Doc Robinson
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Another article from Nature, about the very likely scenario of endemic Covid:
(spoiler: it’s not the end of the world)
Endemic SARS-CoV-2 will maintain post-pandemic immunityA second important question is whether the vaccines will be effective against reinfection or even eradicate SARS-CoV-2. Here, we suggest both answers are most probably no. Coronavirus vaccines have been used extensively to control infections in domestic animals. Inactivated or intramuscular parenteral vaccines induce high systemic levels of neutralizing antibodies and confer effective protection against disease. However, they have lower efficacy against mucosal CoV infections and do not prevent viral shedding.
Therefore, SARS-CoV-2 is likely to remain present in the population. The four common cold HCoVs are also thought to have had a more lethal history, possibly incorrectly identified as the cause of influenza pandemics in the past. Continued presence of SARS-CoV-2 is akin to endemic HCoVs, where 60–70% population seroprevalence reflects a spectrum of immunity, dynamically maintained by intermittent reinfection and affords group protection from severe infection in the vulnerable. A large proportion of the population will be protected sufficiently and will reduce the viral shedding burden at any time to prevent large outbreaks. The exception to this will be the reintroduction of the virus into communities in which SARS-CoV-2 is not endemic and/or who are not vaccinated. Infections from a young age and re-infections in later life will build up and maintain immunity. Importantly, those that have not been able to gain immunity via natural infection or vaccination will benefit from herd immunity, despite the virus residing in a largely asymptomatic population.
Maxwell Quest: “…this was because of those stubborn anti-vax people who refuse to get vaccinated.”
Divide and conquer, while finding convenient scapegoats for the governments’ failures.
Meanwhile, experts agree…
The coronavirus is here to stay — here’s what that means
In January, Nature asked more than 100 immunologists, infectious-disease researchers and virologists working on the coronavirus whether it could be eradicated. Almost 90% of respondents think that the coronavirus will become endemic — meaning that it will continue to circulate in pockets of the global population for years to come.
“Vaccine hesitancy” is not even in the top three “biggest factors that would drive SARS-CoV-2 circulation in people if it became endemic,” according to these experts. The biggest factor is Immune Escape. The next biggest factor is Waning Immunity
https://media.nature.com/lw800/magazine-assets/d41586-021-00396-2/d41586-021-00396-2_18861632.pngHospital emergency departments in England are reportedly being “swamped” with patients having adverse reactions to the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Guardian headline calls them “mild” side effects, but many of these patients are being sent to the hospital by their GPs.
A&E ‘swamped’ with patients seeking help for mild Covid jab side-effects
Emergency departments report surge in cases of headaches linked to AstraZeneca jab amid concerns of blood clotsIt’s definitely a thing. Colleagues across England are reporting this. All A&E departments are seeing an increase in the number of people reporting concerns after having the AstraZeneca vaccine…
An A&E doctor at a London hospital told the HSJ that their department was “swamped” with patients with headaches who had been sent there by their GP.”
@ upstateNYer
Some of John Taylor Gatto’s books can be read online, or downloaded as a PDF or Kindle file (for free).
The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling
by John Taylor Gatto
https://archive.org/details/TheUndergroundHistoryOfAmericanEducation_758/page/n1/mode/2upDumbing Us Down – The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
by John Taylor Gatto
https://archive.org/details/DumbingUsDown-TheHiddenAgendaOfCompulsoryEducation/mode/2upJohn Taylor Gatto (December 15, 1935 – October 25, 2018) was an American author and school teacher. After teaching for nearly 30 years he authored several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and consequences. He is best known for his books Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, and The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling, which is sometimes considered to be his magnum opus.
He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991.
• B.1.1.7. Now Dominant Strain In US
“67 percent more deadly“That deadly UK strain has resulted in the UK having no excess deaths for the past 6 weeks, according to EUROMOMO.
Here is the data behind that “67 percent more deadly” claim:
“Of the 109,812 total participants [who tested positive for COVID-19], 367 (0.3%) died. Of the 54,906 participants infected with B117, 227 (0.4%) died, compared with 141 (0.3%) infected with other strains.”
In other words, for those who tested positive, 99.6% survived the more deadly strain, while 99.7% survived the other strains.
Death rate 64% higher with B117 COVID variant, study finds
Absolute risk remains low…
The researchers cautioned that their results may not apply to other settings and age-groups…This doesn’t make sense. Doublespeak? Doublethink?
Colorado vaccination site shuts down early after 11 people have ‘expected‘ adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine, officials say
“Two of the patients were transported to a hospital…”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/08/us/colorado-vaccination-site-pauses-adverse-reactions-trnd/index.htmlIsrael’s significant excess mortality numbers for the past few weeks have somehow been revised downward to “no excess”. This seems strange, since revisions usually go upward, as additional deaths for a given week are registered.
Before the changes:
After the changes:
Update, April 8: In the latest Euromomo update, Israeli excess mortality in weeks 6 to 11 disappeared. Euromomo now shows a negative excess mortality (65+) since week 11.
Re: my Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease example.
The case fatality rate, for children under 5, is reportedly 0.01%. No mention of the infection fatality rate for other children, so it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison.
That 0.002% fatality rate for children with Covid inspired me to look at other diseases for comparison. There is an infectious disease with a fatality rate of 0.01% for children, which makes it roughly 5 times deadlier than Covid. I’ll call this disease “5xCovid” to better make my point.
5xCovid is a common infection caused by viruses. It typically begins with a fever and feeling generally unwell. Signs and symptoms normally appear 3–6 days after exposure to the virus. The viruses that cause 5xCovid are spread through close personal contact, through the air from coughing and the feces of an infected person. Contaminated objects can also spread the disease. Some people may carry and pass on the virus despite having no symptoms of disease. 5xCovid occurs in all areas of the world. It often occurs in small outbreaks in nursery schools or kindergartens. Large outbreaks have been occurring in Asia since 1997.What is the approach used to prevent the spread of 5xCovid?
“Handwashing may prevent spread, and those infected should not go to work, daycare or school.”
Mr. House, my guess is that human greed is promoting and taking advantage of human fear. Those who fear the most are the most gullible. What makes sense to me doesn’t make sense to my fearful neighbor.
Half Of Americans Intend To Vaccinate Their Children Against Covid (F.)
Ilargi: How can anyone inject a child with a untested substance?I can see how trying an unapproved treatment might make sense for desperate parents of a child who is otherwise expected to die soon, but 99.998% of children (under age 18) will survive Covid-19 if they become infected, according to the “current best estimate” from the CDC.
0-17 years old, Infection fatality ratio (Estimated number of deaths per 1,000,000 infections) = 20.
20 deaths out of a million infections = 0.002% fatalities = 99.998% survivors
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.htmlThat IFR number from the CDC is similar to this“data on COVID-19 deaths in 45 countries and nearly two dozen seroprevalence studies (which determine the percentage of a population that has antibodies against the coronavirus and, hence, the percentage likely to have been infected). Using this data, they determined sex- and age-specific IFRs.”
https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/11/18/covid-infection-fatality-rates-sex-and-age-15163I don’t see how the very-limited-to-nonexistent benefits to children outweigh the known, unknown, and potential risks resulting from dosing children with these vaccines. Unlike the seniors whose risks from Covid are thousands of times higher, children have most of their lives ahead of them, and therefore have the most to lose from adverse reactions to the Covid vaccines.
A press release from Pfizer, March 31:
Update on the Phase 1/2/3 Study in Children 6 months to 11 years old
The 5 to 11 year-old cohort started dosing last week and the companies plan to initiate the 2 to 5 year-old cohort next week.
https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-biontech-announce-positive-topline-results-pivotal• Global Vaccine Rollout Is No Longer A Guarantee Of Victory Over Covid-19 (G.)
Ilargi: “Don’t want to get stuck in semantics, but if it is not now a guarantee, doesn’t that simply mean it never was? Besides, calling for a global strategy of “maximum suppression” in April 2021 feels a bit like a time warp.”Absolutely right, Ilargi. That article is a clear example of psychological manipulation. Tweaking the historical narrative, putting some new spin on it, giving the public something to latch onto (to avoid those pesky feelings of cognitive dissonance).
“No one is truly safe from Covid-19 until everyone is safe.”
“We are in a race against time”The article is not labeled as an “Opinion” piece, instead it is presented as the voice of authority. But what authority, whose authority? Who is the author, and what is their specialty, their expertise?
With a little digging, the lead author’s expertise can be found:
“Susan Michie is Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London.”
Mindf###ery.
Germ: “Not a single person I know who has taken the ‘shot’ has been informed of Antibody Dependent Enhancement.”
In the UK, this is the typical NHS consent form for the Covid vaccines:
1. I confirm I have received and read the COVID-19 vaccine information leaflet. (tick)
2. I confirm I understand the risks and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine being offered. (tick)
3. I understand that I must rebook and attend for the second dose of the vaccine as scheduled. (tick)
4. I consent to receiving the 1st and 2nd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (tick)
Signature, Date
https://www.lhch.nhs.uk/media/7730/pfizer-consent-form-v10.pdfHowever, the “vaccine information leaflet” does a poor job of explaining the risks and benefits.
4. Possible side effects
Like all vaccines, COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.Most side effects are mild or moderate and go away within a few days of appearing. If side effects such as pain and/or fever are troublesome, they can be treated by medicines for pain and fever such as paracetamol.
Side effects may occur with following frequencies:
Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 people
pain at injection site
tiredness
headache
muscle pain
chills
joint pain
feverCommon: may affect up to 1 in 10 people
injection site swelling
redness at injection site
nauseaUncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people
enlarged lymph nodes
feeling unwellRare side effects: may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people
temporary one sided facial droopingNot known (cannot be estimated from the available data)
severe allergic reactionSome people have reported a sudden feeling of cold with shivering/shaking accompanied by a rise in temperature, possibly with sweating, headache (including migraine-like headaches), nausea, muscle aches and feeling unwell, starting within a day of having the vaccine and usually lasting for a day or two.
If your fever is high and lasts longer than three days, or you have other persistent symptoms, this might not be due to side effects of the vaccine and you should seek appropriate medical advice according to your symptoms.
Reporting of side effects
If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. If you are concerned about an adverse event, it should be reported on a Yellow card.In the US, vaccine recipients must be provided with a “Fact Sheet”.
“the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that vaccine recipients or their caregivers are provided with certain vaccine-specific EUA information to help make an informed decision about vaccination. This is accomplished by providing a an EUA Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers.”
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/eua/index.htmlThese “Fact Sheets” in the US don’t downplay the potential side effects as much as the UK’s “information leaflets”.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is an unapproved vaccine that may prevent
COVID-19. There is no FDA-approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19.
…
WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF THE PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE?
Side effects that have been reported with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
include:
• injection site pain
• tiredness
• headache
• muscle pain
• chills
• joint pain
• fever
• injection site swelling
• injection site redness
• nausea
• feeling unwell
• swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy)
• non-severe allergic reactions such as rash, itching, hives, or swelling of the face
• severe allergic reactions
…
These may not be all the possible side effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19
Vaccine. Serious and unexpected side effects may occur. Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19
Vaccine is still being studied in clinical trials.https://www.fda.gov/media/144414/download
I speculate that 99.99% of the people who are provided with the Fact Sheets (or information leaflets) have already decided to go ahead with the vaccination. “Informed consent” seems like a joke, especially when the information provided is so lacking, as in the UK.
“Moreover, as this little table from the Lancet shows, 40% of people are protected by their antibodies for only 90 days, and 70% for only 125 days.”
Just to clarify, that applies to patients who have recovered from COVID-19, whose resulting natural immunity is potentially longer-lasting, and more protective against different Covid strains (since their immune system reacts to the entire virus), than people who are vaccinated (whose immune systems react to a certain snippet of the virus).
“Scientists are still not certain whether vaccinated people may become infected, even briefly, and transmit the virus to others.”
That’s from the New York Times, and it’s misleading.
There is 100% certainty that vaccinated people may become infected. This was known from the vaccine trials, before the EUA was issued. Real-life effectiveness was recently proclaimed to be 90%, which means that 10% of those vaccinated can still get infected. And the vaccine reduces their transmission potential by only 11% (so they are nearly as infectious to others as the non-vaccinated cases), according to a recent study.
I posted the links to these studies earlier this week.
• Policymakers Use Panic To Shift Blame For Covid-19 Onto Us, The People
An easy out for policymakers: blame failures on the people who don’t follow the policy. There will always be some non-compliers who can be scapegoated. Don’t question the policy.
Coming up: if the Covid vaccine policies don’t work, blame the people who didn’t get vaccinated.
The latest graph of excess mortality in Israel, before the data was removed from the Euromomo site:
More than a month after Israel’s vaccination program began, the excess mortality in the country reached a higher level than any other time on the graph (shown here going back to 2015):
Before the data disappeared this week, the excess had surpassed the “substantial increase” threshold above the normal range.
Graphs are from this article:
upstateNYer: No one has commented on “CDC Real-World Study Confirms Protective Benefits of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines”
That’s from a poorly-written press release. Here’s the full report:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htmUnlike the vaccine trials done by the drug companies before Emergency Use Authorization, this study did better testing for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections. which added to the number of people for whom the vaccine didn’t prevent infection.
“Estimated adjusted vaccine effectiveness of full immunization was 90% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 68%–97%); vaccine effectiveness of partial immunization was 80% (95% CI = 59%–90%)”
According to these results, and subject to the limitations of the study, there is 95% confidence that the effectiveness of full immunization, against the Covid strains present at the time of the study, is somewhere between 68% and 97%, for a 3-month period (December 14, 2020–March 13, 2021).
Links to data and quotes used in my previous comment:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.html
Post-covid syndrome in individuals admitted to hospital with covid-19: retrospective cohort study
https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n693absolute galore: “So, as a otherwise healthy 61-year-old, do I get vaccinated because I am likely to be in that 20% where the virus attacks the organs (and still refuse to participate in vaccine passports). In other words, am I at enough risk that the vaccine is worth getting.”
Keep in mind that the following number are averages for the age groups, so if you are healthier than the average American in your age group, less overweight and/or with less pre-existing conditions, then the risks to you should be less than these numbers indicate. (Disclaimer: this assessment of risks is based on CDC numbers.)
The CDC looked at the US data from Feb-Dec 2020, and came up with these estimates..
The chance of getting infected by Covid in 2020 was 25% (83.1 million infections per 332 million population).
For those who were infected by Covid in 2020, the risk of being hospitalized was (for each age group):
Age 0-4 — 1%
5-17 — 0.7%
18-49 — 2.5%
50-64 — 7%
65+ — 21%For those who are infected by Covid, the risk of dying from Covid is
Age 0-17 — 2 per 100,000 (one death per 50,000 cases)
18-49 — 50 per 100,000 (one-twentieth of a percent)
50-64 — 600 per 100,000 (around half of a percent)
65+ — 9,000 per 100,000 (9%)Putting it all together, for someone age 61 in average health and taking average preventative measures and treatments against infection, then according to the CDC, if you get a Covid infection you have a 7% chance of being hospitalized and about a half of one percent chance of dying from it.
Being in above-average health, and taking better-than-average preventative measures and treatments against infection, should reduce the above risks significantly.
Regarding the risk of organ damage from long covid, this article was posted above:
• Almost Third Of UK Covid Hospital Patients Readmitted Within 4 Months (G.)
The study referenced in this article goes into more detail about the characteristics of the patients being hospitalized:
“Compared with the general population, individuals in hospital with covid-19 were more likely to be: male, aged 50 or more, living in a deprived area, a former smoker, and overweight or obese. Individuals with covid-19 were also more likely to be comorbid than the general population, with a higher prevalence of previous admission to hospital and of all measured pre-existing conditions (most notably hypertension, major adverse cardiovascular event, respiratory disease, and diabetes).”It comes down to a personal risk/benefit assessments which would require looking at the risks of the vaccine as well as the risks of a Covid infection. For me, at my age and in my health condition, and based on the known risks of Covid, I’m not afraid enough of a Covid infection to justify taking the known and unknown risks of the vaccines (which got emergency authorization but are still unapproved). The benefits to society-at-large also seem questionable, and the overall risks to society are still unknown.
There’s something about the “first, do no harm” approach which makes me somewhat wary of processes which can turn healthy people into sick and dying people. I want to first make sure the benefits actually outweigh the risks. The benefits of Covid vaccination might turn out to be rather limited, because of the limited duration of antibody protection (6 months?) and the variants which are cropping up. Getting a Covid vaccination every 6 months will repeatedly multiply the vaccine risks to the individual.
The older and unhealthier the person already is, and the more scared they are of catching Covid, the easier it becomes for them to justify the risks of the vaccine because that person’s risks (perceived and actual) from Covid are higher. I’m not there yet. By the way, I’m not an anti-vaxxer, Within the past two years, I got preventative vaccination shots for 4 different diseases.
Swiss Policy Research published this article yesterday:
Israel: Why Is All-Cause Mortality Increasing?
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.)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/• The Fourth Surge Is Upon Us. This Time, It’s Different. (Atl.)
“…people who have a breakthrough case despite vaccination have been shown to have lower viral loads compared with unvaccinated people, and so are likely much less contagious.“Wrong. “Much less contagious” is actually 11% less contagious, according to recent research:
Unvaccinated people produce 2.58 to 4.5 times more virus than vaccinated people do, researchers report March 29 in Nature Medicine. Those data show vaccinated people have a lower “viral load” and are less likely to pass the coronavirus to others if they do become infected, but the effect is not as strong as might be hoped to truly limit transmission, Kilpatrick says. That reduction in viral load amounts to about an 11 percent decrease in infectiousness, he says. “That’s good … but you’d like to be half as infectious or three-quarters lower infectiousness.”
Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines may block infection as well as disease
With the reported real-world effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines being 90%, this means that the vaccines are ineffective for 10% of those who are vaccinated. and the resulting breakthrough cases will be nearly as transmissible (89%) as unvaccinated people who come down with Covid.
madamski: “It’s nothing new… I see no reason to follow those stats any more unless it does something to your psyche that you want.”
I looked up those stats after hearing the CDC director was fighting back tears about the impending doom, while the situation on the ground, in the state where I live, seems pretty good. I wanted to learn more about their evidence, at least what they are presenting as evidence, and I thought what I posted above was notable, for the reasons l mentioned.
Your mileage may vary, of course.I’m learning as I go, at least trying to, and my opinions do “evolve” based on what I learn . What I post here are generally things I find which I think are notable, along the themes of this site, that I believe may be interesting to others here. I guess this approach benefits my psyche in ways that simply trying to confirm my biases cannot.
Madamski: “[The number of excess deaths] tells us what we already know: covid is hardly the Black Death.”
The excess deaths still seems like a useful indicator to me.
Back when it fit the narrative, there was ample media coverage about how this data gives an idea of how many Covid deaths may have been undiagnosed or otherwise undercounted. Well, it works the other way, too, regarding whether the overall situation is as big a crisis as the narrative makes it out to be.
The data is from the CDC of course, with the applicable caveats, but when the CDC data seems to contradict the CDC narrative, I think that’s notable.
Also notable is the general lack of coverage by the mainstream media about the excess deaths when it doesn’t fit the narrative.
@ Madamski
The number of excess deaths (based on body counts, regardless of diagnosis or cause of death) still seems like a useful indicator of just how bad the situation is (or isn’t).
Trying again, the CDC graph showing ZERO excess deaths since Feb 21, even after correcting for incomplete data:
• CDC Director Chokes Back Tears As She Fearmongers “Impending Doom” (ZH)
I guess this is because the current level of “doom” isn’t scary enough. The latest data on excess deaths in the US, even after the CDC adds a correction for incomplete data, shows ZERO excess deaths (from all causes) since February 21.
[link removed because it wouldn’t post]
Propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence an audience and further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts in order to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language in order to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented.
WikipediaSome examples of propaganda from the California Department of Public Health:
• UK Now Considering Digital Face-Scanning To Enter Pubs (SN)
This comes after a UK court ruling (this past August) that facial recognition technology violates human rights.
Facial Recognition Violates Human Rights, Court Rules (Forbes)On Tuesday, the 11th of August [2020], a UK court ruled that facial recognition technology violates human rights. This ruling is the latest in a growing movement that facial recognition technology violates personal freedoms, invades privacy, and is discriminatory….
The ruling stated that facial recognition technology violates human rights. It does not suspend the use of all facial recognition technology, but rather, states that better parameters need to be put in place as to when it can be used.
“Can anyone even tell me the premise for vaccine passports when it doesn’t stop transmission or at 50%?”
Here’s the premise, as explained by the CDC:
“Taking steps towards relaxing certain measures for vaccinated persons may help improve COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake.”“
While earlier in the same paragraph, the CDC admitted “How long vaccine protection lasts and how much vaccines protect against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants are still under investigation.”
“So at the south end of the Suez, the current changes directions with the tide. High tide brings higher water levels but also brings water flowing north (I assume but find no ready asnwer).”
The effect of the Suez Canal development on the tide and tidal current- model study
November 1999The peak of S-N current in the southern section increases from 68 cm/sec before 1975 to 76 cm/sec in the present stage and to 83 after finishing the stage II of the development project. The peak of N-S current increases from 83 cm/sec to 94 cm/sec in the present stage and to 105 after finishing the stage II.
“And now the Shanghai registrar sends me a form to register the “Internet Keyword”. At $140 per year…. Since this appears to be useful only in China, not sure that’s worth it.
Of course it could all be one big scam.”It sure sounds like the same scam described here:
https://squelchdesign.com/featured/chinese-domain-name-registration-scams/
• Nation’s First ‘Vaccine Passport’ Coming To New York (NYP)
Just like the vaccines themselves, the Vaccine Passports can give a false sense of security. Vaccinated folks can still be infected and can still transmit the virus. The Vaccine Passports list the person’s name and date of birth, without a photo, and can easily be used fraudulently if government-issued photo IDs aren’t also scrutinized for everyone waiting in line to get into businesses, stadiums, and arenas.
QR codes (similar to those on Vaccine Passports) are being used successfully for airport boarding passes, but I’m skeptical that all businesses and venues will be carefully checking everyone’s photo IDs to ensure that the photo matches the person, and the name and date of birth match what’s on the Vaccine Passport.
With Excelsior Pass, participating businesses and venues can scan and validate your Pass to ensure that you meet any COVID-19 vaccination or testing requirements for entry. Along with your Pass, you may be asked to show a photo ID that shows your name and birth date to verify that the Pass belongs to you.
https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/excelsior-pass-what-you-need-know
• Herd Immunity Is Near, Despite Fauci’s Denial (WSJ)
Back in December, the CDC wrote that “1 in 7.7 total COVID-19 infections were reported.”
In January, the CDC changed this (for whatever reasons) to “1 in 4.6 total COVID–19 infections were reported.”The reported cases in the US now stand at 31 million.
Even using the more conservative multiplier (4.6) from the CDC, this means that at least 140 million in the US were infected, which is 42% of the population. Adding to this the 26% of the US who got at least one dose of the vaccine so far, gives 68% of the population. There is some double counting error due to some previously infected people getting the vaccine, but still, this supports the claim that some level of “herd immunity” could be very close, if not already here.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html
