Reader’s links for November 9, 2021

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

88 Replies to “Reader’s links for November 9, 2021”

  1. LEGAL ANALYST GREG JARRETT: “What the SDNY & DOJ has done to James O’Keefe…outrageous & lawless”

  2. The whirling dervish of our revolution paused to knock at my door last night. It came in the form of a phone call from my 94-year-old father’s caretaker.

    He was showing signs of internal bleeding, she said, and had called for the paramedics. She asked that I hurry over.

    She was dressing him when I arrived. They were speaking in Hungarian as she explained to him how to get his pants on. Then, without switching languages or turning from my father, she shot a question at me. I had to think fast. This woman is an angel with horns. Or, for another description, she is like a tree transplanted from the soil of eastern Hungary. She seems capable of anything and everything on all matters of food and body, but the cost is volatility. “I’m sorry what did you say?” I asked. She only repeated herself as she continued fixing my father’s clothes. She had either told me to eat the freshly-cooked chicken livers on the stove, or to turn on the fucking porch light so the paramedics can find the house. Cleverly, I deduced it to be the latter.

    Then the telephone rang and she answered it. It was the paramedic dispatcher. They weren’t coming, the dispatcher said, because they were too busy. And how old is this man, the person asked? 94? Oh, well, no, we won’t be coming. Click.

    I’ve never experienced such a thing here. This is the country that prides itself on its socialist medicine, and a great many people actually believe it to be free. But why was it so busy? Last year in the depths of the pandemic my father called for an ambulance twice and it came without delay. I spent a night in the emergency with my daughter and it was ghost town. In fact that time when I asked the nurse why it was so dead–there were only a handful of patients all night long–she replied only that things were weird.

    The dispatcher ended the call by saying if the problem persists to call 911.

    The system is overloaded, and if you’re really old you’re on your own. Why it is overloaded on a Monday night, with nothing extraordinary going on, I won’t speculate, but something really stinks here.

    And isn’t it ironic how a government that says it does everything for our health and safety can’t find a way to help an old man–one who helped build this country–when it counts?

    “How do you feel, now?” I asked him twenty minutes later.
    “I think the bleeding has stopped. I’ll be ok.”
    “You don’t want me to call 911?” I was shouting because he is deaf.
    “No. To hell with them. I’ll call my doctor in the morning.”

    What a pitiful state of affairs.

    • Sorry to read about Your Father and what you went thru last night Johnnyu. If what the dispatcher said was true that the ER was too busy to make the call then your Father was better off staying home. He probably would still be in some hallway begging for a blanket to keep warm. Excuse me! Excuse me! Can I have a blanket, a cup of tea. The staff rushes by, avoiding eye contact and suddenly they too have a hearing problem.
      You Father is right “…I’ll call my doctor in the morning.” I think he will get better care from his Doctor. I hope your Father gets a clean bill of health. Take care.

      • Thanks EB and yes, staying out of the hospital is important if possible. He’s feeling better today and will see his doctor tomorrow.

        • I too am sorry to hear about your father Johnny, but I agree he is better off. My brother was in the hospital awhile ago, his wife had him moved to a private place. They have pulled all their funding.

        • Johnny-
          A layer of nuisance on top of real family worries – not what you need or deserve. My heart goes out to you all.

          Trying times. Keep up the Hungarian. Most important: keep the KIDS up on THEIR Hungarian!

          • Thank you, all. We have to remember our ancestors who went through so much more. This gives me strength. You guys give me strength, too.

  3. Rätselhafte Herzerkrankungen im Fußball

    Ungewöhnlich viele Fußballspieler aus dem Profi- und dem Amateurbereich sind in der jüngsten Zeit kollabiert.

    Berlin – Der Profispieler Sergio Agüero vom FC Barcelona wird mindestens drei Monate ausfallen. Der 33-Jährige war beim Spiel gegen Deportivo Alavés mit Atemproblemen ausgewechselt worden. Er hatte sich an die Brust gefasst und wurde in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert. Wegen Herzproblemen wird er nun vom Kardiologen behandelt. Bei der Europameisterschaft brach der Spieler Christian Eriksen vor laufenden Kameras zusammen. Diagnose: Herzstillstand. Eriksen überlebte. Die beiden Profis sind nur zwei Beispiele von vielen Fußballern, die mit teils lebensbedrohlichen Herzproblemen zu kämpfen haben.

    DFB-Arzt Tim Meyer sagte nach dem Zusammenbruch von Eriksen: „Auch die beste Screening-Untersuchung ist nicht perfekt, so dass dennoch solche Dinge passieren können. Deshalb gibt es dann die zweite Linie der Vorbeugung und das ist die Präsenz der Notärzte am Spielfeldrand.“ Dieses System kann aber nicht alle lebensgefährlichen oder gar tödlichen Fälle vermeiden.

    Immer wieder kommt es in den letzten Wochen und Monaten zu Notsituationen:

    Ursachen unterscheiden sich je nach Alter der Betroffenen
    Dabei unterscheiden sich die Ursachen je nach Alter der Betroffenen. „Bei Menschen unter 35 Jahren gehören Erkrankungen des Herzmuskels, der Herzklappen, der Hauptschlagader (Aorta) sowie der Herzkranzgefäße zu den möglichen Auslösern. Veränderungen im Erbgut können beispielsweise zur Verdickung der Muskulatur der linken Herzkammer führen (Hypertrophe Kardiomyopathie). Erkrankungen insbesondere der rechten Herzkammer (Arrhythmogene (rechtsventrikuläre) Kardiomyopathie) können ebenfalls Ursache eines plötzlichen Herztodes sein“, so die Herzstiftung.

    Bei Menschen über 35 hingegen ist mit etwa 80 Prozent die „koronare Herzkrankheit die häufigste Ursache eines plötzlichen Herztods. Herzkranzgefäße verengen sich durch Ablagerungen (Plaques) aus Cholesterin, Bindegewebe und Kalk immer weiter. Reißen diese Plaques, entstehen mitunter Blutgerinnsel, und das Blutgefäß wird komplett verschlossen.“ Es komme zum Herzinfarkt, der „mit lebensbedrohlichen Herzrhythmusstörungen verbunden sein kann“.

    Unabhängig vom Alter gelte die Herzmuskelentzündung (Myokarditis) als weiterer Risikofaktor. „Sie kann bereits im Zuge banaler Virus-Infekte auftreten, auch ohne Beschwerden zu verursachen“, heißt es von der Deutschen Herzstiftung. Und weiter: „Diese entzündlichen Veränderungen können jedoch zu lebensbedrohlichen Herzrhythmusstörungen führen.“

    MORE :

    https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/news/raetselhafte-herzerkrankungen-im-fussball-li.193554

  4. the guardian – Poland-Belarus border crisis: what is going on and who is to blame?

    Thousands of migrants are in the freezing region trying to get into Poland and aid is prevented from reaching them
    […]
    Where are the refugees from?
    Many of those in the border encampment that was set up on Monday are Iraqi Kurds who who started their journey from Minsk on Sunday evening. Flights from Iraqi Kurdistan have been an important conduit for smugglers to bring people from various Middle Eastern countries to Belarus.

    […]

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/09/poland-belarus-border-crisis-migrants-eu-explainer

      • Two bits of comment:
        • Friends from Belarus (who “identify” as Russian, of course) say Lukashenko getting paid plenty. Up to 1000s per head.

        • Russki’s son in Kiev concurs, adds that Putin’s playing this propaganda big time. Different versions for each market segment. This is a Russian sport.

    • Belarus is using refugees for politics. Turkey did the same thing

      Where are the Western asylum-seeking policies set up to help genocide survivors? For Yazidis who suffered genocide in 2014, there is no end in sight, whether in Belarus or elsewhere.

      While some outlets have been reporting for weeks about the refugees from Syria and Iraq and other countries who have ended up in Belarus and other eastern European countries, some of them dying in the cold, the crisis has now burst onto the international stage.

      Belarus appears to be using a tactic perfected by Turkey back in 2020. It was also perfected by European countries in 2015. The tactic is to push migrants and refugees into neighboring countries, or at the very least create a situation in which they are stuck at the border.

      In this case, it may not be entirely the fault of Belarus, as the migrants and refugees have become a huge issue for countries all across the continent, most of which pass the buck to the next state by doing precisely what Belarus is doing….

      Some of the Syrians who were displaced in Syria, either by Turkey or by the Assad regime, along with refugees from Iraq, have ended up in Belarus. Various accounts of how they got there differ, but the reality is that the refugees are there and Belarus isn’t interested in hosting such large numbers of civilians. Belarus, an authoritarian state with low socioeconomic status, has no experience with large numbers of minorities from the Middle East. Additionally, none of the bordering countries – Lithuania and Russia – seem to want the migrants….

      EU countries have often paid Ankara to keep migrants from traveling to Europe. That is clearly a short-term solution and has had the effect of outsourcing abuses to Turkey, sometimes even Libya.

      For instance, Turkey is now building a border wall along Iran’s border to block Afghan migrants and it has built a wall along the border with Syria. Now, more fences and walls are going up in Europe between Belarus and Poland.

      Poland is in the unenviable position of dealing with the migrant crisis now. Belarus may be cynically exploiting it, but the overall context is that there are refugees and migrants in Belarus who don’t want to be stuck there.

      Where are the Western asylum-seeking policies set up to help genocide survivors? Where were they when genocide was enacted against the Yazidis and the Kurds in Afrin? …

      https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/belarus-is-using-refugees-for-politics-turkey-did-the-same-thing-analysis-684409

  5. China Builds Missile Targets Shaped Like U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Destroyers in Remote Desert
    https://news.usni.org/2021/11/07/china-builds-missile-targets-shaped-like-u-s-aircraft-carrier-destroyers-in-remote-desert
    The Chinese military has built targets in the shape of an American aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships in the Taklamakan desert as part of a new target range complex, according to photos provided to USNI News by satellite imagery company Maxar.
    The full-scale outline of a U.S. carrier and at least two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are part of the target range that has been built in the Ruoqiang region in central China. The site is near a former target range China used to test early versions of its so-called carrier killer DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles, according to press reports in 2013.
    This new range shows that China continues to focus on anti-carrier capabilities, with an emphasis on U.S. Navy warships. Unlike the Iranian Navy’s aircraft carrier-shaped target in the Persian Gulf, the new facility shows signs of a sophisticated instrumented target range.
    The carrier target itself appears to be a flat surface without the carrier’s island, aircraft lifts, weapons sponsons or other details, the imagery from Maxar shows. On radar, the outline of the carrier stands out from the surrounding desert – not unlike a target picture, according to imagery provided to USNI News by Capella Space.
    There are two more target areas representing an aircraft carrier that do not have the metaling, but are distinguishable as carriers due to their outline. But other warship targets appear to be more elaborate. There are numerous upright poles positioned on them, possibly for instrumentation, according to the imagery. Alternatively these may be used for radar reflectors to simulate the superstructure of the vessel.
    The facility also has an extensive rail system. An Oct. 9 image from Maxar showed a 75 meter-long target with extensive instrumentation on a 6 meter-wide rail.
    [..]

  6. A Canadian facing breathing issues was diagnosed as possibly the first patient in the world suffering from “climate change,” as doctors said heatwaves and poor air quality were responsible for his condition.

    Dr Kyle Merritt, responsible for the diagnosis of the senior citizen from Nelson in British Columbia who suffered from asthma, said this was the first time in a decade that he wrote climate change as a cause of suffering.

    “If we’re not looking at the underlying cause, and we’re just treating the symptoms, we’re just gonna keep falling further and further behind,” the emergency room doctor told the Glacier Media.

    “It’s me trying to just… process what I’m seeing,” he adds.

    In June Canada suffered from a historic heatwave, followed by a thick smog season triggered by wildfires.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/canada-climate-change-diagnoses-patient-b1953355.html?utm_source=reddit.com

  7. FILE – In this March 31, 2021,photo, traffic flows along Interstate 90 highway as a Metra suburban commuter train moves along an elevated track in Chicago. Congress has created a new requirement for automakers: find a high-tech way to keep drunken people from driving cars. It’s one of the mandates along with a burst of new spending aimed at improving auto safety amid escalating road fatalities in the $1 trillion infrastructure package that President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, File)
    1 of 2
    FILE – In this March 31, 2021,photo, traffic flows along Interstate 90 highway as a Metra suburban commuter train moves along an elevated track in Chicago. Congress has created a new requirement for automakers: find a high-tech way to keep drunken people from driving cars. It’s one of the mandates along with a burst of new spending aimed at improving auto safety amid escalating road fatalities in the $1 trillion infrastructure package that President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, File)

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has created a new requirement for automakers: Find a high-tech way to keep drunken people from driving cars.

    It’s one of the mandates along with a burst of new spending aimed at improving auto safety amid escalating road fatalities in the $1 trillion infrastructure package that President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon.

    Under the legislation, monitoring systems to stop intoxicated drivers would roll out in all new vehicles as early as 2026, after the Transportation Department assesses the best form of technology to install in millions of vehicles and automakers are given time to comply.

    In all, about $17 billion is allotted to road safety programs, the biggest increase in such funding in decades, according to the Eno Center for Transportation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that could mean more protected bike paths and greener spaces built into busy roadways.

    https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-technology-business-health-068ee87392b0cca1444053b854a514dd

  8. NATIONAL POST – O’Toole omits Marilyn Gladu, Leslyn Lewis from shadow cabinet after vaccine comments

    Gladu argued against mandatory vaccinations and disputed the severity of the virus, remarks O’Toole described as unhelpful

    OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole announced his shadow cabinet today and is leaving out former leadership rival Leslyn Lewis and Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu, both of whom O’Toole said Monday have made unhelpful comments about vaccines.

    The official opposition shadow cabinet is tasked with holding cabinet ministers to account and an appointment to the group is the closest thing the opposition has to naming an inner circle.

    The Conservative leader has struggled for weeks to put a lid on questions about where he and his party stand on mandatory vaccinations. Some of his MPs are ardently against such policies, while others see them as less of a concern than other issues.

    O’Toole moved on Monday to distance himself from remarks by some of his caucus members, including those made by Gladu during an interview on CTV’s “Question Period.”

    In the interview that aired Sunday, Gladu compared COVID-19 to polio when it spread during the early 20th century, but she claimed the novel coronavirus doesn’t pose the same “frequency of risk” in terms of deaths or disabilities

    “There’s a big difference between advocating for your constituents who may need reasonable accommodation,” said O’Toole.

    “It’s very different to cause confusion with respect to the health and well-being of Canadians. Ms. Gladu ’s interview did that yesterday and it’s not appropriate at a time we should be answering questions about vaccine hesitancy, not creating new questions,” he said.

    “Our team will deal with this as a team because we respect one another and we have these discussions in caucus, but let me be crystal clear: The Conservative party encourages people to vaccinated.”

    The comments were O’Toole’s first since Gladu publicized late last week that she belonged to a group of 15 to 30 Conservative MPs and senators planning to form a so-called mini-caucus within the larger Conservative cohort to discuss the negative impacts of vaccine mandates.

    Gladu has repeatedly said the group isn’t about O’Toole or his leadership, and that it wouldn’t contradict the leader’s message when it comes to COVID-19. Her office did not immediately respond to the concerns he raised about her CTV interview.

    On Monday, O’Toole was also asked about comments by Lewis — a former leadership rival and favourite of the social conservative wing of the party — who has questioned on social media the efficacy of vaccinating children, and those by Dean Allison, another Ontario MP. Allison, who has said he can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons, has hosted broadcasts with scientists who compared natural immunity to COVID-19 with vaccination.

    “It’s a great example of why members of Parliament, of all stripes, should let the professionals, let the public health officials, let the physicians answer questions about efficacy of vaccines,” said O’Toole.

    A spokesman for Lewis declined to comment following O’Toole’s remarks, while no one from Allison’s office immediately responded.

    O’Toole remains the lone leader in Parliament who refuses to disclose how many of his 118-member caucus are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Immunization will be a requirement for MPs wishing to take their seat in the House of Commons when it resumes Nov. 22.

    O’Toole also restored popular MP Pierre Poilievre to his role as the party’s finance critic today as he releases his new list of critics for the next Parliament.

    Poilievre made a name for himself as the party’s finance critic for more than 3.5 years before O’Toole moved him to a new post as jobs and industry critic last February.

    Well known Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner is being moved from health to natural resources.

    O’Toole is keeping Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Bergen as deputy leader, and former leader Andrew Scheer as infrastructure critic, while adding some new MPs from Ontario including Melissa Lantsman in transport and Michelle Ferreri in tourism.

    https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/otoole-reveals-his-shadow-cabinet-former-leadership-rival-leslyn-lewis-not-included

    ======================================

    CTV NEWS – Conservative MP apologizes for comments on COVID-19 vaccines, virus risk

    OTTAWA — Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is apologizing for comments she made about COVID-19 vaccination and the risk associated with the virus.

    Gladu said the remarks she made on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday, opposing vaccination status disclosure and calling into question the severity of the virus, were “inappropriate.”

    “Upon reflection, I recognize how dangerous it is to share misinformation about the severity of COVID-19 and the safety and efficacy of vaccines. I retract these comments in full,” a statement reads.

    “I apologize unreservedly to Canadians. I also apologize to my caucus colleagues and leader for the distraction my comments have created.”

    Gladu has been the face of the new intra-party caucus to defend the rights of those unvaccinated.

    “Vaccines are a safe and effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19 and prevent serious illness. I encourage every Canadian, who is able, to get vaccinated. When it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines, it should be physicians and public health experts who advise Canadians, not politicians,” she said.

    In the CTV Question Period interview, she compared COVID-19 to the polio disease that spread in the first half of the 20th century, but said the novel coronavirus doesn’t pose the same “frequency of risk.”

    “In terms of the risk, people that got polio, many of them died and many of them were crippled, and that is not the same frequency of risk that we see with COVID-19…I’m just receiving the information from medical experts that talk about the relative risk. I’m not a doctor myself.”

    At the peak of the polio epidemic in Canada, in 1953, there were nearly 9,000 cases and 500 deaths from coast to coast. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been 1.74 million cases and 29,192 deaths in Canada.

    She also took issue with vaccine mandates and vaccination disclosure.

    “People are being forced to disclose this. And that is another issue that we need to talk about because what’s next? What next, will you be forced to disclose about your medical history?” she told Question Period.

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/conservative-mp-apologizes-for-comments-on-covid-19-vaccines-virus-risk-1.5658305

    • O’Toole is NOT a Conservative, he is a weak flip flopped, a loser of sorts.

      Rest In Peace Conservative Party.

  9. UK – Covid vaccine to be compulsory for all NHS staff in England by April, says Sajid Javid

    All 1.4 million NHS staff in England will have to be vaccinated against Covid by next spring if they want to keep their jobs, the health secretary told MPs on Tuesday.

    Javid says the change will enhance patients’ safety by making them less likely to contract coronavirus in healthcare settings from an NHS worker.

    • Canada authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster for adults

      OTTAWA — Health Canada has approved a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 18.

      The booster is designed to help people with their first two COVID-19 vaccine doses maintain their protection against the virus over time.

      The booster is identical to the regular Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and is to be administered at least six months after the first two vaccine doses.

      […]

      The National Advisory Committee on Immunization says there is no evidence of waning protection against over time against severe COVID-19 in the general vaccinated population.

      https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/canada-authorizes-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-booster-for-adults-1.5658454

      =========================

      reuters – Pfizer, BioNTech say COVID booster highly effective

    • Singapore – Persons unvaccinated by choice to pay for COVID-19 medical bills

      Unvaccinated persons make up the majority of those who require inpatient care and disproportionately contribute to a strain on our healthcare.

      Therefore, COVID-19 patients who chose not to be vaccinated will have to pay for their medical bills from 8 December 2021.

    • COVID-19 study breaks down how likely unvaccinated Texans are to die

      … unvaccinated people are more likely to test positive for coronavirus.

    • sky news australia – Queensland to lockout unvaccinated from venues

      Unvaccinated residents will be locked out of stadiums and hospitality venues by December 17 – in what’s been described as a ‘reward’ for the double-jabbed.

      Density limits will be also scrapped when Queensland lifts remaining COVID restrictions – once it reaches its 80 per cent vaccination target.

    • twitter @disclosetv

      Speaking with DC-based think tank Atlantic Council, Pfizer CEO Bourla said that people who “spread misinformation” on the vaccines are “criminals” and have cost “millions of lives”.

      https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1458131619911397385

      ==============================
      CNBC – Pfizer CEO says people who spread misinformation on Covid vaccines are ‘criminals’

      People who spread misinformation on Covid-19 vaccines are “criminals” and have cost “millions of lives,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday.

      Speaking with Washington D.C.-based think tank Atlantic Council, Bourla said there is a “very small” group of people that purposefully circulate misinformation on the shots, misleading those who are already hesitant about getting vaccinated.

      “Those people are criminals,” he told Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe. “They’re not bad people. They’re criminals because they have literally cost millions of lives.”

      Bourla’s comments come as millions of eligible adults in the U.S. have yet to get vaccinated even though the shots have been available to most Americans most of this year. Public health experts say misinformation is likely playing a large role.

      According to a survey published Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than three-quarters of U.S. adults either believe or aren’t sure about at least one of eight false statements about Covid or the vaccines, with unvaccinated adults and REPUBLICANS among those most likely to hold misconceptions.

      Among the falsehoods are that Covid vaccines contain microchips, cause infertility and change one’s DNA, according to the survey.

      Bourla said Tuesday that life for many people can go “back to normal” once many of the unvaccinated get vaccinated.

      “The only thing that stands between the new way of life and the current way of life is, frankly, hesitancy to vaccinations,” he said.

      https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/09/covid-vaccines-pfizer-ceo-says-people-who-spread-misinformation-on-shots-are-criminals.html
      ===============================================

      Bourla: Pfizer CEO predicts Covid-19 vaccine booster to be effective for 1 year

      WASHINGTON: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Tuesday that he predicts the Covid-19 vaccine booster shots will be effective for a year, but warned that more research needs to be done to assess their effectiveness.

      “If I can take a prediction, it looks like it will last for a year, looks like there is a chance it will be like an annual vaccination,” Bourla said during a virtual conversation at the Atlantic Council.

      The Pfizer CEO noted that immunity wanes after six months for the second vaccine dose and suggested that one should wait and see until the additional tests concerning the boosters are completed.

      “We know that we saw waning of immunity six months after the second dose,” he said.
      Bourla urged waiting at least several months for the additional research to be done before reaching more definite conclusions. However, he added that the booster dose gives a higher level of protection than the original dose.

      https://thetimesworld.com/bourla-pfizer-ceo-predicts-covid-19-vaccine-booster-to-be-effective-for-1-year/

      ==============================================
      Atlantic Council – A conversation with Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla

    • reuters – U.S. Government to Buy $1 Billion More Worth of Merck’s COVID-19 Pill

      (Reuters) – The U.S. government will buy another $1 billion worth of the COVID-19 pill made by Merck & Co Inc and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the companies said on Tuesday.

      The government in June agreed to buy 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion and is now exercising options to buy 1.4 million more.

      That brings the total secured courses to 3.1 million and worth $2.2 billion. Merck said the government has the right to buy 2 million more courses as part of the contract.

      The drug has been closely watched since data last month showed that when given early in the illness it could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19.

      “Molnupiravir, if authorized, will be among the vaccines and medicines available to fight COVID-19 as part of our collective efforts to bring this pandemic to an end,” said Frank Clyburn, president of Merck’s human health business.

      President Joe Biden said on Friday that the United States had also secured millions of doses of Pfizer Inc’s rival antiviral drug, which was shown to cut by 89% the chance of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of severe disease.

      The Pfizer negotiations were for a deal similar to the one with Merck – 1.7 million courses of the treatment upfront with an additional option for 3.3 million, a senior U.S. health official said on Tuesday, confirming a New York Times report.

      Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Alfred Bourla said on Friday that the company plans to sell its treatment for around the same price for high-income countries as Merck, at roughly $700 for a course of therapy.

      Merck expects to produce 10 million courses of the treatment by the end of this year, with at least 20 million set to be manufactured in 2022.

      https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2021-11-09/us-government-to-buy-14-million-more-courses-of-mercks-covid-19-pill

      ==============================

      bloomberg – Pfizer Soars After Covid Pill Results

    • Dyer County teen in hospital after rare reaction to COVID vaccine

      … but she agrees that everybody should get the vaccine

  10. Edward N Luttwak @ELuttwak
    PLA “soldiers assigned to..the PLA 76th Group Army ..load anti-tank missiles onto a missile- launching vehicle in the plateau area” ie. Tibet. (PRC media now avoid “Tibet” it is just China now). By why is the PLA deploying tanks & ATMs in Tibet ? Do they fear an Indian Rommel ?
    https://twitter.com/ELuttwak/status/1457871374219980801

    J.E. Dyer @OptimisticCon
    Militarizing Tibet. Similar to Iran gradually militarizing remote terrain of Iraq.
    Shifts geo locus of correlation of forces. Conditions opponent/observers to PLA force presence. Minimizes warning prior to movement.
    Harsh-location drill.
    Fits w/Xi’s political themes & actions.

    https://twitter.com/OptimisticCon/status/1457883202748444675
    …………….
    This calls for *RICHARD* !!
    Where is he ??

  11. Biden Admin Amassing Millions of Records on US Gun Owners Amid New Crackdown on Firearms

    The Biden administration in just the past year alone stockpiled the records of more than 54 million U.S. gun owners and is poised to drastically alter gun regulations to ensure that information on Americans who own firearms ultimately ends up in the federal government’s hands, according to internal Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

    The ATF in fiscal year 2021 processed 54.7 million out-of-business records, according to an internal ATF document obtained by the Gun Owners of America, a firearms advocacy group, and provided exclusively to the Free Beacon.

    When a licensed gun store goes out of business, its private records detailing gun transactions become ATF property and are stored at a federal site in West Virginia. This practice allows the federal government to stockpile scores of gun records and has drawn outrage from gun advocacy groups that say the government is using this information to create a national database of gun owners—which has long been prohibited under U.S. law.

    https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-admin-amassing-millions-of-records-on-u-s-gun-owners-amid-new-crackdown-on-firearms/

  12. zero hedge – Taliban Inaugurates “Islamic Emirate Army” With Largest-Ever Convoy Of US Armored Vehicles

    The Taliban on Tuesday inaugurated its “Islamic Emirate Army” in the large city of Kandahar in Afghanistan’s south by showcasing a lengthy parade of armored vehicles taken from US and NATO forces.

    While it’s not the first time since conquering the country in August amid the rapid US troop withdrawal that the Taliban has held military parades touting its newly acquired Western hardware and weaponry, the Kandahar parade did appear to involve the most US-supplied vehicles ever on display at once.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/taliban-inaugurates-islamic-emirate-army-largest-ever-convoy-us-armored-vehicles

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  13. A Blurred Line Between Civil Society and Terrorism:
    Examining Charges of NGOs Funding the PFLP

    On October 19, Israel designated six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist groups affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, causing a firestorm among international civil society and human rights organizations. While such action is inherently controversial, any assessment must consider the underlying evidence, which here emerged from a series of investigations pointing to massive fraud.

    The effort drew on various sources, including classified intelligence, seized materials, and statements made by arrested employees. And it cast light on high-profile cases such as the August 2019 murder of Israeli teen Rina Shnerb, whose killers were employed by one of the designated groups.

    In this groundbreaking Policy Note, counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt closely analyzes Israel’s NGO designations. In doing so, he validates U.S., European, and international requests for an explanation, but simultaneously cautions that the evidence—if proven even partially true—could reveal a troubling reality wherein Palestinian NGOs publicly defend the human rights of some people while supporting terrorist acts against others.

    https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/blurred-line-between-civil-society-and-terrorism-examining-charges-ngos-funding

  14. Jonathan Spyer’s superb analysis of the coup in Sudan, the nature of tard governance.

    Sudan Coup Follows Prevailing Arab World Trend
    [Original title: Sudan Coup: Generals and Islamists Prevail in the Arab World]

    • Arab efforts at establishing stable and representative rule have proven universally unsuccessful.

    • A pattern without exception in the Arab world: Islamists or generals/monarchs or war between them.

    What implications do the Sudan coup and the broader pattern of which it is a part have for Israel?

    Re the former, Burhan met with then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February 2020. Burhan is close to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with whom he enjoys a longstanding friendship. His powerful deputy, General Mohamed Dagalo, meanwhile, enjoys the patronage of the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

    The coup thus represents that regional element to which Israel is closest. There is no reason to suppose negative effects for Jerusalem: “Normalization” was proceeding slowly in Sudan in any case, but the coup will not knock it off course.

    Regarding the broader regional context: in the apparent absence of any capacity in the Arab world for the development and consolidation of genuine representative institutions and civil society, the prevalence of authoritarian rule over Islamist insurgency and chaos is clearly preferable.

    So Burhan’s coup follows the identifiable regional trend. It might be advisable for the British, American and other Western governments currently condemning the coup to acquaint themselves with this reality.

    Hoping for this, however, would arguably be a display of a type of utopian optimism more usually found among the advocates of democracy in the Arab world.

    https://www.meforum.org/62763/sudan-coup-follows-prevailing-trend-in-arab-world

  15. Michael Rubin: Mideast Will Be “Affected a Great Deal by the Disaster in Afghanistan”

    • The most obvious repercussion is that anti-American jihadists from around the world will have a new refuge, a safe haven, “for which the United States will “pay the price for decades to come.”

    • Rubin expects Turkey to form an alliance with Pakistan and cooperate with the Taliban.
    …..Turkey, “in terms of Islamism, … is to the 21st century what Saudi Arabia was to the 20th.”

    • Islamists “see culture as the offense.” There is “no way to compromise with that.”

    https://www.meforum.org/62758/rubin-disaster-in-afghanistan-affects-middle-east
    ……..
    How Much Will the Taliban Victory Affect the Middle East? with Michael Rubin