No Agenda Episode 1369 - "COVID Roulette"

  No Agenda Episode 1369 - "COVID Roulette"
    "COVID Roulette"
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  Credits
    "COVID Roulette"
    Executive Producers:
      Dame Kim, Warrior for Truth in MassachusNuts
      Anonymous
      Sir Dave Fugazzotto - Duke of America's Hartland and the Arabian Pinninsula
      Sir Ichabod of the Bike Path Gorble
      Manuel Obando
      Sir Mark Duke of Japan, Japan Sea and all the disputed islands
      Richard Koning
      Carlos Guerrero
    Associate Executive Producers:
      Christopher Flynn
      The Red Headed Brewer
      Raymond Grill
      Ronald J Rau
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    Knights & Dames
      Kimberly Vacheron -> Dame Kim, Warrior for Truth in Massachusnuts
      Jay Codichini -> Sir C# of .NET” (Sir C Sharp of dot net)
    Art By: Tante Neel
    End of Show Mixes: Fletcher & Blaney - Tom Starkweather
    Engineering, Stream Management & Wizardry
      Mark van Dijk - Systems Master
      Ryan Bemrose - Program Director
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    Chapters: Dreb Scott
    Clip Custodian: Neal Jones
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  Cover Art
    Art By: Tante Neel
  Shownotes
    Freedom Passport and Lockdowns
      Mistake! Australia is actually leading for our fall and winter
      Millions protest in France
      Some Chicago bars, restaurants serving vaccinated only
      Sindh government imposes a lockdown in the second largest province of Pakistan from tomorrow, asks the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to block SIM cards and social media accounts of unvaccinated people.
      Laws permitting mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines in the Workplace
      Landlord denies housing to unvaccinated in rural Michigan
        Here in a rural town in Michigan my friend during the signing of their lease was denied housing at the last minute because they were not vaccinated. Literally during the signing the landlord asked "I assume you are vaccinated" my friend probably should have lied but she said she was not, and just like that, the deal was canceled.
      Mask-free Sweden nears zero daily Covid deaths as chief epidemiologist warns against ‘far-reaching conclusions’ about Delta strain
      Karine Jean-Pierre - Wikipedia
    Pandemic of the Unvaccinated
      Florida and Delaware skew COVID death figures with massive data dump taking total up by 300% a day
      Spectrum news obese woman sorry she didn't get the shot
        10 foot pope microphone
      Greg Abbott's outrageous Covid order to scapegoat immigrants in Texas
        Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bizarre, vaguely worded executive order on Wednesday that he says is aimed at lowering Covid-19 infections.
        In a statement about the order, he said: "The dramatic rise in unlawful border crossings has also led to a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases among unlawful migrants who have made their way into our state, and we must do more to protect Texans from this virus and reduce the burden on our communities."
        Link
      Apple Yanks Anti-Vax Version of Tinder From the App Store
    Disinfo!
      Mexican President says be carful of Big Pharma
        The President of Mexico in a press conference saying we need to be careful with Big Pharma because they want to keep selling more Doses and the Health Secretary saying there's no scientific evidence to recommended those vaccines to children
        the source: a local news report 3 minutes
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54t-qfQtXGs
      YouTube bans Sky News Australia for a week over alleged Covid misinformation
    PCR
      CDC, FDA Faked ‘Covid’ Testing Protocol by Using Human Cells Mixed With Common Cold Virus Fragments
    Big Pharma
      Big Pharma Insurance winning too
        You mention them in the last show. Keep in mind they would always want to minimize their cost. My guess, to give another example is that someone who goes to hospital with COVID diagnosis, regardless of the real condition, the the government pays the facility and my guess is the insurance company pays little.
        This is United’ market price. Clearly investor think things are great.
        Link
      Pfizer projects (33) billion in Covid vax revenue
      Secret proposals to ration care by age in pandemic branded ‘unacceptable’
    VAERS
      Oz VAERS FB group deleted 64k members
    Leaky Vaccines
      Antibody-dependent enhancement
      Vaccines don't work, lets get some data on other vaccines, like MMR - ADE anyone?
      Big Pharma's Track Record - Can it be Trusted?
        We begin with the Johnson & Johnson Company of New Jersey. On July 21, 2021 J&J and three other smaller drug makers agreed to pay a staggering $26 billion damages to a group of US states for their role in causing America’s opioid epidemic. Of that J&J will pay $5 billion. The CDC estimates that use of the highly-addictive opioids as painkillers caused at least 500,000 deaths between 1999 and 2019. Johnson & Johnson is accused of pushing the deadly painkillers for excessive use and downplaying their addiction risks. They knew better.
        The same J&J is in a huge legal battle for knowingly using a carcinogen in its famous baby powder. A 2018 Reuters investigation found J&J knew for decades that asbestos, a known carcinogen, lurked in its baby powder and other cosmetic talc products. The company is reportedly considering legally splitting its baby powder division into a small separate company that would then declare bankruptcy to avoid large payouts. The J&J covid vaccine, unlike that from Pfizer and Moderna, does not use mRNA genetic alteration.
        The two global covid vaccine makers which have by far the largest market to date are the two being personally promoted by Fauci. These are from Pfizer in alliance with the tiny German BioNTech company under the name Comirnaty, and from the US biotech Moderna.
        Pfizer
        Pfizer, one of the world’s largest vaccine makers by sales, was founded in 1849 in the USA. It also has one of the most criminal records of fraud, corruption, falsification and proven damage. A 2010 Canadian study noted, “Pfizer has been a “habitual offender,” persistently engaging in illegal and corrupt marketing practices, bribing physicians and suppressing adverse trial results.” That’s serious. Note that Pfizer has yet to make fully public details of its covid vaccine studies for external examination.
        The list of Pfizer crimes has gotten longer since 2010. It is currently engaged in lawsuits related to charges its Zantac heartburn medication is contaminated with a cancer-causing substance. As well, Pfizer received the biggest drug-related fine in US history in 2009 as part of a $2.3 Billion plea deal for mis-promoting medicines Bextra and Celebrex and paying kickbacks to compliant doctors. Pfizer pleaded guilty to the felony of marketing four drugs including Bextra “with the intent to defraud or mislead.” They were forced to withdraw their arthritis painkiller Bextra in the USA and EU for causing heart attacks, strokes, and serious skin disease.
        Clearly in a move to boost revenue, Pfizer illegally paid doctors kickbacks for “off-label” use of more than one of its drug which resulted in patients being injured or killed. Among them were Bextra (valdecoxib); Geodon (ziprasidone HCl), an atypical antipsychotic; Zyvox (linezolid), an antibiotic; Lyrica (pregabalin), a seizure medication; its famous Viagra (sildenafil), an erectile dysfunction drug; and Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol drug.
        In another court trial, Pfizer subsidiaries were forced to pay $142 million and release company documents that showed it was illegally marketing gabapentin for off-label use. “Data revealed in a string of U.S. lawsuits indicates the drug was promoted by the drug company as a treatment for pain, migraines and bipolar disorder – even though it wasn’t effective in treating these conditions and was actually toxic in certain cases, according to the Therapeutics Initiative, an independent drug research group at the University of British Columbia. The trials forced the company to release all of its studies on the drug, including the ones it kept hidden.”
        In 2004 Pfizer subsidiary Warner-Lambert was forced to pay $430 to settle criminal charges and civil liability arising from its fraudulent marketing practices with respect to Neurontin, its brand for the drug gabapentin. Originally developed for the treatment of epilepsy, Neurontin was illegally promoted off-label for the treatment of neurological pain, and in particular for migraine and bipolar disorder – even though it wasn’t effective in treating these conditions and was actually toxic in some cases. Neurontin for unapproved uses made up some 90% of the $2.7 billion in sales in 2003.
        A New York Times report disclosed in 2010 that Pfizer “…paid about $20 million to 4,500 doctors and other medical professionals in the United States for consulting and speaking on its behalf in the last six months of 2009.” It paid another $15.3 million to 250 academic medical centers and other research groups for clinical trials. In the US legal practice it is seldom that corporate executives actually doing the criminal deeds are prosecuted. The result is that court fines can be treated as “business costs” in this cynical milieu. In eight years of repeated malfeasance through 2009, Pfizer accumulated just under $3 billion in fines and civil penalties, about a third of one year’s net revenues.
        In 2020 as its covid vaccine was in development, Pfizer paid $13,150,000 in lobbying Congress and officials in Washington among others. Also notable is the fact that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation own shares of both Pfizer and their partner in the leading mRNA vaccine, BioNTech of Germany.
        Moderna
        The third covid vaccine producer today with FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has yet to be sued for illegal practices unlike J&J or Pfizer. But that fact is likely only because before its EUA for its mRNA experimental vaccine, in its ten years existence since 2010 it had failed to get FDA approval to market a single medicine, despite repeated failed attempts. However Moderna has a red neon sign that reads “conflict of interest” that should give pause.
        Moderna and Fauci’s NIAID have collaborated on development of vaccines using Moderna’s mRNA platform and NIAID of Fauci on coronaviruses including MERS, since at least November, 2015. On January 13, 2020, before the first case of a supposed Wuhan, China “novel coronavirus” was even detected in the United States, Fauci’s NIAID and Moderna signed an updated cooperation agreement which described them as co-owners of a mRNA based coronavirus and that they had finalized a sequence for mRNA-1273, the vaccine now being given to millions for supposedly averting the novel coronavirus. That means that Fauci’s NIAID and perhaps Fauci personally (it’s allowed in the US) stood to reap huge financial benefits from emergency approval of the Moderna jab, yet Fauci has never admitted to the conflict publicly when he was Trump corona adviser, nor as Biden’s.
        Ten days later on January 23, 2020 Moderna announced it was granted funding by CEPI, a vaccine fund created by Bill Gates’ foundation along with Davos WEF among others, to develop an mRNA vaccine for the Wuhan virus.
        Moderna was created by a venture capitalist, Noubar Afeyan along with Harvard professor Timothy A. Springer, and others. In 2011 Afeyan recruited French businessman and former Eli Lilly executive Stephane Bancel as CEO of the new Moderna. Despite having no medical or science degree nor any experience running a drug development operation, Bancel lists himself as co-patent holder for a hundred patents of Moderna tied to the different vaccines. Beginning in 2013 the tiny Moderna was receiving grants from the Pentagon to develop its mRNA technology. As of 2020 just prior to its receiving emergency use authorization from the US Government FDA, fully 89% of Moderna revenues were from US Government grants. This is hardly an experienced company yet it holds the fate of millions in its hands. As Fauci says, “Trust the Science.”
        In February 2016, an editorial in Nature magazine criticized Moderna for not publishing any peer-reviewed papers on its technology, unlike most other emerging and established biotech companies. The company remains ultra-secretive. That same year, 2016 Moderna got $20 million from the Gates Foundation for vaccine development using mRNA.
        Up to its receiving EUA approval for its covid mRNA product in December 2020 Moderna had only made losses since its founding. Then curiously, following a March 2020 personal meeting with then-President Trump where Bancel told the president Moderna could have a vaccine ready in a matter of months Moderna luck changed.
        On May 15, Trump announced creation of Operation Warp Seed to rollout a COVID-19 vaccine by December. The head of the Presidential group was a 30-year R&D veteran of the large UK drug firm GSK, Moncef Slaoui. In 2017 Slaoui had resigned from GSK and joined the board of none other than Moderna. Under Slaoui’s Warp Speed, some $22 billion of US taxpayer money was thrown at different vaccine makers. Moderna was a prime recipient, a brazen conflict of interest but nobody seemed to care. Slaoui funneled some $2 billion in government funds to his old company, Moderna, to develop the mRNA covid vaccine. Only under public criticism did Slaoui sell his stock in Moderna, making millions in profit from Moderna’s role as a covid vaccine leading candidate. Shortly after resigning at the end of the Trump presidency, Slaoui was fired by his old firm GSK from a company subsidiary following charges of sexual harassment of a female employee.
        In February 2020 Trump Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP) to exempt Moderna, Pfizer, J&J and any future covid makers from any and all liability arising from damage or death caused by their vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus. The legal protection lasts until 2024. If the vaccines are so good and safe, why is such a measure needed? Azar was former head of the US drug giant Eli Lilly. There are some serious questions that must be raised openly regarding the vaccine makers who are now pushing experimental highly controversial gene-edited formulations in human experiments.
        F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
        Link
    Variants
      Sir Jacob variants study in the UK
        In the morning Adam, this is Sir Jacob Guardian of the Limburg Coast giving you a great study we won’t hear about.
        This was brought up the other day on the Propaganda Report podcast who give No Agenda props quite a bit.
        Pay close attention to page 13 and 14 where it shows delta variant deaths and separates the unvaccinated and the 2 jabs crowd. 50 deaths for the vaccinated and 44 for the unvaccinated.
        Another bonus I discovered is the case fatality broken down to the numerous variants.
        Page 8, the alpha variant (the OG Rona) has a case fatality rate of 1.9% while the delta has a meager 0.3%.
        I will bring you some more goodies soon. Can you give me any advice on the best app or program to capture good sound bytes for you? I have some long videos that I can gather some good show material for ya.
        -Sir Jacob
        Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_17.pdf
      John Hopkins EU variants List of names
      Dude named Ben on variant testing
        Hi Adam,
        It is not often that I have to turn off The Best Podcast In The Universe to type an email, but this is third time since 2009 that I’ve needed to provide information.
        I am a Dude Name Ben who is a consultant in the commercial lab industry and have seen how many of the machines work.
        I can confirm when a Covid test specimen is received in a large commercial facility, it is processed and then run through the PCR machine. If the PCR machine says the sample is positive, then the remains of the original specimen can be can be run through a genetic sequencer to determine the strain/variant of the specimen. Some of the massive facilities have genetic sequencing capabilities onsite while other facilities need to send the specimens to a facility with a sequencer to be processed. For smaller hospital labs that are participating in the sequencing work, the specimens related to a positive PCR result can either be sent to a commercial (reference) lab that operates a genetic sequencer or the specimen can be sent to a state operated public health laboratory where the sequencing of the virus takes place and the data is fed directly to a state computer system. Eventually the data produced by all the labs makes it way to the national level where it can be used by Health and Human Services, but the biggest downfall in all of this data is that it takes days for it to hit state and federal servers for analysis to be performed. Consequently, it is hard to notice the early stages of a trend because of the lag for information to make its way through all of the system.
        So, in short, you have a producer who can verify this technology exists and there are teams of data analysts taking the information to determine the spread of the variant over a given region.
        Note: I also saw a high volume of posts from people on message boards around the web claiming they worked in hospital labs and they had no proof of any variants and no lab had the capability to determine variants. It just seems weird all of these posts and letters are appearing with the Delta Variant this week and the identification of strains has been a part of this testing for the last 8 months. It is like there is an organized misinformation campaign taking place to convince people the virus strains are not real.
        As always, this is purely anonymous.
        Dude Named Ben
    Nicotine
      Altria plans wider rollout of IQOS device, as decline in conventional cigarettes slows during pandemic
      Philip Morris To Acquire Nicotine Gum Maker Fertin Pharma
      Philip Morris To Buy UK's Vectura In 'Beyond Nicotine' Push
      Vectura, Inspira team up to develop inhaled COVID-19 drug
      Protease inhibitors
      S1 spike proteins & monocytes - nicotine!!!!
        COVID-19 is a virus that contains two spike proteins, S1 and S2. The virus itself does some harm, which is different than than the damage the spike proteins do.
        So, lets talk about the virus first. The virus functions similar to malaria mechanical function inside the blood. It rips the hemes off of your hemoglobin, making your blood not be able to transport oxygen to your organs. This is why COVID causes organ failure, and low oxygen levels. This is also why Hydroxychloroquine works against it, it prevents your hemes from being torn off your hemoglobin. When your hemoglobin is ripped apart, you end up with free floating hemes that are toxic as well as radical Iron particles in your blood that your liver must remove, and when your liver gets overloaded, it is processed in the lungs, resulting in lungs becoming inflamed and filled with fluid. This is also why ventilators don't work, people are breathing fine, they are low on oxygen because they are low on hemoglobin, and no amount of mechanical breathing can increase the amount of oxygen the blood can absorb without hemoglobin. https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/60c74fa50f50db305139743d
        Now, on to the spike proteins. When you get infected with COVID, the spike proteins go around infecting certain cells and injecting viral RNA (set of temporary instructions) and duplicating the virus. It takes about 1 week for your body to recognize the virus is bad and evoke a immune response. When your body does this, it sends a bunch of monocytes to kill the infected cells. The spike proteins are eaten by the Classical Monocytes and SHOULD be destroyed inside of them, and then the monocyte will undergo apoptosis (die). This is working for the S2 protein, but not the S1. The S1 protein is being eaten by Classical Monocytes, but it is making the Monocytes change into Intermediate, and Non-Classical monocytes, and the S1 protein is NOT BEING DESTROYED in them, so they are refusing to undergo apoptosis. A monocyte should only live for 1 day to 1 week, but the Non-Classical Monocytes with the S1 protein in them are not dying for up to 15 months or more. Dr. Bruce Patterson is leading the research on this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9spx-4opMI[Open]
        So, even after your body has killed off COVID-19 inside of you, you have a bunch of monocytes presenting the S1 protein. These monocytes with the S1 protein can pass through the blood-brain barrier, and go anywhere in your body. They are causing vasodilation (increased size of blood vessels) throughout peoples body, inflammation of blood vessels, and nano clotting, especially in the capillaries. These nano clots and inflammation can cause heart attacks, fatigue, and all sorts of other problems. This is what is called Long Haul COVID.
        So, remember, what the virus does, and what the spike proteins do are 2 different things. But, your body only responds by creating antibodies that will recognize and destroy the spike proteins (which neutralizes COVID's ability to replicate within the body, thus killing COVID). But the spike protein symptoms (vasodilation, inflammation, and nanoclotting) are not what the virus does (destroying hemoglobin).
        NOW, to the vaccine. The vaccine injects either an adenovirus, or graphene oxide (toxic to humans in high doses, but processed by an enzyme from the lungs in 2-3 weeks usually) into your body. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-natural-human-enzyme-biodegrade-graphene.html
        The vaccine either had spike proteins in it (Pfizer and Moderna) or causes your cells to begin producing spike proteins via mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, Astrazeneca, all of them but Novavax). This causes your body to have an immediate immune response and begin producing antibodies against the spike proteins. This does make your body effectively immune to COVID if it worked properly. But it doesn't for 1 reason. The S1 spike proteins being eaten by your Classical Monocytes are being turned into Non-Classical monocytes (which should die in 1 week or less normally) that are not undergoing apoptosis, and therefore never dying. These S1 presenting monocytes are going throughout the body and causing serious damage, and hurting your immune system. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.25.449905v1.full
        IF YOU COULD FORCE YOUR NON-CLASSICAL MONOCYTES TO UNDERGO APOPTOSIS, the vaccine would work properly. Bruce Patterson suggests using several drugs in his protocol to achieve the goals. Ivermectin kills the virus, Statins prevent the S1 protein presenting Monocytes from attaching to your cells, and several drugs (including nicotine) can induce monocyte apoptosis. When the S1 presenting Non-Classical monocytes undergo apoptosis, the S1 protein is destroyed, and the nano clotting, inflammation, etc. go away. This is also why smokers have been shown to test positive for COVID symptoms 80% less than the general population, the nicotine effectively renders them immune to the effects of the S1 protein, and thus most of COVID's symptoms. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200430/smokers-hospitalized-less-often-for-covid-19
        So, now, does the vaccine work, and why is COVID and its variants killing people still? Simply put, as your body is introduced to more and more COVID virus (or vaccines) your body begins building a larger and larger reservoir of very harmful S1 presenting Non-Classical Monocytes, that will eventually kill you. So, if you had COVID, you have a reservoir already. If you get the vax, now you have even more. If you get a second vax, or encounter people with COVID, you get even more and more, until you die, unless you do something to induce apoptosis in your Non-Classical Monocytes.
        So yes, the vaccine is not useless, it does immunize people against COVID, but it destroys their immune system by creating a reservoir of S1 protein presenting Non-Classical Monocytes that reduce the body's ability to produce antibodies to fight off future COVID infection. If you induce apoptosis in your monocytes, then the vaccine works, and is not overly dangerous. As it is right now, the vaccine is immunizing people against COVID, but then putting their body in a state that it can't fight off COVID, as well as many other pathogens. In addition, the vaccine can kill you, either immediately (via blood clotting), or long term via your reservoir of S1 presenting Monocytes. But COVID can do the latter if you are exposed to enough viral load, even over months or years.
        TL;DR Buy some Ivermectin and Nicotine Lozenges and you can survive COVID-19 without vaxx or any side effects.
    Olympics
      Olympics Ratings Slump Forces NBC to Haggle With Advertisers
      Matt Olympics BOTG Report
        Hi Adam,
        I work at an English daily in Tokyo, and we are covering the Olympics.
        In the office, people are very much into the Games and several pages per day are dedicated to its coverage. When a Japanese athlete wins a gold, many people clap and cheer. It's an interesting experience.
        BUT -- outside of the office, it's as though there are no Olympics in the capital. Tokyo is under a so-called State of Emergency, and the restaurants have to close by 8pm and no alcohol can be served. The whole city is dull with the medical establishment/boomer-age U.N. bootlicking bureaucracy at the helm. Many bars are flouting the ban and in certain areas you can find people lining up without masks to go down some drinks. I saw a woman puking in the gutter there once. There is no Olympic fever in the rebel holdouts.
        Outside of those holdouts, however, people are masked up in 33 degree weather, and on the trains/subways, I would say 99 percent of the passengers are gazing away at the dumb crap on their phones with nary a care about the Olympics.
        How many people can care about a trampoline bronze medal when fear porn is being shoved into their brains 24/7 with all of this COVID-19 crap?
        The government is trying to get the youth to take the jabs, even though only 9 people under the age of 20 have died of COVID-19 since this balony kicked off March 2020. And I received an email at work asking everyone to stop drinking alcohol in general. WTF. Time to crack a beer, I suppose.
        Here is a jingle I sent in last year, and it still holds true.
        Matt
    Build Back Better World Partnership
      Why Landlords Are Declining Emergency Rental Assistance Funds
      Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19 | CDC
    Supply Chains
      Alcohol supply chains explained
        Gentlemen keep me anonymous,
        I work for a large, multistate alcohol distributor. I am in the corporate office, so I work for and in all states we service. Since the reopen we have been running volume we only have traditionally seen during Thanksgiving to Christmas season. We have occasional out of stocks, but nothing I would consider a shortage. The states you mentioned have a special situation that makes spirits prone to shortages, not wine or beer. All 3 states are ABC control states. We can not distribute spirits in these states, by law. We are still running large volumes of wine and beer in these states straight to the On Premise (bar, restaurants, etc) that are making the reopen so large. People are having trouble finding certain spirits because the state can't get the liquor from the distillers. ABC Control states have a central buyer and warehouse that orders from the distillers. The distillers are having to decide where the limited quantity is delivered first. For most, this is not much of a choice. Most distillers are contracted to a supplier who supply distributors around the nation. The suppliers are more concerned with fulfilling orders from Glassiers, Southern Wine and Spirits, Empire Distributors, Republic Beverages, etc than single states. They supply the large distributors and then what is left goes to the states with ABC stores.
        Alcohol distribution minimap - Distiller (Jack Daniels, Hennessy, Makers Mark, etc.) --> Supplier (Kobrand, Diageo, etc) --> Distributors (Glassiers, Republic, etc) --> Retailers (Package Store, Restaurant, etc)
        If you use this information on the show, please keep me anonymous. Don't use my name.
        Always happy to help when I am able.
      Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect
    Biden
      My butts been whiped is really 'i trust my wife"
    Climate Change
      Fit for 55 — EU Green Deal and the Industrial Collapse of Europe
      Tesla battery project in Australia has 13 ton cell catch fire
      Correction of California PC restrictions
        Sorry Adam, but you got duped by someone. Or all you saw was the headlines. There is a restriction in those 5 states for power consumption, when those computers are ASLEEP, STANBY, HIBERNATING or OFF. It has nothing at all to do with them while being used. Find the article again and read through it. You will find a chart that shows what the restrictions are. So much wattage use allowed per hour while in SLEEP STATE, ETC. Essentially no machine is barred from those states seeing as you can unplug it while not in use. Its all about power usage when not in use.
        Just another example of dipshit tech writers that don't know what they are talking about, and click bait headlines. I'm surprised you got caught in it!
        Love is Lit!
        Keto Vitae!
        Dr Bob
    African Spring
      Obama had set the Arab Spring in motion, Biden is starting the Horn of Africa spring
        The U.S. is withdrawing from Afghanistan because another war zone is being ripened by Joe Biden and his coterie of warmongers. We are talking about the strategically located Horn of Africa here. Countries of the Horn of Africa, namely Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea suddenly find themselves in the midst of heated conflicts and tensions, either domestically, or with each other. At the heart of the inevitable devastation which is bound to descend upon the Horn of Africa is the unending want of Democrats for wars, which keeps the military-industrial complex in America flush with cash.
        Link
    Earthquake Machine
      Alaska Quake BOTG
        Since there’ll be buzz about the 8.2 earthquake on the Alaska Peninsula— I’m about 300 miles north
        from the earthquake epicenter, in Homer Alaska. It was an eerie long roll, like swaying on a boat,
        my bathroom door saw the most action as it waved to me from my bed. No damage here or elsewhere
        from what I have gathered.
        A tsunami alert went out just after and stayed in place until about 1am, small “tsunami” hit in a
        town close to the epicenter (I’ve heard it was up to 8 or so inches in height). Mass panic as the
        sirens blared through town for a few hours. All is good as of now, heightened risk of sketchy
        aftershocks but that’s about it.
        Additional information I found interesting, a local village sent out their VID assessment on recent
        infections and they note 65% vaccinated among those who tested positive. Granted, it’s a relatively
        low amount of people in general but the village’s population is about 200 people or so.
        Signed,
        Mellowmadness
      China Targets Alaska With Earthquake Weapon
    OTG
      Snapchat down, with 100,000+ outages reported and frantic users scrambling to reboot app
        Patience was apparently a big ask for many, however, as hordes of Snapchat users fled to Twitter to gripe about the errors, one sharing a clip of the app repeatedly crashing.“Hurry up, I was arguing with someone,” one urged the site’s support crew.
        Link
    Noodle Gun
      New NPR Ethics Policy: It's OK For Journalists To Demonstrate (Sometimes)
    BLM
      2003 - TEXAS LAWMAKERS HIDE OUT IN HOTEL OVER OKLAHOMA LINE - Orlando Sentinel
        I kept waiting for you guys to bring this up, but nobody has.
        This article from 2003 when Texas Democrat's did the same thing they're doing now.
        This is Democrat's playbook
        Link
    STORIES
      COVID-19 VIRUS AND VACCINE SUPERDUMP - GreatAwakening - WWG1WGA!
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:41
        (DarkMode Recommended in Settings)
        We are researchers who deal in open-source information, reasoned argument, and dank memes. We do battle in the sphere of ideas and ideas only. We neither need nor condone the use of force in our work here. WE ARE THE PUBLIC FACE OF Q. OUR MISSION IS TO RED-PILL NORMIES.
        This is a pro-Q community. Please read and respect our rules below before contributing.
        WHY Q?
        "Those who cannot understand that we cannot simply start arresting w/o first ensuring the safety & well-being of the population, shifting the narrative, removing those in DC through resignation to ensure success, defeating ISIS/MS13 to prevent fail-safes, freezing assets to remove network-to-network abilities, kill off COC to prevent top-down comms/org, etc. etc., should not be participating in discussions."Q
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      CDC, FDA Faked 'Covid' Testing Protocol by Using Human Cells Mixed With Common Cold Virus Fragments '' Freedom First Network
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:40
        In a shocking revelation first reported by Dan Dicks of Press for Truth (Canada), an FDA document admits that the CDC and FDA conspired to fabricate a covid-19 testing protocol using human cells combined with common cold virus fragments because they had no physical samples of the SARS-CoV-2 ''covid'' virus available.
        Without physical reference material to use for calibration and confirmation, the test has zero scientific basis in physical reality. And all the PCR analysis based on this protocol is utterly fraudulent, flagging people as ''positive'' for covid when they merely possess tiny quantities of RNA fragments from other coronavirus strains circulating in their blood.
        The FDA document, available from the FDA.gov website, is entitled, ''CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel .'' The document astonishingly admits: (emphasis ours)
        Since no quantified virus isolates of the 2019-nCoV were available for CDC use at the time the test was developed and this study conducted, assays designed for detection of the 2019-nCoV RNA were tested with characterized stocks of in vitro transcribed full length RNA (N gene; GenBank accession: MN908947.2) of known titer (RNA copies/µL) spiked into a diluent consisting of a suspension of human A549 cells and viral transport medium (VTM) to mimic clinical specimen.
        In other words, they had no covid virus from which to develop and calibrate the test, so they mixed up a cocktail of human cells and RNA fragments from a common cold virus, then called it ''covid.'' The GenBank sequence referred to in this paragraph is simply a digital library definition that's labeled ''covid'' but has no supporting reference materials in physical reality either.
        That's because no doctor or researcher has isolated ''covid'' from any infected, symptomatic patient. As a result, no laboratory instruments can be calibrated against actual covid, and the tests simply rely on digital libraries pushed out by the CDC and WHO, using ''covid'' as the label.
        The PCR tests are then instructed to look for these genetic sequences obtained from the fabricated digital libraries, meaning the entire scheme is junk science circular logic with no basis in physical reality.
        Why are there seemingly no certified reference materials for covid available to laboratories for instrument calibration?I am the founder and owner of an analytical laboratory that routinely conducts quantitative analysis of food contaminants, producing high-precision analysis results for pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals. In every case where we conduct lab analysis, we calibrate the instruments against known physical samples called ''external standards'' or ''certified reference materials.'' (CRM)
        Any lab can purchase CRMs for mercury, arsenic, glyphosate and even salmonella. For example, this link at Biosisto lists CRMs for various salmonella strains. Labs can purchase those reference materials and use them to calibrate their instruments, making sure their analysis is traced back to physical, real-world samples of a purified material. These CRMs, in turn, must be NIST-traceable in order to confirm their origin and authenticity. All CRMs are therefore labeled with lot numbers and expiration dates.
        While labs can purchase reference materials for microbes, heavy metals, pesticides, etc. '-- all physical materials '-- I have searched far and wide and have not been able to locate any certified reference materials for SARS-CoV-2 or even a weakened, non-viable version of it. As far as I can tell, there appear to be no physical specimens of isolated covid viruses available for instrument calibrations and testing protocol quality control.
        To be clear, I'm not saying that viruses don't exist, and it's quite clear that the Wuhan Institute of Virology colluded with Fauci, Daszak, the NIH, Baric and others to develop a weaponized spike protein. But the spike protein is not a virus by itself. It's simply a toxic nanoparticle that can be synthesized in quantity and then either dumped on cities or added to vaccines and injected into people via immunization protocols.
        I ask the big question about all this in my science lab whistleblower video here, which presents more details about all this that will have your head spinning. In essence, if ''covid-19'' is a real virus that can be isolated, why are there apparently no physical reference materials to calibrate laboratory instruments for covid detection? And why were no such materials used in the development of the FDA-approved, CDC-endorsed PCR testing protocols?
        CDC pulls its own fraudulent covid PCR testing protocol, implying it cannot differentiate between covid and influenzaWhat adds to the mystery in all this is the fact that the CDC just issued a ''laboratory alert,'' announcing their intention to withdraw the faulty PCR testing protocol by the end of this year. As part of their announcement, they implied that the current PCR test '-- the same one the FDA mentioned above, which was developed without any physical covid samples for calibration '-- cannot tell the difference between influenza and covid.
        From the CDC document:
        In preparation for this change, CDC recommends clinical laboratories and testing sites that have been using the CDC 2019-nCoV RT-PCR assay select and begin their transition to another FDA-authorized COVID-19 test. CDC encourages laboratories to consider adoption of a multiplexed method that can facilitate detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses.
        Why might it be important to differentiate covid from influenza?
        Because, as it seems, influenza cases nearly disappeared in 2020 as influenza was re-labeled ''covid'' due to the faulty testing.
        ''Percentage influenza positivity decreased by 64% (p = 0.001) and estimated daily number of influenza cases decreased by 76% (p = 0.002) in epidemiologic weeks 5''9 of 2020 compared with the preceding years,'' reported the CDC in 2020.
        In essence, the medical establishment simply took all the people who would normally be diagnosed with colds and the flu, and shifted them into the ''covid'' category in order to push a covid mass hysteria narrative that would drive people into vaccines. The vaccines, then, were formulated with spike protein toxic nanoparticles to cause the ''delta'' panic wave, which is largely occurring among vaccinated individuals.
        From here, the plandemic scam proceeds like clockwork: People get sick from the vaccines, so more vaccine boosters are demanded, which perpetuates the illness. Rinse and repeat. It never ends until the perpetrators are arrested and people wise up to the scam.
        The CDC has just published a science document that confirms the entire scam. Click here to view the PDF on our servers.
        It's entitled, ''Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Including COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections, Associated with Large Public Gatherings '-- Barnstable County, Massachusetts, July 2021'' and it shockingly admits that 74% of infections occurred in fully vaccinated (double dose) people:
        During July 2021, 469 cases of COVID-19 associated with multiple summer events and large public gatherings in a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, were identified among Massachusetts residents; vaccination coverage among eligible Massachusetts residents was 69%. Approximately three quarters (346; 74%) of cases occurred in fully vaccinated persons (those who had completed a 2-dose course of mRNA vaccine [Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna] or had received a single dose of Janssen [Johnson & Johnson] vac- cine ?14 days before exposure).
        See, the vaccine is the pandemic. The vaccine is spreading the spike protein, and the fake PCR tests provide the fuel to keep the mass hysteria going.
        I cover more details of all this in today's bombshell podcast via Brighteon.com:
        Image by Thomas G. from Pixabay. Videos and article by Mike Adams cross-posted from Natural News.
      COVID-19 Vaccines in the Workplace | Best Lawyers
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:28
        This article was originally published on June 2, 2021.
        The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the body responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit job discrimination and harassments, has issued guidance regarding workplace policies created in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Many employers have adapted specific policies to facilitate the safe return of employees to the workplace. Below you will find a summary of the most recent EEOC guidance regarding the legality of mandatory vaccination or mask wearing policies for employees.
        May My Employer Require Me to Be Vaccinated Before Returning To Work?Yes. The EEOC has provided guidance indicating that employers can require their employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to work in-person.1 However, employers must still comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Ohio Civil Rights Act which may exempt employees from employer vaccination mandates if they have a sincerely held religious belief or a disability that would prohibit vaccination.2
        Under the ADA, an employee with an ADA disability that prevents him or her from taking the COVID-19 vaccine may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation that exempts him or her from an employer vaccination policy if that accommodation would not cause ''undue hardship'' on the employer. In the ADA context, undue hardship is a ''significant difficulty or expense.'' If you believe you have a disability that prevents you from getting the COVID-19 vaccine your employer is allowed to request proof of your disability through a doctor's note or other form of medical documentation.
        Similarly, under Title VII, an employee may be exempt from an employer vaccination mandate if that employee holds a sincere religious belief, practice, or observance that prohibits COVID-19 vaccination. The employer must provide the employee with a reasonable accommodation unless that accommodation would impose ''undue hardship'' on the employer. Under Title VII, undue hardship is defined as ''more than [a] de minimis cost'' to the employer. This is a lower standard than undue hardship under the ADA.
        Possible employer accommodations include continuing remote working arrangements or providing masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment to employees.
        The EEOC states that if the employer cannot reasonably accommodate an employee who is unable to be vaccinated the employer may ''exclude'' the worker from the workplace. However, this does not mean necessarily mean that your employer may automatically terminate you. If you believe your employer has terminated you because of your inability to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, give us a call today for a free consultation.
        May My Employer Require Me to Wear a Mask at Work?Yes. Private employers are given a wide latitude in implementing work-place policies to protect the health and safety of all employees, including mandating mask-wearing in the office. However, if you have a sincerely held religious belief or medical condition that prevents you from wearing a mask, your employer may be required under Title VII or the ADA to provide you with an accommodation.
        May I Be Required to Wear A Mask Even if I am Already Vaccinated?Yes. Although the CDC has recently issued guidance indicating that in certain situations vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks or socially distance, employees still need to follow their employer's mask guidelines while in the workplace.3
        Does Asking Me About My Vaccination Status or Requiring Vaccination Violate Health Privacy Laws?No. The EEOC has indicated that asking an employee about their vaccine status does not violate the ADA, because ''there are many reasons that may explain why an employee has not been vaccinated, which may or may not be disability-related. Simply requesting proof of receipt of a COVID-19.'' However, an employer inquiry as to why you were not vaccinated may elicit information about a disability and would therefore be subject to the ADA standard that such questioning be ''job-related and consistent with business necessity.''4
        Requiring employees to provide proof that they have received a COVID-19 vaccination does not implicate Title II of GINA because disclosure of an employee's vaccination status does not involve the use, acquisition, or disclosure of ''genetic information'' as defined by the statute.
        Does Requiring Only Unvaccinated Employees to Wear Masks in the Workplace Violate Health Privacy Laws?Most likely not. While the EEOC has not directly addressed whether a workplace policy that only requires unvaccinated employees to wear masks in the workplace would violate laws regarding disclosure of confidential medical information, it would be a stretch to prove that your employer's policy inadvertently exposes your vaccination status if other vaccinated employees choose to continue to wear masks in the workplace because mask wearing in and of itself does not indicate a person's vaccination status alone.5 Many vaccinated employees may choose to continue wearing a mask in the workplace even if the employer no longer requires it.
        Mansell Law, Employment Attorneys in Columbus, Ohio.
        (1) Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans With Disabilities Act -Updated in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, U.S. EEOC (Mar. 19, 2020); What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws, U.S. EEOC (Dec. 16, 2020).
        (2) Id.; Jade L. Robinson, Can Private Employers Require Their Employees to Get Vaccinated for Covid-19?, Ohio State Bar Association (Jan. 14. 2021) https://www.ohiobar.org/public-resources/commonly-asked-law-questions-results/labor''employment/private-employers-covid-19-vaccine/
        (3) Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (May 13, 2021) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html
        (4) The EEOC Releases First Guidance on Covid Vaccination for Employer, National Law Review Vol. XI, No. 141 (Dec. 16, 2020) https://www.natlawreview.com/article/eeoc-releases-first-guidance-covid-19-vaccination-employers
        (5) Alexis Keenan, Can Employers Legally Require Unvaccinated Workers to Wear Masks? The Answer is likely yes, Yahoo! Finance (May 20, 2021) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/employer-mask-mandates-legal-covid-19-vaccination-121346094.html
      Antibody-dependent enhancement - Wikipedia
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:18
        A way in which antibodies can (rarely) make an infection worse instead of better
        In antibody-dependent enhancement, sub-optimal antibodies (the blue Y-shaped structures in the graphic) bind to both viruses and Fc gamma receptors (labeled FcÎ"RII) expressed on immune cells promoting infection of these cells.
        Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), sometimes less precisely called immune enhancement or disease enhancement, is a phenomenon in which binding of a virus to suboptimal antibodies enhances its entry into host cells, followed by its replication.[1][2] ADE may cause enhanced respiratory disease and acute lung injury after respiratory virus infection (ERD) with symptoms of monocytic infiltration and an excess of eosinophils in respiratory tract.[3] ADE along with type 2 T helper cell-dependent mechanisms may contribute to a development of the vaccine associated disease enhancement (VADE), which is not limited to respiratory disease.[3] Some vaccine candidates that targeted coronaviruses, RSV virus and Dengue virus elicited VADE, and were terminated from further development or became approved for use only for patients who have had those viruses before.
        Technical description Antiviral antibodies promote viral infection of target immune cells by exploiting the phagocytic FcÎ"R or complement pathway.[4] After interaction with the virus the antibody binds Fc receptors (FcR) expressed on certain immune cells or some of the complement proteins. FcÎ"R binds antibody via its fragment crystallizable region (Fc). Usually the process of phagocytosis is accompanied by the virus degradation, however, if the virus is not neutralized (either due to low affinity binding or targeting to a non-neutralizing epitope), antibody binding might result in a virus escape and therefore, enhanced infection. Thus, phagocytosis can cause viral replication, with the subsequent death of immune cells. The virus ''deceives'' the process of phagocytosis of immune cells and uses the host's antibodies as a Trojan horse. ADE may occur due to the non-neutralizing characteristic of the antibody, which bind viral epitopes other than those involved in a host cell attachment and entry. ADE may also happen due to the presence of sub-neutralizing concentrations of antibodies (binding to viral epitopes below the threshold for neutralization).[5] In addition ADE can be induced when the strength of antibody-antigen interaction is below the certain threshold.[6][7] This phenomenon might lead to both increased virus infectivity and virulence. The viruses that can cause ADE frequently share some common features such as antigenic diversity, abilities to replicate and establish persistence in immune cells.[1] ADE can occur during the development of a primary or secondary viral infection, as well as after vaccination with a subsequent virus challenge.[1][8][9] It has been observed mainly with positive-strand RNA viruses. Among them are Flaviviruses such as Dengue virus,[10] Yellow fever virus, Zika virus,[11][12] Coronaviruses, including alpha- and betacoronaviruses,[13] Orthomyxoviruses such as influenza,[14] Retroviruses such as HIV,[15][16][17] and Orthopneumoviruses such as RSV.[18][19][20]
        The mechanism that involves phagocytosis of immune complexes via FcÎ"RII / CD32 receptor is better understood compared to the complement receptor pathway.[21][22][23] Cells that express this receptor are represented by monocytes, macrophages, some categories of dendritic cells and B-cells. ADE is mainly mediated by IgG antibodies,[22] however, IgM along with complement,[24] and IgA antibodies[16][17] have also been shown to be trigger ADE.
        Coronavirus ADE was a concern during late clinical stages of vaccine development against COVID-19.[25][26]
        ADE was observed in animal studies during the development of coronavirus vaccines, but as of 14 December 2020[update] no incidents had been observed in human trials. "Overall, while ADE is a theoretical possibility with a COVID-19 vaccine, clinical trials in people so far have not shown that participants who received the vaccine have a higher rate of severe illness compared to participants who did not receive the vaccine."[27][28]
        Influenza Prior receipt of 2008''09 TIV (Trivalent Inactivated Influenza Vaccine) was associated with an increased risk of medically attended pH1N1 illness during the spring-summer 2009 in Canada. The occurrence of bias (selection, information) or confounding cannot be ruled out. Further experimental and epidemiological assessment is warranted. Possible biological mechanisms and immunoepidemiologic implications are considered.[29]
        Natural infection and the attenuated vaccine induce antibodies that enhance the update of the homologous virus and H1N1 virus isolated several years later, demonstrating that a primary influenza A virus infection results in the induction of infection enhancing antibodies.[30]
        ADE was suspected in infections with influenza A virus subtype H7N9, but knowledge is limited.
        Dengue The most widely known ADE example occurs with dengue virus.[31] Dengue is a single-stranded positive-polarity RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae. It causes disease of varying severity in humans, from dengue fever (DF), which is usually self-limited, to dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, either of which may be life-threatening.[32] It is estimated that as many as 390 million individuals contract dengue annually.[33]
        ADE may follow when a person who has previously been infected with one serotype becomes infected months or years later with a different serotype, producing higher viremia than in first-time infections. Accordingly, while primary (first) infections cause mostly minor disease (dengue fever) in children, re-infection is more likely to be associated with dengue hemorrhagic fever and/or dengue shock syndrome in both children and adults.[34]
        Dengue encompasses four antigenically different serotypes (dengue virus 1''4).[35] In 2013 a fifth serotype was reported.[36] Infection induces the production of neutralizing homotypic immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies that provide lifelong immunity against the infecting serotype. Infection with dengue virus also produces some degree of cross-protective immunity against the other three serotypes.[37] Neutralizing heterotypic (cross-reactive) IgG antibodies are responsible for this cross-protective immunity, which typically persists for a period of months to a few years. These heterotypic titers decrease over long time periods (4 to 20 years).[38] While heterotypic titers decrease, homotypic IgG antibody titers increase over long time periods. This could be due to the preferential survival of long-lived memory B cells producing homotypic antibodies.[38]
        In addition to neutralizing heterotypic antibodies, an infection can also induce heterotypic antibodies that neutralize the virus only partially or not at all.[39] The production of such cross-reactive, but non-neutralizing antibodies could enable severe secondary infections. By binding to but not neutralizing the virus, these antibodies cause it to behave as a "trojan horse",[40][41][42] where it is delivered into the wrong compartment of dendritic cells that have ingested the virus for destruction.[43][44] Once inside the white blood cell, the virus replicates undetected, eventually generating high virus titers and severe disease.[45]
        A study conducted by Modhiran et al.[46] attempted to explain how non-neutralizing antibodies down-regulate the immune response in the host cell through the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Toll-like receptors are known to recognize extra- and intracellular viral particles and to be a major basis of the cytokines' production. In vitro experiments showed that the inflammatory cytokines and type 1 interferon production were reduced when the ADE-dengue virus complex bound to the Fc receptor of THP-1 cells. This can be explained by both a decrease of Toll-like receptor production and a modification of its signaling pathway. On one hand, an unknown protein induced by the stimulated Fc receptor reduces Toll-like receptor transcription and translation, which reduces the capacity of the cell to detect viral proteins. On the other hand, many proteins (TRIF, TRAF6, TRAM, TIRAP, IKKÎ±, TAB1, TAB2, NF-ÎºB complex) involved in the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway are down-regulated, which led to a decrease in cytokine production. Two of them, TRIF and TRAF6, are respectively down-regulated by 2 proteins SARM and TANK up-regulated by the stimulated Fc receptors.
        One example occurred in Cuba, lasting from 1977 to 1979. The infecting serotype was dengue virus-1. This epidemic was followed by outbreaks in 1981 and 1997. In those outbreaks; dengue virus-2 was the infecting serotype. 205 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome occurred during the 1997 outbreak, all in people older than 15 years. All but three of these cases were demonstrated to have been previously infected by dengue virus-1 during the first outbreak.[47] Furthermore, people with secondary infections with dengue virus-2 in 1997 had a 3-4 fold increased probability of developing severe disease than those with secondary infections with dengue virus-2 in 1981.[38] This scenario can be explained by the presence of sufficient neutralizing heterotypic IgG antibodies in 1981, whose titers had decreased by 1997 to the point where they no longer provided significant cross-protective immunity.
        HIV-1 ADE of infection has also been reported in HIV. Like dengue virus, non-neutralizing level of antibodies have been found to enhance the viral infection through interactions of the complement system and receptors.[48] The increase in infection has been reported to be over 350 fold which is comparable to ADE in other viruses like dengue virus.[48] ADE in HIV can be complement-mediated or Fc receptor-mediated. Complements in the presence of HIV-1 positive sera have been found to enhance the infection of the MT-2 T-cell line. The Fc-receptor mediated enhancement was reported when HIV infection was enhanced by sera from HIV-1 positive guinea pig enhanced the infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells without the presence of any complements.[49] Complement component receptors CR2, CR3 and CR4 have been found to mediate this Complement-mediated enhancement of infection.[48][50] The infection of HIV-1 leads to activation of complements. Fragments of these complements can assist viruses with infection by facilitating viral interactions with host cells that express complement receptors.[51] The deposition of complement on the virus brings the gp120 protein close to CD4 molecules on the surface of the cells, thus leading to facilitated viral entry.[51] Viruses pre-exposed to non-neutralizing complement system have also been found to enhance infections in interdigitating dendritic cells. Opsonized viruses have not only shown enhanced entry but also favorable signaling cascades for HIV replication in interdigitating dendritic cells.[52]
        HIV-1 has also shown enhancement of infection in HT-29 cells when the viruses were pre-opsonized with complements C3 and C9 in seminal fluid. This enhanced rate of infection was almost 2 times greater than infection of HT-29 cells with the virus alone.[53] Subramanian et al., reported that almost 72% of serum samples out of 39 HIV-positive individuals contained complements that were known to enhance the infection. They also suggested that the presence of neutralizing antibody or antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity-mediating antibodies in the serum contains infection-enhancing antibodies.[54] The balance between the neutralizing antibodies and infection-enhancing antibodies changes as the disease progresses. During advanced stages of the disease, the proportion of infection-enhancing antibodies are generally higher than neutralizing antibodies.[55] Increase in viral protein synthesis and RNA production have been reported to occur during the complement-mediated enhancement of infection. Cells that are challenged with non-neutralizing levels of complements have been found to have accelerated release of reverse transcriptase and viral progeny.[56] The interaction of anti-HIV antibodies with non-neutralizing complement exposed viruses also aid in binding of the virus and the erythrocytes which can lead to the more efficient delivery of viruses to the immune-compromised organs.[50]
        ADE in HIV has raised questions about the risk of infections to volunteers who have taken sub-neutralizing levels of vaccine just like any other viruses that exhibit ADE. Gilbert et al., in 2005 reported that there was no ADE of infection when they used the rgp120 vaccine in phase 1 and 2 trials.[57] It has been emphasized that much research needs to be done in the field of the immune response to HIV-1, information from these studies can be used to produce a more effective vaccine.
        Mechanism Interaction of a virus with antibodies must prevent the virus from attaching to the host cell entry receptors. However, instead of preventing infection of the host cell, this process can facilitate viral infection of immune cells, causing ADE.[1][4] After binding the virus, the antibody interacts with Fc or complement receptors expressed on certain immune cells. These receptors promote virus-antibody internalization by the immune cells, which should be followed by the virus destruction. However, the virus might escape the antibody complex and start its replication cycle inside the immune cell avoiding the degradation.[4][24]This happens if the virus is bound to a low-affinity antibody.
        Different virus serotypes There are several possibilities to explain the phenomenon of enhancing intracellular virus survival:
        1) Antibodies against a virus of one serotype binds to a virus of a different serotype. The binding is meant to neutralize the virus from attaching to the host cell, but the virus-antibody complex also binds to the Fc-region antibody receptor (FcÎ"R) on the immune cell. The cell internalizes the virus for programmed destruction but the virus avoids it and starts its replication cycle instead.[58]
        2) Antibodies against a virus of one serotype binds to a virus of a different serotype, activating the classical pathway of the complement system. The complement cascade system binds C1Q complex attached to the virus surface protein via the antibodies, which in turn bind C1q receptor found on cells, bringing the virus and the cell close enough for a specific virus receptor to bind the virus, beginning infection.[24] This mechanism has been shown for Ebola virus in vitro[59] and some flaviviruses in vivo.[24]
        Conclusion When an antibody to a virus is unable to neutralize the virus it is forming sub-neutralizing virus-antibody complexes. Upon phagocytosis by macrophages or other immune cell such complex may release the virus due to poor binding with antibody. This happens during the step of acidification of phagosome[60][61] before fusion with lysosome.[62][clarification needed ] The escaped virus begins its replication cycle within the cell, triggering ADE.[1][4][5]
        See also Original antigenic sinOther ways in which antibodies can (unusually) make an infection worse instead of betterBlocking antibody, which can be either good or bad, depending on circumstancesHook effect, most relevant to in vitro tests but known to have some in vivo relevancesReferences ^ a b c d e Tirado SM, Yoon KJ (2003). "Antibody-dependent enhancement of virus infection and disease". Viral Immunology. 16 (1): 69''86. doi:10.1089/088282403763635465. PMID 12725690. ^ Wilder-Smith A, Hombach J, Ferguson N, Selgelid M, O'Brien K, Vannice K, et al. (January 2019). "Deliberations of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization on the use of CYD-TDV dengue vaccine". The Lancet. Infectious Diseases. 19 (1): e31''e38. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-1045-8_2. ISBN 978-981-15-1044-1. PMC 7119964 . PMID 30195995. ^ a b Su, Shan; Du, Lanying; Jiang, Shibo (2020-10-16). "Learning from the past: development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines". 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      'We no longer have luxury of half-measures': French hospital union chief calls for mandatory vaccination of everyone '-- RT World News
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 11:56
        A French hospital union boss has said a health pass will not be enough to curb another wave of Covid-19, and urged the government to make vaccination compulsory for everyone.
        ''We no longer have the luxury of taking half-measures,'' Frederic Valletoux, the head of the Hospital Federation of France (FHF) and the mayor of Fontainebleau, told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
        ''Everywhere, the indicators are going up again. The context of the epidemic shows us the limits of intermediate measures.''
        Pointing to the ''unprecedented speed of the fourth wave'' of infections, Valletoux said the government should ''assume the course of compulsory [measures] along with voluntary [ones].''
        He added that the recently introduced pass had ''worked in the short term, but will not be enough to achieve a real collective immunity.''
        The pass serves as proof that the holder has been fully vaccinated, has tested negative for Covid-19 in the past 48 hours, or has recovered from the virus. People in France must show such passes to enter crowded venues and, from August 9, will have to present them when visiting caf(C)s and restaurants, and before boarding planes and inter-city trains.
        Also on rt.com Israel to DESTROY 80,000 expired Pfizer vaccine doses in same week over-60s Covid booster scheme gets underway '' media The introduction of passes, along with the mandatory vaccination of health workers, has sparked debates and protests, with some describing the measures as discriminatory.
        At the same time, the National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Pharmacy called for a mandatory vaccination of the general population and advised that the health pass be replaced with a vaccination pass.
        President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this month that only a ''massive vaccination campaign'' would prevent a new wave of hospitalizations from Covid-19 as soon as August and allow the nation to avoid a new lockdown.
        Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
      Low COVID Vaccination Rates In Arkansas Cause Anxiety '-- And Anger : Shots - Health News : NPR
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 11:54
        Health care worker Levinna Myers decided to get her first shot during a town hall meeting about COVID-19 vaccines on July 28 in Heber Springs, Ark. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Health care worker Levinna Myers decided to get her first shot during a town hall meeting about COVID-19 vaccines on July 28 in Heber Springs, Ark.
        Liz Sanders for NPR This weekend, 80,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines will expire in Arkansas. There simply weren't enough people in the state willing to get their jab '-- even though cases and deaths from the delta variant are rising there at an alarming rate.
        "Prior to the vaccine, I was heartsick because people died and we couldn't help them. Now, they don't get the vaccine and we can't help them," says Tammy Kellebrew, a pharmacist who travels to rural hospitals across the state. "And so after every death, I go back to the pharmacy and I cry, and then I go back to work."
        Town hall meetings are taking place throughout Arkansas to answer questions about COVID vaccines '-- and encourage people to sign up for one. Attendees (left) ask questions in one such meeting in Heber Springs, Ark. In attendance is Dr. Jose Romero (right), health secretary for Arkansas. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Town hall meetings are taking place throughout Arkansas to answer questions about COVID vaccines '-- and encourage people to sign up for one. Attendees (left) ask questions in one such meeting in Heber Springs, Ark. In attendance is Dr. Jose Romero (right), health secretary for Arkansas.
        Liz Sanders for NPR "I'm angry, upset, disappointed," says Dr. Jose Romero, health secretary for Arkansas. "As a nation, we've worked so hard to get this vaccine out. And not to have them accepted by the public is difficult to understand and difficult to accept."
        Arkansas has one of the country's the lowest vaccination ratesArkansas, a largely white, rural state powered by farming, factories and rugged individualism, has one of the country's lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates. Just 36% of the state's 3 million people are fully vaccinated.
        In May, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson set a modest goal of administering at least one shot to 50% of the total population by the end of July. The state has made progress '-- but is falling short by more than 100,000 people.
        Heber Springs, Ark., a lakeside retirement and resort community in the Ozark foothills, hosted a town hall in late July about the COVID-19 vaccine. Just 36% of the state's 3 million people are fully vaccinated. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Heber Springs, Ark., a lakeside retirement and resort community in the Ozark foothills, hosted a town hall in late July about the COVID-19 vaccine. Just 36% of the state's 3 million people are fully vaccinated.
        Liz Sanders for NPR The result of the vaccine resistance, along with the rise of the super-spreadable delta variant, is more COVID cases and more preventable deaths. Hospitals in Arkansas are again reaching critical capacity, and staff are exhausted.
        Kellebrew wore a mask with Dr. Anthony Fauci's face on it to a town hall meeting held by Hutchinson in her hometown of Dumas, a small, majority-Black city in the southeast delta region on July 27. It was one in a series of community COVID-19 conversations the governor has been holding as he travels the state pleading with Arkansans to get the shot.
        "I'm a Trump supporter and I am a Republican, and I got both vaccine [doses]," Hutchinson stated at another meeting on July 28 in Heber Springs, a lakeside retirement and resort community in the Ozark foothills. "It's not about politics. It's about my health."
        Kenny Nations, manager of the movie theater, changes the sign on the marquee; he is fully vaccinated and has tried to encourage co-workers to follow suit. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Kenny Nations, manager of the movie theater, changes the sign on the marquee; he is fully vaccinated and has tried to encourage co-workers to follow suit.
        Liz Sanders for NPR The staff at the Gem Theater in downtown Heber Springs, Ark., have different attitudes about vaccination. Rena Kelley (left) was vaccinated in April; she said she wanted to protect her kids and her elderly parents. Jewell Brackett has been hesitant but says he might still get the vaccine. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Rumors include the vaccine making you magneticReasons for vaccine resistance are diverse and many, says Col. Robert Ator, who heads the state's vaccine distribution program. "What started out as being a logistics and distribution kind of an exercise has turned out to be psychology," he says. "Our targeting strategy has been to work down on the micro level, to work with individual communities to understand what is the barrier in that area and let us address those."
        For starters, there's a tide of misinformation along with distrust of the government. Debbie Reynolds attended the town hall in Heber Springs. She has not been vaccinated, and the meeting did not sway her. "They treat you like you're just too dumb to make good decisions for your family," she says. "How many people do you see laying around on the sidewalks and in their yards dying of COVID? Nowhere."
        The Dumas Family Pharmacy promotes COVID-19 vaccines in Dumas, Ark., a small city in the southeast delta region of the state. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR The Dumas Family Pharmacy promotes COVID-19 vaccines in Dumas, Ark., a small city in the southeast delta region of the state.
        Liz Sanders for NPR The battle to get more people vaccinated often comes down to the efforts of individuals like Dollie Wilson, a 71-year-old missionary who attended the meeting in Dumas. She plans to go door to door to persuade people to get vaccines and recently canvassed at a local Walmart. "I got cursed out by one person, but I got five people to sign up for the vaccine. It was well worth it," she says.
        Pharmacist Cheryl Stimson checks in Michael Haynes, who came to the Dumas Family Pharmacy for his first vaccine shot on July 27. Stimson has given more than 5,800 vaccines since the start of the pandemic. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Pharmacist Cheryl Stimson checks in Michael Haynes, who came to the Dumas Family Pharmacy for his first vaccine shot on July 27. Stimson has given more than 5,800 vaccines since the start of the pandemic.
        Liz Sanders for NPR Cheryl Stimson, owner of the Dumas Family Pharmacy, has personally administered more than 5,800 shots in the community at churches, schools and local events. She has been trying to get every worker vaccinated at the city's various factories.
        "I've been to all but one, and I'm trying to talk them into letting me come in," she says. "The plant manager has a lot of people who are leery of taking the vaccine for all various reasons. They're afraid it'll make them sick. They're afraid that they're conforming '-- that somebody's making them do something they don't want to do."
        Kellebrew, who administers shots at vaccination clinics across the state, says she's trying hard to calm people's specific fears.
        Once, at a grocery store, a woman told her she was nervous about getting the vaccine because of a rumor on the internet that it can make you magnetic. "I said, 'Do you really believe that?' And she said, 'Well, I'm not sure.' " Kellebrew recounts. So she found a magnet in the store and demonstrated on a person to whom she had just given the shot. "The magnet kept falling off her arm, and I said, 'Is that what you needed to see?' And she said, 'Yes. I think I'll get a shot.' " Kellebrew now travels with a magnet.
        Violet Mallett waits in the Dumas Family Pharmacy after receiving the vaccine. She had been worried about side effects and was relieved to feel fine after getting the shot. "I'm OK. I'm not nervous anymore. I'm ready" for my second shot, she said. Liz Sanders for NPR hide caption
        toggle caption Liz Sanders for NPR Violet Mallett waits in the Dumas Family Pharmacy after receiving the vaccine. She had been worried about side effects and was relieved to feel fine after getting the shot. "I'm OK. I'm not nervous anymore. I'm ready" for my second shot, she said.
        Liz Sanders for NPR There are signs of changeDemand for vaccines has actually improved greatly in the past three weeks, according to Ator. He says the governor's town hall meetings are encouraging people '-- and the delta variant is scaring them. But with the rapid spread of the delta variant, now representing almost 90% of the sequenced virus cases in Arkansas, he worries it may not be enough. "My biggest concern is we're going to be a month too late, and we're going to have a lot of people suffer because of it."
        State officials say that if they can find a way to punch through the hesitancy they're facing now, they could end up as a model for other slow-to-vaccinate parts of the nation as the delta variant spreads.
        "There are a lot of places that may have higher vaccination rates than what we have in Arkansas, but they're certainly not high enough to suppress the spread of the delta variant," says Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state epidemiologist for Arkansas. "It may be just a matter of time before they get hit as well."
        The audio story was produced by Barry Gordemer.
      YouTube bans Sky News Australia for a week over alleged Covid misinformation '-- RT World News
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 11:52
        YouTube has suspended one of the largest media companies in Australia, local Sky News, from posting on its platform for allegedly breaching Covid-19 misinformation policies. It has also reportedly had some of its videos removed.
        The one-week suspension was issued following a review of Sky News Australia's ''old videos,'' the channel announced on Sunday. Under the terms of the temporary ban, for seven days, YouTube will allow no videos or livestreams to be posted by the channel, which has 1.86 million subscribers, and some earlier videos about coronavirus have been reportedly permanently deleted from the platform.
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        The ban was issued after some of its online content had been reportedly found to include videos that ''denied the existence of Covid-19.'' ''Numerous'' such videos have been removed from the channel, so as not to ''cause real-world harm.''
        ''Specifically, we don't allow content that denies the existence of Covid-19, or that encourages people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus,'' a YouTube spokesperson told the Guardian Australia, adding that no ''sufficient countervailing context'' has been provided in the allegedly offending media reports.
        According to YouTube's policies, a week-long suspension counts as one strike. If three such warnings are issued over the course of 90 days, a channel is permanently removed from the platform.
        Sky News Australia, which is a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, said it acknowledged YouTube's ''right to enforce its policies,'' but ''expressly rejects that any host has ever denied the existence of Covid-19 as was implied.'' Its digital editor, Jack Houghton, has called the suspension a ''disturbing attack'' on both human and media rights. Suggesting that YouTube had disagreed with Sky News Australia's reporting on the debate about anti-Covid measures such as mask-wearing and lockdowns, Houghton said he ''wondered'' why other controversial videos on the issue remained on the platform. ''I am yet to be informed of President Joe Biden's YouTube and Facebook ban after uttering this false sentence: 'You're not going to get Covid if you have these vaccinations,''' he argued.
        Also on rt.com Former Australian Liberal National Party leader blasts colleagues for abandoning 'fundamental Australian values' during Covid-19 Australia, which has recorded around 34,400 cases of the deadly virus, has imposed some of the world's strictest pandemic measures. Earlier this month, after some of the restrictions were extended, thousands took to the streets of its major cities to protest. Anti-lockdown activists clashed with police, and multiple arrests were made. New South Wales Police has said it is looking for information about alleged lockdown violators and had set up a ''strike force'' to deal with them, the chief of police vowing that his officers would continue to crack down hard on acts of ''violent, filthy, risky'' behavior.
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      Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect
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        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:53
        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) '-- Thanks to a reworked menu and long hours, Jeannie Kim managed to keep her San Francisco restaurant alive during the coronavirus pandemic.
        That makes it all the more frustrating that she fears her breakfast-focused diner could be ruined within months by new rules that could make one of her top menu items '-- bacon '-- hard to get in California.
        ''Our number one seller is bacon, eggs and hash browns,'' said Kim, who for 15 years has run SAMS American Eatery on the city's busy Market Street. ''It could be devastating for us.''
        At the beginning of next year, California will begin enforcing an animal welfare proposition approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 that requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves. National veal and egg producers are optimistic they can meet the new standards, but only 4% of hog operations now comply with the new rules. Unless the courts intervene or the state temporarily allows non-compliant meat to be sold in the state, California will lose almost all of its pork supply, much of which comes from Iowa, and pork producers will face higher costs to regain a key market.
        Animal welfare organizations for years have been pushing for more humane treatment of farm animals but the California rules could be a rare case of consumers clearly paying a price for their beliefs.
        With little time left to build new facilities, inseminate sows and process the offspring by January, it's hard to see how the pork industry can adequately supply California, which consumes roughly 15% of all pork produced in the country.
        ''We are very concerned about the potential supply impacts and therefore cost increases,'' said Matt Sutton, the public policy director for the California Restaurant Association.
        California's restaurants and groceries use about 255 million pounds of pork a month, but its farms produce only 45 million pounds, according to Rabobank, a global food and agriculture financial services company.
        The National Pork Producers Council has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for federal aid to help pay for retrofitting hog facilities around the nation to fill the gap. Hog farmers said they haven't complied because of the cost and because California hasn't yet issued formal regulations on how the new standards will be administered and enforced.
        Barry Goodwin, an economist at North Carolina State University, estimated the extra costs at 15% more per animal for a farm with 1,000 breeding pigs.
        If half the pork supply was suddenly lost in California, bacon prices would jump 60%, meaning a $6 package would rise to about $9.60, according to a study by the Hatamiya Group, a consulting firm hired by opponents of the state proposition.
        At one typical hog farm in Iowa, sows are kept in open-air crates measuring 14-square-feet when they join a herd and then for a week as part of the insemination process before moving to larger, roughly 20-square foot group pens with other hogs. Both are less than the 24 square feet required by the California law to give breeding pigs enough room to turn around and to extend their limbs. Other operations keep sows in the crates nearly all of the time so also wouldn't be in compliance.
        The California Department of Food and Agriculture said that although the detailed regulations aren't finished, the key rules about space have been known for years.
        ''It is important to note that the law itself cannot be changed by regulations and the law has been in place since the Farm Animal Confinement Proposition (Prop 12) passed by a wide margin in 2018,'' the agency said in response to questions from the AP.
        The pork industry has filed lawsuits but so far courts have supported the California law. The National Pork Producers Council and a coalition of California restaurants and business groups have asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to delay the new requirements. The council also is holding out hope that meat already in the supply chain could be sold, potentially delaying shortages.
        Josh Balk, who leads farm animal protection efforts at the Humane Society of the United States, said the pork industry should accept the overwhelming view of Californians who want animals treated more humanely.
        ''Why are pork producers constantly trying to overturn laws relating to cruelty to animals?'' Balk asked. ''It says something about the pork industry when it seems its business operandi is to lose at the ballot when they try to defend the practices and then when animal cruelty laws are passed, to try to overturn them.''
        In Iowa, which raises about one-third of the nation's hogs, farmer Dwight Mogler estimates the changes would cost him $3 million and allow room for 250 pigs in a space that now holds 300.
        To afford the expense, Mogler said, he'd need to earn an extra $20 per pig and so far, processors are offering far less.
        ''The question to us is, if we do these changes, what is the next change going to be in the rules two years, three years, five years ahead?'' Mogler asked.
        The California rules also create a challenge for slaughterhouses, which now may send different cuts of a single hog to locations around the nation and to other countries. Processors will need to design new systems to track California-compliant hogs and separate those premium cuts from standard pork that can serve the rest of the country.
        At least initially, analysts predict that even as California pork prices soar, customers elsewhere in the country will see little difference. Eventually, California's new rules could become a national standard because processors can't afford to ignore the market in such a large state.
        Kim, the San Francisco restaurant owner, said she survived the pandemic by paring back her menu, driving hundreds of miles herself through the Bay Area to deliver food and reducing staff.
        Kim, who is Korean-American, said she's especially worried for small restaurants whose customers can't afford big price increases and that specialize in Asian and Hispanic dishes that typically include pork.
        ''You know, I work and live with a lot of Asian and Hispanic populations in the city and their diet consists of pork. Pork is huge,'' Kim said. ''It's almost like bread and butter.''
        ___
        Associated Press writers David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa, and Stephen Groves in Alvord, Iowa, contributed to this story.
        ___
        Follow Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge
      Apple Yanks Anti-Vax Version of Tinder From the App Store
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:51
        Photo: Johannes Eisele / AFP (Getty Images)Apple has yanked Unjected, an app that bills itself as ''a safe space for the unvaccinated to come together uncensored through business, friendship, or love,'' from the App Store. The company said that Unjected violated its covid-19 policies and tried to get around the App Store review process, which in itself is against Apple guidelines .
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        Apple took action against Unjected after being contacted by Bloomberg. The outlet published a report on Unjected on Saturday that analyzed how Apple and Google were dealing with the covid-19 vaccine misinformation presented on the app. In an email, Apple confirmed the takedown to Gizmodo on Saturday.
        Google warned Unjected's founders about the misinformation on the app's recently debuted social feed'--which included user-generated false claims that stated vaccines were ''experimental mRNA gene modifiers'' and ''nano-technology microchips'''--in mid-July and threatened to remove it if the content wasn't deleted. The founders complied and removed the social feed, although one told Bloomberg that they planned to reinstate it and the false claims, hoping to ''stay under the radar.'' The app is still available on the Play Store.
        G/O Media may get a commission
        In response to actions by Apple and Google, Unjected sent Gizmodo the following response via email.
        ''The only statement we have is that we are a respectful group of people supporting their medical autonomy and freedom of choice, and that we believe their unjust censorship policy's on google and apple [sic] violates our constitutional rights,'' Unjected said.
        Gizmodo reached out to Google for comment on the report, but we did not receive a response from by the time of publication. We'll make sure to update this blog if we do.
        Similar to apps like Tinder, Unjected allows people to create a profile, match, and chat with others to find friendship and romance. As explained by Bloomberg, the ''Tinder for anti-vaxxers'' launched in May after mainstream dating apps teamed up with the White House to encourage users to get vaccinated. Users who claimed they were vaccinated received visibility boosts to their profiles and a special vaccination badge.
        Unjected covers more than just love, though. It even allows people to find businesses and services that agree with its users' views against covid-19 vaccines.
        ''So that if a business is looking for an unvaccinated employee they can post that listing there or if someone is looking for an unvaccinated doctor they can find them on the app,'' Shelby Thomson, one of the app's co-founders, told Yahoo in June.
        Unjected also takes aim at people who have been vaccinated against covid-19. In its Google Play Store description , the app falsely claims that some people have experienced ''adverse events after being exposed to the Vaccinated.''
        Apple explained to Gizmodo that the App Store prioritizes safety and security across all areas, including covid-19. The company revealed that the Unjected app was originally rejected from the App Store during the review process for violating Apple's rules on covid-19'--which require all apps related to the virus to provide credible health and safety information from reputable sources, such as government agencies and medical institutions'--but was subsequently approved after the developers made changes. Nonetheless, Apple said that since then, the developers' external statements to its users and updates to the app have led to violations once more.
        Apple also pointed out that one of Unjected's founders asked users to avoid using words like ''vaccine,'' ''jabbed,'' or ''microchip'' in order to fly under the radar of the company's reviewers. Apple said that this is a violation of its guidelines, which warns developers that if they try to cheat the system, their app will be yanked from the App Store.
        At a time when 76.05% of the country is experiencing high or substantial levels of community transmission in light of falling vaccination rates and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant , we need to promote the scientific facts and benefits of the vaccines as much as we can. Apps that encourage people to believe falsehoods about covid-19 vaccines, which prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death, have no place in our battle against the virus.
      Bitcoin, Ethereum And Other Major Cryptocurrencies Are Braced For A $2.1 Trillion Earthquake After Extreme Price Swings
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:49
        Jul 30, 2021, 04:10am EDT | 468,411 views
        Billy Bambrough Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
        I write about how bitcoin, crypto and blockchain can change the world.
        Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have seen a violent return to volatility over the last two weeks with the combined crypto market losing then gaining around $300 billion (subscribe now to Forbes' CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor and discover crypto blockbusters poised for 1,000% gains).
        The bitcoin price, currently trading comfortably around the psychological $40,000 per bitcoin level, remains significantly down from its peak of almost $65,000 set in April.
        Now, amid reports institutional investors are gearing up to reenter the bitcoin and crypto market, a new law in Germany will allow institutional investors that currently manage a staggering 1.8 trillion euros ($2.1 trillion) to invest in bitcoin and crypto for the first time.
        Sign up now for CryptoCodex'--Join tens of thousands of others who receive the CryptoCodex newsletter every week day. Helping you understand the world of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, arriving in your inbox at 7am EDT
        MORE FROM FORBES Crypto Price Prediction: Bitcoin Could Be Left In The Dust By Ethereum In 2021 By Billy Bambrough week, with bitcoin trading across a $10,000 range. Meanwhile, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have also bounced violently.
        AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
        So-called Spezialfonds, only available to institutional investors such as pension companies and insurers, will be able to invest up to 20% of their holdings in bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies from Monday.
        ''Most funds will initially stay well below the 20% mark,'' Tim Kreutzmann, an expert on crypto-assets at BVI, Germany's fund industry body, told Bloomberg, which first reported the news. ''On the one hand, institutional investors such as insurers have strict regulatory requirements for their investment strategies. And on the other hand, they must also want to invest in crypto.''
        Earlier this week, some $2.5 billion in bitcoin moved off crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Binance, according to market data provider Glassnode in what was described by CNBC as ''a signal that institutional investors are getting off the sidelines.''
        Some 63,000 bitcoin were transferred off major exchanges, Glassnode data reportedly showed.
        ''Trading activity has been higher in the past few days than what we've seen recently,'' Jeremy Welch, chief product officer at U.S. bitcoin and crypto exchange Kraken, said in comments sent via Twitter DM and predicted ''greater participation from regulated entities '... If the narrative holds, this could ultimately prove to be highly price-positive for the crypto space.''
        CryptoCodex'--A free, daily newsletter for the crypto-curious. Helping you understand the world of bitcoin and crypto, every day
        MORE FROM FORBES Crypto Price Prediction: Bitcoin 'To Overtake' The Dollar By 2050 And Soar To $66,000 By The End Of 2021 By Billy Bambrough since a huge sell-off through April and May that wiped more than $1 trillion from the combined bitcoin and crypto market and sent ethereum and other tokens into free fall.
        Coinbase
        The recent bitcoin price rally was kickstarted by reports that online retail giant Amazon plans to roll out bitcoin and crypto support as soon as this year. The company denied the City AM report but said it's ''exploring what [crypto support] could look like on Amazon.''
        ''Regardless of whether [Amazon adoption] materializes or not, the point is that adoption from institutions and corporations remains one of the market's driving narratives,'' added Welch.
        Follow me on
        Twitter. I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported
        '... Read More I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported on how technology is changing business, political trends, and the latest culture and lifestyle. I have covered the rise of bitcoin and cryptocurrency since 2012 and have charted its emergence as a niche technology into the greatest threat to the established financial system the world has ever seen and the most important new technology since the internet itself. I have worked and written for CityAM, the Financial Times, and the New Statesman, amongst others. Follow me on Twitter @billybambrough or email me on billyATbillybambrough.com.Disclosure: I occasionally hold some small amount of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
        Read Less
      This 900-person delta cluster in Mass. has CDC freaked out'--74% are vaccinated [Updated] '' Ars Technica
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        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:45
        Enlarge / Foot traffic along Commercial Street in Provincetown, Mass., on July 20, 2021. Provincetown officials have issued a new mask-wearing advisory for indoors, regardless of vaccination status, on the latest data showing that Provincetown COVID cases are increasing.
        An analysis of a COVID-19 cluster of around 900 people in Massachusetts'--74 percent of whom are vaccinated'--is among the alarming data that spurred the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse course on masks this week.
        According to an internal CDC document first obtained by The Washington Post Thursday evening, data on the Provincetown, Massachusetts, cluster showed that vaccinated people carried surprisingly high levels of the delta coronavirus in their noses and throats. In a study of a subset of people in the cluster, published at 1pm ET Friday by the CDC, Massachusetts health officials reported that fully vaccinated infected people appeared to have similar viral loads as unvaccinated infected people. More importantly, vaccinated people were found to be spreading the dangerous virus variant to other vaccinated people.
        View more
        The CDC-published study included 469 cases from the cluster, 346 of which were in fully vaccinated people. Of those breakthrough infections, 79 percent had symptoms, with cough, headache, sore throat, myalgia, and fever being the most common symptoms. There were five hospitalizations in the subset: one in an unvaccinated person with underlying medical conditions and four in fully vaccinated people, two of whom had underlying medical conditions. No deaths from cases linked to the cluster have been reported to date.
        Nationwide, the CDC estimated that there are 35,000 symptomatic breakthrough infections per week among 162 million fully vaccinated Americans.
        The internal CDC document overall highlights that delta is extremely contagious'--much more so than previous versions of the virus, as well as the common cold or even the seasonal flu. Delta is more in line with the contagiousness of chickenpox, the CDC document said.
        US officials should acknowledge that with delta dominating the country, "the war has changed," the document read. Officials who spoke with the Post say that the analyses and the urgency the document contains are what prompted the CDC to reverse its masking guidance earlier this week. The CDC now recommends indoor masking, regardless of vaccination status, in schools, in areas with "high" or "substantial" COVID-19 transmission, or when there's contact with vulnerable people, such as unvaccinated children or immunocompromised people.
        But the document shared with the Post two days after the CDC mask update goes further, saying, "Given higher transmissibility and current vaccine coverage, universal masking is essential to reduce transmission of the delta variant."
        The document also focused on the needle that the CDC must now thread with its unpopular health messaging'--emphasizing the critical need for everyone to be vaccinated, while also acknowledging the perhaps not-so-rare risk of breakthrough infections and the need to keep up mitigation efforts even after vaccination. Despite the concerning data on delta, vaccines have still proven to be highly effective against severe disease, hospitalization, and death. They remain the most powerful tool to end the health crisis and reclaim some version of normality. But there are clearly caveats, and the CDC has yet to publicly release all the data it has to back up its new alarm over delta.
        In May, CDC officials abruptly told people that once they were fully vaccinated, they could rip off their masks in most settings, even in crowded, indoor ones. The rhetoric around the change highlighted the effectiveness of vaccines and suggested the guidance was crafted as an incentive for vaccination'--dangling freedom from masks as a reward for getting your shots. But vaccines were never 100 percent effective and many health experts were critical of the abruptness of the move and the fact that it wasn't carried out in stages or phases, linked to transmission levels or vaccination rates, for instance. Some also noted that, without clear metrics for issuing and retracting health measures, it would be difficult to go back on masking if a game changer'--such as delta'--arose.
        This post has been updated to include new data from the study published by the CDC Friday.
      Obama had set the Arab Spring in motion, Biden is starting the Horn of Africa spring
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        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 04:38
        The United States of America '' a beacon of democracy and liberty, is a nation, which has historically never shied away from pushing countries across the world into war, carpet bombing them and violently effectuating regime-change campaigns. So, for anyone who thinks that the war in Afghanistan is over and that U.S. troops withdrawing from the war-torn country is a sign of Democratic President Joe Biden looking to end needless conflicts around the world '' they've got it entirely wrong. With Joe Biden at the helm of affairs, the United States' priorities have simply changed.
        The U.S. is withdrawing from Afghanistan because another war zone is being ripened by Joe Biden and his coterie of warmongers. We are talking about the strategically located Horn of Africa here. Countries of the Horn of Africa, namely Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea suddenly find themselves in the midst of heated conflicts and tensions, either domestically, or with each other. At the heart of the inevitable devastation which is bound to descend upon the Horn of Africa is the unending want of Democrats for wars, which keeps the military-industrial complex in America flush with cash.
        Did you know, according to a 2010 top secret Obama Presidential Study Directive-11 (PDS-11), the White House, then occupied by Barack Obama, was backing the secret fundamentalist Islamic Muslim Brotherhood paramilitary sect across the Middle East? There was only one goal '' unleashing a reign of terror that would drastically impact the entire world. Coincidentally, this was the same time when the Arab Spring struck, and protests rocked all Arab capitals in the Middle East.
        Not many remember the fact that it was President Barack Obama who had triggered the initiation of the Arab Spring protests. After the former president's famous Cairo speech in 2009, in which he talked about a ''new beginning'' for U.S. foreign policy in the region, many expected that he would help install democracy once the protests started. The protestors believed the U.S. would aid them openly in their endeavour to topple regimes. However, it did not, leading to many uprisings failing. Those who succeeded too, have left the entire country in shambles.
        One man was at the centre of the Arab Spring protests. Career diplomat Jeffrey Feltman, according to reports, organised the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005. He organised a UN commission that suggested Syria's Bashar al-Assad was involved with the crime, part of a U.S. plan to split Lebanon from the protection of Syria. Feltman then organised the Cedar Revolution, demanding Syrian military and security forces leave Lebanon. Feltman advanced the Obama-Clinton Arab Spring across the Middle East from Cairo to Tripoli and beyond.
        Under Hilary Clinton, the then Secretary of State, Feltman was the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. As part of the Arab Spring protests, the Obama-Clinton duo aimed to topple Bashar al-Assad in Syria and turn the country into rubble with support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Russian intervention in Syria in 2015, however, reduced all such devious plans to dust.
        Now, the Biden administration has appointed the same Arab Spring orchestrator '' Jeffrey Feltman as the Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Feltman is said to be close to the CIA, and his appointment to the Horn of Africa suggests a big war is about to descend upon the volatile region. The Horn of Africa is a gateway to major world shipping flows via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean.
        Ethiopia has taken centre stage as the focus of the world shifts to the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is currently facing a rebellion in its northernmost region of Tigray. The rebellion is led by a group called the TPLF. The Biden administration claims that Ethiopia's forces and officials are committing human rights violations in Tigray, and therefore, the U.S. must get involved with a 'humanitarian intervention'.
        Ethiopia is an assertive country, and it is close to both Russia and China '' which is the case with most countries in the Horn. Meanwhile, Iran too has its interests in the Horn of Africa and wants to have a significant influence over Somalia and other countries so as to secure Yemen in the event that Tehran is able to decisively win the ongoing war between Saudi Arabia and Houthis there.
        Similarly, the U.S. also wants to have a presence all across the Horn of Africa '' with an eye on Yemen and also to dominate the Bab-el Mandeb Strait. The Bab-el Mandeb Strait ultimately connects the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea and ensures access to Arab countries. This makes Ethiopia a vital location. The U.S. wants to establish its presence in Ethiopia, and address growing Russian and Chinese presence in the region. Presently, Russia and Sudan are re-negotiating a Russian naval base deal in the country.
        Therefore, in the name of ''humanitarian intervention,'' the Biden administration seems all set to send in U.S. boots on the ground, and push another decent country into the mouth of a prolonged war. It so happens that the U.S. wants to dominate the Horn of Africa, but also shares bad relations with countries located therein. It's not like the Biden administration will one fine day simply walk into the region and tell the countries that the U.S. has arrived to teach them democracy. The African nations will simply kick the U.S. out.
        Read more: After destroying Somalia and Sudan, Democrats-led America has its eyes set on Ethiopia
        The USA shares a strained relationship with Sudan. The Bill Clinton administration in the U.S. had got the African country bombed in 1998. Subsequently, the U.S. had imposed punitive sanctions on Sudan, which were lifted by Donald Trump last year. In Somalia, the situation is only worse for the U.S. The United States' 'war on terror' against Somalia starting in September 2001 embittered the U.S.-Somalia ties. The U.S. aligned with a group of warlords to counter the influence of jihadist groups in Somalia. Ultimately, the U.S. alliance with warlords was defeated by Somalian jihadists.
        So, the Biden administration is creating a scenario where it can justify invading the Horn of Africa, and for which Democrats and warmongering liberals will favourably cheer. There is simply no other way, except intense war and bloodshed, that the Biden administration can hope to achieve its goals in the region. Countries in the region are intensely pro-Russia. Protesters in Ethiopia and Mali have been found waving Russian flags. In Ethiopia, waving Russian flags has become a symbol of anger against the U.S. 'meddling' in the East African country's internal affairs.
        For the Biden administration, pushing an entire region into a spate of unending violence serves two purposes. One, the Horn of Africa '' which is emerging as a geopolitically vital region gets dominated by the U.S. Second, the Biden administration hopes to neutralise the growing influence of Russia, China and Iran in the region. And third, with the Horn in Africa under its hand, the U.S. can also begin with its plans for Yemen '' which are hardly peaceful.
        In 2010, it was the Middle East. Ten years later, it is now the Horn of Africa. Democrats' thirst for war has hardly taken a hit, and its puppeteers in the American deep state are drooling over the prospect of Joe Biden initiating a brand-new conflict, which will help them make truckloads of cash.
      Horn of Africa '-- Washington's Next Arab Spring?
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        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 04:37
        Horn of Africa '-- Washington's Next Arab Spring? By F. William Engdahl1 July 2021 Image: Attribution: Photo by Staff Sgt. Austin M. May, CJTF-HOA Public Affairs Office Author: US Army Africa from Vicenza, Italy licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Counter-IED_training,_Nairobi,_Kenya,_April_2011_-_Flickr_-_US_Army_Africa_(2).jpg
        The Biden State Department has just named career diplomat Jeffrey Feltman to be Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa. Given the geopolitical powder keg in the region and given the dark history of Feltman, especially in Lebanon and during the infamous CIA Arab Spring interventions after 2009, the relevant question is whether Washington has decided to explode the entire region from Ethiopia down to Egypt into a repeat of the Syria chaos only far more dangerous. And it's not only the US which is active in the region. ''
        The group of African countries stretching from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia, astride the geopolitically strategic Gulf of Aden and Red Sea comprise the formal Horn of Africa. It is extended politically and economically often to include Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. This region is strategic among other reasons as the source of the Nile, Africa's most important river, that flows some 4100 miles north to the Mediterranean in Egypt. The Horn of Africa is also a gateway to major world shipping flows via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean. The recent bizarre blockage of a huge container ship that blocked the canal for days, backing up a significant portion of world trade, is indicative of the region's importance.
        A political volcano
        The Horn of Africa is clearly being made the target of a new wave of covert and overt destabilization. Now that the Democrats again took control of the US Presidency, the interventions into the region that reached a high point in 2015, with the proxy US war in Syria and the installation of US-backed Muslim Brotherhood regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya in the misnamed Arab Spring Color Revolutions, are apparently resuming, as a high Washington priority.
        The February 2021 UN appointment of Volker Perthes as UN Special Representative for Sudan and the June appointment by the Biden Administration State Department of Jeffrey Feltman as US Special Representative to the Horn of Africa signal what is being put into action. Feltman and Perthes worked closely together in black operations during the Arab Spring on the destruction of Lebanon and the destabilization of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Both were allegedly closely working with the CIA as well.
        In accepting his new post in April, coming out of ''semi-retirement,'' Feltman notably told Foreign Policy magazine that the region had the potential to spiral into a full-blown regional crisis that would make Syria look like ''child's play.'' Feltman said, ''Ethiopia has 110 million people. If the tensions in Ethiopia would result in a widespread civil conflict that goes beyond Tigray, Syria will look like child's play by comparison.'' He outlined his intended focus: ''In terms of an immediate focus, without question, there has to be attention paid to Tigray,'' adding that his other leading priorities were the Ethiopia-Sudan border dispute, and the tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
        Here we have the preconditions for the destabilization of Africa and the entire region.
        Tigray war
        The Western powers, including the US Government's National Endowment for Democracy, have been quietly preparing the coming destabilization for several years. A key step was the 2018 regime change in Ethiopia. In a complex agreement the minority ruling coalition of Tigrayan ethnics agreed after months of well-organized protest to cede power to a broad coalition including their bitter opponents in the Oromo ethnic group. The Tigray in the north contains a minority of 6% in Ethiopia and the Oromo are the largest minority with 34%. In April, 2018 under major international pressure and clear NED regime change intervention, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front who had ruled with an iron fist since 2012, were forced to step down and agree a transitional coalition until elections to be held in 2020. Abiy Ahmed from the broad ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and first Oromo to be prime minister. He immediately began steps to replace the EPRDF coalition that has been dominated by the TPLF with a new Prosperity party under his domination.
        Here it gets complicated. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was a US-brokered move to end a 20 year war with neighboring Eritrea and sign a treaty which won the British-educated Abiy a Nobel Peace Prize. Eritrea fought a 30-year war until 1991 for independence from Ethiopia. Border disputes between the Tigray Region and Eritrea kept the two at war until the Abiy peace agreement. Suspiciously, Abiy excluded the Tigray TPLF from the peace talks. Now it is being claimed that Abiy had a sinister motive to move against the well-armed regional government in Tigray. Indeed he soon enlisted a willing Eritrean government to create a brutal two-front assault on Tigray forces. In August 2020 when Abiy broke the transitional agreement for national elections, the Tigray region ignored the indefinite postponement and held Tigray regional elections, resulting in armed conflict with the Ethiopian national army, which has since 2020 been joined by Eritrean forces against Tigrayans.
        The Tigray group accused Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy of moving to create an Oromo dictatorship. Oromo people were a principle target of Tigray rule before they stepped down in 2018. The transitional agreement, somewhat like that under Mandela in South Africa, was an agreement of national reconciliation despite past injustices.
        It also promised the Tigray region political autonomy and protection against foreign (i.e. Eritrean) forces. But rather than prepare for free elections to create a truly federal state as agreed, Abiy began ''purging, and persecution of many key members of the Tigray TPLF including army generals and businesses. This led the TPLF and majority Tigrayan elites to believe they were deceived into giving up power with false promises,'' as Jawar Mohammed, an architect of the reconciliation and a leading organizer of the 2016 Ethiopian protests, described it. This is the broad background to the present situation. Jawar, an Oromo, coordinated the protests from the US where his Minneapolis-based Oromia Media Network of satellite TV was based. After he returned to Addis Ababa in 2018 hailed a hero of the liberation movement, the Stanford-educated Jawar was jailed in September 2020 as a terrorist on a phony pretext by Abiy. Abiy's bent for power was becoming clear.
        The damn dam
        As he consolidated power, Abiy also refused to negotiate a compromise on one of the most explosive issues in Africa'--construction of the huge Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that, when completed has the potential not only to generate electricity for Ethiopia, but also to cut off vital water from the Nile to Sudan and Egypt. For Abiy the GERD dam is a symbol of his drive to create a national unity around his rule.
        The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile that provides 85 percent of the Nile's discharge, began construction in 2011 at an estimated cost of $4.9 billion. It is some 30 kilometers from the border with Sudan. Abiy's regime has so far refused every attempt at negotiation on the dam with Egypt and Sudan. For around 100 million Egyptians, the Nile's waters are their ''single source of livelihood.'' More than 90% of water in Egypt comes from the Blue Nile. Egypt has called for UN intervention which Ethiopia's Abiy rejects out-of-hand. Abiy has begun filling the dam, a process that will take some 5-7 years, with no consultation on rate of fill or other vital features with either Sudan or Egypt. Egypt has threatened possible military action as has Sudan.
        Enter Jeffrey Feltman
        Into this explosive region now the Biden State Department has sent Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman to deal with the Horn of Africa. Feltman has a murky, even dark history. According to French strategic analyst Thierry Meyssan who lived in Damascus, Feltman as US Ambassador to Lebanon in 2005 organized the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. He organized a UN commission that suggested Syria's Assad was involved with the crime, part of a US plan to split Lebanon from the protection of Syria. Feltman then organized a Color revolution, dubbed the Cedar Revolution, demanding Syrian military and security forces leave Lebanon.
        Feltman, working together with then-head of the German government-funded foreign policy think-tank, SWP, Volker Perthes, a Syria specialist, advanced the Obama-Clinton Arab Spring across the Middle East from Cairo to Tripoli and beyond. Their focus after 2011 was to topple Bashar al-Assad in Syria and turn the country into rubble with support from Erdogan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Their aim was to bring the Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia) into power across the Mideast. Feltman was then the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs under Secretary Clinton. The two, Feltman and Perthes, continued their regime change collusion under UN auspices after June 2012, when Feltman was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, a position he held until April 2018.
        Feltman at the UN had a $250 million budget to intervene where he saw a ''UN'' necessity, and Syria was at the top of his list. The UN post took focus away from Washington's role in the Arab Spring destabilizations. He oversaw the recruiting of tens of thousands of Islamist mercenaries from Al Qaeda, ISIS (terrorist organizations, both banned in Russia) and other foreign terrorists to destroy Assad and Syria. It was part of a 2010 top secret Obama Presidential Study Directive-11 (PDS-11), calling for Washington's backing of the secret fundamentalist Islamic Muslim Brotherhood paramilitary sect across the Middle Eastern Muslim world'--and with it, the unleashing of a reign of terror that would change the entire world.
        Feltman, working quietly with Perthes who became UN's Special Envoy to Syria from 2015 to 2016 under Feltman, organized the Syrian opposition as well as financial support to recruit ISIS and Al Qaeda from abroad to destroy the Syrian regime aided by Turkey. The project hit a major roadblock after September 2015 when Russia, on request of the Syrian government, entered the Syrian war. In May 2021, the European Union renewed for one year its sanctions against any person or firm participating in the reconstruction of Syria, in accordance with the secret instructions issued, in 2017, by Jeffrey Feltman when he was serving as UN Under-Secretary General. The document was made public in 2018 by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
        Now Feltman is back in the region as Envoy to the Horn of Africa. His old co-conspirator, Volker Perthes, since February, 2021 is officially UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Sudan. To round out the old regime change team, Biden State Department has named Brett H McGurk to be National Security Council head for Near East and North Africa. When Feltman was organizing the Arab Spring and the destruction of Syria, McGurk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran from 2014 through January 2016. McGurk previously worked as advisor in 2004 to Iraq Ambassador John Negroponte and General David Petraeus to organize the Sunni vs Shi'ite civil war in Iraq that led to the later creation of ISIS.
        And China'...
        The regrouping of the Feltman team now in the Horn of Africa region suggests prospects for enduring peace and stability there are grim indeed. As Feltman put it, the Horn of Africa could make Syria look like ''child's play.'' It remains to be seen how China, the country with the largest investment in not only Ethiopia, but also in Eritrea, Sudan and in Egypt, will react to the new US deployments in the Horn of Africa. Virtually all of the sea trade between China and Europe passes the Horn of Africa along the Red Sea on its way to the Egyptian Suez Canal.
        China has extended well over $1 billion in credits to construct the electricity grid from the GERD dam to cities in Ethiopia. Beijing was far the largest foreign investor during the Tigray TPLF rule with some $14 billion in various projects as of 2018. Since the peace agreement with Ethiopia, China has bought two major mines in Eritrea for gold, copper and zinc. Previously Beijing was the largest investor in Eritrea during the years of war with Ethiopia, and has invested in modernizing of Eritrea's Massawa port to export copper and gold from China's mines there. In Sudan where Chinese oil companies have been active for more than two decades, China has a major stake in both Sudan and South Sudan. In Egypt where President El-Sisi has formally joined China's Belt and Road, there are major ties as well with Chinese investments into the Suez Canal region, container port terminals, telecommunications, light railways and coal power plants to as much as $20 billion. And just to add to the complexity, since 2017 the China PLA Navy has operated China's first overseas military base directly adjacent to the US Navy base at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti at the Horn of Africa.
        All this creates a geopolitical cocktail of ominous scale, and Washington is not bringing the most honest diplomats into the cocktail bar, but rather regime change specialists like Jeffrey Feltman.
        F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine''New Eastern Outlook''
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      Fit for 55 '-- EU Green Deal and the Industrial Collapse of Europe
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 04:35
        Fit for 55 '-- EU Green Deal and the Industrial Collapse of Europe By F. William Engdahl12 July 2021 Image: Attribution: Photo by Piqsels.com licensed under Public Domain. https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-swdrf
        One of the rare honest statements by Bill Gates was his remark in early 2021 that if you think covid measures are bad, wait until the measures for global warming. The European Union is in the process of imposing, top-down, the most draconian measures to date, that will effectively destroy modern industry across the face of the 27 states of the European Union. Under cute names such as ''Fit for 55'' and European Green Deal, measures are being finalized in Brussels by unelected technocrats that will cause the worst industrial unemployment and economic collapse since the crisis of the 1930s. Industries such as automobile or transport, power generation and steel are on the chopping block, all for an unproven hypothesis called manmade global warming. ''
        While most EU citizens have been distracted by endless restrictions over a flu-like pandemic called covid19, the technocrats at the EU Commission in Brussels have been preparing a program of planned dis-integration of the EU industrial economy. The convenient aspect of an unelected supranational group far away in Brussels or Strasbourg is that they are not accountable to any real voters. They even have a name for it: Democratic Deficit. If the measures about to be finalized by the EU Commission under German President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President for Global Warming Dutch technocrat Frans Timmermans, are enacted, here is a hint of what will happen.
        ''Fit for 55''
        On July 14, the EU Commission presents its ''Fit for 55'' green agenda. While the title sounds more like an ad for a middle-ager health studio, it will be the most draconian and destructive de-industrialization program ever imposed outside of war.
        Fit for 55 will be the central framework of new laws and rules from Brussels to reduce CO2 emissions dramatically, using schemes such as carbon taxes, emission caps and cap and trade schemes.
        In April 2021 the EU Commission announced a new EU climate target: Emissions to be reduced by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, up from the 40 percent as previously agreed. Hence the cute name ''Fit for 55.'' But the industry and workforce of the EU states will be anything but fit if the plan is advanced. Simply said, it is technocratic fascism being imposed without public debate on some 455 million EU citizens.
        This Fit for 55 is the first time in the world that a group of countries, the EU, officially imposes an agenda to force an absurd ''Zero'' CO2 by 2050 and 55% less CO2 by 2030. EU Green Deal czar, Commissioner Frans Timmermans said in May, ''We will strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System, update the Energy Taxation Directive, and propose new CO2 standards for cars, new energy efficiency standards for buildings, new targets for renewables, and new ways of supporting clean fuels and infrastructure for clean transport.'' In reality it will destroy the transport industry, steel, cement as well as coal and gas fuel electric generation.
        Here are major parts of the sinister Fit For 55.
        Cars and Trucks
        A major target of the EU Green Deal will be measures that will force internal combustion engine vehicles'' gasoline or diesel cars and trucks'--to adhere to such punitive CO2 emission limits that they will be forced off the roads by 2030 if not sooner. The plan will change the current target of a 37.5% reduction in vehicle CO2 emissions by 2030 to a rumored zero emissions by 2035.
        On July 7 a coalition of trade unions, transport industry companies and suppliers including the European Trade Union Confederation and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, wrote an urgent appeal to EU Green Czar Frans Timmermans. They stated, '''...we want to see industrial transformation and innovation in Europe, rather than de-industrialisation and social disruption.'' The letter pointed out that the EU has no plans for a so-called ''Just Transition'' for the EU auto industry including no new skills training for displaced workers: ''Currently, there is no such framework for the 16 million workers in our mobility eco-system, and notably Europe's automotive sector which is a powerhouse of industrial employment.''
        This is no minor issue as the transition from internal combustion engine cars and trucks to E-autos will mean a huge unprecedented disruption to the present auto supplier chains. The letter points out that EU-wide, the auto sector has 8.5% of all European manufacturing jobs and in 2019 produced nearly 10% of GDP in Germany alone, along with 40% of the country's research and development spending. The EU today makes up more than 50% of the world's exports of auto products. They point out that the transition to zero CO2 vehicles will mean a loss of at least 2.4 million skilled, high-wage jobs across the EU. Entire regions will become depressed. The letter points out that Brussels has yet to even map the consequences for the auto sector of the Green Deal.
        In April German EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated July Fit for 55 could extend a draconian carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) from beyond power plants or industry to cover road transport and buildings in a ''polluter pays'' add on. The tie to the ETS will automatically force financial penalties on drivers or home owners beyond the present carbon taxes despite a very limited impact of some 3% on emissions. This, on top of tighter auto emission standards, will deal a killer blow to consumers and industry. When the French government imposed such a carbon tax in 2018 it triggered the Yellow Vests national protests and forced Paris to withdraw it.
        Steel
        The drastic EU plan contains new provisions that will mean drastic change for the energy-intensive EU steel and cement industries. Steel is the second biggest industry in the world after oil and gas. Currently the EU is the second largest producer of steel in the world after China. Its output is over 177 million tons of steel a year, or 11% of global output. But the Timmermans plan will introduce new measures that ostensibly penalize steel imports from ''dirty'' producers, but that in fact will make EU steel less competitive globally. Leaks of the EU plan indicate that they plan to eliminate current free ETS pollution permits for energy-intensive industries such as steel or cement. That will deal a devastating blow to both essential industries. They call it the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. As the Center for European Policy Network points out, EU steel exporters will ''not receive any compensation for the discontinuation of the free allocation. As a result, they suffer considerable competitive disadvantages compared to their competitors from third countries.''
        Coal Carbon Taxes
        The EU's new 55% climate target for 2030 implies a near-complete coal phase-out by 2030 in the whole EU. This will hit Germany, far the largest EU coal power user. The German government, already with the world's most expensive electric power owing to the Merkel Energiewende transition to unreliable solar and wind that will see the last nuclear power plant closed in 2022, has just recently dropped its plan to phase out coal by 2038. It will phase out far earlier, but for obvious political reasons in an election year, has not revealed its new ''zero coal'' date.
        The absurdity of believing the EU, especially Germany, will be able to achieve zero coal by 2030, replacing not even with natural gas, but rather unreliable solar and wind, is already clear. On January 1, 2021 as part of the Government mandate on coal power reduction, 11 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 4.7 GW were shut down. That phase out lasted eight days as several of the coal power plants had to be reconnected to the grid to avoid blackouts due to a prolonged low-wind period. The shut coal plants were ordered to operate on reserve status at the cost of the consumers. The Berlin government commission that drafted the coal phase-out plan included no power industry representatives nor any power grid experts.
        With the new element of the destructive EU Commission Fit for 55 plan, the heart of European industry, Germany, is pre-programmed not only for severe industrial unemployment in steel, cement and auto sectors. It is also pre-programmed for power blackouts such as that that devastated Texas in early 2021 when wind mills froze. In 2022 in Germany, as noted, the last nuclear plant along with other coal power will be closed, removing 3% of the power. An added 6,000 wind turbines also will exit due to age, for a total cut of 7%. Yet planned addition of new wind and solar doesn't come close to replace that, so that by 2022 Germany could have a shortfall of between 10% and 15% in capacity on the generation side.
        WEF Great Reset and EU Green Deal
        The hard thing for ordinary sane citizens to grasp with this EU Fit for 55 and the Davos Great Reset or the related UN Agenda 2030 globally, is that it is all a deliberate technocratic plan for dis-integration of the economy, using the fraudulent excuse of an unproven global warming danger that claims'' based on dodgy computer models that ignore influence of our sun on Earth climate cycles'' that we will see catastrophe by 2030 if the world does not slash harmless and life-essential CO2 emissions.
        The ever-active Davos World Economic Forum as part of its Great Reset is also playing a significant role in shaping the EU Commission's Europe Green Deal. In January 2020, the World Economic Forum at its Annual Meeting in Davos brought together leaders from industry and business with Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans to explore how to catalyze the European Green Deal. The July 14 unveiling by Brussels is the result. The WEF supports the CEO Action Group for the European Green Deal to get major corporations behind the Brussels dystopian plan.
        F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine''New Eastern Outlook''
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      And We Should Trust 'The Science' of the Pharma Industry?
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 04:30
        And We Should Trust 'The Science' of the Pharma Industry? By F. William Engdahl29 July 2021 Image: Attribution: Credit: Photo by NIH. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Credit: NIH. Licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0). https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/49673229573
        The forever-head of the US NIAID, Tony Fauci, has repeatedly demanded that the public ''trust the science'' as he shifts his own science opinion from one positon to another. What is never mentioned in mainstream media in the West or almost anywhere in the world is the scientific record of the major global vaccine making pharmaceutical giants. In short, it is abysmal and alarming in the extreme. That alone should prohibit governments from pushing radical untested experimental injections on their populations without extensive long-term animal and other testing to assure their safety. ''
        This past April as the US vaccination program was in high gear, the Biden chief covid adviser, 80-year-old Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) since 1984, announced that the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had decided to order a ''pause'' on giving the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine in order to examine reports of blood clots. It turned out that there were six reported blood clot cases of some seven million who then had had the J&J covid jab. Fauci in his press remarks declared, ''one of the things that's, I think, such a good thing about our system here, is that we're ruled by the science, not by any other consideration.'' There is good reason to question Fauci.
        That was supposed to reassure people that the authorities were being ultra-careful with the experimental covid medications which, after all, never have been mass-tested on humans before and have only gotten ''emergency use authorization,'' provisional FDA approval. The FDA quickly lifted the pause as J&J agreed to print that its vaccine could cause blood clots.
        Yet at the same time, rival vaccine makers, Pfizer and Moderna, both using a hyper-experimental genetic treatment known as mRNA, were not being paused by ''the science'' despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of alarming vaccine-related severe reactions, including official data of several thousand deaths from both, had been recorded by CDC data base, VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System).
        According to the CDC such ''adverse'' events, post-vaccine, include anaphylaxis, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, myocarditis, pericarditis, and death. For the week of July 16 the CDC VAERS reported an alarming 9,125 reported deaths since late December from the COVID-19 vaccinations. Never in history have such high death totals been associated with any vaccine, yet the media is deafeningly silent about this.
        Their dismal science record
        The wording of Fauci is precise and deliberately manipulative. It suggests that there exists some fixed thing we can call ''The Science,'' like some Vatican religious dogma, whereas the real scientific method is one of continuous questioning, overturning past hypotheses with newly proven ones, adjusting. Yet when it comes to ''Science,'' the handful of giant vaccine makers, sometimes known as Big Pharma, a cartel not unlike Big Oil, have a record of fraud, deliberate doctoring of their own tests, as well as widespread bribing of doctors and medical officials to promote their various drugs despite ''Science'' results that contradict their assertions of safety. A look at the major global pharmaceutical giants is instructive.
        J&J
        We begin with the Johnson & Johnson Company of New Jersey. On July 21, 2021 J&J and three other smaller drug makers agreed to pay a staggering $26 billion damages to a group of US states for their role in causing America's opioid epidemic. Of that J&J will pay $5 billion. The CDC estimates that use of the highly-addictive opioids as painkillers caused at least 500,000 deaths between 1999 and 2019. Johnson & Johnson is accused of pushing the deadly painkillers for excessive use and downplaying their addiction risks. They knew better.
        The same J&J is in a huge legal battle for knowingly using a carcinogen in its famous baby powder. A 2018 Reuters investigation found J&J knew for decades that asbestos, a known carcinogen, lurked in its baby powder and other cosmetic talc products. The company is reportedly considering legally splitting its baby powder division into a small separate company that would then declare bankruptcy to avoid large payouts. The J&J covid vaccine, unlike that from Pfizer and Moderna, does not use mRNA genetic alteration.
        The two global covid vaccine makers which have by far the largest market to date are the two being personally promoted by Fauci. These are from Pfizer in alliance with the tiny German BioNTech company under the name Comirnaty, and from the US biotech Moderna.
        Pfizer
        Pfizer, one of the world's largest vaccine makers by sales, was founded in 1849 in the USA. It also has one of the most criminal records of fraud, corruption, falsification and proven damage. A 2010 Canadian study noted, ''Pfizer has been a ''habitual offender,'' persistently engaging in illegal and corrupt marketing practices, bribing physicians and suppressing adverse trial results.'' That's serious. Note that Pfizer has yet to make fully public details of its covid vaccine studies for external examination.
        The list of Pfizer crimes has gotten longer since 2010. It is currently engaged in lawsuits related to charges its Zantac heartburn medication is contaminated with a cancer-causing substance. As well, Pfizer received the biggest drug-related fine in US history in 2009 as part of a $2.3 Billion plea deal for mis-promoting medicines Bextra and Celebrex and paying kickbacks to compliant doctors. Pfizer pleaded guilty to the felony of marketing four drugs including Bextra ''with the intent to defraud or mislead.'' They were forced to withdraw their arthritis painkiller Bextra in the USA and EU for causing heart attacks, strokes, and serious skin disease.
        Clearly in a move to boost revenue, Pfizer illegally paid doctors kickbacks for ''off-label'' use of more than one of its drug which resulted in patients being injured or killed. Among them were Bextra (valdecoxib); Geodon (ziprasidone HCl), an atypical antipsychotic; Zyvox (linezolid), an antibiotic; Lyrica (pregabalin), a seizure medication; its famous Viagra (sildenafil), an erectile dysfunction drug; and Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol drug.
        In another court trial, Pfizer subsidiaries were forced to pay $142 million and release company documents that showed it was illegally marketing gabapentin for off-label use. ''Data revealed in a string of U.S. lawsuits indicates the drug was promoted by the drug company as a treatment for pain, migraines and bipolar disorder '' even though it wasn't effective in treating these conditions and was actually toxic in certain cases, according to the Therapeutics Initiative, an independent drug research group at the University of British Columbia. The trials forced the company to release all of its studies on the drug, including the ones it kept hidden.''
        In 2004 Pfizer subsidiary Warner-Lambert was forced to pay $430 to settle criminal charges and civil liability arising from its fraudulent marketing practices with respect to Neurontin, its brand for the drug gabapentin. Originally developed for the treatment of epilepsy, Neurontin was illegally promoted off-label for the treatment of neurological pain, and in particular for migraine and bipolar disorder '' even though it wasn't effective in treating these conditions and was actually toxic in some cases. Neurontin for unapproved uses made up some 90% of the $2.7 billion in sales in 2003.
        A New York Times report disclosed in 2010 that Pfizer '''...paid about $20 million to 4,500 doctors and other medical professionals in the United States for consulting and speaking on its behalf in the last six months of 2009.'' It paid another $15.3 million to 250 academic medical centers and other research groups for clinical trials. In the US legal practice it is seldom that corporate executives actually doing the criminal deeds are prosecuted. The result is that court fines can be treated as ''business costs'' in this cynical milieu. In eight years of repeated malfeasance through 2009, Pfizer accumulated just under $3 billion in fines and civil penalties, about a third of one year's net revenues.
        In 2020 as its covid vaccine was in development, Pfizer paid $13,150,000 in lobbying Congress and officials in Washington among others. Also notable is the fact that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation own shares of both Pfizer and their partner in the leading mRNA vaccine, BioNTech of Germany.
        Moderna
        The third covid vaccine producer today with FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is Moderna of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has yet to be sued for illegal practices unlike J&J or Pfizer. But that fact is likely only because before its EUA for its mRNA experimental vaccine, in its ten years existence since 2010 it had failed to get FDA approval to market a single medicine, despite repeated failed attempts. However Moderna has a red neon sign that reads ''conflict of interest'' that should give pause.
        Moderna and Fauci's NIAID have collaborated on development of vaccines using Moderna's mRNA platform and NIAID of Fauci on coronaviruses including MERS, since at least November, 2015. On January 13, 2020, before the first case of a supposed Wuhan, China ''novel coronavirus'' was even detected in the United States, Fauci's NIAID and Moderna signed an updated cooperation agreement which described them as co-owners of a mRNA based coronavirus and that they had finalized a sequence for mRNA-1273, the vaccine now being given to millions for supposedly averting the novel coronavirus. That means that Fauci's NIAID and perhaps Fauci personally (it's allowed in the US) stood to reap huge financial benefits from emergency approval of the Moderna jab, yet Fauci has never admitted to the conflict publicly when he was Trump corona adviser, nor as Biden's.
        Ten days later on January 23, 2020 Moderna announced it was granted funding by CEPI, a vaccine fund created by Bill Gates' foundation along with Davos WEF among others, to develop an mRNA vaccine for the Wuhan virus.
        Moderna was created by a venture capitalist, Noubar Afeyan along with Harvard professor Timothy A. Springer, and others. In 2011 Afeyan recruited French businessman and former Eli Lilly executive Stephane Bancel as CEO of the new Moderna. Despite having no medical or science degree nor any experience running a drug development operation, Bancel lists himself as co-patent holder for a hundred patents of Moderna tied to the different vaccines. Beginning in 2013 the tiny Moderna was receiving grants from the Pentagon to develop its mRNA technology. As of 2020 just prior to its receiving emergency use authorization from the US Government FDA, fully 89% of Moderna revenues were from US Government grants. This is hardly an experienced company yet it holds the fate of millions in its hands. As Fauci says, ''Trust the Science.''
        In February 2016, an editorial in Nature magazine criticized Moderna for not publishing any peer-reviewed papers on its technology, unlike most other emerging and established biotech companies. The company remains ultra-secretive. That same year, 2016 Moderna got $20 million from the Gates Foundation for vaccine development using mRNA.
        Up to its receiving EUA approval for its covid mRNA product in December 2020 Moderna had only made losses since its founding. Then curiously, following a March 2020 personal meeting with then-President Trump where Bancel told the president Moderna could have a vaccine ready in a matter of months Moderna luck changed.
        On May 15, Trump announced creation of Operation Warp Seed to rollout a COVID-19 vaccine by December. The head of the Presidential group was a 30-year R&D veteran of the large UK drug firm GSK, Moncef Slaoui. In 2017 Slaoui had resigned from GSK and joined the board of none other than Moderna. Under Slaoui's Warp Speed, some $22 billion of US taxpayer money was thrown at different vaccine makers. Moderna was a prime recipient, a brazen conflict of interest but nobody seemed to care. Slaoui funneled some $2 billion in government funds to his old company, Moderna, to develop the mRNA covid vaccine. Only under public criticism did Slaoui sell his stock in Moderna, making millions in profit from Moderna's role as a covid vaccine leading candidate. Shortly after resigning at the end of the Trump presidency, Slaoui was fired by his old firm GSK from a company subsidiary following charges of sexual harassment of a female employee.
        In February 2020 Trump Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP) to exempt Moderna, Pfizer, J&J and any future covid makers from any and all liability arising from damage or death caused by their vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus. The legal protection lasts until 2024. If the vaccines are so good and safe, why is such a measure needed? Azar was former head of the US drug giant Eli Lilly. There are some serious questions that must be raised openly regarding the vaccine makers who are now pushing experimental highly controversial gene-edited formulations in human experiments.
        F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine''New Eastern Outlook''
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      China Targets Alaska With Earthquake Weapon After Pentagon Suffers Devastating Losses In Classified Wargames
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        What You Aren'tBeing Told About The World You Live In
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        ChinaTo Retaliate After Weather Weapon Attack As Russia Asks If Americans ''Will Die For A Robot''
        July 29, 2021
        China Targets AlaskaWith Earthquake Weapon After Pentagon Suffers Devastating Losses In ClassifiedWargames
        By: Sorcha Faal, and as reportedto her Western Subscribers
        A mind-blowing new Security Council(SC) reportcirculating in the Kremlin today,whose transcript of sees Security CouncilMembers discussing a classified at the highest level '' Of Special Importance '' documentprepared by the General Directorate ofthe General Staff of the Armed Forces (GRU),first notes in the portions of this highly-classified document permitted to beopenly discussed by various ministries that, at 06:10 GMT this morning, AerospaceDefence Forces (ADF)detected a 1,900-megawatt beam ofenergy ( enoughenergy to supply 1.9-million homes ) directed into theionosphere emanatingfrom the island of Hainan, which is thesmallest and southernmost province of the People'sRepublic of China (PRC)'--anunannounced test by the People'sLiberation Army (PLA) oftheir giant new ionosphere weapon system located on Hainan'--after which, at 06:15 GMT, the Alaskan Peninsula was rocked by huge 8.2-magnitudeearthquake, that makes it the sixth largest in recorded American history .
        This report notes that just two daysago, Security Council Members discussed their fears that Chinawould soon retaliate against the UnitedStates for using its High-frequencyActive Auroral Research Program (HAARP)ionosphere weapon to trigger rainfall in China not seen in a 1,000-years, that'scaused catastrophic flooding '--is a HAARP weapon so feared,the 1992 final report issued by the State Duma about its capabilitiesstated: '' Under the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, theU.S. is creating a new integral geophysical weapon that may influence thenear-Earth medium with high-frequency radio waves...The significance of thisqualitative leap could be compared to the transition from cold steel to firearms, or from conventional weapons to nuclear weapons '''--then in 2010, it saw the commander of the Northern Fleet reporting to PresidentPutin that the Americans used their HAARP weapon to create a ''vortex'' in the Gulf of Aden thatchallenged all the laws of physics .
        In 2018, this report details, the PLA began construction on their own giant ionosphereweapon that was estimated to have only several hundred megawatts, compared toHAARP's 5.1 gigawatts of power '--but with the PLA knowingwhat the Northern Fleet encountered in the Gulf of Aden when HAARPwas activated ,when the skies over China began to erupt with bizarre electricalphenomena it wasno wonder they rushed over these past few weeks to activate their giantionosphere weapon.
        The Chinese retaliatory attack against HAARP, this report continues, immediately followed it beingstunningly revealed that the Pentagon is in total panic and rapidly seeking a newwarfighting paradigm after it suffered devastating losses in classifiedwargames '-- failed Pentagon wargames which simulated a battle forTaiwan among other scenarios '--are devastating Pentagonwargame losses coming at the same time top USdefense experts are grimly reporting: '' The U.S. Navy is on the verge of strategic bankruptcy'...Itsfleet isn't large enough to meet global day-to-day demands for naval forces'...Dueto repeated deployments and maintenance backlogs, the fleet also isn't readyenough to meet these demands safely, nor can it quickly surge in anemergency'...Finally, the fleet isn't capable enough to meet the challenges posedby China's increasingly modern and aggressive People's Liberation Army Navy '''--sees these top US defense experts furtherwarning that the US Navy is in direstraights caused by '' bureaucratic bloat and catastrophic reforms, brought about bydecades of weak leadership and gross mismanagement '''--and because of the woke rampage through theUS Navy ordered by Supreme Socialist Leader Joe Biden toindoctrinate all of its forces, this week saw one of its top commanders gravelyreporting: '' We were expecting trouble in the Pacific, but we were onlyready for inspection ''.
        This report concludes with Security Council Members in thistranscript discussing the''Hornet Nest'' attack by NATO forcesthat killed 14 Russian sailors in July-2019 '--a discussion whose entirety of is redactedfrom this transcript because of its highest classification level'--though thisdiscussion is, most certainly, directly related to the Chinese attack on HAARP,specifically because right after this NATOattack, Russia unleashed its earthquake weapon on America in swiftretaliation causing more than $5-billion in damage to the Naval Air WeaponsStation China Lake in California '--a Russian earthquake weaponthe Americans already knew existed,because the highest ranking former SovietUnion GRU officer to ever defect to the US, Stanislav Lunev, revealed to the Americans Russia's most secret war plans andspecial weapons '--andas he described in the following exchange :
        Question from B: Newkinds of weapons seem to be coming out of Russia, here is a new one on me,maybe a lot of other people, what is a seismic weapon and was/ is the Russiangovernment doing to produce them?
        Lunev answer: This is actually artificial earthquake, which could begenerated by special devices, which increase natural seismic waves, which areunder our (Earth's) surface and explode like natural earthquake with allfollowing circumstances. Its actually,this weapon development was in place for about more than 20 years and in themid of 80s there have been several fields tests of this weapons and maybe youheard this Armenian city Spitak was totally destroyed.
        Question from B: Good lord,don't tell me that was a Soviet test?
        Lunev answer: It was anaccidental explosion.
        Question from B: That was anartificially induced earthquake?
        Lunev answer: It wasaccidental explosion of earthquake which was generated by the test of seismicweapons.
        [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing inquotes in this report are English language approximations of Russianwords/phrases having no exact counterpart.]
        July 29, 2021 (C) EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this reportin its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked to its originalsource at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.
        [ Note :Many governments and their intelligence services actively campaign against theinformation found in these reports so as not to alarm their citizens about themany catastrophic Earth changes and events to come, a stance that the Sisters of Sorcha Faal strongly disagree with in believing that it is every human being's right toknow the truth. Due to our mission's conflicts with that of those governments,the responses of their 'agents' has been a longstandingmisinformation/misdirection campaign designed to discredit us, and others like us,that is exampled in numerous places, including HERE .]
        [ Note: The WhatDoesItMean.com website was created for anddonated to the Sisters of Sorcha Faal in 2003 by a small group of Americancomputer experts led by the late global technology guru Wayne Green (1922-2013) tocounter the propaganda being used by the West to promote their illegal 2003invasion of Iraq.]
        [ Note: The word Kremlin (fortress inside a city) as used inthis report refers to Russian citadels, including in Moscow, having cathedrals wherein femaleSchema monks (Orthodox nuns) reside, many of whom are devoted to the mission ofthe Sisters of Sorcha Faal.]
        Next Chapter Of American Civil War'--United States OfYugoslavia?
        Those Who Created Covid WILL Hang'--China Says It Won't BeThem
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      BREAKING: Sky News Australia SUSPENDED from YouTube - Rebel News
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 04:06
        YouTube has reportedly banned Sky News in Australia from posting to their 1.85M followers for allegedly breaching the platforms Covid misinformation policy.
        Sky News Australia, which usually publishes dozens of videos a day, hasn't posted a video for more than two days to the platform. The news channel continues to post as usual to their Facebook page.
        The suspension follows the Daily Telegraph cancelling Sky News presenter Alan Jones' column.
        Alan Jones has been an outspoken critic of the government's Covid mandates since the pandemic began.
        The popular presenter's videos have often gone viral on the Sky News YouTube channel.
        Rebel News approached Sky News Australia for comment.
        Want to avoid the censorship?Sign up for our mailing list here and follow Rebel News on Rumble here.
        UPDATE:YouTube has responded to media requests confirming the Sky News Australia channel was issued a strike. A channel is allowed up to three strikes before being terminated. The first strike carries a one-week suspension.
        #BREAKING: YouTube has responded to us amid reports that Sky News' channel has been suspended.No definitive answer however, with Sky not uploading for 2 days.@6NewsAU #auspol pic.twitter.com/fLI04DZKqg
        '-- Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) August 1, 2021
      Karine Jean-Pierre - Wikipedia
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        Karine Jean-Pierre (born August 13, 1977) is an American political campaign organizer, activist, political commentator, and author. Since January 2021, she has been White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary in the Biden Administration. Jean-Pierre served as the chief of staff for Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on the 2020 United States presidential campaign and was the first Black woman to ever hold that position. Previously, Jean-Pierre was the senior advisor and national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org and a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Jean-Pierre is a former lecturer in international and public affairs at Columbia University.
        Early life and education Edit Jean-Pierre was born in Fort-de-France, Martinique to Haitian parents,[2] and was raised in Queens Village, Queens[3] from age 5, the oldest of three siblings.[4][5] Her mother worked as a home health aide, and her father was a taxi driver.[6] Since both parents worked most days of the week, Jean-Pierre was often responsible for caring for her younger siblings.[5] She is a graduate of the New York Institute of Technology[7] and received her MPA from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (SIPA) in 2003, where she served in student government and decided to pursue politics.[8][6]
        Early career Edit Following graduate school, Jean-Pierre worked as the director of legislative and budget affairs for New York City councilor James F. Gennaro. In 2006, she was hired as the outreach coordinator for Walmart Watch in Washington, D.C.[6]
        Jean-Pierre was the southeast regional political director for John Edwards' presidential campaign in 2008.[9][4] She joined the Columbia University faculty in 2014, where she is a lecturer in international and public affairs.[10][11]
        Obama administration Edit During the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign, Jean-Pierre was the campaign's southeast regional political director [9][1] and was the regional political director for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Obama administration's first term.[12][13][1][14]
        In 2011, Jean-Pierre served as National Deputy Battleground States Director for President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.[1][13][4] She led the delegate selection and ballot access process and managed the political engagement in key states,[9] providing resources to help states determine "the best way for them to get the word out for the campaign."[12]
        Jean-Pierre served as the deputy campaign manager for the Martin O'Malley 2016 presidential campaign,[9][1][4]
        Private career Edit In April 2016, MoveOn.org named Jean-Pierre a senior advisor and national spokesperson for the 2016 presidential election. In a press release announcing the hire, MoveOn said she would "advise on and serve as a spokesperson around MoveOn's electoral work, including a major effort to stand up to Donald Trump."[15]
        On June 1, 2019, Jean-Pierre moderated MoveOn forum featuring vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris when an animal rights activist jumped onto the stage and rushed at Harris, grabbing her microphone. Jean-Pierre intervened physically, standing between Harris and the protester until security, including Harris's husband Doug Emhoff, removed the man from the stage.[1][16][17][18][19]
        In January 2019, Jean-Pierre became a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.[20]
        Biden administration Edit Jean-Pierre gives her first White House press briefing on May 26, 2021
        Jean-Pierre served as a senior advisor to the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign. She joined the Biden team in May 2020, and explained to The Haitian Times that a desire to shape the future was especially motivating: When she was approached by the campaign, she looked at her daughter ''and I thought to myself, 'There is no way I can not get involved in this election.'''[6] In August 2020, it was announced that Jean-Pierre would serve as the Chief of Staff for Biden's vice presidential nominee, who had not yet been announced.[21]
        On November 29, 2020, the Biden transition team announced that Jean-Pierre had been tapped to be the Principal Deputy Press Secretary.[22] On May 26, 2021, Jean-Pierre gave her first White House press briefing, becoming the first openly gay woman to do so[23] and the first Black woman to do so since 1991.[24] She was named to Fast Company's Queer 50 list in 2021.[25]
        Activism Edit Jean-Pierre has worked at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics.[26] In December 2018, the Haitian Times named her one of six "Haitian Newsmakers Of The Year".[11]
        Personal life Edit As of 2020[update], Jean-Pierre lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her partner, CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, and their daughter.[6]
        In an interview regarding her work as an openly gay staffer[27][6] in the Obama White House, she said: "What's been wonderful is that I was not the only; I was one of many. President Obama didn't hire LGBT staffers, he hired experienced individuals who happen to be LGBT," she says. "Serving and working for President Obama where you can be openly gay has been an amazing honor. It felt incredible to be a part of an administration that prioritizes LGBT issues."[14]
        Jean-Pierre's first book, Moving Forward, was published in 2019. It is described by WJLA as "part memoir, part call to arms," in which she recounts her personal and professional life and encourages people to become involved in politics.[28]
        She is fluent in French, English, and Haitian Creole.[6]
        Book Edit Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America. New York: Hanover Square Press. November 5, 2019. ISBN 978-1-335-91783-6. See also Edit Organizing for AmericaReferences Edit ^ a b c d e f Lorand, Karl. "Kamala Harris et Karine Jean-Pierre, deux femmes noires et carib(C)ennes dans le premier cercle de Joe Biden". www.rci.fm (in French). Archived from the original on November 8, 2020 . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ "Karine Jean-Pierre". The Haitian Roundtable. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020 . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ Watson, Jessica (October 30, 2012). "A conversation with former Obama aide, Karine Jean-Pierre". SheKnows Media. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017 . Retrieved March 16, 2017 . ^ a b c d "Karine Jean-Pierre: Five Things To Know About Kamala Harris' New Powerhouse Chief Of Staff". BET. August 13, 2020. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020 . Retrieved November 25, 2020 . ^ a b Woodruff, Julie (November 26, 2019). "Karine Jean-Pierre on her mental health struggle and a blueprint for activism". PBS Newsour. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021 . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ a b c d e f g Bojarski, Sam (October 23, 2020). "Karine Jean-Pierre: Biden Adviser And The Face Of An Inclusive America". The Haitian Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020 . Retrieved November 25, 2020 . ^ "Four Women Who Will Handle the Media in the Biden White House". The New York Times. December 1, 2020. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020 . Retrieved December 4, 2020 . ^ "FEMALE RISING '' 7 Caribbean American Women Making Waves". News America Now. March 15, 2018. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019 . Retrieved May 14, 2019 . ^ a b c d "Karine Jean-Pierre: Biography". School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Archived from the original on June 21, 2017 . Retrieved May 14, 2019 . ^ Norris, Molly (January 15, 2018). "Political activist Karine Jean-Pierre encourages action, proactivity in speech". The Michigan Daily. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021 . Retrieved May 14, 2019 . ^ a b "Haitian Newsmakers Of The Year". Haitian Times. December 27, 2018. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019 . Retrieved May 14, 2019 . ^ a b Johnson, Chris (September 8, 2011). "Behind the scenes of the Obama campaign". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017 . Retrieved March 16, 2017 . ^ a b Allen, Mike (August 25, 2011). "Obama 2012 launches Project Vote". Politico. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017 . Retrieved March 16, 2017 . ^ a b "Women on the Verge Part Two". The Advocate. June 9, 2011. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018 . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ "MoveOn.com Names Karine Jean-Pierre As Senior Advisor & National Spokesperson for 2016 Elections". Politico. April 27, 2016. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017 . Retrieved March 16, 2017 . ^ Gstalter, Morgan (June 4, 2019). "Moderator describes defending Harris from protester: 'Here comes this guy with all of his male privilege ' ". TheHill. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020 . Retrieved August 11, 2020 . ^ "Karine Jean-Pierre protects Kamala Harris like a Wakanda warrior". June 2, 2019. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020 . Retrieved August 11, 2020 . ^ Vasquez, Christian; Cadelago, Christopher. "Protester grabs Kamala Harris' microphone at San Francisco forum". POLITICO. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021 . Retrieved August 21, 2020 . ^ " ' It was a scary moment:' Karine Jean-Pierre reacts to protestor rushing stage at Kamala Harris event". MSNBC.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020 . Retrieved August 11, 2020 . ^ Concha, Joe (January 8, 2019). "MoveOn.org senior adviser joins NBC, MSNBC as political analyst". The Hill. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019 . Retrieved May 14, 2019 . ^ Wilkie, Christina (August 11, 2020). "Biden campaign prepares for VP pick announcement". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020 . Retrieved August 11, 2020 . ^ Swasey, Benjamin (November 29, 2020). "Biden Names All-Female White House Communications Team; Will Tap Tanden For OMB". NPR. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021 . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ Rascoe, Ayesha (May 26, 2021). "Karine Jean-Pierre Is The 1st Black Woman In Decades To Brief White House Press". NPR . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ Malloy, Allie; Kelly, Caroline. "Karine Jean-Pierre becomes first Black woman in 30 years to host daily White House press briefing". CNN . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ "Announcing Fast Company's second annual Queer 50 list". Fast Company . Retrieved June 3, 2021 . ^ "Karine Jean-Pierre: The Child of Haitian Immigrants Who Became the Forefront of U.S. Politics". L'Union Suite. August 16, 2017. Archived from the original on August 7, 2018 . Retrieved August 13, 2018 . ^ Fitzsimons, Tim (August 19, 2020). "Harris' chief of staff Karine Jean-Pierre on how a Biden win could deliver LGBTQ gains". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021 . Retrieved May 27, 2021 . ^ "Karine Jean-Pierre on "Moving Forward" and inspiring a new generation of changemakers". WJLA-TV. November 8, 2019. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021 . Retrieved November 25, 2020 . External links Edit Media related to Karine Jean-Pierre at Wikimedia Commons
        Official website Appearances on C-SPAN
      2003 Texas redistricting - Wikipedia
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 01:35
        The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a controversial mid-decade state plan that defined new Congressional districts. In the 2004 elections, this redistricting supported the Republicans taking a majority of Texas's House seats for the first time since Reconstruction. Opponents challenged the plan in three suits, combined when the case went to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006).
        Comparison of U.S. House election results for Texas in 2002 and 2004 after the creation of new boundaries for congressional districts following mid-term redistricting in 2003. Blue denotes a
        Democratic hold, dark red denotes a
        Republican hold, and light red denotes a Republican gain.
        On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the statewide redistricting as constitutional, with the exception of Texas' 23rd congressional district, which it held was racially gerrymandered in violation of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, apparently to try to protect a Hispanic Republican representative. A three-judge Federal District Court redrew District 23 and four other nearby districts: 15, 21, 25, and 28. In November 2006, a special election was held in the new districts. All incumbents won except in District 23. There, Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla was forced into a December run-off after a jungle primary; he lost to Democratic challenger Ciro Rodriguez.
        Overview Edit After Republicans won control of the Texas state legislature in 2002 for the first time in 130 years, they intended to work toward establishing a majority of House of Representatives seats from Texas held by their party. After the 2002 election, Democrats had a 17''15 edge in House seats representing Texas or 53% of the seats to Republican's 47%, although the state's voted for Republicans in congressional races 53.3%''43.8%.[1] After a protracted partisan struggle, the legislature enacted a new congressional districting map, Plan 1374C, introduced in the Texas House by Representative Phil King of Weatherford. In the 2004 congressional elections, Republicans won 21 seats to the Democrats' 11,[2] which suggested they had considerably surpassed their margin of preference among voters.
        On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion that threw out one of the districts in the plan as a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act because of racial gerrymandering. It ordered the lower court to produce a remedial plan, which it did in Plan 1440C. The Supreme Court ruling was not considered to seriously threaten Republican gains from the 2004 elections.[3]
        1991''2003 evolution and Tom DeLay's role Edit The Texas Legislature had last enacted a Congressional redistricting plan in 1991, following the 1990 census. At the time, Democrats held both the governor's seat (with Ann Richards) and control of both state legislative branches. By the 2000 census, Republicans had recaptured the state executive branch, having elected Governor George W. Bush and Lt. Governor Rick Perry, as well as control of the Texas Senate. Democrats maintained their majority in the Texas House of Representatives.
        In 2001, Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on new district maps to respond to the latest census. The Republican minority recommended the issue be submitted to a panel of judges, per state law. The judges, being "hesitant to undo the work of one political party for the benefit of another",[4] drew a new map which left many of the 1991 districts intact. It yielded a 17 to 15 Democratic majority in Texas's US House delegation after the 2002 elections.
        For Texas House and Senate redistricting, the Texas Constitution provides that the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB) convenes when the state legislature is unable to approve, for either body, a redistricting plan in the first legislative session following the National Census. In June 2001, the task of redistricting passed to the LRB after the state legislature failed to pass a redistricting plan for either the House or Senate.[5] The LRB consists of five statewide officials, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Attorney General, the State Comptroller, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Four of these five officials were Republican, and the resulting redistricting plans were seen as favorable to Republicans.
        In September 2001, then House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (TX-22) organized Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), a political action committee designed to gather campaign funds for Republican candidates throughout Texas'--in particular with an eye to gaining control of the state House Speakership, then held by Democrat Pete Laney. TRMPAC was modeled closely after DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), a federal-level organization created to raise funds for Republicans during the 2000 national elections.[6] Simultaneously, as has been well documented in the media, DeLay played a key role in the ongoing Texas redistricting effort.
        In 2002, after winning a majority of seats in the State House of Representatives, Republicans gained complete control of the legislature. With the urging of Governor Rick Perry and Tom Delay, who had assumed the position of US House Majority Leader in January 2003, the Republican majority introduced legislation to redraw the court-drawn districts from 2001.
        Lacking sufficient votes to stop the new plan, 52 Democratic members fled the state to prevent a quorum in the Texas House, effectively preventing a vote from taking place during the regular session. The 52 Democrats, known as the "Killer Ds", returned to the state when time had expired for the bill. But in the summer of 2003, Governor Rick Perry called a series of special legislative sessions in order to continue the redistricting effort. With control of more than one-third of the seats in the State Senate, the Democrats invoked a two-thirds rule, preventing a vote on the redistricting plan during the first special session. Half an hour after ending the first special session, Governor Perry called a second special session. This time, due to the calendaring of the redistricting bill, the two-thirds rule would not come into play. Eleven of the twelve Democratic state senators left the state to prevent a quorum. The Senators assembled in Albuquerque, New Mexico and were referred to as the Texas Eleven. After a month-long stand off, Senator John Whitmire returned to the State Senate. The redistricting plan was passed in a third special legislative session. After the 2004 elections, Texas' U.S. House delegation had a Republican majority, 21-11, for the first time since Reconstruction.
        An article in the March 6, 2006, issue of The New Yorker magazine, written by Jeffrey Toobin, quoted Texas's junior Republican Senator John Cornyn as saying, "Everybody who knows Tom knows that he's a fighter and a competitor, and he saw an opportunity to help the Republicans stay in power in Washington." Toobin reported that DeLay left Washington and returned to Texas to oversee the project while final voting was underway in the state legislature, and that "several times during the long days of negotiating sessions, DeLay personally shuttled proposed maps among House and Senate offices in Austin."[7] Texas Monthly editor Paul Burka, writing in the magazine's May 2006 issue, characterized the measure as "DeLay's midcensus congressional redistricting plan" and said, "[I]n order to increase his Republican majority in Congress, he [DeLay] resorted to a midcensus redistricting plan."[8]
        Justice Department review Edit U.S. congressional districts covering
        Travis County, Texas (outlined in red) in 2002, left, and 2004, right. In 2003, the majority of Republicans in the Texas legislature redistricted the state. The plan diluted the voting power of Democratic residents of this county by distributing its residential areas among majority-Republican districts.
        At the time of the 2003 redistricting, Texas was under the pre-clearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The State of Texas obtained pre-clearance from the US Department of Justice for its 2003 Congressional redistricting plan.
        But in December 2005, The Washington Post reported, "Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo," uncovered by the newspaper.[9] The document, endorsed by six Justice Department attorneys, said
        [T]he redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts ... The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect.[9]
        In addition, according to the Post, Justice Department lawyers "found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatory compared with other options". Texas legislators proceeded with the new plan "because it would maximize the number of Republican federal lawmakers in the state".[9]
        The article noted that senior political appointees in the Justice Department had overridden the position and findings by the Civil Rights Division's career civil service staff lawyers and analysts, and approved the redistricting.[9]
        Criticism Edit Democrats criticized the 2003 redistricting plan, citing the lack of precedent for redistricting twice in a decade (a so-called "mid-decade" redistricting) and argued that it was conducted for purely political gain by the Republican Party. Public comments by some Republicans lent support to this latter claim, since many discussed their expectations of picking up several Republican seats. Some minority groups argued the plan was unconstitutional, as it would dilute their influence and possibly violate the "one-person-one-vote" principle of redistricting. Republicans argued that, since most voters in the state were Republicans, that they be represented by a majority-Republican Congressional delegation in Washington.
        The 2004 elections under the new redistricting resulted in Texas Republicans gaining a majority of House seats by a 21''11 margin, nearly a 2/1 ratio in terms of seats (66% of seats). This was significantly larger than the 61/38 voting ratio of Republicans to Democrats in the Presidential race. It was much more lopsided than the total results in the 32 House races, which resulted in 56/40/3 for Republican to Democratic voting (the two main parties did not both run candidates in four districts).[10]
        2006 Supreme Court review Edit The US Supreme Court issued an opinion on the case in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry on June 28, 2006. While the Court said states are free to redistrict as often as desired, the justices ruled that Texas's 23rd congressional district was invalid, as it violated Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by racial gerrymandering. This decision required lawmakers to adjust boundaries in line with the Court's ruling.[3]
        A three-judge panel, under an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals, oversaw the redistricting. On June 29, 2006, a U.S. District Judge ordered both sides to submit proposed maps by July 14, respond to their opponents' maps by July 21, and be prepared to hold oral arguments on August 3.[11]
        Targeted Democrats Edit The 2003 redistricting targeted ten districts with white Democratic incumbents, avoiding the seven districts with minority Democratic incumbents.[12]
        Max Sandlin (TX-1) was defeated in 2004 by Republican Louie Gohmert.Jim Turner (TX-2) did not seek reelection in 2004. His seat was won by Republican Ted Poe.Ralph Hall (TX-4) changed his party affiliation to Republican and was reelected in 2004.Nick Lampson (TX-9) was moved to the 2nd District as a result of the redistricting and was defeated by Ted Poe. He relocated to the Sugar Land area in 2006 and ran for the seat being vacated by Tom DeLay (who had resigned due to pending conspiracy and money laundering charges). He won election to the historically Republican 22nd district that year, but in 2008 he was defeated by the Republican Pete Olson.Lloyd Doggett (TX-10) was moved to the 25th district, created as a narrow strip running from Austin south to the Mexican border, and derisively called the "fajita strip" for containing a majority of Hispanics. Doggett won re-election in the new district after defeating District Court Judge Leticia Hinojosa from McAllen. After a Supreme Court ruling found the nearby 23rd district violated the Voting Rights Act, the 25th district was redrawn for the 2006 election, where Rep. Doggett again prevailed.Chet Edwards (TX-11) was moved into the 17th district, which had a higher percentage of Republican voters in its new form. Despite this, the Democrat Edwards was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2008. In 2010 he was defeated by Republican Bill Flores.Charlie Stenholm (TX-17) was shifted into the heavily Republican 19th district. He unsuccessfully ran against that district's Republican incumbent, Randy Neugebauer.Martin Frost (TX-24) saw his district split off into several newly drawn Dallas-area districts intended to favor and elect Republicans. He changed his residency to run in the 32nd district and lost to the district's Republican incumbent, Pete Sessions. Frost's old district, in its redrawn form, was won by Kenny Marchant, a Republican state legislator from Carrollton.Chris Bell (TX-25) had his district renumbered as the 9th district, which was gerrymandered into a minority-majority district. Bell lost the Democratic primary to Al Green, NAACP president of Texas, who easily won the general election.Gene Green (TX-29) was reelected in 2004. Of the Democrats affected by redistricting, Green is the only one who won reelection without being shifted to another district or changing parties. He was the only white Democrat left among representatives from the Houston area, and he represented a Latino-majority district until his retirement in 2018.The redistricting appeared intended to protect Henry Bonilla, a Hispanic Republican of TX-23. He had faced a stiff challenge from conservative Democrat Henry Cuellar in 2002. It also neutralized liberal Democrat Ciro Rodriguez. This was done by putting the two Democrats in the same district and forcing them to run against each other for the Democratic nomination (Cuellar won).
        In 2006, however, the Supreme Court ruling required redrawing the boundaries for TX-23. It resulted in a special election, in which Bonilla faced six Democratic candidates and an independent in a jungle primary. He was defeated by Democrat Ciro Rodriguez in the run-off.
        See also Edit Call of the houseGerrymanderingReferences Edit ^ "2002 Election Statistics". Archived from the original on September 13, 2009 . Retrieved September 10, 2009 . ^ "Cases and Codes". Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com . Retrieved June 20, 2010 . ^ a b "Justices Back Most G.O.P. Changes to Texas Districts". The New York Times. June 28, 2006. ^ [1], League of United Latin American Citizens, et al. v. Perry, Governor of Texas, et al. 2006 ^ Bickerstaff, Steve (2007). Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom Delay. University of Texas Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-292-71474-2. ^ Bickerstaff, Steve (2007). Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom Delay. University of Texas Press. p. 49. ISBN 0-292-71474-2. ^ Toobin, Jeffrey (February 6, 2006). "Drawing the Line '' Will Tom Delay's Redistricting in Texas Cost Him His Seat?". The New Yorker . Retrieved February 6, 2006 . ^ Paul Burka, Texas Monthly, May 2006 ^ a b c d Eggen, Dan (December 2, 2005). "Justice Staff Saw Texas Districting As Illegal". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 20, 2010 . ^ "Texas 2004 Election Results". The Washington Post. GOP 3,833,932; Dems 2,709,749; Others 217, 460 ^ Castro, April (June 29, 2006). "July 14 deadline set on redistricting plans". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved June 20, 2010 . ^ Bickerstaff, Steve (2007). Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom Delay. University of Texas Press. pp. 98''101. ISBN 0-292-71474-2. External links Edit "Overview of pending Supreme Court voting rights case", with extensive further links, Northwestern UniversityUnited States Supreme Court oral argument transcript in pending caseTexas Redistricting U.S. Supreme Court Cases Resource CenterCurrent Texas election districtsUnited States District Court decision in pending litigation"Mess With Texas '' the Supreme Court Has Another Look at Partisan Gerrymanders", by Dahlia Lithwick, Slate, March 1, 2006."Evidence of Political Manipulation at the Justice Department: How Tom DeLay's Redistricting Plan Avoided Voting Rights Act Disapproval", by Mark Posner, Legal News, December 6, 2005."Justice Staff Saw Texas Districting As Illegal", The Washington Post, December 2, 2005, page A01"Republicans enlisted Department of Homeland Security in Texas political fight", WSW News, May 17, 2003.
      Section 1605.3. State Standards for Non-Federally- Regulated Appliances.
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      Steelers put unvaccinated players in yellow wristbands in practice
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        The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the top teams in the NFL concerning COVID-19 vaccinations. For the most part the team from players to coaches and other employees have bought in on the notion of getting vaccinated and doing their part for the good of the team.
        But despite all this, if you are an unvaccinated Steelers player, people are going to know it. According to Pro Football Talk, the team has announced if a player isn't vaccinated, they will be wearing a yellow wristband in practice.
        The NFL has really cracked down on vaccinations this season imposing stiffer penalties for players who test positive but haven't been vaccinated.
        What do Steelers fans think of players being singled out like this if they aren't vaccinated? Let us know in the comments.
        Predicting the Steelers final 53-man roster View 53 photos Steelers release 2021 initial depth chart View 13 items
      Snapchat down, with 100,000+ outages reported and frantic users scrambling to reboot app '-- RT World News
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:52
        Widespread outages on Snapchat have sent users into a panic, with more than 100,000 glitches reported in the space of a few hours as distraught netizens flocked to other platforms to vent their frustration.
        A flurry of problems were reported on the site on Thursday, with outage tracker Downdetector showing nearly 130,000 complaints at their peak. Snapchat's support team assured users that it was ''aware of an issue preventing some Snapchatters from logging in,'' requesting that they ''hang tight'' as it worked on a solution.
        We're aware of an issue preventing some Snapchatters from logging in. Hang tight, we are looking into it and working on a fix!
        '-- Snapchat Support (@snapchatsupport) July 29, 2021Patience was apparently a big ask for many, however, as hordes of Snapchat users fled to Twitter to gripe about the errors, one sharing a clip of the app repeatedly crashing.''Hurry up, I was arguing with someone,'' one urged the site's support crew.
        Seemingly giving up after an eternity of ''a couple hours,'' other netizens simply declared Snapchat ''gone'' for good, one requesting a ''moment of silence'' for the app.
        Thursday's bugs follow major issues on the app late last month, which caused crashes on Apple devices though apparently spared those of Android users. Snapchat said the problem was fixed less than a day after the glitch arose and asked users to manually update the app.
        Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
      TEXAS LAWMAKERS HIDE OUT IN HOTEL OVER OKLAHOMA LINE - Orlando Sentinel
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:50
        AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas' most eagerly sought fugitives were tracked to their lair late Tuesday when state troopers discovered more than 50 Democratic state legislators holed up just over the border in Oklahoma, where they were staying in a Holiday Inn and holding court at Denny's.
        On Day 2 of the most thrilling political saga to grip Texas in years, Republicans at the domed state Capitol on Tuesday plastered the missing Democrats' faces on milk cartons and distributed decks of playing cards picturing the Democrats in the style of most-wanted Iraqis.
        Meanwhile, the defiant Democrats stayed on the lam.
        Lacking the ability to make arrests in Oklahoma, the Texas troopers urged the lawmakers to come home to the Lone Star State, where they are needed to do the people's business in the state House of Representatives.
        But the Democrats refused, maintaining a boycott that has paralyzed all legislative business, undercut efforts to write a multibillion budget and imperiled hundreds of pending bills.
        The Democrats said they would not come home until the House drops a congressional redistricting plan designed to add five to seven more Republican seats to the 15 the GOP already control in Texas. The redistricting proposal has been aggressively pushed by Republicans, who in January took control of the Texas House of Representatives for the first time in 130 years.
        The walkout by the Democrats, who hold 62 of the 150 House seats, has deprived the chamber of the 100-member minimum it needs to debate and vote on pending legislation. On Tuesday, only 95 members could be mustered.
        That infuriated Republicans, who control all 29 statewide elected offices but now find themselves blocked in the state House of Representatives. They accused the Democratic minority of childish and cowardly behavior, and insisted they would not be moved by the walkout.
        The GOP is "not interested in negotiating" an end to the standoff, said Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, whom Democrats blame for trying to ram the redistricting plan through and polarizing the legislature. He insisted the Democrats return to the Capitol forthwith.
        The Democrats timed their boycott to maximum effect. Major House bills that aren't approved by midnight Thursday are likely dead for this year.
        The 53 missing Democrats were ensconced just over the state line in the little town of Ardmore, off Interstate 35 north of Dallas. Contacted by journalists, they described their stealthy exit late Sunday, when they boarded chartered buses after dark for the five-hour ride from Austin to Ardmore. Rumors about their whereabouts swirled throughout the Capitol on Monday -- that they were in New Mexico, or Oklahoma, or possibly even in Mexico -- until state troopers tracked them to Ardmore.
        "We're fine with Texas lawmakers coming into Ardmore and spending their tax dollars there," said Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, through a spokesman. "We'd be very hesitant to be pulled into a Texas political battle. We prefer to do battle with Texas on the football field."
      New NPR Ethics Policy: It's OK For Journalists To Demonstrate (Sometimes) : NPR Public Editor : NPR
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:49
        Carlos Carmonamedina for NPR Public Editor Carlos Carmonamedina for NPR Public Editor
        NPR rolled out a substantial update to its ethics policy earlier this month, expressly stating that journalists may participate in activities that advocate for "the freedom and dignity of human beings" on both social media and in real life.
        The new policy eliminates the blanket prohibition from participating in "marches, rallies and public events," as well as vague language that directed NPR journalists to avoid personally advocating for "controversial" or "polarizing" issues.
        NPR's current ethics policy was first drafted in the early 2000s, and then given an overhaul in 2010-2011.
        The new NPR policy reads, "NPR editorial staff may express support for democratic, civic values that are core to NPR's work, such as, but not limited to: the freedom and dignity of human beings, the rights of a free and independent press, the right to thrive in society without facing discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, disability, or religion."
        Is it OK to march in a demonstration and say, 'Black lives matter'? What about a Pride parade? In theory, the answer today is, "Yes." But in practice, NPR journalists will have to discuss specific decisions with their bosses, who in turn will have to ask a lot of questions.
        The carve-out is somewhat narrow. Protests organized with the purpose of demanding equal and fair treatment of people are now permitted, as long as the journalist asking is not covering the event. However, rallies organized to support a specific piece of legislation would be off-limits. Other events featuring a slate of political candidates from one party are also out of bounds.
        Even when NPR journalists can legitimately participate in a civic event, the new policy asks them to consider how their participation will impact their colleagues. When taking a public stance makes it harder for other NPR journalists to do their jobs, there is an expectation that the journalism will take precedence.
        This policy confronts the generations-old question in newsrooms: Where does the journalist end and the citizen begin?
        This pressure on news companies to allow their journalists a wider berth to participate in civic activities has been building over the years, particularly as social media has made direct engagement with audiences '-- sometimes rich, sometimes messy '-- part of the day-to-day workflow. As social justice causes took to the platforms, journalists were often caught in a new gray area between longtime professional practices and mores around personal communication. In the wake of George Floyd's murder, a younger generation of journalists pushed NPR to modify its traditional prohibitions.
        "Our goal was to make NPR a place that employees felt they could be themselves at work, and they wouldn't have to be one version of themselves outside of work and another version at work," said Alex Goldmark, senior supervising producer for Planet Money and co-chair of the 22-member committee that handled the revision.
        While the country was experiencing widespread calls for institutions of all kinds to reckon with systemic racism, newsrooms were facing internal pressure. Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American journalists have argued that they have been disproportionately confined by '-- even disciplined over '-- policies that limit personal expression.
        In Pittsburgh, newspaper editors restricted a Black reporter from covering the George Floyd demonstrations after she tweeted a joke about the damage caused by white Kenny Chesney fans outside a concert being vastly worse than that caused by multi-ethnic protesters speaking against racism. The Associated Press recently fired a new reporter for violations of their social media policies while employed there. Critics had initially called attention to her tweets supporting Palestinians. CBS News Correspondent and former Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery has been vocal about the impact traditional policies have had on Black journalists and ultimately Black audiences.
        NPR didn't have high-profile conflicts with its journalists in recent years, and that may have made the news organization more prepared to usher in a new policy.
        But that doesn't mean it was easy to get the members of the committee to agree on what the new policy should say. When the group first convened to revise the ethics code in the summer of 2020, their opinions were far apart. That was by design. Members of the committee were chosen by senior leaders for their viewpoints and their willingness to be vocal.
        "Across the board senior leadership was initially resistant to any change, because these are the rules that have worked for us for decades. There are reasons for them. This is the pledge we take when we sign up for journalism," said Nancy Barnes, NPR's senior vice president for news. "I will say that we would be in a bad spot if we just said hard no, we can't change at all. I mean, so where can we find some common ground?"
        Keith Woods, NPR's chief diversity officer and co-chair of the committee, describes the two sides of a wide spectrum. On one end were "people who would go so far as to use the word 'objectivity,' " and at the other end were the "burn-it-all-down kinds of folks."
        Meeting at first once or twice a week and then less frequently, all the members of the committee found some agreement on a core set of values. They examined dozens of hypothetical and not-so-hypothetical scenarios, looking for common threads. (Can a political reporter serve on the PTA of his son's school? What about an education reporter? Can a host be a Girl Scouts leader? What happens if there is a controversial story involving the Girl Scouts?)
        While the committee arrived at a general consensus, not everyone who worked on the revisions agrees with the final product, Woods said. Some people think it goes too far. Others believe it doesn't go far enough.
        Leah Donnella, a supervising editor at Code Switch, was one of the committee members who walked away dissatisfied. She's been at NPR since 2015 and she went into the conversations last year accepting as a truism that journalists must sacrifice some political speech in order to do their jobs. But after a year of parsing words, she wonders if she and her colleagues missed the opportunity to go deeper.
        The restrictions on supporting a political candidate or a piece of legislation still feel to her like a shortsighted compromise. If NPR employees were to reveal who got their vote for president, she asked, "Is the problem that we are ideologically similar or that people know we are ideologically similar?"
        "I stopped thinking of [keeping my political choices quiet] as an ethical thing to do, I think of it as a somewhat practical thing to do," she said, adding that it's just easier to interview people advocating for something you don't believe in if they don't know where you stand.
        "And also, some people have more freedom to [conceal their beliefs] than others," she said. For instance, Black reporters face different assumptions when covering politics compared to reporting on race.
        Woods said that he and others argued that it was important for journalists to keep many of their personal views private, in order not to distract from the primary focus of reporting facts. But he added that it was a mistake in the past to allow that balancing act to overshadow all expression.
        "There are things in the world where we are not torn about where we stand," said Woods (who is also former dean of faculty and my former boss at The Poynter Institute). "We are against bigotry, we are against discrimination and unfairness."
        Carlos Carmonamedina for NPR Public Editor Newsroom ethics policies traditionally focus on eliminating conflicts of interest by telling journalists what they can't do. They almost always include prohibitions against putting a campaign sticker on your car or a political sign in your yard (NPR retains these prohibitions). But they tend to vague-up questions about civic involvement. Indeed, so did NPR, particularly with instructions to avoid involvement in causes that are polarizing or controversial.
        In my experience as an ethics adviser to many newsrooms, the default when questions arose was usually: "If you have to ask, the answer is, 'No, don't do that.' "
        But the intense conversations over political and social differences in America over the past decade '-- often accompanied by incendiary language on social media '-- highlighted a sense that the journalists-as-bystanders policies of the past required new consideration. Big questions like, "Do Black people encounter discrimination and excessive force from law enforcement?" or "Are women treated equally?" speak to both human dignity and polarized controversies. Journalism traditions etched into longtime NPR ethics handbooks left some NPR journalists wary of expressing any statements about their deepest-held beliefs for fear of crossing into territory that would jeopardize their jobs.
        "Instead of erring on the side of 'Everything's a conflict. Stay away. Don't take a stand,' we want to err on the side of, 'We're all human.' There are things that are absolutely fundamental to what we think humanity is and stands for," Barnes said. "We want people to bring their humanity to their workplace every day. And then we'll sort out the conflicts as they arise."
        The new policy, which was shared with member stations by email on July 7, offers three revised sections: a rewrite of "NPR's Guiding Principles," a section titled, "Guideline: On Attending Marches, Rallies And Other Public Events," and an update of the section on social media.
        When comparing the new policy to the old, here are the other major developments:
        The opening section lists core values of "honesty, integrity, independence, accuracy, contextual truth, transparency, respect and fairness" and adds a specific reference to the "democratic role as watchdogs." NPR names diversity as a key guiding principle, with a specific obligation to include voices that are routinely left out of the news. The policy refines and narrows the list of staff who are expected to comport with the most restrictive elements of the policy. It's a long list, but it boils down to whether you shape content in any way or hold an executive title. Other job titles, including those who work in research, archives and data, and those who write promotional copy for the programming division, are exempt from restrictions on their public behavior. The new standards reinforce the difference between straight reporting and commentary. "NPR journalists with a role in covering the news should stick to reporting and analysis," the policy reads. "Commentators have more leeway to express opinions and may do so as long as they are respectful and grounded in facts." A new addition to this section allows anyone who works in news or programming to publish a first-person story when appropriate. In the sub-section of the Impartiality chapter on attending marches and rallies, NPR adds another list of universal values including human rights, a free press, anti-discrimination and anti-bigotry. Going forward, the NPR newsroom has empaneled a standing committee that will review questions and cases, helping public media leaders sort out the nuances. Woods said many on the staff wanted judgment calls to be handled by more than just the standards editor. (NPR has been working to fill that position since early this year. A secondary benefit of a standing committee will be to groom future standards editors.)
        Member stations have been invited to a webinar on Aug. 5 to learn more about the standards. Any freelancer or local journalist whose work airs on NPR is required to follow these guidelines. Additionally, many of the member stations fully adopt NPR's code of ethics.
        Journalists around the country are likely to take note. Few newsrooms have policies as thoroughly developed as NPR's. While a handful have issued staff memos that expressly allow for participation in public or political activity, none have articulated the nuance of NPR's year-long effort.
        Some journalists will find the changes less than satisfying. As someone who writes and reviews policies for newsrooms of all kinds, I see them as a solid step in the right direction. They don't answer some of the thorniest questions, like what if a journalist wants to picket an abortion clinic or demonstrate in support of women's autonomy over their bodies? What about a journalist who wants to express her general support of the Second Amendment? Or a parent who wants to march in solidarity with families and victims of a mass shooting?
        Yet, these guidelines affirm that during this chaotic time in which we are living, being a journalist and standing up for human dignity are not mutually exclusive.
      Former Pfizer Employee Confirms Toxin in COVID Injection ***graphene oxide nanotechnology*** VIDEO | Adara Press
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:21
        Nano coronavirus recombinant vaccine taking graphene oxide as carrier '' Application filed by Shanghai National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Co LtdEXCLUSIVE! Karen Kingston, a former Pfizer employee and current analyst for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, came forward with indisputable documentation that should be shared with the ENTIRE WORLD!
        The inoculation being referred to as 'COVID Vaccines' is a poisonous death sentence, and nobody should subject themselves to the shots.
        Documents published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) today warned a future strain could be as deadly as MERS '-- which has a case fatality rate of 35 per cent '-- could be on the way.
        https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-delivery/Without-lipid-shells-mRNA-vaccines/99/i8
        Fragile mRNA molecules used in COVID-19 vaccines can't get into cells on their own. They owe their success to lipid nanoparticles that took decades to refine by Ryan Cross March 6, 2021 | A version of this story appeared in
        Volume 99, Issue 8 [excerpt]
        Even some of the LNPs that worked well in animals proved too toxic for the repeated dosing required of many siRNA therapies. ''The biggest issue was trying to find the right balance between systems that were effective but also safe and tolerable,'' says Marian Gindy, executive director of pharmaceutical sciences at Merck & Co., who led the RNA formulation team from 2008 until Merck ended its siRNA programs in 2013. ''And I would say that is still the biggest challenge in this area.''
        Abstract
        The invention belongs to the field of nano materials and biomedicine, and relates to a vaccine, in particular to development of 2019-nCoV coronavirus nuclear recombinant nano vaccine. The invention also comprises a preparation method of the vaccine and application of the vaccine in animal experiments. The new corona vaccine contains graphene oxide, carnosine, CpG and new corona virus RBD; binding carnosine, CpG and neocoronavirus RBD on the backbone of graphene oxide; the CpG coding sequence is shown as SEQ ID NO 1; the novel coronavirus RBD refers to a novel coronavirus protein receptor binding region which can generate a high-titer specific antibody aiming at the RBD in a mouse body, and provides a strong support for prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus.
        Inventorå´--å¤§ç¥¥éæ‚æè¾‰ç--°é'æ'Žé›ªçŽ²æ²ç...Current Assignee Shanghai National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Co Ltd[Excerpt]
        Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon nanomaterial consisting of carbon atoms in sp hybridized orbitals in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. The basic structural unit of the material is the most stable benzene six-membered ring in the organic material, and the material is the most ideal two-dimensional material at present. Graphene Oxide (GO) is a Graphene oxide derivative, and is a exfoliated product. Due to the characteristics of unique SP2 hybridization, a perfect two-dimensional structure and high reactivity of the edge, the treatment platform based on the hybrid structure can be used as an ideal load and grafting carrier in design and development, and plays an important role in aspects of nano-drug delivery systems, biological detection, tumor treatment, cell imaging and the like.
        The present invention has been completed based on the above-mentioned studies.
        The invention discloses a brand-new vaccine development method based on a graphene oxide material serving as a framework for loading CpG molecules and recombinant proteins. Based on the technical platform, a new nano new crown vaccine is prepared by combining the recombinant protein of the RBD region of the Spike protein of the SAR-CoV-2. The prepared nano new corona vaccine has stronger immunogenicity in mouse experiments and can generate high-titer antibodies.
        In one aspect, the invention provides a coronavirus vaccine comprising graphene oxide, carnosine, CpG, and RBD. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the vaccine is named GO-Car-carnosine-CpG-RBD vaccine.
      Tesla's Australian Battery Project Bursts into Toxic Flames
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:17
        A massive fire has reportedly broken out at Australia's largest Tesla battery project and is set to burn throughout the night. A toxic smoke warning has been issued in the area of the fire, which one fire official said could burn for eight to 24 hours.
        ABC News Australia reports that a fire broke out at Australia's largest Tesla battery project recently and is set to burn throughout the night. The fire broke out during the testing of a Tesla megapack at the Victorian Big Battery site near Geelong.
        A 13-ton lithium battery burst into flames, which then spread to an adjacent battery bank further igniting the blaze. Over 150 people from Fire Rescue Victoria and the Country Fire Authority arrived on the scene to battle the flames.
        JUST IN: Fire crews are currently on the scene of a battery fire at Moorabool, near Geelong. Firefighters are working to contain the fire and stop it spreading to the nearby batteries. https://t.co/5zYfOfohG3 #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/HAkFY27JgQ
        '-- 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) July 30, 2021
        The CFA's Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ian Beswicke said: ''If we try and cool them down it just prolongs the process. But we could be here anywhere from 8 to 24 hours while we wait for it to burn down.''
        A toxic smoke warning has been issued in the area. Residents have been warned to close windows, close fireplace flues, and bring their pets inside in the Batesford, Bell Post Hill, Lovely Banks, and Moorabool areas.
        The Tesla battery was paid for by renewable energy company Neoen. In 2017, Musk promised to solve Australia's energy issues following a series of blackouts across South Australia.
        Musk has long been a champion of climate-change preventing initiatives and in 2017 announced that he would be departing from all future presidential councils in protest of Former President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord.
        Many were quick to ridicule the decision by Musk including Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Cruz mocked Musk's outrage, pointing out that he regularly travels around the country in his own private jet. If the billionaire CEO was so dedicated to reducing the world's carbon output, Cruz snarked, he would choose to fly commercial planes rather than private ones.
        In support of Paris, CA billionaires pledge to never again fly private, will only fly commercial. J/K''will quit symbolic councils instead. https://t.co/58QdYaoZVH
        '-- Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 2, 2017
        Read more about the blaze at the Tesla battery project in Australia here.
        Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
      This chicken vaccine makes its virus more dangerous | PBS NewsHour
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:16
        The deadliest strains of viruses often take care of themselves '-- they flare up and then die out. This is because they are so good at destroying cells and causing illness that they ultimately kill their host before they have time to spread.
        But a chicken virus that represents one of the deadliest germs in history breaks from this conventional wisdom, thanks to an inadvertent effect from a vaccine. Chickens vaccinated against Marek's disease rarely get sick. But the vaccine does not prevent them from spreading Marek's to unvaccinated birds.
        ''With the hottest strains, every unvaccinated bird dies within 10 days. There is no human virus that is that hot. Ebola, for example, doesn't kill everything in 10 days.''In fact, rather than stop fowl from spreading the virus, the vaccine allows the disease to spread faster and longer than it normally would, a new study finds. The scientists now believe that this vaccine has helped this chicken virus become uniquely virulent. (Note: it only harms fowl). The study was published on Monday in the journal PLOS Biology.
        This is the first time that this virus-boosting phenomenon, known as the imperfect vaccine hypothesis, has been observed experimentally.
        The reason this is a problem for Marek's disease is because the vaccine is ''leaky.'' A leaky vaccine is one that keeps a microbe from doing serious harm to its host, but doesn't stop the disease from replicating and spreading to another individual. On the other hand, a ''perfect'' vaccine is one that sets up lifelong immunity that never wanes and blocks both infection and transmission.
        It's important to note childhood vaccines for polio, measles, mumps, rubella and smallpox aren't leaky; they are considered ''perfect'' vaccines. As such, they are in no way in danger of falling prey to this phenomenon.
        But the results do raise the questions for some human vaccines that are leaky '' such as malaria, and other agricultural vaccines, such as the one being used against avian influenza, or bird flu.
        Marek's disease has plagued the chicken industry, it causes $2 billion in losses annually for fowl farmers across the globe. The virus attacks the brain, spawns tumors in the birds and comes in different varieties or ''strains'', which are classified as ''hot'' or ''cold'' based on their brutality.
        Andrew Read, who co-led the study, had heard about the severe effects of the hottest Marek's strains before his lab started studying the disease about a decade ago, but even he was surprised when he finally saw the virus in action.
        ''With the hottest strains, every unvaccinated bird dies within 10 days. There is no human virus that is that hot. Ebola, for example, doesn't kill everything in 10 days,'' said Read, who is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University.
        Clip from the New York Times announcing the a vaccine for Marek's disease, February 30, 1970. Photo by The New York Times.
        In recent years, experts have wondered if leaky vaccines were to blame for the emergence of these hot strains. The 1970s introduction of the Marek's disease immunizations for baby chicks kept the poultry industry from collapse, but people soon learned that vaccinated birds were catching ''the bug'' without subsequently dying. Then, over the last half century, symptoms for Marek's worsened. Paralysis was more permanent; brains more quickly turned to mush.
        ''People suspected the vaccine, but the problem was that it was never shown before experimentally,'' said virologist Klaus Osterrieder of the Free University of Berlin, who wasn't involved in the study. ''The field has talked about these types of experiments for a very long time, and I'm really glad to see the work finally done.''
        Read's group started their investigation by exposing vaccinated and unvaccinated Rhode Island Red chickens to one of five Marek's disease strains that ranged from hot to cold. The hottest strains killed every unvaccinated bird within 10 days, and the team noticed that barely any virus was shed from the feathers of the chickens during that time. (The virus spreads via contaminated dust in chicken coops). In contrast, vaccination extended the lifespan of birds exposed to the hottest strains, with 80 percent living longer than two months. But the vaccinated chickens were transmitting the virus, shedding 10,000 times more virus than an unvaccinated bird.
        ''Previously, a hot strain was so nasty, it wiped itself out. Now, you keep its host alive with a vaccine, then it can transmit and spread in the world,'' Read said. ''So it's got an evolutionary future, which it didn't have before.''
        But does this evolutionary future breed more dangerous viruses?
        The close quarters of industrialized chicken farms are breeding grounds for Marek's disease. Vaccines keep the disease in check, but don't stop infections or transmission. Photo by Edwin Remsberg/via Getty Images
        This study argues yes. In a second experiment, unvaccinated and vaccinated chickens were infected with one of the five Marek's disease strains, and then put into a second arena with a second set of unimmunized birds, known as sentinels. In particular, the team was interested in a middle-of-the-road strain called ''595'' and whether it would become hotter.
        It did. The virus spread to sentinel birds nine days faster if it came from a vaccinated chicken versus an unvaccinated one. In addition, sentinels died faster when exposed to vaccinated chickens versus unvaccinated chickens.
        ''One way to look at that experiment is that shows vaccinating birds kills unvaccinated birds. The vaccination of one group of birds leads to the transmission of a virus so hot that it kills the other birds, said Read said. ''If you vaccinate the mothers, the same thing happens. The offspring are protected by the maternal antibodies of the mother and that allows the virus in the chicks to transmit before they kill the host. So they transmit and kill the other individuals.''
        This trend persisted when the team tried the experiment in a setting meant to simulate a commercial chicken farm.
        ''At the moment, the vaccines are working well enough, and you can vaccinate every bird,'' Read said. ''There are 20 billion birds on the planet at any time; the vast majority are Marek's vaccinated.''
        However, both Read and Osterrieder worry about what might happen if Marek's continues to change or if its vaccines were to fail.
        ''If the virus continues to evolve, then it could be pretty devastating for the chicken industry, which is suffering quite a bit right now in the U.S. with the influenza virus,'' Osterrieder said.
        Like Marek's vaccines, vaccines for avian influenza are leaky. For this reason, they're banned from agricultural use in the U.S. and Europe. When bird flu breaks out in these western chicken populations, farmers must cull their herds. However, Southeast Asia uses these leaky vaccines, raising the possibility for virus evolution akin to what's happened with Marek's disease.
        ''In those situations, they're creating the conditions where super hot avian influenza could emerge,'' Read said. ''Then the issues become what does that mean when it spills over into other flocks, into wildlife or into humans. Avian flu is the setting to watch for evolutionary problems down the line.''
        Bird flu isn't alone. The world's first vaccine for malaria, which was recently approved by European Medicines Agency, is also leaky. Vaccines for HPV and whooping cough can leak too; however it is unknown if this scenario creates more dangerous viruses for each of these diseases.
        ''Our concern here, primarily and foremost, is whether this is going to happen with any of the vaccines that we give to people,'' said molecular biology James Bull of the University of Texas Austin, who specializes in the evolution of viruses and bacteria. ''But there is a lot we don't know about how the scenario with Marek's could apply to newer human vaccines.''
        To test the imperfect vaccine hypothesis in humans, you would need monitor the vaccine response for either a large or isolated population for a long time. Doing this would allow a researcher to gauge how the vaccine interacts with the virus and if that relationship is evolving. Does the vaccine merely reduce symptoms, or does it also keep patients from getting infected and transmitting the virus?
        Clinical trials for Ebola might be an arena for keeping an eye on this trend.
        ''It's important that we pay close attention to the Ebola vaccine in the ongoing trials. We want to know if a person who has been vaccinated and comes in contact with Ebola, whether there is any virus replication in that person and whether that means there could be onward transmission,'' Read said. ''If those are leaky in humans, it would be potentially very disadvantageous as it could help establish an endemic.''
        However, in the end, Read said, leakiness isn't a strike against these vaccines, but more motivation to conduct surveillance of their effects after they exit clinical trials and enter the broader population. Take Marek's disease for example.
        ''Even if this evolution happens, you don't want to be an unvaccinated chicken,'' Read said. ''Food chain security and everything rests on vaccines. They are the most successful and cheapest public health interventions that we've ever had. We just need to consider the evolutionary consequences of these ones with leaky transmission.''
      (12) Ø²Ø§ÛØ¯ on Twitter: "@disclosetv https://t.co/HgV3zbhWlu" / Twitter
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:14
        Ø²Ø§ÛØ¯ : @disclosetv https://t.co/HgV3zbhWlu
        Fri Jul 30 12:23:57 +0000 2021
        Franz : @68755a @disclosetv sHame on yOU...
        Sat Jul 31 17:31:08 +0000 2021
        Lager Lout : @68755a @disclosetv i hope they block MY phone. i'm sure my life would improve.
        Sat Jul 31 09:12:56 +0000 2021
        Franz : @68755a @disclosetv Same on you. We will fight until the end ðŸ–•
        Sat Jul 31 07:05:31 +0000 2021
      Spotify CEO Daniel Ek does a podcast on the future of podcasts - Axios
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        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:02
        Spotify on Wednesday reported significant ad revenue growth from its podcast business, as part of its quarterly earnings disclosure.
        Take a listen: Company founder and CEO Daniel Ek appeared on the Axios Re:Cap podcast to discuss how the podcast business model is changing, why he's spending big on exclusive shows and his personal favorites in both podcasting and music.
        Highlights...
        Audience: Ek tells Axios that podcast listeners are stickier than music listeners, even though there had been industry concerns that increased podcast content would cannibalize music attention share.
        He doesn't believe that podcast audience will ever overtake music audience, pointing out that music continues to dominate terrestrial radio.Exclusives: He does not believe Spotify has editorial responsibility for what is said on its podcasts, including "The Joe Rogan Experience."
        "We have a lot of really well-paid rappers on Spotify too, that make tens of millions of dollars, if not more, each year from Spotify. And we don't dictate what they're putting in their songs, either." Spotify last year signed an exclusive deal with Kim Kardashian to launch a podcast on criminal justice, and Ek says he hopes it will begin airing "later in the year."Creators: Ek does not believe that podcast creators will be paid per-stream royalties, as Spotify pays to music creators. He does, however, believe there will be a broadening and acceleration of podcast monetization options.
        Rivals: Ek, whose company has accused Apple of anticompetitive practices, says that Apple has an understandable head start in podcasting '-- pointing out that the very word owes its existence to Apple's iPod devices.
        Playlist: One of Ek's favorite podcasts right now is, "Invest Like The Best," hosted by Patrick O'Shaughnessy, while one of his favorite musical artists is African dance hall star Burna Boy.
      SARS-CoV-2 Innovation: Broad Agency Announcement awards
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        Arizona State UniversitySARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in ArizonaThe Arizona State University (ASU) will conduct viral next-generation sequencing and develop tools to track SARS-CoV-2 in Arizona. This project will sequence 2,000 positive samples over 12 months. Sample criteria include reinfection cases, routine surveillance of low-population counties and vaccinated individuals. ASU will develop a tool for researchers to upload sequences and analyze the data for emerging variant trends.
        Northern Arizona UniversityViral genomic dynamics in differentially vaccinated populationsNorthern Arizona University will monitor populations on varying vaccinations schedules. This study will monitor two populations on opposite vaccination schedules and compare their impact for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. One site will monitor 500 vaccinated residents in two long-term care facilities, and the other site will monitor 2,000 unvaccinated school-aged children in a school setting. The two populations provide an ideal opportunity to explore the impacts of vaccination on viral evolution, infection rates, and transmission.
        Translational Genomics Research Institute '' ArizonaCOVID-19 Genomics in the American SouthwestTranslational Genomics Research Institute (TGen North) will expand their analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity in the Southwest United States and provide public health with actionable information on how the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads and evolves. This project aims to conduct multi-level genomic analysis on COVID-19 clinical sample sets. To do this they will form a robust genomic analysis team, consisting of subject matter experts in numerous fields (pathogen genomics, infectious disease epidemiology, virology, human genetics, mathematics, comparative analytics, and bioinformatics). They will also employ validated and published analysis methods in novel ways, with a focus on generating outcomes that are meaningful for public health, clinical medicine, and the COVID-19 research community.
        University of California, San FranciscoActionable real-time genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in CaliforniaThe University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will create an integrated network that combines rapid viral sequencing with epidemiologic and clinical data. The network will connect directly to local, state and federal public health agencies for immediate action. This project will use existing partnerships to establish a real-time network that can track and monitor the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in California. By using optimized techniques to sequence SARS-CoV-2 genomes from infected patients and then sharing data directly and immediately to public health agencies through an integrated network, UCSF intends to better inform contract tracing and public health responses.
        University of California, Santa CruzEmpowering comprehensive SARS-CoV-2 strain surveillance and transmission pattern inference for public health practitionersThe University of California, Santa Cruz will increase the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 by developing a genomic data platform for both scientists and public health officials. The platform will simplify interactions with genomic data, enabling users to rapidly cross-reference and identify genomic variation data sets in a unified setting. The platform will provide downloads of SARS-CoV-2 evolutionary maps in both scientific diagrams and in plain language to facilitate widespread use. All platform efforts ensure that users have access to complete, accurate, and understandable genome sequence data for all SARS-CoV-2 variants.
        J Michael Consulting '' GeorgiaImplementation of cloud-hosted bioinformatics infrastructure to facilitate standardization, quality and submission of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogen sequence data to public repositoriesJ Michael Consulting, LLC will provide a proof of concept bioinformatics platform for use by state and local public health partners. This project will pilot a solution to automate the submission of quality, curated sequenced data directly to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and CDC databases for SARS-CoV-2. These systems will establish the technological foundations of a national network to fully combine next-generation sequencing data into public health surveillance, monitoring, and research efforts.
        University of GeorgiaCommunity scaled viral sequence analysis and phylodynamics for SARS-CoV-2 using wastewater-based informaticsThe University of Georgia will build and validate a viral sequencing platform to detect SARS-CoV-2 transmission at a community level from wastewater. The project will build, validate, and evaluate a platform that can analyze the characteristics and relationship between viral sequences at the community-level using water-based testing and information science. The University of Georgia will critically compare methods for genomic data extraction, collection, and analysis in order to provide validated methods that can support national surveillance efforts.
        Johns Hopkins University '' MarylandSARS-CoV-2 Genome: viral evolution as a factor of sustained community transmission and prolonged infectionJohns Hopkins University will provide data in real-time describing the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in both the community and individuals. This study will provide real-time viral evolution data to identify whether specific changes in the SARS-CoV-2 genome mean a variant can spread more easily between people. It will also detect if a variant is better adapted to replicate within a host, or can make people more sick. Researchers will use novel methods to study how the virus evolves, not only in the community, but within a patient over a period of time. Through this study they will better understand the effects of SARS-CoV-2.
        University of MichiganSARS-CoV-2 sequencing to study virus evolution in a vaccinated populationThe University of Michigan will sequence SARS-CoV-2 samples collected through healthcare networks, and a range of local testing labs in southern Michigan. Their goal is to associate viral sequences with vaccination status and assess changes in the characteristics and evolution of the virus as a result of vaccine campaigns. The study will combine viral genomic data with vaccination status, prior infection status, and antibody data to better understand risk factors and outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. The same surveillance system will capture cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection.
        University of MinnesotaMinnesota sequencing of SARS-CoV-2: a unified state and region-wide SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance effortThe University of Minnesota will provide real-time next-generation sequencing and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in Minnesota. This project will establish the University of Minnesota Genomics Center (UMGC) as a regional SARS-CoV-2 sequencing hub and facilitate a low-cost and high-output genomic sequencing method. In addition, the project will provide research on how the host and virus interact with one another during infection and the potential for reinfection.
        University of Mississippi Medical CenterSpatiotemporal sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in MississippiThe University of Mississippi Medical Center will use genomic sequencing to research viral emergence, evolution, and the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection with a focus on racial disparities between African Americans and Caucasians. This study will perform genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 samples collected through the state of Mississippi through a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Health. Genomic sequencing will be performed in 81 of the 82 counties across the state. The analysis will include pre- and post-vaccination samples. Data will be shared with national data repositories to provide insight into the SARS-CoV-2 transmission rate based on race.
        University of Nebraska Medical CenterSARS-CoV-2 Viral Evolution and Spread within Nebraska and Surrounding StatesThe University of Nebraska Medical Center will generate genomic and clinical SARS-CoV-2 data. Shared in real-time, this data will support regional and local efforts to combat the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The study will provide SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing support and variant tracking for Nebraska and surrounding states. Sequencing efforts will focus on samples of reinfection cases, vaccine escape cases, and cases in which severe symptoms are present. Data generated from the study will be public and in real-time, so clinicians and researchers can see if they are dealing with similar cases and have access to samples for further testing.
        Nevada State Public Health LaboratoryReal-time tracking of COVID-19 cases through rapid sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysisThe Nevada State Public Health Laboratory will develop a monitoring system of SARS-CoV-2 genomics in Nevada which will include daily sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 positive specimens with results available within 24 hours. In addition, the project will produce a software pipeline that will convert files into actionable genomic data.
        University of New MexicoGenomic sequencing and phylodynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in the Mountain West USAThe University of New Mexico will support a regional partnership to expand genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. This study will generate extensive genomic data for the Mountain West region and provide state public health laboratories with actionable information on patterns of viral transmission and evolution. Researchers will interpret the regional sequences in a national and global context. Using tailored strategies and local knowledge, the consortium can fill critical gaps and improve the stream of surveillance sequencing data enabling them to track the trajectories of known and novel variants.
        Oregon Health & Science UniversityExpanded genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in OregonIn partnership with the Multnomah County Health Department and the Oregon State Public Health Lab, the Oregon Health & Science University will monitor emerging variants in the Portland metropolitan area and surrounding region. This project will expand SARS-CoV-2 surveillance efforts with a minimum sequencing capacity of 250 samples per week and establish low-cost sample sequencing pipelines. Emphasis will be placed on the dynamics of existing SARS-CoV-2 linages and the emergence of locally evolving high-impact variants associated with potential vaccine escape, super spreader events, and reinfection cases.
        University of PennsylvaniaWhole-genome sequencing to define SARS-CoV-2 variant populations during vaccine rollout in the Philadelphia metropolitan regionThe University of Pennsylvania will use genomic data to define clusters of variants in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and how the proportions of variants change as people in the area are vaccinated. This project will define how SARS-CoV-2 variant populations cluster geographically across Philadelphia's metropolitan region, and how the variants in this area change over time as people are vaccinated. Using these data sets, researchers will develop a model to predict the impact of vaccination campaigns on evolving variants, which could better inform public health interventions related to vaccines.
        Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research InstituteMonitoring diversity in SARS-CoV-2 genomes for tracking emerging variants, measuring impact of mitigation strategies, and gauging clinical outcomes in pediatric patientsThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute will provide genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in adults and children by tracking changes in the virus over two years in the greater Philadelphia area. With a weekly collection of a structured sample of isolates, genomic sequencing can detect new or expanding variants. In addition, the project will test the hypotheses that specific variants are more likely to be identified in clusters of cases or linked to ''super-spreader'' events or that specific viral variants are more associated with severe disease. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute will build a web-based, user-friendly version of their viral classification tool to be easily accessed by health departments and hospitals.
        Rice University '' TexasHarvest variants: enhancing tools for integrated, collaborative variant tracking of SARS-CoV-2Rice University will enhance current genomic sequencing tools with SARS-CoV-2 tracking and analysis software. This project will design and develop genomic sequencing software that integrate SARS-CoV-2 genomic data sets. The software integration will enable users to download real-time virus data and variant analyses. Users will also have access to support and feedback tools.
        University of Texas Medical Branch at GalvestonSARS-CoV-2 sequencing and surveillance at UTMB using ''Tiled-Click Seq''The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will sequence and monitor SARS-CoV-2 for emerging variants. This project will provide genomic surveillance of current and future SARS-CoV-2 variant samples collected in University of Texas Medical Branch clinics. Scientists will focus on samples of individuals who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 but were vaccinated or were previously infected. Samples of individuals with persistent positive and severe or unusual cases of SARS-CoV-2 will be analyzed to provide a better understanding of the cause(s). The design and development of a bioinformatic database will assist in tracking this data and will provide a tool to share large datasets.
        University of WashingtonViral genome sequencing and open-source software development to support genetic epidemiology in Washington StateThe University of Washington (UW) will provide whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of SARS-CoV-2 for the state of Washington and the surrounding region. This project will perform sequencing on an additional 4,400 SARS-CoV-2 virus genomes and analyze their diversity and development. Based on this analysis, the team will report on variants in the area, detect emerging variants, and determine how the variant proportions change as more of the population are vaccinated.
        University of Wisconsin-MadisonImpact of immune failure on SARS-CoV-2 evolutionary potentialThe University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) will analyze data of variants emerging in two Wisconsin regions (Dane County and Milwaukee County) with different demographics and various levels of socioeconomic vulnerability. Also, the study will focus on subpopulations who are at increased risk for immune failure and/or in whom cases of immune failure may be most likely to be contracted: healthcare workers, those who are infected despite vaccination, and people living in high-density settings (prisons, homeless shelters). The project will provide data on the impact of vaccines in community transmission.
        Center for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance '' Oxford, UKData tools to collect, integrate, contextualize, and visualize: transforming disparate datasets into actionable information for public health leadersThe Center for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance at the University of Oxford's Big Data Institute will develop and enhance software tools to gather, integrate, and visualize pathogen genomic sequence data. These applications will enable researchers to incorporate many different types of data, providing better context and more useful public health information for state and local pandemic response efforts. This project will build customized data roadmaps at state-level laboratories that will act as pilot sites. Researchers will broadly analyze the bioinformatics capacity, data systems, and reporting processes of public health laboratories within strategically identified sites in collaboration with CDC's Technical Outreach and Assistance for States Team (TOAST). The goal is to develop protocol and training materials for the roll-out of the developed toolchain to support genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in a wider range of laboratories across the U.S., and define what support is needed and where tools can have the greatest impact.
      Mask-free Sweden nears zero daily Covid deaths as chief epidemiologist warns against 'far-reaching conclusions' about Delta strain '-- RT World News
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 23:50
        As the CDC urges Americans to mask up against the Delta variant, Sweden's chief epidemiologist has argued that more data is needed about the strain's infectiousness. His mask-free nation is hovering at zero Covid deaths per day.
        Anders Tegnell said on Friday that there was ''a lot we do not know'' about Delta and cautioned against drawing ''far-reaching conclusions'' about the coronavirus strain. He noted that the variant had been circulating in Sweden ''for quite some time'' with little effect, particularly in high-risk settings such as nursing homes.
        Read more
        His comments were made in response to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting the Delta strain is more transmissible and could potentially cause more severe illness. The New York Times and other media outlets ran stories reporting that the CDC now believes the Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox '' but this comparison didn't seem to impress Tegnell.
        ''It is difficult to say how contagious Delta is, [as] when it comes to chickenpox, we have been able to follow the disease for several years. The infectivity [of Delta] seems to be very uneven '' in some cases, one person infects a hundred people, then we have other occasions when an infected person does not infect anyone at all,'' he told Sweden's Aftonbladet.
        In separate remarks, he pointed to the fact that one-third of the country's municipalities reported zero new Covid cases over the past week. At the same time, there was an uptick in cases among young people in Stockholm and other large cities.
        And while US health authorities are pressing Americans in ''high transmission'' areas to mask up, Sweden dropped its last remaining mask recommendation '' related to public transport '' on July 1. While Sweden's public health agency has supported measures such as social distancing and remote working, it has no recommendations for the use of face coverings in public spaces.
        Reviled by the media for refusing to impose harsh lockdowns, Sweden's less draconian approach to the health crisis appears to be paying off: The Scandinavian nation has recorded a total of eight Covid-linked deaths so far this month, an average of 0.25 deaths per day. While it's possible this number will increase due to reporting lags, deaths have undoubtedly plummeted over the past several months. On June 4, Sweden reported 13 deaths '' more than the entire month of July.
        Also on rt.com CDC releases study showing 3/4 Delta cases are among the vaccinated, says masks are the answer Daily hospitalizations have also hovered near zero in July: On most days this month, the country saw between 0-2 Covid-cases requiring hospital treatment. At the same time, daily cases have fallen sharply since April.
        Despite the promising developments, Tegnell warned against getting too comfortable. He stressed on Friday that Sweden was still in a pandemic and urged his countrymen, especially those in younger age groups, to get vaccinated.
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      Multibillion dollar crusade to eradicate polio appears to have come to an end
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 23:38
        The polio juggernaut, which has skidded past eradication deadline after deadline, seems to have finally run out of fuel, suggests an investigation published by The BMJ today.
        Journalist Robert Fortner reveals that the World Health Organization (WHO) has already fired 500 staff on the polio programme - ''perhaps ending a decades long, multibillion dollar crusade engineered by some of the most powerful actors in global health.''
        According to Fortner, not even the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - topmost funder of polio initiatives and behind only the US government as the largest funder of WHO - knew about these plans.
        Since the effort to eradicate polio began in 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has pushed polio to near annihilation, reducing cases by 99.99%.
        Yet the GPEI has been perched, exhaustingly and expensively, at the cusp of success for years, writes Fortner. In 2017, for example, Bill Gates predicted that ''humanity will see its last case of polio this year.'' Instead, cases surged.
        The pandemic put polio efforts on hiatus for several months in 2020. Then in December, WHO decided to speed up integration of the polio programme into existing immunization services - something that for decades has been considered anathema.
        This was followed by WHO's regional office for Africa (AFRO) firing some 500 polio programme staff - surprising GPEI's partner groups and donor nations including the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
        The GPEI explicitly separated polio from routine immunization because eradication requires very high coverage rates: 90% or more. Yet some argue that the money lavished on polio has left millions of children vulnerable to other, often deadly, vaccine preventable diseases, such as measles.
        Polio funds from abroad have also led to local brain drains - into eradication and away from local and locally funded health priorities.
        Aidan O'Leary, who took over as director for polio eradication at WHO after the December transition decision had been taken, describes GPEI partners' commitment to eradication as ''pretty unequivocal.''
        But Fortner notes that the once indomitable tone now seems muted, and he points to funding cuts and challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan (the two remaining countries where polio remains endemic) as factors that could sink eradication.
        Even if we bravely assume adequate funding, would integrated health service delivery also deliver eradication, he asks?
        Integrated delivery has ''not ever really been tested for an eradication programme,'' says Nicholas Grassly, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and an independent adviser to GPEI.
        Meanwhile, a paper published in The Lancet earlier this year, entitled ''Polio eradication at the crossroads'' suggests that eradication of all poliovirus from the planet has never actually been possible. The reasons include the likelihood of containment breaches of the virus kept in scientific facilities and the ability to synthesize polio.
        The problems aren't new, but the authors use them as the basis for a new policy direction, notes Fortner: ''The objective of our efforts should be to eliminate the disease, not the virus.'' We can still ''eradicate polio'' because in lay terms both the disease and the virus go by the same name. The means proposed, much as envisaged in the new polio strategic plan, are ''global immunization programmes.''
        Zulfiqar Bhutta, a pediatrician at Aga Khan University, says that GPEI ''may need to call the new reality the new eradication.''
        Source:
        BMJ
        Journal reference:
        Fortner, R., et al. (2021) Has the billion dollar crusade to eradicate polio come to an end?. BMJ. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1818.
      Nanjing: New virus outbreak worst since Wuhan, say Chinese state media - BBC News
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 22:20
        image source Getty Images
        image caption Officials have begun citywide testing in NanjingA Covid outbreak first discovered in the Chinese city of Nanjing has spread to five provinces and Beijing, with state media calling it the most extensive contagion after Wuhan.
        Almost 200 people have been infected since the virus was first detected at the city's busy airport on 20 July.
        All flights from Nanjing airport will be suspended until 11 August, according to local media.
        Officials also began city-wide testing amid criticism for their "failure".
        All 9.3 million of the city's residents - including those visiting - will be tested, said state-controlled Xinhua news.
        Posts on social media show long lines of people queuing, and authorities have reportedly urged people to wear masks, stand one metre apart and avoid talking while they wait.
        Officials said the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus was behind the infections, adding that cases had spread further because of how busy the airport is.
        Ding Jie, a health official in Nanjing, told reporters the cases were linked to cleaners who worked on a flight from Russia that arrived in the city on 10 July.
        The cleaners did not follow strict hygiene measures, Xinhua News reported.
        The airport management has been rebuked, with a senior disciplinary body of the Communist Party saying it had "problems such as lack of supervision and unprofessional management".
        Testing has shown that the virus has now spread to at least 13 cities including Chengdu and the capital Beijing.
        However, experts quoted by the Global Times said they believed the outbreak was still at an early stage and could be controlled.
        Local officials in Nanjing said that seven of those infected were in critical condition.
        The new spike in cases has led some on Chinese social media to speculate about whether the Chinese vaccines were working against the Delta variant.
        It is unclear if those infected were vaccinated.
        A number of South East Asian countries relying on Chinese vaccines have recently announced they will use other jabs.
        China has so far managed to keep the virus largely under control by closing borders and moving quickly to stamp out local outbreaks.
        media caption Covid-19 and Wuhan: Why don't we know more?
      Mexico won't be 'hostage' to Big Pharma, president says, as internet predicts trouble after country rejects Covid jabs for kids '-- RT World News
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        Social media users have theorized that President Andres Manuel L"pez Obrador could face severe repercussions after he refused to purchase Covid vaccines for children, vowing that Mexico wouldn't bow to pressure from drugs firms.
        In remarks made earlier this week, the Mexican leader said his government was still waiting for the scientific community to demonstrate the benefits of vaccinating minors. Until conclusive evidence was provided, Mexico would refuse to purchase jabs for children, Obrador announced, adding that pharmaceutical firms seemed to be focused more on making profits than on ensuring medical necessity as they rake in record sales from Covid-19 vaccines.
        Mexico will not be held hostage by pharmaceutical companies that only want to do business and scare children with the idea that it is necessary to vaccinate against Covid-19.
        He was similarly critical of plans by drugs companies to introduce third- or even fourth-dose booster shots, opining that the jabs could be ''superfluous.''
        Speaking on the same topic, Undersecretary for Health Hugo L"pez-Gatell claimed there was ''no scientific evidence'' showing the jab was ''essential'' for minors, given the high rate of inoculation among the adult population, Exc(C)lsior, Mexico City's second-oldest daily, reported.
        Mexico has approved a range of Covid vaccines for emergency use, including shots developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Sinovac, as well as Russia's Sputnik V.
        Also on rt.com Israel to offer Covid booster shot for over-60s, PM Bennett says amid vaccine efficacy worries The country's Health Ministry recently revealed that a minimum of 48% of Mexicans have received at least one vaccine dose.
        Like many other countries, Mexico rolled out its inoculation program in phases, giving high-risk groups first priority. Currently, those under 18 are not included in the vaccine drive.
        Largely ignored by international media, Obrador's provocative remarks went viral after an English-subtitled video of his speech was shared across social media.
        Several comments hailed the Mexican president's ''cajones'' for calling out Big Pharma greed. Pfizer, for example, has boasted record profits and recently raised full-year sales estimates for its vaccine to $45 billion.
        Hats off to these guys. They have balls of steel.
        '-- Leave the gun, take the cannoli (@GrabbingHands1) July 31, 2021Others shared more conspiratorial reactions to Obrador's comments. Numerous observers theorized that the Mexican president was exposing himself to potential harm or an ''accident'' by criticizing Big Pharma firms in such a blunt and direct manner.
        And the next president to mysteriously die is....
        '-- Dan Lewis (@deehinja) July 31, 2021Hope he'll be ok. It hasn't gone well for other leaders who've questioned the narrative.
        '-- ogletwirl (@ogletwirl) July 31, 2021While Mexico doesn't feel comfortable administering the shot to youngsters, many other countries have begun to offer the vaccine to minors, both in clinical trials and as part of inoculation drives. According to the Mayo Clinic, around 14% of Americans under 18 have received at least one Covid shot.
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      Harvard evolutionary biology prof blasted by diversity chief for dismissing term 'pregnant people' | Daily Mail Online
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 22:19
        A Harvard professor of evolutionary biology has been slammed by her department's diversity head for rejecting the term 'pregnant people' and insisting on referring to people as male or female instead.
        Carole Hooven, who has been at the university for 20 years and received multiple teaching awards, spoke of feeling 'frustrated' at the atmosphere in academia.
        She told Fox News on Wednesday that she was dismayed at the insistence on politically correct terminology, which she felt was misguided.
        University professors were discouraged from using the words male and female, and referring to pregnant women, she said. The terms were deemed offensive to the transgender and LGBTQ community.
        'I've been feeling pretty frustrated over the last five years or so. It's been gradual,' she said.
        Carole Hooven, a Harvard professor of evolutionary biology, on Wednesday appeared on Fox News to discuss her concern about politically correct language 'infiltrating' her classrooms
        'This kind of ideology has been infiltrating science. It's infiltrating my classroom, to some extent.'
        Hooven said that her lessons were focused on hormones and behavior, sex and sex differences.
        Hooven has been teaching at Harvard for 20 years but said she had been growing increasingly worried over the last five years
        On July 13 she published a widely acclaimed book, 'T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone That Dominates and Divides Us'.
        She continued: 'Part of that science is teaching the facts.
        'And the facts are that there are in fact two sexes - there are male and female - and those sexes are designated by the kind of gametes we produce.
        'Do we make eggs, big sex cells, or little sex cells, sperm. And that's how we know whether someone is male or female.
        'And the ideology seems to be that biology really isn't as important as how somebody feels about themselves, or feels their sex to be.'
        Earlier this week reporter Katie Herzog, writing for Bari Weiss' Substack newsletter, spoke with one student at a med school in the University of California system who says instructors are too scared to acknowledge the existence of two different sexes because it 'can be considered transphobic.'
        The student, identified only as Lauren, told Herzog: 'I think there's a small percentage of instructors who are true believers [in woke ideology], but most of them are probably just scared of their students.'
        Lauren says that there are real world implications for trying to erase the differences between biological sex, as medical conditions often affect biological males and females differently
        Reporter Katie Herzog (pictured) spoke with Lauren for her story, which was published on Bari Weiss's Substack
        Lauren claimed that, in recent months, students have circulated a number of petitions designed to 'name and shame' instructors for 'wrongspeak.'
        Hooven was interviewed for the story, and said she was concerned about the trend in academica.
        The article was published Tuesday on Bari Weiss's Substack page
        'You know, we can treat people with respect and respect their gender identities and use their preferred pronouns,' she said on Wednesday.
        'So understanding the facts about biology doesn't prevent us from treating people with respect.'
        Hooven said that the political correctness was 'incredibly confusing for science educators and for students trying to learn about the world and learn the tools of science and critical thinking.'
        She said it was wrong for professors and the media to 'start backing away from using certain terms that they are afraid people will find offensive.'
        She continued: 'And that fear is based in reality. People do find these terms offensive; they do complain on social media; they do shame people and even threaten to get people fired.
        'So it's no wonder that a lot of people are caving and yielding to the social pressure.
        'But we are doing students and the public a great disservice, and dividing the populace.'
        Hooven's remarks were strongly criticized on Friday by Laura Simone Lewis, who tweeted: 'As the Director of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force for my dept @HarvardHEB, I am appalled and frustrated by the transphobic and harmful remarks made by a member of my dept in this interview with Fox and Friends.
        Laura Simone Lewis, the diversity director for the Harvard department where Hooven teaches, said she was 'appalled' at the professor's comments
        'Let's be clear: if you respect diverse gender identities & aim to use correct pronouns, then you would know that people with diverse genders/sexes can be pregnant incl Trans men, intersex people & gender nonconforming people. That isn't too hard for medical students to understand.
        'Inclusive language like ''pregnant people'' demonstrates respect for EVERYONE who has the ability to get pregnant, not just cis women. It is vital to teach med students gender inclusive language, as they will certainly interact with people that identify outside the gender binary.'
        Lewis concluded that Hooven's remarks were 'dangerous' and inappropriate.
        'This dangerous language perpetuates a system of discrimination against non-cis people within the med system,' she said.
      Secret proposals to ration care by age in pandemic branded 'unacceptable' | The Independent
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 22:10
        Secret plans to withdraw hospital care from over-70s in the case of a catastrophic pandemic have been branded ''totally unacceptable'' by charities representing older people.
        Confident documents produced following a pandemic planning exercise in 2016 proposed a ''triaging'' system to be put into operation if healthcare resources were exhausted, under which people in nursing homes could be offered ''end of life pathways'' instead of medical assistance.
        The government said the proposals related to ''hypothetical scenarios'' and had never been adopted as official policy.
        But Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams told The Independent that Britain had come ''perilously close'' to an approach of this sort at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
        And she said that the government and NHS should be clear that treatment decisions must always be based on clinical need.
        The documents on ''NHS surge and triage'' and adult social care in the case of a pandemic, labelled ''confidential'' and ''official sensitive'', were obtained by an NHS doctor under freedom of information legislation and published on Saturday by the Daily Telegraph.
        Written in 2017 and 2018, they suggested that in the case of a serious flu outbreak which overwhelmed the NHS's ability to respond, patients could be ''triaged'' - or prioritised for treatment - based on their ''probability of survival'' rather than ''clinical need''.
        In a severe pandemic, the health secretary could authorise medics to prioritise some patients over others and even stop providing critical care altogether, the documents suggested.
        Ms Abrahams expressed deep concern that the approach had even been considered.
        UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures30 July 2021Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan
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        UK news in pictures29 July 2021Great Britain's Mallory Franklin celebrates on the podium after she won silver in the women's C1 Canoe Slalom at Tokyo Olympics
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        UK news in pictures28 July 2021 Canoers on Llyn Padarn lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd. It was announced that the north-west Wales slate landscape has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status
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        UK news in pictures27 July 2021A view of one of two areas now being used at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people thought to be migrants.
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        UK news in pictures26 July 2021 A woman is helped by Border Force officers as a group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, following a small boat incident in the Channel
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        UK news in pictures25 July 2021Vehicles drive through deep water on a flooded road in Nine Elms, London
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        UK news in pictures24 July 2021Utilities workers inspect a 15x20ft sinkhole on Green Lane, Liverpool, which is suspected to have been caused by ruptured water main
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        UK news in pictures23 July 2021 Children interact with Mega Please Draw Freely by artist Ei Arakawa inside the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London, part of UNIQLO Tate Play the gallery's new free programme of art-inspired activities for families
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        UK news in pictures22 July 2021Festivalgoers in the campsite at the Latitude festival in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk
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        UK news in pictures21 July 2021A man walks past an artwork by Will Blood on the end of a property in Bedminster, Bristol, as the 75 murals project reaches the halfway point and various graffiti pieces are sprayed onto walls and buildings across the city over the Summer
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        UK news in pictures20 July 2021People during morning prayer during Eid ul-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, in Southall Park, Uxbridge, London
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        UK news in pictures19 July 2021Commuters, some not wearing facemasks, at Westminster Underground station, at 08:38 in London after the final legal Coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England
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        UK news in pictures18 July 2021A view of spectators by the 2nd green during day four of The Open at The Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent
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        UK news in pictures17 July 2021Cyclists ride over the Hammersmith Bridge in London. The bridge was closed last year after cracks in it worsened during a heatwave
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        UK news in pictures16 July 2021The sun rises behind the Sefton Park Palm House, in Sefton Park, Liverpool
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        UK news in pictures15 July 2021Sir Nicholas Serota watches a short film about sea monsters as he opens a £7.6 million, 360 immersive dome at Devonport's Market Hall in Plymouth, which is the first of its type to be built in Europe
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        UK news in pictures14 July 2021Heidi Street, playing a gothic character, looks at a brain suspended in glass at the world's first attraction dedicated to the author of Frankenstein inside the 'Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein' experience, located in a Georgian terraced house in Bath, as it prepares to open to the public on 19 July
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        UK news in pictures13 July 2021Rehearsals are held in a car park in Glasgow for a parade scene ahead of filming for what is thought to be the new Indiana Jones 5 movie starring Harrison Ford
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        UK news in pictures12 July 2021A local resident puts love hearts and slogans on the plastic that covers offensive graffiti on the vandalised mural of Manchester United striker and England player Marcus Rashford on the wall of a cafe on Copson Street, Withington in Manchester
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        UK news in pictures11 July 2021England's Bukayo Saka with manager Gareth Southgate after the match
        Pool via Reuters
        UK news in pictures10 July 2021Australia's Ashleigh Barty holds the trophy after winning her final Wimbledon match against Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova
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        UK news in pictures9 July 2021England 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst stands on top of a pod on the lastminute.com London Eye wearing a replica 1966 World Cup final kit and looking out towards Wembley Stadium in the north of the capital, where the England football team will play Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday
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        UK news in pictures8 July 2021Karolina Pliskova celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka during the women's singles semifinals match on day ten of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London
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        UK news in pictures7 July 2021The residents of Towfield Court in Feltham have transformed their estate with England flags for the Euro 2020 tournament
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        UK news in pictures6 July 2021A couple are hit by a wave as they walk along the promenade in Dover, Kent, during strong winds
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        UK news in pictures5 July 2021Alexander Zverev playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round of the Gentlemen's Singles on Court 1 on day seven of Wimbledon at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
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        UK news in pictures4 July 2021Aaron Carty and the Beyonc(C) Experience perform on stage during UK Black Pride at The Roundhouse in London
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        UK news in pictures3 July 2021England's Jordan Henderson celebrates after scoring his first international goal, his side's fourth against Ukraine during the Euro 2020 quarter final match at the Olympic stadium in Rome
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        UK news in pictures2 July 2021Dan Evans serves against Sebastian Korda during their men's singles third round match at Wimbledon
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        UK news in pictures1 July 2021Prince William, left and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London
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        UK news in pictures30 June 2021Dancers from the Billingham Festival and Balbir Singh Dance Company, during a preview for the The Two Fridas, UK Summer tour, presented by Billingham International Folklore Festival of World Dance in collaboration with Balbir Singh Dance Company, inspired by the life and times of female artists Frida Kahlo and Amrita Sher-Gil , which opens on July 10 at Ushaw Historic House, Chapel and Gardens in Durham
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        UK news in pictures29 June 2021A boy kicks a soccer ball in front of the balconies and landings adorned with predominantly England flags at the Kirby housing estate in London
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        UK news in pictures28 June 2021Emergency services attend a fire nearby the Elephant & Castle Rail Station in London
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        UK news in pictures27 June 2021People walk along Regent Street in central London during a #FreedomToDance march organised by Save Our Scene, in protest against the government's perceived disregard for the live music industry throughout the coronavirus pandemic
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        UK news in pictures26 June 2021A pair of marchers in a Trans Pride rally share a smile in Soho
        Angela Christofilou/The Independent
        UK news in pictures25 June 2021Tim Duckworth during the Long Jump in the decathlon during day one of the Muller British Athletics Championships at Manchester Regional Arena
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        UK news in pictures24 June 2021A member of staff poses with the work 'The Death of Cash' by XCopy at the 'CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art' auction at Bonhams auction house in London
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        UK news in pictures23 June 2021Bank of England Chief Cashier Sarah John displays the new 50-pound banknote at Daunt Books in London
        Bank of England via Reuters
        UK news in pictures22 June 2021Actor Isaac Hampstead Wright sits on the newly unveiled Game of Throne's "Iron Throne" statue, in Leicester Square, in London, Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The statue is the tenth to join the trail and commemorates 10 years since the TV show first aired, as well as in anticipation for HBO's release of House of the Dragon set to be released in 2022
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        UK news in pictures21 June 2021Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon receives her second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
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        UK news in pictures20 June 2021Joyce Paton, from Peterhead, on one of the remaining snow patches on Meall a'Bhuiridh in Glencoe during the Midsummer Ski. The event, organised by the Glencoe Mountain Resort, is held every year on the weekend closest to the Summer Solstice
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        UK news in pictures19 June 2021England appeal LBW during day four of their Women's International Test match against India at the Bristol County Ground
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        UK news in pictures18 June 2021Scotland fans let off flares in Leicester Square after Scotland's Euro 2020 match against England ended in a 0-0 draw
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        UK news in pictures17 June 2021Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet
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        UK news in pictures16 June 2021A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London
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        UK news in pictures15 June 2021Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre
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        UK news in pictures14 June 2021Scotland's David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic's Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park
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        UK news in pictures13 June 2021Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring England's first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley
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        UK news in pictures12 June 2021Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall
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        UK news in pictures11 June 2021Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool
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        ''Whatever the status of this planning document may be, we know from other reports that during the early part of this pandemic we got perilously close to triage approaches being introduced in hospitals that took age heavily into account,''she said.
        ''If they had been put into practice the result would have been that a relatively healthy 70-year-old would not have got access to the intensive treatment they needed - they would effectively have been written off.
        ''At that time there was huge uncertainty and fear, as doctors struggled to cope with a virus that was threatening to overwhelm the NHS.
        ''However, we said at the time and repeat now that there is no place for treatment decisions based on age in a civilised society. Whatever the pressures, these decisions should always be based on clinical need.
        ''To do otherwise is blatantly ageist and totally unacceptable.''
        Prof Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent providers of adult social care, told The Independent: ''The NHS should not have blanket policies and every single person should be assessed on the basis of need.
        ''The NHS should be available to all citizens and any scenario planning for a pandemic should focus on the needs of citizens, not the needs of organisations.''
        Dr Moosa Qureshi, who obtained the plans, said it was ''unprofessional'' that they were not given to medics.
        ''The Information Commissioner held that clinicians must be supported by a clear framework when allocating care during a severe pandemic, and that the framework needs public debate,'' he said. ''The NHS triage paper provides real guidance for front-line staff if NHS services are overwhelmed. Why did the Department of Health, NHS England and BMA keep it secret from healthcare professionals?''
        An NHS spokesman said: ''The NHS was asked to produce this discussion document based on a specific and extreme hypothetical scenario to inform the Government's pandemic flu preparedness programme rather than for operational use and it did not form the basis of the NHS response to coronavirus.''
        A government spokesman said the reports were ''historical draft briefing papers that include hypothetical scenarios which do not and have never represented agreed government policy''.
      COVID-19: New deadlier coronavirus variant that could kill one in three infected people 'a realistic possibility', SAGE warns | UK News | Sky News
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 22:08
        The emergence of a new COVID variant with a similar death rate to MERS, which kills one in three infected people, is a "realistic possibility", the government's scientific advisers have warned.
        However the experts also say the virus could result in "much less severe disease" in older people and those who are clinically vulnerable in the long term.
        In a paper published on Friday, the scientists outline the chances that a new variant will evade current vaccines, saying one of the causes is "almost certain" to happen.
        The document written by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) looked at the "long term evolution of SARS-CoV-2", the virus that causes COVID-19.
        It said the eradication of the virus "will be unlikely" and the scientists have "high confidence in stating that there will always be variants".
        They considered a scenario where a variant causes severe disease in a greater proportion of the population than has previously occurred, with similar death rates to other coronaviruses SARS (10%) or MERS (35%).
        The experts said this could be caused by a "recombination" between two variants of concern or variants under investigation, such as between beta and alpha or delta variants.
        SAGE warned that the likelihood of a more severe variant under these circumstances was a "realistic possibility".
        It set out measures the government should consider to combat this, including minimising the "introduction of new variants from other territories (to reduce risk of recombination between variants)".
        Ministers confirmed this week that England would allow fully vaccinated visitors from both the EU and the United States to arrive without needing to quarantine from 2 August.
        SAGE also looked at a scenario where the coronavirus becomes like one "that causes common colds, but with much less severe disease predominantly in the old or clinically vulnerable."
        It said that while it was "unlikely in the short term", there is a "realistic possibility in the long term".
        Meanwhile, SAGE said a scenario where a variant evades current vaccines because of a process known as "antigenic drift" is "almost certain".
        It suggests that the UK needs to continue vaccinating vulnerable age groups "at regular periods with updated vaccines" to the dominant variants to increase their protection.
        Clinical epidemiologist Dr Deepti Gurdasani said the SAGE paper was a "stark warning".
        Writing on Twitter, she said: "Given the impact Delta has already had, and in light of recent evidence from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), we cannot afford any more new variants emerging - we need to take preventive action now."
        She added that the SAGE paper "makes clear that the virus becoming less virulent is unlikely in the short term".
        "So for all those who suggest that we should live with it, and it'll become like seasonal coronaviruses and benign, doesn't look like that's likely to happen anytime soon," Dr Gurdasani wrote.
        Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
        COVID infection rates have continued to rise across England, Wales and Northern Ireland - but dropped in Scotland, according to the latest estimates.
        Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that in the week ending 24 July, approximately one in 65 people were estimated to have had the disease in England.
        More than 5.8 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in the UK during the pandemic, with nearly 130,000 people dying within 28 days of a positive test, according to government figures.
      Olympics Ratings Slump Forces NBC to Haggle With Advertisers - Bloomberg
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      Why Landlords Are Declining Emergency Rental Assistance Funds - Inman
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 18:19
        Earlier in March, a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package was passed by Congress that includes approximately $50 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) for struggling renters and landlords.
        Renters need to meet certain requirements to qualify for the emergency rental assistance, including at least one member of the household experiencing unemployment or other financial hardship as a result of the pandemic, at least one member of the household proving risk of housing insecurity, and proof that the overall household income is at or below 80 percent of the area's median income.
        Although the funds may seem like welcome relief for many, a number of landlords are actually turning down payments because of the various regulations attached. Restrictions like not being allowed to get rid of difficult tenants or having to provide government agencies or contractors with sensitive financial documents have deterred some landlords from accepting the assistance. The process also requires a decent amount of administrative work and documentation, which can be time consuming.
        The aid is intended to help low-income renters pay back some or all of their missed rent for up to one year. But, some landlords' hesitancy to accept the funds will make paying rent much more difficult for many renters.
        One Houston-based nonprofit that helped facilitate COVID-19-related rental assistance said over 5,600 households that applied for assistance during 2020 had a landlords that would not accept it, according to the Wall Street Journal.
        Likewise, the city of Los Angeles reported that almost 50 percent of renters who received assistance during 2020 rented from landlords who would not participate in the program.
        ''I've seen it happen more and more,'' Brian Miller, an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, told the Journal, adding that roughly 20 percent of his current cases include a landlords who wouldn't accept ERA funds.
        Under the Treasury Department's regulations, states and cities that distribute the funds are allowed a bit of flexibility in determining aid eligibility among renters, as well as whether or not they can receive funds for all or only part of their owed rent. Some programs will even pay aid directly to tenants if landlords refuse to participate. However, going around landlords to provide the funds hasn't always resolved the issue because some landlords still won't accept the money.
        Aside from the red tape potentially involved in accepting the federal funds, many landlords in these instances are also considering more long-term pros and cons. The federal eviction moratorium does currently extend through the end of March, but it doesn't require landlords to allow tenants to renew their leases. For some landlords, allowing a financially insecure tenant's lease to expire and betting on getting a better tenant to fill their place might seem like a better option than relying on government aid.
        Over the past several months, landlord groups as well as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) have actually advocated for more rental assistance, while some landlord groups and state association of Realtors filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over the eviction moratorium. But, for landlords struggling the most, the opportunity to get a tenant that's in a more stable position may be too good to pass up.
        Another factor at play is differences between local rental assistance programs and how much payment landlords can get. For instance, in Broward County, Florida, assistance programs won't cover all of a tenant's back rent if it's for more than one month '-- they'll only cover 60 percent.
        ''If you have someone who wasn't upholding their end of the contract '... you're asking the housing provider to sign up for essentially another year of this person being in this unit unable to pay,'' Amanda Gill, government affairs director for the Florida Apartment Association, told the Journal. ''You're really putting them in a really difficult position, because they have ongoing obligations.''
        Email Lillian Dickerson
      Florida landlords face 'far-reaching and detrimental' impact from COVID-19 | Opinion - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 18:15
        By Amanda Gill
        Special to the Sun Sentinel |
        Apr 23, 2020 at 10:42 AM
        According to recent data from Entrata, a software company that tracks rent payments, only 79 percent of Florida renters paid rent by April 7. The Florida Apartment Association and the South East Florida Apartment Association, in an op-ed, write that the apartment rental business faces "far-reaching and detrimental' impact from COVID-19. CARLINE JEAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (Carline Jean / Sun Sentinel)
        We are in unprecedented times. The COVID-19 health crisis has proved that no industry is immune from the negative impacts of the virus. This includes the Florida apartment industry, which houses 2.8 million residents and employs 25,000 people statewide.
        As we continue to navigate our way through this crisis one thing remains clear: The need for quality rental housing has never been more important. While Florida grapples with the adverse effects of COVID-19, we must come together to preserve the communities we call home.
        According to recent data from Entrata, a software company that tracks rent payments, only 79 percent of Florida renters paid rent by April 7.
        In an effort to ease the burden for residents, housing providers are offering flexibility in a variety of forms including payment plans, rent deferment and more.
        May 1 is quickly approaching, which begs the question, ''What will happen if residents cannot afford to pay rent for an extended period of time?''
        Amanda Gill, government affairs director for the Florida Apartment Association (Courtesy of Florida Apartment Association)
        First, we want to stress that in these financially challenging times, open communication between residents and property managers is critically important. If you are an apartment resident who is financially impacted by COVID-19 and unable to pay rent, you should contact your property manager as soon as possible to discuss your situation.
        Your housing provider cannot help you if he or she is unaware that you are experiencing a financial hardship. While many communities have closed their offices to visitors to keep staff safe, they are still available by phone, video chat, and e-mail to support residents during this time.
        A lack of revenue creates a far-reaching and detrimental financial impact for the property, residents, and the community. According to data from the National Apartment Association, 27 cents of every dollar of rent pays for ongoing maintenance, utilities, and insurance, as well as payroll expenses for the staff members who keep the property running. In addition, 39 cents of every dollar pays for the property's mortgage, which is crucial to preventing foreclosures and keeping residents in their homes.
        Unfortunately, the CARES Act passed by Congress only provides mortgage forbearance flexibility for federally-backed mortgages, which leaves most multifamily mortgages unprotected, even as building owners are working with residents who are unable to pay rent due to no fault of their own.
        Now that we've accounted for two-thirds of every dollar of rent, what about the remaining third? An additional 14 cents pays for property taxes, which ultimately supports our communities by funding our schools, parks, and essential services that we all depend on at the local level.
        About 10 cents of every dollar is used for capital expenditures, which can include roof and HVAC replacement to help ensure quality housing for apartment residents.
        After all of these ongoing expenses are accounted for, that leaves just 9 cents of every dollar that is returned to apartment owners. This includes many apartment owners who operate small businesses and rely on this limited revenue to make ends meet each month.
        It is clear that the nonpayment of rent for an extended period of time could threaten Florida's housing supply, which is already insufficient and stretched thin. More importantly, though, this financial instability could have a damaging effect on the fabric of our local communities. That is why now more than ever, we must come together to protect rental housing and the communities we call home.
        Amanda Gill is government affairs director for the Florida Apartment Association.
      Federal help for past-due rent is on the way - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 18:14
        Sorry, it's going to take several more weeks for that rental assistance approved by Congress and the president to start trickling down to help cover tenants' past-due rents.
        Surprised? You shouldn't be, considering how long it has taken the federal government to get stimulus checks into people's bank accounts or how screwed up the state's unemployment system remains nearly a year after the pandemic began.
        The money can't get here soon enough for Paula Prentiss and her daughter Jasmyn. Both women have suffered severe loss of income during the pandemic. Shifts dried up at the restaurant where Paula worked as a server while money Jasmyn earned making costumes for cosplay gatherings disappeared as gatherings were canceled. Today she earns enough money for food and utilities, but not rent, answering the phone for a local call center.
        They've been unable to pay rent on their Margate apartment since August. In September, their landlord filed suit in Broward County Court to evict them. A nationwide eviction moratorium ordered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is all that's preventing a judge from signing a final order returning the property to the landlord. Thousands of other South Florida renters are in the same situation.
        ''It's been a very stressful few months,'' Paula Prentiss said. ''Getting help to pay our past-due rent could definitely help us out.''
        The money will get here. It's just a question of when.
        Of the $25 billion, Florida is likely to receive $1.4 billion, according to estimates by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. That would pay down past-due rent balances of $6,000 each for more than 200,000 Florida households.
        Moody's Analytics, a data firm, estimates that 11.4 million U.S. households that are behind on their rent owe an average of $6,000 each. Most of the debt was accrued after enhanced unemployment payments expired last summer, the firm said.
        If distributed based on population, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties should receive a combined $402 million '-- enough to wipe out $6,000 balances for at least 60,000 households.
        That won't be enough to solve the problem, experts say.
        Stout, an analytics firm, estimates between 187,000 and 391,000 renter households in Florida would be at risk of eviction if the CDC's eviction moratorium expires on Jan. 31.
        Moody's Analytics estimates that U.S. renters might be as much as $70 billion past due. Advocates for renters and property owners have been asking since last spring for $100 billion to get tenants through the pandemic.
        But the $25 billion will still go a long way toward preventing millions of tenants from ending up homeless, where they would be at greater risk of catching and spreading COVID-19, said Sara Saadian, vice president of public policy for the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
        Landlords to help with applications
        The bill was written with provisions ''to ensure the money will be going to those who need it the most and for states to get it out more efficiently,'' she said.
        Property owners will be allowed to play a more active role in applying for relief on behalf of their tenants and will even be able to bundle applications for multiple tenants as long as tenants provide required documentation of income loss and hardship, Saadian said. Once approved, the money will be paid directly to landlords in most cases.
        Louis Mata, a spokesman for United Property Management, which manages more than 9,000 units in South Florida, says the company will begin reaching out to tenants as soon as it gets directions on how to apply.
        ''We'll certainly send notices to residents, through emails and posters at the properties, to help get the information to the folks. We'll tell them it will be first-come, first-serve, and that they have to get lined up and have their documents in order.''
        While his company has dozens of eviction cases awaiting the expiration of the CDC moratorium, Mata says it targets only tenants who stopped paying rent and refuse to discuss payment arrangements.
        Qualifying for the new aid should be less cumbersome than it was for money earmarked for housing assistance under the first COVID-19 relief packages approved last spring.
        This time, requirements are simpler. While funds are available, tenants can qualify for up to 12 months in past-due rent, plus three months for future rent if one or more household members meet this criteria:
        Qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19. Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Has a household income at or below 80% of the area median. On average, 80% of the median household income in the tricounty region is about $48,113, but that number could differ depending on the county. Priority will be given to households at or below 50% of the median household income '-- about $30,000 '-- but it's not yet clear how priority will be determined, Saadian said.
        When will the money get here?
        Here's where the government's effort to distribute the $25 billion stands right now: This past week, the U.S. Treasury Department posted a form that states and local governments with populations of at least 200,000 residents must fill out and submit to be eligible to receive a portion of the money for their residents.
        The deadline to return that form is Jan. 12. Then the Treasury Department will decide how much money will be distributed to each based on how many applications it receives.
        Agencies that will disburse the money, including the housing assistance programs within Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, will then find out what documentation will be required from households.
        While large counties will get the money directly, smaller cities and counties will receive it through the state.
        Gov. Ron DeSantis' office hasn't yet determined which state agency ''is best suited to administer the program in a manner that most expeditiously delivers the funds to Floridians who need it,'' press secretary Cody McCloud said in an email.
        On the Treasury Department's website, Secretary Steve Mnuchin was quoted as saying the Emergency Rental Assistance Program was being implemented with ''unparalleled speed.''
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        The bill gives the government 30 days after it was enacted to make the money available to state and local governments. President Trump signed it on Dec. 28, so housing assistance organizations in South Florida might not receive it until Jan. 28.
        That means distribution of the money to those who need it likely won't begin until February '-- after the CDC moratorium is expected to expire.
        But housing advocates expect the incoming Biden administration to extend it further. Saadian hopes it will drop the incremental extensions that have kept tenants in constant fear of imminent eviction and extend the moratorium through the end of the national emergency, whenever that comes.
        With Democrats soon to take control of the presidency and both legislative branches, advocates for tenants and landlords say they hope more relief is coming.
        Landlords in particular have been left out of the national conversation about housing stability and have been offered no assistance to deal with maintenance costs, property tax bills and utilities, Mata said.
        ''Let's talk to landlords,'' he said. ''Let's figure out a plan going forward. We have to look at the big picture if we want to keep people in their homes.''
      Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19 | CDC
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 18:06
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      Get Ready for the 'No-Buy' List - by David Sacks - Common Sense with Bari Weiss
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 17:00
        (Lukas Schulze/picture alliance via Getty Images)By any standard, David Sacks is a super successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He's invested in companies including Airbnb, Bird, Eventbrite, Facebook, Houzz, Lyft, Palantir, Postmates, Reddit, Slack, SpaceX, Twitter, and Uber. Now he's a general partner at Craft Ventures.
        But that's not the reason to listen to him. It's because he's deeply insightful and consistently ahead of the curve on issues including free speech and Big Tech, how to amend Section 230, San Francisco's meltdown, and more. You might remember his name from this column I wrote a few months back.
        I don't typically recommend Twitter to anyone I like. But if you're already there, I strongly suggest following David.
        '--BW
        When I helped create PayPal in 1999, it was in furtherance of a revolutionary idea. No longer would ordinary people be dependent on large financial institutions to start a business.
        Our democratized payment system caught fire and grew exponentially with millions of users who appreciated its ease and simplicity. Traditional banks were too slow and bureaucratic to adapt. Instead, the revolution we spawned two decades ago inspired new startups like Ally, Chime, Square, and Stripe, which have further expanded participation in the financial system.
        But now PayPal is turning its back on its original mission. It is now leading the charge to restrict participation by those it deems unworthy.
        First, in January, PayPal blocked a Christian crowdfunding site that raised money to bring demonstrators to Washington on January 6. Then, in February, PayPal announced that it was working with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to ban users from the platform. This week the company announced it is partnering with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to investigate and shut down accounts that the ADL considers too extreme.
        Why is this a problem? Isn't it perfectly reasonable to make sure bad actors don't fund hate through these platforms?
        I'm a Jewish American who has special appreciation for the ADL's historical role as a watchdog against antisemitism. Whether it came from the Aryan Nation or the Nation of Islam, the ADL did admirable work in combatting it. But the ADL has changed. Like the Southern Poverty Law Center, the organization has broadened its portfolio from antisemitism (or racism in the SPLC's case) to cover what it considers to be ''hate'' or ''extremism'' in general.
        The new ADL opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh because of his ''hostility to reproductive freedom.'' It partnered with such beacons of philosemitism as Al Sharpton (you read that right) to boycott Facebook for allowing ''hate speech on their platform.'' It opposed Trump's executive order banning Critical Race Theory in federal government training. And it called for Fox News to fire Tucker Carlson for his comments on immigration.
        Whether one agrees with any of these positions is beside the point. The point is that the ADL, like the SPLC, now weighs in on issues far beyond its original purview.
        Just as there is no set definition of ''hate speech'' that everyone agrees upon, the definition of a ''hate group'' is nebulous and ripe for overuse by those with an agenda. So it should come as no surprise that the ever-increasing list of suspects has grown from unquestionable hate groups, like neo-nazis and the KKK, to organizations who espouse socially conservative views, like the Family Research Council, religious liberty advocates, and even groups concerned with election integrity.
        The reclassification of political opponents as hate groups has been enabled by expansive redefinitions of terms like racism, segregation and white supremacy. When ''segregation'' can be used in The New York Times to describe a 70% Asian school like Stuyvesant; when the notion of color-blindness is considered racist by influential intellectuals like Ibram X. Kendi; and when ''white supremacy'' has been used to describe any support for any policy that can result in disparate outcomes, then a broad range of organizations can be lumped in with truly vile ones. Until now, these over-categorizations were largely a case of rhetorical hyperbole in academic debates. Thanks to Big Tech, they are now being operationalized.
        I have no desire to defend genuinely hateful or extremist groups. Indeed, when I was COO at PayPal, we regularly worked with law enforcement to restrict illegal activity on our platform. But we are talking about something very different here: shutting down people and organizations that express views that are entirely lawful, even if they are unpopular in Silicon Valley.
        As with the censorship of speech, financial deplatforming often begins as something that seems narrow and reasonable '-- who wouldn't want to ban the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys? But once the power is granted, it metastasizes into widespread use.
        We have watched this unfold with online censorship. Many cheered the decision by the largest social media companies to kick President Trump and his most rabid supporters off their platforms after January 6. They cheered even louder when Apple, Google, and Amazon deplatformed Parler, the one speech platform that didn't ban Trump. In defense of these policies, we were told that these were private business decisions made by companies that had every right under both the First Amendment and Section 230 to police speech on their platforms.
        Then, a couple weeks ago, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki casually announced that the Biden administration has been flagging and reporting posts on Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms for removal as Covid-19 ''misinformation'' (another term with a changing and ever-expanding definition). She even said that when one tech company removes a post, they all should do it, implying that the White House is centrally coordinating a blocklist across social media properties.
        The suppression of speech by the government is blatantly unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Given that both Congress and the administration are threatening Big Tech companies with antitrust lawsuits and the repeal of Section 230's liability protection, it's disingenuous for Psaki and others to claim Big Tech is doing this policing entirely of their own accord. How could they object when the administration and Congress have hung the sword of Damocles over their heads?
        The harm is compounded when the loss of speech rights is followed by restrictions on the ability to participate in online economic activity. Within days of the Trump-Parler cancellations, most of the finance tech stack (Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify, GoFundMe, and even enterprise SaaS company Okta, which wasn't used by anyone in the events of January 6) declared they were canceling the accounts of ''individuals and organizations connected to the [Capitol] riot.''
        Now PayPal has gone much further, creating the economic equivalent of the No-Fly List with the ADL's assistance. If history is any guide, other fintech companies will soon follow suit. As we saw in the case of speech restrictions, the political monoculture that prevails among employees of these companies will create pressure for all of them to act as a bloc.
        When someone mistakenly lands on the No-Fly List, they can at least sue or petition the government for redress. But when your name lands on a No-Buy List created by a consortium of private fintech companies, to whom can you appeal?
        As for the notion of building your own PayPal or Facebook: because of their gigantic network effects and economies of scale, there is no viable alternative when the whole industry works together to deny you access.
        Kicking people off social media deprives them of the right to speak in our increasingly online world. Locking them out of the financial economy is worse: It deprives them of the right to make a living. We have seen how cancel culture can obliterate one's ability to earn an income, but now the cancelled may find themselves without a way to pay for goods and services. Previously, cancelled employees who would never again have the opportunity to work for a Fortune 500 company at least had the option to go into business for themselves. But if they cannot purchase equipment, pay employees, or receive payment from clients and customers, that door closes on them, too.
        What the woke Left doesn't seem to realize is that the sort of economic desperation they seek to inflict on their enemies is exactly what produced Trump in the first place. In the wake of Trump's 2016 victory, many in Washington and Silicon Valley were too busy blaming social media to consider how the policies they had supported in favor of globalization and free trade had hollowed out the industrial base that many working-class Americans depended on for good jobs. Trump channeled the anger of these desperate voters to win crucial swing states in the Rust Belt. These disaffected voters resented the cadre of managerial, media, academic, and governmental elites who acted as if they had a monopoly on truth, morality, and decency. Trump, the outrageous, uncouth billionaire with ridiculous hair, was the perfect avatar of their desire to stick it to them.
        Trump is gone, but the resentments he exploited to come to power remain. And now we have this unholy alliance of tech and government coming together to ban ''misinformation'' and ''hate,'' which they '-- and they alone '-- get to define. What an ideal formula for spreading and deepening these preexisting resentments.
        If we continue down this path, a far more dangerous demagogue could emerge. I implore my successors at PayPal and other Big Tech companies to stop throwing kindling on the fires of populism by locking people out of the online public square and the modern web-based economy. Silenced voices and empty stomachs are fuel for the very extremism you claim to oppose.
        If you really believe our democracy barely survived a stress test these last several years, and don't wish to subject it to another, the last thing you should do is create hordes of desperate people, denied a voice and livelihood, and primed to be rallied to a future autocrat's cause.
      Data shows it's NOT just Republicans refusing the COVID vaccine | Daily Mail Online
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:20
        Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden's digs at Republicans for refusing to get vaccinated have been cast into doubt after figures showed key Democrat demographics are among the main groups who aren't being jabbed.
        Figures from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) show key Democrat voting blocks - including blacks, Hispanics and people of all races between ages 18 and 24 - are also hesitant to have the shot.
        Earlier this week, Nancy Pelosi attempted to blame Republican leaders for failing to encourage their constituents to get vaccinated, but failed to mention why her own party hadn't been pushing millions of reluctant Democrat voters to also get the shots.
        'Certainly, the Republican Party has been delinquent in embracing the science that people need to be vaccinated,' she stated.
        Joe Biden also appeared to imply that partisanship was to blame for the United States' flagging vaccine drive during a lengthy White House speech Thursday.
        He said: 'Look this is not about red states and blue states, it's literally about life and death
        'It's about life and death that's what it's about you know and I know people talk about freedom.'
        A KFF survey found young people, rural residents and black adults are among the groups most likely to refuse a vaccine, along with registered Republicans
        Younger people are less likely to have received the vaccine than older Americans. Many young people either do not fear the virus or do fear the vaccine
        Black Americans are falling behind in the vaccine rollout, while Asian Americans are the most vaccinated group
        But data from sources including the government's own Centers for Disease Control shows that young people, as well as black and Hispanic Americans, are among the largest groups who are hesitant to have a COVID vaccine.
        The CDC reports that young Americans between 18-24 are among the most hesitant groups. They account for 9.2 percent of the U.S. population, but only 8 percent of the vaccinated population.
        A separate survey found that 25 percent of unvaccinated people in that age group have no intention of ever receiving the shots.
        According to the KFF, 'less than half of black and Hispanic people have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose in nearly all states reporting data, including a number of states where less than a third have received a vaccine.'
        A separate KFF poll found that one in three black Americans and one in four Hispanic Americans would still refuse the COVID-19 vaccine even if all scientists determined it to be safe.
        Meanwhile, CDC data shows that senior citizens - who are more likely to be Republican than Democrat - are the group with the highest vaccination rate.
        92 percent of Americans aged 65 to 74 and 87 percent of Americans 75 and older are at least partially vaccinated.
        And their data has found white Americans are more likely to have had a COVID vaccine than their black or Hispanic counterparts.
        Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden's digs at Republicans for refusing to get vaccinated have been cast into doubt after figures showed key Democrat demographics are among the main groups who aren't being jabbed
        Males are less likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccine than females so far
        White and black Americans are least likely to have been vaccinated so far, according to CDC data
        White Americans account for 59 percent of the vaccinated despite making up 61 percent of the population.
        However, liberal pundits are correct when they state that rural voters and Republicans - many of whom are white - are among the most vaccine-resistant groups.
        Many rural areas also have lower vaccination rates than their urban peers, though the reason may not only be based in vaccine hesitancy.
        Official data shows that 45 percent of people in urban areas have received at least one shot of a vaccine, compared to only 39 percent of people who live in rural areas, according to CDC data.
        Rural Americans often have to travel further than their urban counterparts to receive the vaccine, and access to vaccine information is harder in areas that may not have full internet access.
        Door-to-door efforts have already kicked off in some parts of the country, including in rural Georgia.
        In total, nearly 350 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the United States.
        Almost half of the American population is fully vaccinated, and 57 percent are at least partially vaccinated.
        Experts project that it may require the nation reaching 80 percent of the population getting fully vaccinated to reach herd immunity.
        Urban areas have relatively high vaccination rates across the country (shaded above) while rural areas (shaded below) are falling behind their urban peers with barriers like a lack of access to information and a lack of transportation playing a role
        Provincetown: How July 4 weekend turned the partygoing playground of New England into the center of a Covid clusterLocated near the northern-most point of Cape Cod, Provincetown - or P-Town - is known for its beaches, artists and as a popular vacation spot for the LGBT+ community.
        It has a population of just under 3,000 people year-round, but this raises to as high as 60,000 in the summer months.
        Young party-goers descend on the town to make the most of the plethora of bars and clubs found along it's famous Commercial Street.
        Wealthy tourists usually found in nearby cities such a Boston and Manhattan will often use the town as their playground to spend their hard earned cash - or that of their parent's.
        But a week after crowds descended to celebrate the Fourth of July -- the holiday President Joe Biden hoped would mark the nation's liberation from COVID-19 -- the manager of the Cape Cod beach town said he was aware of 'a handful of covid cases among folks who spent time there'
        Within weeks, the outbreak rapidly grew until, as of Thursday, 882 people were tied to an outbreak in the town, with 74 per cent of those having had both doses of the vaccine. It was reported that seven people were hospitalised, ABC News reported.
        Before this, health officials were assuming that it was rare for a vaccinated person to become infected with the virus and, if they were, they probably wouldn't infect others.
        The assumption was based on studies of an earlier virus, and not the new Delta variant, which was first detected in India earlier this year.
        It is indicated that this outbreak is among the new evidence behind the decision to make masks compulsory indoors again, even if they have had both doses of the vaccine.
        The owner of Marine Specialties, a long running Army-Navy store, had been leery of officials dropping virus safety mandates ahead of what many expected would be a busy summer season. He even tried to require customers to mask up in his store through the summer, before finally relenting in June.
        'If we'd stuck with masks all along, I don't think we'd be having this conversation,' Patrick said, adding that he's required all his staff to be masked and vaccinated. 'They're not entirely fun, but we wore them all last summer, and we didn't have a single case in Provincetown. Now see where we're at.'
        Why the Delta Covid variant ISN'T really spreading as quickly as chickenpox (even though US health officials say the mutant strain is just as contagious)
        Top scientists today claimed the Indian 'Delta' variant is not spreading as quickly as chickenpox, despite US health officials saying it is just as contagious.
        Data circulating within America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claimed people infected with the mutant strain can go on to infect eight others.
        The same internal document also alleged that fully-vaccinated people can spread the Indian variant just as easily as unvaccinated people because they carry a similar amount of the virus in their nose and mouth.
        Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, insisted the agency was 'not crying wolf', saying the situation was 'serious' and that the measures needed to tackle the spread of Delta were 'extreme'.
        But British scientists have questioned some of the claims made by the department, which has urged Americans to keep their coverings on indoors regardless of whether they've been vaccinated or not.
        Professor David Livermore, an infectious diseases expert from the University of East Anglia, said vaccine-triggered immunity and the endless waves of Covid which nations have endured meant there were fewer susceptible people around for people to infect.
        'The US, like the UK, has substantial immunity from prior infection and from vaccination,' he told MailOnline. 'This will surely be a major drag on Delta's spread, precluding (viral spread) numbers of that magnitude.'
        And Professor Julian Tang, a virologist at Leicester University, said the theory was likely just 'speculation' because it was very difficult to track down the number of cases sparked by a single infection.
        This graph shows how many people someone infected with the above diseases is likely to transfer them on to. For people who catch chickenpox, scientists estimate they will pass on the infection to between 10 and 12 others. And for those who catch measles, they are thought to pass it on to 12 to 18 others. Scientists at the CDC have estimated every person who catches the Indian 'Delta' variant of Covid could pass it on to eight other people. But British scientists say this is not correct
        Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, said the agency was 'not crying wolf' over the 'serious' situation. But British scientist Professor David Livermore said it was not plausible that the Delta variant was being passed to eight others for every person it infected. He said if this was the case then the UK's cases would not be dipping
        The R0 '-- the basic reproduction rate which shows just how contagious every disease is '-- of Delta is thought to be around eight, the CDC says.
        That means, in theory, anyone infected with the mutant strain '-- which is now dominant in dozens of countries '-- will pass it on to eight others.
        What does the CDC claim in its latest report?Leaked slides from a presentation by the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention have made several claims about the Indian 'Delta' variant of Covid.
        Its director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, said they highlighted how 'serious' the situation had become.
        Below, MailOnline has gone through the key claims.
        Indian 'Delta' variant of Covid is as infectious as chickenpox
        The R0 '-- the basic reproduction rate which shows just how contagious every disease is '-- of Delta is thought to be around eight, the CDC says.
        That means, in theory, anyone infected with the mutant strain '-- which is now dominant in dozens of countries '-- will pass it on to eight others.
        For comparison, the original strain of Covid that triggered the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan had a figure of around 2.5. The Kent 'Alpha' variant's rate is around 4.5.
        But measles '-- which is one of the most contagious viruses known to exist '-- has an R0 of approximately 18, and the estimate for chickenpox sits between 10 and 12.
        This does not mean, however, that everyone infected with Delta is actually passing the virus on to eight others.
        The actual R rate '-- which reflects how quickly an outbreak is growing or shrinking '-- is always much lower than R0.
        This is because it takes into account real-world data which can easily skew the shape of disease outbreaks, such as population immunity.
        Infected vaccinated people may pass on the virus 'as well' as un-vaccinated people
        The CDC also claimed in its internal presentation that vaccinated people may pass on the virus just as well as those who are not jabbed.
        It based the claim on a study looking into how much of the virus is carried by infected jabbed and non-jabbed people.
        This is called the viral load and it is tested using the Ct value, the number of times a swab for SARS-CoV-2 must be tweaked before the virus is detected. For this reason, a lower score indicates a higher viral load which suggests someone is more infectious.
        The claim was based on an outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which sparked more than 700 cases.
        The outbreak happened after July 4 Independence Day, when looser restrictions again allowed Americans to come together to celebrate the national holiday.
        Testing data showed among the 80 double-vaccinated people, their average Ct scores was 21.9.
        And among the 65 un-vaccinated people included in the study it was 21.5.
        Studies warn Ct values are only approximate, and can vary even if the same swab is tested twice.
        But studies say a result above 30 suggests a high amount of the virus in someone's body, and that someone can only be declared negative if the samples are tweaked 40 times without the virus being detected.
        British experts said it was highly unlikely that vaccinated people were as infectious as unvaccinated people.
        One said the results may be down to there being fewer vaccinated people in America, giving the virus more opportunities to spread.
        For comparison, the original strain of Covid that triggered the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan had a figure of around 2.5. The Kent 'Alpha' variant's rate is around 4.5.
        But measles '-- which is one of the most contagious viruses known to exist '-- has an R0 of approximately 18, and the estimate for chickenpox sits between 10 and 12.
        This does not mean, however, that everyone infected with Delta is actually passing the virus on to eight others.
        The actual R rate '-- which reflects how quickly an outbreak is growing or shrinking '-- is always much lower than R0.
        This is because it takes into account real-world data which can easily skew the shape of disease outbreaks, such as population immunity.
        Professor Livermore said if everyone with Delta was really spreading it to eight others, then Britain's daily Covid cases would not have dipped.
        'I don't find it plausible,' he told MailOnline when asked whether infected patients were truly passing the virus on to so many other people.
        'Were it the case, the rise in the UK wouldn't have stalled in the way that it has.'
        Professor Tang said the R0 value was very hard to work out because it was so difficult to establish exactly how many people an infected person passed the virus on to.
        He added, in some cases, the virus may spread to many others by one person because of factors including location, but that in other cases someone may not even pass the virus to anyone.
        Professor Tang said: 'If you have someone infected and handing out leaflets by the door of a department store they may not be a super-spreader themselves but just passing it on.
        'But if you stand them near a fan you may find there is an R of 20.'
        The CDC's claim is partially based on an outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which sparked more than 700 cases.
        Leaked slides published by the Washington Post said it happened after July 4 Independence Day, when looser restrictions again allowed Americans to come together to celebrate the national holiday.
        Covid finds it easier to spread when people are packed together inside, such as for celebrations and events.
        The CDC also claimed that vaccinated people may pass on the virus as well as those who are not jabbed at all because they had similar amounts of the virus in their mouths and noses.
        The amount of virus an infected person is carrying is calculated as the Ct value, or the number of times testers need to tweak a sample before they detect the virus. For this reason, a lower score indicates a higher viral load, making it more likely someone is infectious.
        Among the 80 double-vaccinated people they checked they had to run the cycle 21.9 times on average before Covid was spotted.
        And among the 65 un-vaccinated people included in the study the cycle had to be run 21.5 times.
        British Government officials warn Ct values are only approximate, and can even vary if the same swab is tested twice meaning it is hard to make firm conclusions from the data.
        But the officials said if the virus is detected after less than 30 tweaks of the sample, then it suggests the infected patient is carrying a lot of virus.
        Samples are generally tweaked up to 40 times before someone can be said not to be infected with the virus.
        Professor Young said it was 'hard to believe' vaccinated people would pass on the virus as well because the jabs slash the risk of someone becoming infected.
        Professor Young said it was still clearly sensible to wear masks '-- even if you are double-jabbed '-- to limit your risk of catching the virus.
        'Face masks are something I think we still need to be doing,' he said. 'A small proportion of people who are jabbed are still able to get re-infected, so people should be cautious.'
        Although vaccines are not perfect, they have drastically changed the game against the virus.
        Jabs currently being deployed in America and Britain slash the risk of death by up to 95 per cent, even against the Delta variant.
        But real-world data of roll-outs in countries where the mutant strain is dominant show they are slightly less effective at blocking symptoms of the illness, as well as transmission.
        Yet No10's top scientists have still publicly backed their ability at curbing the spread of the virus.
        Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK Government's chief scientific adviser, said in January: 'You don't have vaccines of this efficacy without there being some effect on transmission.' The latest SAGE modelling given to ministers suggests the vaccines cut the risk of infected people passing it on by around 50 per cent.
        Dr Walensky said yesterday the Delta variant was 'one of the most transmissible viruses we know about'. She drew a comparison between the virus and measles and chickenpox, which are both highly contagious.
        She also called for masks to be worn again. 'The measures we need to get this under control '-- they're extreme,' Dr Walensky said. 'The measures you need are extreme.'
        The CDC said in May that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear face coverings because of falling infection rates and the fact jabs significantly cut the risk of being infected.
        But they rowed back on this assertion two days ago, urging fully-vaccinated Americans to again wear the masks amid surging cases in the country and concern over the Delta variant.
        The CDC report also claimed vaccinated people who are infected with Covid are likely to shed as much Covid as people who have not been jabbed.
        Dr Walter Orenstein, who heads the Emory Vaccine Centre in the US, told CNN the report suggests vaccinated and un-vaccinated people have similar viral loads.
        He said: 'The bottom line is, in contrast to the other variants, vaccinated people, even if they don't get sick, got infected and shed the virus at similar levels to unvaccinated people who got infected.'
        But he also pointed to data from the CDC showing vaccines cut the risk of severe disease by 90 per cent, and reduce the risk of death by tenfold.
        Professor Ian Jones, a vaccine expert at Reading University, said: 'The issue in the US is that there is still a large pool of unvaccinated people so any transmission finds them and they suffer the full range of symptoms.
        'Every variant to date has transmitted better, that's why they succeed in spreading, but none have evaded the immune response completely.
        'Mask wearing and other social measures continue to make sense while there is a susceptible population but the overall message dose not change, increasing vaccine coverage is the way to bring cases down.'
        'Delta' variant is as infectious as chickenpox or Ebola and infected vaccinated people transmit it as easily as unvaccinated, CDC document claims as agency says data that led to mask U-turn will be released today
        By Harriet Alexander for DailyMail.com
        Health officials in the United States will on Friday explain the science behind their U-turn on face masks, as Republicans express skepticism over the decision - which appears to have stemmed from research into a July 4 outbreak.
        The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday announced that they were updating their previous guidance to now recommend that vaccinated people wear face masks once more, when indoors and in parts of the country with substantial COVID-19 transmission.
        They did not explain their reason for the shift in policy - which has sparked fevered debate - and merely said it was due to new data on the highly contagious Delta variant. On May 13 the American public was told they no longer needed to wear masks indoors if vaccinated.
        An internal federal health document obtained by The Washington Post claimed that the Delta variant was as infectious as chickenpox or Ebola - with each infected person passing the virus to eight or nine others, on average. That infectivity is known as R0.
        The original lineage was about as transmissible as the common cold, with each infected person passing it to about two others, on average.
        CDC Dr Rochelle Walensky has previously noted the rarity of viruses with such high R values, telling CNN: 'When you think about diseases that have an R0 of eight or nine -- there aren't that many.'
        Officials, the document stated, must 'acknowledge the war has changed.'
        The source of the data was unclear but it appeared to have been provided to the Post and the New York Times at the same time - suggesting the possibility of a coordinated leak.
        Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, has said that they will publish the science behind their decision, announced on Tuesday, on Friday. The CDC has faced some criticism for announcing new recommendations on face masks without providing the science behind their decision
        The slide presentation said that the CDC must improve its messaging on COVID-19, and emphasize the urgency of the situation.
        'I finished reading it significantly more concerned than when I began,' said Robert Wachter, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco.
        Walensky, director of the CDC, said that the new data - to be published on Friday - showed that vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant carry tremendous amounts of the virus in the nose and throat.
        Walensky told The New York Times that the data suggest that even fully immunized people can be unwilling vectors for the virus - a change from the previously-held belief that vaccinated people were unlikely to increase the spread of COVID-19.
        Walensky privately briefed members of Congress on Thursday, drawing on much of the material in the slide presentation obtained by The Washington Post.
        Walensky is pictured on July 20 testifying before Congress. She briefed Congress on the new scientific findings on Thursday, and on Friday will make the results public
        'I think people need to understand that we're not crying wolf here. This is serious,' she told CNN.
        One of the slides states that there is a higher risk among older age groups for hospitalization and death relative to younger people, regardless of vaccination status.
        Another estimates that there are 35,000 symptomatic infections per week among 162 million vaccinated Americans.
        The document outlines 'communication challenges' fueled by cases in vaccinated people, including concerns from local health departments about whether coronavirus vaccines remain effective and a 'public convinced vaccines no longer work/booster doses needed.'
        The CDC was criticized this week for updating the mask guidance without detailing the science behind it.
        Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Washington Post that their move violated scientific norms.
        'You don't, when you're a public health official, want to be saying, 'Trust us, we know, we can't tell you how,' Jamieson said.
        'The scientific norm suggests that when you make a statement based on science, you show the science.
        'And the second mistake is they do not appear to be candid about the extent to which breakthroughs are yielding hospitalizations.'
        Joe Biden has been strongly urging people to get vaccinated. On May 13 he celebrated the announcement that face masks were no longer necessary - something critics have seized upon
        The popular Cape Cod vacation resort of Provincetown is seen on July 24. The artistic and foodie city drew its usual large crowd for the July 4 weekend, with people believing that fully vaccinated people could not transmit the virus. It is now believed that that is not correct
        Dressed as Maxine the Vaccine, Poppy Champlin encourages pedestrians to get vaccinated for COVID-19 while promoting her comedy show on Commercial Street in Provincetown, on July 24
        Kevin McCarthy, the most senior Republican in the House, claimed the House doctor told them the study was conducted in India using a vaccine that was not approved in the U.S.
        'The mask mandate is based upon a study in India, based upon a vaccine that isn''t approved in America that didn't pass peer review. Could this be a plan to keep our schools closed?' he asked on Twitter.
        The CDC cites research from India on viral loads as adding to global concerns about transmission post-vaccination, but they make clear that other research and additional studies were under way.
        Provincetown: How July 4 weekend turned the partygoing playground of New England into the center of a covid clusterLocated near the northern-most point of Cape Cod, Provincetown - or P-Town - is known for its beaches, artists and as a popular vacation spot for the LGBT+ community.
        It has a population of just under 3,000 people year-round, but this raises to as high as 60,000 in the summer months.
        Young party-goers descend on the town to make the most of the plethora of bars and clubs found along it's famous Commercial Street.
        Wealthy tourists usually found in nearby cities such a Boston and Manhattan will often use the town as their playground to spend their hard earned cash - or that of their parent's.
        But a week after crowds descended to celebrate the Fourth of July -- the holiday President Joe Biden hoped would mark the nation's liberation from COVID-19 -- the manager of the Cape Cod beach town said he was aware of 'a handful of covid cases among folks who spent time there'
        Within weeks, the outbreak rapidly grew until, as of Thursday, 882 people were tied to an outbreak in the town, with 74 per cent of those having had both doses of the vaccine. It was reported that seven people were hospitalised, ABC News reported.
        Before this, health officials were assuming that it was rare for a vaccinated person to become infected with the virus and, if they were, they probably wouldn't infect others.
        The assumption was based on studies of an earlier virus, and not the new Delta variant, which was first detected in India earlier this year.
        It is indicated that this outbreak is among the new evidence behind the decision to make masks compulsory indoors again, even if they have had both doses of the vaccine.
        The owner of Marine Specialties, a long running Army-Navy store, had been leery of officials dropping virus safety mandates ahead of what many expected would be a busy summer season. He even tried to require customers to mask up in his store through the summer, before finally relenting in June.
        'If we'd stuck with masks all along, I don't think we'd be having this conversation," Patrick said, adding that he's required all his staff to be masked and vaccinated. "They're not entirely fun, but we wore them all last summer, and we didn't have a single case in Provincetown. Now see where we're at.'
        McCarthy, however, tweeted a May 13 video of Joe Biden stating: 'Folks, if you're fully vaccinated '-- you no longer need to wear a mask.'
        McCarthy captioned the clip: 'Total hypocrisy.'
        Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, was asked about the backlash to the new mask mandates, and McCarthy's anger.
        'He's such a moron,' she reportedly said, in a scarcely-audible clip.
        Yet at the same time, Democratic-run cities have said they cannot make changes without being in full possession of the facts.
        Even officials in Democrat areas were unsure.
        Mitchell Katz, president of New York City Health and Hospitals, said at a press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio that he wanted more information.
        'While the CDC issued their guidance yesterday at about 3 p.m., they have not yet released their scientific reports on the data that underlies their recommendation,' he said.
        He added that his focus remained on getting people vaccinated.
        'I think we owe it to New Yorkers to very carefully, as you say, review that information and understand its implications,' he said.
        The CDC experts have been paying particular attention to an outbreak in Provincetown, on Cape Cod, after the July 4 celebrations.
        As of Thursday, 882 people were tied to the Provincetown outbreak.
        Among those living in Massachusetts, 74 percent of them were fully immunized, ABC News reported, yet officials said the vast majority were also reporting symptoms.
        Seven people were reported hospitalized.
        The initial findings of the investigation led by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the CDC, seemed to have huge implications.
        All indications now are that the Provincetown outbreak investigation is among the pieces of new evidence behind the CDC's decision to ask Americans to once again put on their masks indoors, even if they are vaccinated.
        The one glimmer of hope came from Britain, where the Delta variant has wreaked havoc, but is now dramatically slowing down.
        Experts hope that this may indicate the U.S. surge could also be over soon.
        Last week, the leading British COVID modeler said that the country was 'almost certain' to hit 100,000 cases per day, and the U.K.'s daily case count crossed the 50,000 threshold for the first time since January.
        Yet since July 20, cases have fallen fast.
        From a high of nearly 54,000 on July 17, the daily tally slid to 43,404 last Wednesday; and 28,652 on Sunday.
        This Monday, the U.K.'s case count slipped below 25,000 - a 50 percent reduction in a single week.
        'In the United Kingdom, cases are clearly coming down at this point,' said Dr Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, on Monday.
        'If the U.K. is turning the corner, it's a pretty good indication that maybe we're further into this than we think, and maybe we're two or three weeks away from starting to see our own plateau here in the United States.'
        The CDC's sudden U-turn on masks sparked a political firefight on Capitol Hill as Republicans blasted a new mask mandate in the House of Representatives.
        Capitol Police backed down on Thursday and said they would ask people in the House not wearing a face mask to leave after Republican lawmakers blasted a memo that stated such individuals would be arrested.
        The agency did not specifically rule out arrests, but did say it should never come to that.
        'Regarding the House mask rule, there is no reason it should ever come to someone being arrested. Anyone who does not follow the rule will be asked to wear a mask or leave the premises. The Department's requirement for officers to wear masks is for their health and safety,' US Capitol Police tweeted in a statement.
        The statement came after it was revealed officers been ordered to arrest visitors and staff who refuse to wear a mask on the House side of the Capitol complex. The policy did not apply to lawmakers who refuse to wear masks.
        Conservative Republican lawmakers gathered in the rotunda to march to the Senate side of Capitol, which does not have a face mask policy
        Republicans have protested a new policy to wear face masks in the House, refusing to don them
        US Capitol Police backed down on a memo that said staff and visitors not wearing face masks in the House would be arrested
        Many Republicans have refused to wear masks, citing it as an issue of personal freedom, criticizing the Capitol physician over implementing a mask policy for the House and not the Senate, and arguing the science means vaccinated individuals shouldn't have to mask up.
        Several staffers and visitors were seen walking around the House side of the Capitol without masks on Thursday but were not arrested.
        Additionally, several conservative Republicans gathered in the Capitol Rotunda without wearing face masks to protest the policy. 'Arrest us,' one shouted as their maskless staff recorded them to post the event to social media.
        No one was arrested.
        The GOP lawmakers marched to the Senate side of the Capitol, which does not have a face mask requirement. Nearly 100 per cent of the Senate is vaccinated.
        Republican Rep. Thomas Massie told reporters they walked across the Capitol building 'for a taste of freedom.'
        'You don't have to wear a mask on the Senate side,' he pointed out.
        Many House Republicans blasted Pelosi for the 'tyrannical' directive, but the Democrat's office responded that she 'does not control the US Capitol Police.'
        The chief of the Capitol Police reports to the three-member Capitol Police board, which is made up of the House sergeant at arms, the Senate sergeant at arms and the architect of the Capitol.
        The chief does not answer to the speaker. The mask mandate in the House - which requires everyone, including those fully vaccinated, to wear one - was ordered by the Office of the Attending Physician but Pelosi said she would enforce it, which falls under her purview as speaker.
        The controversy on Capitol Hill came the same day that Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced masks will be required indoors throughout the District, including for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
      Florida and Delaware skew COVID death figures with massive data dump taking total up by 300% a day | Daily Mail Online
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        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 16:18
        A massive data dump by Florida and Delaware has skewed the daily COVID-19 death figures compiled by the widely-respected Johns Hopkins University and made it appear that they jumped by 300 percent Friday.
        The figure trebled from 321 on Thursday to 891 on Friday raising fears that the more highly contagious Delta variant is now translating into spiraling fatalities nationwide.
        Florida made up almost half of the daily tally, with 409 of the deaths recorded coming from the Sunshine State.
        Florida only reports its COVID-19 figures once a week on a Friday, meaning all deaths over the last seven days are added to the total in one lump sum and that the real daily change in the last 24 hours remains unknown.
        The state's weekly fatality figures are also somewhat unclear. The Florida Health Department announced a far lower figure of 108 deaths for the last week.
        However, the state also reported its total deaths now stand at 39,079 - 409 deaths higher than the total of 38,670 one week earlier, hence the figure recorded by John Hopkins.
        Delaware also played a major part in sending the figures skyrocketing, as officials announced 130 deaths Friday.
        Yet, none of the deaths were within the last 24 hours with just two COVID-19 fatalities actually recorded in the state over the last week.
        Instead, the addition of the 130 came from a state review of death certificates, with the deaths occurring between mid-May 2020 and late June this year.
        Michigan also contributed to Friday's confusion, reporting 23 deaths compared to zero the previous day. In a similar sense to Florida, the reason for this is that the state only posts its COVID-19 data twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
        While the differences in reporting practices across states, makes it difficult to give a precise change in daily death toll nationwide, this reveals are far less frightening picture than first thought.
        Following the removal of these three anomalies, daily deaths instead climbed 2.5 percent from 321 Thursday to 329.
        This more closely correlates what experts have said about the new surge in COVID-19 cases - that deaths are not rising at the same rate and have remained relatively flat thanks to the vaccine rollout.
        COVID-19 cases have been rising nationwide due to the spread of the more highly contagious Delta variant.
        On Friday, the US recorded 194,608 new COVID-19 cases. The current seven-day average of new daily cases is roughly 67,000 - an increase of 53 per cent compared to just one week ago.
        The highest seven-day day average of new COVID cases recorded in the US was roughly 251,000 back on January 8 before case counts dropped off in the spring as the country's vaccination campaign picked up pace.
        Some states, however, are recording an uptick in daily deaths even with the vaccine rollout - as large proportions of their population are yet to get the shot.
        Texas has seen deaths almost double over the last week, rising from a seven-day rolling average of 23 on July 28 to a seven-day rolling average of 52 on July 30.
        This comes as the state is lagging in its vaccine rollout with just 43.7 percent of people fully vaccinated, compared to 49.5 percent of the total population.
        However this is still a marked decline from the state's deadliest day since the pandemic began when 700 Texans died on July 27 last year.
        Infections are also rising in the state, surging around 400 percent in the last two weeks. The seven-day rolling average increased from 3,312 on July 16 to 12,568 on July 30.
        COVID-19 deaths have also trebled in the last fortnight in Louisiana, rising from seven deaths on a seven-day rolling average on July 16 to 21 on Friday.
        Cases on a seven-day rolling average also rocketed 372 percent from 1,426 to 5,311 in the same timeframe.
        Other COVID-19 hotspot states are recording similar patterns, with Mississippi seeing seven-day average cases rise 274 percent from 611 to 1,679, while Wisconsin has surged a staggering 555 percent from 187 average cases to 1,039 in the two-week period.
        In New York, which is among the states leading the way with vaccination efforts,
      Altria plans wider rollout of IQOS device, as decline in conventional cigarettes slows during pandemic | Business News | richmond.com
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:15
        Altria plans wider rollout of IQOS device, as decline in conventional cigarettes slows during pandemic
        The IQOS device heats tobacco instead of burning it.
        Heat sticks, which are inserted into the IQOS device, have a powdered combination of three types of tobacco and resemble tightly packed mini-cigarettes. Altria Group is currently selling the devices in Atlanta, the Richmond area and Charlotte, N.C.
        Heat sticks have a powdered combination of 3 types of tobacco and resemble tightly packed mini-cigarettes that fit into the heating element are shown during a media preview at the iQOS store in Carytown on Friday, November 15,2019.
        Altria Group has opened three stores in the U.S. to sell the IQOS product including this location in Carytown that opened in November 2019. Altria plans to add locations in additional markets.
        Kits for iQOS are on display during a media preview at the IQOS store in Carytown on Friday, November 15,2019. From left: Charger, iQOS device, Cleaning unit and wall plug.
        '); }
        Tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. is planning a wider rollout of the IQOS device, an alternative to conventional cigarettes, even as the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have slowed a long-term decline in cigarette smoking.
        Henrico County-based Altria, the parent company of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, is planning a larger rollout of IQOS, a device that heats tobacco instead of burning it.
        Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed the company to sell IQOS as a ''modified risk product,'' meaning the company can communicate to consumers that IQOS offers reduced levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals.
        The company has been selling IQOS in the Atlanta and Richmond markets since last year. The store in the Richmond area is in Carytown.
        Last week, Altria introduced IQOS in Charlotte, N.C.
        William F. ''Billy'' Gifford, Altria's chief executive officer, said Altria plans to introduce the product in four more markets '-- for a total of seven '-- over the next 18 months. Altria has an exclusive agreement with its former subsidiary company, Philip Morris International, to sell the device in the U.S.
        Altria also on Tuesday reported profit for the second quarter of 2020 of $1.94 billion, down about 2.7% from the second quarter of 2019.
        The company's cigarette shipment volumes declined by 8.8% in the second quarter of 2020 and fell 1.9% for the first half of the year, but those declines were at a slower pace than expected.
        Altria now expects U.S. cigarette unit sales to fall by 2% to 3.5% this year, compared with a previous projection of a 4% to 6% decline.
        Increased cigarette sales seem to have been supported by federal government stimulus checks that have gone to U.S. households, along with enhanced unemployment benefits including an extra $600 per week for jobless people.
        ''While the pandemic led to historic unemployment rates, federal government efforts through stimulus checks and increased unemployment benefits helped to ease economic hardship for low- and middle-income Americans,'' Gifford said in a conference call with industry analysts on Tuesday. ''These efforts have likewise benefited adult tobacco consumers.''
        Smokers also may have more money to spend on cigarettes because social distancing rules means people are traveling less and spending less on entertainment, he said. ''We also believe fewer social engagements allowed for more tobacco usage occasions,'' he said.
        The company also has noted a trend of more smokers over the age of 50 switching back to conventional cigarettes from electronic cigarettes '-- commonly known as vaping products '-- in recent months.
        Gifford said the company believes that growth in the e-vapor category ''may encounter a pause in the next several years'' because many products in that category could be removed from the market. Manufacturers are facing a requirement to submit products to the FDA for review by Sept. 29.
      Philip Morris To Acquire Nicotine Gum Maker Fertin Pharma | ESM Magazine
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:13
        Philip Morris International Inc will buy nicotine gum maker Fertin Pharma from private equity firm EQT for DKK5.1 billion ('‚¬690 million), the cigarette maker said on Thursday, as it looks to build its smoke-free portfolio.
        Fertin Pharma products include chewing gums, tablets and powders that are used for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications and helps people quit harmful cigarette smoking.
        'Smoke-Free Products'Philip Morris has invested more than $8.1 billion ('‚¬6.8 billion) over the years to develop smoke-free products, an area of business that it believes " will one day replace cigarettes."
        It plans to generate more than 50% of its revenue from smoke-free products and at least $1 billion from products beyond nicotine by 2025.
        Jacek Olczak, chief executive officer of Philip Morris, stated, "The acquisition of Fertin Pharma will be a significant step forward on our journey towards delivering a smoke-free future'--enhancing our smoke-free portfolio, notably in modern oral, and accelerating our progress in beyond nicotine.
        "Both PMI and Fertin share a commitment to science and consumer-centric innovations for better living, and I am delighted we have reached this agreement."
        The company is also focusing on its heated-tobacco product IQOS as people move away from combustible tobacco products like cigarettes.
        In 2020, nearly three billion Nicotine Replacement Therapy doses were manufactured, that helped more than 3.2 million people reduce and quit smoking, Fertin Pharma said.
        The deal is expected to close later in 2021.
        'An Inspiring Transformation'Peter Halling, CEO of Fertin Pharma, commented, "PMI is going through an inspiring transformation as a company with an ambition to deliver a smoke-free future and building a beyond nicotine product portfolio.
        "In PMI, we have found a new owner and partner who shares our vision, who is committed to science, and who will enable Fertin Pharma to further accelerate and grow as a company."
        In 2020, Fertin Pharma generated net revenues of DKK 1.1 billion ('‚¬150 million). It is a privately held company with more than 850 employees, operating in Denmark, Canada, and India.
        News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM. For more A-Brands stores, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
      Philip Morris To Buy UK's Vectura In 'Beyond Nicotine' Push | ESM Magazine
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:12
        Marlboro cigarettes maker Philip Morris International agreed on Friday to buy British drugmaker Vectura for £1.05 billions ($1.44 billion) to bolster its portfolio of products that are free from tobacco or nicotine.
        The deal, which topped a proposal by investment firm Carlyle Group, means shareholders in the drugmaker that makes about 13 inhaled medicines will get 150 pence per share in cash, 11% higher than its Thursday closing price.
        Carlyle's offer, agreed in May, was 136 pence per share.
        Vectura, whose shares rose nearly 13% to 152 pence at 0730 GMT, said it was withdrawing its recommendation for the Carlyle offer in favour of the Philip Morris bid and was adjourning a shareholder meeting it had convened on Monday.
        Carlyle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
        International AcquisitionThe deal is Philip Morris' second international acquisition in the past week, after agreeing to buy nicotine gum maker Fertin Pharma from private equity firm EQT for 5.1 billion Danish Krone ($812 million).
        The cigarette maker unveiled its 'beyond nicotine' strategy in February, as it expects more people to quit smoking in the coming years amid health concerns and regulatory crackdowns.
        The US-based company has plans for Vectura to operate as an independent unit at the centre of its inhaled therapeutics business, seeking to use its expertise in inhalation and aerosolisation in areas such as respiratory drug delivery.
        Philip Morris Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said the Vectura acquisition after buying Fertin Pharma would help the US firm accelerate its 'beyond nicotine' strategy "by expanding our capabilities in innovative inhaled and oral product formulations."
        The deal requires the approval of shareholders, among other conditions.
        News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more A-Brands stores, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
      Vectura, Inspira team up to develop inhaled COVID-19 drug - PharmaTimes
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        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:10
        Contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDM) Vectura Group and Inspira Pharmaceuticals, a new UK-based company focused on developing therapies for respiratory and infectious diseases, have teamed up to develop an inhaled formulation of the latter's lead drug candidate for the treatment of COVID-19.
        Inspira's research focuses on proprietary IPX formulations, which are based on processed and purified extracts from a plant source. These extracts contain proteolytic enzymes that have been shown to rapidly inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro. The IPX technology platform has additional potential applications in other lung infections and treatment of biofilms associated with respiratory disease.
        Vectura has already undertaken a feasibility study on Inspira's inhaled IPX formulation candidates with positive results, and under the new agreement will undertake further testing and development work to prepare initially for Phase I clinical studies using its FOX vibrating mesh nebuliser to deliver the IPX formulations directly to the lungs.
        ''As we move from pandemic to endemic COVID-19 it will be ever more important to have new treatments that are cost effective, easy to distribute and easy to administer,'' said Rory McGoldrick, Inspira's chief executive. ''We are targeting a treatment that has the potential to be effective at the early phase of infection, to minimise the risk of hospitalisation and reduce the need for ventilatory support in intensive care. We hope that our human clinical trials of IPX formulations will prove as successful as our initial laboratory studies.''
        ''The work carried out by Inspira demonstrates the potential to develop a highly-effective treatment for COVID-19, and our initial studies show that our FOX nebuliser offers an extremely efficient delivery method,'' added Mark Bridgewater, Vectura's chief commercial officer. We are excited to continue supporting Inspira on this lead programme's development towards the clinic, combining our expertise of formulation and device development with Inspira's innovative research to add to the treatments available to manage this global pandemic disease.''
      Philip Morris' CEO Defends Inhaler Producer Purchase Despite Harsh Criticism
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        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:06
        When tobacco company Philip Morris International made a $1.2 billion offer on July 9 to buy England-based Vectura Group, a pharmaceutical company that develops inhaled therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases, it was widely expected that questions and concerns would immediately follow.
        The London Times noted that Britain's Secretary of State for Business and anti-smoking groups questioned why the company would want to ''develop therapies to treat some of the very lung diseases Philip Morris' products cause.''
        Sir Edward Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said it was ''totally wrong'' that Philip Morris would seek to profit from conditions such as asthma and serious lung disease.
        Appearing Wednesday on CNBC's ''Closing Bell,'' Philip Morris CEO Jacek Olczak defended the company's decision.
        ''We can stand still and continue selling cigarettes or we can do something with the science and the technology at least to significantly reduce the harm created by smoking,'' Olczak said. ''I believe what we're doing is absolutely right... Nothing and nobody will stop us in our transformations to leave smoking behind.
        Olczak's comments come after Philip Morris issued a press release about the acquisition that stated they were committed to the science to help Vectura with a long-term vision.
        ''The market for inhaled therapeutics is large and growing rapidly, with significant potential for expansion into new application areas,'' the company said. ''PMI has the commitment to science and the financial resources to empower Vectura's skilled team to execute on an ambitious long-term vision. Together, PMI and Vectura can lead this global category, bringing benefits to patients, to consumers, to public health and to society-at-large.''
        Over the years, Philip Morris has sought to reinvent its image. The company announced plans to generate 50% of its revenue from smoke-free products by 2025, with a goal of earning $1 billion from its ''Beyond Nicotine'' campaign.
        ''We understand that a complete and successful transformation is one that allows our company's business to move from a value proposition, centered on doing less harm, toward one where we can have a net positive impact on society,'' the company's website said of the ''Beyond Nicotine'' campaign.
        The World Health Organisation has warned that Big Tobacco is seeking to establish partnerships in healthcare to undermine control of its ''deadly products'' amid the planned takeover of Vectura, a respiratory drugs company, by Philip Morris Internationalhttps://t.co/cX8ilpJl0M
        &mdash; Alex Ralph (@alexralph) July 17, 2021
      Israeli study points to nicotine as a potential therapeutic for COVID-19 - The Jerusalem Post
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        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:03
        Smoking may offer some protection against the coronavirus, an Israeli study has found. The results support recent similar findings by researchers in France, China and Italy, although a British study has found the opposite.
        Noting that conflicting reports exist regarding the impact of smoking on the likelihood of contracting the coronavirus, the Israeli team led by Dr. Ariel Israel undertook a population-based study pulling in data from over three million adult members of the Clalit Health Service, Israel's largest healthcare provider.
        Their results, presented in a non-peer reviewed paper published in medRxiv on Friday, found that "the risk of infection by COVID-19 appears to be reduced by half among current smokers."
        Of the more than three million adults included in the study, 114,545 had been tested for the virus, of whom just 4% tested positive. The researchers matched those who tested positive to those testing negative at a ratio of 1:4, taking into account as closely as possible variables such as age, sex and ethnicity. They found that among those who had tested positive, 9.8% were smokers against 19% of the overall population.
        A previous smoking habit also appeared to confer some benefit, as 11.7% of those tested positive were former smokers against 13.9% in the general research population. Therefore, those who had previously smoked had a 19% lower risk of catching the virus, the results suggested.
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        if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("656089") != -1){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";}else if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("/israel-news/") != -1){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}These results appeared to hold even when previously existing conditions were taken into account '' and of those who did test positive, there was no evidence that smoking worsened the symptoms of the disease.
        "The magnitude of association observed for current smoking, with odds of infection reduced by about a half in smokers, suggests a genuine protective effect of smoking on the risk of COVID-19."
        The findings reflect comparable results in a
        recent study carried out by Prof. Zahir Amoura from Piti(C) Salp(C)tri¨re Hospital in Paris, who found that, of 482 COVID-19 patients that presented to the hospital between February 28 and April 9, just 4.4% of in-patients and 5.3% of outpatients were daily smokers, against 25.4% of the general population.
        That study also found that smokers were 80% less likely to develop severe symptoms, leading researchers to suggest that the nicotine in cigarettes binds to cell receptor sites, preventing the virus from taking hold by blocking access.
        Similarly, University College, London, surveyed 28 papers and found the number of coronavirus victims who were smokers was "lower than expected"; a review of 13 Chinese studies found just 6.5% of 5,300 people hospitalized with corona were smokers; and a study by America's Center for Disease control found that a mere 1.3% of more than 7,000 people who tested positive were smokers, against 14% of all Americans, according to
        The Daily Mail. ON THE other hand, Dr. Nicholas Hopkinson's team at Imperial College, London, assessed data from 2.4 million users of the COVID Sympto Study app, developed by Kings's College London and Zoe.
        On first use the app records key characteristics such as location, age, height, weight, smoking and common disease. Of the group, 11% were recorded as smokers, a little below the national average of 14%.
        The study found that, of "standard users" '' that is, someone who had not been tested for coronavirus '' smokers were 14% more likely to experience three core symptoms of the disease: fever, a persistent cough and shortness of breath,
        The Daily Mail reported.
        "Our results provide compelling evidence for an association between current smoking and individual risk from COVID-19, including symptom burden and risk of attending hospital," the researchers wrote in their paper.
        Despite this counter-evidence, some researchers are looking into nicotine as a potential therapeutic for COVID-19. They are giving nicotine patches to patients to see whether they reduce the instance and severity of coronavirus, particularly as the drug appeared to have beneficial effects in countering a phenomenon known as a
        cytokine storm, which occurs when the natural immune response goes into overdrive '' an effect that can result in death.
        "Nicotine has effects on the immune system that could be beneficial in reducing the intensity of the cytokine storm," Dr.
        Konstantinos
        Farsalinos, from the University of West Attica, Greece, wrote in
        Internal and Emergency Medicine, according to
        The Daily Mail.
        "The potential benefits of nicotine... could explain, at least in part, the increased severity or adverse outcome among smokers hospitalized for COVID-19, since these patients inevitably experience abrupt cessation of nicotine intake during hospitalization.
        "This may be feasible through repurposing already approved pharmaceutical nicotine products such as nicotine patches."
      Covid-19 Antiviral Efforts | pfpfizeruscom
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 19:35
        Advancing Our Protease InhibitorsDefeating COVID-19 likely requires both vaccination and targeted treatment for those who contract the virus. At Pfizer, we are evaluating two antiviral protease inhibitors '' one orally administered candidate and one intravenously administered candidate '' both of which have demonstrated potent antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as other known coronaviruses, in both in vitro and in vivo studies. We believe that, if successful and authorized or approved, these investigational therapies could provide end-to-end treatment options for COVID-19 patients, including those exposed to the virus, those with diagnosed infections treated in the outpatient setting, and those hospitalized with moderate to severe infection.
        Building on Pfizer's expertise in developing antivirals, including a protease inhibitor for the treatment of HIV, Pfizer scientists commenced a drug discovery program in early 2020, shortly after COVID-19 emerged, with the goal of identifying a potential treatment to lower the impact of COVID-19 on patients' lives and better prepare the world for future coronavirus threats. We initially evaluated our robust portfolio of therapeutics and screened some of the compounds from our 2003 SARS1 protease inhibitor preclinical program, given the similarities between the structures of the SARS-CoV-1 and the SARS-CoV-2 proteases.
        In preclinical in vitro studies, many of the SARS-CoV-1 protease inhibitors identified in 2003 were found to also inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 protease. Optimization of our most promising SARS-CoV-1 protease inhibitor for intravenous (IV)-administration led to PF-07304814, which has recently completed a Phase 1b study, and we anticipate the initiation of a Phase 2/3 trial in 2021. If successful and authorized or approved, it would be a novel treatment option for hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
        In parallel, we specifically and proactively designed a new SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor, PF-07321332, to be administered orally so that it could potentially be prescribed at the first sign of infection or at the first awareness of an exposure '' without requiring patients to be hospitalized. In March 2021, Pfizer progressed PF-07321332 to a Phase 1 study in healthy adults to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the investigational compound. In July 2021, we progressed to a Phase 2/3 trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PF-07321332 in combination with ritonavir in participants with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection who are at increased risk of progression to severe illness. We believe PF-07321332 is the first orally administered coronavirus-specific investigational protease inhibitor to be evaluated in clinical studies.
        If authorized or approved, both potential therapies may complement vaccination, providing treatment options for those who contract the virus.
        Developing potential COVID-19 treatments is only possible through the dedicated work of our clinical research partners and individuals who volunteer to take part in clinical trials. We are grateful to each of the clinical trial investigators and their study teams who are partnering with us in this effort and to all the participants who have volunteered, and will volunteer, to help attempt to achieve our shared goal of making a difference for society.
        1SARS is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, which is part of the same family of viruses that cause COVID-19.
        Learn more about our approach and efforts to bring a possible treatment to patients:
        What kind of antivirals are Pfizer investigating? Pfizer is investigating two protease inhibitors, one which is called PF-07304814 (and is IV-administered) and one which is called PF-07321332 (and is orally administered). In preclinical studies, both compounds have been shown to inhibit proteases used for replication by the coronavirus that is causing COVID-19.
        How do antivirals contribute to the treatment of COVID-19? Antivirals can help slow or stop a virus from replicating and thereby reduce the symptoms associated with COVID-19 and the risk of significant health complications. Both of the Pfizer investigational COVID-19 antiviral therapies currently being studied are protease inhibitors, which means they potentially work by interfering with an enzyme the coronavirus needs for replication.
        When do you expect to announce results from these studies? We initiated the Phase 1b study of PF-07304814 (which is IV-administered) in September 2020 and the Phase 1 study of PF-07321332 (which is orally administered) in March 2021. We plan to share results from these studies once analysis of the data is complete. We began a pivotal Phase 2/3 trial of PF-07321332 in July 2021, and we are planning a Phase 2/3 trial for PF-07304814 to begin in 2021.
        Where can I learn more about current research findings? Pfizer is committed to transparency on its research findings related to COVID-19, as set forth in the company's five-point plan for the biopharmaceutical industry to tackle disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
        As such, we have shared the chemical structure and pre-clinical development of our investigational IV-administered SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease inhibitor, PF-07304814, and its in vitro activity against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. We have published more about the structure and preclinical data in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, as well as a comparative analysis of the investigational IV-administered SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease inhibitor in the Journal of Virology. A preprint manuscript about the discovery of this novel inhibitor has been posted to BioRxiv. In addition, we shared the discovery of our oral protease inhibitor clinical candidate at the Spring American Chemical Society Meeting and have submitted a manuscript to a peer-reviewed scientific journal for review.
        Further to our commitment to open data sharing, SARS-CoV-1 3CL protease inhibition data on 76 compounds and their molecular structures from the same chemical series as our investigational IV-administered SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease inhibitor is available in Data Notes (PDF), Structure Data Files (SDF), and Comma Separated Value File (CSV).
        For additional information about Pfizer, please see our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the information provided in the sections captioned ''Risk Factors'' and ''Forward-Looking Information and Factors that May Affect Future Results''.
      The Creepy Far-Right Plot to Bring John McAfee Back from the Dead
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 17:12
        Bombastic software pioneer and sometimes-yacht-based fugitive John McAfee has been dead for more than a month. His widow, his lawyer, and the government of Spain, where McAfee died in a jail cell, all confirm that he has passed away.
        Just don't tell that to the more than 130,000 people who have followed a series of newly created Telegram accounts purporting to belong to a still-alive McAfee.
        In life, McAfee was an anti-virus software entrepreneur who would later become involved in failed presidential bids on the Libertarian Party line, cryptocurrency evangelism, conspiracy theories, high-seas living, New Age healing, murder and sexual-assault allegations (he was not charged) and, according to prosecutors, millions of dollars in tax evasion. He died in a Spanish jail cell on June 23, of apparent suicide, while awaiting extradition to the U.S. on tax charges.
        McAfee's larger-than-life persona and some of his fringe stances made him a folk hero of conspiracy movements like QAnon, which McAfee even referenced during his life. Shortly after McAfee's death, in fact, his Instagram account'--which had been run by other people while he was in jail'--posted a large ''Q'' image, sparking a frenzy of conspiratorial chatter.
        The Instagram account was later removed. But beginning in mid-July, a trio of accounts on the Telegram platform have emerged, all purporting to be very-much-dead McAfee. Since then, those accounts have racked up followers by pushing QAnon-like ramblings and providing a countdown clock for revelations that'--shockingly'--never materialized. Now the fake McAfee accounts are sowing discord in the QAnon world, elbowing in on the audience of longer-running QAnon influencers.
        McAfee's former lawyer, Andrew Gordon, confirmed that the accounts were not legitimate.
        ''I have been in close contact with John's widow, Janice McAfee, who identified the body some weeks ago,'' Gordon told The Daily Beast. ''There is no reason to suspect John might still be alive, and certainly not that he would be running any Telegram channels which he did not open prior to his death.''
        Janice McAfee, widow of John McAfee, flanked by her lawyer Javier Villalba, leaves the prison where her husband was found dead.
        Albert Gea/Reuters
        But the accounts, which launched between July 18 and July 22, have gone to lengths to pose as McAfee, even preemptively attacking Gordon.
        On July 20, the largest account (currently more than 125,000 subscribers) authored an introductory post claiming that, ''I Would Describe Myself As Quite Sane and Lucid, Which is Why I'm Still Alive. John McAfee.''
        It then posted several of McAfee's personal documents, and a short screed against Gordon, whom it accused of profiting from McAfee. The other, smaller fake McAfee accounts (including one that launched two days before the largest channel) copy-pasted the same message.
        In fact, those supposedly identifying documents, including a scan of McAfee's gun license from 2012, were easy to obtain online. A multi-media documentary group, for instance, is trying to sell versions of the documents as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a form of digital art. The McAfee Telegram channels appeared to copy McAfee documents straight from the documentary group's online listings, even going so far as to urge people to join the documentary group's chat room.
        Administrators of the Telegram channels are not listed on the platform, and so could not be reached for comment for this story. But when reached for comment, an administrator for the documentary group's chat room told The Daily Beast that his organization had nothing to do with the McAfee imposters, and that they had been flummoxed by claims that the subject of their project was still alive.
        ''We are not associated with that Telegram, and have no idea who is or who is pushing such conspiracy theories,'' the administrator said. ''To the best of our knowledge John David McAfee is indeed dead and not alive. The same goes for Elvis and Tupak. [sic] We are documentarians, perhaps the guys at ghost hunters can help out.''
        The Telegram accounts, however, appear well-versed in McAfee-related conspiracy theories.
        John McAfee on his yacht anchored at the Marina Hemingway in Havana in 2019.
        Adalberto Roque/Getty
        In July 2019, internet sleuths postulated that McAfee ran a YouTube channel that uploaded drone footage of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's island. (The Daily Dot questioned the theory at the time, noting that some of the uploads appeared to have taken place while McAfee was in jail.) That YouTube account went silent approximately a year ago, then resumed posting pro-Trump conspiracy videos in early July. The McAfee Telegram accounts have linked to the account's new videos multiple times.
        Not all of the Telegram references are conspiratorial throw-backs. Shortly after their launch, the accounts began posting cryptic messages in the style of the QAnon conspiracy theory. In garbled messages, the posts claimed an imminent release of information on Donald Trump's foes. Despite a countdown clock included in some of the messages, the prophesied moment (early last Friday morning) came and went without any revelations. In replies to the fake McAfee posts, fans tried to ''decode'' the messages, asking each other if they knew how to access ''the dark web'' for more information.
        QAnon fans are no strangers to disappointment, of course. ''Q,'' their theory's anonymous progenitor, assured followers for years that Hillary Clinton or her allies were on the verge of arrest, or that Trump was about to reveal a child sex-trafficking plot by his political foes. Those prophecies never materialized, and Q has since stopped posting.
        In Q's absence, a network of conspiratorial influencers have tried adopting the movement's followers. Some of those B-league paranoiacs have appeared to take issue with the fake McAfee accounts, which represent a new would-be prophet muscling in on their turf.
        ''I usually never call out people,'' one of those large accounts told its 145,000-plus followers on Monday. ''But this one here needs to be called [FAKE] [INFILTRATION].'' The account went on to implicate the fake McAfees in a conspiracy theory about China.
        Ron Watkins, another prominent QAnon influencer, also denounced the McAfees as dupes. Watkins is a former administrator of the site where ''Q'' used to post, and was the subject of a documentary series accusing him of personally controlling the ''Q'' account. (Watkins denies the allegation.)
        On Sunday, Watkins warned followers of the McAfee account co-opting QAnon fandom. (He could not be reached for comment.)
        ''The John McAfee telegram account didnt [sic] announce anything at the end of the countdown,'' he wrote. ''None of the alleged 31 terabytes of deadman's switch data has materialized. Now his account is posting Q-style drops and signing them as McAfee. Be careful.''
      Steamy Rent Inflation in Single-Family Suburban Houses: Invitation Homes Jacks Up Rents Big Time on its 80,000 Houses | Wolf Street
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 16:40
        It isn't buying whole neighborhoods; it's buying whole new subdivisions of built-to-rent houses.By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.In its quarterly earnings report, Invitation Homes [INVH], the largest landlord of single-family houses in the US with over 80,000 rentals spread across 16 large markets, offered some clues '' or rather bragged about '' how hot rent inflation is in many suburban markets and what kind of rent hikes it can get away with.
        I generally cover apartment rents, which tend to be concentrated in urban cores. Those rents have spiked in some markets, and they have plunged in others, such as San Francisco. But this is about the corollary, rental houses in suburban markets '' houses that are not at the low end of the market. The average monthly rent across the Invitation Homes spectrum is $1,941 a month.
        These single-family rentals presumably received some of the flow of urban apartment dwellers that wanted more space to spread out in, and more distance to others during the pandemic and the shift to working from home.
        Invitation Homes jacked up rents on newly signed leases in Q1 on average by 13.8%, with amortized concessions figured into the monthly rent. This is up from a 2.7% average increase in Q2 last year.
        The rent increases on new leases varied across its markets, all of them red-hot, but some red-hotter than others, so to speak. Only three of the 16 markets '' Minneapolis, Chicago, and Houston '' got away with single-digit lease-over-lease rent increases. The remaining 13 markets got double-digit rent hikes.
        These average rent hikes ranged from 23.6% year-over-year in Phoenix, 22.1% in Las Vegas, 15.8% in Seattle, 15.8% in Northern California, and 15.6% in Atlanta to at the very low end 8.8% in Minneapolis, 8.6% in Chicago, and 7.4% in Houston.
        For tenants who renewed the lease, the company hit them with rent hikes of 5.8% on average, up from 3.5% a year ago.
        These rent hikes on renewals ranged from 9.0% in Phoenix, 7.9% in Las Vegas, 6.7% in Atlanta, and 6.2% in Tampa to at the low end 4.6% in Orlando, 4.0% in Chicago, and 0.2% in Seattle.
        All combined, new leases and renewals, the company raised rents in Q1 on average by 8.0%, compared to 3.3% last year.
        How can Invitation Homes get away with these kinds of rent hikes without having to watch how its houses empty out one after the other?
        Strong demand for suburban rentals and the inflationary mindset: everyone knows that inflation is here and getting hot, and stuff costs more, and people are willing to pay more. ''People willing to pay more'' is one of the founding fathers of an inflation spiral.
        Obviously, none of these red-hot rent increases, or just about any other rent increases have made it into the Consumer Price Index, whose CPI for ''rents of primary residence'' has miraculously cooled down, from the just under 4% range in the years from 2015 through early 2020, to a year-over-year rent inflation of 1.9% in June, and 1.8% in the prior three months '' perhaps because of the sharp year-over-year drops in rents in multi-family buildings in many of the biggest urban areas:
        Invitation Homes isn't going around buying thousands of homes, like it used to do during the housing bust, when it got started. In Q2, it bought 494 houses and sold 212 houses, for a net increase of 282 houses '' across the US '' which brought its total to 80,612 houses.
        But just before the earnings report, it announced that it would buy 7,500 houses over the next five years from PulteGroup, the third-largest builder in the US, following the hot trend of built-to-rent single-family-rentals, where builders build entire subdivisions of houses that they then sell to a landlord.
        Invitation Homes and Pulte have already agreed on the first 1,000 houses in seven ''communities'' to be built in Florida, Georgia, Southern California, North Carolina, and Texas, on the hopes that rent inflation for single-family houses in the suburbs will continue to surge.
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      Invitation Homes Inc. (INVH) Stock Major Holders - Yahoo Finance
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 16:40
        Major Holders Currency in USD
        Breakdown 0.24%% of Shares Held by All Insider 108.15%% of Shares Held by Institutions 108.41%% of Float Held by Institutions 648Number of Institutions Holding Shares Top Institutional Holders Holder Shares Date Reported % Out Value Vanguard Group, Inc. (The)80,188,009Mar 30, 2021 14.13%2,565,214,407Blackrock Inc.46,467,974Mar 30, 2021 8.19%1,486,510,488Cohen & Steers Inc.28,367,959Mar 30, 2021 5.00%907,491,008Principal Financial Group, Inc.28,008,021Mar 30, 2021 4.93%895,976,591State Street Corporation22,149,716Mar 30, 2021 3.90%708,569,414Apg Asset Management Us Inc.19,668,000Mar 30, 2021 3.46%629,179,320FMR, LLC19,552,075Mar 30, 2021 3.44%625,470,879JP Morgan Chase & Company17,639,155Mar 30, 2021 3.11%564,276,568PGGM Investments17,344,199Jun 29, 2021 3.06%646,765,180Resolution Capital Ltd17,240,140Mar 30, 2021 3.04%551,512,078Top Mutual Fund Holders Holder Shares Date Reported % Out Value Vanguard Specialized-Real Estate Index Fund25,341,382Apr 29, 2021 4.46%888,468,852Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund15,953,904Mar 30, 2021 2.81%510,365,388Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund12,738,554Mar 30, 2021 2.24%407,506,342Principal Real Estate Securities Fund8,833,426Apr 29, 2021 1.56%309,699,915Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund8,024,713Mar 30, 2021 1.41%256,710,568Wells Fargo Special Mid Cap Value Fd6,681,300May 30, 2021 1.18%242,330,751DFA Real Estate Securities Portfolio4,499,886Apr 29, 2021 0.79%157,766,003Vanguard Growth Index Fund4,407,912Mar 30, 2021 0.78%141,009,104Cohen & Steers Realty Shares Incorporated4,110,985Mar 30, 2021 0.72%131,510,410Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund3,819,137Mar 30, 2021 0.67%122,174,192
      Disney SLAMS their star Scarlett Johansson for $50M Black Widow lawsuit in extraordinary statement | Daily Mail Online
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 12:39
        Disney has slammed their star Scarlett Johansson (pictured with her husband Colin Jost) for her $50million Black Widow lawsuit in extraordinary statement
        Disney has slammed Scarlett Johansson for her $50million Black Widow lawsuit in an extraordinary statement calling it 'sad and distressing' and insisting it has 'no merit whatsoever'.
        Johansson, 36, filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, alleging that she lost out on more than $50million as a result of the film being released on streaming service Disney+ at the same time as its debut in theaters, according to The Wall Street Journal.
        The actress claimed she had been guaranteed that Black Widow would have an exclusive theatrical release, and that the bulk of her salary was based on the box office performance.
        Black Widow took in $60million on the streaming platform Disney+ on the opening weekend alone, the company previously announced in its first breakdown of steaming figures for a movie.
        The movie set a pandemic-era record bringing in $218million worldwide over opening weekend earlier this month, including the streaming figures, plus $80million domestic box office and $78million internationally.
        However, the movie's box-office performance dropped off sharply after the opening weekend, leading some analysts to question whether the Disney+ streaming release was taking a bite out of ticket sales.
        Black Widow saw box office receipts plunge 67 percent after opening weekend, and ticket sales currently stand at $319 million globally, putting the film on track to become one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies of all time.
        Disney swiftly hit back Johannsson's assertions.
        'The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,' the company said in the statement to DailyMail.com.
        The statement also stunningly revealed how much Johansson has made from the film: $20million. Her reported fee for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame was $15million.
        'Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson's contract,' the company said.
        'Furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.'
        It was not immediately clear what Johansson's additional compensation from streaming could be.
        The lawsuit raises questions over whether other major stars could follow Johansson's lead and launch their own legal attacks over compensation after a year where the pandemic drove many studios to abandon traditional cinema releases.
        Johansson, 36, filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, alleging that she lost out on more than $50million as a result of the film being released on streaming service Disney+ at the same time as its debut in theaters. Pictured: Disney CEO Bob Chapek (left) and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige (right)
        Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson as the cat-suited superspy, was available online to Disney+ subscribers for an extra fee of $29.99
        Johansson claims the movie's simultaneous release in theaters and on streaming service Disney+ breached her contract and that she lost out of more than $50million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
        The movie, starring Johansson as the cat-suited superspy, was available online to Disney+ subscribers for an extra fee of $29.99 at the same time as its release in traditional theaters.
        The actress filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Disney, claiming she had been guaranteed that Black Widow would have an exclusive theatrical release.
        'Disney intentionally induced Marvel's breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel,' the suit said.
        Johansson is one of the highest paid actresses in the world and has an estimated net worth of about $165million.
        Before Black Widow, her highest-paid film to date was Ghost in the Shell in 2017 for which she earned a reported $17.5million salary.
        The lawsuit notes that Disney's stock jumped on July 12 when the company disclosed the impressive streaming sales of Black Widow on Disney+
        However, the lawsuit notes that Disney's stock rose after the company disclosed the impressive streaming sales of Black Widow on Disney+.
        'I have opinions, that's who I am': Scarlett Johansson's past controversies Scarlett Johansson previously said that she has 'made a career' out of her controversies, adding that she's going to have opinions of things because 'that's who she is'.
        January 2015: Johansson faced accusations of whitewashing after accepting a role in 'Ghost in the Shell', a Japanese franchise based on a manga series which was due to be a great success. Casting led to outcry, with many arguing that an Asian actress should have landed the leading role.
        May 2018: She was the first celebrity to wear a dress designed by Harvey Weinstein's ex-wife, after numerous women accused him of sexual assault the previous October. Many other celebrities stopped wearing the brand Marchesa.
        July 2018: The actress accepted a role as a transgender man in Rub & Tug. The LGBTQ+ community and allies argued the role should have been given to a transgender man and not a cisgender woman. Johannson later dropped the project 'in light of the recent ethical questions'.
        July 2019: She said that actors should be able to play whatever role they want, saying that 'an an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job'.
        September 2019: The actress defended close friend Woody Allen after Dylan Farrow's sexual abuse allegations against him. She said that she believed Woody and would work with him anytime.
        March 2021: She said actors shouldn't be expected to hold social or political responsibilities. She said: 'Some people want to, but the idea that you're obligated to because you're in the public eye is unfair. You didn't choose to be a politician, you're an actor.'
        Source: insider.com
        Johansson's lawsuit claims that Disney wanted to steer audiences toward Disney+, 'where it could keep the revenues for itself while simultaneously growing the Disney+ subscriber base, a proven way to boost Disney's stock price.'
        'Second, Disney wanted to substantially devalue Ms. Johansson´s agreement and thereby enrich itself,' the lawsuit said.
        According to the complaint, Johansson's agents tried to renegotiate her contract after learning of the dual-release strategy for Black Widow, but Disney and Marvel were unresponsive.
        The suit states that Johansson feared a streaming release as early as 2019, and that Marvel execs assured her that the film would be put out in a traditional theatrical model.
        'We understand that should the plan change, we would need to discuss this with you and come to an understanding as the deal is based on a series of (very large) box office bonuses,' Marvel Chief Counsel Dave Galluzzi told Johansson's agents in a May 2019 email included in the lawsuit.
        The suit comes at a pivotal moment for the film industry, as more major studios experiment with releasing movies simultaneously online and in theaters.
        In response to the pandemic, Warner Bros. decided to release its full slate of movies this year on HBO Max on the same day that they hit theaters.
        Parent company AT&T, which owns both Warner Bros. and HBO, appears pleased with the formula and plans to extend it.
        Last week, WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar revealed that in 2022 Warner Bros. will be producing 10 films that will debut on HBO Max the same day they're released.
        Disney also moved toward simultaneous streaming release of movies due to the pandemic.
        Multiple stars and directors have pushed back on the shift to streaming service releases because they cut into the much larger profits that come from traditional months-long exclusive theater runs.
        Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia was forced to pay more than $200million to talent up front last year to compensate for filmmakers' loss of traditional profit participation after it chose to release movies on HBO Max at no additional cost to consumers.
        And in May it was reported that A Quiet Place II director John Krasinki and star Emily Blunt demanded more money from Paramount Pictures after its parent company ViacomCBS put the film on Paramount+ 45 after its theatrical release.
        Could Scarlett spark a Hollywood uprising? Star's lawsuit could inspire others whose films were released via streaming to launch their own battles Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit against Disney raises questions over whether other major stars could follow her lead and launch their own legal attacks over compensation after a year where the pandemic drove many studios to abandon traditional cinema releases.
        The suit comes at a pivotal moment for the film industry, as more major studios experiment with releasing movies simultaneously online and in theaters.
        In response to the pandemic, Warner Bros. decided to release its full slate of movies this year on HBO Max on the same day that they hit theaters.
        Parent company AT&T, which owns both Warner Bros. and HBO, appears pleased with the formula and plans to extend it.
        Last week, WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar revealed that in 2022 Warner Bros. will be producing 10 films that will debut on HBO Max the same day they're released.
        Disney also moved toward simultaneous streaming release of movies due to the pandemic.
        Multiple stars and directors have pushed back on the shift to streaming service releases because they cut into the much larger profits that come from traditional months-long exclusive theater runs.
        Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia was forced to pay more than $200million to talent up front last year to compensate for filmmakers' loss of traditional profit participation after it chose to release movies on HBO Max at no additional cost to consumers.
        And in May it was reported that A Quiet Place II director John Krasinki and star Emily Blunt demanded more money from Paramount Pictures after its parent company ViacomCBS put the film on Paramount+ 45 after its theatrical release.
      Lloyd Austin is mocked for wearing a VISOR in the Philippines despite local law mandating them | Daily Mail Online
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        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 12:35
        Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been mocked for wearing a protective visor over a face mask during a diplomatic visit to Manila even though a local law requires both coverings.
        The covered face of the United States military boss sparked derision at home after he was snapped walking along the front row of a Philippines military guard of honor on Friday, while a battle over mask mandates between GOP and Democratic lawmakers rages in America.
        US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) mocked Austin for his PPE, calling a video of the retired four-star general's Thursday arrival in the country 'embarrassing COVID theatre.' 'Our [Secretary of Defense] is vaccinated,' Rubio wrote on Twitter. 'But he arrives in the Philippines wearing a mask AND a face shield.'
        Rubio's comments came despite the fact that the Philippines in December made it a legal requirement to wear both a face shield as well as a face mask in public with police ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to arrest anyone not wearing the proper protection.
        'The Philippine government has mandated that everyone must wear full-coverage face shields together with face masks while in public places,' according to the US Embassy in the Philippines. 'Local governments continue to implement additional requirements to slow the virus' spread.'
        But the Asian nation has faced its own disagreements over face coverings. Officials say the mask and visor rule remains in place, despite Duterte calling for the rule to be limited to healthcare settings earlier this month.
        Austin's mission to the Philippines appeared successful when on Friday it was announced by his Filipino counterpart Delfin Lorenzana, in a joint press conference, that the country would continue to hold large-scale combat exercises with the United States.
        Pictured: United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin - seen left wearing a visor and face mask as protection again Covid-19 - views the military honor guard at Camp Aguinaldo military camp in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines Friday, July 30, during a diplomatic mission to the country
        The announcement is step back from Duterte's stunning vow early in his term to distance himself from Washington as he tried to rebuild ties with China over years of territorial rifts in the South China Sea.
        Meanwhile in the United States, the CDC has faced a backlash from GOP leaders after it stepped-up mask and vaccination recommendations this week amid the worrying surge of the Delta variant - which some doctors have called the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated.'
        From Texas to South Dakota, egged on by former President Donald Trump, Republican leaders responded with hostility and defiance to the updated mask guidance.
        It advises that even fully vaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors if they live in areas with high rates of virus transmission, although no compulsory rule has been imposed by the federal government.
        Austin (second left) is visiting Manila to hold talks with Philippine officials to boost defense ties and discuss the The Visiting Forces Agreement between the US and Philippines. In December, the Philippines made it a legal requirement to wear both a face shield as well as a face mask in public with police ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to arrest anyone not wearing the proper protection
        Austin's (left) mission to the Philippines appeared successful when on Friday it was announced by his Filipino counterpart Delfin Lorenzana (right), in a joint press conference, that the country would continue to hold large-scale combat exercises with the United States
        U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, leads his delegation in a bilateral meeting with Philippines counterparts, separated by plexi-glass screens as a precaution against Covid-19
        The backlash reopened the culture war over pandemic restrictions just as efforts to persuade unvaccinated Americans to get shots appeared to be making headway. The response reflects deep resistance among many GOP voters to restrictions aimed at containing a virus they feel poses minimal personal threat.
        Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Thursday night banning mask and COVID-19 vaccination mandates to promote 'individual right and responsibility' in the Lone Star State.
        Abbott, 63, announced the executive order in a press release just hours after Biden called on states to do more to incentivize vaccination.
        Biden announced a series of new measures Thursday meant to boost vaccination rates in the federal workforce and around the country '' as the Delta variant hospitalizes COVID patients and threatens the nation's recovery.
        'You want to know how we put this virus behind us? I'll tell you how: We get more people vaccinated,' Biden said in remarks at the White House Thursday.
        He called for Americans to get their shots, for those who got a first dose to follow up, and for people to follow evolving government mask guidance.
        'With incentives and mandates, we can make a huge difference and save a lot of lives,' Biden said about 19 minutes into his speech '' using a term that vaccine opponents have turned into a rallying cry.
        Asked about doing even more to get people vaccinated through mandates by states, localities, and businesses, Biden said he wants them to 'continue to move in that direction.'
        He also didn't rule out the idea of a national mandate, though he wouldn't vouch for his authority to impose one. 'It's still a question of whether the federal government can mandate the whole country. I don't know that yet.'
        Biden acknowledged exploring the authority even amid pockets of opposition to much more mild regulations, such as wearing masks in indoor settings as a precaution.
        Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Thursday night preventing mask and COVID-19 vaccination mandates
        Biden said Americans may soon need to provide proof of vaccination when flying abroad, although he didn't say whether the requirement would be imposed by host countries or other authorities
        Announcing the executive order, Abbot said: 'Today's executive order will provide clarity and uniformity in the Lone Star State's continued fight against COVID-19. The new Executive Order emphasizes that the path forward relies on personal responsibility rather than government mandates.'
        Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mocked the new government guidance that is calling for more widespread use of masks to blunt a coronavirus surge.
        'Did you not get the CDC's memo?' DeSantis joked on Wednesday before an almost entirely unmasked audience of activists and lawmakers crammed into an indoor hotel ballroom in Salt Lake City. 'I don't see you guys complying.'
        On Capitol Hill, a large group of GOP lawmakers protested Nancy Pelosi's reinstated mask mandate this week by walking over to the Senate side of the building, where there is no renewed requirement to wear a face covering.
        In its announcement, the CDC cited troubling new - thus far unpublished - research that found that fully vaccinated people can spread the Delta variant just like the unvaccinated, putting those who haven't received the shots or who have compromised immune systems at heightened risk.
        The CDC also recommended that all teachers, staff and students wear masks inside school buildings, regardless of vaccination status.
        The backlash was swift.
        At an event in Salt Lake City on Wednesday (pictured) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mocked the new government guidance that is calling for more widespread use of masks to blunt a coronavirus surge
        Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (pictured earlier this month in Kansas City) called the new guidance 'disappointing and concerning' and 'inconsistent with the overwhelming evidence surrounding the efficacy of the vaccines and their proven results'
        'We won't go back. We won't mask our children,' declared Trump, who routinely cast doubt on the value of mask-wearing and rarely wore one in public while he was in office. 'Why do Democrats distrust the science?'
        Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called the new guidance 'disappointing and concerning' and 'inconsistent with the overwhelming evidence surrounding the efficacy of the vaccines and their proven results.'
        He, like others, warned that the measure would undermine efforts to encourage vaccine holdouts to get their shots by casting further doubt on the efficacy of approved vaccines, which have been shown to dramatically decrease the risk of death or hospitalization, despite the occurrence of breakthrough cases.
        Last week, White House officials reported that vaccination rates were on the rise in some states where COVID-19 cases were soaring, as more Republican leaders implored their constituents to lay lingering doubts aside and get the shots to protect themselves.
        That includes Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who has pleaded with unvaccinated residents, saying they are the ones 'letting us down.'
        'This self-inflicted setback encourages skepticism and vaccine hesitancy at a time when the goal is to prevent serious illnesses and deaths from COVID-19 through vaccination,' Parson tweeted. 'This decision only promotes fear & further division among our citizens.'
        The announcement 'will unfortunately only diminish confidence in the vaccine and create more challenges for public health officials, people who have worked tirelessly to increase vaccination rates,' echoed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who has banned mask and vaccine mandates in his state.
        In his Wednesday speech, DeSantis took particular aim at the CDC's call for kids to wear masks in the classroom.
        'It's not healthy for these students to be sitting there all day, 6-year-old kids in kindergarten covered in masks,' he said - though there is no evidence that wearing masks is harmful to children older than toddler age.
        And in South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem called out the CDC for shifting its position on masking 'AGAIN.' She said that those who are worried about the virus can get vaccinated, wear a mask or stay home, but that 'Changing CDC guidelines don't help ensure the public's trust.'
        On Capitol Hill, some Republicans were in revolt after the Capitol's attending physician sent a memo informing members that masks would again have to be worn inside the House at all times.
        The change set off a round robin of insults, with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy 'a moron' after McCarthy tweeted, 'The threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state.'
        The mandate also prompted an angry confrontation, as Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., verbally assailed Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, who exited the House chamber and walked past her without a face covering.
        Conservatives also forced a vote to adjourn the chamber in protest to the mandate, which was defeated along mostly party lines.
        Pictured: Maskless GOP lawmakers stage a protest on Thursday. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) leaves the Senate chamber after marching with a group of House Republicans who oppose mask mandates to the Senate to highlight different coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mask rules between the House and Senate sides of the U.S. Capitol
        President Joe Biden (pictured on Thursday) urged local governments to pay people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and set new rules requiring federal workers to provide proof of vaccination or face regular testing, mask mandates and travel restrictions
        'We have a crisis at our border, and we're playing footsie with mask mandates in the people's House,' railed Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, the motion's sponsor. 'The American people are fed up. They want to go back to life. They want to go back to business. They want to go back to school without their children being forced to wear masks.'
        Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., called the renewed mandates a 'socialist takeover of America' led by Pelosi and Biden.
        'The Democrats are back at it again '' whatever it takes to put you back into lockdown,' she said in a video shared to her Twitter followers.
        'Now we hear that Speaker Pelosi is going to have people arrested if they do not wear a mask. I don't know about you, I've not heard one valid reason that a person who has been vaccinated should be forced to wear a mask.'
        Abbott said that Texans 'have mastered the safe practices' that prevent the spread of COVID-19, even as the state reported 6,347 new cases on Thursday.
        The Texas Health and Human Services data also shows 1,876 'possible cases' on Thursday, with 39 new deaths attributed to COVID-19.
        The data shows that the two largest demographics of deaths in Texas are white, 35 percent, and Hispanic - 36 percent. There have been a total of 2,628,438 confirmed cases in the Lone Star State and 51,984 deaths since the pandemic began.
        'They have the individual right and responsibility to decide for themselves and their children whether they will wear masks, open their businesses, and engage in leisure activities,' Abbott said.
        He added: 'Vaccines, which remain in abundant supply, are the most effective defense against the virus, and they will always remain voluntary '' never forced '' in the State of Texas.'
        The executive order declared that 'no governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization.'
        It declared that state agencies could not require proof of vaccination, or so-called 'vaccine passports,' from people entering a place of business or receiving services.
        Any public or private entity that receives state funds has also been ordered not to require proof of vaccination or deny people entry for not providing proof.
        Abbott also banned companies, state and local agencies - including school districts - from requiring patrons to wear masks. He also prevented local governments and entities from imposing their own restrictions on masks within their jurisdictions.
        Local governmental entities that impose directives that conflict with Abbott's orders can face fines up to $1,000.
        The orders stand in stark opposition to new CDC guidelines - effectively ordering all businesses, local governments and schools not to comply with federal recommendations.
        The CDC said on Tuesday that anyone walking into a school should wear masks and that even vaccinated people should wear them again indoors in public spaces in regions 'with substantial and high transmission.'
        Substantial transmission areas are defined as having 50-99 new infections for every 100,000 people over a seven-day period - while high transmission areas have 100 or more new infections per 100,000.
        More than 200 of the 254 counties in Texas are in such categories, the Texas Tribune noted.
        The Texas State Teachers Association sent a letter to Abbott on Tuesday requesting he let local school districts set their own mask mandates.
        'Educators are eager to return to the classroom, but the pandemic is still dangerous,' said Ovidia Molina, the association's president.
        A map shows the total number of coronavirus deaths and cases in the United States
        A map shows the percentages of states that have received vaccinations so far
        A chart shows the number of vaccinations given in the United States per vaccine type
        A graph shows the average vs cumulative number of vaccinations in the United States
        A graph shows shows the daily number of COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States
        A graph shows the number of coronavirus deaths per day since the start of the pandemic
        A graph shows the number of coronavirus deaths per day in June and July
        A graph shows the number of coronavirus infections per day since the start of the pandemic
        A graph shows the number of coronavirus infections per day in June and July
        President Joe Biden on Thursday urged local governments to pay people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and set new rules requiring federal workers to provide proof of vaccination or face regular testing, mask mandates and travel restrictions.
        The measures are Biden's latest attempt to spur reluctant Americans to get vaccinated as the Delta variant of the coronavirus surges nationwide, infecting unvaccinated people in particular.
        The United States lags behind other developed countries in vaccination rates despite having plenty of free vaccines on hand.
        White House efforts to urge the hesitant to get vaccinated have hit a wall of anti-vaccine sentiment, misinformation, and political division.
        Biden's decision to require millions of federal workers and contractors to show proof of vaccination is a departure from a previous opposition to so-called vaccine passports.
        It shows the White House taking a tougher stance towards circumstances within Biden's control as the virus spreads.
        'Right now too many people are dying or watching someone they love [dying],' Biden told reporters at the White House.
        'With freedom comes responsibility. So please exercise responsible judgment. Get vaccinated for yourself, the people you love, for your country.'
        According to the CDC, roughly 163.8 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated out of a population of some 330 million.
        The federal government is the largest employer in the United States and Biden's move could serve as an example for private businesses and other institutions to follow as they assess getting workers back into offices and work places.
        Government employees who do not show they have been vaccinated will be subject to weekly or twice-weekly COVID-19 tests and restrictions on official travel.
        The United States has about 2.18 million civilian employees and 570,000 other U.S. Postal Service (USPS) workers, according to 2020 data. The U.S. government employed 3.7 million contract employees as of 2017, a New York University study found. Postal workers are not affected by the new rules.
        Biden also directed the Defense Department to look into 'how and when' it will require members of the military to take the vaccine.
        U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, while traveling in Southeast Asia, said he would consult with his medical advisers and other senior military leaders and come up with a plan for the way ahead.
        Austin did not give a timeline on how long it would take to look into the issue but he said the military would move as fast as possible.
        Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, is pictured on July 20
        An anti-vaccine rally protester dressed up as Joe Biden holds a sign outside of Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, on June 26
        Retired RN Barbara Vicente administers a shot of the Pfizer vaccine to Bobbie Guillette, 68, from Austin, Texas, at a clinic at Mother's Brewing Company in Springfield, Missouri
        Anti-vaccine rally protesters hold signs outside of Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, on June 26
        Meanwhile state, local and U.S. territorial governments will be able to dip into $350 billion in coronavirus aid to provide $100 payments for every newly vaccinated American to boost COVID-19 inoculation rates, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
        'I know that paying people to get vaccinated might sound unfair to folks who have gotten vaccinated already. But here's the deal: if incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them,' Biden said.
        Growing outbreaks could have an impact on the strong economic recovery. The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 6.5 percent in the last quarter, the government said on Thursday.
        Another issue is how the surge in infections affects efforts to get children back into schools in the fall.
        'We can and we must open schools this fall, full time,' Biden said. 'We can't afford another year out of the classroom.'
        Biden pressed school districts to hold at least one 'pop-up vaccination clinic' in the coming weeks to get children aged 12 and older vaccinated.
        The White House also said small- and medium-sized businesses will be reimbursed for offering their workers paid time off to get children and other family members vaccinated.
        The National Treasury Employees Union, which has 150,000 federal employees in 34 departments and agencies, said it encouraged its members to get vaccinated but had questions about how the new rules Biden laid out would be implemented.
        'We will work to ensure employees are treated fairly and this protocol does not create an undue burden on them,' the union's president, Tony Reardon, said in a statement.
        The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which has 90,000 members including some 30,000 NASA engineers and other skilled federal workers, said it supported a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers.
        'We don't want any more of our members dying,' the union's president, Paul Shearon, said in a statement.
      Chinese officials and Taliban meet, in sign of warming ties | Taliban News | Al Jazeera
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 12:09
        Meeting in Chinese city of Tianjin comes as US-led foreign forces continue pulling out of Afghanistan.
        China's foreign minister has met a Taliban delegation, signalling warming ties as the United States-led foreign forces continue their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
        Wang Yi on Wednesday told the nine visiting Taliban representatives, which included the group's co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, that Beijing expected it to ''play an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan'', according to a readout of the meeting from the foreign ministry.
        He also said he hoped the Taliban would crack down on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as it was a ''direct threat to China's national security'', according to the readout, referring to a group China says is active in the Xinjiang region in China's far west. Beijing has said it fears neighbouring Afghanistan could be used as a staging ground for separatists.
        The visit comes as the Taliban has made sweeping gains across Afghanistan since May, when the US-led foreign forces began the last stage of their withdrawal, which is set to be completed by the end of August.
        The fighting with Afghan government forces has led to a surge in civilian casualties and displacements.
        At the same time, Taliban leaders have stepped up their international diplomacy in recent months, seeking global recognition for when they hope to return to power.
        Wednesday's meeting in the Chinese city of Tianjin, which Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naeem said was at the invitation from Chinese authorities, was widely seen as a gift from Beijing towards that legitimacy.
        Afghan security forces deployed in operations against the Taliban around Torkham border point between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Nangarhar province [Anadolu Agency]Naeem wrote on Twitter that ''politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meetings''.
        ''[The] delegation assured China that they will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against China,'' Naeem said. ''China also reiterated its commitment of continuation of their assistance with Afghans and said they will not interfere in Afghanistan's issues but will help to solve the problems and restoration of peace in the country.''
        'Pariah state'Beijing has viewed the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as a boon, while close ties with a future government in Kabul could also pave the way for an expansion of its Belt and Road Initiative into Afghanistan and through the Central Asian republics.
        On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry spokesman sought to further underscore the differences between Washington's and Beijing's policies.
        ''China has throughout adhered to non-interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs '... Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people,'' he said, adding it was a stark contrast to the ''failure of US policy towards Afghanistan''.
        For his part, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on an official visit to India, warned on Wednesday that Afghanistan would become a ''pariah state'' if the Taliban takes control by force.
        ''The Taliban says that it seeks international recognition, that it wants international support for Afghanistan. Presumably, it wants its leaders to be able to travel freely in the world, sanctions lifted, etc,'' he told reporters.
        ''The taking over of the country by force and abusing the rights of its people is not the path to achieve those objectives.''
        Separately, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani urged the international community ''to review the narrative of the willingness of the Taliban and their supporters on embracing a political solution''.
        ''In terms of scale, scope and timing, we are facing an invasion that is unprecedented in the last 30 years,'' he said in a speech on Wednesday.
        ''These are not the Taliban of the 20th century '... but the manifestation of the nexus between transnational terrorist networks and transnational criminal organisations,'' he said.
      Austin Police Funding Restored; Is It Too Much, or Not Enough? The 2020 city budget finds itself coming full circle - News - The Austin Chronicle
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 10:12
        City Council hears public comment on Austin's FY 22 proposed budget on Thursday, July 22. The hearing also marked Council's first in-person meeting at City Hall since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (Photo by David Brendan Hall)
        Last July, as anger with the Austin Police Department washed over the city's budget deliberations, the big question was: How low can APD funding go? In this year's budget season, the script has been flipped back to what was asked in the 20 years prior: How much will APD's budget grow, in real terms, and is that too much or not enough?
        City Manager Spencer Cronk proposes a $133 million year-over-year increase in APD funding in his fiscal year 2022 budget, but most of that growth is not "real"; it comes from returning civilian-driven departments, particularly Forensics and Emergency Communications (the combined 911 call center), to the APD budget from which they'd been "decoupled" in recent months. House Bill 1900, signed amid much ceremony by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 1, imposes financial penalties on cities that reduce police spending and for now has forced Cronk's hand.
        Under that law '' which takes effect Sept. 1, after the City Council adopts the budget in August but before FY 22 begins Oct. 1 '' APD's budget this year has to be at least $432 million; otherwise, the state can siphon off Austin's sales tax revenue and prevent it from increasing property taxes or utility rates. The statute would also not only prevent Austin from annexing any territory until it made APD whole, but would require the city to hold disannexation elections in each area annexed in the last 30 years.
        Sukyi McMahon, Austin Justice Coalition's criminal justice policy director (Photo by Jana Birchum)
        However, for all its "back the blue" theatrics, HB 1900 allows the governor's office to simply waive all these consequences should it choose. Some advocates, like Sukyi McMahon with the Austin Justice Coalition, hope that Council will push Cronk to seek a waiver, as the new law allows, so Forensics and Emergency Communications can remain decoupled. Such a waiver would also lower the threshold at which the city would have to fund APD in order to remain HB 1900-com­pliant in FY 23 and beyond.
        ''We shifted the way we thought about public safety last year thanks to a coalition of organizers and community members. We must hold on to that progress.'' '' Sukyi McMahon, Austin Justice Coalition
        McMahon said making those departments and their functions independent of the police was a victory for justice advocates and all Austinites. Survivors of sexual violence, wounded further by APD's egregious failures at its DNA crime lab, pushed with others to decouple Forensics and, over time, move it out of city government entirely as a stand-alone agency that would be better run and more trusted. Likewise, moving 911 dispatch from APD was called for in a 2019 report on how Austin could improve emergency response to mental crises; a decoupled department could better utilize alternatives to policing in such situations, including Emergency Medical Ser­vices and newly created mental health first response teams.
        "The same arguments for removing those functions that made sense last year still make sense today," McMahon told us. "We shifted the way we thought about public safety last year thanks to a coalition of organizers and community members. We must hold on to that progress."
        It Wouldn't Hurt to AskAs far as Forensics goes, McMahon and AJC are joined by the usual adversary of Austin's justice advocates, Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday. While he wants the 911 call center recoupled with APD '' in his view, separating them in recent months has led to communication breakdowns already '' Casaday has supported an independent Forensics Department since before the protests and crises of 2020, and he tells us he, too, would like Cronk to seek an HB 1900 waiver for that purpose. Regardless of where Forensics is budgeted, plans to organize it under civilian control outside the APD chain of command have not changed. (In the interim, the Texas Department of Public Safety will operate APD's lab facilities.)
        How Cronk would actually request a waiver is anybody's guess. The law says a "defunding municipality" must request such an approval before its budget is adopted, yet the law will not have taken effect at that point. While HB 1900 contains two-year "lookback" language that puts Austin on the hook this year anyway, it simply says the Criminal Justice Division of the Office of the Governor "shall adopt rules establishing the criteria" for waivers, with no deadline. Those rules cannot, at least technically, be retroactive to before the law's effective date, under the state Administrative Procedures Act; that law requires at least 30 days for public comment after the proposed rules are published in the Texas Register, and can also require public hearings.
        The city has not heard anything from the CJD about when or how to make a waiver request. When asked if Cronk intended to do so, a city spokesperson sent the following statement: "The City Manager has indicated his intent to submit a proposed budget to the Council that is 'fully compliant' with HB 1900. The specific details of that budget are still under review and subject to change at this time."
        More Money, More CopsAside from the recouplings, how much real money is being added to APD's budget? And aside from the specifics of HB 1900, is it enough funding, or not, or indeed too much?
        ''We are going to have to get creative. In the past year the city was projecting losing seven officers a month,'' but it's been twice that, and ''we need to slow the attrition rate.'' '' Cary Roberts, Greater Austin Crime Commission
        Cronk's budget increases funding for "neighborhood-based policing" '' the term used for patrol officers '' by about $49 million from FY 21, to fund 1,809 sworn officer positions and at least two "reimagined" cadet classes at Austin's police academy to fill them. The added money fills current vacancies but doesn't add new positions. Law enforcement supporters such as the Greater Austin Crime Commission say that's not enough to make up for APD's increased rate of attrition in the past year, during which 233 sworn staff, including 109 patrol officers, have retired or resigned.
        "We are going to have to get creative," GACC Executive Director Cary Roberts told us. "Continuing an aggressive recruitment process will help, but in the past year the city was projecting losing seven [patrol] officers a month." Instead, it's been twice that, and in the absence of more funding beyond what Cronk has restored, "We need to slow the attrition rate."
        Last year's "reimagining" budget had eliminated 150 unfilled sworn staff positions to get to that 1,809 number, along with delaying four cadet classes and trimming the sworn overtime budget. That freed up $25.6 million in savings that would have been recurring had HB 1900 not been adopted; along with nearly $6 million in one-time cuts, that money went to fund a host of alternatives to policing, including the aforementioned mental health first response, the city's new Civil Rights Office and Office of Violence Prevention, substance use care, enhancements at EMS and Austin Public Health, and new homelessness services (see sidebar).
        Cary Roberts, executive director of the Greater Austin Crime Commission (Photo by David Brendan Hall)
        Cronk's FY 22 proposal continues to fund much of this '' about $29 million '' even as it restores APD's budget to hire more new officers. In his budget message to Council, the manager writes that while he's delivered a spending plan that complies with HB 1900, "I want to likewise assure you that we will not abandon our commitment to reimagining public safety, so that every person in this community feels safe in their home and neighborhood. My pledge is that we will move this important work forward, while complying with the state's requirements. It will demand collaboration and innovation '' but we can do it." (Emphases his.)
        Justice groups, including AJC and Communities of Color United, participated extensively in the work of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, which presented its final recommendations to Council in May, and they think the city should do more now to advance de-policing even with HB 1900 in effect, given that the budget is generally healthy. (Most callers to the first budget public hearing on July 22 echoed this theme repeatedly, outnumbering those backing more APD funding.) The advocates are focused specifically on task force priorities such as a trauma recovery center ($1 million annually), where survivors of violent crime can get help, including therapy and case management, without involving the criminal justice system. They've also called for more investment in community health workers who could respond to 911 calls that don't involve immediate threats to lives or property.
        Making those investments and also shoring up APD staffing may be more than Council can squeeze out of this budget in the brief time remaining before voting on adoption Aug. 11-13. According to department records, APD has maintained an annual average of about 132 unfilled sworn positions from 2014 to 2021, with a low of 63 in 2018; the current total of 233 is the peak during that period. Typically, vacancy savings are used to fund overtime, which helps keep patrol assignments at full strength and is also a lucrative bonus for officers, often boosting take-home pay at some ranks to well above $100,000 a year. In the FY 22 budget, APD has $7.8 million available in vacancy savings to use on overtime.
        One of the "creative" efforts Roberts refers to is a possible bonus to retirement-eligible sworn staff (with at least 23 years of service) who stay on for another year, or to those in good standing who've resigned in the past two years, upon returning to APD. Anecdotally, as police backers have told it, many officers have left out of frustration with the community and Council's disrespect in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter protests, to which APD responded with violence that made the "defunding" backlash of the FY 21 budget inevitable.
        Other ideas on the table include incentives for officers all over Texas to come to Austin, take the shortened and modified academy training APD offers for already certified peace officers, and get relocation costs and other expenses. In a statement, an APD spokesperson acknowledged the department is exploring such options but said that APD has not yet made a decision on offering incentives.
        Casaday reports that the department currently has about 300 people eligible for retirement, which could free up more vacancy savings that could go to such incentives. (The budget also includes what Cronk calls "a significant new annual contribution" of $6 million to the police retirement system, which has been shaky and underwent some legislative surgery in the past session.)
        One-Time Funds Anchor Homeless StrategyGeneral Fund spending to end homelessness remains largely unchanged in the FY 22 budget; most of the big spending planned is from American Rescue Plan Act funds, about $100 million. The ARPA funding is part of an envisioned investment of $300 million or more from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to expand the capacity of Austin's homelessness response system, with ongoing maintenance from the General Fund. Meanwhile, Cronk has earmarked ongoing GF spending of $65.2 million for prevention, crisis response, housing stabilization, and cleanups of places where people live without shelter.
        Contrary to expectations from Council and advocates that Cronk would add funding to staff up the Homeless Services Division within Austin Public Health, the FY 22 budget instead reduces its funding, although the change reflects the reassignment of positions within APH rather than an actual decrease. Cronk has also not included ongoing funding for six grant-supported case managers at the Downtown Austin Community Court who, if amendments are not forthcoming, will be let go when those grants expire next July. '' Austin Sanders
      Only 13 ICU beds are available in Austin region, state data shows | KXAN Austin
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        Archived Version
        Fri, 30 Jul 2021 10:09
        Jaclyn Ramkissoon and Jennifer Sanders
        6 hours ago
        AUSTIN (KXAN) '-- State data shows there are only 13 intensive care unit beds available in the 11-county Austin region. That means more than 98% of all ICU beds in the area are currently occupied.
        This comes as Gov. Greg Abbott issued a new executive order Thursday that prevents local officials from enacting COVID-19 mask mandates and business restrictions.
        According to data from Austin Public Health, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the five-county Austin metro peaked at 619 on Jan. 19. Right now, 325 people are hospitalized with the virus.
        On Thursday, more than 6,300 new confirmed cases were reported in the state. With the increased transmissibility of the delta variant, hospitals in the area say the surge in cases is ''putting extraordinary pressure on [their] hospitals, emergency departments and healthcare professionals.''
        That's in part due to a longstanding nursing shortage, officials say in a joint release from Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David's HealthCare. They're asking members of the community to get vaccinated and wear a mask before it's too late.
        ER Doctor Natasha Kathuria says she's seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases among the unvaccinated.
        ''It affects everyone, it affects our management and our ability to care for everyone, not just COVID patients. So it's very stressful,'' said Kathuria. ''It's an entire system that gets stressed, and when a system gets stressed, that means our care gets stressed on every type of illness, not just COVID-19.''
        An Austin Public Health spokesperson says the department is still discussing plans for an alternate care site and is prepared to mobilize if the request comes from the hospitals.
        ''We're at a crossroads,'' Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said on Tuesday. ''We're planning for alternate care sites now.''
        Local leaders are also looking at mass casualty plans.
        The hospitals say in their joint statement if they reach capacity, each hospital ''has a surge plan that includes the utilization of all available patient care space and employees within [their] hospitals and in other settings across [their] healthcare systems.''
        The hospital systems also say they're bringing in additional staff using regional and national resources. Officials say they could transfer patients between facilities within their respective health care systems to provide the most fitting care.
      Cryptoassets as National Currency? A Step Too Far '' IMF Blog
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        Archived Version
        Thu, 29 Jul 2021 22:54
        By Tobias Adrian and Rhoda Weeks-Brown
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        New digital forms of money have the potential to provide cheaper and faster payments, enhance financial inclusion, improve resilience and competition among payment providers, and facilitate cross-border transfers.
        But doing so is not straightforward. It requires significant investment as well as difficult policy choices, such as clarifying the role of the public and private sectors in providing and regulating digital forms of money.
        Some countries may be tempted by a shortcut: adopting cryptoassets as national currencies. Many are indeed secure, easy to access, and cheap to transact. We believe, however, that in most cases risks and costs outweigh potential benefits.
        Cryptoassets are privately issued tokens based on cryptographic techniques and denominated in their own unit of account. Their value can be extremely volatile. Bitcoin, for instance, reached a peak of $65,000 in April and crashed to less than half that value two months later.
        And yet, Bitcoin lives on. For some, it is an opportunity to transact anonymously'--for good or bad. For others, it is a means to diversify portfolios and hold a speculative asset that can bring riches but also significant losses.
        Cryptoassets are thus fundamentally different from other kinds of digital money. Central banks, for instance, are considering issuing digital currencies'--digital money issued in the form of a liability of the central bank. Private companies are also pushing the frontier, with money that can be sent over mobile phones, popular in East Africa and China, and with stablecoins, whose value depends on the safety and liquidity of backing assets.
        Cryptoassets as legal tender?
        Bitcoin and its peers have mostly remained on the fringes of finance and payments, yet some countries are actively considering granting cryptoassets legal tender status, and even making these a second (or potentially only) national currency.
        If a cryptoasset were granted legal tender status, it would have to be accepted by creditors in payment of monetary obligations, including taxes, similar to notes and coins (currency) issued by the central bank.Countries can even go further by passing laws to encourage the use of cryptoassets as a national currency, that is, as an official monetary unit (in which monetary obligations can be expressed), and a mandatory means of payment for everyday purchases.
        Cryptoassets are unlikely to catch on in countries with stable inflation and exchange rates, and credible institutions. Households and businesses would have very little incentive to price or save in a parallel cryptoasset such as Bitcoin, even if it were given legal tender or currency status. Their value is just too volatile and unrelated to the real economy.
        Even in relatively less stable economies, the use of a globally recognized reserve currency such as the dollar or euro would likely be more alluring than adopting a cryptoasset.
        A cryptoasset might catch on as a vehicle for unbanked people to make payments, but not to store value. It would be immediately exchanged into real currency upon receipt.
        Then again, real currency may not always be readily available, nor easily transferable. Moreover, in some countries, laws forbid or restrict payments in other forms of money. These could tip the balance towards widespread use of cryptoassets.
        Proceed with caution
        The most direct cost of widespread adoption of a cryptoasset such as Bitcoin is to macroeconomic stability. If goods and services were priced in both a real currency and a cryptoasset, households and businesses would spend significant time and resources choosing which money to hold as opposed to engaging in productive activities. Similarly, government revenues would be exposed to exchange rate risk if taxes were quoted in advance in a cryptoasset while expenditures remained mostly in the local currency, or vice versa.
        Also, monetary policy would lose bite. Central banks cannot set interest rates on a foreign currency. Usually, when a country adopts a foreign currency as its own, it ''imports'' the credibility of the foreign monetary policy and hope to bring its economy''and interest rates''in line with the foreign business cycle. Neither of these is possible in the case of widespread cryptoasset adoption.
        As a result, domestic prices could become highly unstable. Even if all prices were quoted in, say, Bitcoin, the prices of imported goods and services would still fluctuate massively, following the whims of market valuations.
        Financial integrity could also suffer. Without robust anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism measures, cryptoassets can be used to launder ill-gotten money, fund terrorism, and evade taxes. This could pose risks to a country's financial system, fiscal balance, and relationships with foreign countries and correspondent banks.
        The Financial Action Task Force has set a standard for how virtual assets and related service providers should be regulated to limit financial integrity risks. But enforcement of that standard is not yet consistent across countries, which can be problematic given the potential for cross-border activities.
        Further legal issues arise. Legal tender status requires that a means of payment be widely accessible. However, internet access and technology needed to transfer cryptoassets remains scarce in many countries, raising issues about fairness and financial inclusion. Moreover, the official monetary unit must be sufficiently stable in value to facilitate its use for medium- to long-term monetary obligations. And changes to a country's legal tender status and monetary unit typically require complex and widespread changes to monetary law to avoid creating a disjointed legal system.
        In addition, banks and other financial institutions could be exposed to the massive fluctuations in cryptoasset prices. It is not clear whether prudential regulation against exposures to foreign currency or risky assets in banks could be upheld if Bitcoin, for instance, were given legal tender status.
        Moreover, widespread cryptoasset use would undermine consumer protection. Households and businesses could lose wealth through large swings in value, fraud, or cyber-attacks. While the technology underlying cryptoassets has proven extremely robust, technical glitches could occur. In the case of Bitcoin, recourse is difficult as there is no legal issuer.
        Finally, mined cryptoassets such as Bitcoin require an enormous amount of electricity to power the computer networks that verify transactions. The ecological implications of adopting these cryptoassets as a national currency could be dire.
        Striking a balance
        As national currency, cryptoassets'--including Bitcoin'--come with substantial risks to macro-financial stability, financial integrity, consumer protection, and the environment. The advantages of their underlying technologies, including the potential for cheaper and more inclusive financial services, should not be overlooked. Governments, however, need to step up to provide these services, and leverage new digital forms of money while preserving stability, efficiency, equality, and environmental sustainability. Attempting to make cryptoassets a national currency is an inadvisable shortcut.
      First Autopsy of COVID Vaccinated Patient Finds Every Organ of Body Infested with Spike Proteins
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        Archived Version
        Thu, 29 Jul 2021 21:40
        The first-ever postmortem study of a patient vaccinated against COVID-19 has revealed that viral RNA was found in every organ of the patient's body, meaning that the vaccine is either ineffective or the coronavirus actually spreads faster in vaccinated individuals.
        The scientific report out of Germany published by the International Journal of Infectious Diseases in June examined the autopsy of an 86-year-old man who had received a single dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine but died 4 weeks later after becoming infected with the virus by a nearby patient at a hospital.
        From the ''First case of postmortem study in a patient vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2'':
        We report on an 86-year-old male resident of a retirement home who received vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Past medical history included systemic arterial hypertension, chronic venous insufficiency, dementia and prostate carcinoma. On January 9, 2021, the man received lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine BNT162b2 in a 30 Î¼g dose. On that day and in the following 2 weeks, he presented with no clinical symptoms.
        On day 18, he was admitted to hospital for worsening diarrhea. Since he did not present with any clinical signs of COVID-19, isolation in a specific setting did not occur. Laboratory testing revealed hypochromic anemia and increased creatinine serum levels. Antigen test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 were negative.
        But the study notes that by day 25, that vaccinated patient had tested positive for COVID-19, presumably from a nearby COVID-infected patient in his hospital room, and died of kidney and respiratory failure the following day.
        SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins were present in nearly all the vaccinated patient's organs.
        ''In summary, the results of our autopsy case study in a patient with mRNA vaccine confirm the view that by first dose of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 immunogenicity can already be induced, while sterile immunity is not adequately developed,'' the study concluded.
        In other words, although the COVID-19 vaccine triggered an immune response within the body, it didn't appear to stop the spread of the virus, and therefore the spread of harmful viral spike proteins, throughout the body.
        This is just more bombshell scientific evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine likely does more harm than good, and may actually even accelerate the spread of the coronavirus.
        The vaccine used is BNT162b2. This is the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
        Source
        RELATED ARTICLESPfizer got Agreements with Governments whether the vaccines work or Not with Zero RepercussionsUnvaccinated People 'Need to be Controlled & Restricted' Says Australian MPNHS Leak: Majority of Covid patients in hospital may have been admitted for OTHER ailments before testing positiveUK Unvaccinated Students Banned from Attending ClassesUK 'Treated' The COVID-19 Elderly Patients with Midazolam, a Drug which CHOKES YOU and STOPS YOUR BREATHING Did you like this information? Then please consider making a
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    Clips
      VIDEO - (112) Rachel Levine says U.S. vaccination program is key to stemming surge of covid-19 in the fall - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:30
      VIDEO - Gravitas: South Africa is sending troops to Mozambique - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:27
      VIDEO - (13) Echo Chamber on Twitter: "They're saying it out loud https://t.co/JAn7QCxYky" / Twitter
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 12:25
        Echo Chamber : They're saying it out loud https://t.co/JAn7QCxYky
        Sat Jul 31 04:01:26 +0000 2021
        JacksonT : @echo_chamberz Very few people watch #CNN
        Sun Aug 01 12:20:55 +0000 2021
        benjamin adams : @echo_chamberz Proper evil echo chamber of hatred. Horrible pair.
        Sun Aug 01 12:17:36 +0000 2021
        Medium : @echo_chamberz They're dirt bags that think they're in control of peoples lives.
        Sun Aug 01 12:15:33 +0000 2021
        Jim Fischer : @echo_chamberz '''... THEY keep saying 'It's my freedom, it's (whatever)'''
        Sun Aug 01 12:14:52 +0000 2021
        Marvin The Martian : @echo_chamberz Revelation 13: don't have the mark, can't buy or sell'.....Are you paying attention?
        Sun Aug 01 12:09:44 +0000 2021
        Wolky : @echo_chamberz ''It's my freedom, it's whatever'' 'nuff said. And if anyone is applying circular logic, it's the Vax Zealots.
        Sun Aug 01 12:02:25 +0000 2021
        Henry Chinaski : @echo_chamberz "No vaccine? Go to gulag."
        Sun Aug 01 12:00:56 +0000 2021
        Hopeful to the end ðŸŒ¸ : @echo_chamberz https://t.co/01C2SMs5Q4
        Sun Aug 01 11:56:58 +0000 2021
        BitcoinSeptatoid7.70 : @echo_chamberz The way we allow losers like him to mock ''It's just my freedom'', leave our country if you don't want'... https://t.co/nxUmJq7u7y
        Sun Aug 01 11:51:58 +0000 2021
        Debasish Chapeyar : @echo_chamberz And workers unions are fine with this ??? Never knew Workers union will become complete slaves of th'... https://t.co/ExftqKjm2t
        Sun Aug 01 11:48:39 +0000 2021
        Oh My! : @echo_chamberz Yep. most of my @JoeBiden loving friends haven't vaxxed yet. Know why? Because @POTUS called it a Tr'... https://t.co/5chOaJ8kGw
        Sun Aug 01 11:48:12 +0000 2021
        Dave Engelman : @echo_chamberz And #Fredo @ChrisCuomo over there, after breaking quarantine when he was actively infected, nodding'... https://t.co/TJ5IvBl1sE
        Sun Aug 01 11:45:10 +0000 2021
        Danny : @echo_chamberz What good is a vaccine that doesn't work? Especially for a virus that doesn't exist. It's never been isolated.
        Sun Aug 01 11:44:17 +0000 2021
        Jefferson : @echo_chamberz https://t.co/8cqNoUqMiU
        Sun Aug 01 11:43:53 +0000 2021
        buccaneer stunna : @echo_chamberz https://t.co/Hsx8HOp9S5
        Sun Aug 01 11:42:49 +0000 2021
        banned : @echo_chamberz @bronzeagemantis I already pay delivery fees instead of wearing a mask.. I'll live
        Sun Aug 01 11:38:07 +0000 2021
        NateBrown : @echo_chamberz Fear porn
        Sun Aug 01 11:37:33 +0000 2021
        Mjs : @echo_chamberz From a man who has sex with another man. That is far more immoral and dangerous for this country than a cold.
        Sun Aug 01 11:30:42 +0000 2021
        LoverOfALL : @echo_chamberz @TBlazo1 Cuomos stupid mafia stooge face ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ¤£
        Sun Aug 01 11:29:40 +0000 2021
        Denkvrij : @echo_chamberz No niggers aloud, no supermarket, no work, no nothing.Btw, let's reverse this.No vaccinated allow'... https://t.co/iagPqsUFm7
        Sun Aug 01 11:26:03 +0000 2021
        Danny Mass : @echo_chamberz Ya I'm sure you two took the real vaccine. Can you say placebo. Give me a break.
        Sun Aug 01 11:25:49 +0000 2021
        Dennisv 'š'¸ : @echo_chamberz Where is the balance of power! Only these idiot actors get the stage ðŸ¥¸
        Sun Aug 01 11:23:49 +0000 2021
        6iovanni Silencio : @echo_chamberz https://t.co/wfETaqvwvr
        Sun Aug 01 11:16:16 +0000 2021
        CHE_V_ELLE : @echo_chamberz Insane!
        Sun Aug 01 11:15:51 +0000 2021
        vires in numeris : @echo_chamberz Maybe they can create some type of covid camps for the unvaccinated, equipped with special shower ch'... https://t.co/01rJ8w0pwj
        Sun Aug 01 11:04:38 +0000 2021
        ð'•½ð'–†ð'– ð'•¸ð'–†ð'–‰ð'–'ð'–Šð'–ð'– : @echo_chamberz C ertificateO fV accinationID entification
        Sun Aug 01 11:03:21 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - Mockingjay2021 on Twitter: "Facebook is in BIG TROUBLE. It has just been discovered that the Facebook Covid vaccine Fat-Checkers are funded by vaccine companies https://t.co/scbyTXsta9" / Twitter
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 11:36
        Mockingjay2021 : Facebook is in BIG TROUBLE.It has just been discovered that the Facebook Covid vaccine Fat-Checkers are funded by'... https://t.co/DbEYLKi4nf
        Sat Jul 31 19:44:32 +0000 2021
        Monte : @Mockingjay20211 Foxes guarding the hen house !
        Sun Aug 01 11:34:09 +0000 2021
        Annie D : @Mockingjay20211 Lol
        Sun Aug 01 11:32:47 +0000 2021
        Fiction4Catholics : @Mockingjay20211 @TyburnMartyrs Well, that is disappointing. Where do all the conspiracy theories come from, I wonder?
        Sun Aug 01 11:29:21 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - Red Walrus on Twitter: "What??? https://t.co/6lo3qkIVSm" / Twitter
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 04:08
        Red Walrus : What??? https://t.co/6lo3qkIVSm
        Sun Aug 01 00:00:02 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - (112) Gravitas: A warning to Xi Jinping from China's hawkish generals - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:54
      VIDEO - (112) AMA President calls for stricter Sydney lockdown | Coronavirus | 9 News Australia - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:43
      VIDEO - B.C. health authority apologizes after yellow star handed out at COVID-19 vaccine clinic | CTV News
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:30
        VANCOUVER -- A British Columbia health authority is apologizing after being made aware that a clinic had handed out yellow stars for those getting their second COVID-19 vaccines.
        Vancouver Coastal Health became aware of the issue when a vaccine recipient posted a photo on social media.
        "A yellow star for double vaccination? Really'...?" Andrea Coutu wrote on Twitter Thursday, tagging VCH, the provincial health minister and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
        Her photo showed her immunization record card and a yellow star that appeared to be similar, if not the same, as the sticky note in that shape made by Post-It.
        Many clinics in B.C. have been using coloured, square sticky notes to designate which vaccine a person in line is getting, though it was not immediately clear if this was why Coutu was handed the star.
        In response, Vancouver Coastal Health posted an apology about the incident, noting the connotation of the yellow star, a symbol Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe were once forced to wear as a means of identification.
        The six-pointed star, as described by the Montreal Holocaust Museum, "facilitated the persecution of Jews by identifying them during mass arrests and later deportations."
        "We are deeply concerned by reports that a yellow star was provided at a VCH clinic to an individual who received a vaccination. We take these reports seriously," the health authority wrote.
        VCH said it had looked into every clinic in the authority and had "no knowledge" of the stars being handed out anywhere. It said the star has not been approved for distribution anywhere.
        "We apologize profusely for any inadvertent distribution of this sticker. The use of yellow stars carries a heavy and tragic history, especially for the Jewish community, and does not reflect our organization's values or our commitment to provide culturally safe care across our health authority," VCH wrote.
        "We understand that this gesture is considered hurtful."
        In a brief message posted on Twitter, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver thanked VCH for its "responsiveness and strong statement," as well as "all you do to keep us healthy."
        Nico Slobinsky, senior director at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also commented on the apology.
        "Thank you (VCH) for this statement and for acknowledging the hurt and trauma that seeing a yellow star used in a medical setting has for the Jewish community," he wrote.
        Hi there '' thanks for letting us know. We'd like to look into this more. Can you please follow and DM us more specific details. Thanks.
        '-- Vancouver Coastal Health (@VCHhealthcare) July 29, 2021
      VIDEO - Stew Peters With Karen Kingston - Former Pfizer Employee Confirms Poison in COVID 'Kill Shot'
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:20
        BitChute is a peer-to-peer content sharing platform. Creators are allowed to post content they produce to the platform, so long as they comply with our
        policies. The content posted to the platform is not reflective or representative of the views of Bit Chute Limited, its staff or owners. (C) 2017-2021 Bit Chute Limited, Box 813, Andover House, George Yard, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 1PB. United Kingdom. Company number 10637289.
      VIDEO - Delta Variant Won't Force U.S. Into Another Lockdown: White House - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:17
      VIDEO - (3) Wolfish '¨ on Twitter: ""Wear a mask if you've been vaccinated otherwise you will infect the unvaccinated." - Theresa Tam, CCP Health Witch https://t.co/ECYIPNqYzk" / Twitter
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:12
        Wolfish '¨ : "Wear a mask if you've been vaccinated otherwise you will infect the unvaccinated."- Theresa Tam, CCP Health Witch https://t.co/ECYIPNqYzk
        Sat Jul 31 02:14:51 +0000 2021
        Quelegrandcricmecroque : @WolfishHead who's the guy?
        Sat Jul 31 23:43:14 +0000 2021
        stonehouseholistics : @WolfishHead She can stuff it every syllable is fake. All false. Same story after 17 months. Resign Tam. Your covid cult is done.
        Sat Jul 31 23:42:12 +0000 2021
        SoCalBohoGal : @WolfishHead #FAIL
        Sat Jul 31 23:39:33 +0000 2021
        St-Patrick : @WolfishHead https://t.co/V4dBNmE1Vf
        Sat Jul 31 23:33:49 +0000 2021
        over711 : @WolfishHead Lol, although I don't mind that idiots take the experimental gene therapy for a cold with 99.8% surviv'... https://t.co/NMabccgxlD
        Sat Jul 31 23:13:41 +0000 2021
        Trudeau terror : @WolfishHead This is gotta be from 6 months ago....ðŸ¤--
        Sat Jul 31 22:46:08 +0000 2021
        Francis Taquin : @WolfishHead https://t.co/aFZBvOosYg
        Sat Jul 31 22:32:49 +0000 2021
        Alec Bayeur (0/0ðŸ'‰ðŸ‘) : @WolfishHead And all those people believe this shit ðŸ‚ðŸ‚ðŸ‚
        Sat Jul 31 22:26:56 +0000 2021
        theOrginalNodeNook : @WolfishHead You can't make this shit up at this point. ðŸ‘ will always be led to slaughter...
        Sat Jul 31 22:24:06 +0000 2021
        The Big Texas T : @WolfishHead This is what Canada has to listen to....Unreal
        Sat Jul 31 22:23:04 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - ðŸ'£ðŸ'¥BOOM -EXPLOSIVE''— REINER FUELLMICH - SPEAKING TO ALL LEVELS OF THE SCAM''£
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:09
        Rumble '-- ðŸš¨MUST WATCH - REINER FUELLMICH full speech - Trafalgar Square, London 24/07/21, INCLUDING THE SPIRITUAL, OUTLINING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN [THEM] & US.''£
        DAILY UPDATESðŸ‘‡''—Mewe https://mewe.com/join/qanonupdates-ce5-nzawakenascend
        ''—Telegramt.me/janmaree
        ''—Utubehttps://youtube.com/channel/UCMaSa3UdSUVXwCt9vycGbKQ
      VIDEO - Video 31.07.21, 05 39 13.mov
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:05
      VIDEO - jeremy on Twitter: "Journalist asks WH simple question: how do authorities know the Delta Variant is dominant in certain areas when testing only says positive/negative. WH woman becomes very aggravated, notes the CDC directors decorated 20-year lo
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 23:34
        jeremy : Journalist asks WH simple question: how do authorities know the Delta Variant is dominant in certain areas when tes'... https://t.co/tAOBO4cAGw
        Sat Jul 31 00:52:11 +0000 2021
        Mutant the Great : @loffredojeremy Lies lies and more lies
        Sat Jul 31 23:24:26 +0000 2021
        Veloga : @loffredojeremy IOW, she pulled a Biles.
        Sat Jul 31 23:14:03 +0000 2021
        Mike Merlin : @loffredojeremy Experts say... https://t.co/hg8Ah6YGDF
        Sat Jul 31 22:43:37 +0000 2021
        Sat Life Jason : @loffredojeremy We live in a simulation
        Sat Jul 31 22:30:07 +0000 2021
        shaunandelly : @loffredojeremy boom ....over the target
        Sat Jul 31 22:03:39 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - (112) Why the unvaccinated live in an alternate universe - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 22:08
      VIDEO - Canada Day Protest 2020 - Chris Sky's speech - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 19:58
      VIDEO - CNN on Twitter: "Rep. Cori Bush slept on the Capitol steps in a push to extend the eviction moratorium, which expires tonight. ''People are already in a position where they need help. '... How can we go vacation? No. We need to come back here.'
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 17:57
        CNN : Rep. Cori Bush slept on the Capitol steps in a push to extend the eviction moratorium, which expires tonight. ''Pe'... https://t.co/ktyvYvk1iM
        Sat Jul 31 17:33:34 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "We've known for a month that the eviction moratorium would end Sunday. But tonight, Congress adjourned for 7 weeks without doing ANYTHING about it '-- imperiling the homes & lives of 11 million peop
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 17:43
        Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez : We've known for a month that the eviction moratorium would end Sunday. But tonight, Congress adjourned for 7 weeks'... https://t.co/IV20y4ChKJ
        Sat Jul 31 00:56:31 +0000 2021
        Edgars Freibergs : @RepAOC @justicedems THEY DID IT!''--¸NO eviction moratorium ''--¸NO minimum wage hike''--¸NO filibuster reform''--¸NO cou'... https://t.co/yTYr0h8VuU
        Sat Jul 31 17:43:07 +0000 2021
        Reagan Rules : @RepAOC Pay your rent ! #FreeLoader #DemocratsHateAmerica
        Sat Jul 31 17:43:02 +0000 2021
        Kona : @RepAOC I'm hopeful that folks will get one of the many jobs created by the Biden administration so they don't have'... https://t.co/3qmbd3HHKm
        Sat Jul 31 17:42:41 +0000 2021
        CmbtVet#Resist : @RepAOC @justicedems It's shameful
        Sat Jul 31 17:41:46 +0000 2021
        Dierk Groeneman : @RepAOC @justicedems idk maybe because Pelosi calls the shots and you'd rather do as you're told than buck the establishment?
        Sat Jul 31 17:40:55 +0000 2021
        Mohammed '¸ : @RepAOC @justicedems Congress always waits till the last possible second to do anything. Can they be proactive just once?
        Sat Jul 31 17:39:52 +0000 2021
        AmericanKulak : @RepAOC If you don't pay your rent, it isn't your home.
        Sat Jul 31 17:39:28 +0000 2021
        SleeplessInDhaka : @RepAOC Off topic: what mask is she wearing?
        Sat Jul 31 17:36:58 +0000 2021
        Herrmann8er : @RepAOC Bad news for communists = good news for normal Americans and vice versa. Where's the moratorium for the lan'... https://t.co/MLoFGjdpxU
        Sat Jul 31 17:36:52 +0000 2021
        John Ward : @RepAOC Yeah, sounds about right. Same old story
        Sat Jul 31 17:36:31 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - President Biden on Twitter: "This week, we reached a historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Secretary Granholm, Secretary Raimondo, and Gina McCarthy hit the road to discuss how our agenda will invest in electric vehicle infrastructure, support
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:25
        President Biden : This week, we reached a historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Secretary Granholm, Secretary Raimondo, and Gina M'... https://t.co/LoyFImlkgU
        Sat Jul 31 14:08:52 +0000 2021
        JOELIE ALEXYETTY KERR : @POTUS OKAY SUREE UR ALLL MEXICAN CUHZ THTS A.BIG ASS WALLL OKAY LOS ANGELES DONT GIMMIE THT GET ALL THE SAME TALK'... https://t.co/TzMaBq9IH2
        Sat Jul 31 15:25:08 +0000 2021
        Cari Marvelli : @POTUS @JoeBiden Now focus on housing...
        Sat Jul 31 15:25:03 +0000 2021
        Chraj : @POTUS Please sir everyone give 1 dollar Or 2 dollars to me save my life iam really face very bad situation please'... https://t.co/jgZPAUccF2
        Sat Jul 31 15:24:57 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - Gillian McKeith on Twitter: "Oh oh .... Mexico knows something.... https://t.co/dJin7VatQo" / Twitter
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:14
        Gillian McKeith : Oh oh .... Mexico knows something.... https://t.co/dJin7VatQo
        Sat Jul 31 07:05:48 +0000 2021
        MOSES : @GillianMcKeith @MartyBent #landback this method of thinking#theremembering#decolonize #depharm
        Sat Jul 31 15:09:11 +0000 2021
        the Doge of Crypto ðŸšðŸŒ' : @GillianMcKeith ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ we should all be this brave
        Sat Jul 31 15:08:03 +0000 2021
        J. Del : @GillianMcKeith @ZubyMusic Based AMLO
        Sat Jul 31 15:07:54 +0000 2021
        SADIMATSU ðŸ--´ : @GillianMcKeith Rip hommie
        Sat Jul 31 15:07:38 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - Philip Morris CEO defends the company's intentions to buy inhaler maker Vectura
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:06
        Philip Morris International CEO Jacek Olczak defended the tobacco company's intentions to buy British pharmaceutical company Vectura Group, telling CNBC it is steadfastly committed to erasing cigarette use.
        "We can stand still and continue selling cigarettes or we can do something with the science and the technology at least to significantly reduce the harm created by smoking," Olczak said on "Closing Bell." "I believe what we're doing is absolutely right. ... Nothing and nobody will stop us in our transformations to leave smoking behind."
        Earlier this month, Philip Morris announced a deal to buy Vectura at an enterprise value of $1.2 billion. However, the planned acquisition was met with hesitancy and criticism from anti-smoking groups and the U.K. government, which deem a tie-up between a tobacco company and a company specializing in inhaled medicines for conditions such as asthma to be unfit. Tobacco smoke is a "powerful asthma trigger," according to the Cleveland Clinic.
        Philip Morris' offer for Vectura topped an earlier bid made by the private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Olczak said critics of the proposed deal for Vectura "are against the transformation of the tobacco industry."
        Philip Morris, which manufactures and sells cigarettes and smoke-free nicotine products outside of the U.S., is trying to change its image. In February, it announced a goal to generate more than 50% of its total net revenue from smoke-free products by 2025. The company also aims to earn at least $1 billion in net revenues by 2025 just from its "Beyond Nicotine" products, such as respiratory drug delivery and "selfcare wellness."
        Shares of Philip Morris fell about 3% on Tuesday after the company released its second-quarter financial results. Revenue of $7.59 billion fell short of a Refinitiv forecast of $7.69 billion. Still, the stock is up nearly 15% year to date.
        Olczak said he believes it was a "very strong second quarter." He also said the company is more optimistic about the global economic reopening, particularly in the European market, than it was when 2021 began.
      VIDEO - glenna borg on Twitter: "@MrsT106 There you go @adamcurry" / Twitter
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 00:44
        glenna borg : @MrsT106 There you go @adamcurry
        Fri Jul 30 22:58:36 +0000 2021
      VIDEO - Delta Variant Won't Force U.S. Into Another Lockdown: White House - YouTube
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Sat, 31 Jul 2021 00:39
      VIDEO - The Post Millennial on Twitter: "Biden: "I'm calling on all states and local governments to use funding they have received, including from the American Rescue Plan, to give $100 to anyone who gets fully vaccinated." https://t.co/R5Sk98GJLU" / Twit
        Link to Article
        Archived Version
        Thu, 29 Jul 2021 21:21
        The Post Millennial : Biden: "I'm calling on all states and local governments to use funding they have received, including from the Ameri'... https://t.co/kv0N1SVKAT
        Thu Jul 29 21:08:07 +0000 2021
        Rad Wyatt Blu : @TPostMillennial It's backwards! It should be $1000 for everyone that's vaccinated. $0 for those that are not.
        Thu Jul 29 21:15:58 +0000 2021
        '‚"lexis de T. : @TPostMillennial I'm under the impression that one only gets money in combination with medication if it's a medical'... https://t.co/gwFxxRdlld
        Thu Jul 29 21:15:32 +0000 2021
  Clips and Docs
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