These are excerpts of August 2020 articles. For a quick sense of information and faster summary just read the red marked texted.
My primary source is the extremely well researched RFK jr.’s “Children Health Defense” organization. The CHD is suffering some severe censorship on social media because they are exposing government/corporate media inconsistencies, distortions and censored facts about the Covid pandemic!
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2020-08-31 All Luck and No Virtue: Sweden’s Coronavirus Response Sweden bet on both national character and herd immunity, hoping they would complement each other. Months later, the country has little testing and one of the highest rates of cases.
The result? A disease that was still spreading in Sweden at the end of June, even as it had been contained elsewhere. The country’s seven-day new infection average on June 25 was 1,275 cases per day, compared to forty-two in Denmark and eleven in Norway.
Confronted with this grim picture, Tegnell continued to defend the Swedish approach, conceding only that things went worse than he had “hoped.” This was the very same expert who claimed all along to be basing his policies on scientific evidence and mathematical models. It turned out he just banked on luck—and lost. “If we were to encounter the same disease again, knowing exactly what we know about it today,” he told Swedish Radio on June 3, “I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done.” He insisted that the basic strategy was sound, although there was “potential for improvement,” adding that whereas other countries introduced many measures at once, not knowing which of them was going to work, Sweden was right to run its experiment. [MEK Note: Sweden was right! 2021-07-22 Daily COVID Deaths in Sweden Hit Zero, as Other Nations Brace for More Lockdowns]https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/all-luck-and-no-virtue-swedens-coronavirus-response
2020-08-30 Here’s the Shockingly Small Number of People Who Died From Only the Coronavirus The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website disclosed the shockingly small number of people who died from only the Wuhan coronavirus, with no other cause of death mentioned. Hold on to your hat because here it is: out of the 161,392 deaths in the CDC data, just six percent, about 9,700 deaths, were attributed to the coronavirus alone. According to the CDC, the other 94 percent had an average of 2.6 additional conditions or causes of deaths, such as heart disease, diabetes, and sepsis.
Instead of protecting the vulnerable – the elderly in nursing homes and those with comorbidities – health “experts” recommended locking everyone up and prescribing for Americans a wide range of ailments such as depression, suicide, missed early cancer screenings, unemployment, substance abuse, and poverty. Something is driving the liberal media’s morbid obsession with the U.S. death toll. The media is doing everything it can to blame the virus on President Trump, a virus that originated in China and is killing people all over the world. It’s been widely known for months that people with comorbidities and the elderly are at higher risk for severe illness due to COVID-19, so why is the media clamoring for prolonged shutdowns and keeping schools closed? Is it because they see a connection between prolonged shutdowns, a weakened economy and the Democrats’ electoral chances in November? https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/08/30/heres-the-shockingly-small-number-of-people-who-died-from-just-the-coronavirus-n2575306
2020-08-28 US Sanctions Russian Research Institute that Developed COVID-19 Vaccine Russia won the race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The United States has responded by slapping sanctions on a Russian research facility involved in creating it.
The U.S. government has blacklisted several Russian scientific institutes, including the Russian Defense Ministry’s 48th Central Research Institute, which has worked with other non-military medical centers to develop and test the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine. In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic and a historic economic crisis, Washington has escalated its global campaign of economic warfare, imposing sanctions on foreign adversaries and announcing new punitive measures on a nearly daily basis. More than one-fourth of people on Earth live in countries that are suffering from U.S. sanctions. https://consortiumnews.com/2020/08/28/us-sanctions-russian-research-institute-that-developed-covid-19-vaccine/
2020-08-27 Corrupted: Mnuchin’s Pandemic Opportunism Every disaster brings out opportunists. We’ve seen plenty during this pandemic, both inside and outside of government. This week, let’s focus on an opportunist in the Trump Cabinet who’s currently in the hot seat: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The Treasury secretary seems to have jumped at the chance created by the pandemic to make President Donald Trump’s wishes come true and do the bidding of big business.
As head of the Treasury Department, Mnuchin certainly has an important role in the federal government’s relief efforts. But while working to get the country back on its feet, he has also upended precedent by inserting himself into the operations of two critical government agencies that are supposed to be independent and non-political: the United States Postal Service and the Federal Reserve.
So when the Postal Service, long plagued by financial problems, found itself especially cash-strapped when the pandemic hit, Trump and Mnuchin apparently saw an opening. Rather than come to its immediate rescue, the administration has used the crisis to force the Postal Service to agree to some of the president’s demands. This spring, Trump opposed direct funding to the Postal Service in a coronavirus relief bill—and has since suggested his reluctance stems from concerns about mail-in voting, which he claims, without evidence, would help the Democrats. Mnuchin delivered the message to lawmakers.
Mnuchin then tried to use Congress’ $10 billion loan as leverage to gain greater control over the Postal Service and push for a litany of changes he’d also pushed for through the task force. Between Congress’s approval of the loan in April and the final agreement in July, the administration won another big concession. The Postal Service Board of Governors installed Louis DeJoy, a Trump donor and a major Republican fundraiser, as postmaster general.
Mnuchin’s actions have raised concerns about inappropriate politicization of the Postal Service. The Treasury secretary does not typically insert himself into the affairs of independent agencies like the Postal Service, so it appears that Mnuchin at the very least is breaking with longstanding norms, even if his actions were within the bounds of the law.
Mnuchin’s interference in the Federal Reserve’s pandemic response has gotten much less attention, but it’s equally troubling. As the nation’s central bank, the Fed’s mission is to support “maximum employment and stable prices as an independent agency that makes decisions based on the best available evidence and analysis, without taking politics into consideration,” The Fed was also established as an independent agency insulated from political pressure, and it’s accountable to Congress, not other executive branch officials.
While the Fed can’t legally create emergency lending facilities for specific industries, it was able to rejigger the Main Street Lending facility to allow larger companies with more debt to qualify, giving the oil and gas industry greater opportunity to seek federal pandemic aid. Meanwhile, the Fed has faced criticism for failing to help struggling state and local governments and midsize companies in other sectors.
Congress should also pass new requirements for the Fed’s lending programs to ensure that the aid reaches those truly in need. https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2020/08/corrupted-mnuchins-pandemic-opportunism/
2020-08-25 DARPA, Operation Warp Speed, and the Covid-19 Ka-ching Ahead If/When Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca put out a viable Covid-19 solution in October, it won’t come as a surprise to DARPA.
The Department of Defense agency set up the Pandemic Prevention Program (P3) shortly after Donald J. Trump’s presidential inauguration in January 2017. The highly ambitious principle function of P3 is to scramble scientists, pharmacies, and government agencies to combat pandemic outbreaks before they can savage a population. They want to be able to take any virus and come up with “a functionally integrated platform to deliver pandemic prevention treatments in <60 days.”
The P3 has been up and running for more than two years already. Working with partners, such as Lilly, AbCellera, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, and Amgen, they’ve conducted ‘war games’ against viruses, which are simulations of pandemics with their amped-up responses. Ostensibly, the system would be the solution.
As it turned out, an intergovernmental working group set up by the Department of Health and Human Services was there and ready (for COVID-19). Officers of the DHHS’s Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) team took the first blood sample obtained from a Washington state patient who recovered from COVID-19 and, on February 25, handed it over to a DARPA partner, the privately held biotech company Abcellera in Vancouver, to immediately “evolve identified antibodies to high potency” in order to “deliver gene-encoded therapeutics.” Abcellera partnered with the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to deliver the immune-reactive solution to the public. And on June 1, right as they said they could do, Abcellera and Lilly announced a viable stop-gap solution for Covid-19, pending a vaccine. Ta-da!
Describing how it works, Abcellera tells us that “LY-CoV555 is a highly potent, neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Its mechanism of action is designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells, and to neutralize the virus, potentially preventing and treating COVID-19.” In short, LY-CoV555 creates an immune response that wards off Covid-19 as it tries to latch on. However, according to the government, the trial will not end, and outcomes known, until November 5 — just after the election. Meaning antibody treatments could begin in early November. https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/25/darpa-operation-warp-speed-and-the-covid-19-ka-ching-ahead/
2020-08-20 Positive Peer Pressure/The Covid Testing Solution These tests would essentially do the same thing [as a vaccine] only it wouldn’t be working by eliciting a strong immune response. It’s giving people information about their status so they can stop the transmission willingly by staying home. So, I do believe that within weeks if these could be introduced into any population that that population could get the [corona]virus under control https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/positive-peer-pressure-the-covid-testing-solution/
2020-08-17 Engineered COVID-19-Infected Mouse Bites Researcher Amid ‘Explosion’ of Risky Coronavirus Research University researchers genetically engineer a human pandemic virus. They inject the new virus into a laboratory mouse. The infected mouse then bites a researcher…..It is a plot worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster about risky coronavirus research.
But according to newly obtained minutes of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) of the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, these exact events need not be imagined. They occurred for real between April 1st and May 6th this year. https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/17/engineered-covid-19-infected-mouse-bites-researcher-amid-explosion-of-risky-coronavirus-research/
2020-08-15 COVID-19 Coronavirus “Fake” Pandemic: Timeline and Analysis On January 30th 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in relation to China’s novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) categorized as a viral pneumonia. The virus outbreak was centered in Wuhan, a city in Eastern China with a population in excess of 11 million.
In the week prior to January 30th decision, the WHO Emergency Committee “expressed divergent views”. There were visible divisions within the Committee. On January 30th, a far-reaching decision was taken without the support of expert opinion at a time when the coronavirus outbreak was limited to Mainland China.
The WHO did not act to reassure and inform World public opinion. Quite the opposite: A “Fear Pandemic” rather than a genuine Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) was launched. Outright panic and uncertainty were sustained through a carefully designed media disinformation campaign.
What is at stake is the alliance of “Big Pharma” and “Big Money”, with the endorsement of the Trump Administration. The decision to launch a fake pandemic under the helm of the WHO on January 30, was taken a week earlier at the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF). The media operation was there to spread outright panic.
But this was not the first time that the WHO decided to act in this way. Remember the unusual circumstances surrounding the April 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic. An atmosphere of fear and intimidation prevailed. The data was manipulated. The WHO Director General nonetheless predicted with authority that: “as many as 2 billion people could become infected over the next two years — nearly one-third of the world population. A financial windfall for Big Pharma Vaccine Producers including GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Merck & Co., Sanofi, Pfizer. et al.
CORONAVIRUS TIMELINE See article!
October 18, Event 201. New York. Coronavirus nCoV-2019 Simulation and Emergency Preparedness Task Force, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health Security. Big Pharma-Big Money Simulation Exercise sponsored by WEF and Gates Foundation. Private sector initiative. Participation of corporate execs, foundations, financial institutions, Banks, Big Pharma, CIA, CDC, China’s CDC. No health officials (with exception of CDC and China CDC) present on behalf of national governments or the WHO. The simulation exercise was held on the same day as the opening of the CISM World Militaty Sports Games in Wuhan.
January 21-24, 2020: Consultations at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland under auspices of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) for development of a vaccine program. CEPI is a WEF-Gates partnership. With support from CIPI, Seattle based Moderna will manufacture an mRNA vaccine against 2019-nCoV, “The Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, collaborated with Moderna to design the vaccine.”
January 30, 2020 The Simulation Exercise Went Live. The same corporate interests and foundations which were involved in the October 18 John Hopkins Simulation Exercise became REAL ACTORS involved in providing their support to the implementation of the WHO Public Health emergency (PHEIC). [MEK Note: This is quite similar to 9/11 event when military exercises, simulating airline hijackings and crashes into buildings, were being conducted while actual attacks were occurring] https://www.globalresearch.ca/ncov-2019-coronavirus-time-line/5705776
2020-08-13 Corrupted: Will Cronyism and Politics Hamper the Vaccine Program? Americans are hoping for news of an effective vaccine or treatment that enables us to restart the economy, open schools, and get our lives back. Everything hinges on the federal government’s effort to develop and distribute a vaccine: Will it be an honest, well-managed effort based on sound scientific principles, or will it be a fiasco hampered by corruption, cronyism, and the influence of Big Pharma?
Whistleblower Rick Bright made national headlines earlier this year after he was removed from his position as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Bright alleges leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services pressured him “to ignore expert recommendations and instead to award lucrative contracts based on political connections and cronyism.”
We have limited visibility into the administration’s push for a vaccine, now dubbed Operation Warp Speed. But we do know the government has given millions of taxpayer dollars to inexperienced, untested firms, and considerable leeway to the already powerful pharmaceutical industry.
But at least three of the companies that received government funding have never brought a vaccine to market. Let us repeat that: never.
In April, the government committed up to $483 million to Moderna, a young biotech firm that has never produced a vaccine that was approved and has never even conducted a large trial. The government’s collaboration with Moderna has been fraught with delays and disagreements over the development process and the company’s contractual obligations. Even so, the government invested an additional $472 million in Moderna’s vaccine candidate in late July and $1.5 billion this week, pushing the grand total to over $2.4 billion.
In July, the government invested $1.6 billion in biotech firm Novavax, which, as the New York Times noted, has “never brought a vaccine to market in its 33-year history,” and as of last year was in deep financial trouble. Novavax also tapped influential contacts when pursuing a government contract for vaccine development, the Times reported.
The company, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, was not selected to produce vaccines for Operation Warp Speed. But it did receive $71 million in June from the Department of Defense to produce a vaccine injection device. The company’s CEO was also at the White House roundtable, where he touted Inovio’s capabilities directly to the president, claiming that not only had the company developed a COVID vaccine, but it had done so “within three hours.” Like Moderna and Novavax, Inovio has never brought a vaccine to market.
Leading Operation Warp Speed is former GlaxoSmithKline executive Moncef Slaoui. Slaoui, who until May sat on the board of Moderna, has extensive investments in the pharmaceutical industry—which he’ll be allowed to keep, even as he makes decisions about contracts with vaccine developers. Slaoui still owns stock in GlaxoSmithKline, which will receive up to $2.1 billion from the government to develop a vaccine in partnership with Sanofi. What’s more, Slaoui, as a contractor consultant, will not be required to file ethics disclosures officially revealing his potential conflicts of interest.
Top scientists who sit on a committee formed by the National Institutes of Health to help the government run vaccine clinical trials say they were not consulted when the administration chose Moderna and the other firms. the White House, including Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, is pressuring government researchers and regulators to have a vaccine available before the election.
Members of Congress and civil society groups have complained about the lack of transparency in the effort to develop a vaccine. The administration has not explained its process for choosing candidates or how many contracts it has awarded.
What we do know is the government is giving favorable treatment to pharmaceutical companies, which already wield immense power over this country’s healthcare system. For example, several contracts limit the government’s ability to intervene if the companies ultimately charge unreasonable prices for vaccines. So even if these companies promise to offer fair prices, the government has no recourse if they go back on their word. With the companies and their executives poised to reap huge profits, the federal government should not be handing them even more power to control prices.
Congress can still combat the pharmaceutical industry’s immense control over drug and vaccine prices. Even without major legislation to address prescription drug pricing, lawmakers can enact bills giving the government more power over the price of vaccines, as well as more transparency over the whole vaccine development effort. https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2020/08/corrupted-will-cronyism-and-politics-hamper-the-vaccine-program/
2020-08-07 Kansas governor angered after House Speaker attended meeting, didn’t disclose COVID hospitalization https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/7/1967365/-After-COVID-hospitalization-Kansas-Republican-went-to-meeting-with-governor-did-not-disclose?
2020-08-06 Corrupted: How the PPP Loans Favored the Historically Advantaged Of course, bailouts for thriving defense contractors are only one piece of the corruption puzzle. Big companies that accepted loans meant for small businesses haven’t had to face this kind of public interrogation. They simply took the money and walked away.
The Paycheck Protection Program—intended to rescue struggling small businesses—is a glaring example of how corrupted systems are chugging along amid the pandemic, with precious little oversight to keep them in check.
From the outset, there’s been a steady flow of stories about powerful, wealthy, or undeserving companies and institutions receiving loans through this federal program. Among them: the Los Angeles Lakers, Shake Shack, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House. When the government eventually released data on the largest loans, we saw that those early examples weren’t flukes.
The Paycheck Protection Program doled out loans on what was billed as a first-come, first-served basis. And well-capitalized companies didn’t need to try very hard to get a leg up for these small-business loans. The program’s structure basically invited line-cutting and abuse. Without crucial safeguards and oversight, the program will keep benefiting those who need help the least at the expense of those who need it the most.
Instead, in a clear case of corporate favoritism, the Paycheck Protection Program relied on banks to sort through applications and issue loans. Ostensibly, that was to help get the money out more quickly to businesses in need. In practice, that meant some banks processing the loans first served companies that were well-established clients—on the whole, prioritizing the well-banked, well-lawyered, and well-resourced big businesses that had other ways to access cash during the economic slump.
In the CARES Act, which created the program, Congress required the Small Business Administration to direct banks to prioritize underserved markets, including minority- and women-owned businesses, but the agency didn’t follow through.
The Trump administration dragged its feet on releasing loan data, and refuses to disclose the names of companies that received loans of $150,000 or less—which amounts to more than 85% of the loans issued. We have to ask: What is the administration working so hard to hide?
The administration is also working overtime to hinder oversight of and accountability in other aspects of pandemic relief. Finding a weakness in the CARES Act, the Treasury Department declared the newly created Pandemic Response Accountability Committee—made up of federal agency watchdogs across government—doesn’t have the authority to oversee a significant chunk of the relief funding. And before that, the president announced that he will “be the oversight,” and has since replaced several acting inspectors general who were on the committee when it was formed. The two other bodies established to oversee relief funds are also in trouble. The Congressional Oversight Commission still has no leader, while the special inspector general for pandemic recovery only recently began hiring staff. That’s like going off to war without a commanding general or troops—for months.
The U.S. could have followed the European model for saving jobs and struggling businesses—reimbursing companies for putting workers on paid furloughs. But it’s hard to imagine American policymakers seriously considering that model given how intertwined our political system is with corporate interests. https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2020/08/corrupted-how-the-ppp-loans-favored-the-historically-advantaged/
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Coronavirus Covid-19 Research History – Index
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