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Gathered mainly from international media sources December 2020 - March 2021 |
For recent entries click "Invalid Item"  These are news/opinion items which caught my eye. Click on the link below: 31 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 21 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 26 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 25 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 22 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 16 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 15 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 9 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 8 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 30 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 28 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 27 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 26 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 24 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 23 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 20 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 12 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 11 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 10 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 2 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 27 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 24 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 23 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 20 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 19 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 18 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 16 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 15/12/20 "Invalid Entry" 13 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 12 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 11 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" For earlier entries drill down the list 10 Dec 2020 - Covid: Genes hold clues to why some people get severely ill 10 Dec 2020 - Referendum for the state of Texas to secede from the U.S. ? 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: More single day dead than in 9/11 terror attack or on D-Day landing 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: France moves to night-time curfew from 15 December 10 Dec 2020 - Elon Musk has launched the latest prototype of his Starship vehicle from Texas. 9 Dec 2020 - Covid-19 - $600 direct payment to most Americans? 9 Dec 2020 - Hunter Biden under federal investigation 9 Dec 2020 - Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine data gets positive FDA review 9 Dec 2020 - Is BIG TECH censoring different ideas about COVID-19? 9 Dec 2020 - Clashes in Portland 9 Dec 2020 - UK is investigating two possible allergic reactions to Pfizer coronavirus shot 9 Dec 2020 - Open letter by the Prime Minister of Hungary to the European Union 9 Dec 2020 - VACCINE OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM 9 Dec 2020 - UK EXIT FROM THE EU (Last supper?) 8 Dec 2020 - ROALD DAHL AND A WOKE APOLOGY |
Documents released by U.S. regulators Tuesday confirmed that Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was strongly protective against COVID-19 -- offering the world’s first detailed look at the evidence behind the shots. The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis online even as across the Atlantic, Britain on Tuesday began vaccinating its oldest citizens with the Pfizer-BioNTech shots. But the U.S. judges experimental vaccines in a unique way: On Thursday, the FDA will convene what’s essentially a science court that will debate -- in public and live-streamed -- just how strong the data backing the shots really is. A panel of independent scientists will pick apart the FDA’s first-pass review before recommending whether the vaccine appears safe and effective enough for millions of Americans. The FDA, which typically follows the committee’s advice, is expected to issue a decision in the days following the review. If given the green light, the first recipients would be health care workers and nursing home residents according to plans laid out by each state. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech previously reported the shots appear 95% effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study. That’s based on the first 170 infections detected. Only eight of the infections were among volunteers given the real vaccine while the rest had received a dummy shot. That was measured soon after study participants got their second dose. Still unknown is how long that protection lasts. “We’re looking at the best possible data,” Dr. Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an FDA adviser recently cautioned. “People worry, reasonably, how about six months later?” The other critical issue: Safety. Pfizer has reported no serious side effects. Some recipients experience flu-like reactions -- including fever, fatigue or muscle aches -- especially after the required second dose. It’s a sign the immune system is revving up, able to recognize and fight back if the real virus comes along. Other questions on the FDA advisers’ list: --How well do the shots protect people at high risk such as those over age 65 or those of any age with additional health problems such as obesity or heart disease? --Were the shots adequately tested in Black, Hispanic and other communities hard-hit by the pandemic, to know how well the vaccine works in those populations? --Does the vaccine protect against asymptomatic infection, or could the vaccinated still unknowingly spread the virus? --What should pregnant women be told about vaccination, since they weren’t tested in Pfizer’s study? Studies in children as young as 12 are just beginning. Emergency vaccinations could begin before Pfizer’s 44,000-person study is complete, and answering some of those questions will require keeping that study going. Health authorities are wrestling with how to do so in a way that’s fair to placebo recipients who justifiably would want to get the real vaccine. That access “is top of mind for many,” Pfizer and BioNTech recently wrote trial participants. The companies said they’re exploring ways to let placebo recipients switch to the vaccine group once they meet eligibility criteria for early access — if they’re health workers, for instance, or when the line opens for other essential workers or people over age 65. On the safety front, study volunteers will be monitored for two years but even studies of tens of thousands of people can’t spot a complication that only strikes 1 in a million. So the government also is gearing up for unprecedented monitoring of recipients once emergency vaccinations get underway. |
Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson claims Big Tech is exercising censorship on ideas outside the mainstream about coronavirus. "Information has never been more plentiful or easier to distribute. Yet we are sliding into a new age of censorship and suppression, encouraged by technology giants and traditional media companies. As someone who’s been falsely characterized as a coronavirus “denier,” I have seen this crisis firsthand. "Since June, Amazon has twice tried to suppress self-published booklets I have written about Covid-19 and the response to it. These booklets don’t contain conspiracy theories. Like the scientists who wrote the Great Barrington Declaration, I simply believe many measures to control the coronavirus have been damaging, counterproductive and unsupported by science." Amazon has said earlier that “as a bookseller, we believe that providing access to the written word is important, including books that some may find objectionable.” The company sells “Mein Kampf” and “The Anarchist’s Cookbook.” But when it comes to Covid, Amazon has a different standard. At least half a dozen other authors have emailed me that their books have been pulled. Amazon won’t disclose how many, or other details about how it picks books to censor. Google-owned YouTube censors even more aggressively. The company disclosed in October that it had pulled more than 200,000 videos about the epidemic—including one from Scott Atlas, a physician who was advising President Trump. Facebook has not only censored videos and attached warning labels or “fact checks” to news articles, but removed groups that oppose lockdowns and other restrictions. |
| Portland mayor authorizes ‘all lawful means’ to clear protesters from home 'It’s time for the encampment and occupation to end,' Wheeler wrote Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Tuesday said he has authorized police to use "all lawful means" in ending an illegal occupation at a home in the city. Protesters have rallied at the private North Portland residence for months to demonstrate against the eviction of a Black and Indigenous family, according to reports. "I am authorizing the Portland Police to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation on North Mississippi Avenue and to hold those violating our community’s laws accountable," Wheeler wrote on Twitter Tuesday night. PORTLAND POLICE AND PROTESTERS CLASH IN BROAD DAYLIGHT The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), with the assistance of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), made at least seven arrests and cleared people on Tuesday morning who they said have been trespassing for months at the "Red House on Mississippi." The alleged trespassers had been ordered to leave the property following a court order in September. After the arrests were made, at least 100 demonstrators gathered outside the home on Tuesday evening and proclaimed it the “Red House Autonomous Zone," according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. The protesters created makeshift barricades to prevent the ouster of the family who owned the home for decades. Wheeler shot back on Tuesday night, declaring that: "There will be no autonomous zone in Portland." Earlier on Tuesday, police said they blocked off streets and sidewalks surrounding the property, which led to clashes between law enforcement and protesters in the area. Demonstrators threw objects at officers and police vehicles, and at least two vehicles had their tires flattened, while others saw their windows smashed, authorities said. A crowd of people also used fencing and other materials to block North Mississippi Avenue, according to the PPB. One of the people at the property had a gun and was taken into custody, a police statement said. Officers also found more guns on the property. "It’s time for the encampment and occupation to end," Wheeler added. "There are many ways to protest and work toward needed reform. Illegally occupying private property, openly carrying weapons, threatening and intimidating people are not among them." |
| UK is investigating two possible allergic reactions to Pfizer coronavirus shot. UK investigates two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country's mass vaccination program. U.K. regulators said Wednesday that people who have a "significant history'' of allergic reactions shouldn't receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country's mass vaccination program. Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service in England, said health authorities were acting on a recommendation from the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. |
| Europe must not succumb to the Soros network Many believe that the prime minister of a country should not enter into an argument with George Soros. Their reasoning is that Soros is an economic criminal, because he made his money through speculation, ruining the lives of millions of people, and even blackmailing entire national economies. Just as governments must not negotiate with terrorists, they say, prime ministers must likewise not debate with economic criminals. Yet now I am compelled to do so, because in an article appearing on the Project Syndicate website on 18 November, the Hungarian-born speculator and billionaire George Soros issued open commands to the leaders of the European Union. In his article he instructs them to severely punish those Member States that do not want to become part of a unifying European empire under the banner of a global “open society”. Throughout history, Europe’s strength has always been derived from its nations. Although of different origins, European nations were bound together by the common roots of our faith. The foundation of our communities was the European family model, itself based on Judeo-Christian traditions. It was Christian freedom which ensured freedom of thought and culture, and which created benign competition among the continent’s nations. This magnificent amalgam of contrasts made Europe the world’s leading power through centuries of history. Every attempt to unify Europe under the aegis of empire has failed. Thus historical experience tells us that Europe will be great again if its nations become great again, and resist all forms of imperial ambition. Great forces are once again moving to eradicate the nations of Europe and unify the continent under the aegis of a global empire. The Soros network, which has woven itself through Europe’s bureaucracy and its political elite, has for years been working to make Europe an immigrant continent. Today the Soros network, which promotes a global open society and seeks to abolish national frameworks, is the greatest threat faced by the states of the European Union. The goals of the network are obvious: to create multi-ethnic, multicultural open societies by accelerating migration, and to dismantle national decision-making, placing it in the hands of the global elite. The European Union is suffering from multiple afflictions: since 2008 an economic crisis of proportions not seen for generations; since 2015 a migration crisis; and in 2020 a devastating global pandemic. Europe has still not recovered from its previous crises, and so the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has the potential for even greater distress. There are already signs of this: in several countries public debt, unemployment rates and the general economic situation have reached critical levels. The need for European solidarity, for European nations to come together to help each other, has never been greater. During all these crises, this speculator – who calls himself a philanthropist – did not consider the interests of the people of Europe, but acted to his own advantage. Memorably he attacked the Hungarian forint and Hungary’s largest bank in the economic crisis, and he planned to speed up, distribute and finance the resettlement of immigrants during the migrant crisis; and now he is proposing that Member States punish one another, instead of embracing solidarity and mutual assistance. The network directed by George Soros has now discarded any hesitancy it may have had about open intervention. He wants to put more pressure on nation states than ever before. He is setting the peoples of Europe against one another. The network’s operational system is labyrinthine, and is present in various arenas of public life. On the payroll of George Soros are a long list of politicians, journalists, judges, bureaucrats and political agitators masquerading as members of civil society organizations. And although the billionaire accuses all his enemies of corruption, he himself is the most corrupt man in the world. He pays off and buys whoever he can – and those whom he cannot bribe will be slandered, humiliated, intimidated and destroyed by the network through its formidable weapon: the left-wing media battalions. Many high-ranking EU bureaucrats are working with the Soros network to create a unified empire. They want to build an institutional system that, under the aegis of the open society, seeks to force a unified way of thinking, a unified culture and a unified social model on Europe’s free and independent nations. They seek to rescind the right of every people to decide its own destiny. This is also the purpose of their “rule of law” proposal – which does not, in fact, recognize the rule of law, but of strength. It would be more honest to call it the “rule of the majority”. The differences between us are obvious. Soros wants an open society, while we want a safe society. According to him, democracy can only be liberal, while we think it can be Christian. According to him, freedom can only serve self-realization, while we believe that freedom can also be used to follow the teachings of Christ, to serve one’s country, and to protect our families. The basis of Christian freedom is the freedom to decide. This is now in jeopardy. We in the eastern part of the EU know very well what it means to be free. The history of the nations of Central Europe has been a relentless struggle for freedom against great empires, a repeated battle to win our right to decide our own destinies. We have bitter first-hand experience that every imperial endeavor brings enslavement. There are still quite a few here from the generation of freedom fighters – in the former Eastern Bloc, from Estonia to Slovenia, from Dresden to Sofia – who can personally remember what it is like to oppose tyranny, the rule of man and its communist version: intimidation, material and moral ruination, physical and mental abuse. We want no more of that. Western leaders who have lived their whole lives in a world of inherited freedom and the rule of law should now listen to those who have fought for freedom and who – based on their personal life experiences – can distinguish between the rule of law and tyranny, or the rule of man. Such Western leaders must accept that in the 21st century we shall not surrender the freedom we fought to achieve at the end of the 20th century. The battle for and against the new Brussels empire has not yet been decided. Brussels seems to be surrendering, but many nation states continue to resist. If we want to preserve our freedom, Europe must not succumb to the Soros network. |
| The UK began its coronavirus vaccination programme on Tuesday, and now, US President-elect Joe Biden has promised that during his first 100 days in office, 100 million Americans will get a jab. He urged Congress, which writes and passes law in the US, to approve more funding to deal with the health crisis. On Tuesday, a report paved the way for a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be approved and rolled out for Americans. How many doses they'll have access to isn't clear though - a member of the Pfizer board said chances to grow the US stockpile were turned down a number of times by the Trump administration. Mr Biden's optimism is in stark contrast to a warning from a group of charities who say nine out of 10 people in poorer countries are likely to miss out on Covid-19 vaccinations next year because rich countries are hoarding supplies. Canada, for example, has ordered enough vaccines to protect each Canadian five times, the People's Vaccine Alliance claims. Oxford-AstraZeneca has pledged to provide 64% of its doses to people in developing nations, but how do you vaccinate billions of people, some in places with little or no infrastructure? My observations/questions: 1. The vaccine is predicted to be 90%-95% effective (What about the 5%-10% for whom it won't be effective?) 2. The vaccine 'infects' the recipient with a small dose of the virus so that the recipient's immune system can overcome it and thus provide immunity against the disease. What about people with low immunity? Should they be vaccinated or not? 3. To what extent are political considerations in 'finding a solution' taking precedence over science and caution? |
Could it be the most important three-course meal in recent UK history, bringing fresh impetus to a diplomatic deadlock? Or a political last supper, signalling the end of efforts to achieve a polite farewell between Britain and the EU? We just don't know yet. We do know Boris Johnson will head to Brussels this afternoon and that he'll sit down for dinner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. We know the key sticking points in the post-Brexit trade talks - fishing, competition rules and methods of governance over any deal reached. And we know time is very short, with the UK set to stop following EU trading rules on 31 December. ooOoo |
| Roald Dahl's family has apologised for anti-Semitic comments made by the best-selling author, who died in 1990. A statement condemning Dahl's controversial comments, made in two interviews in 1983 and 1990, was published on his official website. In a discreet part of the website, his family and the Roald Dahl Story Company "deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt caused". So what did Dahl actually say? In 1983, Dahl had reviewed Tony Clifton’s ‘God Cried’, a picture book that described the pain and suffering caused by the siege of West Beirut by the Israeli army during the 1982 Lebanon War. Published in the Literary Review, Dahl said that “a race of people”, meaning the Jews, had never “switched so rapidly from victims to barbarous murderers”, and that empathy for the Jewish people after the Holocaust had turned “into hatred and revulsion”. America, he said, was “so utterly dominated by the great Jewish financial institutions” that “they dare not defy” the Israelis. That same year, Dahl told the New Statesman, “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity. Maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere. Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” Well, what bothers me about this thing is NOT what Dahl said thirty plus years ago but the WOKE apology, made probably for commercial reasons ahead of the release of a new movie based on one of Dahl's books. It is indicative of the current climate of 'wokeness' (is there such a word?) that the media find it appropriate to comply with it. As for Dahl himself, he was entitled to his opinions, wright or wong, as is everyone entitled to disagree with them. I haven't read any of his stories for children but have read his two autobiographical books 'Boy' and 'Flying Solo' and I cannot recall any antisemitic sentiments in either book, both of which I enjoyed very much. The world has gone 'woke' mad! I think this 'apology' is shameful. Dahl deserves better. ooOoo |
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