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tomorrowusa · 3 months

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Four years ago today (March 13th), then President Donald Trump got around to declaring a national state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration had been downplaying the danger to the United States for 51 days since the first US infection was confirmed on January 22nd.

From an ABC News article dated 25 February 2020...

CDC warns Americans of 'significant disruption' from coronavirus

Until now, health officials said they'd hoped to prevent community spread in the United States. But following community transmissions in Italy, Iran and South Korea, health officials believe the virus may not be able to be contained at the border and that Americans should prepare for a "significant disruption." This comes in contrast to statements from the Trump administration. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Tuesday the threat to the United States from coronavirus "remains low," despite the White House seeking $1.25 billion in emergency funding to combat the virus. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC’s Kelly Evans on “The Exchange” Tuesday evening, "We have contained the virus very well here in the U.S." [ ... ] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the request "long overdue and completely inadequate to the scale of this emergency." She also accused President Trump of leaving "critical positions in charge of managing pandemics at the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security vacant." "The president's most recent budget called for slashing funding for the Centers for Disease Control, which is on the front lines of this emergency. And now, he is compounding our vulnerabilities by seeking to ransack funds still needed to keep Ebola in check," Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday morning. "Our state and local governments need serious funding to be ready to respond effectively to any outbreak in the United States. The president should not be raiding money that Congress has appropriated for other life-or-death public health priorities." She added that lawmakers in the House of Representatives "will swiftly advance a strong, strategic funding package that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of this public health crisis." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also called the Trump administration's request "too little too late." "That President Trump is trying to steal funds dedicated to fight Ebola -- which is still considered an epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- is indicative of his towering incompetence and further proof that he and his administration aren't taking the coronavirus crisis as seriously as they need to be," Schumer said in a statement.

A reminder that Trump had been leaving many positions vacant – part of a Republican strategy to undermine the federal government.

Here's a picture from that ABC piece from a nearly empty restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. The screen displays a Trump tweet still downplaying COVID-19 with him seeming more concerned about the effect of the Dow Jones on his re-election bid.

People were not buying Trump's claims but they were buying PPE.

I took this picture at CVS on February 26th that year.

The stock market which Trump in his February tweet claimed looked "very good" was tanking on March 12th – the day before his state of emergency declaration.

Trump succeeded in sending the US economy into recession much faster than George W. Bush did at the end of his term – quite a feat!. (As an aside, every recession in the US since 1981 has been triggered by Republican presidents.)

Of course Trump never stopped trying to downplay the pandemic nor did he ever take responsibility for it. The US ended up with the highest per capita death rate of any technologically advanced country.

Precious time was lost while Trump dawdled. Orange on this map indicates COVID infections while red indicates COVID deaths. At the time Trump declared a state of emergency, the virus had already spread to 49 states.

The United States could have done far better and it had the tools to do so.

The Obama administration had limited the number of US cases of Ebola to under one dozen during that pandemic in the 2010s. Based on their success, they compiled a guide on how the federal government could limit future pandemics.

Obama team left pandemic playbook for Trump administration, officials confirm

Of course Trump ignored it.

Unlike those boxes of nuclear secrets in Trump's bathroom, the Obama pandemic limitation document is not classified. Anybody can read it – even if Trump didn't. This copy comes from the Stanford University Libraries.

TOWARDS EPIDEMIC PREDICTION: FEDERAL EFFORTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN OUTBREAK MODELING

Feel free to share this post with anybody who still feels nostalgic about the Trump White House years!

#covid-19 #coronavirus #pandemic #public health #donald trump #trump's incompetent response to the pandemic #covid state of emergency #2020 #trump recession #51 days of trump pandemic dawdling #obama pandemic playbook #2010s ebola outbreak #nostalgia for trump administration #republicans #election 2024 #vote blue no matter who

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panopti-cunt · 2 years

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"COVID deaths persist in part because we let them. America has largely decided to be done with the pandemic, even though the pandemic stubbornly refuses to be done with America. The country has lifted nearly all of its pandemic restrictions, and emergency pandemic funding has been drying up. For the most part, people have settled into whatever level of caution or disregard suits them. A Pew Research survey from May found that COVID did not even crack Americans’ list of the top 10 issues facing the country. Only 19 percent said that they consider it a big problem, and it’s hard to imagine that number has gone anywhere but down in the months since. COVID deaths have shifted from an emergency to the accepted collateral damage of the American way of life. Background noise."

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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If you wanted to know more about the saga of protests and resistance against Canada’s open-pit copper mining in Panama:

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Screenshot and headline from: “Canadian firm blames Panama for closure of copper mine.” AP News. 16 December 2022.

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Headline from: “Panama: Canadian mining company First Quantum denied to expand copper exploitation area for alleged failure with environmental commitments.” Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. 26 January 2023.

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Headline from: Valentine Hilaire. “Panama won’t allow Canada’s First Quantum to expand its copper mine operations.” Reuters. 26 January 2023.

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Headline by: The Associated Press. “Panama reaches 20-year deal with Canadian copper mine.” As republished at ABC News. 8 March 2023.

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An excerpt and explanation:

In Panama, a dispute has emerged of a type that is common to countries in Central and South America: a huge transnational company has invested in the country’s resource wealth, resulting in a conflict over suitable payments to the government that draws in officials from the company’s nation of origin in defence of corporate profits. In this case, the company in question is First Quantum Minerals, a mining giant with lucrative investments across the Global South -- and the country of origin is Canada.

This summer [2022], Panamanians rose up in nationwide protests against the neoliberal status quo imposed on the country by the government of Laurentino Cortizo. Beginning on July 1, these protests brought together diverse groups including teachers, students, trade unionists, farmers, and Indigenous organizations [...]. The causes of the summer 2022 protests go back decades and help illustrate the dynamics of the current conflict between First Quantum (and their backers in Ottawa) and the Panamanian state.

Throughout the 1990s, Canada aggressively pushed for states in Central and South America to adopt neoliberal reforms that would permit more foreign investment and fewer regulations for transnational companies. [...]

Several protest movements emerged in Panama in the 2010s in opposition to the effects of free market reforms generally and the predominance of Canadian mining specifically. At the heart of these resistance movements is the Canadian-owned Cobre Panamá mine, which is the largest foreign investment in the country [...].

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Cobre Panamá was owned by the Toronto-headquartered Inmet Mining until 2013, at which point it was acquired by Vancouver-based First Quantum. In 2011, the Martinelli government attempted to limit the Indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé nation’s rights to autonomy and self-government in order to grant mining companies access to minerals on their land. Meanwhile, Martinelli repealed a law that prevented foreign governments from investing in the mining sector -- a gift to Canada’s Inmet Mining, which at the time was seeking financing from the sovereign wealth funds of Singapore and South Korea.

These moves sparked protests that continued into 2012. Martinelli responded to demands for the annulment of mining and hydroelectric concessions on Indigenous territory with violence by dispatching riot police. The police killed one protestor, injured thirty-two, and detained forty. The protestors did not budge; instead, they blocked the entrances to Cobre Panamá and another mine owned by the Canada’s Petaquilla Minerals. Eventually Martinelli relented and vowed not to approve mining projects on or near Ngäbe-Buglé lands.’

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During the 2011-2012 conflict, nobody in the Canadian government issued a single statement on the matter. When protestors took to the streets again in 2022, Ottawa released a statement that totally omitted the reasons behind the uprising.

Following the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cortizo government declared that Panama’s recovery would rely on incentivizing foreign investment in the mining sector. Social movements have by and large rejected this new arrangement due to the history of corrupt collaboration between state officials and foreign companies and the weakness of environmental protections.

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For example, in April 2022 the Panama Worth More Without Mining Movement -- which arose in opposition to the Canadian-owned Cobre Panamá mine -- released a report that found over 200 “serious” breaches of environmental commitments by the project managers, including the breaking of reforestation promises, “the felling of 876 hectares… in an area of high biodiversity and international importance,” and “the discharge of waste from the tailings tank into natural bodies of water without official endorsement.”

Following the summer 2022 protests, the Cortizo government announced plans to reform the mining sector by instituting greater regulations on foreign companies. In the meantime, the Panamanian state and First Quantum were in the process of negotiating a renewed contract. Jason Simpson, CEO of Canada’s Orla Mining (which is hoping to begin extraction at its Cerro Quema gold project), said, “The biggest story in Panama is Cobre Panamá, so as the government works through their renewed contract law for First Quantum’s asset there, that’ll take priority… We’ll be patient for that to be resolved and then we hope to get working on construction in Panama.”

The negotiations for the renewal of the Cobre Panamá contract began in September 2021. The two parties agreed that First Quantum would provide Panama with between 12 and 16 percent of its gross profit, a new rate that would replace the previous two percent revenue royalty. [...]

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Much like Ottawa jumped to the defence of Centerra Gold following Kyrgyzstan’s nationalization of the Kumtor gold mine last year, the Trudeau government has taken a keen interest in Cobre Panamá and, according to the unnamed Reuters source, is actively backing the mining company’s position. Given Canada’s long history of support for neoliberal reforms and transnational investment in Central and South America, Ottawa’s support for First Quantum in these negotiations should come as no surprise.

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Headline and text by: Owen Schalk. “Ottawa backs Canadian mining giant in dispute with Panama.” Canadian Dimension. 26 December 2022. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph contractions added by me.]

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida took credit for sending planeloads of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of an apparent bid to force authorities in another state to take responsibility for them.

State Sen. Julian Cyr of Massachusetts told The New York Times that around 50 migrants arrived in two planes about 3 p.m. local time, with no warning.

Fox News Digital, which first reported the story, published a video of migrants disembarking from planes on the island and getting into a van.

"Yes, Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha's Vineyard today were part of the state's relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations," Taryn Fenske, the communications director for DeSantis, told the outlet.

State Rep. Dylan Fernandes on Twitter said the community rallied to help the migrants, putting them up in a local church.

"Our island jumped into action putting together 50 beds, giving everyone a good meal, providing a play area for the children, making sure people have the healthcare and support they need. We are a community that comes together to support immigrants," he wrote on Twitter.

He also shared photos of the makeshift accommodation.

Cyr, speaking with the Martha's Vineyard Times, criticized the move as a cruel political stunt. On Twitter, he said the migrants had arrived on a charter flight from Texas and appeared to be mostly from Venezuela.

"This is deeply disgusting. This is a cruel ruse that manipulates families that are seeking a better life," he said, describing them as "fundamentally racist tactics."

In recent weeks, the Republican-led states of Texas and Arizona have sent thousands of migrants to Democratic-led areas, including New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC.

They say President Joe Biden's policies are behind a rise in unauthorized migration and that Democratic-led cities should bear the responsibility for them. Some of the areas migrants have been sent to voted to become "sanctuary cities," places where authorities deliberately do not cooperate with efforts to enforce migration laws.

DeSantis is burnishing his anti-migration credentials amid rumors he's positioning himself for a presidential bid in 2024.

Martha's Vineyard is an agricultural area and exclusive vacation destination where former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as Hillary Clinton, frequently spend time. In the offseason, it has about 20,000 residents, and locals told The New York Times there were concerns about the town's long-term ability to host the migrants.

Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for DeSantis, used the situation to troll liberals.

"Martha's Vineyard residents should be thrilled about this. They vote for sanctuary cities — they get a sanctuary city of their own," she tweeted. "And illegal aliens will increase the town's diversity, which is strength. Right?"

Some of you may have been wondering, "Hey, @dontmeantobepoliticalbut, did DeSantis just use Floridian's taxes to fly migrants in Texas to Massachusetts?"

You'd be half-right. Remember Blue States pay for Red States. Florida used California's reallocated surplus taxes to fly Texas's migrants to Massachusetts...

The $12 million money comes from interest earnings from Florida's $8.8 billion portion of the American Rescue Plan's Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund. It provided $350 billion to state and local governments, which the U.S. Treasury said is "to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency."

Another interesting thought....

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allthecanadianpolitics · 7 months

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The Canada Revenue Agency has denied or adjusted $458 million in funds disbursed to employers through a pandemic-era wage subsidy program as a result of a partially completed auditing process.

The agency is releasing a report Monday that offers detailed findings of its audits of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program. The bulk of the findings cover the period ending March 31, but the report also offers more up-to-date figures as of Sept. 29.

The CEWS program subsidized businesses' staff wages by 75 per cent to help companies hold on to their employees as governments enacted shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #canadian #CRA #canada revenue agency #CEWS #canada emergency wage subsidy #coronavirus #COVID-19

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mariacallous · 4 months

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Though the Take Our Border Back convoy has largely been a mess so far as the small group makes its way toward the Texas-Mexico border, experts warn that it has acted as a lightning rod for militias, far-right extremists, and even long-dormant vigilante groups. It could reach a tipping point this weekend, as multiple rallies are planned against immigrants and the Biden administration along the border in Texas, as well as Arizona and California.

“Data we collected tells us emphatically that the standoff between Texas and the federal government has become a magnet for far-right vigilantism,” said Devin Burghart, the executive director at the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, during a press briefing on Thursday organized by the immigration reform group America’s Voice. “From the convoy steering committee on down, the protest comprises many of the same dangerous elements as the January 6 insurrection: militia members, election deniers, QAnon conspiracists, Covid deniers, and other hardcore far-righters.”

Those groups include the Proud Boys, neo-Nazi militias, and other vigilante groups. Last week, the Republic of Texas Proud Boys shared a post in its Telegram channel calling immigrants “brown immigrant invaders,” and the South Texas Proud Boys told followers to “grab your guns.” Meanwhile, the neo-Nazi Aryan Network issued a rallying cry in support of the Texas ‘resistance,’ asking for white men to join. In another post, the group added, “to hell with the United States of America.”

“The convoy itself has really inspired some of these more fringe, really extreme sects of the far right to engage in operations down in border states,” said Freddy Cruz, the program manager for monitoring and training at Western States Center, during the briefing. “Discussions around the convoy and just the convoy itself really animate extreme anti-democracy groups to go down to the border.”

The convoy had an inauspicious start; just 19 vehicles set out from Virginia on Monday, and within minutes some were lost. There has been paranoia and infighting within the small group, and a convicted pedophile showed up. But on Thursday night, when the convoy organizers held a rally at the One Shot Distillery and Brewery, owned by former US Army colonel Phil Waldron, who was a key figure in proposing plans that ultimately led to the January 6 insurrection, a different picture emerged.

Hundreds of people gathered at the event, which featured far-right speakers that included Chrisitan nationalist pastors calling for “drawing a blood line around Texas, around America.” Convicted January 6 insurrectionists threatened another insurrection. There were Covid deniers, Pizzagate adherents, and sovereign citizens. Former conservative news presenter turned conspiracy booster Lara Logan was also onstage, talking in graphic detail about child trafficking and the dark web. Michael Yon, one of the convoy promoters, screamed and ranted at the audience about how Jewish people were funding an NGO that works along the Texas border. He also claimed that Hamas and Hezbollah are coming across the border: “Allahu akbar, when you hear that shit, you better get ready, your thumb better be hitting that safety.”

Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and the late senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign running mate, introduced musician Ted Nugent, who called President Biden a “piece of shit.”

Elected officials were also present: Republican Texas state representative Carrie Isaac repeated the conspiracy about “terrorists at the border.” She was introduced onstage by Chris Burr, a board member of the Texas GOP.

Though tensions surrounding immigration have been simmering for a while, the most recent crisis was sparked earlier this month when the US Supreme Court lifted an order by a lower court and sided with the Biden administration to rule that Border Patrol agents could remove razor wire installed by the Texas National Guard and state troopers. Rather than stand down, Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, replied in a letter that Texas has the right to “defend and protect” itself against an “invasion” of migrants, adding that this “is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”

The vast majority of the GOP has backed Abbott, including more than two dozen Republican governors, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and former president Donald Trump, who called for National Guard troops from other states to be sent to Texas.

The rhetoric from the right has continued to ratchet up. “This is an invasion from third-world countries,”Texas’ lieutenant governor Dan Patrick told Fox News. “They're coming here with health issues, they're uneducated, unemployed, and all they do is commit crime on the streets.”

Since the standoff began, there has been “an online explosion of invasion and great replacement rhetoric, the idea that white people are somehow being displaced intentionally with immigrants,” said Heidi Beirich, cofounder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. “We've seen white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups all taking advantage of the standoff to push their propaganda and recruit new members.”

On Friday, the convoy will reportedly conclude in Quemado, Texas, and the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch, a humanitarian charity which provides food and support for low-income families in the US and across the border in Mexico. “The people that are coming here are doing a religious prayer for the border,” Lori Mercer, the director of the organization tells WIRED, adding: “We have to be peacemakers.”

The location was picked by Pete Chambers, one of the people organizing the convoy, who claims to be a former Green Beret. Last week, Chambers spoke with school-shooting conspiracist Alex Jones about how the convoy planned to travel to the border to hunt migrants in collaboration with sympathetic law enforcement. Other convoy organizers have said that the effort is “peaceful” and that they are not going to the border. But comments made by members of the group on livestreams, online videos, and in Telegram channels indicate that not everyone feels that way.

“We will engage decisively, and if it gets worse, in the infantry we call it ‘fix bayonets,’” Chambers told a pastor in one online video this week, adding: “That’s war, we don’t want to go there, but that’s where we’re at right now.”

On Saturday, the group will take part in a trio of rallies along the border: in San Ysidro, California; Yuma, Arizona; and Eagle Pass, Texas, the epicenter of the current standoff between Abbott and the Biden administration.

“They've discussed calling out militias or posses and needing to ‘show force,’” said Burghart. “One organizer, who is also a militia leader, even threatened, ‘We'll do whatever we got to do to put a stop to it.’ Leading border-conflict figures have also stated that their convoy is meant to pick up where January 6 left off. Moreover, they've amplified the specter of kicking off a second civil war.”

While it’s unclear what is going to happen over the weekend, there are already signs that the convoy and the standoff generally are activating long-dormant vigilante groups.

“Earlier this week, we did see vigilante group Women Fighting for America in Arizona livestreaming the group's expedition to try and track down a migrant camp in Arivaca, Arizona,” Cruz said. “Women Fighting for America have previously been on the border, but they took a two-year hiatus, and all of a sudden they're back on the border because the media is covering the convoy.”

In a video posted in the group’s Telegram channel, Christine Hutcherson, Women Fighting for America’s founder, is seen wearing night-vision goggles, talking about a camp run by a Catholic charity set in a remote part of the Arizona border region. “I’ve been here before a couple of years ago. They are housing migrants, illegals, mostly single adult males of fighting age. And we’re getting ready to go into this camp right now,” she alleged.

Experts are concerned about the impact of this kind of extremist rhetoric long term. “It’s important to keep an eye on how these types of efforts are successful in mainstreaming fringe far-right ideas and far-right groups into a much larger context,” said Burghart.

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fandomtrumpshate · 4 months

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2024 Supported Org: National Network to End Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a pervasive, life-threatening crime that affects millions of individuals across the United States regardless of age, economic status, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability, or education level. It can be difficult to measure the scope of domestic violence—and it’s particularly hard during a pandemic when families are essentially confined to homes, where a victim can’t easily escape an abuser. The constraints of COVID-19, historic unemployment and other social factors related to the pandemic contribute to higher stress levels at home, which can lead to increased violence.

NNEDV is the leading voice for domestic violence victims and their advocates. As a membership and advocacy organization of state domestic violence coalitions, allied organizations and supportive individuals, NNEDV works closely with its members to understand the ongoing and emerging needs of domestic violence victims and advocacy programs and make sure those needs are heard and understood by policymakers at the national level.

NNEDV offers a range of programs and initiatives to address the complex causes and far-reaching consequences of domestic violence. It further supports the fight to end domestic violence by providing state coalitions with critical information and resources. From training and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategic funding, NNEDV brings much-needed resources to local communities.

You can support National Network to End Domestic Violence as a creator in the 2024 FTH auction (or as a bidder, when the time comes to donate for the auctions you’ve won.)

#fth 2024 #fanworks charity auction #supported org #national network to end domestic violence #nnedv #supported organzation

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naturalrights-retard · 4 months

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STORY AT-A-GLANCE

New evidence obtained by U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) further strengthens the theory that SARS-CoV-2 was made in a lab

The novel features found in SARS-CoV-2 match the research parameters presented in a 2018 grant proposal by EcoHealth Alliance to conduct gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses

EcoHealth and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) were well aware of the potential that this research could spark a human pandemic. A planning memo contains a note stating, “We MUST make it clear in proposal that our approach won’t drive evolution the wrong way, e.g. drive evolution of more virulent strain that then becomes pandemic”

At present, gain-of-function research is allowed provided it’s done with the intention of creating a vaccine, which is a logical fallacy. We’ve never been able to preemptively construct a pathogen that later shows up through natural evolution. We’re creating novel pathogens that don’t exist in nature and then developing vaccines against those. In other words, we’re creating bioweapons and antidotes to those bioweapons, and this needs to stop

According to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, author of “Deception: The Great COVID Cover-Up,” the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed millions of people, was the result of Anthony Fauci’s decision to fund dangerous gain-of-function research in China — research that was officially banned in the U.S. at the time and at bare minimum should have been done with U.S. oversight but wasn’t.

Adding insult to injury, Fauci personally profited from the disaster to the tune of about $5 million. “Congress was misled by Anthony Fauci,” Paul told now-independent journalist Tucker Carlson. “In the end, he deserves to be in prison.”

New Evidence Strongly Indicates SARS-CoV-2 Was Created

In a January 25, 2024, article1 in the City Journal, science writer, editor and author Nicholas Wade details new evidence2 obtained by U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) that further strengthens the theory that SARS-CoV-2 was indeed made in a lab.3

As noted by Wade, that’s the key reason why no one, despite massive testing efforts, has been able to find SARS-CoV-2 in any wild animal, bats or otherwise. It never existed in the natural world, only in the lab.

The newly-obtained documents include what amounts to a recipe for “assembling SARS-type viruses from six synthetic pieces of DNA designed to be a consensus sequence — the genetically most infectious form — of viruses related to SARS1, the bat virus that caused the minor epidemic of 2002,” Wade writes. As it turns out, SARS-CoV-2 has this exact six-section structure.

The documents also show that “American scientists planned to work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology to engineer novel coronaviruses with the features of SARS-CoV-2 the year before the virus emerged from that city,” USRTK reporter Emily Kopp writes.4

The DEFUSE Proposal Provides the Recipe

In March 2018, the EcoHealth Alliance, led by Peter Daszak, applied for a $14.2 million grant to conduct gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses in research labs in California, North Carolina, New York, Wisconsin, Singapore and Wuhan. The proposal, dubbed “Project DEFUSE,” describes how scientists would:5

Insert furin cleavage sites at the S1/S2 junction of the spike protein

Assemble synthetic viruses in six segments

Identify coronaviruses that were no more than 25% different from SARS1

Select for receptor binding domains adept at infecting human ACE2 receptors

Download this Article Before it Disappears

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SARS-CoV-2 Matches DEFUSE Research Parameters

As explained by Kopp,6 SARS-CoV-2 matches these research parameters to the T. It has a furin cleavage site in the spike protein at the S1/S2 junction, and its genome can be divided into six evenly spaced strings of DNA using restriction enzymes called BsaI and BsmBI. This even spacing is unlikely to occur in the genomes of natural viruses.

The reason scientists splice viruses together using evenly spaced DNA pieces is because it’s easier to manipulate. It allows them to synthesize the individual pieces chemically and then string them together to create a complete genome.

This telltale synthetic “fingerprint,” found in the genome of SARS-CoV-2, was detailed in a 2022 preprint by Bruttel et. al.7 As noted by Wade,8 the bottom line is that “if your virus has evenly spaced recognition sites, it’s a pretty good bet that it was made in a lab.” As it turns out, the DEFUSE draft proposal even included an order form for BsmBI — a fact highlighted by Bruttel in a Twitter/X post.9

The genomic variations of SARS-CoV-2’s are also within the 25% range indicated in the proposal, and its receptor binding domains were optimized for human ACE2 receptors from the start, which is what allowed it to spread like wildfire. Wade writes:10

“Discovery of the new recipe certainly strengthens the possibility that the regular spacing of BsaI and BsmBI recognition sites in SARS2 is the signature of synthetic origin.

Indeed, Richard H. Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University who had called the 2022 paper ‘noteworthy ... but not decisive,’ now says that the evidence in the new documents ‘elevates the evidence provided by the genome sequence from the level of noteworthy to the level of a smoking gun.’”

Matt Ridley, coauthor of “Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19” agrees, noting that all of the novel features of SARS-CoV-2 are explained by the proposed research methods detailed in the DEFUSE documents.

“Game over.” Ridley wrote.11 “The latest revelations provide precise confirmation that all the many suspicious features of SARS-CoV-2 which imply it was man made were set out in exhaustive detail in the DEFUSE proposal to which Wuhan Institute of Virology was a partner.”

EcoHealth Was Well Aware of Pandemic Risks

According to the DEFUSE draft USRTK obtained, the plan was to synthesize anywhere from eight to 16 strains of SARS-type bat viruses with human spillover potential, in order to create a vaccine that would then be used on bats in regions where there is military activity.

Importantly, EcoHealth and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) were well aware of the potential that this research could spark a human pandemic. A planning memo contains a note stating, “We MUST make it clear in proposal that our approach won’t drive evolution the wrong way, e.g. drive evolution of more virulent strain that then becomes pandemic.”12

At present, it would appear that’s exactly what happened. A synthetic virus was concocted, and somehow escaped from the WIV. Whether it was intentional or not is another matter. Either way, the moral of the story is that gain-of-function research poses enormous risks to public health, and if pandemic risk exists, then the research probably shouldn’t be allowed.

Documents Show Deceptive Practices to Gain Grants

Another thing these new documents reveal is how Daszak used misdirection in an effort to deceive the U.S. government about where this obviously risky research would be conducted. While he had every intention of having much of the work done at the WIV, he downplayed the role of the Chinese researchers and made it seem as though the research would be conducted in the U.S.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ultimately rejected13 the proposal due to “significant weaknesses,” including the fact that the proposal lacked any kind of risk assessment and risk mitigation plan. Whether someone else provided the funding, and if so, who, remains an open question. As reported by Wade:14

“The DEFUSE proposal was authored by Peter Daszak, head of the EcoHealth Alliance in New York, with partners including Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina ...

Some observers believe that when DARPA declined to fund the project, the Chinese members of the group may have decided to find their own financing and go ahead unilaterally. This is plausible, as Baric and Shi were collaborators but also rivals. With Baric blocked for lack of DARPA funds, Shi may have seen the chance to race ahead if she could acquire funds from Chinese sources.

Daszak, the project leader, had planned in any case to have much of the work undertaken by Shi’s team in Wuhan, even though it meant deceiving the Defense Department into thinking the bulk of the research would be done by Baric in the United States.

In a note found in the new documents, Daszak wrote, ‘If we win this contract, I do not propose that all of this work will necessarily be conducted by Ralph, but I do want to stress the US side of this proposal so that DARPA are comfortable with our team. Once we get the funds, we can then allocate who does what exact work, and I believe that a lot of these assays can be done in Wuhan.’

Daszak is a research manager, not a virologist, and perhaps did not fully understand the consequences of this decision. The DEFUSE project, if undertaken by Baric, would have gone forward in the second-highest level of safety conditions, known as BSL-3, because Baric believed that the manipulation of SARS-related viruses was dangerous work and did his research in a BSL-3 lab.

The Chinese were less impressed with the dangers. Shi worked on SARS-related viruses mostly in BSL-2 labs, which have minimal safety requirements, though she did test the viruses on humanized mice under BSL-3 conditions.

When SARS2 first appeared in the world, it had all the unique properties that would be expected of a virus made according to the DEFUSE recipe. Instead of slowly evolving the ability to attack human cells, as natural viruses must do when they jump from animals to humans, SARS2 was immediately infectious to people, possibly because it had already been adapted in humanized laboratory mice to the human cell receptors ...

Despite intensive search, no precursors for SARS2 have been found in the natural world. Given the 2018 date of the DEFUSE proposal, the researchers in Wuhan could have synthesized the virus by 2019, accounting perfectly for the otherwise unexplained timing of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its place of origin. It all fits.”

Lessons From the Great COVID Cover-Up

In a November 1, 2023, article, Sen. Paul reviewed what we have learned from “the great COVID cover-up”:15

“The COVID cover-up began in China. But in a way we make too big a deal of that. No one should be surprised that a totalitarian government run by the Chinese Communist Party would seek to cover up its responsibility for a worldwide pandemic. What was mind-jarring — and what we should focus our attention on — is the cover-up in our own country spearheaded by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his fellow public health bureaucrats.

And they might have gotten away with their deception if a federal judge hadn’t ordered their emails released. In brief, these emails reveal that at the same time Dr. Fauci and other public health ‘experts’ were publicly disavowing the idea that the COVID virus originated with a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, they were in general agreement among themselves that that was likely what had happened. So why hide the fact?”

According to Paul, Fauci and his collaborators chose to hide the truth because the truth would reveal their potentially criminal actions. As director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Fauci had been funding risky gain-of-function research at the WIV — a substandard lab in terms of safety.

Moreover, he allowed this research to move forward even though there was a moratorium on gain-of-function research in the U.S. The moratorium was put in place for the very reason that experts feared the risk of creating a human pandemic was too high.

Is Fauci Hiding a Guilty Conscience?

In hindsight, they were correct, and if SARS-CoV-2 was admitted to be a manmade virus leaked from a lab, the only rational response would be to hold the responsible parties accountable and shut this kind of research down for good. No doubt, this prospect would have terrified Fauci and everyone else involved.

According to Paul, that Fauci’s conscience was keeping him awake can be seen in the fact that he was sending emails in the middle of the night in the early days of the pandemic instead of being snugly tucked in his bed. One 3 a.m. email was sent to Robert Kadlec, then-Secretary for Preparedness and Response at Health and Human Services.

“This just came out today. Gives a balanced view,” Fauci wrote. Attached was a Science article arguing for a zoonotic origin of the virus and discrediting the lab leak theory.

“When this email came to light, I was initially puzzled about its timing and urgency,” Paul writes. “But then I learned that one of Kadlec’s duties was to chair the committee responsible for screening gain-of-function proposals for safety purposes — and that the Wuhan coronavirus research proposal never came before his committee!”

In other words, Paul believes Fauci sent this email to Kadlec to hide the fact that he’d OK’d gain-of-function research that should have ended up on Kadlec’s desk for a safety review, but didn’t.

Behavior Befitting a Conspiracy

Other behaviors also suggest Fauci and collaborators were panicking over the possibility that COVID might be traced back to their own activities. Paul writes:

“Jeremy Farrar, the Anthony Fauci of the UK, told his brother that in the early stages of the pandemic, ‘a few scientists, including me, were beginning to suspect this might be a lab accident.’

Farrar writes in his book Spike: ‘During that period, I would do things I had never done before: acquire a burner phone, hold clandestine meetings, keep difficult secrets.’

Indeed, many Western bureaucrats, especially in the U.S., began using various forms of communication to shield their messages from future records requests. We have an email from one of Fauci’s assistants instructing other government employees to avoid using government email addresses. Which, by the way, is a crime.”

And then there are the papers published in scientific journals “debunking” — without presenting a shred of evidence — the idea that SARS-CoV-2 might be manmade, and condemning “conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.” Upon deeper investigation, they too have been linked to key culprits who have a strong incentive to hide the truth, including Fauci.

We Must Put an End to Gain-of-Function Research

As noted by Paul, the number of scientists worrying about another lab leak with far more dire consequences is growing:16

“With COVID, the mortality rate was far less than one percent. Experiments are now being carried out with viruses that have the potential for mortality rates between 15 and 50 percent. In 2021, MIT biochemist Kevin Esvelt wrote:

‘Once we consider the possibility of misuse [of gain-of-function research], let alone creative misuse, such research looks like a gamble that civilization can’t afford to risk ... I implore every scientist, funder, and nation working in this field: Please stop.

No more trying to discover or make pandemic-capable viruses, enhance their virulence, or assemble them more easily. No more attempting to learn which components allow viruses to efficiently infect or replicate within human cells, or to devise inheritable ways to evade immunity. No more experiments likely to disseminate blueprints for plagues.’

The potential for disaster cannot be overstated. Right now, people can order synthetic DNA on the internet, and if they know what they’re doing, they can make the polio virus, among many others ...

The required information is publicly available due to taxpayer-funded initiatives to identify all the viruses in the world. With the support of people like Peter Daszak and Bill Gates, the U.S. has been the top international funder of pandemic virus identification for decades.

This should give us pause: these programs involve digging rare viruses out of caves where humans might never encounter them and transporting them to major metropolitan areas, manipulating viruses to make them more dangerous and transmissible, and publishing the resulting knowledge to the world.

Even if the goal is preventing future pandemics, the risk-benefit ratio doesn’t add up. While advocates for identifying the world’s viruses argue that the knowledge gained will aid in developing vaccines, decades of virus identification have been fruitless, as no human vaccine has been developed in advance of a human epidemic.

If we continue down this path, Esvelt believes that ‘deliberate pandemics’ will kill ‘many more people than identification could save.’ To think that we can prevent future pandemics, even as we continue to seek, catalog, and manipulate dangerous viruses, is the height of hubris.

Over the last few years, public health ‘experts’ were wrong about almost everything. If we are to avoid these kinds of catastrophes in the future, we must reform government and rein in out-of-control scientists and their enablers.”

I couldn’t agree more. We need to put an end to gain-of-function research for the safety of humanity, and not allow greed or sheer scientific curiosity lead to the creation of a pathogen that might wipe out humanity.

The 2022 spending bill contains a directive to the secretary of Health and Human Services on page 3,354 to “not fund research conducted by a foreign entity at a facility located in a country of concern ... involving pathogens of pandemic potential or biological agents or toxins.”17

This is a step in the right direction, but as noted by Paul, “Americans and their representatives must watch carefully to see whether our public health agencies attempt to sidestep it.”

To that end, a Gain-of-Function Reform Group is now recommending that gain-of-function experiments that confer “efficient human transmissibility” on a pathogen ought to be regulated. Doing so would “explicitly stop bureaucrats like Fauci from dancing around the gain-of-function definition and looking the other way as researchers create viruses that spread more easily in humans,” Paul writes.

We’re creating bioweapons and antidotes to those bioweapons, and this needs to stop.

No, we’re creating novel pathogens that don’t exist in nature and then develop vaccines against those. In other words, we’re creating bioweapons and antidotes to those bioweapons, and it needs to stop. For that to happen, the public needs to start “making noise” so that our elected representatives begin to realize that we will not allow this issue to be ignored.

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gumjrop · 1 month

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The FDA, between now and May 8, is accepting public comments for their upcoming vaccine committee meeting. Let them know that all of us need access to COVID vaccines at least twice a year.

Make your voice heard and ask the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting to:

Ensure vaccine manufacturers anticipate the upcoming dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2.

Recommend updated COVID vaccines for all ages AND

Strengthen our vaccine drive by recommending more frequent boosting (at least every six months) and more frequent updates to the vaccines, adjusted for the latest variants.

Submit a public comment. Feel free to use our sample language below.

You can also register to give Oral Public Comment at the upcoming May 16 online FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting at: [email protected] on May 1, 2024. THAT’S TONIGHT!

Submitted written comments for the meeting must be received by the FDA via the Federal Register no later than May 8, 2024 at 11:59 Eastern Daylight Time.

It’s important to submit a personalized comment, which could include the importance of anticipating the next dominant viral strain, the lack of vaccine access that has impacted or would impact you, or how out-of-pocket costs are a barrier in your family or community. Feel free to take inspiration from or borrow the language in our sample public comment below.

Docket No. FDA–2024–N–0970 Scientific evidence indicates updated vaccines are needed to address the ongoing changes in COVID variants, and they should ideally be allowed, available, and fully covered by public funds and/or insurance, for people of all ages at least every six months. The vaccine schedule should address waning efficacy in the months following vaccination [1-3] as well as emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 strains. The FDA’s decision will affect the current and future vaccine approach including what healthcare providers recommend, what health insurance covers, and level of public engagement. It is of utmost importance that the FDA anticipates the newest viral variants and provides recommendations that anticipates the next dominant strain in the next six months. This requires that the FDA ensure that manufacturers anticipate the newest variants. Restricting vaccinations to only annual updates misses an opportunity, given that there is the potential to update the vaccines to better match perpetually emerging variants. Updates to all vaccine types are needed, and mRNA vaccines are particularly suited to frequent updates. The recommendation for only annual vaccination also creates barriers for vulnerable people and discourages high risk people from getting needed vaccine boosters. The FDA must ensure support equitable and affordable access to updated vaccines and prevent limited access because of financial constraints or demographics by advocating for programs such as the CDC’s bridge program that ensures no cost access. [4] References:

Link-Gelles R. COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness updates. Presented at: FDA VRBPAC Meeting; June 15, 2023. Accessed February 9, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/media/169536/download

Wu N, Joyal-Desmarais K, Vieira AM, et al. COVID-19 boosters versus primary series: update to a living review. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2023;11(10):e87-e88. doi:10.1016/S2213-2600(23)00265-5

Menegale F, Manica M, Zardini A, et al. Evaluation of Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immunity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(5):e2310650. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.10650

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html

Full instructions for written and oral comment and meeting information can be found at: https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/vaccines-and-related-biological-products-advisory-committee-may-16-2024-meeting-announcement

FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting on the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/04/2024-04523/vaccines-and-related-biological-products-advisory-committee-notice-of-meeting-establishment-of-a

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jarpadswalker · 9 months

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To the anon, you resorted to foul language just to question my choice and ask if I have seen any actor as multi talented as Jensen. Let me tell you this I am not going to post your ask as I don't want you to give you the satisfaction of sending a hate ask. I don't know why you think doing so was great in the first place.

As far as multi talented actors are concerned, well Darling, I come from India. No slight for any countries actor or actresses, I am sure each country got their gems. since Anon asked me if I know any, I would like to say I know plenty.

In Indian film industry, acting ain't enough you need to know how to dance and singing is added bonus. Each actor knows at least 4 languages, including English. Then there are those who got added talent such as painting, cooking, musicians, badminton player. So they are not only good-looking but they are awesome actors, dancers, singers and multi linguistics. Sorry to say Jensen is nowhere near to them. Jensen doesn't have people traveling from all over the world to wish him a happy birthday at home. He is not quick-witted or charming, nor can he dance and could barely sing.

Here are some of the Indian actors for you. I am sharing two of my absolute favorites

Shah Rukh Khan - aka King Khan

This guy's duality is dangerous - There is not a single character that he hasn't played. One of the few, if not only actors whose film trailers are played on Bhuj Khalifa. Most importantly, despite being world famous, he is extremely humble. No matter how busy/ tired he is, he will make sure that he takes time out for his fans. There are fans who stand outside film studios and his house hoping to have one glimpse at him, but he, if present at home or Studio, will make sure to greet his fans without fail.

This is outside his house-

Hrithik Roshan - aka Greek God of Dance

Great actor, can dance (under statement), sing, cook, and do stunts. Another humble actor who doesn't think twice before sharing his craft. His debut film created a mania across the country. He was the only qctor who bagged all the top awards in his debut film and immediately got catapulted to A-list. He loves his fans and encourages them to follow their dream. He has funded my young talents to pursue their interest. During Covid, he donated millions of dollars to help Daily- Wage artists. He distributed masks and emergency kits to front runners. And raised 3.19 million of Covid 19 relief fund.

There are many more actors tumblr doesn't have enough space for it. I just shared two of my absolute favorites. As you can see, I gravitate towards those who are extremely humble, respectful, and giving despite being famous. I hope Anon, you understood why I don't think Jensen is a super talented actor.

#anti jensen #anti hellers #anti aas #anti jared padalecki hate #hrithik roshan #shahrukh khan #Indian actors #multi talented

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grits-galraisedinthesouth · 11 months

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The day after Rand Paul, MD took legal action against Dr Fauci, his office is destroyed in a fire.

Rand Paul: We Have Referred Fauci to DOJ for Prosecution for Lying to Congress

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Breitbart News Daily he has referred Dr. Anthony Fauci for prosecution, explaining that the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief lied during his testimony before Congress.

Paul initially said he gave Fauci the benefit of the doubt in 2020, deeming Fauci a “disinterested public health figure.” But as he had further interactions with him, he concluded the former White House medical adviser was a “dishonest” individual, determined to cover up his initial response to the coronavirus pandemic.

He pointed to further evidence this week–the emergence of an email featuring Fauci summarizing a phone call in early 2020.

“This is when they’re just beginning to look into the pandemic. And in that email, he basically says, ‘Yes, we’re suspicious that this could be a manipulated virus because it came from a lab in Wuhan, where they do gain of function research,’ and he describes the research,” Paul said.

“Well, this directly contradicts everything he said in committee hearing to me, denying absolutely that they funded any gain of function, and it’s absolutely a lie,” he said.

“That’s why we ended up referring him again this week to the Department of Justice, for prosecution for lying to Congress,” Paul revealed.Breitbart · Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) – July 20, 2023

The Kentucky senator continued, pointing to an “exchange of emails between Anthony Fauci and half a dozen prominent international virologists, and these emails go back and forth.”

“These virologists from around the world are saying, they’re looking at the genetic sequence of COVID-19, and they find that there are some striking, strikingly unusual characteristics of it that make it look like it’s been manipulated in the lab. And this band of close virologists that are his close buddies–and these are all people who have been proponents previously of gain of function research, creating viruses that don’t occur in nature to experimentation — they all tell him it looks manipulative,” he said, explaining that they then had a phone call discussing it on February 1, 2020.

“So he [Fauci] summarizes the phone call, about a day later, and it’s in an email that they have never released to us, but then finally was obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and through the House involvement through threat of subpoena,” Paul explained, adding that these are things he has been trying to get out for two years.

In the email, Fauci summarizes the call and “describes the worry among all these virologists, himself included — he’s not a virologist, but he also has worries and is worried that it looks like it’s been manipulated,” Paul said.

“And this is especially suspicious because we know they do gain of function research in Wuhan, and he describes the research,” the senator continued.

So essentially, lawmakers have proof Fauci funded this research and proof he acknowledged it. Before Congress, however, Fauci said unequivocally that they had never funded gain of function research, which Paul said is a “lie.”

Paul also said Fauci has attempted to cover his lie by essentially changing the definition of gain of function — something that Paul questioned him about during a November 2021 hearing in which the senator accused the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of changing the definition to cover Fauci’s “ass.”

“They have tried to define away the problem. The other thing they’ve tried to say is that it only counts as gain of function research if it’s a human virus,” Paul said, describing it as problematic because they take these bat viruses and test them on mice with humanized cells.

FLASHBACK — Rand Paul Grills Fauci on Gain of Function: You Changed the Definition to “Cover Your Ass”

#plandemic #fauci for prison #rand paul

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