Reader’s Links for November 22, 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

69 Replies to “Reader’s Links for November 22, 2021”

  1. 3rd night of riots in the Netherlands, organized through social media. Groningen, Enschede, Leeuwarden, Tilburg and Roosendaal, all smaller towns. At least 26 arrests.

    provoking a bunch of riot cops with a laser pen from a few feet away ay not be the best idea:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/?selectedId=100015553_49d53bb2
    police van pelted with stones:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015561_ef563528
    arrest, rioters throw stones and a bike rack at police van
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015569_1d6a4b2e
    a charge by soccer hooligans, police run:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015570_e2e1c1b0
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015562_24b1866c
    cop points gun at the camera man:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015580_b44ab003
    3 cops chased away bu a group of rioters with fireworks
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015559_b3e1ec25

    Vandalism and looting:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015572_9bc084c9
    (2 videos on this page)
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015564_4643cd7b
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015571_39fe7c2b

  2. “A senior Metropolitan Police officer has warned Londoners and visitors to the capital to ‘be alert, not alarmed’ in crowded spaces in the lead-up to Christmas.

    Deputy Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations Matt Twist urged people to be ‘vigilant’ and look out for anything that is unusual, suspicious or concerning.

    The warning comes after the UK’s terrorism threat was increased to ‘severe’, meaning an attack is ‘highly likely’, after terrorists struck in Liverpool and Essex.”
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10229465/Scotland-Yard-warns-public-vigilant-crowded-areas-ahead-Christmas.html

    Well, they did not mention muslim. At least we can take them off the iist to watch out for. They would have told us about a connection with Cristmas, right? Now, where are those White Christian Cis-Gender Male Fascists they keep going on about?
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2017/11/26/mutti-merkels-diversity-barriers-come-england/

  3. bloomberg – Biden Vaccinations Coordinator Choucair Leaving White House

    (Bloomberg) — White House Vaccinations Coordinator Bechara Choucair is leaving the administration to return to the private sector, he said in a message Sunday to Bloomberg News. Choucair’s last day will be Monday. He joined President Joe Biden’s team during the transition last year and was charged with accelerating the nascent Covid-19 vaccination effort Biden inherited upon taking office in January.

    “Dr. Choucair is returning to the West Coast after staying longer than originally planned to help lead our country’s Covid-19 response,” White House Covid Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said in a statement. He praised Choucair’s “tireless work to help state and local health officials across the country vaccinate their communities.”

    Choucair, a former Chicago health commissioner and senior executive at Kaiser Permanente, is departing after the U.S. expanded access to vaccines for all people over age 5 and widely approved booster doses for adults.

    The vaccines helped reopen workplaces, travel and commerce. Yet uneven uptake of the shots, combined with the delta variant, meant the virus continued to claim American lives on a staggering scale. More than 175,000 people in the U.S. have died from Covid since June 1, a period when vaccines were widely available to adults.

    The vaccination challenge shifted during his tenure. What started as an operational problem to get scarce supplies to priority groups evolved in the spring to a persuasion campaign to convince hesitant parts of the public to get the shots.

    Almost 63% of Americans over 5 years old are fully vaccinated, including seven in 10 adults, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

    Despite that broad uptake, the Covid vaccines — and Biden’s push to require them for most workers — have become politicized. Republicans and rural residents remain the most resistant to the vaccine. At least 30% of each group said they will “definitely not” get vaccinated in an October poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

    https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/biden-vaccinations-coordinator-choucair-departing-white-house

    ==============================================
    twitter @JamesMelville

    It’s all on record.

    The misinformation is coming from them.

    Never forget that.

    + VIDEO

    https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/1461750873445568515
    ================================================
    ctv news – Vaccine superheroes: Experts impressed with communications that target children

    Whether using a video of Batman shadowing a public health professional or a picture of a purple cartoon character playing hockey, Canadian health units and science communication groups are trying to find ways to inspire young audiences to get the COVID-19 vaccine days before the country is expected to begin the next phase of its immunization drive.

    Health Canada approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids aged five to 11 on Friday after reviewing safety and efficacy data from the company for weeks, and doses are expected to arrive in the provinces and territories in the coming days.

    As jurisdictions await their shipments, some are gearing up their vaccine communication strategies by injecting youthful themes into their messaging.

    Experts say communication around the pediatric vaccine rollout needs to be kid-friendly, clear and concise to drown out misinformation from social media.

    “There’s a lot of misinformation that can get amplified when it comes to children,” said Shana MacDonald, a communications expert with the University of Waterloo. “The fear is that’s going to produce hesitancy that doesn’t need to be there.

    “But I do think public health units are doing excellent work in their communication, making it stronger and shareable.”

    MacDonald said she’s been impressed with some of the messaging she’s seen from various health units and those she calls “science influencers” — experts who’ve taken it upon themselves to produce and share accurate vaccine content on their own social platforms.

    Institutions like the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy have been on the forefront of creating easily digestible COVID-19 infographics, partnering with a number of doctors and communication experts to create and share info more widely.

    One of those collaborative groups, called Focused COVID Communication, released a graphic on Instagram Friday depicting a smiling purple cartoon figure playing hockey, celebrating a birthday with family, and hanging out with friends to showcase “the benefits of vaccinating children against COVID-19.”

    Superhero themes also filled the messaging in tweets from other jurisdictions on Friday, including Alberta Health Services, which shared an interactive game where kids choose a character and “build protection … through important actions such as immunization, diligent hand washing, wearing a mask and social distancing” to defeat “COVID-zilla.”

    The Ontario Region of Peel released a video on its Twitter account Friday featuring “Brampton Batman” and Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lawrence Loh rolling up to a vaccine clinic in the Batmobile. The comic book legend, in his unmistakable deep voice, calls kids “the real heroes throughout this.”

    The video, which had been retweeted more than 400 times as of Saturday afternoon, garnered mostly positive replies. Some commenters, however, objected to using Batman to promote vaccines.

    MacDonald said adding a superhero element to the video made it more relatable to children.

    “It generates some excitement for them and it’s a way to counter uncertainty, hesitation and fear,” she said. “It may not be well received by everyone on the internet, but they aren’t the target demographic.”

    Sabina Vohra-Miller, a pharmacology expert and founder of the health communication website Unambiguous Science, said vaccine messaging should strive to meet audiences where they’re at.

    Vohra-Miller, who’s been working with Focused COVID Communication since the initiative launched in the spring, said using superheroes and interactive games is a good strategy.

    “Children are so open and receptive and this is a great opportunity for us to build on their science literacy and do it in a way that engages them and includes them,” she said, adding that her four-and-a-half-year-old son knows a lot about vaccines “because we talk about them and make it fun.”

    Dr. Samira Jeimy, a clinical immunologist and assistant professor at Western University in London, Ont., was also a fan of the superhero messaging, but said communicators shouldn’t rely too heavily on that one theme and risk alienating kids with no interest in caped crusaders.

    A straight-forward approach that tailors messaging to what children care about can do wonders, she said.

    “Some of my patients don’t care (about superheroes), they care about unicorns,” said Jeimy, who’s involved with Focused COVID Communication. “Honestly, kids are a lot smarter than we realize. Giving them the facts straight, (saying) ‘the vaccine will protect you so everyone get back to real life and be with your friends and family again.’ … Those messages have concrete meaning for kids.”

    Jeimy and Vohra-Miller said some of the challenges around kids vaccine messaging is the perception parents have that COVID-19 won’t affect their children.

    While severe disease remains rare in kids, some have endured lingering effects including long COVID symptoms and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). They can also transmit the virus to others.

    “We’ve had this built up that having a COVID infection is not a big deal for kids and I think we need to strongly, with evidence, show that’s not the case,” Jeimy said. “Children have suffered enough and it’s time to get them back to social activities that will help them grow.”

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/vaccine-superheroes-experts-impressed-with-communications-that-target-children-1.5674715

    =================================
    city news – Vaccinating children 5-11 could reduce COVID-19 case counts

    • Scientific model shows that for every 1 child saved from dying with Covid-19 over 117 will be killed by the Covid-19 Vaccine

      A risk-benefit model shows that 5,248 children aged 5 to 11 will be killed by the Pfizer mRNA injection in order to save 45 children from dying of Coronavirus.

      The Centre for Disease Control’s “Guidance” document describes 21 things that every health economics study in connection with vaccines must do. But the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) woeful risk-benefit analysis in connection with Pfizer’s Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) application to inject children aged 5 to 11 with an experimental gene therapy violates many of these principles.

      Today I want to focus on a single factor: the Number Needed to Vaccinate (NNTV). In four separate places the CDC Guidance document mentions the importance of coming up with a Number Needed to Vaccinate (NNTV). I did not recall seeing an NNTV in the FDA risk-benefit document. So I checked the FDA’s risk-benefit analysis again and sure enough, there was no mention of an NNTV.

      Because the FDA failed to provide an NNTV, I will attempt to provide it here.

      First a little background. The Number Needed to Treat (NNT) in order to prevent a single case, hospitalization, ICU admission, or death, is a standard way to measure the effectiveness of any drug. It’s an important tool because it enables policymakers to evaluate tradeoffs between a new drug, a different existing drug, or doing nothing. In vaccine research the equivalent term is Number Needed to Vaccinate (NNTV, sometimes also written as NNV) in order to prevent a single case, hospitalization, ICU admission, or death (those are 4 different NNTVs that one could calculate).

      Pharma HATES talking about NNTV and they hate talking about NNTV even more when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines because the NNTV is so ridiculously high that this vaccine could not pass any honest risk-benefit analysis.

      Indeed about a year ago I innocently asked on Twitter what the NNTV is for coronavirus vaccines.

      ========================================
      https://i1.wp.com/dailyexpose.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-271.png?w=595&ssl=1
      ========================================

      Pharma sent a swarm of trolls in to attack me and Pharma goons published hits pieces on me outside of Twitter to punish me for even asking the question. Of course none of the Pharma trolls provided an estimate of the NNTV for COVID-19 shots. That tells us that we are exactly over the target.

      Various health economists have calculated a NNTV for COVID-19 vaccines.

      Ronald Brown, a health economist in Canada, estimated that the NNTV to prevent a single caseof coronavirus is from 88 to 142.
      Others have calculated the NNTV to prevent a single case at 256.
      German and Dutch researchers, using a large (500k) data set from a field study in Israel calculated an NNTV between 200 and 700 to prevent one case of COVID-19 for the mRNA shot marketed by Pfizer. They went further and figured out that the “NNTV to prevent one death is between 9,000 and 100,000 (95% confidence interval), with 16,000 as a point estimate.”
      You can see why Pharma hates this number so much (I can picture Pharma’s various PR firms sending out an “All hands on deck!” message right now to tell their trolls to attack this article). One would have to inject a lot of people to see any benefit and the more people who are injected the more the potential benefits are offset by the considerable side-effects from the shots.

      Furthermore, the NNTV to prevent a single case is not a very meaningful measure because most people, particularly children, recover on their own (or even more quickly with ivermectin if treated early). The numbers that health policy makers should really want to know are the NNTV to prevent a single hospitalization, ICU admission, or death. But with the NNTV to prevent a single case already so high, and with significant adverse events from coronavirus vaccines averaging about 15% nationwide, Pharma and the FDA dare not calculate an NNTV for hospitalizations, ICU, and deaths, because then no one would ever take this product (bye bye $93 billion in annual revenue).

      Increased all cause mortality in the Pfizer clinical trial of adults

      As Bobby Kennedy explains, Pfizer’s clinical trial in adults showed alarming increases in all cause mortality in the vaccinated:

      In Pfizer’s 6 month clinical trial in adults — there was 1 covid death out of 22,000 in the vaccine (“treatment”) group and 2 Covid deaths out of 22,000 in the placebo group (see Table s4). So NNTV = 22,000. The catch is there were 5 heart attack deaths in the vaccine group and only 1 in placebo group. So for every 1 life saved from Covid, the Pfizer vaccine kills 4 from heart attacks. All cause mortality in the 6 month study was 20 in vaccine group and 14 in placebo group. So a 42% all cause mortality increase among the vaccinated. The vaccine loses practically all efficacy after 6 months so they had to curtail the study. They unblinded and offered the vaccine to the placebo group. At that point the rising harm line had long ago intersected the sinking efficacy line.

      Former NY Times investigative reporter Alex Berenson also wrote about the bad outcomes for the vaccinated in the Pfizer clinical trial in adults (here). Berenson received a lifetime ban from Twitter for posting Pfizer’s own clinical trial data.

      Pfizer learned their lesson with the adult trial and so when they conducted a trial of their mRNA vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 they intentionally made it too small (only 2,300 participants) and too short (only followed up for 2 months) in order to hide harms.

      Estimating an NNTV in children ages 5 to 11 using Pfizer’s own clinical trial data

      All of the NNTV estimates above are based on data from adults. In kids the NNTV will be even higher (the lower the risk, the higher the NNTV to prevent a single bad outcome). Children ages 5 to 11 are at extremely low risk of death from coronavirus. In a meta-analysis combining data from 5 studies, Stanford researchers Cathrine Axfors and John Ioannidis found a median infection fatality rate (IFR) of 0.0027% in children ages 0-19. In children ages 5 to 11 the IFR is even lower. Depending on the study one looks at, COVID-19 is slightly less dangerous or roughly equivalent to the flu in children.

      So how many children would need to be injected with Pharma’s mRNA shot in order to prevent a single hospitalization, ICU admission, or death?

      Let’s examine Pfizer’s EUA application and the FDA’s risk-benefit analysis. By Pfizer’s own admission, there were zero hospitalization, ICU admissions, or deaths, in the treatment or control group in their study of 2,300 children ages 5 to 11.

      So the Number Needed to Vaccinate in order to prevent a single hospitalization, ICU admission, or death, according to Pfizer’s own data, is infinity. ?. Not the good kind of infinity as in God or love or time or the universe. This is the bad kind of infinity as in you could vaccinate every child age 5 to 11 in the U.S. and not prevent a single hospitalization, ICU admission, or death from coronavirus according to Pfizer’s own clinical trial data as submitted to the FDA. Of course Pfizer likes this kind of infinity because it means infinite profits. [Technically speaking the result is “undefined” because mathematically one cannot divide by zero, but you get my point.]

      Estimating an NNTV and risk-benefit model in children ages 5 to 11 using the limited data that are available

      Everyone knows that Pfizer was not even trying to conduct a responsible clinical trial of their mRNA shot in kids ages 5 to 11. Pfizer could have submitted to the FDA a paper napkin with the words “Iz Gud!” written in crayon and the VRBPAC would have approved the shot. They are all in the cartel together and they are all looking forward to their massive payoff/payday.

      But let’s not be like Pharma. Instead, let’s attempt to come up with a best guess estimate based on real world data. Over time, others will develop a much more sophisticated estimate (for example, Walach, Klement, & Aukema, 2021 estimated an NNTV for 3 different populations based on “days post dose”). But for our purposes here I think there is a much easier way to come up with a ballpark NNTV estimate for children ages 5 to 11.

      Here’s the benefits model:

      As of October 30, 2021, the CDC stated that 170 children ages 5 to 11 have died of COVID-19-related illness since the start of the pandemic. (That represents less than 0.1% of all coronavirus-related deaths nationwide even though children that age make up 8.7% of the U.S. population).
      The Pfizer mRNA shot only “works” for about 6 months (it increases risk in the first month, provides moderate protection in months 2 through 4 and then effectiveness begins to wane, which is why all of the FDA modeling only used a 6 month time-frame). So any modeling would have to be based on vaccine effectiveness in connection with the 57 (170/3) children who might otherwise have died of COVID-related illness during a 6-month period.
      At best, the Pfizer mRNA shot might be 80% effective against hospitalizations and death. That number comes directly from the FDA modeling (p. 32). I am bending over backwards to give Pfizer the benefit of considerable doubt because again, the Pfizer clinical trial showed NO reduction in hospitalizations or death in this age group. So injecting all 28,384,878 children ages 5 to 11 with two doses of Pfizer (which is what the Biden administration wants to do) would save, at most, 45 lives (0.8 effectiveness x 57 fatalities that otherwise would have occurred during that time period = 45).
      So then the NNTV to prevent a single fatality in this age group is 630,775 (28,384,878 / 45). But it’s a two dose regimen so if one wants to calculate the NNTV per injection the number doubles to 1,261,550. It’s literally the worst NNTV in the history of vaccination.
      If you inject that many children, you certainly will have lots and lots of serious side effects including disability and death. So let’s look at the risk side of the equation.

      Here’s the risk model:

      Because the Pfizer clinical trial has no useable data, I have to immuno-bridge from the nearest age group.
      31,761,099 people (so just about 10% more people than in the 5 to 11 age bracket) ages 12 to 24 have gotten at least one coronavirus shot.
      The COVID-19 vaccine program has only existed for 10 months and younger people have only had access more recently (children 12 to 15 have had access for five months; since May 10) — so we’re looking at roughly the same observational time period as modeled above.
      During that time, there are 128 reports of fatal side effects following coronavirus mRNA injections in people 12 to 24. (That’s through October 22, 2021. There is a reporting lag though so the actual number of reports that have been filed is surely higher).
      Kirsch, Rose, and Crawford (2021) estimate that VAERS undercounts fatal reactions by a factor of 41 which would put the total fatal side effects in this age-range at 5,248. (Kirsch et al. represents a conservative estimate because others have put the underreporting factor at 100.)
      With potentially deadly side effects including myo- and pericarditis disproportionately impacting youth it is reasonable to think that over time the rate of fatal side effects from mRNA shots in children ages 5 to 11 might be similar to those in ages 12 to 24.
      So, to put it simply, the Biden administration plan would kill 5,248 children via Pfizer mRNA shots in order to save 45 children from dying of coronavirus.

      For every one child saved by the shot, another 117 would be killed by the shot.

      The Pfizer mRNA shot fails any honest risk-benefit analysis in children ages 5 to 11.

      Even under the best circumstances, estimating NNTV and modeling risk vs. benefits is fraught. In the current situation, with a new and novel bioengineered virus, where Pfizer’s data are intentionally underpowered to hide harms, and the FDA, CDC, & Biden Administration are doing everything in their power to push dangerous drugs on kids, making good policy decisions is even more difficult.

      If the FDA or CDC want to calculate a different NNTV (and explain how they arrived at that number) I’m all ears. But we all know that the FDA refused to calculate an NNTV not because they forgot, but because they knew the number was so high that it would destroy the case for mRNA vaccines in children this age. Your move CDC — your own Guidance document states that you must provide this number.

      https://dailyexpose.uk/2021/11/21/scientific-model-shows-that-for-every-1-child-saved-from-dying-with-covid-19-over-117-will-be-killed-by-the-covid-19-vaccine/

  4. ITALY – THOUSANDS decry Italy’s Green Pass at Rome rally

    Rome’s Circus Maximus has seen a massive rally of protesters decrying the Green Pass – a certificate that is mandatory for attending work and many public places

    – despite a ban on demonstrations at historic landmarks and tourist sites.

  5. the guardian – New Zealand set to ease Covid restrictions and end lockdowns from December

    New ‘traffic light’ system will see vaccinated people granted significantly greater freedoms than those who are unvaccinated

    […]Under the new rules, most freedoms will be available to those who are vaccinated – including visiting restaurants, bars, hairdressers and gyms, even at the highest alert levels.

    […]For the unvaccinated, however, the changes will usher in an increasing divide – those without vaccine passes will face restrictions on gathering sizes, and will not be able to enter most hospitality businesses at higher alert levels.

    Vaccine mandates will affect about 40% of the total workforce.

    […]In the new “traffic light” system, regions will be put into a red, orange or green setting depending on their level of exposure to Covid-19 and vaccination rates. Auckland will start at red.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/22/new-zealand-set-to-ease-covid-restrictions-and-end-lockdowns-from-december

    =======================================
    NEW ZEALAND – Covid-19: Clock ticking for the unvaccinated with ‘traffic light’ date set

    Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis who do not yet have both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine face a tightening of their freedoms on December 3, when the Government moves the entire country into the new “traffic-light” system.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the date on Monday, saying Covid-19 was not going to be eradicated from New Zealand.

    “The hard truth is that Delta is here and not going away,” Ardern said.

    While Aucklanders will finally see an end to New Zealand’s longest lockdown, those in other parts of the country could face far more restrictions if they have not been fully-vaccinated.

    […]

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300460509/covid19-clock-ticking-for-the-unvaccinated-with-traffic-light-date-set
    ==================================
    New Zealand to move into new COVID-19 protection system on Dec. 3

    […]The new traffic light framework will allow businesses previously considered with high risk to fully open to vaccinated customers at green and orange, and continue to operate with some restrictions at red, she said, adding that businesses that choose to open to the unvaccinated will face restrictions in order to suppress the virus among those most likely to have it.

    Vaccine Passes will first be trialed at hairdressers and barbers in the largest city Auckland from Nov. 25 to ensure the transition into the new system goes as smoothly as possible the following week, Ardern said.

    Businesses that participate in the trial must operate with Vaccine Passes, take bookings only, and all staff must be fully vaccinated, she added.

    • AUSTRALIA – ‘Stuff it, shove it’: a furious Michael Gunner blasts those against vaccine mandates

      Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner has blasted those who have been campaigning against vaccine mandates in the Northern Territory. ‘If you are anti-mandate, you are absolutely anti-vax’, Gunner said during a Covid-19 press conference. ‘People are actually supporting the idea of a teacher being unvaccinated in a remote community classroom, with kids who cannot be vaccinated,’ Gunner said. ‘I reject that utterly … Stuff it, shove it’

    • AUSTRALIA – Pauline Hanson gives PM ultimatum over vaccine mandates

      One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson will withhold support for all government legislation unless the Prime Minister backs her bill to stop mandatory vaccinations.

      Ms Hanson will introduce her legislation in the Senate tomorrow which seeks to make it unlawful to discriminate against Australians who choose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

      It comes as the states are making vaccination mandatory in many workplaces as they start to open up.

      If the One Nation leader withholds her vote on all government legislation the Morrison government will be unable to pass any laws in the final two sitting weeks of parliament for the year.

    • AUSTRALIA – Jacqui Lambie slams Pauline Hanson’s claim vaccine mandates amount to ‘discrimination’

    • global news – TSA COVID-19 vaccine mandate comes days before US Thanksgiving

      The COVID-19 pandemic kept Americans home last Thanksgiving, but this year millions are on the move and airline bookings are up over 100 per cent compared to 2020.

      But those travel plans may hit some turbulence and that’s because agents from the Transportation Safety Administration are required to be vaccinated – and many are refusing.

    • CBC – First shipment of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids arrives in Canada

      ….. just two days after being approved by Health Canada.

    • CBC – Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children arriving in Canada on Sunday

      The vaccine lead at Pfizer Canada, Fabien Paquette, spoke with CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton about this accelerated rollout and what parents need to know.

    • global news – Alberta sees spike in children hospitalized with MIS-C

      Now as we know children have a lower risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, but doctors in Alberta are seeing increase in children hospitalized with a post-COVID syndrome known as MIS-C.

      Sixty-one cases have been reported in that province and the illness typically comes on about four weeks after the COVID-19 infection.

      And in some cases some children become so sick that they end up in intensive care.

      + comments on the YT page

    • the sun – Germany braced for lockdown for ‘unvaccinated’

      … the unvaccinated contribute to that situation

      —————————-
      ANGELA Merkel has warned Germany’s Covid nightmare is “worse than anything we have seen” as three countries in Europe are plunged into lockdown.

      Germans have been told they will be “vaccinated, cured or dead” from Covid by the end of winter, as Austria took the dramatic step of returning to a lockdown.

      Europe’s fourth wave of the pandemic has been blamed on the slow vaccine uptake in some nations, the contagious Delta variant and the colder weather meaning people are gathering inside again.

      Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have now imposed fresh Covid restrictions to curb the skyrocketing number of infections.

      But Chancellor Merkel warned Germany’s current restrictions – including banning the unvaccinated from certain public spaces – “are not enough”.

      She said new infections are doubling every 12 days, telling a meeting of leaders of her conservative Christian Democratic party: “We have a highly dramatic situation.”

      • Germans will be ‘vaccinated, cured or dead’ by winter’s end – minister

        German Health Minister Jens Spahn has said that everyone will be immunized or succumb to the coronavirus in the coming months as he urged the public to get the shot.

    • NETHERLANDS – Anti-lockdown rioters are ‘idiots,’ says Dutch prime minister

      ‘I will never tolerate idiots who use violence,’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, after riots broke out in cities across the Netherlands for the third night in a row on Sunday over COVID-19 restrictions.

    • FRANCE PR4VD4 – Police reinforcements arrive in Guadeloupe to quell Covid-19 unrest

      …. the only solution -vaccination – social distancing – washing up

      Elite police and counter-terrorism officers arrived on the French Caribbean island Guadeloupe on Sunday, local officials said, to help quell a week of unrest sparked by measures to curb Covid-19.

      Jan-Cédric Hansen, Vice President of Global Health Security Alliance, talks to FRANCE 24.

    • French PM holds meeting on Covid riots in Guadeloupe

      Government officials arrive at Matignon for a meeting on the situation in Guadeloupe, where riots which broke out after an announcement that coronavirus jabs would be mandatory for all healthcare workers.

      Elite police and counter-terrorism officers were sent over the weekend in a bid to quell the violence.

      French Prime Minister Jean Castex, placed in isolation after one of his daughters tested positive, is video conferencing in.

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – Health minister tells Germans to get vaccinated or to get COVID

      German Health Minister Jens Spahn stressed that Germans should get vaccinated, including with booster shots if their first shot was more than six months ago, to reduce the risk of serious illness.

      He said the prevalence of the more infectious delta variant made it increasingly difficult for unvaccinated people to avoid infection.

      “As is sometimes cynically said, by the end of this winter pretty much everyone in Germany … will have been vaccinated, recovered or died,” Spahn told reporters in Berlin.

      “I don’t agree with the comment [by Health Minister Jens Spahn] that everyone ‘will be either vaccinated, recovered or dead’ after this fall or winter, because that would mean that everyone will have come into contact with the virus,” Hendrik Streeck, a professor and director of the Institute of Virology at the University of Bonn, told DW today.

      He said that the situation was serious at the moment, but that Spahn’s assessment did not reflect how the virus travels nor how long the pandemic will last. Streeck: “It moves from social group to social group, and that’s why it behaves in natural waves.”

      “If we don’t get a higher rate of vaccination, we will have it next winter and next fall again,” Streeck said. “We have to prepare for the long-term and also think about next year.”

      In regard to a vaccine mandate, he said that if some people’s immunity wanes after six months, “that would mean having a mandate to get vaccinated every half year for a very long time. (…) Politicians promised the people there would be no vaccine mandate,” so that would “erode trust in the government” at a crucial time.

      Looking towards doctors and nurses, “it might happen that if they have a vaccine mandate, that they will just leave their jobs” in the middle of this crisis, Streeck said.

    • city news – Canada’s top doctor weighs in on when pandemic could end

      Theresa Tam expresses cautious optimism regarding an end to the pandemic, fuelled by the implementation of a pediatrics vaccine.

    • city news – Parliament returns to vaccination questions

      After five months and the most expensive election in history, federal politicians returned to Ottawa as leaders try and figure out who is vaccinated.

    • University of Michigan flu outbreak: Where things stand as CDC investigation continues

      The flu outbreak at the University of Michigan now numbers 760 cases since Oct. 6

    • RAW VIDEO: AZ AG Mark Brnovich asks reporter about their STD status, after COVID vaccine question

      During a media briefing Tuesday (11/22), AZ Attorney General Mark Brnovich was asked by Arizona’s Family Political Editor Dennis Welch what the AG’s COVID-19 vaccination status was. Here’s his unedited response.

    • LI hospital temporarily closing ER due to nursing staff shortages

      The emergency department at a Nassau County hospital has temporarily closed due to nursing staff shortages as a result of New York’s vaccine mandate.

      Officials at Mount Sinai South Nassau said Monday that all other options were exhausted before the decision was made to close the ER, starting at 3 p.m.

      […]The closure will last for up to four weeks and could be expanded, depending on staff availability.

    • reuters – Double-jabbed French Prime Minister Castex tests positive for coronavirus -PM’s office

      – French Prime Minister Jean Castex has tested positive for the coronavirus and is isolating himself, the prime minister’s office said on Monday.

      Castex, who is fully vaccinated against the virus, learned his daughter had tested positive after he returned from Belgium, where he met his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo. Castex then tested positive himself.

      The French prime minister will continue to work and will remain in isolation for 10 days, his office added in a statement.

      Castex’s positive test coincides with several European countries tightening restrictions to slow down infections and the number of people being hospitalized with COVID-19. Austria on Monday re-imposed a nationwide lockdown. read more

      French President Emmanuel Macron has said France doesn’t need to follow such measures because its stringent health pass rules have helped keep the virus in check, but he wants to accelerate the delivery of vaccine booster shots.

      Last week, France’s health regulator recommended booster shots for over 40s. Currently it is available to over 65s.

      https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-prime-minister-castex-tests-positive-coronavirus-pms-office-2021-11-22/

      =======================================================
      Strike in Martinique: Why islanders are furious with the French state

      Trade unions on the French Caribbean island of Martinique have called for a general strike as of Monday. Their demands include an end to mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations, a salary hike, and free testing for chlordecone, a pesticide used in banana plantations.

      Meanwhile, in neighbouring Guadeloupe, elite police have begun dismantling barricades erected during a week of unrest sparked by measures to curb Covid-19.

      The call for a general strike on Martinique — with a list of at least 13 demands — was signed by 20 trade unions in Martinique, on the 15th of November and begins today, the 22nd of November.

      Oil refinery workers (SARA), guards from the Ducos prison, and workers from across the transport, education, fishing sectors have all decided to join the strike.

      The actions will not include blocking roads – as had been suggested on social media – according to Bertrand Cambusy, the secretary for the CSTM union, speaking to local television.

      “There will be meaningful actions but nothing to penalise the general population,” he said.

      However, tension is high, and there are concerns the situation could spiral out of control as it did in neighbouring Guadeloupe where elite troops have been sent in to restore order.

      Protests in the French overseas territory of roughly 400,000 people broke out after an announcement that coronavirus jabs would be mandatory for all healthcare workers. Demonstrations have been marred by clashes and looting.

      Thirty-eight people have been arrested and the issue is to be addressed by prime minister Jean Castex and local officials later today. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is due to last until Tuesday.

      Why people are angry?

      The residents of the French overseas territory are angry about a wide range of issues. The mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations appears to have ignited the violence.

      Although administratively part of France, Martinique has been reticent to accept “orders” coming from the central government in Paris, who they see as authoritarian and out of touch with local needs.

      Several past health scandals have also tainted trust in authorities. Among the immediate concerns in these protests are:

      1. Mandatory Covid-19 vaccination

      There has been a push back against the mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations and health passes for health workers. Strikers are calling for this rule to be dropped.

      The government-imposed deadline for full vaccination for health workers in Martinique was already pushed back from the 14th of November to the 31st of December. In mainland France, the deadline was 15th of September.

      France suspends 3,000 unvaccinated health workers who missed Covid deadline

      Coercive health pass galvanises new wave of French resistance

      The unions also say suspending, or penalising, health workers who are not vaccinated must stop.

      There has also been a call to stop using schools as massive vaccine centres, which strikers say is a form of “propaganda”.

      So far the island has vaccinated only 39.4 percent of the population compared to 89 percent of over 18s on the mainland.

      On the 16th of November there was 74 patients patients in hospital with Covid, including 23 in intensive care, according to the most recent figures compiled by the public health body ARS.

      2. Salary increases, cap on fuel prices

      According to a local public news channel, the strikers are angry over what they see as a policy to develop an unstable, short term job market.

      Strikers are calling for a salary increase and for minimum wages to be pushed up. They have also called for a cap on fuel prices.

      There are also concerns over the government’s controversial pension reform, which strikers want abandoned.

      Other demands relate to increasing protection for taxi drivers and workers in the performing arts, sectors which have been hit particularly hard by tyhe Covid crisis.

      3. Chlordecone

      Finally, the strikers are also calling for the government to pay for tests to diagnose symptoms linked to chlordecone, a pesticide used in banana plantations in Martinique and Guadeloupe from 1972 to 1993, despite the knowledge of the dangerous side effects as early as the 1960s.

      More than 90 percent of the adult population in Guadeloupe and Martinique has been contaminated by chlordecone, a study by public health body Santé publique France showed in 2018.

      As a result, the region has one of the highest levels of prostate cancer in the world.

      A legal complaint was filed by several organisations in 2006, for “endangering the life of others”.

      The complaint accused the state of allowing companies to continue using the toxic product despite knowing the impact on health and and the environment.

      In 1990, although chlordecone was banned in France, some companies received exemptions, the complaint said.

      Protests were held in February after judges in the case suggested the original damage could be outside the statutory limitation.

      https://uk.news.yahoo.com/strike-martinique-why-islanders-furious-125605744.html

  6. Cityhall of Zeewolde, the Netherlands targeted with IED. A car was torched close by as well. It fits the pattern of the riots of the last 3 days. In Dutch, autotranslate available:

  7. NYT – Jeff Bezos gives $100 million to the Obama Foundation.

    Former President Barack Obama’s private foundation announced on Monday that it had been promised a donation of $100 million from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

    The gift, the largest yet for the Obama Foundation, was one in a series of splashy donations by Mr. Bezos, one of the world’s richest men, in recent months. Last week, Mr. Bezos announced $96.2 million in grants to groups working to end family homelessness.

    Since stepping down as chief executive of Amazon in July, Mr. Bezos has significantly raised his profile as a philanthropist, in addition to traveling to space on a ship made by his rocket company, Blue Origin.

    In return for the donation, Mr. Bezos asked that a plaza at the Obama Presidential Center be named for the civil rights leader John Lewis, who died last year. The foundation broke ground on the center, which will include Mr. Obama’s presidential library, a museum, an athletic center and more, earlier this year.

    “Freedom fighters deserve a special place in the pantheon of heroes, and I can’t think of a more fitting person to honor with this gift than John Lewis, a great American leader and a man of extraordinary decency and courage,” Mr. Bezos said in a statement released by the Obama Foundation. “I’m thrilled to support President and Mrs. Obama and their foundation in its mission to train and inspire tomorrow’s leaders.”

    News of the gift was earlier reported by the online news group Puck.

    It was neither Mr. Bezos’s biggest gift in recent months nor his first brush with Mr. Obama’s orbit. In September, Mr. Bezos, standing alongside John Kerry, Mr. Obama’s former Secretary of State, pledged $1 billion through his Bezos Earth Fund for conservation.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/business/bezos-obama-foundation.html

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

    NY POST – Obama Foundation accepts $100M donation from Jeff Bezos

    The donation comes as Amazon seeks to fend off challenges from the Biden administration.

    As part of the donation, Bezos has asked that Obama rename the plaza at his controversial Chicago presidential center in honor of former Congressman and civil rights advocate John R. Lewis, according to the Obama Foundation.

    In a release sent to The Post, Bezos gushed that he’s “thrilled to support President and Mrs. Obama and their Foundation in its mission to train and inspire tomorrow’s leaders.”

    Bezos’ $100 million donation — which represents less than 0.1 percent of his estimated $210 billion fortune — is the largest individual contribution ever received by Obama’s foundation. It’s also one-fifth of the reported $500 million Bezos recently spent on a yacht.

    The donation was arranged by Jay Carney, a former Obama press secretary and Amazon’s current public policy and public relations chief, according to Puck News, which first reported the donation.

    Obama and Bezos spoke directly to each other earlier this year and have occasionally seen each other socially, the outlet reported.

    Bezos’ buddying with Obama comes as Amazon clashes bitterly with the Biden administration over antitrust issues. Lina Khan, the Biden-appointed chief of the Federal Trade Commission, has a long history of blasting what she says are anticompetitive practices by Amazon and is reportedly probing the company’s $8.5 billion purchase of movie studio MGM.

    Citing past criticisms Khan had made of Bezos’ empire, Amazon demanded in June that she recuse herself from any FTC probes of the company.

    Amazon is also trying to fend off legislators in Congress, some of whom are chomping at the bit to take on Big Tech through bills that would stop Amazon from favoring its own products in search results or even break up the company altogether.

    The Obama Foundation was vague about what Bezos’ money will be spent on, writing that the cash will give “the next generation of emerging leaders… the necessary tools, resources, and training needed to be the change they want to see in the world, just as Congressman Lewis did.”

    The Obama Foundation’s $500 million presidential center on Chicago’s South Side, however, has attracted backlash from some residents, who have blasted the former president for cutting down trees in a historic park and fostering gentrification.

    Obama has defended the center, saying, “The overwhelming majority of the community has been not just okay with it, but are hugely enthusiastic about it.”

    Other tech moguls who have donated to the Obama Foundation include Bezos’ ex-wife Mackenzie Scott, Bill and Melinda Gates and ex-Facebook president and Napster founder Sean Parker.

    https://nypost.com/2021/11/22/obama-foundation-accepts-100m-donation-from-jeff-bezos/

  8. Some more videos from Brussels.
    Apparently, an armored police van with a ram is good for putting out fires. And a water cannon is good for dispersing crowds:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015518_71b7bb8d
    Looks like same incident, from different angle:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015515_ffef942e
    Two police vans attacked with metal poles:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015521_cde1bf5e

    Bonus video: rough arrest, driver gets kicked by plainclothes cops and dragged out of car. Looks like the Netherlands (yellow number plates). Background looks like Rotterdam, but not 100% sure:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/100015604_3a8b9014

    We’re entering the 4th evening of unrest in the Netherlands as I write this, since there are calls to riot on social media again. Several towns have implemented emergency measures: frisk zones, and cops can order anybody out of the area. Effectively a curfew.

  9. Mass protests against Covid restrictions in European cities – BBC News
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQoaLgJgXHA
    The Belgian capital Brussels is the latest European city to see mass protests and unrest over tighter coronavirus restrictions.

    Tens of thousands of people took to the streets, some throwing fireworks and missiles at police who responded with tear gas and water canon.

    Belgium has brought in new measures in response to a sharp rise in infections. The protesters are mainly opposed to covid passes which ban unvaccinated people from entering bars and restaurants.

    Protests have also taken place in Austria, Italy, Croatia and the Netherlands.

    Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Europe Correspondent Anna Holligan.

  10. The Prison Camps Are Coming. Unless.. A Historical perspective
    Robin Monotti Graziadei – November 22, 2021

  11. vaxx dictatorship

    One has to keep in mind, which crimes these “governments” are guilty of against the people, to whom they are obligated, but whom they have brazenly and unmistakably declared to be their “enemy”: coercion, extortion, deprivation of liberty, bodily harm (in some cases resulting in death), discrimination, incitement of the people, violation of the right of self-determination, abuse of authority, totalitarian state criminality, and so on.