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- Viscount of Hamilton and The Two Pennies
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- Gabe & Ann Grider -> David Conarroe
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- Title Changes
- Sir Amen Fistbump -> Viscount of Montgomery County, Texas
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- End of Show Mixes: Sir Dewcifer - Chris Wilson - Neal Jones - Prof JJ
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- Mark van Dijk - Systems Master
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- Mandates & Boosters
- Why Kids are mandated BOTG
- I have been in the vaccine-injury movement for over a decade and wanted to point out some key pieces of info that people may be missing. This whole "emergency" ends when the "vaccine" is placed on the children's schedule because the liability protection is shifted to the NVICP (National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program) from the PREP act. We have been placed in the impossible quandary of either NOT having this "emergency" end or sacrificing our children to end it. Steve Kirsch interviewed Alix Mayer, President of Children’s Health Defense, California, and she did an excellent job of explaining why the drug companies are targeting kids: https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/alix-mayer-interview-part-2-why-you
- Going Direct Reset
- U.S. President Richard Nixon imposed price controls on August 15, 1971.[3] This was a move widely applauded by the public[3] and a number of Keynesian economists.[11] The same day, Nixon also suspended the convertibility of the dollar into gold, which was the beginning of the end of the Bretton Woods system of international currency management established after World War II.[3]
- Since we don't have gold, perhaps this time it will be cash and reatil banking?
- BLMLGBBTQQIAAPK+ Noodle Boy
- STORIES
- COVID Cases In Indonesia Plummet Thanks To Ivermectin, Not The Vaccines : World : Christianity Daily
- The Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) granted Emergency Use Authorization to the affordable drug ivermectin as a therapeutic drug to alleviate symptoms among those who got infected with COVID back in July 15. At the time, Indonesia was experiencing its "worst case scenario" of the global pandemic, in which officials described a huge spike in new COVID cases, resulting in medical authorities becoming desperate to contain the spread.
- Indonesia struggled to stop the spread of COVID and prevent more deaths in July when it experienced a spike. One of the factors that drove the spread was its large population, as Indonesia ranks as the world's fourth most populous country with more than 227 people. To address the massive spike in cases, Indonesian health experts authorized the user of ivermectin as a COVID treatment. Since then, the number of new COVID cases in Indonesia saw a dramatic drop, The G ateway Pundit reported.
- On July 25, the Indonesian government started to distribute free ivermectin and vitamins to self-isolating COVID patients in high-risk areas just as the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus tore through the country. Each package from the government contained seven days' worth of ivermectin and vitamins and was given to patients who were asymptomatic and who had mild to moderate symptoms, such as fever and dry cough, the Strait Times reported.
- Because of the surge in COVID cases, health facilities were packed and those who self-medicated at home caused a spike in the cost of medicines. The health ministry quickly moved to control the prices of COVID related drugs such as favipiravir, remdesivir and ivermectin.
- But the dramatic drop in new COVID cases has also been seen in other countries where ivermectin was accepted as a treatment for the coronavirus, such as India and Namibia. This is in contrast to countries with high vaccination rates such as Singapore, Ireland, the U.K., and Israel that have high vaccination rates but major COVID outbreaks.
- NOQ Report revealed that Ireland, which has 90.11% of their population over the age of 12 vaccinated at least once for the COVID shot, is seeing a major spike in COVID cases. Ireland, which has 88.63% of its population fully vaccinated, now has "highest number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 since March, despite over 91% of the population over-12 being vaccinated - the highest jab rate in the EU," Gript.ie reported. The country now has 513 COVID cases, a number not seen since the third wave last winter. 101 are currently in the ICU, up from 74 from last week.
- New research reported on by Bloomberg revealed that individuals who are vaccinated against COVID are "just as likely to spread the delta variant of the virus to contacts in their household as those who haven't had shots." The study was conducted on 621 test subjects in the U.K. who had mild COVID over the span of a year.
- Researchers found that the patients' peak viral load was "similar regardless of vaccination status," the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal. The study also showed that 25% of vaccinated household contacts still got infected with COVID from an index case, while 38% of those who hadn't been vaccinated also got infected.
- "Our findings show that vaccination alone is not enough to prevent people from being infected with the delta variant and spreading it in household settings," Ajit Lalvani, a professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London who co-authored the study, remarked.
- FBI And Other Agencies Paid Informants $548 Million In Recent Years With Many Committing Authorized Crimes
- (Photo by (C) Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
- Corbis via Getty ImagesFederal agencies paid out at least $548 million to informants working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), in recent years, according to government audits.
- A few informants became millionaires, with some Amtrak and ''parcel'' delivery workers making nearly $1 million or more. Many informants were authorized to commit ''crimes'' with the permission of their federal handlers. In a four-year period, there were 22,800 crime authorizations (2011-2014). The FBI paid approximately $294 million (FY2012-2018), the DEA paid at least $237 million (FY2011-2015), and ATF paid approximately $17.2 million total (FY2012-2015) to informants. Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com compiled this information by reviewing federal reports. While some of the data is several-years old; it's apparently the most recent available.
- The FBI spent an average of $42 million a year on confidential human sources between fiscal years 2012 and 2018. ''Long term'' informants comprised 20 percent of its intelligence relationships (source: DOJ IG 2019 report).
- The ATF employed 1,855 informants who were paid $4.3 million annually (FY2012-2015). Therefore, on average, each informant made $2,318 for the year. (source: DOJ IG report 2017).
- DEA Employed 18,000 Informants, Some Earning Up To $1 Million
- Each year, thousands of confidential human sources are on the payroll.
- ''One federal agency, the DEA, had over 18,000 active confidential sources assigned to its domestic offices, with over 9,000 of those sources receiving approximately $237 million in payments for information or services they provided to the DEA'' (between Oct. 1, 2010 and Sept. 30, 2015, source: 2016 DOJ IG report).
- High-earning informants included an ''airline employee who received more than $600,000 in less than four-years, and a parcel employee who received over $1 million in five-years.'' The Inspector General at Justice who scrutinized DEA informants reported the findings.
- ''During this audit, we found that, between FYs 2011 and 2015, the DEA actually used at least 33 Amtrak employees and eight TSA employees as sources, paying the Amtrak employees over $1.5 million and the TSA employees over $94,000.''
- One Amtrak employee was paid $962,615 between 2010 and 2015 to be a confidential source, which the IG called ''a substantial waste of government funds.'' The information provided ''could have been obtained by DEA at no cost through a joint task force with the Amtrak Police.''
- While certain informants were becoming federally-minted millionaires, the average DEA informant made much less '' approximately $26,333 over a recent five-year period.
- And it appears there may be corruption, in addition to crime, in the system. In 2017, during a Congressional Oversight Committee hearing on confidential informants, then-Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) noted:
- ''a court released the testimony of one confidential informant in Atlanta who received $212,000 from the DEA from 2011 to 2013. She testified she wasn't sure why she was paid. That was her testimony. She also testified to a sexual relationship with the DEA group supervisor, who allegedly convinced the subordinates to falsify reports to justify the payments. That case is currently under review by the inspector general.''
- Authorizing ''Crimes'' by Informants'-- The DOJ Guidelines
- Federal informants often commit crimes, and often do it with the permission of their federal handlers, according to a 2015 audit by the General Accountability Office (GAO). In fact, the GAO reports:
- ''Since 1980, the Guidelines have permitted agencies to authorize informants to engage in activities that would otherwise constitute crimes under federal, state, or local law if someone without such authorization engaged in these same activities. For example, in the appropriate circumstance, an agency could authorize an informant to purchase illegal drugs from someone who is the target of a drug-trafficking investigation. Such conduct is termed ''otherwise illegal activity.''
- ''The Guidelines include certain requirements when authorizing otherwise illegal activity and restrictions on the types of activities an agency can authorize. In particular, the Guidelines prohibit agencies from authorizing an informant to participate in an act of violence, obstruction of justice, and other enumerated unlawful activities.''
- According to Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by the Daily Dot, ''In total, records obtained by reporters confirm the FBI authorized at least 22,823 crimes between 2011 and 2014.''
- Here are two examples of where the FBI has employed confidential human sources in controversial roles:
- Governor Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Case Clouded by Informants' Roles
- In court proceedings, the feds have shared the identification numbers of 12 confidential informants involved in Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's kidnapping plot, but refused to provide recruitments methods, payments, locations, and names for all but one.
- In October 2020, Justice announced the arrest of six men who were said to be conspiring over a six-month period to kidnap Governor Whitmer. Eight others were charged under Michigan's anti-terrorism statutes for providing material support to the plotters.
- However, as BuzzFeed News reported,
- ''some of those informants, acting under the direction of the FBI, played a far larger role than has previously been reported. Working in secret, they did more than just passively observe and report on the actions of the suspects. Instead, they had a hand in nearly every aspect of the alleged plot, starting with its inception. The extent of their involvement raises questions as to whether there would have even been a conspiracy without them.''
- In September, a federal judge delayed the case of the five defendants who have pled not-guilty, after their defense lawyers asked for more time to investigate the informant aspect of the case.
- January 6th Capitol Riot Had At Least Two Embedded FBI Informants
- In September, the New York Times reported a bit of a bombshell: at least two informants embedded with the U.S. Capitol crowd were in close contact with their FBI handlers on January 6th.
- As reporter Julie Kelly at American Greatness details it, an ''informant, according to 'confidential documents' furnished to the paper, started working with the FBI in July 2020 and was in close contact with his FBI handler before, during, and after the Capitol protest.''
- In recent Congressional testimony, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) played a video montage of a man encouraging election protestors to go into the Capitol on January 6th. Rep. Massie asked Attorney General Merrick Garland if the man was an FBI agent-provocateur.
- Garland refused to comment on an ongoing investigation. Many suspect the man was working with federal authorities before, during, and after the events of January 6th at the U.S. Capitol Building. He, apparently, has not been arrested or charged.
- ''Redacted for Public Use'' ''Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Management of its Confidential Human Source Validation Processes, November 2019, Department of Justice.
- ''Audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Management and Oversight of Confidential Informants,'' DOJ IG, March 2017.
- ''CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS Updates to Policy and Additional Guidance Would Improve Oversight by DOJ and DHS Agencies,'' GAO, September 2015.
- ''Informing on Law Enforcement Agencies and Their Confidential Informants,'' GAO WatchBlog, September 22, 2015,
- ''Audit of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Management and Oversight of its Confidential Source Program,'' DOJ IG, September 2016.
- ''Confidential Informants: Status of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Efforts to Address a GAO Recommendation,'' November 30, 2016, GAO.
- ''Use of Confidential Informants at ATF and DEA,'' April 4, 2017, Hearing House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, GovInfo.
- ''The FBI Allegedly Used At Least 12 Informants In The Michigan Kidnapping Case,'' BuzzFeed News, July 12, 2021.
- ''Unreleased September 2015 document, Detailed rules for how the FBI handles informants,'' The Intercept, January 31, 2017.
- The Intercept's FBI reports.
- The Marshall Project, Informants: a Curated Collection of Links.
- ''Where Are the Neon-Hatted Proud Boys? American Greatness, Julie Kelly, November 8, 2021,
- ''Times Reveals FBI Role in January 6: One thing is certain; the Times' damage-control article is just the tip of the FBI iceberg. And more proof January 6 was an inside job,'' American Greatness, Julie Kelly, September 25, 2021.
- ''FBI authorized informants to break the law 22,800 times in 4 years,'' Daily Dot, August 23, 2016, Updated May 26, 2021
- The Year of the New Normal Fascist '' Consent Factory, Inc.
- And so, as 2021 goose-steps toward its fanatical finish, it is time for my traditional year-end wrap-up. It's ''The Year of the Ox'' in the Chinese zodiac, but I'm christening it ''The Year of the New Normal Fascist.''
- And what a phenomenally fascist year it has been!
- I'm not talking amateur fascism. I am talking professional Class-A fascism. Government and corporate sanctified fascism. Bug-eyed, spittle-flecked, hate-drunk fascism. I'm talking mobs of New Normal fascists shrieking hatred and threats at ''the Unvaccinated'' as they are dragged off ''Vaccinated Only'' trains, painting Nazi-era messages on their windows of their stores, leaders of government fomenting mass hatred, TV commentators literally quoting sadistic Nazi SS doctors, leftists going full-fascist on Facebook, concentration camps, Goebbelsian propaganda, censorship of dissent '... the whole nine yards.
- Here in Europe, things are particularly fascist. One by one, New Normal countries are rolling out social-segregation systems, ordering ''lockdowns'' of ''the Unvaccinated,'' and otherwise persecuting those who refuse to conform to official New Normal ideology. Austria has made ''vaccinations'' mandatory. Germany is about to follow suit. ''Covid passes'' have been approved in the UK. Greece is fining ''Unvaccinated'' pensioners by reducing the amount of their state-pension payments. Swedes are ''chipping'' themselves. And so on.
- In New Normal Germany, ''the Unvaccinated'' are under de facto house arrest. We are banned from society. We are banned from traveling. We are banned from protesting. Our writings are censored. We're demonized and dehumanized by the New Normal government, the state and corporate media, and the New Normal masses on a daily basis. New Normal goon squads roam the streets, brutalizing pensioners, raiding barber shops, checking ''papers,'' measuring social distances, literally, as in with measuring sticks. The Gestapo even arrested Santa Claus for not wearing a mask at a Christmas market. In the schools, fascist New Normal teachers ritually humiliate ''Unvaccinated'' children, forcing them to stand in front of the class and justify their ''Unvaccinated'' status, while the ''Vaccinated'' children and their parents are applauded, like some New Normal version of the Hitler Youth. When New Normal Germany's new Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, announced that, ''for my government there are no more red lines as far as doing what needs to be done,'' apparently he wasn't joking. It's only a matter of time until he orders New Normal Propaganda Minister Karl Lauterbach to make his big Sportpalast speech, where he will ask the New Normals if they want ''total war'' '... and I think you know the rest of this story.
- But this isn't just a story about New Normal Germany, or New Normal Europe, or New Normal Australia. And it isn't just a story about mass hysteria, or an ''overreaction'' to a corona virus. The ''New Normal'' is a global GloboCap co-production, a multi-trillion-dollar co-production, which has been in development for quite some time, and this year has gone exactly to script.
- Given all the drama over the past 12 months, it's easy to forget that the year began with the occupation of Washington DC by thousands of US (i.e., GloboCap) forces in the wake of the ''Terrorist Assault on the Capitol'' (a/k/a the ''January 6 Insurrection,'' or the ''Attempted Coup,'' or some such nonsense) carried out by a few hundred totally unarmed Donald Trump supporters, who were allegedly intent on ''overthrowing the government'' and ''destroying Democracy'' with '... well, their bare hands.
- This was the long-awaited ''Return to Normal'' spectacle that had been in the pipeline for the previous four years, the public humiliation of the Unauthorized President (and the ''populists'' who put him in office) and the GloboCap show of force that followed. Here's how I described it back in January:
- ''In other words, GloboCap is teaching us a lesson. I don't know how much clearer they could make it. They just installed a new puppet president, who can't even simulate mental acuity, in a locked-down, military-guarded ceremony which no one was allowed to attend, except for a few members of the ruling classes. They got some epigone of Albert Speer to convert the Mall (where the public normally gathers) into a 'field of flags,' symbolizing 'unity.' They even did the Nazi Lichtdom thing. To hammer the point home, they got Lady Gaga to dress up as a Hunger Games character with a 'Mockingjay' brooch and sing the National Anthem. They broadcast this spectacle to the entire world.''
- As I assume is obvious to everyone by now, the ''Return to Normal'' was a ''Return to the New Normal,'' which the global-capitalist ruling establishment was already imposing on the entire world. The message couldn't possibly be clearer. As Arnold Schwarzenegger succinctly put it, the message is, ''screw your freedom.'' The message is, shut up and toe the fucking line. The message is, show me your fucking papers. Use the fucking pronouns. Eat the fucking bugs. Get the fucking ''vaccinations.'' Do not fucking ask us ''how many.'' The answer is, ''as many as we fucking tell you.''
- The message is, there will be no more unauthorized presidents, no more leaving the European Union, no more ''populist'' rebellions against the global hegemony of global-capitalism and its soul-crushing, valueless ''woke'' ideology. GloboCap is done playing grab-ass. They announced that back in March of 2020. They informed us in unmistakable terms that our lives were about to change, forever. They branded and advertised this change as ''the New Normal,'' in case we were '... you know, cognitively challenged. They did not hide it. They wanted us to understand exactly what was coming, a global-capitalist version of totalitarianism, in which we will all be happy little fascist ''consumers'' showing each other our ''compliance certificates'' in order to be allowed to live our lives.
- I don't need to review the entire year in detail. You remember the highlights '... the roll-out of the ''safe and effective'' miracle ''vaccines'' that don't keep you from catching or spreading the virus, and which have killed and injured thousands of people, but which you now have to get every three or four months to be allowed to work or go to a restaurant; the roll-out of the global social-segregation/digital compliance-certificate system that makes absolutely no medical sense, but which the ''vaccines'' were designed to force us into; The Criminalization of Dissent; The Manufacturing of ''Reality''; The Propaganda War; The Covidian Cult; the launch of The Great New Normal Purge; the whole Pathologized Totalitarianism package.
- I'd like to end on an optimistic note, because, Jesus, this fascism business is depressing. So I'll just mention that, as you have probably noticed, more and more people are now ''waking up,'' or relocating their intestinal fortitude, and finally speaking out against ''vaccine'' mandates, and ''vaccination passes,'' and social segregation, and all the rest of the fascist New Normal program. I intend to encourage this ''awakening'' vociferously. I hope that those '-- and you know who you are '-- who have been reporting the facts and opposing the New Normal, and have been ridiculed, demonized, gaslighted, censored, slandered, threatened, and otherwise abused, on a daily basis for 21 months, as our more ''prominent'' colleagues '-- and you know who you are '-- sat by in silence, or took part in the Hate Fest, will join me in applauding and welcoming these ''prominent'' colleagues to the fight '... finally.
- Oh, and, if you're one of those ''prominent'' colleagues and you start beating your chest and sounding off like you've just rediscovered investigative journalism and are now leading the charge against the New Normal for your YouTube viewers or your Substack readers, please understand if we get a little cranky. Speaking for myself, yes, it's been a bit stressful, doing your job and taking the shit for you out here in the trenches for the past 21 months. Not to mention how it has virtually killed my comedy '... and I'm supposed to be a political satirist.
- But there I go, getting all ''angry'' again '... whatever. As the doctor said, ''buy the ticket, take the ride.'' And it's the season of joy, love, and forgiveness, and publicly crucifying dissidents, and paranoia, and mass hysteria, and persecuting ''Unvaccinated'' relatives, and, OK, I might have had one too many. Happy holidays to one and all, except, of course, to the New Normal fascists, especially the ones that are torturing the children. God, forgive me, but I hope they fucking choke.
- CJ HopkinsDecember 16, 2021Photos: (1) Nazis on Holiday; (2) AP Photo/Oded Balilty
- DISCLAIMER: The preceding essay is entirely the work of our in-house satirist and self-appointed political pundit, CJ Hopkins, and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Consent Factory, Inc., its staff, or any of its agents, subsidiaries, or assigns. If, for whatever inexplicable reason, you appreciate Mr. Hopkins' work and would like to support it, please go to his Substack page, or his Patreon page, or send your contribution to his PayPal account, so that maybe he'll stop coming around our offices trying to hit our staff up for money. Alternatively, you could purchase his satirical dystopian sci-fi novel, Zone 23, or Volume I and II of his Consent Factory Essays, or any of his subversive stage plays, which won some awards in Great Britain and Australia. If you do not appreciate Mr. Hopkins' work and would like to write him an abusive email, feel free to contact him directly.
- DC Judge Orders Release of 3 Hours of Capitol Surveillance Video from inside West Terrace Tunnel on Jan. 6 Where Police Were Beating the Hell Out of Trump Supporters - Indiatopheadlines
- Texas resident and Marine veteran Ryan Nichols is being held in the special unit in DC Jail for January 6th defendants. Nichols is being held indefinitely without bail. Nichols went through 5 jails within 50 days before finally being locked in solitary confinement for 23-30 hours a day in Washington DC on March 9.
- Ryan Nichols is an honorably discharged U.S. Marine. He is a defendant facing charges related to his participation in riots that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
- On Monday Brian Nichols went before Reagan appointed judge Judge Thomas Hogan in a DC court.
- During his hearing, the judge and Biden DOJ defended his torturous treatment and isolation using COVID as an excuse.
- TRENDING: PLEASE DO YOUR PART: Send a Christmas Card to The Political Prisoners in Washington DC and Let Them Know They're Not Forgotten '...Here's How
- The DOJ and DC court also believes that any talk about a stolen election is forbidden and is being used against the Gulag prisoners.
- Nichols was seen on Jan. 6 rescuing one police officer. He also participated in some of the violence. For this, he is rotting in prison today.
- On Monday Judge Hogan ordered the release of 3 hours of Capitol surveillance video from inside the west terrace tunnel on January 6. This was the scene of fierce battles between the police and Trump supporters. The police beat the hell out of Trump supporters that day killing two female Trump supporters.
- This is a big development. The Biden DOJ, Liz Cheney, and the Jan. 6 Committee have been using cherry-picked video clips to define what happened on January 6th. They fear the truth getting out to the American public.
- Will the public finally see police misconduct, brutality and exactly what happened to Victoria White?https://t.co/igPDIJsPHK
- '-- Julie Kelly ðºð¸ (@julie_kelly2) December 20, 2021
- Julie Kelly from American Greatness followed Nichols's hearing live today.
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- Meet Ray Epps, Part 2: Damning New Details Emerge Exposing Massive Web Of Unindicted Operators At The Heart Of January 6 - Revolver
- Meet Ray Epps, Part 2: Damning New Details Emerge Exposing Massive Web Of Unindicted Operators At The Heart Of January 6
- Support Revolver By Going AD-FREE'--Donate HERE to fund investigative journalism
- CHECK OUT THE NEWS FEED'--FOLLOW US ON GAB'--FOLLOW US ON GETTR
- Six weeks ago, Revolver News published a blockbuster investigative report on Ray Epps '-- a man who, more than any other individual, appears to be the key unlocking the question of active federal involvement in the so-called ''Capitol Siege'' of January 6th.
- Out of all of the thousands of January 6's protesters, and the thousands of hours of publicly available footage from that fateful day, Ray Epps has turned out to be perhaps the only person nailed dead to rights confessing on camera to plotting a pre-planned attack on the Capitol. On both January 5 and January 6, Epps announced multiple times, at multiple locations, his upcoming plot to breach the US Capitol. He then spent hours attempting to recruit hundreds of others to join him. On top of it all, Epps was seen leading key people and managing key aspects of the initial breach of the Capitol grounds himself.
- It would be one thing if Epps's repeated calls on January 5 to ''go into the Capitol'' had simply amounted to bluster. But Epps followed through on his stated mission to shepherd others inside. In clips 4-6 of the above compilation, we see Epps actively orchestrate elements of the very first breach of the Capitol barricades at 12:50 p.m, while Trump still had 20 minutes left in his rally speech.
- It is noteworthy that this Ray Epps breach occurs just one minute after Capitol Police began responding to reports of two ''pipe bombs'' located at DNC and GOP headquarters, respectively. Rather conveniently, the already-handicapped Capitol Police thus had still-fewer resources with which to respond to the barricade breach in question.
- While the ''pipe bombs'' turned out to be a dud, the Ray Epps breach proved fateful. Today, the official stories told by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the US Justice Department all depict the apparent Ray Epps-orchestrated 12:50 p.m. initial breach of metal barricades as the ''Big Bang'' event of January 6.
- In large part, this description is hardly an exaggeration. Indeed, it was the 12:50 p.m. breach of the Capitol grounds, in conjunction with a handful of suspicious individuals ripping down fencing and signage, that set in motion the conditions allowing for 1/6 to turn from a rally into a riot.
- In this report, we will blow open this network of still-unindicted key operators who appear to have been at work either with or around Ray Epps during the initial Capitol grounds breach. You, dear reader, will be scandalized '-- though perhaps unsurprised '-- to learn that none of the actors covered in this report have received attention in the mainstream press, despite their active and indispensable roles in the events of 1/6.
- As we explained in detail in our previous report, the FBI originally put Ray Epps's face on its Capitol Violence ''Most Wanted List'' on January 8, 2021, just two days after 1/6. They offered a cash reward for information leading to his arrest. In fact, rank-and-file FBI agents initially deemed Epps's role as an apparent riot organizer so important that they named him Suspect #16'--one of the first 20 high-profile FBI targets in a database now packed with more than 500 suspects.
- Then, six months later on June 30, 2021, both Revolver News and The New York Times published inconvenient stories that encouraged a more aggressive interrogation of the ''Ray Epps third rail,'' leading reasonable people to wonder why this publicly identified man on the Most Wanted List still had no charges filed against him.
- The FBI responded to these important media stories the very next day. But their response was to quietly purge all online Ray Epps files from their website, then switch to a posture of ''What? Who? Ray Epps? Never heard of him.''
- Agents of the FBI Field Office in Phoenix (where Epps lives) have gone so far as to explicitly deny knowledge that Ray Epps even exists. Instead of pursuing Epps, FBI agents have instead pursued journalists who had the temerity to ask Epps in person if he was a government operative. ''I understand that, but I can't say anything,'' is all Epps would tell them.
- Here's a quick visual synopsis of this timeline:
- The sham Congressional January 6 Commission seems to be going along with the charade of Ray Epps denialism. For all of its recent gesticulations about Mark Meadows's benign text messages, the Commission has yet to express even a basic interest in Ray Epps or his communications leading up to and on January 6.
- But the specter of Ray Epps, and the ominous questions his immunity raises, loom too large to be memory-holed by poorly coordinated efforts of government denial. In light of the above, it is both amusing and symbolically appropriate that despite the FBI's attempt to purge Epps's face from its ''Wanted'' database (and public denials of his existence from authorized agents), the FBI DC Field Office still features Ray Epps as a ''Wanted'' man in its current pinned Twitter image (look closely and you'll find it).
- If Epps turns out to have been some kind of government operative, which at present is the only clean and simple explanation for his immunity, it is game over for the official ''MAGA insurrection'' narrative of 1/6. Epps was the day's loudest riot recruiter, and its apparent leader of the very first breach of Capitol grounds. If Ray Epps is a Fed, the ''Insurrection'' becomes the ''Fedsurrection'' in one fell swoop.
- These are the stakes at play in unraveling the Ray Epps enigma.
- But it is imperative to note that if Epps was just a cog in a much larger federal operation, he would not have been deployed alone. Historically speaking, when Feds have orchestrated fake mobs of fake protesters, or contrived fake conspiratorial plots, the Feds' own assets have commonly comprised between 16% to 25% of the plot's participants, at least in its key respects. Indeed, the FBI once flew in 1,600 rowdy spooks to infiltrate a single convention with just 10,000 protesters.
- In recent times, attacks blamed on right-wing militias have blown past the 16% mark on the Fed Saturation Index and have been clocking in at a whopping 25-50%. As Revolver has previously noted:
- Students of FBI history should quickly absorb the lesson that infiltrating Feds are like roaches: whenever you spot one, it is guaranteed there are dozens of others nearby. Feds simply never, ever, operate alone. This is how you end up with at least 12 FBI informants in a tiny ''right-wing'' Michigan militia plot from October 2020 (that's just informants, not even agents), 15 informants in the ''right-wing'' 2016 Malheur plot, dozens in the 2014 Bundy Ranch affair '-- including six FBI undercover agents posing as fake documentarians shooting a fake documentary '-- and the list goes on.
- So if Ray Epps was instructed by the government to play his part in various recruiting, breaching and crowd control efforts that day, we would expect many other informants to be set up around him.
- To test this hypothesis, Revolver spent the past six weeks comprehensively mapping Ray Epps's network of interactions on January 6, and profiling the key people around him who complemented his efforts. We did a deep dive into other key figures involved in the initial breach of the Capitol grounds, as well as figures who played an instrumental role in fence removal and crowd control. In short, we investigated key players whose early actions on 1/6 turned the rally into a riot.
- The bad news for Fedsurrection Deniers is the results are in, and they look even worse for the FBI than Revolver's already low expectations. For brevity, we profile five of the most egregious cases in this report, and tell the story of how they crossed paths and interacted with, and in some cases coordinated with Ray Epps to make 1/6 possible. Some of these cases are so wild as to constitute Epps-sized scandals unto themselves.
- But first, it important to note that Feds at the mere informant level are seldom told by their handlers of the presence of other government informants around them. From each individual informant's perspective, the agitators around them would look as lawless to them as they did to the crowd.
- This exact strange situation played out in the climax of the Whitmer Kidnapping Plot. The car that prosecutors say ''cased'' the Governor's house had five passengers'--two homeless patsies, and three secret Feds. But only the agent-level Fed in the car had total operational awareness. Each of the two informants in the car probably thought the other was a legitimate insurrectionist.
- So it is not necessary for all or any of the individuals covered in this report to know each other or to have affirmatively ''worked together'' to have formed a ''team'' through collective effort. A simple text message from a federal handler to ''Be at the Peace Monument at 12:45 p.m. and flush out the crazies'' would be all that's needed for a large ring of provocateurs to simultaneously be in the same place, at the same time, contributing to the same breach.
- So now, without further ado, we will tell the true, documented story of 1/6 that the Regime doesn't want you to hear, involving key unindicted figures the Regime would prefer that you never heard of.
- If there were such a thing as an unbiased January 6 Commission that sought to piece together the accurate timeline and narrative of events on 1/6, the following study would be the sort of thing it would publish.
- Revolver makes no facial allegation about any of the individuals below. However, some very serious, shocking and time-sensitive questions are raised by this report. To that extent, our accusations and demands are aimed squarely at the US Justice Department.
- FBI Director Chris Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland have an awful lot of explaining to do.
- The Booby Trap that Turned a Rally into a Riot
- Before we get acquainted with the key unindicted players operating around Ray Epps, let's quickly touch upon the basic facts of the initial breach of the Capitol grounds.
- The ''Big Bang'' moment that kicked off the riot was when a small ''breach team'' of just a few dozen people violently knocked over the first set of metal barricades between 12:50-12:53 p.m. They forced back the police, and therefore opened a clean walkway entrance to the crowd behind them.
- We will hereafter refer to this location of barriers as the ''Ray Epps breach site,'' and the collection of individuals responsible for this critical initial breach as the ''Ray Epps breach team.'' Clips from that breach scene, with Ray Epps standing front and center giving out directions, are republished below for convenience.
- This same breach team then proceeded to haul the metal police barricades off to the side, tear down ''Restricted Area'' signage, and systematically remove protective fencing from the Capitol lawn. Ordinarily, with no barriers in place, this entire area is open to the public.
- To get a geographical sense of the Ray Epps crime scene, the below image shows where the Capitol's rear barricades and fencing were first attacked. This area is also known as the Peace Monument.
- The tactical importance of this breached location is that it was the very first walkway entrance into the Capitol grounds that every Trump supporter would arrive at first as they walked from the Trump rally to the Capitol.
- The Ray Epps Breach Team had the amazing foresight to pry open the one walkway entrance that no one could avoid.
- As you can see from the above, both the Pennsylvania Ave and the Constitution Ave exits from the Trump speech intersect at the exact Peace Monument barricade targeted in advance by the Ray Epps Breach Team. If any of the eight other walkway entrances into the Capitol grounds had been toppled instead, tens of thousands of marchers would have been met by police and metal barricades, instead of an open gate.
- The Ray Epps breach team thus set up a booby trap by pushing back the police, then hauling away the ''restricted area'' signage, the chain fencing, and the metal barricades'--all while tens of thousands were still at the Trump rally. Without police present or ''do not enter'' signs prominently visible, people leaving Trump's speech and arriving at the Capitol entrance would have no idea it was illegal to walk through the gate, or onto the lawn, or up to the Capitol steps. After all, this entire area is ordinarily open to the public.
- Instead, they heard friendly music and saw the main walkway to the Capitol grounds wide open. These unwitting Trump supporters had no idea they had just crossed an invisible tripwire that would later subject them to federal prosecution for trespassing.
- Moreover, the giant main component of Trump protesters would not arrive at this Capitol entrance until 50 minutes after the Ray Epps Breach Team opened up the walkway'--Trump had 20 minutes left in his speech, and it took 30 minutes to walk to the Peace Monument. This giant component arrived at the entrance and saw hundreds of people already inside the Capitol grounds. They would no longer stage their protest back behind the fencing, because the Breach Team booby-trappers had already hauled most of it away before they got there. The giant component therefore walked all the way up to the Capitol building itself.
- As we described in more detail in our October 10 report, the Ray Epps Breach Team thus set up what may amount to the largest legal booby-trap in American history.
- Indeed, when the DOJ indicted Oath Keeper Jeremy Brown in September for ''trespassing on restricted grounds'' (18 US Code § 1752), the Justice Department explained that any January 6 protester who stepped foot within the red line below had committed a federal crime and could be kept in prison without bail until a criminal trial 12+ months away.
- But how did this happen? Who exactly pulled it off? And how does it all trace back to Ray Epps?
- Setting Up The Booby Trap
- In our October 10 Revolver report, we showed January 6 footage of one dark-complected man coolly and methodically cutting down and then rolling up ''restricted area'' fencing around the Capitol lawn. He had no Trump gear on, and made sure to wear dark sunglasses on a cloudy day. He was not angry. He was dispassionate, calm, and professional, like he was just there to do a job.
- Here's another picture to make perfectly clear what he was doing, and how strange and methodical it was:
- This man remains unindicted. In fact, the FBI does not even appear to even be looking for him. He is wholly absent from the FBI Capitol ''Most Wanted List.'' There is no reward for information leading to his arrest.
- For perspective, the FBI's ''Most Wanted List'' features plenty of MAGA grandmas and teens who committed no property crimes or physical damage at all. For instance, you can still win a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of FBI ''Most Wanted'' Suspect # 342:
- Despite the FBI's lack of interest in this brazen booby-trapper seen rolling up restricted area fencing, online researchers have stayed on the case. They have dubbed this individual ''#FenceCutterBulwark'', with ''Bulwark'' being the brand name of his fire-retardant jacket, designed for professional use in the oil and gas industry. You'll see more fire-retardant jackets among the unindicted below.
- FenceCutterBulwark was waiting right next to the Ray Epps Breach Site at 12:31 p.m. That's a full 20 minutes before the breach kicked off. There, he was doing nothing except looking out past the fencing he would later take down.
- Moreover, 12:31 p.m. is 17 minutes before the large group of 220+ marching Proud Boys arrived at the Peace Monument from their lunch break. Here's why that matters:
- The official January 6 story, as parroted by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and HBO, is that the Proud Boys' arrival at the Peace Monument at 12:48 p.m. is what sparked a sudden breach. But the fact that FenceCutterBulwark and other key operators (until now ignored by mainstream media) were already waiting in place while the Proud Boys' were still a mile away eating lunch suggests a more sinister possibility: foreknowledge of an imminent breach at this exact location.
- If it were just FenceCutterBulwark hanging out near the breach site before the Proud Boys' arrival, we might chalk it up to coincidence. But the presence of multiple key breach figures waiting here seems too much to be coincidental. In the below video, continuously recorded between 12:40-12:50 p.m., you will see Ray Epps already in position at the exact walkway entrance the breach team will pry open, at least six minutes before they arrive (in fact, we know he was there 45 minutes before they arrived too).
- But it's not just Ray Epps and FenceCutterBulwark who appear to have been waiting for the Proud Boys.
- Perched right across from FenceCutterBulwark at 12:31 p.m. is the man widely regarded by online researchers as the most infamous of all unindicted January 6 riot leaders'--a man unmentioned in the mainstream press but elevated to legendary status online as ''#NWScaffoldCommander.''
- Don't let looks deceive you: This extremely peculiar middle-aged man with glasses, a nerdy mask and a blue ballcap has been assigned more notoriety by deep researchers than arguably any other person of the thousands they have indexed. NWScaffoldCommander's frenetic whirlwind of activities, and apparent role as ''the ringleader'' of the breach, have made him the subject of Russiagate-level rumor and speculation that he was privy to a January 6 ''master plan.''
- NWScaffoldCommander (we'll call him just ''ScaffoldCommander'' for short) gets his name from being the ostensible ''commander'' of the prominent ''media tower'' that overlooked the Capitol's back terrace on January 6. You've probably seen this tower in pictures'--it's the tall temporary structure built in November 2020 so that media crews could properly film the January 2021 inauguration ceremony. Here's what it looks like without people around:
- And here's what it looked like on January 6, with ScaffoldCommander and his crew controlling it:
- As you can see, this tower is the most perfect ''command post'' that anyone seeking to monitor and direct the Capitol crowd could possibly hope for. It stands front and center, everyone can see it, and the man high atop it can see and scream down to all.
- One can only imagine the damage a highly aggressive and monomaniacally focused breach leader could do from this perch if he had zero scruples, a plan to attack the Capitol, and an extremely loud megaphone.
- If you've seen any mid-day January 6 footage, you have probably seen ScaffoldCommander in action without knowing it.
- From high atop the tower between 1 p.m. '' 2:30 p.m, ScaffoldCommander issued the iconic bellows and non-stop commands that are loud and clear on almost every video clip from January 6 filmed in that time interval. For nearly 90 minutes straight, he bombards the otherwise leaderless crowd below him with endless variations on a single instruction: ''Don't just stand there. Keep moving forward!''
- But once the crowd had continuously ''moved forward'' for over an hour, and the very first handful of rioters entered the building, ScaffoldCommander suddenly threw the switch: ''Okay we're in! We're in! Come on! We gotta fill up the Capitol! Come on! Come now! We need help We gotta fill up the Capitol! They got in.''
- This clip below is checkmate. It should make ScaffoldCommander one of the top criminal suspects on the entire FBI Capitol Most Wanted List (spoiler alert: he isn't even on the list, and no charges have been filed, and the FBI to date has still never acknowledged his existence).
- For perspective, it's important to step into the shoes of January 6 rallygoers to see just how dominant and pervasive ScaffoldCommander's influence was over the crowd's psychology the entire time.
- Rallygoers could hear his confident and constant commands with total clarity all the way back at the entrance to the Capitol lawn. For new entrants arriving at the Capitol grounds, ScaffoldCommander's voice would be the first and loudest voice they heard. ScaffoldCommander even mixed in damsel-in-distress type appeals so new arrivals would perceive that ''moving forward'' would be doing their part to rescue innocent Trump supporters who ''need your help''.
- His high-pressure megaphone instructions were a constant mental and social pressure on a captive audience who was there for an entirely different reason: to peacefully participate in what they were told was a lawful Trump rally. But a loud, authoritative voice literally coming from ''on high,'' pleading that people ''need your help,'' and asking you to simply and lawfully ''move forward,'' creates a strong suction effect to comply with authority.
- One attendee described this unnatural pressure in a vividly detailed Twitter thread a few days after January 6. She fingered ScaffoldCommander as ''the ringleader'' of the operation.
- Another attendee who was later arrested said he was just following the instructions of the man with the bullhorn yelling ''Patriots move forward.'' That would be ScaffoldCommander. But the FBI affidavit refuses to mention the tower commander with a giant bullhorn shouting at tens of thousands of people to ''Fill up the Capitol'' for 90 minutes straight because, according to the FBI, he doesn't exist.
- But the clip below is, perhaps, the dead giveaway into what was truly going on. Here, a second man in the tower '-- the similarly unindicted ''#TowerManMale19'' '-- begins to read a prepared, hand-printed speech out loud to the crowd. The speech was sappy and idealistic, waxing philosophical about how cancel culture is bad and election processes need reform. But ScaffoldCommander had no interest in letting the bullhorn be used to communicate Trump-aligned concerns or election-related solutions.
- He quickly grew angry and chastised his tower associate for losing focus: ''Tell them to move forward! That's all they need to know right now! Tell 'em to move forward!''
- The statement ''that's all they need to know right now '' seems to all but confirm that ScaffoldCommander had a two-stage breach plan, which he stuck to with monomaniacal focus. For the first 70 minutes, the only objective was to move the pawns ''forward'' up the board, until as much pressure as possible had been placed on the building itself. Then, once a single breacher had made it inside, he immediately hit the Bullhorn Bait-And-Switch: ''Move forward'' gave way to his real imperative'--''Fill up the Capitol.''
- And yet the whole time, he never gave a reason. He was simply a man on a mission.
- We have seen this type of singular dedication before in Ray Epps'--a man who was loud and insistent, aggressive but lacked conviction, had a lust for action but wanted others to do it.
- Here's a fun supercut we put together of Epps telling other protesters ''We need to go inside the Capitol'''--and that everything besides that singular objective was ''losing focus,'' ''a distraction'', ''doesn't matter,'' and ''not what we're here for.'' This is effectively a mirror of what ScaffoldCommander was doing on the bullhorn above him.
- At one point, after being rhetorically blown out by kids two generations his junior, who took turns brutally mocking his Capitol attack plan, Epps tried at last to come up with a good reason. But it didn't go well. When forced to think on his feet, he mindlessly babbled that ''We need to go inside the Capitol'' because ''The Capitol is our enemy.''
- Epps was reduced to claiming that the building itself was the enemy. That's what motivated the whole shebang. Everyone else was in town for a Trump rally, and Epps flew 2,300 miles from Arizona because of a vendetta against neoclassical architecture.
- But even more important than the cognitive and attitudinal similarities between Epps and ScaffoldCommander are the operational ones.
- Whether wittingly or unwittingly, Epps and ScaffoldCommander formed a two-man team the entire afternoon. By miraculous coincidence, Ray Epps stationed himself immediately below ScaffoldCommander at the media tower for the whole 90 minutes it took to move the crowd forward, then into the building.
- In the below video, you will see Ray Epps cordially interject himself into another man's selfie video filmed from this spot. In the footage, Epps points back at the Washington Monument, where President Trump still had 7 minutes to go in his speech, and says: ''It's good to be on the right side of history.'' You can see here that Epps chose the exact spot where the base of the command tower met the front of the Capitol police line. From there, Epps would have ultimate vision into both the rowdy vanguard front-line of the crowd, and a sense from the command tower crew of what was happening with the vast throngs of people behind him.
- At the 0:35 mark, Epps is practically underneath the command tower, just arms-length away:
- You can see from Ray Epps's point of view just how close he is to the front of the Capitol building itself, where he has staked out a key position:
- At this point the clock read 1:03 p.m., so there were still 7 minutes left in Trump's rally speech. Yet already, an enormous and growing crowd filled the horizon. That crowd was headed toward the very spot where Ray Epps is standing. Epps pointed back proudly to where Trump was speaking and beamed with a broad smile:
- Additional footage discovered by Revolver reveals just how extensive Epps' directorial efforts were from this key spot where the media tower met the police line.
- In the clip compilation below, you will see Epps variously coordinating with a man in an orange ski mask, looking and pointing up at the media tower, retaking his spot by the tower, getting maced by police, then bellowing ''Ahhh, I love it!'' as he temporarily retreats from the officers' gas attack.
- The beaten down crowd looked as if it would back off the police, but Epps would simply not be denied. He stepped straight up to the police officers who had just showered the crowd in pepper spray. Epps appeared to negotiate with the officers and struck a deal, whereby Trump supporters could come back up to the front step if they simply remained there peacefully. Epps then turned back to the crowd and told them ''Guys: Listen Up. Up to the steps and stay there. We're gonna stay there for a while.''
- Just like ScaffoldCommander above him, Epps was successfully getting the crowd to ''move forward'' below. In fact, at the end of this clip, you can even hear ScaffoldCommander scream ''move forward'' as Epps instructs the crowd to return to the top of the steps.
- The sequence is so remarkable it's worth highlighting its beginning, middle and end again. First, the cops spray the crowd off the steps:
- Then, Epps steps up to negotiate with police:
- Then, like Moses returning from the mountaintop, Epps pronounces to the crowd that their Promised Land is forward at the front step of the police line:
- This all happened just 30 minutes before the Capitol building itself was breached. There were by then tens of thousands of people behind Epps. The following screenshot, from when the crowd broke out in The Star-Spangled Banner behind Epps, provides a sense of the dizzying volume of human flesh impacted by how Ray Epps and ScaffoldCommander were coordinating the front line.
- So we have ScaffoldCommander directing the body of the crowd from the tower above, and Ray Epps directing the vanguard front-liners at the police line below. Yet neither one of them has been prosecuted, nor is either presently ''Wanted'' by the FBI.
- But what makes the ScaffoldCommander-Ray Epps affair complete is that they appeared to work in tandem from start to finish the entire day on 1/6. Both set up positions at the initial 12:50 p.m. ''Big Bang'' breach site, and they did so before the Proud Boys arrived. The official story, you will recall, says that the Proud Boys group caused the riot. Again, we must point out how bizarre it is that so many individuals (so far Epps, ScaffoldCommander, and FenceCutterBulwark) who turn out to be key players in the Capitol breach show up in the same area so early on in the day.
- Indeed, while Ray Epps was with others antagonizing police at the front of the barricades, ScaffoldCommander was antagonizing police on the lawn just meters away. This coincided almost exactly with the arrival of the Proud Boys marchers to the Peace Monument at 12:45 p.m., as if they knew the time for action was drawing near.
- ScaffoldCommander then immediately leapt into action to help with fence removal as the Ray Epps Breach Team toppled the first barricades at 12:53 p.m.
- There are clear face shots of ScaffoldCommander, and he is in view for hours.
- It is unsettling enough that law enforcement seems to be protecting key operators like ScaffoldCommander and FenceCutterBulwark. But the story gets stranger still.
- ScaffoldCommander and FenceCutterBulwark were actually not the first to start removing barricades and fencing. In fact, they did not ''activate'' until Ray Epps's Breach Team set off the initial attack at the Epps breach site at 12:50 p.m.
- About 30 feet south of Ray Epps, right around the time the breach occurred at 12:50 p.m., a smaller squad of men were beginning the process of fence and barricade removal, out of sight of the walkway police.
- Below is a video of one of the very first booby-trappers, dubbed ''#BlackSkiMask.'' Cell phone metadata confirms a timestamp of 12:53 p.m., meaning BlackSkiMask's efforts to open up the lawn overlapped with the precise minute that Epps took on the police.
- You'll note a familiar pattern: the crowd is begging BlackSkiMask to stop breaking the law, just like they rejected Ray Epps the night before.
- As the above video ends, BlackSkiMask sees Ray Epps and his team have successfully breached the police line. He then runs over to the walkway Epps has just cleared. From there, BlackSkiMask begins methodically dumping the police barricades over the side of the walkway wall. This clean removal process will create the impression to the 15,000 people already walking from the Trump speech that no police barricades were ever there in the first place.
- BlackSkiMask is the individual you will see at 0:24 say: ''We're taking that s**t today.''
- In Part 1, we described how the official story says an individual named Ryan Samsel started the riot by pushing the barricades first.
- But in the above video, you can see that BlackSkiMask quickly ends up ahead of Ryan Samsel in rushing up to the second police barricades (and both are behind Ray Epps). BlackSkiMask seemed, much more than Samsel, to know what the game plan was for the next phase of the breach.
- BlackSkiMask has still not been arrested. He remains on the FBI Capitol Most Wanted List, as Suspect #148.
- But there's just one problem with this situation: the FBI knows exactly who BlackSkiMask is already. And for some reason, they're still not prosecuting him.
- The feds don't just have an ID on BlackSkiMask, they have an entire police report'--and a shocking one at that. Just one day before January 6, BlackSkiMask was yanked out of a bus by dozens of police officers who suspected his vehicle was packed with guns and bombs. His bus was stopped just in front of the US Justice Department.
- Yes, read that again. You're probably wondering why you've never heard of this January 5 guns-and-explosives bus anywhere in regime media. We'll get to that below, but first watch BlackSkiMask and his two bus buddies being interviewed after their colorful vehicle from North Carolina was swarmed by downtown DC police. BlackSkiMask (who begins speaking at 0:48 below) appears reticent to give specifics on what happened, but says police pulled them all out of the vehicle, questioned them, and asked for their DNA swab samples to match their identities to prints found on firearms and potential explosives.
- The details of this video means there must be '-- as a matter of law '-- a filed police report with BlackMaskSki's real legal name on it, sitting in federal law enforcement's possession. And yet for some strange reason, 11 months after January 6, the FBI is not prosecuting this man for any of the myriad felonies and conspiracy charges any US Attorney could present as a lay-up indictment. Instead, BlackSkiMask remains protected in the strange purgatory of the FBI Capitol Most Wanted List'--just like Ray Epps was before the public found out his identity, after which the FBI purged and deleted his files, then denied all knowledge of his existence.
- The existence of a police report means you don't even need all the crystal-clear 4K HD face shots of BlackSkiMask floating around, showing his face, his build, and his associates from every angle.
- Now ask yourself: had you ever heard about this gun-filled, possibly bomb-filled ''Hippies for Trump'' bus the feds stopped in front of the Justice Department before Revolver just told you about it?
- You probably didn't, because the event went completely unreported by DC media the day before January 6, and in the aftermath that followed. The only contemporaneous report Revolver found was a single blue-check Twitter account, whose tweets on the bizarre event are reproduced in screenshots and videos below.
- First the bus drives slowly past DC Police Headquarters at 2:10 p.m, then is quickly stopped and swarming with agents in at least eight separate police cars and vans:
- By 2:57 p.m. police were standing top of the bus taking the roof apart, with bomb-sniffing K-9 dog squads at the bus's base:
- So this happened in broad daylight, with traffic stopped for likely over an hour, right in the heart of downtown DC, the day before January 6. A man from this bus is one of the very first ''insurrectionists'' on the scene in the Capitol, and is removing barricades before the official story says the illegal activities started.
- And yet, today, the search engine results for BlackSkiMask's terror scare are effectively nonexistent'--you have to read local North Carolina papers to eek out scant details.
- How could there be a total media blackout on January 5 about a guns-and-explosives cache discovery in a bus parked in front of the US Justice Department, just one day before the major Trump rally and all-important Senate certification vote?
- DC is a 93% Democrat-voting bastion. Authorities would normally be stampeding toward the closest press podium to give frothing DC journalists all the salacious details of a catch like this. The responding officers would all be given promotions and medals. We are talking about busting a bus-full of ''Trump supporters'' with guns and explosives in broad daylight, parked in front of the Justice Department. Why was there total radio silence? Who ordered the story squashed? Did top brass in DC or federal law enforcement intervene to keep the story quiet'--that way the next day's events on January 6 would more convincingly look like they took DC police completely be surprise?
- Remember, this was January 5. We know then-Capitol Police Chief Stephen Sund made an urgent request for back-up personnel on January 4, but was denied. He pled to have a ''state of emergency'' declared at the Capitol on January 4, but was denied. Yet the very next day, on January 5, guns and explosives rolled past DC police headquarters, parked at the Justice Department, got swarmed by dozens of officers, agents and bomb-sniffing dogs, and the Capitol Police Chief's support requests still got denied?
- Did the Capitol Police even know about the guns-and-explosives bus? Was the incident kept hidden from them too?
- We know with high probability BlackSkiMask's colorful bus was headed for the Capitol rally. It had the words ''Stop The Steal'' and ''Trump 2020'' graffiti'd on it in bright paint:
- The fact that BlackSkiMask, one of the very first January 6 breach team operators alongside Ray Epps, was pulled out of this bus, shaken down for DNA samples, mysteriously let go, and remains an unprosecuted face on the ''Most Wanted List'' 11 months later raises extraordinary questions for the Justice Department as to whether BlackSkiMask is being protected just like Ray Epps.
- Based on the badge on his tactical gear (see also his extraordinary comms equipment), it appears BlackSkiMask is from Texas. Like Ray Epps traveling 2,300 miles from Arizona, we are talking about ''Trump supporters'' who flew thousands of miles for a Trump rally but skipped the actual rally to commit a pointless barricade break-in instead.
- But even BlackSkiMask was not the first person to trespass onto the restricted Capitol lawn while the Ray Epps Breach Team was leading the frontal assault. That ''first on the field'' distinction, some Capitol researchers believe, belongs to yet another unindicted man, also missing from the FBI's ''Wanted'' list. We will now close out our roster of key unindicted breach figures with one final profile of this man, dubbed ''#BeCivilGuy.''
- The name comes from the man's strange actions after Ray Epps & Co. overran the barricades. BeCivilGuy appears to shout ''follow me'' and ''move down,'' as in ''move down'' the walkway to the next police barricade. He repeatedly and quite muscularly implored the crowd to ''Be Civil'' as they as did so. He is the man with the blue and white bullhorn at the 0:06 second mark, a few seconds before ScaffoldComander throws his hands up and shouts ''Come on!''
- One has to wonder, were these megaphones simply handed out as standard issue? How come so many key operators using blue-and-white megaphones and are still unindicted, 11 months later?
- But we digress. If all you saw was the above video, you'd think BeCivilGuy was just being helpful by urging people to ''Be Civil.''
- But there's a big problem with that theory: BeCivilGuy was the first guy who broke upfield toward the second police line, way past the ''Restricted Area'' fencing '-- and he did so before Ray Epps & Co. breached the first police line at 12:50 p.m., and before any fencing came down from the efforts of BlackSkiMask and his team.
- How do we know that? See the below image, which is from just 30 seconds before Ray Epps & Co. will breach the first police line and streams of people will shoot up the walkway. You will see BeCivilGuy is first and farthest up the field. At this moment in time, no breach has happened yet, no officers have been harmed or forced back, and there is no guarantee that the Trump rally will get out of hand that day, as no barricades have yet been pushed over.
- At this moment in time below, immediately before the breach, BeCivilGuy is the deepest ''trespasser'' of any of the tens of thousands of Trump supporters in DC.
- While BeCivilGuy did his Braveheart march up the lawn, breach operators like BlackSkiMask were far behind him, hugging close to the perimeter fences they had begun removing:
- Yet while everyone else was fixated left, at the drama of the Ray Epps Breach Team, BeCivilGuy was bolting right, toward a separate Capitol Police team. Here you see him approach them with his hands up trying to flag them down:
- Now remember, this is happening before the barricade breach would afford safety in numbers to people running up the lawn. Bystanders behind the perimeter fence openly warned that those on the lawn ''don't realize they will be shot.''
- So what explains BeCivilGuy's bravery (or insanity)? What motivated him to illegally trespass way up the lawn by himself, then wave down a whole squad of Capitol Cops stationed at the second perimeter, before the first police perimeter line had even been breached yet?
- What kind of January 6 protester is so ''extremist'' he brings a giant bullhorn to the rally, then risks death as the first man to illegally bum-rush the Capitol lawn, but is also so ''anti-extremist'' he blows off Trump's final speech in office, and uses his bullhorn to play hall monitor to a minor side crowd? And if he wanted to stop the crowd's lawbreaking, why didn't he tell the crowd to ''move back'' behind the first barricades, instead of telling them ''come down'' to the inner perimeter of the next police line?
- If you didn't know any better, you'd think BeCivilGuy was some kind of undercover plainclothes Secret Service agent who knew a breach was about to happen '-- and he rushed up the lawn to warn U.S. Capitol Police.
- But one can only imagine what would happen to The Narrative if ''the very first insurrectionist to illegally invade the hallowed Capitol grounds'' was just an undercover Fed with foreknowledge.
- We don't know whether that's true with BeCivilGuy, and ultimately, only the Justice Department can tell us. But a subsequent sequence in which he's the star raises unsettling questions.
- In the below clip, BeCivilGuy rushes in to stop another man from breaking a window at the Western Plaza. The full context of the window-breaking is available here with an incredible clip of the crowd yet again urging Capitol protesters to refrain from breaking the law. For our purposes, BeCivilGuy's appearance begins at 0:20, but we've left in the first 20 seconds for context.
- Three important things deserve mention:
- First, note how professional BeCivilGuy is with his physicality. He has no fear at all seizing a beefy ski-masked man wielding a crowbar by the scruff of his neck, neutralizing him, and dressing him down. At 0:23 above, you'll see BeCivilGuy actually pat down the man's chest before seizing his collar, as if his instinctive second nature was to do a law enforcement ''pat down'' on the perp to see if he has more weapons or a firearm. BeCivilGuy, like Ray Epps, is an absolute ''alpha'' at crowd control. In a word, he seems professional.
- Second, and much more importantly, BeCivilGuy was not trying to stop people going in the Capitol. This sequence happened at 2:56 p.m. The Capitol had been already breached more than 40 minutes earlier, first at 2:12 p.m. The front main entrance to the Capitol was already wide open, with hundreds simply walking in the front door and staying within the velvet ropes, by 2:25 p.m.
- And we know BeCivilGuy knows this, because at 0:39, BeCivilGuy points to the other side of the Capitol and reassures the window-breaker's associate that ''We're getting in. We're getting in.'' BeCivilGuy either wanted, or was fine with, Trump supporters going inside the Capitol. He just wanted people to do so peacefully.
- This is effectively a carbon copy of the strange modus operandi of Ray Epps.
- As we described in our October report:
- If you want to see what this walking philosophical paradox looks like in action, here's a clip of Epps patrolling the very front police lines of the Capitol's Western Plaza at approximately 3:15 p.m at the height of the day's mania '-- nearly two and a half hours after Epps and his ''breach team'' appeared to coordinate the toppling of the Capitol's East-side police barricades. This was also nearly a full hour after the US Capitol building itself had already been breached. With Epps's stated mission of breaching the Capitol accomplished, and hundreds of Trump supporters already inside, Epps's mission magically switched to calming the crowd down, assuring them ''We already made our point,'' and ensuring that no more of his apparently fellow officers got hurt that afternoon:
- Ray Epps told his local Arizona newspaper just five days after January 6 that going into the Capitol ''peacefully'' meant ''we would go in the doors like everyone else'''--and not break windows doing so. BeCivilGuy seems to be following the exact same playbook, or perhaps instructions, as Ray Epps.
- When read a transcript of the comments, [Epps] said, ''The only thing that meant is we would go in the doors like everyone else. It was totally, totally wrong the way they went in.''
- To compound the mystery, even the man BeCivilGuy stops from breaking the Capitol glass at 2:56 p.m. is unindicted. He remains safe in the bosom of the FBI Capitol Most Wanted List, as Suspect #283, despite a full face doxx and thousands of hours of footage the Feds could use to track his movements and associates. You'd think he'd be a priority given he's smashing windows with a crowbar and frequently seen speaking into an earpiece.
- However, at this point, too little information about this man dubbed ''#CarharttWasp'' is known to form an educated opinion into how he fits into the larger picture. We simply point out his interaction with BeCivilGuy, because of the latter's role in being first up the field in the Ray Epps Breach Team.
- Ray Epps Saw It All Coming
- Any simple study of Revolver's Ray Epps video library confirms, beyond all reasonable doubt, that Ray Epps had advance knowledge of a Capitol perimeter breach that would occur where and when it did, on January 6.
- In one telling exchange on January 5, after Ray Epps told the crowd ''We need to go into the Capitol'', a young man insulted Epps, then finally hurled invective: ''You're not gonna do sh*t. You're not gonna storm the Capitol, you're not gonna do anything.''
- A funny thing then happened: Epps looked up and away, beamed with a cocky, knowing smile, and then raised his hand in a gesture that indicated: ''Keep talking kid, you just watch and see.''
- Epps was absolutely oozing with confidence. He appeared to know something the rest of the crowd did not.
- Ray Epps was then up bright and early recruiting people to fall into his booby-trap.
- In our Part 1 report, we described how prior to Epps leading the Big Bang Breach Team at 12:53 p.m., he parked himself at the entrance to the Washington Monument at 10:24 A.M.. This was the site where hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters were making their way early in the morning to get coveted lawn positions to hear their President speak.
- But 10:24 A.M. was an odd time for Ray Epps to be staked out at the entrance to Trump's speaking venue. Trump was not scheduled to speak until noon, and we know from Epps's 12:50 p.m. breach activities that he did not stick around for Trump's speech.
- Revolver has discovered multiple additional recruiting missions that Ray Epps was engaged in, dipping early into the 9 a.m. hour. Notice below how Ray Epps used the same damsel-in-distress language as ScaffoldCommander did, by saying: ''We need your help!'' Epps also made sure people knew ''The Capitol is in that direction'' so they wouldn't take an unconventional or circuitous path, and thereby miss the precise walkway entrance the breach team would pry open while the masses were still at Trump's speech.
- This means Epps came to the Trump speech early in the morning with the sole intention of recruiting a mob to follow on the heels of the Capitol breach team he would personally oversee while Trump was speaking'--the very breach team we have covered in this report whose operators would remove the fencing, signage and barricades before the masses would arrive at the Capitol.
- Let's put this all in context:
- Ray Epps flew 2,300 miles from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington, DC for a Trump rally, supposedly as a Trump supporter.
- Epps arrived at the rally entrance more than two hours early, camped out to constantly shout recruiting instructions about coming to the Capitol after the speech, but then skipped out on the speech itself, because he was too busy personally orchestrating the Big Bang Breach Team that kicked off the riot and tore down the fencing, barricades and signage, which made rallygoers totally unaware of the legal booby trap they had walked into.
- So if Ray Epps was acting on instructions from a government handler from any federal agency (FBI, ATF, Pentagon, DHS, DEA, anything), we now are talking about perhaps the single most egregious caught-on-camera intelligence operation in our lifetimes.
- Synthesis: We Now Know How They Did It
- It increasingly appears that we now know how rogue elements of federal agencies pulled off the January 6 Fedsurrection. If the Ray Epps Breach Team hypothesis is correct, a group of government-sponsored provocateurs were all instructed separately by handlers to arrive at the Peace Monument before 12:45 p.m., where they front-ran the arrival of the Proud Boys, who would serve as the scapegoat for the breach. Then, post-breach, key operators such as Epps and ScaffoldCommander directed the crowd to ''move forward,'' while others removed barricades, fencing and signage.
- There is simply no way the FBI did not know the Proud Boys march would end up at the Peace Monument just after 12:45 p.m. That march was led by Proud Boy leader Joe Biggs. Biggs is an FBI informant who says he ''spoke often'' with his bureau contacts. Biggs's Proud Boy boss Enrique Tarrio was also an FBI informant. And the FBI was reading their cell phone group chat messages ahead of time.
- Epps, for his part, may not have understood any of the bigger picture. If the former Oath Keeper state chapter president is indeed a longtime government informant, as it fully appears, he may be very much used to getting text messages from an agency contact telling him ''Hey, go to this right-wing event and test the crowd for troublemakers. We're looking to flush out the crazies.'' Certainly, Epps made it sound like he was no novice to crowd control at large-scale protest events. His Facebook profile picture was a previous mass march on Washington, and he was fond of telling those around him he's ''been doing this a long time.''
- Moreover, we know Ray Epps feels morally conflicted about what happened. He may still consider himself a patriot, and realized only later he was used like a pawn. How else can one synthesize Epps's cryptic and tortured quasi-confession to the AZ Central just five days after January 6, where he was torn between the statements ''I think the truth needs to get out'' and ''they were supposed to go in the doors like everyone else.''
- What ''truth'' did Ray Epps mean, when he said ''the truth needs to get out''? Why did Epps believe the crowd ''was supposed to go in'' the Capitol a certain way'--i.e., through the front Columbus entrance doors, rather than breaking and entering the rear Capitol windows? Who was Ray Epps working for, and who told him how things were ''supposed'' to go?
- A Queen Creek man who acknowledges he was in Washington, D.C., for last week's rally by President Donald Trump also appears to be shown in videos taken the night before talking about plans to go inside the U.S. Capitol.
- In one video that has been widely viewed on Twitter, he can be heard saying, ''I don't even like to say it because I'll be arrested. I'll say it. We need to go into the Capitol.''
- Ray Epps told The Arizona Republic in a brief telephone interview Monday that he had traveled to the capital for the event, and that he had been advised by an attorney not to speak about it.
- ''I think the truth needs to get out,'' he said.
- He said he would be putting out a statement on Tuesday and added, ''I didn't do anything wrong.''
- A video online appears to show him saying, ''We're here to defend the Constitution'' and ''We need to go into the Capitol.''
- Asked about it, he first told The Republic he would need to see the video. When read a transcript of the comments, he said, ''The only thing that meant is we would go in the doors like everyone else. It was totally, totally wrong the way they went in.''
- On top of the evidence above, consider this perspective. The Feds paid their bottomless roster of secret operatives a whopping $548 million in 2020 alone for sting jobs all over the country. 20 percent of their informant roster is made up of ''longtime informants,'' who effectively make a career out of it. It's even quite banal for longtime informants to be explicitly authorized in advance to go out and commit crimes, with federal handlers granting permission for informants to carry out 22,800 crimes in the 2011-2014 reporting period alone.
- So if Ray Epps and others were granted permission by the handlers ahead of time to participate it crimes, it would not be a ''big deal'' inside the bureau: it would be standard operating procedure. The FBI even gave key government informant and Three Percenters chapter founder Steve Robeson authorization to commit crimes during the Whitmer Kidnapping Plot hoax.
- We don't have public data on the volume of pre-authorized crimes beyond 2014, but we do know that FBI Director Chris Wray began doubling his ''right-wing extremism investigations'' in April 2020 (seven months before 1/6), the FBI and DHS issued threat assessments naming right-wing domestic extremist groups as the nation's #1 top-priority law enforcement and terrorism threats in the summer of 2020, and that the FBI is bound by DOJ guidelines to proportion its informant roster to its threat assessments. So if January 6 turns out to be the biggest Fed-fest in US history, we can see clearly now in retrospect how ''the table was set.''
- Conclusion: The Time Is Now For Full-Court Legal and Legislative Action
- You know the fix is in because we do not have Ray Epps's phone records from January 6.
- A full and complete record of every text message, every phone call, and every wire conversation Ray Epps made on January 5-6 would tell us exactly who else was privy to the Capitol breach plan. It would also very likely tell us which federal agencies were giving the orders, and which agents in particular were handling the many disparate members of the breach team.
- The sham January 6 House Select Committee has now subpoenaed over 100 civilian cell phone records. But you know the fix is in because they have stayed away from subpoenaing the cell phone records of Ray Epps. And Ray Epps is just chilling at home these days, under the apparent protection of the Phoenix FBI.
- We know that in the FBI-orchestrated ''Whitmer Kidnapping Plot,'' just three months before January 6, key FBI informants received text messages from handlers to ''maximize attendance'' of the patsies at locations where their presence would be construed as an ''overt act'' in furtherance of a conspiracy (''agreement'' and ''overt act'' are the two legal elements of a federal conspiracy charge).
- Congressional Republications must now demand the phone records and full and complete account of Ray Epps's relationship with the federal government. Subpoenas should be flying at Sean Kaul, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Phoenix FBI Field Office, faster than Merrick Garland can run from an honest question.
- January 6 defense lawyers: you must seek court-ordered subpoenas for discovery production related to the federal government's records on such individuals as Ray Epps and ScaffoldCommander. If Ray Epps is a Fed, and your client walked through the Peace Monument gate or was induced to trespass because of the Big Bang Breach Team's booby trap, you have an entrapment case and a potential affirmative defense. The Justice Department is legally required under Brady to provide you with all potentially exculpatory evidence related to that defense, and you should be prepared to play tapes of Ray Epps to the jury showing how the riot started in the first place.
- If ScaffoldCommander is a Fed, and your client was induced to ''move forward'' and be thrust into a breaching throng, you have an entrapment case. ''Fill up the Capitol'' is a direct order. That goes far beyond the ''strong suggestive language'' that government informants are required to stay within in order to avoid entrapment.
- Finally, Ray Epps, if you're reading this: We know that you are conflicted, and that you want to the truth to come out. You can still be a hero.
- Simply come forward, and tell the world your story.
- What really happened on January 6?
- Support Revolver By Going AD-FREE'--Donate HERE to fund investigative journalism
- Support our war chest with a monthly subscription and enjoy a faster, minimal Revolver.News reading experience.
- (1) Pepijn van Houwelingen on Twitter: "Klaus Schwab vraagt een lovend citaat voor zijn boek van onze premier, graag opsturen binnen een paar dagen. Reactie: ''What an honourable request from Mr. Schwab I must say.''. Ook zonder Barthes kan iedereen zie
- Pepijn van Houwelingen : Klaus Schwab vraagt een lovend citaat voor zijn boek van onze premier, graag opsturen binnen een paar dagen. Reacti'... https://t.co/NOCt7aO5kD
- Thu Dec 23 12:16:55 +0000 2021
- DJ Francois®' : @PvanHouwelingen Ik hoop dat het allemaal niet te laat komt, de WEF regeert Nederland nu. In feite is Rutte 4 de WE'... https://t.co/hxqJp8ylSX
- Thu Dec 23 12:53:25 +0000 2021
- Capt Brabo'' : @PvanHouwelingen Wordt het niet eens tijd dat deze oude fossiel Schwab achter de geraniums gaat zitten, i must say.'... https://t.co/buqgpSpE1z
- Thu Dec 23 12:52:54 +0000 2021
- danger : @PvanHouwelingen Is het Swab of Schwab?? Zum kotschen ð¤®ð¤®
- Thu Dec 23 12:52:45 +0000 2021
- Jamaican/Dutch - Hotep - Liever dood dan slaafð' : @PvanHouwelingen Lock him up!
- Thu Dec 23 12:51:07 +0000 2021
- Juan Modaal : @PvanHouwelingen @thierrybaudet Dit noemen ze vriendjespolitiek. Ik hou er ook niet van maar maak het niet zo groot'... https://t.co/If5x04UGNs
- Thu Dec 23 12:50:38 +0000 2021
- Redbeard : @PvanHouwelingen On "behave" of him. Lekker niveautje. De spelling van deze onderknuppel is van hetzelfde niveau al'... https://t.co/lStbpPfTdu
- Thu Dec 23 12:50:26 +0000 2021
- Lady Wolve : @PvanHouwelingen Lul...
- Thu Dec 23 12:48:57 +0000 2021
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- Thu Dec 23 12:48:36 +0000 2021
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- Thu Dec 23 12:48:03 +0000 2021
- Akbash - Wikipedia
- Akbash Dog Other names AkbaÅ oban K¶peÄiOriginTurkeyHeightDogs28''32 in (71''81 cm)Bitches27''30 in (69''76 cm)WeightDogs90''140 lb (41''64 kg)Bitches75''105 lb (34''48 kg)CoatMedium or long double coatColorWhiteLitter size8 pupsLife span11 years Dog ( domestic dog )The Akbash Dog (Turkish: AkbaÅ, meaning White Head[1]) is native to Turkey, and it is primarily used as a livestock guardian dog or shepherd dog.
- History [ edit ] This breed was introduced to North America in the 1970s by U.S. citizens Judith and David Nelson[2] who had been researching white coloured dogs in western Turkey.
- Appearance [ edit ] The Akbash is a large dog, weighing from 75 to 140 pounds (34 to 64 kg), averaging 90 pounds for the female, and 120 pounds for the male. Akbash dogs range from about 27 to 32 inches (69 to 81 cm) tall. The Akbash tends to be leaner than other Turkish livestock guardian dog breeds (Kangal and Anatolian Shepherd), and some Akbash dogs may also be taller.
- The Akbash has a smooth-short to medium-full white double coat (sometimes with light biscuit coloring at the ears). The dogs have long legs, a tail that curls and is frequently feathered, and pink skin blotched with black or blackish-brown under the white coat. Eye rims, nose and lips should be completely black or blackish-brown, but they may also be lighter, especially during cold winter months.
- Although there is a great deal of variation in size and height of individuals, Akbash Dogs have a reputation for being tall with long, strong, flexible bodies. They have loose skin around their necks to help protect them from predators during fights. Heads can range from medium to heavy, though medium is preferred. Purebred Akbash Dogs may or may not be born with rear double dewclaws. Lack of or possession of rear double dewclaws in an Akbash is no indication of recent interbreeding with other livestock guardian breeds nor any other breeds.
- Some people suggest that the Akbash and the Kangal Dog were originally distinct, pure Turkish breeds and that they were combined to create the Anatolian Shepherd Dog. There still exists controversy on this subject. Akbash Dogs should be easy to recognize next to Kangals and Anatolian Shepherds because of their white appearance, although some Anatolian Shepherds may resemble the Akbash or the Kangal.
- Currently, it is legal to export Akbash Dogs from Turkey but not Kangal Dogs. Kangals are considered the national dog breed of Turkey.
- The Akbash Dog is not recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) but is recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC).[3] Akbash Dogs may be shown in the American Rare Breed Association (ARBA) shows, and in International All Breed Canine Association (IABCA) shows.
- Temperament [ edit ] The Akbash personality tends to be calm and aware. The breed is neither shy nor aggressive. When used as a guard dog, it is suspicious of strangers in its territory, and alert to unusual sounds or changes in the environment. The breed is not naturally hostile, and is instead, naturally discerning, bred to think independently. The Akbash can be powerful against predators, yet, when properly exposed, be gentle with newborn lambs and goat kids. The usual first means of protection by an Akbash is to warn potential threats by posturing, barking and/or growling. The Akbash will chase away a predator or engage in physical combat if necessary.
- Although the Akbash is frequently mistakenly referred to as a herding dog, they do not chase and round up livestock. Akbash Dogs should never chase livestock, although occasionally they may move their charges away from danger. The Akbash is one of the more popular of about 30 breeds worldwide of Flock Guardians, Livestock Protection Dogs, and Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs).
- In their role as livestock guardian dogs, Akbash Dogs frequently spend long hours lying with flocks or herds. The Akbash is a relatively low energy breed, although they are said to always be thinking and taking in what is happening around them (and that they "sleep with one eye open"). They regularly patrol the perimeters of their territory, listening, sniffing and looking beyond the fence lines. Like their sighthound ancestors, the vision of Akbash Dogs is excellent. They reserve much of their physical energy for possible encounters with predators.
- When protecting their charges they have tremendous power, focus, endurance, and perseverance. Their great speed, loose neck skin, flexible bodies, and bounding athleticism give them the physical edge they need to excel as livestock protection dogs. Most predators will not openly confront a working Akbash Dog. To avoid injuries to livestock protection dogs, and to better protect flocks and herds, more than one dog should be used in many working situations. Predators are less likely to challenge several protection dogs than a single dog. This is especially important when wolf packs, grizzlies and cougars are the prevalent threats.
- The Akbash is uncommon as a companion dog. When trained appropriately from puppyhood on, they will get along with other domestic species. Since the Akbash has been bred to think on its own, dogs of this breed can be a challenge to train for obedience exercises. They have been bred not to chase their charges, so they tend not to be as interested in chasing balls or in games of fetch. They prefer large areas and may become discontent and, if relegated to a pen or small yard, may exhibit problem behaviors, like escaping or being destructive. Akbash Dogs require tall secure fencing for best containment. The Akbash is not a dog for everyone. It is a working breed and is happiest when given a job compatible with its breeding, or at the least, when kept mentally engaged. These dogs are known for their intelligence, bravery, independence, and loyalty.
- Health [ edit ] Akbash Dogs, like many large breeds, can be expected to live between 10 to 11 years on average, with some living much longer. Akbash Dogs are capable of bonding very closely with their owners and other animals and can display a range of emotions and sensitivity, unlike many other breeds. Like other breeds, they are susceptible to various infectious diseases and conditions to varying degrees.
- See also [ edit ] Dogs portalList of dog breedsAnatolian ShepherdKangal Shepherd DogAksaray MalaklisiReferences [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] The Mini-Atlas of Dog Breeds by Andrew DePrisco and James B. JohnsonLivestock Protection Dogs by Orysia Dawydiak and David E. Sims, 2nd edition, 2004.Hancock, David (August 31, 2014). Dogs of the Shepherds: A Review of the Pastoral Breeds. ISBN 9781847978097. Kojima, Toyoharu (August 28, 2005). Legacy of the Dog: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide (Revised and Updated, 2nd ed.). Chronicle Books LLC. ISBN 9780811851138. The Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World by Bonnie Wilcox, DVM, and Chris WalkowiczExternal links [ edit ] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Akbash dog . Clubs, Associations, and Societies [ edit ] Akbash Dogs InternationalAkbash RescueAkbash Dog Association of America (ADAA)Directories and Informational Pages [ edit ] Akbash Dog at the Open Directory ProjectTraining, behaviour and breed standards of Akbash dogsViewpoint on the Anatolian, Kangal and Akbash breed debate
- Is UK heading for New Year lockdown? Professor Neil Ferguson: 5,000 Omicron deaths a DAY | Daily Mail Online
- Gloomy modelling from 'Professor Lockdown' today suggested there could be 5,000 Omicron deaths a day this winter without more restrictions as Britain's overall Covid cases rocketed to record levels for the third day in a row.
- A total of 93,045 people tested positive for Covid in the past 24 hours, up 60 per cent in a week, but the ultra-virulent variant is thought to be doubling nationally every two days and spreading faster than testing can keep up.
- In an early warning sign, coronavirus hospitalisations in Omicron hotspot London have spiked by more than a third in a week '-- although they are rising from a small base with just 199 admitted on Tuesday.
- Around a quarter of today's cases were in London alone, where infections have risen fivefold since the world was alerted to Omicron's existence on November 24.
- Meanwhile, another 3,201 new cases of Omicron were confirmed in Britain today, taking the total number to 14,909 as it becomes the dominant strain nationally. This is a vast underestimate due to the time it takes to analyse positive samples for variants and experts say up to 400,000 Brits could be catching it per day.
- The surging statistics came as Professor Neil Ferguson '-- whose projections have spooked No10 into lockdowns before '-- called for curbs to be tightened by New Year on the back of his latest modelling of the mutant strain.
- His team at Imperial College London found that even in a best case scenario, there could be roughly 3,000 daily Omicron deaths at the peak in January without further curbs '-- much higher than the previous record of 1,800 during the second wave.
- The projections will anger backbench Tory MPs who this week launched an attack on Chris Whitty and accused No10's Government advisers of 'running the show'.
- Imperial found 'no evidence' the variant was less severe than Delta, dismissing real-world evidence in South Africa, and estimate it is five-and-a-half times more likely to re-infect people and make vaccines significantly weaker.
- Drawing on data from Omicron's spread in the UK, as well as lab tests on vaccine effectiveness, they concluded: 'Omicron poses a major, imminent threat to public health'.
- Professor Ferguson '-- who predicted 500,000 Covid deaths in the first wave without lockdown '-- said tighter curbs were needed 'in a week or two' to have a significant effect on the size of the peak of the new wave.
- The latest projections will raise fears that Britons could be stung by last-minute festive restrictions once again, with Boris Johnson repeatedly refusing to rule a full lockdown out if hospitalisations start to surge.
- Wales has already announced the return of social distancing and closure of nightclubs from Boxing Day, while Scots are urged to limit mixing to three households and people in England are advised to 'prioritise' social events.
- But in a glimmer of hope, the South African Government today declared that infections have peaked in the epicentre Gauteng province, and nationally there are only 385 hospital admissions per day and 30 deaths.
- Professor Ferguson's team did not model scenarios for Britain, instead they offered hypothetical situations for a 'high-income country with substantial prior transmission and high vaccine access'. Modellers presented three different scenarios for daily Covid deaths with Omicron, based on how deadly the virus proved to be and its ability to dodge vaccines. Under the most pessimistic estimate (shown right), the team warned of 100 daily deaths per million people for a country that vaccinated the majority of over-10s and given out boosters to the majority of over-40s - like the UK. At the other end of the scale, the figure stood at around 50 per million when the same vaccination calculations were taken into account (left). The team's central projection - which it told MailOnline was its 'best estimate' - suggested daily deaths could peak at around 75 per million in early 2022 (shown centre). VFR (variant fold reduction) is essentially a measure of current Covid vaccine effectiveness against Omicron. Specifically, how many more antibodies you need against Omicron to achieve the same vaccine results as the jab would have against Delta
- Britain's daily Covid cases have rocketed to record levels for the third day in a row with 93,000 people diagnosed in 24 hours
- Professor Ferguson '-- the Government adviser whose modelling has spooked No10 into lockdowns before '-- said tighter curbs were needed 'in a week or two' to have a significant effect on the size of the peak of the new wave
- Covid hospital admissions have spiked by more than a third in a week in Britain's Omicron hotspot of London, official data shows
- Prime Minster Boris Johnson '-- who has repeatedly refused to rule out another lockdown if Omicron is as bad as scientists say '-- sits with members of the Metropolitan Police in their break room, as he makes a constituency visit to Uxbridge police station on December 17
- Meanwhile, daily Covid deaths '-- which are a lagging indicator '-- fell in the UK today with 111 fatalities down by 7.5 per cent on last Friday. Latest hospital data shows there were 900 admissions on December 13, up 7 per cent in a week.
- Professor Azra Ghani, an epidemiologist at Imperial and one of the researchers behind the modelling, said the 5,000 deaths per day estimate was an 'illustration of the need to act'.
- Yesterday, Chris Whitty told MPs yesterday that he was 'extremely cautious' about SAGE's modelling of Omicron because there are still some 'really critical things we don't know' about the variant.
- SAGE's models have been criticised several times in the past for overegging the UK's epidemic, most recently projecting 6,000 daily Delta hospital admissions in October.
- The history of Professor Lockdown's predictions vs reality Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London earned his moniker 'Professor Lockdown' after producing research in March 2020 that predicted there would be 510,000 Covid deaths in the UK by August that year if the Government allowed the virus to sweep through the population with no restrictions.
- About 250,000 Britons would still perish, the research added, if the Government maintained the then-policy of social distancing and hand-washing without a lockdown.
- This piece of research is credited with terrifying Government into imposing the national lockdown that saw Britons told to stay at home, separated families, friends and loved ones from each other in the name of reducing transmission and preventing virus cases from overwhelming the NHS.
- The UK experienced 41,650 deaths from the virus by the end of August 2020 after a brutal lockdown from March until June which makes it impossible to predict if Professor Ferguson's 510,000 death toll would have come true.
- Professor Ferguson infamously failed to obey lockdown rules when the married academic had an illicit liaison with his lover Antonia Staats who met him at this home twice in the first few weeks of the national lockdown.
- He was heavily criticised at the time for lecturing Britons on the importance of following the lockdown rules whilst simultaneously flouting them.
- The controversy led to his eventual resignation as a Government advisor on SAGE in May 2020 with a No10 spokesperson sayin Professor Ferguson 'will no longer attend, participate or contribute to SAGE meetings'.
- But it later emerged in December that year that the epidemiologist had quietly continued to influence SAGE via his role in the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling committee, and the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG).
- Both these groups feed into SAGE, and NERVTAG was partly responsible for pushing the Government into cancelling Christmas for 16million people in 2020 due to its gloomy warnings about the new mutant strain.
- Professor Ferguson has also continued to defend his 510,000 death toll prediction, even going as far as to call it an 'underestimation', arguing that the fatalities would have been much higher had the NHS been overwhelmed by the virus.
- More recent predictions by SAGE have also failed to live up to expectations.
- In September SAGE warned there more than 6,000 daily Covid hospital admissions by October due to waning immunity from Covid jabs, schools returning from summer, and workers returning to offices.
- In reality the UK saw an average of 1,000 patients admitted to hospital per day during this period.
- SAGE models were also ridiculed this year for estimating there would be 100,000 Covid cases per day over the summer of 2021.
- The highest cases ever got over that period was barely above half of that prediction, with 60,760 on July 15.
- How Professor Ferguson's latest prediction of a potential 5,000 Omicron deaths a day stands up remains to be seen.
- Professor Ferguson's team did not model scenarios for Britain, instead they offered hypothetical situations for a 'high-income country with substantial prior transmission and high vaccine access'.
- Modellers presented three different scenarios for daily Covid deaths with Omicron, based on its ability to dodge vaccines.
- Under the most pessimistic estimate, the team warned of 100 daily deaths per million people for a country that vaccinated the majority of over-10s and gave out boosters to the majority of over-40s - like the UK.
- At the other end of the scale, the figure stood at around 50 per million when the same vaccination calculations were taken into account.
- The team's central projection - which it told MailOnline was its 'best estimate' - suggested daily deaths could peak at around 75 per million in early 2022.
- That, in theory, suggests Britain could expect to see 5,000 daily deaths - four times the levels seen during the peak of the second wave, before vaccines had really been rolled out.
- But Dr Clive Dix, former Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, was not convinced by the astronomical death numbers in the paper.
- He said: 'It is important not to over interpret this data. The conclusions made are based on making assumptions about omicron where we still don't have sufficient data.
- 'For example, we have no data on the cellular immune response which is now probably driving effectiveness of vaccines. This is a crucial missing assumption in the modelling.
- 'Some of their conclusions are different to the data emerging from South Africa in that the vaccines are holding up well against severe disease and death at present.
- 'There is a huge amount of uncertainty in these modelled estimates and we can only be confident about the impact of boosters against omicron when we have another month of real world data on hospitalisation ICU numbers and deaths.
- 'It remains the case that we still need to get vaccines current and future to the whole world.'
- The Imperial study found a significantly increased risk of developing a symptomatic Omicron case compared with Delta with two vaccines or a booster.
- Vaccine effectiveness on mild disease was estimated to be around 20 per cent after two doses and between 55 per cent and 80 per cent after a booster dose.
- The scientists used data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS for all PCR-confirmed Covid cases in England who had taken a test between November 29 and December 11 this year to come to the estimates.
- The risk of reinfection with Omicron was said to be 5.4 times greater than that of the Delta variant, which Imperial said meant immunity from past infection may be as low as 19 per cent.
- Professor Ferguson added: ' This study provides further evidence of the very substantial extent to which Omicron can evade prior immunity, given by both infection or vaccination.
- 'This level of immune evasion means that Omicron poses a major, imminent threat to public health.'
- The study also found no evidence of Omicron having lower severity than Delta, but data on hospital admission was very low at the time of the study, with only 16 British patients admitted with the strain.
- That assessment comes despite a major real-world study on 78,000 South Africans concluding that Omicron is up to 30 per cent milder than older variants and causes a third fewer hospital admissions.
- Professor Ghani insisted there was still a great deal of 'uncertainty' about Omicron's severity with more clear-cut data expected in the coming weeks.
- 'Whilst it may take several weeks to fully understand this, governments will need to put in place plans now to mitigate any potential impact,' she said.
- England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has previously called for 'serious caution' over interpreting the promising data on Omicron coming from South Africa.
- He said the same patterns may not be replicated in the UK in part due to South Africa's last wave being more recent so population-wide immunity was fresher.
- On severe disease, the team at Imperial estimated a booster provides around 81 to 86 per cent protection against hospitalisation and death compared to 96.5 and 97.6 per cent against Delta.
- Croydon Health Services Trust has already seen half its critical care beds taken up by Covid patients. Map shows: The top pen worst and least affected hospitals in terms of Covid critical care bed occupancy in the capital
- MailOnline's analysis of NHS England data shows overall Covid hospital bed occupancy in London have jumped by a fifth in the past week, in a possible sign of what Omicron has in store for the capital. Map shows: The top pen worst and least affected hospitals in terms of Covid bed occupancy in the capital
- It came as MailOnline analysis showed Covid hospital admissions have spiked by more than a third in a week in Britain's Omicron hotspot of London.
- The ultra-infectious strain already makes up three-quarters of all new cases in the capital, which yesterday posted 23,000 cases '-- a record high.
- Covid hospital admissions jump by a THIRD in a week in Omicron hotspot London Covid hospital admissions have spiked by more than a third in a week in Britain's Omicron hotspot of London, official data shows amid fears NHS wards could be hit just as badly as they were in the second wave.
- The ultra-infectious strain already makes up three-quarters of all new cases in the capital, which yesterday posted 23,000 cases '-- a record high.
- Experts have already called for tighter restrictions to be placed on the city to curb the spread of the virus, which is feared to be doubling every one-and-a-half days. But Tory MPs have urged ministers to rely on the wall of defence built by vaccines.
- Hospitalisations have already started to shoot up in the capital, offering a glimpse of what Government advisers fear is in store for the rest of the country. While the trend is increasing in the capital, actual admissions remain low.
- Some 199 infected patients were admitted to wards in London on Tuesday, the most recent day UKHSA figures are available for. This was up 34 per cent on the previous week. For comparison, nearly 1,000 a day were being recorded during the darkest days of the second wave in January.
- But admissions are expected to go up even further because of the time it takes for infected people to become severely ill. Cases are skyrocketing across the country and are now going up in over-60s in the capital, who are the most vulnerable to Covid.
- NHS England statistics shows eight of London's worst hit hospitals have seen their number of admissions double over the past week. And Croydon Health Services Trust has already seen half its critical care beds taken up by Covid patients.
- Several trusts in the capital are shelving 'non-urgent' procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, as they redeployed doctors and nurses to the frontlines to battle staff shortages.
- Experts have already called for tighter restrictions to be placed on the city to curb the spread of the virus, which is feared to be doubling every one-and-a-half days. But Tory MPs have urged ministers to rely on the wall of defence built by vaccines.
- Hospitalisations have already started to shoot up in the capital, offering a glimpse of what Government advisers fear is in store for the rest of the country. While the trend is increasing in the capital, actual admissions remain low.
- Some 199 infected patients were admitted to wards in London on Tuesday, the most recent day UKHSA figures are available for. This was up 34 per cent on the previous week. For comparison, nearly 1,000 a day were being recorded during the darkest days of the second wave in January.
- But admissions are expected to go up even further because of the time it takes for infected people to become severely ill. Cases are skyrocketing across the country and are now going up in over-60s in the capital, who are the most vulnerable to Covid.
- NHS England statistics shows eight of London's worst hit hospitals have seen their number of admissions double over the past week. And Croydon Health Services Trust has already seen half its critical care beds taken up by Covid patients.
- Several trusts in the capital are shelving 'non-urgent' procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, as they redeployed doctors and nurses to the frontlines to battle staff shortages.
- MailOnline's analysis of NHS England data shows overall Covid hospital bed occupancy in London has jumped by a fifth in the past week, in a possible sign of what Omicron has in store for the capital.
- Bed occupancy is a different metric to admissions and takes into account discharges, with patients known to be spending less time in hospital now because of the vaccines. It lags slightly behind the UKHSA admission figures.
- In total, 990 of the city's 13,145 beds were occupied by Covid patients on December 14, 7.5 per cent of the total beds available.
- But Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust, in the east of the capital, saw the biggest spike in demand, with the number of beds taken up by Covid patients doubling from 15 to 32.
- Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust also saw the raw number of occupied beds double, going to 57 from 27.
- Some of the capital's biggest hospitals are also seeing rises in Covid patients. Barts Health Trust, which serves 2.6million people, saw a nearly 22 per cent rise to 112.
- But the NHS is under strain because of standard winter pressures and a backlog of demand built up through the pandemic, meaning it has less safety room to deal with a Covid surge.
- Data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases showed that less than two per cent of patients were being hospitalised in the second week of the Omicron wave in South Africa. For comparison, when the Delta wave struck it was 12 per cent
- Daily Covid cases in South Africa have risen 10 per cent in a week today. But the country is currently enjoying a public holiday, which likely skewed the figures
- Hospitalisations in the country fell 23.4 per cent in a week today after another 374 people were admitted. But this could also be down to the holiday, with fewer people available to process data
- And the rapid spread of Omicron has led to a spike in staff absences, piling pressure on an already over-stretched workforce.
- Two hospitals in London claimed to have no available beds at all, meaning they are already unable to cope with any more patients ahead of the predicted surge in demand in the coming weeks.
- Hope for Britain? 11 TIMES fewer Covid patients in Omicron-ravaged South Africa are now being admitted to hospital than during summer Delta wave Eleven times fewer patients diagnosed with Covid in Omicron-stricken South Africa are being admitted to hospital now than in the summer, experts claimed today.
- The country's health minister Joe Phaahla revealed 1.7 per cent of Covid cases went on to be hospitalised during the second week of the current wave. For comparison, he said the equivalent figure was 19 per cent in the second week of South Africa's Delta crisis.
- Mr Phaahla also told a press conference there were early indications that 'the peak has been reached' in Gauteng, which was first to feel the full force of the variant.
- The province's daily infections have started to trend downwards, about three weeks after the ultra-infectious variant took hold.
- Higher immunity levels due to vaccination and previous infection now than when Delta took off are thought to be behind the lower hospitalisation rate.
- But Mr Phaahla suggested Omicron may have evolved to be milder, bolstering claims made by doctors treating patients on the frontline.
- Public health official Wassila Jassat, who also attended the conference, said South Africa had fewer patients needing oxygen now than when Delta emerged. She added that patients were hospitalised for a shorter period.
- It is the latest glimmer of hope for Britain that Omicron may be milder than first feared, suggesting that its rapid rise won't cripple the health service in the coming weeks '' despite gloomy projections.
- But Professor Chris Whitty has warned against making comparisons between the two countries, pointing out that a far larger proportion of South Africa's population is young and less vulnerable compared to the UK.
- North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust reported zero unoccupied beds this week.
- Hospital bosses across the country have already been told to discharge as many patients who don't 'need' a bed as 'soon as practically possible'. They should be sent to care homes, hospices and hotels if it is 'safe' to do so.
- Hospitals are on red alert in the wake of modelling by No10's scientists that warned admissions could exceed levels seen during the darkest days of the nation's second wave last January, when 4,000 infected patients were needing medical care every day.
- Nurses are being flown in from Spain and Greece to offer temporary assistance at hotels that are being converted into care sites over Christmas to help deal with the oncoming crisis, it was also revealed today.
- Separate data also shows a fifth of London's critical care beds are already occupied by Covid patients, with some hospitals also reporting they have none of these beds currently available.
- While critical care bed uptake by Covid patients is down four per cent across the capital, some hospitals are becoming overrun with virus patients.
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust is the worst hit so far, with eight of its 16 critical care beds occupied by Covid patients, a 33 per cent rise on last week.
- Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is in a similar situation, with six of its 13 beds taken up by Covid patients, but this is a 14 per cent decrease on last week.
- And North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust was the only hospital with zero critical care beds available this week.
- Others were not far behind with eight reporting having fewer than five of these beds available.
- As fears about a UK-wide lockdown mount, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has not ruled out adding more Covid restrictions after Christmas, as he said there 'won't be any parties at nightclubs on New Year's Eve'.
- He announced new legal measures that will come into force on December 27, to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
- Mr Drakeford urged people to downsize their festive plans, saying his own celebrations would be 'modest'.
- The rules to be introduced in 10 days are taken from the country's Alert level 2, and include bringing back social distancing, barriers and one-way systems in businesses.
- The Welsh Government said the plan currently does not include restrictions on private households.
- But Mr Drakeford said restricting the number of households allowed to meet remains a possibility, and hinted at the prospect of further restrictions in hospitality settings after Christmas, such as the 'rule of six'.
- 'I'm hopeful that hospitality will reopen after Christmas and we'll be working with the sector to think about the terms on which it will reopen,' Mr Drakeford said.
- 'People are already voting with their feet and cancelling arrangements because they are anxious about Omicron.
- 'It may be that when hospitality reopens we may need to put some extra protections in place so that people feel confident when they go out to a pub or a restaurant, then everything is being done to make sure they are safe.'
- No nightclub parties for New Year, says Welsh First Minister as Scotland warns Omicron 'tsunami´ is beginning to hit ScotlandWelsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has not ruled out adding more Covid restrictions after Christmas, as he said there 'won't be any parties at nightclubs on New Year's Eve'.
- He announced new legal measures that will come into force on December 27, to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
- Mr Drakeford urged people to downsize their festive plans, saying his own celebrations would be 'modest'.
- The rules to be introduced in 10 days are taken from the country's Alert level 2, and include bringing back social distancing, barriers and one-way systems in businesses.
- The Welsh Government said the plan currently does not include restrictions on private households.
- But Mr Drakeford said restricting the number of households allowed to meet remains a possibility, and hinted at the prospect of further restrictions in hospitality settings after Christmas, such as the 'rule of six'.
- 'I'm hopeful that hospitality will reopen after Christmas and we'll be working with the sector to think about the terms on which it will reopen,' Mr Drakeford said.
- 'People are already voting with their feet and cancelling arrangements because they are anxious about Omicron.
- 'It may be that when hospitality reopens we may need to put some extra protections in place so that people feel confident when they go out to a pub or a restaurant, then everything is being done to make sure they are safe.'
- Meanwhile, Omicron is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said as she warned a 'tsunami' of the variant is hitting the country.
- The First Minister said 51.4% of Covid-19 cases in Scotland are now likely to be Omicron.
- The R number, which measures the rate of infection, could be above four and cases of the virus have increased by more than 40% in the past week, the First Minister said during a coronavirus briefing.
- She urged people to stay at home in the run-up to Christmas, saying the emergence of Omicron has been the 'cruellest of blows'.
- 'The tsunami I warned about a week ago is now starting to hit us,' she said.
- 'However, and this is a key point, a really key point actually, we shouldn't be fatalistic about this. We are not powerless in the face of it.'
- The First Minister said it 'seems that boosters are still very effective in reducing the risk of falling seriously ill from Omicron'.
- She said it is expected the increase in cases will 'continue and accelerate', and stressed the need to slow down the spread of the virus, adding: 'As of now the scale and the immediacy of the challenge it presents is of profound concern.'
- Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK - Office for National Statistics
- 1. Main pointsIn 2020, there were 8,974 deaths (14.0 per 100,000 people) from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK, an 18.6% increase compared with 2019 (7,565 deaths; 11.8 per 100,000 people) and the highest year-on-year increase since the data time series began in 2001.
- Between 2012 and 2019, rates of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK have remained stable, but a statistically significant increase was seen in 2020.
- Consistent with previous years, the rate of alcohol-specific deaths for males in 2020 remained more than double the rate for females (19.0 and 9.2 deaths per 100,000 people respectively, registered in 2020).
- Scotland and Northern Ireland had the highest rates of alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 (21.5 and 19.6 deaths per 100,000 people respectively).
- Comparing with 2019, the alcohol-specific death rate has risen across all four UK constituent countries, but statistically significant increases were only seen in England and Scotland.
- !If you are struggling with your drinking, please consider visiting Get help now on the Alcohol Change UK website. Help is available if you are concerned for yourself or on behalf of a family member or friend.
- Back to table of contents 2. Alcohol-specific deaths in the UKThere were 8,974 deaths related to alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK in 2020, equivalent to 14.0 deaths per 100,000 people. That was 1,409 more deaths (a 18.6% increase) than in 2019 when there were 7,565 registered deaths, equivalent to 11.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
- Between 2012 and 2019, rates of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK have remained stable, with no statistically significant differences in the year-on-year rates. However, the rates seen in 2020 are statistically significantly higher than 2019 and any other year since 2001, when there were 10.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
- !Alcohol-specific deaths only include those health conditions where each death is a direct consequence of alcohol misuse (that is, wholly attributable causes such as alcoholic liver disease). See concepts and definitions for more information.
- Figure 1: The alcohol-specific death rate for 2020 was 18.6% higher than the previous yearAge-standardised alcohol-specific death rates per 100,000 people, by sex; UK, deaths registered between 2001 and 2020Source: Office for National Statistics - Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2020, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research AgencyNotes:Rates are expressed per 100,000 population and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population.
- Deaths of non-residents are included in figures for the UK.
- Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
- Download this chart Figure 1: The alcohol-specific death rate for 2020 was 18.6% higher than the previous year Image.csv.xlsRates of male alcohol-specific deaths are twice those of femalesConsistent with previous years, the alcohol-specific death rate for males in 2020 (19.0 deaths per 100,000 males; 5,957 deaths) was around twice the rate for females (9.2 deaths per 100,000 females; 3,017 deaths).
- Most alcohol-specific deaths are attributed to alcoholic liver diseaseThe National Statistics definition of alcohol-specific deaths includes only those health conditions where each death is a direct consequence of alcohol misuse (that is, wholly attributable deaths; see Section 8 of the Quality and Methodology Information). Figure 2 shows the number of alcohol-specific deaths by five-year age group and the following three individual causes, which contributed 96.1% of all alcohol-specific deaths registered in 2020:
- alcoholic liver disease (International Classification of Diseases: ICD-10 code K70; 77.8% of alcohol-specific deaths)
- mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol (ICD-10 code F10; 12.1% of deaths)
- external cause of deaths, including accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (ICD-10 code X45, X65, Y15; 6.2% of deaths)
- Figure 2: More than three-quarters of alcohol-specific deaths were caused by alcoholic liver diseaseNumbers of alcohol-specific deaths, by five-year age group and individual cause; UK, deaths registered in 2020Source: Office for National Statistics - Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2020, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research AgencyNotes:Deaths of non-residents are included in figures for the UK.
- Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
- Download this chart Figure 2: More than three-quarters of alcohol-specific deaths were caused by alcoholic liver disease Image.csv.xlsBack to table of contents 3. Alcohol-specific deaths by UK constituent countryScotland and Northern Ireland had the highest rates of alcohol-specific deaths in 2020Scotland and Northern Ireland were the UK constituent countries with the highest alcohol-specific death rates in 2020, with 21.5 and 19.6 deaths per 100,000 persons respectively. England and Wales continue to have lower rates of alcohol-specific deaths, with 13.0 and 13.9 deaths per 100,000 persons respectively.
- However, when compared with the 2019 registrations, the largest year-on-year increases in rates were seen in Wales and England, 17.8% and 19.3% respectively. This substantial increase in the death rates in 2020 was indicated in our quarterly report for England and Wales.
- In 2020, Scotland and England were the only UK constituent countries to show statistically significant higher rates when comparing with 2019. In comparison, rates in both Wales and Northern Ireland were not statistically significantly different for the same period.
- Figure 3: Of the four UK constituent countries, rates of alcohol-specific deaths were highest in Scotland in 2020Age-standardised alcohol-specific death rates per 100,000 people; UK constituent countries, deaths registered between 2001 and 2020Source: Office for National Statistics - Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2020, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research AgencyNotes:Rates are expressed per 100,000 population and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population.
- Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland include deaths of non-residents. However, figures for England and Wales (separately) exclude deaths of non-residents and are based on August 2021 boundaries.
- Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
- Download this chart Figure 3: Of the four UK constituent countries, rates of alcohol-specific deaths were highest in Scotland in 2020 Image.csv.xlsBack to table of contents 4. Alcohol-specific deaths by English regionSix English regions had significant increases in rates of alcohol-specific deaths in 2020For deaths registered in 2020, regional age-standardised rates of alcohol-specific deaths ranged from 9.2 deaths per 100,000 people in the East of England to 20.0 deaths per 100,000 people in the North East. For the seventh consecutive year, the North East had the highest rate of any English region. As discussed in our quarterly provisional release, 2020 had elevated rates of alcohol-specific deaths. When comparing the rates of alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 to deaths registered in 2019, six out of nine English regions have seen statistically significant increases in rates:
- West Midlands (from 12.1 to 16.1 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 33.1%)
- South West (from 8.7 to 11.5 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 32.2%)
- London (from 7.9 to 9.9 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 25.3%)
- North East (from 16.6 to 20.0 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 20.5%)
- North West (from 14.4 to 17.2 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 19.4%)
- South East (from 9.2 to 10.9 deaths per 100,000 people, an increase of 18.5%)
- While comparing males' and females' rates of death, the ratio between male and female rates of death was greatest in London, as has been the case for 15 consecutive years. In 2020, the male rate for London was 15.1 deaths per 100,000 people, over three times the female rate of 5.0 deaths per 100,000.
- Figure 4: In 2020, the alcohol-specific death rate for the West Midlands was 33.1% higher than the previous yearAge-standardised alcohol-specific death rates per 100,000 people, by sex; English regions, deaths registered between 2001 and 2020Embed codeEmbed this interactive
- Notes:Rates are expressed per 100,000 population and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population.
- Figures for English regions exclude deaths of non-residents and are based on August 2021 boundaries.
- Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
- Back to table of contents 5. Factors that could be associated with the 2020 increase in alcohol-specific deaths When trying to understand the elevated rates of alcohol-specific deaths seen since April 2020, there will be many complex factors, and it may be some time before we fully understand all of these.
- Data from Public Health England show that consumption patterns have changed since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to hospital admissions and death.
- For further discussion see our quarterly releases.
- Back to table of contents 6. Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK dataBack to table of contents 7. GlossaryAlcohol-specific deathsThis bulletin uses the National Statistics definition of alcohol-specific deaths; it includes those health conditions where each death is a direct consequence of alcohol misuse (that is, wholly attributable deaths). This is explored in greater detail in Section 8 Concepts and definitions of the Quality and Methodology Information.
- Figures are based on deaths registered in each calendar year, rather than the date of which the death occurs. On a national level, trends are broadly similar whether the data are analysed by year of occurrence or year of registration. Registration delays can have greater influence on smaller geographical areas.
- Age-specific mortality ratesAge-specific mortality rate is the total number of deaths per 100,000 people of a particular age group, used to allow comparisons between specified age groups.
- Age-standardised mortality ratesAge-standardised mortality rates allow for differences in the age structure of populations and therefore allow valid comparisons to be made between geographical areas, the sexes and over time. In this bulletin, age-standardised mortality rates are presented per 100,000 people and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population.
- Statistical significanceThe term "significant" refers to statistically significant changes or differences based on unrounded figures. Significance has been determined using the 95% confidence intervals, where instances of non-overlapping confidence intervals between figures indicate the difference is unlikely to have arisen from random fluctuation (or chance).
- For further information see our pages on statistical uncertainty.
- Back to table of contents 8. Measuring the data Quality and methodologyStatistics on mortality are derived from the information provided when deaths are certified and registered. These statistics are assessed fully compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics and are therefore designated as National Statistics. Office for National Statistics (ONS) holds mortality data for England and Wales. Figures for the UK include data kindly provided by National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
- Numerous changes were made to death certification and registration under the Coronavirus Act 2020. We have previously explored the impact on the quality of death registration data in England and Wales. Further information about the methods and quality of these statistics can be found in the Mortality statistics in England and Wales Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) report and the User guide to mortality statistics.
- More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in the Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) report.
- Registration delay Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each calendar year.
- In England and Wales, 89.3% of alcohol-specific deaths registered in 2020 occurred in the same year and 67.4% of those deaths were certified by doctors; when looking at deaths from all causes, the percentages were 94.9% and 84.3% respectively for the same period.
- The amount of time it takes to complete an inquest creates what is known as a "registration delay", which is a lag between the date of death and the date of death registration. For alcohol-specific deaths registered in 2020, the average (median) time between death occurrence and registration was six days in England and Wales, six days in England, five days in Wales, four days in Scotland and five days in Northern Ireland. Within England, the median delays range from four days in the North East to seven days in the East of England, London and the South East.
- PopulationsMortality rates are calculated using the number of deaths and mid-year population estimates provided by the ONS Population Estimates Unit. Population estimates are based on the decennial UK census estimates and use information on births, deaths and migration to estimate the mid-year population in non-census years.
- Back to table of contents 9. Strengths and limitationsFollowing our consultation in 2017, the definition was changed to include only alcohol-specific deaths, meaning that those conditions where death is only partially attributable to alcohol are excluded, they can include certain forms of cancer. The definition of alcohol-specific deaths is a more conservative estimate of the harms related to alcohol misuse.
- StrengthsConsistent methodology across the UK, allowing for robust and comparable estimates of trends in alcohol mortality to be made.
- The precision of the alcohol-specific definition reduces the uncertainty that arises when estimating the total number of alcohol-attributable deaths.
- Using the alcohol-specific definition figures can be produced regularly and reliably from routinely collected data.
- LimitationsThe alcohol-specific definition underestimates the true extent of alcohol-attributable mortality.
- The largely chronic nature of the conditions defined as wholly attributable to alcohol means that there may be a delay between changes in alcohol consumption and behaviour and the resulting change in the number of alcohol-specific deaths.
- Back to table of contents
- Fentanyl Overdoses Become Leading Cause of Death in 18- to 45-Year-Olds
- Fentanyl-related drug overdoses in 2020 became the top killer in adults aged 18 to 45'--overtaking suicide, vehicle accidents, and gun violence, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data by nonprofit group Families Against Fentanyl.
- Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that's 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, highly addictive, and deadly. Buyers may be unaware that the drugs they buy contain illicit fentanyl, a 2 milligram dose of which can be fatal.
- The substance is most often manufactured in Mexico using chemicals supplied from China and trafficked across the southern border by Mexican drug cartels. Fentanyl is mixed with other narcotics to increase potency as well as pressed into counterfeit pain pills that are made to look like blue Oxycodone prescription pills and are commonly known as ''Mexican oxys.''
- Families Against Fentanyl is advocating for the U.S. government to designate fentanyl and its analogs as a weapon of mass destruction under federal statute.
- The statute defines ''weapon of mass destruction,'' in part, as ''any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxin or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors.''
- More than 100,000 Americans, a record amount, died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in April, according to CDC data. Fentanyl was involved in almost two-thirds of those deaths.
- During 2020, as lockdowns became prolonged and widespread as a response to the pandemic, overdose fatalities accelerated.
- ''This represents a worsening of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States,'' the CDC stated in an emergency health advisory issued more than a year ago, on Dec. 17, 2020.
- An analysis by the Well Being Trust in May 2020 estimated a possible 75,000 additional ''deaths of despair,'' including suicide as well as drug and alcohol abuse over the ensuing several years, due to the shutdown measures.
- Areas of influence of major Mexican cartels within the United States. (DEA report 2021)Record VolumeThis year, as the southern border became more porous, record amounts of drugs have been seized by authorities.
- During fiscal year 2021, which ended in September, Customs and Border Protection confiscated 11,200 pounds of fentanyl, up from 2,150 pounds the year prior.
- In addition, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized a record-breaking more than 20 million counterfeit pills containing fentanyl this year, according to Cheri Oz, DEA special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division.
- Almost half of those were seized in Arizona, she said.
- ''The Sinaloa Cartel primarily uses the trafficking routes that run through Arizona,'' Oz said during a Dec. 16 press conference. ''Phoenix is historically known as a repackaging and distribution area.''
- At the press conference, Oz announced the results of a two-month joint DEA and local Scottsdale, Arizona, drug trafficking operation run by the Sinaloa Cartel.
- ''In total during the two-month surge, we seized 3 million pills, 45 kilos of fentanyl powder, over 35 firearms, and arrested over 40 drug traffickers,'' she said.
- Illicit fentanyl-laced pills and other narcotics are displayed by law enforcement during a press conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 16, 2021. (Scottsdale PD)Oz said drug traffickers are using social media platforms, posting emojis, and coded language that has specific meanings related to selling drugs more efficiently.
- ''Traffickers are using technology to get into your homes and sell pills to your children and loved ones,'' Oz said. ''Watch their social media and educate yourselves on the dangers and lingo of the online emojis being used.''
- At least 76 recent cases involved drug traffickers using social media applications, including Snapchat, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, according to the DEA. The agency provides emoji decoding information on its website.
- Scottsdale Police Chief Jeff Walther said, ''It's not just a drug,'' it's an ''intended destabilizing influence in our country'' wrought by the cartels and their partners.
- ''And if those across the border can continue to push this destabilizing influence in our country, we're going to continue to see '... these record numbers of seizures, because this is just flowing like a river into Arizona and then it has tendrils that go around the country,'' Walther said during the press conference.
- Congress has failed to pass legislation that would designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
- For HelpTreatment helpline1-800-662-HELP (4357)
- Informationwww.SAMHSA.gov
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline1-800-273-TALK (8255)
- Charlotte Cuthbertson is a senior reporter with The Epoch Times who primarily covers border security and the
- Elon Musk Says He Lives in a $50,000 House. He Doesn't Talk About the Austin Mansion. - WSJ
- The world's richest man, who said last year that he was selling physical possessions, has been living in a billionaire friend's estate and shopping for his own Texas palace
- Dec. 22, 2021 10:55 am ETAUSTIN, Texas'--When Time magazine last week named Elon Musk ''Person of the Year,'' it painted a spartan picture of his living arrangements. ''The richest man in the world does not own a house,'' the piece began.
- The magazine was repeating what has become a core element of Mr. Musk's public persona. Since last year, when the billionaire Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO announced he was ''selling almost all physical possessions'' in an effort to simplify his life, Mr. Musk has repeatedly portrayed himself as a man of modest tastes.
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- AUSTIN, Texas'--When Time magazine last week named Elon Musk ''Person of the Year,'' it painted a spartan picture of his living arrangements. ''The richest man in the world does not own a house,'' the piece began.
- The magazine was repeating what has become a core element of Mr. Musk's public persona. Since last year, when the billionaire Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO announced he was ''selling almost all physical possessions'' in an effort to simplify his life, Mr. Musk has repeatedly portrayed himself as a man of modest tastes.
- ''My primary home is literally a ~50k house in Boca Chica/Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,'' he tweeted this June, referring to a Texas town near the Mexican border near SpaceX's rocket-launch facility. ''It's kinda awesome though.''
- What Mr. Musk hasn't said, and what few people know, is that for roughly a year he has also been living in a waterfront estate in Austin owned by a rich friend nicknamed ''Kenny,'' people familiar with the matter say'--a home so extravagant that it was the most expensive listed in the Texas capital when it was sold just a few years ago.
- Mr. Musk has also engaged a series of real-estate agents to show him Austin-area mansions for purchase'--and toured some houses personally, some of the people say.
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- The Austin home where Mr. Musk stays is owned by Ken Howery, a billionaire in his own right who has known Mr. Musk for decades. Mr. Musk's stay is so secret that some friends of Mr. Howery said they were unaware of the arrangement.
- Mr. Howery co-founded PayPal Holdings Inc. '--where Mr. Musk was an executive early in his career'--and later, with famed investor Peter Thiel, co-founded Founders Fund, the venture-capital fund that has backed several of Mr. Musk's companies.
- The three men are considered part of what has been popularly termed the ''PayPal Mafia,'' a group of former company executives who went on to further success in business.
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- In 2017, Mr. Musk tweeted that he had swung by a party attended by actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom to say hi to Mr. Howery.
- Mr. Howery served as U.S. ambassador to Sweden during the latter half of the Trump administration. Since his term ended, Mr. Howery has been traveling the world, including chasing tornadoes and other extreme weather events as a hobby, people who know him say.
- That left his home available for Mr. Musk, who said last year that he had moved to Texas. Earlier this year, he relocated Tesla's headquarters to the outskirts of Austin.
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- The property includes nearly 8,000 square feet of interior space on a peninsula that juts into the Colorado River at the foot of Mount Bonnell in an exclusive Austin neighborhood, property records show. It boasts a waterfront pool, jacuzzi and private boat slip, and is protected by several sets of gates and a guardhouse as part of a development called ''Watersedge.''
- The mansion sold for more than $12 million in 2018; real-estate agents say it would sell for multiples of that now, a reflection of the city's booming property market. It couldn't be determined if Mr. Musk paid Mr. Howery for use of the residence. Mr. Musk is worth around $240 billion. Neither man responded to requests for comment.
- After publication of this story, Mr. Howery, in a text message, said: ''Elon does not live at my home, he lives in South Texas. He stayed at the house as my guest occasionally when traveling to Austin.''
- Mr. Musk's extended stay in the Austin mansion, as well as his continued pursuit of a showcase property nearby, complicate the narrative he has cultivated. Several years ago, he was temporarily sleeping with a white, caseless pillow on the floor under his desk at Tesla's San Francisco-area factory.
- He pledged on Twitter last year to ''own no house,'' and has followed through by selling a vast portfolio of homes.
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- ''I do live in a $50k house,'' he wrote on Twitter in July. Public records show that he is registered to vote in Cameron County, Texas, near Boca Chica beach, at a home built in 1971 that occupies one-fifth of an acre. The house is owned by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the records show.
- In recent months, Mr. Musk and his representatives have engaged a series of Austin-based real-estate agents to hunt for a trophy property in the area, people familiar with the matter say. His personal financial advisers have sent a slew of requirements to brokers, including a desire for a large expanse of land that is currently unavailable in properties on the market, the people say.
- Mr. Musk has toured several homes in person, two of the people say. Among the homes he expressed interest in, those people say, is a custom-built mansion owned by the noted jewelry designer Kendra Scott.
- Ms. Scott, who through a spokeswoman declined to comment, was open to a deal, but Mr. Musk was a no-show at several appointments to tour the home, one of the people said.
- Paramount to Mr. Musk's concerns, say people briefed on the search, is privacy.
- The home search is so tightly protected, the people say, that several high-end Austin home-sellers say they expect it will remain a mystery even after he purchases a property. When the most expensive listed home in Austin sold for around $39 million earlier this year to a California limited-liability corporation with connections to Mr. Musk, word buzzed around the neighborhood that Mr. Musk was the secret buyer.
- He wasn't, says Jonny Jones, a businessman who previously owned the house and has found himself forced to shoot down the rumor.
- Michele Turnquist, a real-estate agent who represented Mr. Jones in the sale, said she continues to receive misplaced kudos.
- ''I've had five people tell me, 'You know, Elon bought your listing,' '' Ms. Turnquist says. ''I tell them that if Elon bought my listing, I wouldn't know.''
- '--Rebecca Elliott contributed to this article.
- Write to Rob Copeland at rob.copeland@wsj.com
- Statement by President Joe Biden Extending the Pause on Student Loan Repayment an Additional 90 Days | The White House
- When I came into office, we were facing a number of unprecedented crises. Our economy was creating only 50,000 new jobs per month, less than 1 percent of Americans were fully vaccinated, many schools were closed, and Americans across the country were struggling to pay their bills and stay afloat. That is why, on my very first day as President, I directed the Department of Education to pause federal student loan repayments through September. In August, my Administration once again extended the pause, through January 31, 2022. That pause has given 41 million Americans badly-needed breathing room during the economic upheaval caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Now, while our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever '-- with nearly 6 million jobs added this year, the fewest Americans filing for unemployment in more than 50 years, and overall unemployment at 4.2 percent '-- we know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments. This is an issue Vice President Harris has been closely focused on, and one we both care deeply about. Given these considerations, today my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days '-- through May 1, 2022 '-- as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery. Meanwhile, the Department of Education will continue working with borrowers to ensure they have the support they need to transition smoothly back into repayment and advance economic stability for their own households and for our nation. As we are taking this action, I'm asking all student loan borrowers to do their part as well: take full advantage of the Department of Education's resources to help you prepare for payments to resume; look at options to lower your payments through income-based repayment plans; explore public service loan forgiveness; and make sure you are vaccinated and boosted when eligible.
- Nebraska's quandary: Can it force more citizens to work? | Local Business News | journalstar.com
- Nebraska's quandary: Can it force more citizens to work?
- Sonja Redding, an unemployed mother of two, stands outside her home in Omaha on Dec. 6. Redding has been trying to find a job, but it's difficult because she feels she needs to stay at home to care for her children who have special needs and are particularly vulnerable to viruses.
- Stephen Groves, Associated Press GRANT SCHULTEAssociated Press
- Even in normal times Nebraska has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, with fewer than two million people and plenty of jobs to go around. But with some workers slow to return to work after COVID-19 shutdowns, the state has hit new depths, recording the country's lowest-ever state unemployment rate of 1.8% in November.
- Now Gov. Pete Ricketts, who frequently expounds on the value of work, is confronting an intriguing question: Can a governor force citizens to work, even if they apparently aren't eager or able to do so?
- Ricketts is certainly trying every option imaginable to get Nebraskans into jobs, including requiring people to confer with job coaches before seeking unemployment benefits.
- ''There's going to be a lot of different things we're going to have to do to reach each individual and, if they're not working for whatever reason, get them back into the workforce,'' Ricketts said recently.
- Unemployment rates are low in many places, and as the national rate fell to 4.2%, officials across the country are struggling to convince people who have stopped looking for work to seek jobs.
- A full workforce is needed to keep businesses functioning and support local economies, but it's hard to overstate the difficulty of uprooting people who are caring for family members, exploring other life options or who just want to take a break.
- Ricketts is determined to try, with policies that make it more trouble to stay home.
- ''Jobs help create great financial independence for Nebraskans and their families, giving them the dignity to achieve their dreams,'' said the two-term Republican governor, who is part of the Ricketts family, whose estimated $4.5 billion in wealth originated with the creation of the online brokerage Ameritrade.
- Ricketts' first move was to require people seeking unemployment benefits to meet with a job coach, discuss specific employment goals and enroll in an ''individualized reemployment plan." The state added tougher requirements for maintaining benefits and for contacting employers to apply for openings.
- Nebraska also was one of the first to end supplemental federal assistance for workers hit by the pandemic.
- Nebraska has about 49,000 job openings listed on a state website and 19,000 working-age residents who are not working. About 4,300 people are receiving unemployment benefits.
- Among the unemployed is Sonja Redding, an Omaha mother whose daughter and son have autism and methylmalonic acidemia, a rare autoimmune disease that makes them exceptionally vulnerable to viruses.
- Redding previously worked as a reseller and ran her own booth at a flea market but stopped after the pandemic hit. She has survived on federal stimulus money, unemployment, Social Security income and her own savings, but lately has reduced her spending ''to a bare minimum'' so she can stay home with her children.
- ''I would love to get back to work,'' she said. ''I'm a normal parent and would like to have time away from my kids sometimes, but this is what we've got to do right now. It's definitely draining.''
- Redding said employers she's talked to want her to come into the office.
- Other reasons some people aren't working include concerns about being infected with the coronavirus, said Dave Swenson, a economics professor at Iowa State University. Burnout is another factor, particularly among health care workers and teachers.
- Swenson questions the effectiveness of Ricketts' efforts because most people without jobs aren't getting jobless aid, he said.
- Still, there is no question that Nebraska businesses are hurting for workers.
- ''It's their No. 1 challenge, their No. 2 challenge and their No. 3 challenge,'' said Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- In a chamber survey, more than 90% of chamber members identified worker shortages as their biggest concern.
- In Lincoln, Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing has been unable to meet customer demand for its jet skis, ATVs, subway rail cars and aircraft parts.
- ''I would hire 150 people right now if I could,'' said Bryan Seck, the company's chief talent management strategist.
- Lincoln's unemployment rate before the pandemic was 3.8%, but now it's closer to 1.3%. Kawasaki has begun offering more consistent hours, an $18.10 starting hourly wage and a tuition reimbursement program.
- Mitch Tempus, the owner of two Fernando's Cafe & Cantina restaurants in the Omaha area, said he's been trying unsuccessfully to lure back some of the servers and bussers he laid off last year, even offering raises that increased his labor costs by more than 20% and brought average wages up to $13 or $14 an hour.
- And with new hires, ''It's even hard retaining them," he said. "Sometimes people will work for two or three days and then we never see them again.''
- Pat Keenan, who manages three chain hotels in North Platte, said he's given up plans to open a restaurant near one hotel because ''the chances of us getting it staffed are almost zero.''
- He added, ''I would call 2021 the year of the hourly employee,'' he said. ''They have more power than they've had and more money than they've ever had.''
- Keenan said it's time for the federal government to come up with an immigration reform plan that would allow more immigrants to work legally in the United States.
- ''I think we're back at the stage where we need an influx of hard-working people again,'' Keenan said. ''I hate to say it, but it feels like a lot of existing Americans feel a little entitled and have lost their work ethic.''
- 5 charts that show how the economy is doing in Lincoln and Nebraska Lincoln-area unemployment rate over time Lancaster County employment rate, by income level Change in Nebraska small business revenue Change in Nebraska small businesses in operation Nebraska unemployment rates by county Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily.
- Sonja Redding, an unemployed mother of two, stands outside her home in Omaha on Dec. 6. Redding has been trying to find a job, but it's difficult because she feels she needs to stay at home to care for her children who have special needs and are particularly vulnerable to viruses.
- Boeing suspends vaccine mandate for U.S. employees | Reuters
- The Boeing logo is pictured at the Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition fair (LABACE) at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo
- Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSEATTLE, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) suspended its coronavirus vaccination requirement for U.S.-based employees, the U.S. planemaker said on Friday, capping weeks of uncertainty as thousands of workers sought exemptions and challenges to a federal mandate played out in court.
- In an internal announcement, Boeing said its decision came after a review of a U.S. District Court ruling earlier this month that halted the enforcement of President Joe Biden's vaccine requirement for federal contractors.
- Some big healthcare chains and companies such as General Electric (GE.N), Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N), and Amtrak have also suspended vaccine mandates for workers.
- Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comIn recent weeks, the number of Boeing employees seeking a vaccine exemption on religious or medical grounds had reached more than 11,000 - or nearly 9% of its U.S. workforce - a level many times higher than executives initially estimated, Reuters first reported.
- The fact that the vast majority of applications were on religious grounds thrust one of America's largest employers into the center of a debate about the ethics of probing an employee's religious beliefs.
- It also left executives searching for a strategy that keeps employees safe, but avoids an exodus of engineering and factory labor.
- Boeing's vaccination requirement has resulted in more than 92% of U.S.-based workers having registered as being fully vaccinated, or having received a religious or medical accommodation, according to the Friday memo.
- "The success of Boeing's vaccination requirement to date positions the company well to comply with the federal executive order should it be reinstated in the future," it added.
- A Boeing spokesperson confirmed the decision, and added that the company was "committed to maintaining a safe working environment for our employees, and advancing the health and safety of our global workforce."
- Boeing suspended its vaccination requirement in line with the court's decision prohibiting enforcement of the federal contractor executive order and a number of state laws, the spokesperson added.
- Last month, the White House pushed back to Jan. 4 its deadline for employees at federal contractors to be vaccinated or be tested regularly if they receive exemptions.
- Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Daniel Wallis
- Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
- Charles Lieber: Harvard professor found guilty of lying about Chinese government ties - CNNPolitics
- Washington (CNN)A Harvard University professor was convicted by a federal jury on Tuesday of lying to the US about his involvement with China's government, the Justice Department announced.
- Dr. Charles Lieber, 62, the former chair of Harvard's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, was found guilty of two counts of making false statements to federal authorities, two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return, and two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts with the Internal Revenue Service.
- Lieber's research group at Harvard had received over $15 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, which requires disclosing foreign financial conflicts of interests. The jury found that Lieber had lied about his affiliation with the Wuhan University of Technology in China and a contract he had with a Chinese talent recruitment plan to attract high-level scientists to the country.
- He was being paid $50,000 per month by the Chinese university and given $1.5 million to establish a nanoscience research lab at WUT, the Justice Department said in a news release. Lieberman was specifically affiliated with China's Thousand Talents Program, which the department called "one of the most prominent talent recruitment plans designed to attract, recruit and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of China's scientific development, economic prosperity and national security."
- Acting US attorney Nathaniel Mendell said in a statement Tuesday that "there is now no question that Charles Lieber lied to federal investigators and to Harvard in an attempt to hide his participation in the Chinese Thousand Talents Program."
- "He lied to the IRS about the money he was paid, and he concealed his Chinese bank account from the United States. The jury followed the evidence and the law to a just verdict," he continued.
- Patrick Hegarty, the special agent in charge of the Northeast field office Defense Criminal Investigative Service, similarly said in a statement that Lieber "eroded the trust the DoD has in its researchers to prioritize the United States and its service members over foreign governments, and over personal financial gain."
- Lieber's sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
- CNN's Evan Perez, Rob Frehse, Veronica Stracqualursi and Sheena Jones contributed to this report.
- Please Give Me French Fries, Not McNuggets In My Burger Meal | Aaron Smith
- This article was written by UC Davis ARE PhD student Hyunjung Lee. It is the third in a series of excellent articles written by students in my ARE 231 class this fall.
- Last summer, I went back to my home country to see my family and friends, proud of myself for successfully completing the messy first year of my PhD life. Although I had only one month to eat as much Korean food as I could, I decided to eat a meal at McDonald's, the symbol of America, hoping not to lose my sense of American life.
- However, when I entered McDonald's, I doubted my eyes because there was a notice that if you order a burger meal, you will get cheese sticks or McNuggets instead of French fries. These items are more expensive than French fries, so why is McDonald's offering them?
- I hadn't heard of a shortage of potato production. In fact, potato supply has been relatively stable in the past decade after rising significantly in 2010. Perhaps this substitution is related to the new BTS meal, which is a popular new McDonald's meal named for the popular K-pop band?
- As a prospective agricultural economist, I began to look for the cause of this phenomenon. It was also my calling as a person who loves French fries.
- I found the answer: COVID-19 has disrupted supply chains and caused a shortage of frozen potatoes in Asia.
- To explain this phenomenon, it is necessary to understand the supply system of potatoes. Countries in Asia produce 45% of the world's potatoes. However, the world potato supply chain is unique because the types of potatoes produced and consumption patterns vary from region to region.
- In Asia, most potatoes are consumed fresh. Specifically, consumers in Asia purchase fresh potatoes from supermarkets or farmers' markets and use them for cooking at home to prepare meals such as soup, stir-fry, and for other culinary purposes. They cut potatoes and use them without any additional processing. For this reason, Asian consumers tend to prefer small, round-shape potatoes.
- In contrast, processed potato products account for a large proportion of consumption in the West. Western consumers usually use frozen, and refrigerated processed potatoes, or potato consumption is commonly made in the foodservice industry. Thus, the size of potatoes they prefer is larger than that used by Asian consumers.
- The important fact is that the two potatoes are not interchangeable due to these production and consumption characteristics. Therefore, although South Korea is very close to China, the world's largest potato producer, and Asia produces nearly half of the world's potatoes, a paradoxical situation is occurring in which the supply of French fries is not smooth in Asia.
- Source: FAO Meanwhile, the United States is the largest exporter of frozen potatoes for French fries used in major fast-food restaurants in South Korea. However, international shipping volume has surged along with the increasing number of fully vaccinated people and signs of economic recovery in major countries. According to PotatoUSA, despite the return of demand, a shortage of containers, port congestion, delayed and canceled shipments, and doubled costs in 2021 continue to hinder U.S. potato exports.
- Source: USDA-FAS Global Agricultural Trade System In addition, importers have begun to ration the limited supplies, prioritizing large chains and established accounts and this resulted in shortages of frozen, dehydrated, and fresh potatoes in many markets. PotatoUSA said that ''as restrictions eased and the markets adjusted, demand began to return in the fall, but then shipping issues began to limit the ability of U.S. exporters to meet this demand.''
- Note: Europe and Africa make up a very small portion (e.g. 0%), so they do not appear on the graph. Source: USDA-FAS Global Agricultural Trade System Experts predict that container freight rates will continue to rise until the end of this year as supply chain turmoil continues. In anticipation of a global economic recovery, manufacturers are increasing production and increasing inventories again. However, due to the explosion of containers, unloading at the port is not smooth. The ports are not able to handle the increased container capacity. That is the main reason why the shortage of French fries has continued since last June in South Korea.
- This story shows that if we look into the supply of agricultural products, we need to consider agricultural production and other sectors such as logistics, which are also crucial for the stable supply of agricultural products.
- The headline picture for this article is a notice from McDonald's in South Korea, which tells us that they offer cheese sticks or McNuggets instead of French fries. Trust me.
- 1st long-acting injection to prevent HIV has been approved by the FDA | Live Science
- HomeNews(Image credit: GIPhotoStock via Getty)The world's first injectable medication to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency announced Monday (Dec. 20).
- The injectable drug '-- called Apretude or its generic name, "cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension" '-- provides an alternative to daily pills for HIV prevention, such as Truvada and Descovy. These pills are up to 99% effective at preventing the sexual transmission of HIV, but must be taken every day to be that effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- By contrast, to start Apretude, people initially receive two shots, spaced one month apart, and then they receive an injection every two months thereafter, according to the FDA statement.
- Related: 12 amazing images in medicine
- "This injection, given every two months, will be critical to addressing the HIV epidemic in the U.S., including helping high-risk individuals and certain groups where adherence to daily medication has been a major challenge or not a realistic option," Dr. Debra Birnkrant, director of the Division of Antivirals in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the statement.
- The FDA hopes that the availability of a long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention will increase the uptake of such medications in high-risk groups, the statement reads. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), meaning medications taken to prevent HIV, are recommended for about 1.2 million people in the U.S., and in 2020, about 25% of those individuals received a prescription for PrEP pills. That's up from only 3% in 2015, but "there remains significant room for improvement," the statement says.
- Two clinical trials suggest that Apretude reduces the risk of HIV infection more effectively than the daily pill Truvada. The trials met the gold standard for these types of studies, because they were randomized and double-blind, meaning those who received the actual medication were randomly chosen and neither the doctors nor the patients knew who was receiving the real medication over the placebo.
- The first trial included nearly 4,600 cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men, Live Science previously reported. Those who took Apretude had 69% lower risk of getting infected with HIV than the participants who took Truvada. The second trial, which included about 3,200 cisgender women at risk of acquiring HIV, found that those who took Apretude had 90% lower risk of getting infected with HIV, compared with participants who took Truvada, according to the FDA statement.
- The trial participants who took Apretude did experience more side effects than those who took Truvada, including headaches, fever, fatigue, back pain, myalgia, rash and reactions at the injection site, according to the statement.
- As of Dec. 20, Apretude has been approved for use in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 77 pounds (35 kilograms), according to the FDA statement. Patients have the option to take an oral formulation of cabotegravir, called Vocabria, daily for four weeks prior to starting the injections, to see how well they tolerate the drug. Patients should be tested for HIV and confirmed negative before starting Apretude and should be confirmed negative before each injection, to avoid the risk of developing drug-resistant HIV.
- "Drug-resistant HIV-1 variants have been identified with use of Apretude for HIV-1 PrEP by individuals with undiagnosed HIV-1 infection," according to a statement from the drug's manufacturer, ViiV Healthcare. "Individuals who become infected with HIV-1 while receiving Apretude for PrEP must transition to a complete HIV-1 treatment regimen."
- Earlier this month, the CDC updated its guidance regarding how doctors should inform patients about PrEP, The Hill reported. The agency now recommends that health care providers inform all sexually active adults and adolescents about PrEP and offer the medications to all who ask for them, regardless of whether they report specific behaviors that would put them at high risk of HIV exposure. Apretude now joins the list of possible options that can be presented to these patients.
- Apretude has a list price of $3,700 per dose (or $22,200 per year, for six doses) and is expected to ship to wholesalers and specialty distributors in the U.S. early next year, NBC News reported. In July, the federal government mandated that most U.S. insurance companies must cover Truvada and Descovy, as well as the lab tests and clinic visits needed to maintain the prescriptions, with no cost sharing; but as of yet, insurers are not required to cover all the costs of taking Apretude.
- Originally published on Live Science.
- Nicoletta Lanese is a staff writer for Live Science covering health and medicine, along with an assortment of biology, animal, environment and climate stories. She holds degrees in neuroscience and dance from the University of Florida and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has appeared in The Scientist Magazine, Science News, The San Jose Mercury News and Mongabay, among other outlets.
- Texas governor's decision: Whether to pardon George Floyd | AP News
- AUSTIN, Texas (AP) '-- Doling out pardons is a holiday tradition for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who around every Christmas grants them to a handful of ordinary citizens, typically for minor offenses committed years or decades ago.
- But one name stands out on his desk: George Floyd.
- Abbott has not said whether he will posthumously pardon Floyd this year for a 2004 drug arrest in Houston by a former officer whose police work is no longer trusted by prosecutors. Texas' parole board '-- stacked with Abbott appointees '-- unanimously recommended a pardon for Floyd in October.
- Since then, the two-term Republican governor, who is up for reelection in 2022, has given no indication of whether he will grant what would be only the second posthumous pardon in Texas history. Floyd, who was Black, spent much of his life in Houston before moving to Minnesota, where his death under the knee of a white police officer last year led to a U.S. reckoning on race and policing.
- ''It doesn't matter who you think George Floyd was, or what you think he stood for or didn't stand for,'' said Allison Mathis, a public defender in Houston who submitted Floyd's pardon application. ''What matters is he didn't do this. It's important for the governor to correct the record to show he didn't do this.''
- A spokeswoman for Abbott did not respond to requests for comment.
- Pardons restore the rights of the convicted and forgive them in the eyes of the law. Floyd's family and supporters said a posthumous pardon for him in Texas would show a commitment to accountability.
- In February 2004, Floyd was arrested in Houston for selling $10 worth of crack in a police sting. He pleaded guilty to a drug charge and served 10 months in prison.
- His case happened to be among dozens that prosecutors revisited in the fallout over a deadly drug raid in 2019 that resulted in murder charges against an officer, Gerald Goines, who is no longer with the Houston force. Prosecutors say Goines lied to obtain a search warrant in the 2019 raid that left a husband and wife dead, and the office of Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has since dismissed more than 160 drug convictions tied to Goines.
- Goines has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys accuse Ogg of launching the review for political gain.
- Abbott has several primary challengers from the far right, and his ongoing silence about a potential pardon for Floyd has raised questions by Mathis and others over whether political calculations are at play. His office has not responded to those charges.
- Abbott attended Floyd's memorial service last year in Houston, where he met with the family and floated the idea of a ''George Floyd Act'' that would take aim at police brutality. But Abbott never publicly supported such a measure months later when lawmakers returned to the Capitol, where Republicans instead made police funding a priority.
- State Sen. Royce West, a Democrat who carried the ''George Floyd Act'' in the Senate, said he understands the politics if Abbott was waiting until after the GOP primary elections in March. But he said the governor should act on the recommendation.
- ''As he's always said, he is a law and order governor,'' West said. ''And this would be following the law.''
- Find AP's full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
- Cleveland-area hospitals battling latest Covid-19 surge put ad in local paper that reads: 'Help' - CNN
- By Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN
- Updated 6:25 AM EST, Wed December 22, 2021
- That word, in big black letters and surrounded by white space, called out from Ohio's largest newspaper -- a desperate plea from six Cleveland-area medical systems facing a crush of Covid-19 cases.
- "We need your help," read the bottom of the ad. "We now have more COVID-19 patients in our hospitals than ever before.
- "And the overwhelming majority are unvaccinated."
- The ad was sponsored by Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, Summa Health, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center.
- It follows a similar plea from hospitals in Minnesota earlier this month, who took out a full-page newspaper ad that said, "We're heartbroken. We're overwhelmed."
- This ad by six Cleveland-area health-care facilities appeared Sunday
- Sunday's ad in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer was a response to the latest Covid-19 health crisis exploding in Northern Ohio, nearly two years into a pandemic that has killed more than 810,000 Americans and battered many of the nation's hospitals.
- "We are in a significant surge right now and we are raising awareness about the importance of vaccination -- stressing that the majority of people who are hospitalized because of Covid are unvaccinated," University Hospital spokesperson George Stamatis said, commenting on the ad's intent.
- Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland, has one of the highest rates of Covid-19 hospitalizations and accounts for 60% of all hospitalized Covid-19 patients within the state, Dr. Alice Kim, the medical director of operations for the Cleveland Clinic, said in a briefing on December 15.
- "As we are seeing the cases rise, we are also seeing how sick these patients are," Kim said. "They are definitely sicker than we had experienced in the first few months of the pandemic in 2020."
- The number of Covid-related hospitalizations are at their highest level since December 22, 2020, Gov. Mike DeWine said in a news conference Friday.
- Given the stress placed on hospital staff, DeWine noted that almost all hospitals in the northern part of Ohio have stopped elective surgeries.
- The governor on Friday mobilized more than 1,000 members of the National Guard to "help relieve the hospital staffing strain caused by the rising number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients," according to a news release.
- On Tuesday, a free drive-thru Covid-19 testing site staffed by the Ohio National Guard and the Ohio Health Department was opened in Cleveland.
- But it was shut down by the end of the day due to the overwhelming demand. The Ohio Department of Health said more than 1,000 people were tested but that registration was no longer being accepted.
- More than a third of the Cuyahoga population remains unvaccinated, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
- "We continue to see that most of our patients, particularly our patients in the ICUs are unvaccinated," Chief Medical Officer for Community Health at the MetroHealth System Dr. Brook Watts told CNN's John Berman on Monday.
- Having taken care of Covid patients since the beginning of the pandemic, Watts said the difference this time is that they're seeing younger people, especially younger parents come in with Covid-19.
- "There's nothing more heartbreaking than walking into a Covid patient's room and seeing pictures of their young children," Watts said.
- CNN's Liam Reilly and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
- Americans are tired of Covid, official response to omicron creates confusion
- American corporations, government officials and other institutions are once again weighing the risks of Covid-19 as they plot a path forward during the holiday season.
- But this time around, instead of facing a scared public, they're dealing with a largely vaccinated population increasingly exhausted by the virus and its variants.
- The result is a jumbled, contradictory response to the heavily mutated omicron variant.
- Professional sports leagues are postponing games, the World Economic Forum is pushing back its annual Davos conference and colleges are restricting indoor gatherings. Meanwhile, younger audiences helped "Spider-Man: No Way Home" score the second-biggest weekend opening in box office history, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will take place on schedule on Jan. 5, and government leaders in New York City are assuring constituents that schools won't close even as classrooms temporarily shut down.
- A lack of leadership, both federally and locally, has led to small factions operating in their own self-interest rather than following a unified policy, said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. That's happened because the public has seen Covid responses as both hyperpolitical and unreliable, Gordon said.
- "There is no authoritative anchor to where we are or what we should do," Gordon said. "Does anyone believe what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says anymore? Ten years ago, people trusted the CDC. If you don't trust the people who are supposed to be smart, you're left to your devices."
- Omicron has rapidly become the dominant Covid variant in the U.S., with unvaccinated patients largely accounting for an increase in hospitalizations. Vaccinated and boosted people appear to be well protected from serious illness if they catch omicron.
- Health authorities have directed their warnings mainly toward unvaccinated people, although they've offered guidance to vaccinated people, too. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said people don't need to quarantine if they're vaccinated and exposed to the virus, and advised vaccinated people to wear masks indoors. The National Institutes of Health's former chief, Dr. Francis Collins, warned unvaccinated people against travel altogether.
- "The one thing we know now from almost two years experience with this virus is that it is really very unpredictable, particularly with the element of variants." Fauci said on Sunday. "It really is something that is very much unprecedented in terms of outbreaks."
- That unpredictability has helped drive Americans toward exhaustion. A Monmouth University survey released last week noted people are growing increasingly frustrated with the virus and policies to combat it. Sixty percent of respondents said they feel at least somewhat "worn out" by how Covid has affected their daily lives, according to the survey. Views of Republicans and Democrats were nearly identical in the poll.
- Jumbled responsesAs of Monday, seven-day air travel averages haven't shown a downturn in airline bookings, according to TSA data.
- Over the last seven days as of Dec. 19, restaurant reservations are down 13% overall versus 2019. In New York City, the decline is more drastic '-- down 46%. But in Nashville and Las Vegas, the number of people going out to eat in the past week is higher than at pre-pandemic levels, according to OpenTable.
- It's possible the coming weeks will lead to a significant pullback. Still, that seems unlikely, particularly as the holidays approach and hospitalizations among vaccinated people continue to remain low.
- Nevertheless, responses to the virus are increasingly conflicting, with organizations taking new precautions as people plow forward with their daily lives as best they can.
- It's not just local and national leaders who have lost standing, Gordon said. Individuals have become more isolated in their thinking because basic discourse about facts has become too politized, he said. That's led to a further push away from collective action and a move toward chaos.
- "Have we lost the ability to think intelligently about Covid?" Gordon said. "Have we lost the ability to discuss it intelligently? Is there room for intelligent discourse? Or are you either an intelligent science believer or an ignorant science-denying yahoo?"
- -CNBC's Nate Rattner and Spencer Kimball contributed to the reporting of this story.
- WATCH: Omicron variant has dominated playing field, will likely overtake delta: Dr. Syra Madad
- 'Prikspijt' Woord van het Jaar 2021 na oproep antivaxers op Twitter | NOS
- 'Prikspijt' is door woordenboekmaker Van Dale uitgeroepen tot het Woord van het Jaar 2021. Het woord kreeg 82,2 procent van de 49.000 stemmen die werden uitgebracht op de Van Dale-website.
- "Dat is een overweldigende meerderheid", beaamt hoofdredacteur Ton den Boon van de Dikke Van Dale. Op Twitter werd veel opgeroepen om op dit woord te stemmen. "Dat gebeurde door mensen die zichzelf niet willen laten vaccineren. Het weerspiegelt de polarisatie die in de maatschappij leeft rond die vaccinatie en dat boosteren", aldus Den Boon in het NOS Radio 1 Journaal.
- Maar is het dan wel het woord van het jaar, als er opgeroepen is om op dit woord te stemmen? "We hebben geconstateerd dat er geen 'bots' aan het werk zijn geweest, van die robots die automatisch een stem uitbrengen. Dat hebben we gecontroleerd. Maar we hebben op Twitter gezien, en dat kon iedereen zelf ook zien, dat er wel heel vaak werd opgeroepen om op dit woord te stemmen."
- Daardoor was het aantal uitgebrachte stemmen relatief hoog. Vorig jaar brachten 12.000 mensen een stem uit, in 2019 waren het er 17.500. In 2018, toen 'blokkeerfriezen' de winnaar was, werden er ook zo'n 49.000 stemmen uitgebracht.
- Voor Den Boon is de stemming gewoon geldig en dus is 'prikspijt' voor hem het Woord van het Jaar. "Het is het woord dat is gekozen door het volk. Maar je kunt je afvragen hoe breed dat volk is en in welke mate dit woord het idee weerspiegelt over wat het woord van het jaar is. Tegelijkertijd weerspiegelt het de polarisatie in de samenleving en daarom kan het wel een interessant woord zijn."
- BetekenisPrikspijt is de "spijt die iemand heeft van het feit dat hij zich heeft laten vaccineren tegen een bepaalde besmettelijke ziekte". "Het is een interessant woord, je vindt het de laatste tijd ook wel in de tegengestelde betekenis: dat je spijt hebt van je net laten prikken", zegt de hoofdredacteur van de Dikke Van Dale.
- Op ruime afstand eindigde 'woonprotest', het protest tegen de crisis op de woningmarkt, met 3,7 procent van de stemmen op de tweede plaats. Het woord 'wappiegeluid' werd derde, met 3,6 procent. Daarmee wordt de misleidende, niet op feiten of wetenschap gebaseerde mening over een maatschappelijke, kwestie bedoeld, bijvoorbeeld van complotdenkers.
- De vijftien genomineerde woorden:boosterprikdeltavariantdoorbraakinfectiefinfluencergevoeligheidslezergrotsyndroomintimiteitsvacu¼mmemeaandeelpandemocratieprikpolarisatieprikspijtQR-samenlevingvaccinatievoordringerwappiegeluidwoonprotestEr kon tot gisteren 17.00 uur worden gestemd op vijftien genomineerde woorden. Vorig jaar werd 'anderhalvemetersamenleving' uitgeroepen tot Woord van het Jaar. Het jaar ervoor was het 'boomer'.
- In Belgi werd met 37,2 procent van de stemmen het woord 'knaldrang' tot Woord van het Jaar 2021 gekozen. Dat is het "sterke verlangen om uit de bol te gaan".
- Open letter from The BMJ to Mark Zuckerberg | The BMJ
- We are Fiona Godlee and Kamran Abbasi, editors of The BMJ, one of the world's oldest and most influential general medical journals. We are writing to raise serious concerns about the ''fact checking'' being undertaken by third party providers on behalf of Facebook/Meta.
- In September, a former employee of Ventavia, a contract research company helping carry out the main Pfizer covid-19 vaccine trial, began providing The BMJ with dozens of internal company documents, photos, audio recordings, and emails. These materials revealed a host of poor clinical trial research practices occurring at Ventavia that could impact data integrity and patient safety. We also discovered that, despite receiving a direct complaint about these problems over a year ago, the FDA did not inspect Ventavia's trial sites.
- The BMJ commissioned an investigative reporter to write up the story for our journal. The article was published on 2 November, following legal review, external peer review and subject to The BMJ's usual high level editorial oversight and review.[1]
- But from November 10, readers began reporting a variety of problems when trying to share our article. Some reported being unable to share it. Many others reported having their posts flagged with a warning about ''Missing context ... Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.'' Those trying to post the article were informed by Facebook that people who repeatedly share ''false information'' might have their posts moved lower in Facebook's News Feed. Group administrators where the article was shared received messages from Facebook informing them that such posts were ''partly false.''
- Readers were directed to a ''fact check'' performed by a Facebook contractor named Lead Stories.[2]
- We find the ''fact check'' performed by Lead Stories to be inaccurate, incompetent and irresponsible.
- -- It fails to provide any assertions of fact that The BMJ article got wrong
- -- It has a nonsensical title: ''Fact Check: The British Medical Journal Did NOT Reveal Disqualifying And Ignored Reports Of Flaws In Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trials''
- -- The first paragraph inaccurately labels The BMJ a ''news blog''
- -- It contains a screenshot of our article with a stamp over it stating ''Flaws Reviewed,'' despite the Lead Stories article not identifying anything false or untrue in The BMJ article
- -- It published the story on its website under a URL that contains the phrase ''hoax-alert''
- We have contacted Lead Stories, but they refuse to change anything about their article or actions that have led to Facebook flagging our article.
- We have also contacted Facebook directly, requesting immediate removal of the ''fact checking'' label and any link to the Lead Stories article, thereby allowing our readers to freely share the article on your platform.
- There is also a wider concern that we wish to raise. We are aware that The BMJ is not the only high quality information provider to have been affected by the incompetence of Meta's fact checking regime. To give one other example, we would highlight the treatment by Instagram (also owned by Meta) of Cochrane, the international provider of high quality systematic reviews of the medical evidence.[3] Rather than investing a proportion of Meta's substantial profits to help ensure the accuracy of medical information shared through social media, you have apparently delegated responsibility to people incompetent in carrying out this crucial task. Fact checking has been a staple of good journalism for decades. What has happened in this instance should be of concern to anyone who values and relies on sources such as The BMJ.
- We hope you will act swiftly: specifically to correct the error relating to The BMJ's article and to review the processes that led to the error; and generally to reconsider your investment in and approach to fact checking overall.
- Fiona Godlee, editor in chiefKamran Abbasi, incoming editor in chiefThe BMJ
- Competing interests:As current and incoming editors in chief, we are responsible for everything The BMJ contains.
- [1] Thacker PD. Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer's vaccine trial. BMJ. 2021 Nov 2;375:n2635. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n2635. PMID: 34728500. https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635
- [2] Miller D. Fact Check: The British Medical Journal Did NOT Reveal Disqualifying And Ignored Reports Of Flaws In Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trials. Nov 10, 2021. ''https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/11/fact-check-british-medical-jo...
- [3] https://twitter.com/cochranecollab/status/1458439812357185536
- Competing interests: As current and incoming editors in chief, we are responsible for everything The BMJ contains.
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- UNN on Twitter: "ð¨BREAKING NEWSð¨ We can confirm that the letters we have been republishing in relation to the Great Reset and the Dutch Government are REAL and as a result of an FOI from Pepijn van Houwelingen a member of the Dutch House of Represen
- UNN : ð¨BREAKING NEWSð¨We can confirm that the letters we have been republishing in relation to the Great Reset and the D'... https://t.co/CmP1tcL6wZ
- Mon Dec 20 14:59:17 +0000 2021
- Incomes policy - Wikipedia
- Economy-wide wage and price controls
- Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free market level.[1]
- Incomes policies have often been resorted to during wartime. During the French Revolution, "The Law of the Maximum" imposed price controls (by penalty of death) in an unsuccessful attempt to curb inflation,[2] and such measures were also attempted after World War II. Peacetime income policies were resorted to in the U.S. in August 1971 as a response to inflation. The wage and price controls were effective initially but were made less restrictive in January 1973, and later removed when they seemed to be having no effect on curbing inflation.[3] Incomes policies were successful in the United Kingdom during World War II but less successful in the post-war era.[4]
- Theory [ edit ] Incomes policies vary from "voluntary" wage and price guidelines to mandatory controls like price/wage freezes. One variant is "tax-based incomes policies" (TIPs), where a government fee is imposed on those firms that raise prices and/or wages more than the controls allow.
- Some economists agree that a credible incomes policy would help prevent inflation. However, by arbitrarily interfering with price signals, it provides an additional bar to achieving economic efficiency, potentially leading to shortages and declines in the quality of goods on the market and requiring large government bureaucracies for enforcement. That happened in the United States during the early 1970s.[3] When the price of a good is lowered artificially, it creates less supply and more demand for the product, thereby creating shortages.[5]
- Some economists argue that incomes policies are less expensive (more efficient) than recessions as a way of fighting inflation, at least for mild inflation. Others argue that controls and mild recessions can be complementary solutions for relatively mild inflation.
- The policy has the best chance of being credible and effective[citation needed ] for the sectors of the economy dominated by monopolies or oligopolies, particularly nationalised industry, with a significant sector of workers organized in labor unions. Such institutions enable collective negotiation and monitoring of the wage and price agreements.
- Other economists argue that inflation is essentially a monetary phenomenon, and the only way to deal with it is by controlling the money supply, directly or by changing interest rates. They argue that price inflation is only a symptom of previous monetary inflation caused by central bank money creation. They believe that without a totally planned economy the incomes policy can never work, the excess money in the economy greatly distorting other areas, exempt from the policy.
- Examples [ edit ] France [ edit ] During the French Revolution in the 1790s, "The Law of the Maximum" was imposed in an attempt to decrease inflation. It consisted of limits on wages and food prices.[2] Many dissidents were executed for breaking this law.[6] The law was repealed 14 months after its introduction.[6]
- By turning the crimes of price gouging and food hoarding into crimes against the government, France had limited success. With respect to its overt intention, that of ensuring the people were able to purchase food at a reasonable rate, the Maximum was mostly a failure. Some merchants having found themselves forced into a position to sell their goods for a price below cost (e.g. cost of baking bread or growing vegetables) chose to hide their expensive goods from the market, either for personal use or for sale on the black market.[7] However, the General Maximum was very successful in deflecting a volatile political issue away from the Committee of Public Safety and Maximilien Robespierre, enabling them to focus on larger political issues more closely related to completing the French Revolution.[8]
- By creating the General Maximum, Robespierre shifted the attention of the French people away from government involvement in widespread shortages of money and food to a fight between consumers and merchants. The text of the General Maximum was written towards businessmen who were profiting on a large scale from the demise of the French economy. However, in practice, the law ultimately targeted local shopkeepers, butchers, bakers, and farmers-the merchants who were profiting the least from the economic crisis.[9] With the General Maximum, Robespierre offered the people an answer regarding whom to blame for their poverty and their hunger. Furthermore, considering its association with the Law of Suspects, when a citizen informed the government about a merchant who was in violation of the law, they were considered to have done their civic duty.[10]
- United States [ edit ] During World War II, price controls were used in an attempt to control wartime inflation. The Franklin Roosevelt Administration instituted the OPA (Office of Price Administration). That agency was rather unpopular with business interests and was phased out as quickly as possible after peace had been restored. However, the Korean War brought a return to the same inflationary pressures, and price controls were again established, this time under the OPS (Office of Price Stabilization).
- In the early 1970s, inflation had been much higher than in previous decades, getting above 6% briefly in 1970 and persisting above 4% in 1971. U.S. President Richard Nixon imposed price controls on August 15, 1971.[3] This was a move widely applauded by the public[3] and a number of Keynesian economists.[11] The same day, Nixon also suspended the convertibility of the dollar into gold, which was the beginning of the end of the Bretton Woods system of international currency management established after World War II.[3] The 90-day freeze was unprecedented in peacetime, but such drastic measures were thought necessary. It was quite well known at the time that this would likely lead to an immediate inflationary impulse (essentially because the subsequent depreciation of the dollar would boost the demand for exports and increase the cost of imports). The controls aimed to stop that impulse. The fact that the election of 1972 was on the horizon likely contributed to both Nixon's application of controls and his ending of the convertibility of the dollar.[3]
- The 90-day freeze became nearly 1,000 days of measures known as Phases One, Two, Three, and Four,[12] ending in 1973. In these phases, the controls were applied almost entirely to the biggest corporations and labor unions, which were seen as having price-setting power.[11] However, 93% of requested price increases were granted and seen as necessary to meet costs.[11] With such monopoly power, some economists saw controls as possibly working effectively (though they are usually skeptical on the issue of controls). Because controls of this sort can calm inflationary expectations, this was seen as a serious blow against stagflation.
- The first wave of controls were successful at curbing inflation temporarily while the administration used expansionary fiscal and monetary policies.[13][14] However, the long-term effects proved to be destabilizing. Left unsuppressed after the initial price controls were relaxed, the overly expansionary policies proceeded to exacerbate inflationary pressures.[13][14] Meat also began disappearing from grocery store shelves and Americans protested wage controls that didn't allow wages to keep up with inflation.[3]
- Since that time, the U.S. government has not imposed maximum prices on consumer items or labor (although the cap on oil and natural gas prices persisted for years after 1973).[3] During times of high inflation, controls have been called for; in 1980 during unprecedented inflation, BusinessWeek editorialized in favor of semi-permanent wage and price controls.[15]
- Canada [ edit ] During the 1974 federal election, Progressive Conservative Party leader Robert Stanfield proposed the imposition of a wage and price freeze on the Canadian economy as a response to rising inflation due to the oil crisis. The Liberal government under Pierre Trudeau was originally opposed to this idea, but after winning the election, introduced the Anti-Inflation Act in 1975. This act contained wage and price controls on parts of the economy and remained in force until 1978. In 1979 the anti-inflation board was dissolved and the Anti-Inflation Act repealed.[16]
- United Kingdom [ edit ] The National Board for Prices and Incomes was created by the government of Harold Wilson in 1965 in an attempt to solve the problem of inflation in the British economy by managing wages and prices.The Callaghan government in the 1970s sought to reduce conflict over wages and prices through a "social contract" in which unions would accept smaller wage increases, and business would constrain price increases, imitating Nixon's policy in America.[17] Price controls ended with the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
- Australia [ edit ] Australia implemented an incomes policy, called the Prices and Incomes Accord during the 1980s. The Accord was an agreement between trade unions and the Hawke Labor government. Employers were not party to the Accord. Unions agreed to restrict wage demands, and the government pledged action to minimise inflation and price rises. The government was also to act on the social wage. At its broadest, this concept included increased spending on education as well as welfare.
- Inflation declined during the period of the Accord, which was renegotiated several times. However, many of the key elements of the Accord were weakened over time, as unions sought a shift from centralised wage fixation to enterprise bargaining. The Accord ceased to play a major role after the recession of 1989''92, and was abandoned after the Labor government was defeated in 1996.
- Italy [ edit ] Italy imitated the United States' price and wage controls in 1971, but soon gave up the policy to focus on controlling the price of oil.[17]
- The Netherlands and Belgium [ edit ] The polder model in the Netherlands is characterized by tri-partite cooperation between employers' organizations such as VNO-NCW, labour unions such as the FNV, and the government. These talks are embodied in the Social Economic Council (Dutch: Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER). The SER serves as the central forum to discuss labour issues and has a long tradition of consensus, often defusing labour conflicts and avoiding strikes. Similar models are in use in Finland, namely Comprehensive Income Policy Agreement and universal validity of collective labour agreements.
- The current polder model is said to have begun with the Wassenaar Accords of 1982 when unions, employers and government decided on a comprehensive plan to revitalize the economy involving shorter working times and less pay on the one hand, and more employment on the other.
- The polder model is widely, but not universally, regarded as successful incomes management policy.[18]
- This model is also used in Belgium, hence its name (the "polders" are a region comprising the Netherlands and the northern part of Belgium).
- New Zealand [ edit ] In 1982, then Prime Minister and Finance Minister Rob Muldoon imposed a simultaneous freeze on wages, prices and interest rates in an effort to curb inflation, despite public resistance. These measures were subsequently repealed by Muldoon's successor David Lange and Finance Minister Roger Douglas.
- Zimbabwe [ edit ] In 2007, Robert Mugabe's government imposed a price freeze in Zimbabwe because of hyperinflation.[19] That policy led only to shortages.
- References [ edit ] ^ Rothbard, Murray. "Price Controls Are Back!". Making Economic Sense . Retrieved 2008-11-03 . ^ a b "The Maximum". George Mason University. 29 September 1793 . Retrieved 2008-11-03 . ^ a b c d e f g h Yergin, Daniel; Joseph Stanislaw (1997). "Nixon Tries Price Controls". Commanding Heights . Retrieved 2008-11-03 . ^ The Wages of Militancy: Incomes Policy, Hegemony and the Decline of the British Left By David Purdy, 2006 ^ Irons, John (2001-06-24). "Price Controls and California Electricity". ArgMax Economics. Archived from the original on 2007-10-20 . Retrieved 2008-11-06 . ^ a b White, Andrew Dickson (1912). "The French Revolution". Fiat Money: Inflation in France. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008 . Retrieved 2008-11-03 . ^ Darrow, M. "Economic Terror in the City: The General Maximum in Montauban." French Historical Studies 1991, pp. 517''19 ^ Darrow, M. "Economic Terror in the City: The General Maximum in Montauban." French Historical Studies 1991, pp. 523''25 ^ Darrow, M. "Economic Terror in the City: The General Maximum in Montauban." French Historical Studies 1991, pp. 503''05 ^ Darrow, M. "Economic Terror in the City: The General Maximum in Montauban." French Historical Studies 1991, p. 511 ^ a b c Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. pp. 298''99. ISBN 0-465-04195-7. ^ http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3868 Richard Nixon speech announcing Phase Four price controls, June 13th, 1973 ^ a b Morris, Charles R. (7 February 2004). "The Nixon Recovery". The New York Times . Retrieved 15 April 2018 . ^ a b Friedman, Leon / Levantrosser, William F.Richard M. Nixon, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1991, p. 232 ISBN 0-313-27653-6, ISBN 978-0-313-27653-8 ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 292. ISBN 0-465-04195-7. ^ "Wage & Price Controls". The History Project . Retrieved 7 April 2011 . ^ a b Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 313. ISBN 0-465-04195-7. ^ Woldendorp, Jaap; Keman, Hans (2007). "The Polder Model Reviewed: Dutch Corporatism 1965'--2000". Economic and Industrial Democracy. 28 (3): 317''347. doi:10.1177/0143831X07079351. S2CID 52990197. ^ "IRIN Africa | ZIMBABWE: Price controls devastating rural economy | Zimbabwe | Food Security". 2007-07-24. External links [ edit ] Price Controls by Fiona Maclachlan, The Wolfram Demonstrations ProjectPBS Special Report on California Electricity Price ControlsNixon's Wage and Price Freeze '' Forty Years After the Freeze by William N. Walker
- As Vaccines Continue to Not Work as Promised - Ivermectin Continues to Work - This Secret is Getting Out
- Guest post by Kevin Moncla
- It's time the world begins to seriously look at Ivermectin.The Gateway Pundit has reported on the FDA and CDC's suppression of repurposed medications Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin. We've also reported on India's miraculous results incorporating both medications.
- Are effective COVID medications like Ivermectin being suppressed because they could cause vaccines to lose government funding?
- TRENDING: PLEASE DO YOUR PART: Send a Christmas Card to The Political Prisoners in Washington DC and Let Them Know They're Not Forgotten ...Here's How
- Here's a shocking comparison between Israel, that's one of the most vaccinated countries on the planet, compared to India with one of the lowest vaccination rates and is treating with Ivermectin.
- And now there's more data from Africa showing the undeniable results. It seems as though Africa has now surpassed the U.S. in its ability to follow the science and apply it. It's important to point out the graphs presented are from John Hopkins.
- This morning, Tokyo Medical Association announced publicly that it is recommending that all doctors begin treating COVID with Ivermectin after witnessing the results from other countries. Japan has a very conservative culture and the same extends to the country's practice of medicine. Here is the video press release:
- While countries from the third world to the most medically advanced in the world are smart enough to use a medication that is safe, approved, available, cheap and works better than the vaccine to save lives, our FDA is presenting the life-saving medication this way:
- In a deceptive attempt to sabotage and mislabel, FDA's page on Ivermectin presents the medication as one for animals with a picture of a horse.
- Some may say this is in response to recent reports of people attempting to self-medicate with animal Ivermectin. However, the FDA's propaganda page conflating Ivermectin with a horse has been up for months before those reports.
- While there is a version used to treat animals, antibiotics are also separately formulated to treat people as well. Animals get the animal medicine and people get the people medicine.
- To clarify, Ivermectin has won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2015 and is on the WHO's list of essential medicines. Prescribed to over 3.5 Billion people, Ivermectin has one of the best and longest safety profiles in the history of medicine.
- The rest of the world appears to be catching on to the fact that following the United States is sadly not necessarily the safest and best bet it once was. Undoubtedly for very good reason.
- The Undeniable Ivermectin Miracle in India's 240m Populated Largest State, Uttar Pradesh '' Horowitz - NewsRescue.com
- Pharmacy bottle with generic drug pills. 3DDoctors advice that Ivermectin or Monoclonal antibodies should be used within the first 10 days of contact/infection; while the virus is still alive. After 10 days the virus is already dead and has left trillions of cascade-causing debris viral particles NewsRescue
- by DANIEL HOROWITZ, TheBlaze
- Uttar Pradesh might sound obscure to most Americans, but it is the most populated state in India, with urban areas that rival the most densely populated cities in the U.S. Yet, miraculously, despite housing a population of 240 million people, this northern state has been averaging only 24 cases and 0-2 deaths per day in recent months. Despite its size '-- roughly 73% of the U.S. population '-- it ranked dead last in cases per capita last week among India's 36 states. What gives?
- The answer likely lies in the 10-letter ''I-word'' that you are not allowed to mention on social media: ivermectin. Evidently, the global medical junta doesn't like the over 60 studies vouching for the efficacy of ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2, especially when used early, but there is something better than a study: pure reality of lived experience.
- India's Uttar Pradesh moving towards being Covid free, Ivermectin central to virus controlRelated: NewsRescue''Panacea ''Wonder Drug'' Ivermectin Has Anti-Cancer, Anti-Covid, Anti-MS, Anti-HIV and Many More Properties '' StudiesLast year, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh began dispensing ivermectin liberally and encouraging people to take it early on and even preventively. As Trial Site News reported earlier this year, ''By the end of 2020, Uttar Pradesh '-- which distributed free ivermectin for home care '-- had the second-lowest fatality rate in India at 0.26 per 100,000 residents in December. Only the state of Bihar, with 128 million residents, was lower, and it, too, recommends ivermectin.''Don't miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now.
- As you can see, COVID has been dead in Uttar Pradesh with the exception of a very brief six-week spike in the early spring. Uttar Pradesh likely would have been the first world experiment of what a given area would have looked like had they been taking ivermectin from day one before a wave hit. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of seasonal migrants fled Mumbai and other big cities when the Delta wave hit and all settled back in their villages in Uttar Pradesh, giving them the same spike that every other state got because those people were not on ivermectin. As the AP reported in mid-April, during the surge in Uttar Pradesh, many of these seasonal workers who work half the year in the big cities returned home to their villages. They were likely not taking ivermectin.
- But when the state began distributing the drug to everyone, cases plummeted quicker and sharper than anywhere else we've seen in the world, and the gains have held for months with record low cases. Dr. Surya Kant Tripathi, head of the Respiratory Medicine Department, King George Medical University, Lucknow, told the Financial Express Online in April that the state began giving ivermectin to everyone who was in home isolation (rather than telling them to do nothing until they can't breathe, like we do here in the United States).
- Video: Dr. Paul Marik Discusses Ivermectin and Vitamin DThey also avoided use of the odious remdesivir. ''All trials are saying that this drug is not effective in the treatment of COVID-19, rather it is complicating and resulting in mortality of patients,'' said Dr. Tripathi. ''At so many centers, remdesivir trials were stopped. Also, remdesivir is costing minimum of Rs 5,000 per vial.''
- Related: NewsRescue''Biden Admin Limiting Supply of Lifesaving Monoclonal Antibodies in 7 Southern States Under Guise of Preventing ShortageOverall, the death rate in Uttar Pradesh was roughly 95 per million people, roughly 1/20 the death rate of the U.S. More importantly, despite being the largest state in India, it incurred one-third the death rate of the country as a whole.
- Take a look at this comparison between the death curve in Uttar Pradesh and the curve in India at large:
- You will see that Uttar Pradesh experienced a plummeting of deaths more precipitous than India in the aggregate. Moreover, while cases and deaths in recent months have generally been pretty low in India because most people already got the virus, the pandemic is completely dead in Uttar Pradesh.
- MSN: Uttar Pradesh government says early use of Ivermectin helped to keep positivity, deaths lowTo put this comparison in another perspective, it took from May 9 to June 23 (45 days) for cases to decline 86% off the peak seven-day average for India at large. Not only did Uttar Pradesh peak earlier (April 27), it took just 30 days for it to achieve an 86% drop. By the 45-day window of comparison, cases in Uttar Pradesh had already dropped 98%. Today, it stands at 99.93% off the peak!
- Related: NewsRescue'' World Toxicology Expert Gives Definitive Review of Ivermectin, 2015 Nobel Prize Winning Drug for HumansNow let's compare this to the state of Kerala, which has removed ivermectin and other proven therapeutics from its treatment protocol and has gone all in on the ineffective remdesivir. Not only have cases not declined, but they have gone backward.
- Remember, Kerala, at 34 million people, is just a fraction of the size of Uttar Pradesh.
- Furthermore, just 4.5% of people in Uttar Pradesh are fully vaccinated, compared to 20% in Kerala. In this tiny state, already 70% of people 45 years and older and almost 56% of its population have had at least one shot.
- Some might suggest that Kerala, being a southern state, is not a good comparison to the northern state of Uttar Pradesh because it is likely on a different epidemiological schedule. However, while Uttar Pradesh was the first state to use ivermectin, others have followed suit. Goa, which is a southern state, began offering ivermectin to all adults on May 11 and experienced a remarkable and durable decline.
- Delhi, Karnataka, and Uttarakhand also used ivermectin widely and have basically eradicated the virus.
- Thus, if anything, if we are to believe a government can force people to inject medicine into their bodies to stop the virus, governments everywhere would be following the science by a factor of 100 were they to mandate ivermectin rather than the vaccines. Everyone now agrees the vaccines do not stop transmission. The only question is how long the efficacy against serious illness lasts, for whom, and whether it broadly creates antibody dependent disease enhancement.https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=BMDC2861655210
- We already have dozens of studies vouching for the efficacy of ivermectin. While the establishment likes to complain about the sample size of each one individually, as one study published in Nature noted, ''The probability that an ineffective treatment generated results as positive for the 55 studies to date is estimated to be 1 in 23 trillion (p = 0.000000000000043).'' The story of Uttar Pradesh and the other Indian states that used ivermectin certainly demonstrates this.Ivermectin was regarded as a ''wonder drug'' responsible for virtually eradicating river blindness in Africa. Given its robust anti-viral and anti-inflammatory mechanisms of action, Uttar Pradesh is a living testament that it could have been used to wipe COVID off the map as well. Sadly, the Western world would rather bankrupt us and cause more deaths for politically driven solutions that don't work than cede back to the people the control they've established. Perhaps there is a lot we can learn from the third world, for we are now seeing the growth of a ''fourth world'' mentality that is much more destructive than the third world.
- Oracle to buy medical records company Cerner
- A sign is posted in front of Oracle headquarters on December 09, 2021 in Redwood Shores, California.
- Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
- Enterprise software giant Oracle will buy electronic medical records company Cerner in an all-cash deal for $95 per share, or approximately $28.3 billion in equity value.
- The deal, expected to close in calendar year 2022, could help Oracle boost its presence in health care by bringing troves of health data to its cloud services.
- Oracle shares were down more than 2% on Monday morning after the companies announced the deal. Shares initially fell 6% on Friday after The Wall Street Journal first reported Oracle would buy Cerner.
- The massive acquisition is the biggest ever for Oracle, one of the largest software providers. The company, founded in 1977, had a market cap around $264 billion as of early Monday morning.
- It comes amid a surge in global mergers and acquisition activity. M&A topped $5 trillion for the first time ever in 2021, led by technology and health care, according to a report cited by Reuters.
- Oracle said the acquisition will be immediately accretive to the company's earnings on a non-GAAP basis in the first full fiscal year after closing. It expects Cerner to be "a huge additional revenue growth engine for years to come," it added.
- Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
- 'Unintended' Consequences of mRNA Shots
- ''Worse Than the Disease: Reviewing Some Possible Unintended Consequences of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19,'' by Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., and Dr. Greg Nigh, is one of the most comprehensive descriptions of the many possible unintended consequences of the mRNA gene transfer technologies incorrectly referred to as ''COVID vaccines''As of December 3, 2021, the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has logged 19,886 COVID jab related deaths. Pfizer '-- the only company that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted full licensing for an as-yet unavailable COVID shot '-- accounts for 13,268 of themCalculations suggest VAERS COVID-related reports are underreported by a factor of 41. That means that in the U.S. alone, the actual death toll may be closer to 374,576. Including international deaths reported to VAERS would put the death toll at 815,326Key side effects that are now being reported in massive numbers include miscarriages, heart attacks, myopericarditis, thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), shingles, Bell's palsy and a variety of permanent disabilities, many of which involve neurological dysfunctionThe side effects we now see being reported were entirely predictable based on the known science detailed in Seneff's and Nigh's paperMIT scientist Stephanie Seneff's paper,1 ''Worse Than the Disease: Reviewing Some Possible Unintended Consequences of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19,'' published in the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice and Research in collaboration with Dr. Greg Nigh, is still one of the best, most comprehensive descriptions of the many possible unintended consequences of the mRNA gene transfer technologies incorrectly referred to as ''COVID vaccines.''
- December 9, 2021, their paper was reprinted in the Townsend Letter, the Examiner of Alternative Medicine.2 Seneff, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at MIT who has been conducting research at MIT for over five decades, has spent a large portion of her career investigating the hazards and mechanisms of action of glyphosate.
- Her attention was diverted to the science of mRNA gene transfer technologies in early 2020, when Operation Warp Speed was announced. As noted in her paper, many factors that lacked precedent, yet were being implemented at breakneck speed, included:
- The first-ever use of PEG in an injectionThe first-ever use of mRNA gene transfer technology against an infectious agentThe first-ever ''vaccine'' to make no clear claims about reducing infection, transmissibility or deathThe first-ever coronavirus vaccine ever tested on humans (and previous coronavirus vaccines all failed due to antibody-dependent enhancement, a condition in which the antibodies actually facilitate infection rather than defend against it)The first-ever use of genetically modified polynucleotides in the general populationAn Insanely Reckless ProcessIn a May 2021 interview with me, Seneff said:
- ''To have developed this incredibly new technology so quickly, and to skip so many steps in the process of evaluating [its safety], it's an insanely reckless thing that they've done. My instinct was that this is bad, and I needed to know [the truth].
- So, I really dug into the research literature by the people who've developed these vaccines, and then more extensive research literature around those topics. And I don't see how these vaccines can possibly be doing anything good '...''
- At the time, just five months into the mass inoculation campaign, Seneff suspected the COVID shots would end up killing far more people than the infection itself. Today, a full year into it, the statistics are grim beyond belief, proving her educated prediction to have been an astute one.
- mRNA Jabs Are Shockingly HazardousAs of December 3, 2021, the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has logged an astounding 927,738 COVID jab related adverse events, including 19,886 deaths.3 VAERS can receive reports from vaccine manufacturers and other international sources, and if we exclude those, the death toll reported in U.S. territories exclusively stands at 9,136.4
- Of the total death reports, Pfizer '-- the only company that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted full licensing for an as-yet unavailable COVID shot '-- accounts for the vast majority: 13,268, compared to 4,894 for Moderna, 1,651 for Janssen and 73 for an undisclosed brand.
- Pfizer also accounts for the vast majority of hospitalizations post-injection, and while those over the age of 66 make up the bulk of deaths, the 25-to-50 age group accounts for most of the hospitalizations. Key side effects that are now being reported in massive numbers include:5
- MiscarriagesHeart problems such as heart attacks and myopericarditisThrombocytopenia (low platelet count)ShinglesBell's palsyA variety of permanent disabilities, many of which involve neurological dysfunctionAll of these consequences were predicted by Seneff and Nigh in their paper, which makes the events all the more tragic. Importantly, VAERS is notoriously underreported, so the real-world impact of these shots is far greater than what those data suggest.
- The Cure Is Indeed Worse Than the DiseaseCalculations6 performed by Steve Kirsch, executive director of the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund, and his team of statisticians suggest VAERS COVID-related reports are underreported by a factor of 41. This is a conservative estimate, supported by calculations using a variety of sources besides VAERS itself.
- That means that in the U.S. alone (using the data for U.S. territories only), the actual death toll may be closer to 374,576 (including international deaths reported to VAERS would put the death toll at 815,326), and those are deaths that occurred within days or weeks post-injection.
- As Seneff and Nigh explain in their paper, there's overwhelming reason to suspect that these gene transfer injections will have devastating impacts in the long term, resulting in excess deaths over the next decade.
- What's more, it's clear that the death toll from the COVID-19 infection itself in the U.S. has been vastly exaggerated, as it's based on positive PCR tests and even mere suspicion of COVID in the absence of testing. Many died from other causes and just happened to have a positive COVID test at the time of death.
- Kirsch estimates the real death tally from COVID-19 to be about 50% of the reported number (which is likely conservative). This means about 380,000 Americans died from COVID-19 (rather than with COVID), whereas the COVID shots may have killed more than 374,570 in the first 11 months alone.
- Seneff suspects that in the next 10 to 15 years, we'll see a dramatic spike in prion diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases at younger ages, and blood disorders such as blood clots, hemorrhaging, stroke and heart failure.As predicted in the title of Seneff's paper, it seems the cure may indeed end up being worse than the disease. This is particularly true for children and young adults, who have either died or been permanently disabled by the shots by the thousands, while having an extraordinarily low risk of dying from or being seriously harmed by the infection itself.
- Seneff suspects that in the next 10 to 15 years, we'll see a dramatic spike in prion diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases at younger ages, and blood disorders such as blood clots, hemorrhaging, stroke and heart failure.
- The Spike Protein Is the Most Dangerous Part of SARS-CoV-2The reason we're seeing all these problems from the COVID shots is because they program your cells to continuously produce SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which we now know is the most dangerous part of the virus. Many experts noted this from the start, wondering what the vaccine developers could possibly be thinking, selecting this as the antigen for their shots.
- While the mRNA injections can cause harm in many different ways, one basic problem is that they can overstimulate your immune system to the point of failure. In summary, as your cells start producing the viral spike proteins, your immune cells rally to mop up the proteins and dump them into your lymphatic system. (This is why many report swollen lymph nodes under the arms.)
- The antibody response is part of your humoral immunity. You also have cellular immunity, which is part of your innate immune system. Your innate immune system is very powerful. If you're healthy, it can clear viruses without ever producing a single antibody. Antibodies are actually a second-tier effect when your innate immune system fails.
- The problem is that your innate immune system will not be activated and likely will fail to protect you if you get a COVID-19 shot, because it's bypassing all of the areas where your innate immune system would be brought to bear.
- Normally you breathe the virus in and stimulate the production secretory IgA antibodies that protect your respiratory system. When you bypass that route of exposure with a jab in the arm, no secretory IgA antibodies are produced, leaving you susceptible to the infection.
- As explained by Ronald Kostoff in an excellent December 8, 2021, Trial Site News article, ''COVID-19 'Vaccines': The Wrong Bomb Over the Wrong Target at the Wrong Time'':7
- ''An effective vaccine would focus on cellular immunity in the respiratory and intestinal tract, in which secretory IgA is produced by your lymphocytes that are located directly underneath the mucous membranes that line the respiratory and intestinal tract.
- The antibodies produced by these lymphocytes are ejected through and to the surface of the linings. These antibodies are thus on site to meet air-borne viruses and they may be able to prevent viral binding and infection of the cells.
- Unfortunately, the main inoculants used presently for COVID-19 focus on antibodies (IgG and circulating IgA) that occur in the bloodstream. These antibodies protect the internal organs of the body from infectious agents that try to spread via the bloodstream.''
- When you are injected with the COVID jab, your body will only induce IgG and circulating IgA '-- not secretory IgA, and these types of antibodies do not effectively protect your mucous membranes from SARS-CoV-2 infection. So, as noted by Kostoff, the breakthrough infections we're now seeing ''confirm the fundamental design flaws'' of this gene transfer technology.
- ''A natural infection with SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) will in most individuals remain localized to the respiratory tract,'' Kostoff writes.8 ''The vaccines used presently cause cells deep inside our body to express the viral spike protein, which they were never meant to do by nature.
- Any cell which expresses this foreign antigen on its surface will come under attack by the immune system, which will involve both IgG antibodies and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. This may occur in any organ, but the damage will be most severe in vital organs.
- We are seeing now that the heart is affected in many young people, leading to myocarditis or even sudden cardiac arrest and death. In other words, we are dropping the wrong bomb on the wrong target at the wrong time!''
- In the end, your body will essentially believe that your innate immune system has failed, which means it must bring in the backup cavalry. In essence, your body is now overreacting to something that isn't true. You're not actually infected with a virus and your innate immune system has not failed, but your body is forced to respond as if both are true.
- Effects Likely to Persist Long TermWhat's more, the synthetic RNA in the mRNA vaccines contains a nucleotide called methyl-pseudouridine, which your body cannot break down, and the RNA is programmed to trigger maximum protein production. So, we're looking at completely untested manipulation of RNA.
- It is very important to recognize that this is a genetically engineered mRNA for the spike protein. It is not identical to the spike protein mRNA that SARS-Cov-2 produces. It's been significantly altered to avoid being metabolized by your body.
- The spike protein your body produces in response to the COVID-19 vaccine mRNA locks into your ACE2 receptor. This is because the genetically engineered new spike protein has additional prolines inserted that prevent the receptors from properly closing, which then cause you to downregulate ACE2. That's partially how you end up with problems such as pulmonary hypertension, ventricular heart failure and stroke.9 ,10
- As noted in a 2020 paper,11 there's a ''pivotal link'' between ACE2 deficiency and SARS-CoV-2 infection. People with ACE2 deficiency tend to be more prone to severe COVID-19. The spike protein suppresses ACE2,12 making the deficiency even worse. According to Seneff, the gene transfer injections essentially do the same thing, and we still don't know how long the effects last.
- Manufacturers initially guessed the synthetic RNA might survive in the human body for about six months. A more recent investigation found the spike protein persisted in recovered COVID patients for 15 months.13
- This raises the suspicion that the synthetic and more persistent mRNA in the COVID shots may trigger spike protein production for at least as long, and probably longer.14 What's more, the number of spike proteins produced by the shots is far greater than what you experience in natural infection.
- As explained by Dr. Peter McCullough,15 this means that after your first shot, your body will produce spike protein for at least 15 months. But, when you get shot No. 2 a few weeks later, that shot will cause spike protein production to go on for 15 months or longer. With shot No. 3 six months after that, you produce spike protein for yet another 15 months.
- With regular boosters, you may never rid your body of the spike protein. All the while, it's wreaking havoc with your biology. McCullough likens it to ''a permanent install of an inflammatory protein in the human body,'' and inflammation is at the heart of most if not all chronic diseases. There's simply no possible way for these gene transfer shots to improve public health. They're going to decimate it.
- Long-Term Neurological Damage Is To Be ExpectedIn her paper,16 Seneff describes several key characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that suggests it acts as a prion. This could help explain why we're seeing so many neurological side effects from the shots. According to Seneff, the spike protein produced by the COVID shot, due to the modifications made, may actually make it more of a prion than the spike protein in the actual virus, and a more effective one.
- For a detailed technical description of this you can read through Seneff's paper, but the take-home message is that COVID-19 shots are instruction sets for your body to make a toxic protein that will eventually wind up concentrated in your spleen, from where prion-like protein instructions will be sent out, radically increasing your risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases.
- Lung, Heart and Brain Diseases Are Predictable ConsequencesSeneff also goes into great detail describing how the spike protein acts as a metabolic poison. While I recommend reading Seneff's paper in its entirety, I've extracted some key sections below, starting with how the spike protein can trigger pathological damage leading to lung damage and heart and brain diseases:17
- ''The picture is now emerging that SARS-CoV-2 has serious effects on the vasculature in multiple organs, including the brain vasculature '... In a series of papers, Yuichiro Suzuki in collaboration with other authors presented a strong argument that the spike protein by itself can cause a signaling response in the vasculature with potentially widespread consequences.
- These authors observed that, in severe cases of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 causes significant morphological changes to the pulmonary vasculature '... Furthermore, they showed that exposure of cultured human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 subunit was sufficient to promote cell signaling without the rest of the virus components.
- Follow-on papers showed that the spike protein S1 subunit suppresses ACE2, causing a condition resembling pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a severe lung disease with very high mortality '... The 'in vivo studies' they referred to '... had shown that SARS coronavirus-induced lung injury was primarily due to inhibition of ACE2 by the SARS-CoV spike protein, causing a large increase in angiotensin-II.
- Suzuki et al. (2021) went on to demonstrate experimentally that the S1 component of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, at a low concentration '... activated the MEK/ERK/MAPK signaling pathway to promote cell growth. They speculated that these effects would not be restricted to the lung vasculature.
- The signaling cascade triggered in the heart vasculature would cause coronary artery disease, and activation in the brain could lead to stroke. Systemic hypertension would also be predicted. They hypothesized that this ability of the spike protein to promote pulmonary arterial hypertension could predispose patients who recover from SARS-CoV-2 to later develop right ventricular heart failure.
- Furthermore, they suggested that a similar effect could happen in response to the mRNA vaccines, and they warned of potential long-term consequences to both children and adults who received COVID-19 vaccines based on the spike protein.
- An interesting study by Lei et. al. (2021) found that pseudovirus '-- spheres decorated with the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein but lacking any viral DNA in their core '-- caused inflammation and damage in both the arteries and lungs of mice exposed intratracheally.
- They then exposed healthy human endothelial cells to the same pseudovirus particles. Binding of these particles to endothelial ACE2 receptors led to mitochondrial damage and fragmentation in those endothelial cells, leading to the characteristic pathological changes in the associated tissue.
- This study makes it clear that spike protein alone, unassociated with the rest of the viral genome, is sufficient to cause the endothelial damage associated with COVID-19. The implications for vaccines intended to cause cells to manufacture the spike protein are clear and are an obvious cause for concern.''
- The COVID Shots Activate Latent VirusesAs mentioned earlier, shingles infection is turning out to be a rather common side effect of the COVID shot, and like the neurological, vascular and cardiac damage we're seeing, activation of latent viral infections was also predicted.
- One reason why latent viral infections are cropping up in response to the shots is because the shots disable your type I interferon pathway. A second reason is because your immune system is overburdened trying to deal with the inflammatory spike proteins flowing through your body. Something's got to give, so latent viruses are allowed to break through.
- That's not the end of your potential troubles, however, as these coinfections may worsen or accelerate other conditions, such as Bell's Palsy, myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome.
- Herpes viruses, for example, have been implicated as a trigger of both AIDS18 and chronic fatigue syndrome.19 Some research suggests these diseases don't appear until viruses from different families partner up and the type 1 interferon pathway is disabled.
- With all of that in mind, it seems inevitable that, long term, the COVID mass injection campaign will result in an avalanche of a wide range of debilitating chronic illnesses.
- ''The Truth About COVID-19'' exposes the hidden agenda behind the pandemic, showing the countermeasures have nothing to do with public health and everything to do with ushering in a new social and economic system based on totalitarian, technocracy-led control. So, it's not misinformation they fear. It's the truth they want to prevent from spreading. Pick up a copy of this best-selling book today before it's too late.
- One Sick Day Proves We Need More Voices in Truthful MediaOn October 19, I was sick. It crossed my mind that I had finally gotten the 'rona, but my wife's cream of chicken soup and a few extra hours of sleep into mid-afternoon had be back up and running after a sleepless night before.
- When I finally stumbled over to my computer in the evening, I was met with a deluge of concern from readers. They asked what had happened as only one article had been posted that day. Generally, we post between 10-20 daily between all of the sites, not included curated and aggregated content. Seeing that we'd only posted my super-early morning article before taking the rest of the day off had readers assuming the worst.
- We have a wonderful and talented group of writers who volunteer their time for the sites and their readers. Sharing their amazing perspectives has always been a blessing to us because we cannot afford to hire anyone at this time. But having great writers is meaningless if we don't have great editors, or at least one additional. My wife helps me read and edit stories from time to time, but I'm a one-man show when it comes to getting the stories posted.
- Whenever I highlight our desperate need for donations, I note that we do not receive money from Google ads even though most in conservative media are beholden. I often ambiguously note that the money donated will help us grow. Today, I'm highlighting a specific need. We must get an editor to help take some of the load and to expand on our mission of spreading the truth to the world. One sick day proved that.
- The great news is that there is no shortage of people who CAN help. I am emailed variations of resumes every week by people who are much smarter than I am. As much as I'd love to hire some of them, we simply cannot. That takes money and as blessed as we've been to receive donations and collect ad money (though not from Google or Facebook), we have still fallen short.
- Those who have the means, PLEASE consider donating. We have the standard Giving Fuel option and people can donate through PayPal. We are also diving into what we believe is extremely disruptive technology at LetsGo.finance, the world's first major donation portal for crypto. I'll be talking a lot more about them in the near future. Those who prefer Bitcoin can send to my address here: 3A1ELVhGgrwrypwTJhPwnaTVGmuqyQrMB8
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- JD Rucker '' EIC@jdrucker
- Stroomtekort nekt havenbedrijven: 'Amsterdam stond op de kaart en nu niet meer' | Het Parool
- De haven is een gewilde locatie voor producenten van biobrandstoffen, maar elektriciteit is daar een basisvoorwaarde voor. Beeld Charlotte Odijk
- De capaciteitsproblemen op het elektriciteitsnet eisen hun tol in het Westelijk Havengebied. Minstens twintig bedrijven zien hun toekomstplannen onzeker worden omdat ze op de wachtlijst zijn beland voor een stroomaansluiting. Het elektriciteitsnet is overvol aan de westkant van Amsterdam. Geplande investeringen lopen daar stuk op.
- Bij een rondgang onder grote bedrijven hoorde de haven van ruim vijftien bedrijven dat ze tevergeefs een elektriciteitsaansluiting hebben aangevraagd voor een nieuwe vestiging, verhuizing of uitbreiding. Volgens netwerkbedrijf Liander gaat het zelfs om ruim twintig bedrijven.
- Vorige week kondigde Liander aan dat het elektriciteitsnet aan zijn taks zit aan de westkant van de stad. Er wordt verwacht dat de capaciteitsproblemen pas in 2027 achter de rug zijn, als het verdeelstation Hemweg is uitgebreid.
- Bovenop de bedrijven die op de wachtlijst zijn gekomen, geldt voor nog eens tien bedrijven dat Liander hun aanvraag in behandeling heeft. Ook die komen waarschijnlijk op de wachtlijst. Liander heeft verder tientallen havenbedrijven in beeld die zich nog gaan melden voor een aansluiting. De haven komt tot 35 bedrijven die nog in het ongewisse verkeren.
- Economische schade Volgens de haven gaat het om bedrijven uit verschillende sectoren, van overslagterminals tot bedrijven die werken aan alternatieven voor fossiele brandstoffen en van maakindustrie tot bedrijven die afval verwerken tot nieuwe grondstoffen. De haven wil geen namen noemen en Liander mag dat niet vanwege privacyregels. De bedrijven houden liever stil dat hun investeringen in gevaar komen, omdat ze zich anders door de concurrentie in de kaarten laten kijken.
- De haven is nog bezig om de economische schade in kaart te brengen, maar directeur strategie en innovatie Eduard de Visser van havenbedrijf Port of Amsterdam spreekt al van 'uitstel en uitwijk van investeringen'. Het vertrouwen en het vestigingsklimaat hebben een deuk opgelopen. Bedrijven die in verschillende havens actief zijn, geven minder prioriteit aan hun Amsterdamse vestiging. Bedrijven die schone brandstoffen maken en naar Amsterdam wilden komen, hebben het signaal afgegeven dat ze daarop terugkomen, omdat ze niet verzekerd zijn van elektriciteit. ''Amsterdam stond op de kaart en nu niet meer.''
- Bij bedrijven die al in Amsterdam zitten dreigt de verduurzaming vertraging op te lopen. Omdat de gaswinning in Groningen stopt, moeten veel havenbedrijven van het aardgas af. Groene stroom ligt dan het meest voor de hand, want voor waterstof is het vaak nog te vroeg, weet De Visser. ''Maar als er geen realistisch alternatief is, dan snap ik wel dat bedrijven zeggen: nu even niet.''
- Meer CO2-uitstoot De Amsterdamse haven is een populaire vestigingslocatie voor producenten van biobrandstoffen en synthetische alternatieven voor benzine en kerosine, maar elektriciteit is daar een basisvoorwaarde voor. Op het stroomnet lijkt ook weinig ruimte voor 'walstroom', het schone alternatief voor schepen die aan de kade hun motoren permanent laten draaien.
- Logistiekbedrijven grijpen mis nu ze laadinfrastructuur willen aanleggen voor nieuwe elektrische vervoersmiddelen. De haven noemt verder het voorbeeld van havenkranen die op fossiele brandstoffen blijven draaien omdat er onvoldoende stroom is. De Visser heeft zelfs al van bedrijven gehoord dat ze zich genoodzaakt voelen om terug te vallen op generatoren, met als gevolg dat de CO2-uitstoot juist verder oploopt.
- De haven zoekt samen met Liander naar oplossingen om het stroomnet efficinter te gebruiken, bijvoorbeeld door bedrijven onderling stroom te laten uitwisselen of door 's nachts batterijen vol te laden. Er werd nog gehoopt dat er kon worden geput uit overcapaciteit bij bedrijven die al een stroomaansluiting hebben, maar dat valt tegen. De Visser: ''Het allerbelangrijkste is dat er meer kabels de grond in gaan. Maar daar gaat veel tijd overheen, minstens drie of vier jaar.''
- Snellere procedures De provincie Noord-Holland hoopt dat het mogelijk wordt om juridische en planologische procedures te versnellen. Gedeputeerde Edward Stigter (Klimaat en energie) heeft zich met dat pleidooi gemeld in Den Haag. Eerder kwam het Amsterdamse stadsbestuur al met zo'n oproep in een brandbrief aan de landelijke politiek.
- Ook de ondernemers maken zich grote zorgen. ''Alle investeringsplannen vallen in duigen als bedrijven niet zeker zijn van elektriciteit,'' zegt directeur Kees Noorman van ondernemersvereniging Oram. ''De hele verduurzaming staat onder druk.''
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- Pope Francis, Ever The Iconoclast - The American Conservative
- Angry Pope Francis is tired of Latin mass people (
- I am not a Catholic, but I cannot fathom why Pope Francis is working so hard to tear the Catholic Church apart, and suppress one of its most vital communities. The Vatican today released even more restrictions on the Latin mass and the communities around it. From Edward Pentin in National Catholic Register:
- In summary, Archbishop Roche has ruled the following:
- If traditional faithful are unable to find a church, oratory or chapel to exclusively celebrate the older rite, a bishop can ask the Congregation for Divine Worship for a dispensation to use a parish church, but if allowed, such a celebration should not be advertised in a parish Mass schedule (this is not to marginalize the faithful who prefer the traditional form, he insisted, but to ''remind them that this is a concession to provide for their good '... and not an opportunity to promote the previous rite'').
- The traditional sacraments in the Rituale Romanum (e.g. baptisms, nuptial Masses, extreme unction, confession) need a bishop's permission and can only be celebrated in ''canonically erected personal parishes'' [Editors' note: This applies to those already in existence, as the erection of future such parishes is not allowed in Traditionis Custodes]. A bishop is not authorized to grant permission to use the Pontificale Romanum, that is sacraments celebrated by bishops, i.e. traditional ordinations and confirmations.
- A priest cannot continue to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass if he ''does not recognize the validity and legitimacy of concelebration,'' especially at the Chrism Mass. A bishop should ''take care to establish a fraternal dialogue'' with the priest before revoking this concession.
- A reassertion that readings must be proclaimed in the vernacular language and a stipulation that no new vernacular lectionaries may be published that use the old cycle of readings.
- Bishops must obtain authorization from the Holy See to allow priests ordained after the publication of Traditionis Custodes to celebrate the traditional Mass.
- It is ''recommended'' that the traditional Mass be celebrated for a defined period of time set by the bishop who can assess at the end of that time whether or not there are grounds for prolonging or suspending the permission, depending on how much ''everything is in harmony'' with the direction of Traditionis Custodes.
- A bishop can only grant permission to celebrate the traditional Mass in his own diocese.
- If a priest authorized to celebrate the older rite is unavailable or absent, his replacement must also be given formal authorization.
- Deacons and instituted ministers taking part in a traditional celebration must also have their bishop's permission.
- A parish priest or chaplain who is authorized to celebrate the traditional Mass but must also celebrate the ordinary form of the Mass during the week cannot then also celebrate the traditional Mass on the same day (binate).
- A priest who is authorized to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass cannot celebrate it for another group of faithful on the same day, even if that group has received authorization.
- In his introductory note, Archbishop Roche reiterated that Traditionis Custodes and Pope Francis' accompanying letter ''clearly express the reasons'' for the apostolic letter, and that the Mass of Paul VI is the ''unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.''
- ''This is the direction in which we wish to move, and this is the meaning of the responses we publish here,'' Archbishop Roche said. ''Every prescribed norm has always the sole purpose of preserving the gift of ecclesial communion by walking together, with conviction of mind and heart, in the direction indicated by the Holy Father.''
- And here is the pure voice of 1960s-era utopian fundamentalism:
- The English archbishop said that the Second Vatican Council Fathers sought the reforms so that the liturgy would appear ''ever more in all its beauty and the People of God might grow in full, active, conscious participation in the liturgical celebration.''
- ''As pastors, we must not lend ourselves to sterile polemics, capable only of creating division, in which the ritual itself is often exploited by ideological viewpoints,'' Archbishop Roche said. ''Rather, we are all called to rediscover the value of the liturgical reform by preserving the truth and beauty of the Rite that it has given us. For this to happen, we are aware that a renewed and continuous liturgical formation is necessary both for priests and for the lay faithful.''
- They will never, ever, ever admit that there was a problem with the Council, or that there is anything worthwhile in what it displaced. As a former Catholic who has been Orthodox for sixteen years, the scandal of the ruling class of the Catholic Church sacking its own precious heritage, liturgical and otherwise, is both astonishing and painful. Painful, not only because I have friends and acquaintances who are not hotheads, and who have been deeply enriched in their faith by the Latin mass. Yes, of course there are some Latin mass fanatics who are a source of division '-- but they by no means characterize the mainstream of the Old Rite community, and besides, you can find far more anti-Tridentine fanatics, especially in power. In general, and in my experience, Latin massgoers are among the most faithful Catholics I know. And the leadership of the Church, from Pope Francis on down, spits on them.
- Read all of Pentin's report.
- Just so non-Catholics understand what is going on here, Pope Francis wishes to crush observance of the Tridentine Rite mass, popularly called the ''Latin mass,'' because it is celebrated in what had been the Catholic Church's liturgical language from ancient times, until the Second Vatican Council. From a Times story highlighting LGBT-friendly parishes in New York City, here is the kind of thing the Pope not only tolerates, but encourages through his embrace of pro-gay figures (e.g., Father James Martin) and organizations (e.g., New Ways Ministry) in the Catholic Church:
- Gay-friendly parishes are something that many Catholics, and many L.G.B.T.Q. people, do not know exist. They are scattered in cities and large towns across the country, with roughly a dozen concentrated in New York City. Here, parishes have drawn worshipers from across the region by starting L.G.B.T.Q. ministries; organizing events like spiritual retreats, hikes and happy hours at local gay bars; celebrating Masses and other events during Pride Month; and by speaking up for the gay community.
- Francis encourages parishes that have happy hours at gay bars, and Pride masses. But the Latin mass people must be suppressed. More from that story:
- Father James Martin, a Jesuit writer and well-known proponent of outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, said liberal parishes like these had long played an important role as ''safety valves'' for the church by providing a space for Catholics who might chafe at its prevailing dogmas.
- ''They are places, as the saying goes, for people who are on their way into the church or who may be tempted to go on their way out of the church,'' he said. ''They can go to these parishes and feel at home.''
- Not Latin mass Catholics. Not under the rule of Francis the Merciful. More from that Times story:
- One day he knelt in a confessional there and shared his inner struggle with a priest, who told him that ''you have no sin in this, there is nothing to feel shame for,'' he said. After that, he began taking communion for the first time in years.
- ''I think St. Paul's probably accepts me right now more than I accept myself sometimes,'' Mr. Browner said.
- ''Because the catechism of the church is so omnipresent, it is ingrained in us '-- or at least in me '-- that those are the rules,'' he added. ''I am still grappling with what the rule is versus what the message of St. Paul's is. It is a process.''
- This parish and its priests are leading people away from faithful observance of the Catholic faith. Francis loves this kind of thing, though, and has made that very clear. Just a few days ago, it emerged that Francis had written encouragingly to the leadership of New Ways Ministry, a pro-LGBT Catholic activist group pushing for the normalization of homosexuality within the Catholic Church. Some years ago, when he was head of the Vatican's doctrinal office under John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger ruled that New Ways could not be considered authentically Catholic. Francis has brought them in out of the cold.
- But the Latin mass community, he sends to the margins.
- I think of Francis and those around him with the same puzzlement I have with regard to the senior members of the ruling class in the US. I wrote something about this last night.
- I understand them being concerned about extreme elements of the Right, but these people '-- particularly in the military '-- are going all-out to confirm the claims of hardliners, and both antagonize and alienate those who are not unfaithful to Catholic doctrine, and who only want to be left alone.
- Why would you do this? Does Francis want to drive these people to the SSPX, or to Orthodoxy, or perhaps even to abandon Christianity entirely? If they were obstinate deniers of authoritative Catholic teaching, I could understand this or any pope saying, in effect, ''Being Catholic requires affirming certain things, rejecting other things, and living in certain ways; if you refuse to repent, and are leading others astray, then you should leave the Church.'' But this is not what he's doing. Again, the Latin mass people are not demanding that everybody go to Latin mass, and while some of them may deny the validity of the Novus Ordo mass (the one that came out of the 1960s Council), they are not demanding that the Vatican suppress that mass, nor are they in any position to do so. They are tiny!
- Yet Francis, in his pontifical wisdom, is attempting to strangle those faithful communities, while encouraging LGBT-positive priests, parishes, and organizations that openly defy Catholic teaching to flourish.
- Why? What sense does this make? Why the contempt for Catholics who abide by the Magisterium (the teaching authority of the Catholic Church), and who only want to pray liturgically in the same language that was the Church's since the earliest days of Latin Christianity, and in the rite that was common to all Catholics from the Counter-Reformation until the mid-1960s?
- Let me be clear here: when I was a Catholic, I was a Novus Ordo Catholic. I didn't love the new rite, but I never did learn to love the old rite either. I considered them both sacramentally valid, though, and I was glad that the Latin rite existed for those who were nourished by it. I don't know that I ever met an ordinary Novus Ordo Catholic who felt threatened by the Latin mass's existence, if they even knew about it. But professional liberal Catholics truly despise the Latin mass. And now one of them is the Pope '-- a Pope who knows that of all the billion Catholics over whom he presides, the Latin massgoers are the least likely to defy a licit papal order.
- This is spiritual warfare, you know. May God strengthen those faithful Catholics persecuted by their own leaders. What Francis doesn't understand, it appears, is that his actions undermine the authority of the Church itself. Look:
- I see people sharing this today like it means anything. But if the current pope can so utterly contradict previous popes, who are we to believe? In a pope fight, who wins? And if they can all cancel each other out, what good are any of them? pic.twitter.com/vmT6L3yhRB
- '-- Steve Skojec (@SteveSkojec) December 19, 2021
- Traditionalist Peter Kwasniewski writes of today's document:
- It was not difficult to see, even before today, that the Vatican opponents of the traditional liturgical rites of the Church of Rome are animated by an animosity toward tradition that is totally incompatible with the Catholic Faith and an animosity toward the faithful who adhere to tradition that is totally contrary to charity and the much-vaunted desire for ''unity'' and ''communion'' (lip service for ''diversity'' and ''peripheries'' and ''minorities'' etc. notwithstanding'--that's the typical modus operandi of hypocrites).
- However, by releasing a document like this'--so full of malice, pettiness, hatred, and cruelty, and so abundant in its lies'--exactly one week before the great feast of Christ's Nativity shows, more eloquently than any other gesture possibly could, that we are dealing with mafia thugs who have set themselves against our spiritual good, our vocations, our families, in such a way that their attack on the Church's common good could not possibly be more apparent.
- Let's remind ourselves of what our forefathers in the Faith said about such a situation.
- Thomas Cardinal Cajetan (1469''1534): ''You must resist, to his face, a pope who is openly tearing the Church apart.''
- Francisco de Vitoria (1483''1546): ''If the Pope by his orders and his acts destroys the Church, one can resist him and impede the execution of his commands.''
- St. Robert Bellarmine (1542''1621): ''As it is lawful to resist the pope, if he assaulted a man's person, so it is lawful to resist him, if he assaulted souls, or troubled the state, and much more if he strove to destroy the Church. It is lawful, I say, to resist him, by not doing what he commands, and hindering the execution of his will.''
- Sylvester Prierias (1456''1523): ''He [the pope] does not have the power to destroy; therefore, if there is evidence that he is doing it, it is licit to resist him. The result of all this is that if the pope destroys the Church by his orders and acts, he can be resisted and the execution of his mandate prevented. The right of open resistance to prelates' abuse of authority stems also from natural law.''
- Francisco Surez (1548''1617): ''If the Pope lays down an order contrary to right customs one does not have to obey him; if he tries to do something manifestly opposed to justice and to the common good, it would be licit to resist him; if he attacks by force, he could be repelled by force, with the moderation characteristic of a good defense.''
- God's Providence is therefore clear, and I consider this instruction to be a Christmas gift. By showing that its authors hate Catholic tradition, hate continuity with the past, hate the faithful, they make it easy for us to see that they are acting against the common good and therefore deserve to be resisted. We are not only permitted to resist; we are obliged to do so, if we would avoid sinning against what we know to be right, holy, true, and good.
- In its abundance of charity, the CDW [Congregation for Divine Worship, the Vatican agency that issued today's ruling '-- RD] explains that the liturgies of such Catholics are not part of the ordinary life of the parish; the activities of this group should never coincide with those of the parish; the group should be jettisoned from a parish as soon as may be; their Masses may not be advertised in the schedule; and presumably no new members are to be invited, since the group is hermetically sealed off to prevent cross-contamination. All this, and yet Roche has the gall to say: ''There is no intention in these provisions to marginalise the faithful''?
- The response of a healthy Catholic to such offensive impertinence and worse-than-racist prejudice is to say: ''To hell with you'' (for that is where such ideas came from and belong). ''We will announce our Masses far and wide. We will keep publishing our books, brochures, missals, and every sort of paraphernalia. We will advertise our activities and invite new attendees. We will promote tradition actively among friends, family, strangers, and potential converts. We will channel our donations to its support. We will, in short, do everything in our power to ensure that your unjust war against tradition meets with the embarrassing and inglorious defeat it richly deserves. Deus vult. You will never, ever win.''
- Read it all. Straight fire.
- UPDATE: A Reformed friend writes to say that Kwasniewski's essay sounds very much like Luther. I find it hard to disagree. Steve Skojec, once a Catholic traditionalist polemicist, but now apparently struggling to hold on to faith, pens a painful essay pointing out that the position of Catholics like Kwasniewski is hard to sustain. Excerpts:
- The idea that we only have to listen to the authority that was placed over us, allegedly by God himself, when WE decide that it's being exercised legitimately, must be seen as the dangerous, quasi-protestant approach that it is.
- When I say dangerous, I don't mean in the objective sense, but dangerous to the integrity of Catholic teaching on the papacy and magisterial authority in general, and the submissions we lowly peons are supposed to offer in deference before it. Recognize and resist puts us all on the sede spectrum, as we say: ''You've only got the authority of the papal office and can only demand my obedience if I say so, bub.''
- This kind of response is justified with hand waiving towards ''tradition'' and ''perennial teaching'' and the rest, but the fact is, papal supremacy is a helluva drug. It's completely autocratic and doesn't give a fig whether you like it or not. One of the more noxious sede websites helpfully compiled some quotes from Pope Leo XIII to drive home this point, which I'll re-post here:
- ''To the shepherds alone was given all power to teach, to judge, to direct; on the faithful was imposed the duty of following their teaching, of submitting with docility to their judgment, and of allowing themselves to be governed, corrected, and guided by them in the way of salvation. Thus, it is an absolute necessity for the simple faithful to submit in mind and heart to their own pastors, and for the latter to submit with them to the Head and Supreme Pastor.'' (Epistola Tua)'''...it is to give proof of a submission which is far from sincere to set up some kind of opposition between one Pontiff and another. Those who, faced with two differing directives, reject the present one to hold to the past, are not giving proof of obedience to the authority which has the right and duty to guide them; and in some ways they resemble those who, on receiving a condemnation, would wish to appeal to a future council, or to a Pope who is better informed.'' (Epistola Tua)''That obligation, if it is generally incumbent on all, is, you may indeed say, especially pressing upon journalists'.... The task pertaining to them '... is this: to be subject completely in mind and will, just as all the other faithful are, to their own bishops and to the Roman Pontiff; to follow and make known their teachings; to be fully and willingly subservient to their influence; and to reverence their precepts and assure that they are respected.'' (Epistola Tua)''No, it cannot be permitted that laymen who profess to be Catholic should go so far as openly to arrogate to themselves in the columns of a newspaper, the right to denounce, and to find fault, with the greatest license and according to their own good pleasure, with every sort of person, not excepting bishops, and think that with the single exception of matters of faith they are allowed to entertain any opinion which may please them and exercise the right to judge everyone after their own fashion.'' (Est Sane Molestum)'''...to scrutinize the actions of a bishop, to criticize them, does not belong to individual Catholics, but concerns only those who, in the sacred hierarchy, have a superior power; above all, it concerns the Supreme Pontiff'....'' (Est Sane Molestum)Where this leaves us is in quite a pickle. How can we recognize papal supremacy but also resist it? How can we not resist it when resistance is clearly warranted? How can we live with all the contradictions without tying ourselves into knots?
- The answer for me, at least, is: I can't. I'm not going to break my brain trying to smash round pegs into square holes. If the pope can put heresy in the catechism, if he can promote adultery and sacrilege, if he can sign his name to religious indifference, all bets on infallibility are off, and I don't care what absurdly restrictive conditions you think the dogma has.
- I also know I am not, and could not be, in communion with the pope and the bishops who are on his side. I wasn't before I stepped back from the Church, and I wouldn't willingly do so now even if my other issues of faith were resolved. These pedophile-protecting, orgy-attending, faith-hating monsters in mitres don't believe in the same things actual Catholics do. Accusing the faithful of schism for being faithful to the teachings that were handed down, rather than the tyranny of the present papacy, is laughable, but in a way, it's also technically correct, since schism is canonically tied to refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff (Can. 751). If I still cared as much as I used to about such things, I'd embrace schism over faux communion in a second.
- Catholics, what do you have to say to Steve?
- UPDATE.2: Just checked e-mail today. This letter was in the stack:
- I figured I'd say something from the perspective of someone who is set to be baptized and confirmed a Catholic in a few months: I don't know that I want to become Catholic anymore.
- I can count on one hand the number of times I've attended a Latin Mass. I like the Novus Ordo just fine and have gone there despite having Latin Mass options in the area. But if this is what the papacy means''totalizing control over how people worship, and even over what their bulletins look like''I don't know how I can continue to believe that the papacy is God's design. I think the dubia is essentially spiritual abuse. Again, I'm not affected, but I have good, faithful friends who are, and they don't deserve abuse. I keep seeing people talking about how we should be obeying the Holy Father, but that's exactly the problem: Why does anyone owe obedience to a pope who's making abusive decisions? Do children owe obedience to abusive parents?
- I was looking into Orthodoxy before this because of other concerns, but I'm doubling down now. I do hope the Catholic hierarchy understands that this type of stuff is faith-crushing, even to people whose faith doesn't look like it would be crushed by this. I'm certainly one of them.
- This is one fruit of Francis's approach. Again: why?
- The pontificate of John Paul II produced a generation of Wojtylian priests, that of Benedict XVI a generation of Ratzingerian priests. The current pontificate has inspired no such school or movement. Gentlemen of a certain age, who had already taken hold of positions of power, have consolidated their power, but there is no 'Bergoglio generation.' This pontificate, with all its hangers-on, must recur to the use of force as its solution to the traditionalist 'problem', a force which conquers, but does not convince, repression and censure.
- Does the new rite as understood by Pope Francis, Abp Roche or Andrea Grillo inspire art, the spiritual life, or vocations? No? Fine, then we shall forbid the old one, and Ratzinger's whole understanding of the problem. A senile, Brezhnevian Church, paralyzed and sterile, which continues to repeat the slogans of the 1970s ever more tiredly, will end like the power of the Soviet Union ended.
- Have patience and trust in God, and put a good bottle of champagne in storage, to be opened on the day of liberation. It will come, later than we hope for, but sooner than we expect.
- UPDATE.5: Oh wow. A priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta compares some Latin massgoers to Kluckers:
- UPDATE.6: From a comment left by Brendan, a former cradle Catholic who converted many years ago to Orthodoxy. He talks about how it is impossible to square the circle of being a traditional Catholic with rejecting papal authority, except when one agrees with it:
- Ultimately that is the problem with the Latin mass approach. It's based on this ideology of principled resistance which cites the guys that Dr. K does in his piece, but really it's an almost impossible line for individual Catholics to take, as Steve Skojec points out. Catholicism is, and has been for too long, too tightly wound around the Vatican/Papal center as the sign, form, and proof of unity, and doesn't function like Orthodoxy does, which is admittedly messier in its actual functioning as a result. The Catholic mindset '-- really anyone who had the Catholic mindset '-- struggles with the idea of faithful opposition, because what you are opposing is, under Catholic teaching, at the same time the very sign and surety of unity. To describe this approach as being laced with cognitive dissonance is to engage in vast understatement '-- it is simply untenable for many, even for people who are very well-versed in the issues and fairly nimble mentally like Steve Skojec.
- This is, I think, one of the reasons why the Latin mass hardliners (like the ones who are now in charge of Steve's former site) are so bitterly anti-Orthodox. It not only has to do with the ''traditional'' antipathy towards Orthodoxy expressed by the pre-Vatican II church (which was not always present anyway long before V2). With these Latin mass hardliners it has do with the fact that it is very difficult to distinguish their position from ours, in terms of what they are actually placing as their highest authority (the substance of tradition and not formal hierarchy itself when the latter is not in line with the former), so they have to bend over backwards and take great pains to explain why they are different from us, and why our approach is so very wrong in their eyes. It's very much special pleading. You may have noticed that some of the people who are in charge of Steve's former site have taken to posting anti-Orthodox articles there from time to time. These articles contain the standard bromides one would expect from a Catholic traditionalist about us, but they are motivated by a need to constantly justify '-- even to their own ranks '-- why they are not like us, why their approach is not like ours, and so on because their approach is, in fact, so tenuous from the perspective of actual lived Catholicism which is centered on the office of the Pope in a matter-of-fact way like the Weigelists are.
- I quit reading the site after Skojec left it, but that is a pity to learn. But it's also to be expected: if they don't do that, they will lose some of their people to Orthodoxy, which actually does place primacy on the Tradition, and has never had a primatial figure like the Pope, who has the power to trash the tradition at will.
- about the author Rod Dreher is a senior editor at The American Conservative. A veteran of three decades of magazine and newspaper journalism, he has also written three New York Times bestsellers'--Live Not By Lies, The Benedict Option, and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming'--as well as Crunchy Cons and How Dante Can Save Your Life. Dreher lives in Baton Rouge, La.
- A floating community goes with the flow in Amsterdam - The Seattle Times
- LIVING| This neighborhood with waterfront views could serve as a model for other cities as climate change brings more intense rains and rising sea levels.
- SCHOONSCHIP, Amsterdam '-- Marjan de Blok readjusts her body weight as she treads across the jetties linking a floating community on the River IJ. Her cheeks and nose are elfin red from the whipping winds. She shouts greetings to many of her neighbors, her voice carried by the water all around.In October, heavy rains, hail and 50 mph winds put Amsterdam on alert, just a short ferry ride away. But in the northern neighborhood of Schoonschip, life carried on mostly as usual. De Blok visited with neighbors to gossip and get updates on the local smart grid '-- which enables residents to generate and share energy with each other and the country '-- all while overhead lamps swayed and the homes glided up and down their steel foundational poles with the movement of the waters below.
- ''It feels like living at the beach, with the water, the saltiness of the air and the seagulls,'' she says. ''But it also feels special because, initially, we were told that building your own neighborhood, it's just impossible.''
- De Blok, 43, is a Dutch reality-TV director by day and guerrilla sustainable commune organizer by night. She and her neighbors quickly adapted to life on water '-- proving, she says, that the technology exists to make floating urban development a solution for the world's densely populated waterfront cities that are dealing with rising sea levels and the accelerating impacts of climate change.
- She has discussed the future of scaled-up floating communities across the Netherlands and the globe when she hosted Prince Harry, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and a long list of other dignitaries, urban planners, entrepreneurs and citizens who have visited in recent years, curious to see the real-life manifestation of a once sci-fi idea.
- She also showcased Schoonschip's patchwork of environmentally focused social projects: lush floating gardens, tended by the residents and beloved by the water birds; a community center featuring floating architecture diagrams; and a nearby on-land vegetable patch bursting with kale in the winter and zucchini and tomatoes in the summer. But the homes' industrial-chic design and their closeness to the city, De Blok says, is usually what surprises visitors most.
- It's intentional, she says, as it helps to distinguish the dwellings from the quirky 10,000 converted barges '-- known as ''houseboats'' '-- that crowd the country's canals. Schoonschip, boasting modern design for modern lifestyles, seeks to serve as a prototype for the more than 600 million people '-- 10% of the world's population '-- who live on or near the water and are already being affected by climate change.
- In the waterlogged Netherlands '-- a country that's a third below sea level and two-thirds flood-prone '-- floating homes are the latest in a centurieslong experiment in contending with water. Since the Middle Ages, Dutch farmer collectives have united to drain water to make room for agricultural land. The groups evolved into regional water boards that keep the land dry using a complex system of canals, dikes, dams and sea gates.
- In 2007, the government unveiled a program called Room for the River, allowing certain locations to strategically flood during periods of heavy rain. Water management is such a normal part of Dutch discourse that many citizens are surprised to be asked about it, assuming it is common in every country. Dutch children as young as 4 are taught to swim with their clothes on, to instill ''respect for the water,'' says Michiel Snijder, De Blok's partner, who works as a children's swimming instructor.
- The Dutch have historically lived on water. As early as the 17th century, foreign tradespeople moored their boats to the land to sell their goods. In the 1960s, artists converted boats into homes to make ''houseboat'' living a culturally subversive way of opting out of civilization on land.
- Especially as climate change has warmed the world's oceans over the past decade, Dutch water management strategists have sought to embrace, rather than resist, the rising sea levels. As part of that shift, floating communities have been emerging across Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. These homes that are converted into boats, rather than the other way around, bill themselves as part of a national, and potentially global, solution for a wetter future.
- Schoonschip, home to about 150 residents including some 40 children, is made up of 46 households on 30 arks. Half are floating semidetached homes, shared by two families. One has three generations of the same family.They are relatively lowtech, constructed off-site and weighted by basins filled with recycled, water-resistant concrete, and then pulled across the water by a tug and moored to the lake bed. Heavy pieces such as pianos are counterweighed with bricks on the opposite side of the house, and interior design is carried out in line with the Dutch principle of gezellig, or ''coziness'' (think: the Dutch hygge) which incorporates soft lighting, modern fixtures and virtually no stylistic references to maritime life.
- Many rooms are outfitted with modular furniture that can be easily disassembled or reassembled to make room for life changes such as the birth of children or the separation of couples.
- ''Floating homes, you can turn them, flip them, take them with you. The flexibility on water is incomparable with the flexibility on land,'' says Sascha Glasl, a residentarchitect in Schoonschip. His architectural firm, Space & Matter, designed the community's jetty system and many of its homes. ''It's evident that sea waters will rise, and that many big cities are really close to that water. It's amazing that not more of this innovation and building on water is being executed.''
- De Blok, who has no engineering, architecture or hydrological training, says that she never intended to spearhead a movement in floating urban development.
- In 2009, she was exhausted by living in Amsterdam. She was working all the time, buying things she used just once or twice and had very little time to meet with friends. She recycled and bought vintage instead of new, but had the creeping feeling that she was being involuntarily made into a passive consumer.
- On assignment on a cold winter day in 2009, she visited a solar-paneled floating event venue called GeWoonboot as part of a series of short documentaries she was shooting on sustainable living. She was stunned by its contemporary feel, its immediacy to the water and the city, and its incorporation of experimental sustainability practices.
- ''Before I visited that boat, I wasn't really conscious that I didn't like the way I was living,'' she says.
- When she asked friends if they had interest in building a floating community, she was unprepared for the deluge of responses. She cut off the list at 120 people, disappointing dozens.
- She scouted waters around the GeWoonboot neighborhood, known as Buiksloterham, a 100-hectare, postindustrial area that had been largely abandoned since manufacturers '-- including the Shell oil company and the Fokker airplane factory that built parts for KLM airlines '-- left the city for lower-wage countries in the second part of the 20th century.
- ''The area was a disaster, really depressing. Just some companies, no streetlights,'' De Blok recalls.
- But when she got a look at the city's plans to develop tens of thousands of housing units and cultural centers in the area, she thought, ''We could be pioneers here.''
- ''Schoonschip'' means ''clean ship,'' which when made into a verb, ''to do schoonschip,'' means ''starting over from scratch.'' In Buiksloterham, the 22-story Shell tower has been rebranded as the Amsterdam Dance and Music Tower, with dance clubs, a revolving restaurant and an observation deck. The grassy Overhoeks Promenade, which served as a gallows from the 15th to 18th century, hosts the hulking, modernistic Eye Film Museum. The NDSM wharf is peppered with artist collectives, vintage shops and a luxury hotel atop the world's tallest harbor crane.
- De Blok views water as much in engineering as in social terms, especially as densely populated cities such as Amsterdam undergo rapid gentrification, replacing social housing and middleclass neighborhoods with homes for the ultrarich and Airbnbs for tourists.Looking to make Schoonschip something different, she had all residents sign a manifesto committing them to constructing, insulating and finishing their homes with eco-friendly materials such as straw, burlap and bamboo. They also informally signed up for eating together, swimming in their ''backyards'' together and conducting their lives largely in common view of one another, with curtains only rarely drawn. They share bikes and cars, and use a vibrant WhatsApp group to request almost any service or borrow virtually any item from neighbors, which they can have delivered to their doorstep usually within a few minutes. Every Tuesday, many of the residents order two-course vegan meals prepared by a resident chef, which they often share in each others' homes.
- The neighborhood feels like an extended block party mostly because many of the residents are De Blok's friends, or friends of friends, including many colleagues from the TV and entertainment industry. There's a celebrity talk show host, several heads of content and a podcaster, most of whom joined the project in their 20s and 30s, when they had no kids and ample time to invest in building a community from scratch. Twelve years of bureaucratic struggles later, those young single couples are young families. During the summer, their children jump out of their bedroom windows directly into the water below. On clear winter nights, the neighborhood gleams with soft lighting and buzzes with the hum of chattering residents, parked out on their top-floor porches where they have a front-row view to the inky water and the starry sky.
- ''When it's dark and all the lights in the houses are on, it feels like a set from a film,'' De Blok says.To realize Schoonschip's sustainability goals, De Blok needed to draw from its most valuable and multipurpose resource: the residents themselves. Siti Boelen, a Dutch television producer, mediated between the Schoonschip representative committee and the local municipality. Glasl, the architect, helped design the five rows of jetties that connect each house to each other and to the land.
- Eelke Kingma, a resident and renewable tech expert, received special permission from the experimental sector of a Dutch electricity company to design the neighborhood's smart grid system. Residents collect energy from 500 solar panels '-- placed on roughly a third of the community's roofs '-- and from 30 efficient heat pumps that draw from the water below. They then store this energy in enormous batteries located beneath their homes and sell any surplus to each other, as well as to the national grid.
- Kingma is finishing a new AI-automated program that will use each homes' smart meters to inform residents when they can earn the most from selling, based on the fluctuations in energy market prices. This would make Schoonschip the first neighborhood in the country to turn a profit from generating energy, Kingma says. It's made possible by the fact that each home in Schoonschip has five to eight smart meters '-- most homes in the Netherlands have only one '-- which constantly track the influx and outflow of the underwater energy storage system.
- The program is being monitored in collaboration with 15 European companies, universities and institutions, organized by the European Commission, which supports renewable energy experiments in the hopes of scaling them up across the continent.
- In the past decade, the floating-house movement has been gaining momentum in the Netherlands.The Dutch government is amending home-owning laws to redefine floating homes as ''immovable homes'' rather than ''boats,'' to simplify the process of obtaining permits.
- ''Building on water is considered a kind of blank canvas: due to the lack of existing infrastructure,'' reads a research paper that advocates for the amendment to the law. ''We foresee that in the near future building on water and floating living in the Netherlands will no longer be a luxury, but an absolute necessity.''
- And as they expand, the initiators of Schoonschip and other floating neighborhoods, office buildings and event spaces across the Netherlands are increasingly being consulted for projects across the world.
- The potential solution has grown in prominence as sea levels are forecast to rise 3 to 5 feet this century, and storms are expected to increase in frequency and intensity. Last summer, at least 220 people died in Germany and Belgium from a once-in-400-year rain. In China, nearly 8 inches of rain fell in one hour. New York City recorded its fifth-wettest day on record. Rivers submerged parts of Tennessee that were not previously considered floodplains.
- By the end of this century, the kind of intense precipitation that would typically occur two times per century will occur twice as often, and events that would occur once every 200 years would become four times as frequent, according to research published in August by a team of water experts led by hydrologist Manuela Brunner.
- Marthijn Pool, the cofounder of Space & Matter, has been among the growing number of Dutch architects exporting their knowledge in floating architecture to the United States. Pool says that land-scarce New York is especially ripe for floating development, and that awareness of the need for innovative solutions has grown in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which inundated New York City with waves as high as 14 feet in 2012.
- Space & Matter is planning to build a research and development center in an area off Red Hook, with hulls designed to promote kelp oysters underneath. It is also showcasing designs for a second residential project, similar to Schoonschip, in Washington state, which Pool hopes can set an example for stormproofing waterfront communities, as well as create an economic incentive for floating architecture.
- ''Water is relatively cheap, you don't need to put sewage in the sidewalks and if you can make your own grid, then you're able to provide your own infrastructure,'' says Pool, adding that the homes can save cities billions of dollars in damages since they can withstand high levels of precipitation, simply moving up when waters rush in and descending to their original position when waters recede. He says that sewage, if connected to an independent sustainable sanitation system like that being developed by Schoonschip, can be separated and used for irrigating plants.
- Koen Olthuis, an architect with the floating architectural firm Waterstudio, which designed several of the houses in Schoonschip and in the nearby floating Amsterdam neighborhood of Ijburg, says that an increase in organizations and governments looking to adapt to climate change has introduced floating projects to places that may need it most.
- In 2013, his firm sent a floating, internet-connected converted cargo container, called ''City App,'' to the Korail Bosti slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh, where children used the space during the day to attend remote classes, and adults used it to develop business projects at night. In 2019, the vessel was relocated to a slum near Alexandria, Egypt, where it remains stationed. He says that the project, along with his firm's luxury floating villas built in countries like the United Arab Emirates, are paving the way to mainstream the concept of floating mobile homes, by which homes could unmoor from lake beds for calmer waters in the case of extreme flooding or even unpleasant weather.
- ''We want to upgrade cities near the water,'' he says. ''Now we're at a tipping point where it's actually happening. We're getting requests from all over the world.''
- After two decades of planning, his firm will oversee construction on a 200-hectare lagoon off Mal(C), the capital of the Maldives. The city sits less than 3 feet above sea level, making it vulnerable to even the slightest rise. The small, simply designed housing complex, priced about 10% to 15% more than comparable houses on land, is intended for 20,000 people. It will have water pumps that draw energy from deep-sea water, a water-based city grid and homes with artificial coralclad hulls to encourage marine life.
- ''Today, we can see how cities are performing with floods, extreme weather, urbanization,'' says Olthuis, adding that the initial Dutch projects and now-international iterations are showing that ''we can cope with the challenges of sea level rises.''
- In Schoonschip, De Blok says that she hopes everyone will have the opportunity to live on water one day.
- ''It does something to you, being aware that under your house everything is moving,'' she says. ''There's some magic to it.''
- ''It's evident that sea waters will rise, and that many big cities are really close to that water. It's amazing that not more of this innovation and building on water is being executed.''
- Resident-architect in Schoonschip
- New York Legislation Provides for Indefinite Detention of Unvaccinated at Governor's Whim.
- In the next legislative session beginning January 5th, 2022, the New York Senate and Assembly could vote on a bill that would grant permissions to remove and detain cases, contacts, carriers, or anyone suspected of presenting a ''significant threat to public health'' and remove them from public life on an indefinite basis.
- Bill A416 presents a serious risk to the basic liberties of all Americans in the state of New York, including their right to choose whether or not to receive medical treatment and vaccinations related to thus far undetermined contagious diseases.
- The bill gives the Governor of New York, his or her delegates '' including but not limited to the commissioner and heads of local health departments '' the right to remove and detain any individuals or groups of people through issuing a single order. The orders only have to include the individual's name(s) or ''reasonably specific descriptions of the individuals or groups.''
- The department can decide to hold a person or group of people in a medical facility or any other they deem appropriate. The language is purposefully vague.
- Though the bill attempts to state that no one shall be held for more than 60 days, the language allows for court orders to waive this maximum detention time. After 60 days, the court is allowed an additional 90 days to consider the detention of an individual, a cycle that can last indefinitely per the opinion of the department.
- It goes on to state that the Bill will ''require an individual who has been exposed to or infected by a contagious disease to complete an appropriate, prescribed course of treatment, preventive medication or vaccination,'' essentially giving the government the right to detain anyone they want and forcibly vaccinate them.
- As the language of the bill refers to individuals or groups who ''potentially'' pose a threat, the bill is a preemptive strike against anyone the the department believes has the capacity to ''pose a threat in the future, such as those refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
- There is no explicit reference to what types of contagious diseases qualify a person to be removed from public life, detained in a facility, and forced into medical treatment and vaccination. Anyone can technically be held in isolation until they are deemed non-contagious, which would also raise questions over whether those carrying HIV/AIDS could be released back into society.
- The bill has received an overwhelmingly negative response on the NY Senate website. Commenters have stated that, ''this is disturbing and sets up a terrible precedent for future law. The governor can basically detain whoever [he/she] likes on the basis of scanty evidence. This is un-American. It reminiscent of the Soviet Union locking up political opponents on the basis that they were ''mentally unstable''. We CANNOT allow this in our state.''
- ''This is a violation of fundamental human rights. The government should be working for the people, not locking them up without cause.''
- Others have noted the similarities between this bill and the Australian response to COVID-19. Australia has built a number of COVID ''quarantine facilities'' that can hold 1000s of people at any given time.
- The language of Bill A416 can guarantee that Americans, whether they test positive for COVID or any other diseases, are held indefinitely at such facilities.
- You can read the full bill here.
- Note: A previous version of this article mentioned a vote on the bill on January 5th 2022, that is the date of the legislative session in general, not the date of the vote on Bill A416.
- Anti-Instagram Case Built on Hype, Not Science | City Journal
- Contrary to what you've heard from the press and Congress, the internal documents leaked by former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen do not prove that that the company's Instagram platform is psychologically scarring teenagers. But the current furor does clearly demonstrate another psychological phenomenon: the Fredric Wertham effect, named for a New York psychiatrist who, like Haugen, starred at a nationally televised Senate hearing about a toxic new media menace to America's youth.
- Wertham testified in 1954 about his book, Seduction of the Innocent, which he described as the result of ''painstaking, laborious clinical study.'' After reciting his scientific credentials, Wertham declared: ''It is my opinion, without any reasonable doubt and without any reservation, that comic books are an important contributing factor in many cases of juvenile delinquency.''
- The hearing made the front page of the New York Times, one of many publications (including The New Yorker) to give Wertham's book a glowing review. Others featured his warnings under headlines like ''Depravity for Children'' and ''Horror in the Nursery.'' During the great comic book scare, as the historian David Hajdu calls it, churches and the American Legion organized events across the country where schoolchildren tossed comics into bonfires. Wertham's recommendation ''to legislate these books off the newsstands and out of the candy stores'' inspired dozens of state and municipal laws banning or regulating comic books, and many people in the industry lost their jobs.
- There was never any good evidence that comic books hurt children. Wertham's work was a jumble of anecdotes about troubled youths and unsupported conjectures about comic books inspiring violent crimes. He fretted, as today's Instagram critics do, that the unrealistic images of curvaceous bodies were psychologically damaging girls and claimed that superheroes were promoting everything from homosexuality (Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman) to fascism (Superman). Contemporaries like the sociologist Frederic Thrasher lambasted Wertham's work as ''prejudiced and worthless,'' and it was later exposed as fraudulent.
- As we've learned repeatedly, scientific rigor doesn't matter to journalists and politicians eager to blame children's problems on any new trend in media or entertainment, whether it's television, rock and roll, Dungeons and Dragons, heavy metal music, cell phones, rap lyrics, or video games. That's the Fredric Wertham effect, which produces evidence-free moral panics and demands for government crackdowns.
- The villain du jour is Facebook, which is being compared with Big Tobacco because its own confidential research supposedly proves how dangerous its product is. The research was revealed in a Wall Street Journal article, ''Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Many Teen Girls, Company Documents Show,'' which cited a survey finding that 32 percent of teenage girls who were experiencing body-image issues said that Instagram made them feel worse about their problem. But most of the girls surveyed said that Instagram either had no effect (46 percent) or made them feel better (22 percent). And the issue of body image was the subject of just one of the survey's 12 questions. On the other 11 (covering problems like loneliness, anxiety, sadness, and social comparison), the girls who said Instagram made them feel better outnumbered those who said it made them feel worse. The teenage boys in the survey skewed heavily positive on all the questions.
- A fairer headline would be, ''Facebook Knows Instagram Makes Most Teenagers Feel Better About Their Problems,'' but that would be wrong, too. Nobody can draw definitive conclusions from this survey, as psychologists have been quick to point out. ''Asking people to introspect on the causes of their own mental health,'' notes Stuart Ritchie of King's College London, ''is hardly a reliable way of getting to the truth, given how much is going on in any one person's life that might positively or negatively affect their wellbeing.'' It's even less reliable when they're asked leading questions encouraging them to identify one specific cause.
- Social scientists have conducted more rigorous analyses by measuring and tracking trends in teenagers' social media use and psychological problems. Some have found negative effects'--and gotten lots of publicity, just like Wertham. But other studies have found that social media use doesn't seem to worsen problems and that it can even be a net benefit to teenagers.
- The debate is far from resolved, but for now the most authoritative opinion comes from a study conducted jointly by the media-psychology divisions of the American Psychological Association and the psychological societies of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The international team of 14 researchers did a meta-analysis of 37 social media studies published in the past six years. The lead author of the study, currently in press at Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, is Christopher Ferguson of Stetson University.
- ''Our large meta-analysis,'' Ferguson says, ''finds that, while there certainly are between-study differences, overall effects seen across the field were too close to zero to support the hypothesis that social media or other screen time predicts mental health problems in users. This doesn't mean nobody is ever affected negatively, nor that some people might be helped by social media, just that on the aggregate it is a social neutral, even among teens.''
- Ferguson, of course, was not asked to testify at the Senate hearing. His rigorous research couldn't compete with the claims of so-called whistleblower Haugen, who also happens to be a frequent campaign donor to progressive Democrats and has received guidance from veteran Democratic strategists. The legacy media and politicians have lionized her, as Glenn Greenwald writes, ''because she advances their quest for greater control over online political discourse.''
- Threats from the White House and Congress have already cowed Facebook and other platforms into banishing conservatives and censoring scientists and journalists who question progressive orthodoxy. Now senators like Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat, who met with Haugen even before her revelations were published, are claiming that this ''Big Tobacco moment'' gives Washington a justification to exert far more direct control.
- Facebook is itself advocating stricter federal controls of social media. That may seem odd, given that new requirements for placating regulators and moderating content would be a costly burden, but Facebook can bear the expense much more easily than its smaller competitors. Many of them might well be forced out of business, so the net effect would be to make Facebook more profitable than ever'--and more eager to censor speech that offends the political establishment.
- That was exactly how the comic book industry responded to the Wertham scare in the 1950s. Many publishers went out of business, but others survived by self-censorship. They established an industry group called the Comics Code Authority and abided by its long list of prohibitions, which Hajdu describes in his history as ''an unprecedented (and never surpassed) monument of self-imposed repression and prudery.''
- Besides banning ''suggestive'' illustrations and words with ''undesirable meanings,'' the Comics Code decreed that ''policemen, judges, government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.'' It was all done in the name of protecting children'--but the chief beneficiaries of the Fredric Wertham effect, then and now, are inevitably the adults who fabricate the scare.
- John Tierney is a contributing editor of City Journal and coauthor of The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It.
- Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images
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- Mayorkas agrees with Silicon Valley commitment to curbs on speech
- The following contains partial editorial content which is the opinion of the author.
- Of all the incompetent useless hacks in the Biden administration, aside from Attorney General Merrick Garland the champion has to be Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security.
- Earlier this week, Mayorkas suggested (or more accurately, said the quiet part out loud) that America's tech companies are looking to silence speech which is deemed ''misinformation,'' Breitbart reports.
- In an interview with Bloomberg on December 14, Mayorkas said, ''I think they're very committed to doing so.''
- Continuing, Mayorkas said:
- I had very robust discussions with individuals [in Silicon Valley and the tech sector]. You know, the ''How to accomplish it?'' is something that is not easily navigated.
- We recognize that the First Amendment concerns are extraordinarily important. It's a founding principle of our country. I think they're very dedicated to doing so. And I think the ''How to'' and ''How we can work together'''...is something we're all working through.
- Mayorkas made the bizarre claim that so-called ''misinformation'' is ''very much'...within [the] domain'' of the Department of Homeland Security.
- Misinformation'--pointedly disinformation'--has very serious and significant ramifications for [the Department of] homeland security [and] the integrity of our election system.
- The security of our election system is a prime example of that. And so, our office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans under Rob Silver's leadership, CISA [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] under Jen Easterly's leadership, John Cohen leading the office of intelligence and analysis in an acting capacity, Samantha Winograd, a senior counselor to the secretary and our Acting Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism'--these are individuals very much involved in their respective workforces, very much involved in addressing misinformation, disinformation, and the threats that they pose to the homeland.
- As one might expect, Bloomberg neglected to ask Mayorkas about DHS oversight into the significant influx of white collar foreigners who are taking Americans' tech positions.
- Breitbart noted, however that one of Bloomberg's senior editors, Brad Stone heaved a softball question at Mayorkas:
- Do you ever get'...upset by just the ubiquity of falsehoods and missile and myth in our public dialogue, and the ease with which they are transported across social media and the internet?
- To which Mayorkas replied:
- I do. I think that false narratives present a threat to our security. The propagation of false narratives is something to be condemned. We need our leaders to step up and fight against it.
- Because the words of leaders, they matter quite a bit. They can be very influential in the public discourse. The Department of Homeland Security, our work, rests often at the epicenter of the country's [political] divide. And the country's divide is something that has security implications and it's also very saddening.
- You know, last week I was privileged to attend the memorial service for [former senator] Bob Dole, one of our nation's great leaders and great public servants and heroes'...it spoke of a different time, spoke of a time when people could disagree on policy, and still work together in the service of a country that we all love. And I am in so many others who are working to renew that day.
- So, Mayorkas ''loves'' the United States? Why then, is he allowing our southern border and our sovereignty to be run over by illegals streaming across that border?
- As Breitbart notes, DHS keeps approximately one million foreign contract workers in jobs which are needed by graduates of US colleges and universities.
- Mayorkas's statements seem to be aligned with the investors who actually control the tech companies of whom Mayorkas seems to believe should have the right to correct so-called misinformation, which is code word for statements or beliefs that don't align with the preferred leftist narrative.
- For example, as Breitbart noted, his statements are likely welcomed by someone such as Paul Singer, owner of Elliott Management, which helped facilitate the extrication of Jack Dorsey as CEO of Twitter and in his place installing a former Indian visa holder'--Parag Agrawal'--as his replacement.
- Softball questions from Bloomberg News also shouldn't be unexpected, since Michael Bloomberg, owner of that company, is a pro-migration zealot.
- Mayorkas has presided over a virtual invasion into the US, Breitbart notes, with some two million ''migrants'' entering the US'--500,000 illegals, 500,000 ''temporarily legal'' migrants, plus a number of migrants with work permits, along with some 850,000 legal immigrants.
- Likewise, Breitbart explains that such government-sponsored migration is largely unpopular, with polls showing Americans are concerned about career opportunities, downward pressure on wages, and increased rental costs.
- Other factors cited by Breitbart concerning migration is a curb in ''American's productivity, shrinks their political clout, widens regional wealth gaps, radicalizes their democratic, compromise-promoting civic culture, and allows elites to ignore despairing Americans at the bottom of society.''
- Opposition to labor migration and inflow of temporary contract workers cross racial, sex, class, and partisan lines, Breitbart says.
- Earlier this year, we reported on LinkedIn routinely censoring speech of Americans, called out by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN). For more on that, we invite you to:
- Editor note: LinkedIn permanently deplatformed Law Enforcement Today and our management team's personal accounts for covering pro-police stories in 2020. The ongoing and widespread attacks by Big Tech are why we launched LET Unity '' where all of the proceeds get reinvested into telling the untold stories of emergency responders, veterans and patriotic Americans. To learn more and get in the fight, click here.
- Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has become one of the leading Republicans in Congress calling out social media companies for targeting conservatives and others who oppose the ''regime.''
- This week, banks turned his attention to LinkedIn, a platform that is designed for business professionals. Currently, LinkedIn is the only social media platform that operates in China, and apparently that means the Microsoft-owned tech tyrant must protect China at all costs, including the Chinese Communist Party.
- Banks on Friday sent a letter to LinkedIn, slamming them for bootlicking the Chinese government by blocking Americans who in any way criticize China.
- EXCLUSIVE: A top Republican has become the first member of Congress to call out LinkedIn, the only major American social media platform that operates in China, for censoring American users on behalf of the ruling Communist Party.
- CC: @RepJimBanks https://t.co/HA2UO3gb2J
- '-- Nihal Jaytirth Krishan (@NihalKrishan) September 24, 2021
- It is reported that LinkedIn has blocked at least one hundred Americans who have had their LinkedIn profiles blocked by China over the past several months for what they deem to be ''anti-China'' content in areas of the profile such as ''Education'' or Experience, the Washington Examiner reports.
- However Dan Gainor, vice president at the Media Research center disagrees, believing the number is in fact in the thousands according to his analysis. The Media Research Center is a conservative media watchdog group that tracks censorship on Big Tech platforms.
- ''LinkedIn is pressuring U.S. citizens to remove posts critical of China's dictatorship, because apparently 'regional laws' compel them to do Xi's bidding,'' Banks said to the Washington Examiner.
- ''That's a lie'--LinkedIn is simply selling out America's values and national security in order to boost its bottom line. LinkedIn needs to pick a side; either serve the Communist Party or support the United States,'' Banks added.
- Banks continued that Chinese spies utilize the platform to recruit U.S. sources, illegal in the United States, however noted it wasn't clear if LinkedIn was proactively trying to stop this from occurring while working directly with the ChiComs on their censorship initiatives.
- Banks demanded LinkedIn respond to his questions regarding their censorship, questioning them in the letter exactly which CCP speech regulations the company enforces on American users, and asks the company if it has ever handed over user data requested by the Chinese government.
- The Examiner said that China blocked other social media and tech companies, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in 2009 while Google withdrew from the communist nation in 2010 over Chinese censorship and intellectual property theft by the Chinese Communist government.
- That means currently only LinkedIn and its parent company Microsoft as the only major social media company from the United States still operating in China and forced to comply with that government's censorship rules.
- Currently Microsoft's search engine, Bing, operates in China in a censored fashion, and Microsoft also provides facial recognition services to the CCP and also has physical data servers in China.
- The Examiner said that neither Microsoft nor LinkedIn responded to request for comment.
- In his letter to LinkedIn, Banks addressed a statement by the company in which they defended their censorship actions, citing ''an obligation to respect the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations for our localized version of Linked in in China.''
- The company has about 53 million users in China, which accounts for approximately 7% of their global total while the company ''faces challenging trade-offs in their desire to operate in China,'' the Examiner said.
- ''LinkedIn is really the only U.S. social network that's allowed to operate in China, and this shows why it's so hard,'' said Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the Chamber of Progress, an advocacy group backed by companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google.
- ''China, Russia, and India are all cracking down on free expression online, and U.S. officials should be sticking up for global Internet freedom and human rights instead of sending cheap-shot letters to American services caught in a difficult position,'' he said of Rep. Banks.
- Kovacevich might be well to look at those same tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter and others, which are also ''all cracking down on free expression online.''
- He continued that the U.S. has retreated in its leadership role and should be addressing issues such as online free speech into talks with foreign nations, especially China.
- However not all support LinkedIn's approach to doing business in China, including a company called NetChoice, a tech trade group that represents Amazon, Google and others.
- ''It's really unfortunate when American businesses like LinkedIn are allowing authoritarian regimes to dictate content outside their borders,'' said Carl Szabo, vice president of the company.
- ''And when that does happen, they should actively push back on such demands. China suppressing the profiles of American users should not be happening,'' Szabo added.
- The Examiner noted that some scholars who specialize in censorship are particularly angry with LinkedIn's actions toward Americans in the recent past.
- ''It's so cowardly to placate an authoritarian government like the Chinese Communist Party. They're doing the bidding of a genocidal dictatorship,'' said Gainor. ''How do the folks at LinkedIn live with themselves?''
- Do you want to join our private family of first responders and supporters? Get unprecedented access to some of the most powerful stories that the media refuses to show you. Proceeds get reinvested into having active, retired and wounded officers, their families and supporters tell more of these stories. Click to check it out.
- In case you missed it, please find a previous article from Law Enforcement Today about LinkedIn's censorship.
- The following contains editorial content written by a retired Chief of Police and current staff writer for Law Enforcement Today.
- SILICON VALLEY, CA- Big tech's version of George Orwell's 1984 continued this week when Microsoft-owned LinkedIn censored a former Department of Homeland Security official's posts about tech censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election.
- Law Enforcement Today, as well as our national spokesman and our founder know all too well about LinkedIn censorship. More on that in a bit.
- Stewart Baker said LinkedIn has refused to explain why certain content was removed, but believes it is related to his use of the word ''rigged'' in describing the 2020 election possibly triggering an algorithm which flagged the post.
- Earlier this month, the Daily Mail posted a bombshell report which described the verified contents of Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop, and describing some of what were referred to as ''shocking details'' the younger Biden conveniently left out of his recently published memoir, Baker tried to share it.
- A former general counsel for the National Security Agency as well as a Department of Homeland Security subcabinet appointee, who now works in private practice, Baker decided to share it on LinkedIn.
- In his post, Baker wrote:
- ''The social media giants that won't let you say the 2020 election was rigged are the people who did their best to rig it: Hunter Biden laptop was genuine and scandalous'--Daily Mail,'' Baker wrote while including a link to the story.
- Baker's post did not stay up for very long. LinkedIn informed Baker that the post was removed for violating its ''Professional Community Policies,'' while warning him that depending on ''the severity of the violation, your account may be restricted indefinitely.''
- Under the guidelines, LinkedIn vaguely advises that any content ''should be professionally relevant and meant to contribute to the LinkedIn community in a constructive manner.'' Users are advised to report content deemed ''unsafe, untrustworthy or unprofessional.''
- Further, the guidelines advise users not to post anything ''misleading, fraudulent, obscene, threatening, hateful, defamatory, discriminatory or illegal.''
- Baker was shocked his post got flagged.
- ''I've got more than 5,000 contacts on LinkedIn, and I use it in business almost every day,'' Baker wrote in a blog post. ''Losing my account would be a blow.''
- Baker told media sources that in the ten days after LinkedIn first threatened to suspend his account, they still have not told him how exactly his post violated its rules.
- ''I've also been looking for a mechanism to appeal the original suppression, and I haven't found one,'' he wrote in an email.
- At Law Enforcement Today¸ we can absolutely relate to Mr. Baker. As the largest police-owned media company in the country, LET publishes stories which impact over 800,000 police officers and other law enforcement officials across the country.
- The stories we publish concern areas of law enforcement, public policy and politics, all areas which impact the law enforcement community in one way or another.
- Last September, both our national spokesman, Kyle Reyes, as well as our founder, Robert Greenberg, a respected active law enforcement officer were permanently banned from LinkedIn, where both were premium members.
- Do you want to join our private family of first responders and supporters? Get unprecedented access to some of the most powerful stories that the media refuses to show you. Proceeds get reinvested into having active, retired and wounded officers, their families and supporters tell more of these stories. Click to check it out.
- Not only did we see two or our key people banned on LinkedIn, but we have also had our content throttled, or restricted if you will on both Facebook and Twitter.
- Why did this happen? We have to believe it has to do with what appears to be a bias on behalf of social media companies against anyone or anything which leans to the right. As a site dedicated to law enforcement, clearly conservatism most accurately describes the overwhelming majority of most of our target audience.
- So what happened? Last August 24, Robert Greenberg received communication from LinkedIn advising that his account has been ''restricted due to a violation of LinkedIn's User Agreement,'' while then referring to specific content which was apparently deemed false by LinkedIn's cellar-dwelling, soymilk drinking, liberal fact-checkers.
- One story flagged as false was a story I wrote, which was completely sourced, including a government-issued press release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- The story dealt with a man, in the country illegally who raped and murdered a 92-year-old woman as she was walking home in New York City.
- The murder occurred in January 2020, and the man had been arrested the previous November on weapons and assault charges, however, was released due to New York's ''bail reform'' law and sanctuary policies.
- Another flagged story involved a story on August 4, 2020, in which another widely reported story, completely sourced from mainstream news sources reported on ''unsanctioned 'murals' reading 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Defund the Police' are ok, but the pro-life message apparently wasn't. Even though it was in chalk. So they're suing.''
- This involved pro-life activists who wrote a pro-life message on the street in Washington, DC in chalk, and who were subsequently arrested and charged.
- The writer for this case cited a Fox News report, as well as an interview conducted by Tucker Carlson of those arrested which aired on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
- Other articles flagged included one where former President Trump expressed the ''opinion'' that his campaign had been spied on by the Obama Administration after information came forth about former acting attorney general Sally Yates.
- Yates said she would not have signed off on surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page if she had the information which came forth showing the information used to get a FISA warrant was knowingly false.
- Once again, all of this was widely sourced, the president expressed his opinion and the post got flagged.
- Finally, we published an article in which then Senator Kamala Harris said at one time she would confiscate guns through an executive order.
- A CNN town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire was cited in which Harris clearly said exactly that. In fact, we made it clear that a meme which was going around suggesting Harris would send police to people's doors to confiscate guns was NOT included in our reporting.
- Robert Greenberg reached out to LinkedIn and spoke to some soy boy named Wyatt, who works as a ''LinkedIn Member Safety and Recovery Consultant.'' We don't know if he gets an official badge for that position, but it sounds like a really important position for a millennial.
- Wyatt told Greenberg his appeal was denied, and the original decision stood. When asked for clarification, Wyatt told him the account was ''restricted permanently.''
- And what of Kyle Reyes, our national spokesman?
- Reyes didn't know he was even restricted until he logged on to his account. According to LinkedIn's publicist, the company claims they advise people when they are going to have restrictions placed on their account and advise the reason why. Reyes didn't receive that notice.
- What ended up happening to Reyes, Greenberg and Law Enforcement Today was that we were basically ''shadow banned.'' In other words, content that we posted on social media platforms through Hootsuite, such as Facebook, Twitter and Facebook were being throttled'--in other words, having our reach significantly restricted.
- Initially, after Reyes contacted LinkedIn about the throttling, they removed the restriction. That didn't last for long and eventually Greenberg, Reyes and LET were banned from posting on LinkedIn.
- In claiming that Reyes (and LET) violated their ''standards of service,'' LinkedIn claimed the ''content was not relevant to their audience.'' The content DID NOT violate their standards of service. They simply made the editorial decision that the content ''wasn't relevant'' to their audience.
- One such article cited involved a verified threat against police officers, which LinkedIn apparently didn't feel was relevant to over 800,000 police officers nationwide. It should be noted that police officers, sheriffs, correctional officers and dispatchers, as well as those who retire from those fields are a significant portion of LinkedIn's subscribers.
- Another case involved an article about a truck driver who was robbed, and about one of the armed robbers subsequently being run over by the truck and killed. LinkedIn claimed the article was ''graphic and obscene,'' and therefore violated their standards. LinkedIn might want to read up on exactly what cops do because unfortunately, a lot of it is indeed ''graphic.''
- So what are the standards involving ''graphic and obscene'' content? It says content is banned ''if it INTENDS to shock.'' [emphasis added] In the case of this article, the intent wasn't to shock, but rather to inform and raise awareness about dangers to drivers, in particular truck drivers.
- Content such as this was widely distributed and was available on mainstream media outlets, as well as on some social media platforms such as YouTube.''
- Sadly, much of the content Law Enforcement Today is ''graphic'' by nature of the job police officers do. They do respond to crime calls, serious motor vehicle accidents, and shootings. Our audience IS first responders and police officers and those who are interested in what police do on a day-to-day basis.
- So yes, we can relate to what LinkedIn is doing to Baker. His post wasn't politically correct, and was against the preferred narrative of Silicon Valley.
- Media sources reached out to LinkedIn to find out what exactly Baker had done to violate their rules. They got pretty much the same answer that Reyes and Greenberg got from them.
- Misleading and false information has absolutely no place on our platform,'' a spokesperson replied in an email.
- ''While we can't comment on the specifics of a member's account due to our privacy policy, we can confirm that we only remove content if it's in violation of our policies,'' the email continued.
- ''Every LinkedIn member has the right to a safe, trusted, and professional experience on our platform. We're committed to making sure conversations remain respectful and professional.''
- LinkedIn's actions against Baker was strangely similar to actions Twitter took against the New York Post prior to the election regarding emails recovered from Biden's laptop. At that time, aside from deleting posts mentioning the laptop, Twitter also suspended the New York Post's account for two weeks after the reported some contents of the computer.
- Silicon Valley, Democrats and the mainstream media'...the unholy alliance of the free speech suppressors.
- Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today? With so much ''stuff'' happening in the world on social media, it's easy for things to get lost.
- Make sure you click ''following'' and then click ''see first'' so you don't miss a thing! (See image below.) Thanks for being a part of the LET family!
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- VIDEO - Mc Donald's to sell only small size fries in Japan for this reason...| Oneindia News - YouTube
- VIDEO - Army develops COVID-19 vaccine that may provide protection against all variants | Fox News
- The U.S. Army has developed a vaccine it says may provide protection against all COVID-19 variants.
- The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) developed a 24-sided object to which it attached various protein spikes from coronavirus variants. The vaccine has completed phase 1 trials, but researchers have yet to test it against the omicron variant, an Army spokesman told Fox News.
- Researchers received a sample in early 2020 and focused efforts on developing a vaccine that would work against potential variants. Two years later, the initial results show promise.
- FILE - Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder, left, receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, Dec. 16, 2020, south of Seattle. The Army says 98% of its active duty force had gotten at least one dose of the mandatory coronavirus vaccine as of this week's deadline for the shots. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
- The phase 1 human trials commenced April 2021. Scientists hailed the early data as encouraging and will publish final phase 1 study results once they complete the analysis.
- COVID-19: KEY STEPS TO TAKE IF YOU TEST POSITIVE
- The theory behind the development of the Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle Platform (SpFN) vaccine posits that introducing multiple copies of spike proteins in an "ordered fashion" may prove key to creating a "potent and broad response."
- Part of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, DC, USA, circa 1960. (Photo by Harvey Meston/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
- "This vaccine stands out in the COVID-19 vaccine landscape," said Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Brance at WRAIR. "The repetitive and ordered display of the coronavirus spike protein on a multi-faced nanoparticle may stimulate immunity in such a way as to translate into significantly broader protection."
- COVID-19: AUSTRIA ADDS RESTRICTIONS TO NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTIES
- Pre-clinical studies published in Science Translational Medicine indicate protection against the original strain of COVID-19 as well as variants that emerged from the original SARS-CoV-1 virus from 2002.
- BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 7: An LPN puts away a patient testing kit from behind a plexiglass compartment at a walk-up COVID-19 testing site at a tent on the North Bennet Street alleyway in Boston's North End on Jan. 7, 2021. (Getty Images)
- "It's very exciting to get to this point for our entire team and I think for the entire Army as well," Modjarrad told DefenseOne. "With Omicron, there's no way really to escape this virus. You're not going to be able to avoid it. So I think pretty soon either the whole world will be vaccinated or have been infected."
- COVID-19 PANDEMIC: CHINA ISSUES LOCKDOWN OF 13 MILLION PEOPLE
- One of the chief points of interest concerns how the vaccine interacts with people who have already received a vaccination or had a previous infection.
- WRAIR will work with a currently unnamed industry partner for a potential wider rollout, but that rollout likely won't happen for a year, Dr. Marty Makary told Fox News host Shannon Bream.
- CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
- "You're getting a lot of different levels of immunity, not just to the spike protein," Makary explained. "It's in phase one clinical trials. They just announced the results. So it's about a year away from being out there."
- Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
- VIDEO - As suburban family continues legal battle for ivermectin, mother dies in ICU; father remains on ventilator | WGN-TV
- Kane County judge previous sided with hospital and denied Elgin's couple access to ivermectin
- Dec 22, 2021 / 04:50 PM CST / Updated:
- Dec 22, 2021 / 04:55 PM CSTELGIN, Ill. '-- The family of a suburban man who is seriously ill with COVID-19 has filed an emergency appeal trying to force doctors to treat him with the controversial drug ivermectin.Sebastrian Abbinanti and his wife Maria both tested positive for COVID-19 last month. The Elgin couple, who are in their 40s and have three young sons, were both put on ventilators and have been in the ICU at AMITA Health St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin for three weeks, according to their family.
- Their family has been fighting to keep them alive at all costs.
- On Tuesday, Maria Abbinanti died.
- Dozens of people gathered together outside the hospital Tuesday to rally around the family. Attorney Patrick Walsh joined them. He filed an emergency motion on behalf of the couple last week seeking ivermectin.
- It's a controversial drug that family members hoped could help them.
- ''The family had agreed to waive any liability against the hospital, its employees and anyone involved with administering ivermectin to Maria and Sebastrian,'' Walsh said. ''But the administrators at the hospital still declined to allow it.''
- AMITA Health has a blanket policy against treating COVID-19 with the drug. On Friday, a Kane County judge sided with the hospital and denied the couple access to it.
- ''You would think with all other courses of treatment exhausted and their own treating physician suggesting it, and the family agreeing to waive liability against the hospital, there's no conceivable reason to deny,'' Walsh said.
- Earlier this year, the American Medical Association called for the ''immediate end'' to the use of the drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19. It is used to treat parasites in animals, and sometimes humans, but is not an anti-viral and is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 treatment. It can be taken topically or orally if prescribed by a doctor for its intended use, otherwise, potential side effects can be severe, including neurologic disorders, seizures, coma and even death.
- On Wednesday, U.S. health regulators authorized the first pill against COVID-19, Paxlovid, the Pfizer drug combo that will be available within weeks.
- The family continues to fight for Sebastrian Abbinanti.
- Their attorney filed an emergency appeal, which will be decided within five days.
- The family is hoping he can hold on.
- WGN News reached out to the hospital's attorney for comment, but have not heard back at this time.
- VIDEO - Bill Gates on Omicron: 'We could be entering the worst part of the pandemic' - CNN
- New York (CNN Business)In a series of tweets late Tuesday, Bill Gates says he plans to cancel most of his holiday plans and warned that that the United States "could be entering the worst part of the pandemic."
- Asserting that the Omicron variant is spreading faster than any virus in history, the billionaire and Microsoft co-founder
- said the big unknown remains how sick the Omicron variant can make you.
- "We need to take it seriously until we know more about it. Even if it's only half as severe as Delta, it will be the worst surge we have seen so far because it's so infectious," Gates said.
- expects the wave to last three months in the United States.
- "Those few months could be bad, but I still believe if we take the right steps, the pandemic can be over in 2022," Gates
- Covid-19 cases in the United States are rising: The country averaged more than 148,000 new cases a day over the last week, 23% higher than a week ago and back to levels last seen in mid-September, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
- More than 69,700 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals on Wednesday -- a number that's been trending up since it dipped to around 45,000 on November 8, according to Health and Human Services Department data.
- The US averaged 1,324 Covid-19 deaths a day over the last week, 11% higher than a week prior, according to Johns Hopkins.
- CNN opinion story in October that the gap will get harder to close, because the world's richer governments are buying up extra doses to serve as booster shots.
- "People are right to be upset about the inequity here," Gates wrote. "Vaccines make Covid-19 a largely preventable disease -- and a survivable one in all but the rarest cases -- and it is heartbreaking to know that people are dying of a disease not because it can't be stopped but because they live in a low-income country."
- -- CNN's Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report
- VIDEO - DC to Require Vaccines at Restaurants, Gyms, Schools '' NBC4 Washington
- D.C. will require proof of vaccination at restaurants, gyms and several other types of establishments as daily COVID-19 case counts hit dramatic new highs, the mayor announced Wednesday.
- The District requested assistance from the D.C. National Guard to assemble self-test kits, Mayor Muriel Bowser also said at a news conference Wednesday.
- D.C. reported 1,524 new positive COVID cases on Wednesday, bringing the city up to 77,661 positive cases.
- Proof of vaccination will be required starting Jan. 15 at:
- Restaurants BarsMovie theaters Entertainment venues Sports venues andIndoor exercise sitesPatrons age 12 and older will need to show proof of one dose starting Jan. 15. They will need to show starting on Feb. 15 that they are fully vaccinated.
- News4's Shomari Stone went to Adams Morgan to speak to a few owners about the Mayor's recent announcement that customers will have to show proof of vaccination to go to restaurants starting Jan. 15.
- While patrons of these sites will have to be vaccinated, the mayor's order does not include employees. The mayor said she is relying on the federal requirement for employees of businesses of a certain size to be vaccinated.
- Places that will be exempt will include:
- ChurchesMuseums Grocery stores Universities and OfficesOffices with large meeting spaces may have to comply with the requirement. Fast food restaurants might be exempt.
- Bowser said she will release additional details next week. The mayor's office is working on a system to address how to treat people who have a legitimate medical or religious exemption from vaccination.
- The rule is targeted at indoor places where people congregate, said Patrick Ashley, a senior deputy director at DC Health.
- One journalist asked Bowser if she was concerned about government overreach and ''Big Brother intruding on your life.''
- ''I don't make any of these decisions lightly, because I don't want Big Brother intruding on my life,'' the mayor replied. ''I like to make my own decisions. But I also recognize that when you're responding to a global pandemic, that is the exact time when the government needs to make some decisions for the whole society.''
- Patrons can show their vaccine cards, a copy or a photo of it, a printout of their immunization record or their information in a COVID-19 verification app, such as VaxYes or CLEAR.
- All D.C. students '-- including those in D.C. Public Schools, charter schools and private schools '-- who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines must show proof of vaccination by March 1. The D.C. Council passed an act earlier this month requiring the vaccinations.
- Students will have 70 days from their date of eligibility to get vaccinated. Enforcement will begin in the 2022-2023 school year, the mayor's presentation said.
- Beginning March 1, 2022, all students eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine that has been fully approved by the FDA must be immunized against COVID-19.This applies to DCPS, charter, and independent, private, and parochial school students. pic.twitter.com/iSMNfm3qOh
- '-- Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) December 22, 2021D.C.'s daily COVID-19 case rate is nine times higher now than it was 30 days ago, Ashley said. D.C. had 13.7 cases per 100,000 residents a month ago and has 123.8 cases for that amount of the population now.
- So far, 25 cases of the omicron variant have been confirmed in D.C. Labs are working to confirm another 50 possible cases.
- The District averaged more than 1,200 new cases of the virus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to the most recent data. The daily case rate was under 350 just weeks earlier.
- D.C. reinstated its indoor mask mandate on Tuesday. Face coverings are required in offices, gyms, stores, entertainment venues, houses of worship, restaurants (except for people who are actively eating or drinking) and other establishments.
- Masks have been required in schools, health care facilities and on public transit, and those requirements will continue.
- Bowser declared a new public health emergency on Monday, saying it was necessary to fight new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
- The mayor said she understands many residents' fatigue with COVID safety precautions.
- ''I think we're all tired of it. I'm tired of it too. But we have to respond to what's happening in our city and what's happening in our nation," she said.
- Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
- VIDEO - MUST WATCH: Kay Burley vs Health Minister ð - YouTube
- VIDEO - WHO says Covid vaccine booster programs will prolong pandemic
- Published Wed, Dec 22 2021 11:01 AM ESTUpdated Wed, Dec 22 2021 5:51 PM EST
- WHO officials criticized blanket Covid vaccine booster programs as poor countries struggle to obtain initial immunization shots.The officials warned vaccine inequality could lead to the emergence of more mutant variants.The comments from the WHO come as health officials in the U.S. promote vaccine booster shots amid a surge in Covid cases caused by the omicron strain.World Health Organization officials on Wednesday criticized blanket Covid-19 vaccine booster programs as poor countries struggle to obtain initial doses, warning that the unequal access to immunizations could lead to more mutated variants that drag out the crisis.
- "Blanket booster programs are likely to prolong the pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing.
- The comments from the WHO come as health officials in the U.S. promote vaccine booster shots for all residents over the age of 16 amid a surge in Covid cases driven by the omicron strain. Israel on Tuesday announced it would offer a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines to people older than 60.
- "We want people to be able to gather" over the holidays, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an interview Wednesday on CNN. "And safe gathering includes, of course, being vaccinated, ideally being boosted and making sure that all the people who you gather with are also vaccinated and boosted."
- Currently, the vast majority of Covid hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated people, not vaccinated people without booster shots, according to Tedros.
- "No country can boost its way out of the pandemic," he said.
- Global health experts say the emergence of omicron is tied to vaccine inequality. Omicron is thought to have emerged from an HIV patient in South Africa where just 26% of the population is fully vaccinated, scientists have said. The virus mutates particularly well in people with compromised immune systems where it can live for a long time and figure out how to survive inside its human host.
- The WHO estimates just half of its member states will have vaccinated at least 40% of their populations by the end of this year "because of distortions in global supply," Tedros said.
- Vaccine inequity is "the most horrific injustice of 2021," Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies program, said at the briefing
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- VIDEO - Dr. Joseph Mercola on Twitter: "Event 201 highlights, stranger than fiction." / Twitter
- Dr. Joseph Mercola : Event 201 highlights, stranger than fiction. https://t.co/fKd5ZCrnMH
- Wed Dec 22 20:16:31 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - What is an MSCI Rating? How to Make a Killing Calling Companies Green - Bloomberg
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- VIDEO - (39) Marty Bent on Twitter: "Natural immunity is far superior to the vaccine. https://t.co/Ww6cijvozy" / Twitter
- Marty Bent : Natural immunity is far superior to the vaccine. https://t.co/Ww6cijvozy
- Wed Dec 22 13:46:07 +0000 2021
- Nando : @MartyBent Tell me you don't care about spreading the truth without telling me you don't care about spreading the t'... https://t.co/TUsyXwfBFc
- Wed Dec 22 13:57:02 +0000 2021
- Marty Bent : Had to tweet this out because COVID is spreading in the northeast and someone I love told me I'd be better protecte'... https://t.co/Kv1DI948E8
- Wed Dec 22 13:51:20 +0000 2021
- Edy Dorpha : @MartyBent Unless you died before.
- Wed Dec 22 13:50:43 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - Florida to survey Chinese assets in pension fund; Pregnant teacher forced into mental hospital - YouTube
- VIDEO - Florida to survey Chinese assets in pension fund; Pregnant teacher forced into mental hospital - YouTube
- VIDEO - Mc Donald's to sell only small size fries in Japan for this reason...| Oneindia News - YouTube
- VIDEO - EU gas prices hit new record high Russian gas pipeline switched to flow east | Germany | WION - YouTube
- VIDEO - Falon Finch on Twitter: "@ShemekaMichelle I bout fell to the floorððððð https://t.co/TdCoucPM1n" / Twitter
- Falon Finch : @ShemekaMichelle I bout fell to the floorððððð https://t.co/TdCoucPM1n
- Tue Dec 21 12:46:12 +0000 2021
- Dusty Collins : @FalonFinch @ShemekaMichelle https://t.co/N6MP6yhDYb
- Wed Dec 22 00:24:00 +0000 2021
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- Black Beth Dutton ð¥ : @FalonFinch @ShemekaMichelle So you fell to the floor'...on your hand and knee? ð
- Tue Dec 21 23:59:10 +0000 2021
- Omy : @FalonFinch @ShemekaMichelle Omg! Priceless . Well done
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- VIDEO - Disclose.tv on Twitter: "NEW - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposes a vaccine mandate for restaurants, bars, gyms, and other indoor venues starting Jan 3. https://t.co/RvQ9LamsU6" / Twitter
- Disclose.tv : NEW - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposes a vaccine mandate for restaurants, bars, gyms, and other indoor venues s'... https://t.co/JdgjpHFOGA
- Tue Dec 21 21:41:41 +0000 2021
- H : @disclosetv https://t.co/FLTLc5ygVv
- Wed Dec 22 00:11:22 +0000 2021
- Bozo Approved! This is my blue checkmark. : @disclosetv Cry harder.
- Wed Dec 22 00:09:48 +0000 2021
- Levi Moore : @disclosetv Fucking insane
- Wed Dec 22 00:09:07 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - BREAKING! Putin: Russia Will Take Retaliatory Military Measures If NATO Expands To Russian Borders! - YouTube
- VIDEO - See Dr. Fauci's prediction about where pandemic is headed - YouTube
- VIDEO - Did Jesse Waters THREATEN Fauci? You be the Judge. - YouTube
- VIDEO - (26) Nora Neus on Twitter: ""The guy should be fired on the spot," says Dr. Fauci about FOX News entertainer Jesse Waters. Yesterday, Waters told a crowd to "ambush" Dr. Fauci with a "kill shot" so he "doesn't see it coming." https://t.co/GEnuz1Bz
- Nora Neus : "The guy should be fired on the spot," says Dr. Fauci about FOX News entertainer Jesse Waters. Yesterday, Waters'... https://t.co/wuRRfMSZFt
- Tue Dec 21 12:48:57 +0000 2021
- Billy Smith : @noraneus @FauciFan Dr fauci is the man who made the virus I have read his records
- Tue Dec 21 22:36:46 +0000 2021
- Colleen : @noraneus Fire him!
- Tue Dec 21 22:36:30 +0000 2021
- Binford Boxe : @noraneus Who is that CNN anchor talking with Fauci? I don't recognize the news staff anymore since they have all been arrested or fired.
- Tue Dec 21 22:36:24 +0000 2021
- Dick Lipschitz : @noraneus Taken completely out of context. Not surprised.
- Tue Dec 21 22:35:38 +0000 2021
- Mayas Tinks : @noraneus Wokies!
- Tue Dec 21 22:34:58 +0000 2021
- Too Tall Todd : @noraneus https://t.co/TBwmnEqCPa
- Tue Dec 21 22:34:05 +0000 2021
- Mel : @noraneus CNN has no right to call out Jesse for a joke.While people were dying from covid in NYC nursing homes,'... https://t.co/tID4xHOECN
- Tue Dec 21 22:33:39 +0000 2021
- Yunghoecucku : @noraneus Arrest fauci
- Tue Dec 21 22:33:26 +0000 2021
- World War She : @noraneus This is terrorism. Why isnt watters in prison already?
- Tue Dec 21 22:32:39 +0000 2021
- Taliesin : @noraneus Waters rocks. The elf...not so much
- Tue Dec 21 22:32:23 +0000 2021
- Terry : @noraneus Adam shiff move there, leaving out words and context to fit your narrative
- Tue Dec 21 22:32:13 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - Scientists research link between Covid variants and untreated HIV - BBC News - YouTube
- VIDEO - Gregario Ivinilititivitch on Twitter: "@DrLeanaWen @BilldeBlasio @VictorBlackwell @adamcurry" / Twitter
- Gregario Ivinilititivitch : @DrLeanaWen @BilldeBlasio @VictorBlackwell @adamcurry
- Tue Dec 21 08:33:54 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - Mayor expected to change Boston's COVID-19 vaccination policies
- Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a plan to implement a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for "select indoor public spaces" during a speech on Monday morning."Vaccination is the most powerful tool we have to fight this pandemic," Wu said during her announcement of the B Together Initiative. Starting Jan. 15, patrons will be required to show they have received at least one vaccine dose to enter indoor dining, bars, nightclubs, gyms and entertainment. Proof of full vaccination will be required for adults by Feb. 15."We're also setting dates for children to be vaccinated to enter these spaces, beginning in March," Wu said. Affected businesses will be required to place a sign at the front entrance, and to check a customer's vaccination proof upon entry. Acceptable forms of proof will include a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination card, a digital image of the card, an image of another official immunization record or a COVID-19 vaccine verification app. Wu's administration says Boston plans to develop its own app for that purpose.Sixty-eight percent of Boston's population is fully vaccinated, the Wu administration said. So far, only 31% of the city's population has received a booster shot. Meanwhile, Boston health officials are reporting a surge in new COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations. Wu, who supported vaccine identification proposals as a candidate, said her new policy was designed after conversations with leaders in New York City. She was also joined Monday by leaders from several nearby cities and towns, who expressed their support for Boston's plan. Communities represented included Brookline, Salem and Somerville.Gov. Charlie Baker has said Massachusetts was working with other states on a digital proof of vaccination tool but he specifically opposed the idea of a mandate. As of Monday, the Baker administration said it would share more details about the digital vaccine part program "in the coming weeks."As city officials spoke about the announcement, protesters began to loudly sing and chant in City Hall. At one point, speakers raised their voices over the noise as the protesters sang "The Star-Spangled Banner.""There is nothing more American than coming together to ensure that we are taking care of each other," Wu said in response."For those communities who don't have these measures in place, I want those residents to speak up louder than what you're hearing here and demand they be put in place in our city and town," said Somerville's outgoing mayor, Joe Curtatone, who said he and the next mayor would seek similar policies in that city. While some small business owners attended the news conference in support of the indoor mask mandate, the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business called it an additional burden on already struggling businesses.''It is unfortunate that, once again, private businesses are being placed in the unenviable position of having to enforce another government health directive,'' Christopher Carlozzi, the organization's state director, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press. Also Monday, Wu announced an updated vaccination policy for city employees that will require them to be fully vaccinated or face termination. About 90% of the city's workers are already vaccinated, she said.Wu's mayoral predecessor, Kim Janey, announced in August that all 18,000 city employees would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo rigorous weekly testing. That policy, which was phased in over two months, also applied to onsite contractors and volunteers who provide services onsite at city worksites, including all full-time, part-time, seasonal, emergency and probationary workers.Wu's new vaccination policy will eliminate the option for Boston employees to submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test every seven days as an alternative to being fully vaccinated."We are taking steps to ensure that we are increasing protections all across the city as we see cases going up," Wu said Sunday. "We're in a moment where health must come first.
- BOSTON '--Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a plan to implement a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for "select indoor public spaces" during a speech on Monday morning.
- "Vaccination is the most powerful tool we have to fight this pandemic," Wu said during her announcement of the B Together Initiative.
- Starting Jan. 15, patrons will be required to show they have received at least one vaccine dose to enter indoor dining, bars, nightclubs, gyms and entertainment. Proof of full vaccination will be required for adults by Feb. 15.
- "We're also setting dates for children to be vaccinated to enter these spaces, beginning in March," Wu said.
- Affected businesses will be required to place a sign at the front entrance, and to check a customer's vaccination proof upon entry.
- Acceptable forms of proof will include a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination card, a digital image of the card, an image of another official immunization record or a COVID-19 vaccine verification app. Wu's administration says Boston plans to develop its own app for that purpose.
- City of Boston poster outlines announcement of "B Together" program. Sixty-eight percent of Boston's population is fully vaccinated, the Wu administration said. So far, only 31% of the city's population has received a booster shot.
- Meanwhile, Boston health officials are reporting a surge in new COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations.
- Wu, who supported vaccine identification proposals as a candidate, said her new policy was designed after conversations with leaders in New York City. She was also joined Monday by leaders from several nearby cities and towns, who expressed their support for Boston's plan. Communities represented included Brookline, Salem and Somerville.
- Gov. Charlie Baker has said Massachusetts was working with other states on a digital proof of vaccination tool but he specifically opposed the idea of a mandate. As of Monday, the Baker administration said it would share more details about the digital vaccine part program "in the coming weeks."
- This content is imported from Twitter.You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
- As city officials spoke about the announcement, protesters began to loudly sing and chant in City Hall. At one point, speakers raised their voices over the noise as the protesters sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."
- "There is nothing more American than coming together to ensure that we are taking care of each other," Wu said in response.
- "For those communities who don't have these measures in place, I want those residents to speak up louder than what you're hearing here and demand they be put in place in our city and town," said Somerville's outgoing mayor, Joe Curtatone, who said he and the next mayor would seek similar policies in that city.
- While some small business owners attended the news conference in support of the indoor mask mandate, the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business called it an additional burden on already struggling businesses.
- ''It is unfortunate that, once again, private businesses are being placed in the unenviable position of having to enforce another government health directive,'' Christopher Carlozzi, the organization's state director, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press.
- Also Monday, Wu announced an updated vaccination policy for city employees that will require them to be fully vaccinated or face termination. About 90% of the city's workers are already vaccinated, she said.
- Wu's mayoral predecessor, Kim Janey, announced in August that all 18,000 city employees would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo rigorous weekly testing. That policy, which was phased in over two months, also applied to onsite contractors and volunteers who provide services onsite at city worksites, including all full-time, part-time, seasonal, emergency and probationary workers.
- Wu's new vaccination policy will eliminate the option for Boston employees to submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test every seven days as an alternative to being fully vaccinated.
- "We are taking steps to ensure that we are increasing protections all across the city as we see cases going up," Wu said Sunday. "We're in a moment where health must come first.
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- VIDEO - (50) SATS are the Standard on Twitter: "He's back and he's talking about ''digital antibodies''. Opt out #bitcoin https://t.co/uFJcGlX4fC" / Twitter
- SATS are the Standard : He's back and he's talking about ''digital antibodies''. Opt out #bitcoin https://t.co/uFJcGlX4fC
- Mon Dec 20 00:15:37 +0000 2021
- Dieda : @thelevelupexp @this_vid
- Mon Dec 20 13:53:56 +0000 2021
- Dieda : @thelevelupexp Considering the fact, they did run another simulation last week, i think he is dead serious about th'... https://t.co/kNKuAIVk7o
- Mon Dec 20 13:53:30 +0000 2021
- ð¥ðLiberrrrrtyBTC '£¸ð'''¸ð(C)#CISA : @thelevelupexp @roryhighside https://t.co/UUUJNxCDlU
- Mon Dec 20 13:47:17 +0000 2021
- CryptoJoeCoin : @thelevelupexp ''We need to build IT infrastructures that have digital antibodies built in.'' Code for, '' Our CBDC is a surveillance tool.''
- Mon Dec 20 13:43:10 +0000 2021
- Gergs : @thelevelupexp I didn't realize he was a public health expert. I hope this man is alive along enough to see'... https://t.co/wXrxrWydU2
- Mon Dec 20 13:25:01 +0000 2021
- dbreen : @thelevelupexp Who told this guy leaving the shadows was a good idea?
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- Mon Dec 20 13:19:31 +0000 2021
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- Mon Dec 20 13:13:48 +0000 2021
- Ouroboros : @thelevelupexp How is this lizard even in this position? The things this man says are insane. Straight out of a Naz'... https://t.co/dqUkXvmkAL
- Mon Dec 20 13:12:05 +0000 2021
- Joey : @thelevelupexp STATE CONTROL (more)
- Mon Dec 20 13:03:59 +0000 2021
- Chica : @thelevelupexp People will not give up their madness to join because of his withdrawal
- Mon Dec 20 12:58:20 +0000 2021
- #0012A' : @thelevelupexp He hasn't been paying attention to @pfizer #paxlovid
- Mon Dec 20 12:56:45 +0000 2021
- Sandwich Head Ned : @thelevelupexp "bots that spy on everything and are enabled to destroy data autonomously"
- Mon Dec 20 12:49:25 +0000 2021
- GJ ð' : @thelevelupexp Klaus and @wef endorse $LCX @lcx
- Mon Dec 20 12:48:18 +0000 2021
- Captain Takapuna : @thelevelupexp the evil villain of vomit... where is batman when you need him? all part of their sick plan..wipe ou'... https://t.co/Iy9qI1hwei
- Mon Dec 20 12:48:08 +0000 2021
- Sarada Reddy : @thelevelupexp Now ð>>ð>>ð>>ð>> or ðððððð ?
- Mon Dec 20 12:46:46 +0000 2021
- 'lackbeard : @thelevelupexp Is that a real Rothko behind him?ð
- Mon Dec 20 12:25:46 +0000 2021
- Trice : @thelevelupexp This man must be stopped. I think he's talking about cyber security. But then again this dude would'... https://t.co/l1hQIyUz2y
- Mon Dec 20 12:22:00 +0000 2021
- Bitcoin Governor : @thelevelupexp Wtf is he even talking about? He can't even talk straight.
- Mon Dec 20 12:20:44 +0000 2021
- Crypto Bin Laden : @thelevelupexp Klaus is pro crypto. It's just that 99.9% of crypto investors aren't informed enough to see it.
- Mon Dec 20 12:08:37 +0000 2021
- Wayne Anthony | ð-- ð¨ð>>'ð : @thelevelupexp somebody send this guy a cryptography book, then Satoshi's whitepaper
- Mon Dec 20 12:05:57 +0000 2021
- Christian Rosenkreuz : @thelevelupexp https://t.co/llLH2R31kJ
- Mon Dec 20 12:04:45 +0000 2021
- Tim Buckley : @thelevelupexp Just hurry up and expire FFS. Sooner these fools pass away the better. Their greatest claim to fame'... https://t.co/GOPZIBkzsz
- Mon Dec 20 12:04:29 +0000 2021
- Renato W Gomes : @thelevelupexp Evil
- Mon Dec 20 12:02:32 +0000 2021
- wkmags ð : @thelevelupexp Don't just say ''whatever''- listen to what his is saying. These people are evil. Know thy enemy. https://t.co/CCBKHkhxmX
- Mon Dec 20 12:02:00 +0000 2021
- Faith N'Credit Standard'£¸ : @thelevelupexp I didn't expect the next omnicron evolution to turn it into MALWARElmfao
- Mon Dec 20 12:01:59 +0000 2021
- Pepe.RARE.HODL : @thelevelupexp Assassination markets are becoming a thing again?
- Mon Dec 20 11:58:53 +0000 2021
- CorpSAABinc.'¸ð¹ð¼ðð°ð®ð"ð®ð± : @thelevelupexp https://t.co/iUp1BhHpnY
- Mon Dec 20 11:58:40 +0000 2021
- walktheline : @thelevelupexp Did he ever contributed anything good to society? His rothchild mum probably tought him the tricksð¤ª
- Mon Dec 20 11:57:36 +0000 2021
- MrBathinApe ççº : @thelevelupexp What's average life expectancy these days? LOL ; guy is irrelevant.
- Mon Dec 20 11:51:05 +0000 2021
- MacroDaddy : @thelevelupexp This guys scares the shit out of me. lol
- Mon Dec 20 11:44:02 +0000 2021
- walktheline : @thelevelupexp Bond villain
- Mon Dec 20 11:42:58 +0000 2021
- Caveat : @thelevelupexp @maxipleb Its really just like the movies'...ð¤ð
- Mon Dec 20 11:38:33 +0000 2021
- Kal-El : @thelevelupexp Where's his white cat?
- Mon Dec 20 11:31:52 +0000 2021
- Jim Santiago@bitcoinjim : @thelevelupexp Is that Billie Hates you gates???Agenda 21 guy for reset? Help buy #Bitcoin
- Mon Dec 20 11:25:15 +0000 2021
- Lost in Hyperbitcoinization. '/21M : @thelevelupexp what is this guy's business model
- Mon Dec 20 11:20:28 +0000 2021
- Chris : @thelevelupexp Wow. So talented. He can actually read a script from a screen'... Super talented. Now, who the fuck is this lunatic??
- Mon Dec 20 11:16:58 +0000 2021
- ExDecima : @thelevelupexp https://t.co/WjY8FqhJgK
- Mon Dec 20 11:06:31 +0000 2021
- Prometheus : @thelevelupexp @RicoReport https://t.co/RPbGLmHwzW
- Mon Dec 20 10:58:29 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - (24) P&Pð§ðªð®ð¹ðºð¸Noð... Noð'work=' ¸'¥¸' ¸'...¸ on Twitter: "https://t.co/1R21IAlMrs" / Twitter
- P&Pð§ðªð®ð¹ðºð¸Noð... Noð'work=' ¸'¥¸' ¸'...¸ : https://t.co/1R21IAlMrs
- Sun Dec 19 11:57:53 +0000 2021
- VIDEO - Swedish company retool NFC implants to use as vaccine certificate passes | Metro Video
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- Epicenter in Sweden are showcasing how subdermal microchip implants can be used for a number of things, including as a store for covid certification.
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- VIDEO - (20) RNC Research on Twitter: "Hey, Joe Biden: "expodentially" isn't a word. https://t.co/ZjRqqR1Lgt" / Twitter
- RNC Research : Hey, Joe Biden: "expodentially" isn't a word. https://t.co/ZjRqqR1Lgt
- Mon Dec 13 00:30:52 +0000 2021
Last Modified 12/24/2021 02:38:39 by Freedom Controller
