in spectacles wearing population than the population not wearing those. The nasolacrimal duct may be a route of virus transmission from conjunctival sac to the nasopharynx.
Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding StatementNil
Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Approved by ethical committee KV COVID Hospital, Department of Health, Kanpur Dehat.
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Data AvailabilityData available at record section KV COVID Hospital, Department of Health, Kanpur Dehat.
Let Us Out!
Severe flu epidemic predicted next winter after lockdowns block usual herd immunity
(C) REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw FILE PHOTO: Tables and chairs are stacked on an empty shopping street as Netherlands is set to extend the lockdown continues in Rotterdam, Netherlands January 12, 2021.
Experts have warned the world may face a dramatic resurgence of flu next winter, after social distancing measures cut the virus to levels not seen for over a century.
Scientists fear that falling
immunity levels to influenza - normally sustained by seasonal circulation of the virus - could now pave the way for one of the worst flu outbreaks for years.
"If I had to gamble on it, then I would guess that we are likely to get a more severe epidemic in the coming winter - assuming restrictions are fully lifted by then," said Prof John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a member of the government's Sage committee of scientific advisors.
"We have effectively missed out on flu this winter, so the levels of immunity are less than would be typical. In fact, it is not impossible that we will have an out-of-season epidemic perhaps in the autumn, rather than winter," he told the Telegraph.
Warnings about seasonal flu come as Russia on Saturday announced seven workers at a poultry farm have been infected with a bird flu virus, H5N8, never before found in humans.
"It is not transmitted from person to person," said Anna Popova, the country's public-health chief. "But only time will tell how soon future mutations will allow it to overcome this barrier." She added that Russia has alerted the World Health Organization (WHO).
In most years in the UK, seasonal flu kills between 10,000 and 30,000 people, depending on the stain and effectiveness of the annual vaccine. But over the last 12 months, flu deaths have hardly registered.This, say experts, not only makes a violent rebound of the disease likely but
makes predicting which strain will hit us next and - crucially - deciding which vaccine to produce much more difficult.
Decision makers are also concerned that the current pressure on the flu virus could also see a more transmissible stain emerge.
Dr John McCauley, director of the Worldwide Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute - one of five WHO collaborating centres that constantly track pandemic flu viruses and helps to update influenza vaccines - said the current situation is unprecedented.
"I don't think we've been in a position with so little flu in circulation for over a century," he said. "What that means is overall in the population there's less experience and therefore there's less boosting of immunity."
Dr McCauley added that identifying which strains this year's vaccine must protect against has proved tricky, as the number of samples taken from flu strains has fallen 20 fold globally. "Because we're looking at fewer samples, we don't really know how representative they are," he said.
A WHO panel on influenza meets twice a year to tweak the flu jab to make sure it protects against circulating strains. The latest gathering took place via a "very long teleconference" on Friday and details of the adjusted vaccine will be revealed later this month.
The degree to which social distancing has suppressed flu and other infectious diseases has startled experts around the world. In a Twitter thread Nicola Oliver, a director and public health expert at Medical Intelligence, gathered data demonstrating the striking fall of flu.
Over the past five years the number of specimens the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System has collected - a proxy measure of the spread of flu worldwide - has ranged from roughly 15,000 to 40,000. In the past 12 months, this has plunged to below 1,000 (see chart above).
The same is true for other infectious diseases. Public Health England reports show fewer than 20 cases of norovirus were detected each week this winter, for instance, while the five year seasonal average hovers at between 150 and 200."The social distance measures that we have been under for the last year
have also resulted in low levels of circulation of many other viruses, such as RSV [respiratory syncytial virus], adenoviruses and even noroviruses,"
said Prof Edmunds.
"Similarly high levels of these other viruses might also be expected after we lift restrictions. The combination could well mean that winter pressures on the NHS might be particularly bad next year," he said.
Prof Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, added: "I don't think we know whether or not there will be a bad flu season. It's speculative and there are scenarios where it could be worse than average or better than average.
"But I do think that the NHS has to be considering the possibility of a strong resurgence [of influenza]," he said, adding the UK should plan to repeat last year's expanded flu vaccination drive to mitigate the risk.
Experts say social distancing measures over the last 12 months may also have increased the pressure of flu viruses to mutate and become more transmissible. However, Dr McCauley said it was unlikely seasonal flu would mutate to become more deadly.
He added that the threat of a zoonotic influenza strain jumping from poultry (as seen this weekend in Russia) or pigs remains stable as social distancing has not affected our behaviours around animals.
"You could speculate that with lower overall immunity to influence that you may have a bit of a drop to cross species immunity. But I don't think that that would be as marked as the [drop] in immunity to seasonal flu", he said.
PCR
Clarifying the evidence on SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid tests in public health responses to COVID-19 - The Lancet
, 3Armstrong S Covid-19: tests on students are highly inaccurate, early findings show.
with uncorroborated
4Fearon E Davis E Stage H et al.A response to ''Covid-19: Controversial rapid test policy divides doctors and scientists''.
reports of poor LFT sensitivity. The debate surrounding the use of the Innova Lateral Flow SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test in the UK risks confusing policy makers internationally and potentially stalling deployment of LFTs in other countries.
5Kmietowicz Z Covid-19: controversial rapid test policy divides doctors and scientists.
As scientists and health professionals evaluating some of the world's largest pilots of LFT, we wish to challenge those interpretations and clarify the evidence on how such testing might be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in minutes and improve COVID-19 control measures.
Testing for SARS-CoV-2 is central to COVID-19 management and has relied on quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. PCR seeks the genetic code of the virus from nose or throat swabs and amplifies it over 30''40 cycles, doubling each cycle, enabling even miniscule, potentially single, copies to be detected. PCR is thus a powerful clinical test, specifically when a patient is, or was recently, infected with SARS-CoV-2. Fragments of RNA can linger for weeks after infectious virus has been cleared,
6van Kampen JJA van de Vijver DAMC Fraaij PLA et al.Duration and key determinants of infectious virus shedding in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).
often in people without symptoms or known exposures.
7Cevik M Tate M Lloyd O et al.SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of viral shedding, and infectiousness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
However, for public health measures, another approach is needed. Testing to help slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 asks not whether someone has RNA in their nose from earlier infection, but whether they are infectious today. It is a net loss to the health, social, and economic wellbeing of communities if post-infectious individuals test positive and isolate for 10 days. In our view, current PCR testing is therefore not the appropriate gold standard for evaluating a SARS-CoV-2 public health test.
Most people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are contagious for 4''8 days.
7Cevik M Tate M Lloyd O et al.SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of viral shedding, and infectiousness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Specimens are generally not found to contain culture-positive (potentially contagious) virus beyond day 9 after the onset of symptoms, with most transmission occurring before day 5.
7Cevik M Tate M Lloyd O et al.SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of viral shedding, and infectiousness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
, 8Jefferson T Spencer EA Brassey J Heneghan C Viral cultures for COVID-19 infectious potential assessment'--a systematic review.
This timing fits with the observed patterns of virus transmission (usually 2 days before to 5 days after symptom onset), which led public health agencies to recommend a 10-day isolation period.
9 WHOCriteria for releasing COVID-19 patients from isolation: scientific brief.
The short window of transmissibility contrasts with a median 22''33 days of PCR positivity (longer with severe infections and somewhat shorter among asymptomatic individuals).
10Sun J Xiao J Sun R et al.Prolonged persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in body fluids.
This suggests that 50''75% of the time an individual is PCR positive, they are likely to be post-infectious.
11Bullard J Dust K Funk D et al.Predicting infectious SARS-CoV-2 from diagnostic samples.
, 12Eyre DW Lumley SF O'Donnell D et al.Differential occupational risks to healthcare workers from SARS-CoV-2 observed during a prospective observational study.
Once SARS-CoV-2 replication has been controlled by the immune system, RNA levels detectable by PCR on respiratory secretions fall to very low levels when individuals are much less likely to infect others.
13Basile K McPhie K Carter I et al.Cell-based culture of SARS-CoV-2 informs infectivity and safe de-isolation assessments during COVID-19.
, 14Huang CG Lee KM Hsiao MJ et al.Culture-based virus isolation to evaluate potential infectivity of clinical specimens tested for COVID-19.
, 15W¶lfel R Corman VM Guggemos W et al.Virological assessment of hospitalized patients with COVID-2019.
The remaining RNA copies can take weeks, or occasionally months,
16Cevik M Marcus JL Buckee C Smith TC SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics should inform policy.
, 17Cevik M Kuppalli K Kindrachuk J Peiris M Virology, transmission, and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.
to clear, during which time PCR remains positive.
7Cevik M Tate M Lloyd O et al.SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of viral shedding, and infectiousness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
A public health test for detecting someone who might be contagious is, by logical deduction, expected to have a sensitivity of around 30''40% versus PCR when testing a random sample of asymptomatic people in a steady-state outbreak.
18Cleary B Hay JA Blumenstiel B et al.Using viral load and epidemic dynamics to optimize 2 pooled testing in resource constrained settings.
Furthermore, the asymmetry of RNA reflecting more infectiousness nearer to the time of exposure, means that the sensitivity of the ideal test of infectiousness when measured against PCR may vary across the epidemic curve, from as high as 50''60% when an outbreak is surging to 20''30% or less as infections decline.
19Hay J Kennedy-Shaffer L Kanjilal S Lipsitch M Mina M Estimating epidemiologic dynamics from single cross-sectional viral load distributions.
LFT and the UK testing programme have been criticised
1Deeks J Raffle A Gill M Covid-19: government must urgently rethink lateral flow test roll out.
, 3Armstrong S Covid-19: tests on students are highly inaccurate, early findings show.
, 5Kmietowicz Z Covid-19: controversial rapid test policy divides doctors and scientists.
for poor sensitivity in people without symptoms. In our view, these criticisms misinterpreted data from the interim report on the pilot of community testing in Liverpool, UK.
, 21Ashton M Beale R Buchan I et al.Response to: Deeks et al. Briefing note for journalists on harm from continued rollout of the Innova Lateral Flow Test.
When paired LFT and PCR testing was done in Liverpool, the epidemic curve was declining.
At this point, a priori one should expect a public health test that is highly sensitive for detecting infectious virus to show low overall sensitivity relative to PCR in people without symptoms or known exposures.
Further confusion reigns over PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values, viral loads, and infectiousness. In the Liverpool pilot, Innova LFT picked up 19 of 24 (79%) samples with Ct below 20 and ten of 11 (91%) samples with Ct below 18.
The 66% sensitivity in the Liverpool interim report
was based cautiously on Ct below or equal to 25 indicating viable virus. For the laboratory processing of the Liverpool samples, Ct values of 21''18 most likely reflect the 100'000 to 1 million RNA copies per mL, quantities below which virus cultures usually become negative and transmission risks are low.
22Lee L Rozmanowski S Pang M et al.An observational study of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity by viral load and 2 demographic factors and the utility lateral flow devices to prevent 3 transmission.
, 23Marks M Millat-Martinez P Ouchi D et al.Transmission of COVID-19 in 282 clusters in Catalonia, Spain: a cohort study.
, 24Pray IW Ford L Cole D et al.Performance of an antigen-based test for asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 testing at two university campuses'--Wisconsin, September''October 2020.
Other laboratories place this threshold at a Ct of 30.
24Pray IW Ford L Cole D et al.Performance of an antigen-based test for asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 testing at two university campuses'--Wisconsin, September''October 2020.
There is no international standardisation between laboratories and assays, leaving Ct calibration with viral load poorly reported and easy to misunderstand.
Early findings, widely reported,
3Armstrong S Covid-19: tests on students are highly inaccurate, early findings show.
from a study by Ferguson and colleagues,
25Ferguson J Dunn S Best A et al.Validation testing to determine the effectiveness of lateral flow testing for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 detection in low prevalence settings.
suggested that LFT had only 3% sensitivity for detecting SARS-CoV-2 among PCR-positive students at Birmingham University. Test underperformance was implied to explain finding only two positive results among 7189 individuals tested with Innova LFT.
25Ferguson J Dunn S Best A et al.Validation testing to determine the effectiveness of lateral flow testing for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 detection in low prevalence settings.
In that study,
25Ferguson J Dunn S Best A et al.Validation testing to determine the effectiveness of lateral flow testing for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 detection in low prevalence settings.
in a random sample of 710 (10%) LFT-negative individuals there were six PCR-positive results. That finding was extrapolated to 60 cases in the whole cohort, giving an extrapolated sensitivity of two of 62 (3·2%). The Ct values from the six PCR-positive samples were projected to Ct values for the 60 cases (54 unobserved plus six observed); in all six observed cases, viral loads were very low (Ct '¥29 reflecting around <1000 RNA copies per mL in the laboratory used)'--when LFT should be negative. By comparison, the Liverpool pilot saw virus levels 1000 to 1 million times higher.
In our view, the Birmingham study showed that PCR-positive asymptomatic students at a time of falling COVID-19 incidence had low viral loads compared with symptomatic members of the public attending testing centres and that LFT was working as expected.
26Crozier A Rajan S Buchan I McKee M Put to the test: use of rapid testing technologies for covid-19.
We wholeheartedly support healthy scientific debate to inform policies promptly. The COVID-19 road ahead looks challenging; therefore, we need big, bold actions across science and society, such as the Liverpool community testing pilot. The prompt evidence from such pilots can inform policies and help maintain public confidence in the public health responses needed to navigate this pandemic's onward path.
IEB, MG-F, and MGS received grant funding from the UK Department of Health and Social Care to evaluate LFT in the Liverpool pilot that is discussed in this Comment. IEB reports fees from AstraZeneca as chief data scientist adviser via Liverpool University and a senior investigator grant from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) outside the submitted work. MGS is Chair of the Infectious Disease Scientific Advisory Board and a minority shareholder in Integrum Scientific LLC, Greensboro, NC, USA, a company that has interests in COVID-19 testing but not with lateral flow technology, and reports grants from the NIHR, the Medical Research Council, and the Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, University of Liverpool. MJM reports research funding by the US National Institutes of Health Director's Early Independence Award DP5-OD028145 and from Open Philanthropy and Good Ventures. TEP is supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance at Oxford University in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, and worked with PHE Porton on validation of LFT.
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371 m4787 3. Armstrong S Covid-19: tests on students are highly inaccurate, early findings show.
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medRxiv. 2020;
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University of Liverpool
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372 : n208 Article InfoPublication HistoryPublished: February 17, 2021
For a weary public longing to get back to normalcy, vaccine passports represent a tantalizing carrot, being dangled as a mechanism for freedom. By showing proof that you've received a COVID-19 vaccine, perhaps you can once again board an airplane and travel freely, attend a concert or enjoy a meal in your favorite restaurant, just like you used to.
Except, being required to present your ''papers'' in order to live your life isn't actually freedom at all '-- it's discrimination, and even a move toward technocratic fascism, one that's setting the stage for increased surveillance and erosion of your privacy.
Nonetheless, this blatant move toward an ever-increasing surveillance state is being welcomed by many who have been led to believe the passports are necessary to protect public health and safety.
Vaccine Passports Are in DevelopmentIt's likely only a matter of time before you'll be asked to prove your vaccination status in order to carry on with your daily life. ''The government seems to be developing vaccine passports by stealth, making sure the technology is in place for anyone who needs it,'' wrote Lara Prendergast, The Spectator's assistant editor.1
She's referring to the U.K. government, which has given sizable grants to a number of private companies developing such technology. This includes more than $86,000 to Logifect, which is slated to launch a vaccine passport app in March 2021, and more than $104,000 to iProov and Mvine, which are developing digital certificates that show vaccination status.
As Prendergast noted, ''Your phone would most likely be your vaccination passport. Everyone's vaccination status is already being logged centrally by the National Immunization Vaccination System using their NHS number. This information could be easily linked with an app.''2
Around the world, vaccine passports are rapidly being rolled out, including in Denmark, which will begin issuing them in February 2021. Sweden. Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Malta have also expressed positivity toward vaccine passports to revive tourism, while in the U.S., plans for vaccine IDs are under evaluation.3 International efforts are also underway.
The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum created the Common Trust Network, which developed the CommonPass app that's intended to act as a health passport in the near future.
The app allows users to upload medical data such as a COVID-19 test result or proof of vaccination, which then generates a QR code that you will show to authorities as your health passport.4 The proposed common framework ''for safe border reopening'' around the world involves the following:5
Every nation must publish their health screening criteria for entry into the country using a standard format on a common framework Each country must register trusted facilities that conduct COVID-19 lab testing for foreign travel and administer vaccines listed in the CommonPass registry Each country will accept health screening status from foreign visitors through apps and services built on the CommonPass framework Patient identification is to be collected at the time of sample collection and/or vaccination using an international standard The CommonPass framework will be integrated into flight and hotel reservation check-in processesEventually, the CommonPass framework will be integrated with already existing personal health apps such as Apple Health and CommonHealth. If you want to travel, your personal health record will be evaluated and compared to a country's entry requirements, and if you don't meet them, you'll be directed to an approved testing and vaccination location.
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Majority Are in Favor of 'Privacy-Encroaching Technology'Even as mortality data show COVID-19 is hardly the deadly pandemic it's been made out to be, fear-mongering remains in full effect '-- including warnings that a more infectious, mutated strain of SARS-CoV-2 is on the loose. With fear still omnipresent, acceptance of ''privacy-encroaching technology'' that promises an illusion of safety is high.
In the U.K., researchers from the University of Bristol conducted two large surveys about such technologies, with overwhelming positivity reported.6 The first measured public acceptance of location tracking through your cellphone that would allow health agencies to monitor your contact with others to target social distancing and quarantine measures.
About 70% of the respondents said they would accept such an app that they could choose to download and, surprisingly, 65% also said they would accept such an app even if it was mandated by the government and used to locate those violating lockdown orders and issue fines and arrests.7
A second survey evaluated acceptance of vaccine passports, with 60% stating they were in favor and only 20% stating they were strongly opposed. The study's lead author, professor Stephan Lewandowsky, described those opposed as ''surprisingly low, adding, ''It's fascinating how people seem increasingly receptive to their personal data being used to inform themselves and others about what they can and can't do.''8
Prendergast put this widespread acceptance into further context for the British, who ''have traditionally been deeply suspicious of the idea of an official asking for 'papers, please':9
''[This] '... is why there was such a backlash against Blair's ID cards. As one journalist at the time put it:
'If I am ever asked to produce my ID card as evidence that I am who I say I am, when I have done nothing wrong and when I am simply ambling along and breathing God's fresh air like any other freeborn Englishman, then I will take that card out of my wallet and physically eat it in the presence of whatever emanation of the state has demanded that I produce it.'
That journalist is now our Prime Minister. It would be an extraordinary turn of events if Boris Johnson ended up being the man who introduced an immunity identity system in Britain.''
US Universities Institute Jail-Like RestrictionsAt every turn, long-standing societal norms '-- like college students gathering with friends in their dorm or even leaving their rooms for work and exercise '-- are disappearing. As of February 7, 2021, for instance, the University of Massachusetts Amherst was in a ''high risk'' operational mode due to a ''continuing surge in COVID-19 cases.''10
The status, which was to be in place for a minimum of 14 days, made all classes remote and ordered all students, whether residing on or off campus, to self-sequester in their residences, except to get meals, attend medical appointments or undergo twice-weekly COVID testing.
Violating these orders would result in ''disciplinary action,'' according to a university press release, which could include removal from residence halls or suspension.11 Students were also informed that, should they decide to leave campus to self-sequester at home, ''it is highly unlikely we will be able to accommodate your return.''
Even within a residence hall, students were told to remain in their rooms at all times except when using a restroom on their floor. Outdoor exercise or attending to the immediate needs of a pet was allowed, but only when wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.12
This wasn't the case at UC Berkeley, however, which banned outdoor exercise in addition to extending dormitory lockdowns in February 2021. The only times students are allowed to leave their rooms during the lockdown are to obtain medical care, get required COVID tests, to use an assigned bathroom or to obtain food from an outdoor dining kiosk, after which ''you are required to return immediately to your room.''13
Are You Clean Enough to Travel?While many countries have suggested that the COVID-19 vaccine will not be mandated, by giving special privileges to the vaccinated, such as the ability to travel, attend social events or even enter a workplace, it essentially amounts to the same thing and insinuates a ''cleaner'' class of people in those who have been vaccinated.
It's reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic, when hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes were flying off store shelves in a frenzy to clean away COVID. Now we know that transmission of COVID-19 by fomites '-- the term used for inanimate surfaces and objects that can transmit a pathogen '-- has been exaggerated.
Emanuel Goldman, a microbiology professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, suggested this in July 2020, when he stated that studies suggesting SARS-CoV-2 was easily spread via surfaces did not present real-life situation.14
''In my opinion, the chance of transmission through inanimate surfaces is very small,'' he said, and while period disinfection of surfaces, especially in hospitals, was a reasonable precaution, in public settings, he noted, ''this can go to extremes not justified by the data.''15 In February 2021, an editorial in Nature supported Goldman's work, suggesting that costly and toxic disinfection efforts are misguided.
''Catching the coronavirus from surfaces is rare. The World Health Organization and national public health agencies need to clarify their advice,'' the editorial reads.16 The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority alone is spending an estimated $380 million annually on COVID-related sanitation, and when it asked the U.S. government whether they should be focusing on fomites or solely aerosols, they were told to continue their focus on fomites.17
Writing in The Atlantic, Derek Thompson describes this as a type of ''hygiene theater,'' in which Americans are going through the motions of dutifully cleaning and, likely, over-disinfecting surfaces when the virus spreads most efficiently through the air.18
Indeed, much of the COVID-19 pandemic response has been embroiled in theatrics, including mask mandates, for which the scientific evidence has been described as ''astonishingly weak.''19 Hygiene theater, much like the theater for vaccine passports, provides an illusion of safety, not one grounded in reality.
Discussion to Ban Florida Travel for DisobedienceIn the U.S., Florida announced in December 2020 that it would have no more lockdowns and no statewide mask mandates.20 The act resulted in retaliation by federal government, which entertained the idea of a domestic travel ban to the state, reportedly to curb the spread of new COVID-19 variants.
In a press conference, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stated, ''Any attempt to restrict by the federal government would be an attack on our state done purely for political purposes.'' Sen. Marco Rubio agreed, calling the act unconstitutional: ''So now that they're considering actual restrictions on Americans inside the country, I think it is unconstitutional. I think it's going to be challenged in court successfully.''21
The ''technocratic fascist vision''22 of professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum who wrote the book on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is moving ahead full-steam. He announced the World Economic Forum's Great Reset Initiative in June 2020, which includes stripping all people of their privately owned assets.
Getting health passports to become a new normal has, in fact, been part of the plan all along for the Commons Project, which began developing software that tracks medical data well before the COVID-19 pandemic. ''But spikes in virus cases around the world this spring accelerated its work,'' The New York Times reported.23
While the vaccine passports are starting out with the COVID-19 vaccine for international travel, it's setting a precedent for expansion that can be extended to other vaccines and medical information, and then to domestic travel and even leaving your house, as the passports will be carried on your phone that has location-tracking abilities.
And it's clear that when the fascists come, they'll be wearing masks '-- probably two or three of them depending on their level of loyalty. For now, getting informed and sharing your knowledge is the first step to protecting your freedom.
COVID-19 tracker deployed into hundreds of care homes - BusinessCloud
More than 130 care homes in Greater Manchester are using a digital innovation to monitor COVID-19, coordinate care with the NHS and support vulnerable residents.
The COVID-19 tracker app allows care home staff to input information about a resident's COVID-19 related symptoms into a tracker, which can be shared directly with the resident's GP and NHS community response team to ensure that a swift assessment and response can be put in place.
It also means that the NHS can closely monitor the situation in care homes across the locality more easily thanks to a visual dashboard that displays the information at an aggregate level.
Following a successful rollout in Tameside and Glossop in April 2020, the COVID-19 tracker is now in use in 138 care homes across eight localities in Greater Manchester.
In total it means more than 4,000 residents are being supported through the tracker, with more than 300,000 assessments taking place since April 2020.
The digital tracker has now also been adapted to record COVID-19 vaccination consent and when a vaccine is given to care home residents. It allows a real time dashboard view of each care home and their vaccination status, contributing to national efforts to vaccinate the most vulnerable and care home residents.
Yorkshire tech firm rebrands within global NEC corporation
The solution was developed as part of a partnership formed by Health Innovation Manchester (HInM), including the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside Council, local GPs and tech company Safe Steps.
Dr Saif Ahmed, GP and Clinical Lead for the project, said: ''The care homes data dashboard provides invaluable information to GPs about the most up to date status of their patients allowing proactive management and care for the most vulnerable in our society.
''By empowering carers, who know their residents best and can spot symptoms or signs of deterioration, to use the tracker we can easily identify those patients who need advanced care planning by picking up signs of deterioration as soon as they start to happen.
''Adding in the ability to record COVID-19 vaccination meant we can monitor care home residents who have consented and received the vaccine.''
£2.1m investment for 'brain-inspired' AI start-up Mindtrace
Jay Hamilton, Associate Director at HInM , has overseen the programme. She said: ''The collaborative effort of our health, care and industry partners in developing this novel solution has been exceptional and more than 4,000 residents are now being assessed and supported through the tool.
'' We are continuing to work with the system to improve the digital care home offer, including adding the ability to record COVID-19 vaccination records.''
Lee Omar, Founder of Safe Steps, said: ''When the pandemic started, we wanted to use our technology and experience in care homes to support the response and help those caring for our ageing loved ones. I am thankful to our 'One-Team' team partnership we have with NHS colleagues.
'' I am pleased to have played our small part in the Greater Manchester response and continuing to improve and develop the tracker to respond to the needs of the system.''
BLM
Attacks on Asian Americans during pandemic renew criticism that U.S. undercounts hate crimes
A spate of high-profile assaults on Asian Americans has renewed long-standing criticism from Democrats and civil rights groups that the U.S. government is vastly undercounting hate crimes, a problem that they say has grown more acute amid rising white nationalism and deepening racial strife.
The attacks '-- including several in Northern California over the past month that attracted national attention '-- followed months of warnings from advocates that anti-China rhetoric from former president Donald Trump over the coronavirus pandemic was contributing to a surge in anti-Asian slurs and violence.
Although President Biden last month signed an executive action banning the federal government from employing the sort of ''inflammatory and xenophobic'' language Trump used to describe the virus '-- such as ''China plague'' and ''kung flu'' '-- Asian American leaders said the recent attacks demonstrate a need for greater urgency in dealing with such threats.
Among other incidents, Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old San Francisco resident who had immigrated from Thailand, was killed in late January, in a brazen attack captured on a video that went viral on social media. Antoine Watson, a 19-year-old African American man, was charged in connection with Ratanapakedee's death and has pleaded not guilty.
Biden administration officials said they are working to address the problem, pointing to a section in the executive memo that instructed the Justice Department to expand its reporting, tracking and prosecutions of ''hate incidents.'' Officials said those efforts could go beyond hate crimes to include episodes of harassment and discrimination.
A 1990 federal law mandates that the FBI collect data specifically on hate crimes each year, but the effort has long been plagued by incomplete and inconsistent data provided by the nation's estimated 18,000 state, municipal and tribal law enforcement agencies.
The administration is in the early stages of identifying strategies to compel broader participation. Among the ideas advocates have pushed for is tying federal funding from the Justice Department's extensive grant programs to increased training and reporting on hate crimes.
In 2019, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report recommending Congress adopt legislation to provide funding for incentives and calling on local police to establish dedicated hate-crime units. Catherine E. Lhamon, who chaired that commission, now serves as deputy director for racial justice and equity on the White House domestic policy council.
At a news conference last week, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, said she is requesting a meeting with Justice Department leaders to discuss what she called a ''crisis point'' for the Asian American community in dealing with ''an alarming surge of anti-Asian bigotry across the nation.''
Chu added that the 1990 law on reporting of hate crime data ''doesn't have any teeth'' because it does not compel localities to comply or to do so in a consistent and thorough manner.
Last fall, the FBI reported 7,314 hate crimes nationwide in 2019, the most in a decade '-- but experts said the statistics were woefully inadequate because too few local law enforcement agencies fully participate in federal data collection efforts.
The FBI said that 15,588 law enforcement organizations participated in the 2019 hate crimes study, but just 2,172 agencies reported the total number of incidents contained in the report. Civil rights advocates called that scenario implausible, pointing out that the entire state of Alabama reported no hate crimes to the FBI in both 2018 and 2019.
''The FBI reports help us identify trends, but their data is so woefully inadequate that it can't be relied on for much,'' said civil rights lawyer Arjun Singh Sethi, author of ''American Hate: Survivors Speak Out.''
Some big-city law enforcement agencies have publicly reported an increase in bias attacks against Asian Americans. For example, New York City's hate crimes task force investigated 27 incidents in 2020, including 24 tied to the coronavirus, a ninefold increase from the previous year.
But experts said local police agencies lack training and funding to properly investigate hate crimes, and many treat it as a low priority. Some conservative Republicans have opposed more stringent reporting requirements to determine whether crimes are motivated by hate, arguing that such measures are redundant.
Yet advocates have pointed to a 2013 study from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics that found an average of 259,700 violent and property-related hate crimes from 2003 through 2011 after assessing data from the annual National Crime Victimization Survey of American households.
In a statement, the FBI said participation in its data program is ''voluntary.'' The agency added that it anticipates the reporting methods would improve in the coming years as a greater percentage of local police agencies transitions into the National Incident Based Reporting System, which requires more detailed and consistent data.
In a bipartisan vote last year, the House approved the Jabara-Heyer No Hate Act, which aimed to bolster federal aid to localities for hate-crime training and reporting. The GOP-controlled Senate refused to vote on it.
The legislation is named after Khalid Jabara, a man of Lebanese descent shot to death by a white neighbor in Oklahoma in 2016, and Heather Heyer, a counterprotester killed at a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017. Neither of their killings was included in the FBI's hate crime reports.
With Democrats in control of both chambers, Chu said she hoped to revive the legislative effort. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said he expects to gain bipartisan support for a letter to the Justice Department's new leadership team similar to the one he sent last year with 150 co-signers from both parties asking then-Attorney General William P. Barr to ''forcefully condemn anti-Asian bias.'' Barr did not respond to that letter, Lieu's office said.
Advocacy groups have sought to fill the breach through websites and hotlines that allow Asian Americans to self-report hate incidents, projects that share similarities to efforts from Muslim American groups to document bias crimes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Stop AAPI Hate, a West Coast-based collective founded last spring in response to the pandemic, reported 2,808 ''hate incidents'' nationwide aimed at Asian Americans from March through December 2020. For months leading to the November election, President Donald Trump sought to deflect blame over his management of the pandemic response by blaming China and using xenophobic and racist language to describe the virus on social media, in televised interviews and at campaign rallies and White House coronavirus task force briefings.
The group said verbal harassment made up 71 percent of the incidents, while physical assaults made up about 9 percent. Organizers said the effort has helped raise media awareness and drawn celebrities to amplify the message, but some experts cautioned that the data is largely unvetted.
''It's incredibly important for organizations to provide those kinds of narratives about the impact of hate, but at the end of the day it's anecdotal and cannot displace the onus on our government to provide accurate data,'' said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, which helped draft early versions of the No Hate legislation.
John C. Yang, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, which has collected self-reported incidents of anti-Asian bias since 2017, said his group also has tallied a spike in the past year. But he acknowledged that it is difficult for advocacy organizations to adequately analyze such information.
''Some recent incidents, whether they are anti-Asian or something else, is hard to tell,'' Yang said. ''As the pandemic has worn on, the economic disparity has really played out and the physical and mental anxieties are playing out as well, and it's probably all contributing.''
Math Suffers From White Supremacy, According to a Bill Gates-Funded Course
(C) unknown Google's Ethics AI lead Margaret Mitchell
Google has fired Margaret Mitchell, the founder and former co-lead of the company's ethical AI team. Mitchell announced the news
via a tweet.
Google confirmed Mitchell's firing in a statement to TechCrunch; Google said: After conducting a review of this manager's conduct, we confirmed that there were multiple violations of our code of conduct, as well as of our security policies, which included the exfiltration of confidential business-sensitive documents and private data of other employees. In January, Google revoked corporate access from AI ethicist Margaret Mitchell for reportedly using automated scripts to find examples of mistreatment of Dr. Timnit Gebru, according to Axios. Gebru says she was fired from Google while Google has maintained that she resigned.
Earlier this month, Mitchell published the email she said she sent to Google's press team the day her corporate email access was cut off. The email spoke about Gebru's firing and how it appeared to be "fueled by the same underpinnings of racism and sexism that our AI systems, when in the wrong hands, tend to soak up."
Mitchell's letter, which you can read in full here, details the different ideas and structures at play that led to Dr. Gebru's departure from Google. Mitchell argues what happened to Gebru "appears to stem from the same lack of foresight that is at the core of modern technology, and so itself serves as an example of the problem."
Mitchell adds: "The firing seems to have been fueled by the same underpinnings of racism and sexism that our AI systems, when in the wrong hands, tend to soak up. How Dr. Gebru was fired is not okay, what was said about it is not okay, and the environment leading up to it was '-- and is '-- not okay. Every moment where Jeff Dean and Megan Kacholia do not take responsibility for their actions is another moment where the company as a whole stands by silently as if to intentionally send the horrifying message that Dr. Gebru deserves to be treated this way. Treated as if she were inferior to her peers. Caricatured as irrational (and worse). Her research writing publicly defined as below the bar. Her scholarship publicly declared to be insufficient. For the record: Dr. Gebru has been treated completely inappropriately, with intense disrespect, and she deserves an apology." The letter went on to discuss the ethical artificial intelligence approach to developing technology, how Mitchell came to lead and then co-lead the ethical AI team with Gebru and what ultimately happened. Within the next year, Mitchell said she wanted "those of us in positions of privilege and power to come to terms with the discomfort of being part of an unjust system that devalued one of the world's leading scientists, and keep something like this from ever happening again." Mitchell's firing comes shortly after Google announced the appointment of Dr. Marian Croak to lead its responsible artificial intelligence division. When we reached out to Google yesterday the company did not have a comment on Mitchell's fate.
Earlier today, Google internally announced the results of its investigation of Gebru's exit, according to Axios. The company did not reveal what it found, but said it would implement some new policies to enhance diversity and inclusion at Google.
Cherokee Nation Requests That Jeep Drop Cherokee Name
Chevy Apache, Dodge Dakota, Winnebago...the US auto industry has a long history of using Native American monikers and imagery. But yesterday, the Cherokee Nation said it's had enough.
Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. requested that Jeep stop using his tribe's name on its Cherokee and Grand Cherokee SUVs, which together account for more than 40% of the brand's total sales.
The Cherokee Nation has criticized the appropriation of Native American culture before, but this is its first official request for change. Jeep said its vehicle names "celebrate Native American people for their nobility, prowess, and pride." Hoskin disagrees. "The best way to honor us is to learn about our sovereign government, our role in this country, our history, culture, and language and have meaningful dialogue with federally recognized tribes on cultural appropriateness," he told Car and Driver.
Zoom out: In the last year, amid national conversations around racial justice, Land O'Lakes dropped a Native American woman from its packaging, and Cleveland's MLB team and DC's NFL team are changing their names.
Big Tech
Facebook Restores News Content After Brokering Deal With Australian Regulators : NPR
Facebook rescinded its ban on the sharing of news stories in Australia after the government amended proposed laws that will require social media companies to pay news publishers for sharing or using content on their platforms. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Facebook rescinded its ban on the sharing of news stories in Australia after the government amended proposed laws that will require social media companies to pay news publishers for sharing or using content on their platforms.
Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Facebook will restore news pages in Australia after the government agreed to change a proposed law forcing tech companies to pay publishers for news content.
The new law would force Google and Facebook to pay Australian news publishers for stories with terms of a deal set by a third party, had they not been able to negotiate payout agreements with local publishers themselves.
Google agreed to follow the law after striking a deal with the nation's biggest publishers. Facebook protested and yanked news content from its site in Australia last Thursday.
The Australian government relented to the pressure and agreed to changes to some of the terms within its new media code.
Campbell Brown, Facebook's vice president of news, said in a statement, "After further discussions, we are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them."
The Australian government said it would add an amendment that "must take into account whether a digital platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry through reaching commercial agreements with news media businesses."
Arbitration with a third party will be used only as a "last resort" following a period of "good faith" mediation.
Both Google and Facebook are among NPR's financial supporters.
E&C Committee Announces Hearing on Traditional Media's Role in Promoting Disinformation and Extremism | Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) announced today that the Communications and Technology Subcommittee will hold a fully remote hearing on Wednesday, February 24, at 12:30 p.m. (EST) entitled ''Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media.''
''The prolonged severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attack on our Capitol on January 6 have driven home a frightening reality: the spread of disinformation and extremism by traditional news media presents a tangible and destabilizing threat,'' said Pallone and Doyle. ''Some broadcasters' and cable networks' increasing reliance on conspiracy theories and misleading or patently false information raises questions about their devotion to journalistic integrity. We look forward to hearing from media experts about what is being done and what more can be done to address this growing problem moving forward.''
This hearing will take place remotely via Cisco Webex video conferencing. Members of the public may view the hearing via live webcast accessible on the Energy and Commerce Committee's website. Please note the webcast will not be available until the hearing begins.
Additional information for this hearing, including the Committee Memorandum, testimony, and the live webcast will be posted HERE as they become available.
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No Right to Bundle 'Big Brother,' Maine Says in Fight Over Pick-and-Choose Cable Law '' Courthouse News Service
Image by F. Muhammad from PixabayBOSTON (CN) '-- Defending a first-in-the-nation law that would force cable operators to go la carte, a lawyer for the state of Maine assured the First Circuit on Wednesday that bundled channels is not a free-speech issue.
''They claim that they have a First Amendment right to force customers to buy HGTV and Animal Planet to get Discovery Channel, and to force customers to buy 'NCIS' and 'Big Brother' to watch '60 Minutes,''' the state said in its brief ahead of the 11 a.m. hearing in Boston. ''There is no First Amendment right to engage in such bundling.''
Comcast, Fox, Disney and other cable operators sued the state last September, just before the law was to take effect. Crediting the companies' claims that the new law was unconstitutional, particularly because the law does not affect internet-based providers similarly, a federal judge granted an injunction in December.
But the state told the First Circuit on Wednesday that nothing about the law stops operators from sell cable bundles.
''You can provide whatever packages you want, but you have to give customers the right to individualize it,'' said Christopher Taub, attorney for the state.
Taub assured the three-judge panel that the requirements were simple, customers would still subscribe to a package and would be able to purchase any additional channels they may want on an individual basis.
U.S. Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch wondered how bundles would sell under such a law.
''Why would people get a package when they could get them on a 'when-i-want,' la carte basis,'' asked Lynch, a Clinton nominee.
Taub suggested that strategy would not be the most cost-effective approach for consumers, even though bundles are not always the best way for customers to get their favorite channels.
''You're forcing consumers to buy a lot of what they don't want just to get what they do want,'' said Taub.
Discussing the case in an email, Michael Salinger, a business professor at Boston University, called it poor economic policy to mandate this kind of option.
''Many people think that they will necessarily get a better deal if they just buy what they want and don't have to buy what they don't want, but that all depends on the details of the pricing,'' said Salinger in an email. ''Forcing newspapers to sell their sections individually would not make it cheaper for you to buy just the sections you want.''
Matthew Brill, representing the operators, called the law a clear violation of his clients' editorial discretion.
He also noted that most major sports channels maximize exposure by barring operators from distributing their content expect as is in a bundle.
Judge Lynch mentioned that The New York Times sells recipes and crosswords individually, and questioned why cable could not do the same.
Brill, with the firm Latham & Watkins attorney, stressed he understood the concept of la carte options but did not think it was up to the government to make such calls.
''We sell a lot of movies la carte, and provide sports events on pay-per-view,'' said Brill. ''The point simply is that we get to make those choices.''
On rebuttal, Taub wanted to make it clear that the state's interest is in the consumers and to provide broader access to cable.
Maine Representative Jeffrey Evangelos, a registered Independent who sponsored the la carte bill, said in an email that a victory for the state in the case will be a victory for residents.
''I certainly hope the state prevails today, people should not be forced to buy something they don't want or watch,'' said Evangelos in an email. ''Senior citizens on fixed incomes cannot afford cable TV. It costs $100 to be able to watch the Red Sox. So let me get this straight, you fought in World War II, but you can't afford to watch baseball anymore? That's why I sponsored the bill.
''This about equity and free choice, the people's free speech, not the corporation's. The cable industry is already using la carte and pay-per-view when it suits them, now it's time they use it when it suits the paying customer as well. Works that way with everything else we buy, we get to choose.''
U.S. Circuit Judges Kermit Lipez and Juan Torruella, appointed by Clinton and Reagan, respectively, round out the panel.
Brill declined to comment, and Taub did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
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Eshoo, McNerney Urge TV Companies to Address Spread of Misinformation | Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
WASHINGTON, DC '' U.S. Reps. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18) and Jerry McNerney (CA-09), senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, sent a letter today to 12 cable, satellite, and streaming TV companies urging them to combat the spread of misinformation and requesting more information about their actions to address misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies spread through channels they host.
''Nearly half of Americans get their news primarily from TV. However, not all TV news sources are the same. Some purported news outlets have long been misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm,'' wrote the members. ''Misinformation on TV has led to our current polluted information environment that radicalizes individuals to commit seditious acts and rejects public health best practices, among other issues in our public discourse.''
This letter comes ahead of Wednesday's House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing on traditional media's role in promoting disinformation and extremism.
Companies receiving letters include AT&T, Verizon, Roku, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Charter, Dish, Cox, Altice, Alphabet, and Hulu.
To view the full text of the letters click HERE.
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Facebook and the news after Australia: What happens now? - Columbia Journalism Review
By Mathew Ingram February 25, 2021 The Australian version of Facebook got decidedly less newsy a week ago, after the company blocked Australian news outlets from posting their stories to its platform, and regular users in that country from sharing news from any media outlet anywhere in the world. ( Traffic to Australian news sites fell by as much as 20 percent, according to Axios.) This move came in response to a new law that requires large platforms like Facebook and Google to pay for every news article carried on their networks, something that both companies objected to . To critics of the company, including some members of the government, the move was another sign Facebook has too much power and needs to be regulated. To defenders of the open internet, including World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners Lee, it was a sign of how governments are over-reaching when it comes to legislation aimed at curbing platform power and/or funding journalism.
Facebook finally said Monday that it was removing the block on sharing in Australia, as a result of amendments to the law. But the war itself shows little sign of stopping. If anything, Australia's pressure on Google and Facebook, and the resulting settlement with the latter '-- as vague as it may be in practice '-- only seems to have increased the interest other countries have in trying to repeat Australia's measures. (Microsoft is also trying to help push this kind of legislation, likely for competitive reasons .)
Though citizens lost the ability to post news for a few days, media companies are likely to get a windfall as a result (broadcasters like Seven and Nine have already gotten $30 million each from Google). Facebook has committed to investing more than $1 billion in the media industry worldwide over the next three years . Canada has said it is interested in pursuing legislation similar to that proposed by Australia, and legislators in the European Union seem similarly enamored of the code and its ability to squeeze the platforms.
New from CJR: Journalists and the looming superstorm of climate disinformation
The Australian law is a tougher version of legislation introduced in France and Germany several years ago, after the passage by the EU of new copyright rules on what are called ''neighboring rights,'' which apply to aggregators like Google News . The French and German variations of those laws have had mixed results, in part because they are difficult to enforce. In France earlier this week, antitrust regulators released a report that accused Google of failing to comply with the rules requiring it to hold talks with publishers over payment for their content. The search giant signed a three-year deal worth $76 million with a number of French publishers earlier this year, but some smaller news outlets were not included in the deal. According to regulators , Google failed to hold talks with those other publishers ''in good faith'' to find an agreement on payment. This helps explain why Australia's version of the same legislation imposes mandatory binding arbitration if a platform fails to hold negotiations with a publisher after a certain period of time.
Indeed, the binding arbitration requirement was one of the aspects of the Australian code that Google and Facebook most objected to . The clause states that if the companies don't hold talks in good faith, they will be forced into arbitration with someone of the government's choosing, who will then have the ability to name a price the platforms will have to pay . One of the amendments that got Facebook to drop its news ban gave the company an extended time period in which to reach deals with news publishers before the forced arbitration clause was triggered. More important was the government concession that Facebook would only have to sign bulk deals with news publishers , not pay for every piece of news shared by anyone on its platform. And if it signs enough deals '-- the strategy that Google chose to follow from the beginning '-- then the suggestion is that the other aspects of the proposed legislation (which required things like 30 days notice of changes to the recommendation algorithm) will no longer apply.
Australia may feel that it emerged victorious from the battle with Facebook '-- after all, even after capitulating to Facebook's brinkmanship, the country's news publishers are now going to get cash payments from the social network and from Google, which was the goal of the proposed legislation. And that will no doubt embolden other countries to pursue similar campaigns. But many questions remain unanswered. Even if we assume that Google and Facebook bear some responsibility for the decline of the media industry ( which some believe is a stretch ), if governments want to support journalism financially, why not impose a straightforward tax on the platforms, or on digital advertising, instead of using copyright as a back door? And if the bulk of the payments from the platforms go to established media outlets like those run by Rupert Murdoch '-- who controls a large proportion of the Australian press, and is widely seen as the impetus behind the legislation '-- what happens to smaller, independent news publishers?
Here's more on the platforms and news:
Antitrust action: Margarethe Vestager, the European Union's Competition Commissioner, warned on Tuesday that Google '-- or any of the other US technology giants '-- could face potential antitrust action if they threaten to pull out of European markets in retaliation for copyright laws similar to Australia's. Vestager told the EU's economy committee that there could be scope for ''investigating if it's actually legal for a dominant provider to stop supplying'' services, adding that the EU ''would have a number of tools to use.'' Unfit for purpose: A group of academics, journalists, and others who call themselves the Real Facebook Oversight Board say the press release about the Australian blockade from Nick Clegg, communications chief for Facebook and former British deputy prime minister, ''shows that Facebook is unfit to police its platform.'' The group says that the company ''spectacularly overplayed its hand in Australia, revealing itself to an entire continent as a bully,'' and that the company's ban also shut down pages belonging to women's shelters, non-profits, and charities. ''And yet, we are expected to trust Facebook to police its platform for misinformation during a global pandemic.'' Return to Spain: Google is negotiating individual licensing deals with Spanish publishers that could allow the search giant's news service to return to the country, three sources told Reuters . Google News blocked any Spanish media outlet from its news index in 2014, in response to new legislation that required it to pay for even small snippets of content. The law was one of the first to take that approach, which in turn led to similar rules being adopted by the EU and local versions in France and Germany. Spain is planning to adopt a new version of the legislation that would exclude Google and other companies from the law if they sign licensing deals with individual publishers. Other notable stories:
The New York Times released the results from an eight-month-long internal investigation into its workplace culture, a report triggered in part by dissent within the Times over the organization's behavior during Black Lives Matter protests. ''For over a century and a half, The New York Times has succeeded in part by recognizing when it needed to change. This is such a moment,'' said a note from publisher AG Sulzberger, chief executive Meredith Kopit Levien and executive editor Dean Baquet that introduces the report. The central finding of the investigation, they say, is that the Times ''is too often a difficult place to work for people of all backgrounds '-- particularly colleagues of color.'' The report lays out a plan of action to address these problems, including setting clear expectations for employee behavior; providing new training programs for managers; creating a new diversity, equity and inclusion office; and expanding the journalism fellowship program. China has imposed new regulations on bloggers and social-media ''influencers,'' according to a report in Variety . The report says the country's internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has ''issued new regulations requiring bloggers, influencers and content creators on public social media accounts, known as 'self-media,' to possess a government-issued credential in order to publish anything on a host of topics.'' Other social media categories such as trending charts, hot search lists, push notifications and short video platforms will also be affected, the report says. In an editorial, the Des Moines Register editorial board says the pending charges against a Register reporter who was arrested while covering a social justice protest last spring ''are a clear infringement on the freedom of the press'' and should not proceed. Andrea Sahouri is scheduled to stand trial starting March 8 on charges of failure to disperse and interference with official acts. The paper says the charges represent ''a violation of free press rights and a miscarriage of justice.'' According to the US Press Freedom Tracker, charges related to the protests remain pending against 16 journalists around the country. Filmmaker and Intercept co-founder Laura Poitras, who has said she was fired , told New York magazine that she thinks the reason for her termination was that ''I've been speaking out'' about the company's ''retaliatory culture'' and the flaws in its reporting on Reality Winner. Intercept editor-in-chief Betsy Reed tells the magazine that Poitras' claims are ''baseless and frankly ridiculous.'' The company says it didn't fire the filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize winner, but instead chose not to renew her annual contract with the site because she had been ''inactive'' for more than two years. Five Thirty Eight reporter Perry Bacon Jr. writes about what the Trump era taught him about covering politics . ''I assumed I knew a lot about how politics in America worked,'' he says. ''Then Trump came along. Over the next five-plus years, I learned a lot about covering national politics. Some lessons came the hard way: By being really wrong .'' Among the lessons he learned, Bacon says, are ''listen more to Black people.'' Black political observers ''were often the ones most bullish about Trump's chances from the start and the most willing during his campaign and presidency to speak bluntly about his racial and at times racist language and why some of his supporters liked that language ,'' says Bacon. Andrew McCormick writes for CJR about the journalists and the ''looming superstorm of climate disinformation,'' in an article adapted from ''The Climate Beat,'' the weekly newsletter of Covering Climate Now , a global journalism initiative strengthening coverage of the climate story. McCormick writes: ''The best approach, simple as it sounds, is to lead with the facts, not punditry, says Kristy Roschke, managing director of the News Co/Lab at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Reporters should favor local sources and expertise over outsiders.'' The Washington Post led all news organizations in winning Polk Awards for reporting on the coronavirus, with four prizes announced on Wednesday . Infectious-disease reporter Helen Branswell, of Stat News, won the public service award for a yearlong chronicle of the coronavirus and its effects. One of the Post 's prizes came in a new category: oral history, for Eli Saslow's ''Voices From the Pandemic,'' a collection of personal accounts from a variety of people affected by COVID. The Post also won an award for justice reporting for ''George Floyd's America,'' a six-part series that documented the life and experiences of a Black man who was killed in May by the Minneapolis police. Former president Donald Trump appealed directly to Facebook's Oversight Board to rejoin the platform, according to a report from Channel 4 News . The Facebook Oversight Board, a team of 20 experts from around the world, is reviewing the tech company's decision to permanently suspend Trump's account. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former prime minister of Denmark and a member of the Oversight Board, told Channel 4 of Trump's appeal , according to the channel's communications director. ''We can confirm that a user statement has been received in the case before the Oversight Board concerning President Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts,'' a spokesman told Insider. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that among adults who say they want to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they can, about half say they have gotten at least a fair amount of information about the vaccine from cable news and network television news, compared to about a third of adults who say they will not get the vaccine. Adults who are hesitant about the vaccine or who say they definitely will not get it are more likely to say they have gotten information about the vaccine from social media. ICYMI: How to count half a million lost lives?
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today. Mathew Ingram is CJR's chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg.Featured a Wednesday, Feb 24th, 2021 By Jon Allsop, CJRLast March, Khaled Drareni, a prominent journalist in Algeria, was arrested. Since the start of concerted anti-government protests a year before, officials had repeatedly tried to intimidate Drareni out of covering them; on one occasion, they even tried to bribe...
OTG
This Guy Has Invented A Scarf That Can Make You Invisible In Photos
28-year-old London-based fashion entrepreneur Saif Siddiqui has invented a scarf that makes it impossible for photographers to take a picture of the wearer with the flash on.
Called ISHU, the scarf is made of a special fabric that contains thousands of nano-spherical crystals that reflect the flash light back into the camera, resulting in pictures and videos where the wearer is blacked out and only the scarf is visible. Check it out below.
Paris HiltonRapper DMXDJ Jillionaire
How it startedSiddiqui came up with the idea back in 2009 when he took a picture of a few friends standing in front of his bike. He noticed that the bike's reflector manipulated the flash of his mobile camera in a way that it obscured the faces of this friends in the picture. He realized that if he developed this idea into the right product, it would be an ideal feature for people who want privacy from the media and paparazzi. He put together a team of experts who researched into the science of light and reflection, and six years later, ISHU was released.
Celebs using the ISHU scarf
Interview with Siddiqui and product demo
The ISHU scarves range from £199 '' £355. Visit their website for more info. Share this post with someone who would be interested in this ''anti-paparazzi cloaking device'' and voice your views in the comments below. All images via Saif Siddiqui / Instagram.
China
Farage: China-Linked Firms Buying UK Schools Is 'Communist Takeover'
Brexit leader Nigel Farage has warned that there is a ''communist takeover'' of large swaths of Britain's private education sector, as an investigation has revealed that schools throughout the country have been bought out by firms connected to the Chinese government.
There are currently 17 private schools in the United Kingdom owned by Chinese firms, nine of which are owned by senior members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The schools are reportedly presenting a ''whitewashed'' view of China to their students, and one school has admitted that the goal of infiltrating the education system is to propagate China's One Belt, One Road global initiative, an investigation from the Mail on Sunday revealed.
Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage said that the British government ''must wake up to the dangers and act quickly'' warning that ''the world is being taken over by stealth by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Under a neo-colonial project, President Xi Jinping hopes to achieve global economic domination via massive international investments.''
''For example, three schools and a network of colleges are now owned by the Bright Scholar Group, run by Yang Huiyan, whose billionaire father is a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party. In essence, this is nothing less than a Communist takeover of part of Britain's private education sector,'' Farage said.
''Meanwhile, there's the role of the Confucius Institutes. Under the control of the Chinese government, its students are taught a grossly sanitised version of Chinese history and politics,'' he added.
BREAKING
Chinese billionaires with direct links to the CCP are buying up British schools '-- and flooding the curriculum with their propaganda.
This Communist takeover of our education system must be stopped. pic.twitter.com/3KsmUKIzev
'-- Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) February 20, 2021
The investigation found that since 2014, Chinese companies have taken advantage of financial difficulties facing boarding schools in order to scoop them up. Last year alone, three schools were bought out by Chinese firms.
In 2017, the Wanda group, founded by Chinese prominent Chinese Communist Party member and billionaire Wang Jianlin, bought two private schools Bedstone College in Shropshire and Ipswich High School.
Mr Farage noted that as a result of inflation, private schools in the United Kingdom have become only accessible to the rich, saying: ''As a result, such schools '' especially those with boarders '' are reliant on Chinese students to help balance the books.''
The communist infiltration extends beyond buying up schools, with 29 Confucius Institutes on British university campuses, and 148 Confucius classrooms present in schools.
Both operations claim to offer education on the Chinese language and culture, yet are in fact branches of the Chinese Ministry of Education which reports directly to the Communist Party's central propaganda department.
Over a dozen British universities are reportedly under investigation by security services over their relationships with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which may have violated national security and human rights laws. https://t.co/JPASmB4Fvn
'-- Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 8, 2021
In Confucius classrooms, students are shown propaganda articles, including those showing tourists enjoying holidays in Xinjiang, the region home to the concentration camps in which Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities are interned in the millions. Another programme within the classrooms also displays a dancing virtual Xi Jinping which gives students a ''sanitised view'' of the history of the Chinese state.
''These people are being taught that China is the future, they are literally being indoctrinated by the Chinese Communist Party,'' Nigel Farage said, adding that they are not taught about the genocide in Xinjiang or the destruction of democracy in Hong Kong.
Beyond silencing debate on sensitive issues for the Chinese government, such as the so-called ''Three T's'' '-- Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen Square '-- Confucious Institutes have been accused of monitoring the activities of Chinese students studying abroad.
One Chinese student reported: ''The Confucius Institute, to me, functions like the closed circulation television and has the potential to scare away my critical thinking by constantly reminding me: we are watching you and behave yourself.''
Last month, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced a review of Confucius Institutes in British schools.
Commenting on the ''ccommunist takeover'' of British schools, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said: ''China's strategic understanding and reach means that they have an advantage in seeking to influence others and using established brands, including some of our own, to achieve that position.
''We need to decide what it is we are prepared to defend, but before that we would need to understand what it is we want.''
A Department for Education spokesman said: ''Owners of independent schools have a requirement to promote fundamental British values. Schools cannot promote partisan political views.''
REVEALED: Cambridge University and the BBC have become the latest British establishment institutions accused of working in step with China. https://t.co/I2f8lNBwwj
'-- Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 10, 2021
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
China Faces European Obstacles as Some Countries Heed U.S. Pressure - WSJ
BRUSSELS'--Some European countries are starting to block Chinese involvement in their economies, drawing closer to positions advocated by the U.S. amid growing anxiety in Europe over China's increasingly aggressive geopolitical posture.
Governments from the Baltic to the Adriatic seas have recently canceled public tenders that Chinese state-owned companies were set to win, or are moving to ban Chinese companies from investing or contracting in their countries.
The shifts have been prompted by a mix of national-security concerns and disappointment with the performance of Chinese contractors, say officials involved in the decisions. Several of the canceled projects fell within China's world-wide infrastructure initiative, Belt and Road, which has disappointed several participating countries.
The shift is largely taking place in smaller European countries, adding to tensions within the European Union, where big countries still largely favor maintaining business links with China.
Romania and Lithuania are taking broad measures to exclude Chinese companies from certain public procurements. Other moves are more targeted. Authorities in Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Romania have suspended public tenders involving Chinese companies for work on nuclear-power plants, highways, rail lines, security scanners and a shipping-container terminal. Greece is debating whether to allow a Chinese shipping company to increase its majority stake in the country's largest port.
China underestimated the ''Russia factor,'' said Andreea Brinza, vice president of Bucharest-based think tank the Romanian Institute for the Study of the Asia-Pacific. European countries dominated by Moscow during the Cold War have lingering strategic concerns, and as most of them rely on U.S. security guarantees, they want to show which side they are taking in trade disputes between Washington and Beijing, she said.
''We are simply respecting the strategic choices we've made: our partnership with the U.S., NATO and EU membership,'' said Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna of his country's recent cooling toward China. The government said earlier this month that it would tighten public-procurement rules, effectively banning Chinese companies, after blocking Chinese participation in the country's 5G rollout and in refurbishing a nuclear-power plant last year.
The Chinese Embassy in Bucharest and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Romania didn't respond to requests for comment on the new Romania regulation.
Lithuania's government on Feb. 17 prohibited Chinese security-scanner maker Nuctech Co. from supplying equipment to the country's two airports, saying a proposed deal was ''not in line with national-security interests.'' State-controlled Nuctech, which the U.S. government in December listed among Chinese entities banned from certain transactions with U.S. parties, had won a tender launched a year ago by state-owned Lithuanian Airports.
Nuctech said it was assessing a response, potentially including legal action. ''Not only is this decision politically motivated, but it also distorts competition in the security-equipment market to the detriment of the Lithuanian taxpayers,'' a Nuctech spokeswoman said.
Canada last year also abandoned a plan to buy Nuctech scanners for its embassies following controversy around the announced deal. Norway, Croatia and an EU directorate in recent months have also stopped scanner tenders involving Nuctech, although none publicly linked the cancellations to security, as Lithuania did.
''We are choosing the Western technosphere. We are not choosing the Chinese technosphere,'' said Laurynas Kasciunas, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament's national-security and defense committee, which oversees a national-security review board that had recommended banning Nuctech.
Such policy reversals remain a minority amid extensive Chinese business activity across the EU. Chinese direct investment into the bloc has declined since a peak in 2016 because of new European limits and Chinese restrictions on financial outflows. But public-procurement wins in Europe by Chinese companies'--mostly state-owned'--have ballooned recently, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of public data.
In response, the EU last year issued guidelines for weeding out bidders from outside the bloc that offered extraordinarily low prices and launched a study on the impact of foreign subsidies in Europe, covering areas including procurement and corporate acquisitions. New EU rules on member states' screening of foreign investments for potential national-security consequences took effect in October, and many EU countries have adopted national versions.
Wariness of Chinese companies has risen largely in parts of Eastern and Southern Europe, even as Germany and France'--the continent's largest economies'--have pushed to deepen economic ties. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in December pressed the EU to strike a preliminary deal with China on an investment agreement that had been under negotiation since 2013.
The deal drew objections from Poland and prompted U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan before he took office to call for more trans-Atlantic consultation on China. The investment agreement still requires formal approval, which may only come next year and could face growing opposition from EU lawmakers.
Central and Eastern Europe have been prime targets of Chinese contractors eager to profit from the region's vast infrastructure needs, often bidding prices far below those of European rivals. In many cases, those low-bid wins failed to deliver, politicians now say.
''We are learning from our experience,'' Romania's Mr. Barna said of his government's decision to largely bar Chinese contractors. ''We looked at why certain projects weren't completed and found that bidders didn't meet the standards or didn't have the capacity to finalize the projects,'' he said.
U.S. lobbying efforts under the Trump administration's so-called Clean Network initiative last year resulted in several EU nations signing up to security criteria and drafting legislation that would effectively ban or limit Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies Co. in their 5G technology. Huawei complained to the EU authorities in September that Poland's and Romania's 5G laws, inspired by the U.S., might violate EU competition law.
In a sign of Central Europe's increasing wariness toward China, six European leaders snubbed Chinese President Xi Jinping when he hosted a videoconference earlier this month. Beijing had organized the virtual event within a group known as 17+1, referring to the number of European countries involved, plus China. Instead of sending their invited leaders, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia were represented by government ministers, despite pressure from Beijing for higher-level participation. A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said the meeting ''was successfully held'...with leaders'' of the countries.
China's promotion of the group, which includes 12 EU countries and five aspiring members, has irritated EU officials, who see it as Beijing's attempt to divide the bloc and draw Balkan countries into its orbit.
Write to Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com and Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com
Asteroids
Is This the End? 'Stadium-Sized' Asteroid to Come Close to Earth, NASA Warns - Sputnik International
The American space agency, which constantly monitors asteroids that may pose a danger to our planet, reported that several giant space rocks will come close to us this week.
According to NASA, a bunch of huge space objects is heading toward Earth, with the biggest asteroid reaching 213 metres (almost 700 feet) in diameter.
The agency said that the "stadium-sized" asteroid 2020 XU6, travelling through space at a speed of 8.4 kilometres per second (over 30,000 kmph), will approach Earth on Monday. The giant boulder is expected to miss the planet by roughly four million kilometres - or two and a half million miles.
It will be followed shortly after by two other space objects - 2020 BV9 (23 metres in diameter), which will pass at a distance of 5.6 million kilometres, and 2021 CC5 (40 metres in diameter), which will be spotted roughly 6.9 million kilometres from Earth.
ERCOT
Texas Grapples With Crushing Power Bills After Freeze - WSJ
The Texas energy crisis is over, but the settling of the massive bills left behind has just begun.
Residents, businesses and cities face soaring bills from the deep freeze that last week gripped the second most-populous U.S. state after California, sending electricity and natural gas prices skyrocketing and triggering blackouts that lasted in places for four days.
Wholesale power prices on Texas' main power grid hit the ceiling price of $9,000 per megawatt hour for parts of five straight days. That was exponentially higher than the average price, which was $21.18 per megawatt hour in 2020, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or Ercot, the nonprofit that controls the grid.
Now power retailers and municipal utilities are trying to figure out how to pass on the billions of dollars in costs to customers, some of whom face bills in the thousands of dollars that may need to be stretched out over time.
In Denton, a North Texas university city that suffered outages and natural-gas supply shortages, city leaders are looking to borrow up to $300 million to cover fuel expenses from last week, which amounts to around $2,000 for each of the city's 150,000 residents.
Last Tuesday alone, Denton officials said the municipal utility racked up a $75 million power bill, more than it spent on electricity for all of its last fiscal year.
''While we continue to assess the financial impact of the storm over the coming months, we must rely on short-term debt to meet immediate cash needs from unprecedented prices,'' said Denton's chief financial officer, David Gaines.
Texas deregulated its power market in 1999. While residents of Austin and some other cities still have traditional utilities that furnish power for them, most Texans in Houston, Dallas and other cities choose their electric retailer. They are offered an array of options, ranging from fixed-price long-term contracts to contracts that track the hourly fluctuations of the wholesale market.
While market watchers estimate that most Texas ratepayers have fixed-rate plans, some consumers with variable-rate contracts are more exposed to last week's electricity spikes'--some much more so.
Adrian Soto, a 40-year-old restaurant server who lives in a 700-square-foot apartment south of Houston, signed up for Griddy Energy LLC, which gives customers access to wholesale power prices in exchange for a flat monthly charge.
Usually, this means low bills. But last week, he was strapped on to the bucking bronco of the state's power market. He lost power for two and a half days during the deep freeze. Having it on for the remainder was enough to push his monthly charges above $1,100.
''In my financial situation, it is a big deal,'' he said. He plans to work with the company to pay the balance over a few months and then switch to the protection of a fixed rate. ''That way I don't get any surprises.''
Griddy said in a statement that it is helping its customers manage their payments and working with the state regulators and the grid operator to ''seek customer relief.''
The Texas Public Utility Commission, in an emergency meeting over the weekend, took steps to prevent consumers from being cut off due to lack of payment.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called on the legislature to investigate Ercot and the price spike, and is urging new rules to prevent future runaway prices. ''Texans shouldn't have to face a spike in their energy costs,'' he said on Saturday.
Still, Texans may experience higher prices as electric companies pass higher costs from last week on to customers.
''There is going to be some real pain, especially for customers on variable rate plans and plans tied to the wholesale market,'' said Tim Morstad, the associate state director of the AARP. ''Even customers with fixed plans, their rates will go up too.''
Electric retailers, who purchase power for customers from generators, were also hurt by the price spike. Just Energy Group Inc., a Toronto-based company that sells electricity in Texas, said it had sustained an estimated $250 million loss, although it warned it was unable to provide a more accurate forecast and delayed reporting its earnings until the end of the week. The company reported a profit of $185.8 million in its last fiscal year, which ended last summer.
Octopus Energy Group, an energy retailer based in the U.K. that has two million customers globally, expanded into the Texas market last year. Prior to the crisis, most of its customers paid rates tied to wholesale costs.
The company on Monday announced that it would forgive customers of any power costs incurred during the weeklong crisis that went beyond the usual Texas residential average.
''This is going to cost us a lot of money,'' said Octopus Energy U.S. chief executive Michael Lee, estimating it would be in the millions of dollars. But he added: ''This is not the fault of our customers, so they should not be bearing that financial risk.''
Rather than require customers to pay their entire bill at once, electric providers could allow for a payment plan and municipal power companies may seek to securitize the debt and extend repayment over several years to cushion the impact.
''The financial impact of last week's unprecedented winter weather emergency has not yet been fully calculated, but it may be considerable,'' said New Braunfels Utilities, a municipal power company in a city of 90,000 north of San Antonio.
The utility noted that electricity prices rose more than 30,000% above average; natural gas supplies were stretched and prices spiked more than 13,000%.
''While fuel charges are normally passed on to customers, NBU is pursuing every financing tool within our ability to spread the financial impact over years,'' it said.
Write to Russell Gold at russell.gold@wsj.com and Katherine Blunt at Katherine.Blunt@wsj.com
AG Paxton Issues CIDs to ERCOT and Other Companies Following Dangerous Winter Storm Power Failures | Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Ken Paxton today issued Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) to ERCOT and other power companies regarding power outages, emergency plans, energy pricing, and more related to this week's winter weather disaster. The large-scale failure of Texas power companies to withstand the winter storm left multiple millions of Texans without power and heat during lethal, record-low temperatures across the state.
''I'm using the full scope of my Constitutional powers to launch an investigation into ERCOT and other entities that grossly mishandled this week's extreme winter weather. While Texans pulled together to get their communities through this disaster, they were largely left in the dark,'' said Attorney General Paxton. ''We will get to the bottom of this power failure and I will tirelessly pursue justice for Texans.''Read the CID to AEP Texas.
Read the CID to Calpine Corporation.
Read the CID to CenterPoint Energy Services.
Read the CID to ERCOT.
Read the CID to Griddy Energy.
Read the CID to La Frontera Holdings.
Read the CID to Luminant Generation Company.
Read the CID to NRG Texas Power.
Read the CID to Oncor Electric Delivery Company.
Read the CID to Panda Sherman Power.
Read the CID to Temple Generation I.
Read the CID to Texas-New Mexico Power Company.
Australia's Macquarie reaps windfall profits from U.S. winter freeze | Reuters
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Macquarie Group earned big profits off the winter storms sweeping across Texas and other U.S. states, with the gains from its trading operations single-handedly changing the Australian bank's outlook for the year.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Australia's biggest investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd adorns the main entrance to their Sydney office headquarters in Australia, October 28, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray
The company is the second-largest gas marketer in North America behind oil major BP, and the week of big trading revenue has by itself boosted the bank's overall profit outlook for the year by 10%.
The windfall comes after nearly a week of frigid temperatures that knocked out power for millions of people in the United States, particularly in Texas, forcing many to spend several nights without heat or electricity.
Some consumers are facing exorbitant utility bills in coming months as a result of Texas's largely unregulated system. The deadly winter storm meant electricity generators had to compete for natural gas supplies, pushing up prices sharply in the deregulated market.
Real-time natural gas prices surged more than 300 times during the storms, with power prices reaching $8,800 per megawatt-hour in some parts of Texas, compared with an average of roughly $26 per MWh.
Macquarie on Monday said it expects fiscal 2021 profits to jump by as much as 10% after warning just two weeks ago that earnings would be ''slightly down.''
''Extreme winter weather conditions in North America have significantly increased short-term client demand for Macquarie's capabilities in maintaining critical physical supply across the commodity complex,'' the company said in a statement.
The company's energy business unit trades large quantities of gas to meet unexpected consumer demand, and it could boost the bank's overall profit by about A$400 million ($317 million), analysts said. Macquarie purchases natural gas and moves it along pipelines and grids, typically from areas where usage is low to high-demand markets.
''Macquarie appears to be capitalising well on volatility and financial market dislocation,'' Bank of America Securities analysts said in a note, as it increased its earnings forecasts for the Sydney-headquartered company.
U.S. politicians have vowed to investigate how some companies profited so handsomely from the storm even as some natural gas providers celebrated their gains. ''This week is like hitting the jackpot, as some of these incredible prices,'' said Roland Burns, president at Comstock.
Macquarie's shares closed up 3.5% to A$147.15 on Monday, the highest level in a year, outperforming the broader market that was flat.
Macquarie's performance hurt last year by the pandemic, with subdued deal-making and deteriorating economic conditions leading to a rise in impairment charges.
But a strong initial public offering of its majority-owned data analytics software business, Nuix, late last year and a fillip in the energy business have helped push its share price back to pre-pandemic levels.
The company, which also operates Australia's largest asset manager and investment banking business, is set for an extra boost from a rebound in local M&A activity this year.
Earlier this month, the Sydney-based financial conglomerate had forecast full-year earnings for the group to be ''slightly'' lower than in fiscal 2020.
Macquarie's Commodities and Global Markets division contributes close to 40% of its group earnings. Analysts had previously raised concerns that the pandemic could erode profits from the division if high energy-use industries shuttered.
Reporting by Paulina Duran and Jonathan Barrett; Additional reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan and Scott DiSavino; Editing by Jane Wardell, Shri Navaratnam and Lisa Shumaker
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
AUSTIN, Texas '' Five members of the board of directors at the entity that operates the state's electrical grid resigned from their posts Wednesday, according to a notice posted to the Public Utility Commission website.
Board Chairwoman Sally Talberg, Vice Chairman Peter Cramton and members Terry Bulger, Raymond Hepper and Vanessa Anesetti-Parra will leave the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT. None of them lives in Texas.
ERCOT has come under fire for its handling of widespread blackouts that left millions of Texans without power and water as the state faced subfreezing temperatures, snow and ice. The storm was part of an icy blast across the Deep South that resulted in more than 80 deaths, roughly half of which were in Texas.
In a joint resignation letter, Talberg, Cramton, Bulger and Hepper acknowledged "the pain and suffering of Texans during this past week" and cited objections to their residency as a motivating factor for their resignations.
Anesetti-Parra did not sign the joint letter, but a notice sent from ERCOT to the Public Utility Commission noted her intention to resign from the board.
Winter storm blackouts plagued Texas in 2011, too. Recommendations made afterward went unenforced.
'An electrical island': Texas has dodged federal regulation for years by having its own power grid
"Our hearts go out to all Texans who have had to go without electricity, heat, and water during frigid temperatures and continue to face the tragic consequences of this emergency," the letter reads. "We have noted recent concerns about out-of-state board leadership at ERCOT. To allow state leaders a free hand with future direction and to eliminate distractions, we are resigning from the board."
Craig Ivey, who was set to fill a vacant position on the board, said in a separate letter that he was withdrawing his candidacy "to avoid becoming a distraction" over his out-of-state residency.
View | 25 Photos
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who charged state lawmakers with making changes at ERCOT after the outages, said he welcomed the resignations.
''When Texans were in desperate need of electricity, ERCOT failed to do its job and Texans were left shivering in their homes without power," Abbott said in a statement. "ERCOT leadership made assurances that Texas' power infrastructure was prepared for the winter storm, but those assurances proved to be devastatingly false.''
A month ago, operators at ERCOT offered a positive assessment about the preparedness of Texas power plants for winter storms, according to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network.
When the intense storm hit the state, major generation units failed, and operators at ERCOT ordered a series of rolling blackouts intended to protect the electric grid from catastrophic failure.
Instead of rolling blackouts, more than 4 million people were left without electricity for days.
State officials criticized ERCOT amid the blackouts and state lawmakers scheduled legislative hearings for Thursday and Friday to discuss the outages.
''We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature, and we thank the outgoing Board Members for their service," reads a statement from ERCOT.
Talberg, who lives in Michigan, and Cramton, who lives in California, were elected to their posts as board chair and vice chair, respectively, on Feb. 9 during a board meeting where leaders at the electric grid operator spent just 40 seconds discussing the upcoming storm.
Bulger lives in Wheaton, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and Hepper lives in Maine. Anesetti-Parra lives in Toronto.
There are a total of 16 members on ERCOT's board, which appoints officers who manage the grid manager's day-to-day operations.
Contributing: The Associated Press
More news on the Texas power outages:
As some Texans see electric bills skyrocket, most should be spared pricing spikes
Family sues Texas utility companies for $100M after 11-year-old boy died amid power failure
Texas politicians saw electricity deregulation as a better future. Years later, millions lost power.
AUSTIN, Texas '' Five members of the board of directors at the entity that operates the state's electrical grid resigned from their posts Wednesday, according to a notice posted to the Public Utility Commission website.
Board Chairwoman Sally Talberg, Vice Chairman Peter Cramton and members Terry Bulger, Raymond Hepper and Vanessa Anesetti-Parra will leave the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT. None of them lives in Texas.
ERCOT has come under fire for its handling of widespread blackouts that left millions of Texans without power and water as the state faced subfreezing temperatures, snow and ice. The storm was part of an icy blast across the Deep South that resulted in more than 80 deaths, roughly half of which were in Texas.
In a joint resignation letter, Talberg, Cramton, Bulger and Hepper acknowledged "the pain and suffering of Texans during this past week" and cited objections to their residency as a motivating factor for their resignations.
Anesetti-Parra did not sign the joint letter, but a notice sent from ERCOT to the Public Utility Commission noted her intention to resign from the board.
BTC
All of the Federal Reserve's wire and ACH systems are down
All of the services available through the Federal Reserve's online portal have been down for more than an hour.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank Services' website, the bank is experiencing a disruption in its account services, central bank, Check 21, check adjustments, FedACH, FedCash, FedLine Advantage, FedLine Command, FedLine Direct, FedLine Web, Fedwire Funds, Fedwire Securities, and National Settlement '-- all services typically available '-- which started at 6:18 PM UTC today. In addition, all the access solutions that the Fed offers, with the exception of FedMail, are also offline.
Washington Post reporter Rachel Leah Siegel reportedly received an alert from the Fed saying its staff were "currently investigating a disruption to multiple services" and would "continue to provide updates as soon as they are available."
"A Federal Reserve operational error resulted in disruption of service in several business lines," said Jim Strader from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. "We are restoring services and are communicating with all Federal Reserve Financial Services customers about the status of operations."
This story is developing and will be updated.
Go Podcasting!
Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen launch podcast on Spotify
Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are making a podcast.
Spotify on Monday announced the launch of "Renegades: Born in the USA," featuring the former president and the legendary rock star in conversation on issues ranging from politics and the state of America to fatherhood, marriage and manhood. The conversations will span eight episodes, the first two of which go live on Monday.
The podcast, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground, is decidedly the highest-profile collaboration in the history of podcasting.
"It is a personal, in-depth discussion between two friends exploring their pasts, their beliefs, and the country that they love '-- as it was, as it is, and as it ought to be going forward," Spotify said in a statement, noting that the two men "have formed a deep friendship since they first met on the campaign trail in 2008."
It is also another landmark moment in Spotify's aggressive push to dominate the podcast business. The Swedish streaming service has committed more than $500 million to acquiring podcast companies and has struck exclusive deals with big names including Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian and major brands like Warner Bros.
In 2019, Spotify signed an exclusive deal with the Obamas to produce podcasts. Their first production, The Michelle Obama Podcast, was the top global podcast when it launched last summer, and Spotify is betting that the Obama-Springstreen series will have similar appeal worldwide.
Many of the conversations between Obama and Springsteen are likely to focus on fixing America's cultural and political divides.
"How did we get here? How could we find our way back to a more unifying American story?" Obama asks in his intro to the show. "On the surface, Bruce and I don't have a lot in common. But over the years, what we've found is that we've got a shared sensibility. About work, about family and about America. In our own ways, Bruce and I have been on parallel journeys trying to understand this country that's given us both so much."
Obama and Springsteen unveiled the "Renegades" podcast during a virtual Spotify event in which the company also announced an expansion of their D.C. Comics shows and a new partnership with the Russo brothers, the directors of ''The Avengers'' films.
Dylan Byers Dylan Byers is a senior media reporter for NBC News based in Los Angeles.
War on Gaming
Calls From Chicago to Ban GTA Over 'Psychological Harm', Spike in Carjackings
According to Chicago police, there was a 135 percent rise in carjackings last year '' robbery of a vehicle when the victim is present at the scene.
Illinois Representative Marcus Evans Jr. is calling to ban a sale of legendary Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and other ''violent video games'' over concerns that they have been contributing to a recent surge in criminal activity across his 33rd district that includes some Chicago neighborhoods.
Evans has filed an HB3531 bill seeking to amend the existing law which at present prohibits the sale of certain video entertainment to children, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. If successful, the amendment will outlaw the sale of games showing ''motor vehicle theft with a driver or passenger present'' '' something known as carjacking '' altogether.
''The bill would prohibit the sale of some of these games that promote the activities that we're suffering from in our communities,'' the lawmaker was quoted as saying.The Democrat politician believes that the definition of a ''violent video game'' should change to include a depiction of ''human-on-human violence in which the player kills or otherwise causes serious physical or psychological harm to another human or an animal.''
The newspaper says that before filing the bill, the politician was contacted by local philanthropist Early Walker who has been approaching various state legislators to persuade them to ban GTA-type video games after finding some ''harsh similarities'' between 'simulated' carjackings and real-life crimes.
''I feel like this game has become a huge issue in this spectrum,'' Walker said about the Grand Theft Auto series.Walker has already launched ''Operation Safe Pump'' in Chicago's South Side '' a collaborative effort between local enthusiasts, private guards and police officers aimed at securing petrol stations and shopping malls from carjackings. The programme has now been extended to other parts of the city that have been hard hit by crimes involving vehicles.
Fox News cites a report from Chicago police that states instances of carjackings 135 percent up in 2020 in the Windy City in on the previous year. Some arrested perpetrators were as young as 12 years old, Chicago officers said.
GTA's publisher Rockstar Games did not respond to Fox News' comment about the proposed legislation.
Clips
VIDEO-Press Sec. Confronted Over New ''Kids in Cages'' Again, Panics To Explain - YouTube
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen leveled criticism against bitcoin, which has seen a sharp slide in price this week.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued a warning Monday about the dangers that bitcoin poses both to investors and the public.
Despite a sharp slide in price to start the week, the cryptocurrency continues to trade above $53,000 as it has received boosts from various sources. Elon Musk's Tesla recently made a substantial purchase and has said it will accept bitcoin for transactions.
However, Yellen said there remain important questions about legitimacy and stability.
"I don't think that bitcoin '... is widely used as a transaction mechanism," she told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin at a New York Times DealBook conference. "To the extent it is used I fear it's often for illicit finance. It's an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions, and the amount of energy that's consumed in processing those transactions is staggering."
Mining bitcoin requires users to solve complex mathematical equations using high-powered computer setups. The electric consumption used in the process leaves an annual carbon footprint equal to the nation of New Zealand, according to Digiconomist.
In addition to consumption concerns, bitcoin also is considered to be a tool of those involved in a number of illegal activities because its use is difficult to trace.
Then there's volatility, as the cryptocurrency's price has seen rapid peaks and valleys during its existence.
"It is a highly speculative asset and you know I think people should be aware it can be extremely volatile and I do worry about potential losses that investors can suffer," Yellen said.
Various government agencies have contemplated the idea of making an alternate digital currency with the hopes that it would open up the global payments system to those who don't have access.
The Federal Reserve, where Yellen once served as chair, has studied the issue and discussed the possibility of a new digital currency along with a payments system it expects to roll out over the next several years.
"I think it could result in faster, safer and cheaper payments, which I think are important goals," Yellen said.
(Natural News) We're bringing this claim to your attention because a growing number of observers, websites and analysts are concluding that Hurricane Harvey was ''engineered'' and made into a ''weather weapon'' through a combination of ground-based temperature manipulation tools and ''chemtrail'' seeding.
Yes, it sounds absurd at first, until you realize that Al Gore tells us that human activity controls the climate every day. It's called ''climate change,'' and in fact, Al Gore and the climate alarmists directly tell us that we created Hurricane Harvey and all the other ''extreme'' weather events anyone sees. Weather modification, in other words, has become the de facto belief of climate alarmists. The entire mainstream media routinely insists that hurricanes, droughts, floods, snowstorms and tornadoes are all unintentionally created by human activity.
The key difference between Al Gore and the ''weather wars'' theories is that those who believe in weather wars insist these hurricanes are deliberately created, selectively amplified and steered into selected targets. Al Gore believes hurricanes are created by Man, in other words, and the weather wars theorists say they are precisely controlled and deployed as weapons of terrorism to inflict economic damage and achieve psychological goals involving terror and death. This claim seems absurd to most people at first glance, but there is a growing community of weather skeptics who insist that such events are not accidents but weapons. That's why we're covering this story: Not as an endorsement of such conclusions but rather as a look at a curious corner of the internet where weather wars, weather modification and geoengineering have become popular, alternative explanations for significant weather events. In fact, there are at least two key patents (linked below) that describe this technology in great detail, including a ''space-based power system'' that can alter ''weather elements'' including hurricanes. (Keep reading for details'...)
One of the most popular sites asserting such claims is WeatherWar101.com, whose author '-- a former network engineer '-- explains:
For ten years, I have been proving the irrefutable reality of daily manufactured flash flood deluge and severe weather '' every single day. Denying the reality of these daily manmade weather events is akin to denying the existence of the combustion engine, and it is just as easy to prove. If you can understand boiling water, you can understand where trillions of gallons of water vapor come from that create and fuel the daily trillion-gallon floods we see washing a different community away, somewhere in the world. This isn't debatable, and it is as easy to observe as sunrise.
Unless I have the names mixed up, the author seems to go by the name of ''Sofia Smallstorm'' (to avoid being identified by name, of course) and goes to great lengths to protect his or her identity. This person also wrote the foreward to No Natural Weather: Introduction to Geoengineering 101.
The site has published a 14-minute analysis of Hurricane Harvey, asserting that the hurricane was augmented by ''On-Land Water Vapor Generation from Texas, Louisiana, etc.'' The video description also states, ''It's also no coincidence that Hurricane Harvey is hitting the United States, 25 years to the day after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida. Since all of these storms are very clearly and very obviously deliberated manufactured, this ''Anniversary Hurricane'' was clearly intentional.''
Another video from APlaneTruth.info offers a more detailed explanation of ''weather geoengineering'' phenomena and how they say it relates to Hurricane Harvey, citing numerous patents, weather control conference, military technology and so on:
Do water vapor generators exist that can unleash clouds?The idea of land-based water vapor generators that could contribute any meaningful amount of water to Hurricane Harvey seems absurd to those who have never looked into all this. According to recent estimates, Hurricane Harvey dumped 11 trillion gallons of water on Houston and surrounding areas. For any land-based machinery to contribute even 1/1000th of that volume '-- just 11 billion gallons of water '-- would take a massive fleet of mechanized water vapor generators burning through an enormous quantity of fuel or electricity. That seems unrealistic by any rational analysis.
Yet as the BBC video shows in the following video clip (starting at 15:12), there do exists large buildings that literally generate massive clouds and rainfall. Before I saw this video, even I had no idea such buildings existed. Watch the BBC explain:
Despite the existence of the technology, it is difficult to imagine the existence of such a massive operation operating covertly. That's why the existence of a large-scale water vapor generating network seems highly unlikely. Besides, solar power does all that work for free by warming the oceans and evaporating water into the storm system. Trying to augment 11 trillion gallons of water evaporation carried out by the sun seems futile. The forces of nature are so much larger than anything mankind can contribute to them that supposing we can generate massive storm systems seems rather unlikely.
At the same time, so does the idea that human activity can drastically alter Earth's climate in the first place. Despite all the hysteria and fear mongering of the climate change alarmists, human activity is nothing but a tiny sliver of contribution to the grand-scale phenomena driven by solar activity, volcanoes and other such events.
Weather modification technology does exist (read these patents to see for yourself)There's no question, by the way, that weather modification technology exists and is in widespread use across the globe. Weather control advocates are currently citing this U.S. patent #20100074390 A1, titled, ''Method for weather modification and vapor generator for weather modification.''
As the patent summary states:
A nuclear fusion reactor (2) or nuclear fission reactor (22) is used as a heat source. A heat exchanger (11 or 37) that contains water to be heated (15) is used for water vapor generation. A circulating pipe (10 or 26) through which a fluid for cooling the nuclear fusion reactor or nuclear fission reactor or for conducting heat exchange circulates is disposed so as to extend in the heat exchanger and be in contact with the water to be heated. Water vapor is thus generated. This water vapor is jetted toward the sky at a state of collimation through a vapor discharge pipe (12 or 36). A cloud for blocking sunlight is formed in the sky from the water vapor jetted to reduce the temperature of the earth surface. This enables a weather modification without discharging any greenhouse gas, e.g., CO2.
Another U.S. patent (#20100224696 A1) is entitled, ''Weather management using space-based power system.'' It describes a space-based technology for generating and controlling hurricanes:
Space-based power system and method of altering weather using space-born energy. The space-based power system maintains proper positioning and alignment of system components without using connecting structures. Power system elements are launched into orbit, and the free-floating power system elements are maintained in proper relative alignment, e.g., position, orientation, and shape, using a control system. Energy from the space-based power system is applied to a weather element, such as a hurricane, and alters the weather element to weaken or dissipate the weather element. The weather element can be altered by changing a temperature of a section of a weather element, such as the eye of a hurricane, changing airflows, or changing a path of the weather element.
Weather modification technology isn't a conspiracy theory, either: It's already in use! For example, this article from SingularityHub describes Dubai's ''weather wizards'' and how they use advanced electronics to create rain. It's not a conspiracy theory; it's just clever physics:
Meteo Systems, a Swiss company [is] developing a technology they've dubbed Weathertec. The idea is to erect giant ionizers wherever you'd like to have some rain. If the ambient humidity in the area reaches the required minimum of 30%, then you turn the ionizers on and start pumping electrons into the atmosphere. Assuming that you have high temperatures, the electrons will rise with the heat and water molecules will start condensing around them. At this point, you have clouds that will produce rain once they are dense enough.
Adding to the intrigue of all this, Bill Gates announced serious funding for ''seawater-spraying cloud machines'' designed to generate rain-producing weather systems for targeted communities. As Inhabitat.com explains:
The Microsoft founder recently announced plans to invest $300,000 into research at the University of Calgary for unique solutions and responses to climate change. Part of that research included lab tests on machines that suck up seawater and spray it into the air, seeding white clouds that reflect rays of sunlight away from Earth. Silver Lining's floating machines can suck up ten tons of water per second. If all goes well, Silver Lining plans to test the process with 10 ships spread throughout 3800 square miles of ocean.
By the way, that was seven years ago, in 2010. Do such weather-generating fleets already exist? If so, they've been kept very quiet.
Another popular site that reports on Geoengineering, by the way, is Geoengineering Watch by Dane Wigington. Very informative and interesting. Check it out.
The history of hurricanes shows that Mother Nature generates them without any human engineering at allCreating rainfall, however, is a far cry from generating a hurricane and steering it onto an intended target. That idea would likely be considered outlandish by meteorologists and scientists. The far more likely explanation, of course, is that the coriolus effect '-- a derivative of a spinning globe '-- causes rotational forces in the atmosphere that spin storm systems one way in the Northern hemisphere and the opposite way in the Southern hemisphere. (That's why hurricanes look like opposites of each other when comparing Northern vs. Southern hemisphere storms.) Solar-heated ocean water results in large-scale water evaporation, saturating the air with vapor. That vapor condenses due to changes in temperature or pressure, causing the formation of water droplets which are now heavier than air and therefore fall to the ground. With enough solar energy, natural forces can generate truly catastrophic storms.
To think that every major storm is a ''weather weapon'' generated by a nefarious operation seems far-fetched to me. But then again, so does Al Gore and all his nonsense prognostications from his quack science Church of Climatology. Nevertheless, ''altering'' or ''steering'' hurricanes is technically a far easier task than generating them wholesale. What some of the weather wars people are saying is not that the hurricanes are generated wholly by artificial systems but rather that they are ''steered'' or ''influenced'' in terms of their direction or intensity. Is that really possible? Multiple patents obviously say it is, and the U.S. patent office didn't reject those patents, interestingly.
On the other side of the argument, history has recorded dozens of hurricanes striking Gulf Coast regions over the last century. Most of these hurricanes took place long before the rise of modern technology or exotic weather modification capabilities. So how are all these hurricanes explained? (Answer: Natural phenomena.)
Conclusion: Keep asking questions and stay curious, but also think criticallyMy conclusion in all this? Creative, critical thinking is a healthy practice, and I always encourage people to keep asking questions and challenge official explanations for everything. We do know we're all constantly lied to by the fake news media about almost everything, from vaccines to economics to history. And don't forget the ''Russia! Russia! Russia!'' conspiracy theory that's been pushed by the fake news media for the last 18 months, based on absolutely nothing but faked sources and shoddy journalism.
If there's anything I can say about the weather wars websites and commentators, it's that I applaud all efforts to challenge current paradigms with clear thinking, and I readily admit I'm no expert in weather modification technology. Perhaps there are things I will learn in the future that will change my own view on this subject. Until then, I hope to encourage critical thinking about everything, which means that I don't believe anything by default.
The mainstream media is lying to us all the time. Most of what's labeled ''mainstream science'' is often just a consensus collection of corporation-induced lies. Mainstream medicine is a corruption racket shrouded in fake science and media propaganda. You are right to question everything for the simple reason that almost everything you're told is complete bulls##t. Yet that doesn't justify believing every alternative theory, either. You need to think critically about which theories you believe vs. reject. For example, I've publicly stated that the Flat Earth theorists are flat-out wrong (although they do offer a fun thought experiment to play with). I also think Ray Kurzweil's singularity is a misguided pipe dream rooted in self-delusion and an unhealthy God complex.
Can hurricanes be artificially generated in totality? Almost certainly not. Can they be steered into intended targets? It seems incredibly unlikely, but within the realm of technical feasibility. Does weather modification technology exist? Absolutely, yes. But that doesn't mean that every weather event is a nefarious plot. We live on a dynamic, chaotic planet that's home to all sorts of bizarre natural phenomena. Although I know as a fact that the status quo can fake the news, brainwash the masses and pull off massive false flag events, I very much doubt they can fake entire hurricanes.
Do you have a different take on all this? Do your research. Think critically. Don't believe everything you read, view or hear. Most importantly, make up your own mind and don't let the establishment tell you what's true, because the establishment is lying to you about almost everything.
Monday, August 28, 2017 by: Mike Adams Tags: critical thinking, geoengineering, Hurricane Harvey, meteorology, natural disasters, patents, skeptics, water vapor, weather control, weather wars, weather weapons
Rep. Eric Swalwell called out those opposing the nomination of Neera Tanden as OMB director, saying he can't tell ''little girls of South Asian descent that they'll have the same opportunities in life as white men'':
I represent one of the largest Indian-American districts in U.S. How do I look at what's happening to @neeratanden and tell little girls of South Asian descent that they'll have the same opportunities in life as white men? The answer: I can't. And that's a shame. https://t.co/EaZ4bhXR3I
'-- Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) February 24, 2021
Well, for starters, he can tell them about how America elected VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS:
You tell them that the literal Vice President is Indian-American, and that they, like everyone else, have the privilege of living in a meritocracy where professional Twitter trolls with no budget experience cannot run the national's budget. https://t.co/lGloPDs80B
'-- Tiana Approve AstraZeneca (@TianaTheFirst) February 24, 2021
This didn't keep him from challenging then Sen. Harris for the nomination, by the way. Why did he think a white man was better for the job of president?
The VP is a South Asian woman'.... https://t.co/hgUvI56xOB
'-- Ryan Marta (@marta_ryan) February 24, 2021
He's canceled Kamala Harris:
This tweet is @VP @KamalaHarris erasure!
'-- John Gage (@johnrobertgage) February 24, 2021
Question: How did he explain Fang Fang to his family?
How do you look at your family and explain Fang Fang? https://t.co/0WZwhq5TSr
'-- Space Lazar Wolf (@NathanWurtzel) February 24, 2021
And it's not like Tanden was going to sail right through anyway:
this is bizarre''Tanden has problems because she publicly alienated all the people who might help her out on this one https://t.co/rGCCC4daiF
'-- potato doritos (@postposting1) February 24, 2021
Flashback: Did he he worry about these little girls when trashing Nikki Haley?
You may want to tell them that you accused @NikkiHaley, the first Indian American UN Ambassador, of being lazy. https://t.co/2jpfD0DvLx pic.twitter.com/tKbybVrVHP
'-- Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) February 24, 2021
Of course not!
***
VIDEO-Airliner Encountered Unidentified Fast-Moving Cylindrical Object Over New Mexico
The event, and the pilot's reaction to it, are remarkably similar to one that occurred in the same general area a few years ago. American Airlines Flight 2292, an Airbus A320 flying between Cincinnati and Phoenix on February 21st, 2021, had a bizarre close encounter with what its crew described as a "long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile" moving extremely fast over the top of their aircraft as it cruised along at 36,000 feet and 400 knots. The incident occurred over the remote northeast corner of New Mexico, to the west of the tiny town of Des Moines.
Steve Douglass, an experienced radio interceptor and the proprietor of Deep Black Horizon, told The War Zone that he was recording from his arsenal of scanners when he heard the strange transmission. The War Zone has reviewed over an hour of audio that Douglass has provided to us from before and after the strange radio call. We are working to authenticate it from the FAA and get further information and comment from the agency on the event. We have also reached out to American Airlines for any additional details they can provide.
Hansueli Krapf/wikicommons
Peering through the windscreen of an Airbus A320 cockpit.
From Steve's blog on the encounter:
At approximately 1:19 CST on the Albuquerque Center frequency of 127.850 MHz or 134.750 MHz (recording wasn't frequency stamped) the pilot reported: "Do you have any targets up here? We just had something go right over the top of us - I hate to say this but it looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile type of thing - moving really fast right over the top of us."
According to Flight 24 and Flight Aware AAL 2292 was over the northeast corner of New Mexico west of Clayton, New Mexico. No reply was monitored by Albuquerque Center because local (Amarillo) air traffic walked on top of it. AAL 2292 was near flight level 370 (37k) at the time of the report.
No significant military aircraft presence was noted on ADS-B logs.
The aircraft flew on to land in Phoenix, AZ.
Steve has provided the radio clip for download, you can listen to it here.
The incident is very similar to one that occurred in the same region almost exactly three years ago, which The War Zonewas the first to report on. During that event, a Learjet and an Airbus both had consecutive close encounters with an unidentified object that flew over the top of them while cruising at around 37,000 feet over eastern Arizona. Later, the highly experienced Learjet pilot, which was flying for military contractor Phoenix Air, described to local news outlets just how strange the encounter was. His description is somewhat similar to the one from another odd encounter we reported on that occurred off of Long Island.
The description of a missile-like object also fits with some of the documented encounters U.S. Navy fighter pilots had with anomalous objects off the eastern seaboard throughout the last decade. The War Zonepublished official reports that we obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as a result of our deeper investigation into seemingly unexplained encounters between U.S. Navy fighter crews and strange objects during that same period of time that mentions similar descriptions.
As to what the pilots aboard American Airlines Flight 2292 could have actually seen, we really cannot say at this time. Many will point out that New Mexico is home to the sprawling White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) along with a bevy of other military facilities, installations, and restricted areas. Still, the chances that a missile could have 'gone off the reservation' during a test or some other standard military explanation seems unlikely. There are procedures in place for this sort of thing and pilots would have been alerted to the safety hazard.
In addition, the notion that it could be some sort of clandestine aircraft is also highly improbable, as it would have been operating during the day and without communicating with air traffic control over unrestricted airspace. That being said, we need to point out that the Mount Dora Military Operating Area (MOA) is in that area, but the airline pilots would have been alerted to the airspace being 'hot' and to other potential conflicts. In addition, it isn't a place where a munition like a cruise missile would be let loose.
VFRMap.com
Mt Dora MOA
The events over Northern California and Oregon in October 2017, another case that The War Zone broke, shows that there is at least some precedent for unknown aircraft operating in highly trafficked airspace, even up into the flight levels where airliners fly. In that case, F-15s were scrambled to investigate after the object was observed for a long period of time by multiple airliners. Years after our initial investigation into that incident, all of our sources say it remains unexplained even at the highest levels.
We will let you know what we hear back from the FAA and American Airlines.
UPDATE:
American Airlines has confirmed the incident. Our new story can be found here.
Contact us with any information you have on this strange event: Tyler@thedrive.com
Don't forget to sign up Your Email Address
VIDEO-Public.com on Twitter: "An important message from Michael Bolton: Break up with your brokerage: https://t.co/lsAwiHBxZx https://t.co/EKIkmqTLSP" / Twitter
Public.com : An important message from Michael Bolton:Break up with your brokerage: https://t.co/lsAwiHBxZx https://t.co/EKIkmqTLSP
Tue Feb 23 14:21:19 +0000 2021
VIDEO- if the courthouse was burned down in the middle of the night? It gets moved to another courthouse...OK...and if that one gets burned down, in the middle of the night?" / Twitter
FreeThinker : @TPostMillennial And how does the case proceed in the morning if the courthouse was burned down in the middle of th'... https://t.co/ebJ7ukXFAz
Mon Feb 22 20:24:40 +0000 2021
Burgerface Mc Circle Back ahhh umm : @MrVeryCurious @TPostMillennial This is exactly why I didn't like merrick garland.This dude is a hack and not smart. ð¤...''¸
Mon Feb 22 21:08:24 +0000 2021
VIDEO-Covid-19: Everyone 'has to play their part' in lockdown easing, says Hancock - BBC News
media caption Hancock: 'This is on everyone to act together'Everybody has to "play their part" to meet the dates for England's lockdown to be eased, Matt Hancock has said.
But it is currently "too early" to say how long social distancing will be in place, the health secretary said.
The aim is for measures like masks to become a "matter of personal responsibility", rather than law, in the future.
Boris Johnson has outlined a strategy that could see restrictions lifted by 21 June - if strict conditions are met.
Nicola Sturgeon is to reveal plans to ease restrictions in Scotland later.
She has said Scotland will return to a tiered system, meaning different parts of the country could be under different rules.
The health secretary told the BBC it is "vital" that "everybody plays their part" to make sure "that we hit these dates and get out of this as soon as we possibly can, safely".
People should be able to hug friends and family from 17 May, when the most vulnerable groups have had two coronavirus vaccine jabs, he said.
Mr Hancock said eradicating Covid-19 completely is "not going to be possible" and that everyone would have to "learn to live with it", as we do with flu.
He said he wanted measures to become a "matter of personal responsibility and social norms" that could see people choosing to wear masks on public transport, for example.
Deaths continuing to decline
There is already evidence that the vaccines were working, with the number of deaths "coming down really sharply", he added.
He urged people to take up their vaccine offer, amid warnings the virus could persist in inner city communities where uptake is low.
Dr Mike Tildesley, reader in mathematical modelling of infectious diseases at the University of Warwick and member of government advisory group SPI-M, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this was a "real concern".
"It's really important that we get the vaccines out to those deprived communities to prevent a potential wave of infections occurring as we do unlock," he added.
Mr Hancock said it is "absolutely on all of us" to get the vaccine when invited.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show coronavirus deaths continue to decline. In the week of 12 February, there were 17,136 deaths registered in the UK, down by 1,710 on the previous week.
Deaths are still running above usual levels for this time of year, however. They were 26% higher than the average for the same week over the past five years.
In the first step of the prime minister's roadmap, all pupils in England's schools are expected to return to class from 8 March, with mass testing and wider use of face masks in secondary schools.
There will be a further easing on 29 March, with groups of up to six people or two households allowed to gather in parks and gardens.
Shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality, as well as self-contained holiday accommodation, could reopen on 12 April. A review of international leisure travel restrictions will be completed by this date.
From 17 May, two households or a group of six may be able to meet indoors in a pub or other hospitality venue such as restaurants.
Cinemas, museums, hotels, performances and sporting events will also reopen, with up to 30 people able to attend weddings, receptions, funerals and wakes.
The final step from 21 June will potentially see all legal limits on social contact removed, with the final closed sectors of the economy reopened - such as nightclubs.
Progressing along the schedule will depend on four tests: the success of the vaccine rollout, evidence of vaccine efficacy, an assessment of new variants, and keeping infection rates below a level that could put unsustainable pressure on the NHS.
There will be a gap of at least five weeks between each of the plan's subsequent steps to allow for the impact of changes on infection rates and hospital admissions to be assessed.
media caption Watch the full statement by Boris Johnson on England's roadmap out of the Covid-19 lockdownOn Monday, Mr Johnson told a Downing Street news conference he could not guarantee his plan would be irreversible "but the intention is that it should be".
He added that the coming spring and summer would be "seasons of hope, looking and feeling incomparably better for us all".
As part of its plans, the government wants to determine whether offering "Covid status" certificates, which could be used by people to demonstrate they had received a vaccine or a negative coronavirus test, could help venues open again.
Mr Johnson acknowledged there were "clearly some quite complex issues, some ethical issues" but later told a meeting of his own MPs that "a debate had to be had".
MPs will vote on the roadmap in late March.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the plan but said certainty was needed over the future of the government furlough scheme for both businesses and workers.
Labour shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that without clarity on business support - like the VAT reduction and the business rates holiday - "many businesses are simply throwing in the towel now and we cannot afford that in the UK when we've already had record redundancies".
Conservative MP Steve Baker, deputy chair of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory lockdown-sceptics, said the "pace of change will be a hammer blow" to industries such as aviation, hospitality and the arts.
The devolved nations have the power to set their own restrictions.
In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said he hopes the "stay-at-home" requirement could end within three weeks, with some non-essential shops and hairdressers possibly reopening at the same time.
Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster wants its executive to discuss the reopening date for schools following Mr Johnson's announcement in England.
A further 10,641 coronavirus cases were reported on Monday, alongside another 178 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
More than 17.7 million people across the UK have now received at least one vaccine dose, according to latest government figures.
How will you be affected by the plan to ease Covid restrictions? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.
VIDEO-Australian Open booing: Crowd slammed at Novak Djokovic final | 7NEWS.com.au
The Deputy Prime Minister and an Aussie tennis champion have led a chorus of criticism towards the ''disgraceful'' fans who booed the mention of COVID-19 vaccines after the Australian Open final.
Tennis Australia chair Jayne Hrdlicka was forced to halt her speech when an attempt to shine a light on the ''optimism and hope for the future'' was jeered by sections of the Rod Laver Arena crowd.
Watch the video above
The first of Australia's coronavirus vaccines were administered on Sunday morning and the rollout will begin with at-risk people and workers.
''It's been a time of heartfelt challenge. It's been a time of deep loss and extraordinary sacrifice for everyone,'' Hrdlicka said.
''With vaccinations on the way, rolling out in many countries around the world, it's now a time for optimism and hope for the future.''
Boos rang around the stadium from a vocal minority of the 7426 fans who witnessed Novak Djokovic win his ninth Australian Open title.
Tennis Australia chair Jayne Hrdlicka shares words with champion Novak Djokovic. Credit: Getty The Serbian infamously earned the reputation of tennis's leading super-spreader when he hosted an exhibition tour in June last year with few precautions or social distancing.
Djokovic, his wife Jelena, coach Goran Ivanisevic and multiple players who took part all tested positive for COVID-19 during the tour or after it was shut down.
Djokovic, who had said months earlier that he opposed the coronavirus vaccine, did not directly address the booing but showed some frustration with his fans' overall behaviour.
''I am very grateful for the great support I got tonight. Sometimes they did step over the line, I must say,'' he said with the trophy in his hands.
The boos that rained down during Hrdlicka's speech were roundly criticised, with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack saying it was ''rather disgusting behaviour'' that was ''un-Australian''.
Hrdlicka was jeered again when she thanked the Victorian government, which pushed on with the Australian Open on a four-week delay after over a thousand players, coaches and officials agreed to enter quarantine.
The tournament was also permitted to continue during the state's snap five-day lockdown - a concession not granted to professional sport in last year's lengthy lockdown period.
But fans choosing to ignore their own hypocrisy, or otherwise oblivious to the government's desperation to host the tournament, booed and forced an exasperated Hrdlicka into silence again.
''When you're finished,'' she said before continuing.
''You are a very opinionated group of people but whether you're at home or here tonight, we're really thankful that you're here. And we look forward to seeing you next year.''
Earlier in the night, two ticketholders were ejected after standing and shouting 'free the refugees' during a point.
Runner-up Daniil Medvedev was also forced to intervene in the final game of the match after Djokovic fans routinely shouted and whistled during his service motion.
''Show some respect,'' Medvedev said.
The chair umpire also asked the crowd to ''please keep it fair''.
The tournament finished with an aggregate attendance of 130,374 - well down on last year, when the 800,000 mark was cracked for the first time.
VIDEO-Claudia Conway Sings Adele Song And Shocks The World To Earn A Golden Ticket - American Idol 2021 - YouTube
Feb. 22 (UPI) -- An E-8C Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System exercise included a 33-person, all-Black flight crew for the first time, the U.S. Air Force said.
U.S. Air Force and Army personnel from the Georgia Air National Guard's 116th Air Control Wing, the active-duty 461st Air Control Wing and the Army's 138th Military Intelligence Company, a group known as Team JSTARS, flew from Robins Air Force Base, Ga., on a training mission on Friday.
Capt. Dewey McRae, who said he'd long attempted to organize a crew such as this, said the opportunity was used to commemorate Black History Month.
"We were always short in a few crew positions," McRae told WMAZ-TV, [but] "this is a dream. This is just an honor and privilege so the folks that will come behind us will see one day that it's OK to dream. It's OK. We see someone that looks like us, especially as you're growing up trying to find your way in life."
The flight was piloted by the first Black female pilot in the Georgia Air National Guard, Capt. Andrea Lewis.
"Being the first African American female pilot in the Georgia Air National Guard is a milestone," Lewis said in a Navy press release.
"I didn't intentionally plan on being in that position, but I am proud to be a part of this. I think back to Bessie Coleman being the first African American female pilot to where we are now. It shows the importance of a flight like this," Lewis said.
Team JSTARS has been deployed since 2002, and uses a modified Boeing 707-300 commercial aircraft as an airborne battle management, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform.
The aircraft is equipped with radar and special communications equipment, notably a 27-foot long, canoe-shaped radome hanging below the fuselage and carrying side-looking phased array antennae.
JSTARS' primary mission involves ground surveillance over land and water.
Many crew members of Friday's landmark flight regard it as inspirational.
"I've met people that said they didn't know there were Black flyers in this community, so showing them, yeah there are," said Senior MSgt. Tanisha Swift. "We can do it, we are doing it and that anyone can do it."
Researchers find emerging COVID-19 strain in New York
February 24, 2021 | 10:09pm | Updated February 24, 2021 | 10:09pm
Enlarge Image A traveler places a swab in a tube after self testing for COVID-19 at a NYC Health + Hospitals mobile testing site at Penn Station. Mary Altaffer, File/AP
A new coronavirus strain that shares some characteristics with the South Africa variant is emerging in New York City, researchers said Wednesday.
As of mid-February, the new variant, called B.1.526, was present in about 12 percent of coronavirus samples collected in the Big Apple and surrounding areas, according to researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
In their analysis of publicly available databases, the Columbia researchers did not find a high prevalence of the South Africa or Brazil COVID-19 variants in the region.
''Instead we found high numbers of this home-grown lineage,'' Dr. Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in a statement.
The Columbia study found the new strain shares some similarities to the South Africa strain, which scientists believe can spread more easily than other virus variants.
B.1.526 was also described in research published this week by the California Institute of Technology.
Neither study has been reviewed by outside experts.
With Post wires
California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous - Los Angeles Times
A coronavirus variant that probably emerged in May and surged to become the dominant strain in California not only spreads more readily than its predecessors but also evades antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection and is associated with severe illness and death, researchers said.
In a study that helps explain the state's dramatic holiday surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths '-- and portends further trouble ahead '-- scientists at UC San Francisco said the cluster of mutations that characterizes the homegrown strain should mark it as a ''variant of concern'' on par with those from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
Californians, along with the rest of the country, have been bracing for an onslaught of the more transmissible strain from the U.K. known as B.1.1.7. But they should know that a rival strain that is probably just as worrisome has already settled in, and will probably account for 90% of the state's infections by the end of next month, said Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious diseases researcher and physician at UCSF.
''The devil is already here,'' said Chiu, who led a team of geneticists, epidemiologists, statisticians and other scientists in a wide-ranging analysis of the new variant, which they call B.1.427/B.1.429. ''I wish it were different. But the science is the science.''
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The U.K. and California variants are each armed with enhanced capabilities, and the likelihood that they could circulate in the same population raises the specter of a return to spiking infections and deaths, Chiu said. It also opens the door to a ''nightmare scenario'': That the two viruses will meet in a single person, swap their mutations and create an even more dangerous strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The new evidence that the California variant could make people sicker, and vaccines less effective, should spur more intensive efforts to drive down infections, Chiu said. Those should include both public health measures, such as masking and limits on public activities, and a campaign of rapid vaccinations, he added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, raised a further concern in an interview with The Times. A survival-of-the-fittest contest between the U.K. and California variants could accelerate the spread of the strain that's best able to elude the effects of COVID-19 vaccines, he said. The best way to prevent this, he added, is to stop the spread of either variant by getting vaccinated, wearing masks and limiting exposure to others.
The new analysis is currently under review by the public health departments of San Francisco County and the state, which collaborated in the new research. It is expected to post late this week to MedRxiv, a website that allows new research to be shared before its formal publication.
The new findings do not show that the homegrown strain was the principal driver of California's dramatic run-up in infections and deaths during the fall and early winter, Chiu cautioned. In some counties, case rates began to surge before the new variant had muscled into the picture; in others, both the variant and new infections rose together.
But scientists said B.1.427/B.1.429 certainly wasn't blameless.
''It's hard to disentangle all the different factors that contribute to spread,'' including travel, holiday gatherings and restaurant dining, said Dr. Bruce Walker, an immunologist and founding director of the Ragon Institute in Boston. Still, it's fair to conclude that ''they all contribute to some extent,'' he added.
Over five months starting on Sept. 1, the California strain, which is sometimes referred to as 20C/L452R, rose from complete obscurity to account for more than 50% of all coronavirus samples that were subjected to genetic analysis in the state. Compared with strains that were most prominent here in early fall, the new strain seems to have an enhanced ability to spread, Chiu said.
Exactly how much more transmissible the California strain is remains an open question, he added. But the evidence that it's more contagious comes from several sources.
Samples collected from a range of counties, and using a variety of collection methods, suggest the variant is 19% to 24% more transmissible. But in some circumstances, its advantage was much greater: In one nursing home outbreak, B.1.427/B.1.429 spread at a rate that was six times higher than that of its predecessors.
Researchers also discerned uniform patterns of the variant's expansion in counties across the state. When infection rates rose, they typically did so in tandem with growing evidence of the California strain's presence.
That probably made the new viral variant a contributor '-- albeit one among many '-- to the surge that dogged the state through the fall and early winter. In Northern California, at least, new infections had already begun to rise dramatically by the time the new variant had announced its presence, Chiu said. Across Southern California, the overlap was closer.
The variant's enhanced propensity for spread was also evident in laboratory results. An analysis of viral samples from around the state showed that compared with people infected with other strains of SARS-CoV-2, those who were infected with the California strain had viral loads in the nasopharynx that were twice as high.
That, in turn, made it highly likely that each person infected with the new strain would go on to infect more people.
B.1.427/B.1.429's genome includes three mutations that affect the crucial spike protein, which the virus uses to sneak into human cells and convert them into factories for its own production. One of those three mutations, dubbed L452R, affects the so-called receptor binding domain, helping the virus attach more firmly to target cells.
That adaptation has not been seen in coronavirus variants that have caused worry elsewhere.
In a UCSF lab, scientists found that the L452R mutation alone made the California strain more damaging as well. A coronavirus engineered to have only that mutation was able to infect human lung tissue at least 40% more readily than were circulating variants that lacked the mutation. Compared with those so-called wild-type strains, the engineered virus was more than three times more infectious.
In the lab, the California strain also revealed itself to be more resistant to neutralizing antibodies generated in response to COVID-19 vaccines as well as by a previous coronavirus infection.
Compared with existing variants, the reduction in protection was ''moderate ... but significant,'' the researchers said.
When the neutralizing antibodies went up against the homegrown strain, their effectiveness was cut in half. By comparison, when these antibodies encountered the coronavirus strain that's now dominant in South Africa, their effectiveness was reduced to one-sixth of their usual levels.
''I do anticipate over time it is going to have an effect on vaccination,'' Chiu said. Though the magnitude of the effect varied from sample to sample and was less pronounced than with the South Africa strain, ''it still is concerning,'' he said.
Walker, who was not involved in the new analysis, said that while viruses often mutate in ways that make them stronger, such genetic changes often impose a new Achilles' heel. For instance, a strain that spreads more easily often loses some of its virulence.
The worrisome thing about the California variant, Walker said, is that no apparent weakness has been introduced alongside mutations that confer added strength.
That's a reminder that, if given the continued opportunity to spread, SARS-CoV-2 will keep looking for ways to thwart our effort to suppress it, he said. As long as infections are rampant, the imperative to adapt will result in new variants.
''If viruses don't replicate, they don't mutate,'' Fauci said.
Ominously, the new study also suggested the California variant could have the added impact of greater virulence.
That observation is based on the medical charts of 324 patients hospitalized at UCSF, a relatively small sample. Still, the researchers found that the 21% of these patients who contracted B.1.427/B.1.429 were more likely than their counterparts to have been admitted to the ICU, and they were 11 times more likely to die. That finding held up even after researchers adjusted for differences in the patients' age, gender and ethnicity.
The number of deaths in both groups was very small, however, so this finding will need to be checked against larger data sets as those become available.
Chiu also cautioned that this increased risk of death may not be a sign that the variant is inherently more lethal. Rather, it might simply be a reflection that its greater transmissibility caused hospitals to become so overwhelmed and healthcare resources to be stretched so thin that more deaths were the result '-- especially in Southern California.
Dr. Marc Suchard, an expert on infectious disease tracking at UCLA, said that some of the team's findings would probably be refined as more virus samples were genetically sequenced and more data came to light.
''It remains critically important that we actively sequence the virus as cases are diagnosed in our state,'' said Suchard, who was not involved in the UCSF work. ''I am glad to see such a collaboration between academics and public health departments in California to identify the emergence of a previously unidentified lineage.''
Hunter Biden lived with brother Beau's widow while in relationship with her SISTER | Daily Mail Online
Hunter Biden had a controversial affair with his brother Beau's grieving widow Hallie, while exchanging raunchy texts, 'partying', and even renting a house with her sister, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Hallie Biden's older sister, Elizabeth Secundy, who was recently separated from her husband of 15 years, referred to Hunter as her 'prince' and told him she loved him, in a series of text messages dating back to 2016.
The pair's relationship was revealed in files and emails recovered from Hunter's laptop - the contents of which became public last year after it was abandoned at a Delaware computer shop.
While Hunter has promised to reveal details of his personal life and struggles with alcohol and drugs in his upcoming memoir, Beautiful Things, it is unclear whether Hunter has included details of his relationship with Secundy.
The embattled father-of-five, now 51, split with his first wife Kathleen in 2015. When his brother Beau died of brain cancer that year, he became close to his grieving sister-in-law.
He and Hallie became a couple in 2016, according to an interview Hunter gave to the New Yorker two years ago.
The unconventional relationship was first acknowledged publicly in March 2017, with Joe Biden issuing a statement giving his blessing to Hunter and Hallie, 46.
But emails and texts from Hunter's abandoned laptop, logged on spreadsheets and reviewed by DailyMail.com, reveal his romantic relationship with his sister-in-law was even more complicated and scandalous.
Love triangle: Hunter Biden raised some eyebrows in 2017 after it was revealed he began dating his brother Beau's widow Hallie (left) shortly after his death in 2015. DailyMail.com can reveal the 51-year-old father had also exchanged sexual text messages with Hallie's sister Elizabeth Secundy (right) during that time
Hunter and first wife Kathleen Biden (pictured together in 2016) married in 1997 and have three daughters together. They reportedly began living separately in 2015 and their divorce was finalized in 2017
An email obtained by DailyMail.com from Hunter's abandoned laptop suggests he had cheated on Hallie early in their relationship. On July 18, 2016, she wrote to Hunter accusing him of being unfaithful and buying another 'expensive gifts' while she had tried to get him help
A text message exchange recovered from the laptop hard drive revealed a sexual conversation between Hunter and Secundy from September 2016 - at the time he would have been dating Hallie.
Hunter offered to teach Secundy 'how to masturbate' and referenced buying her 'panties'.
Secundy, now 49, also referred to Hunter as her 'prince' and told him she loved him in the texts.
Files on the laptop suggest the relationship continued well into 2018, with one document showing they had rented a home together starting in July that year.
Hunter's love life has already been a source of several scandals in the years since his split from his first wife Kathleen, the mother of his three daughters.
After raising some eyebrows for dating his sister-in-law, the former lobbyist was then revealed to have fathered a child with a DC stripper whose paternity he initially denied, and later married his current wife, Melissa, just six days after meeting her in 2019. They too now have a one-year-old child, named after Hunter's late brother.
Hunter found himself in hot water once again in 2020 when his laptop, that he reportedly had left at a Delaware computer store for repairs, fell into the hands of several media organizations and the FBI.
Photos recovered from the device showed him posing with a crack pipe in his mouth and partying with prostitutes.
Hallie is pictured front standing next to Hunter Biden (left in blue suit and sunglasses) and Joe Biden (right in black) at Beau Biden's funeral on June 6, 2015
Elizabeth, 49, shared an old photo with her brother-in-law Beau on social media shortly after he died in May 2015
Text messages suggest Elizabeth (left) was having a relationship with Hunter while separated from her husband and father of her three children Joel Secundy (right). The pair split in 2015 after 15 years of marriage but their divorce was not finalized until three years later
Documents from the laptop also exposed Hunter's controversial business dealings with Chinese oil giant CEFC, leading to a federal tax fraud investigation and a probe by the Senate Intelligence Committee into undue political influence by the Chinese.
The newly unearthed text messages between Hunter and Secundy could throw him into yet another controversy, and cast doubt on the timeline of his relationships he has previously given in interviews.
Hunter's older brother - Joe Biden's eldest son - Beau died from brain cancer in May 2015 at the age of 46, shaking the family to its core.
Hunter had struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for years, with Beau - a former Delaware attorney general - often helping him back to sobriety and encouraging him to go to rehab.
Two months after Beau's death, Hunter fell off the wagon again and moved out of his home after breaking his sobriety pact with his wife Kathleen, according to an interview he gave to the New Yorker in 2019.
Text messages sent from Hunter and Hallie's cell phones in 2016 and 2017, obtained by DailyMail.com, were logged in spreadsheets found on the laptop. Each line shows the telephone number Hunter or Hallie were texting, the time and date of the message, and what the message said. Above, Hunter's messages to Elizabeth are marked 'send' while hers are 'received'
One conversation with Elizabeth on September 8, 2016 - when Hunter was dating Hallie - shows he suggested they 'shower together by [Facetime] every morning or night' and offered to 'teach' her 'how to masturbate'
The messages show Hunter would frequently message Elizabeth late at night. In an exchange above, he playfully tells her off for choosing someone else 'over a FT shower with me'. 'I'm the only prince you know,' he adds, to which she replied: 'indeed'
On September 9, 2016, Hunter texted Elizabeth telling her he had been up late watching 'bad porno movies like I'm 13', and referred to buying her 'panties'
The timing of the messages suggest Hunter became involved with Elizabeth when he began dating Hallie, his later brother Beau's widow. In a conversation from July 27, 2016, he tells her 'where are you you little sh*t. I miss you'
It is unclear if Hallie was aware of their relationship at this time, however, in a message sent to Elizabeth on August 4, 2016, Hunter advises her to spend time with her 'sister' and 'search your conscience'
The text conversations suggest Elizabeth had been strapped for cash as she repeatedly asked Hunter for help. In August 2016, she asked him to send her 'more money'
In another text message - from September 2016 - Elizabeth tells Hunter his 'transfer went through' but suggests she is still in the red
In a group conversation between Hallie, Hunter and Elizabeth, from April 26, 2017, Elizabeth asks her sister and lover to 'please hire me now', adding: 'I hate asking for money everyday. It's the worst feeling'
One text message conversation from November 2017 showed an argument between Hunter and Hallie during which he threatened to go off the deep end. Above Hunter writes: 'By the way I'm going to have 5 strippers naked and admiring my d**k back to my hotel tonight and I'm going to smoke crack and drink enough to kill and [sic] elephant and put your kids robbed over the phone and wake them up and assure them that your (sic) not as bad a person as you seem. Let's call [redacted] together and we can patch [redacted] in so they can see their new daddy.'
The couple's divorce papers say they formally separated in October 2015, but it wasn't until December the following year that Kathleen officially filed to end their marriage.
Files recovered from Hunter's laptop show the president's son drafted several long, emotional messages to his friends and family he was arguing with, and saved them as notes on his computer.
In one undated note, Hunter refers to his ex-wife accusing him of 'f***ing' Hallie the day after her husband died.
'It really really was devastating to me that you adopted Kathleen's narrative: 'Dad and Aunt Hallie (K's words exactly to me tonight on phone with girls in room) were F***ING the day after Uncle Beau died,' he wrote.
It is unclear who the note was addressed to and whether Hunter ended up sending it.
Another email also revealed Hallie had accused Hunter of being unfaithful to her early on in their relationship, while she had been trying to get him help for substance abuse.
The email appears to contradict Hunter's previous statement about when he began his relationship with Hallie. In a 2019 interview with The New Yorker Hunter claimed their romantic relationship began in the fall of 2016.
But the email suggests Hallie and Hunter were already romantically involved in July of that year.
'Hunter, you cheated on me,' Hallie wrote in an email dated July 18, 2016.
'You continued to cheat on me while I worked with [redacted] etc to get you help. Not only did you cheat on me, Viagra and Cialis, you actually bought her expensive gifts.
'I am stronger than you think. I'm not standing by while you treat me like dirt.'
Hunter's relationship with Hallie (pictured) was confirmed in 2017 in an interview with the New Yorker in which he revealed the two became romantically involved a year earlier
Joe Biden's eldest son Beau died from brain cancer in May 2015, shaking the whole family to its core. The Delaware Attorney General Beau is seen celebrating his re-election with his wife Hallie in 2010, right. The couple wed in 2002
Brothers: Hunter (center) is pictured sitting with his late brother Beau (right) and their sister Ashley (far left) in 2012
It is unclear when Hunter and Elizabeth (pictured with friends) began their relationship, however, a source says Hunter had started spending time with the two sisters regularly at Beau's old home after he died
In an interview with the New Yorker addressing the relationship, Hunter said that he went on a vacation in the Hamptons with Hallie and her two children in August 2016 and started to become close to her.
But he said it wasn't until a few weeks later in the fall that they became a couple.
He told the magazine he was on the way to rehab in Arizona but ended up going on a binge in Los Angeles after taking crack he bought from a man in a homeless encampment.
He said he eventually checked into a rehab center in Arizona and Hallie flew to meet him at a resort spa after he checked out, where the two decided to begin their romantic relationship.
However, texts on his laptop show that he was already having extremely flirtatious conversations with Hallie's sister by then.
On September 8 that year, Hunter wrote to Secundy: 'We should shower together by FT [FaceTime] every morning or night when we're up at 3- stress relief - I'll teach you how to masturbate.'
In one undated note found on his laptop, Hunter refers to his ex-wife accusing him of 'f***ing' Hallie the day after her husband died. It is unclear who the note was addressed to and whether Hunter ended up sending it
In an email sent on August 2, 2018 - long before his split with Hallie was made public - Hunter wrote to her saying: 'I need you as a friend Hallie- you can love romantically whomever you want'
The confusing tangle continued well into 2018, as Hunter and Elizabeth signed a rental agreement together on a $2,200-per-month, three-bed colonial townhouse in Greenville, Delaware, according to documents on the abandoned laptop
'Wow re-reading that I can see how Joel [Secundy's 51-year-old husband] might have some doubts,' he added.
'I'm up actually I've not gone down - when o [sic] get home tonight I'm calling you from the shower. Ly [Love you].'
Secundy separated from Joel, her husband and father of her three children, in 2015 after 15 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized three years later.
The next day Hunter texted Secundy telling her he had been up late watching 'bad porno movies like I'm 13', and referred to buying her 'panties.'
'I have lulu panties. They are my only non Grammies besides the ones from you,' Secundy texted him.
The conversations showed Secundy had told Hunter she loved him, and repeatedly asked him for money.
Messages show Elizabeth would often tell Hunter she loved him. In this September 17, 2016 exchange, Hunter expresses he wishes he was 'back in Beijing'
In another conversation, Elizabeth reassures Hunter he's her 'only prince', adding 'I'm totally coming back for you'. She also reminds him that she and Hallie are always '100% with' him (September 17, 2016)
On September 4, 2016, Hunter texted Elizabeth asking if they could hang out on her porch. Sources told DailyMail.com Hunter, Elizabeth, and Hallie were 'partying' at Beau's old house regularly and 'would sit out on the patio like crackheads'
Hunter's love life has already been at the center of several scandals after he split with wife Kathleen. The former lobbyist had kept nude photos of himself on his laptop
On September 17 she wrote: 'I'm at Hal's alone for next 24hrs'... call me,' and 'LYSM [Love You So Much]'.
Later that day she wrote 'your [sic] my only prince. I'm totally coming back for you.'
Hunter replied: 'Well get in a mood- not quite sure what mine is yet - but it's always nice to have you fun and loving me'... I'm going to need it I think- except from your sister.'
A friend with knowledge of Hunter's relationships told DailyMail.com that Beau's former home soon became a very different environment with Hunter, Hallie and Secundy 'partying' there regularly.
'They were living at Beau's old house and it just became a party house. They were obviously up 24/7 just partying,' the source said. 'They would sit out on the patio like crackheads almost.
Hunter's split with his wife only became public in December that year, when Kathleen filed for divorce citing Hunter's alleged drug-taking and use of prostitutes.
His flirtation with Secundy did not appear to have stopped his relationship with Hallie progressing.
By March 2017, when several newspapers reported Hunter was in a relationship with his brother's widow, Joe Biden confirmed the news.
A scruffy-looking Hunter is seen holding takeout from Burger King in a photo from his laptop. The father-of-five struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for years, with Beau often helping him back to sobriety and encouraging him to go to rehab
Hunter last year opened up about his passion for art in an interview with the New York Times, saying the creative endeavor was 'literally keeping me sane' following his struggles with crack addiction. A photo obtained by DailyMail.com shows he painted a rather explicit self portrait of himself lying in bed
Past: Hunter Biden became so addicted to illicit sexual thrills that he once spent $11,400 on a single night of debauchery at a New York strip club and shelled out more than $21,000 to one adult 'live cam' adult website
Infamous: The picture of Hunter Biden in bed with what appears to be a crack pipe emerged from his laptop around the same time as he signed his book deal
'We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness,' he told the New York Post at the time. 'They have mine and Jill's full and complete support and we are happy for them.'
The texts on Hunter's laptop also show Secundy asked Hunter and her sister for money repeatedly, saying she was left near-penniless after her breakup with her husband.
On August 18, 2016, Secundy wrote to Hunter saying: 'hey.... can you send me more money? sorry to ask. i promise it won't be much longer. Joel took that job. xxoo'
TIMELINE OF HUNTER'S TANGLED LOVE LIFE May 30, 2015: Beau Biden passes away from brain cancer
July 2015: Hunter Biden says he moved out of his home after breaking his sobriety pact with his wife Kathleen
October 2015: Hunter and Kathleen formally separate
August 2016: Hunter vacations in the Hamptons with sister-in-law Hallie and her children
September 8, 2016: Hunter sexts Hallie's married sister Elizabeth Secundy
Fall 2016: Hallie flies to meet Hunter when he got out of rehab in Arizona
December 9, 2016: Hunter's wife Kathleen files for divorce
March 1, 2017: Hunter and Hallie are publicly revealed as a couple, Joe Biden gives a statement with his blessing
December 2017: Hunter conceives a child with stripper Lunden Roberts
July 3, 2018: Hunter and Elizabeth sign a lease together on a house in Greenville, Delaware
August 2, 2018: Hunter emails Hallie 'you can love romantically whomever you want'
April 30, 2019 : Hunter and Hallie's split is publicly revealed
May 10, 2019: Hunter meets South African model Melissa Cohen
May 16, 2019: Hunter marries Melissa
May 28, 2019: Lunden sues Hunter over unpaid child support
March 2020: Melissa gives birth to the couple's first child, a son named after Hunter's late brother, Beau
A week later she wrote, 'f*** I don't even have any money for parking. This is a nightmare that I can't wake up from.'
Months later, on April 10, 2017, she sent Hunter another message saying: 'are you able to give me $500?'
She also messaged Hunter and Hallie in a three-way conversation on April 26, 2017, saying: 'hunt/hallie can you please hire me now .....so i can get my life together and then i will find my own job and unburden both of you.'
Hunter replied to the two of them: 'Hallie it's called leverage.'
Secundy replied: 'so is that a yes? i hate asking for money everyday. it's the worst feeling.'
Despite the seemingly long-term relationship, it turned out the president's son was unable to remain faithful to either Hallie or her sister.
In December 2017, he conceived a child with Lunden Roberts, a reported former stripper at a Washington DC club he frequented.
But a year later the confusing tangle continued, as Hunter and Secundy signed a rental agreement together on a $2,200-per-month, three-bed colonial townhouse in Greenville, Delaware, on July 3, 2018, according to documents on the abandoned laptop.
The rental agreement, listing the two as tenants and Patterson-Schwartz & Associates as the landlord's agent, was from August 2018 to July 2019.
The wood-floored home has three bedrooms and three bathrooms and sits on a quiet country road in the small town outside Wilmington.
Emails from the time suggest that when Hunter and Secundy rented the property, his and Hallie's relationship had disintegrated.
On August 2, 2018 Hunter wrote to Hallie telling her 'I need you as a friend Hallie- you can love romantically whomever you want.'
'But I have no friends that I need like I need you. I thought we agreed that we would never part ways and certainly that we would never forbid access to my family, that we would ignore and not speak to one another - that we would never make decisions unilaterally that cause harm,' the email said.
Hallie and Hunter's eventual and final split did not become public until April 2019. Neither of them commented on the story at the time.
'I don't think she'll ever be the same again after Beau passed, but she was definitely better after splitting with Hunter,' the friend told DailyMail.com. 'She definitely parented more, engaged with trying to get the kids straight in school.
A month after Hunter's split with Hallie was publicized, he was introduced to South African model Melissa Cohen (pictured at the inauguration) who he married six days later
The father-of-five was seen with his wife and their infant son Beau, named after his late brother, joining Joe Biden on stage after he was declared winner of the 2020 presidential election
Hunter Biden's stripper baby-mama Lunden Roberts (pictured with her new fiance) had chased him through the courts to take a DNA test confirming her daughter Navy was his
'I never saw anything untoward between Hunter and Hallie while Beau was alive,' the friend added. 'She was a much more serious person then, Beau and Hallie were real people then.
'Hunter was always about to burst. He would have blown up whether Beau was alive or not. Hunter was always doing some bad, dumb, stupid stuff.
Hunter promises to reveal details of his relationships and struggles with alcohol and drugs in his upcoming memoir, Beautiful Things, set to be released on April 6
'But Beau wouldn't have tolerated all this other crap, and they all listened to him.'
A month after Hunter's split with Hallie was publicized, he was introduced to South African model Melissa Cohen. He married her six days later.
Though the Bidens may have been hopeful that their black sheep was finally settling down and ending the intrigue around his love life, there was more scandal ahead: on May 28, 2019 Roberts sued Hunter over unpaid child support.
The president's son at first denied he had fathered a baby with the former stripper, until a paternity test revealed the truth.
He also told the Arkansas judge presiding over the case that he did not have enough money to pay child support '' despite renting a $12,000 per month home in Hollywood and driving a Porsche Panamera at the time.
After the judge ordered him to produce financial records, he settled the case with Roberts out of court.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Hunter Biden, Hallie Biden and Elizabeth Secundy for comment.
February 24, 2021 | 1:16pm | Updated February 24, 2021 | 5:26pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a ''criminal sexual predator'' who ''must immediately resign'' over a former aide's detailed sexual-harassment allegations, a member of Congress from upstate New York said Wednesday.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Glens Falls) also said that ''any elected official who does not immediately call for his resignation is complicit in allowing a sexual predator to continue leading the great state of New York.''
Stefanik's remarks came after Lindsey Boylan, now a Democratic candidate for Manhattan borough president, published an online essay in which she accused Cuomo of kissing her ''on the lips'' without warning following a 2018 meeting in his Manhattan office.
''Governor Cuomo has earned his title as Worst Governor in America, and now every New Yorker knows that he is a criminal sexual predator,'' Stefanik said in a prepared statement.
Rep. Elise Stefanik said any elected official who does not call for Cuomo's resignation ''is complicit in allowing a sexual predator to continue leading the great state of New York.'' EPA''I have served in Congress during the height of the #MeToo movement leading to resignations and retirements of my colleagues. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse in the workplace is not a political issue, it is about right and wrong. Governor Cuomo must immediately resign.''
Another member of New York's congressional delegation, US Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) echoed Stefanik's demand.
''I already called for Gov. Cuomo to resign over his mishandling of nursing homes, the [death toll] coverup, and for threatening Assemblyman Ron Kim,'' Malliotakis told The Post.
''These allegations are disgusting and, if true, are all the more reason why Cuomo needs to go.''
Malliotakis further demanded an investigation of Boylan's claims by the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, adding that ''Cuomo appointees should recuse themselves so it is truly independent.''
State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-The Bronx) also tweeted about Boylan's accusations: ''I have no doubt that this is true.''
''I've witnessed similar behavior, and it's unacceptable,'' Biaggi added.
''While the abuse lies mainly with the abuser, the abuse also extends to those who help keep it silent. They are complicit too.''
Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou (D-Manhattan) tweeted about Boylan, ''I believe her.''
''Imagine going to work every day with this kind of fear. I know what it is like. So many of us do. It must end,'' Niou wrote.
''It is never ok to normalize or accept predatory and abusive behavior.''
In January, Cuomo denied Boylan's initial allegations as ''just not true'' and his press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, said in a prepared statement Wednesday, ''As we said before, Ms. Boylan's claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.''
/pol/ - CRYPTO JUST SAVED THE FED - Politically Incorrect - 4chan
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) CRYPTO JUST SAVED THE FED 02/24/21(Wed)16:59:00 No.309587657 CRYPTO JUST SAVED THE FED Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)16:59:00 No.309587657 XRP JUST SAVED THE FEDTHE FED JUST WENT DOWN FOR HOURS BEFORE THEY MOVED ONTO THE RIPPLE NETWORK TO SAVE ITNEWS GONNA BREAK WORLD WIDE THAT CRYPTO (through XRP) JUST SAVED THE FED AND THE ENTIRE US GOVERNMENT FROM FINANCIAL COLLAPSE
GUYS
IT'SHAPPENING >fed goes down for a few hours >rumors behind the scenes they switched to ripple network in order to have payments go through >xrp saved the fed >this solidifies it as a currency as the fed itself had to switch to the network and trade the coin to resume operations >sec BTFO but still have some good points >ripple ordered to transfer supply to the treasury >60% of all xrp is now backing the entire US government >defacto world reserve currency >america leading the forefront of this new economic structure with an iron fist >we've all made it >IT'S HAPPENING NOW >YOU'RE IN IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
https://twitter.com/adamcurry/status/1364667482116665345CONVENIENTLY AFTER GETTING UPDATED TO VERSION 1.7 (17)https://u.today/xrp-ledger-gets-huge-efficiency-boost-with-release-of-new-version
>>
Anonymous (ID: Pp56bO0s ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:00:24 No.309587804 Anonymous (ID: Pp56bO0s ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:00:24 No.309587804 >>309587657Nothing to see here goyim.>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:10 No.309588195 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:10 No.309588195 >>309587968conventional institutional methods crashed (or were attacked) todayin order to save the system they switched to the ripple network which they have been using behind the scenes as a back up system testing it out to see the feasibility of it all, kinda like a test netthey had to switch to fully using it to save the entire systemnews will break that xrp saved the fed and entire US economy
>>
Anonymous (ID: wakAHUzx ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:14 No.309588202 Anonymous (ID: wakAHUzx ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:14 No.309588202 >>309587981probably not. people who hold XRP have been saying all sorts of things like this for years. my friend was one of them, he had tens of thousands of dollars in XRP. always telling me it was a new paradigm, it's going to worth tons. it has practical uses, but I would be skeptical over the hype>>
Anonymous (ID: Y6/FJvNH ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:45 No.309588242 Anonymous (ID: Y6/FJvNH ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:45 No.309588242 >>309587657We need a ban on screen cap threads this shit is annoying even if the content is true it's suspect as fuck because op is a retard.>>
Anonymous (ID: peHd58Xb ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:53 No.309588258 Anonymous (ID: peHd58Xb ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:04:53 No.309588258 >>309587968Nothing ever happens. Fake jews gain strength. Same as always.>>
Anonymous (ID: 7DEK3KRA ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:05:08 No.309588289 Anonymous (ID: 7DEK3KRA ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:05:08 No.309588289 >>309587657Fuck the Fed, it should've crashed>>
Anonymous (ID: wkyRO/MG ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:05:36 No.309588341 Anonymous (ID: wkyRO/MG ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:05:36 No.309588341 >>309587657switching from fiat to crypto is like swapping cholera for cancer>>
Anonymous (ID: hL82PvL0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:05:59 No.309588382 Anonymous (ID: hL82PvL0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:05:59 No.309588382 >>309587968Prepare to get chipped, goy. Digital currency will now replace the USD>>
Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:07:12 No.309588516 Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:07:12 No.309588516 >>309587657If this is true I'm going to mag dump in my front yard out of excitement>>
Anonymous (ID: wkyRO/MG ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:07:29 No.309588545 Anonymous (ID: wkyRO/MG ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:07:29 No.309588545 >>309587657provide something more trustworthy than literally who twitter post>>
Anonymous (ID: HdK4kSZi ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:07:32 No.309588553 Anonymous (ID: HdK4kSZi ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:07:32 No.309588553 >>309587657so, crypto is the enemy now? >crypto >>
Anonymous (ID: p6AweRUv ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:08:09 No.309588619 Anonymous (ID: p6AweRUv ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:08:09 No.309588619 what does this mean and why should i care?i mean this as sincerely as possible, not being dismissive. sounds big but i'm too brainlet to understand.>>
Anonymous (ID: MRPkX/Wm ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:08:20 No.309588640 Anonymous (ID: MRPkX/Wm ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:08:20 No.309588640 Probably true since they've made it near impossible to buy xrp>>
Anonymous (ID: HdK4kSZi ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:08:50 No.309588695 Anonymous (ID: HdK4kSZi ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:08:50 No.309588695 the federal reserve is also privately owned, by jews. it shouldnt fucking be here.>>
Anonymous (ID: wVI/ZkwL ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:06 No.309588727 Anonymous (ID: wVI/ZkwL ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:06 No.309588727 >>309587657This sounds so dumb. Is it an XRP pump and dump?>>
Anonymous (ID: 4AyfrMLe ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:31 No.309588775 Anonymous (ID: 4AyfrMLe ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:31 No.309588775 >>309588195Or the attack was staged to justify their transition>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:42 No.309588794 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:42 No.309588794 >>309588727this is literally(in the literal sense, literally) what it was designed for>>
Anonymous (ID: dz9AQeeD ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:56 No.309588823 Anonymous (ID: dz9AQeeD ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:09:56 No.309588823 >>309588619Remember 2008? It's about to get a lot worse than that.>>
Anonymous (ID: LOg/Tzcu ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:12:20 No.309589084 Anonymous (ID: LOg/Tzcu ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:12:20 No.309589084 >>309587981Not at allThe people who hold XRP are schizos in denial that they've been scammedSEC is going for the hard fuck on Ripple Labs for selling unregistered securities right now>>
Anonymous (ID: EUcKy8dl ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:12:45 No.309589132 Anonymous (ID: EUcKy8dl ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:12:45 No.309589132 >>309587657Wow, genuinely never thought this would come to pass.Glad I capped this years ago.
>>
Anonymous (ID: jt6Sa9P3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:13:09 No.309589180 Anonymous (ID: jt6Sa9P3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:13:09 No.309589180 >>309587657I've heard of cryptocurrencies but this is the first I'm hearing about schizocurrency.>>
Anonymous (ID: b9lzQKQF ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:13:44 No.309589248 Anonymous (ID: b9lzQKQF ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:13:44 No.309589248 >>309587657How many ladyboys can I buy with my 4000 xrp?>>
Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:13:50 No.309589257 Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:13:50 No.309589257 >>309588293it is being investigated by the SEC... there is a big lawsuit alleging wrong doing on the part of the president...>>
Anonymous (ID: LOg/Tzcu ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:15:45 No.309589495 Anonymous (ID: LOg/Tzcu ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:15:45 No.309589495 >>309589290Damn right there's FUD when the SEC is looking to fuck you>>
Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:15:54 No.309589512 Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:15:54 No.309589512 >>309589257That's a lie. Ripple is under sec scrutiny not xrp. It is alleged, poorly, that ripple was selling xrp as a security.>>
Anonymous (ID: YVL7/06a ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:15:55 No.309589515 Anonymous (ID: YVL7/06a ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:15:55 No.309589515 >>309587657Can someone explain in english please?>>
Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:17:08 No.309589651 Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:17:08 No.309589651 >>309589495They are looking for free money from ripple you lying idiot.>>
Anonymous (ID: BU3eE51u ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:17:08 No.309589652 Anonymous (ID: BU3eE51u ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:17:08 No.309589652 >>309587657fake and gay. You xrp shills need to be beaten>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:19:30 No.309589915 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:19:30 No.309589915 >>309589495the SEC owns a ripple network node lmaothe US government itself has ruled XRP a currencygoogle, apple, tesla, etc all beat the SEC cause they're a jokeripple has already been destroying them in court and that's why prices have increased even through the court case and through the delistings
that's cause the entire network is decentralized and can function regardless of any outside actors attempting to disrupt itSEC case means nothing and only proves how strong of a currency xrp really isand it brings regulation clarity
Anonymous (ID: 5PHMFeTg ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:20:48 No.309590051 Anonymous (ID: 5PHMFeTg ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:20:48 No.309590051 Is Adam Curry a fraud? I used to love him on Headbanger's Ball. Was also a fan of NA during the Obama Years.>>
Anonymous (ID: cYMM6GhD ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:22:24 No.309590230 Anonymous (ID: cYMM6GhD ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:22:24 No.309590230 Adam was just fucking with you tards. You should listen to his podcast, though.>>
Anonymous (ID: cilKDSHm ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:22:54 No.309590292 Anonymous (ID: cilKDSHm ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:22:54 No.309590292 >>309588640Where can you buy it?>>
Anonymous (ID: m/NWvDub ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:23:22 No.309590338 Anonymous (ID: m/NWvDub ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:23:22 No.309590338 >>309588195They haven't been using it behind the scenes. It was well known, and get fucked, scam artist>>
Anonymous (ID: BOYmVPWb ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:24:19 No.309590443 Anonymous (ID: BOYmVPWb ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:24:19 No.309590443 >>309587657 >https://twitter.com/adamcurry/status/1364667482116665345 none of the articles you link to suggest that the Federal Reserve is using Ripple or any Crypto or any Crypto-derived system.
Why would you post like this? It is just annoying.
Anonymous (ID: AHHaEdCq ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:30:12 No.309591142 Anonymous (ID: AHHaEdCq ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:30:12 No.309591142 >>309588195 >The Fed used a memecoin for all of their transactions because their network went down for a few hours >Source: My Ass .....getting real tired of you faggot shills, at least keep your retard bullshit confined to /biz/.
>>
Anonymous (ID: d34o7z1W ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:31:35 No.309591286 Anonymous (ID: d34o7z1W ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:31:35 No.309591286 >>309589915I'm bullish long term on XRP just because Jews always win and they're the fastest coin with a known supply. EOS is faster but the max supply is unknown possibly infinity which makes me think that its not even a crypto at all but just a ledger which would explain why its so fast. But I don't expect much price action any time soon.>>
Anonymous (ID: LOg/Tzcu ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:31:54 No.309591322 Anonymous (ID: LOg/Tzcu ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:31:54 No.309591322 >>309589915The CEO's response to the lawsuit was to compare his crypto to ETH which it has literally nothing in common withNo one person can just print more ETH, while that's exactly what Ripple has been doing with XRP>>
Anonymous (ID: maZilKMG ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:33:04 No.309591466 Anonymous (ID: maZilKMG ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:33:04 No.309591466 >>309587657 >was about to trade my xrp for bitcoin when it dipped holdin'
>>
Anonymous (ID: S/dInvGP ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:33:19 No.309591494 Anonymous (ID: S/dInvGP ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:33:19 No.309591494 >>309590051He's a crackpot, but he's legit>>
Anonymous (ID: i+TNHDbU ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:34:31 No.309591620 Anonymous (ID: i+TNHDbU ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:34:31 No.309591620 So xrp supposed to skyrocket now?>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:35:58 No.309591796 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:35:58 No.309591796 >>309591322That's not what ripple does you can't print moreThey're releasing from escrow, which was planned so people and institutions could get more of supply already in existence, the supply doesn't change>>
Anonymous (ID: nM4ENwji ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:36:51 No.309591894 Anonymous (ID: nM4ENwji ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:36:51 No.309591894 >>309587657Simon Parks unironically 'predicted' this https://t.me/simon_parkes/119>>
Anonymous (ID: d34o7z1W ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:37:27 No.309591953 Anonymous (ID: d34o7z1W ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:37:27 No.309591953 >>309591620I doubt it. If the twitter post was true it would already have skyrocketed.>>
Anonymous (ID: VqSMON8G ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:38:38 No.309592079 Anonymous (ID: VqSMON8G ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:38:38 No.309592079 >Looks at XRP and XLM stacks >>
Anonymous (ID: jvz82q5L ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:39:29 No.309592166 Anonymous (ID: jvz82q5L ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:39:29 No.309592166 >>309587657Crypto is already hacked into oblivion by big tech, the can tank any cryptocurrency at will.>>
Jew exposer (ID: tOEwTXgc ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:41:02 No.309592332 Jew exposer (ID: tOEwTXgc ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:41:02 No.309592332 Call me when xrp breaks a dollar. In other words, never call me.https://www.goyimtv.tv/v/1040508852/The-Jews-Are-Our-Misfortune---William-Luther-Pierce
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:41:15 No.309592362 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:41:15 No.309592362 >>309592166that's not how blockchain technology worksin fact it's to prevent stuff like that>>
Anonymous (ID: 1BFO9t7A ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:41:45 No.309592417 Anonymous (ID: 1BFO9t7A ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:41:45 No.309592417 Mass delisting XRP from cryptocurrency exchanges because of SEC pressure while also seeing fed's getting more involved behind the scene. Yeah, XRP is getting the business.>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:44:09 No.309592680 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:44:09 No.309592680 >>309592350flare has an eth virtual machine that works on the networkthe flare network works on the ripple networkit's decentralized finance like eth, but infinitely better and on ripple which uses xrp
>>
Anonymous (ID: WvkgQaIi ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:44:29 No.309592724 Anonymous (ID: WvkgQaIi ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:44:29 No.309592724 >>309587657The federal reserve is a Jewish entity, not american. Jews are leading with an iron fist>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:47:18 No.309593022 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:47:18 No.309593022 >>309592724trump made the fed answer to the treasury some time during the covid stufffed is owned by us, the people now (theoretically) through the treasury>>
Anonymous (ID: h4+C5Ye0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:48:08 No.309593111 Anonymous (ID: h4+C5Ye0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:48:08 No.309593111 >>309588195I can tell you as someone who has delt with complex systems that there is no chance in hell that the Fed instituted a BCP plan for any of this. You have no idea what you are talking about.>>
Anonymous (ID: NDT0/VKI ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:49:00 No.309593202 Anonymous (ID: NDT0/VKI ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:49:00 No.309593202 XRP 300K EOYI have 33 XRP, that will be more than enough for me to make it>>
Anonymous (ID: q2yTQbYt ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:51:06 No.309593434 Anonymous (ID: q2yTQbYt ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:51:06 No.309593434 >>309593022You are fucking retarded, trump gave the fed the treasury through blackrock you dont own shit, the jews own all of it.>>
Anonymous (ID: uhF6+eAc ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:51:56 No.309593518 Anonymous (ID: uhF6+eAc ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:51:56 No.309593518 >>309593111i think ill believe this statement over yet another fucking TWITTER POST that is more cryptic than an egyptian tomb.>>
Anonymous (ID: jvz82q5L ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:52:13 No.309593556 Anonymous (ID: jvz82q5L ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:52:13 No.309593556 >>309592362Kikes only invest in something when they already have full control of it, as an immutable rule. If they're investing in crypto it is because they either own its market or can influence it in such a way, that security measures can be considered moot.>>
Anonymous (ID: SRFQh93C ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:53:05 No.309593647 Anonymous (ID: SRFQh93C ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:53:05 No.309593647 Why is ripple.going down today then? Genuine question here. Im in other crypto and was considering moving a bit there before it goes parabolic.... I feel lile I am being played tbph>>
Anonymous (ID: O6pvhKnw ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:54:20 No.309593761 Anonymous (ID: O6pvhKnw ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:54:20 No.309593761 Craig Wright is unironically Satoshi Nakamoto and has successfully scaled BitCoin to be able to handle terrabyte sized blocks to facilitate global commerce and data transfers. The internet will be replaced by the metanet where every action online requires a thousand of a cent micropayments which will eliminate the parasitic data thief's and create new ways to monetize your own data online. Craig is showing how much bullshit propaganda the average cryptocuck has been propagandised with in an effort for the criminal cartel to scuttle the real tech and create a coin to empower their criminal activities through anon features. BTC is just a money laundering tech. The real value of Bitcoin was enabling a world of micropayments.>>
Anonymous (ID: IMPxVjcI ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:56:26 No.309593978 Anonymous (ID: IMPxVjcI ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:56:26 No.309593978 XRP is run by Ripplehttps://ripple.com/company#This is Ripple CTO>>
Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:56:32 No.309593990 Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:56:32 No.309593990 >>309591322Zoomer tries to tell other people they don't know... when he actually has no clue. how did you all get like this?>>
Anonymous (ID: 1BFO9t7A ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:56:47 No.309594008 Anonymous (ID: 1BFO9t7A ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:56:47 No.309594008 >>309593647SEC lawsuit against them. This caused them to be deplatformed from US cryptocurrency exchanges. Neither side is backing down, and until the lawsuit is resolved, a lot of uncertainty around their future in the west.>>
Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:57:28 No.309594084 Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:57:28 No.309594084 >>309592350Interestingly... the Flare system which was designed for XRP uses the Eth engine... as I understand it, all those appls can run on XRP in a month or so when flare goes active.>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:57:32 No.309594094 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:57:32 No.309594094 >>309593978I love the brain on this man>>
Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:57:42 No.309594118 Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)17:57:42 No.309594118 >>309593978No. Xrp existed before ripple. Ripple offers to use xrp with its system to save banks gorillions in transaction fees.>>
Anonymous (ID: jLteLHuq ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:00:09 No.309594388 Anonymous (ID: jLteLHuq ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:00:09 No.309594388 >>309587968 >English please? Memecoin faggots trying to trick you in to buying a shitcoin. typical jewish shit
>>
Anonymous (ID: sbGE+6DY ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:00:23 No.309594418 Anonymous (ID: sbGE+6DY ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:00:23 No.309594418 >>309587657there you go buddy>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:01:22 No.309594526 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:01:22 No.309594526 >>309593978https://youtu.be/lP63dTY_7j0listen to this guyhe's just an autist who happens to have been born a jew and is using his parasitic jew mind to figure out ways that the parasites suck off of systems then using his good guy brain side to defeat the parasite side using his autism with cryptography and blockchain technologyhe did ithe defeated them at their own financial gamewe had to get an insider to do it
>>
Anonymous (ID: 8CUT27gu ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:01:35 No.309594544 Anonymous (ID: 8CUT27gu ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:01:35 No.309594544 Fake and fucking gay.XRP is zombiecoin.>>
Anonymous (ID: 9I/dDxRQ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:02:38 No.309594651 Anonymous (ID: 9I/dDxRQ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:02:38 No.309594651 >>309587657Almost as if they will sort of maybe merge together and become one entity>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:02:59 No.309594684 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:02:59 No.309594684 >>309593978https://youtu.be/u3LT9xSwbp0their ceo is also a normal white guy>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:05:38 No.309594982 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:05:38 No.309594982 >>309589512 >That's a lie. Ripple is under sec scrutiny not xrp. It is alleged, poorly, that ripple was selling xrp as a security. Ripple is xrp you smoothbrained shill
65613 (ID: 9+AVmkWp ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:07:06 No.309595141 65613 (ID: 9+AVmkWp ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:07:06 No.309595141 >>309587657Truly followers have no say. Nothing saves the (((fed))), because my will is still being done.>>
Anonymous (ID: RVJFTo+k ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:07:21 No.309595168 Anonymous (ID: RVJFTo+k ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:07:21 No.309595168 >>309594982ripple is just a payment protocol>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:07:50 No.309595221 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:07:50 No.309595221 >>309587657 >XRP JUST SAVED THE FED >THE FED JUST WENT DOWN FOR HOURS BEFORE THEY MOVED ONTO THE RIPPLE NETWORK TO SAVE IT >NEWS GONNA BREAK WORLD WIDE THAT CRYPTO (through XRP) JUST SAVED THE FED AND THE ENTIRE US GOVERNMENT FROM FINANCIAL COLLAPSE >GUYS >IT'S >HAPPENING >>fed goes down for a few hours >>rumors behind the scenes they switched to ripple network in order to have payments go through >>xrp saved the fed >>this solidifies it as a currency as the fed itself had to switch to the network and trade the coin to resume operations >>sec BTFO but still have some good points >>ripple ordered to transfer supply to the treasury >>60 % of all xrp is now backing the entire US government
>>defacto world reserve currency >>america leading the forefront of this new economic structure with an iron fist >>we've all made it >>IT'S HAPPENING NOW >>YOU'RE IN IT >AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH >https://twitter.com/adamcurry/status/1364667482116665345 >CONVENIENTLY AFTER GETTING UPDATED TO VERSION 1.7 (17) >https://u.today/xrp-ledger-gets-huge-efficiency-boost-with-release-of-new-version Look at you shilling some premined garbage with 8.5 billion shripples in circulatuon.
>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:08:53 No.309595351 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:08:53 No.309595351 >>309595168 >ripple is just a payment protocol Ripple xrp
Bitcoin btcHow Fucking stupid do you think we are?
>>
Anonymous (ID: cilKDSHm ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:09:34 No.309595427 Anonymous (ID: cilKDSHm ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:09:34 No.309595427 Pay day for me is tomorrow. Many overtime hours. What happens for me? Am I working for free right now?>>
Anonymous (ID: MNF9Mjs/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:10:18 No.309595500 Anonymous (ID: MNF9Mjs/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:10:18 No.309595500 >>309587657WHO THE FUCK IS GONNA PAY THIS GUY TO PAY THAT GUY?>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:10:21 No.309595505 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:10:21 No.309595505 >>309595351Xrp is xrpRipple is rippleThey are not the same thing>>
Anonymous (ID: /p6ysBiZ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:11:19 No.309595621 Anonymous (ID: /p6ysBiZ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:11:19 No.309595621 >>309587657 >all the delusional cRipple tards in that Twitter thread Lol
>>
Anonymous (ID: QnG5VDia ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:03 No.309595702 Anonymous (ID: QnG5VDia ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:03 No.309595702 >>309587957Sitting on about 7000 Fantom, am I gonna make it lads?>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:30 No.309595757 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:30 No.309595757 >>309595505 >Xrp is xrp >Ripple is ripple >They are not the same thing Just do a google search anons.
Some discord shill fuckery is afoot
>>
Anonymous (ID: cilKDSHm ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:30 No.309595758 Anonymous (ID: cilKDSHm ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:30 No.309595758 Wouldn't this spike the price of all crypto? Why are we not seeing a spike at all, in anything except GME?>>
Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:33 No.309595762 Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:12:33 No.309595762 >>309594982They are 2 separate companies you vpn kike faggot>>
Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:13:42 No.309595887 Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:13:42 No.309595887 >>309587657LOL so this is your new crypto scam? Claiming that XRP is now the real dollar?Still stacking silver you dumb kike.
>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:14:34 No.309595976 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:14:34 No.309595976 >>309595757Ripple is the company. Xrp is a currency.The only thing ripple did is create the network in which XRP, not RIPPLE, works on>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:15:58 No.309596137 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:15:58 No.309596137 >>309595762 >They are 2 separate companies you vpn kike faggot I know you are but what am i
>>
Anonymous (ID: AWNjCV0k ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:16:29 No.309596183 Anonymous (ID: AWNjCV0k ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:16:29 No.309596183 >>309587657Wrong.FED would switch to XLM
>>
Anonymous (ID: 7CE/0Cul ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:16:35 No.309596189 Anonymous (ID: 7CE/0Cul ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:16:35 No.309596189 Anons who bought Ripple back before that SEC case are actually going to get rich? I never listen to /biz/. Fuck man I could've been rich like three times by now if I'd just listened to random strangers on the Internet who actually were giving good advice.>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:17:05 No.309596248 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:17:05 No.309596248 >>309595976 >Ripple is the company. Xrp is a currency. >The only thing ripple did is create the network in which XRP, not RIPPLE, works on Ripplenet is their network
Ripple is the currency which in short form is xrp>>
Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:18:41 No.309596432 Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:18:41 No.309596432 >>309593944Good video.Luckily I use none of their services.>>
Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:19:31 No.309596534 Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:19:31 No.309596534 >>309595976 >Xrp is a currency no it's not, it's an e-token
>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:19:47 No.309596557 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:19:47 No.309596557 >>309596189 >Anons who bought Ripple back before that SEC case are actually going to get rich? I never listen to /biz/. Fuck man I could've been rich like three times by now if I'd just listened to random strangers on the Internet who actually were giving good advice. No. Theres 8. 5 billion of them
They were all premined
Xrp is a scam
>>
Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:19:53 No.309596569 Anonymous (ID: u2xTWbmj ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:19:53 No.309596569 >>309596137>>309596248A mouth breathing idiot that shouldn't be anywhere near electricity let alone a computer.
>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:20:09 No.309596603 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:20:09 No.309596603 >>309596248Yes, Ripplenet, created by RIPPLE, in which currencies like XRP are used.RIPPLE is not XRP>>
Anonymous (ID: chimco7I ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:20:15 No.309596616 Anonymous (ID: chimco7I ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:20:15 No.309596616 >>309587657Nothing to see here goys. Buy dogecoin. Ignore 6,000 yr old money.>>
Anonymous (ID: tED6vZXW ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:21:39 No.309596758 Anonymous (ID: tED6vZXW ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:21:39 No.309596758 >>309587968OP is a faggot, XRP is a dead coin because no crypto brokers operating in the USA will touch it with a ten foot pole>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:21:50 No.309596777 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:21:50 No.309596777 >>309596616 >Nothing to see here goys. Buy dogecoin. Ignore 6,000 yr old money. This.
While i hold a bunch of cryptos.
One emp from a nuke and the computer age is over, all crypto goes to 0
Gold and silver, thats what OGs should be stacking
Anonymous (ID: 8fBr4hYN ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:22:52 No.309596908 Anonymous (ID: 8fBr4hYN ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:22:52 No.309596908 >>309587657How retarded do you have to be to believe this?>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:22:55 No.309596915 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:22:55 No.309596915 >>309596557premined means nothing you retard it's just a different form of tokenomics and btc being mined is already showing a terrible thing cause china owns the majority of all new btc created forever nowalso you need a huge supply of them for global remittance (trillions of dollars moving around at once) or the price would be absolutely insane and even now the coin would be worth over $2000 if just global remittance were attained, not including all other forms of remittance which would be trillions of dollars more>>
Anonymous (ID: UzBZ+GM9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:23:07 No.309596939 Anonymous (ID: UzBZ+GM9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:23:07 No.309596939 >>309595757Ripplenet is a closed network used by banks. There is no "ripple" currency. When a bank needs to send money through Ripplenet (or xRapid) they go to a decentralized exchange and fucking buy XRP.
Then they send the XRP using the XRP ledger. Then the other bank sells the XRP on the decentralized exchange. Then Ripplenet detects that trade and tells the other bank.
>>
Anonymous (ID: ld7su+WI ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:23:07 No.309596941 Anonymous (ID: ld7su+WI ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:23:07 No.309596941 >>309596616 >id >chimco >buy something that has no real world application anymore ok chicom kek
>>
Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:23:58 No.309597039 Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:23:58 No.309597039 >>309596705So XMR is the only currency that is worth anything.What Scam Wright tries to do should be impossible if the system is decentralized.
>>
Anonymous (ID: e1Yoia6j ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:24:01 No.309597046 Anonymous (ID: e1Yoia6j ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:24:01 No.309597046 >>309592079My manBig Blue lumens to the fucking moon
>>
Anonymous (ID: J28/F4Wx ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:24:27 No.309597098 Anonymous (ID: J28/F4Wx ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:24:27 No.309597098 >>309587657fucking great, maybe I will buy $10 of this shit coin just in case>>
Anonymous (ID: IMPxVjcI ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:25:46 No.309597241 Anonymous (ID: IMPxVjcI ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:25:46 No.309597241 >>309594526i'll give him a listen>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:27:13 No.309597387 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:27:13 No.309597387 >>309596915 >premined means nothing you retard it's just a different form of tokenomics and btc being mined is already showing a terrible thing cause china owns the majority of all new btc created forever now >also you need a huge supply of them for global remittance (trillions of dollars moving around at once) or the price would be absolutely insane and even now the coin would be worth over $2000 if just global remittance were attained, not including all other forms of remittance which would be trillions of dollars more Premined means the creator owns all the coins in existance and sells them to dumbasses you fucktard. It means its not a open currency. It means it's a scam.
>>
Anonymous (ID: KtkF74ez ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:27:44 No.309597448 Anonymous (ID: KtkF74ez ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:27:44 No.309597448 >>309596777Yea when society collapses someone is definitely gonna give you their food in exchange for shiny metal. Retard.
>>
Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:27:57 No.309597467 Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:27:57 No.309597467 >>309596899just buy safflower stamens and pass it off as saffroneven restauranteurs and chefs can't tell the difference
>>
Anonymous (ID: CMz+edLJ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:28:26 No.309597519 Anonymous (ID: CMz+edLJ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:28:26 No.309597519 Not a single coherent post in this whole thread.>>
Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:28:36 No.309597539 Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:28:36 No.309597539 >>309597448And yet, this is exactly what happens every time fiat collapses.>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:28:45 No.309597558 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:28:45 No.309597558 >>309596939>>309595757RP in XRP stands for ripples, the X denotes no country code
>>
Anonymous (ID: GOkc8uS+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:29:14 No.309597615 Anonymous (ID: GOkc8uS+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:29:14 No.309597615 XRP is going to take over international payments. just watch these two vids and see the future:https://youtu.be/bSO7BdElRpk
https://youtu.be/5tdsTd5sNxI?t=67s
>>
Anonymous (ID: NiehParH ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:30:01 No.309597717 Anonymous (ID: NiehParH ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:30:01 No.309597717 >>309588066What movie is this from?>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:30:15 No.309597746 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:30:15 No.309597746 >>309597387the node operators are all decentralizedhttps://www.cryptonary.com/ripples-democratic-voting-system-could-result-in-billions-of-xrp-burned/this is how the system functions trustlessly with no censorship
ripple owns a large supply of xrp but that's being transferred to the treasury, the new global reserve currency as the US will have the most of this highly sought after coin with perfect tokenomics tied only to forward progress>>
Anonymous (ID: O6pvhKnw ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:31:28 No.309597859 Anonymous (ID: O6pvhKnw ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:31:28 No.309597859 >>309597039Xmr will get taken down and miners done for violating money secrecy laws. Decentralisation does not mean what you think it means.>>
Anonymous (ID: DTghqDRn ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:31:38 No.309597878 Anonymous (ID: DTghqDRn ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:31:38 No.309597878 SEC lawsuit against ripple and you think the fed is going to use it?>>
Anonymous (ID: jHMrPuB+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:31:51 No.309597895 Anonymous (ID: jHMrPuB+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:31:51 No.309597895 Uh... didn't the supreme court ban XRP? We're the schitzos right again? Is the earth really a giant bagel?>>
Anonymous (ID: gmg+rn0K ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:09 No.309597935 Anonymous (ID: gmg+rn0K ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:09 No.309597935 Just something to think about. Max Keiser needs a listen if you have the time.https://(www).youtube.com/watch?v=z9-nKOGNJxY
>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:11 No.309597938 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:11 No.309597938 >>309597387Ripple has a majority of xrp locked up in escrow, which they cannot touch until it's released. In which xrp holders to vote to have them burn, or in another possibility be forced to turn it over to the us treasury in which the united States is now the largest holder of xrp>>
Anonymous (ID: AWNjCV0k ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:13 No.309597940 Anonymous (ID: AWNjCV0k ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:13 No.309597940 >>309596777 >>thinks electricity is going away Most shitcoins have more copies of their Blockchains than most books that have ever been printed. Enough Systems will have the Blockchain on the Planet Earth to keep mining going.
>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:29 No.309597976 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:32:29 No.309597976 >>309597746 >the node operators are all decentralized >https://www.cryptonary.com/ripples-democratic-voting-system-could-result-in-billions-of-xrp-burned/ >this is how the system functions trustlessly with no censorship >ripple owns a large supply of xrp but that's being transferred to the treasury, the new global reserve currency as the US will have the most of this highly sought after coin with perfect tokenomics tied only to forward progress Good job anon.
You dont sound like a commie shill at all.
Forward progress
That your 5 year plan?
>>
Anonymous (ID: DTghqDRn ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:33:09 No.309598047 Anonymous (ID: DTghqDRn ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:33:09 No.309598047 >>309597895They are still in a lawsuit with the SEC>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:35:15 No.309598309 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:35:15 No.309598309 >>309597976This user is a chink fuck>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:35:36 No.309598347 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:35:36 No.309598347 >>309597976nice redditspacing retardwhat else would you tie it to if you wanted a currency that can't be manipulated by outside sources or sucked off by leeches within the systemit answers everything, keeps all the power central banking gives without the controlled by banking families negatives>>
Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:35:56 No.309598393 Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:35:56 No.309598393 >>309597859I mean decentralized as not controlled by a central agent. Lightning network etc is not decentralized, the blockchain with all of its miners is.And I think you mean securities laws.
>>
Anonymous (ID: oSQZVjZz ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:38:39 No.309598701 Anonymous (ID: oSQZVjZz ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:38:39 No.309598701 >>309587968Everything is about to fall apart>>
Anonymous (ID: jvHsf+6V ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:38:48 No.309598717 Anonymous (ID: jvHsf+6V ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:38:48 No.309598717 >>309596777Imagine planning for only one eventuality.>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:39:18 No.309598768 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:39:18 No.309598768 >>309598309 >This user is a chink fuck More adhomo attacks please.
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:40:13 No.309598863 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:40:13 No.309598863 >>309598347 >nice redditspacing retard >what else would you tie it to if you wanted a currency that can't be manipulated by outside sources or sucked off by leeches within the system >it answers everything, keeps all the power central banking gives without the controlled by banking families negatives More adhomo faggotry.
>>
Anonymous (ID: uFz6E3QK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:40:37 No.309598898 Anonymous (ID: uFz6E3QK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:40:37 No.309598898 >>309590443Cripplets are delusional poorfags who got laughed off of /biz/. Now they are here, enjoy!>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:40:45 No.309598916 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:40:45 No.309598916 >>309598768Hey chang, fuck off you smelly chink fucker.>>
Anonymous (ID: NzsaMmiR ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:41:14 No.309598977 Anonymous (ID: NzsaMmiR ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:41:14 No.309598977 will this shit reach 5k>>
Anonymous (ID: jvHsf+6V ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:42:30 No.309599129 Anonymous (ID: jvHsf+6V ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:42:30 No.309599129 >>309598977$5000 per xrp ? Not until a loaf of bread is $20,000>>
Anonymous (ID: H/56ncog ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:42:59 No.309599179 Anonymous (ID: H/56ncog ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:42:59 No.309599179 >>309587657why is /biz/ invading /pol/thought i was on /biz/ for a secondanyway two more weeks>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:43:08 No.309599199 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:43:08 No.309599199 >>309598863think about thissoon your asset will be backed by the strength of the entire US governmentbut at any time if you want to remove that from being on the network, say they become corrupt or start working against forward progress, the people can vote to no longer allow that entity to inhibit that forward progress so you'd democratically vote it outkeeps only honest participants involved in the entire thing
which is good cause you only want honest participants on the network if you're an honest participant>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:44:40 No.309599353 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:44:40 No.309599353 >>309599199 >think about this >soon your asset will be backed by the strength of the entire US government >but at any time if you want to remove that from being on the network, say they become corrupt or start working against forward progress, the people can vote to no longer allow that entity to inhibit that forward progress so you'd democratically vote it out >keeps only honest participants involved in the entire thing >which is good cause you only want honest participants on the network if you're an honest participant The same us government run by trannies and pedophiles?
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:47:10 No.309599664 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:47:10 No.309599664 >>309599353trump won sweatyyou're gonna be in for quite a 2020+1>>
Anonymous (ID: JF5/qIZf ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:48:08 No.309599775 Anonymous (ID: JF5/qIZf ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:48:08 No.309599775 >>309587657 >globohomo getting their asses collectively saved by Cryptoshit /biz/ deserves the god damn rope if this is true, the west is fucked and its those faggot pajeets faults, that whole damn board deserves to get flushed.
>>
Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:48:40 No.309599842 Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:48:40 No.309599842 >>309593978Look at this Chad>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:49:28 No.309599945 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:49:28 No.309599945 >>309599664 >trump won sweaty >you're gonna be in for quite a 2020+1 Yeah, thats why the us is building army bases in syria, canceling the keystone xl pipeline and reversing every trump era policy to help people.
Get fucked.
The tree thirsts.....
>>
Anonymous (ID: jvHsf+6V ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:49:34 No.309599955 Anonymous (ID: jvHsf+6V ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:49:34 No.309599955 >>309599699The ripple guy was already the richest man in the world when it was at $2.50 a few years ago>>
Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:49:51 No.309599990 Anonymous (ID: ze8NwbGD ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:49:51 No.309599990 >>309599775This was always suppose to happen. It's always out there in the open. The only thing you can do is prepare and protect yourself.>>
Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:50:13 No.309600023 Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:50:13 No.309600023 >>309594982Wrong XRP is crypto like Bitcoin. Ripple is a company that uses XRP.>>
Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:51:55 No.309600208 Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:51:55 No.309600208 >>309595757You need to do a little Google research you fucking retarded leaf.>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:52:51 No.309600306 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:52:51 No.309600306 >>309599945none of that is happening in the real worldthose are all article headlines of a fantasy universe you're trapped inin our timeline trump already won
you may not have heard it yet cause it takes a while to break through into the NPC mind for them to be reprogrammedyou'll be switching over to the correct timeline in a few days or weeks coming up here don't worry>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:53:00 No.309600319 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:53:00 No.309600319 Nice consensus building you shills.You will never be women.
>>
Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:54:01 No.309600428 Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:54:01 No.309600428 >>309596758You can buy XRP on Uphold right now in the United States of America. XRP is the future.>>
Anonymous (ID: O6pvhKnw ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:54:14 No.309600452 Anonymous (ID: O6pvhKnw ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:54:14 No.309600452 >>309598393Regardless of if there is a central entity in control, a 'decentralised' network can still be taken down and those involved in development and validation prosecuted under an unlimited liability partnership>>
Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:54:43 No.309600502 Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:54:43 No.309600502 >>309597098Better get more than that.>>
Anonymous (ID: A152hkor ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:55:28 No.309600578 Anonymous (ID: A152hkor ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:55:28 No.309600578 Schizo general. How'd they get out again?>>
Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:55:36 No.309600591 Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:55:36 No.309600591 >>309600428Just buy silver. Crypto's being pushed so the silly goyim buy worthless e-tokens instead of real wealth.>>
Anonymous (ID: XC8YFxup ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:55:43 No.309600604 Anonymous (ID: XC8YFxup ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:55:43 No.309600604 >>309588242The only way that happens is if you ban all the boomers and redditors. They are literally the only retards doing that shit.>>
Anonymous (ID: kwh8gqV0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:56:27 No.309600679 Anonymous (ID: kwh8gqV0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:56:27 No.309600679 >>309587657 >something is about to happen!!!! in two weeks maybe
>>
Anonymous (ID: G2WIQU2+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:57:05 No.309600740 Anonymous (ID: G2WIQU2+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:57:05 No.309600740 >>309600591Why not take advantage of both? Can your basket hold all of those eggs?>>
Anonymous (ID: A535iaDh ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:57:32 No.309600799 Anonymous (ID: A535iaDh ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:57:32 No.309600799 >>309596603I think he's just fucking with you at this point>>
Anonymous (ID: tP7QFlkE ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:58:33 No.309600907 Anonymous (ID: tP7QFlkE ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:58:33 No.309600907 >>309588516Just make sure the barrels pointed directly at your face and not in an unsafe direction>>
Anonymous (ID: nEE1/HW4 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:58:58 No.309600955 Anonymous (ID: nEE1/HW4 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:58:58 No.309600955 >>309600799Of course he is, he's a chink leaf fudding>>
Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:59:20 No.309600986 Anonymous (ID: w/dWEFm9 ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:59:20 No.309600986 >>309600591Silver is to expensive right now. Should be like $6.00 an ounce. I'll wait for the dip on silver. I have and am making way more off of Crypto. You will lose your ass if you invest in silver right now. The time now is to collect as much BTC, XRP, and GRT as possible.>>
Anonymous (ID: A535iaDh ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:59:42 No.309601027 Anonymous (ID: A535iaDh ) 02/24/21(Wed)18:59:42 No.309601027 >>309597878 >SEC lawsuit against ripple and you think the fed is going to use it? Once they are cleared, they will be the only cryptocurrency legally defined as a currency
Anonymous (ID: bN9MRGly ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:01:36 No.309601209 Anonymous (ID: bN9MRGly ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:01:36 No.309601209 >>309596758 >be SEC >file a stupid suit that shuts down XRP on most US exchanges >Feds buy it all >profit
>>
Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:05:55 No.309601669 Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:05:55 No.309601669 >>309600452 >Regardless of if there is a central entity in control, a 'decentralised' network can still be taken down and those involved in development and validation prosecuted under an unlimited liability partnership True.
But having miners being detected in a similar way to magnet torrents reduces the risk somewhat and it also makes it easier for new miners to pop up at a low risk.>>
Anonymous (ID: gnxN13EW ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:06:18 No.309601710 Anonymous (ID: gnxN13EW ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:06:18 No.309601710 >>309587657 >to have payments go through the FED don't receive or make payments, that would be the Treasury.
ITT:illiterates.>>
Anonymous (ID: GX5L4tv2 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:07:03 No.309601778 Anonymous (ID: GX5L4tv2 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:07:03 No.309601778 >>309600986 >Silver is to expensive right now. You will be eating a bullet thinking back to the dumbest post you ever made.
>>
Anonymous (ID: +PTVcdr0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:10:06 No.309602088 Anonymous (ID: +PTVcdr0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:10:06 No.309602088 >>309592079Are those related? I bought xlm awhile ago but haven't kept up crypto.>>
Anonymous (ID: A6u1GZaw ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:11:58 No.309602288 Anonymous (ID: A6u1GZaw ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:11:58 No.309602288 >>309587657tldr, the jew switched to cryptonext step one world currencyYOU WILL CARRY THE CHIP>>
Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:12:34 No.309602349 Anonymous (ID: cKDPQ99d ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:12:34 No.309602349 >>309588469biddycoin can't handle the whole world economy>>
Anonymous (ID: BdNIr/li ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:12:36 No.309602356 Anonymous (ID: BdNIr/li ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:12:36 No.309602356 >>309591796 >supply already in existence and how much was that
>>
Anonymous (ID: p+pTwqAL ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:13:10 No.309602417 Anonymous (ID: p+pTwqAL ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:13:10 No.309602417 >>309587657its not a cypto if its centralized. thats what makes xrp fast and feeless, it is a network of centralized nodes.>>
Anonymous (ID: A6u1GZaw ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:09 No.309602623 Anonymous (ID: A6u1GZaw ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:09 No.309602623 >>309602557its off 90% of the timeonly outdoors in case of emergency or accident>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:12 No.309602628 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:12 No.309602628 >>309602356a lot but not as much as you think considering how many trillions are in domestic/global remittance>>
Anonymous (ID: wfwG76fB ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:49 No.309602684 Anonymous (ID: wfwG76fB ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:49 No.309602684 >>309589132this guy's whole argument is that xrp doesn't offer anything that current systems have, but this scenario means that it does. It is more stable apparently and won't go down as easily.>>
Anonymous (ID: BdNIr/li ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:50 No.309602687 Anonymous (ID: BdNIr/li ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:15:50 No.309602687 >>309602628it was a rhetorical question to see if you would say the numberthe number is ridiculous>>
Anonymous (ID: VV1JUmPF ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:16:38 No.309602758 Anonymous (ID: VV1JUmPF ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:16:38 No.309602758 >>309588293You can still buy it on Uphold>>
Anonymous (ID: YuJ8Tk/J ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:17:08 No.309602814 Anonymous (ID: YuJ8Tk/J ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:17:08 No.309602814 >>309602557You can carry my ballls>>
Anonymous (ID: /4mWGR7J ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:17:25 No.309602843 Anonymous (ID: /4mWGR7J ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:17:25 No.309602843 >>309587657Oh neat, so they now control ALL forms of exchange. What could possibly go wrong?>>
Anonymous (ID: VV1JUmPF ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:18:49 No.309602996 Anonymous (ID: VV1JUmPF ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:18:49 No.309602996 >>309590292You can still buy it on Uphold>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:19:08 No.309603028 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:19:08 No.309603028 >>309602843they already did with central bankingnow it's just open, censorship proof and trustless because that's what blockchain technology was built to dothe cryptography and tokenomics of xrp/ripple network and how it functions are the best use of that technology in an economic structure>>
Anonymous (ID: wfwG76fB ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:20:33 No.309603178 Anonymous (ID: wfwG76fB ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:20:33 No.309603178 >>309594084Isn't the whole point of the block chain is that it is distributed and not centralized? Running these applications on the ripple network seems to defeat the purpose doesn't it? Why not just build a normal app with a normal database and shit?>>
Anonymous (ID: WrRt1sCg ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:21:28 No.309603270 Anonymous (ID: WrRt1sCg ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:21:28 No.309603270 >>309602623sounds like carrying around a gun not loaded for emergencies>>
Anonymous (ID: wfwG76fB ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:23:08 No.309603450 Anonymous (ID: wfwG76fB ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:23:08 No.309603450 >>309596939why not just do the initial transfer in the exchange? why go through the trouble of using ripple and paying exchange fees on both ends?>>
Anonymous (ID: iXVpLh47 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:24:59 No.309603670 Anonymous (ID: iXVpLh47 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:24:59 No.309603670 >>309601209This is honestly what would be most likely to happen if the feds didn't create their own.>>
Anonymous (ID: d8tIE5nP ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:30:14 No.309604183 Anonymous (ID: d8tIE5nP ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:30:14 No.309604183 >>309587657No, it didn't.No fucking mining network that exist right now can actually fully replace traditional methods. Why? Because the way they are designed, with increasing difficulties, with having to solve whatever problems for processing the blocks and etc. It end up meaning that the computational power for each transaction is many orders of magnitudes higher than traditional methods.And if the Feds were to be down then there simply isn't enough in the world.>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:35:48 No.309604759 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:35:48 No.309604759 >>309604183that's why it's not a mining network>>
Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:36:19 No.309604825 Anonymous (ID: pPx0t078 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:36:19 No.309604825 >>309600986 >Silver is to expensive right now. Should be like $6.00 an ounce. I'll wait for the dip on silver. I have and am making way more off of Crypto. You will lose your ass if you invest in silver right now. The time now is to collect as much BTC, XRP, and GRT as possible. Hasn't been $6 since the 60s retard
Anonymous (ID: B/TA8S6v ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:41:12 No.309605360 Anonymous (ID: B/TA8S6v ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:41:12 No.309605360 >>309604759They use XRP for intrabank and bilateral trades. Most banks have far more complicated trades.>>
Anonymous (ID: JnLVhUdS ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:45:40 No.309605864 Anonymous (ID: JnLVhUdS ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:45:40 No.309605864 Wow, I didn't realize that the Production incident at my bank regarding wire transactions from the Fed was due to A fault in their network. That's crazy, I just thought I was a blip.>>
Anonymous (ID: 7CWJXwVn ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:47:57 No.309606120 Anonymous (ID: 7CWJXwVn ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:47:57 No.309606120 >>309601669They won't pop up again when others are having the book thrown at them. Crime coins won't exist for long. Universal accountability is coming.>>
Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:52:41 No.309606613 Anonymous (ID: BF5nPwTa ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:52:41 No.309606613 >>309606120 >Universal accountability is coming. That would be a case of game theory applied.
Monero mining over Tor would probably be enough as long as a few nodes remain alive. And as long as someone can make money from this they are likely to be online.
I think that is the biggest problem for universal accountability.
If the risk is low (and it is) then someone, somewhere will try to profit.A lot of illegal stuff is still shared online as well as in person, laws don't seem to stop them. Only make them more cumbersome.
>>
Anonymous (ID: sUNCoquN ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:55:08 No.309606886 Anonymous (ID: sUNCoquN ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:55:08 No.309606886 >XRP Lol. Ripple is a joke. XRP schizos have been saying ''we're going to the moon in the next few days!'' For almost a decade now. Ripple has been around since 2004. It's a failed project kept afloat by a cult of worshipers>>
Anonymous (ID: OjXiQ0lW ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:57:04 No.309607126 Anonymous (ID: OjXiQ0lW ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:57:04 No.309607126 Hedera Hashgraph will be taking over the world within this decade. Ripple is shite>>
Anonymous (ID: OjXiQ0lW ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:57:39 No.309607199 Anonymous (ID: OjXiQ0lW ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:57:39 No.309607199 >>309590292Don't. It's like Q but a crypto>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:58:50 No.309607329 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:58:50 No.309607329 >>309606886they've got a long history which means they're a stable real countrymany heads including a head of jp morgan just left their cushy jobs to go work at rippleyou're a retard if you can't see how ripple is positioning itself>>
Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:59:50 No.309607452 Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)19:59:50 No.309607452 XRP is the only crypto that can remotely change the world or be used in a serious way.I've worked at Ripple. It's crazy the shit they've built.
>>
Anonymous (ID: /PnsdQ8J ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:00:33 No.309607534 Anonymous (ID: /PnsdQ8J ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:00:33 No.309607534 >>309587657Hahaha Fed is fucked and they know it. Good luck finding a new home.>>
Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:00:40 No.309607553 Anonymous (ID: NNJBw/O/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:00:40 No.309607553 >>309607452 >you've worked there and got paid in this shitcoin which you're now hawking on the internet you don't say?
Anonymous (ID: 7PcwVaNm ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:02:09 No.309607717 Anonymous (ID: 7PcwVaNm ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:02:09 No.309607717 >>309600679I really hope it's Yellowstone erupting. I hate all of humanity at this point. We deserve what we get for not fighting back.>>
Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:02:57 No.309607820 Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:02:57 No.309607820 >>309591322Wasted digits. Disgusted by your lack of intel.>>
Anonymous (ID: tWxDwXy5 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:03:42 No.309607912 Anonymous (ID: tWxDwXy5 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:03:42 No.309607912 >>309599664 >trump won Is that why biden was able to hand over control of the civilian power grid to the chinks ?
>>
Anonymous (ID: OjXiQ0lW ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:04:09 No.309607972 Anonymous (ID: OjXiQ0lW ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:04:09 No.309607972 >>309607329Ripple is a failed ghost network. Major corporations are going to Hedera>>
Anonymous (ID: tWxDwXy5 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:06:24 No.309608250 Anonymous (ID: tWxDwXy5 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:06:24 No.309608250 >>309600306We're reaching levels of cope not thought possible>>
Anonymous (ID: vuK2sKLG ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:06:33 No.309608268 Anonymous (ID: vuK2sKLG ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:06:33 No.309608268 The Rothschilds have a stake in XRP thats all you need to know>>
Anonymous (ID: JjMLTcXI ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:08:15 No.309608455 Anonymous (ID: JjMLTcXI ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:08:15 No.309608455 >>309590230sure, waste time listening to some mutt pushing his agenda in the morning...>>
Anonymous (ID: xYu7XnJe ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:09:08 No.309608547 Anonymous (ID: xYu7XnJe ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:09:08 No.309608547 Well where the fuck can I buy XRP seems its not tradeable on most sites.>>
Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:10:09 No.309608674 Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:10:09 No.309608674 >>309606886Lol. Building actual networks takes time.>>
Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:12:34 No.309608954 Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:12:34 No.309608954 >>309607763Roman nose. >salty meme flag You'll never be a woman.
>>
Anonymous (ID: Tw2hWnxI ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:14:02 No.309609124 Anonymous (ID: Tw2hWnxI ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:14:02 No.309609124 >>309587657they're going to kill me with taxes>>
Anonymous (ID: wvoms1vL ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:14:33 No.309609179 Anonymous (ID: wvoms1vL ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:14:33 No.309609179 >>309587657Go let this be real, I have 15k XRP.>>
Anonymous (ID: ww7/vF0P ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:15:03 No.309609236 Anonymous (ID: ww7/vF0P ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:15:03 No.309609236 >>309608954KekedInsefiously doubt u even know what a roman nose looks like.If u not a shlomo, then u a pajeet. We dont shill for shitcoins controlled by the central banks on this board.Back to facebook or wherever the fuck u came from>>
Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:15:20 No.309609277 Anonymous (ID: LTsL6yf0 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:15:20 No.309609277 >>309607555BRL payments are 1000x faster and 10x cheaper using XRP.Did you know you fucks can't even FX trade BRL to a currency other than USD?
Currency control loser doesn't know how cucked he is. XRP is the only way
Anonymous (ID: ww7/vF0P ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:26:20 No.309610544 Anonymous (ID: ww7/vF0P ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:26:20 No.309610544 >>309609455Stfu u low IQ nigger. U and ur fucking banking shitcoin have no place on this board, or in our society >1488 Heil hitler pajeet, the rope is waiting for you
Anonymous (ID: ww7/vF0P ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:37:08 No.309611711 Anonymous (ID: ww7/vF0P ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:37:08 No.309611711 >>309611357Bldond and green eyes.While u, pajeet, will never be white.And on this board, we can smell a stinking mutt like u form miles away. >1488 Now get your ass back washing my toilet pajeet, or shall I call u mohamed?
Fucking miscarriage And stfu about ur shit banker coin.. us poltards who also browse biz, are all invested in btc and chainlink. Since 2015 u poorfag wageslave>>
Anonymous (ID: ZhyFa5KE ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:38:03 No.309611806 Anonymous (ID: ZhyFa5KE ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:38:03 No.309611806 >>309589915This. It was being investigated by Trumps SEC....a few years ago Bill Clinton was doing keynotes with Ripple...the writing is in the wall, will you be weighed in the balances and found wanting?>>
Anonymous (ID: ZhyFa5KE ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:41:13 No.309612145 Anonymous (ID: ZhyFa5KE ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:41:13 No.309612145 >>309593022Lol, the fed reserve is nether federal or a reserve. It's a private entity that has been bleeding this country.>>
Anonymous (ID: +IU4NxHT ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:41:42 No.309612198 Anonymous (ID: +IU4NxHT ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:41:42 No.309612198 all according to plan>>
Fran (ID: EMMJeuZj ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:43:58 No.309612452 Fran (ID: EMMJeuZj ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:43:58 No.309612452 ADAM CURRY!! Everyone should Listen to the No Agenda Podcast!! Bump this shit!>>
Anonymous (ID: UuWgaKFo ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:45:03 No.309612577 Anonymous (ID: UuWgaKFo ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:45:03 No.309612577 >>309587657fuck the federal reserve fuck the judeomasonic nightmare known as " america" fuck the illegal city state of columbia ("dc") fuck the world banking system fuck anyone who puts anything before their own nation and culture fuck anyone who defends slavery by going on about " we got the prettiest slave chains in history" fuck the sos jews and most of all fuck jews, fuck niggers, fuck spics, and fuck faggots nuke dc, jew york, la, tel aviv and any other globohomo agending pushing jew nigger faggot capitol. if you dont like it, fuck you tootalking time is over>>
Anonymous (ID: QnwbRHmu ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:46:50 No.309612772 Anonymous (ID: QnwbRHmu ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:46:50 No.309612772 >>309588195 >ripple network way to get all that shit wrong dumbass
>>
Anonymous (ID: d57HrT35 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:50:54 No.309613245 Anonymous (ID: d57HrT35 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:50:54 No.309613245 >>309587957I've been hoping that Elon Musk will tweet out something about Bitbean. Need a pump :(>>
Anonymous (ID: Fdt+m6VY ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:52:45 No.309613463 Anonymous (ID: Fdt+m6VY ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:52:45 No.309613463 >>309587657Really, some phantom spook "system" error to move USA currency to cypto? Good thing these dumb asses have names and addresses. Won't be seeing those fucks no more.>>
Anonymous (ID: /8vH2h2/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:54:15 No.309613621 Anonymous (ID: /8vH2h2/ ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:54:15 No.309613621 >>309600023It's not really like Bitcoin but alright>>
Anonymous (ID: i84kjhO4 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:55:58 No.309613806 Anonymous (ID: i84kjhO4 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:55:58 No.309613806 XRP buyers are Schizo delusional bag holders,>>
Anonymous (ID: yp8VznzW ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:58:38 No.309614097 Anonymous (ID: yp8VznzW ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:58:38 No.309614097 the secet to success is not have any money.always has been. money is for faggots and kikes.get everything you want in life without it.stop coomsuming.>>
Anonymous (ID: B9fN2yB3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:58:52 No.309614117 Anonymous (ID: B9fN2yB3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:58:52 No.309614117 >>309589084The SEC barely has a case dude. What are you on about? Do you know anything about the pretrial?>>
Anonymous (ID: j8jTzr5+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:59:36 No.309614186 Anonymous (ID: j8jTzr5+ ) 02/24/21(Wed)20:59:36 No.309614186 >>309613806 > link scammer fuck off kike.
Bitcoin or bust. (perhaps small amount of Monero... if anything)
>>
Anonymous (ID: ClihKDGZ ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:02:23 No.309614465 Anonymous (ID: ClihKDGZ ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:02:23 No.309614465 >>309597717The Big Short. Great movie if you can overlook all the pedophiles who acted in it.>>
Anonymous (ID: B9fN2yB3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:02:27 No.309614479 Anonymous (ID: B9fN2yB3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:02:27 No.309614479 >>309595887No, retail investors could never create significant price movement. OP gains nothing from you buying.>>
Anonymous (ID: 9gHTvpuw ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:07:13 No.309614970 Anonymous (ID: 9gHTvpuw ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:07:13 No.309614970 sure, then a reddit thread will pop up, 'lets crash xrp luls'why would anyone use a volatile currency
>>
Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:08:11 No.309615065 Anonymous (ID: s3+9FjrK ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:08:11 No.309615065 >>309614970it's stable through the SEC suing it and being delisted off major exchangesit's proven the most stable currency ever right now>>
Anonymous (ID: B9fN2yB3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:10:03 No.309615261 Anonymous (ID: B9fN2yB3 ) 02/24/21(Wed)21:10:03 No.309615261 >>309599955He's in contract being forced to sell.>>
In mid-January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved requests from two southern states (Georgia and Tennessee) asking for an emergency exemption that would allow them to aerosolize selected indoor spaces with an antiviral ''air treatment'' called Grignard Pure.
Grignard Pure is a nanoparticle-based product. Its active ingredient is a substance called triethylene glycol (TEG).
The EPA's approval slid in under Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which allows the agency to green-light pesticides for unregistered uses in defined geographic areas for up to a year during public health emergencies deemed ''urgent'' and ''non-routine.''
Grignard Pure contains TEG as a standalone chemical compound, but TEG is also a component of some polyethylene glycol (PEG) compounds (those of low molecular weight).
Since last summer, Children's Health Defense (CHD) has raised urgent questions about the presence of PEG in the nanoparticle-based mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use against COVID.
In a Dec. 14 press release and in letters to leaders at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the FDA and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), CHD warned about PEG's known association with adverse immune responses, including life-threatening anaphylaxis.
An estimated 72% of the general population has anti-PEG antibodies (including elevated levels in 8% of Americans) that can set those individuals up for adverse reactions when later exposed to PEG-containing substances.
Pharmaceutical and biotech companies, acutely aware of the correlation between anti-drug antibodies and increased adverse effects, acknowledge that the phenomenon poses a ''vexing'' and ''serious'' clinical problem '-- one that has come into sharp relief as recipients of COVID mRNA injections experience severe allergic reactions.
In light of the interrelationship between PEG and TEG, the planned diffusion of nanoparticle-based TEG in public spaces '-- including through building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems '-- introduces important new questions: Could individuals already sensitized to PEG go into anaphylaxis when they inhale TEG? Or conversely, might people who are exposed to aerosolized TEG then become sensitized to PEG '-- and run the risk of an adverse reaction when they subsequently encounter a PEG-containing mRNA injection or another ''PEGylated'' drug?
The newest kid on the block: 'atmospheric viricides'
The Grignard company describes itself as ''an innovative leader in specialty chemical solutions for every industry need,'' ranging from precision cleaners and wastewater treatments to ''atmospheric effects'' for the entertainment industry. In fact, the company's Grignard FX branch is North America's ''largest producer of theatrical fog and haze fluids'' for movies, stadium concerts and theater, as well as being the manufacturer of stage blood promoted as ''so realistic they will freak out.''
The company now intends to parlay its extensive theatrical experience into the realm of atmospheric viricides, promising ''a light atmospheric haze throughout an indoor space that inactivates enveloped viruses such as the novel coronavirus on non-porous hard surfaces and in the air.''
According to the EPA, the Grignard Pure product has the ability to ''permeate and kill. . . over 98 percent of COVID-19 [virus] particles.'' Dispersal of Grignard Pure is proposed ''via a building's HVAC system, or using conventional haze/fog machines typically deployed in entertainment venues and in fire training.''
In an example of the revolving regulator-industry door, a four-decade veteran of EPA pesticide regulation is now a leading consultant for Grignard, helping the company market the anti-COVID fluid as the solution to a ''critical challenge.''
Meanwhile, outgoing EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler touted Grignard Pure as a ''first-of-its kind'' tool to ''help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus,'' vowing in the agency's press release that ''There is no higher priority for EPA than protecting the health and safety of Americans.''
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Respiratory irritant
EPA's emergency go-ahead permits Georgia and Tennessee to diffuse Grignard Pure continuously in ''breakrooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, lobbies, elevators, eating areas and food preparation areas'' in government, health care and food processing facilities as well as intrastate transportation '-- anywhere ''where people are conducting activity deemed essential by the state.''
The EPA endorsed the product's emergency use in food preparation and eating areas despite warnings in the triethylene glycol safety data sheet not to store TEG ''near food, foodstuffs or potable water supplies.''
Did the EPA conduct an objective assessment of benefits versus risks? The agency's press release does not say, nor does it include any warnings other than a one-sentence statement that ''TEG may be an irritant for sensitive populations.'' (Canadian fog and smoke safety guidelines for the live performance industry, on the other hand, specify that high-risk individuals '-- such as children, pregnant women and people with asthma or serious illnesses '-- should avoid exposure).
But if the EPA is unconcerned about the known short-term effects of exposure to glycol-containing fluids (including symptoms that sound a lot like COVID) or the potential for longer-term harm, the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) is much more up front about the risks. Addressing glycol-reliant fog machines, the ACAAI states:
''In people with asthma and airways hyper-reactivity, the irritant effect of short-term exposure to water-based fog machines '-- particularly when the chemical glycol is used '-- could trigger acute asthma symptoms including cough, wheeze, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Even in a person without asthma, short term exposure to glycol-containing fog machines can be associated with headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and eye irritation. Prolonged exposure to this substance in a person with asthma could trigger even more severe respiratory difficulty and could cause bronchitic symptoms even in those without asthma. Long term exposure to smoke and fog can result in upper airway and voice symptoms as well, while extended (multi-year) exposure '... has been associated with both short-term and long-term respiratory health problems.''
Confusingly, the TEG safety data sheet warns that ''repeated excessive aerosol exposures may cause respiratory tract irritation and even death'' but reports ''no relevant information found'' pertaining to respiratory toxicity. This may be because most TEG toxicity studies have focused on oral or dermal exposures, rather than inhalation, and primarily have studied reproductive endpoints or carcinogenicity.
The EPA undoubtedly is aware that inhalation exposures can produce different results than oral or dermal routes of administration. A 2007 study of TEG toxicology '-- though premised on the now obsolete assumptions that ''aerosol exposure is not a usual exposure mode'' and that TEG exposure is ''mainly occupational'' '-- concluded that ''repeated exposures to a TEG aerosol may result in respiratory tract irritation, with cough, shortness of breath and tightness of the chest.''
Another study conducted in 2019 reported that rats exposed to an aerosol combination of TEG and a disinfectant (benzalkonium chloride) for two weeks exhibited severe respiratory symptoms as well as ''significant ulceration and degenerative necrosis '... in the nasal cavities.''
A mouse study found that mice exposed to ''respirable aerosols'' of TEG also manifested a number of ''nonspecific indications of toxicity,'' including irritation, fluid imbalance, liver dysfunction and decreased body weight, along with ''unexplained mortality'' in female mice two to three days after exposure to the highest concentration of TEG.
What about the nanoparticles?
In September 2020, Brazilian researchers published an extensive discussion of nanotechnology ''for COVID-19 virus management.'' Although eager to play up nanotechnology's current and potential anti-COVID applications '-- including in disinfectants, personal protective equipment, nano-based sensors, ''enhanced activity'' drugs and nano-based vaccines '-- the authors also acknowledged some ''bottlenecks,'' one of the major ones being to ensure nanomaterials' safe use!
A key observation by the Brazilian authors is that most studies only evaluate nanoparticle biocompatibility in vitro (that is, in a petri dish), rather than in vivo (in actual animals or humans). They state that without high-quality in-vivo studies, it is impossible to fully understand ''the toxicokinetic behaviour of the nanoparticles in the body, especially for long-term exposure.''
Elaborating, the Brazilian researchers said: ''Due to the multifaceted interactions between nanomaterials and biological systems (in vivo), it is very challenging to foresee the behaviour of these materials under physiological conditions,'' particularly given that ''[t]he fate and behaviour of nanomaterials in the body can '... change when they reach blood circulation''
These interactions '-- critical to the production of adverse events '-- are, as yet, poorly understood.
As far as scientists in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology are concerned, the sky's the limit for nanotech applications. However, these same experts also freely admit that nanoparticles have toxic effects that are ''a strong limiting factor'' hindering their wider use:
''The small size of NPs [nanoparticles] allows them '... to be carried by the bloodstream and lymph stream to different organs and tissues, including the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, bone marrow, and nervous system '... Experiments modeling the toxic effects of NPs on the body have shown that NPs cause thrombosis '... , inflammation of the upper and lower respiratory tracts, neurodegenerative disorders, stroke, myocardial infarction, and other disorders. Note that NPs may enter not only organs, tissues, and cells, but also. . . mitochondria and nuclei; this may drastically alter cell metabolism and cause DNA lesions, mutations, and cell death.''
Unanswered questions
TEG is not a new substance. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, for example, doctors working on infant hospital wards explored the use of triethylene glycol vapors as ''a method of disinfecting air in closed and heavily contaminated spaces.''
Reporting on one study's disappointing results, which deemed TEG ineffective in preventing airborne transmission, the clinicians concluded that glycol vaporization in public buildings was ''not yet ready for general use.''
Thanks to 21st-century developments in polymer chemistry and nanotechnology, TEG has now circled back around in the form of Grignard Pure '-- although the latter likely bears scant resemblance to the TEG vapors used in the 1950s.
Unfortunately for the Georgia and Tennessee residents who are about to be continuously exposed to Grignard Pure (with Nevada possibly being next in line due to heavy lobbying by Las Vegas entrepreneurs), neither Grignard nor the EPA are addressing the thorny safety issues of potential TEG-PEG cross-reactivity, toxic buildup of nanoparticles in the body or synergistic toxicity from TEG-nanoparticle interactions.
It is unclear whether the EPA provided an opportunity for public comment before rushing to approve Grignard Pure. Regardless, concerned citizens may wish to ask the agency some pointed questions about which safety data did '-- or did not '-- factor into its decision and how it plans to protect the health and safety of Americans.
UPDATED: This piece was updated to reflect that Grignard Pure has been approved for use in government buildings. The article previously said the product was approved for use in schools.
CDC Admits 98m in USA Were Given Cancer Virus Via The Polio shot
Posted on Feb 11th, 12:37 PM, , , User Post Count: 0
Feb 11th, 12:37 PM(That's half the population between 1955-1963 mentioned below)
The CDC has admitted that between 1955''1963 over 98 million Americans received one or more doses of a polio shot which was contaminated with a cancer-causing virus called Simian vacuolating virus 40 (SV40). The CDC quickly took down the page, along with Google, but the site was luckily cached and saved to symbolize this grand admission.CDC_PolioTo further confirm this unbelievable admission, Assistant Professor of Pathology at Loyola University in Chicago Dr. Michele Carbone has been able to independently verify the presence of the SV40 virus in tissue and bone samples from patients who died during that era. He found that 33% of the samples with osteosarcoma bone cancers, 40% of other bone cancers, and 60% of the mesothelioma's lung cancers all contained this obscure virus. This leaves the postulation that upwards of 10''30 million actually contracted and were adversely affected by this virus, to be deadly accurate.
DiscussionPosted on Feb 11th, 1:12 PM, , User Since 233 months ago, User Post Count: 12,136
Feb 11th, 1:12 PM233 monthsPosts12,136It's horrible for sure. But the way you wrote that makes it sound like over 98M were vaccinated with contaminated vaccine. What the CDC page actually said is that they estimate between 10 and 30 million received the contaminated vaccine. It also pointed out that there is no causative link to cancer, only that the virus has been found in a bunch of patients who had cancer.
Edit: Also, this article was apparently originally published in 2013. Definitely not new news.
This post was edited by AUismylife 13 days ago
Posted on Feb 11th, 1:56 PM, , User Since 70 months ago, User Post Count: 4,828
Feb 11th, 1:56 PM70 monthsPosts4,828It's also worth mentioning that all of the people who were involved in the process are now likely dead.
Posted on Feb 11th, 2:07 PM, , User Since 62 months ago, User Post Count: 3,707
Feb 11th, 2:07 PM62 monthsPosts3,707Posted on Feb 11th, 2:10 PM, , User Since 233 months ago, User Post Count: 16,990
Feb 11th, 2:10 PM233 monthsPosts16,990A lot of those shots were to kids who are still kicking I presume.
Posted on Feb 11th, 2:14 PM, , User Since 203 months ago, User Post Count: 10,612
Feb 11th, 2:14 PM203 monthsPosts10,612Dead cures polio everytime
Posted on Feb 11th, 2:57 PM, , User Since 230 months ago, User Post Count: 23,069
Feb 11th, 2:57 PM230 monthsPosts23,069I'm here and still kicking, although my kicks are not as high as they used to be.
Posted on Feb 11th, 2:57 PM, , User Since 172 months ago, User Post Count: 33,717
Feb 11th, 2:57 PM172 monthsPosts33,717I had the oral vaccine. It was given on a sugar cube.
Posted on Feb 11th, 3:05 PM, , User Since 70 months ago, User Post Count: 4,828
Feb 11th, 3:05 PM70 monthsPosts4,828I guess that I should have been more clear.
I was talking about the people who developed and approved the vaccine.
Posted on Feb 11th, 3:36 PM, , User Since 227 months ago, User Post Count: 97,553
Feb 11th, 3:36 PM227 monthsPosts97,553It says "Page last modified: October 22, 2007."
Posted on Feb 11th, 4:37 PM, , User Since 159 months ago, User Post Count: 9,284
Feb 11th, 4:37 PM159 monthsPosts9,284Posted on Feb 11th, 5:01 PM, , User Since 230 months ago, User Post Count: 79,738
Feb 11th, 5:01 PM230 monthsPosts79,738Had no idea we had so many Kennedy's who posted here until the vaccines became a topic.
Posted on Feb 11th, 5:44 PM, , User Since 227 months ago, User Post Count: 29,769
Feb 11th, 5:44 PM227 monthsPosts29,769awful, but has nothing to do with Covid vaccines.
Posted on Feb 11th, 6:20 PM, , User Since 233 months ago, User Post Count: 10,611
Feb 11th, 6:20 PM233 monthsPosts10,611UtahAU said... (original post)(That's half the population between 1955-1963 mentioned below)The CDC has admitted that between 1955''1963 over 98 million Americans received one ...
So, are you suggesting that people not take the Covid vaccine? Are you suggesting that they not take any vaccines? What does be careful out there mean? Careful of what?
Posted on Feb 11th, 6:32 PM, , User Since 230 months ago, User Post Count: 19,080
Feb 11th, 6:32 PM230 monthsPosts19,080Talk about fear-mongering.....wow
Posted on Feb 11th, 7:35 PM, , User Since 221 months ago, User Post Count: 1,807
Feb 11th, 7:35 PM221 monthsPosts1,807Same here. I think most of us took it on a sugar cube.
Posted on Feb 12th, 2:00 AM, , User Since 101 months ago, User Post Count: 23,855
Feb 12th, 2:00 AM101 monthsPosts23,855Polio was a terrible disease. Thankfully, due to vaccinations, it has been eradicated.
Posted on Feb 12th, 2:23 AM, , User Since 203 months ago, User Post Count: 10,612
Feb 12th, 2:23 AM203 monthsPosts10,612There are some children in Africa that would like a word with you
Posted on Feb 12th, 6:54 AM, , User Since 38 months ago, User Post Count: 12,882
Feb 12th, 6:54 AM38 monthsPosts12,882It might be a little more complicated than giving all the credit to the vaccine.
For example, did you know that between 1952 and 1953, the number of polio cases dropped by half, with no vaccine available until 1954?
Did you know that very few people exposed to polio actually got it? In fact, in both the original NFIP study and the Francis study, there were three groups studied: the group that got the vaccine, the control group that got the placebo, and the "no consent" group who got nothing. In both studies the rate of infection was significantly lower in the "no consent" group than it was in the control group, and the universal explanation for that phenomenon in both cases is that the "no consent" group was made up of mostly lower income students who lived in less hygienic conditions and had therefore built up greater natural immunity to polio by having been exposed to it.
Did you know that the NFIP study was neither randomized nor double blind? Therefore, the vaccinated people may have behaved differently in ways that would have made them less likely to develop the disease in the first place. There's no way to know. It wasn't a very good study, honestly.
Did you know that these vaccines could and did actually cause polio in some people?
Posted on Feb 12th, 8:05 AM, , User Since 220 months ago, User Post Count: 24,245
Feb 12th, 8:05 AM220 monthsPosts24,245Yeah, just keep trusting the cdc.
Posted on Feb 12th, 9:50 AM, , User Since 186 months ago, User Post Count: 26,481
Feb 12th, 9:50 AM186 monthsPosts26,481Probably because nobody cared until recently.
Posted on Feb 12th, 11:15 AM, , User Since 70 months ago, User Post Count: 278
Feb 12th, 11:15 AM70 monthsPosts278Source below. This is a death overestimation of over 1500+%, and Illegal at the state and federal level. The at-risk profile is significant for those; immunocompromised and/or 70+ in age. Ages 60-69 is also significantly higher than the typical annual unfluenza strain. Anyone else is statistically at no risk. All can choose to take the vaccine or decline. Especially for those who don't fall into these at-risk categories, you should determine individually how you should live your day-to-day lives without this illegal manipulation of data, and the subsequent absurdity of wrecking the US economy with closures and lockdowns. It seems fairly obvious to me why the reporting guidelines were changed, and are now being reverted but my opinion isn't important.
Posted on Feb 12th, 2:58 PM, , User Since 101 months ago, User Post Count: 23,855
Feb 12th, 2:58 PM101 monthsPosts23,855NahNahGoat said... (original post)It might be a little more complicated than giving all the credit to the vaccine.For example, did you know that between 1952 and 1953, the number ...
I am from near Warm Springs, Ga., which was home to one of the major polio treatment and rehabilitation centers in the country in the 40s and 50s. I know that, without the vaccine, millions of children would have been stricken with the disease and forever have had their lives altered. There is no real debate about that. You can't let outliers be the enemy of the good.
Posted on Feb 12th, 2:59 PM, , User Since 101 months ago, User Post Count: 23,855
Feb 12th, 2:59 PM101 monthsPosts23,855Posted on Feb 12th, 4:07 PM, , User Since 203 months ago, User Post Count: 10,612
Feb 12th, 4:07 PM203 monthsPosts10,612Pro tip for you.,..when you say "your point is" it should probably not be in reference to a statement that is blatantly obvious as to its point...it just makes you look..well...obtuse
Posted on Feb 12th, 6:46 PM, , User Since 101 months ago, User Post Count: 23,855
Feb 12th, 6:46 PM101 monthsPosts23,855runningsilent said... (original post)Pro tip for you.,..when you say "your point is" it should probably not be in reference to a statement that is blatantly obvious as t...
Pro tip in return....... you know full well what my original point was and the only person being obtuse is the one commenting as though that original point was without merit. The U.S. has been polio free since 1979. There are currently only 2 countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where polio transmission has been recorded in the past 24 months.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53887947
This post was edited by AU9377 12 days ago
New Mutant COVID Strain Discovered In Finland Which May Evade Tests | ZeroHedge
Hospital officials in Finland are grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases, as the spread of new and more contagious strains spread throughout the country - including one new variant which may not show up on tests, according to the Helsinki Times.
According to Veli-Matti Ulander, the chief administrator for the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), the number of COVID-19 patients has nearly doubled in one week - forcing the transfer of patients to other parts oft he country, as an "attempt to try to spread out the burden placed by the coronavirus on HUS," Ulander told Finnish media. Chief HUS physician Asko J¤rvinen added that pressure to transfer patients comes primarily from staffing shortages.
The new strain, discovered by the Helsinki-based Vita Laboratories, is unlikely to have emerged in Finland given the country's low rate of infection, according to the Evening Standard, however it is unclear whether it's any more infectious - or deadly - than other strains currently in circulation.
"Vita Laboratoriot Oy and the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Helsinki have detected a previously unknown variant of the coronavirus in a sample from southern Finland," said the lab, which named the new strain Fin-769H. "Mutations in this variant make it difficult to detect in at least one of the WHO-recommended PCR tests. This discovery could have a significant impact on determining the spread of the disease."
Since the mutant strain was only discovered last week, it's unclear what impact it's having on the country's outbreak, though the timing is certainly curious.
"The variant was discovered in a patient last week, so details about the infectivity and potential resistance of this strain to vaccines are not yet known," said Taru Meri, a researcher at Vita Laboratories.
Finland has bucked the trend of falling COVID cases globally. Instead, the country has seen daily numbers remain steady since the start of the new year.
As of Thursday, 450 new cases of various COVID-19 mutations have been reported in Finland, according to THL infectious disease control head Taneli Puumalainen. Of these, nearly all were of the British variant, 22 South African and one of the Brazilian strain.
That said, virology professor at the University of Turku explained the evidence of the new strain - despite its apparent ability to evade certain PCR tests - shouldn't prompt panic.
"I would not be hugely worried yet because we do not have clear information that this new strain would be more easily transmitted or that it would affect the immune protection brought about by already having had the virus or having received a vaccination," said Julkunen. Meanwhile, Petri Auvinen, research director of the University of Helsinki's Institute of Biotechnology, said the discovery of new coronavirus variants was inevitable.
Finland has had 51,595 cases and 723 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic out of a population of 5.5 million.
Fry's Electronics shuts down all stores, including Austin
Fry's Electronics, the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, is closing for good. (File photo: CBS Austin)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) '--Fry's Electronics, the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, is closing for good.
The company, perhaps even more well known for outlandish themes at some of its stores, from Aztec to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,'' said Wednesday in an online posting that the COVID-19 pandemic had made it impossible to continue.
Fans immediately took to Twitter to post images and memories (good and bad).
The chain was concentrated on the West Coast, but had 31 stores in nine states, including a location at off Mopac and Parmer in North Austin.
The pandemic has done heavy damage to retailers, but Fry's was already getting hammered by online competition and a battle between heavy-hitters Best Buy and Amazon.com.
Fry's Electronics Inc. said its operations have ceased and the wind-down of locations will begin immediately. Customers with electronics being repaired in-store store are being asked to pick them up.
The chain's online presence appears largely to have been shut down.
New Poll Shatters the Left's QAnon Narrative: Only 4% of Trump Supporters Believe It
In the last few years, establishment media outlets have directed an abundance of resources toward covering the QAnon conspiracy theory.
In general, QAnon supporters are a right-wing fringe who believe a secret cabal of international sex traffickers to be conspiring alongside members of the American government's deep state. They also view former President Donald Trump as a sort of messianic figure, chosen by God to stop the supposed syndicate.
If many of the most prominent establishment media outlets are to be believed, followers of the QAnon conspiracy pose an existential threat to American democracy and are especially pervasive among Trump's base.
However, a new survey shows the prevalence of such ideas has been seriously exaggerated.
According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll, only 4 percent of Trump voters have a favorable view of QAnon.
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The nationwide survey was conducted Feb. 15-20 through phone interviews with American citizens who voted for Trump in the 2020 election.
The final results compiled responses from 1,000 interviewees with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Respondents were asked whether their opinion of QAnon was ''generally favorable or generally unfavorable.''
In addition to the aforementioned 4 percent, 31.4 percent found the movement ''unfavorable,'' 43.3 percent said they had ''never heard'' of QAnon, and 21.3 percent were undecided.
These findings stand in stark contrast to the fearful rhetoric of various establishment media outlets about the conspiracy theory movement.
For example, in September 2020, ABC News claimed QAnon ''had arrived in the mainstream.''
Similar sentiments were voiced in articles for The New Yorker, BBC News, NBC News and the Los Angeles Times.
More recently, two Feb. 4 stories from The New York Times and NPR claimed QAnon ''was once a fringe phenomenon'' that has since ''gone mainstream'' and that ''last year, QAnon spread into the mainstream.''
If the USA Today/Suffolk University poll is to be believed, these statements are wild exaggerations.
Has the establishment media exaggerated the reach of QAnon?
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RELATED: Panicked from Losing Latinos to Conservatism in 2020, Left Launches $22M Media Campaign
Many critics have pointed out the disparate coverage of QAnon in the establishment media compared with ideas many consider to be equally fallible '-- such as the theory of systemic racism.
An idea rooted in the theoretical framework of critical race theory, systemic racism propounds that all performance gaps between racial groups must be due to gross racial discrimination.
While the QAnon theory lives on the fringes of the political right, the theory of systemic racism has been a central piece of the Democratic Party's platform, with President Joe Biden crafting much of his ''equity'' agenda based on its presuppositions.
Political scientist Wilfred Reilly explained why he saw the ''conspiracy theory'' of systemic racism as particularly problematic.
''If hard data shows that Asians, Jews, Nigerians, E. Indians, etc. out-earn whites '-- and it does '-- this at very least strongly indicates that potent hidden racism is not the primary problem for Black Americans today,'' Reilly told The Western Journal via email.
Furthermore, in an article for Spiked, Reilly pointed out that while the fringes of the right and left have their fair share of conspiracy theories '-- including QAnon '-- no such idea has more mainstream leverage than that of systemic racism.
''Almost forgotten amid the justified mockery of comments like these, however, has been the extraordinarily extensive prevalence of a different sort of conspiracy theory,'' he wrote.
''The narrative behind movements like Black Lives Matter contends that hundreds '-- if not thousands '-- of black Americans are murdered by the state on an annual basis, that harassment and abuse of blacks by whites is constant, and that virtually all gaps in performance between racial groups must reflect hidden racism.
''These claims are almost universally false. But they have been accepted as conventional wisdom.''
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Biden Opens Child-Only Camp for Illegals, Proves 'Kids in Cages' Was Just a Campaign Lie
It's always telling when The Washington Post is running interference for any Democrat, especially Joe Biden.
You can grok a lot of things from the headline alone, for instance. This one was pretty bad: ''No, Biden's new border move isn't like Trump's 'kids in cages.'''
The fact that The Post even has to tell anyone this '-- much less its own readers, who turn to the paper as much for confirmation bias as they do for information '-- is a sign things don't look good.
The kerfuffle involves a recently re-opened detention center in Carrizo Springs, Texas, for unaccompanied minors arriving illegally at the border. The camp was previously operated for only a month in 2019 before it was shut down due to a dropoff in illegal immigration, Vice News reported at the time.
There's been a recent surge due to the Biden administration's immigration policies and the facility needed to be pressed back into action.
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Activists aren't entirely happy.
In The Post's first story on the matter, filed on Monday, ''multiculturalism reporter'' Sylvia Foster-Frau noted ''immigration lawyers and advocates question why the Biden administration would choose to reopen a Trump-era facility that was the source of protests and controversy.'' It's the first facility for illegal immigrants opened under President Joe Biden.
''It's unnecessary, it's costly, and it goes absolutely against everything Biden promised he was going to do,'' San Antonio-based immigration lawyer Linda Brandmiller told The Post.
''It's a step backward, is what it is. It's a huge step backward.''
I'm not sure what Brandmiller or other activists were expecting, but I guess it wasn't this:
These are pictures from the Carrizo Springs facility. Yes, it was widely considered one of the best of the existing detention facilities. But it's still a jail at the end of the day, & keeping children there for any extended period is a crime. Things don't have to be like this. https://t.co/lggYYGkGt4 pic.twitter.com/qnuP2CoLTq
'-- Sturgeon's Law (@Sturgeons_Law) February 23, 2021
I'm not going to argue semantics. It's a detention center. Anything that is designed as such can be argued to be a prison. These are images of the Carrizo Springs detention center that we're talking about. This is why I said your solution is functionally the same pic.twitter.com/7u3pUGvzvn
'-- Eldritch (@EldritchProctor) February 23, 2021
Amnesty International was similarly appalled.
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''A government agency is not a parent for children. The reality is that children who are alone need to be accommodated for their safety while the government identifies and reunites them with appropriate sponsors. We don't want to endanger children and we don't want them held in detention or in facilities that don't meet their best interests,'' Denise Bell, researcher for refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, said in a news release.
''Kids need a place to call home '-- that's why they should be with their families, friends, and community members; this in the child's best interests. Children must only be held in Border Patrol stations for the bare minimum time, and certainly not for more than 72 hours, which are wholly inappropriate spaces for them, and they must continue to have access to safety in the United States.''
This being Amnesty International, they're not going to provide specifics on how to make this happen. That's someone else's job, after all.
Do you think the border immigration crisis is going to get worse under Biden?
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The Carrizo Springs center is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, not by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is considered a temporary influx center, not a long-term detention facility. The goal is to unite these children with sponsors already in the United States, but that takes time to clear '-- certainly more than 72 hours.
Mark Weber, a spokesman for HHS, said Carrizo Springs would ''meet or exceed'' Texas licensing standards, according to The Post, which led to this activist rejoinder on Twitter:
Question for @HHSGov if Carrizo Springs child detention facility would ''meet or exceed'' state standards, why not prove it and seek TX state child welfare approval?
Asking for thousands of children.
impt article by @SilviaElenaFF, thread by @mollymotoole https://t.co/18z5DesdMt
'-- Kathryn Hampton (@Kathryn_Opal) February 23, 2021
The goal is to have the children remain at the center for roughly 30 days, although they've already been quarantined at other facilities. The Department of Health and Human Services said the minors at Carrizo would end up being in the system for 42 days on average.
The point isn't whether this constitutes ''kids in cages.'' For the most part, what opponents of the Trump administration's immigration policy didn't get '-- or couldn't acknowledge '-- is that ''kids in cages'' didn't actually mean ''kids in cages,'' either. Nor did they get, or couldn't acknowledge, that the infamous photos showing ''kids in cages'' were taken during the Obama administration. (''Who built the cages, Joe?'' Trump famously asked during one of the presidential debates.)
The Trump administration merely stopped the ''catch-and-release'' policy whereby illegal immigrant individuals or families were released pending adjudication of their case. However, because of the so-called Flores settlement in the 1990s, children couldn't be held for more than 20 days. There were also cases involving unaccompanied minors '-- up to a quarter of whom don't show up for court hearings if released to relatives or sponsors, according to the Center on Immigration Studies.
The nascent Biden administration has gone back to ''catch-and-release,'' but the lax immigration policies of the new administration have seen a surge of illegal immigration at the southern border, particularly among unaccompanied minors.
''The number of unaccompanied minors referred to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, the agency tasked with caring for them once they cross the border, climbed from 1,530 in October to 3,364 in December '' a 120% jump, according to agency statistics released this week. January's numbers were not yet available,'' USA Today reported earlier this month.
''The agency usually has 13,764 beds for the minors but only 7,971 are currently available because of COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. Of those, around 5,200 are occupied, leaving 2,700 open beds, according to the resettlement agency.''
These were facts that could have been either predicted before or read about as they happened. Biden himself promised to dismantle Trump's hard-line policies at the border during the campaign on day one, but later conceded he'd need ''probably the next six months'' to get the job done, according to The New York Times.
The truth is, however, that without an open-borders policy '-- particularly in the middle of a pandemic '-- there was no way for him to not break this promise.
If immigration activists think this is bad, wait to see what the demands of the next four years will bring. It'll be worse.
There's one sure-fire way to avoid all of this, of course, which is rigorous border security and a fair, orderly, humane way in which individuals can apply for residency or asylum. That way, you don't have unaccompanied minors risking a dangerous journey to cross into the United States illegally '-- or parents who decide to bring children along on that trek because the presence of kids creates a perverse incentive that would facilitate their release.
The likelihood of something that sensible happening is virtually nil during the next four years. Thus, expect to see a lot more articles about how this really, really, really isn't like Trump's ''kids in cages.'' They swear.
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
FAA Orders Inspections Of Boeing 777 Engines As Metal Fatigue Concerns Mount | ZeroHedge
Metal fatigue in the jet engine fan blades played an essential role in the Boeing 777-200's engine explosion over Denver Saturday, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt. Now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is ordering immediate inspections of Boeing 777 planes with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines before further flights, according to Reuters.
In a virtual news conference on Monday night, Sumwalt told reporters that United Flight 328 experienced engine issues that resulted in pieces of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine raining down on Denver suburbs.
Sumwalt said passengers heard a loud bang, and the 777 started vibrating after takeoff from Denver International Airport. The incident occurred minutes into the flight at an altitude of about 12,000 feet.
A preliminary examination of the engine blade fragments suggests a crack expanded over time prompted the failure, he said.
FAA records show the Boeing 777-200 was more than two decades old. Sumwalt said investigators would try to determine how long the blades had suffered fatigue.
"Our mission is to understand not only what happened but why it happened so that we can keep it from happening again," he added.
Photos, presumably taken by the FAA and NTSB officials, show engine fragments struck the plane's belly. Sumwalt said the plane's underbody was damaged but did not cause structural harm.
The Denver incident followed a similar engine failure on Dec. 4 when a Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. 777-200 had taken off from Okinawa on a flight to Tokyo.
Scott Hamilton of aviation news site Leeham News suggested to CBS News that a "common theme" might be developing between both of these incidents.
Boeing has since grounded 177 of the 777s using Pratt & Whitney engines worldwide.
The FAA has ordered inspections of Boeing 777 planes with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines before further flights. Out of the 1,600 777s delivered worldwide, about 10% are using the engines. Many of the planes are based in the US, South Korea, and Japan.
The FAA wants inspectors to use thermal acoustic image inspection devices to examine large titanium fan blades on each engine.
"Based on the initial results as we receive them, as well as other data gained from the ongoing investigation, the FAA may revise this directive to set a new interval for this inspection or subsequent ones," the FAA said.
There was no timeframe on how long the inspections would take.
Another incident on Saturday involving a Boeing 747-400 freighter suffered an engine failure after taking off from Maastricht Airport, a regional airport in Beek in Limburg, Netherland. The incident's cause has yet to be determined, but engine parts rained down on a local town very similar to the last two incidents.
Boeing can barely escape problems with its commercial jets following the 737 Max debacle.
Brexit Voters Less Likely to Take COVID-19 Jabs, Oxford University Study Reveals
In 2016, Brits had to mark their Brexit referendum bulletins with an answer. Fast forward 4 years and their decision appears to be "a strong predictor" of their attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination.
A survey published on 24 February by the University of Oxford suggests there is a strong relationship between political attitudes and the intention to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. A study featuring the data showed that voters who in 2016 opted for the UK to leave the European Union were less eager to take the vaccine against coronavirus.
At the same time, those who voted Remain were 7% more likely willing to take the jab.
Supporters of the Reform Party, led by staunch Brexiteer Nigel Farage, are the most hesitant, with just over 50% saying they will take the vaccine, compared to 100% of Scottish National Party voters.
(C) AP Photo / Jean Francois Badias
In this Wednesday, March 13, 2019 file photo, former U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) leader and member of the European Parliament Nigel Farage holds a U.K. flag during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France.
Liberal voters were most positively inclined towards getting vaccinated.
''People have become massively more supportive of taking the vaccine overall but important gaps remain especially among groups whose trust in politicians is typically lower: non-voters, younger citizens, and poorer households,'' Professor Ben Ansell, who led the study, has argued.Researchers have also found that people's income level had an impact on the willingness to take the Covid-19 jab.
''All income groups show more than 80% willingness to take the vaccine, but the wealthiest groups now show more than 90% acceptance. Going against the broad trend towards vaccine uptake, this gap has widened somewhat since October from 13% to 15%,'' the survey revealed.Another factor, determining the decision for or against the vaccine, was said to be the respondents' age.
All age groups over 50 now record more than 90% acceptance, with adults showing more than 80% acceptance. The study revealed that both men and women have become more supportive of a vaccine, with women's willingness to have a jab increasing from 73.6% to nearly 88% and men's acceptance rising from 82% to nearly 90%.
Professor Ansell of Comparative Democratic Institutions at the Department of Politics and International Relations said the insights provided by the study ''will be of immediate importance to policymakers'', given that the government's lockdown exit strategy, announced by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 22 February, rests on the successful vaccine roll out.
''This multi-wave study gives us a rare glimpse of whose opinions have shifted and why. People have become massively more supportive of taking the vaccine overall but important gaps remain especially among groups whose trust in politicians is typically lower: non-voters, younger citizens, and poorer households,'' Professor Ansell said.Around 1,200 respondents were surveyed for the study in early October 2020 and again in the first week of February 2021.
Supply chain hack took a thousand engineers to pull off, tech exec tells Congress
By Justin KatzFeb 23, 2021Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, told a panel of senators on Tuesday that his company estimates the cybersecurity breach of nine federal agencies and 100 private companies likely took "at least a thousand" skilled and capable people to pull off.
"At Microsoft as we worked with customers that had been impacted by this, we stepped back and just analyzed all of the engineering steps that we had seen and we asked ourselves how many engineers do we believed had worked on this collective effort and the answer we came to was at least a thousand,'' Smith told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "I should say at least a thousand very skilled, capable engineers. So we haven't seen this kind of sophistication matched with this kind of scale," he added.
The scope and scale Smith described is keeping with the attribution being made by public sector and private sector officials that the hack, which leveraged flaws in IT management software from SolarWinds and products from other vendors to inject malware into computer networks, was perpetrated by Russia.
"We went through all the forensics. It is not very consistent with cyber espionage from China, North Korea or Iran, and is most consistent with cyber espionage and behaviors we've seen out of Russia," Kevin Mandia, CEO of FireEye, said at the Feb. 23 hearing.
George Kurtz, president and CEO of Crowdstrike, added that while his company could not corroborate an attribution to Russia, he has not seen evidence to contradict it.
Mandia, Smith, Kurtz and Sudhakar Ramakrishna, CEO of SolarWinds, testified today to the panel on intelligence about the impacts of the hack of nine federal agencies and 100 private companies.
The committee's chairman, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), said the panel invited an official from Amazon Web Services to testify but the company declined.
The White House has continued to say the campaign is "likely Russian in origin," but is waiting to complete a formal investigation before using more specific language. FireEye, which is credited with discovering the initial breach, has been more cautious, saying that the hack was likely the work of a state or state-sponsored actor.
Gregory Touhill, the federal government's first chief information security officer and a retired Air Force brigadier general, told FCW in January that formal attribution requires a level of proof that can stand up in court.
"When it comes to attribution, what the intelligence and law enforcement community has to do is '...literally trace it all the way back to the root," he said. Public and private investigators have to gather evidence that "will hold up in court. That's the realm that [FireEye] and others are dealing with. Those who don't have to prove it in court can say whatever they want."
In addition to the issue of attribution, multiple senators quizzed the technology executives about stepping up requirements for breach reporting and whether companies would need liability protections to take on that obligation.
"The time has come to go in that direction," Smith said in response to a question from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). "We should notify a part of the U.S. government that would be responsible for aggregating threat intelligence and making sure it is put to good use."
Mandia agreed with Smith's comments and added that the information shared would need to be confidential because of how quickly circumstances change in the aftermath of an attack.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the White House is planning to sanction Russia in response for the hack, among other things. The Post's reporting also added NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration as part of the list of agencies compromised.
Ramakrishna said Monday during an event hosted by a Washington think tank that he feels his company has an "obligation" to speak publicly about the breach because "this is not a one company issue."
He and other technology executives will speak to House lawmakers later this week about the effects the breach has had on the public and private sector.
Both Ramakrishna and Mandia said this week that in addition to adding malicious code to the SolarWinds Orion IT management software, the hacking campaign also inserted innocuous code into Orion in October 2019 to test whether their method of injecting code worked without attracting attention.
About the Author
Justin Katz covers cybersecurity for FCW. Previously he covered the Navy and Marine Corps for Inside Defense, focusing on weapons, vehicle acquisition and congressional oversight of the Pentagon. Prior to reporting for Inside Defense, Katz covered community news in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas. Connect with him on Twitter at @JustinSKatz.
Comment
Who cares if you wear a hoodie or a suit? It's the mission that matters most Responding to Steve Kelman's recent blog post, Alan Thomas shares the inside story on 18F's evolution.
Cybersecurity
Does Einstein need a post-SolarWinds makeover? A marquee program designed to protect the government against cybersecurity threats is facing new scrutiny in the wake of Solar Winds Orion breach, but analysts say the program was unlikely to have ever stopped the hacking campaign.
Ik ben 70 jaar of ouder en wil per brief stemmen | Verkiezingen | Rijksoverheid.nl
VOICE-OVER: Op 17 maart is de Tweede Kamerverkiezing.Ook in deze coronatijd zorgen we ervoor dat iedereen kan stemmen.
(Een oudere man zet koffie.)
Want...-Elke stem telt.Precies. Bent u zeventig jaar of ouder en wilt of kunt u niet zelf naar het stemlokaal dan kunt u uw stem deze keer ook per brief uitbrengen.O, ok(C).In deze video ziet u hoe u dat kunt doen.
RUSTIGE MUZIEK
(Op een witte achtergrond verschijnt de beeldtekst: Briefstemmen. Een envelop valt op een mat.)
Tussen 10 februari en 3 maart ontvangt u uw stempas voor de Tweede Kamerverkiezing.
(De oudere man opent de envelop.)
Open de envelop.Lees de informatie op de stempas, en bewaar uw stempas goed.
(Hij leest de stempas.)
Bijvoorbeeld op een plek waar u vaker belangrijke documenten bewaart.Momentje.
(Hij staat op van z'n tafel en loopt weg.)
Tussen 26 februari en 11 maart ontvangt u een tweede envelop.Hierin zitten vier documenten.
DE RUSTIGE MUZIEK SPEELT VERDER
(De tweede envelop valt op de mat. De oudere man, die nu andere kleding aanheeft, komt met de vier documenten weer aan de tafel zitten.)
Het briefstembiljet, een envelop voor het briefstembiljet een retourenvelop en een formulier met stapsgewijze uitleg hoe u per brief kunt stemmen.
(De man legt de documenten voor zich neer.)
U begint met invullen van het briefstembiljet.
(De man vouwt het biljet open.)
Maak hierop uw keuze.Met rood, neem ik aan?-Nee, hoor, dit mag met elke kleur.
(De man glimlacht.)
Dat hoeft dus niet per se met rood.Gebruikt u een pen, let er dan op dat de inkt droog is voordat u het stembiljet dichtvouwt. Zo voorkomt u vlekken.Doe daarna alleen het briefstembiljet in de envelop met de tekst: briefstembiljet.En plak deze dicht.
(De man doet dat.)
(Ook dat doet de man.)
Pak nu uw stempas erbij, die u eerder ontving.Ok(C).
DE RUSTIGE MUZIEK SPEELT VERDER
(De man gaat weg en komt even later terug met z'n stempas.)
En zet uw handtekening op de stempas.
DE RUSTIGE MUZIEK SPEELT VERDER
(Met een pen ondertekent de man z'n stempas.)
Pak dan de retourenvelop.Stop daar de stempas in, samen met de dichtgeplakte stembiljetenvelop.Plak de retourenvelop dicht. Een postzegel is niet nodig.U bent nu klaar om uw briefstem te versturen.
(De man knikt.)
Dat kunt u op twee manieren doen.U kunt uw briefstem per post versturen of deze afgeven bij een afgiftepunt voor briefstemmen in uw gemeente.Kijk op de website van uw gemeente of vraag uw gemeente waar de afgiftepunten voor briefstemmen zijn.
(Na een blik op z'n tablet komt de man naar buiten.)
Als u uw briefstem per post verstuurt, moet u dit uiterlijk doen op 12 maart voor vijf uur 's middags.
(De man loopt achter een brievenbus langs.)
Geeft u uw briefstem af bij een afgiftepunt dan kunt u dat doen uiterlijk 17 maart voor negen uur 's avonds.MAN: Ik kom de envelop inleveren. Alsjeblieft.VROUW: Dank u wel.
(De medewerkster van de verkiezingsbalie zet er een stempel op.)
VOICE-OVER: Heeft u nog vragen over stemmen per brief kijk dan op www.elkestemtelt.nl of bel met het informatienummer 0800-1351.Dit nummer is zeven dagen per week bereikbaar van acht uur 's ochtends tot acht uur 's avonds.
(Het Nederlandse wapenschild met daarnaast: Rijksoverheid. Het beeld wordt donkerblauw met wit. Beeldtekst: Meer weten? Kijk op www.elkestemtelt.nl.)
DE RUSTIGE MUZIEK SPEELT VERDER TOT HET EIND VAN DE VIDEO
Jay Caruso on Twitter: "A remarkable paragraph in this op-ed: Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news: The pandemic is coming to an end, writes @MartyMakary https://t.co/PwVzyzPPqy via @WSJ https
Jay Caruso : A remarkable paragraph in this op-ed:Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the pub'... https://t.co/VdwmIK5aEG
Mon Feb 22 01:05:52 +0000 2021
R(C)mi Hebert : @JayCaruso @megynkelly @MartyMakary @WSJ https://t.co/osxB98mK0yin Israel where there is about 30 per cent of the'... https://t.co/ArkvEyJCzq
Tue Feb 23 21:34:24 +0000 2021
Cekis : @JayCaruso @MartyMakary @WSJ Oh, you mean like what Fauci did in December?? You might want to start listening to hi'... https://t.co/VwVbabWcz7
Tue Feb 23 21:32:43 +0000 2021
Biden says administration will 'probably' masks will be sent directly to Americans - CNNPolitics
(CNN)President Joe Biden said Tuesday the White House will "probably" move to send face masks directly to Americans as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. It's a plan originally proposed by health officials during the Trump administration but was blocked by the former President.
"We're probably going to be sending out an awful lot of masks around the country very shortly, millions of them," Biden said during a roundtable event with Black frontline workers. He said that the issue of masks was turned into a political issue, which cost "an awful lot of lives."
"We could have saved literally an awful lot of lives if people had listened. We turned wearing masks into a political statement. If you were for this thing, you wore it, if we were for somebody else, you didn't wear it, when in fact, it's just plain basic science," Biden said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request for additional details.
Studies have shown, and Dr. Anthony Fauci has pointed out many times, masks are the single most effective way to protect yourself and others from getting infected with the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, the disease.
"Masks are a two-way street. Masks protect you and me" by preventing the spread of droplets and aerosol that may contain the virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in its mask guidance.
Biden has called on everyone to wear a mask when out in public, and he has made it mandatory on federal property. Masks are required on public transportation and in airports and transit stations.
Most states and some local governments have some type of mask mandate in place, and most retailers require shoppers to wear them in their stores.
Earlier this month, White House chief of staff Ron Klain said that the Biden administration is hoping to resurrect a proposal from the Trump administration to send masks directly to Americans.
"This was an idea that really came up last year in the Trump administration -- the public health agencies recommended it, President Trump vetoed it for some reason," Klain told NBC's Lester Holt on February 4. "We want to get this back on track. I hope in the next few days, or next week, we may be able to announce some progress on this."
The US Postal Service had planned to distribute 650 million face coverings for the Trump administration last April, according to internal documents
reviewed by CNN in September.
A senior administration official told
The Washington Post at the time that the plan was scrapped by the White House as some advisers were worried that it could create "concern or panic."
Not all masks are created equal, and its not clear what kind of masks would be sent. N95 masks are the gold standard of masks because they block 95% of large and small particles using an electrostatic filter.
Cloth masks have the advantage of being washable and reusable -- the more layers, the better.
"If you're wearing a cloth mask, it should be a multi-layered mask so that you have several layers of potential protection for a single mask," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky recently told CNN's Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta.
The CDC has recently updated its guidance to suggest wearing a cloth mask over a disposable mask, such as one of those blue surgical masks, as a way to add more protection. New data from the CDC shows that layering a cloth mask over a disposable medical mask can block 92.5% of potentially infectious particles from escaping by creating a tighter fit and eliminating leakage.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases, has recently sported two masks, one on top of the other.
