1292: Killing Mink

Biden early statement with nothing but JEEPS in the lot

Who calls the states?

Biden Harris Build Back Better Transition website

Think.

Listen and reflect.

The data is there.

Since the start of the pandemic they have detected over

53,000 covid cases in young adults in the Community of Madrid.

You are young,

Not immortal.

The virus affects us all.

Your positive result can be very dangerous.

They have fined over 3,000 people for not wearing a mask.

Your diversion condemns all of us.

In Madrid, over 1,500 young adults between the ages 15 and

29 have been hospitalized with covid19.

This is not a game.

70 adolescents have been admitted to Madrid ICUs

You think you are invincible, but you aren’t.

7 young adults in Madrid have died of covid.

Being young doesn’t protect you from covid.

And if the data doesn’t convince you, look at me. Covid

almost killed me. This is it’s fingerprint.

Thought you two might be interested to hear about my experience so far dealing w covid testing.

Because I tested positive, over 2 weeks ago, my company has a policy that I have to take 2 negative tests, at least 24 hours apart before I can go back to normal work.

So, I took a second test about a week after my first positive, because I was feeling better and figured i was negative. That one came back positive. After the second test, somebody associated w the testing facility called me and told me to stop taking that test, that I would continue to test positive with the nasal swab PCR test for 30-60 days. I was told that I needed to schedule an appt w a primary care doctor to get scheduled for a different type of test. That appointment was today. It was a zoom virtual meeting w the doctor, scheduled for 1 pm. The meeting came and went, the doctor never showed up. I called the doctors office 3-4 times and left a voicemail wondering what was going on. After about an hour, a doctors assistant called me. He told me there was a mix up, the doctor would not be at the meeting, and somebody should have called me the day before to tell me. I explained to him what I was trying to accomplish, taking 2 negative tests. He told me there is only 1 type of test, and there is no anti body test available. When I told him about what i heard from the PCR testing facility he was dumbfounded. He basically had no answer for me, other than to refer me to a 24 hour clinic who could test me for covid. I called the 24 hour clinic, asked them about their testing procedure, which they explained to me is the same procedure as the original one I already took. They confirmed to me that I will most likely test positive for 30-60 days. When I told them what my company policy was, they said the policy was not in accordance w CDC guidelines, and the policy should be changed. I asked them how NFL and NBA players are able to test positive, then test negative a week or so later to get back to play, and they said that that is a very expensive test. So, apparently if you have big money, you can get the good test, but not us poor slaves on company insurance plans.

I called my HR dept and explained all this to them, and she basically said to keep taking the same PCR test until it comes back negative. However long that may take.

So, thats the system in place. Nobody really seems to know whats going on, every one is frazzled beyond belief, the rich are apparently getting the good test which I cant access, and the media is reporting a record number of cases using the PCR test, which seems to me to be seriously flawed. How can it be a reliable test if it keeps coming back positive for 30-60 days for someone that had covid, the symptoms went away and they feel 100% healthy, but the test keeps saying you have it?

With the news of Cuomo's change in NY "quarantine" rules, I have boots on the ground info on how the current NYC system works -- or as you'd expect, doesn't work at all.

2 weeks ago I went to England to visit family, to the shock of coworkers and friends who thought "we aren't allowed to go there!" Of course, we are. Upon getting my boarding pass at LHR to come home, I was told to scan a QR code and fill out a NY state form with my information that would be required for the U.S. border (as was the case in reverse in the UK). I filled it out with basic "where are you coming from," flight number, and name and phone number.

JFK border control didn't ask for it, didn't mention a quarantine, and there wasn't so much as a sign at baggage claim or departing the airport! So apparently my mistake -- I could've just skipped the form altogether.

I did, however, get a call from the NY state "covid 19 response team" the next morning making sure that I was aware that I am required by state law to stay home for 14 days, and make contact with no one else, except to receive medical attention. I realized that their system is total bullshit (as I took the call sitting in a coffee shop). Not only did this person not know whether I was a NY resident or visitor, they also didn't even know where I came from or what day I entered the state. I was simply put on a list to get called by this person so Cuomo feels better.

Naturally, I did not quarantine, because there is no way to enforce it. I got right back to my normal life. It's now the norm among my 30-something friends to be taking trips out of state, driving or flying, about every two weeks (remote work and NYC-based incomes are a great pair) and none of them are quarantining. So, there is hope for the youth I suppose.

I then continued to get calls 2-3x per day for two weeks straight, from different people each time, leaving me a ~1 min voicemail saying the exact same script. There's no call to action, no check-in required, no test-out scheme. Just the same call over and over again. Sadly this isn't even a recording. We're paying people to sit in a phone bank cold-calling people from a list and reading a script to their voicemails for no reason. I've attached a recording of one of them.

There is zero way to enforce these quarantines, and the system is so shoddy that NY, of all states, has absolutely zero idea where and when people are entering the state or where they are. They can't even do it in a system as controlled as an airport, let alone with people who just drive from NJ, CT, RI, PA and MA every day.

So of course the new testing + quarantine rules are just a different set of requirements for people to ignore. The people who know better won't follow them anyway, and anyone who's scared enough to follow them wouldn't travel in the first place. An utter waste of time and money.

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Archived Version

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:13

Twitter user, London & UK Crime (@CrimeLdn) posted a 19-second video to the social media site Sunday morning showing Tommy Robinson being arrested at Speaker's Corner, at the Northeast Corner of London's Hyde Park.

Tommy Robinson has been arrested at Speakers Corner. pic.twitter.com/UAkXmCI9mW

'-- London & UK Crime (@CrimeLdn) November 1, 2020The video shows approximately a dozen uniformed police officers escorting away a handcuffed Robinson as media and bystanders recorded the arrest. One person can be heard shouting ''F-ck your mum, Tommy'' as Robinson is walked to a police van.

A video posted by Politicalite shows the moment police took Robinson into custody. Robinson yells,"I haven't done anything wrong!" He also tells officers "you're breaking my f***ing arm" as they handcuff him.

WATCH: Moment the controversial Anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson was arrested in London's Speakers Corner. pic.twitter.com/Tg5dkowW0B

'-- Politicalite (@politicalite) November 1, 2020According to news outlet Metro.uk, a Metropolitan Police spokesman has stated, "Officers were policing an assembly at speakers corner, Hyde Park on Sunday, 1 November. At 2.44pm a man aged in his 30's was arrested under the coronavirus regulations for holding or being involved in the holding of the event. He has been taken to police custody."

Supporters suggested the initial gathering was about showing support for another activist, Hatun Tash, who claims to have been attacked at Speaker's Corner after showing an image of the prophet Muhammad, an act considered deeply offensive to Muslims.

Speaker's Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed.

Saturday, London police took a hands-off approach to protestors in front of the French embassy in London to march in opposition to the hardline approach French President Macron is taking in response to a series of Islamist inspired terror attacks. Videos of that march show London police standing back as an unmasked mob chanted ''shame on you'' in front of the Louis Vuitton store.

Protesters outside French owned shops in London - livestreaming here https://t.co/Mfjx7CTQli pic.twitter.com/Q1xEfq7vr4

'-- kwilliam (@kwilliam111) October 30, 2020Three Catholic churchgoers were killed in an attack Thursday in Nice, France, with one parishioner ''virtually beheaded.'' Two weeks ago, school teacher, Samuel Paty, was also beheaded in Paris after showing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in civics class. A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and wounded in Lyon on Saturday. The motive for that attack is unknown.

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Archived Version

Thu, 05 Nov 2020 13:41

Please NoteThe Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free. For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter where all stories are free to read.

The United States recorded more than 100,000 new coronavirus infections in a single day for the first time on Wednesday as the nation waited to learn the results of a presidential election carried out in the shadow of a pandemic.

Here are some significant developments:

The United States reported more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. Seventeen states '-- including Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana and West Virginia '-- on Wednesday reported record numbers of patients hospitalized with covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. In many of these states, hospital capacity is under serious threat. Nationwide, more than 9,445,000 coronavirus cases and more than 232,500 covid-19 fatalities have been logged since February. European countries such as England, Italy and Greece have announced new restrictions, including partial or total lockdowns as they face a sweeping second wave of infections. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, urged Americans to wear masks in the winter, arguing it could save up to 130,000 lives. Coronavirus cases in American children increased by record numbers in the last week of October, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association. A top scientist involved in the development of Oxford University's vaccine candidate said there is ''a small chance'' that the vaccine could become available by late December, according to Reuters. The election had a dystopian feel even before infections reached record levels. On Tuesday, voters in goggles and face shields handed ballots to poll workers clad in hazmat suits or sealed behind layers of plexiglass. On Wednesday, President Trump threatened lawsuits as election officials in battleground states labored to count an extraordinary number of mail ballots.

Despite the pandemic's omnipresent specter, exit polls showed that voters were more concerned about the state of the economy than public health, according to data collected by Edison Research and reviewed by The Post.

About 4 in 10 voters said they would prioritize the economy over efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Around one-third of voters said they were primarily motivated by the economy '-- a sentiment that was particularly widespread among Trump supporters, of whom 6 in 10 cited the economy as their top priority.

Health officials nationwide attempted to capture the attention of a distracted nation, warning that the steady increase of infections that began in mid-September is not slowing down, amid lingering uncertainty over potential vaccines.

Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, urged Americans ''to do the right thing'' and wear a mask in public to protect themselves and stop the spread of the virus as the country heads into the winter and flu season.

In a written statement, Collins referred to a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine that estimated that if most Americans wear masks, up to 130,000 lives could be saved by March. But if mask-wearing continues at its current rate of roughly 50 percent and social distancing measures are not followed, the study found, the total number of covid-19 deaths could reach more than 1 million by the end of February.

By early Wednesday evening, the United States had logged more than 104,000 new infections, even as hospitalizations and fatalities rose.

''We are in the midst of a very serious nationwide resurgence,'' Dr. Caitlin Rivers, whose research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore focuses on improve public health response to infectious disease outbreaks, said on Twitter Wednesday.

At least 17 states '-- including Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana and West Virginia '-- reported record-high numbers of current covid-19 inpatients, according to data tracked by The Post.

''We are again in danger of losing control of this pandemic in Iowa,'' Suresh Gunasekaran, chief executive of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, wrote in an urgent appeal to the state's residents. ''Our COVID positivity rates skyrocketed twice before, but this is the first time we have seen rates this high while also dealing with record patient hospitalizations.''

Some hospitals in the St. Louis and Omaha metropolitan areas have started rescheduling elective surgeries to free up beds, while the head of the Arkansas Hospital Association said at a briefing Tuesday that the state was facing a critical shortage of health-care workers as states furiously compete for nurses.

Facing a sweeping second wave of infections, more European countries have ramped up restrictions as the continent's tally of infections has surpassed 11 million. The Netherlands banned public gatherings with more than two people from different households, while Hungary shuttered bars and issued a nightly curfew, according to Reuters.

British lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted for a month-long nationwide lockdown in England, to start Thursday. Unlike the one in the spring, schools and universities will remain open. But pubs, restaurants, gyms and nonessential businesses will close for four weeks.

Until recently, the administration of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reticent to impose a nationwide lockdown, preferring instead a targeted, regional approach. But Johnson said that, when confronted with fresh data showing cases and hospitalizations climbing rapidly, he had to act. ''The curve is already unmistakable,'' he told Parliament.

The politicians opposed to the new lockdown '-- many from Johnson's own party '-- say they are too severe and will hurt the economy and civil liberties.

Kate Bingham, chair of Britain's coronavirus vaccine task force, told Parliament on Wednesday that data on the two leading vaccine candidates '-- developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and by Pfizer and BioNtech '-- should be available by December, the Associated Press reported.

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that while a coronavirus vaccine is needed, other underlying problems that afflict nations worldwide are just as pressing.

''The need for a #COVID19 vaccine is very real,'' he wrote on Twitter. ''But it will not fix the vexing vulnerabilities afflicting us all. There's no vaccine for poverty, hunger, inequality, climate change or misguided nationalism. Global commitment to end these scourges is urgently needed.''

Italy, one of Europe's worst-hit nations, announced new restrictions Wednesday, including a nationwide curfew, and instituted a three-tiered system of regional restrictions that brought several hard-hit parts of the country into de facto lockdown.

The latest tightening, which will come into force on Friday, marks the fifth time since the beginning of October that the government has instituted new measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Italy has not yet followed several other Western European countries into nationwide lockdown. But the new decree requires bars, restaurants and shops to close in several regions '-- Lombardy, Piedmont, Calabria and Aosta '-- while stopping most travel between regions deemed highest risk. In areas deemed ''red zones,'' elementary schools will continue to operate, but older children will be required to take classes remotely.

The measures amount to a painful acknowledgment that previous steps, aimed at salvaging a measure of economic activity, have been insufficient to slow the virus's spread.

France is reportedly also considering the reimposition of a nightly curfew in Paris.

In famously lockdown-averse Sweden, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven warned that the ''very serious situation'' would require a tougher approach and recommended that residents avoid public transportation, gyms and shopping malls in most parts of the country.

''The brief respite that we got during the summer is over,'' Lofven said Tuesday, according to Bloomberg News.

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Archived Version

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:39

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Europe is already seeing new Covid cases and deaths soar, prompting governments to roll out strict lockdown measures to slow the spread.Since the beginning of the pandemic, many epidemiologists in the U.S. have looked to Europe as something of a harbinger of what's to come to the U.S.Now, epidemiologists and public health specialists are warning that the U.S. could share a similar fate as Europe if action isn't taken quickly to counter the autumn surge.Health workers carry a patient on a stretcher from an ambulance at the Scorff hospital during a transfer operation of people suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Lorient, France, November 4, 2020.

Stephane Mahe | Reuters

People are tired in France where President Emanuel Macron imposed the country's second nationwide lockdown beginning Friday to combat a resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, says Parisian videographer Joseph Savage.

"There was a kind of united front the last time around '' people were excited to do this together," Savage, 34, told CNBC in an interview. "We know that we have to do it again, but the general consensus is that people are fed up and a bit sad to go through it again and not knowing when it's going to end."

Retired 70-year-old dental nurse Kathleen Williams, who lives in Lancashire, England, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson just instituted a new four-week stay-at-home order across that starts Thursday, agrees. The new lockdown order allows people to leave their homes only for essential purposes, like going to school, the doctor and grocery stores. Williams says the cold weather makes it more isolating this time around.

"People are getting a bit worn down with it all and seem to breaking the rules a bit more," she said in an interview. Williams and her husband, who's also retired, are fine, she said. "We just get on with it. But people who aren't in a couple like us, I think they're getting weary of it."

Commuters cross London Bridge in view of Tower Bridge in London, U.K., on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.

Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images

As the United States teeters on the edge of what some say is the start of a dark winter with roughly 90,000 new Covid-19 cases per day, Europe is already seeing an "astronomical" number of new cases and deaths, prompting governments to roll out strict lockdown measures to slow the spread. Like the U.S., pandemic fatigue has set in across Europe where residents say pubs and bars in the U.K. and France have been packed before the lockdowns took effect. It's led to a resurgence in the virus across Europe and America where people miss human contact and have grown weary of working in isolation for months on end.

The worsening outbreak in Europe is starting to strain hospital systems there, which epidemiologists worry will happen in the U.S. in the coming weeks.

Over the past seven days, France reported an average of more than 31,000 new cases a day on Tuesday following a record of 53,464 average new cases on Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United Kingdom has averaged more than 22,347 new cases per day over the previous week, Hopkins data shows. Italy reported a record 27,864 average new cases on Tuesday, up 58% from the previous week, according to the data.

Germany reported a seven-day average of 17,048 new cases Monday, a new record and up by a whopping 63% compared with a week ago, according to Hopkins data. The steep rise led Chancellor Angela Merkel to announce a new "partial lockdown" last week to avoid overwhelming hospitals. Bars, theaters and clubs will be closed with restaurants limited to carryout and delivery service.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes off her face mask as she gives a press conference on the actual situation amid the novel coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, following a meeting with her so-called Corona-Cabinet, on November 2, 2020 in Berlin.

Kay Nietfeld | AFP | Getty Images

Like in the U.S., there have been demonstrations across Germany, protesting the restrictions, said Dr. Bill Schaffner, an epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University whose son lives in Berlin.

"There is fatigue and I actually characterize it as annoyance at the fact that this virus, which they cannot see, has intruded on their lives and upset us, economically, socially, culturally in every way," he said. "They're annoyed at the virus. They want it to just go away."

Lara-Maria Kullack-Ublick, a 33-year-old account manager in Berlin, said she only complies with the rules and restrictions in public "out of respect and consideration for other people."

"Personally, I am not very afraid of Corona and therefore do not follow the rules for myself," she said. "In my private life I am therefore not that strict and also meet more people than allowed and do not keep the desired safety distance from these people, unless they want to."

David Cain, a senior management consultant for the U.K.'s National Health Service, said people strictly followed the rules there at the beginning of the outbreak, but that's changed.

Cain said some people have been reluctant to cooperate with contact tracers because they don't want to be asked to remain home and potentially lose income. He added that not as many people are volunteering now to deliver groceries and other supplies to more at-risk individuals.

"I don't think people are adhering to lockdown like they were at the start," he said. "They're not staying in. I think people are now a little bit: this has gone on too long. That's not our view, but people are weary with it; they're not sure."

It's a similar story in the U.S. where cases have started to surge again over the past month. If Americans can't follow mask and social distancing rules, U.S. policymakers may need to consider more statewide and local lockdowns like those seen in Europe, Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the systemwide special pathogens program at New York City Health + Hospitals, said

"If cases continue to rise, that means the virus is winning and then we're going to have to go into these massive shelter-in-place situations that you're seeing across Europe," she said. "Whether you're in the United States or whether you're in Europe, either you decide what to do or the virus is going to decide for you."

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said the U.S. outbreak is about three weeks behind Europe, where cases are "astronomical."

"If we get to the levels of some of the European countries like France and Italy, Spain, the U.K. are experiencing, it's going to really press our health care system across the country," he told CNBC last week.

Dominique Costagliola, an epidemiologist at the Inserm research institute in Paris, said there are a number of parallels between the outbreak in France and the one in the U.S. She said the outbreaks in both countries are distinct from what was seen this spring in that the virus is now widely circulating in rural communities.

"Initially the rise was mainly seen in the cities and suburbs of the cities, but now it's everywhere," Costagliola said in a phone interview. "This week, you can see that the situation is worsening everywhere, including outside the cities."

Both the U.S. and France have drastically ramped up testing compared with this spring, Inserm's Costagliola added. However, she said, the contact tracing infrastructure around testing has been largely forgotten in both the U.S. and France, which has hampered the responses in both countries.

"It's bizarre that after what happened in March, most of the European countries don't realize that the sooner you do take the measures, the better," she said. "When you've got the small fire, it's easier to care for it than when you have just fire everywhere in the country at a very high level. We need to act now, act early."

A woman walks past a poster featuring a nurse wearing a protective mask and thanking all the professions that have supported the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on a street in Rennes, western France on November 02, 2020, as France is under a new general lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 novel coronavirus.

Damien Meyer | AFP | Getty Images

France last week entered a lockdown period where all residents must stay inside, except to get groceries and conduct other essential business, or risk fines and criminal prosecution.

Unlike under the previous lockdown in March, schools will stay open.

Bars in Paris were "packed" last week with people "having one last night before locking down again," said Savage, the videographer in Paris.

"This is enough '' it worked last time. I'm not sure if people are going to respect it as much as last time because people are tired, it's autumn. The end of the year. People are a bit disillusioned," he said. "The youth are less fearful than they were first time around."

Liz Warren, a 30-year-old freelancer in Paris, said she's upset the French government didn't crack down sooner. She said she's been following the rules. She added that "if you're not wearing a mask outside you will get stares."

"I feel slightly enraged about that announcement only because the French government acted way too late on the whole situation '-- when I think back to August and September everything was still extremely lax and no one was really wearing masks on the streets, everyone was piling into the terraces outside," she said.

Hannah Weiler, a 25-year-old medical student in Cologne, Germany, said she follows the rules about 95% of the time. But, she said, she's observed others not wearing a mask in public and failing to social distance.

"People just need to be disciplined more, really, and show some more solidarity," she said. The new restrictions, she added, "just forces people to meet up at home privately again, which is way worse because that's where you have no hygiene barriers, you have no walls, it's not regulated."

CNBC's Elliot Smith, Lucy Handley in London, Natasha Turak in Dubai and Nate Rattner and Noah Higgins-Dunn in New York contributed to this article.

Disclosure: Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic-testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings'² and Royal Caribbean's Healthy Sail Panel.

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Archived Version

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 18:16

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued a new stay-at-home advisory Monday asking all residents to be in their homes from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily and ordered restaurants to stop table service at 9:30 p.m. to ensure customers can get home in time.

The stay-at-home advisory takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The state allows exceptions for going to work, seeking medical care, going to the grocery store and picking up take-out food.

''We're doing much better than many other states and many other countries, but hereto we've let down our guard,'' he said.

The curfew also applies to all gatherings under an order that accompanies the stay-at-home advisory. The state is limiting private get-togethers to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. The limit on gatherings held in public spaces, such as weddings, remains the same.

Those who violate the gatherings order face a fine of $500 per infraction.

Businesses that sell alcohol that violate the gatherings order, including hosting large gatherings after hours, could face a fine and could get their license suspended, revoked or canceled.

The state also issued an expanded mask mandate, which requires people to wear masks even if they are 6 feet away from others. Like the other restrictions, the mandate takes effect Friday.

MassLive first reported Monday that the Baker administration planned to make businesses close early to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Under the new requirements, restaurants must close by 9:30 p.m. The state also plans to crack down on house parties in hopes of reducing the spread of COVID-19 among young people.

Baker said the curfew suggested in the advisory also applies to liquor stores, recreational marijuana sales, theaters, youth and adult recreational sports, gyms, pools, museums, driving ranges, casinos, driving and flight schools, zoos, botanical gardens, nature centers and other businesses.

The governor's announcement comes after more than a week of new COVID-19 cases topping 1,000 daily. State health officials reported on Sunday 1,139 new cases and 613 hospitalizations involving both confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases.

Baker said again on Monday that the largest source of spread appears to be household transmissions and particularly private gatherings such as parties.

''Folks need to postpone or rethink big get togethers,'' Baker said. ''These are places where COVID spreads.''

The Community Tracing Collaborative has hired 305 more people who speak languages other than English, said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders. The new hires join the 661 employees at the collaborative helping to determine how COVID-19 is spreading in Massachusetts.

Steve Walsh, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, said the organization fully supports the measures.

''The commonwealth has reached yet another critical point with this virus. Now is the time to reinvigorate our focus on stopping the spread," he said. ''Our healthcare organizations and caregivers are counting on those in their communities to do their part and follow the life-saving guidance put forth by state and public health leaders.''

Carlene Pavlos, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, said the changes were too little too late.

''We appreciate that Governor Baker recognizes that new actions must be taken to contain the surge in COVID cases, but he missed the opportunity to take the kinds of bold actions needed to protect all residents of Massachusetts,'' Pavlos said.

The MPHA recommends the state release data showing social gatherings are the main source of the spread, bolster safety inspections at workplaces to ensure businesses are following the safety precautions with their employees and customers, create a plan to prevent evictions and homelessness and implement a plan to prevent infections in jails and prisons.

''Each of us must take responsibility to stop the spread, but COVID can't be stopped by personal responsibility alone," Pavlos said. Workers, people who need to double up in apartments because they were evicted, people living in shelters, and people who are incarcerated are just some of the folks suffering the most through no fault of their own.''

Paul Diego Craney, a spokesman for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, said the new restrictions amount to government overreach.

''Massachusetts residents and small businesses have done an excellent job at heeding the warning and can act responsibly on their own without the Governor's limitless orders that look to punish anyone who disobeys his orders,'' Craney said.

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Archived Version

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:43

By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

Raleigh, N.C. '-- A new study based at Wake Forest Baptist Health will mail coronavirus antibody tests to 1,000 North Carolinians, legislative leaders announced Monday.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger has been calling for weeks for random sample testing to better gauge the extent of the outbreak, and now the legislature will put up $100,000 itself to mount a project with similar goals, sending people tests through the mail.

Drs. John Sanders and David Herrington will lead the study at Wake Forest Baptist, in collaboration with doctors Michael Runyon and Michael Gibbs at Atrium Health. Dr. John Ioannidis, a Stanford University scientist frequently quoted on the need for random COVID-19 testing, is also a collaborator.

Tests patients receive by mail will be part of a much larger research effort. Although researchers say the sampling won't be truly random, they're relying on demographic data to insure they're getting a representative sample of the state's population.

The test kits will come from Scanwell Health, a Los Angeles-based digital health company. The test is not yet FDA-approved but is permitted for research studies, Berger spokesman Pat Ryan said. The data from the study will be combined with "near-real-time syndromic surveillance" through a platform developed by Oracle and meant to help identify virus hot-spots.

Ryan said the legislature's $100,000 contribution will act as "seed money" to purchase the initial round of 1,000 kits and kickstart the study. He said legislative leaders haven't ruled out allocating future money for the effort, but researchers have applied for federal grants to continue to fund the study and potentially expand it to other states.

Scanwell plans to price the kits at $70 a piece, including shipping, materials, labor and an online consultation with a doctor or nurse practitioner.

Berger's office said some kits went into the mail Monday and that early participants were identified through Wake Forest Baptist's patient platform.

People will use the kits to prick their fingers once a month for a year, and the test is meant to determine whether their blood contains COVID-19 antibodies.

Antibodies signal that the person has had the virus. They may signal immunity, though it's not yet clear whether people who recover from COVID-19 are immune.

"Much like a political opinion poll, researchers will use the proportion of people in the representative sample who have antibodies to extrapolate the prevalence of immunity to the larger population," Berger's office said Monday.

The Senate leader and other proponents of sampling hope the tests will provide a broader understanding of the virus' hospitalization and fatality rates as North Carolina looks toward reopening its economy, or at least parts of it. Berger's office said that, without data, compliance with stay-at-home orders will fall.

If testing shows things are "as bad or worse than projected, then this data will instill confidence in government decisions and increase compliance," Berger's office said. If it shows things are better, "then we can have confidence that unwinding the economic shutdown can be done safely," his office said.

Berger has called for random testing repeatedly over the last few weeks, as have some other legislative leaders, including Sen. Andy Wells, R-Catawba, who made a World War II reference and said random tests are "like a radar that can spot a Nazi bomber at night."

Lapses in testing supplies have made random trials more difficult. The most common tests involve sticking a swab deep up someone's nose, and the person administering it needs personal protective equipment, or PPE, to avoid potential contamination as the test subject coughs or gags.

This PPE is in short supply, as are some testing reagents, and Gov. Roy Cooper's administration has said repeatedly it doesn't have the supplies needed to prioritize a random sample test.

Berger's office said data from the tests should help state legislators, slated to come into session April 28, make decisions in the coming weeks. Funding for it comes from a legislative discretionary fund.

Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a statement that the study will "fill a critical data gap ... and will help us learn if the true situation is better or worse than the models project."

"Nobody knows the true hospitalization and fatality rates for this virus, even as the government has ordered a full-scale economic shutdown," he said in his statement.

House Speaker Tim Moore also put out a statement, saying the project "will provide state leaders more critical information we need to move forward reopening our economy."

Sanders, one of the Wake Forest Baptist doctors, also provided a statement, through Berger's office

"Coupled with state-of-the-art syndromic surveillance and in collaboration with leading health care providers and companies, our work will help fill a data gap that has existed since the start of the pandemic," he said. "I'm grateful to the North Carolina legislature for providing us with up-front funding so we can begin this critical project."

WRAL investigative reporter Tyler Dukes contributed reporting.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story and its headline incorrectly referred to the testing being conducted by Wake Forest Baptist Health researchers as random sampling. It is systematic sampling, not random.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:44

By TONY MOBILIFONITIS

A LETTER written by a senior constable from the Coffs/Clarence Highway Patrol in NSW and signed by colleagues, has exposed the COVID-19 narrative for its deception and the harm it is causing to police and their relations with the public.

The letter, dated October 26, is addressed to NSW Commissioner of Police Michael Fuller and is one of the best rebuttals of the COVID narrative of fear and control written anywhere, noting false predictions of its severity, false and misleading statistics, flaws in testing and serious questions around the virus itself.

The letter makes the very strong point that in the same way they cannot use an inaccurate speed detection device on motorists, the same must be demanded of the RT PCR test and as such, ''police should not in any way'' mandate testing for COVID-19, or rely on the results.

For police to raise this within their own ranks may be portrayed as controversial but the action is consistent with common law enforcement, e.g. investigating, exposing and prosecuting a crime of deception carried out against the public.

The letter signatories are urging fellow police officers across the country to write a similar letter to their respective police commissioners, or to sign their form at this link. https://advocateme.wixsite.com/copsforcovidtruth

The letter reads:RE: Open Letter Concerning the Police Enforcement of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions

We are writing to you to raise concerns we have about the use of the police to enforce the ongoing restrictions placed upon our citizens relating to COVID-19, which has seriously eroded community trust in our great police force. Since the Attorney General Declared a State of Emergency for the novel coronavirus, our governments have acted upon certain powers to impose restrictions on its citizens, using the police to enforce their rules. Due to the novel nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, most people concurred that certain restrictions should be followed, until more was learnt about the virus.

With the initial modelling from the Imperial College in the UK [1] and the Peter Doherty Institute here in Australia, indicating a catastrophic number of cases that would severely burden our hospital system and could result in up to 150,000 Australian deaths [2], it is easy to comprehend why our governments would respond as they did and why the vast population would comply.

With these frightening projections it became evident that we needed to find a way to quickly diagnose the disease. Yet the Centre for Disease Control in the US states that ''no quantified virus isolates of the 2019-nCoV are currently available''. [3] So even without the virus being isolated, the RT PCR test was picked to become the gold standard for testing.

We note that the modelling was later found to have serious calculation errors, such that experts who later reviewed it have said ''no serious scientist gives (it) any validity''. [4, 5] And now the RT PCR test has been proven to be unreliable at best, with the inventor stating it should ''never be used to diagnose infectious disease'', because it cannot tell if what it detected is alive or dead. [6, 7, 8] This test is still being relied upon to make critical decisions in the interest of public health and safety.

In the same way we cannot use an inaccurate speed detection device to proctor a civilian's speed, the same must be demanded of a faulty RT PCR test and as such, police should not in any way mandate testing for covid-19, or rely on any outcome of the results. Now that we have almost 12 months of statistical data that can be relied upon, in place of flawed computer modelling, these statistics show a reality that is far from the modelling projections, which were relied upon by National Cabinet in their response. Here are some statistics which reflect this reality:

For example, we now know that around 45% of people who contract the virus are asymptomatic [9] and asymptomatic transmission is between 0-2.2% [10]. We also know that 80% of people who contract the virus will only have mild symptoms [11] and it is overwhelmingly the elderly and immuno-compromised who are at risk of severe symptoms that could result in death. [12] At the time of writing, the world-wide survival rate for covid-19 is 97.3%. [13] The ordinary flu is 99.9%. [14] Furthermore, statistics clearly show that while the confirmed cases may be on the rise, the percentage of deaths is plummeting.

Sweden and Taiwan did not enforce lockdown on its citizens like much of the world did. Although Sweden failed to take better precautions to protect the elderly in the early stages, their death rate is comparable, and Taiwan's is outstanding. The statistics show there is a high infection rate across the globe, but very low deaths; regardless of whether there was forced lockdowns or not. What we can derive from analysis of this is that these two distinctly different ways have resulted in much the same outcome.

We note from the recent Federal budget, huge debt and unemployment, is that our lockdowns have created a series of problems that now seem to outweigh the threat this virus poses. In our line of work, we know that the socioeconomical problems created here will transpire into a greater threat down the track, as people struggle to deal with the collateral damage this is causing.

We have been told that the advice from the World Health Organization is a key aspect to the National Cabinet response, yet Dr David Nabarro of the WHO recently stated ''We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus,'' [15] So in spite of the facts, as they stand now, it would appear that the National Cabinet has been lagging in its capacity to adapt to the reality of the situation and this is causing them to fail in their duty to respond in proportion to the risk. The risk being overwhelmingly with the elderly and immunocompromised. [16, 17, 18]

What is even more concerning is the prohibition on prescribing hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 [19], when over 121 peer reviewed scientific studies have shown it to be effective in treating and preventing the disease [20, 21, 22]. Instead, the federal government has done a vaccine deal with AstraZeneca [23] and Australians told we cannot expect to go back to normal until a vaccine arrives.

AstraZeneca has been found guilty of offences relating to off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products, making false claims, kickbacks and bribery, consumer protection violation, healthcare offences, government-contracting violations and more. Since 2000 they have been fined over US$1.1billion dollars for these offences and violations. [24] Still, they have been granted protection from future product liability claims relating to its COVID-19 vaccine [25].

Alarmingly, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated they will make the vaccine ''as mandatory as you can possibly make it'' [26], in spite of the criminal record of its producer, their exemption from liability claims, the fact we already have at least two approved and extremely safe medications in Ivermectin [27] and hydroxychloroquine; shown to be effective treatments and the reality that the virus does not pose a serious threat to the healthy. It seems these decisions appear to be corporate interests, not in the best interests of public health and wellbeing as is claimed.

All this indicates that the ongoing restrictions on the healthy population is a disproportionate response, yet the police are still expected to continue to enforce these measures and at risk of being forced to vaccinate against a disease that is showing not to be virulent, with a vaccine that has had no long-term safety studies and then forcing it upon the population. The evidence would suggest resources are better directed to protect the vulnerable.

We are concerned with the legitimacy of the actions we are being told to take against the citizens of Australia. States and territories cannot rise above the commonwealth constitution as well as international treaties we are signatories to, yet this is occurring. Under the state of emergency, the emergency requirements are qualified and restricted by the significant fact that emergency requirements and directions cannot request an individual to be isolated, detained, tested, vaccinated, medically treated or bodily searched in the absence of a biosecurity control order issued to the individual.

These measures are referred to as biosecurity measures and are captured under Subdivision B of Division 3 of Part 3 of Chapter 2 of the Biosecurity Act 2015. [28] (Emergency and public health powers, at the States and Territories, do not provide a carte blanche to breach an individual's human rights by isolating them, or detaining them or testing them without the proper required notifications and risk assessments first).

There is an inter-governmental agreement [29] which places the Commonwealth in the lead as well as the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan [30]. This ensures that the States and Territories act to compliment the Federal Legislative Framework. Article 7 of the international convenient of civil and political rights states ''no-one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, in particular, no-one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.'' [31]

Article 27 of the Vienna convention on the law of treatise ''A party may not invoke the provision of its internal law as justification of its failure to perform a treaty.'' [32] Article 7 of the Australian human rights commission Act 1986 states ''no-one should be subjected to torture or to cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in particular, no-one shall be subject without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation. [33]

Section 109 of the commonwealth of Australia constitution states ''when a law of a state is inconsistent with a law of the commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall to the extent of the inconsistency being valid.'' [34] With federal and international legislation breaches, it will be taken that we are complicit and consensual in their undertaking on the people of Australia, potentially rendering us criminally liable under the Crimes Act 1914 [35], as well as the Criminal Code Act 1995 [36].

Many members of the force are fed up with the approach to enforce oppressive rules placed upon the population in the name of COVID-19 and the looming mandatory vaccinations. We feel a real calling to do our part to stop this oppression, so we are writing to you to raise the following issues:-

Police Force employees have 'choice' as to whether or not to receive vaccines;The Police believe that all members of the community also have choice around receiving vaccines;Police do not participate in any way in the forcing of vaccines upon the population;That the Police Association start preparing to defend Police employees who choose to not be vaccinatedTo raise the alarm that there is a global dictatorship occurring and the Police Force is being used as a tool to push these global and corporate agendas upon the population; andTo warn the Police Force not to simply acquiesce to these requests, rules and laws and to act in the best interest of its population, not tyranny of government.Recently letters have been written to our leaders from the legal fraternity, including high profile Judges and QC's [37], The Australian Institute for Progress penned by 30 public intellectuals including 15 professors of relevant disciplines, one of whom is an advisor on health and well-being economics to the UK government [38], Advocate Me's open letter to all leaders seeking to review disproportionate response to SAR-CoV-2 [39], as well as hundreds of doctors from the medical fraternity [40]. Despite the government continually parroting that they are following the advice of 'the experts', all these requests have been ignored and the police used as the enforcers of these senseless rules. We ask that you consider the information provided herein and the NSW Police Force statement of values: ''

Each member of the Police Force is to Act in a manner which: Places integrity above all; Upholds the rule of law; Preserves the rights and freedoms of individuals; Seeks to improve the quality of life by community involvement in policing; Strives for citizen and police personal satisfaction; Capitalises on the wealth of human resources; Makes efficient and economical use of public resources; and Ensures that authority is exercised responsibly.

Many of us believe that we are removing our own rights and freedoms by enforcing these rules upon the community, including our family and friends. And the community are confounded by the intensified police enforcement around peaceful freedom protests and how inconsistent this was when compared with the Black Lives Matter protests. This contradiction is further destroying public confidence.

We are reaching out to all our fellow police officers across the country, to write a similar letter to their respective police commissioners, or sign our form at https://advocateme.wixsite.com/copsforcovidtruth to show your support for this stance, which we have called Cops for Covid Truth. With trust in our police force now seriously eroded, we ask you to consider now challenging the necessity of the ongoing restrictions to restore community trust, by being an integral part of returning our State and Country back to normality.

Regards Alexander Cooney Senior Constable Coffs/Clarence Highway Patrol NSW Police Force Grafton Police Station 5 Duke Street Grafton NSW 2460

And other signatories

Link to Article

Archived Version

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 18:04

Video caption Home Secretary Priti Patel said people will see "more visible policing across the country" The UK's terrorism threat level has been upgraded from "substantial" to "severe".

The move means security chiefs believe that an attack is highly likely but there is no specific intelligence of an imminent incident.

The move follows Monday night's shooting in Vienna in which four people died.

Last week, three others died in a knife attack in Nice, France, and a teacher was murdered in Paris last month.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the British people should be "alert but not alarmed".

"This is a precautionary measure following the horrific events of the last week in France and last night in Austria and is not based on a specific threat."

She added that significant steps had already been taken to amend powers and strengthen the tools for dealing with developing terrorist threats.

"As I've said before, we face a real and serious threat in the UK from terrorism.

"I would ask the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police," she said.

Arrests after 'freed jihadist' kills four in Vienna Three stabbed to death in France 'terror attack' Beheading of teacher deepens divisions in FranceAssessments of threat levels are taken by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), part of MI5, which makes its recommendations independently from the government.

The five levels of threat set by the JTAC are:

Low - an attack is highly unlikelyModerate - an attack is possible but not likelySubstantial - an attack is likelySevere - an attack is highly likelyCritical - an attack is highly likely in the near future'A sense of inevitability'The decision to raise the threat level back to "severe" has a certain sense of inevitability about it.

While the threat level may feel vague to the public, what lies behind it is an assessment of available intelligence on known suspects targeting the UK and a wider analysis of how international events will play into their intentions.

Whenever there is an attack that leads to loss of life, there are plotters who will regard that as a success to emulate.

They will be encouraged to go further themselves. That is why a string of events elsewhere - such as France and Austria at the moment - carry weight in the UK's planning and preparedness.

In public, there are likely to be subtle changes to visible policing - particularly around public locations thought to be at risk of attack.

Additional advice may be given confidentially to some organisations that could be vulnerable.

And behind the scenes it will mean that counter-terrorism investigators will be taking a very close look at some of their highest current priorities and asking whether these individuals have been emboldened to turn talk into violence.

Head of UK counter-terrorism policing Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu echoed the home secretary's comments, saying there was no intelligence to link any of the attacks in France or Austria to the UK but said his officers were working with international partners, and providing assistance.

He urged communities to "stand together and reject those who seek to sow division and hatred between us".

"We need communities and families to bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable, a danger or escalating towards terrorism," he said.

He said the public could expect to see additional police officers deployed to certain places and locations over the coming days.

Police would also work closely with local businesses, faith groups and community groups to provide reassurance and seek their support, he added.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption Security remains high in Vienna after a gunman opened fire on people outside cafes and restaurants The UK's terrorism threat level was raised to the highest rating, "critical", in the days following the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017.

It last reached that level again briefly in September that year, after a bomb partially exploded on a Tube train at Parsons Green.

The threat level remained at the second highest rating, "severe", until last November when it was downgraded to "substantial", where it has stayed until now.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said given events in Austria and France, it would have been "remiss" of the government not to raise the threat level.

He said the JTAC, which brings together analysts from across transport, health, intelligence and the military, were constantly analysing the ongoing threat to UK citizens anywhere in the world, and will have looked at what has happened in Vienna and at all the postings from al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, encouraging people to carry out attacks.

"There's a lot of anger at the moment in many parts of Muslim communities over the cartoons [of the Prophet Muhammad] and that's being exploited by extremists who are encouraging people to carry out attacks, hence the raising to severe."

So far, the German Corona app for Android and iOS, costing around 70 million euros, has been downloaded 21.1 million times. This is not enough for Thomas Röwekamp, the chairman of the CDU faction in the Bremen parliament. He is calling for a federal law that would oblige Germans to use this software under threat of a fine.

https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Pflicht-zur-Installation-der-Corona-App-4948017.html

Also with the next update comes a QR code that you can use for restaurants, to give your name, address, phone number, date of birth etc.

For folks without a smartphone, the government is developing bluetooth dog tags. So yeah, it's coming exactly like you predicted in one of the last shows.

All the best from Germany,

Frank

Link to Article

Archived Version

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:24

Two Manchester hospitals have deploy new remote monitoring technology to free up beds for the sickest Coronavirus patients.

The wireless monitoring platform is hoped to help clinicians identify and predict deteriorating patients faster and with less nurse to patient contact.

To ensure critical care beds are available for only the sickest Covid-19 patients, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) have implemented the Patient Status Engine, a Class IIa CE-Marked and FDA approved monitoring platform to monitor Covid-19 patients both in hospital and at home.

The PSE, designed and developed by UK company Isansys Lifecare, automatically collects continuous physiological data, including heart rate, respiration rate, heart rate variability, ECG, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and body temperature.

It then uses these measures together with nurse scored data such as consciousness levels to calculate a minute by minute NEWS 2 score, the standard early warning measure of patient deterioration used by NHS hospitals that enables rapid identification of those patients most in need and their clinical care to be escalated fast.

Professor John Radford, Director of Research at The Christie, who is leading the RECAP project which is monitoring patients recovering at home with the PSE, said: ''The technology offers us a way of keeping a close eye on our patients while they're at home. We hope the PSE will help us detect when a cancer patient with COVID-19 is deteriorating and needs to be reviewed in hospital.

''This is the first time this technology has been used for patients who aren't in hospital in the UK, so it's truly innovative, and if successful, could be used in other areas of medicine.''

The Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester are using the PSE as part of the Cosmic (COntinuous Signs Monitoring In Covid-19 patients) study to monitor Covid-19 patients in hospital. Clinicians aim to identify in advance patients who will deteriorate and predict those who will need intensive care treatment.

Dr Anthony Wilson, Intensive Care Consultant at Manchester Royal Infirmary, part of MFT, where approximately 10 to 20 per cent of hospital inpatients with COVID-19 will need to be admitted to intensive care, said: ''The intensive care team at MFT has cared for many people with COVID-19 infection in the last few months. This new technology may allow us to intervene earlier and give patients a greater chance of getting better.''

Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, medical oncologist at The Christie, said: ''Unfortunately some patients who are suffering from COVID-19 on our hospital wards can become seriously unwell.

''By using the PSE, we hope to be able to identify these patients early and this means we can optimise their management without the need for them to go to intensive care. We can also monitor the patients' vital signs on a screen located in a different part of the hospital and we hope that, eventually, this will mean that as well as keeping our patients safe, we can reduce exposure to the virus for our staff.''

Keith Errey, CEO of Isansys, said: ''The situation across the country and globally is worrying. All indications are that Covid infections and hospital admissions will continue to rise, so we all need to do what we can by adhering to safe and socially responsible behaviours. At Isansys we are privileged to be able to support the frontline clinical teams by providing our technology and predictive tools that enable earlier step-down and discharge of patients in hospital whilst at the same time ensuring Covid-19 patients at home remain safe.

''The PSE has the capability to expand overall critical care capacity by continuously monitoring patients and establishing higher dependency beds in lower acuity areas of the hospital. This allows hospitals to preserve capacity for those Covid-19 patients who need escalated care and is also enabling healthcare providers to offer the necessary care for Covid-19 patients being treated at home.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:14

back to Pandemic Parallax View |rat haus |Index |Search |treePandemic Parallax View

Apprehending the False Promise of Biosecurity

Unmasking Usurpation by Fear Merchants

''

COVI-PASS ' is the new digital health passport powered by the revolutionary and patented VCODE® and VPLATFORM® technology that was developed by the multi-award winning British cyber-security firm VST Enterprises. As a secure Digital Health Passport, COVI-PASS

'

links and displays a certified Covid-19 test result to the user's Health and Immunoresponse, using a secure biometric gateway, allowing individuals to return to work and life safely.'' [Sep 2020: the above covipass.com domain name links to the Internet Archive to display this product as of June 2020. It now

redirects to something called TentoHealth. Interesting that the current site contains much more toned-down imagery and verbiage. Perhaps this is a reflection of the

August CDC US Covid-19 death curve indicating this virus has run its course.]

[B]iosecurity has shown itself capable of presenting the absolute cessation of all political activity and all social relations as the maximum form of civic participation.... At issue is an entire conception of the destinies of human society from a perspective that, in many ways, seems to have adopted the apocalyptic idea of the end of the world from religions which are now in their sunset. Having replaced politics with the economy, now in order to secure governance even this must be integrated with the new paradigm of biosecurity, to which all other exigencies will have to be sacrificed. It is legitimate to ask whether such a society can still be defined as human or whether the loss of sensible relations, of the face, of friendship, of love can be truly compensated for by an abstract and presumably completely fictitious health security.[Covid-19] can be very serious. I'm not claiming it's a hoax. I lost a friend to it myself and nearly lost another friend to it so I believe it exists. I'm also struck by the evidence that it's not really a virus, might be something else. Whatever it is it can be very very dangerous. But in most cases it is not, for those under a certain age and who don't have serious co-morbidities, it is comparable to seasonal flu and this is borne out by the CDC itself. You can't tell people this. You can't tell them that asymptomatic cases are not infectious or maybe very slightly infectious. That's what the scientific studies tell us. That's what the WHO's chief epidemiologist, Maria Van Kerkhove said over the summer. The press landed on her like a ton of bricks. She qualified the statement somewhat but not really. She ended up saying the infectivity of asymptomatic cases is very weak.Introduction

In early April a group of correspondents convened to evaluate and analyze the unfolding lockdown blanketing the world. Chronicling and archiving a shifted perspective, Pandemic Parallax View (PPV) is a reflection of the group's ongoing engagement. Focusing on the upside down world humanity has been dragged into, this correspondence is networking to broadcast and promote vital, Life-affirming critical thinking & analysis, research, reporting, as well aschronicling medical doctors experience and information being censored, distorted, ignored, denied, and dismissed by Foundation/Corporate/State-sponsored monetized media. The following is a distillation of some of what is beingcataloged within to introduce the contents of the PPV directory.

Ernest Becker's classic book, The Denial of Death (1973) highlights an essential quality of this civilization. Living in societies of constant, neurotic denial of the fact of death, we are somehow led to believe that it doesn't have to happen to us. Becker makes the point that when you're in the grip of the fear of death it causes you to embrace your preconceptions even more tightly. You become more firmly wedded to your assumptions and beliefs, your tribal feelings. And when we're traumatized we naturally turn to authoritative voices for some kind of assurance, some kind of advice as to what we can do.

The inspiration for this essay is Giorgio Agamben's thoughts (above) on health security:

It is striking about the reactions to the apparatuses of exception that have been put in place in our country (and not only in this one) is the inability to observe them beyond the immediate context in which they seem to operate. Rare are those who attempt to interpret them as symptoms and signs of a broader experiment '-- as any serious political analysis would require '-- in which what is at stake is a new paradigm for the governance of men and things....

It is evident that, apart from the emergency situation, linked to a certain virus that may in the future be replaced by another, at issue is the design of a paradigm of governance whose efficacy will exceed that of all forms of government known thus far in the political history of the West. If already, in the progressive decline of ideologies and political beliefs, security reasons allowed citizens to accept limitations on their liberty that they previously were unwilling to accept, biosecurity has shown itself capable of presenting the absolute cessation of all political activity and all social relations as the maximum form of civic participation.

It is evident '-- and government authorities themselves do not cease to remind us of it '-- that so-called ''social distancing'' will become the model of politics that awaits us, and that (as representatives of a so-called ''task force'' announced, whose members are in an obvious conflict of interest with the role that they are expected to exercise) advantage will be taken of this distancing to substitute digital technological apparatuses everywhere in place of human physicality, which as such becomes suspect of contagion (political contagion, let it be understood). University lessons, as MIUR has already recommended, will be stably online from next year; you will no longer recognize yourself by looking at your face, which might be covered with a mask, but through digital devices that recognize bio-data which is compulsorily collected; and any ''crowd,'' whether formed for political reasons or simply for friendship, will continue to be prohibited.

Back in March, we were told in Boston that schools would be closed until late April, later the til end of May, later through June, then starting in September until November, now sometime next year...... Do any of us actually comprehend the stakes and consequences of what we are tacitly agreeing to here? Where is the opportunity and in what venue do we get to actually debate what we are being told is necessary for sake of health security? When was it decided'--and by whom'--that biological security must replace systems of self governance and human rights defined in national constitutions as well as the freedom to make individual choices by right of birth as human beings?

Agamben poses the central question: ''It is legitimate to ask whether such a society can still be defined as human or whether the loss of sensible relations, of the face, of friendship, of love can be truly compensated for by an abstract and presumably completely fictitious health security.''An attempt is made herein to critique and analyse the apparatuses of exception beyond the immediate context in which they seem to operate.

Pandemic of Fear

US data on influenza deaths are a mess. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges a difference between flu death and flu associated death yet uses the terms interchangeably. Additionally, there are significant statistical incompatibilities between official estimates and national vital statistics data. Compounding these problems is a marketing of fear'--a CDC communications strategy in which medical experts ''predict dire outcomes'' during flu seasons.Fear is the most powerful activator of human decision making. Deep in the brain located on top of the brainstem and underneath the cortex isthe limbic system, sometimes called the ''lizard brain''as this part of brain anatomy is most of what reptiles possessin brain function. Responsible for behavioral and emotional reactions, the limbic system directs survival functions including fight or flight, fear and anxiety. Higher cognitive functions such as reasoning and intellect are suspended when perception and awareness is overwhelmed by the sense of danger causing responses based on the fear reflex.

With the advent of what is being called the coronavirus pandemic corporate/foundation/state-sponsored media is promoting 24/7 a fear-based narrative focusing on imminent biological danger to humanity. The employment of fear to manage perceptions is an age-old practice. Written 14 years ago by Etienne de Harven, MD, the following Foreword is necessarily ever more relevant today.[2]

The Content of This Book Has To Be Read, Quickly and Worldwide

The book Virus Mania by Torsten Engelbrecht and Claus K¶hnlein presents a tragic message that will, hopefully, contribute to the re-insertion of ethical values in the conduct of virus research, public health policies, media communications, and activities of the pharmaceutical companies. Obviously, elementary ethical rules have been, to a very dangerous extent, neglected in many of these fields for an alarming number of years.

When American journalist Celia Farber courageously published, in Harper's Magazine (March 2006) the article ''Out of control'--AIDS and the corruption of medical science,'' some readers probably attempted to reassure themselves that this ''corruption'' was an isolated case. This is very far from the truth as documented so well in this book by Engelbrecht and K¶hnlein. It is only the tip of the iceberg. Corruption of research is a widespread phenomenon currently found in many major, supposedly contagious health problems, ranging from AIDS to Hepatitis C, Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or ''mad cow disease''), SARS, Avian flu and current vaccination practices (human papillomavirus or HPV vaccination) .

In research on all of these six distinct public health concerns scientific research on viruses (or prions in the case of BSE) slipped onto the wrong track following basically the same systematic pathway. This pathway always includes several key steps: inventing the risk of a disastrous epidemic, incriminating an elusive pathogen, ignoring alternative toxic causes, manipulating epidemiology with non-verifiable numbers to maximize the false perception of an imminent catastrophe, and promising salvation with vaccines. This guarantees large financial returns. But how is it possible to achieve all of this? Simply by relying on the most powerful activator of human decision making process, i.e. FEAR!

We are not witnessing viral epidemics; we are witnessing epidemics of fear. And both the media and the pharmaceutical industry carry most of the responsibility for amplifying fears, fears that happen, incidentally, to always ignite fantastically profitable business. Research hypotheses covering these areas of virus research are practically never scientifically verified with appropriate controls. Instead, they are established by ''consensus.'' This is then rapidly reshaped into a dogma, efficiently perpetuated in a quasi-religious manner by the media, including ensuring that research funding is restricted to projects supporting the dogma, excluding research into alternative hypotheses. An important tool to keep dissenting voices out of the debate is censorship at various levels ranging from the popular media to scientific publications.

We haven't learnt well from past experiences.

Indeed, collectively we have not learned from the past and are now suffering catastrophic consequences of ignoring the categorized history of the corruption of medical research by the pharmaceutical industry and its willing cohort, monetized media. Echoing the above, precisely the same playbook is today being writ large as never before:

inventing the risk of a disastrous epidemic,incriminating an elusive pathogen,ignoring alternative toxic causes,manipulating epidemiology with non-verifiable numbers to maximize the false perception of an imminent catastrophe,and promising salvation with vaccine.And where consensus is concerned, science takes a back seat to public policy as observed by Michael Crichton, MD:

Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.[3]Follow The Money

''The medical profession is being bought by the pharmaceutical industry, not only in terms of the practice of medicine, but also in terms of teaching and research. The academic institutions of this country are allowing themselves to be the paid agents of the pharmaceutical industry. I think it's disgraceful.'''--Arnold Relman (2003) [

4]

The leading lobbying industry in the U.S. is Pharmaceuticals. It spends almost twice that of Electronics Mfg & Equip and Insurance and more than twice of Oil & Gas to influence Congress and federal agencies.[5] 60 years ago three vaccines were deemed necessary. For today's children, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends 72 doses of 16 vaccines.[6] The explosion of new vaccines began after the passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NVICA) of 1986. With 282 references, detailed analysis of vaccine programs in the U.S. is provided in the May 2019 ebook, Conflicts of Interest Undermine Children's Health[7]. From pages 4-5:

[T]he [NVCIA] legislation was Congress's response to intense pressure from vaccine industry lobbyists seeking protection from lawsuits related to the infamously brain-damaging diphtheria, whole-cell pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine. [24]

The industry's lobbying efforts paid off in spades. Replacing judicial action with a more circumscribed ''alternative remedy...for specified vaccine-related injuries,'' [25] the Act created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), funded by taxpayers through an excise tax on childhood vaccines. With the stroke of a pen, Congress essentially abolished vaccine injury lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers (or health providers), while creating an administrative mechanism (subsequently nicknamed ''vaccine court'') [26] from which individuals could seek'--but not necessarily obtain'-- redress for vaccine injuries through ''Special Masters'' designated to serve as arbiters.

The NCVIA gave pharmaceutical companies what amounted to blanket immunity [27] from liability for injuries resulting from childhood vaccines'-- ''no matter how toxic the ingredients, how negligent the manufacturer or how grievous the harm'' [28] '--while also exempting companies from the transparency and document discovery normally associated with litigation.

Summarizing the legislation's far-reaching implications, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has stated: ''That extraordinary law eliminated a principal cost associated with making...drugs and left the industry with little economic incentive to make vaccines safe. It also removed lawyers, judges and courts from their traditional roles as guardians of vaccine safety. Since the law's passage, industry revenues have skyrocketed from $1 billion to $44 billion.'' [29]

The NCVIA requires that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review childhood vaccine safety on a biannual basis and report to Congress on measures taken to improve safety. However, legislators appear to have intended that stipulation largely as window dressing, because'--as revealed in a lawsuit filed by the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'--HHS officials have never complied with the statutory safety review and reporting requirements even once in over thirty years. [30]

Challoner A. ''How can vaccines cause damage?'' [Letter] BMJ 2004;328:483.H.R. 5546 - National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.Attkisson S. ''Vaccine court.'' CBS News, June 27, 2008.Holland MS. ''Liability for vaccine injury: The United States, the European Union, and the developing world.'' Emory Law Journal 2018;67(3):415. (PDF)Kennedy, Jr. RF. ''Vaccines and the liberal mind.'' Children's Health Defense, June 14, 2018.Ibid.RFK, Jr. Proves HHS is in Violation of the ''Mandate for Safer Childhood Vaccines'' as Stipulated in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act, CHD, 13 Sep 2018.Corruption of Medical Research

''The corrupting influence of the pharmaceutical industry on medical research and its published literature, has derailed the medical profession from its humanitarian mission and its professional objectivity.''Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. serves as President of Waterkeeper Alliance, as well as Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Legal Counsel for Children's Health Defense. For more than a decade he has sought to debate vaccine safety with an advocate for vaccination including Peter Hotez, Paul Offit, and Ian Lipkin. No one would agree to debate him. This summer attorney and Constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz agreed and the discussion was held on July 23, moderated by Patrick Bet-David.[9] The two attorneys debated a range of issues including vaccine mandates, the PREP Act, the lack of vaccine safety studies, Jacobson vs. Massachusetts, and HHS's failure to act on provisions of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act as well as raising questions on Are compulsory vaccines even legal? Should any government be able to force medical procedures on families?

Early in the debate Mr. Kennedy described how the belief that smallpox and polio were eradicated by vaccination is controversial. He pointed out how these and other infectious diseases ''all disappeared at the same time without vaccination.''

Now CDC actually examined that because it became such a part of the orthodoxy of vaccines, the idea that smallpox and polio were abolished because of vaccines and these other diseases. Johns Hopkins and CDC in 2000 did a comprehensive study of that proposition. The study was published in Pediatrics[10] which is the Journal for the American Association of Pediatrics which is kind of a readout fortification for vaccine orthodoxy. It's a publication very very friendly in support of vaccination....The conclusion of that study is that the abolishment of mortalities from infectious diseases that took place during the first half of the 20th century had virtually nothing to do with vaccines. It had everything to do with sanitation, with nutrition, with hygiene, with electric refrigerators, with reduction in population densities, essentially an engineering solution: clean water, good food.[11] And actually there was a guy called Dr. Edward Kass who was head of Harvard Medical School at that time who gave a very very famous speech in which he warned that people who were promoting vaccines and other technologies would try to take credit for those reductions in mortalities from infectious disease and he said beware of them because they'll try to monetize them and use that to increase their power and their prestige.[12]

Beginning at 51:06 , Mr. Kennedy touched on the corrupting influence of financial profit compromising the integrity and professed duty of U.S. public health agencies:

FDA gets 50 percent of its budget from vaccine companies, from the industry. 50 percent.[13] The CDC has an $11.5 billion budget and 4.9 billion of that is buying and selling and distributing vaccines.[14] CDC is a vaccine company. It owns 57 vaccine patents[15] so it can make money on every sale of a vaccine. NIH owns hundreds of vaccine patents.[16] NIH owns half the patent for the Moderna vaccine.[17] There's five individuals in NIH and the rules at NIH is if you're a scientist or an official who worked on a vaccine, you're allowed to collect $150,000 a year in royalties on sales that that vaccine makes.[18] These regulatory agencies are actually vaccine companies.[19] The vaccine marketing sales part of those agencies is the tail that is now wagging the regulatory dog.

In a 2011 Supreme Court ruling vaccines were termed ''unavoidably unsafe''.[20] At issue here are moral, ethical, and legal constraints based on the Nuremberg Principles of informed consent. As described above, the ''NCVIA gave pharmaceutical companies what amounted to blanket immunity from liability for injuries resulting from childhood vaccines.'' Robert Kennedy Jr. addressed this situation in a May 2 interview with Patrick Bet-David.[21] Beginning at 19:33 :

My party, the Democratic Party is the worst on this issue.It's very odd to me that they're mandating these vaccines that areuntested. How can you mandate any medication for a human being?How can you tell somebody, We are gonna force you to take a medicationthat you don't want to take? We signed a treaty, the Nuremberg Charter,after World War Two because the Nazis were doing that.They were testing vaccines on people and all these other medical treatments and we said that is a war crime. We don't do that to people. And we signed the Siracusa Principles, UN Charter on Human Rights,Helsinki Accords, the Nuremberg Charter'--all of those say inthem, you cannot give a medication to somebody against their willeven if a life of the nation is at stake. That's a quote.58. No state party shall, even in time of emergency threatening the life of the nation, derogate from the Covenant's guarantees of the right to life; freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and from medical or scientific experimentation without free consent; freedom from slavery or involuntary servitude; the right not to be imprisoned for contractual debt; the right not to be convicted or sentenced to a heavier penalty by virtue of retroactive criminal legislation; the right to recognition as a person before the law; and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. These rights are not derogable under any conditions even for the asserted purpose of preserving the life of the nation. Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation of Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Annex, UN Doc E/CN.4/1984/4 (1984),

p. 6And yet we're mandating these drugs and not only are we forcing peopleto take one and we know they cause injury. The Vaccine Court has paidout four billion dollars. And they are severely limited, those judgments.Even HHS admits at the Vaccine Court, fewer than 1% of injuries evergets reported or awarded. So make that four hundred billion.We know they cause a lot of injuries. Even if they cause one injuryhow can you force a human being to take it against their will?It makes no sense.

Permissible Medical Experiments The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment.The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs, or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.Vaccine Consequences: from infectious to chronic diseases

This is about vaccines. And I think it's important to recognizethat no routine vaccine was tested for overall effects on mortality in randomized trials before being introduced. I guessmost of you think we know what our vaccines are doing. We don't. As we have heard since the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus was declared to be a pandemic earlier this year, Bill Gates has been repeating his mantra that ''things won't go back to truly normal until we have a vaccine that we've gotten out to basically the entire world''. Beyond the obvious desire to increase hisfinancial wealth, Gates has consistently indicated his belief thattechnology'--as directed by him'--can save the world.His pushing vaccines as redemption for humanity has reached the point where this unelected, unaccountable, self-proclaimed health expert's vaccination agenda is in overdrive'--in the words of the Sherwin-Williams Paint company'--to Cover The Earth in vaccinatedhuman beings.

But what about the history of vaccine non-safety Congressional legislation that was inaugurated with the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act described above and the consequences to children beginning soon after that? As Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. explained in a May 15th interview[23]:

what happened was, you suddenly had all these vaccines that hit the schedule, beginning in 1989. And 1989 is the beginning of what we call The Vaccine Generation. It is the sickest generation in history, not from infectious disease, but from chronic disease. Chronic disease level in this country in 1940 was 6%. In 1986, when we had 11 vaccines on the schedule, it was 12.8%. If you were born prior to 1989, your chance of having a chronic disease is 12.8%. If you are born after 1989, your chance of having a chronic disease is 54% to 60%. And what are those chronic diseases? There are three main categories. The neurodevelopmental diseases: ADD, ADHD, SIDS, speech delay, learning disabilities, sleep disorders'--these are all neurodevelopmental'--tics, Tourette's syndrome, narcolepsy, ASD, autism. In my generation 1 in 10,000 people have autism. Today, in my children's generation, 1 in every 34 kids, 1 in every 22 boys.Then, you have allergies. Vaccines are designed to give you an allergic response to the antigen, to the microbe. They also give you an allergic response to anything else that is injected'--the peanut oil excipient, the Timothy weed outbreaks that are occurring at the time you get the vaccines'--you now have a lifetime allergy to those. So, children who are vaccinated have 30 times the allergic rhinitis as children who are unvaccinated. Peanut allergies went from 1 in 1,200 Americans, to 1 in every 12. And then you had anaphylaxis and asthma, which are allergic diseases.Finally, the last category is autoimmune diseases. And those just exploded. And that's a whole range of diseases where your body essentially gets an allergic reaction to your own organs, and the immune system begins attacking your own organs. So, juvenile diabetes'--I only knew one kid growing up who had diabetes; now, it's everywhere'--, rheumatoid arthritis, Guillain-Barre, all these fibromyalgias, and, multiple sclerosis. All these other diseases that exploded....The vaccine industry when I was a kid was making about 200 million dollars a year. Today it's making 60 billion. They make 60 billion from the mandated vaccines. But they're making 500 billion a year treating injuries that are listed as side effects on their vaccines.[24] They are selling us the albuterol inhalers for our children's asthma, the EpiPens, the anti-seizure medications, the Prozac for the depression, the diabetes medications, the arthritis medications, all of these other'--and if you look at the top 20 blockbuster drugs for these four companies, virtually all of them are targeted to treat injuries that are listed as a side effect on their own vaccine inserts. It's a racket. It is the perfect business model: you make people sick the day they are born, you keep making them sick till their 18th birthday, and then you have a permanent customer. Listen, if you get a measles infection, what's the treatment? A week in bed, chicken soup, and vitamin D. None of that can be patented. Pharma makes nothing on measles. If you have a measles vaccine, and you give that child seizures, and epilepsy, and encephalopathy, and all these other injuries, you have a permanent customer for life. It's the perfect business model, but it's killing our country....

The primary beneficiaries of astronomical profits garnered by the pharmaceutical industry are industry executives and major shareholders.In the eleven year period from 2006 to 2015 these two circles claimed99% of gains in excess of $500 billion.[25]Such concentrated financial power to influence and control governmental rules and regulations is the proverbial tip of the iceberg where corporate capture of Federal agencies and departments is concerned. A 2014 joint study by Princeton and NorthwesternUniversity Professors concluded the U.S. is an oligarchy, not a democracybased on how frequently individuals of specific income levels as well as organized interest groups achieved their policy goals.[26] The ''payoff'' of concentration of economic power into the rarified strata of billionaires is influence and control. Mainstream broadcast and print media conglomerates are anespecially effective investment to further concentrate the consolidation of power and management of perceptions.

The One Speaking To The Many

''Those who tell the stories rule society'''--Plato

Plato's statement can be made current with, ''Those who employ those who tell the stories rule society.'' It is difficult to overstate the influence on the manufactured states of consensus reality presented every moment by a very few human souls financially owning and thus controlling the content of monetized broadcast, print, and digital media. Think what Joseph Goebbels would have given for television. Catherine Ingram begins her introduction to Bad Magic: The Failure of Technology, a 1991 interview with Jerry Mander, by emphasizing the catastrophic danger inherent in the one speaking to the many:

When Jerry Mander suggested in his book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, published in 1978, that television was not reformable no matter who controlled the medium, it represented the first time anyone had dared suggest that we do away with television altogether. Mander argued that television is a primary tool in the ongoing mediation of human experience, the visual intoxicant that entrances the viewer into a hypnotic state and thereby replaces other forms of knowledge with the imagery of its programmers. It infuses young children with high-tech, high-speed expectations of life, so that a walk in nature would likely seem interminably boring. It is the tool used not only to sell the resources that have been dug up, melted, forged, and otherwise appropriated from the earth, but to sell us back our feelings, which the entrancement has eclipsed. Television colonizes its viewers by way of an artificial reality replete with its own values. From a political point of view, it is particularly dangerous because ''it is the one speaking to the many,'' as Mander describes anyone from the corporate sponsor to the nightly anchorperson. And it is bad for our bodies as well, creating mental and physical sickness by the mesmerizing phosphorescent glow of its artificial light.At the moment when the natural environment was altered beyond the point that it could be personally observed, the definitions of knowledge itself began to change. No longer based on direct experience, knowledge began to depend on scientific, technological, industrial proof.

Scientists, technologists, psychologists, industrialists,economists and the media which translate and disseminate theirfindings and opinions became our source. Now they tell us whatnature is, what we are, how we relate to the cosmos, what we needfor survival and happiness, and what are the appropriate ways toorganize our existence.

There is little wonder, therefore, that we should begin to doubtthe evidence of our own experience and begin to be blind to theself-evident. Our experience is not valid until science says itis. (Mother's milk is healthy!)

It is also little wonder that we feel removed from participation in the larger issues which shape our lives. We feel removed because we

are removed.

As we continue to separate ourselves from direct experience of the planet, the hierarchy of techno-scientism advances. This creates astounding problems for a society that is supposed to be democratic.''

Sixteen years ago, the 2004 edition of Ben Bagdikian's The New Media Monopolyanalyzed how ''[f]ive global-dimension firms, operating with many of the characteristics of a cartel, own most of the newspapers, magazines, book publishers, motion picture studios, and radio and television stations in the United States.'' As a ratio, thecurrent total 2,095 billionaires[27] makes up 0.00002 percent, or one "bill" per 3,723,150 humans of the7.8+ billion people on Mother Earth. The influence this global cartel produces to manage and direct the perceptions of humanity serves one of the oldest time-proven strategies for power and control: divide and conquer.Coming in second behind Lord Bezos'--who has increased his monetary wealth from 7 Apr 2020 to 19 Sep 2020 by $62 billion[28]'--is Bill Gates'--who has increased his monetary wealth by $16.7 billion[29]. While the vast majority of humanity has suffered unprecedented financial contraction and collapse as a result of locking down societies worldwide since the spring, the financial titans have seen their monetary holdings increase by billions. It is instructive to scratch the surface of the pursuits by the second most financially wealthy man on Earth.

Self-Anointed Global Health Czar Gates

Who is Bill Gates? A software developer? A businessman? A philanthropist? A global health expert? This question, once merely academic, is becoming a very real question for those who are beginning to realize that Gates' unimaginable wealth has been used to gain control over every corner of the fields of public health, medical research and vaccine development. And now that we are presented with the very problem that Gates has been talking about for years, we will soon find that this software developer with no medical training is going to leverage that wealth into control over the fates of billions of people.'--James Corbett (2020) [

30]

The transformation of William Tyler Gates III from ruthlesscomputer tycoon monopolist into benevolent global philanthropistis a primary instance of unbridled power exercised by the onespeaking to the many. In November 1999 U.S. federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled Microsoft Corp exercised monopolypower in the market for personal computer operating systems.Following years of legal battles, and taking a page from other magnates-turned-altruists like John D. Rockefeller, over the past 20 years Bill Gates has rebranded himself as the benevolent benefactor of humanity.Employing the vehicle of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,he has more than doubled his net worth from $50 billion to over $110 billion in just the past ten years.

This past May an in-depth four-part series titled Who Is Bill Gates? was produced by The Corbett Report (mp3s here). With meticulous sourcing for every statement, it ranged across the areas of

How Bill Gates Monopolized Global HealthBill Gates' Plan To Vaccinate The WorldBill Gates And The Population Control GridMeet Bill GatesPart 1 lays out the enormous influence on consensus reality exercised thru funding media by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

And, like Rockefeller, Gates' transformation has been helped along by a well-funded public relations campaign. Gone are the theatrical tricks of the PR pioneers'--the ubiquitous ice cream cones of Gates' mentor Warren Buffett are the last remaining holdout of the old Rockefeller-handing-out-dimes gimmick. No, Gates has guided his public image into that of a modern-day saint through an even simpler tactic: buying good publicity.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spends tens of millions of dollars per year on media partnerships, sponsoring coverage of its program areas across the board. Gates funds The Guardian's Global Development website. Gates funds NPR's global health coverage. Gates funds the Our World in Data website that is tracking the latest statistics and research on the coronavirus pandemic. Gates funds BBC coverage of global health and development issues, both through its BBC Media Action organization and the BBC itself. Gates funds world health coverage on ABC News.

When the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer was given a $3.5 million Gates foundation grant to set up a special unit to report on global health issues, NewsHour communications chief Rob Flynn was asked about the potential conflict of interest that such a unit would have in reporting on issues that the Gates Foundation is itself involved in. ''In some regards I guess you might say that there are not a heck of a lot of things you could touch in global health these days that would not have some kind of Gates tentacle,'' Flynn responded.

Indeed, it would be almost impossible to find any area of global health that has been left untouched by the tentacles of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

It was Gates who sponsored the meeting that led to the creation of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a global public-private partnership bringing together state sponsors and big pharmaceutical companies, whose specific goals include the creation of ''healthy markets for vaccines and other immunisation products.'' As a founding partner of the alliance, the Gates Foundation provided $750 million in seed funding and has gone on to make over $4.1 billion in commitments to the group.

The history of Bill Gates influence on media coverage of global healthis revelatory in its assessment of how a person with no medical trainingor regulatory experience aggressively buys the kind of medical science ''reporting'' that furthers the goals of this proven monopolist.[31]One of the core funding areas for the Gates Foundation is ''vaccine development and surveillance''.In 2010 the Gates-founded ''Decade of Vaccines'' project[32] committed $10 billion in funding to implement a Global Vaccine Action Plan.[33] As stated at the project's launch:

The Global Vaccine Action Plan will enable greater coordination across all stakeholder groups '' national governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, the private sector and philanthropic organizations '' and will identify critical policy, resource, and other gaps that must be addressed to realize the life-saving potential of vaccines....Prof. Pedro Alonso, Director for the Institute for Global Health of Barcelona and Dr. Christopher Elias, President and CEO of PATH, have been appointed co-chairs of the Steering Committee and the Secretariat. ''Vaccines are miracles,'' said Prof. Alonso, ''For just a few dollars per child, vaccines prevent disease and disability for a lifetime. We must make sure that people understand that vaccines are one of the best investments in health.'' Yet, as noted above, the comprehensive 2000 study by Johns Hopkins and the CDC concluded that the elimination of mortalities due to infectious diseases during the first half of the 20th century had nothing to do with vaccines and everything to do with what was in essence, an engineering solution: clean water and healthy food. Accordingto World Health Organization Voluntary contributions in 2018, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $99+ million to the GeneralFund, the third largest contributor after the GAVI Alliance ($140+ million)and the United States ($132+ million).[34] As James Corbett points out, ''It was Gates who sponsored the meeting that led to the creation of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a global public-private partnership bringing together state sponsors and big pharmaceutical companies, whose specific goals include the creation of 'healthy markets for vaccines and other immunisation products.' As a founding partner of the alliance, the Gates Foundation provided $750 million in seed funding and has gone on to make over $4.1 billion in commitments to the group.''[35]

Given this, an obvious question is what epic purpose motivates anddrives Bill Gates actions? Apparently not money as he certainly has enough of that. In April, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. posited the followingregarding what makes Bill go? ''Vaccines, for Bill Gates, are a strategic philanthropy that feed his many vaccine-related businesses (including Microsoft's ambition to control a global vaccination ID enterprise) and give him dictatorial control of global health policy. Gates's obsession with vaccines seems to be fueled by a conviction to save the world with technology.''[36]

Utilizing the device of a cartoon format to great effect, Willy G.'s Dystopian Future's one-and-only offering on his goo-goo-tube channel is the 12 May 2020 production of BGPuppetShot. A transcript provides sources to some of what Cartoon Bill shares[

37]. Abragini84 left a succinct comment (among the 7+K) summing up CartoonBill's statements: ''These where by far the most honest 3 minutes and 46 seconds of Bill's life.'' While for some thismay seem preposterous, Willy G. has done his homework in an effectiveand informative manner.

C-19 PCR ''Gold Standard'' Test Isn't

Kary Mullis was a scientist. He never spoke like a globalist, and said once, memorably, when accused of making statements about HIV that could endanger lives: ''I'm a scientist. I'm not a lifeguard.'' That's a very important line in the sand. Somebody who goes around claiming they are ''saving lives,'' is a very dangerous animal, and you should run in the opposite direction when you encounter them. Their weapon is fear, and their favorite word is ''could.'' They entrap you with a form of bio-debt, creating simulations of every imaginable thing that ''could'' happen, yet hasn't. Bill Gates has been waiting a long time for a virus with this much, as he put it, ''pandemic potential.'' But Gates has a problem, and it's called PCR.'--Celia Farber (2020) [

38]

''In any other disease we would have a clearly defined specification that would usually involve signs, symptoms, and a test result,'' says Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at the University of Oxford and the editor of BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. ''We are moving into a biotech world where the norms of clinical reasoning are going out of the window. A PCR test does not equal covid-19; it should not, but in some definitions it does.'''--Elisabeth Mahase (2020) [

39]

Kary Mullis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993 for his invention of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) process. The inspiration for this method of making unlimited copies of DNA fragments came to Mullis in 1983. As he described the process in 1990, ''the polymerase chain reaction makes life much easier for molecular biologists: it gives them as much of a particular DNA as they want.''[40] In 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states: ''The 'gold standard' for clinical diagnostic detection of SARS-CoV-2 remains RT-PCR.''[41] Websters Dictionary defines diagnosis as ''1 a : the art or act of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms, b : the decision reached by diagnosis''. U.S. Public Health Agencies current policies regarding how to address the SARS-COV-2 virus are founded on the PCR test. What is not at all clear is on what basis this was chosen to be the CDC's '''gold standard' for clinical diagnostic detection'' given blatant contradictions in such items as U.S. test kits; for example as in this one from Creative Diagnostics: ''This product is intended for the detection of 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The detection result of this product is only for clinical reference, and it should not be used as the only evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment.''[42]

With a background in biology and medical study, science writer David Crowe produced concise summaries earlier this year on Issues with the RT-PCR Coronavirus Test and Isolation versus Purification with respect to the SARS-COV-2 virus.[43] In an interview with journalist Celia Farber about Kary Mullis, he lamented how ''I'm sad that he isn't here to defend his manufacturing technique ... Kary did not invent a test. He invented a very powerful manufacturing technique that is being abused. What are the best applications for PCR? Not medical diagnostics. He knew that and he always said that.''[44] As Crowe writes in Flaws in Coronavirus Pandemic Theory, ''The COVID-19 test is based on PCR, a DNA manufacturing technique. When used as a test it does not produce a positive/negative result, but simply the number of cycles required to detect sufficient material to beat the arbitrary cutoff between positive and negative. If positive means infected and negative means uninfected, then there are cases of people going from infected to uninfected and back to infected again in a couple of days.''[45]

The issue of defining the cycle threshold that identifies whether or not a given RNA fragment contains the coronavirus is central to ongoing policies being enacted by most country's governments including the United States. In early August The Center for Evidence-Based Medicine published an analysis of how PCR results reflect infectivity.[46] The latter half of this paper explains what the cycle threshold is and how PCR detection of RNA viruses does not differentiate fragments that are no longer infectious.

Why does the cycle threshold cut-off matter?RT-PCR uses an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to change a specific piece of RNA into a matching piece of DNA. The PCR then amplifies the DNA exponentially, by doubling the number of molecules time and again. A fluorescent signal can be attached to the copies of the DNA, and a test is considered positive when the fluorescent signal is amplified sufficiently to be detectable.

The cycle threshold (referred to as the Ct value) is the number of amplification cycles required for the fluorescent signal to cross a certain threshold. This allows very small samples of RNA to be amplified and detected.

The lower the cycle threshold level the greater the amount of RNA (genetic material) there is in the sample. The higher the cycle number, the less RNA there is in the sample.

What does this mean?This detection problem is ubiquitous for RNA viruses detection. SARS-CoV, MERS, Influenza Ebola and Zika viral RNA can be detected long after the disappearance of the infectious virus.

The immune system works to neutralise the virus and prevent further infection. Whilst an infectious stage may last a week or so, because inactivated RNA degrades slowly over time it may still be detected many weeks after infectiousness has dissipated.

PCR detection of viruses is helpful so long as its limitations are understood; while it detects RNA in minute quantities, caution needs to be applied to the results as it often does not detect infectious virus.

What can we conclude?These studies provided limited data of variable quality that PCR results per se are unlikely to predict viral culture from human samples. Insufficient attention may have been paid [to] how PCR results relate to disease. The relation with infectiousness is unclear and more data are needed on this.

If this is not understood, PCR results may lead to restrictions for large groups of people who do not present an infection risk.

The results indicate that viral RNA load cut-offs should be used: to understand who is infectious, the extent of any outbreak and for controlling transmission.

As stated above, SARS-CoV-2 can be detected long after the disappearance of the infectious virus. Someone shedding an active virus and someone else who has inactive leftover RNA from infection can both receive the same positive result.[47] The occurrences of false positive test results can lead to unwarranted and serious consequences for persons so mis-identified with this. Page two of the U.S. FDA Fact Sheet, CDC - 2019-nCoV Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel (local copy), acknowledges the dangers posed by false positives:

The CDC 2019-nCoV Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel has been designed to minimize the likelihood of false positive test results. However, in the event of a false positive result, risks to patients could include the following: a recommendation for isolation of the patient, monitoring of household or other close contacts for symptoms, patient isolation that might limit contact with family or friends and may increase contact with other potentially COVID-19 patients, limits in the ability to work, the delayed diagnosis and treatment for the true infection causing the symptoms, unnecessary prescription of a treatment or therapy, or other unintended adverse effects.At this point the PCR is picking up people who are asymptomatic with no detectible signs. It's picking up people who have recovered from covid a month or more ago. It's finding non-infectious viral fragments. The PCR test at this stage is driving hysteria, producing wholly unnecessary and utterly avoidable results. Testing is up, up, up and mainstream media is obsessed with hyping ''cases''.[48]Ivor Cummins is a biochemical engineer with 30+ years experience in corporate technical leadership positions. His focusis on solving the root of chronic disease. Cummins points out that in early August this epidemic has waned and has been replaced with an irrational,unscientific Casedemic.[49]

In mid September Bose Ravenel (MD, FAAP, Retired) observed that ''Public health authorities currently are basing societal mitigation policies and recommendations almost exclusively upon this [PCR] technology by tracking putative numbers of 'cases' instead of deaths and hospitalizations, and the result is an unprecedented negative impact on society that is futile and unnecessary.''[50] This is not the first time cases replaced deaths and hospitalizations as the barometer of what was then as is now being called a pandemic. First announced in April 2009, the H1N1 flu panic played out with very similar fixated hyper-focusing on cases. As Ivor Cummins describes this beginning at 2:59 :

This is very interesting from 2009 and the swine flu. ragnar_lives on twitterpulled all this out from official government documentation.[51] We see here the tracking in 2008 into 2009 flu season and there would have beenmortality there for sure. But then something fascinating happened. A new PCR-type rapid testing FluChip came in and it was focused on looking at the swine flu. That was the flavor of the month back then.click image for full size

What happened was in the summer there were almost no deaths butthere was a huge freak out, a casedemic, and you can see here in theorange'--that's the H1N1 [designated as ''influenza A(H1N1)pdm09'']'--and there was an enormous panic becauseall these cases were being seen mounting and mounting. But they wereprimarily driven by, of course, PCR-type testing. Then into the fallthere was a lot of H1N1 being seen and huge amounts of testsand again people were panicking but no one really died or at leasttiny numbers. Then it began to fade out and they just gave up testing.In late July Nobel Laureate and Stanford biophysics Professor Michael Levitt predicted that Covid-19 would be ''done'' by 25 August.[

52] On 29 August the CDC published the following table indicating the death curve from Covid-19 ''Week ending 2/1/2020 through 8/22/2020'' was back to mid-March levels of mortality.[

53]

As of 26 September, the current death curve presents 8 groups one can view: a single ''All ages'' total (below), or 7 cohort groups, but not all 7 groups overlaid together as in the above 22 August graph. In addition, the 22 August graph shows the combined death rate for all ages dwindling to a total far below any definition of an actual pandemic. However in the 26 September graph'--even with its disclaimer that ''Data for the most recent 5 weeks (shown with dashed line) are typically less than 90% complete, with lower levels of completeness in more recent weeks'''--the approximate All ages death count from the still-solid line on 8/22/20, appears to come in at just under 6,000 deaths. This appears to be at least 5,000 more All ages deaths than is indicated in the 22 August graph. As another example of contradictory CDC statements and published data, it begs the question: Does our public health agency system actually know what it is talking about that then defines U.S. policy?

''John D (PhD, etc.)'' describes himself on Twitter with ''I used to juggle numbers for a living. Now doing my best to help you navigate the ocean of data.'' On 14 September he posted the following graph with the text: ''Time for an update. I added some noise to all-cause deaths FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. Otherwise, that's just daily average of this year's deaths (60.2 million). SourcesCovid ecdc.europa.euAll-cause deaths: UN Population Division quoted by ourworlddata.org

And on 27 September he

posted an updated graphic comprised of data from

EuroMOMO, ''a European mortality monitoring activity, aiming to detect and measure excess deaths related to seasonal influenza, pandemics and other public health threats.'' This was in response to Dr Clare Craig FRCPath who had posted the following: ''I had assumed non-COVID excess deaths in April were likely undiagnosed COVID. This coroner's audit suggests more likely lockdown deaths. Only 2/67 autopsies had COVID:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30180-8/fulltext''

John D responded with:

''It's not just the UK. There is a peak in non-Covid deaths coinciding with the Covid peak, which also happens to coincide with peak lockdown stringency.''

Clearly, measuring the actual active infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is THE metric to apply where implementing world wide government health policy is concerned. While using the polymerase chain reaction technique is notnew with Covid-19 (e.g. introduction of the PCR-type rapid testing FluChip for H1N1 ''swine flu' of 2008-2009),it is even more questionable why this manufacturing technique is stilltreated as the ''gold standard'' by the CDC. As Tom Jefferson et al conclude in their 3 September COVID-19 infectivity assessment:

Prospective routine testing of reference and culture specimens are necessary for each country involved in the pandemic to establish the usefulness and reliability of PCR for Covid-19 and its relation to patients' factors. Infectivity is related to the date of onset of symptoms and cycle threshold level. A binary Yes/No approach to the interpretation RT-PCR unvalidated against viral culture will result in false positives with segregation of large numbers of people who are no longer infectious and hence not a threat to public health.[54]As Kary Mullis himself spoke in 1997 about the misuse of PCR:

Question: How did they misuse PCR to estimate all these so supposedthree viral RNAs that may or may not be there?Kary Mullis: I think misused PCR is not quite'--I don't think you can misuse PCR. The results, the interpretation of it'--see, if you can say, if they could find this virus in you at all'--and with PCR, if you do it well you can find almost anything in anybody'--it starts making you believe in the sort of Buddhist notion that everythingis contained and everything else. Because if you can amplify one singlemolecule up to to something that you can really measure, which PCR can do, then there's just very few molecules that you don't have at least one single one of them in your body. So that could be thought of as a misuse of it just to claim that it's meaningful. But the real misuse of it is that you don't need to test for HIV, you don't need to test for the other 10,000 retroviruses that are unnamed, also in the subject. See somebody that's got HIV generally is going to have almost anything that you can test for because they have definitely'--HIV is a fairly rare virus. There's only one million of us out of 250, 300 million people in America that have that virus. So you have to get around, either your mother had to have it and pass it to you, or you have to really be paying a lot of attention to people that do have it and paying only attention to them and get apretty good chance of getting it that way. It's hard to get it. But it if you have it, there's a good chance you've also got a lot of other ones.... To test for that one and say that has any special meaning is what I think is the problem. Not that PCR has been misused. Question:Is it more like, is it an estimation?Mullis: It's not an estimation, no it's a really quantitative thing.It tells you something about nature and about what's there. But itallows you to take a very minuscule amount of anything and make it measurable and then talk about it in meetings and stuff like it is important. That's not a misuse. That's just a misinterpretation. There'svery little of what they call HIV and what's been brought out here by Phil Pott and [...] The measurement for it is not is not exact at all. It's not as goodas our measurement for things like apples. An apple is an apple. You can get something that's kind of like, if you've got enough things that look kind of like an apple and you stick them all together you might think of it as an apple. And HIV is like that.Those tests are all based on things that are invisible and they are'--the results are inferred in a sense. PCR is separate from that. It's just a process that's used to make a whole lot of something out of something. It doesn't tell you that you're sick and it doesn't tell you that the thing you ended up with really was gonna hurt you or anything like that.[55]Kary Mullis' observations about his PCR method in terms of HIV are more relevant than ever with today's coronavirus. Remember thatthe common cold is also designated in the category of coronavirus.[56] Finally, it is essential to re-emphasize that Mullis differentiates ''PCR'' from ''tests'' and that as a process to take a tiny amount of something down at the molecular level and make a whole lot more out of it, PCR does not tell you that you are sick and it does not tell you if what you have will make you sick.''

From all this, the question must be pursued: Why is the PCR test, invented as a DNA manufacturing technique, the CDC's ''gold standard'' for diagnosing the presence of actively infectious SARS-COV-2 when its inventor always affirmed it was never intended to serve as a medical diagnostic tool? Additionally, why do SARS-CoV-2 testing kits state ''For research use only, not for use in diagnostic procedures''?[42] When such necessary and fundamental questions are not being raised and debated by mainstream media, one is left to think there is something terribly misguided and wrong with policies being mandated by government public health officials.

HCQ & Needless Untold Deaths

Fauci, Birx and Redfield, all incestuously complicit in the HIV/AIDS frauds and malpractice, today hold the future of not only American public health, but also of the entire world economy in their hands. Not a good situation. As their work on the proved HIV=AIDS fraud shows, the coronavirus tests do not at all prove presence of a deadly virus in any patient. If this is so, it is perhaps the greatest criminal fraud in medical history.'-- F. William Engdahl (2020) [

57]

I am usually accustomed to advocating for positions within the mainstream of medicine, so have been flummoxed to find that, in the midst of a crisis, I am fighting for a treatment that the data fully support but which, for reasons having nothing to do with a correct understanding of the science, has been pushed to the sidelines. As a result, tens of thousands of patients with COVID-19 are dying unnecessarily. Fortunately, the situation can be reversed easily and quickly. I am referring, of course, to the medication hydroxychloroquine. When this inexpensive oral medication is given very early in the course of illness, before the virus has had time to multiply beyond control, it has shown to be highly effective, especially when given in combination with the antibiotics azithromycin or doxycycline and the nutritional supplement zinc.'-- Harvey A. Risch (2020) [

58]

There has been quite a bit of coincidence theory about events heldprior to this year that simulated or predicted what is now being called the 2020 global pandemic.

Jun 2001: Dark Winter, a ''war game examining the national security, intergovernmental, and information challenges of a biological attack on the American homeland.'' (Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security;All Roads Lead To Dark Winter, Webb & Diego, Last American Vagabond, 1 Apr 2020.)Jan 2005: Atlantic Storm, ''a a ministerial table-top exercise ... used a fictitious scenario designed to mimic a summit of transatlantic leaders forced to respond to a bioterrorist attack.'' (Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security)Jun 2015: World Health Organization conducts an''Informal Consultation'' including focus on''the strategic problems associated with switching from seasonal influenza vaccine production to pandemic vaccine production.''(WHO: Influenza Vaccine Response during the Start of a Pandemic, p. 4)Jul 2016: Second WHO Informal Consultation on Influenza Vaccine Response during the Start of a Pandemic; main goal: ''better understanding the complexities of the early stages of pandemic vaccine development''. Oct 2016: Exercise Cygnus ''was set seven weeks into a severe pandemic outbreak and challenged the [UK] NHS to review its response to an overwhelmed service with reduced staff availability.'' (Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR), Board Paper - NHS England, 30 Mar 2017; Exercise Cygnus uncovered: the pandemic warnings buried by the government, Paul Nuki & Bill Gardner, The Telegraph, 28 Mar 2020.)May 2018: Clade X, a ''pandemic tabletop exercise that simulated a series of National Security Council-convened meetings of 10 US government leaders'' for the purpose of illustrating ''high-level strategic decisions and policies needed to prevent a severe pandemic or diminish its consequences should prevention fail.'' (Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security)Sep 2018: WHO publishes A practical guide for developing and conducting simulation exercise to test and validate pandemic influenza preparedness plans''to support countries in developing and conducting simulation exercises to test and validate their national pandemic influenza preparedness plans.''Dec 2018: WHO Simulation exercise puts global pandemic readiness to the test: ''A simulation for a global pandemic response involving more than 40 countries will take place 4-6 December, 2018, coordinated by the World Health Organization's Global Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and by the EOC Network, a global network of health emergency operations centres.''Aug 2019: Crimson Contagion 2019 Functional Exercise: ''The culminating event of the Series'--the Crimson Contagion 2019 Funi Exercise'--was a four-day, multi-state, and multi-regional exercise that foci whole-of-community response and policy issues of workforce viability; critical infrastructure protection; economic impact; social distancing; scarce resource allocation; prioritization of vaccines and other countermeasures; available (or potentially available) funding streams or mechanisms to fund the response; and medical surge operations.''Sep 2019: Urban Outbreak 2019: ''was an analytic war game designed, delivered and analyzed by U.S. Naval War College's Humanitarian Response Program in collaboration with Uniformed Services University of the Public Health Sciences - National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health and Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab ... [which] gamed an infectious disease outbreak response in a notional but realistic city with a population of 21 million people.''Oct 18 2019: Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, World Economic Forum, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted Event 201 in New York City. ''The exercise illustrated areas where public/private partnerships will be necessary during the response to a severe pandemic in order to diminish large-scale economic and societal consequences.'' ''Event 201 simulates an outbreak of a novel zoonotic coronavirus transmitted from bats to pigs to people that eventually becomes efficiently transmissible from person to person, leading to a severe pandemic. The pathogen and the disease it causes are modeled largely on SARS, but it is more transmissible in the community setting by people with mild symptoms.'' At the White House on 20 March 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated, ''we are in a live exercise''. Clearly a great deal of thought and consideration has gone into gaming, simulating, and preparing for the potential of a global pandemic by scientists collaborating with public health and military officials, as well as corporate and university representatives.

On 10 January 2017, days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci gave the Keynote Address at Georgetown University on the subject of ''Pandemic Preparedness in the Next Administration.'' Hosted by the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center partnering with the Harvard Global Health Institute, the meeting brought together ''leading thinkers from across sectors, and representing disciplines from practitioners to policymakers, to listen, learn, and discuss ways the next presidential administration can contribute to pandemic preparedness, global health security, and domestic readiness and resilience.'' Beginning at 2:52 of his presentation, Fauci said:

Given, as you heard from the introduction, that I have been around for awhile and have had the opportunity and the privilege and the pleasure of serving in five administrations, I thought I would bring that perspective to the topic today, is the issue of pandemic preparedness. And if there is one message that I want to leave with you today, based on my experience, and you'll see that in a moment, is that there is no question that there will be a challenge [to] the coming administration in the arena of infectious diseases'--both chronic infectious diseases in the sense of already on-going disease'--and we have certainly a large burden of that'--but also there will be a surprise outbreak. And I hope by the end of my relatively short presentation you will understand why history, and the history of the last 32 years that I have been the Director of the NIAID, will tell the next administration that there is no doubt in anyone's mind that they will be faced with the challenges that their predecessors were faced with.As stated, Anthony Fauci has been the Director of NAIAD for a long time. Appointed in 1984, he is an immunologist by training. Given all the practice runs for pandemics listed above and Fauci's professed certainty in January 2017 that ''there will be a surprise outbreak'' for ''the coming administration'', there are glaring contradictions and inconsistencies between numerous levels of anticipation of this crisis and the actual responses that have occurred. Of primary concern here is how and why prospective therapeutic drugs such as Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) that have proved remarkably effective in treating people afflicted with Covid-19 have adamantly been steadfastly rejected by Fauci and so-called experts promoted by MSM broadcast and print mediums.

In August the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) published an analysis ''How a False COVID-19 Narrative Was Created & Sustained for Six Months'' It began by citing the work of Meryl Nass, MD'--an internal medicine physician with expertise in anthrax and bioterrorism and focus on prevention, investigation, amelioration, and safe effective medical response'--and cites her own analysis, ''How a false hydroxychloroquine narrative was created, and more.'' First published in late June, Dr. Nass continues updating this evaluation. The beginning summary encapsulates the hypothesis that suppression of HCQ may be intentional to keep the pandemic going:

It is remarkable that a large series of events taking place over the past 5 months produced a unified message about hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), and produced similar policies about the drug in the US, Canada, Australia, NZ and western Europe. The message is that generic, inexpensive hydroxychloroquine (costing only $1.00 to produce a full course) is dangerous and should not be used to treat a potentially fatal disease, Covid-19, for which there are no (other) reliable treatments.

Hydroxychloroquine has been used safely for 65 years in many millions of patients. And so the message was crafted that the drug is safe for its other uses, but dangerous when used for Covid-19. It doesn't make sense, but it seems to have worked.

In the US, ''Never Trump'' morphed into ''Never Hydroxychloroquine,'' and the result for the pandemic is ''Never Over.'' But while anti-Trump spin is what characterized suppression strategies in the US, the frauds perpetrated about hydroxychloroquine and the pandemic include most western countries.

Why do I say ''Never Over''? I am expanding on this claim with a), b), c) on August 30. Later in the paper additional evidence is provided.

Because if people were treated with HCQ at the onset of their illness, over 99% would quickly resolve the infection, avoiding progression to the late stage disease characterized by cytokine storm, thrombophilia and organ failure. Despite claims to the contrary, this treatment is very safe. (Yet outpatient treatment is banned in many US states.)If people were treated prophylactically with this drug (using only 2 tablets weekly) as is done in some areas and in some occupational groups in India, there would probably be at least 50% fewer cases after exposure. (Such treatment is currently banned in much of the US, including in my state of Maine.)Protocols for in-hospital treatment (that were unknown during the initial peak of illness in the US and Europe) using HCQ and individually selected blood thinners, steroids, vitamins, zinc and other drugs such as used at NYU, have significantly reduced mortality of the very small number of people who might still progress to a serious illness. (The FDA, however, recommends against the use of HCQ outside of clinical trials, and the CDC and NIH recommend against it.)If we followed a), b) and c) the result would be much briefer periods of infectiousness, lower viral loads, less severe illness and considerably less transmission. The R zero (average number of people each case infects) would drop below one and the pandemic would soon die out.

Were acts to suppress the use of HCQ carefully orchestrated? You decide.

Might these events have been planned to keep the pandemic going? To sell expensive drugs and vaccines to a captive population? Could these acts result in prolonged economic and social hardship, eventually transferring wealth from the middle class to the very rich? Are these events evidence of a conspiracy?

Here is a list of what happened, in no special order. Please help add to this list if you know of other actions I should include. This will be a living document, added to as new information becomes available.

I have penned this as if it is the ''To Do'' list of items to be accomplished by those who pull the strings. The items on the list have already been carried out. One wonders what else might be on their list, yet to be carried out, for this pandemic.

As of October 27 the ''To Do list'' Dr. Nass articulates comprises 52 entries. Following this is listed 14 instances of The People and the Professionals Fight Back.

The AHRP analysis continued by outlining ''a case against government officials' collusion to demonize an effective existing medicine.''

They even designed clinical trials that required high doses of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine that were known '' to the medical profession '' to be toxic and potentially lethal. These officials bear responsibility for causing preventable deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands of patients.

Following publication by The Lancet of a demonstrably FRAUDULENT study, the World Health Organization suspended its hydroxychloroquine studies and urged countries around the world to suspend both their clinical trials, and prevent doctors from using the drug for Covid. Several governments did ban the use of the drug. Some, like Switzerland, lifted the ban after the Lancet study was retracted two weeks after publication.

Switzerland, which had been using the drug for months, banned Hydroxychloroquine from May 27th until June 11th. Here is the Johns Hopkins graph documenting the precipitous increase in the case fatality rate (CFR) '' i.e., preventable deaths that occurred in Switzerland during the 13-day period during which patients were denied this life-saving treatment.

The graph charting high Covid-19 deaths in Switzerland during the 13 day ban, following the

fraudulent Lancet report proves that the drug had reduced the rate of deaths; that rate increased precipitously when the drug was withheld. The Swiss death rate from Covid-19 dropped as soon as patients were again treated with Hydroxychloroquine.[Source:

Covid-19: hydroxychloroquine works, a proof?,'' Michel Jullian and Xavier Azalbert,

FranceSoir, 16 Jul 2020]

This constitutes scientific proof of the curative effect of Hydroxychloroquine for patients with Covid-19, by means of challenge-dechallenge-rechallenge. In this case, it was not an experiment by design, but rather the result of government edicts.

The graph further demonstrates that France whose government issued a series of regulations to restrict the use of this effective treatment, such as changing the drugs' status from over-the-counter to prescription only on January 13th, followed by a ban on the use of the drug two months later. In contrast to Switzerland, France has a high 19.12% Covid-19 mortality rate.

Further evidence demonstrating the life-saving benefit of Hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 infected patients comes from clinical trials conducted by the world renowned virologist, Didier Raoult, MD, PhD: patients treated with Hydroxychloroquine were at minimal risk of death: 0.52%.

While there is extensive analysis on the efficacy of HCQ for early treatment, it is being censored in MSM print and broadcast mediums. Why? Two dynamically updated reference sites are producing ongoing compilations of world-wide data studies:

The scope and level of detail being developed in c19study.com's ongoing correlation of highly efficacious early treatment by HCQ of Covid-19 is incredibly good news. As of 24 October, hcqtrial.com states ''The treatment group has a 70.7% lower death rate.'' These are exceedingly important, vital, and life-promoting statistics. Yet they are not being acknowledged, much less acted upon by governments shown in red countries in the Countries based on current HCQ/CQ usage map above. Further, a cross-section of published papers, analysis, and articles affirm the efficacy of HCQ as well as detail the horrendous'--nay criminal'--censorship of its benefits.

Chadwick C Prodromos, Tobias Rumschlag. Hydroxychloroquine is Effective and Safe for the Treatment of COVID-19, and May be Universally Effective When Used Early Before Hospitalization: A Systematic Review, Research Gate September 2020, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29781.65765 (PDF)Shame on Research Gate for CENSORSHIP of HCQ Meta-Analysis Alliance for Human Research Protection, 11 Sep 2020''Hydroxychloroquine Science - How It Works,'' Mobeen Syed, MD, America's Frontline Doctors Summit Sessions, 27 Aug 2020''Open Letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci Regarding the Use of Hydroxychloroquine for Treating COVID-19,'' George C. Fareed, MD Brawley, California Michael M. Jacobs, MD, MPH Pensacola, Florida Donald C. Pompan, MD Salinas, California, Desert Review Opinion/Global Research, 12 Aug 2020''An Effective COVID Treatment the Media Continues to Besmirch,'' Steven Hatfill, Real Clear Politics, 4 Aug 2020''Hydroxychloroquine: Dangerous drug or innocent victim?,'' James Todaro, Medicine (Un)Censored, 6 Aug 2020''Dr. Fauci' Double Standards: Polarizing the Nation on Hydroxychloroquine,'' Robert F. Kennedy, Chairman, Children's Health Defense, 6 Aug 2020Lisa S. Koche, MD:Speaking In Support of America's Frontline Doctors and Hydroxychloroquine Efficacy (12:14, mp3), 30 Jul 2020''Two-Tiered Medicine: Why Is Hydroxychloroquine Being Censored and Politicized?,'' Children's Health Defense, 30 Jul 2020''The Key to Defeating COVID-19 Already Exists. We Need to Start Using It, Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, Newsweek, 28 Jul 2020''This Indian slum contained a possible COVID-19 disaster with hydroxychloroquine, Vijay Jarayaj, Life Site / American Thinker, 22/21 Jul 2020''More Evidence Presented for Why Hydroxychloroquine Should be Made Available, in a New Court Filing by AAPS,'' 22 Jul 2020''Cuba: Early hydroxychloroquine potent against COVID-19 - Cuba uses hydroxychloroquine and some other unique drugs in treatment of coronavirus, say Cuban medical authorities,'' Vakkas Dogantekin, Anadolu Agency, 10 Jul 2020Scholz, M.; Derwand, R.; Zelenko, V. ''COVID-19 Outpatients '' Early Risk-Stratified Treatment with Zinc Plus Low Dose Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin: A Retrospective Case Series Study.'' (PDF) Preprints, 2020, 2020070025 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202007.0025.v1) 3 Jul 2020''Treatment with Hydroxychloroquine Cut Death Rate Significantly in COVID-19 Patients, Henry Ford Health System Study Shows,'' 2 Jul 2020Arshad, S., Kilgore, P., et al.Treatment with Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Combination in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19, International Society for Infectious Diseases, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.06.099, 1 Jul 2020''The Media Sabotage of Hydroxychloroquine Use for COVID-19: Doctors Worldwide Protest the Disaster - Media and Big Pharma are in lockstep to suppress a cheap, life-saving Covid-19 therapy in order to reap pandemic-sized profits,'' Elizabeth Woodworth, Global Research, 30 Jun 2020Lagier, J-C, Million, M, et al. Outcomes of 3,737 COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin and other regimens in Marseille, France: A retrospective analysis, Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 25 Jun 2020''Covid-19 Has Turned Public Health Into a Lethal, Patient-Killing Experimental Endeavor,'' Vera Sharav, Alliance for Human Research Protection, 20 June 2020''The Corruption of Science.The Hydroxychloroquine Lancet Study Scandal. Who Was Behind It? Anthony Fauci's Intent To Block HCQ on Behalf of Big Pharma,'' Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 10 Jun 2020Million, M., Lagier, J.-C., et al. Early treatment of COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin: A retrospective analysis of 1061 cases in Marseille, France, Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, May-Jun 2020Meo SA, Klonoff DC, Akram J. Efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2020;24(8):4539-4547. doi:10.26355/eurrev_202004_21038''The Politicization of HCQ,'' Simone Gold, MD, thegoldopinion.com, 17 Jun 2020White Paper on Hydroxychloroquine,Dr. Simone Gold, MD, JD (29 pp)Medical Studies Support MDs Prescribing Hydroxychloroquine for Early Stage COVID-19 and for Prophylaxis, Vladimir Zelenko, MD, Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, George C. Fareed, MD (248 pp)Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk COVID-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis,(PDF), Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, American Journal of Epidemiology 27 May 2020Finally, hcqmeta.com and hcqlost.com'--expanded segments of c19study.com'--dynamically quantify the life-affirming benefits Hydroxychloroquine provides through early treatment protocols.

HCQ is effective for COVID-19 when used early: analysis of 131 studies

Covid Analysis, October 20, 2020 (Version 8, October 31, 2020)

HCQ is effective for COVID-19. Theprobability that an ineffective treatment generated results as positive as the121 studies to date is estimated to be 1 in27 million (p = 0.000000037).Early treatment is most successful,with 100% of studies reporting apositive effect and an estimated reduction of63% in the effect measured(death, hospitalization, etc.) using a random effects meta-analysis, RR0.37[0.29-0.48].100% of RandomizedControlled Trials (RCTs) for early, PrEP, or PEP treatment report positiveeffects, the probability of this happening for an ineffective treatment is0.002.There is evidence of bias towardspublishing negative results. Significantly more retrospective studies reportnegative results compared to prospective studies, p =0.04.Significantly more studies in NorthAmerica report negative results compared to the rest of the world, p =0.003.The estimated number of human lives

lost

from not believingHCQ is effective is:

575,355

based on a meta-analysis of

20 early treatment studies and excluding areas already using HCQ. 130 studies have reported a treatment effect for HCQ versus a control group, with a random effects meta-analysis estimate of the improvement being 31%. Early treatment studies show higher efficacy, with an estimated improvement of 63%.

The lives lost of people who would have lived if they had received early treatment of HCQ is too hideous for words. Suppressing and censoring any'--much less open'--societal debate of the above analyses is indefensible, unconscionable, and criminal. This information proffers the necessary antidote to the lie Fauci et al have been claiming that Hydroxychloroquine is dangerous and ineffective. THE logical and central question that must be accountably addressed is:Who benefits by claiming early use of HCQ is not efficacious and harmful?As Dr. Nass sums up this situation,'' Remember: the system would not be going to these lengths if hydroxychloroquine didn't work. Please think about that. ''

Mask Off! Every Breath Renews Life's Gift

Cloth face covers are not protective equipment and do not protect the person wearing a cloth face cover fromCOVID-19.[T]here is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.'--World Health Organization (2020) [

60]

I've been wearing masks for 25 years in my role as an operating-room nurse. So I have a firm grasp on masks' risks and benefits and how to use them correctly. I'm having a hard time watching the misuse of masks all around me after the folly of influential public-health officials promote universal-mask-wearing recommendations to control COVID-19.Every breath renews the gift we are graced with since birth.In our now-upside-down world, one of the primary imperatives the majority of public health and political officials around much of the globe are urging and mandating is to wear a mask for health and safety. (Soon, all too soon,it may be that a national mandate becomes law forcing everyone to wearmasks throughout the United States.) Given the holes in this supposedly air-tight claim of increasing security from infection, the following provides a doses of critical analysis to actually assess what is being imposed everywhere. It is also a very partial compilation on the efficacy and intelligence of using masks for the purposes claimed by health authorities. And, there is no substitute for everyone conducting their own research todetermine what the facts are in this sphere.

On 6 June, BARRICADE GARAGE - No Problems, Only Solutions, produced a short, extremely cogent satirically framed analysis of mask mania.

MASK OFF (3:24)''There is zero scientific proof that the virus is spread by A-symptomatic people and they aren't able to provide a study that even proves their claims but yet we have a reputable scientific study that proves A-symptomatic people DON'T spread the virus so you can use your imagination to figure out why the media hasn't reported on this.''''A wise man once said, 'to guard with jealous attention the public liberty and suspect anyone who comes near that precious jewel.' That being said the fact that you can wear a mask made out of literally any material lets me know this is not about safety. This is about social engineering.''Sources Cited:''CDC estimates COVID 19 mortality rate is 0.4%, significantly lower than previously reported - The data is based on five scenarios, including the best estimate for a mortality rate, which is 0.4% overall,'' Alex Shabad, WCNC, 28 May 2020And if mask are so effective then why weren't we instructed to wear them back in 2018 when Tuberculosis killed over 1.5 million people including over 200 thousand children? ''A total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018 ... 1.1 million children fell ill with TB globally, and there were 205 000 child deaths due to TB ...''Tuberculosis, World Health Organization, 24 Mar 2020There is zero scientific proof that the virus is spread by A-symptomatic people and they aren't able to provide a study that even proves their claims but yet we have a reputable scientific study that proves A-symptomatic people DON'T spread the virus so you can use your imagination to figure out why the media hasn't reported on this.Gao M, Yang L, Chen X, et al. ''A study on infectivity of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers.'' Respiratory Medicine 2020;169:106026. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2020.106026World Health Organization states as of April 2nd there has been no documented A-symptomatic transmissionCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Situation Report '' 73, Data as reported by national authorities by 10:00 CET 2 April 2020, World Health Organization (local PDF)There are at least eight randomized control trial (RCT) studies of masks as barriers against respiratory viruses. These types of studies are the true gold standard of scientific research conducted over the past two decades. They all found that masks are not effective at blocking transmission of respiratory viruses. Seven of these RCTs are reviewed by Denis Rancourt in a paper he published on ResearchGate in April 2020. With a PhD in Physics (1984, University of Toronto), Rancourt is a former tenured Full Professor (University of Ottawa), and has published over one hundred articles in leading science journals. He joined the Ontario Civil Liberties Association as a volunteer Researcher in 2014. The Summary/Abstract for this paper states:

Masks and respirators do not work. There have been extensive randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies, and meta-analysis reviews of RCT studies, which all show that masks and respirators do not work to prevent respiratory influenza-like illnesses, or respiratory illnesses believed to be transmitted by droplets and aerosol particles. Furthermore, the relevant known physics and biology, which I review, are such that masks and respirators should not work. It would be a paradox if masks and respirators worked, given what we know about viral respiratory diseases: The main transmission path is long-residence-time aerosol particles (The present paper about masks illustrates the degree to which governments, the mainstream media, and institutional propagandists can decide to operate in a science vacuum, or select only incomplete science that serves their interests. Such recklessness is also certainly the case with the current global lockdown of over 1 billion people, an unprecedented experiment in medical and political history.There is more than ample cause to critique and assess the unprecedented experiment in medical and political history occurring at this moment. Rancourt's paper was titled ''Masks Don't Work: A review of science relevant to COVID-19 social policy.''[62] After reaching 400,000 reads, it was banned on ResearchGate on 3 June (but not before it was republished and archived). In a 5 June article, ''COVID censorship at ResearchGate: Things scientists cannot say,'' (complete PDF), Rancourt describes his correspondence with the two managing Directors of ResearchGate (endnotes delimited in square brackets):

... they are stating that they judge my article ''which argues that there is no scientific basis for public use of masks,a position in line with express longstanding statements made by the WHO[ ''Can masks protect against the new coronavirus infection?'',WHO, https://youtu.be/Ded_AxFfJoQ ]'' a threat to human safety because it ''was broadly linked tofrom a variety of social media accounts''.This is censorship of my scientific work like I have never experienced before. It deprives me of the advantages of the ResearchGate platform. It also kills the many links to the article, from a multitude of media and social-media venues. As such, it infringes on the public's right to freely access information in a democracy, without undue or illegal interference.The actions of ResearchGate are contrary to science, freedom, and democracy. In my opinion, ResearchGate is using the public internet infrastructure, while actuating an apparent bias aligned with its funding sources.[ ''ResearchGate raises $52.6M for its social research network for scientists'',TechCrunch: ''This latest tranche of money comes from an impressive list of strategic and financial investors that include the Wellcome Trust, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, and Four Rivers Group, Ashton Kutcher, LVMH, Xavier Niel, Bill Gates, Benchmark, and Founders Fund, some of whom (like Gates, Benchmark and Founders Fund) were investors in previous rounds.'' ]The eighth RCT is titled, A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers.[63] Published in 2015, its conclusion stated: ''This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated.''

Dr. Arthur Firstenberg is the author of The Invisible Rainbow, A History of Electricity and Life (Chelsea Green, March 2020). From the publisher's biography page: ''Arthur Firstenberg is a scientist and journalist who is at the forefront of a global movement to tear down the taboo surrounding this subject. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University with a degree in mathematics, he attended the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine from 1978 to 1982. Injury by X-ray overdose cut short his medical career. For the past thirty-eight years he has been a researcher, consultant, and lecturer on the health and environmental effects of electromagnetic radiation, as well as a practitioner of several healing arts.''

[excerpt from Dr. Firstenberg's newsletter dated August 11, 2020]

Instead of acknowledging the harm from radio waves, society is tearing its fabric apart by instituting measures that are protecting no one and are instead sickening and killing people. I will mention just one of those measures here: facial masks.

As a person who went to medical school, I was shocked when I read Neil Orr's study, published in 1981 in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Dr. Orr was a surgeon in the Severalls Surgical Unit in Colchester. And for six months, from March through August 1980, the surgeons and staff in that unit decided to see what would happen if they did not wear masks during surgeries. They wore no masks for six months, and compared the rate of surgical wound infections from March through August 1980 with the rate of wound infections from March through August of the previous four years. And they discovered, to their amazement, that when nobody wore masks during surgeries, the rate of wound infections was less than half what it was when everyone wore masks. Their conclusion: ''It would appear that minimum contamination can best be achieved by not wearing a mask at all'' and that wearing a mask during surgery ''is a standard procedure that could be abandoned.''

I was so amazed that I scoured the medical literature, sure that this was a fluke and that newer studies must show the utility of masks in preventing the spread of disease. But to my surprise the medical literature for the past forty-five years has been consistent: masks are useless in preventing the spread of disease and, if anything, are unsanitary objects that themselves spread bacteria and viruses.

Ritter et al., in 1975, found that ''the wearing of a surgical face mask had no effect upon the overall operating room environmental contamination.''Ha'eri and Wiley, in 1980, applied human albumin microspheres to the interior of surgical masks in 20 operations. At the end of each operation, wound washings were examined under the microscope. ''Particle contamination of the wound was demonstrated in all experiments.''Laslett and Sabin, in 1989, found that caps and masks were not necessary during cardiac catheterization. ''No infections were found in any patient, regardless of whether a cap or mask was used,'' they wrote. Sj¸l and Kelbaek came to the same conclusion in 2002.In Tunevall's 1991 study, a general surgical team wore no masks in half of their surgeries for two years. After 1,537 operations performed with masks, the wound infection rate was 4.7%, while after 1,551 operations performed without masks, the wound infection rate was only 3.5%.A review by Skinner and Sutton in 2001 concluded that ''The evidence for discontinuing the use of surgical face masks would appear to be stronger than the evidence available to support their continued use.''Lahme et al., in 2001, wrote that ''surgical face masks worn by patients during regional anaesthesia, did not reduce the concentration of airborne bacteria over the operation field in our study. Thus they are dispensable.''Figueiredo et al., in 2001, reported that in five years of doing peritoneal dialysis without masks, rates of peritonitis in their unit were no different than rates in hospitals where masks were worn.Bahli did a systematic literature review in 2009 and found that ''no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative wound infection was observed between masks groups and groups operated with no masks.''Surgeons at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, recognizing the lack of evidence supporting the use of masks, ceased requiring them in 2010 for anesthesiologists and other non-scrubbed personnel in the operating room. ''Our decision to no longer require routine surgical masks for personnel not scrubbed for surgery is a departure from common practice. But the evidence to support this practice does not exist,'' wrote Dr. Eva Sellden.Webster et al., in 2010, reported on obstetric, gynecological, general, orthopaedic, breast and urological surgeries performed on 827 patients. All non-scrubbed staff wore masks in half the surgeries, and none of the non-scrubbed staff wore masks in half the surgeries. Surgical site infections occurred in 11.5% of the Mask group, and in only 9.0% of the No Mask group.Lipp and Edwards reviewed the surgical literature in 2014 and found ''no statistically significant difference in infection rates between the masked and unmasked group in any of the trials.'' Vincent and Edwards updated this review in 2016 and the conclusion was the same.Car¸e, in a 2014 review based on four studies and 6,006 patients, wrote that ''none of the four studies found a difference in the number of post-operative infections whether you used a surgical mask or not.''Salassa and Swiontkowski, in 2014, investigated the necessity of scrubs, masks and head coverings in the operating room and concluded that ''there is no evidence that these measures reduce the prevalence of surgical site infection.''Da Zhou et al., reviewing the literature in 2015, concluded that ''there is a lack of substantial evidence to support claims that facemasks protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination.''Schools in China are now prohibiting students from wearing masks while exercising. Why? Because it was killing them. It was depriving them of oxygen and it was killing them. At least three children died during Physical Education classes '-- two of them while running on their school's track while wearing a mask. And a 26-year-old man suffered a collapsed lung after running two and a half miles while wearing a mask.

Mandating masks has not kept death rates down anywhere. The 20 U.S. states that have never ordered people to wear face masks indoors and out have dramatically lower COVID-19 death rates than the 30 states that have mandated masks. Most of the no-mask states have COVID-19 death rates below 20 per 100,000 population, and none have a death rate higher than 55. All 13 states that have death rates higher 55 are states that have required the wearing of masks in all public places. It has not protected them.

On 3 September author and NYU Professor Mark Crispin Miller published the 46-page essay, ''Masking Ourselves to Death: A stunning propaganda win for voodoo epidemiology (COMPLETE first half)''.

As he introduced it on his News From Underground feed:

A few days ago, when I sent out the first third of this text, I wrote that I would send the rest in two further installments.

But, in light of what's been happening over just these last few days, I've decided to send all of it out now. As RFK, Jr. said so powerfully in Berlin (to over a million people), what's looming on the near horizon is totalitarianism'--a threat not just in some few ''closed societies'' ruled by dictators right or left, but an unprecedented global system of control by governments and corporations, and the elite interests backing them.

Our conquest by that system will depend on our compliance with the ''rules'' established (with no democratic process whatsoever) by the COVID-19 panic that's been stoked, and is being now protracted, by ''our free press'' and its counterparts worldwide. As mask mandates have been crucial to exacting that compliance, and are now being perversely tightened even as the COVID crisis ends, those of us who will not give up our humanity, or have our children huddling ''safe'' in constant fear and isolation, must now stand up together and refuse those mandates, which have no scientific basis, and are doing us immeasurably more harm than ''the coronavirus'' ever could.

There is abundant evidence, of several kinds, that masks are ineffective and unhealthy; and I've attempted to present it here, as clearly (and readably) as I can. I hope that you will see it as a trove of ammunition to be used against the mammoth propaganda drive that has so many healthy millions injuring themselves, and taking all the joy out of our world, by wearing masks.

On 10 October, Jim Meehan, MD, published: An Evidence Based Scientific Analysis of Why Masks are Ineffective, Unnecessary, and Harmful . Dr. Meehan is well suited to evaluate the science on Masks. The beginning of this analysis follows. Links below go into the PDF file version.

Jim Meehan, MD is an ophthalmologist and preventive medicine specialist with over 20 years of experience and advanced training in immunology, inflammation, and infectious disease. He has performed well over 10,000 surgical procedures. His research experience includes investigating associations between military vaccinations and Gulf War Syndrome. Dr. Meehan is also trained in internal medicine, addiction medicine, endocrinology, integrative medicine, functional medicine, and nutrition. Dr. Meehan is a former editor of the medical journal, Ocular Immunology and Inflammation. Dr. Meehan has peer-reviewed thousands of medical research studies. With this experience and expertise, Dr. Meehan has dedicated his career to protecting his patients and the public from the fraud, corruption, and pseudoscience so often used by agents and agencies whose motives and interests have resulted in American medicine and pharmaceutical drugs becoming the third leading cause of death in the United States.Key PointsDecades of the highest-level scientific evidence (meta-analyses of multiple randomized controlled trials) overwhelmingly conclude that medical masks are ineffective at preventing the transmission of respiratory viruses, including SAR-CoV-2.Those arguing for masks are relying on low-level evidence (observational retrospective trials and mechanistic theories), none of which are powered to counter the evidence, arguments, and risks of mask mandates.The majority of the population is at very low to almost no risk of severe or lethal disease from CoVID-19. Children are at an extraordinarily low risk of dying from CoVID-19. Based on CDC published data, 99.99815% of children that contract CoVID-19 survive.Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children in schools and daycares is very rare.Masks worn properly are well documented to cause harm to their wearers. Masks worn improperly, re-used, or contaminated are dangerous.Any reasonable risk to benefit analysis of medical masks concludes that the risks overwhelmingly outweigh the benefits.Children are at imminent risk of harm from mask mandates.OutlineEvidence Based Medicine: How we (should) make decisions in science and medicineMasks are IneffectiveMixed Messages from the ExpertsThe Evidence Against MasksThe Evidence For MasksMasks are UnnecessaryFear and Politics are Subverting Science and ReasonMasking Children in Schools is Unnecessary - So Says The ScienceMasks are Harmful: 17 Ways that Masks Can Cause HarmMasking School Children is Ineffective, Unnecessary, and HarmfulMandatory masks in school are a 'major threat' to children's' health, doctors warnForcing Children to Wear Face Masks is UnnecessaryForcing Children to Wear Masks for Long Periods Risks Causing Them Physical InjuriesForcing Children to Wear Masks for Long Periods Risks Causing Them Mental and Psychological InjuriesThe is a great deal of lucid critical analysis in the above concerning the health effects of wearing masks. To conclude this section, in a recent interview, Mark Crispin Miller described what is not acknowledged or debated in MSM news reporting about the actual health effects and costs of forcing people to wear masks.

[Masks are] positively unhealthy. They cause hypoxia which is deoxygenationwhich can cause brain damage. It certainly impairs short-term memory.And here we have a mandate that includes children in school all overthe country.... They're there to learn, notto be traumatized with social distancing and compulsory mask wearing. It causes hypoxia. it causes hypercapnia which is CO2 overload. Andmaybe even more important it weakens your immune system. The lungsare an excretory organ, like the bladder or the colon. The lungsnaturally expel pathogens from the body, pathogens that your bodywants to get rid of. If you're wearing a mask you are breathingthat stuff in again. So what we have going on now because of this propaganda is a kind ofglobal medical experiment on healthy populations as people are spendinghours and hours wearing masks, even outdoors, even during exercise. Anddoctors are reporting a strange increase in bacterial pneumonia andoutbreaks of strep in schools, there's one in Michigan. Dentists arediscovering all kinds of gum infections. People are developing rashes ontheir faces because they're not wearing these masks the way healthprofessionals do: just for a little bit of time a day and knowing howto do it. They're wearing them all the time and they're often notclean, they often fiddle with them. Let me just say one last thing about the health effects.There's also the fact which the police and politicians andavid maskers don't care about: there are many many people whohave medical conditions that mean they should not wear masks andthe authority for this is OSHA, the Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration. This is a federal agency. One of the few honestones which has the job of making sure that workplaces are safe for workers.They regard mask wearing as a serious issuebecause if you have asthma, if you have diabetes, if you have COPD, if you havehypertension, if you have heart disease, you should not ever be madeto wear a mask. You are federally exempt because of those conditions. So how do these governors and mayors and Dr Fauci and the rest of them,the World Health Organization, how is it that they all demand thateverybody wear masks? That even children over the age of two, as inmany states, wear masks? This is not just ill-advised, this isdownright perverse. This is so perverse that it really makes a rationalperson wonder if they're not trying to get people, [to] make people sick,if they're not trying to do that.[64]Confront Fear, Censorship - Stay Human

Propaganda wants no argument. It's not like oratory in ancient Greece where one speaker would follow another, they would disagree publicly, and the people would listen and make up their own minds. That's not how propaganda works. Propaganda wants to monopolize all the space around it. It wants to monopolize every mind within its reach. It wants no contradiction. Those who dissent, those who disagree are either censored or vilified or both and that's one sign of the fact that we're living in the shadow of a totalitarian roll out, the likes of which the world has never known because this is global.You cannot use information, no matter how accurate it is, unless you are in a calm state of mind. Anybody who's worked in the military knows this. When you are in a state of panic, whenyou are terrorized, when you are traumatized, you cannot think clearly.... We are training an entire generation of children to live in fear, to live in fear of people. We are training an entire generation of children to live in their parent's basements until they're 40 years old so that they can be safe. There are many sources presenting coherent, critical analysis that are worthy of scrutiny. A very few of these include:

Mark Crispin Miller's listserve: News From Underground; up thru 25 Aug 2020Corona, False Alarm? Facts and Figures, Karina Reiss Ph.D., Sucharit Bhakdi MD, Chelsea Green, Oct 2020 (160 pp), in depth Book Review, GIS2 At Ryerson, 11 Jun 2020Bill Gates' Global Agenda and How We Can Stop the Machine and Defend Our Humanity, Vandana Shiva, Epilogue excerpt, Oneness vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom, Chelsea Green, August 2020.Say 'No' To The New Deal for Nature - Because Life Is Not A CommodityWrong Kind of Green - The road to hell is paved with corporate profits and compromised NGOs World Doctors Alliance: An independent non-profit alliance of doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and staff around the world who have united in the wake of the Covid-19 response chapter to share experiences with a view to ending all lockdowns and related damaging measures and to re-establish universal health determinance of psychological and physical wellbeing for all humanity.Open letter to all the Citizens of the World and all the Governments of the WorldChildren's Health Defense new newsletter, The Defender ''which we hope will prove the death-dealing samizdat to today's burgeoning corporate totalitarianism'' '--Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Chairman, CHD.GLOBAL REPORT 2019-n CoV novel coronavirus - Summary of Facts, in association with Extra-parliamentary corona investigation committee (and partners).COVID-19 - Evidence Not Fear, Referenced and sourced COVID-19 informationAlison McDowell's Wrench In The Gears:''My perspective is that what we are living through is a devastating economic event meant to catalyze Davos's Fourth Industrial Revolution rather than a biological one. In my opinion, at this stage of the game, we should be focusing less on Covid, because there WILL be another one '' see Goldman Sachs's Effective Lockdown Index and The Commons Project for proof we've only just begun '' and more on the systems of control being put in place in its wake. These include test and trace, blockchain medical records, DNA data harvest, electronic carceral systems, and biometric identity.''[' ]MintPress News, an independent watchdog journalism organization.The Conscious Resistance Network, the coupling of self-governance with a sense of self-reflection, is the best path towards the goal of a free society.Professor Dolores Cahill, PhD'--background in molecular biology and immunology'--is the President of the World Doctors Alliance. As she explained at the 10-10-2020 launch of the Alliance:

[W]e're here to say that there is good news: the coronavirus is a seasonal virus that causes illness and symptoms from December to April, and that for people who have symptoms there are treatments like inhale steroids, hydroxychloroquine and zinc, so there is no need for the lockdown, there is no need for fear, there is no need for masks, for social distancing, or for quarantining people. They are locking people in their homes for last year's flu, for where there is an effective treatment.

[A]cross the world we are setting up a new custodian movement, custodians of our health, our heritage and our freedom; And what we want to do, we want to support Dr. Sch¶ning as well as his WirKraft movement, is to actually support businesses and new innovative technologies that actually support the values of freedom of speech and freedom of health. So we will be looking at a new food movement, a new health movement, and to brand restaurants and hotels and airlines that respect our rights for freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and that we have the right to be informed about true health and the correct statistics about disease, and to hold of the regulators and doctors and advisors of government that if they are saying things and taking away people's freedom and health, that it needs to be supported by the evidence. So as President of the World Doctors Association I'm very happy to stand with these doctors today, and to lead the march in Berlin, which we hope will be millions of people, so that all of the doctors, regulators and politicians and people of the world will realize: you can take off the masks and welcome to our side for freedom!

While critical and essential to understand and be informed of, the good news Professor Cahill summarizes herein has been steadfastly'--and of increasing concern and indicative of much greater danger'--censored right, left, and center on not just Foundation/Corporate/Government media platforms, but also local community sites. Consider the instance of the open letter Stephen Malthouse, MD, of Denman Island, British Columbia, wrote to Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia Provincial Health Officer, Ministry of Health, BC. Bill Showkowy PhD, a subscriber to News From Underground, wrote about the letter (including a copy of it) and how, after being posted on ''a supposedly liberal forum reflecting our culture here on Salt Spring Island'', the letter and a petition it linked to were summarily erased.

Last evening, a friend posted a link to a petition on the Exchange penned by a local doctor (located on another Southern Gulf Island) which is a highly articulate and well-researched call for a reassessment of our flawed public health response to Sars Cov2 based upon dubious RT-PCR ''positive'' cases. Lately, we have been informed that cases here in B.C. are in fact spiking and more hospitalizations due to the virus are occurring: more ''second wave'' fear mongering as if on cue. We see frightened (or virtue signalling?) people here driving with masks on in their own cars. We do not need oxygen-deprived seniors behind the wheel here or anywhere!

So I signed the petition, hosted on Change.org (as did approximately 50 people locally here within a couple of hours when I last checked). I received a confirmation that Change.org had registered my signature. So far so good.

However, today I checked the Exchange and the post from my friend referencing the petition had been deleted with no explanation. I checked Change.org and the petition was deleted there as well! All within less than 24 hours. Just wow.[67]

The increasingly dire indicators of totalitarianism's hooks sinking into the societal and cultural foundations of the U.S. and abroad are profoundly alarming and reveal the increasingly suffocating control of people's thoughts and minds. As Cynthia McKinney wrote on 28 October: ''If you're a Republican or a Democrat, stop talking about that. Stop identifying yourself. The enemy is Big Tech, Big Data, Big Oil, Big Pharma!''

The Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. quote is from his 24 October Statement on Freedom of Speech and Censorship and Open Debate. His statement was acknowledging and supporting worldwide rallies in 15 countries'--''The Global Resistance today will stage coordinated mass protests in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Austria'''--and emphasized that ''You are on the front lines of the most important battle in history and it is the battle to save democracy, and freedom, and human liberty, and human dignity from this totalitarian cartel that is trying to rob us'--simultaneously in every nation in the world'--of the rights that every human being is born with.'' A central concern he pointed out was how fear manipulates people.

During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt, who was one of the greatest presidents in American history, said to the American people: the only thing that we have to fear is fear itself. And we grow up hearing that but people don't really understand what it means.

It was a very, very profound warning by Roosevelt because he saw what the Great Depression was doing in Eastern Europe and Italy, in Germany and Spain, where that crisis was turning people towards fascism '' in the eastern countries, where the same crisis was turning citizens and governments towards communism and also causing the collapse of governments all over the world.

And in our country, in the United States, it's hard for people to remember today that that almost a third of the people in our country were completely disillusioned with capitalism and wanted to turn to communism. And another third wanted to turn to fascism. And Franklin Roosevelt wanted to preserve our country for democracy, for free market capitalism, for civil rights and to preserve our constitution.

He recognized that the weapon of authoritarian control was going to be fear.

And when I spoke a few weeks ago in Berlin, I reminded the people of Germany of a very famous story that happened during the Nuremberg trials after World War II, when Hitler's closest lieutenant, the head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goring, was asked by one of the prosecutors: how did you get the German people (the German people, the most educated people in the world that were some of the most tolerant people in the world '' the Weimar Republic was one of the strongest democracies in the world) '' how did you take '' these people [who] were so well educated and so awakened and so tolerant '' and turn them into obedient slaves who committed some of the worst atrocities in human history" And Goring said: Oh, that's a simple thing. (And any of you can look up his quote and I urge you to do so). And he said that it works not just in a fascist government but it works in a democracy, in a monarchy, in a communist government, in any government that you want.

The job of the government is to put the people in fear. And if you can keep them in fear, you can get them to do anything that you want them to do '' that they will turn into sheep....

The method of control exercised through the promulgation and maintenance of fear must employ censorship to shut out all other sources of information and perspectives that contradict official narratives. Censorship carried out today is attempting to eliminate the exercise of independent thought, critical thinking, reasoning, and questioning what is actually occurring in the world. THE first and primary casualty of censorship is freedom of speech as well as freedom of thought.

In order to transform the government so that it will reward the rich with even more wealth, the people who want to do that in the large corporations '' who want to orchestrate that kind of change '' have to get rid of civil rights. And the first civil right that they begin with is freedom of speech.

They need to clamp down censorship because censorship is the most important right. In our country, we put it number one '' the first amendment, the constitution. Because all the other rights depend on it....

The coup d'etat that we are all fighting today is a coup d'etat that starts with a conspiracy between the government agencies and the big technology companies '' the Silicon Valley billionaires. People like Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. And the people who run Google and Facebook and Pinterest and all of these other Silicon Valley corporations who are now in this conspiracy '' to make sure that we cannot talk about our grievances.

We cannot say bad things about pharmaceutical products. We cannot question government policies that make no sense to us. And I'm going to say a few things about some of those government policies. Number one: I am not a conspiracy theorist. I follow the facts. I don't know that the COVID illness was laboratory generated in Wuhan. There is plenty of evidence that it was, but not enough evidence for me to say that it's a fact.

But my question is: Why don't we know the answer to that? Why is Tony Fauci not being asked that question? Why is President Trump not launching an investigation? Or President Xi? Or the president of any of these countries saying: Where did this come from? Because we need to know that. The global citizens '' This is the worst calamity in history! And nobody seems curious about where this actually comes from. We know it didn't come from a bat in the wet market in Wuhan. And that story was a fable, that it now has no basis in fact.

And we have Nobel laureates, and we have large institutions, and investigative agencies. And prosecutorial agencies are saying: we think it came from Wuhan lab and we think that it may have come from studies that were funded by Bill Gates and Tony Fauci. I don't know if this is true, but why are our government officials not asking that as the number one question? Why, instead of sending their police to suppress dissent, are they not sending the police to question people who may know the answer to that question?...

There are many other questions that I'd like to know the answer. Questions about masks.... Most Americans and most of the people on this planet '' we want leadership but we don't want bullying. And we know the difference between bullying and leadership. We want to know the truth about hydroxychloroquine. We want to know why are we spending 18 billion dollars on vaccines and only 1.4 billion on therapeutic drugs. What is the sense of that?

There are many, many other questions that we, in a democracy, have a right to have answered '' without being called conspiracy theorists, without being vilified as being inconsiderate, or being bad citizens.

The only way we can win it is with democracy. We need to fight to get our democracy back, to reclaim our democracy from these villains who are stealing it from us. And you notice the people who are getting riches from this quarantine are the same people who are censoring criticism of the quarantine.Who is becoming the richest? Jeffrey Bezos. Eighty-three billion dollars he's made. And he owns Amazon. And he is censoring books that criticize the quarantine. Zuckerberg '' who owns Facebook,who's made tens of billions of dollars by this quarantine. And he is censoring information that is critical of the quarantine. He censors my Instagram. He censors my Facebook. My Twitter page is also censored. All of these people are the people who are making billions of dollars on the quarantine.And what I want to know is a simple question: Is the quarantine actually effective? You know, we've had plenty of pandemics in the past. In 1969 we had a Hong Kong flu pandemic that killed 100,000 people in the United States. It's the equivalent of 200,000 people today. That's the same number of people who are being killed by coronavirus. Did we go on to lock down? No. Did we wear masks? No. We went to Woodstock. We went to the Democratic convention in Chicago and had huge crowds of people. Nobody was told to lock down. And don't see your girlfriend. And wear a mask. And don't go out of your house. And shut down your business. And bankrupt every business in the country.

Last year there were 1.6 million people in the world who died from tuberculosis.... We're not wearing masks. We're not on lock down. What's the difference between tuberculosis and coronavirus? Tuberculosis has a vaccine. And the vaccine costs about three dollars. And that's why we're not on lock down '' because nobody is making thirty-nine dollars a vaccine or three hundred dollars a vaccine '' the way that Moderna and Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson are making from this catastrophe. And that is the only reason that I can think of.

And I'm happy if somebody tells me there's another reason. But, let's hear it. Don't just shut me up. Don't just tell me that I can't debate.

Here's what we need to do. We need to do exactly what you're doing today. We need to come out on the street and we need to stick together. What the big tech villains and scoundrels and Mark Zuckerberg and Jeffrey Bezos and Bill Gates and Tony Fauci want you to do is '' they want us fighting with each other. They want blacks fighting against whites. They want Republicans fighting against Democrats. They want everybody polarized. They want everybody fragmented.

Because they know that if we all get together we're going to start asking questions. And those are questions that they can't answer.

Why are you getting rich?And why are we all getting poor?And what's the difference between tuberculosis and coronavirus?And why are we not wearing masks for the tuberculosis, but we are for the coronavirus?And where did it all come from?And all of those questions that we deserve an answer to and we're not getting answers. We need to stick together. If you're a Republican or Democrat, stop talking about that. Stop identifying yourself.

The enemy is Big Tech, Big Data, Big Oil, Big Pharma, the medical cartel, the government totalitarian elements that are trying to oppress us '' that are trying to rob us of our liberties, of our democracy, of our freedom of thought, of our freedom of expression, of our freedom of assembly, and all of the freedoms that give dignity to humanity. And the last thing that all of us need to do is we need to stay educated and informed.

Following this, Mr. Kennedy announced the launch of the Children's Health Defense new newsletter, The Defender. Its focus ''explores the theme of small (children) vs. Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Energy, Big Food, Big Chemical and how these industries have subverted and corrupted our democracy, our regulatory agencies, the scientific research arms of academic institutions and the media to the point where these institutions, created to protect us and our children from corporate greed, now protect corporate profits.'' Detailing Why The Defender, the overriding necessity is to educate and inform concerning the reality of the level to which Our children are sick'--

54% of American children are chronically ill1 in 2 teens have a mental health disorder1 in 5 children are obese1 in 5 teens have a severe mental disorder1 in 6 children have a developmental disability1 in 11 children have ADHD1 in 12 children have asthma1 in 13 children have a food allergy1 in 36 children have autism1 in 285 children are diagnosed with cancer by 20'--because Our children are bombarded with toxic exposures by a system of corporate governance dedicated to the pursuit of profits over the well-being of people and Mother Earth. ''For the sake of our children's health and the future of our planet we must call out and fight back against corporate and government corruption. We must demand that science and truth prevail over corporate greed. The Defender will expose how five of the most powerful and corrupt industries deceive parents and threaten our children.''The levels of thought manipulation in the present day would not be possible without one of the most successful memes ever invented'--by none other than, in Buckminster Fuller's words, Capitalism's Invisible Army. ''Conspiracy theorist'' was weaponized by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1967 to initially discredit and inhibit critical analysis of the Warren Report. Albert Rossi has written an extensive in-depth essay on this with the title, ''The Necessary Rebuff of Conspiracy (Theory).'' Provocative in the best sense of that word, Rossi covers a wide swath of the impact on people's perceptions and further concentration of economic and political power this meme has produced. One small corner of critical thinking applied is a useful summary for our purposes here:

Hollywood ... is representative of nearly everything that flows through our waking consciousness from the media today concerning conspiracy. The engines of pop culture constantly churn together all conspiracies as if their factual basis and truth content were all the same. Any reasonable person, given just a little pause, can grasp that there is a world of difference between believing aliens are walking among us, controlling our thoughts or sending messages through the Dewey Decimal System, and holding that John Kennedy was assassinated by extremists in the National Security State. Yet that is one of the more effective ways serious questions concerning the secret conduct of policy in a supposedly democratic republic get squelched. You make the dirty truth look incredible by association with what most would judge to be fatuous and worthy of ridicule. It is powerful conditioning.[68]The Fear Merchants have sought to jump-start their world-changing pandemic for a long time. This go'round they finally succeeded in establishing criticalmass. On 3 October, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich presented a 49 minute statement on Crimes Against Humanity with respect to the 2020 Corona Crisis.[69] For 26 years a consumer protection trial lawyer in California and Germany, Fuellmich is one of four founding members of the German Corona Extra-Parliamentary Inquiry Committee. In this statement, Dr. Fuellmich describes how ''Since July 10, 2020, this committee has been listening to a large number of international scientists' and experts' testimony to find answers to questions about the corona crisis, which more and more people worldwide are asking.'' He goes on to state:

This Corona crisis, according to all we know today, must be renamed a Corona scandal, and those responsible for it must be criminally prosecuted and sued for civil law damages. On a political level, everything must be done to make sure that no one will ever again be in a position of such power as to be able to defraud humanity or to attempt to manipulate us with their corrupt agendas....

The three major questions to be answered in the context of a judicial approach to the Corona scandal are:

Is there a Corona pandemic, or is there only a PCR test pandemic? specifically: Does a positive PCR test result mean that the person tested is infected with Covid-19, or does it mean absolutely nothing in connection with the Covid 19 infection?Do the so-called anti-corona measures, such as the lockdown, mandatory face masks, social distancing, and quarantine regulations serve to protect the world's population from Corona? Or do these measures serve only to make people panic so that they believe'--without asking any questions'--that their lives are in danger, so that in the end the pharmaceutical and tech industries can generate huge profits from the sale of PCR tests, antigen and antibody tests and vaccines, as well as the harvesting of our genetic fingerprints?Is it true that the German government was massively lobbied'--more so than any other country'--by the chief protagonists of this so-called Corona pandemic, Mr. Drosten, virologist at Charit(C) hospital in Berlin, Mr. Wieler, veterinarian and head of the German equivalent of the CDC, the RKI, and Mr. Tedros, head of the World Health Organization, or WHO, because Germany is known as a particularly disciplined country and was therefore to become a role model for the rest of the world for it's strict, and, of course, successful adherence to the corona measures?In a complete annotated transcript, Mr. Fuellmich proceeds with an analysis that examines the following outline:

Summary of the facts as they present themselves todayWhat happened in May 2019 and then in early 2020, and what happened 12 years earlier with the swine flu?The current, actual situation regarding the virus' danger, the complete uselessness of PCR tests for the detection of infections and the lockdowns based on non existent infectionsLockdown was imposed when the virus was already retreatingThere is already protection from the virus because of cross or T cell immunityThe PCR test is being used on the basis of false statements NOT based on scientific facts with respect to infectionsThe current, actual situation regarding the severe damage caused by the lockdowns and other measuresSummary of legal consequencesUnconstitutionality of the measuresFraud, intentional infliction of damage and Crimes against HumanityClass action as the best route to compensatory damages and to political consequencesShown at the beginning of this was COVI-PASS' ''most secure Digital Health Passport, built on patented technology, awarded the 'Seal of Excellence' by the European Commission and being used by various United Nations Projects''. It appeared to be going great guns back in June. The second of three slides painted a rosy picture of HOW COVI-PASS' WORKS:

As a secure Digital Health Passport, COVI-PASS' links and displays a certified Covid-19 test result to the user's Health and Immunoresponse, using a secure biometric gateway, allowing individuals to return to work and life safely.This language reflects a surging confidence last Spring in the continued ascension of the biosecurity industry: allowing individuals to return to work and life safely. The makers of this device evidently were excited to be the ones who would ALLOW individuals to RETURN TO LIFE SAFELY! The kind of ''biometric security'' instantiated in the COVI-PASS' Digital Health Passport was in high gear in 2019 as reported in ''ID2020 and partners launch program to provide digital ID with vaccines'': ''The ID2020 Alliance has launched a new digital identity program at its annual summit in New York, in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, vaccine alliance Gavi, and new partners in government, academia, and humanitarian relief.'' A founding member of Gavi is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As staff writer Derrick Broze explained in July, Gates continues growing his ''network and influence on WHO, GAVI and other organizations in order to shape public health policy in a way that reaps profits for the Gates themselves.''

Holocaust survivor Vera Sharav is the founder and president of the the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP), Advancing Voluntary, Informed Consent to Medical Intervention. In a 12 October interview she described what occurs when medicine works in partnership with government:

Public Health is government. And that was what happened in NaziGermany. All of medicine wound up being Public Health. Once you have medicine in partnership with government there is no individual care. The Hippocratic Oath goes out the window. Andsince you have government behind you, the doctor is not responsible for their actions. They're working together with the state. That's when medicine becomes weaponized.[70]As ''America's Doctor,'' Anthony Fauci is the face of Public Health in the United States. His steadfast rejection of employing Hydroxychloroquine for early treatment of Covid-19 is an unethical and criminal illustration of when, dictating with governmental authority, the doctor is treated as not responsible nor accountable for his actions. As Vera Sharav observed, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker are likewise treated as not responsible nor accountable for the order they issued ''that older people coming to a hospital should be turned to a nursing home, with or without testing, whether they had covid or not, and disregarding completely that those nursing homes were completely ill-equipped.... In fact, Governor Cuomo gave the nursing homes total immunity. ... It's unheard of that this should happen today in 2020 and this is called civilized way of dealing with a public health emergency?''[71]

Beyond Bill Gates' obsessive drive as unaccountable global public health czar to save the world with technology, the growth and influence of the biosecurity industry and its increasingly dangerous attacks on basic human rights in the name of public health are increasingly evident. As a descendant of COVI-PASS, a digital certificate called CommonPass is well on its way to being implemented as the next stage of Covid-19 security measures making health a prerequisite for travel. Trust Stamp is an artificial intelligence-based biometric digital identity platform'--in partnership with Gates-backed Gavi and Mastercard'--being launched in West Africa to combine Covid-19 vaccinations, cashless payments, and potential law enforcement applications. And where implantable biochips and AI-enabled diagnostic tools are concerned, a new mRNA diagnostic tool developed at Stanford University and funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is bringing implantable biochip technology closer to reality.

As beneficiaries of the Fear Pandemic, Klaus Schwab is another luminary alongside such players as Gates, Fauci, Bezos, and Zuckerberg. As founder and executive director of the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF), Schwab announced ''The Great Reset'' on 3 June.[72] The product being sold here includes such previous ideas as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Announced by the WEF in 2016, their introductory video stated, ''We're now in the early stages of the fourth industrial revolution which is bringing together digital, physical, and biological systems''. Mr. Schwab explained that ''one of the features of this fourth industrial revolution is that it doesn't change what we are doing but it changes us.''[73] The consequences to humanity regarding the fourth industrial revolution are hammered home in two books by Schwab. The first is from Klaus Schwab with Nicholas Davis, Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Guide to Building a Better World (Geneva: WEF, 2018, ebook):

The mind-boggling innovations triggered by the fourth industrial revolution, from biotechnology to AI, are redefining what it means to be human ...The following are from Klaus Schwab, The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Geneva: WEF, 2016, ebook):

The future will challenge our understanding of what it means to be human, from both a biological and a social standpoint ...

Already, advances in neurotechnologies and biotechnologies are forcing us to question what it means to be human ...

Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies will not stop at becoming part of the physical world around us'--they will become part of us. Indeed, some of us already feel that our smartphones have become an extension of ourselves. Today's external devices'--from wearable computers to virtual reality headsets'--will almost certainly become implantable in our bodies and brains. Exoskeletons and prosthetics will increase our physical power, while advances in neurotechnology enhance our cognitive abilities.

We will become better able to manipulate our own genes, and those of our children. These developments raise profound questions: Where do we draw the line between human and machine? What does it mean to be human?[74]

When people like Marc Benioff'--a World Economic Forum Board of Trustees member, whose net worth is approximately $7.8 billion and who owns TIME magazine'--devotes an entire issue to THE GREAT RESET, this agenda is on track to enter mainstream consciousness. Staying human in the face of such a global marketing campaign by the world's richest of the rich is becoming evermore critical in the face of such Orwellian doublethink.Vandana Shiva points to the antidote to this in her new book, Oneness vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom (Chelsea Green Publishing, August 2020):

On March 26, at a peak of the coronavirus pandemic and in the midst of the lockdown, Microsoft was granted a patent by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Patent WO 060606 declares that ''Human Body Activity associated with a task provided to a user may be used in a mining process of a cryptocurrency system....''

The ''body activity'' that Microsoft wants to mine includes radiation emitted from the human body, brain activities, body fluid flow, blood flow, organ activity, body movement such as eye movement, facial movement and muscle movement, as well as any other activities that can be sensed and represented by images, waves, signals, texts, numbers, degrees or any other information or data.

The patent is an intellectual property claim over our bodies and minds. In colonialism, colonizers assign themselves the right to take the land and resources of indigenous people, extinguish their cultures and sovereignty, and in extreme cases exterminate them. Patent WO 060606 is a declaration by Microsoft that our bodies and minds are its new colonies. We are mines of ''raw material'' '-- the data extracted from our bodies. Rather than sovereign, spiritual, conscious, intelligent beings making decisions and choices with wisdom and ethical values about the impacts of our actions on the natural and social world of which we are a part, and to which we are inextricably related, we are ''users.'' A ''user'' is a consumer without choice in the digital empire.

But that's not the totality of Gates' vision. In fact, it is even more sinister '-- to colonize the minds, bodies and spirits of our children before they even have the opportunity to understand what freedom and sovereignty look and feel like, beginning with the most vulnerable.

As I look to the future in a world of Gates and Tech Barons, I see a humanity that is further polarized into large numbers of ''throw away'' people who have no place in the new Empire. Those who are included in the new Empire will be little more than digital slaves....

Or, we can resist. We can seed another future, deepen our democracies, reclaim our commons, regenerate the earth as living members of a One Earth Family, rich in our diversity and freedom, one in our unity and interconnectedness. It is a healthier future. It is one we must fight for. It is one we must claim.

We stand at a precipice of extinction. Will we allow our humanity as living, conscious, intelligent, autonomous beings to be extinguished by a greed machine that does not know limits and is unable to put a break on its colonization and destruction? Or will we stop the machine and defend our humanity, freedom and autonomy to protect life on earth?

Buying Ourselves Back

The necessity for ever-growing markets, the need to create newneed, the search for nuances of artificial discontent withinprevious artificial discontent have required delving ever moredeeply inside the human psyche to root out more subtle aspects ofexperience. Thousands of psychologists, behavioral scientists,perceptual researchers, sociologists, and others have foundextremely high salaries and steady, interesting work aidingadvertisers. Like miners seeking new deposits of coal in themountains, these social scientists attempt to mine the internalwilderness of human beings. (p. 129)

Ivan Illich, a leading critic of the expropriation of knowledgeinto a nether world of experts and abstraction, argues inMedical Nemesis thatprofessional medicine may be causing more harm than good. We goto doctors as we go to mechanics. They speak a language thatremains impenetrable to us. We take their cures on faith.

Illich remarks that this may be producing more illness than cure:It has separated people from knowledge about keeping themselveshealthy, a knowledge that was once ingrained in the culture.Although some of our techno-scientific methods work, some do not,and the doctors who use them may not understand them or may beinexpert in their use. The doctors, Illich believes, are alsotaking the validity of techno-medicine on faith. Theirsource is usually the chemical and drug industry, which has astake in disrupting natural healing methods. How else could theysell their chemicals? (p. 71)

Ahead of its time in 1977, Mander's nonpareil critique of television maintains and extends its searing relevance FORTY-THREE years later.Seeing one's way clear to remaining human in an ever-accelerating world of technological seduction that urges the relinquishment of behavior and values that honor human ancestral collective experience is the supreme challenge of our epoch. In his autobiography, Carl Jung distilled the work of a lifetime into the understanding: ''As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. It may even be assumed that just as the unconscious affects us, so the increase in our consciousness affects the unconscious.''[75]

Many people have expanded and illuminated understanding of how our society actually operates. Among these iridescent souls, Richard Grossmanconstantly practiced the art of provocation: to arouse, stimulate, and incite new avenues of understanding as well as to address critical issues created by, and confronting, the human project. Less than one month before his death,Grossman was interviewed in the CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER:

[In 1990] I ... began researching the history of corporations, constitutional history and law, past people's struggles.... My work over the last twenty years has been to provoke new and different conversation, thought and action among people dissatisfied with what is going on in the USA, among people trying to change the nature of our work '' to rethink and reframe problems, our assumptions about this country and our goals, arenas of struggle into which we bring our battles, the language we use, our strategies and tactics. ''You want sanity, democracy, community, an intact Earth? We can't get there obeying Constitutional theory and law crafted by slave masters, imperialists, corporate masters, and Nature destroyers. We can't get there kneeling before robed lawyers stockpiling class plunder precedent up their venerable sleeves. So isn't disobedience the challenge of our age? Principled, inventive, escalating disobedience to liberate our souls, to transfigure our work as humans on this Earth.''Richard GrossmanHuman Rights Historian, Author: 1943-2011

If humanity is to succeed in staying human it will require a level of push-back,unyielding determination, and courage that increasingly magnifies what was expressed in places like Berlin and around the world on August 29th.

We find our selves living in the time of KOYAANISQATSI

ko.yaa.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language) n. 1. crazy life.2. life in turmoil. 3. life out ofbalance. 4. life disintegrating.5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.

May we all continually awaken to and be renewed by recognition of our participation in and partaking of Life at this unique time.

References

['†(C)]Doshi, Peter. Are US flu death figures more PR than science?, BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7529.1412 (Published 08 December 2005)['†(C)]Virus Mania: Avian Flu (HSN1), Cervical Cancer (HPV), SARS, BSE, Hepatitis C, AI OS, Polio. How the Medical Industry Continually Invents Epidemics, Making Billion-Dollar Profits At Our Expense, Torsten Engelbrecht and Claus K¶hnlein, MD, Trafford Publishing. First German edition published in 2006, this quote is taken from the 2007 English edition. A new edition has just been published: Virus Mania: Corona/COVID-19, Measles, Swine Flu, Avian Flu, Cervical Cancer, SARS, BSE, Hepatitis C, AIDS, Polio. How the Medical Industry Continually Invents Epidemics, Making Billion-Dollar Profits at Our Expense, ISBN (print edition) 9783751942539, ISBN (ebook edition) 9783752692679.About the bookIf one follows public pronouncements, the world is repeatedly afflicted with new terrible virus diseases. As the latest horror variant, the so-called coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 dominated the headlines. The population is also terrified by reports of measles, swine flu, SARS, BSE, AIDS or polio. However, this virus mayhem ignores very basic scientific facts: the existence, the pathogenicity and the deadly effects of these agents have never been proven. The medical establishment and its loyal media acolytes claim that this evidence has been produced. But these claims are highly suspect because modern medicine has pushed direct virus proof methods aside and uses dubious indirect tools to ''prove'' the existence of viruses such as antibody tests and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The authors of Virus Mania, journalist Torsten Engelbrecht and doctor of internal medicine Claus K¶hnlein, MD, show that these alleged contagious viruses may be, in fact, also be seen as particles produced by the cells themselves as a consequence of certain stress factors such as drugs. These particles are then identified by antibody and PCR tests and interpreted as epidemic-causing viruses by doctors who have been inoculated for over 100 years by the theory that microbes are deadly and only modern medications and vaccines will protect us from virus pandemics. The central aim of this book is to steer the discussion back to a real scientific debate and put medicine back on the path of an impartial analysis of the facts. It will put medical experiments, clinical trials, statistics and government policies under the microscope, revealing that the people charged with protecting our health and safety have deviated from this path. Along the way, Engelbrecht and K¶hnlein will analyze all possible causes of illness such as pharmaceuticals, lifestyle drugs, pesticides, heavy metals, pollution, stress and processed (and sometimes genetically modified) foods. All of these can heavily damage the body of humans and animals and even kill them. And precisely these factors typically prevail where the victims of alleged viruses live and work. To substantiate these claims, the authors cite dozens of highly renowned scientists, among them the Nobel laureates Kary Mullis, Barbara McClintock, Walter Gilbert, Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet and microbiologist and Pulitzer Prize winner Ren(C) Dubos. The book presents approximately 1,100 pertinent scientific references, the majority of which have been published recently. The topic of this book is of pivotal significance. The pharmaceutical companies and top scientists rake in enormous sums of money by attacking germs and the media boosts its audience ratings and circulations with sensationalized reporting (the coverage of the New York Times and Der Spiegel are specifically analyzed). Individuals pay the highest price of all, without getting what they deserve and need most to maintain health: enlightenment about the real causes and true necessities for prevention and cure of their illnesses. ''The first step is to give up the illusion that the primary purpose of modern medical research is to improve people's health most effectively and efficiently,'' advises John Abramson of Harvard Medical School. ''The primary purpose of commercially-funded clinical research is to maximize financial return on investment, not health.'' Virus Mania will inform you on how such an environment took root'--and how to empower yourself for a healthy life.

['†(C)]Aliens Cause Global Warming, Michael Crichton Caltech Michelin Lecture, 17 Jan 2003.['†(C)]Arnold Relman, quoted in Moynihan R. Who pays for the pizza? Redefining the relationships between doctors and drug companies. 1: entanglement. BMJ. 2003;326(7400):1189-1192. doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7400.1189. Relman was a Harvard professor and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine whose critique of the industry's influence in health care,''America's Other Drug Problem, How the drug industry distorts medicine and politics (New Republic, Dec 2002), won him and co-author Marcia Angell one of the top awards for magazine journalism in the United States.['†(C)]Leading lobbying industries in the U.S. 2019, Open Secrets.org - Center for Responsive Politics['†(C)]The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend 72 doses of 16 vaccines. While states mandate a subset of those, many pediatricians will give all of them '' and parents will say yes because their doctor and the CDC say so. See ''Easy-to-read Immunization Schedule by Vaccine for Ages Birth-6 Years | CDC.''In some cases the doses are put together in a combo vaccine, such as MMR (''combines protection against measles, mumps, and rubella'') or DPat (''combines protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis''), which are 3 vaccines administered jointly in one syringe. ['†(C)]Free Download: Conflicts of Interest Undermine Children's Health, Children's Health Defense, May 2019, (42 pp.) pp.4-5. Endnotes in original are included between square braces. Extracted article of this segment is published in a 16 May 2019 CHD installment.['†(C)]The Vaccine Program: Betrayal of Public Trust & Institutional Corruption, Vera Sharav, Children's Health Defense, 17 January 2018. This is the introduction to a serialization of Sharav's 2017 expos(C), L'affaire Wakefield: Shades of Dreyfus & BMJ's Descent into Tabloid Science, Appendix 9: Betrayal of Public Trust & Institutional Corruption: Vaccine Safety Assessments & Vaccine Science Falsified to Support Vaccination Policy. Vera Sharav is a Holocaust survivor, a public advocate for human rights, a fierce critic of the medical establishment, and the founder and president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP), Advancing Voluntary, Informed Consent to Medical Intervention. AHRP serves as an information resource and public interest watchdog organization whose goal is to unlock the walls of secrecy in biomedical research and bring accountability to that endeavor. AHRP Infomails have a wide following: they are read by physicians and scientists, public health officials, journalists, lawyers, and patient advocacy organizations.['†(C)]Annotated Transcript: Historic Vaccine Debate: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. vs. Alan Dershowitz (1:18:09, mp3), moderated by Patrick Bet-David, Valuetainment, 23 Jul 2020Highly informative. RFK, Jr. finally is able to tell the world the truth about Big Pharma, the CDC, NIH, and the U.S. Congress' complicity in a vast criminal enterprise, protected by law and allowed to use people in the U.S. as guinea pigs for astronomical profits.['†(C)]Guyer B, Freedman MA, Strobino DM, Sondik EJ. Annual summary of vital statistics: trends in the health of Americans during the 20th century. Pediatrics. 2000 Dec;106(6) 1307-1317. doi:10.1542/peds.106.6.1307. PMID: 11099582. ['†(C)]For a compilation of data presented as graphic representations of mortality statistics for infectious diseases before and after vaccines came into use in the 20th century, see Immunization Graphs, Prepared by Raymond Obomsawin M.Sc., Ph.D., December 2009 (35 slides). See Also:Vaccines Did Not Save Us '' 2 Centuries of Official Statistics, ''2 centuries of UK, USA and Australian official death statistics show conclusively and scientifically modern medicine is not responsible for and played little part in substantially improved life expectancy and survival from disease in western economies.'' Child Health Safety, October 2010.['†(C)]Edward H. Kass, ''Infectious Disease and Social Change,''The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 123, No. 1 (Jan., 1971), pp. 110-114''This decline in rates of certain disorders, correlated roughly with socioeconomic circumstances, is merely the most important happening in the history of the health of man, yet we have only the vaguest and most general notions about how it happened and by what mechanisms socioeconomic improvement and decreased rates of certain diseases run in parallel.'' (p.111)See Also: Did vaccines really save the world?, J.B. Handley, 19 Jun 2020.['†(C)]The pharmaceutical industry as a whole exerts its influence over the FDA through multiple avenues of pressure. One especially striking indicator is how FDA employees are incentivized to do corporations' bidding, knowing that when they leave, they will be rewarded with pharma sinecures including astronomical salaries and stock options. A poster child for this is Dr. Julie Gerberding, who was the head of CDC from 2002 to 20 Jan 2009. One year and one day after she left, she joined Merck as head of its Vaccine Division; she's worth millions of dollars now.FDA funding by the pharmaceutical industry also includes many subtleties. While a large portion of the annual FDA budget comes from all the pharma companies that make vaccines, the percentages are from different portions of programs. In FY 2019 FDA Budget by Program, the regulatory activities of two programs are what is relevant here: Human Drugs regulatory activities account for 33 percent of FDA's budget; 65 percent of these activities are paid for by industry user fees. Biologics regulatory activities account for 7 percent of FDA's budget; 40 percent of these activities are paid for by industry user fees. For the 33% going to Human Drugs , 65% of that is 21.45% of the total Human Drugs budget. For the 7% going to Biologics that's 2.8% of the total Biologics budget. The Human Drugs are $1.881 billion and the Biologics are $399 million of the total budget. The total of these two areas of regulatory activities is $2.28 billion. 65% of the Human Drugs is $1.223 billion and 40% of the Biologics is $160 million. Adding these two together comes to $1.383 billion of the $2.28 billion which is 61% of regulatory activities that are relevant to pharma. In addition there are unknown quantities for non-vaccines in Biologics . The primary issue here is the tremendous influence of pharma dollars (jobs dependent) at FDA. In a genuine health driven agency these percentages should be 0%. $1.38 billion buys a lot of consideration and influence.Side Note: The salaries of FDA staff are actually subsidized by the pharmaceutical companies through ''user fees''. Pharma supplies money for FDA to be able to hire more staff to expedite approvals of new drugs and vaccines. If Pharma didn't pay these user fees, FDA would have to cut staff. (For a rough explanation of this see ''The government agency in charge of approving drugs gets a surprising amount of money from the companies that make them,'' Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer & Lauren F Friedman, Business Insider, 17 Aug 2016.) ['†(C)]CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION - FY 2020 President's Budget['†(C)]''Examining RFK Jr.'s claim that the CDC 'Owns over 20 vaccine patents'.'' Ginger Taylor, MS, GreenMedinfo, 17 Jan 2017. In this article Ms. Taylor sources 56 patents to scrutinize.['†(C)]326 Patents Assigned to National Institutes of Health (Justia listing),12 Patents by Inventor Anthony S. Fauci (Justia listing),170 Vaccine Patents listing (Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health)Note: these have not been cross-referenced to identify any replications across lists.['†(C)]''New Docs: NIH Owns Half of Moderna Vaccine, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Children's Health Defense, 7 Jul 2020.['†(C)]Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: NIH regulations let agency scientists collect up to $150,000.00 annually in royalties from vaccines upon which they worked: 15 U.S. Code § 3710c - Distribution of royalties received by Federal agencies, Legal Information Institue, Cornell Law School''NIH Scientists Caught Concealing Millions in Royalties for Experimental Treatments,'' 10 Jan 2005, Associated Press, reproduced in Alliance for Human Research Protection, 26 Oct 2006.['†(C)]From Children's Health Defense regarding conflict of interest issues involving making money from vaccines versus producing them: CDC and WHO Corrupt Financial Entanglements with the Vaccine IndustryThe Facts About the FDA's Questionable Practices, 30 Jan 2020Rubber Stamping'--The FDA and Vaccines'--Conflict of Interest Undermine Children's Health: Part IV, 29 May 2019['†(C)]Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, 562 U.S. 223 (2011)['†(C)]EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Robert Kennedy Jr. Destroys Big Pharma, Fauci & Pro-Vaccine Movement, (2:19:45) valuetainment, 2 May 2019Robert F Kennedy Jr talks vaccines, Dr Fauci, family history and JFK assassination with Patrick Bet-DavidIn addition to being the Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Legal Counsel for Children's Health Defense, Mr. Kennedy serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law's Environmental Litigation Clinic. Earlier in his career he served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City. He has worked on environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development. Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation he attended Pace University School of Law, where he was awarded a Masters Degree in Environmental Law.['†(C)]Peter Aaby speaking at the Symposium about Scientific Freedom,Copenhagen, 9 March 2019. Lecture: ''WHO is the brain in the system - The sound of silence? A case study of how public health vaccinology deals with fundamental contradictions of current policy.'' (video, transcript)See Symposium Program and the listing for all 9 video lectures. Anthropologist, Dr Peter Aaby is credited for the discovery of non-specific effects of vaccines, leading the World Health Organization, WHO, to change its measles vaccine programme in the early 1990s. Dr. Aaby has written extensively on vaccines presented in this research list of 376 peer-reviewed articles on the National Institutes of Health PubMed website.For almost 40 years, he has run the Bandim Health Project, a health and demographic surveillance system site that he established in Guinea-Bissau in 1978. This lecture is part of the Symposium about Scientific Freedom and the inauguration of the Institute for Scientific Freedom.World renowned Danish scientist Peter C G¸tzsche is the founder of the institute.The Institute's primary area of focus is healthcare and the institute has three main visions:All science should strive to be free from financial conflicts of interest.All science should be published as soon as possible, and made freely accessible.All scientific data, including study protocols, should be freely accessible, allowing others to do their own analyses.['†(C)]Perspectives on the Pandemic; Episode 12: A Conversation with Judy Mikovits and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Pt 3 of 3), interviewed by John Kirby, The Press and The Public Project, 15 May 2020.Perspectives on the Pandemic interviewed Dr. Judy Mikovits on April 16th, 2020, and again on May 15th. In her second interview, she was joined by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. We have divided the two conversations into three parts, the first two focusing on Dr. Mikovits, and the third on Mr. Kennedy. This is part three. ['†(C)]The point here is that the revenue stream from ADD, ADHD, depression, autism, childhood diabetes, bipolar, anxiety, seizure, asthma, allergy, epipen, anaphylaxis treatments are all plausibly related to vaccine injury per vaccine product inserts. The insert is the ONE place vaccine makers '' as well as the pharmaceutical companies in general '' are honest. An example is the Merck MMR II (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Virus Vaccine Live) ADVERSE REACTIONS (below) from the vaccine insert on the FDA website.The number of vaccines and range of undesirable post-vaccine outcomes is considerable. See: FDA's Vaccines Licensed for Use in the United States.Read the Fine Print: Vaccine Package Inserts Reveal Hundreds of Medical Conditions Linked to Vaccines, Children' Health Defense, 14 Apr 2020Read the Fine Print'--Part Two: Nearly 400 Adverse Reactions Listed in Vaccine Package Inserts, Children' Health Defense, 14 Aug 2020MMR II6 ADVERSE REACTIONSThe following adverse reactions include those identified during clinical trials or reported during postapproval use of M-M-R II vaccine or its individual components.

Body as a Whole Panniculitis; atypical measles; fever; syncope; headache; dizziness; malaise; irritability.

Cardiovascular System Vasculitis.

Digestive System Pancreatitis; diarrhea; vomiting; parotitis; nausea.

Hematologic and Lymphatic Systems Thrombocytopenia; purpura; regional lymphadenopathy; leukocytosis.

Immune System Anaphylaxis, anaphylactoid reactions, angioedema (including peripheral or facial edema) and bronchial spasm.

Musculoskeletal System Arthritis; arthralgia; myalgia.

Nervous System Encephalitis; encephalopathy; measles inclusion body encephalitis (MIBE) subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE); Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS); acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM); transverse myelitis; febrile convulsions; afebrile convulsions or seizures; ataxia; polyneuritis; polyneuropathy; ocular palsies; paresthesia.

Respiratory System Pneumonia; pneumonitis; sore throat; cough; rhinitis.

Skin Stevens-Johnson syndrome; acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy; Henoch-Schonlein purpura; erythema multiforme; urticaria; rash; measles-like rash; pruritus; injection site reactions (pain, erythema, swelling and vesiculation).

Special Senses'--Ear Nerve deafness; otitis media.

Special Senses'--Eye Retinitis; optic neuritis; papillitis; conjunctivitis.

Urogenital System Epididymitis; orchitis.

To study this, look up some of the reported revenues from the drugs used to treat the conditions above. A lot of information can be found in 10K annual reports of GSK, Pfizer, Merck, and Sanofi.['†(C)]''How Big Pharma Was Captured by the One Percent,'' Alexander Zaitchik, The New Republic, 28 June 2018.['†(C)]''Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy,'' BBC News, 17 Apr 2014 citing the report:Martin Gilens, Benjamin I. Page, Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens, Perspectives on Politics, Vol 12, Issue 3, Sep 2014, pp. 564-581.(HTML,PDF)['†(C)]World's Billionaires List - The Richest in 2020, Forbes, March 2020['†(C)]Forbes 2020 billionaires: #1 Jeff Bezos, CEO and Founder, Amazon2020 Billionaires Net Worthas of 4/7/20: $113BReal Time Net Worthas of 9/1/9/20: $175B['†(C)]Forbes 2020 billionaires: #2 Bill Gates,Cofounder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation2020 Billionaires Net Worthas of 4/7/20: $98BReal Time Net Worthas of 9/1/9/20: $114.7B['†(C)]Part One: How Bill Gates Monopolized Global Health, Who Is Bill Gates?, James Corbett, The Corbett Report, May 2020['†(C)]See, for example:''Press in His Pocket: Bill Gates Buys Media to Control the Messaging,'' Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Children's Health Defense, 3 Sep 2020Shock Report! ''Fact Checkers'' Remove Article Detailing Bill Gates' Funding of Fact Checkers, Neil Miller, 25 Aug 2020''Journalism's Gates keepers,'' Tim Schwab, Columbia Journalism Review, 21 Aug 2020''Why you might think like Bill Gates about global health,'' Robert Fortner, robertfortner.posthaven.com, 13 Feb 2016''The Web Grows Wider - Gates Foundation partnerships with the Guardian and ABC News further complicate global health coverage,'' Robert Fortner, Columbia Journalism Review, 8 Oct 2010''How Ray Suarez Really Caught the Global Health Bug - The Gates Foundation, global health, and the media - on the partnership between the PBS NewsHour and the Gates Foundation formed in 2008,'' Robert Fortner, Columbia Journalism Review, 7 Oct 2010['†(C)]Bill and Melinda Gates Pledge $10 Billion in Call for Decade of Vaccines, Press Release, | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, January 2010['†(C)]Decade of Vaccines '-- Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011-2020, Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization['†(C)]Voluntary contributions by fund and by contributor, 2018, World Health Organization, 9 May 2019 Schedule 2For the year ended 31 December 2018 (in US dollars)A. General fundBill & Melinda Gates Foundation 99 051 511 (pg 6)GAVI Alliance 140 356 949 (pg 7)United States of America 132 951 856 (pg 6)['†(C)]Corbett Report: How Bill Gates Monopolized Global Health['†(C)]Gates' Globalist Vaccine Agenda: A Win-Win for Pharma and Mandatory Vaccination, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Children's Health Defense, 9 Apr 2020.['†(C)]Transcript: BGPuppetShot (3:46) 12 May 2020.Hello useless eaters. As yourunqualified, non-elected global humanhealth overlord, I'd like to take thisopportunity to flaunt my position ofpower and influence over society andshare some of my plans for you and yourfuture. When I amassed my fortune incomputer software I demonstrated that Iwas willing to lie, steal code, cheat mypartners, and exercise monopolisticcontrol to destroy my competitors. Now that I've retired I can rebrand myselfas a humanitarian. With my for-profitfoundation masquerading as a charity, Ican advocate for population reductionand sponsor mass human experiments withunproven vaccines in vulnerablepopulations.[A][B] Like my fathera powerful banker, eugenicist, andRockefeller crony himself, it's alwaysbeen my ambition to decide who lives andmore importantly how many have to die. Whether it's under the guise of climatechange or world health it's really allabout controlling and culling the humanherd for fun and profit. In November [October] oflast year I hosted Event 201, a war gamesimulation of a global pandemic. Leadersfrom private corporations, global banks,governments, and the media got togetherto strategize ways they could align inlockstep when responding to a worldwidehealth crisis. Using a coordinatedcampaign of fear-mongering, intimidation,social shaming, and economic blackmail, werealized that we could get arounddangerous philosophies like individualliberty and national sovereignty. With anobedient population we would be free toimplement our own top-down solutionslike forced quarantines,social distancing, contact tracing, andmandatory testing as a means to seize technocratic control of society. Now imagine my excitement when we had theopportunity to release'--uh declare our ownglobal pandemic. It was my chance to looklike the Nostradamus of public healthand to position myself, and businesspartners like Dr. Fauci, as the de factoauthorities on response and solutions. Through exaggerated doomsday scenariosand computer simulations,[A][B]our petty control freaksinstituted harsh rules and draconianlockdowns. Even after our direpredictions proved false, scared andwell-meaning people continued to submitto the arbitrary and foolish demands oftheir so-called leaders. Having achieved global lockdown and medical martial law,we will continue to hold hostage yourability to congregate, work, travel or dojust about anything until we're preparedto roll out our bigger plan. I'd like tocall this pandemic one because believeme we have others in the works. Our finalsolution is to have you begging for usto vaccinate, tag, and digitally track each oneof you like livestock. Not only will myfoundation enjoy legal immunity andtrillions and profits but thesemandatory experimental vaccines move usso much further down the road toabsolute centralized global control. Ifonly my good friend Jeffrey Epstein hadbeen here to celebrate with me aboardthe Lolita Express. So remember global citizens, this will end when I say it ends. Could be a year, maybe two years,maybe never.I guarantee that if we have our way itwill be at least until you're not ableto do anything to stop it.Just surrender your personal freedom andcommon sense to our fear merchants ingovernment and the media because none of this works unless you all go along withit. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to do some augmented reality spirit cookingwith Marina Abramovich[A][B]. Bye now.['†(C)]''Was the COVID-19 Test Meant to Detect a Virus?,'' Celia Farber, UncoverDC, 7 Apr 2020 ['†(C)]Mahase Elisabeth Covid-19: the problems with case counting BMJ http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3374 3 Sep2020['†(C)]'' The Unusual Origin of the Polymerase Chain Reaction, A surprisingly simple method for making unlimited copies o f DNA fragments was conceived under unlikely circumstances'--during a moonlight drive through the mountains of California,'' Kary B. Mullis, Scientific American, Apr 1990, pp.56-61, 64-65.['†(C)]Interim Guidance for Rapid Antigen Testing for SARS-CoV-2, Updated Sept 4, 2020, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.RT-PCR stands for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction meaning it is a polymerase chain reaction preceded by reverse transcription where the initial template is RNA which is first reverse transcribed into cDNA (complementary DNA) and then amplified (mass copied) like in any PCR.['†(C)]From ''Intended Use'', SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Multiplex RT-qPCR Kit, Creative Diagnostics. ''Regulatory status: For research use only, not for use in diagnostic procedures.''See Also: RealStar® SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit 1.0: ''For research use only (RUO). Not for use in diagnostic procedures.''['†(C)]David Crowe was the radio host of The Infectious Myth and past President of Rethinking AIDS.See The Infectious Myth, A Book Project by David Crowe. More on David Crowe and his work is Coronavirus, Suppressed Medical Science and the Infectious Myth, Truthiverse, 10 May 2020['†(C)]Farber, op. cit['†(C)]Flaws in Coronavirus Pandemic Theory, David Crowe, The Infectious Myth, Version 8.5. 6 Jun 2020['†(C)]Are you infectious if you have a positive PCR test result for COVID-19?, Tom Jefferson, Carl Heneghan, Elizabeth Spencer, Jon Brassey, The Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, 5 Aug 2020['†(C)]If the PCR Test Is Unreliable '' Why Are Health Officials Demanding The Public Be Tested?, Derrick Brose, The Last American Vagabond, 17 Sep 2020['†(C)]Dr. Ben Edwards COVID-19 Post Analysis (30:32), Veritas Wellness, 3 Sep 2020.Ben Edwards, M.D. explains why the Covid-19 Pandemic is over and why now only the CASEdemic exists.['†(C)]Crucial Viewing - to truly understand our current Viral Issue #Casedemic (8:41), Ivor Cummins, 12 Aug 2020https://youtu.be/FU3OibcindQ(See also: Viral Issue Crucial Update Sept 8th: the Science, Logic and Data Explained (37:35), Ivor Cummins, 8 Sep 2020.)Ivor Cummins, AKA The Fat Emperor, is a biochemical engineer who has spent over 30 years in various corporate technical leadership positions. He speaks around the world sharing his research insights and findings on solving the root of chronic disease. His research is primarily focused on solving the root cause of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. The following is the beginning of the Casedemic video.I continue to get asked about the casedemic. So let me explain. [click images for full size]

Here we see many European countries and they're all pretty muchthe same. Community immunity and the passing of the susceptible,like all viruses in history, has caused the death rate to comeright down.

Back here there was an epidemic, with high death rates, sadly,of susceptible people and now there is no epidemic by anyreasonable definition because the death rates and ICU areright down.

Here's Sweden intensive care loading '' they only reachedaround 60 percent of capacity. And that was

in the epidemic.But now there's no epidemic and there's only 32 ICU beds in thewhole of Sweden, ten and a half million people, and they had nolockdown, no masks, and they're just back to normal here.But if you kept testing, with PCR tests as is happening all aroundEurope, you'd get a casedemic and you could create a panic....

I'll just show you a few countries and finish with that. Here'sSpain. So we've recently in the last month or two got hyper testingand lots of so-called cases, positive PCRs. But the deaths are gone.In fact they disappeared pretty much in May.

Belgium, same story. Casedemic out here with positive PCRsbut no deaths or ICU. Ended in May.

France: bit of a casedemic here. But the deaths are gone and theimpacts.

And Netherlands, we got a big casedemic going on with lots oftesting. But you'll see months have gone by with no deaths.So there is no following death or ICU problem.That's a casedemic.

['†(C)]CoVID-19 Testing PCR '' A Critical Appraisal,'' Bose Ravenel, MD, FAAP, Retired, Children's Health Defense, 14 September 2020['†(C)]See: FluView interactive, and the application itself:Age Group Distribution of Influenza Positive Specimens Reported by Public Health Laboratories. Click on the [Season 2019-20] box at top left, and then select each of the two years for [Season 2008-09] and [Season 2009-10] to see the source data ragnar_danneskjold_lives draws upon to produce his combined graph.['†(C)]Prof Michael Levitt: here's what I got wrong,Freddie Sayers, UnHerd, 28 Aug 2020 (includes 17+ min video)['†(C)]Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics, Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), CDC.The death curve graphic is visible by clicking the Table 1 blue box (so the down arrow points right) in the Age and sex topic. ['†(C)]Jefferson T., Spencer E.A., Brassey J., Heneghan C.Viral cultures for COVID-19 infectivity assessment '' a systematic review (Update 3), Analysis of the Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19: An Open Evidence Review,3 Sep 2020(PDF, local copy)['†(C)]This is an excerpt from Corporate Greed & AIDS, a conference organized by HEAL (Health Education AIDS Liaison). Hosted by Esai Morales with Nobel Prize recipient Kary Mullis plus Sean Current, Paul Philpott, & Christine Maggiore, testimonies included medical fear mongering, equating HIV with AIDS and with death, toxic pharmaceutical killer drugs such as azidothymidine or AZT, eugenics by profiling and fraudulent tests, and misuse and misinterpretation of the PCR technique. The conference was held in Santa Monica, California, 12 July 1997. In October 2020 humanity is held in the grip of the greatest FEAR PANDEMIC in modern history. A significant precursor of this was the AIDS scare fomented by a number of players including Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease since 1984 (see: AIDS: Fauci' First Fraud) . The concerns Esai Morales gives voice to in the introduction have deafening echoes in what we are confronted with in the present moment:I'm here because what I see as true is not shared by everyone. I'm here because I am sick and tired of seeing press releases and advertisements in the guise of science, in the place of real news. I'm here because I believe the American media has not done its jobs. And I've asked you guys to be here because you're my friends and friends of friends in the entertainment business. The business that really helps blow this thing out-of-the-water. Without our involvement this wouldn't be the largest, most-funded public relations scare campaign in history. We're here to talk, informally, with people who know what they're talking about with different people from different parts of the world. One of the things I notice is that no matter where you go, in England, in Australia, people have these same reservations but they're not covered.Kary Mullis - Corporate Greed & AIDS (2:36:06),Santa Monica, July 12, 1997 Video origin:https://www.youtube.com/user/rethinkingAIDS/Published 20 Mar 2017 this video contains the following two parts:Part 1: (1:42:19)https://lbry.tv/@marengeti:c/corporate-greed-aids-santa-monica-1997-07-12-part1:2https://youtu.be/IQeStnP_Ed0Part 2: (53:47)https://lbry.tv/@marengeti:c/corporate-greed-aids-santa-monica-1997-07-12-part2:5https://youtu.be/Xpcdq9jh5EoConference organized by:Alive and Well (formerly HEAL, Health Education AIDS Liaison)http://www.aliveandwell.org/https://www.heallondon.org/['†(C)]from Wikipedia, History of coronavirus: ''In 1961, a virus was obtained from a school boy in Epsom, England, who was suffering from common cold. The sample designated B814 was confirmed as novel virus in 1965. New common cold viruses (assigned 229E) collected from medical students at the University of Chicago were also reported in 1966. Structural analyses of IBV, MHV, B18 and 229E using transmission electron microscopy revealed that they all belong to the same group of viruses. Making a crucial comparison in 1967, June Almeida and David Tyrrell invented the collective name coronavirus, as all those viruses were characterised by solar corona-like projections (called spikes) on their surfaces.''Tyrrell DA, Fielder M (2002). Cold Wars: The Fight Against the Common Cold. Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-19-263285-2.['†(C)]The Remarkable Doctor A. Fauci, F. William Engdahl, New Eastern Outlook, 15 Apr 2020['†(C)]''The Key to Defeating COVID-19 Already Exists. We Need to Start Using It, Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, Newsweek, 28 Jul 2020See Also:Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk COVID-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis,(PDF)American Journal of Epidemiology 27 May 2020Response to: ''Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk Covid-19 Patients'' and ''Re: Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk Covid-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis''(PDF)Response to: Comment on ''Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk Covid-19 Patients That Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis''(PDF)''Use hydroxychloroquine combo early, urges Yale professor,'' Dawn Joseph, Washington Radar, 28 May 2020['†(C)]SAFETY AND HEALTH GUIDANCE - COVID-19 Infection Prevention for Logistics Employers and Employees, CAL OSHA, 13 May 2020, pg 2.['†(C)]Advice on the Use of Masks in the Context of COVID-19, Interim Guidance, World Health Organization, 6 Apr 2020['†(C)]''Masked Threats? Studies Reveal NO Benefits to Global COVID-19 Facemasks-for-all Policy, Cindy Gough, Signs Of The Times, 16 Jun 2020Cindy Gough holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and has been a certified operating-room nurse for 25 years. She also has a Master's degree from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, in health and aging, and is certified in Gastroenterology with the Canadian Nurses Association.['†(C)]Denis G. Rancourt, Masks Don't Work - A review of science relevant to COVID-19 social policy, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14320.40967/1, Apr 2020Copy at Physics of Biology andlocal copy: Rancourt-MasksDontWorkRevSciC19pol.pdf.Re-published in hypertext on:Signs Of The Times: ''The Science is Conclusive: Masks and Respirators do NOT Prevent Transmission of Viruses, 20 Apr 2020River Cities' Reader, 11 Jun 2020The seven RCT studies cited are:Jacobs, J. L. et al. (2009) ''Use of surgical face masks to reduce the incidence of the common cold among health care workers in Japan: A randomized controlled trial'',

American Journal of Infection Control, Volume 37, Issue 5, 417 - 419.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19216002N95-masked health-care workers (HCW) were significantly more likely to experience headaches. Face mask use in HCW was not demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds.

Cowling, B. et al. (2010) ''Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: A systematic review'',

Epidemiology and Infection, 138(4), 449-456. doi:10.1017/S0950268809991658

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/face-masks-to-prevent-transmission-of-influenza-virus-a-systematic-review/64D368496EBDE0AFCC6639CCC9D8BC05None of the studies reviewed showed a benefit from wearing a mask, in either HCW or community members in households (H). See summary Tables 1 and 2 therein.

bin-Reza et al. (2012) ''The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence'',

Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 6(4), 257-267.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00307.x''There were 17 eligible studies. ... None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask / respirator use and protection against influenza infection.''

Smith, J.D. et al. (2016) ''Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks in protecting health care workers from acute respiratory infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis'', CMAJ Mar 2016, cmaj.150835; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.150835

https://www.cmaj.ca/content/188/8/567''We identified 6 clinical studies ... In the meta-analysis of the clinical studies, we found no significant difference between N95 respirators and surgical masks in associated risk of (a) laboratory-confirmed respiratory infection, (b) influenza-like illness, or (c) reported work-place absenteeism.''

Offeddu, V. et al. (2017) ''Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis'', Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 65, Issue 11, 1 December 2017, Pages 1934-1942,

https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cix681https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/65/11/1934/4068747''Self-reported assessment of clinical outcomes was prone to bias. Evidence of a protective effect of masks or respirators against verified respiratory infection (VRI) was not statistically significant''; as per Fig. 2c therein:

Radonovich, L.J. et al. (2019) ''N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel: A Randomized Clinical Trial'', JAMA. 2019; 322(9): 824-833. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.11645

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2749214''Among 2862 randomized participants, 2371 completed the study and accounted for 5180 HCW-seasons. ... Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza.''

Long, Y. et al. (2020) ''Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks against influenza: A systematic review and meta-analysis'', J Evid Based Med. 2020; 1- 9.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12381https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jebm.12381''A total of six RCTs involving 9 171 participants were included. There were no statistically significant differences in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza, laboratory-confirmed respiratory viral infections, laboratory-confirmed respiratory infection and influenza-like illness using N95 respirators and surgical masks. Meta-analysis indicated a protective effect of N95 respirators against laboratory-confirmed bacterial colonization (RR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.43-0.78). The use of N95 respirators compared with surgical masks is not associated with a lower risk of laboratory-confirmed influenza.''

['†(C)]MacIntyre CR, Seale H, Dung TC, et al. A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers. BMJ Open 2015;5:e006577. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577, first published 22 Apr 2015.['†(C)]Mark Crispin Miller, If We Were Honest interview by Jason Bosch, 16 October 2020, beginning at 33:07 ['†(C)]MWN Episode 194 '' Mark Crispin Miller on the Politics and Propaganda of 2020 (1:06:56, mp3), S.T. Patrick, Midnight Writer News Show 8 Oct 2020, beginning at 21:15.['†(C)]Mark McDonald, MD, Child Psychiatrist Outraged At Covid Repression: ''In My View This Is Child Abuse. We Are Training An Entire Generation Of Children To Live In Fear. To Live In Fear Of People.'' (8:52, mp3), America's Frontline Doctors Summit Sessions Presentations, 27 Jul 2020, partial transcript.['†(C)]An anti-lockdown petition in B.C., CENSORED by the ''liberal'' forum where it was linked'--AND by Change.org, News From Underground, 30 Oct 2020.['†(C)]Quotation is near the beginning of The great conspiracy leveling, fromThe Necessary Rebuff of Conspiracy (Theory), Albert Rossi, rat haus reality press, Jun 2020, revised Sep 2020.['†(C)]Dr. Reiner Fuellmich: Crimes Against Humanity and the Covid-19 PCR Test, 3 Oct 2020Published 3 October on Dr. Reiner Fuellmich's video channel, the following is an annotated hypertext edition of the PDF file received with appreciation from Dr. Fuellmich's law office. This is the English version of the original, published on 2 October in German, Money Talks V - Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit.['†(C)]Complete Transcript: Nazism, COVID-19 and the destruction of modern medicine: An interview with Vera Sharav, Part One, Leah Wilson, Esq., Stand for Health Freedom, 12 Oct 2020['†(C)]Ibid.['†(C)]Many sources critique The Great Reset. The following provide a sampling of independent analysis:''Now Comes the Davos 'Great Reset','' F. William Engdahl, New Eastern Outlook, 9 Jun 2020The Great Reset: Where Do We Go From Here? (film 10:19 + annotated transcript), Derrick Broze, The Conscious Resistance, 18 Aug 2020''From Lockdown to Police State: The 'Great Reset' Rolls Out,'' Ellen Brown, Web of Debt, 22 Aug 2020Episode 387 '' Your Guide to The Great Reset, James Corbett, The Corbett Report, 16 Oct 2020''The Global Takeover Is Underway,'' Joseph Mercola, mercola.com, 23 Oct 2020['†(C)]Quoted at 29:52 ofEpisode 387 '' Your Guide to The Great Reset, James Corbett, The Corbett Report, 16 Oct 2020['†(C)]Excerpts quoted in ''Klaus Schwab & His Great Fascist Reset - An Overview,'' Winter Oak, Wrong Kind Of Green, 5 Oct 2020Cory Morningstar's Introduction:This exemplary overview is written by Paul Cudenec, who I work with on the

No Deal For Nature campaign '' an effort to educate the citizenry (in order to stop) the coming enclosure and financialization of nature, global in scale. (Created by the World Economic Forum in partnership with the United Nations, World Wildlife Fund and Gore's Climate Reality Project, legislation is now slated for 2021). ''Ecosystem Services'' will be bought, sold and traded on Wall Street. GDP replaced by ''Natural Capital Accounting''. Those that have destroyed the planet's biodiversity, will now own what remains. Including the oceans. The enclosure of the commons will further displace Indigenous Peoples. An acceleration of an ongoing genocide. Following the full commodification/privatization of nature, the financialization of social and human will follow. This is part of the new ''global governance'' infrastructure underpinning the fourth industrial revolution, being rolled out to the global citizenry as the ''great reset''. COVID-19 is the catalyst. [Follow

No Deal For Nature on twitter] [

No Deal For Nature UK Website]

Packaged in holistic linguistics, key buzzwords (thrive, thriving, imagine, imagination, reimagine, build back better), new deals, and emotive imagery, those serving capital and current power structures have been tasked with building and obtaining the social license required.

But what exactly is the vision? Here, Paul takes you on a journey, using direct quotes from Klaus Schwab, from his recent books including ''COVID-19, The Great Reset''. Both riveting '' and terrifying, due to the depraved ideologies and goals described within, I suggest people find a quiet place, to read every word of this overview. Please share in broader circles.

['†(C)]Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Vintage Books, 1961, 1965, p. 326 back to Pandemic Parallax View |rat haus |Index |Search |tree

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:22

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is requiring restaurants, barbershops, tattoo parlors, recreational facilities, and entertainment establishments to record the names, contact information, and visit times of all customers to ''aid with contact tracing.'' Any establishment that does not comply is threatened with a maximum $200 fine, a misdemeanor charge punishable with up to six months in prison, and a $1,000 civil fine for violating the state's emergency orders.

The order, announced Friday, comes as Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration began backtracking on the state's latest reopening plan and tightening COVID-19 restrictions, citing rising hospitalizations and deaths. Other states including New York have implemented similar contact tracing rules, requiring restaurants to record diners' information in the case of an outbreak.

In addition to scaling back the number of people at gatherings at indoor venues from 500 to 50, the order also advised against shouting and screaming at events, claiming that cheering could spread the virus in the air 30 times more than speaking. The newly announced restrictions also emphasized and extended the use of face masks, including on children as young as 2 years old at daycare, school, or ''similar indoor settings.''

Earlier in the year, Whitmer signed an executive order threatening a misdemeanor charge and $500 fine for anyone wouldn't wear a face mask in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces.

Whitmer and her administration have received criticism for her handling of the coronavirus after she signed an executive order similar to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's ordering nursing homes and assisted living centers to readmit infected patients into facilities filled with vulnerable people.

''A long-term care facility must not prohibit admission or readmission of a resident based on COVID-19 testing requirements or results in a manner that is inconsistent with this order,'' Whitmer's May executive order reads. The elderly are by far the majority of those who have died with the virus present in their bodies.

Jordan Davidson is a staff writer at The Federalist. She graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism.

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:08

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Tue, 03 Nov 2020 03:12

Dear Editor

From Australia, I'm watching the fast-tracked development of coronavirus vaccines with mounting concern.

Under the Australian Biosecurity Act 2015, refusers of coronavirus vaccination[1] in Australia could be at risk of five years imprisonment and/or a $66,600 fine.[2] [3]

This emergency power has been active since March 2020, and has been extended to December 2020 [4], with the potential for unlimited extensions.[5]

It's possible this emergency power could be extended until a coronavirus vaccine is available, and that people in Australia could be under duress to have coronavirus vaccination, i.e. at risk of imprisonment and/or a huge fine, for a virus which is not a threat to most people under 70.[6]

We need to talk about this...

References:1. Biosecurity Act 2015. Australian Government Department of Health - Listed Human Diseases (page last updated 21 September 2020): https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-bios... (Accessed 30 October 2020.)2. Biosecurity Act 2015 -C2020C00127 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2020C00127 (Accessed 30 October 2020.) 3. Notice of Indexation of the Penalty Unit Amount, Attorney-General, dated 14 May 2020. -F2020N00061 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020N00061 (Accessed 30 October 2020.)4. Human Biosecurity Emergency Period Extended By Three Months. Media Release, Ministers Department of Health, 3 September 2020: https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/human-bio... (Accessed 30 October 2020.)5. COVID-19 Legislative response - Human Biosecurity Emergency Declaration Explainer. Parliament of Australia. Posted 19/03/2020 by Howard Maclean & Karen Elphick: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parlia... (Accessed 30 October 2020.)5. Why do we need a vaccine for Covid-19? Elizabeth Hart, BMJ rapid response, 1 September 2020: https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3258/rr-9

Footnotes to references:1. Human coronavirus with pandemic potential (e.g. COVID-19), is included as a 'Listed Human Disease' under the Biosecurity Act 2015.

2. See the Biosecurity Act 2015, Chapter 2 - Managing biosecurity risks: human health, Part 3 - Managing risks to human health: human biosecurity control orders, Division 2 - Imposing human biosecurity control orders on individuals, Subdivision C - When an individual is required to comply with a biosecurity measure, 74 When individual is required to comply with a biosecurity measure (1) (e) section 92 (vaccination or treatment) and (2) The individual is required to comply with the measure only if: (a) the individual consents to the measure; or (b) the Director of Human Biosecurity has given a directive for the individual to comply with the measure in accordance with paragraph 72(5)(a)...(etc...), and Note 1: A person who fails to comply with a biosecurity measure that the person is required to comply with may commit an offence (see section 107) - see Division 4 - Other provisions relating to human biosecurity control orders, Subdivision C - Miscellaneous, 107 Offence for failing to comply with a human biosecurity control order...Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years or 300 penalty units, or both.

3 A 'penalty unit' is $222 under Commonwealth law, multiplied by 300 equals $66,600

4 (to reference 5) "...The Governor-General may extend a declaration indefinitely (with each extension being for no longer than three months) if the Health Minister remains satisfied that the conditions that required a declaration of a human biosecurity emergency continue".

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 14:41

A 115-year-old vaccine vial has provided an important clue in the search for an answer to one of medicine's enduring mysteries: What went into the world's first vaccine?

Medical legend has it that Edward Jenner '-- the father of vaccination '-- used cowpox virus to protect against the dreaded smallpox.

But a new report, published Wednesday, shows a virus closely related to the horsepox virus was used in a 1902 smallpox vaccine, providing fresh ammunition to those who believe the history books have it wrong.

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''People ask me if we have found the missing link. I don't know if there is one missing link,'' said Dr. Jos(C) Esparza, one of the authors and a collector who discovered the vial in a box of old vaccine containers among his vaccine memorabilia.

Esparza and others have been fascinated by the mystery related to the source of the first-ever vaccine '-- tested in 1796 '-- as well as the source of the virus used in modern smallpox vaccines. The current vaccine virus is called vaccinia and, oddly, no one knows from whence it came.

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Historians know a great deal about the origins of the first vaccine in general.

Jenner, a physician and scientist, noticed that milkmaids generally didn't develop smallpox, a disfiguring and sometimes deadly disease. He guessed it was because they sometimes caught cowpox, a related disease that only caused mild illness in people.

To test his theory, Jenner scraped pus from what were thought to be cowpox lesions on the hands of a milkmaid into the arm of an 8-year-old boy, and later exposed the boy to smallpox pus. Jenner was right; the boy was protected.

For decades the practice of using scabs or pus from lesions on cows or on recently vaccinated people was how smallpox vaccination took place.

But it was never clear if Jenner's original source material was cowpox. He himself suggested it might have been horsepox, which can infect cows.

With the evolution of science and the advanced tools now used to conduct it, it has become clear that vaccinia '-- the virus used in modern smallpox vaccines '-- is neither cowpox nor horsepox. Whether it is a virus that formerly infected some species of animals '-- rodents, maybe '-- or is something that evolved in laboratories through the deliberate mingling of pox viruses isn't clear.

The new report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that horsepox viruses were used to vaccinate against smallpox at some point and in fact may have been the original tool used to protect against the dreaded disease.

A semi-retired virologist who formerly worked for the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Esparza realized that he had an old smallpox vaccine vial a couple of years ago. It was produced in 1902 by a Philadelphia company, H.K. Mulford.

The original wooden and glass containers that held the capillaries with the Mulford 1902 smallpox vaccine. The New England Journal of MedicineHe asked scientists at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin if they could extract enough genetic material from the vial to figure out what vaccine virus Mulford used in its vaccine.

That they could speaks to the miracles of modern science. ''This is material that has been at room temperature for more than 100 years,'' Esparza noted.

The German scientists then compared the genetic sequence they retrieved from the Mulford vial to that of other known pox viruses. The closest hit was to horsepox; the sequences were 99.7 percent similar.

Clarissa Damaso is also an author of this paper. Damaso, an associate professor of virology and molecular biology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, has studied the history of smallpox vaccination, and in August she published a detailed review of how the vaccine was shared across the world in the 18th century.

(Vaccinated orphans and prisoners were shipped around the world to bring vaccine '-- in the form of pus and scabs '-- to the Americas and beyond. Eventually cows became the preferred vehicle; it was easier to sustain material by serially vaccinating a herd. ''When you have a cow, you don't ask the cow,'' Damaso said. ''You don't need permission.'')

Damaso said this new work shows that horsepox was at least sometimes used as the source material for smallpox vaccine.

David Evans agreed. Evans, who is not involved in this work, is a University of Alberta virologist who made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed his lab had recreated horsepox '-- which hasn't been seen for decades and may be extinct.

''The evidence is pretty strong that whatever virus was adapted by the [smallpox] vaccinators to become vaccinia shares a lot of resemblance to the one example of a horsepox. So it would be not unreasonable to guess that it'' '-- Jenner's vaccine '-- ''too was a horsepox virus,'' Evans said.

Figuring out the origins of the Jenner's vaccine and tracing how the source virus evolved to become vaccinia won't change modern science, scientists involved in the detective work admit.

After all, smallpox was declared eradicated decades ago; the last recorded infection occurred in 1977.

But Damaso and Esparza are keen to continue the pursuit; Esparza said the team is looking for other old smallpox vaccine vials to test.

''It is the nature of humans to solve mysteries,'' he said.

The public affairs enhancement plan also calls for harnessing the social media accounts of select Canadian Forces staff to push out pre-approved government and military messages to the public. Although the social media activity would be seen to be coming from the personal accounts of military personnel, it would actually be Canadian Forces public affairs officers behind the scenes crafting and coordinating the messages.

The report quotes Brig.-Gen. Jay Janzen, director general military public affairs, who stated, "The motto 'who dares, wins' is as applicable to strategic communication as it is to warfare."

Sajjan had originally approved the weaponization of public affairs initiative, started in 2015, along with a separate but significant expansion of military propaganda capabilities for various units. The Liberals outlined in their 2017 defence strategy policy the need for the Canadian military to become more involved in propaganda and information warfare.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-military-to-establish-new-organization-to-use-propaganda-other-techniques-to-influence-canadians

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Archived Version

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 16:34

The Canadian Forces wants to establish a new organization that will use propaganda and other techniques to try to influence the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of Canadians, according to documents obtained by this newspaper.

The plan comes on the heels of the Canadian Forces spending more than $1 million to train public affairs officers on behaviour modification techniques of the same sort used by the parent firm of Cambridge Analytica, as well as a controversial and bizarre propaganda training mission in which the military forged letters from the Nova Scotia government to

warn the public that wolves were wandering in the province.

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The new Defence Strategic Communication group will advance ''national interests by using defence activities to influence the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of audiences,'' according to the document dated October 2020. Target audiences for such an initiative would be the Canadian public as well as foreign populations in countries where military forces are sent.

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The document is the end result of what Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance has called the ''weaponization'' of the military's public affairs branch. The document is in a draft form, but work is already underway on some aspects of the plan and some techniques have been already tested on the Canadian public.

But the office of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Sunday that the plan, at least for now, is not authorized to proceed. Sajjan has raised concerns about some of the activities related to such influence and propaganda operations. ''No such plan has been approved, nor will it be,'' Floriane Bonneville, Sajjan's press secretary, said after being asked by this newspaper about the initiative.

But a series of town halls were already conducted last week for a number of military personnel on the strategies contained in the draft plan.

The report quotes Brig.-Gen. Jay Janzen, director general military public affairs, who stated, ''The motto 'who dares, wins' is as applicable to strategic communication as it is to warfare.''

The initiative also proposes the creation of a new research capability established to analyze and collect information from the social media accounts of Canadians, non-governmental organizations, industry and the news media, according to the report.

The Canadian Forces have already tested that capability earlier this year. This newspaper reported that a team assigned to a Canadian military intelligence unit monitored and collected information from people's social media accounts in Ontario, claiming such data-mining was needed to help troops who were to work in long-term care homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

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That initiative, aimed at people's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, involved collecting comments made by the public about the provincial government's failure to take care of the elderly. That data was then turned over to the Ontario government, with a warning from the team it represented a ''negative'' reaction from the public.

Military officers see nothing wrong with such collection of data as it is already in the public domain on social media accounts. They concede the team should not have been assigned to military intelligence, but under the new plan it will be controlled by the military's public affairs branch.

But others have questioned how collecting information on the public's views concerning Ontario Premier Doug Ford was even relevant to how the Canadian Forces were to care for elderly residents. In addition, concerns have also been raised on why the military turned over such data to Ford's government and what became of it.

Sajjan requested an investigation be done into the data collection and has also limited at least temporarily some of what the military calls influence activities.

The military, however, noted in the plan that it will consult the federal privacy commissioner before it launches its collection of Canadians' online information.

The public affairs enhancement plan reflects the military leadership's view they can shape and direct the attitudes of Canadians if the right techniques are applied. ''Defence StratCom will focus on effects and outcomes among key audiences and will provide clear direction on aligning actions, efforts and resources in pursuit of strategic objectives,'' the plan added.

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Some in the Canadian Forces already attempted to conduct a trial run of such techniques.

This newspaper reported in July the military had planned a propaganda campaign aimed at heading off civil disobedience by Canadians during the coronavirus pandemic. That campaign was to use similar propaganda tactics to those employed against the Afghan population during the war in Afghanistan, including loudspeaker trucks to transmit government messages. The propaganda operation was halted after concerns were raised about the ethics behind such techniques.

The public affairs enhancement plan also calls for harnessing the social media accounts of select Canadian Forces staff to push out pre-approved government and military messages to the public. Although the social media activity would be seen to be coming from the personal accounts of military personnel, it would actually be Canadian Forces public affairs officers behind the scenes crafting and coordinating the messages.

The enhancement plan also calls for improving links to military-friendly academics and retired senior military staff so they can be used to push out approved Canadian Forces messages either on social media or in their interactions with journalists.

Sajjan had originally approved the weaponization of public affairs initiative, started in 2015, along with a separate but significant expansion of military propaganda capabilities for various units. The Liberals outlined in their 2017 defence strategy policy the need for the Canadian military to become more involved in propaganda and information warfare.

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But attempts to influence the public haven't always worked out. Last year, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces planned a public relations campaign to counter what bureaucrats and officers believed were false claims that the military had a problem with racists in the ranks. But that plan had to be scuttled after alleged racists and far-right sympathizers with links to military became involved in a series of high-profile incidents, undercutting the message of the PR scheme that the severity of the issue had been exaggerated.

As part of that PR effort, dossiers were created about journalists the military believed would cover the issue of racists in the ranks, including the CBC's Murray Brewster. The dossier about Brewster, who has since broken a number of stories about the far-right in the Canadian Forces, contained transcripts of his interviews with senior military staff and the warning, ''He's familiar with the defence system, and his reporting, while factual, often emphasizes the mistakes and shortcoming of DND and the CAF.''

Bonneville said the minister did not and will not authorize the creation of the dossiers on journalists. She did not, however, provide an explanation on why the files were created by Canadian Forces staff.

In addition, under Sajjan's watch, an invitation-only Facebook page has been created where serving and retired military and DND public affairs staff share information about journalists. There are more than 400 participants on the Facebook page, which is officially supported by the DND.

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 12:43

Ronald de Groot : Punt 3 is eigenlijk een beetje het punt, qua #vvm. https://t.co/ed148QBd9j

Tue Nov 03 16:54:13 +0000 2020

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:26

This is not a drill. Red alert: The police surveillance center in Jackson, Mississippi, will be conducting a 45-day pilot program to live stream the Amazon Ring cameras of participating residents.

Since Ring first made a splash in the private security camera market, we've been warning of its potential to undermine the civil liberties of its users and their communities. We've been especially concerned with Ring's 1,000+ partnerships with local police departments, which facilitate bulk footage requests directly from users without oversight or having to acquire a warrant.

While people buy Ring cameras and put them on their front door to keep their packages safe, police use them to build comprehensive CCTV camera networks blanketing whole neighborhoods. This serves two police purposes. First, it allows police departments to avoid the cost of buying surveillance equipment and to put that burden onto consumers by convincing them they need cameras to keep their property safe. Second, it evades the natural reaction of fear and distrust that many people would have if they learned police were putting up dozens of cameras on their block, one for every house.

Now, our worst fears have been confirmed. Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have started a pilot program that would allow Ring owners to patch the camera streams from their front doors directly to a police Real Time Crime Center. The footage from your front door includes you coming and going from your house, your neighbors taking out the trash, and the dog walkers and delivery people who do their jobs in your street. In Jackson, this footage can now be live streamed directly onto a dozen monitors scrutinized by police around the clock. Even if you refuse to allow your footage to be used that way, your neighbor's camera pointed at your house may still be transmitting directly to the police.

Only a few months ago, Jackson stood up for its residents, becoming the first city in the southern United States to ban police use of face recognition technology. Clearly, this is a city that understands invasive surveillance technology when it sees it, and knows when police have overstepped their ability to invade privacy.

If police want to build a surveillance camera network, they should only do so in ways that are transparent and accountable, and ensure active resident participation in the process. If residents say ''no'' to spy cameras, then police must not deploy them. The choices you and your neighbors make as consumers should not be hijacked by police to roll out surveillance technologies. The decision making process must be left to communities.

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 04:21

California voters approved a ballot measure Tuesday that proponents say will close a loophole in privacy laws and give consumers greater control over targeted advertising.

Getty Images This story is part of Elections 2020 , CNET's coverage of the run-up to voting in November. California voters approved on Tuesday a ballot measure designed to beef up consumer privacy protections, according to unofficial returns published by the state's secretary of state. Proponents of the measure, known as Proposition 24, say the initiative would close a loophole in the state's current privacy law that lets major tech companies continue to target ads with user data, even when users opt out.

The proposition is the brainchild of Alastair Mactaggart and Californians for Consumer Privacy, his advocacy group.

"We are at the beginning of a journey that will profoundly shape the fabric of our society by redefining who is in control of our most personal information and putting consumers back in charge of their own data," Mactaggart said in a statement Wednesday.

The proposition's success will let consumers opt out of data collection in a powerful way, Mactaggart said in an interview, supporting companies with business models that don't require data collection to turn a profit. Those businesses will "feast on the companies whose model is pervasive tracking," Mactaggart said.

The measure met with some criticism from privacy advocates who said it didn't go far enough and that it entrenched regulations that could force lower income consumers to let companies collect their data in exchange for paying less for online services. Small-business groups said new regulations would be too onerous for small companies still struggling to recover from the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic .

A sweeping privacy law passed by the state legislature in 2018 gave Californians the right to request records of data that companies have collected about them, or ask the companies to delete the data or refrain from selling it. The law reverberated through the US , and some tech companies opted to offer the rights it outlined to all US users. Several other states considered similar laws, and some passed them.

Proposition 24 will create a new state agency to enforce the law, which is currently the job of the California Department of Justice.

Mactaggart said that as California's attorney general began writing regulations for enforcing the 2018 law, it became clear that major social media and internet companies wouldn't be required to stop targeted ads. They didn't consider the ads to be a "sale" of user data, even though they made money from the transactions.

Mactaggart's group got Proposition 24 on the ballot to close that loophole, he said, by letting users ask companies not to "share" their data.

Proposition 24 will also likely set in motion an effort to create a system to let internet users automatically tell websites not to collect their data. Many websites show a pop-up to new visitors letting them either accept their tracking policies or go into a settings section and uncheck several boxes to opt out.

Other sites make it even more complicated, offering a list of several third-party web tracking services that users can visit individually to opt out of their data tracking.

Mactaggart said he struggles with these user interfaces himself. Proposition 24 could push website owners to streamline the user experience, forcing them to either display a simple "do not sell my data" button, or to honor a setting on the user's web browser that tells websites not to sell their data.

That setting, and a standard that would let websites automatically detect and defer to it, doesn't yet exist. But Mactaggart said Proposition 24 will prompt browser makers to create it to help tech companies comply with the law.

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:20

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia

Snoop has been crowned the East of England's most innovative technology company for 2020.

Headquartered in Norwich , Snoop is an AI-powered app which uses open banking to connect to a user's accounts and send them free financial advice. Chair Jane-Anne Gadhia, the former CEO of Virgin Money, explained the origin story to BusinessCloud for our Q2 magazine this year.

On topping the East of England Tech 50, she told us: ''We've accelerated to well over 100,000 downloads in under six months and we're all thrilled that Snoop has topped the East of England Tech 50 ranking for 2020.

''After a strong start, it's all about scaling quickly and from open banking to open finance '' new features, new partners, new territories '' there's a world of opportunity and we have a team ready to grasp them.''

East of England Tech 50

CEO John Natalizia added: ''We're delighted to be recognised for the work we're doing with Snoop and proud to fly the flag for Norwich in the East of England.

''The app uses secure open banking technology to provide data driven, personalised insights capable of saving the average household £1,500 per year.

''We ultimately want to make Snoop the most valuable app on everyone's phone and the team is always looking for innovative solutions to help people make better financial decisions, save them lots of money and create a better banking experience.

''We've got big ambitions for the business and we're over the moon to top BusinessCloud's East of England Tech 50.''

Snoop '' which entered beta in January then launched fully during the first COVID-19 lockdown '' was a new entry for 2020 in BusinessCloud's regional ranking, which compares companies of all sizes creating innovative technology .

Second in the ranking was Cambridge firm Healx , which is using AI to accelerate treatments for rare diseases and finished fifth in 2019.

EO Charging, makers of smart electric vehicle chargers and software, represented Stowmarket in third spot.

High-profile AI-enabled cybersecurity firm Darktrace climbed six places to fourth, with fellow Cambridge firm BIOS, which is creating an open standard hardware and software interface between the human nervous system and AI, rounding out the top five.

Agriculture tech firm KisanHub was seventh after topping the ranking in 2019. The top 10 featured four Cambridge-based companies and three from Norwich, with Colchester and Watford also represented.

Cambridge contributed just over half of the top 50 companies, followed by Norwich (9) and Ipswich, Colchester and Stowmarket (3 apiece).

East of England Tech 50

BusinessCloud called on its readers to vote for companies from a 109 -strong shortlist and saw almost 1,000 votes pour in.

A combination of these votes and choices from an expert judging panel determined the top 50.

The judging panel was comprised of:

Thea Goodluck, entrepreneur engagement manager (East of England), Tech NationMadeleine Coupe, Innovation and Sector Development Manager, New Anglia Local Enterprise PartnershipLinn Clabburn, programme director, Cambridge Norwich Tech CorridorJohn Gourd, CEO, Cambridge NetworkProfessor Fiona Lettice, Pro Vice Chancellor of Innovation and Research, University of East AngliaJames Gotz, co-founder & CEO, ShepherdJonathan Symcox, editor, BusinessCloudEast of England Tech 50 is one of 11 regional tech innovation rankings from BusinessCloud which shine a light on the companies of all sizes doing amazing things with technology.

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 11:56

FinTech app Snoop has raised £10 million investment on Seedrs , double its £5m target.

The investment, raised from 1,725 investors, includes £5m proposed match funding from the government's Future Fund .

Snoop, which topped our East of England Tech 50 innovation ranking for 2020, has previously been backed by Salesforce Ventures, Havisham Group and Sir Lloyd Dorfman .

Headquartered in Norwich, Snoop is an AI-powered app which uses open banking to connect to a user's accounts and send them free financial advice. It entered beta in January then launched fully during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

Chair Jayne-Anne Gadhia explained the origin story to BusinessCloud for our Q2 magazine this year.

''We've accelerated to well over 100,000 downloads in under six months ,'' she told BusinessCloud this week.

''After a strong start, it's all about scaling quickly and from open banking to open finance '' new features, new partners, new territories '' there's a world of opportunity and we have a team ready to grasp them.''

Listen to Dame Jayne-Anne speaking about her journey from Virgin Money CEO to becoming a FinTech entrepreneur on the FastForward podcast (below)

CEO John Natalizia added: ''The app uses secure open banking technology to provide data driven, personalised insights capable of saving the average household £1,500 per year.

''We ultimately want to make Snoop the most valuable app on everyone's phone and the team is always looking for innovative solutions to help people make better financial decisions, save them lots of money and create a better banking experience.''

East of England Tech 50

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:12

This year meat processing firm Atria plans to export about 15-20 million kilos of pork to China Image: Jari Kovalainen / YleAn attempt by Finnish food products firm Atria to export thousands of kilogrammes of pork by train earlier this autumn was unsuccessful, the company has confirmed.

During a trial run in late September, a freight train's freezer car that contained around 20,000 kg of pork by-products was stopped at the Russian border due to inadequate export documentation.

The meat stored in the car was subsequently destroyed, according to Atria's President and CEO Juha Gr¶n.

"Yes, it's true. This was a test container and the train transport was not successful," Gr¶n said, adding that the export documents in question were considered to be in order by Atria as well as Finnish authorities.

Gr¶n did not comment on which entity considered the documents to be inadequate.

"In addition to Atria and Finland, there are other countries and actors involved, so I will not comment on this in more detail. When one does something new, there are different opinions about what sort of documents are needed," Gr¶n said.

Up to 20 million kg this yearThe tonnes of pork by-products that were destroyed were mainly frozen pork heads and hooves. Gr¶n said that while 20,000 kg is a large amount, it still was relatively small compared to the firm's sea shipments of pork.

Every week, Gr¶n said, Atria exports about a half million kilogrammes of pork products to China on ships. However, shipping them by sea takes around 40 days, while by train the journey would take around two weeks.

"The train route would be faster and certainly more cost-effective. We're going through this trial case carefully and I think one day it will work. We already knew the risks at the outset," Gr¶n said.

Atria's pilot rail shipment of pork departed on 25 September and was scheduled to pass through Russia, Kazakhstan and onward to southwest China's megacity of Chongqing.

Last year Atria exported around nine million kg of pork products to China. This year, according to Gr¶n, the firm plans to export about 15-20 million kg of pork to the Asian country.

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:38

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, arrives for the opening session of the 33rd African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February. On Wednesday, Abiy ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a military base overnight, citing months of "provocation and incitement" and declaring that "the last red line has been crossed." AP hide caption

toggle caption AP Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, arrives for the opening session of the 33rd African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February. On Wednesday, Abiy ordered the military to confront the Tigray regional government after he said it attacked a military base overnight, citing months of "provocation and incitement" and declaring that "the last red line has been crossed."

AP As the world's attention remained on the American elections, Ethiopia seemed on the brink of war.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an attack against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the state government in charge of Ethiopia's northernmost region. Abiy accused the TPLF of attacking a federal military base in the overnight hours on Tuesday.

"The last red line has been crossed with this morning's attacks and the Federal government is therefore forced into a military confrontation," a statement issued by his office read. In a statement on state television, Abiy said that the initial attack by Tigrayan forces had resulted in "many martyrs, injuries and property damage."

Phone lines and the Internet were interrupted in Tigray, so it was not possible to independently assess any damage or casualties. Abiy's government also announced a six month state of emergency in the Tigray region.

On a television station run by the Tigrayan government, the TPLF looped a recorded statement, announcing the closure of their airspace and promising proportionate retaliatory attacks against Ethiopian forces.

A member of Tigray Special Forces casts his vote in a local election in the regional capital Mekelle, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in September. The vote defied the federal government and increased tensions in Africa's second most populous country. AP hide caption

toggle caption AP A member of Tigray Special Forces casts his vote in a local election in the regional capital Mekelle, in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in September. The vote defied the federal government and increased tensions in Africa's second most populous country.

AP This is a major escalation between the state and federal government in Ethiopia. The TPLF controls the most powerful regional force in the country. They are well-armed and well trained and analysts fear that if this leads to a full-scale war between the TPLF and Ethiopia's federal government, it could not only destabilize the already fragile Horn of Africa, but lead to humanitarian disaster in the country of more than 100 million people.

"Ethiopia [is] an anchor state in the Horn," analyst Rashid Abdi wrote on Twitter. "[This] implosion [is] bound to have devastating consequences across the entire sub-region."

Abdi has warned that a war in Ethiopia could open the floodgates for the Islamist group al-Shabab in neighboring Somalia. It could also further destabilize Sudan, whose transitional government is trying to keep the country together, and South Sudan, which has been trying to maintain a peace deal supported by Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's internal conflict, however, is a long time coming. The TPLF was thrown out of power when a popular uprising led to the dismantling of the ruling coalition the TPLF had built in Ethiopia. Abiy took power in April of 2018 and has since accused the former regime of trying to destabilize the country, in part, by fomenting ethnic divisions and violence.

The TPLF has given refuge to former government officials wanted by the new regime and in September, they held regional elections that had been declared unconstitutional by the federal government.

On Monday, Debretsion Gebremichael, the president of the Tigray region, said the Ethiopian government was plotting a war against them in retaliation for holding elections.

This afternoon, the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa urged "an immediate de-escalation of the current situation in Tigray."

"We strongly encourage all parties to prioritize civilians' safety and security," the statement read.

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Mon, 02 Nov 2020 04:43

October 31, 2020 | 10:55am | Updated October 31, 2020 | 11:02am

Hunter Biden and Joe Biden

Teresa Kroeger

Keith Ablow

ASSOCIATED PRESS

An exterior view of "The Mac Shop" in Wilmington, Delaware.

AFP via Getty Images

Up NextWhen would be a good time for a ball club...

A second laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was taken by the feds back in February.

The computer was found in the Massachusetts offices of celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow during a raid and seized by Drug Enforcement Administration agents, according to a new report from NBC.

Ablow's medical license was suspended after he was accused of sexually exploiting patients and other professional misconduct. He has not been charged with a crime and has denied the allegations.

Hunter Biden has not been the target of the search or the investigation and his lawyer ultimately got the laptop back, the network reported. It's unclear what was on the machine or why it would have been in Ablow's offices.

As The Post previously reported, a different Hunter Biden laptop made its way to a Delaware computer repair shop last year. The store owner later delivered its hard drive to Rudy Giuliani after he said Hunter never returned to retrieve the property.

The laptop contained a trove of emails detailing various discussions between Hunter and foreign contacts '-- which potentially included setting up meetings with his famous father while he was vice president.

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Sun, 01 Nov 2020 20:01

Political rivals of the former VP have seized on his son's business abroad.

June 20, 2019, 9:00 AM

' 15 min read

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declined to answer questions on the campaign trail this week about his son's overseas business dealings in countries where the then-vice president was conducting diplomatic work, an issue his political opponents have already begun to wield against him as he wades into the 2020 presidential campaign.

More than once, after his father engaged in diplomacy on behalf of the United States in foreign countries, Hunter Biden conducted business in the same country. At two separate campaign stops on Monday, Biden avoided questions about his son while his staff blocked reporters from approaching the candidate.

Biden's campaign did provide ABC News with a statement saying the former vice president has always adhered to "well-established executive branch ethics standards," adding that if Biden wins the White House he will issue an executive order to "address conflicts of interest of any kind."

"This process will be set out in detail in the executive order," the statement reads, "that President Biden would issue on his first day in office."

The ethics pledge follows renewed questions about a pair of overseas business opportunities involving Hunter Biden '' one in Ukraine, another in China '' that already have begun to generate political attacks from Joe Biden's conservative critics. Ethics experts interviewed by ABC News said these are legitimate questions about possible past and future conflicts of interest.

In this file photo, World Food Program USA Board Chairman Hunter Biden (L) and Vice President Joe Biden attend the World Food Program USA's Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony on April 12, 2016 in Washington.

In April of 2014, the then-vice president led a U.S. delegation to Kiev tasked with rooting out corruption and advocating for Ukraine to diminish its reliance on Russian oil. The Obama administration had pledged aid money to support a fledgling Ukrainian administration recovering from a revolution that ousted the country's previous leader.

"You have to fight the cancer of corruption that is endemic in your system right now," Biden told the Ukrainian parliament during the first of several post-revolution visits to the country. "And with the right investments and the right choices, Ukraine can reduce its energy dependence and increase its energy security."

Within weeks of his visit, Ukraine's largest energy producer, Burisma Energy, appointed Hunter Biden to a paid directorship on the firm's board.

Just months before, in December of 2013, there was a similar episode when the then-vice president led an Obama administration effort to tamp down tensions in the Far East. Hunter Biden disembarked from Air Force Two in Beijing alongside his father, ahead of a series of meetings between the vice president and several high-ranking members of China's ruling party. Upon his departure, Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "good friend."

Within weeks of that visit, Hunter Biden was doing business there, as a participant in a firm called Bohai Harvest RST. The corporation formed a novel Chinese-American investment partnership that involved such Chinese state-owned firms as the Bank of China. Reports at the time said they sought to raise $1.5 billion.

In response to questions from ABC News, Hunter Biden maintained that he and his father never talked about his overseas ventures.

In this file photo, Vice President Joe Biden, left, accompanied by daughter Ashley Biden, and sons Beau Biden and Hunter Biden, walks down the steps of Air Force Two upon their arrival in Lexington, K.Y., on Oct. 11, 2012.

"At no time have I discussed with my father the company's business, or my board service," Hunter Biden said in statement forwarded to ABC News by his attorney. "Any suggestion to the contrary is just plain wrong."

An attorney for Hunter Biden told ABC News the vice president's son merely accompanied his daughter, Finnegan Biden, on the Air Force Two trip to Beijing and conducted no business during the visit.

Robert Weissman, the president of progressive watchdog group Public Citizen and a frequent critic of business dealings by President Donald Trump's children -- including the Trump Organization's ongoing development projects overseas -- told ABC News that it can be challenging for the adult children of well-known political figures to carve out careers that don't pose ethics concerns, but he considers Hunter Biden's decisions concerning.

"At absolute minimum there's a huge appearance of conflict, and there's every reason to think that the investors that he's working with want him partnering with them because he's the son of the then-vice president and now presidential candidate," Weissman said. "[Joe Biden] should have encouraged his son to not take these positions."

Biden defends his sonThe Ukrainian energy firm Burisma tapped Hunter Biden -- a Yale-trained attorney who worked at the Manhattan-based law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP -- to lead its legal unit and "provide support for the company among international organizations," according to the company's announcement at the time.

Hunter Biden and his associate at a business entity called Rosemont Seneca Partners -- where Hunter Biden was a managing partner -- both obtained board seats, and according to banking records reviewed by ABC News, the firm began collecting $166,666 payments each month.

In this file photo, Vice President Joe Biden (L) shakes hands with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko during a news conference in Kiev, on November 21, 2014.

In a statement to ABC News, Biden said "at no time" was he "in charge of the company's legal affairs" and said he "earned [his] qualifications for such a role based on [his] extensive prior board service." Hunter Biden had served on other corporate boards, including as vice chairman of the board overseeing Amtrak. He had no known experience in Ukraine or the highly competitive energy field, but said in his statement that he joined the board "to help reform Burisma's practices of transparency, corporate governance and responsibility."

But questions were raised at the time. Asked about the appointment in May of 2014 by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, then-press secretary Jay Carney responded that "Hunter Biden and other members of the Biden family are obviously private citizens, and where they work does not reflect an endorsement by the administration or by the vice president or president."

More details of his work for Burisma surfaced in the 2018 book "Secret Empires" by conservative author Peter Schweizer, and as Biden moved closer to announcing his bid for the White House, news reports began focusing greater attention on the burgeoning controversy. Reports in The Hill and The New York Times noted that the vice president's reform campaign in Ukraine included an effort to call for the dismissal of Viktor Shokin, then the country's controversial chief prosecutor. The reports noted that Shokin had ostensibly been leading an investigation into Burisma and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky, for possible financial crimes.

In this file photo, Prosecutor-General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin is shown speaking during a news conference on the arrest of Hennadiy Korban in Kiev, Ukraine, November 2, 2015.

Both Zlochevsky and the company have denied wrongdoing and neither have faced charges, but in an interview with ABC News, Shokin maintained his suspicions about the vice president's motives, accusing Biden of promoting his dismissal for personal reasons. He insisted he had "no doubt" Biden wanted him gone in an effort to protect his son's new employer.

"Biden was acting not like a U.S. vice president, but as an individual," Shokin told ABC News, "like the individual interested in having me removed -- having me gone so that I did not interfere in the Burisma investigation."

A Biden campaign spokesman rejected the premise of Shokin's allegation, saying Biden had "acted at all times in a manner consistent with well-established executive branch ethics standards." And the assertion that Biden acted to help his son has been undercut by widespread criticism of Shokin from several high-profile international leaders who said Biden's recommendation was well justified. Once Shokin was removed, the European Union's envoy to Ukraine, Jan Tombinski, lauded the decision as "an opportunity to make a fresh start."

With Biden emerging as a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, however, Trump has sought to keep the issue in the public eye, aided by personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who announced last month that he planned to travel to Ukraine to urge officials there to investigate Biden's efforts to lobby for Shokin's ouster.

"Explain to me why Biden shouldn't be investigated," Giuliani tweeted in May, before canceling the trip after facing criticism for appearing to engage a foreign government for political help.

Biden chaffed at Giuliani's efforts when was asked about the matter during a candidate forum in New Hampshire in May. And he defended his son, saying "all the reports indicated that not a single, solitary thing was inappropriate about what my son did. He never talked to me. He never talked to anybody in the administration."

"I give you my word. None," he said, adding that "with all the investigation that's been done, there's not a single piece of evidence that he ever talked to anybody in government about it. '... And I have faith in him."

In this file photo, World Food Program USA Board Chairman Hunter Biden attends the World Food Program USA's Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony on April 12, 2016, in Washington.

But those assurances have failed to put the issue to rest. Even one of the activists Biden's team asked ABC News to contact had deep reservations about Hunter Biden's decision to accept a board seat at Burisma.

Daria Kaleniuk, a Ukrainian anti-corruption advocate, did not see fault in Joe Biden's conduct, saying she thought he "did what he had to do" in pursuing Shokin's removal, but decried his son's decision as "a very bad thing."

"[Hunter Biden] was very wrong," Kaleniuk said. "He allowed his name to be abused, and with that he made easy money."

Lingering questionsUkraine is not the only foreign territory in which there are lingering questions about business conducted by Hunter Biden.

His exact role in the Chinese investment fund Bohai Harvest RST remains unclear. The firm's website described the venture as being "sponsored" by the government-controlled Bank of China, and securities filings in the U.S. say the fund was "to focus on mergers and acquisitions, and investment in and reforms of state-owned enterprise."

In this file photo, Vice President Joe Biden, center, buys an ice-cream at a shop as he tours a Hutong alley with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden, right, and son Hunter Biden, left, in Beijing, China on Dec. 5, 2013.

A source familiar with Hunter Biden's involvement said he served as an unpaid director and has not yet received any returns on his investments from the fund, adding that he only became a minority stake-holder in the company in October 2017, with his current investment estimated at approximately $430,000. He continues to play an active role, according to his attorney. And that presents a problem for ethics experts.

"If Hunter Biden is still connected with [the Chinese investment firm], he needs to get out of that relationship," Weissman, president of Public Citizen, told ABC News. "And there should be as much clarity as possible about what actually is going on there as well."

The timing of that deal has also caught the attention of Trump, who, earlier this month, challenged reporters on the South Lawn: "Biden has some kind of relationship financially -- or his son -- with China? Tell me about that."

In his statement to ABC News, Hunter Biden blamed the negative attention on the political climate.

"The narratives that have been suggested and developed by the right-wing political apparatus are demonstrably false," he said. "These distortions of reality will not distract my father, nor make me question my judgment in my initial decision to join the board of Burisma to do the good work necessary for the benefit of the company and Ukraine."

Hunter Biden said his directorship at Burisma recently expired, and he declined the company's offer to renew it.

"In this political climate," he said, "where my qualifications and work are being attacked by Rudy Giuliani and his minions for transparent political purposes, I have decided not to renew my directorship."

ABC News' Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.

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Mon, 02 Nov 2020 04:41

The complaints from President Donald Trump and his allies have been growing louder as the election approaches: Why isn't the mainstream media covering the Hunter Biden laptop story?

Trump and his allies say there is evidence of corruption in emails and documents allegedly found on a laptop belonging to Democrat Joe Biden's son. They say those and other documents show that Hunter Biden used his father's influence to enrich himself through business deals in Ukraine and China, and that his father not only facilitated that, but may have benefited financially.

But the Wall Street Journal and Fox News '-- among the only news organizations that have been given access to key documents '-- found that the emails and other records don't make that case. Leaving aside the many questions about their provenance, the materials offered no evidence that Joe Biden played any role in his son's dealings in China, let alone profited from them, both news organizations concluded.

As to Ukraine, a single email published by the New York Post suggests Joe Biden may have had a meeting with a representative of a Ukrainian company that employed his son. Trump and his allies alleged that means Joe Biden has lied when he said he never discussed his son's business roles. The Biden campaign denies the meeting happened.

The lack of major new revelations is perhaps the biggest reason the story has not gotten traction, but not the only one. Among others: Most mainstream news organizations, including NBC News, have not been granted access to the documents. NBC News asked by email, text, phone call and certified mail, and was ultimately denied.

And, although no evidence has emerged that the documents are the product of Russian disinformation, as some experts initially suggested, many questions remain about how the materials got into the hands of Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who has met with Russian agents in his effort to dig dirt on the Bidens.

U.S. intelligence agencies have informed the White House that Giuliani has been in contact with alleged Russian intelligence agents. The FBI has been looking into whether the Russians played any role, and no official has ruled that out.

At the same time, dozens of former intelligence officials have said the story has the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence operation. After the election interference of 2016, the news media is especially wary of doing anything to further an effort by a foreign government to intervene in a presidential campaign.

Another factor tamping down coverage of the story is that there isn't much new in what the laptop documents appear to reveal. The allegation that Hunter Biden has traded on his family name has been thoroughly explored in previous news stories, including a lengthy New Yorker investigation last year in which Robert Weissman, the president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, said, ''It's hard to avoid the conclusion that Hunter's foreign employers and partners were seeking to leverage Hunter's relationship with Joe, either by seeking improper influence or to project access to him.'' Reports published while the elder Biden was still vice president raised ethical questions about the Burisma deal.

While the question of whether Joe Biden enabled his son to profit from the vice president's influence is relevant to the presidential campaign, issues of balance and proportionality also come into play.

Trump, according to the same good government advocates who have criticized Hunter Biden, is ethically challenged when it comes to appearing to use the power of his office to enrich himself and his family. David Farenthold of The Washington Post has used federal and other records to calculate that the federal government has spent at least $2.5 million on food and lodging at Trump properties since Trump took office. Earlier this month, Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska who is up for re-election, told supporters that Trump's family ''has treated the presidency like a business opportunity.''

Yet stories about Trump's children and their business dealings are not dominating the news cycle in the days before the election, because they have already been covered, just as the Hunter Biden story has been covered. (Trump's tax information, on the other hand, has been covered extensively by The New York Times, because the secret tax data obtained by the newspaper revealed important new information about his tax payments and his business dealings.)

'No role for Joe Biden'The first story about the Hunter Biden laptop appeared in the New York Post, a conservative tabloid. One of the bylines was that of a former producer for Fox News pundit Sean Hannity.

The New York Times reported that a Post reporter who did much of the work declined to allow his byline to appear on the story.

The Times also reported that the Trump campaign initially shopped the story to the Wall Street Journal, hoping that a mainstream news organization would validate their assertions that the documents hinted at corruption.

The Journal didn't do that.

The Journal published a story focusing on claims about an alleged deal proposal in China '-- claims made by a former Hunter Biden associate named Tony Bobulinski, who came forward after the laptop story broke to say that the senior Biden was well aware of his son's arrangements.

After examining text messages provided by Bobulinski, the Journal reported that ''the venture '-- set up in 2017 after Mr. Biden left the vice presidency and before his presidential campaign '-- never received proposed funds from the Chinese company or completed any deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Corporate records'...show no role for Joe Biden.''

Fox News, meanwhile said it ''reviewed emails from Bobulinski related to the venture '-- and they don't show that the elder Biden had business dealings with SinoHawk Holdings, or took any payments from them or the Chinese.''

An NBC News correspondent asked Bobulinski for an interview and for copies of documents in his possession, but he declined.

''All of your questions will be answered on Tucker Carlson tonight,'' Bobulinski wrote on Oct. 27.

On air, to make his case that Joe Biden was involved in his son's business dealings, Bobulinski described an encounter he says he had with the senior Biden.

At a meeting in May 2017 in Los Angeles, Bobulinski says Hunter Biden introduced him to the former vice president, saying: ''This is Tony, dad, the individual I told you about that's helping us with the business we are working and the Chinese.''

Even if that statement was made, it says very little about how much Joe Biden knew, and nothing about whether he was involved.

The Biden campaign has denied that Biden knew about the venture or stood to profit from it.

The laptopNBC News has sought to obtain the documents on the alleged Hunter Biden laptop, but has been rebuffed.

An NBC News correspondent sent a letter two weeks ago to Giuliani, seeking copies of the materials.

His lawyer, Robert Costello, granted the correspondent the opportunity to review some Hunter Biden emails and other materials in person. The materials included copies of Hunter Biden identification documents that appeared to be genuine. But without taking possession of the copies, it was not possible to conduct the sort of forensic analysis that might help authenticate the emails and documents.

It was Giuliani who ultimately told NBC News he would not be providing a copy of the hard drive. NBC News responded by asking if, instead of a full copy of the hard drive, he could just provide copies of the full set of emails. Giuliani did not agree to that proposal. NBC News then declined an offer of copies of a small group of emails.

NBC News has also requested the documents from Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, but has not received a response.

Key questions remain about the origins of the laptop and how it got into Giuliani's hands.

The owner of a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, John Paul Mac Isaac, has said a man he believes was Hunter Biden left a water-damaged Apple computer at his shop in April 2019 for repairs and data recovery.

But Biden never retrieved the machine, Mac Isaac has said, and at some point he began to examine the data. He said he found material that disturbed him, though he has never publicly explained what that was. His lawyer said he contacted the FBI, which ultimately served a grand jury subpoena for the laptop and a hard drive.

After hearing nothing from the FBI for months, Mac Isaac said he grew frustrated and turned a copy of the laptop's contents over to Giuliani's lawyer.

A representative for Giuliani said one of Giuliani's companies received an e-mail from Mac Isaac saying he had the laptop and thought Giuliani should be aware of its contents. The representative said Mac Isaac provided a copy of the hard drive to Giuliani's team.

According to the representative, Mac Isaac said he wrote to Giuliani's team after trying to reach out to Republican members of Congress without success.

Giuliani's attorney said Mac Isaac did not ask for or receive payment for the copy of the drive.

The subpoena, which was published by the New York Post, was signed by a federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in Wilmington.

A photo of a receipt provided to Mac Isaac by FBI agents was published on the Fox News website. It contained an FBI code, 272D, which the bureau uses to signify an investigation into money laundering where the unlawful activity is unknown.

U.S. officials have refused to explain why they seized the laptops and what, if anything, they are investigating.

NBC News attempted to speak to Mac Isaac, but he did not respond to requests for comment. NBC News published an article quoting responses he had given to The Daily Beast. His lawyer then sent NBC News a letter that said, ''Your network and affiliates should cease any further discussion of Mr. Mac Isaac as much of the information you are presenting is false.''

James Rosen, a reporter for the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest operator of local television stations, reported this week that a Justice Department official told him the FBI had opened a criminal investigation into Hunter Biden and his associates last year focused on allegations of money-laundering '-- and that the probe remains active.

NBC News has not confirmed any such investigation.

Rosen also reported that the FBI interviewed former Biden associate Bobulinski last week.

A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that Bobulinski initiated the interview.

Bobulinski said the FBI told him he's ''listed as a material witness,'' but law enforcement officials say the FBI does not use that term in this context.

Hunter Biden's lawyer, George Mesires, did not respond to a request for comment by NBC News. He has not asserted '-- nor has the Biden campaign '-- that the laptop did not belong to Hunter Biden.

If he did leave the machine in Delaware, it would have marked at least the second time he has left behind a laptop.

According to two people familiar with the matter, a different Hunter Biden laptop landed in the custody of the DEA in February when they executed a search warrant on the Massachusetts office of a psychiatrist accused of professional misconduct. The psychiatrist has not been charged with a crime.

Hunter Biden was not a target of the search or the investigation, and his lawyer ultimately got his laptop back. It's not clear why his computer was left in the doctor's office.

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Mon, 02 Nov 2020 23:57

CIA contacts, a web of lies, and a robust propaganda operation. It's time to start asking questions about Borat's methods'--and his goals.

Ayman Abu Aita is a family man. For years, he was a grocer by trade, running his shop in Bethlehem while serving on the board of the Holy Land Trust, a nonprofit group working for peaceful reconciliation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Like many Palestinians, he is a Christian, a practicing member of the Greek Orthodox Church.

He must have been as shocked as everybody else to see his face broadcast across the world above the identifier: ''ayman abu aita, terrorist group leader, al-aqsa martyrs brigade.''

The interview in question'--conducted in character by Sacha Baron Cohen and featured in his movie Bruno'--had been held under false pretenses, and deceptively edited to boot. Abu Aita pursued legal action and, in a rare (albeit measured) victory for one of Cohen's victims, managed to settle out of court. The lawsuit ended in 2012, and the interview had been conducted in 2009, so this all may seem like ancient history. But a few of the episode's more bizarre details have never been adequately explained, and Borat's carefully timed return ought to revive our interest.

In addition to his long record of peaceful activism'--which had earned Abu Aita two years in an Israeli jail on unsubstantiated charges'--Baron Cohen's fake terrorist just happens to have been a parliamentary candidate in Palestine at the time of the Bruno debacle. Thanks to Cohen's actions, Abu Aita received death threats and sustained serious damage to his reputation, his business, and his campaign.

While it remains possible that Abu Aita was a random victim, it practically defies belief: why travel halfway across the world to interview a random person who is manifestly not a terrorist? Had the goal here solely been the bit, the same scene could have been shot for a fraction of the cost in a cheap LA motel, with an unknown actor of a reasonably believable ethnic extraction. It is immensely difficult to consider the great lengths to which Cohen went in painting Abu Aita as a terrorist to be somehow independent of who he was, of his years of political activity, and of the damage done to him by the stunt. It is hard to see any of this as accidental.

In Abu Aita's account, the interview ''was set up via Awni Jubran, a journalist for the Palestinian news agency, PNN,'' with the supposed purpose of discussing peace efforts and life in Palestine. Cohen, in an interview with David Letterman the week after Bruno's premiere, offered a somewhat different account of how he first became interested in Abu Aita. Out of character, clean-shaven, sporting a t-shirt, a blazer, and the Queen's English, Cohen provided a sometimes-necessary reminder that he is neither a poor Kazakh reporter nor a gay Austrian fashionista, but an obscenely wealthy, Cambridge-educated Brit. This rarely seen, authentic Cohen informed Letterman that he had sought a list of names from a contact at the CIA, and from there did some asking around in the Middle East until he located the ''terrorist'' he wound up interviewing. The million questions that ought to arise from this admission'--Who does Cohen know at the CIA, and why? Why did this CIA contact share any information with him? What was the CIA's interest in Abu Aita? and countless others'--were simply brushed aside, and the conversation continued.

In his answer to Abu Aita's complaints, Cohen swore, through his lawyers, that the statements in question were ''substantially true.'' Likewise, Letterman's answer attested to the substantial truth of the interview while also ''admit[ting] Cohen stated that he received information from a contact at the 'C.I.A.''' While substantial truth in libel and slander law allows for ''slight inaccuracies of expression,'' any conceivable definition of the term still includes Cohen's insistence on the sincerity of the CIA claim.

* * *

Fast forward eight years, and Cohen once again has his sights set on a candidate for office. This time it's the vice president of the United States, in the midst of a heated reelection campaign. (Cohen has never been shy about his Trump/Pence hatred, and has often stated publicly that his sole reason for returning to his trademark brand of activist comedy was to help bring an end to the present administration.)

On Thursday, February 27th, a man dressed as Donald Trump burst into the Potomac Ballroom at the Gaylord in National Harbor, MD, where Vice President Pence was addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). With a woman in a green dress and ripped tights slung over his shoulder, the man shouted something at the vice president in labored and heavily accented English. Ian Walters, communications director of the American Conservative Union which runs CPAC, said that it sounded vaguely obscene (suffice it to say the impersonator bungled the VP's surname) but he could not make out clearly what the man was saying. Video footage of the incident shows the crowd clearly appalled, and the pair were quickly escorted out by CPAC security, Secret Service agents, and officers of the Prince George's County Police Department.

Though no charges were pursued, the police report from the incident identifies the man as Sacha Noem Cohen, while the woman identified is a stunt double who has worked extensively in Hollywood. (TAC has been in touch with the woman in question, but she had not responded to our inquiries as of press time.) The PGPD report claims that all information was shared with CPAC security, who then confiscated the pair's access passes. But CPAC personnel maintain that they were never informed of Cohen's identity, and did not confiscate any pass that would have tipped them off.

The police department's claim is hard to square with CPAC personnel's obvious confusion about the events that followed. Over the next two days, two more Trump impersonators appeared at the convention, both in professional-grade costumes. The third and final Trump impersonator was detained by the Secret Service. His prosthetics were so elaborate that he had to call an associate'--a professional makeup artist'--to assist in their removal so that the Secret Service could confirm his identity. That wasn't the only person who came to help him, though: Brian Stolarz, an attorney specializing in white-collar criminal defense, was at the ready.

From there, an hour and a half passed before the big event: somebody ran through a highly trafficked area of the hotel in full Klan robes, while numerous CPAC attendees looked on in horror. Security arrived quickly, and the Klan impersonator was detained as well. Stolarz'--the lawyer who had shown up for the Trump impersonator that same day'--was on the scene here too, further confirming the link between what otherwise might have passed for unrelated episodes.

Given everything that has occurred in the interim'--COVID became the big news just a few days after CPAC'--most people seem to have forgotten that the Klansman story took on a life of its own at the time. Because Cohen's presence was not made public at the time, despite the discovery of his identity on Thursday, speculation ran wild. Clips of a man in Klan robes running through CPAC made the rounds on the internet'--often, according to Walters, via accounts that seemed obviously bogus. In addition to the social media buzz, the CPAC incidents were given a good bit of airtime in major news outlets. The ACU fielded calls from, among others, leaders of D.C.'s Black Lives Matter, outraged that one of the largest gatherings of mainstream conservatives in the country would tolerate a Klansman strolling through. (The initial clips that surfaced did not show the horrified reactions of actual CPAC attendees, nor the actor's detainment by security.) Just as with the Abu Aita interview, what was ostensibly a comedy act apparently doubled as a very real political influence operation.

It was more than six months before what actually happened at CPAC became apparent to the public. With Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's hurried release (a week and a half before Election Day), the Trump impersonators and the Klansman were all shown to be part of a massive Cohen stunt'--perhaps his biggest to date. But it is worth considering how carefully the film itself glosses over the complexity of this production. Walters estimates that a team of a dozen unauthorized security personnel were operating at CPAC, accompanying a slightly larger, undercover film crew. It came to the attention of CPAC personnel that this group had rented, and were operating out of, a block of rooms at the nearby Westin. All of these personnel had purchased access passes to CPAC (which aren't cheap) and security also suspected that some registration credentials may have been forged'--with top-notch equipment and skill, at that. Walters estimated the cost of the operation to be somewhere around a quarter of a million dollars, if not more.

To an impartial observer, this all would seem to be not a goofy comedy sketch, but a serious information op at a major political event in the midst of an important election year. In a way, it was: all these scenes existed independently, floating around the internet'--forming opinions and sparking controversies and stoking hatred'--for months before they were folded into the context of the film. First as tragedy and then as farce, right?

* * *

Between the CPAC saga and the movie's release, another major operation'--in some ways more complex than that in February'--had been carried out at the end of June. The third annual March for Our Rights rally was set to be a small affair, operated out of one organizer's flatbed truck, run by a local crew with hardly any budget to speak of.

A few months before the event, though, the rally's three organizers'--Allen Acosta, Matt Marshall, and Tessa Ashley'--were contacted by a production company who asked to film at the event for a documentary. Something seemed off, and the organizers declined. Then, just a few weeks out from the rally, they were contacted by a group representing themselves as a PAC based in Southern California. The name they used was ''Back-to-Work USA,'' and beside a cell phone number'--which now goes to voicemail'--and one press release, there was little out there to attest to their existence. Again, the organizers were skeptical, but the group seemed eager to offer financial support.

Acosta, who has been the event's lead organizer in each of the three years it's occurred, started out slow. He asked the two women from ''Back-to-Work'''--the names they gave were Tamara Young and Mary Harris'--if their group would pay to rent out porta-potties for the event. When they followed through, he took it as a sign that they were legitimate, and that their offer of support was sincere. At breakneck pace, the supposed PAC contracted a professional stage and other equipment, an army of security, and a number of legitimate musical acts, including Larry Gatlin. In all, the expenses'--the group virtually paid for the whole event'--amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

The morning of June 27th, Acosta kept close watch over the setup. He directed participants, including Young and Harris, exactly where to park their cars. He gave a security briefing to the team that Back-to-Work USA had hired'--about 40 locals hired for the day. Once the event began, he immersed himself in the crowd, making conversation with attendees and making sure everything went smoothly audience-side.

Meanwhile, the Back-to-Work crew claimed they were rushing to get one more act to warm the crowd up for Gatlin. They told Marshall that they had found one at the last minute, and in the middle of the action neither he nor any of the other event organizers had much time to vet the new find.

The first portion of the event, which featured stump speeches from conservative political candidates, was wrapping up, and they were ready to pivot to the entertainment segment, with Gatlin headlining. At this point, organizers noticed a substantial swell in the crowd. Acosta didn't think anything of it at the time, as he had encouraged people who might not be interested in the political rally to come enjoy the music nonetheless. In retrospect, a number of the new arrivals seem suspect. Notably, a group with Gadsden and Confederate flags were standing off in the back, hesitant to join the main body of people even at Acosta's urging. Looking back on the moment months later, he said it was ''like they were waiting for a cue.''

It was then that Acosta got a call from the police. One woman, upset by some Trump flags at the rally, was causing a scene across the street. A few attendees were engaging with her verbally. Acosta went over to help get a handle on the situation. The lone protestor continued for about 15 minutes, and her outburst escalated until she was eventually arrested. At that point, Acosta crossed back over to rejoin the event.

As soon as he returned, he was met with complaints from worried parents: somebody was walking through the crowd with a backward-facing camera in his backpack, which the parents thought was pointed down to the level of their children. Acosta actually found the man, and was questioning him when a commotion broke out in the area of the stage. Acosta turned in that direction, and in the blink of an eye the man had bolted for the parking lot.

The ruckus that caught Acosta's attention has been widely publicized, though very little of what actually happened has broken into the mainstream narrative. The second act which ''Back-to-Work'' had supposedly booked last minute was actually Sacha Baron Cohen, in character as Borat who was in character as ''Country Steve.'' Country Steve sang a song about injecting various liberals with the Wuhan flu, as well as chopping up journalists ''like the Saudis do.'' Parts of the song also featured anti-Semitic undertones.

This was hardly met without resistance: one video'--distinctly absent from most reporting of the event'--shows a young attendee, draped in an Israeli flag, grabbing a bullhorn and rushing to the front of the crowd to confront Cohen. At the same time, Marshall and one other rally participant (who happens to be the son of a Holocaust survivor) managed to get past Cohen's security'--with a good bit of effort'--and chase him off the stage. In a late-October interview with Steven Colbert, Cohen claimed that one of the two men reached for his gun while rushing the stage. Marshall, who was carrying an unloaded pistol at the event, denies that this ever happened. Cohen seems to relish the idea that he has placed himself in danger for these stunts: he claimed to Letterman that his interview with Abu Aita was conducted at a secret location, with two hulking bodyguards accompanying the ''terrorist,'' while in reality it was conducted at a popular hotel under Israeli jurisdiction, with Abu Aita accompanied by a journalist friend and the peace activist who runs the Holy Land Trust.

Country Steve, clearly unwelcome, ran into a staged ambulance that rushed away with the lights on. Acosta hurried to the parking lot and saw that the cars of the Back-to-Work crew had all disappeared as well. In a matter of seconds the scam became apparent. But the spin was quickly applied online: clips of the violent and anti-Semitic song started to pop up on social media, with the confrontation by the young Jewish activist and the moment where Marshall chased Cohen offstage conveniently left out. Special attention was given to the members of the crowd who enthusiastically sang along. But, by and large, these do not seem to be actual attendees of the March for Our Rights. For the most part, they seem to have come from the group of bystanders that Acosta suggests were ''waiting for a cue.'' Marshall'--who is convinced that these were hired extras'--points out that these people are dressed in over-the-top, stereotypical MAGA get-ups, complete with straw hats and Rebel flags. He also notes that, given Washington's history and location, Confederate flags simply aren't a part of the culture, even in more provocative corners of the right.

Nevertheless, the episode was cast as a classic Borat sting: Cohen, it was assumed, had shown up at this rally, hopped on stage, and easily gotten the right-wingers to show their racist side. Nobody looked into the immense effort that had gone into the scene. That somebody had spent tens of thousands of dollars even to get him there, and apparently planted willing collaborators in the crowd, was hardly considered at all.

Once again, the stunt took on a substantial political character. Reports that right-wing rally-goers had gleefully participated in Country Steve's act cropped up all over the internet, bolstered by social media buzz'--supposedly showing the dark underbelly of MAGA-world right before the election. And once again'--as with CPAC, and Abu Aita, and any number of Cohen's marks'--great pains were taken to hide just how orchestrated the whole thing was.

* * *

It's interesting how Borat'--within the plot of the movie'--is supposed to have wound up at the rally in Washington. While quarantining with two new friends'--Jim Russell and Jerry Holleman, two supposed QAnoners with virtually no online presence'--Borat stumbles upon a video of his daughter, Tutar (played by newcomer Maria Bakalova) pretending to be a journalist named Grace. In the clip, Tutar/Grace/Bakalova is interviewing two anti-lockdown activists about the risk COVID emergency measures pose for a long-term slide into authoritarianism.

What's really interesting here is that this interview actually happened. The two interviewees, Ashley and Adam Smith, are leaders of ReopenNC, a grassroots movement with over 80,000 members in their Facebook group. On April 22nd'--long before the March for Our Rights rally in late June'--Ashley received an email from someone using the name Charlotte Richardson, claiming to be ''a producer for More Than Sports TV, a production company working together with One America News Network on a documentary that explores the horrors of socialism and its corrosive impact on creativity, success and innovation here in America.'' More Than Sports TV had a website, registered in November of 2019. Likewise, Held Back, the supposed documentary project in the works, had a website that was just registered on March 9th of this year. (Neither website remains active today.) Given the apparently legitimate websites and the purported connection to OAN, Smith agreed to the interview.

She conducted a 40-minute interview over Zoom with ''Grace,'' in which the two talked seriously about the subject matter; Bakalova did not break character once, and Smith never suspected a thing. Charlotte even reached out to set up another interview, this time with Ashley's husband, Adam, participating. It was from this second interview that a brief clip was pulled and posted to The Patriots Report, ostensibly a news site. It is this posting that Borat stumbles upon in the film.

The Patriots Report domain was registered in September of 2019. Like all the other sites in play here, it was registered using an anonymous proxy service, making it impossible to determine who purchased the domain. The bulk of its content is plagiarized from popular sites like The Gateway Pundit'--though some portion, notably the Bakalova/Smith interview, is original, fabricated content. As of October 31st, The Patriots Report is still active, still masquerading as a news site, and still posting new content. In these last days before the election, there seems to be a focus on just that. One story, pulled from Politico without attribution, warns that ''Most social media users in three key states have seen ads questioning the election.'' Another story, ripped straight from Daily Kos, has been pinned to the site's homepage for days: ''It's not just social media: Election disinformation now spreading through text, emails.'' If the site was meant solely as a prop for a comedy film, it's hard to imagine why it's being used to spread fears over ''election disinformation'' a week after the movie opened and mere days before the election itself.

This is particularly interesting given Cohen's public activism calling for stricter censorship of speech by tech platforms, with a special focus on Facebook, in close association with the Anti-Defamation League. Cohen is fond of talking about ''fake news'' on the talk show circuit, but he has not offered any explanation as to why he is apparently running a fake news outlet himself.

* * *

Besides the Smith interview and the widely discussed Rudy Giuliani interview, Borat revealed in a tweet on October 24th that Bakalova, posing as an aspiring journalist for The Patriots Report, had been given a brief tour of the White House press room by One America News Network's chief White House correspondent, Chanel Rion. (That a White House correspondent generously offered advice and a tour to a hopeful fellow journalist is somehow meant to be taken as a prank.) On the surface level, he seems to just be suggesting that the current White House is unserious because this actor'--who passed a Secret Service background check two days before the tour'--was allowed into the press room and onto the north lawn.

But another interesting (and deeply concerning) dimension to Sacha Baron Cohen's operation'--on top of CIA sources connecting with Palestinian activists, small fortunes spent crafting political scenes that spread through the internet like a virus, and online disinformation campaigns undertaken in earnest while publicly pushing for tech censorship'--is added by a detail that Rion observed.

The camera crew Bakalova used in her White House stunt were neither amateur pranksters nor Hollywood professionals: they were credentialed members of the press corp. When Rion inquired about this, Bakalova's producer ''shrugged and told [her] he has friends at CBS.'' According to Rion, all three members of the crew had congressional press badges, and at least two of the three had White House hard passes. Hard passes are issued to those who have been on the White House grounds at least 180 times within a six month period'--suggesting that Bakalova's accomplices were full-time, long-term members of the White House press.

Plenty has been said about the cheapness of Borat's humor, and the tiredness of the shtick. Likewise, many have observed that Cohen's comedy'--always heavily political'--has crossed the line into blatant politicking, especially with respect to the Giuliani interview. But there is more than enough here to suggest that the politics run much deeper than might be evident at first glance.

If we're supposed to be so worried about ''election disinformation'' and foreign election meddling, shouldn't we be concerned about a British multimillionaire'--with unexplained connections to the CIA and the White House press corps, and public affiliation with other institutions clearly hostile to Trump like the ADL'--carrying out massive information ops in the lead-up to an election that he has publicly expressed an interest in influencing? Or should we just pretend it's all okay because the press told us we're supposed to be laughing?

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On April 30, outside the Michigan Capitol, protesters gathered to demand that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer end the business closures and other measures she had imposed to slow the transmission of the coronavirus.

Speaker after speaker denounced the Democratic governor. One Republican congressional candidate told protesters they were ''the tip of the spear'' in the fight against tyranny. Another aspiring official said that by supporting conservative candidates they could ''slap Gretchen Whitmer right across the face.''

In the crowd that day, according to photos and videos, were Adam Fox and at least five others who are now charged in the plot to kidnap Whitmer or, in related cases, providing material support for a planned terrorist act.

According to court records, the defendants, with the 37-year-old Fox accused of being the plot leader, were members of extremist groups and aimed to ''snatch'' the governor and put her on ''trial'' for restrictions such as banning large public gatherings.

Although charging documents placed them at one political rally, a Washington Post examination of images and video found that the men were present at at least seven rallies in Michigan in the six months before their arrests. One of the defendants is seen in a widely circulated photo of several armed men '-- unidentified at the time '-- looking down on lawmakers inside the Capitol from a balcony above. Three others are captured in a photo of masked men appearing to stand guard at an ornate entry outside the chamber, an image that has been published '-- without names '-- by multiple news organizations.

Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico, identified by a Washington Post analysis, appear in an April 30 photo taken at the Michigan Capitol. (Seth Herald/Reuters) At events where the men were present, protest organizers, conservative activists and even law enforcement officers told crowds that the governor had grievously infringed on Michiganders' rights, the Post examination found. Some equated Whitmer's stay-at-home orders to mass arrests that demanded citizens resist '-- the kind of language Whitmer has said stokes threats against her.

At rallies, especially in the spring and early summer, defendants displayed a range of political opinions. One repeatedly promoted positions and slogans of President Trump. Others attended a Black Lives Matter protest and held up signs expressing solidarity over excesses of authority, although some participants said they were disruptive. Still another called himself Libertarian in a live stream from Lansing.

But the examination also shows that the defendants increasingly came to display patches, insignia and other symbols identified with the ''boogaloo'' movement, a sometimes violent anti-government ideology that sees a coming civil war and has spread quickly online this year. In one case, an American flag on a defendant's hat was replaced in June with a boogaloo flag.

Of the six federally charged in October with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, the Post examination found three '-- Fox, Ty Garbin and Daniel Harris '-- who attended protests. Five of the eight men facing state charges '-- William Null, Michael Null, Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico '-- also were active since April in protests.

The men either have pleaded not guilty or not yet entered pleas, as prosecutors have sought delays in the cases. The U.S. attorney's office has filed for an extension until December, saying it needs time to analyze apparent bombmaking materials seized around the times of the arrests.

The Post placed the defendants at rallies by comparing booking photos and other confirmed images of the men against more than 20 hours of video and hundreds of images from the events. Beyond facial traits, The Post identified distinctive features such as tattoos, name tags and unusual clothing and tactical gear. In every case, the Post identifications were then confirmed by acquaintances of the defendants, including friends, family members, fellow protesters or '-- for Harris, Musico and Garbin '-- their lawyers.

Fox's public defenders and attorneys for the Nulls did not return multiple emails and phone messages. An attorney for Morrison said he could not comment until he received more information from prosecutors. A series of attorneys representing Bellar as he was extradited to Michigan did not return messages and an attorney listed in court records on his state case did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Top row, from left: Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar, William Null and Pete Musico. Bottom row, from left: Ty Garbin, Daniel Harris, Adam Fox and Michael Null. (Jackson County Sheriff's Office/Antrim County Sheriff's Office/Kent County Sheriff's Office/Reuters, Richland County Public Information Office/AP) April 30: In LansingThe protest at the Michigan Capitol was organized by a newly formed group calling itself the American Patriot Council, which says its goal is to ''restore and sustain'' a constitutional government in the United States.

The messages from the podium against Whitmer were heated.

Then-congressional candidate Mike Detmer (R) told the crowd that the restrictions the governor imposed on Michiganders regarding the coronavirus were un-American and an attack on freedoms that come from God.

''We are in a war, right now. We are in a war for the hearts, the soul, the traditions and the freedom of our state and our country '... it is up to us to end the shutdown,'' he said. Detmer, who came in second in a crowded field for the Republican nomination to represent the Lansing area, added that opposition to Whitmer's measures needed to continue for ''tyranny to go right back down that dark hole from whence it came.''

''Governor, take your boots off our necks,'' said former Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke, a recent fundraiser for Trump.

Video, social media posts and images show Michael Null, 38, with his twin brother, William, standing near the speakers' podium and also on the steps.

The twins wore ''Michigan Liberty Militia'' patches and wore or held a credential for the event with the word ''safety'' on it. ''Null'' appeared to be handwritten on the front of the brothers' badges.

Organizers Jason Howland and Ryan Kelley confirmed in a recent interview with The Post that the Nulls were among those who provided security. ''At the rallies, they seemed like perfect gentleman and very, very kind and polite guys,'' Howland said.

After the speeches ended, members of the crowd had their temperatures taken as they filed into the Capitol, where the legislature was in session. They packed the rotunda and stairways outside the legislative chamber and chanted ''Let us in!'' and ''Lock her up!''

A photo tweeted by state Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D) shows William Null standing in the public viewing gallery overlooking the Senate floor.

''I don't carry my guns for show. I am not afraid to use them,'' William Null said on a live stream from inside the Capitol. He identified himself as Libertarian and condemned both Republicans and Democrats in the broadcast.

The Null brothers, identified by The Washington Post in a visual analysis, in the Michigan Capitol on April 30. (Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg News) William Null, identified by a Washington Post analysis, is shown in the public viewing gallery overlooking the Senate floor in Lansing during an April 30 protest. (Dayna Polehanki) ''This is what I keep trying to tell everybody,'' he said. ''When you have a right wing and a left wing, it's on the same damn bird. You're flying the same ship, right?''

Among those visible in videos entering the Capitol are Fox and Musico.

State court documents call Musico, 42, a founding member of the anti-government group Wolverine Watchmen.

Fox stands near the front of the crowd facing Michigan state troopers and Capitol security guards in video from MLive. Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a baseball cap and green tactical vest, Fox chants, ''Let us in!''

Musico shouts ''traitors'' in the video. He is on the edge of the crowd in a camouflage jacket, a tactical vest and a hat reading ''In God We Trust.''

Hawaiian shirts have been adopted by the boogaloo movement, whose members sometimes call themselves ''boogaloo bois'' or ''boog bois.'' The movement is decentralized and lacks cohesion, experts say. According to an affidavit filed in the state case, the term boogaloo references ''a violent uprising against the government or impending politically-motivated civil war.''

An employee of a vacuum store where authorities say Fox was living in the basement confirmed Fox was the person pictured in protests at the Capitol. The employee '-- like some others who spoke to The Post for this analysis '-- did so on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their privacy and personal safety.

The Post sent Musico's lawyer, Kareem L. Johnson, images of what appeared to be Musico at the April 30 Lansing protest and asked if they show his client. Johnson replied, ''We have no concern that he has been misidentified in the photos.''

A separate video shows Musico speaking to Bellar, 21, and Morrison, 26, inside the building, the visual analysis found.

A Michigan man who is active in the boogaloo movement said that Morrison told other members via social media posts that he was present at the protest and that Morrison had shared images from inside the Capitol over a now-deleted local boogaloo Facebook group called ''Motor City Liberty.'' Morrison uses the online moniker ''Boogaloo Bunyan,'' according to state charging documents.

Bellar can be identified in images from that day because his tactical vest has a patch bearing his last name. He also is wearing a flag neck gaiter. In June, a Swedish news outlet published a profile of a man wearing the same gaiter who identified himself as ''Paul Bellar.'' He was quoted as saying he identified with the boogaloo movement and was training for conflict.

Trump tweeted support for Michigan's protesters on May 1: ''The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.''

Identified by a Washington Post analysis, Joseph Morrison and Paul Bellar stand in front of a Senate hearing room in the Michigan Capitol on April 30. (Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images) May 14: A closed CapitolAhead of yet another major protest at the Michigan Capitol, Facebook removed pages for groups organizing and promoting the event. One such page '-- People of Michigan vs. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer '-- contained comments advocating violence against Whitmer, according to the Detroit Metro Times, which published comments from the pages before they were deleted.

The Metro Times quoted commenters saying Whitmer should be shot, beaten or beheaded.

Michigan United for Liberty, which organized the event, branded it ''Judgement Day'' and posted advertisements online with images of lightning bolts striking the Capitol.

Amid the growing threats, Michigan State Police closed the Capitol and legislators canceled the day's session.

Photos from that day show Fox and dozens of protesters near the Capitol entrance. The rifle and a red decal on the lower receiver of Fox's gun match an image, published by WOOD TV, from Fox's Facebook page. The decal shows the comic book character Deadpool, who is popular in the boogaloo movement.

The Null brothers, in black hoodies, are visible in a video. Speakers at the event included local business owners who encouraged colleagues to reopen and urged the public to defy Whitmer's stay-at-home orders.

Bellar is in a tactical vest '-- but without his name tag '-- and wearing an American flag face covering that appears to be the same the one he wore at a protest the previous month.

A Washington Post analysis identified Adam Fox standing outside the closed Michigan Capitol during a May 14 rally. (Paul Sancya/AP) Identified by a Washington Post analysis, Paul Bellar stands outside the Michigan Capitol during a May 14 rally. (Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images) May 18: 'Sheriffs speak out'Days later, the American Patriot Counsel organized an event in Grand Rapids called ''American Patriot Rally '-- Sheriffs speak out.''

Fluttering in the crowd were anti-Whitmer posters and an assortment of flags including one for the anti-government militia-style organization the Three Percenters, named after the debunked notion that only 3 percent of colonists fought in the American Revolution.

Mixing with the armed men and addressing the demonstrators this time were prominent Michigan Republicans, including state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey.

And this time it was a member of law enforcement who ratcheted up the rhetoric against Whitmer. Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf (R) took the stage and equated the travel restrictions put in place by Whitmer with the state's definition of ''unlawful arrest.''

''The definition of an arrest is basically taking away your right to free will, your right to move about. That's an arrest, and an unlawful arrest is when we do it unlawfully,'' the sheriff said. ''So when you are ordered to your home, are you under arrest? Yeah, by definition, you are.''

Video shows William Null standing behind Leaf during his speech. By this time, Null, has a boogaloo patch in addition to a militia patch, on his tactical vest.

Fox also is in the crowd, a photo shows. As the event came to an end, Fox joined the Null brothers onstage at the request of event organizers, who invited everyone ''that is open carry'' to gather for a photo op, a WOOD TV video shows.

William Null, identified by a Washington Post analysis, onstage during a May 18 rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. (LEFT: Photo by Cory Morse/Grand Rapids Press/AP, RIGHT: MLive.com) Adam Fox, identified in a visual analysis by The Washington Post, among the crowd at a May 18 rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Paul Sancya/AP) May 20: Operation HaircutAs the shutdown persisted, ''Operation Haircut,'' a protest organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, drew hundreds in support of a 77-year-old barber who defied orders to shutter his shop, according to the event's Facebook page.

In images of the event, Musico is seen with Daniel Harris, 23, who faces federal charges in the plot to kidnap Whitmer. Harris carried a Hawaiian-print holster similar to those marketed and sold online as associated with the boogaloo movement. Musico wore a Hawaiian shirt. In a separate photo, Harris is behind Morrison, who also wore a Hawaiian-patterned shirt.

In an email to The Post, Harris's lawyer Parker Douglas wrote, ''Each of these photos appear to include Mr. Harris.''

Daniel Harris and Pete Musico outside the Michigan Capitol during a May 20 protest, as identified by a Washington Post analysis. (Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images) Daniel Harris walks behind Joseph Morrison during a May 20 protest outside the Michigan Capitol, as identified by a Washington Post analysis. (Jeff Kowalsky/Getty Images) June 6: Racial injusticeA little more than two weeks later, on June 6, Harris and Bellar were in Lake Orion, Mich., during a demonstration against racial injustice in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in police custody, according to images posted on Facebook by the Lake Orion Review. Harris stood with men carrying signs saying ''boog bois for justice'' and ''boogaloo stands with you.'' The same images show Bellar holding a sign referring to Black Lives Matter: ''B.L.M. '-- A badge is not a license to murder.''

An interview with the Oakland County Times quotes Harris supporting protests surrounding Floyd's death and condemning police brutality. ''It is a shame what happened with George Floyd and instances where law enforcement officers murder an unarmed man/woman who isn't resisting arrest, was complying with the orders is wrong and need to be stopped,'' he said in the article.

On that same day, prosecutors allege, Fox and Croft traveled to Dublin, Ohio, for a meeting with at least 13 others from different states. According to an FBI affidavit, the group discussed ''creating a society that followed the U.S. Bill of Rights'' and talked about state governments they believed to be in violation of the Constitution, including Michigan and Virginia. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) had also faced intense criticism from Trump and conservatives for imposing coronavirus-related safety measures.

Some at the Dublin gathering discussed peaceful ways to achieve their goals, the court filing says. However, several talked about ''murdering 'tyrants' or 'taking' a sitting governor,'' according to the FBI affidavit.

Daniel Harris and Paul Bellar, identified in a visual analysis by The Washington Post, march in Lake Orion, Mich., during a June 6 racial injustice protest. (Jim Newell/Lake Orion Review) Paul Bellar, left, identified by The Washington Post in a visual analysis, at a racial injustice protest in Michigan. (Jim Newell/Lake Orion Review) June 18: A meetup By June 18, Fox was recruiting others for the planned attack on the Capitol in Lansing while at a rally, according to information captured on a wire worn by a confidential informant and described in court filings. Days earlier, in a recorded call, Fox allegedly had shared details of the operation to storm the building and the plan to take hostages and arrest the governor for ''treason.''

Fox can be seen at a gathering organized by the American Patriot Council that was advertised as a rally in support of Second Amendment rights. On the APC's website, organizers said the event would ''encourage armed patriots to unite.''

Adam Fox at a June 18 rally outside the Michigan Capitol, as identified by a Washington Post visual analysis. (John Rothwell) Pete Musico, Joseph Morrison, Daniel Harris, Paul Bellar and Ty Garbin at a June 18 rally outside the Michigan Capitol and identified in a Washington Post analysis. (John Rothwell) The Post found photos showing Bellar, Musico, Morrison, Fox, Harris and 25-year-old Ty Garbin '-- another of the federal defendants '-- speaking among themselves at the June 18 event.

Gary K. Springstead, a lawyer for Garbin, confirmed in a phone interview that pictures from that rally included his client. Springstead, a former FBI agent, said he looks forward to defending Garbin and challenging allegations Garbin was involved in the alleged plot.

A local television crew interviewed members of the group at one point during the day, asking why they wore Hawaiian shirts. Fox responded, ''It is just a shirt.''

''It doesn't mean anything?'' News 8 reporter Susan Samples asked again. ''No, not that I know of, what does it mean?'' replied Musico, flashing a broad smile at the camera.

In other images from that day, Musico has a ''Boojahadeen'' patch on his vest, and the spot on Morrison's cap where an American flag had been visible at earlier rallies shows a boogaloo-associated flag.

A freelance photographer captured a picture of William Null speaking at one point during the rally. Video of his remarks could not be located.

William Null, identified by The Washington Post analysis, speaks during the June 18 protest outside the Michigan Capitol. (John Rothwell) In a Detroit News photo taken later, after protesters against police brutality arrived about an hour into the rally, Harris is flanked by Morrison and Bellar.

Through late September, prosecutors allege that those involved in the kidnapping plot staked out the governor's weekend house and participated in firearms trainings. But they had become leery of appearing in public together, the federal case alleges.

Federal court records allege Fox said he intended to act before Election Day.

Kayla Ruble contributed to this report.

Yep, never underestimate the power of the American banking system

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Mon, 02 Nov 2020 04:22

Youth In Asia : @adamcurry @warjilis https://t.co/Kad7i5oAIv https://t.co/0e4q8gsrMq

Mon Nov 02 03:51:48 +0000 2020

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Tue, 03 Nov 2020 15:46

Image Credits: Ant Group

The Shanghai stock exchange announced postponing Ant Group's colossal initial public offering, a day after Chinese regulators weighed a slew of new fintech rules and summoned Jack Ma and other top executives to a closed-door meeting.

The rare talk between China's top financial regulators and Ant, which revealed ''major changes in the fintech regulatory environment,'' may disqualify the firm from listing on November 5, the bourse said in a statement on the evening of November 3.

It's unclear what those ''changes'' are, though the bourse has ordered Ant to disclose them. It's worth noting that in late October, Ma gave a provoking speech criticizing China's financial regulation. The conference was attended by China's senior leaders and later on stirred widespread controversy.

Ant has halted its IPO in Hong Kong, where it planned to list concurrently, upon receiving the notice from Shanghai, the firm announced in a statement.

''We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience brought to investors. We will properly handle follow-up matters following compliance regulations of the two exchanges,'' it said.

Ant has over the years tried to be in the good graces of the authorities. When it rebranded from Ant Financial to Ant Technology this year, the gesture was seen as an attempt to shed the firm's image as an intimidating financial giant and stress the one of a benevolent technology provider. The campaign began a few years ago, prompting the firm to devise awkward coinages like ''techfin'' (as opposed to ''fintech'') and declare it wasn't competing with traditional financial institutions, many of which were state-led.

The promises weren't merely a show. Ant has slowly grown into an online marketplace matching hundreds of millions of customers with financial products offered by traditional players. It's also brought on heavyweight state actors like the National Social Security Fund and China International Capital Corporation as shareholders, which are slated for handsome returns from their investments.

But the amount of reassurance did not seem enough. China's financial authorities released a new wave of proposals on Monday to rein in the fintech sector, days before Ant was scheduled to raise $34.5 billion in the world's largest initial public offering. The draft, though not explicitly aimed at Ant, coincided with the financial regulators' meeting with Ant executives.

''Views regarding the health and stability of the financial sector were exchanged,'' an Ant spokesperson told TechCrunch earlier in a statement. ''Ant Group is committed to implementing the meeting opinions in depth and continuing our course based on the principles of: stable innovation; embrace of regulation; service to the real economy; and win-win cooperation.''

The message was clear: Ant strives to abide by Beijing's wishes.

''We will continue to improve our capabilities to provide inclusive services and promote economic development to improve the lives of ordinary citizens,'' the firm added.

The proposal was just the latest move in China's ongoing effort to bring stability to its flourishing fintech sector. The draft rules include a ban on interprovincial online loans unless otherwise approved by authorities; a maximum online loan amount of 300,000 yuan ($45,000) for each individual; and a 1 billion yuan registered capital threshold for online microloan lenders.

At issue is Ant's ballooning lending business, which contributed 41.9 billion yuan or 34.7% to its annual revenue, according to the firm's IPO prospectus. In the year ended June, Ant had worked with about 100 banks, doling out 1.7 trillion yuan ($250 billion) of consumer loans and 400 billion yuan ($58 billion) of small business loans.

Over the years, China's financial regulators have dropped numerous other policies limiting the expansion and profitability of fintech players. For instance, Ant's payments service Alipay and its rivals could no longer generate lucrative interest returns from customer reserve funds starting last year.

The article was updated on November 3, 2020 with Ant's announcement.

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 17:45

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 13:26

Oct 1, 2020 at 08:41 UTC Updated Oct 1, 2020 at 13:57 UTC

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Kelly Barnes/Getty Images)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the federal government has set aside nearly A$800 million (US$575 million) to invest in digital technologies as part of its coronavirus recovery plan.

Morrison announced the news Tuesday, saying the funding is aimed to help the country's businesses recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as create more jobs.While Australia hasn't been hit as badly as nations like the U.S. and India by the virus, it has still seen around 27,000 cases and nearly 900 deaths in total, according to its official figures.After seeing growth for a record 30 years, the coronavirus has now tipped the country into a recession as lockdowns sent spending spiraling.The US$575 million investment, to be concreted in the 2020 budget, is part of Morrison's plan to bounce back from the pandemic.In the announcement, he sets out that varying amounts will be spent on different prongs of the plan, including:$256.6 million on a digital identity solution that will make it easier and more secure to interact with government services (and later, the private sector).$419.9 million to fully implement the Modernizing Business Registers (MBR) program.$22.2 million will go to help small businesses utilize digital technologies through tools and training made available under the Australian Small Business Advisory Service.Blockchain technology gets a specific mention with a $6.9 million initiative that will see two pilots aimed to cut business compliance costs.Other prongs include the accelerated rollout of 5G and industry trials of the technology, a "regulatory technology commercialization initiative" to improve compliance and support digital technology companies, and an effort to mandate the adoption of electronic invoicing by July 1, 2022, for government agencies.''The Plan supports Australia's economic recovery by removing out-dated regulatory barriers, boosting the capability of small businesses and backs the uptake of technology across the economy,'' the prime minister said in the announcement.Also read: Ex-Employee at Australian Science Agency Avoids Prison After Mining Crypto on Supercomputers

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 13:25

Number 2020-27

Date 2 November 2020

The Reserve Bank today announced that it is partnering with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank,Perpetual and ConsenSys Software, a blockchain technology company, on a collaborative project to explorethe potential use and implications of a wholesale form of central bank digital currency (CBDC) usingdistributed ledger technology (DLT). This is part of ongoing research at the Reserve Bank on wholesaleCBDC.

The project will involve the development of a proof-of-concept (POC) for the issuance of a tokenisedform of CBDC that can be used by wholesale market participants for the funding, settlement and repaymentof a tokenised syndicated loan on an Ethereum-based DLT platform. The POC will be used to explore theimplications of 'atomic' delivery-versus-payment settlement on a DLT platform as well asother potential programmability and automation features of tokenised CBDC and financial assets.

Assistant Governor (Financial System) Michele Bullock said 'With this project we are aiming toexplore the implications of a CBDC for efficiency, risk management and innovation in wholesale financialmarket transactions. While the case for the use of a CBDC in these markets remains an open question, weare pleased to be collaborating with industry partners to explore if there is a future role for awholesale CBDC in the Australian payments system.'

The project is expected to be completed around the end of 2020 and the parties intend to publish areport on the project and its main findings during the first half of 2021.

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:27

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from the final summary report, written by Prince Lobel Tye LLP and delivered to the PRX Board of Directors.On August 3rd, a former employee of PRX sent an email to all staff in which they recounted what they described as the ''systematic mistreatment'' they experienced that prompted them to resign from their position. The PRX Board of Directors initiated an independent investigation into the former employee's assertions. This is a summary of the investigation.

BackgroundThe Board engaged the services of the law firm Prince Lobel to conduct the investigation, with Joseph Edwards as investigator. Mr. Edwards has extensive experience at MCAD, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, both as a Commission member and previously as a staff attorney. He also served as the Chief Diversity and Civil Rights Officer of MassDOT, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. He has deep expertise investigating allegations of discrimination and related issues.

MethodologyThe Board did not put any limitations on Prince Lobel as to how to conduct the investigation, whom to interview, etc. and there was no time limit set within which the investigation was to be completed.

Prince Lobel spoke with fourteen current and former PRX employees at all levels of the organization who it believed had information relevant to the assertions in the former employee's email. With one exception, Prince Lobel interviewed or spoke with each individual at least twice. The conversations were conducted one on one and were not recorded. Two individuals reached out independently to provide information without having first been contacted by Prince Lobel. In addition to the former employee, one other individual who was contacted chose not to be interviewed and one person did not respond at all to telephone or email invitations to participate.

Summary of FindingsPrince Lobel did not uncover any evidence of unlawful discrimination or harassment, or a violation of any PRX policy related to the former employee regarding the former employee's employment at PRX. While there was evidence of mistakes, directives and policies that may not have been transmitted to them as clearly as possible, miscommunications, and management practices that were less than optimal, there is nothing to suggest that the former employee was ever treated adversely because of their race or gender, the touchstone of a cognizable discrimination complaint. No singular reason emerged as to why the Black women to whom the former employee alluded left PRX. They all did so for different reasons, and none of the three cited mistreatment because they were Black women as a motivating reason for leaving PRX.

However, the investigation uncovered signs of what can be described as unconscious bias and ''microaggressions'' that tended to make the work experience for some BIPOC employees difficult. These factors transcended education, job status, or time on the job; negative experiences were reported by BIPOC at all levels of the organization. These types of complaints were not universal among BIPOC, and some said they had never experienced unconscious bias or microaggressions.

RecommendationsIt is indisputable that there have been irritants to Black women that were not apparent to PRX leadership until it received direct feedback from its DEI consultants and began reviewing the results of the listening sessions. It found out, for example, that there was a manager who was a source of microaggressions and unwarranted additional stress and anxiety for BIPOC. Once the problem was uncovered, however, PRX moved quickly to address it. PRX has also moved decisively and quickly to uncover any additional problems that may exist, consider the best means of eliminating them, and try to ensure that the problems do not recur.

PRX has announced, publicly and internally, its goal of creating and maintaining a work environment that is safe, secure and welcoming to BIPOC and to all employees. To date, it seems to have made every effort to follow through with the commitment to DEI that began in January 2020 when it retained Project Inkblot, long before the George Floyd killing or the former employee's resignation. PRX should continue to seek out and rely on competent ''experts'' in the field of DEI as it navigates its way toward a diverse, thriving workplace. The company would also do well to look to its employees and encourage them to identify efforts that are working and potential trouble spots, and make suggestions on possible improvements, as it moves toward the safe, inclusive environment it says it wants to create.

For now, PRX is doing what it should be doing, and so long as it is diligent about its DEI efforts and stays on its current path, improvements will not come overnight, but they will come.

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 18:22

PROVIDENCE '' A majority of Rhode Islanders whose votes had been counted by shortly after midnight supported a proposal to remove ''and Providence Plantations'' from the state's official name.

With all precincts reporting but some mail and emergency ballots still to be counted, 52.8% of voters supported dropping the words from the state's name compared to 47.2% who opposed it, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections.

Election 2020: Live Local Results

In 2010, the last and only time the measure ever reached voters '-- despite legislative attempts dating back to 1975 '-- Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly rejected it: 250,466 to 71,162.

More:The state is changing. Will its name follow? The details of a 20-year debate over 'and Providence Plantations'

Supporters and opponentsSupporters of the name change had hoped that this year's national focus on racial injustice and the controversial killings of several Black people by police around the country would persuade voters that the phrase they saw as offensive for its present-day connection with slavery should be eliminated.

Opponents of the measure, however, said the word ''plantation'' had no association with slavery when Roger Williams settled Providence in 1636. Then, the word referred only to a tract of land, or a farm. They argued ''Providence Plantations'' was history and worth preserving.

The two arguments played out in voting booths '' and, in the case of Donal and Marlene Fahey, of Cumberland, in their car.

The married couple left the Community Elementary School on Tuesday morning having voted differently on the ballot question.

''I voted for it,'' said Donal. ''I understand both sides but this whole Black Lives Matter [movement] and the killing of folks is just too big of a topic'' to ignore.

But Marlene Fahey said, ''I guess I'm a traditionalist, so I rejected it. I just don't see the connection'' between the word and any offensiveness. And besides, she typically rejects most ballot questions ''unless it's something I feel really passionate about.''

Dozens of people polled across the state Tuesday gave varying reasons for why they supported or opposed removing plantations from the state name.

Some supported it, not because it meant much to them personally, they said, but because it offended other Rhode Islanders. Others favored the name change, they said, because in this moment of racial reckoning it was time for Rhode Island to rid itself of a phrase imbued with racial subjugation.

Jessica Medeiros, 42, a business owner from Lincoln, said she didn't realize the hurt the word plantation caused some people until recently, ''so I was glad to vote to have it removed,'' she said. ''I want everyone in this country and this state to feel welcomed and treated as an equal.

Opponents of the measure offered equally varying reasons for rejecting the proposal.

Some said ''plantations'' was part of history and worth preserving, while others said they did not want to kowtow to what David Bogdanski, 59, an insurance agent from Lincoln, called ''an angry mob.''

''I don't understand what's so wrong about it,'' he said.

Still, the measure's passage wouldn't surprise him: ''There's a lot of sheep,'' Bogdanski said. ''I would think it's a bad thing, but I'm not going to burn cities or anything like that. I'm a Republican. We don't do stuff like that. That's the Democrats."

In Hopkinton, Monica Tutko, 40, who works in animal control, said she voted in favor of the name change even though ''it doesn't carry any weight with me either way.'' But Tutko said if others viewed the word negatively, ''then I'd rather right that.''

In Westerly, Kathy Traskos, 65, an accountant, voted against the measure.

''I think it's a ridiculous thing to do,'' she said. ''I don't think it has anything to do with racism or anything. It's been the name of the state forever, and I just don't believe it has any effect on anyone really.''

Antonio Giorno, 45, a senior planner, felt the same way as he prepared to vote in Westerly.

''If you go back and look at the actual history behind [the word], it's not necessarily the same as what was going on down South,'' in terms of slavery, he said. ''I've always enjoyed it because being a true Rhode Islander, I've always said 'Hey, we're the smallest state with the largest name,' so we kind of had that as kind of a talking point when it comes to Rhode Island history'...''

The push for the name change had some big supporters.

Gov. Gina Raimondo and General Assembly leaders all struck the word plantations from their official documents this summer, as did Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza. Raimondo said the word was associated with ''the ugliest institution'' in the nation's history.

The Rhode Island Foundation spearheaded a nonprofit group advocating for the change with an initial $75,000 grant. The group was led by state Rep. Anastasia Williams, a Providence Democrat, former Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch and former House Finance Committee Chairman Antonio Pires.

For Pires, his advocacy for the name change represented a personal change of heart. Twenty years ago he was one of the legislators voting against putting the question before voters. Pires said he didn't then have the same sensitivity to the issue as he does now.

Elizabeth Matczak, 23, of Westerly and a librarian, said the time had come to change the state's name, just as a practical matter.

''I've lived in Rhode Island my entire life and I don't think I've ever been like, 'Hi, yeah, I live in Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations.' Nobody says that.'' Besides, said Matczak, ''We're not in Colonial time periods anymore. We don't have slave states.''

At the Providence polling place at 552 Academy Ave., Micki Searight, a 50-year-old therapist, said she was voting for the name change because ''I think we need to make gestures that are healing ... and a constant reminder in our state name, I don't think it speaks to that healing and moving forward."

But Lenny Demers, 58, and his wife, Nicea Demers, 57, saw it differently.

"Plantations in its context simply means colony or a large swath of land," he said.

"We very much don't want our history changed,'' she said.

"If the state votes to change the name of the state, this is what elections are for,'' said Nicea Demers. ''You might not like it but we still live in a country that allows you to have a part. We will accept that. We might be saddened by it, but maybe we'll work to reeducate people about our history. But this is America."

With reports from Brown University journalism students Liv Simmons, Olivia George, Kayla Guo and Aida Sherif

More:RHODE ISLAND AND THE SLAVE TRADE: BUYING AND SELLING HUMAN BEINGS

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 12:52

Health care professionals gather outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis in June to demonstrate in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Jeff Roberson/AP hide caption

toggle caption Jeff Roberson/AP Health care professionals gather outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis in June to demonstrate in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Jeff Roberson/AP First-year medical student Sean Sweat "didn't want to tiptoe around" issues of race when she sat down with 11 of her classmates to write a new version of the medical profession's venerable Hippocratic oath.

"We start our medical journey amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and a national civil rights movement reinvigorated by the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery," begins the alternate version of the oath, rewritten for the class of 2024 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

It continues: "We honor the 700,000+ lives lost to COVID-19, despite the sacrifices of health care workers."

Sweat and the other incoming first-year medical students recited this newly penned pledge, along with a traditional version of the Hippocratic oath, as part of orientation activities during their first week of medical school this fall.

First-year medical students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine work together on Zoom to craft a new version of the Hippocratic oath. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine hide caption

toggle caption University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine The earliest known version of the Hippocratic oath dates back to the fifth century B.C. Many iterations exist, and in many U.S. medical schools it's become customary for incoming medical students to write and even recite their own versions; many of the variants include language that prohibits discrimination or bias in the practice of medicine.

What's distinctive about the University of Pittsburgh version is that it specifically names people who have died recently at the hands of police and thereby addresses events that are still unfolding.

"Our oath can be both timely and timeless," Sweat says.

Increasingly, medical professionals are joining protests for racial justice and acknowledging racism's impact on public health. For example, Black residents of Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is the county seat, have been disproportionately hurt by the coronavirus, like Blacks in other parts of the United States. Though 13% of Allegheny County is Black, Black residents make up nearly 19% of cases and 30% of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

"This pandemic has wreaked havoc on minority populations," Sweat says. "It has revealed the many gaps within the medical field. ... A lot of those gaps that this pandemic has revealed, those are things we need to go after to fix."

Bioethicist Laura Guidry-Grimes agrees this year has been a "paradigm-shifting time" that has brought a "reckoning" for medicine, and therefore she likes that the University of Pittsburgh version of the Hippocratic oath discusses COVID-19.

"[It acknowledges] that we have been challenged and learned the hard way ... that what we've been doing is not enough," says Guidry-Grimes, an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the University of Arkansas.

The new oath asks physicians to eliminate their personal biases, combat disinformation to improve health literacy and be an ally to minorities and other underserved groups in society.

Sean Sweat, a first-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, was part of the group of students who wrote a new version of the Hippocratic oath for physicians. Anna Li hide caption

toggle caption Anna Li It also calls on doctors to learn about the social determinants of health "to use my voice as a physician to advocate for a more equitable health care system from the local to the global level."

But some worry that the proliferation of different versions of physician oaths could weaken their intended effect on the profession. A 2004 paper in Academic Medicine suggested that the trend might even lead to "fragmentation and confusion about the ethical values of the medical profession."

But Guidry-Grimes says she thinks that concern is misplaced. If anything, she worries that physician oaths have lost relevance: "My fear is that too often that the oath taking is a ritual for the sake of ritual," she says. "You have words washing over everything without meaning or impact." If that is the case, exercises such as rewriting the oaths are helpful in that they may spur medical students to consider more deeply professional ethics and their sense of mission.

For Sweat, the oath she helped write has meaning and will continue to guide her as she launches her career. "Patients entrust us to take care of their health," she says. "In my opinion we're more than just physicians. We're leaders in this society. With that comes a responsibility."

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Tue, 03 Nov 2020 16:19

November 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) '' In my recent essay for the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh, I spoke of the eclipse that is obscuring the Church of Christ, superimposing over it an anti-church of heretics, corrupt men, and fornicators. Catholics know that the Church must retrace the footsteps of her Head, Jesus Christ, along the way of His Passion and Cross, and that the end times will be marked by a great apostasy that will strike the ecclesial Body even up to its highest levels. Thus, just as on Golgotha the Sanhedrin thought that it had defeated Our Lord by having him condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, today the Vatican Sanhedrin believes that it can overthrow the Church by delivering it into the hands of the globalist anti-Christian tyranny.

We must therefore evaluate what is happening today with a supernatural gaze, in light of the battle that the world's (C)lite are conducting against Christian civilization. The attack that was initially launched from the outside against the Catholic monolith has evolved, from the Second Vatican Council onwards, into an action of widespread infiltration by means of the deep state in civil society and the deep church in the religious sphere. The enemy has succeeded in penetrating the interior of both the State and the Church, in order to rise to the very top, building a network of complicity and connivance that binds all of its members by means of blackmail, having chosen them precisely because of their corruptibility. It is not by chance that honest officials are systematically hindered, marginalized, and made the object of attacks.

In the past few weeks, the press has reported the news of the umpteenth Vatican financial scandal, following which Jorge Mario Bergoglio removed Giovanni Angelo Becciu from his official posts and deprived him of the prerogatives of cardinals. Those who think that this removal will serve to counter the corruption of the Roman Curia will be disturbed to learn that the person who replaced him in his position as Substitute, Edgar Pe±a Parra, who ought to work to heal the disastrous mismanagement and intrigues of Becciu and others, is in fact even more blackmailable than his predecessor. This blackmailability is the indispensable requirement to be able to be manipulated by the one who, while presenting himself as a reformer of the Curia and the punisher of a vaguely defined clericalism, is in fact surrounded by corrupt and immoral people, promoting them and covering up investigations that concern them.

When he arrived in Rome in 2018, called by Bergoglio to fill the position of Substitute at the Secretariat of State in place of Angelo Becciu, the Venezuelan archbishop was already ''being talked about.'' A report about him indicated his immoral conduct: when I was Delegate for the Papal Representations, disturbing information had already come to me about Msgr. Pe±a Parra, and I promptly referred this information to then-Substitute Msgr. Leonardo Sandri. I spoke publicly about this in my May 2, 2019, interview with the Washington Post, but the newspaper chose to omit the sections about Pe±a Parra. Since the compromising dossiers seem destined not to be consulted in the Vatican, let's try to better understand the curriculum vitae that led Monsignor Pe±a Parra to the Secretariat of State.

The young Edgar Pe±a Parra, on the eve of his priestly ordination, had already been reported as a notorious homosexual, to the point that in February 1985 Archbishop Roa P(C)rez told the Rector of the seminary, Leon Cardenas, that he had harbored doubts about the candidate for some time, and that he had just received reports of this nature, in addition to having learned that he had been expelled from San Tommaso d'Aquino Seminary in his third year of formation. According to the seminary spiritual director Father Leyre, the news of this expulsion had been hidden by another priest, Don Roberto L¼ckert Leon, who had falsified the report. In the meantime, L¼ckert Leon became the Archbishop of Coro (now emeritus) and the powerful President of the Commission for Social Communications of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference. The reports sent to Pe±a Parra's superior did not prevent him from being ordained a priest on August 23, 1985, and subsequently sent to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where future diplomats of the Holy See are trained.

On September 24, 1990, Pe±a Parra was accused of having seduced two minor seminarians from the parish of San Pablo, who were supposed to enter the Major Seminary of Maracaibo the same year. The event took place in the church of the Madonna del Rosario, where Rev. Jos(C) Severeyn was the parish priest. Pe±a Parra was denounced to the police by the parents of the two young men and was examined by the Rector of the Major Seminary, Rev. Enrique P(C)rez, and by the spiritual director, Rev. Emilio Melchor. The Rev. Enrique P(C)rez, the former-rector of the Major Seminary, has confirmed this episode in writing.

In August 1992, when he was a student at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Edgar Pe±a Parra was involved, along with the same Jos(C) Severeyn, in the death of two people: a doctor and a certain Jairo P(C)rez, who were killed by an electric shock on San Carlos Island in Lake Maracaibo. The dossier adds the detail that the bodies were found naked, the victims of macabre homosexual practices. Severeyn was then removed from his parish by then-Archbishop Msgr. Roa P(C)rez and was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese, thereby finding himself in a position where he could destroy or falsify documents relating to these cases.

In January 2000, the Maracaibo journalist Gast"n Guisandes L"pez made grave accusations against several homosexual priests of the Diocese of Maracaibo, including Pe±a Parra. In 2001, Gast"n Guisandes L"pez twice requested to meet with the Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela, Msgr. Andr(C) Dupuy, but the Nuncio refused to receive him. The following year, however, he reported these scandalous episodes involving Edgar Pe±a Parra to the Secretariat of State.

The relevant documentation is thus found in the archives of the Nunciature in Venezuela where, starting from that date, the successive Nuncios have been Archbishops Giacinto Berloco (2005-2009), Pietro Parolin (2009-2013) and the present Nuncio, Aldo Giordano. These men had the documents related to these accusations against the future Substitute at their disposal, and likewise the Secretaries of State, Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and Pietro Parolin, were familiar with them, and also the Substitutes Leonardo Sandri, Fernando Filoni and Giovanni Angelo Becciu.[1]

Despite the dossiers sent to the Secretariat of State, from 2003 to 2007 Pe±a Parra served as an official at the Nunciature in Tegucigalpa: this is the origin of his relationship with Cardinal 'scar Andr(C)s Rodr­guez Maradiaga and with Msgr. Juan Jos(C) Pineda, who was consecrated as Bishop in 2005, when Pe±a Parra was in Honduras.

Maradiaga is known in the news for financial scandals, including defrauding Martha Alegria Reichmann, the widow of the former Ambassador of Honduras to the Holy See.[2] The Cardinal is one of Bergoglio's principal advisers; he is a key figure on the Council of Cardinals entrusted with the reform of the Curia and the Church, and he has played a decisive role (along with McCarrick) in important nominations like that of Cardinal Blase Cupich to Chicago and of the new Substitute to the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Pe±a Parra. I further recall that in April 2015, George Soros' ''Open Society Foundations'' gave $650,000 to two progressive Catholic organizations, PICO and FPL, in order ''to influence individual bishops to have public voices in support of messages of economic and racial justice for the purpose of beginning to create a critical mass of bishops aligned with the Pope.'' Cardinal Maradiaga, in his relations with PICO, was no stranger to this sort of interference by the aforementioned self-styled philanthropist in American politics, with the complicity of the pro-Bergoglian part of the episcopate.

The two organizations receiving these payments were chosen '' as the documents explain '' because they are involved in long-term projects that have the purpose of changing ''the priorities of the Catholic Church in the United States.'' The great opportunity was given by the Pope's visit to the United States [in 2015] and the Soros foundation explicitly aimed to use the good relationship between PICO and Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, one of Pope Francis's closest advisers, to ''engage'' the Pontiff on themes of social justice and also to have the possibility of sending a delegation to the Vatican prior to the September 2015 visit in order to make the voices of the poorest Catholics in America be heard directly by the Pope.

As for Pineda, he has been accused of illicit financial dealings and sexual harassment and abuse, as well as cultivating a network of relationships with homosexuals (including prostitutes) in Honduras and abroad, to whom he also allegedly gave apartments, cars, motorcycles and trips, using diocesan funds. He is also accused of defending and covering up other cases of abuse committed by clerics. On May 28, 2017, a group of 48 seminarians denounced a widespread and deeply-rooted model of homosexual practice, complaining about Pineda's assaults. Needless to say, Cardinal Maradiaga did not want to give any weight to the accusations, despite the suicide of a seminarian from Santa Rosa de Copn which occurred after he discovered that his lover in the seminary had begun another relationship. And not only this: it should also be recalled that in December 2017 Maradiaga entrusted the governance of the Archdiocese to Pineda during his prolonged absence from the diocese, and furthermore that the majority of his Auxiliary Bishop's sexual encounters took place at Villa Iris, the cardinal's residence.

In the same year, 2017, Pineda was removed from office as Maradiaga's Auxiliary Bishop, without giving any reason to the faithful of Tegucigalpa. The Apostolic Visitator Msgr. Alcides Casaretto gave Bergoglio a substantial report about him, along with the accusations of a group of Catholics who were scandalized by the silence of the Holy See.

From 1993 to 1997 Pe±a Parra was sent on diplomatic assignment to the Nunciature in Kenya. In 1995 he became a Monsignor, in 1999 he was sent to Geneva as a member of the Pontifical Representation to the United Nations. In 2002 he was appointed as a member of the Nunciature in Honduras, and in 2006 he was sent to the Nunciature in Mexico. In 2011 he received episcopal consecration and was appointed Nuncio to Pakistan, then in 2015 to Mozambique. On October 15, 2018, Bergoglio appointed him Substitute in the Secretariat of State, at the recommendation of Cardinal Maradiaga.

Emiliano Fittipaldi at Domani recalls that Pe±a Parra, according to the papers of the magistrates of the Holy See, allegedly played a key role from 2018 to 2019 in several financial decisions that caused the Vatican coffers to lose over 100 million euros. The magistrates also speak of secret negotiations undertaken by the Venezuelan Substitute. It would have been Pe±a Parra himself, one of the most powerful men in the Vatican and personally chosen by Bergoglio, who ''opened the gate of the chicken coop to ravenous foxes'' '' to use an expression of Fittipaldi.

The behavior and responsibility of the Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin appears particularly disturbing and grave, who not only did not oppose Pe±a Parra's appointment as Substitute '' that is, to be his primary collaborator '' but even before that did not oppose his appointment as Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio in January 2011, when Parolin was Nuncio in Caracas. Prior to such an important appointment, a rigorous process of gathering information is carried out in order to verify a candidate's suitability. But what is even more disturbing is the fact that Bergoglio chose a collaborator accused of such grave crimes for such an important role in the Church.

Bergoglio's recent utterances about homosexual civil unions; the impressive number of homosexual prelates with whom he has surrounded himself even in his residence at Santa Marta, beginning with his personal secretary Msgr. Fabian Pedacchio, who was suddenly removed and vanished into thin air; and the scandals that emerge daily about the homosexual lobby in the Vatican: all of these elements suggest that the Argentine wants to legitimize LGBTQ ideology not only in order to support the globalist agenda and demolish the immutable principles of Catholic morality, but also in order to decriminalize the crimes and abuses of his collaborators, protecting the magic circle that involves Maradiaga, Pineda, Pe±a Parra, Zanchetta, and the entire Vatican lavender mafia.

I wonder if Bergoglio himself, who was unknown to many people until March 13, 2013, is not being blackmailed by those who benefit with such impunity from his clemency. This would explain the motive that leads the one who sits on the Throne to rage with so much ruthlessness against the Church of Christ, while showing the greatest respect for people who are notoriously corrupt, perverted, and almost always implicated in sexual and financial scandals. The alternative '' the plausibility of which is supported by disturbing elements that continue to be gathered with each passing day '' is that Bergoglio's choice to surround himself with people given over to vice, who are therefore blackmailable, is a deliberate one, and that the ultimate goal that he pursues consists in the demolition of the Catholic Church, replacing it with a sort of philanthropic and ecumenical NGO that is subservient to the globalist (C)lite. Faced with this betrayal by the one who holds the Papacy, any effort at transparency and clarity, if it is to be effective, cannot exclude the one who for over seven years has proclaimed by his words that he wants to clean up the Vatican and the Church.

+ Carlo Maria Vigano, Archbishop

November 2, 2020In Commemoratione Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 14:21

Washington Examiner : .@JoyAnnReid refers to Justice Clarence Thomas as "Uncle Clarence." https://t.co/4mVR61BRrY

Wed Nov 04 08:05:45 +0000 2020

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 12:40

I have independent sources that have long confirmed that this is absolutely spot on. This is something neither Russia nor China could do because they lack the infrastructure that the CIA/NSA has established with taps directly into the trunk lines for communications. Moreover, that was also confirmed by the documents released by Snowden.

It is not the Chinese nor the Russians who they will probably blame, but the homegrown swamp. The real question remains, can they pull this off on a grand scale this time? What they hate about Trump is the same thing they hated about Kennedy '' reduce American presence in absurd wars. It was Kennedy who set off a gold panic in 1960 during the debate by saying to support the dollar it would be easy by closing offshore military bases.

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 12:31

The soon-to-be-released film Songbird is the first major project out of Hollywood since the lockdowns began, and it smacks of predictive programming, trauma-based mind control, and a disturbing blurring of the lines between fact and fiction.

''Predictive programming is a subtle form of psychological conditioning provided by the media to acquaint the public with planned societal changes to be implemented by our leaders. If and when these changes are put through, the public will already be familiarized with them and will accept them as natural progressions, thus lessening possible public resistance and commotion.'' ~ Alan Watts

Indeed, Songbird is not deeply disturbing because it stretches the imagination into shockingly novel and unthinkable territory, as is to be expected from fiction, but rather, it sends chills up the spine because it speaks to what many of us are already horrified to have seen and believe will likely continue to see happening around us, in the name of "protecting the public against deadly viruses."

In fact, many of the terrifying scenes within the film's trailer will already be familiar to the public because have already been seeded and administered in shocking doses by the Chinese and global media, such as images of citizens dropping dead in the streets, being forcibly removed from their homes by militarized medical police, or the soldering shut of buildings to keep newly quarantined citizens inside their homes-become-lockdown cells.

It is conspicuous that Songbird somehow received approval to be the first feature film to be made during COVID-19 in Los Angeles when virtually all other major products were forbidden from continuing. Also, STX Entertainment's top investors include Chinese companies such as Tencent, a multinational technology conglomerate holding company which includes medical and artificial intelligence divisions, and Hony Capital, which has direct investment ties to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation .

Here is STX Entertainment's telling description of the film:

"In the terrifying thriller SONGBIRD, the COVID-23 virus has mutated and the world is in its fourth year of lockdown. Infected Americans are ripped from their homes and forced into quarantine camps known as Q-Zones, from which there is no escape, as a few brave souls fight back against the forces of oppression. Amid this dystopian landscape, a fearless courier, Nico (KJ Apa), who's immune to the deadly pathogen, finds hope and love with Sara (Sofia Carson), though her lockdown prohibits them from physical contact. When Sara is believed to have become infected, Nico races desperately across the barren streets of Los Angeles in search of the only thing that can save her from imprisonment ... or worse.

The first feature film to be made during COVID-19 in Los Angeles, and about the pandemic itself, SONGBIRD also stars Bradley Whitford and Demi Moore as a wealthy couple who may hold the key to Nico's mission; Alexandra Daddario as a singer enmeshed in a messy and forbidden affair; Paul Walter Hauser as a disabled veteran whose best friend '' a drone named Max '' is his eyes and ears to a world that has left him behind; Craig Robinson as Nico's boss; and Peter Stormare as the corrupt head of the city's ''sanitation'' department, which seizes those infected and transports them to the Q-Zone."

Songbird could be viewed as the perfect merger of predictive programming and trauma-based mind and behavioral control, the latter of which has long been used by private and public sectors in partnership (e.g. the CIA's Operation Mockingbird which manipulated news media for propaganda purposes), or alone, to leverage media assets in such a way as to produce changes in mass behavior, thought, and emotion.

Even if there is absolutely no "hidden agenda," or intention to produce a film that will affect the mind and behavior of the masses, b y scaring the living hell out of people with worsening global scenarios, such as the ''216th straight week'' of lockdown, and the coining of a COVID-23 strain, indicative that in 2023 and beyond things will likely be far worse than they already are (reminiscent of the "endless war on terror," but with viruses taking on the role of bioterrorists), it accomplishes several things that may have value for those who have architected and implemented what many have termed a planned epidemic, i.e. Plandemic.

Screenshot from the Songbird trailer.

First, if things continue to spiral downward as depicted in Songbird, and civil liberties remain suspended or more egregious violations occur (e.g. mandatory vaccination; forcible internment), when the atrocities depicted in the film do come to pass, there may be less resistance among those affected, because the ''shock'' and subsequent disassociation created by the film will generate an immediate, albeit surreal sense of narrative recognition, a d(C)j vu which follows the unfolding of events that have been preprogrammed into the psyche subconsciously, which then lead learned helplessness and passivity when similar events actually unfold in reality.

Or, conversely, if the worst-case scenarios described in the film do not come to pass, they provide a psychic reference frame for what "could have been much worse," rendering the civil and human rights violations actually happening right now to be perceived as less egregious and more likely to generate complacency.

Either way, the film would accomplish both a certain shock-induced emotional release, as well as subsequent anesthetizing effect on the public. This could be considered the perfect formula for co-opting an already media-addicted population who may never before in human history, be less prone to believing the actual evidence of their own eyes in favor of what is presented to them as the "official narrative" through the mainstream media, with the line between fiction and fact become every increasingly blurred, if not entirely erased. Songbird, therefore, becomes the perfect intentional or accidental tool of Operation Mockingbird.

Is Songbird Fiction or Predictive Programming? Are the CDC's COVID-19 "Green Zones" Theoretical or Intended to be Implemented? In Songbird, we know that there are so-called "Q-Zones" set up to confine those suspected to be at risk of being infected, or who are infected. This "fictional scenario" bears eerie resemblance to scenarios called "Green Zones" described on the CDC's website.

The CDC recently released guidelines on the implementation of what amounts to COVID-19 internment or preventive confinement camps. The document, last updated on July 26, 2020, can be found on their website and is titled , '' Interim Operational Considerations for Implementing the Shielding Approach to Prevent COVID-19 Infections in Humanitarian Settings." It proposes a set of guidelines for the establishment of so-called "green zones" intended to segregate and quarantine ''high risk'' populations in order to implement a ''shielding approach to COVID-19.''

According to the document, a shielding approach:

''...aims to reduce the number of severe COVID-19 cases by limiting contact between individuals at higher risk of developing severe disease (''high-risk'') and the general population (''low-risk''). High-risk individuals would be temporarily relocated to safe or ''green zones'' established at the household, neighborhood, camp/sector or community level depending on the context and setting.1,2 They would have minimal contact with family members and other low-risk residents.''

The so-called ''high risk'' group described in the document are, ''older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.''

The shielding approach would require physically separating high-risk individuals from the general population, in order to, ''prioritize the use of the limited available resources and avoid implementing long-term containment measures among the general population.''

The three proposed options for containment/interment are labeled ''green zones'' and include: a) Household Level b) Neighborhood Level and c) Camp/Sector Level.

The CDC states that the shielding approach ''necessitates strict adherence,'' if it is to live up to its promises of protecting high-risk populations from disease and death, and acknowledges that, it could, in fact, make the situation worse through the inadvertent introduction of the virus into a green zone, which it says would result in rapid transmission among the most vulnerable populations the approach is trying to protect.

The CDC also acknowledges that this is a novel approach and that the idea for it comes from ''humanitarian settings as outlined in guidance documents focused on camps, displaced populations, and low-resource settings. This approach has never been documented and has raised questions and concerns among humanitarian partners who support response activities in these settings. The purpose of this document is to highlight potential implementation challenges of the shielding approach from the CDC's perspective and guide thinking around implementation in the absence of empirical data. Considerations are based on current evidence known about the transmission and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and may need to be revised as more information becomes available.''

The CDC's document guidelines are based on two papers published in 2020 titled, ''Guidance for the prevention of COVID-19 infections among high-risk individuals in camps and camp-like settings,'' and COVID-19 control in low-income settings and displaced populations: what can realistically be done?

Both were published by the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine -

a heavily Gates and Melinda Foundation funded and influenced organization. The CDC document also contains a subsection titled, ''Timeline Considerations,'' which sets up a plan for an ''extended duration of implementation time, at least 6 months.''

The explanation provided for this extended duration is as follows:

''Explanation: The shielding approach proposes that green zones be maintained until one of the following circumstances arises: (i) sufficient hospitalization capacity is established; (ii) effective vaccine or therapeutic options become widely available; or (iii) the COVID-19 epidemic affecting the population subsides.

Given the limited resources and healthcare available to populations in humanitarian settings prior to the pandemic, it is unlikely sufficient hospitalization capacity (beds, personal protective equipment, ventilators, and staff) will be achievable during widespread transmission. The national capacity in many of the countries where these settings are located (e.g., Chad, Myanmar, and Syria) is limited. Resources may become quickly overwhelmed during the peak of transmission and may not be accessible to the emergency affected populations.

Vaccine trials are underway, but with no definite timeline. Reaching the suppression phase where the epidemic subsides can take several months and cases may resurge in a second or even third wave. Herd immunity (the depletion of susceptible people) for COVID-19 has not been demonstrated to date. It is also unclear if an infected person develops immunity and the duration of potential immunity is unknown. Thus, contingency plans to account for a possibly extended operational timeline are critical.'' [emphasis added]

Notable information also referenced in the document are:

Green zones would be ''monitored and evaluated,'' with dedicated staff to monitor adherence to protocols and potential adverse effects or outcomes due to isolation and stigma, as well as ''if feasible, to minimize movement in/out of green zones.''

Men and women would be ''isolated separately.''

So-called ''High-risk minors'' would be accompanied into isolation by a single caregiver who will also be considered a green zone resident in terms of movements and contacts with those outside the green zone.

''High-risk individuals will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining their own living space and facilities. This may not be feasible for persons with disabilities or decreased mobility."

While the two primary papers upon which the guidance is based focus on the application of these systems within non-developed or under-developed 'humanitarian zones,'' one wonders what would stop the CDC from employing this strategy domestically if, in fact, these interventions lived up to their promises and actually "saved lives." After all, it was the "save lives" mantra that was used to shutter the national economy, and rendered most social behaviors either illegal or impossible to engage in, since the national lockdown began on March 15th.

Even if these guidelines were intended for the "non-US setting" (which they have not said), trusting that the CDC is either without duplicity, has our best intentions in mind, or is solely in control and charge of the unfolding COVID agenda, amounts to quite a leap of faith in times like ours. For example, the Pentagon recently announced that they instead of the CDC will be in charge of distributing and "deploying" COVID vaccines to the public. Sadly, this could be a sign of things come.

What is not conjecture and completely factual is that Songbird depicts COVID internment or confinement camps as "Q-Zones," and the CDC provides a document that describes them as "Green Zones" -- to be implemented somewhere in the world. This is just one example of how fiction and fact are increasingly blurred in the time of Covid. Is it any wonder people are running scared?

Another example of predictive programming can be found in a 2010 National Film Board of Canada predictive programming documentary OUTBREAK wherein is detailed the Government of Canada's plans for a future outbreak and how it will roundup, mandate tracking bracelets, and put into detention centers those who refuse vaccination.

With films like Songbird leaving people feeling even more scared, traumatized and disempowered, the good news is there are positive actions you can take.

First, p lease continue to support independent media. Greenmedinfo.com is 100% user-supported , and despite multiple attempts to de-platform and censor us, we remain available via our Telegram channel and our free newsletter .

Second, please support the non-profit organization StandForHealthFreedom.com , which provides information and tools for you to empower yourself to preserve your civil and human rights, and medical freedoms.

Third, please share this information via email and social media, as most of the major platforms are censoring our information, making it difficult to spread the word.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.

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Thu, 05 Nov 2020 05:00

Power & Systems : @adamcurry This election facade brought to you by @Jeep #JeepLife https://t.co/8cqojDsvNv

Thu Nov 05 04:43:02 +0000 2020

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 22:54

H-E-B said limits like these are a proven way to stabilize the supply chain.

CULTUREMAP AUSTIN '' As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage and Texans' long-building election stress reaches frenzied levels, San Antonio-based grocer H-E-B is once again imposing purchasing limits on certain grocery products, including what seems to be the most coveted item during the pandemic: toilet paper.

On October 31, H-E-B announced that stores in Central Texas, as well as the San Antonio, Gulf Coast, and border regions, will limit shoppers to purchasing two bath tissue items per shopping trip/transaction. The updated restrictions begin this week, and also include a limit of two paper towel items per shopping transaction.

According to H-E-B, ''limits are a proven way to stabilize the supply chain. We utilize this temporary tool to prevent supply disruption, which could impact availability.''

The grocer also noted H-E-B stores are in ''strong supply'' of these limited-purchase products and stores continue to restock products daily.

H-E-B first rolled out purchasing limits on a variety of food, cleaning and household products in March, when many Texas shoppers flooded stores in an effort to stock up amid pandemic fears. The grocer urged shoppers not to ''panic purchase'' and issued restrictions on dozens of items, from canned food, eggs, and meat to cleaning products and certain over-the-counter medications.

Purchase restrictions began easing on certain items by mid-April, but H-E-B representatives did not comment on how long current purchasing restrictions may last.

In addition to the purchasing limits on toilet paper and paper towels at stores in some Texas regions, the purchase of other products '-- including Texans' beloved brisket '-- has also been temporarily limited at all H-E-B stores throughout the state.

Limited food item at all H-E-B stores

Brisket '' 2 items

Limited non-food items at all H-E-B stores

Disinfecting and antibacterial sprays '' 2 itemsDisinfecting and antibacterial wipes '' 4 itemsHydrogen peroxide '' 2 itemsRubbing (isopropyl) alcohol/swabs '' 2 itemsFirst aid and cleaning gloves '' 2 itemsTrial- and travel-size disinfectant wipes/sprays '' 2 itemsBath tissue '-- 2 itemsPaper towels '-- 2 items

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 15:03

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:56

]intheMatrixxx[ : We love @SidneyPowell1! What did she say? https://t.co/d04Ydq30lg

Tue Nov 03 19:31:38 +0000 2020

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Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:45

Trump War Room - Text TRUMP to 88022 : Tired Joe Biden confuses Donald Trump and health care, calls him "Donald care." https://t.co/vd7iCjyTQ5

Mon Nov 02 17:29:44 +0000 2020

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Tue, 03 Nov 2020 19:10

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Tue, 03 Nov 2020 03:13

Stefan Johansson : @adamcurry Vote Biden https://t.co/TSxjQ9Whnp

Tue Nov 03 01:00:07 +0000 2020

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Tue, 03 Nov 2020 02:42

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Emmanuel Macron imposed a second national lockdown in France last night, declaring that a sudden and ''brutal brake'' on virus transmission was needed. However, the French President acknowledged the threat of violence and riots exploding on French streets against the lockdown measures, saying that he would take "full responsibility for the reactions this the lockdown will cause". There are growing fears that the number of violent anti-lockdown protests recently seen in Italy and Spain will follow in France.

{%=o.title%} Announcing the new French lockdown, Mr Macron warned that 400,000 people will die of coronavirus if France does nothing to control a second wave.

Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman remarked that Europe is "a continent being plunged backwards in time".

He pointed to protests against the lockdown that had erupted in Berlin, as well as several major cities in Italy and Spain.

In Berlin, thousands took to the streets to protest about jobs in culture and entertainment that will be lost once Germany locks down from Monday.

JUST IN: Coronavirus UK: Second lockdown looms as cases spike 'little choice!'

Leaders across the EU are on alert as violent protests erupt across major European capitals (Image: GETTY)

The French President acknowledged the threat of riots on the streets against the lockdown (Image: GETTY)

Germany's new four-week "lockdown lite" will see all bars and restaurants closed but schools and shops will stay open.

In Barcelona, the Spanish hospitality industry came out in force against overnight curfews, regional travel bans and a state of emergency that could last six months.

Last Sunday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared a nationwide state of emergency that he hopes to extend for six months.

One upset restaurant owner in Barcelona told Channel 4: "This feels like ruin and death. We have debts to pay and families depending on us."

In Barcelona, the Spanish hospitality industry came out in force against overnight curfews (Image: GETTY)

Mr Rugman said: "In Italy, there was evidence of how Europe is buckling under the strain.

"Hundreds protested in Rome and other cities against the closure of gyms, bars, restaurants and cinemas.

"For many Italians, the financial battering is proving worse than the illness itself."

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On Tuesday, violence was reported in at least two major northern cities, Milan and Turin (Image: GETTY)

On Tuesday, violence was reported in at least two major northern cities, Milan and Turin, as crowds protested against the severe restrictions enforced to tackle a surge in coronavirus cases.

Footage of the violence showed protesters smash windows, set off smoke bombs and hurl objects at the police.

Last night, the violence continued for the fourth night in a row as demonstrators again clashed with police in Rome as they took to the streets to protests against the restrictions.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced curfews in Rome, Naples and Milan yesterday along with curfews on restaurants and bars and closures of gyms, pools and theatres, in a desperate bid to avoid a second full lockdown.

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Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:34

Christine Lagarde : We've started exploring the possibility of launching a digital euro. As Europeans are increasingly turning to digit'... https://t.co/EplD4MrveH

Sun Nov 01 11:15:08 +0000 2020

s1lverbox : @Lagarde so lets assume you indeed will launch euro, question is if its going to be decentralized or you and your g'... https://t.co/7VLZTm4SY4

Mon Nov 02 18:28:58 +0000 2020

Andrew : @Lagarde https://t.co/vHwXUe3ski

Mon Nov 02 18:28:23 +0000 2020

Duke of Vandals : @Lagarde @acdmbe

Mon Nov 02 18:24:49 +0000 2020

Fantomas : @Lagarde Traitre....

Mon Nov 02 18:18:39 +0000 2020

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Mon, 02 Nov 2020 04:49

Congresswoman Maxine Waters has a stern message for Black voters who are contemplating voting for President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

''Any of them showing their face, I will never ever forgive them for undermining the possibility to help their own people and their own communities. It is absolutely unconscionable.''

Committee chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) arrives for a House Financial Services Committee hearing regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill July 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)During an interview with SiriusXM host Joe Madison, she expressed how it hurts her to see Black people contemplated voting for Donald Trump, according to the Chicago Crusader.

''I don't know why they would be doing it. I don't know what's on their minds, but if we don't turn out this vote and turn it out huge, this man could end up winning again. And this country would go backwards,'' Waters said in the interview.

Read More: Maxine Waters intervenes after Black man is pulled over by police

She goes on to criticize Trump on the division he has caused in this country and during the coronavirus global pandemic.

''The divisiveness that this deplorable human being has caused, the confrontation, the dog whistling to the right wing, the white supremacists, the KKK, and they're coming alive. They're emboldened because they've got a leader who wants them to do it. What did he say to the proud boys? Stand back and stand ready? Ready for what '' confrontation? Give me a break, Joe. I thank you. I know you're on it, doing everything that you can. We've got to shout it from the rooftops '' vote, vote, vote.''

There is the hate, division, and endless lies of the Trump cult. And then there is the beautiful, hopeful, joy of this ad featuring the exceptionally brave Brayden Harrington. Don't ever underestimate the American people. #ShowUpAndVote pic.twitter.com/X0lkTJYTYj

'-- Oren Jacobson ðŸ--¯ (@Oren_Jacobson) October 31, 2020She went on to give a biting criticism towards Black men and how supporting Trump will have consequences for the Black people in their lives.

''They will go down in history as having done the most despicable thing to their families and to their communities and to their mothers and their grandmothers. Because this man is about doing away with social security as we know it. And their grandmothers who are sitting there waiting on those social security checks every month or they couldn't eat,'' said Waters.

Read More: Hip-hop museum and 'All In' director get together to get out the vote

Listen to the full interview below:

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