Apr 012021
 
 April 1, 2021  Posted by at 8:15 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,


Pablo Picasso Jacqueline in Turkish costume 1955

 

Biden Unveils $2T Infrastructure Plan, Tax Increases (OAN)
Emergence Of Dominant Selective Immune Escape Variants (Vanden Bossche)
Therapeutics and COVID-19: Living Guideline (WHO)
Judge Demands That Belgium Scraps All Corona Measures Within Thirty Days (AD)
France Headed For New National Lockdown As COVID Cases Surge (ZH)
Outdoor Mask Decree Met With Dismay By Spain’s Tourism Industry (G.)
Washington State ‘Vaccine Breakthrough’: 100s Get Covid Weeks After Jab (JTN)
15 Million Doses Of J&J Vaccine Ruined By Ingredient Mix-up (DM)
Bipolar Corona-Politics Positive? (OffG)
Russiagate Prober Couldn’t Verify Anything in the Steele Dossier (RCI)
US Dollar’s Status as “Global Reserve Currency” Drops to 25-Year Low (WS)
Ron Paul: Gold and Bitcoin Are At Risk Of Government Crackdown (Kitco)
Journalists Are “Centering” Their “Trauma” To Acquire Power (Tracey)

 

 

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
— Elie Wiesel

 

 

Tucker Greenwald Vaccine passports
https://twitter.com/i/status/1377095450440785924

 

 

The problem with such schemes in the US can be summarized in one word: pork.

Biden Unveils $2T Infrastructure Plan, Tax Increases (OAN)

Joe Biden has unveiled his massive infrastructure plan, projected to cost roughly $2 trillion in taxpayer money. Dubbed the American Jobs Plan, the details of it were made public during an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Wednesday. “So today, I’m proposing a plan for the nation that rewards work, not just rewards wealth,” Biden said. “That builds a fair economy and gives everybody a chance to succeed, and it’s going to create the strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world.” The plan’s largest proposed investment is $621 billion devoted to transportation, with a heavy focus on transitioning to so-called “green energy,” followed by $400 billion to home care services, $300 billion to manufacturing and $213 billion to housing. It would also allocate funds to digital infrastructure, schools and workforce development.

Biden claimed the package would modernize the American economy and boost job creation. “It will create millions of jobs, good paying jobs, it will grow the economy, make us more competitive around the world, promote our national security interests, and put us in position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years,” Biden stated. Yet despite Biden’s grandiose claims of an American revival brought about by government spending, conservatives have balked at the huge price tag attached to his plan, and how he intends to pay for it. The package proposed a reversal of the Trump administration’s 2017 cut to the corporate tax rate, raising it from 21 to 28 percent. It would introduce a minimum tax of 15 percent on book income, the income reported by companies to their investors rather than the IRS.

Additionally, it would increase the global minimum tax on international subsidiaries of U.S. corporations from 13 to 21 percent, regardless of where their profits were made. This last point is notable, as it creates a strong incentive for U.S. companies to reincorporate abroad and ultimately bypass the higher tax rates the Democrat administration wishes to levy from them. This has prompted leading Republicans to heavily criticize Biden’s plan for using infrastructure as a smokescreen to sneak in tax hikes favored by Democrat politicians. “I think the Trojan horse will be called infrastructure, but inside the Trojan horse will be all the tax increases that Senator Scott and others have talked about,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “They want to raise taxes across the board and the only way I think they could pull that off would be through a reconciliation process. They have one more of those available to them.”

Read more …

Vanden Bossche is not giving up.

Emergence Of Dominant Selective Immune Escape Variants (Vanden Bossche)

Mass vaccinaton of vulnerable groups does not abrupt viral transmission chains but increasingly redirects transmission events to asymptomatic carriers (i.e., vaccinated subjects as well as not yet vaccinated young and healthy people, several of whom experienced asymptomatc infecton without mounting long-lived Ab titers2 ). As ongoing mass vaccinaton campaigns are shifing the ‘reservoir’ of viral transmission to asymptomatcally infected subjects (whether vaccinated or not), the likelihood for unvaccinated, previously asymptomatcally infected subjects to experience re-infecton with Sars-CoV-2 while being endowed with suboptmal and short-lived ant-S Abs substantally increases.


This is to say that within the populaton that is now most actvely involved in viral transmission, new, spontaneously emerging S variants have plenty of opportunity to train under suboptmal immune pressure such as to ultmately adapt to the human host and become part of the dominant circulatng Sars-Cov-2 populaton. This is how – afer inital breeding of viral variants as a direct result of infecton preventon measures – subsequent mass vaccinaton campaigns will drive enhanced circulaton of additonal, more infectous viral S variants. ‘Training’ of such more infectous immune escape variants is thought to be refected by the plateau that follows the vaccine-mediated decline in cases and the height of which exceeds the one following the previous wave of cases.

Read more …

They test for those things that are most likely to fail.

Therapeutics and COVID-19: Living Guideline (WHO)

This fourth version of the WHO living guideline addresses the use of ivermectin in patients with COVID-19. It follows the increased international attention on ivermectin as a potential therapeutic option. While ivermectin is also being investigated for prophylaxis, this guideline only addresses its role in the treatment of COVID-19. Ivermectin is relatively inexpensive and accessible, and some countries have already witnessed its widespread use in the treatment of COVID-19; in other countries, there is increasing pressure to do so (14).

In response to this international attention, the WHO GDG now provides recommendations on ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19. Ivermectin is an antiparasitic agent that interferes with nerve and muscle function of helminths through binding glutamate-gated chloride channels (15). We currently lack persuasive evidence of a mechanism of action for ivermectin in COVID-19, and any observed clinical benefit would be unexplained (see Section 5).

[..] Benefits and harms: The effects of ivermectin on mortality, mechanical ventilation, hospital admission, duration of hospitalization and viral clearance remain uncertain because of very low certainty of evidence addressing each of these outcomes. Ivermectin may have little or no effect on time to clinical improvement (low certainty evidence). Ivermectin may increase the risk of SAEs leading to drug dicontinuation (low certainty evidence). Subgroup analyses indicated no effect modification based on dose. We were unable to examine subgroups based on patient age or severity of illness due to insufficent trial data (see Section 5). Therefore, we assumed similar effects in all subgroups. This recommendation applies to patients with any disease severity and any duration of symptoms.

Certainty of the evidence: For most key outcomes, including mortality, mechanical ventilation, hospital admission, duration of hospitalization and viral clearance, the panel considered the evidence of very low certainty. Evidence was rated as very low certainty primarily because of very serious imprecision for most outcomes: the aggregate data had wide confidence intervals and/or very few events. There were also serious concerns related to risk of bias for some outcomes, specifically lack of blinding, lack of trial pre-registration, and lack of outcome reporting for one trial that did not report mechanical ventilation despite pre-specifying it in their protocol (publication bias).

Read more …

Google translate

Judge Demands That Belgium Scraps All Corona Measures Within Thirty Days (AD)

The Brussels court of first instance orders the Belgian government to end the corona measures within thirty days, on pain of a penalty of 5000 euros per day. According to the judge, the current measures are based on laws that cannot serve as the basis for the ministerial decisions by which the corona measures are issued. The ruling follows a lawsuit brought by the League for Human Rights and has been confirmed to the Belgian media by the lawyers involved. The League is an independent Belgian foundation that fights “injustices and arbitrary attacks on the rights of the individual or the community”. The court finds that the measures taken by the governments to prevent the further spread of the corona virus are illegal. According to Lackner, the court actually says that the legal basis on which the ministerial decisions are based is not valid.

According to the court, the measures in Belgium to prevent the further spread of the corona virus are illegal. The measures are based on the 2007 Civil Security Act and two other laws, De Standaard writes about the case. That law came after a major train disaster in Ghislenglien to be able to act quickly and with urgency after such disasters. The court finds that this basis is not sufficient for the imposed corona measures. The judge gives the Belgian state thirty days to provide a solid legal basis on pain of a penalty of 5000 euros per day that that term is exceeded, up to a maximum of 200,000 euros. The Belgian Ministry of the Interior is said to be studying the verdict. An appeal is possible against the decision.

Belgium announced last week that it will continue to be locked, because the number of hospital admissions and infections with the corona virus continue to rise. The non-essential stores may only open by appointment and the very large stores for a maximum of fifty people at a time. The non-medical contact professions such as hairdressers also have to close again for the time being for four weeks. The number of people with whom Belgians are allowed to meet outside their families in the open air will be reduced from ten to four people. A number of corona measures remain, such as the curfew. Non-essential journeys from Belgium will also remain prohibited until April 19. According to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, a “short period of pain, an Easter break” has been chosen in the hope of reducing the virus.

Read more …

It’s just sad.

France Headed For New National Lockdown As COVID Cases Surge (ZH)

Despite expanding lockdown measures to cover more than one-third of the country (including Paris and other major cities) earlier this month, and other areas French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to follow German Chancellor Angela Merkel by imposing strict new nation lockdown measures as Europe’s “third wave” of COVID cases intensifies. France has seen COVID cases (adjusted for population) surge to the highest level in Western Europe, while only hard-hit ex-eastern bloc countries like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have it worse than France, as the chart below shows. This has inspired Germany and Spain to restrict travel from the country.

Bloomberg reports that President Macron is planning to announce during a national address on Wednesday evening that he will impose new nationwide measures to contain the spike, and that these measures could include school closures and a ban on inter-city travel. The new national edict would mark the end of the “regional” approach that France has relied on all year. Although he declined to elaborate, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Wednesday after a defense council meeting that “decisions have been made” regarding new lockdown measures, but he declined to elabroate. Macron will address the nation at 2000 local time (1400ET). If Macron follows through with the school closures, that would also mark a major reversal for France, which had insisted on keeping schools open over the past year, unlike many of its European neighbors.

Macron has so far been “unapologetic” about his resistance to more restrictive measures, according to Bloomberg. As the EU vaccination push lags for a number of reasons (primarily a shortage of supplies, and widespread skepticism) more than 8MM people have received at least one jab of the vaccine, which represents more than 10% of the population. The target to vaccinate all French adults willing to get the jab by the end of the summer remains in place. Notably, Macron ignored the advice of his health minister who began advocating for more restrictive measures earlier this year. Instead, the government imposed a nationwide curfew, closed malls and expanded travel curbs – but didn’t go all in on a national lockdown. The hope was that the most pessimistic forecasts wouldn’t become a reality – but they have.

Read more …

On the beach.

Outdoor Mask Decree Met With Dismay By Spain’s Tourism Industry (G.)

The Spanish tourist industry has reacted with dismay to the government’s decree that face masks must be worn in all outdoor spaces, including beaches and swimming pools, even when it is possible to maintain social distancing. “We’re going through hell with thousands of jobs and businesses threatened and now they want to turn the beaches into open-air field hospitals,” José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, the umbrella organisation that represents Spain’s tourism industry, told El País newspaper. Industry representatives complain that they were not consulted over the decision, which was announced in an official state bulletin on Tuesday. “We’ve already given up on Easter as a lost cause,” said Zoreda. “Now we have to put our hopes on summer.”


He said the “improvised measures” did not inspire confidence on the part of the foreign visitors whom the struggling industry is desperate to bring back. Tourism accounts for about 12% of Spain’s GDP. Masks have been obligatory indoors and out in Catalonia since last July and in Valencia since early this year, despite claims by scientists that there is a very low risk of contagion in the open air. Earlier this month Fernando Simón, head of Spain’s coordination centre for health emergencies and alerts, said: “I don’t believe that masks are the key to reducing transmission. It’s not necessary for everyone to wear one. What’s important is that people who are infected wear one, although we don’t know who is infected and who isn’t.” Simón added that they should be obligatory in enclosed spaces.

Read more …

Building trust.

Washington State ‘Vaccine Breakthrough:’ 100s Get Covid Weeks After Jab (JTN)

The state of Washington is investigating what officials are calling a “vaccine breakthrough,” after roughly 100 cases of people testing positive for the virus about two weeks after being vaccinated. Epidemiologists report evidence of 102 breakthrough cases in 18 Washington counties, among millions of vaccinated residents. Two patients who received the vaccination died after becoming infected with the virus. “DOH is investigating two potential vaccine breakthrough cases where the patients died. Both patients were more than 80 years old and suffered underlying health issues,” officials said in a news release.


The health department also said the majority of those vaccinated who tested positive experienced mild symptoms, but at least eight have been hospitalized. “It is important to remember that every vaccine on the market right now prevents severe disease and death in most cases,” said Dr. Umair A. Shah, the states’s health secretary. “Finding evidence of vaccine breakthrough cases reminds us that, even if you have been vaccinated, you still need to wear a mask, practice socially distancing, and wash your hands to prevent spreading COVID-19 to others who have not been vaccinated.”

Read more …

“..poorly trained employees, cracked vials and mold around one of its facilities..”

15 Million Doses Of J&J Vaccine Ruined By Ingredient Mix-up (DM)

The Biden administration knew more than a week ago that 15million doses of Johnson & Johnson had been ruined by its contractor – potentially causing significant delays in the vaccine rollout, senior administration officials said. Two senior officials on the government’s Covid-19 response team told Politico that it was clear there were serious problems at the West Baltimore plant of Emergent BioSolutons, a little-known company at the center of the vaccine supply chain. A third official said the Department of Health then found out last week that Emergent had ruined 15 million doses of vaccine by adding the wrong ingredient. ‘It was no secret that Emergent did not have a deep bench of pharmaceutical manufacturing experts,’ that official told Politico.

The news finally became public on Wednesday when Johnson & Johnson said that a batch of vaccine made by Emergent at its Baltimore factory, known as Bayview, can’t be used because employees accidentally swapped in an ingredient meant for a different vaccine into the J&J shot, the New York Times reported Wednesday. The Emergent BioSolutions plant is also manufacturing doses for AstraZeneca, and apparently used an ingredient for the UK firm’s vaccine in a batch of J&J’s. The gaff occurred two weeks ago and will delay tens of millions doses of J&J’s shot slated to ship next month while the FDA investigates.

The company at the center of quality problems that led Johnson & Johnson to discard 15 million doses has a had string of citations from U.S. health officials for quality control problems. Emergent, which was key to Johnson & Johnson’s plan to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine to the U.S. by the end of May, has been cited repeatedly by the Food and Drug Administration for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and mold around one of its facilities, according to The Associated Press.

Read more …

“He trusts the government would only deliver a safe, effective vaccine.”

Bipolar Corona-Politics Positive? (OffG)

I had a patient this morning. More precisely, I telephoned him. He suffered a myocardial infarction last year and is on anti-hypertensives. His last few BP measurements showed very good, stable control. He barricades himself in his home against the rogue cold virus each time the government locks-down. He expressed terror about the link between hypertension and an enhanced Covid-19 risk. I would say he is, like the government, somewhat delusional about it or at the very least harbours some fixed false beliefs towards it. Hence, he measures his blood pressure many times a day. It fibrillates up and down with the propaganda. Masks are not enough for him. He refuses to leave his home until Johnson and Hancock lift lockdown. He asks me to increase his medications without seeing him.

The easy cure might be to turn off his TV and smartphone. But, there is more bipolarity, more paradox, more human folly. He refuses to come out for a hypertension review until he receives his Covid-19 vaccinations. I ask him how he suggests doing that? Perhaps he could find it reasonable to specifically come for his vaccine and have an opportunistic BP? He pauses, and then refuses. Classic Joseph Heller, Catch-22. Nothing surprises me these days in medical practice, so without a pause I remind him that we are not currently offering a bespoke domiciliary vaccination service. He remains insistent. As his doctor, I try to reassure him he is not at any great risk. I remind him we pay great lip service to all the viral psychological interventions such as porous ill-fitting mask, alcohol gel and … polythene apron.

Rather selectively, he dismisses these sacred verses of the government propaganda. As if to out-fox me, he replies in denouement, ‘Okay, I won’t come in, then.’ I leave it open for him to come back to us. It is not only the rule of law, but also the practice of medicine which has succumbed to hysteria. He is the ideal citizen of the corporate pharmaceutical Gods. Open to suggestion, vulnerable to propaganda, crouched with bayoneted rifle in trench against an unavoidable, invisible particle. Always willing to go above and beyond the unreasonable demands of tyrants. He trusts the government would only deliver a safe, effective vaccine.

Read more …

“..without the dossier, the warrants could not have been obtained.”

Russiagate Prober Couldn’t Verify Anything in the Steele Dossier (RCI)

For the past four years, Democrats and the Washington media have suspended disbelief about the Steele dossier’s credibility by arguing that some Russia allegations against Donald Trump and his advisers have been corroborated and therefore the most explosive charges may also be true. But recently declassified secret testimony by the FBI official in charge of corroborating the dossier blows up that narrative. The top analyst assigned to the FBI’s Russia “collusion” case, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane, admitted under oath that neither he nor his team of half a dozen intelligence analysts could confirm any of the allegations in the dossier — including ones the FBI nonetheless included in several warrant applications as evidence to establish legal grounds to electronically monitor a former Trump adviser for almost a year.

FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten made the admission under questioning by staff investigators for the Senate Judiciary Committee during closed-door testimony in October. The committee only this year declassified the transcript, albeit with a number of redactions including the name of Auten, who was identified by congressional sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. “So with respect to the Steele reporting,” Auten told the committee, “the actual allegations and the actions described in those reports could not be corroborated.” After years of digging, Auten conceded that the only material in the dossier that he could verify was information that was already publicly available, such as names, entities, and positions held by persons mentioned in the document.

His testimony, kept secret for several months, is eye-opening because it’s the first time anybody from the FBI has acknowledged headquarters failed to verify any of the dossier evidence supporting the wiretaps as true and correct. As one of the FBI’s leading experts on Russia, Auten was highly familiar with the subject matter of the dossier and the Russian players it cited. He also had a team of intelligence analysts at his disposal to pore over the material and chase down leads. They even traveled overseas to interview the dossier’s author, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, and other sources. Still, they could not corroborate any of the allegations of Trump-Russia “collusion” in the dossier, and actually debunked many of them — including the rumor, oft-repeated by the media, that Trump attorney Michael Cohen flew to Prague in the summer of 2016 to secretly huddle with Kremlin agents over an alleged Trump-Russia plot to hack the election.

They determined that Cohen had never even been to the Czech Republic. Yet Auten and his Crossfire teammates — who referred to the dossier as “Crown material,” as if it were valuable intelligence from America’s closest ally, Britain — never informed a secret surveillance court that the dossier was a bust. Instead, they used it as the basis for all four warrant applications to spy on Carter Page, a tangential 2016 Trump campaign adviser. Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who personally signed and approved the final application, has testified that without the dossier, the warrants could not have been obtained.

Read more …

But I see the remarkable strength of the USD. Yes, the euro has taken a few percent, and so has the yen. So what?

US Dollar’s Status as “Global Reserve Currency” Drops to 25-Year Low (WS)

Two decades ago, when the dollar had a share of about 70% of reserve currencies, a presumed competitor became day-to-day reality: The euro, which combined the currencies of the member states into one currency, thereby combining their weight as reserve currency. Since then, the dollar’s share has dropped by 11 percentage points. By contrast, between 1977 and 1991, the dollars share had dropped by 46 percentage points – with huge plunges in 1979 and 1980 possibly linked to US inflation which was threatening to spiral out of control, peaking at nearly 15% in 1980. The plunge bottomed out in 1991, with inflation more or less under control. And the dollar’s share then surged by 25 percentage points until 2000:


The euro’s share had since been in the range between 19.5% and 20.6%, but it Q4 it broke out of the range and rose to 21.4%, the highest in the data. The ECB’s holdings of euro-denominated assets that it acquired as part of its QE are not included in the euro-denominated foreign exchange reserves. The rest of the reserve currencies are also-rans – the spaghetti at the bottom in the chart below. This includes the Chinese renminbi, the bold red line at the bottom:

The renminbi’s share is still only 2.25%, despite the magnitude and global influence of China’s economy, and despite the hype when the IMF elevated the renminbi to an official global reserve currency in October 2016 by including it in the basket of currencies that back the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). But the renminbi’s share has been creeping up ever so slowly. At the rate it has been gaining momentum over the past two years (+0.36 percentage points in two years), it would take the renminbi another 50 years or so to reach a share of 25%. Clearly, other central banks are still leery of the renminbi and its implications, and are not eager to dump their dollars all at once in exchange for renminbi; easy does it.


To see what’s going on with the spaghetti at the bottom of the above chart, I magnified the scale and limited it to the range of 0% to 6%. This takes the dollar and the euro out of the picture, and allows for a detailed look of the other reserve currencies. What sticks out is the surge of the yen, the third largest reserve currency. This includes a 2.0-percentage point gain since Q4 2016, which blew away the 1.15-percentage point gain over the same period by the renminbi. With regards to the yen, the renminbi is losing ground.Despite Brexit and all the scary hoopla around it, the pound sterling (GBP), the fourth largest reserve currency, has not given up any share.

Read more …

“I was banking committee for all those years, I couldn’t even go to the Open Market Committee meeting. There was no way that would be permissible..”

Ron Paul: Gold and Bitcoin Are At Risk Of Government Crackdown (Kitco)

The best way to protect against economic turbulence is with hard assets like precious metals and real estate, but even these are under threat from the government, said former Congressman and host of The Liberty Report, Ron Paul. “The government is a threat,” Paul said. “They will crackdown because they have the ability to do it. We had a taste of [a free society]. If you don’t know where to start, just start with the Constitution, that might give you an idea of what a free society is all about.” Paul noted that this “crackdown” could take the form of taxes. On President Biden’s proposed infrastructure bill, Paul said that its outcome would be “worse than average.”

“Most likely it will do what those kinds of programs always do, they spend a lot of money, they’re inefficient, they always cost more than they thought they should. Besides, it’s built on some mystical belief that you shouldn’t have any concern about the deficit…everybody’s just in a dream,” he said. During Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress last week, Republican Senator John Neely Kennedy from Louisiana questioned whether or not the central banks around the world are still “independent” entities, or if they’ve already become intertwined with politics. Paul commented that “independence” was never the objective of central banks to begin with.

“This whole idea of independence…I just don’t believe they’re interested in secrecy because I don’t think of the Treasury or the Federal Reserve and the fiscal people in Congress as really representing a whole lot. I think about the people in the shadow government, in the Deep State, because there’s people pulling strings that have a lot of power and clout. I was banking committee for all those years, I couldn’t even go to the Open Market Committee meeting. There was no way that would be permissible,” he said.

Read more …

Virtue signalling in overdrive.

Journalists Are “Centering” Their “Trauma” To Acquire Power (Tracey)

On March 28, Washington Post journalist Felicia Somnez posted a Twitter thread describing the intense trauma she said she’d endured over the past year. An editorial policy imposed by the paper’s management had greatly exacerbated this trauma, she alleged, causing her to burst into tears during a recent therapy session and frequently lapse into spells of “vacant staring.” Somnez, a Harvard graduate in her 30s who holds one of the most prestigious journalism jobs in the country, spoke of being “silenced” by her editors, which in turn kicked her “trauma response” into overdrive and worsened her condition further. She declared that the new crop of young journalists now beginning at the Post “deserve better” than how she’d been treated, particularly on account of their being so “diverse, talented and relentless in their fight for equity.”

If any of these buzzwords and/or phrases sound familiar, it’s because their usage now dependably instigates a swift capitulatory reaction from the people who run legacy media institutions. The editorial policy adjustment that Somnez had demanded be effectuated did in fact get effectuated, within a matter of hours. Her elaborately confessional Twitter thread — a well-worn tactic by this point — worked fantastically. Whatever the merits of the proposed policy adjustment at issue (and she may well have been on sound footing in demanding it), no one can dispute that her chosen self-advocacy approach achieved what she set out to achieve. Because increasingly, as this episode once again demonstrated, the key to coaxing stodgy old editors into acquiescence is to publicly “call them out” using a now-familiar punchy, emotionally inflammatory rhetorical style.

We can just take Somnez at her word and grant that this professional adult journalist genuinely did undergo the debilitating trauma she described, vacant staring spells and all. It’s impossible to judge the precise veracity of these trauma-related claims anyway, given how inextricable they are with the interior mental state of the individual in question. So we’ll have to just accept that Somnez being “attacked online,” as she put it, really did result in the kind of extraordinary psychological turmoil she says she experienced. What can be judged, however — and what has to be judged given its rapidly increasing prominence in public life — is the wider impact of the rhetorical style used so adroitly by Somnez. Because it very clearly gets results. Call it therapeutic trauma jargon.

Read more …

 

 

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Engineered food

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle April 1 2021

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 49 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #72201

    Pablo Picasso Jacqueline in Turkish costume 1955   • Biden Unveils $2T Infrastructure Plan, Tax Increases (OAN) • Emergence Of Dominant Selective
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle April 1 2021]

    #72202
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Posting so nice, I’ll try it twice…
    Picasso is a playful devil, no?

    #72203
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    The internet is total crap today; oh wait!
    It’s April fools day………….
    Cheers……….

    #72207
    John Day
    Participant

    @WES and Michael Reid, from yesterday. Thanks guys. Thanks for humanity.

    #72208
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Viet Nam (from yesterday)

    “Seasonal flu and coronaviruses are two different pathogens.”

    Really. I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

    “Coronavirus is transmitted by aerosols; apparently not by fomites.”

    So is influenza: flu transmitted by aerosol

    “Much stricter public health measures are required for coronavirus than with the seasonal flu.”

    THat is so easy to say and, best I can tell, virtually impossible to demonstrate.

    “Another failing is testing. A cheap paper test (like a pregnancy test) is still not available for the simple reason it disrupts laboratory and clinician money making schemes. Also, there is insufficient population and variant testing.”

    They don’t test for flu most of the time when people get influenza. Doc makes an assumptive guess since he has no remedy other than fluids, rest, blah blah blah. Nor does one need to test covid positive to take ample vitamin D and hyrate well, or take Ivermectin etc. when one gets sick with covid-like symptoms.

    I have ample respect for covid as a public health threat, but not for baseless assertions like the ones you make here.

    #72209
    John Day
    Participant

    Some differences between SARS-CoV-2 variants and influenza variants include:
    SARS-CoV-2 transmits better, and it is mostly little floating particles, which concentrate indoors.
    SARS-CoV-2 is bimodal. 80% of people stop it in the nose, where it is mild. In 20% of people it gets into lungs, guts and bloodstream. It has special aggressive powers to attack blood vessel linings, which can ruin lungs, kidneys, heart and brain.
    SARS-CoV-2 has a longish period from exposure to onset of symptoms, typically about 5-7 days, but the viral load in the nose/throat peaks for 2 days before symptom onset to 2 days after symptom onset. This allows for lots of transmission by “pre-symptomatic” and “early-symptomatic” people who have not been able to take off work yet. (Don’t say “asymptomatic spread”!)
    SARS-CoV-2 infections respond well to early antiviral treatment, too. Flu used to, if you got cheap, generic acyclovir on the first (best) or second (helps some) day of symptoms, but flu has mutated to resist acyclovir, and it is really hard to get test and a prescription on even the second day of illness these days.
    Both viruses kill the old and infirm, and a=occasionally somebody else. COVID is more dramatic when it does that. Attacking the arterial and arteriolar linings is really hitting-below-the-belt. It is nasty, and most hospitals are very limited in what they will allow t=for treatment. Treatment ismostly denied by governments and discouraged by propaganda outside of hospitals for nefarious reasons related to lef=vers of power and control over humanity (IMHO).

    #72210
    John Day
    Participant

    Oh my. Typos again… Touching extra keys.

    #72211
    a kullervo
    Participant

    Greetings,

    Indifference is not the predicament: the real scourge is called conformity, the only well understood path to lessen pain. So many people have grown unaccustomed to real suffering that even the slightiest hint of it makes them willingly and gullibly accept anything offering the tiniest promise of pain avoidance, integrity and coherence be damn.

    #72212
    a kullervo
    Participant

    “[…] So many people have grown unaccustomed to real suffering that even the slightest hint of it […]”

    My apologies.

    #72213
    John Day
    Participant

    My blog today has significant COVID-crossover with recent TAE posts.
    http://www.johndayblog.com/2021/04/misconceptions.html

    ​Finian Cunningham interviews​ Norwegian Professor specializing in Russian Affairs
    Glenn Diesen: U.S. policies aim to prevent the emergence of a multipolar order. In my opinion, this is a misguided objective as Washington must adjust to the changing international distribution of power. I have argued that the U.S. is confronted with a dilemma – it can either facilitate and shape a multipolar system where the U.S. is the “first among equals”​ (yeah, maybe), or it can aim to contain rising powers to extend its hegemonic position although then a multipolar system will emerge in direct opposition to the U.S. By containing the rise of both Russia and China, the U.S. encourages Moscow and Beijing to define their partnership often in opposition to the U.S.
    ​ ​The global economy is subsequently fragmenting. The geoeconomic dominance of the U.S. has rested on its leading technologies that buttress its strategic industries, control over the maritime corridors of the world, and control over the main development banks and the world’s trade/reserve currency. Russia and China have therefore developed a strategic partnership to develop their own technological ecosystems, new Eurasian transportation corridors by land and sea, and new financial instruments such as banks, payment systems and de-dollarizing their trade. The U.S. will therefore discover that the effort to isolate China and Russia will result in the U.S. isolating itself.
    http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2021/03/30/washington-hegemonic-ambitions-defy-multipolar-reality-risking-catastrophic-conflict/

    ​COVID-19 has distracted us, all of us, from economic realities for over a year now, and we should stop being distracted. If we had not gotten the huge fear campaign, we would not have had the huge fear. Vitamin-D adequacy greatly reduces vulnerability to catching and getting badly sick from COVID, and dying from it.
    Be adequate. Take 5000 units per day of vitamin-D. It’s cheap and available. Just do it.

    ​ ​We assessed the association between vitamin D and risk, severity, and mortality for COVID-19 infection, through a review of 43 observational studies. Among subjects with deficient vitamin D values, risk of COVID-19 infection was higher compared to those with replete values (OR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.19-1.34; P < .01). Vitamin D deficiency was also associated with worse severity and higher mortality than in nondeficient patients (OR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.84-3.67; P <  .01 and OR = 1.22; 95% CI, 1.04-1.43; P <  .01, respectively).
    ​ ​Reduced vitamin D values resulted in a higher infection risk, mortality and severity COVID-19 infection.
    Supplementation may be considered as preventive and therapeutic measure.
    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076021000765

    There is rapid testing available now, and you can order and hold ivermectin based treatment from India.
    Treat Your Own COVID: ​www.johndayblog.com/2021/02/treat-your-own-covid.html

    In Texas, we have 5.2% test positivity rate for COVID, the lowest ever (scroll to percent positive graphic) but the rapid test positivity rate is 2/3 of that, 3%, and that is the rate I believe, because when you test a lot of asymptomatic people with PCR tests, people who are not actually infected show up as more and more of the “positive results”.
    apps.texastribune.org/features/2020/texas-coronavirus-cases-map/

    #72214
    Charles Alban
    Participant

    Elie Wiesel is not a good quote source. He has no credibility. And the quote about Germany doesn’t make much sense. Germany had the world’s highest standard of living in 1936. All the miseries from which we are currently suffering are a direct result of winning WW2.

    #72215
    John Day
    Participant

    Oops. 15 million doses of Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine were mixed up with a wrong ingredient and can’t be used.​
    ​New team at the factory. Other batches are probably fine.​
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9424827/15-million-doses-J-J-vaccine-ruined-ingredient-mix-up.html

    ​This “class traitor” has the temerity to say that only people at high risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID should get vaccinated.
    The great majority of people should not submit to current vaccines.
    He’s a high priest of science. How dare he?
    ​Twitter Censors Famed Epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff
    http://www.aier.org/article/twitter-censors-famed-epidemiologist-martin-kulldorff/

    #72216
    John Day
    Participant

    1) Ivermectin, zinc, doxycycline, vitamin-D…

    2) Meaningful Human Life

    3) Fear and isolation.

    Pick 2 out of 3

    #72217
    zerosum
    Participant

    AT LAST – PORK FOR ALL THE ENABLERS

    At last – no taxes for those who can pass the taxes, tariffs, fees, and costs to their customers.
    ———–

    #72218
    zerosum
    Participant

    What is best: natural immunity or a vaccine

    montezuma revenge – traveler’s diarrhea especially when contracted in Mexico.
    Bacteria and the toxins that cause traveler’s diarrhea occur in areas with contaminated water supplies, poor sewage systems, or inadequate food handling. People living in these areas often don’t get sick because their bodies have developed some degree of immunity.

    The immune system is made up of special organs, cells and chemicals that fight infection (microbes), defends our body against invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, and foreign bodies.
    The main parts of the immune system are: white blood cells, antibodies, the complement system, the lymphatic system, the spleen, the thymus, and the bone marrow.

    It is not until the level of the terrestrial vertebrates—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals—that a complete immune system with thymus, spleen, bone marrow, and lymph nodes is present and IgM and IgG antibodies are made. Antibodies of the IgA class are found only in birds and mammals, and IgE antibodies are confined to mammals. So it appears that the most primitive devices for producing specific, acquired immunity gradually diversified to meet the new environmental hazards as animals moved out of the sea onto the land.

    The processes whereby one ancestral gene could have given rise to such a family of genes include gene duplication, crossing over, and mutation, all of which are discussed in detail in genetics.

    By analyzing the number of differences in the amino acids and their position in the polypeptide chains that make up IgM and IgG molecules in, for example, humans, mice, and rabbits and by making reasonable assumptions about mutation rates, scientists can estimate roughly how many generations would have had to elapse—and hence how much time—for the present immunoglobulins of these species to have evolved from a common ancestral IgM-like molecule. Such calculations suggest that divergence from the ancestral immunoglobulin took place some 200 million years ago. That was about the same time amphibians are thought to have diverged from the main vertebrate line. So one may conclude that a functional immune system arose even earlier and has continued to provide a defense against foreign agents ever since.

    Ostriches are one of the oldest animal species on Earth, having ancestors dating back to over 56 million years ago, the age of the dinosaurs. As such, ostriches have survived and evolved with one of the strongest immune systems in the animal kingdom.

    Sharks are known for their natural resistance to diseases and viruses despite their primitive immune systems. One article even reports that sharks are immune to all viruses!

    https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20140218094828634

    Although crocodiles and alligators diverged from the same reptilian ancestor 90 million years ago, the immune systems of both have remained relatively unchanged despite their worldwide distribution, according to a global study of the reptiles.

    The researchers say that alligators and crocodiles occupy an evolutionary mid-point between mammals and birds and so provide a unique link between the two classes of animals. They say the research helps address fundamental questions about how evolution drives and maintains genetic diversity within immune genes.

    In the bayous of Louisiana, researchers have discovered that alligators have a ferocious immune system that can take down a vast range of viruses, bacteria and other infectious microbes, including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

    Animals do get sick, however they may not get sick as routinely as humans do.
    This is because there is stronger selection against it.
    A wild animal that gets sick will have a difficult time surviving.
    They will be unable to get food or defend themselves from predators.

    Throughout crocodilian evolution, immune gene diversity responded to disease-causing organisms in the environment. This might provide further insights into disease resistance by explaining how immune genes evolve in other vertebrates, in particular reptiles.”

    #72219
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Food Crisis of 2021 in Europe” https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/markets-by-sector/agriculture/food-crisis-of-2021-in-europe/

    Our models have been warned that this 8.6-year cyclical wave into 2024 will be one of commodity inflation due to SHORTAGES rather than speculative demand.”

    And you wonder why they tripled control and shut the yellow vests down. France is your bellweather.

    “Then there is talk that a cyber attack would have particularly destructive and dangerous effects on food security, not to mention so much more. The danger of cyber attacks on the German power grid is already being choreographed by the World Economic Forum, which will also take down the banking sector in addition to the food supply. Curiously, there was the same type of meeting in October 2019 laying out the response to a virus.”

    We’ve seen that stated as fact elsewhere. A shutdown is planned and coming? Crazy? No crazier than them telling you they were going to use any old medical excuse as a plausible avenue for oligarchic fascism as far back as the 90’s. Learn to read. I can’t do all your research for you.

    “Totally ignored has been that we have lost more than 100,000 farms between 2011 and 2018; 12,000 of those between 2017 and 2018 alone. The headline in Time Magazine: “‘They’re Trying to Wipe Us Off the Map.’ Small American Farmers Are Nearing Extinction.” (NOVEMBER 27, 2019). Between taxing the rich and over-regulation, small farmers have become an endangered species as Bill Gates buys up all the land.” Yes, now it’s run by monopolies like ADM.

    Just as a throwaway: “During the Spanish Flu in 1918, the death toll was about 50 million. However, the population was 1.6 billion. That worked out to 3.125%. Total, the world population is about 7.8 billion even a death count of 2 million is only 0.0002564%. This is by no means justifiable to destroy the world economy.”

    Throwaway because nobody cares. It’s math. Reason. Bored already. “The mainstream press simply cheers on the lockdowns and terrorizes the public.” Now That’s Entertainment! I’ll watch nothing but that!

    “Pfizer says vaccine protection lasts at least 6 months after second shot”

    Six whole months! Wow, that’s clearly the worst vaccine ever. The point of vaccine is lifetime immunity. #Fail! We just pointed out that SARS, it’s nearest cousin, gave +17 years immunity instantly. I detect a Sneetch sales jobber-man somewhere. Kidding? Not. The high-profile case of kids getting measles at Yale (or somewhere) was because they WERE vaccinated. They were, yes, of course. Pharma forgot to tell them that the vaccine, which used to work for decades now often fails in 5 years. But: blame the Christians, I guess. And while importing a million foreigners with no tests, no papers, and no vaccines at all. Vaccine passport! But not entering, not voting: that’d be plain silly!

    Six Months. Well, I guess the human race goes extinct then! In the first war, depression, or disruption we don’t get our 6 month vaccine in, everybody dies! I don’t make this up, I just repeat the official statements.

    “With Biden admin taking a back seat, private sector dictating future of vaccine passports” –NBC

    Now don’t that just say it all? Corporations are your government now, and THEY are dictating, not you stupid voters who need to be told what’s good for you. As TIME magazine said about the ’20 election. THEY are dictating the future. “Do What You’re Told”!

    This is why I’m for free speech, so you have the right to say dumb things. Pfizer is your government now, and you’re not ALLOWED to vote with your dollars. Submit or die. Thanks for the warning. You’re going to kill me and everyone I know. Yes, I know you’ve been saying that for 30 years.

    Speaking of: “Facebook removes video interview with Trump, citing his ban from the platform.” Slave-owning, Billionaire, Oligarchic, unelected, non-doctors remove all political candidates that don’t obey them. THEY the oligarchic monopolies are the government, as NBC proudly declares. And the NY Times says this is right and admirable. We MUST be more like Xi. They, and the government MUST end all free speech and arrest all journalists and give them life in prison in Belmarsh. Without trial, as Chelsea Handler said yesterday. What do we need trials for? You’re tried in social media and the news that hasn’t told the truth in 30 years. The trial is indeed speedy if nothing else.

    If not, we just drone U.S. citizens worldwide, or right here at home as NBC demanded last month. “I’m good at killin’ folks.” –Obama, wokest President of all time. Said he sat over breakfast with the kids, deciding who to kill next. That is, which brown person, in Syria, Libya, and Sudan. ..Or Detroit, when he stole their houses for Wall Street.

    Here you go: raise the prices, cut off the food, murder everyone you can find to install more fascist power, just as always. Cheers! Please tell me how many masks today, sir. What does the oracle of science declare of the ever-changing values of gravity and math?

    See? It’s simply impossible to satirize. Satire requires logic, order, and reason.

    “Emergence Of Dominant Selective Immune Escape Variants (Vanden Bossche)”

    Maybe, I doubt it. Far more likely is this obvious move from Denninger:

    “Further, all of the above presumes the Chinese, among others, cannot target the specific antibody pattern that is never seen nature but is produced by these vaccines in a second virus to be intentionally released. If you think they, and every state-sponsored terrorist group that hates the Western World is not trying to do exactly that you’re nuts — they are.
    Folks, if the gamble on this is lost I don’t think any of you realize how ugly it will get — but you should think long and hard about those consequences and that risk should inform whether you allow the politicians and medical lobby to continue down this road or force them to stop by whatever means are necessary.

    Let’s remember that various members of every single law enforcement division and the military have been talked into or even coerced into taking these experimental vaccines and so have their families. Yes, that includes the Secret Service, the FBI, the State and local Police in every jurisdiction across the country and more. Many organizations both public and private (e.g. universities, corporations and others) are intending to or already are enacting coercive policies that effectively demand vaccination with these experimental formulations.

    If this forced bet is lost and ADE + virulence shows up those people will watch their WIVES and CHILDREN drop dead and know they are next with 100% certainty since they got the shot too. The fragging will start immediately and it will not stop; no, not everyone who sees their CHILD fall over dead will go insane with retributive rage but a decent percentage will recognize they were conned and snap and there is no way to know in advance who will and who won’t.

    There will not be one functional police force anywhere nor will our military be functional. Nobody will come to save or assist you. There will be enough who will snap, never mind all the ordinary citizens who will do so when they realize they and their families were conned into taking an action that is now going to result in certain death.

    Every single one of the celebrities, physicians, drug company executives and politicians has literally bet their life, the lives of their family members and our entire civil society that they’re right and this risk, which is very real, will not occur.
    If it happens economic and social order collapse will be effectively instantaneous and there will be nothing anyone can do about it.”

    http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=241902

    If I were China, I’d do this right away. Instantly. As soon as any number of people are in. If they don’t, they will die, as I said last month. We already know from above, the “leaders” and oligarchs have every intention of killing us for control, whether over breakfast or no. They simply make it China’s fault, then blackmail China with food and oil.

    I mean, are we infants here? Of course they would.

    “Judge Demands That Belgium Scraps All Corona Measures Within Thirty Days (AD)”

    This was actually predicted, and apparently will have ramifications in the Hague that spread worldwide.

    France Headed For New National Lockdown As COVID Cases Surge (ZH)”

    Is that a surge like yesterday?
    ChartoNuttin
    https://theautomaticearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/USCOVIDStats.jpg

    Truly Must-Cry-TV, meltdown material. 3 weeks in Texas, no nuttin’ for surge.

    Chart: Which nations: Unless I’m very mistaken this map is contrary to everything I’ve read in news and statistics for the last six months. U.K. is worse, for instance. Sweden is slightly better (but on par while having no lockdown), Poland wasn’t even in the running. What gives? “We make s—t up”?? Like all news and statistics?

    Washington State ‘Vaccine Breakthrough:’ 100s Get Covid Weeks After Jab (JTN)

    The news, being illiterate, hasn’t read that OF COURSE you can get Covid while vaccinated. Yes yes yes. The point was, you weren’t HOSPITALIZED. So taking issue with part one of this article, that still leaves part two. Apparently it doesn’t matter a whit if you’re vaccinated or not: the outcomes are identical. My personal theory is that the vaccine IS Covid-n-water. So I guess the CDC and politician’s actions are correct: their actions said “Vaccines don’t work.” They don’t.

    I mean except for instant death and having your skin peel off. It’s pretty good at that.

    “ruined 15 million doses of vaccine by adding the wrong ingredient.”

    Tampering with food and medicine. Decades in a row. No one is mad, no one goes to jail. We’re required to trust them always, regardless of how much and often they are faulty, lying, and deadly. “Submit or die” turns to “Submit AND die.” The only defense: open discussion, truth, is the only enemy of the state.

    “Bipolar Corona-Politics Positive? (OffG)”

    Aaaaaaand he dies. Of state-sponsored terror. Luckily, they will give him a fake test (or not!) and say he died of Covid keeping the terrorism enforced. Facebook and Twitter support this violently, just as they have all ISIS accounts always on, and the Methodist Pot Luck Dinner, and Congressional Testimony banned.

    And that’s you. Stop helping them. Tell the truth.

    Russiagate Prober Couldn’t Verify Anything in the Steele Dossier (RCI)”

    When do we nuke England for election tampering again? They said this is Pearl Harbor.

    “Is it possible?” Jesus and the saints, learn to read. It’s not possible, it’s REQUIRED. There are whole books written about it going back decades, 100 years. Is it possible businessmen like sales? Is it possible water is wet? Yes. But since Tucker’s Audience can’t type “Food. Addiction. Additives.” into Google, we’re not going far.

    “Journalists Are “Centering” Their “Trauma” To Acquire Power (Tracey)”

    You’re crying at work? Let me make this easy for you: you’re rich, useless, entitled, and you’re fired. Put some whiskey in your coffecup, buttercup. But really: I LOVE hearing this. Man, any day I can get Congressmen, Doctors, or Journalists to cry, it’s a good day. Is there anything I can do to help? People say bad things to you as a public figure? They give you criticism, death threats? That’s just called the “Internet” honey. If you weren’t from Harvard you would have noticed. In the real world we don’t even necessarily get annoyed about actual death ATTEMPTS, much less the non-violence of non-words from non-entities. When guys from Knoxville finally show up to end this, they won’t have to hang you. They’ll shout improper pronouns and let the puddling of piss and tears begin.

    Covid is not the Flu? Then how was the flu made extinct on earth in the nations where Covid went up? Nevermind: math and facts. Bored already.

    #72220
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    Some attorney for the devil summoned me to testify on this:

    We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
    — Elie Wiesel

    and ask us to consider how that factors into the standard divide-and-conquer that our oppressors are so fond of.

    #72221
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Raul

    “But I see the remarkable strength of the USD. Yes, the euro has taken a few percent, and so has the yen. So what?”

    So, soon the dollar will be so inflated as to be meaningless while trust in the entity printing those dollars (USA) is virtually absent and mostly replaced with extreme cynical pessimism.

    So it’s just a matter of time before that trust turns to more reliable solutions. The decline in the US dollar will continue and probably do so more rapidly as time goes on.

    History does not equal the future. A stock market ever going up must fall, right? Same with the dollar, and it’s time is quite nigh. Our government has become the greater fool buying its own worthless IOUs.

    #72222
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ a kullervo

    “conformity, the only well understood path to lessen pain. ”

    Brilliant. Bravo, even.

    #72223
    Mr. House
    Participant

    something you won’t hear on the TV

    Martin Armstrong continues:

    “Event Covid has been staged to clamp down on civil unrest. The box of masks says it does not prevent disease. So why are people being beaten and thrown into prison for not wearing them? What is going on is a takeover.

    CIVIL WAR VS COMMUNISM 3.0

    Either way we are going to end up in a civil war. It will probably split the south and middle of the U.S. against New England and the West. These people are using the virus and climate change as a justification to do this. They erected a clock on Time Square and it says we have seven years left.

    Neither side is going to accept defeat in the U.S. You are going to see revolutions. People are gong to rise up against this. Manhattan looks like a ghost town. A friend walked around London and at least a third of companies were finished. Even before the second lockdown a third of the shops in Covent Garden were finished.

    They have no intention of going back to normal.

    People keep saying our collapsing system is capitalism. No it’s socialism that’s collapsing because governments cannot afford the pension funds, the social benefits that they have promised, and they continue to borrow without ever repaying anybody. The only way to keep that going is to adopt this Modern Monetary Theory where they won’t issue debt any more they’re just going to print money.

    Klaus Schwab calls this the fourth industrial revolution. The problem is no-one organized the first industrial revolution. It is the average person that created the industrial revolution and this is why communism fails because it rejects individual rights and ingenuity. Advancement comes from people not governments. Even Einstein said always imagine.

    I call it Communism 3.0 because this is the third time it’s been attempted: 1848, 1917 with the Russian and Chinese revolutions and now we are right back. You would think they’d get over this nonsense.”

    #72224
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Mr. House

    As counterpoint to this, I’ll ask us to consider that most of this is just the logical outcome of the blind mission creep and desperate exploitation by the gubmint of anything that might work or make them money or save their ass or make them feel important or at least pass their next employee eval.

    We did virtually useless duck’n’cover drills in the Cold War 50s. MOthers were arrested for ignoring air raid sirens during the frequent tests shoved onto the people back then.

    That, obviously, my take on it, and no more provable than the idea that this is all according to some evil plan.

    In many ways it would be nice if the government could do a totalitarian control society competently, but I don’t see how these chucklebutts can do anything but steadily fall into their own pit, taking many of us along. Seems to me like we’re on our own and still in denial of this: raised on protective authority, we want protective authority.

    Last year’s call to defund the police will turn this year into calls for more police:

    Following deadly night, Portland Police say they ‘can’t keep up’ with shooting calls

    But more police will be less effective and more abusive, leading to more call for defunding or the like… ad absurdum.

    Now, give us a few years of major civil turmoil and some smarmy little Corsican will give us a whiff of grapeshot and then we’ll likely have that totalitarianism so many expect. Handy for the slave economy required to transit society from luxurious petrotech to grunt’n’grind tech.

    But, as ever, all bets are off if these lunatic bozos get their war on and really piss Russia off. They consistently show every sign (and I use the word “every” literally, absolutistical, even) of being dumb, desperate, and beliigerent enough to spit on Putin’s grandmother’s grave while he points a loaded shotgun at them.

    #72225
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    In a Big Country:

    BC

    #72226
    Mr. House
    Participant

    Its not .gov, its the corporations.

    #72227
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Dr. D

    “When do we nuke England for election tampering again? They said this is Pearl Harbor.”

    Now, now. Sanctions first, nukes later. Protocol!

    #72228
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Mr. House

    “Its not .gov, its the corporations.”

    A distinction with minimal difference. Like the diff between having group sex and having sex with a (still-conjoined) Siamese twin.

    #72229
    Mr. House
    Participant

    Madamski, are you a nihilist?

    #72230
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Mr. House

    I believe in many things, including accuracy of data and interpretation thereof.

    The corps have obviously taken over the government. The corps have become dependent on the government also. Resuming my metaphor, group sex might be thought of as populist democracy; sex with Siamese twins would be the relationship between corporations and government.

    We’ve lived in a fascism for so long we tend to forget that this is so. ‘Crypto-fascist’ is the word I’ve heard used, and I agree with it. But now, it’s a secret so well-hidden they no longer hide it. Why bother? Most of us can’t tell the difference.

    #72231
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    “We’ve lived in a fascism for so long we tend to forget that this is so.”

    Confusing as written. We forget it’s a fascism, is the meaning.

    #72232
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    After reading about the surging Covid cases in Europe, I checked the numbers for excess deaths in European countries at the EUROMOMO site (European Mortality Monitoring). The data is updated every Thursday, and the latest published data is for Week 12.

    This was my comment from last Thursday:

    The excess death data for Europe has been updated, and for Week 11, there are no excess deaths for any age group, and no excess deaths for any of the reporting countries, except for Israel (which is near the “substantial increase” level).

    This seems odd since Israel has probably vaccinated a higher percentage of its population than any other country. “Israel has administered two doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than half its population, the health minister said on Thursday, a world-beating roll-out” (Yahoo news)

    Now check this out:

    For this week’s report, Israel’s excess death data was omitted. “These graphs were generated in week 2021-13 with data from 26 out of 27 participating countries…”

    Not only was the latest mortality data omitted for Israel, but all the historical data for Israel (covering the past four years) has been removed!

    https://www.euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps#z-scores-by-country

    The latest data, for week 12 of 2021, shows that out of the 26 reporting countries, Italy and the Netherlands have “low excess,” and Estonia has “moderate excess.” The rest of the countries have “no excess.” Overall, there are no excess deaths in any of the age groups. The data shown for recent weeks has already been “corrected for delay in registration” of deaths.

    About EUROMOMO: “The overall objective of the original European Mortality Monitoring Project was to design a routine public health mortality monitoring system aimed at detecting and measuring, on a real-time basis, excess number of deaths related to influenza and other possible public health threats across participating European Countries… From 2016 onwards, the EuroMOMO network has been supported by and worked closely with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.
    https://www.euromomo.eu/about-us/history/

    #72234
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    The Internet Archive has last weeks EUROMOMO report which includes the mortality data for Israel, including the historical data which has since been removed.
    (The “Week Range” slider at the top needs to be moved to the right to include the Week 11 data.)

    https://web.archive.org/web/20210325131904if_/https://www.euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps#z-scores-by-country

    #72235
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    Swiss Policy Research published this article yesterday:

    Israel: Why Is All-Cause Mortality Increasing?

    Israel: Why Is All-Cause Mortality Increasing?

    #72236
    zerosum
    Participant

    The USA military did not report the death of the enemies. ( therefore, nobody got killed)
    If the EUROMOMO site does not report the deaths, does it mean the same thing?

    #72237
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    (Swiss Policy Research article)

    “The cause behind this renewed increase in Israeli all-cause mortality appears to be unclear. According to Israeli newspaper YNet, the director of an Israeli clinic explained that they are currently seeing “a murky wave of heart attacks”. The director believes that this might be due to the “persistent stressful situation” and the “neglect of preventive medical care”.”

    Looks like they’re beginning to confront the fact that they could be facing massive wrongful death lawsuits, even angry people with baseball bats, if they don’t address the mess they’re making.

    Hmmm… (this tinfoil hat is itchy and makes my ears look big): maybe things like the Johnson and Johnson quality control fiasco are deliberate to give a reason to “pause” massive vaccination programs while not admitting to bowing to public pressure, imminent or current? As bad as it will make the Biden admin look, it can a) say those contracts were signed under Trump, and b) have big pharma to scapegoat after giving them many billions (which was, after all, the primary motivation even if there are also sinister Dr. Evil machinations for NWO population cull schemes).

    The covid distraction is becoming more expensive than the benefit it conveys. Now that even the dipshits in Congress know that a single mega-ship can block global shipping, maybe, after years of hijacking oil tankers and disrupting other nations’ power grids, they’ll decide to 911 a Pearl Harbor. Sacrifice an aircraft carrier and shut down the Hormuz Strait while blaming Iran. Ah, crazy talk. This hat itches. Wondering what people as crazy as people can be are up to can make one crazy. Damn. My ears are huge either way. So are global shipping routes:

    Shipping Routes Visualization

    #72238
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    Waddya know:

    “The English Channel
    “Known as the busiest shipping lane in the world, the English Channel separates England from France, and connects the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The channel is 350 miles long, 20-150 miles wide, and 150-400 feet deep. Approximately 500 ships travel the channel daily, making it a critical route in the European shipping network.

    “Located at the narrowest part of the English Channel is the Strait of Dover, which connects the Baltic and the North Sea. More than 400 vessels use this strait daily, carrying products like grain, minerals, steel and oil.”

    Perfect! The world hates Britan even more than us, and for longer, although we hog most of the hatemail because we’re so big and Britain is such a pipsqueak. Knock the EU out. Give Russia great grief.

    But how? The Strait of Dover’s 21 miles is still something one can’t stop secretly. It would take a fleet of crafty submariners to effect such a thing with even a lark of a chance of not being identified. Hmmm… unless, said Dr. Evil’s brilliant love interest, Frau, we jam signals from hidden gizmoes? This generation of captains probably can’t wipe its heinie without GPS.

    They can still see, you know. (finger quotes) Light? Houses?

    Light houses with laser eyes! she replies.

    Dr. Evil remembers again why he fell for her….

    I love you, Frau. We’ll get Elon to wonk the satellites and blame China. Submarines with laser eyes to trick them off course, and ninjas in shark suits scuttle the light vessels.

    But… but… what about daylight? she murmurs, luring him into the punchline.

    Damn. I forgot about that.

    She smirks. Soon, he will get his bad-boy whipping.

    We’ll wait until it’s foggy?

    Get serious.

    OK, OK, but don’t use the big strapon, ok?

    #72239
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    from a quora article:

    Are sociopaths with high IQ more likely to be high-functioning?

    Yes.

    Sociopaths with high IQ’s and that come from good families where they are taught cognitive empathy become surgeons, lawyers, and bankers.

    Sociopaths with high IQ’s from abusive families and low socioeconomic status become mafia leaders, high end drug dealers, etc.

    Sociopaths with low IQ’s and abusive poor families become violent, often end up in prison.

    Sociopaths with low IQ’s and good families but working class backgrounds become police officers, join the military, or remain underemployed.

    The last one caught my eye particularly. From a sniper’s perspective.

    #72240
    Mr. House
    Participant

    I had an idea for a book where a person advocates to create a political system that screens for psychos and sociopaths only to learn he is a sociopath after success.

    #72241
    a kullervo
    Participant

    Men are what their mothers made them
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    The strong human male with a good mother will learn to fight for the world.
    The strong human male with a lousy mother will learn to fight against the world.
    The weak human male with a good mother will have is failure cushioned or, at least, delayed.
    The weak human male with a lousy mother is irredeeamable – he’s the most disheartening thing in the world.

    #72242
    a kullervo
    Participant

    The weak human male with a good mother will have his failure cushioned or, at least, delayed.

    #72243
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ Mr. House

    “…a person advocates to create a political system that screens for psychos and sociopaths only to learn he is a sociopath after success”

    If Blade Runner’s Deckard worked in D.C., he’d be herding entire flocks of electric sheep.

    %^&

    Well, hush my mawf:

    Mystery Submarine May Reveal A Major New Capability For Iran

    Wanting those laser eyes…

    Warships & submarines entering zone of Nord Stream 2 pipeline in ‘planned & prepared provocations’ to obstruct work, says operator

    Let’s cause an international uproar in Russia’s backyard. That’ll do it!

    And stuff like that.

    Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is raising production per US request. Pundits cite optimism that the vaccine rollout will open the economy and drive demand, raising oil prices and suppressing the expected economic recovery. I agree, but think the vaccine rollout will soon start rolling in while we open up anyway. Mask on, mask off. Mask on, mask off.

    Then, if (more like when) covid cases and hospital admissins rise, the authorities may try another big lockdown and so forth… but by then France should be on fire like the Notre Dame all over again, and that will probably be a very hard sell.

    …de Clery

    #72244
    madamski cafone
    Participant

    @ a kullervo

    Again, Bravo! Perfect correlations.

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