Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Covid: The Sequel


Delta Variant – The COVID Sequel




Most successful movies try to cash in on their box office bonanza with a sequel. Some do this well, like The Godfather, with both original and sequel winning best picture. Others simply get old and tiresome, like the Star Wars or Halloween franchises.

COVID is no exception, after a wildly successful debut year. Success, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. For those who died or are suffering long haul symptoms, it was a disaster. Same for owners of closed businesses, those still out of work, and individuals and their families dealing with the aftershocks of depression, substance abuse, and a host of other mental health issues.


The COVID sequel is called the “Delta Variant,” a predictable mutation of the original Chinese coronavirus as it passes through hosts, replicating, and moving on to another host. From an article in Nature Microbiology,


Mutation. The word naturally conjures fears of unexpected and freakish changes. Ill-informed discussions of mutations thrive during virus outbreaks, including the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2. In reality, mutations are a natural part of the virus life cycle and rarely impact outbreaks dramatically.

Mutation is an inevitable consequence of being a virus.

In other words, viral variants and mutations are normal and expected, typically more contagious and less deadly. Is the Delta variant simply normal evolution of the Wuhan virus or is it an apocalyptic doomsday event worthy of a science fiction movie, a repeat of last year?

Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the fourth notable COVID variant. As the virus mutates constantly while infecting an individual, not every mutation is named and recorded. Those worthy of a Greek letter are “variants of concern,” according to the CDC, although they too note that “viruses constantly change through mutation.”

Time to trot out a new bogey man to instill fear in an already traumatized population, an excuse to go back to the golden days of a year ago of stay-at-home orders, business closures, masks, and any other draconian measures conjured up by the ruling class.


The Australian state of New South Wales, population over 8 million, is locking down over a mere 30 new COVID cases of the Delta variety. New stay-at-home orders are mandated through July 9, yet it is not clear how many of these 30 “cases” are actually sick, hospitalized, in the ICU, or are simply positive nasal swabs in asymptomatic individuals. Are the Australian cases similar to the 9 vaccinated New York Yankees who tested positive but felt fine?


As a result, New Zealand suspended its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia. So much for those who purchased airline tickets and hotel rooms for a few days on sunny Bondi Beach. Mentioned only at the end of the article is that only 3 percent of the adult population of Australia has been fully vaccinated. Compare that to nearly 50 percent in the US. I wonder when the American media will praise President Trump for implementing such a successful vaccine program in the US?

Perhaps declining vaccination rates are behind the Delta variant scare? CNN’s “panel of experts” is worried. Dr Anthony Fauci, the one and only word on all things coronavirus cautioned in Yogi Berra fashion, "It ain't over 'til it's over -- and it is not over yet."

What exactly does he mean by “over”? There is an annual flu vaccine and flu is hardly over, killing tens of thousands of Americans each year, this past year being an inexplicable exception. Colds are ubiquitous, something we are never over. The Chinese coronavirus will likely be the same, mixed in with seasonal influenza, a nuisance for most, potential fatal for others, just like the flu, with the vaccine reducing the risk of getting really sick.

NBC sees Delta as a “variant of concern” for the US despite the fact that a third of Americans have already had COVID, according to the CDC, and that more than half of Americans have had at least one vaccine dose, putting America at or beyond herd immunity. And they acknowledge that, “The vaccines available in the US are effective against the Delta variant, as well as other circulating variants.”
Meaning that their concern is nonsensical, on par with the end of snow or the planet burning up in ten years. Is this concern or simply more fear porn, a distraction from inconvenient news which they would rather not cover?

Such as that the vaccines may increase the risk of heart problems up to 200-fold in young men. Or that Americans are growing weary of random mask rules, as in it’s OK to go mask-less in a shopping mall but not in an airport. Or that Arizona election audit results are soon to be released.

The medical smart set, and their media accomplices want us locked down in fear forever. Expect the sequel to COVID to be nothing but panic and gloom to keep everyone dispirited and compliant. Too bad it’s not working.





The pseudopandemic was a psychological operation (psy-op) designed to terrorise the public. The objective was to accustom the people to draconian system of government oppression by familiarising them with the mechanisms of a biosecurity state.

The pseudopandemic was based upon an influenza like illness which, regardless of its origin, was not and is not a disease which can legitimately be considered the cause of a “pandemic.” The only way it could ever be described as such was by the removal of any reference to mortality from the World Health Organisation’s definition.

COVID 19 is a disease which has a mortality age distribution profile indistinguishable from standard mortality. Unlike influenza, which disproportionately impacts the young, in terms of threat to life, COVID 19 was and is a wholly unremarkable illness.

Were it not for political theatrics and mainstream media propaganda, which began in China, no one, outside of the medical profession and COVID 19 sufferers, would have remarked on this disease.




Dutch Navy Ship Intercepted By Russian Jets


Dutch navy ship intercepted by jets after turn towards Russian waters, Moscow says – Amsterdam blasts ‘dangerous’ flyover
RT



Fighter planes and bomber jets were dispatched to follow a Dutch naval vessel only after it changed direction towards Russian waters, defense officials in Moscow said on Tuesday, amid a growing diplomatic spat over the incident.

The frigate Evertsen was on course to violate the Russian border in the Black Sea, but was prevented from doing so by Russian jets flying at a safe distance from the vessel, Moscow claimed, in response to Amsterdam’s complaints.

The incident occurred on June 24, just a day after the British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender violated Russian territorial waters off Crimea’s Cape Fiolent and was warned off by jets and a coast guard vessel.

While sailing in neutral waters, the HNLMS Evertsen “changed its course and began to move in the direction of the Kerch Strait,” Moscow's Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday. Su-30 fighters and Su-24 bombers were dispatched “to prevent (the) violation” of Russian territorial waters. They flew “at a safe distance” near the Dutch ship, which “immediately” changed its course to the previous route, at which point the interceptors returned to base.

Moscow only commented on the incident after the Dutch Ministry of Defence complained of “unsafe”conduct by the Russian interceptors. In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Dutch said Russian jets had “harassed” the ship in international waters for five hours, flying “dangerously low and close”and “performing mock attacks.”

After “hours of intimidation,” the Evertsen had its electronic equipment disrupted as well, the Dutch government claimed.




Putin, Xi Agree To Extend 20-Year-Old Friendship Treaty

Putin, Xi Agree To Extend 20-Year-Old Friendship Treaty




Russia and China extended a 20-year-old friendship treaty, the latest in a series of moves that have drawn Moscow and Beijing closer together.

The Kremlin on June 28 published a joint statement from Russia and China to mark two decades since the treaty was signed, as Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held a televised meeting by video link.

Since the treaty was initially signed, Moscow and Beijing have expanded military, energy, and other economic ties while also supporting each other diplomatically on a number of issues. Source: Radio Free Europe (Read More…) ]

Former Intel Chief Calls For 'Larger Discussion' On UAPs


Former Intel Chief Calls For "Larger Discussion" On UFOs, Warns They Display Technology US Doesn't Have




Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP), also known as UFOs, appear to display technology that the United States does not have and could not defend against.

Ratcliffe made the remarks in an interview on Fox News that aired Saturday, one day after the public release of a much-anticipated government report on UAPs or UFOs (pdf), which found “no clear indications that there is any non-terrestrial explanation” for the aerial phenomena, although it left open the possibility of an alien origin.


“I’m actually glad that there’s a report out there,” Ratcliffe said in the interview, adding, “the bottom line is, unidentified aerial phenomena—many, many cases we’re able to explain it away for reasons like visual disturbances, or weather phenomenon, or foreign adversaries and their technologies, or even our own experimental technologies with certain aircraft and vehicles.”

 

At the same time, he said were are a number of cases where none such explanations applied.


“What this report really underscores … is that there are a number of instances—and the specific number remains classified—but a number of instances where we’ve ruled all of that out,” he said.

“And there are technologies that we don’t have and frankly that we are not capable of defending against—based on those things that we’ve seen, multiple sensors, in other words, where not just people visually see it but where it’s picked up on radar, where it’s seen on satellites,” Ratcliffe said, adding that, “it’s an issue of national security.”



Ratcliffe suggested it’s unsettling that some of the aerial phenomena defy explanation.

“It’s not good to say, ‘Gosh, we don’t have good answers.’ And so, we have to have a larger discussion to try and figure out specifically what this is all about,” he said.


The report, which was issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in conjunction with a U.S. Navy-led UAP task force, studied 144 observations of unidentified aerial phenomena, dating back to 2004, of which 11 caused “near misses” for military pilots.

“UAP pose a hazard to safety of flight and could pose a broader danger if some instances represent sophisticated collection against U.S. military activities by a foreign government or demonstrate a breakthrough aerospace technology by a potential adversary,” the report reads.






Putin Endorses Nuclear Doctrine Allowing For First Strike


Vladimir Putin endorses nuclear doctrine allowing for first strike

Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press



President Vladimir Putin has endorsed Russia’s nuclear deterrent policy which allows him to use atomic weapons in response to a conventional strike targeting the nation’s critical government and military infrastructure.


By including a non-nuclear attack as a possible trigger for Russian nuclear retaliation, the document appears to send a warning signal to the US.

The new expanded wording reflects Russian concerns about the development of prospective weapons that could give Washington the capability to knock out key military assets and government facilities without resorting to atomic weapons.

But the policy document now also offers a detailed description of situations that could trigger the use of nuclear weapons.

They include the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction against Russia or its allies and an enemy attack with conventional weapons that threatens the country’s existence.


In addition to that, the document now states that Russia could use its nuclear arsenals if it gets “reliable information” about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting its territory or its allies and also in the case of “enemy impact on critically important government or military facilities of the Russian Federation, the incapacitation of which could result in the failure of retaliatory action of nuclear forces”

The reference to a non-nuclear strike as a possible trigger for nuclear retaliation reflects longtime Moscow concern about US military plans.

The buildup of conventional forces near Russia’s borders and the deployment of missile defence assets and space-based weapons are among the threats identified by Moscow in the new document.