(today)
– China sees widespread protests against Covid curbs
– Public anger focuses on deadly fire in Xinjiang
– Censors scrub social media of mentions of unrest
– Chinese stocks and yuan slump amid investor concern
Archiv: "we always said..." / "today it became known .."
China’s Exit From Covid Zero Seen Stretching Beyond 2023
(November 23, 2022)
– Reopening could see 5.8 million in ICU: Bloomberg Intelligence
– ‘No way an uncontrolled wave of infections can be managed’
An Iran nuclear deal revival could dramatically alter oil prices — if it happens
But so far, it seems there are a few remaining sticking points that are proving fairly difficult to resolve. The main issue of contention between the Iranian and Western camps is an ongoing investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency — the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog — into unexplained traces of uranium found at Iranian facilities in the early 2000s. Tehran wants the investigation closed before they’ll accept any deal; the IAEA and U.S. and European governments are so far refusing.
Lukashenko says Ukraine fired missiles at Belarus military posts
“We are being provoked,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta on Saturday.
“I must tell you that around three days ago, maybe more, they tried to strike military targets in Belarus from Ukraine.
“Thank God, our Pantsir anti-air systems intercepted all the missiles fired by the Ukrainian forces.”
The claim, which Lukashenko did not provide evidence for, came one week after Ukraine said missiles struck a border region from Belarus, a long-term Russian ally.
No indication of imminent Russian chemical weapons attack in Ukraine -U.S. defense official
(22.03.2022)
The U.S. official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, shared Biden’s assessment but added: „There’s no indication that there’s something imminent in that regard right now.“
A Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID-19 Mortality
While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted. In
consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.
In this clip, @JakeTapper is absolutely right that counting all people in the hospital WITH COVID as being there FOR COVID is wildly misleading — especially since it applies to close to 50% — but it’s so striking how many arguments that were long taboo are now all being aired.
Jake Tapper Rails Against ‚Misleading‘ CDC COVID Hospitalization Numbers
Tapper said: „We’re two years into this and we need the clearest picture possible if somebody is in the hospital with a broken leg and they also have asymptomatic COVID. That should not be counted as hospitalized with COVID, clearly.“
CDC Director: 75% of COVID Deaths Among Vaccinated had Four Comorbidities
Ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on vaccine mandates expected as early as this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is under increased scrutiny after recent comments about COVID-19 deaths.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky fell into controversy after a clip of her appearance on Good Morning America Friday went viral.
Repeat booster shots have immune-system risks: European Medicines Agency
European Union regulators warned that frequent Covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune system and may not be feasible.
Repeat booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune system and tire out people, according to the European Medicines Agency.
White House lifting omicron travel ban on South Africa and seven other southern African countries
(24.12.2021)
White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter that the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Munoz said the temporary travel bans bought scientists necessary time to study the new virus variant and conclude that the current vaccinations are effective in blunting its impact.
South Africa’s huge omicron wave appears to be subsiding just as quickly as it grew
(22.12.2021)
South Africa’s top infectious-disease scientist, who has been leading the country’s pandemic response, said Wednesday that the country had rapidly passed the peak of new omicron cases and, judging by preliminary evidence, he expected “every other country, or almost every other, to follow the same trajectory.”
Natural immunity to covid is powerful. Policymakers seem afraid to say so.
More than 15 studies have demonstrated the power of immunity acquired by previously having the virus. A 700,000-person study from Israel two weeks ago found that those who had experienced prior infections were 27 times less likely to get a second symptomatic covid infection than those who were vaccinated.
Exposed: CDC Rushed to Change Definition of ‚Vaccination‘ On Same Day Israel Study Touts Natural Immunity over Vaccine
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) quietly changed their definition of “Vaccination” on September 1st, exchanging the word “immunity” for “protection,” now that it appears that breakthrough cases can no longer be explained away as an anomaly.
The definition change occurred on the same day – September 1st – that a massive study was released demonstrating that those who had been vaccinated were “13 times more likely to be infected with the Delta variant (what has been called a “breakthrough” infection) than those with natural immunity,” as summarized at the American Conservative.
Covid-19 vaccine immunity may be waning. Here’s what that means—and doesn’t.
Explanations for Israel’s vaccine effectiveness data
When Israeli researchers announced last month that people vaccinated in the winter were more likely to contract Covid than those who had been vaccinated in the spring, many assumed this demonstrated waning vaccine effectiveness.
The data from Israel’s Ministry of Health suggested that vaccine effectiveness against both infection and symptomatic disease had decreased to around 40%, but this decline may have been due to other factors and not the vaccines, Wu writes
There are a million articles out right now with leaks from intel ghouls insisting that they tried to warn Biden that the Afghan Army would crumble immediately. This would suggest those articles should all be safely discarded as propaganda and bullshit.
Audit reveals Army’s trillion-dollar accounting gaffes
(August 23, 2016)
The audit, conducted by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, found that the Army erroneously made $2.8 trillion in adjustments in the third quarter of 2015 to its Army general fund – one of the main accounts used to fund the service. The error amount skyrocketed to $6.5 trillion for all of last year, the report said.
The June report, first disclosed by Reuters on Friday, found „unreliable“ data was used to prepare the financial statements, leading to the possibility that the Army’s finances were „materially misstated.“
C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox
The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed,” the document said. Its contents were first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday evening.
Israeli Data Suggests Possible Waning in Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine
(today)
The new numbers still show overwhelmingly strong protection against severe disease but diminished effectiveness against infection.
DAN HODGES: Pushmi-pullyu Boris promised us freedom… So get ready for the next lockdown
‚I hope that the roadmap is irreversible,‘ Boris told the nation on Monday. ‚We’ve always said that we hope that it will be irreversible – but in order to have an irreversible roadmap, we also said it’s got to be a cautious approach.‘
That’s not what he’s always said.
Merkel urged to drop all remaining Covid restrictions
Heiko Maas, the foreign minister, on Tuesday became the latest high-profile figure to join calls for restrictions to end as soon as all Germans have been offered the jab.
“If everyone in Germany has been offered the vaccine, there is no longer any legal or political justification for any restrictions,” said Mr Maas. “This can be expected by August.”
Coronavirus latest news: Stop daily case updates as virus no longer ‚important cause of mortality‘, says JCVI scientist
He joins a growing number of MPs and leading scientists, including Prof Tim Spector, of King’s College London, warning the daily slew of Covid statistics are terrifying people and they lack any context, such as figures on flu, heart disease and cancer.
Conservative MPs are pressing Downing Street to follow officials in Quebec, Canada, and Singapore by moving to weekly updates or similar, ahead of the July 19 unlocking.
Anthony Fauci and the Wuhan Lab
(03.06.2021)
Of particular interest: From 2014-19, the National Institutes of Health sent $3.4 million to the WIV through the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance. “I just wanted to say a personal thankyou on behalf of our staff and collaborators, for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin,” EcoHealth Alliance chief Peter Daszak gushed to Dr. Fauci in a partly redacted April 2020 email.
Fact-checking the Paul-Fauci flap over Wuhan lab funding
(May 18, 2021)
Juicing up super viruses is not new. Scientists in the U.S. have long known how to mutate animal viruses to infect humans. For years, Dr. Ralph Baric, a virologist in the U.S., has been collaborating with Dr. Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Virology Institute, sharing his discoveries about how to create super viruses. This gain-of-function research has been funded by the NIH. … Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), remarks at a Senate hearing, May 11
“Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not never and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
— Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in response.
Secret report by respected US government laboratory concluded in May last year that it was plausible coronavirus LEAKED from Wuhan lab – and said theory deserved further investigation
Scientists at the the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, near Berkeley, analyzed the genetic makeup of the virus to try to understand how it evolved.
They passed their May 27, 2020 findings on to the State Department in October. The five-month delay was not explained.
On January 15 the State Department published a fact sheet about COVID-19, which said that ‚circumstantial‘ evidence suggested a lab leak theory was possible.
The secret document the California lab produced was not known about until Monday, when The Wall Street Journal reported on its existence.
AIPAC congratulates Bennett, Lapid for establishing ‚diverse‘ coalition
AIPAC also reiterated its dedication to strengthen ties with the new prospective government and the United States, to „advance our shared interests and values.“
UK intelligence reassesses COVID lab leak theory, now says its ‘feasible’
British intelligence services are now reportedly reassessing their position on the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.
A Sunday report from the Sunday Times of London quotes British spies who initially dismissed the lab leak theory, but now say it is „feasible.“
Coronavirus ‘lab leak’ theory jumps from mocked to maybe as Biden orders intelligence review
Far from dismissing the lab-leak theory, however, President Biden has told his spies to see if the previous administration’s officials, whose work some of his own skeptical aides have called tendentious and overreaching, may have been right to question the lab and conduct a thorough investigation. The White House recently was told that a large amount of information remained to be examined that could shed light on the question, according to a senior administration official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
US: It’s our longstanding position that the West Bank is occupied
The Biden administration on Wednesday clarified that it considers the West Bank to be occupied territory, but ducked a question as to whether it held that settlements were illegal.
„It is a historical fact that Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights after the 1967 War,“ US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
UK coronavirus live: deaths in England and Wales below five-year average for sixth week in a row, says ONS
(today)
Deaths from all causes were below average levels for the sixth consecutive week. There were a total of 8,891 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 24 July, according to the ONS, 161 fewer than the five-year average of 9,052.
Coronavirus: England highest level of excess deaths
(30.07.2020)
The Office for National Statistics says that Spain saw the highest peak in rates of death in Europe.
But the UK had the longest period of above-average deaths and so overall saw higher death rates.
Coronavirus: CDC now says COVID-19 ‘does not spread easily’ on most surfaces
(21.05.2020)
“Many people were concerned that by simply touching an object they may get coronavirus, and that’s simply not the case. Even when a virus may stay on a surface, it doesn’t mean that it’s actually infectious,” Whyte told Fox News.
In March, the CDC had warned that it “may be possible” to pass on the virus from one person to another through a contaminated surface.