Reader’s Links for January 11th, 2023

Here is a link to the VladTepesBlog social media Mastodon Pod. Please feel free to check it out and sign up for an account if you are sufficiently annoyed with Twitter and Facebook to try something new.

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

74 Replies to “Reader’s Links for January 11th, 2023”

    • SHHHH You will own nothing and be happy. Canadian taxpayers are paying for this despicable, traitor to attend a forum that is run by non elected madmen.

      Welcome to Clown World, now shut up and do what you are told or we will freeze your bank accounts, cancel your insurance, speak to your mortgage holder, and do whatever “We, the One World government” decide to totally ruin your life, you worthless little eater.

      Doesn’t she make you oh so proud to be a Canadian?

      • She seems to be anointed to be the next Viceroy to Canada from the WEF/Bilderberg after Trudeau has spent all his political capital.

        • IF one decides to partake in Clown World, one must say to themselves, as has past “persons of standing”, “We have to stay awake”.

          “I don’t feel no ways tired. I come to far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy. I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me”.

  1. Interesting

    Major FAA outage halts all domestic flight departures in the US.

    Flights across the US were brought to a standstill Wednesday morning after the Federal Aviation Administration suffered a computer outage, forcing a halt to all departures nationwide while it worked to resolve the issue.

    The FAA announced that the ground stop had been lifted at around 8:50 am and normal air traffic operations were resuming gradually……..

  2. Rafi Farber increasingly using his platform to point out a particular non-finance related phenomenon. Let the bodies hit the floor 5 min:

  3. Nativity Scene at Queens Catholic Church Vandalized
    By Cassandra Fairbanks
    Published January 11, 2023 at 8:30am
    55 Comments

    The nativity scene at the St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Queens was vandalized last week.
    Police were called about two individuals vandalizing the display between 7:50 and 9:50 p.m. on January 5.

    The vandals kicked down the plastic cover protecting the display, ripped off the Christmas lights, and knocked over the figures.

    John Quaglione, the deputy press secretary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, told QNS that the nativity has since been fixed.

    One of them went inside the nativity and pulled the figures off of Blessed Mother and baby Jesus which were nailed to the wooden platform,” Quaglione said. “They then destroyed all the light decorations outside and inside

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/nativity-scene-queens-catholic-church-vandalized/

  4. Dr. Sellin Releases Primer for the House Select Committee on China: PART 1 – The Laboratory Origin of COVID-19
    By Jim Hoft
    Published January 11, 2023 at 9:00am
    54 Comments

    On January 10, 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 365 to 65 in favor of a resolution to establish the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI). The following information is worthy of further investigation by that committee.

    SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 disease and pandemic, possesses a number of unusual structural features, which make a natural origin highly unlikely.

    Advertisement

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/dr-sellin-releases-primer-house-select-committee-china-part-1-laboratory-origin-covid-19/

  5. Harvard Offering Course About LGBTQ Healthcare For INFANTS
    By Cassandra Fairbanks
    Published January 11, 2023 at 8:15am
    113 Comments

    Harvard Medical School is now offering a course about providing LGBT healthcare to infants.
    The course is titled “Caring for Patients with Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities, and Sex Development.”

    The course description states, “clinical exposure and education will focus on serving gender and sexual minority people across the lifespan, from infants to older adults.”

    The elective includes “partnerships and clinical experiences at Harvard Medical School hospitals and within community settings, including clinical experiences at Boston Children’s Hospital.”

    Boston Children’s Hospital has faced controversy over a now-deleted video that said children can know their “gender identity” or be “transgender” — “from the womb.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/harvard-offering-course-lgbtq-healthcare-infants/

  6. europravda – Paris railway station knife attack leaves six injured

    The alleged attack at Paris’s Gare du Nord station happened at 6:45 am CET.

    The suspect was shot by police and subsequently hospitalised.

  7. europravda – NATO and EU bolster infrastructure security plans

    A joint taskforce will pool NATO and EU expertise to give additional protection to critical infrastructure.

  8. europravda – German police start removing climate activists from Lützerath

    Several hundred climate activists tried Tuesday to prevent heavy machinery from reaching an abandoned village in Germany that is due to be cleared for the expansion of a coal mine as police pushed back protesters and removed roadblocks ahead of a possible clearance this week.

  9. UKRAINE – American veteran Mark Lindquist, who went to Ukraine as a mercenary, burst into tears on camera because he “misses his friends”

    • Inside Ukraine’s 120+ Mile Salt Mine Tunnels Just Captured By Russia’s Wagner Group

      Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) acknowledged in a Tuesday daily briefing that the majority of Soledar is arlready under Russian control.

      “Part of the fighting has focused on entrances to the 200km-long disused salt mine tunnels which run underneath the district. Both sides are likely concerned that they could be used for infiltration behind their lines,” the MoD briefing described.

      Control of Soledar, a small town of 10,000 (pre-war) known for its immense salt mines, is seen as especially strategically key to Russian forces seeking to encircle the city of Bakhmut, which has witnessed months of intense but stalemated fighting. Bakhmut is 15km away from the outlying town of Soledar.

      […]

      more:

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russias-wagner-touts-major-victory-over-salt-mining-town-donetsk

    • Sudden Surge In Russian Navy Ships And Submarines In Black Sea

      Ukrainian forces will be monitoring a sudden movement of Russian warships and submarines out of their base of Novorossiysk.

      The naval base, near the Kerch Bridge, is further from Ukrainian controlled coast than the famous base at Sevastopol. Yet the unusual movement may be important.

      […]

      https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/01/sudden-surge-in-russian-navy-ships-and-submarines-in-black-sea/

      https://archive.ph/p5jOT

  10. Twitter Permanently Suspends OANN Reporter For Reporting On Rep. Buddy Carter’s Fair Tax Act Which Will ABOLISH The IRS
    By Jordan Conradson
    Published January 11, 2023 at 9:55am
    234 Comments

    Twitter permanently suspended OANN reporter Daniel Baldwin this morning following a tweet covering Congressman Buddy Carter’s Fair Tax Act, which will abolish the IRS.

    H.R.25, the Fair Tax Act, will “promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States,” according to the bill.

    Buddy Carter tweeted that Congress can “abolish the IRS” by passing this bill.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/breaking-twitter-permanently-suspends-oann-reporter-reporting-rep-buddy-carters-fair-tax-act-will-abolish-irs/

  11. AOC Claims Gas Stoves Give You Brain Damage – Trump’s Former Physician Responds With Epic Comeback
    By Anthony Scott
    Published January 11, 2023 at 10:25am
    197 Comments

    AOC recently took to Twitter to defend the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recent recommendation of banning gas stoves due to them reportedly being a “health hazard.”

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance.”

    Her tweet came as a response to Trump’s former White House Physician Rep. Ronny Jackson tweeting, “I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove. If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/aoc-claims-gas-stoves-give-brain-damage-trumps-former-physician-responds-epic-tweet/

    • I hardly think OAC’s brain damage came from a gas stove. I have three other siblings, we always had a gas stove and were taught by wonderful parents to be free thinkers.

      She may have been dropped on her head, I do not know, but gas stoves are not a problem. Does OAC know plants NEED carbon to grow?

      What grade did she really attend and what were her final marks, she seems to be missing something.

      How much money has she received from George Soros to undermine the United States of America and how the hell did she ever get elected? I am sorry but I know 12 year olds who can think much clearer than she can.

      Please rise up mock this pathetic twit.

  12. BIDEN ECONOMY: The Millions of Americans Who Quit Their Jobs Under the Biden Administration is Record-Breaking
    By Joe Hoft
    Published January 11, 2023 at 10:40am
    20 Comments

    The number of Americans who have quit their jobs since Joe Biden took the White House is sadly at record-breaking pace.

    A record number of Americans have quit their jobs since 2021 – and the Great Resignation shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

    Advertisement

    New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows how the trend unfolded, including the cumulative number of resignations since January 2021, and which industries have been most affected, according to an animated graph by Statista.

    By November 2021, nearly 48 million Americans had quit their jobs, which is up from the previous record of 42 million resignations in 2019.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/biden-economy-millions-americans-quit-jobs-biden-administration-record-breaking/

  13. BBC – Andrew Bridgen suspended as Tory MP over Covid vaccine comments

    Andrew Bridgen has been suspended as a Conservative MP for spreading misinformation about Covid vaccination.

    It comes after the North West Leicestershire MP posted a tweet that compared vaccines to the Holocaust.

    Tory chief whip Simon Hart said the comments had “crossed a line” and caused great offence.

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also condemned the remarks, calling the comparison “utterly unacceptable”.

    Mr Hart said Mr Bridgen would lose the party whip – meaning he will sit as an independent – while a formal investigation takes place.

    “As a nation we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme,” the chief whip added.

    “The vaccine is the best defence against Covid that we have. Misinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives.”

    […]last autumn he began to make increasingly baseless claims including that vaccines were killing many people and that the damage was being covered up.

    At first, he began highlighting some real, but rare, instances of genuine vaccine injury and misinterpreting real data to suggest these cases were more common than the research suggests.

    In recent weeks, this rhetoric has increased.

    Posting a link to an article on vaccines earlier, he said: “As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust.”

    […]Extensive independent research shows that Covid vaccines are extremely effective at preventing deaths.

    […]Lord Mann, an independent peer and former Labour MP who advises the government on antisemitism, said Mr Bridgen should be barred from standing for the Tories at the next election.

    “He cannot claim that he didn’t realise the level of offence that his remarks cause,” he added.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64236687

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

    the guardian – Tory MP Andrew Bridgen loses whip over ‘dangerous’ Covid vaccine claims

    […]he provoked widespread fury among colleagues and elsewhere by comparing the use of Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.

    The tweet from the North West Leicestershire backbencher came after weeks of him sending increasingly anti-vaccine social media posts, as well as messages to journalists,many of which openly backed conspiracy theories.

    The message on Wednesday morning linked to an article from Zero Hedge, a libertarian and conspiracy theory website, which purported to show the health risks from Covid vaccines.

    […]On Wednesday, anti-vaccine protesters at Westminster tube station held up a sign they had also displayed earlier in the week saying: “Thank you Andrew Bridgen.”

    Bridgen likely to be permanently cast out from party after tweet comparing immunisation to Holocaust

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/11/tory-mp-andrew-bridgen-loses-whip-over-covid-vaccine-comments

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

    DAILY MAIL – Rishi Sunak leads condemnation of Tory MP who claimed Covid vaccine was ‘the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust’: Andrew Bridgen is suspended by party for anti-vaxxer Twitter rant and warned he may have ‘blood on his hands’

    Andrew Bridgen shared an article on the Pfizer and Moderna jabs on Twitter

    MP compared use of jabs to ‘biggest crime against humanity’ since Holocaust

    Chief whip Simon Hart said his comment ‘crossed the line’ and removed whip

    Andrew Bridgen was stripped of the party whip after an astonishing outburst on Twitter that led to widespread condemnation from politicians, Jewish groups and and medical experts.

    The MP for North West Leicestershire has made a series of anti-vaxxer claims on social media and in the Commons chamber in recent weeks.

    […]But action was finally taken against him this morning after he shared an article on the Pfizer and Moderna jabs online, based on safety data published by US health agencies, and added: ‘As one consultant cardiologist said to me this is the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust.’

    The tweet gained 150,000 views in just two hours, with dozens of users of the social media platform hitting out at the ‘disgusting analogy’ and labelling him ‘dangerous’.

    […]At Prime Minister’s Questions, former health secretary Matt Hancock highlighted the ‘disgusting, anti-Semitic, anti-vax conspiracy theories’.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11622825/Outrage-Tory-MP-Andrew-Bridgen-compares-Covid-vaccine-roll-HOLOCAUST.html

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

    sky news UK – Tory MP Andrew Bridgen… had shared questioning vaccine safety, and that “misinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives.”

    • JAN 11 2023 – CNBC — Biden administration extends Covid public health emergency as highly infectious omicron XBB.1.5 spreads

      The Biden administration has extended the Covid-19 public health emergency as a highly transmissible omicron subvariant stokes concern that the nation may face another wave of hospitalizations from the disease this winter.

      The U.S. has renewed the Covid public health emergency every 90 days since January 2020.

      The White House Covid task force has repeatedly sought to reassure the public that the U.S. is in a much stronger place today due to the widespread availability of Covid vaccines and treatments that prevent severe disease and death.

      […]Scientists at Columbia University, in a study published in December, found that the BQ and XBB families of omicron subvariants pose the biggest threat to the Covid vaccines and could cause a surge of breakthrough infections. These subvariants are also resistant to all of the authorized antibody treatments used to protect people with weak immune systems.

      […]Only 38% of seniors ages 65 and over have received an omicron booster so far, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is concern that as XBB.1.5 spreads, it could cause a spike in hospitalizations and deaths among older Americans.

      Jha has said most people who are hospitalized and dying from Covid right now are ages 70 and older who are either not up to date on their vaccines or are not getting treated when they have a breakthrough infection.

      https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/11/biden-extends-covid-public-health-emergency-as-omicron-xbbpoint1point5-spreads.html

    • JAN 07 2023 – World Health Organization – COVID-19 – what you need to know now

      Get vaccinated and boosted, wear a mask, ventilate, distance, clean hands.

    • twitter @ChiefNerd

      Pfizer CEO Admits No One Wants the COVID Vaccine Anymore, Predicts More “Severe Disease” Coming

      “The waves that will be coming will be coming with higher clinical manifestation of severe disease and more hospitalizations.“

      + 3 min 30 audio

      https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1613009652983238658

      ==================================================
      Flagship CEO Chat: Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna

      Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, sits down with Christine Heenan, Chief Communications Officer & Executive Partner, Flagship Pioneering @ JPM 2023.

      • Predicts More “Severe Disease” Coming

        He’s delighted. Confident – as if he had inside info on specific CRISPR biotech projects.

    • JAN 11 2023 – CNN – FDA vaccine advisers ‘disappointed’ and ‘angry’ that early data about new Covid-19 booster shot wasn’t presented for review last year

      Some vaccine advisers to the federal government say they’re “disappointed” and “angry” that government scientists and the pharmaceutical company Moderna didn’t present a set of infection data on the company’s new Covid-19 booster during meetings last year when the advisers discussed whether the shot should be authorized and made available to the public.

      That data suggested the possibility that the updated booster might not be any more effective at preventing Covid-19 infections than the original shots.

      The data was early and had many limitations, but several advisers told CNN that they were concerned about a lack of transparency.

      US taxpayers spent nearly $5 billion on the new booster, which has been given to more than 48.2 million people in the US.

      “I was angry to find out that there was data that was relevant to our decision that we didn’t get to see,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, a group of external advisers that helps the FDA make vaccine decisions. “Decisions that are made for the public have to be made based on all available information – not just some information, but all information.”

      At a meeting of this FDA advisory group in June and a meeting in September of a panel that advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the experts were presented with reams of information indicating that the new vaccine worked better than the one already on shelves, according to a review of videos and transcripts of those meetings and slide presentations made by Moderna, CDC and FDA officials.

      That data – called immunogenicity data – was based on blood work done on study participants to assess how well each vaccine elicited antibodies that fight off the Omicron strain of the virus that causes Covid-19.

      The data that was not presented to the experts looked at actual infections: who caught Covid-19 and who did not.

      It found that 1.9% of the study participants who received the original booster became infected. Among those who got the updated bivalent vaccine – the one that scientists hoped would work better – a higher percentage, 3.2%, became infected. Both versions of the shot were found to be safe.

      This infection data was far from complete. The number of study subjects who became infected was very small, and both the patients and the researchers were aware of who was getting the original shot and who was getting the new booster.

      Despite these imperfections, the data was included in a preprint study that was posted online in June, again in September in an FDA document and then later that month in a top medical journal – and advisers to the FDA and the CDC said the data should have been shared with them, too.

      “It’s not a group of children. We understand how to interpret these results,” said Dr. Eric Rubin, a member of the FDA vaccine advisory committee.

      The six FDA and CDC advisers interviewed by CNN said that this infection data wouldn’t have changed how they voted, because the data had such limitations, but it still should have been presented to them.

      “There should always be full transparency,” said Dr. Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and acting chair of the FDA advisers’ group. “These data should not be dismissed. They are early, but they indicate that we need to look at them and see what their value is.”

      Dr. Pablo Sanchez, a member of the CDC’s panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said that if the data “was looked at as part of the study, it should have been presented to the advisers prior to their decision.”

      The FDA and the CDC convene their advisory board meetings and make presentations to the advisers. At last year’s meetings, Moderna executives made presentations, as well. The advisers then make their recommendations to the agencies, and the agencies decide whether to authorize the shots and recommend them to the public.

      Moderna spokesman Christopher Ridley said in an email to CNN that the company shared the infection data with the FDA and posted the study manuscript before the agency’s panel meeting in June “in response to requests that we share an update from the ongoing study.”

      That study preprint was posted online June 25, three days before the FDA advisers met.

      Michael Felberbaum, an FDA spokesman, told CNN in an email that “the FDA received the preprint less than a day prior to the advisory committee meeting,” and “the information was therefore not provided in an adequate timeframe for it to be included in the agency’s meeting materials, and generally the FDA only discusses data at advisory committee meetings that the agency has had the opportunity to substantively review.”

      “Numerous studies support the finding that the COVID-19 vaccines remain the best defense against the most devastating consequences of COVID-19 such as hospitalization and death, and that the updated vaccines may help provide better protection against the currently circulating variants,” Felberbaum wrote.

      He added that “throughout the pandemic, the FDA has remained as transparent as possible regarding its processes and decision-making regarding the COVID-19 vaccines” and that Moderna could have chosen to present the data at the FDA advisory committee meeting.

      Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokeswoman, said that “due to the many limitations involving this clinical data, it was not featured” in the CDC’s advisory committee discussion.

      Emphasis on transparency

      The advisers said there are three main reasons why it matters that the infection data was not presented to them.

      One, they said, is the potential impact of their decision: If Americans were going to be getting these shots, all available data should be brought to the table for consideration.

      Two, the advisory committee meetings are streamed live online, and regulatory agencies around the world use the information to help make decisions about vaccines in their countries.

      Three, they stressed that transparency is important. The public doesn’t witness conversations among FDA officials or between agency officials and pharmaceutical company executives, but they do get to watch the advisory panels’ proceedings.

      The outside experts said the pandemic has demonstrated the extent of vaccine hesitancy in the US, and it would be reassuring to the public if all data, not just some, were discussed during the advisers’ meetings.

      Infection data not included in presentations by FDA and Moderna

      Last summer, as the FDA’s and CDC’s outside advisers considered the updated boosters, the stakes were high. They knew that in just a matter of months, winter would be approaching, and Covid rates could spike. They also knew the original vaccine was getting less effective with each new variant and that the addition of the Omicron strain in the updated booster might help battle the virus.

      The FDA advisers – 21 voting members, including infectious disease experts and vaccinologists from Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard – met for a full day on June 28.

      Dr. Stephen Hoge, the president of Moderna, made a presentation to the advisers and frequently referred to information from the preprint study that had been posted three days before. The study was funded by Moderna and led by company scientists, and it had not been subjected to peer review or published in a medical journal.

      The data Hoge shared with the advisers demonstrated that blood tests on about 800 study participants indicated that the new bivalent booster was “superior” at increasing antibodies to the Omicron variant compared with the original vaccine.

      Hoge did not mention another part of the study that cast a less-positive light on the updated shot.

      In that part, the researchers gave some participants the existing vaccine and other participants the updated booster, and then they kept track of who became infected with Covid-19.

      Among the hundreds of participants who received the original vaccine and showed no evidence of a prior Covid-19 infection, over the period of the small study, 1.9% became infected. Among the hundreds who received the new bivalent vaccine, a higher percentage, 3.2%, became infected. The preprint did not indicate whether these findings were statistically significant.

      A 22-page FDA briefing document given to the advisers did not mention this infection data.

      Dr. Jerry Weir, director of the Division of Viral Products at the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, also did not mention the infection data in his presentation to the advisers.

      At the end of the June 28 meeting, the FDA advisers voted 19-2 to recommend the inclusion of an Omicron variant for the Covid-19 booster vaccine. Offit, a professor of vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Henry Bernstein, a professor of pediatrics at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York, voted in opposition.

      Over the next month, the US government announced agreements to purchase the bivalent booster from Pfizer and Moderna: a contract for $3.2 billion with Pfizer and for $1.74 billion with Moderna.

      Limitations of Moderna’s infection data

      The infection data that wasn’t included in the Moderna and FDA presentations has several serious limitations, according to the six advisers who spoke to CNN.

      First, the numbers were very small: The study analyzed only hundreds of patients, and only 16 became infected. None of them ended up in the emergency room or were hospitalized.

      As Rubin, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the FDA advisers, pointed out, vaccines are meant to prevent severe disease and death. These are “impossible to measure in such small studies,” and a “better antigenic match could result in decreased numbers of people who get hospitalized or who die.”

      Second, participants were not randomly assigned to receive either the original or new vaccine, and the study was not double-blind, meaning the participants and the researchers knew who was receiving which shot. Lack of randomization and blinding can bias study results.

      Third, the primary purpose of the study was not to study infection rates but to do immunogenicity analyses, taking blood from participants and examining their antibody responses to the vaccine.

      Ridley, the Moderna spokesman, noted these limitations in his email to CNN.

      “The primary objective of the study was to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the bivalent vaccine. The study was not randomized and did not control for infection risk between arms, making comparison of a relatively small number of cases problematic,” he wrote.

      Nearly $5 billion for updated boosters

      On August 31, about two months after the FDA advisers’ meeting, the agency authorized the Moderna bivalent vaccines. The Moderna infection data was included in the agency’s written decision, but it wasn’t posted online until September 13, according to Felberbaum, the FDA spokesman.

      On September 1, the CDC advisers – 14 voting members – met to consider whether to recommend the bivalent boosters for Americans to get in the fall. Several CDC scientists presented data at that meeting but did not include the infection data.

      Nordlund, the CDC spokeswoman, said in her email that the “CDC was aware” of the data that would later be published in The New England Journal of Medicine but that assessing infections was an “exploratory objective of the study,” which was “not designed to assess vaccine effectiveness.” She added that in assessing infections, “researchers used different durations and points in time among a very small group of people,” and because of the limitations of the data, it was not featured at the meeting.

      “CDC vaccine recommendations are made following an evaluation and presentation of high-quality vaccine efficacy or immunobridging data,” Nordlund wrote.

      Dr. William Schaffner, a non-voting member of the CDC’s advisory committee, called Nordlund’s argument “very weak.”

      “The data are limited, but they are informative, and I think one would have anticipated that a complete presentation would have included them,” said Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

      Dr. Jacqueline Miller, a senior vice president at Moderna, presented to the advisers. Like her colleague Hoge, the company president, she showed material suggesting that the bivalent vaccine was superior and did not show slides detailing the statistics about the infection rates, according to a copy of the slides she presented.

      Several hours into the meeting, one of the CDC advisers, Dr. Sybil Cineas, an associate professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, asked Miller about cases of Covid-19 among study subjects who received the original vaccine versus the updated bivalent booster.

      Miller said that among subjects with no evidence of prior infection, as well as those with evidence of prior infection, the disease incidence rates were 2.4% for the group who received the original vaccine and 2.5% for those who got the bivalent booster.

      That data would be published two weeks later in The New England Journal of Medicine.

      When she answered Cineas’ question, Miller did not mention other aspects of the infection data in the published study. That data indicated that among hundreds of participants with no previous Covid-19 infections, infection occurred in 1.9% of those who’d received the old vaccine and in 3.2% of those who’d received the new bivalent vaccine. She also did not mention breakdowns of whether participants were sick with Covid or had asymptomatic illnesses. The study, like the preprint, did not mention whether any of these findings were statistically significant.

      At the end of the meeting, the CDC advisers voted 13-1 in favor of recommending the bivalent booster, with Sanchez, a professor of pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, voting in opposition. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on the recommendation later that day, and the vaccines were made available to the public. Currently, they are the only booster available once someone has had their primary series of a Covid-19 vaccine.

      More than six months after the FDA advisers met, Moderna still has not released data from a randomized Phase 3 trial comparing infections in participants who received the new booster with those who received the old shot. The company expects to release such results “shortly” with about 3,000 participants, according to Ridley.

      Pfizer does not “currently have data on incidence of infection post bivalent booster. However, we continue to monitor real-world data and collect data from our own studies,” according to a statement from Jerica Pitts, senior director of global media relations.

      Together, the new updated boosters from Pfizer and Moderna cost taxpayers nearly $5 billion. To put that in perspective, that’s about the size of the annual budget for the state of Delaware.

      Former FDA scientist: No excuse for excluding infection data

      A former FDA scientist who helped run the agency’s vaccine division told CNN that if he were still at the agency, he would have advocated for sharing the infection information with the advisers, even if it was made available only a short time before the meeting.

      “I don’t think there’s any excuse for excluding it,” even with its imperfections, said Dr. Philip Krause, who served as deputy director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccine Research and Review until he resigned in October 2021.

      “The company’s failure to present this information at the [FDA advisers meeting] and the omission of discussion about the data at that meeting raises questions about the ability of the process to provide a full and transparent review of the data,” he added.

      Krause said his main concern was preserving – or regaining – the public trust in the FDA.

      “That’s the critical thing,” he said. “The FDA’s objective review of the data is what is providing the great, great value to the American people, because this way they know that somebody who doesn’t have a stake in the outcome has looked at the deepest possible level at these data.”

      FDA and CDC vaccine advisers echoed Krause’s concerns about transparency.

      “I think that as much data that’s available should be made public and available for discussion by advisory groups so that the public can see, yes, the available science has been evaluated as best as [possible] at that particular time,” said Bernstein, the member of the FDA advisory committee.

      Bernstein added that he was disappointed that the data had not been presented to him and the other advisers.

      Offit, the member from the University of Pennsylvania, said he was angry.

      “I was angry to find out that there was data that was relevant to our decision that I didn’t get to see. Angry because they should trust us to make the decision based on all the data. These agencies, whether it’s the FDA or CDC, can’t make that decision for us. That’s the point of having an independent advisory committee,” he said.

      ‘It shook my faith’

      About a month after the CDC advisers met, studies were released from researchers at Harvard and Columbia suggesting that the new vaccines didn’t work any better than the original.

      Those studies, which were very small and only in preprint and not in a medical journal, measured immune responses after people got the bivalent vaccine compared with the original version of the vaccine.

      “We essentially see no difference” between the old boosters and the new about a month after the shot, said Dr. David Ho, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia whose team authored one of the studies.

      President Joe Biden and other administration officials continue to emphasize that the updated booster is the best way to avoid hospitalization or death from Covid-19. But nearly four months after its release, only 15.4% of the US population age 5 and older has opted to get the shot, according to CDC data.

      On January 26, the advisers are scheduled to meet again to discuss future Covid-19 vaccination regimens.

      Offit, the FDA vaccine adviser, said the Columbia and Harvard studies convinced him even more that the infection data and all the related caveats should have been given to the advisers from the beginning.

      “This was not acceptable. I understand we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I understand we’re building the plane while it’s still in the air, but you can’t do this,” he said. “It did shake my faith. It shook my faith in how these decisions were being made.”

      https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/11/health/moderna-bivalent-transparency/index.html

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

      CNN – Bernie Sanders calls out Moderna for proposed Covid vaccine price hike

      CNN’s Kate Bolduan speaks with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) about pharmaceutical company Moderna considering a price hike for its Covid vaccines and the potential effect on Americans’ bottom line.

    • AUSTRALIA – Researchers hope three-in-one jab will ease ‘vaccine fatigue’

      Researchers hope a new three-in-one jab will help ease ‘vaccine fatigue’ and cut down trips to the GP.

      It’s being trialled in Queensland, targeting COVID, the flu and serious respiratory issues.

    • BBC- Excess deaths in 2022 among worst in 50 years

      More than 650,000 deaths were registered in the UK in 2022 – 9% more than 2019.

      This represents one of the largest excess death levels outside the pandemic in 50 years.

      Though far below peak pandemic levels, it has prompted questions about why more people are still dying than normal.

      Data indicates pandemic effects on health and NHS pressures are among the leading explanations.

      Is it Covid?

      Covid is still killing people, but is involved in fewer deaths now than at the start of the pandemic. Roughly 38,000 deaths involved Covid in 2022 compared with more than 95,000 in 2020.

      We are still seeing more deaths overall than would be expected based on recent history. The difference in 2022 – compared with 2020 and 2021 – is that Covid deaths were one of several factors, rather than the main explanation for this excess.

      So what else might be going on?

      The crisis in healthcare

      A number of doctors are blaming the wider crisis in the NHS.

      At the start of 2022, death rates were looking like they’d returned to pre-pandemic levels. It wasn’t until June that excess deaths really started to rise – just as the number of people waiting for hours on trolleys in English hospitals hit levels normally seen in winter.

      On 1 January 2023, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine suggested the crisis in urgent care could be causing “300-500 deaths a week”.

      It is not a figure recognised by NHS England, but it’s roughly what you get if you multiply the number of people waiting long periods in A&E with the extra risk of dying estimated to come with those long waits (of between five and 12 hours).

      It is possible to debate the precise numbers, but it’s not controversial to say that your chances are worse if you wait longer for treatment, be that waiting for an ambulance to get to you, being stuck in an ambulance outside a hospital or in A&E.

      And we are seeing record waits in each of those areas.

      In November, for example, it took 48 minutes on average for an ambulance in England to respond to a suspected heart attack or stroke, compared to a target of 18 minutes.

      Lasting effect of pandemic

      Some of the excess may be people whose deaths were hastened by the after-effects of a Covid infection.

      A number of studies have found people are more likely to have heart problems and strokes in the weeks and months after catching Covid, and some of these may not end up being linked to the virus when the death is registered.

      As well as the impact on the heart of the virus itself, some of this may be contributed to by the fact many people didn’t come in for screenings and non-urgent treatment during the peak of the pandemic, storing up trouble for the future.

      We can see that the number of people starting treatment for blood pressure or with statins – which can help prevent future heart attacks – plunged during the pandemic and, a year later still hadn’t recovered.

      The largest jump in excess deaths was seen in men aged 50-64, most commonly caused by heart problems.

      No evidence of vaccine effect

      The rise in cardiac problems has been pointed to by some online as evidence that Covid vaccines are driving the rise in deaths, but this conclusion is not supported by the data.

      One type of Covid vaccine has been linked to a small rise in cases of heart inflammation and scarring (pericarditis and myocarditis). But this particular vaccine side-effect was mainly seen in boys and young men, while the excess deaths are highest in older men – aged 50 or more.

      And these cases are too rare – and mostly not fatal – to account for the excess in deaths.

      Finally, figures up to June 2022 looking at deaths from all causes show unvaccinated people were more likely to die than vaccinated people.

      While this data on its own can’t tell us it’s the vaccine protecting people from dying – there are too many complicating factors – if vaccines were driving excess deaths we would expect this to be the other way around.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/health-64209221

  14. Getting “Personal”: Chuck Todd Dismisses Investigation into Possible Biden Foreign Influence Peddling

    Below is my column in the New York Post on the new narratives emerging in the media in anticipation of the investigation into Biden influence peddling. The comments by NBC’s Meet the Press host Chuck Todd capture the ongoing efforts to dismiss the serious allegations raised in the scandal.

    Here is the column:

    “It does sound personal”: NBC’s “Meet the Press” host’s words Sunday capture the new narrative in Washington as the House readies the long-delayed investigation into the Biden family’s foreign influence peddling.

    https://jonathanturley.org/2023/01/10/getting-personal-chuck-todd-dismisses-investigation-into-possible-biden-foreign-influence-peddling/

  15. Brazil Protestor Commits Suicide in “Lulag” Concentration Camp, Death Toll Allegedly Reaches 4, Children Held in Prison
    By Richard Abelson
    Published January 11, 2023 at 12:25pm
    13 Comments
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    Hundreds of pro-Democracy protestors are still being held without charges or legal assistance in the “Lulag” gym in Brasilia, while 763 have been taken to Federal Prison. According to unconfirmed reports, 4 people have died. One man appears to have attempted or committed suicide. Prisoners are being forced to sign confessions for “terrorism” and “criminal conspiracy.” Children have been taken away from their parents by the regime.

    One of the allegedly deceased was identified as “Hilda, 81” by Rio Times.

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    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/brazil-protestor-commits-suicide-lulag-concentration-camp-death-toll-allegedly-reaches-4-children-held-prison/

    • twitter @GraduatedBen

      Horrible news out of Brazil.

      Arrested protestors are being forcibly injected with the Covid shots against their will.

      https://twitter.com/GraduatedBen/status/1613318637850447872

      =========================================
      twitter @zesilva1955

      Brazilian arrested protesters were FORCED to be vaccinated today.

      Things in Brazil escalated quickly! 11 days to have a practical dictatorship endorsed by the globalists, the mainstream media, the US gov and CIA, the UN, the EU and the big tech companies!

      https://twitter.com/zesilva1955/status/1613337581139132417
      ==================================

      Golpistas presos em Brasília são levados para celas, vacinados contra covid e recebem kit higiene

      Cerca de mil presos são enviados para celas do presídio da Papuda em Brasília, no caso dos homens, e da penitenciária da Colmeia, para as mulheres; ao chegarem, receberam um colchão enrolado, mas sem travesseiro, para evitar riscos de violência

      BRASÍLIA – Cerca de 700 golpistas bolsonaristas presos por envolvimento nos atos de invasão e depredação de prédios públicos na Praça dos Três Poderes, domingo, 8, começaram a ser levados para as celas. O Estadão conseguiu detalhes sobre o processo de triagem dos acusados.

      Tantos os homens enviados para o Centro de Detenção Provisória da Papuda quanto as mulheres encaminhadas para a mesma estrutura da Colmeia receberam, ao chegar nos presídios, um colchão enrolado para dormirem. Além disso, receberam um uniforme e um kit de higiene contendo sabonete, creme dental e escova. No caso das mulheres, foi disponibilizado, ainda, absorventes.

      As celas têm tamanhos diferentes. Por isso, cada um recebeu um número diferente de detentos. Dentro de cada uma das celas há banheiro disponível. As camas são de concreto, sem qualquer tipo de artefato que possa ser retirado. Os presos bolsonaristas estão separados dos demais detentos. Dentro da cadeia, nada de acesso a celular. Todos foram recolhidos.

      Ao chegarem na prisão, os golpistas passaram ainda por um processo de triagem médica. Uma força-tarefa foi montada para fazer exames nas pessoas, vaciná-las contra doenças como a Covid-19, nos casos em que houver necessidade, e tomar nota daquelas que têm algum tipo de comorbidade ou tomam algum medicamento regulado. Todos terão direito a tomar “banho de sol” uma vez por dia.

      Diariamente, eles passam a receber quatro alimentações por dia, incluindo café da manhã, almoço, café da tarde e jantar. As refeições são diferentes a cada dia e incluem itens como suco e achocolatados de caixinha.

      Por razões de segurança, cada detento recebeu apenas o colchão para dormir, sem cobertor e travesseiros, peças que podem ser usadas para atos de violência.

      Audiências serão online, mas soltura vai depender do STF
      A próxima fase da detenção é a tomada de audiências com cada detento. Esse trabalho será feito de forma virtual, reunindo, em cada sessão, um juiz, um promotor, um advogado de defesa e o acusado. As sessões desse tipo costumam levar cerca de 20 a 30 minutos.

      A expectativa é de que cerca de 30 juízes atuem nas sessões, como forma de acelerar os depoimentos. Os detentos darão seus depoimentos em ambientes da prisão conhecidos como “parlatórios”. Esses locais, que possuem computador com câmeras e acesso à internet, foram preparados para funcionar durante a pandemia da covid-19, devido à necessidade de isolamento físico, e agora vão auxiliar a agilizar as audiências, dado o grande volume de pessoas a serem ouvidas.

      O número mais recente de detentos divulgado pelo governo do Distrito Federal aponta que 763 foram presos, sendo 498 homens e 265 mulheres, mas este número pode crescer a qualquer momento.

      Newton Rubens de Oliveira, advogado e diretor de Prerrogativas da OAB-DF, disse ao Estadão que a orientação dada aos magistrados pelo ministro do Supremo Tribunal Federal Alexandre de Moraes é que estes se atenham em analisar “a regularidade de flagrante”, e não os pedidos de liberação.

      “É preciso ver como ficará isso. Essa foi a orientação dada, para que o juiz não avalie o pedido de liberação e que isso será competência do STF. Em sua decisão, o ministro Alexandre de Moraes pede que se avalie a regularidade de flagrante. Os pedidos de liberdade serão feitos diretamente ao gabinete do Supremo”, disse Oliveira.

      https://www.estadao.com.br/politica/golpistas-sao-enviados-para-celas-recebem-colchao-kit-de-higiene-e-terao-direito-a-banho-de-sol/

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

    • twitter @MICHELL17179024

      People illegally arrested for squid were forced to sign a guilty plea for crimes they did not commit.

      Without a trial or due process.

      https://twitter.com/MICHELL17179024/status/1613181931977310211
      ===============================
      twitter @opropriofaka

      Atribuição de “culpa” sem julgamento, sem devido processo legal...e pra piorar, c/ uma IDOSA de 74 anos!

      Olha aí a “normalidade democrática” Mourão! Olhem aí comandantes militares q diziam q “o remédio é pior q a doença”!

      Nossa nação está com o câncer da ditadura comunista

      https://twitter.com/opropriofaka/status/1613124588853944320

  16. Twitter Permanently Suspends OANN Reporter For Reporting On Rep. Buddy Carter’s Fair Tax Act Which Will ABOLISH The IRS
    By Jordan Conradson
    Published January 11, 2023 at 9:55am
    399 Comments

    Twitter permanently suspended OANN reporter Daniel Baldwin this morning following a tweet covering Congressman Buddy Carter’s Fair Tax Act, which will abolish the IRS.

    H.R.25, the Fair Tax Act, will “promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States,” according to the bill.

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    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/breaking-twitter-permanently-suspends-oann-reporter-reporting-rep-buddy-carters-fair-tax-act-will-abolish-irs/

  17. Not Only Was “Russian Collusion” Debunked, Washington Post Admits Russia Had “Little Influence on 2016 Voters”. The Obama Lie Unraveling.
    By Brian Lupo
    Published January 11, 2023 at 2:40pm
    3 Comments

    It is now well-known in even the Mockingbird Media circles that “Russian collusion” has been almost entirely debunked and based on a lie of a document funded by democrat operatives. Rod Rosenstein has admitted that there was no evidence of collusion in August of 2017 during a testimony under oath with Sen. Lindsey Graham.

    As the “Russian Collusion” was being thoroughly debunked not just with the Mueller report, but later on with the Durham investigation and the Michael Sussamn and Igor Danchenko trials, mockingbird media outlets urged us to continue focusing on “Russian meddling” in our elections.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/not-russian-collusion-debunked-washington-post-admits-russia-little-influence-2016-voters-obama-lie-unraveling/

  18. FIREWORKS! Karine Jean-Pierre Spars with Peter Doocy Over How Classified Documents Ended Up in Joe Biden’s Private Office (VIDEO)
    By Cristina Laila
    Published January 11, 2023 at 3:07pm
    Comment

    White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday sparred with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy over how classified documents ended up in Biden’s private office.

    “On these documents, how can anyone be that irresponsible? Isn’t that what this president says about mishandling classified documents?” Doocy said, echoing Biden’s previous comments on Trump.

    Karine Jean-Pierre shot back and absurdly claimed Biden takes handling classified documents ‘seriously.’

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/fireworks-karine-jean-pierre-spars-peter-doocy-classified-documents-ended-joe-bidens-private-office-video/

  19. President Trump’s Documents Held at Mar-a-Lago Were Legit But Biden Held Classified Intel That Went Against the Law – When Did the DOJ Know?
    By Joe Hoft
    Published January 11, 2023 at 4:50pm
    36 Comments

    When did the DOJ know that Biden held classified documents against the law? Was this before the corrupt FBI raided President Trump’s home Mar-a-Lago?

    This week it was reported that the Deep State DOJ knew that Joe Biden while Obama’s Vice President, maintained super classified documents at his office at the University of Penn where China had donated millions of dollars.

    This information comes after this past summer when the DOJ raided President Trump’s home, stole the President’s documents, and accused the President of illegally maintaining classified information against the law.

    The FBI continued its attack against President Trump after he left office and raided his home and stole some documents the President maintained there. These documents were secure, they were his and they were legitimately there.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/president-trumps-documents-held-mar-lago-legit-biden-held-classified-intel-went-law-doj-know/

  20. REVEALED: World Economic Forum Partner Behind Sudden Push to Ban Gas Stoves
    By Cullen Linebarger
    Published January 11, 2023 at 6:30pm
    Comment

    The abrupt push by Democrats led by the Biden Regime to ban gas stoves has enraged and confused Americans across the country. The good news is we may have found the primary culprit behind the push and it’s connected to the World Economic Forum.

    RedState.com, which first broke this story, points out prominent Democrats and liberals never demonstrated an iota of concern over gas stoves before. Not even noted low-IQ Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who made an utter fool of herself by claiming a study shows gas stoves are dangerous to brain health.

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    A major Twitter leftist named Max Kennerly also got in on the act pushing the supposed dangers of cooking with gas. Like AOC, he had never tweeted about gas stoves before.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/revealed-world-economic-forum-partner-behind-sudden-push-ban-gas-stoves/

  21. The State of New California is holding its 10 Constitutional Convention starting tomorrow, January 12- 14, 2023.

    The State of New California is gearing up for statehood.

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    This idea seemed strange until it was mentioned that it is following precedent. The state of West Virginia was formed during the Civil War when citizens of the new state didn’t agree with the unconstitutional actions of the state of Virginia which seceded and formed a new country.

    The courageous men and women in West Virginia stood strong and created a new state according to the US Constitution. The new state was granted statehood during the Civil War.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/history-making-state-new-california-holds-10th-constitutional-convention/

  22. Republican State Representative Alexander Kolodin, serving his freshman term as a legislator, told Arizona Democrats and Republicans who refuse to work to secure our elections to pound sand on Monday before Katie Hobbs gave her first State of the State address.

    “If you want to work together, do what’s right for the state to advance the security of our elections, to secure our water supply, and defend our rights and freedoms, you’ll find no better friend,” said Kolodin to the legislature during Opening Day ceremonies for this legislative session. “if you, instead, take the contrary position, then you’ll find no worse enemy.”

    The Arizona election was a disaster, and multiple races are still undergoing legal battles.

    On Election Day in Maricopa County, over 50% of tabulators and printers failed the moment that polls opened, causing voters to be turned away from the polls and creating long wait times of four hours or more. According to cybersecurity expert Clay Parikh’s testimony, this was an intentional act aimed at disenfranchising Republican voters who turned out 3:1 for Trump-Endorsed candidates. This likely may have robbed the election from Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh, and other Republican candidates.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/watch-az-state-representative-alexander-kolodin-tells-katie-hobbs-democrats-pound-sand-says-dems-dont-want-secure-elections-will-find-no-worse-enemy/