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US public health agencies aren't 'following the science,' officials say

Joe Biden CDC
© Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden tours the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in March 2021.
The calls and text messages are relentless. On the other end are doctors and scientists at the top levels of the NIH, FDA and CDC. They are variously frustrated, exasperated and alarmed about the direction of the agencies to which they have devoted their careers.

"It's like a horror movie I'm being forced to watch and I can't close my eyes," one senior FDA official lamented. "People are getting bad advice and we can't say anything."

That particular FDA doctor was referring to two recent developments inside the agency. First, how, with no solid clinical data, the agency authorized Covid vaccines for infants and toddlers, including those who already had Covid. And second, the fact that just months before, the FDA bypassed their external experts to authorize booster shots for young children.

That doctor is hardly alone.

At the NIH, doctors and scientists complain to us about low morale and lower staffing: The NIH's Vaccine Research Center has had many of its senior scientists leave over the last year, including the director, deputy director and chief medical officer. "They have no leadership right now. Suddenly there's an enormous number of jobs opening up at the highest level positions," one NIH scientist told us. (The people who spoke to us would only agree to be quoted anonymously, citing fear of professional repercussions.)

Bad Guys

Amazon issued 13,000 disciplinary notices at Staten Island warehouse

Amazon Labour Union (ALU) organizer Gerald Bryson
© REUTERS/Brendan McDermidAmazon Labour Union (ALU) organizer Gerald Bryson speaks to the media as ALU members celebrate official victory after hearing results regarding the vote to unionize, outside the NLRB offices in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., April 1, 2022.
Amazon worker Gerald Bryson had hand-counted thousands of items in his warehouse's inventory over three days when his manager showed him a "Supportive Feedback Document."

Bryson had made 22 errors, the 2018 write-up said, including tallying 19 products in a storage bin that in fact had 20. If Bryson erred like this six times within a year, the notice stated, he would be fired from the Staten Island warehouse, one of Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) largest in the United States.

Internal Amazon documents, previously unreported, reveal how routinely the company measured workers' performance in minute detail and admonished those who fell even slightly short of expectations - sometimes before their shift ended. In a single year ending April 2020, the company issued more than 13,000 so-called "disciplines" in Bryson's warehouse alone, one lawyer for Amazon said in court papers. The facility had about 5,300 employees around that time.

Comment: This is painful to read, let alone experience first hand. Who said that the slavery ended?
No, It just changed the name and became more massive and more cruel than ever.

The psychopathic "elites" look and treat ordinary people like a cattle or robots, not like a human beigns.
Can the big mainstream media report море about this, or they are just a propaganda tool of the "ekites"?

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Blue Planet

A slice of Russia and America's political cultures compared: Internet censorship

russia us american flag
© Getty Images / mashabuba
A few years ago I wrote an article on the Obama-Trump 'one-two punch' to America's political culture. I argued that Obama's rule and the Trump reaction to it would damage America's political culture of rule of law, comity, and practical compromise. Approximately a year ago I wrote articles about the authoritarianization or 'Putinization' of America and also looked at political culture among other aspects of American politics and their decay under mounting Democrat Party (DP) authoritarianization. Now we have very firm evidence of these trends.

For example, a new Pew Research opinion survey demonstrates that DP members and supporters now support authoritarian censorship by an overwhelming majority. Asked whether "(t)he U.S. government should take steps to restrict false information online, even if it limits freedom of information," among Democratic and Democratic leaning partisans, 40% agreed in 2018 and now an astonishing 65% or just under two thirds of Democrats want the government to censor speech. Among Republicans (those whom DP partisans and supporters are now routinely calling 'fascist,' 'white supremacists', and 'populist' Trumpers) the percentages were 37 in 2018 and now 28 in 2021. When asked whether big tech companies should censor, 76% of Democrats answer affirmatively, while only 37% of Republicans do so. It is important to note that this poll was taken in a context of continuing Big Tech censorship and similar censorship of the Republican Party and of its presidential candidate and his supporters during the 2020 elections on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other such fora and the Joe Biden administration.

Megaphone

Panama's inflation strikes and protests continue into second week despite gas price cap, gov't to meet with protesters

Panama protest
© Rogelio Figueroa/AFP/Getty ImagesInflation protestors damaged a police car in Panama City
In yet another example of the destabilizing effects of inflation, economically-disruptive protests and strikes in Panama have entered a second week, despite extraordinary moves by President Laurentino Cortizo.

What began with a strike by teachers fed up with a higher cost of commuting has mushroomed into a wider movement with more aggressive tactics, including blockades of Panamanian ports and major highways. Panama's Maritime Chamber said the highway roadblocks have caused "financial losses in the millions for the maritime and logistics industries."

Construction workers announced they would impose a 24-hour strike on Wednesday. Panama Canal unions voiced their solidarity, but are prohibited by law from striking themselves. Students, and impoverished indigenous people from the western part of country, have also joined the protests.

Newspaper

Discontent rising among Japan's farmers as surging feed and fuel costs threaten to throw many out of business

Rice farmer
© REUTERS/Daniel LeussinkRice farmer Kazuyuki Oshino chats with his son-in-law at a rice field, in Tendo, Yamagata prefecture, northern Japan.



Comment: Note this article is from a few weeks ago, but it's notable in light of what's happening with farmers across much of the West, particularly the farmer's protests in the Netherlands.


In response to Reuters questions, a spokesperson for the LDP did not directly address the issue of the party's support among farmers. The spokesperson said the LDP was striving to ensure all citizens understand its policies, not only those involved in agriculture, and referred Reuters to its election manifesto, which includes a pledge to ease the impact of higher fuel, feed and fertiliser prices, without providing further details.

"The surge in energy and commodity prices are a worry," Toshiaki Endo, the chair of the LDP's election strategy committee and a lower-house representative from Yamagata, told party supporters in April. "We're in for an extremely tough fight."

Public support for Kishida recently fell to a four-month low of 48.7 per cent and more than 54 per cent disapprove of his handling of inflation, a Jiji Press poll showed this month.

Comment: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Fourth July Mass Shooting, Abe Shinzo Assassination, Rebuilding Ukraine




Pirates

JPMorgan manipulated gold market to make money from hedge funds, ex trader tells jury

Bullion gold
© David Gray/Bloomberg , BloombergFILE PHOTO: A worker handles ABC Bullion one kilogram gold bars at the ABC Refinery smelter in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on Thursday, July 2, 2020.
Big hedge funds like Moore Capital Management and Tudor Capital Corp. were so important to JPMorgan Chase & Co. that its precious-metals traders routinely manipulated gold and silver markets to get the best prices on client orders, a former trader for the bank told a Chicago jury.

"They brought in a huge volume of trading, which made the bank a lot of money and our team a lot of money," John Edmonds, a former trader on JPMorgan's precious metals desk, said Wednesday when asked about Tudor. He made similar statements about Moore Capital. "Knowing that they're trading in the market and what they're doing" was valuable information for the bank, he said.

Edmonds worked on the JPMorgan precious-metals desk for more than a decade and pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy and commodities fraud related to "spoof" trading. He is testifying against his former boss, Michael Nowak, the longtime head of the trading desk, gold trader Gregg Smith and hedge funds salesman Jeffrey Ruffo. They're accused of thousands "spoof" trades in which huge orders were placed and quickly canceled in the hope of moving prices up or down so they could complete desired trades.

Cult

Syringe attacks puzzle European authorities

Syringe
© Unsplash / Mat Napo
After a wave of assaults in France, the disturbing phenomenon has spread to Spain.

Revelers at the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain have reported being stuck with syringes in crowded public places. Little is known about the substances they've been injected with, but one curious detail in victim testimony may link the attacks with a spate of similar syringe assaults in France.

As crowds gathered in Pamplona to watch daredevils run with the bulls over the weekend, a more sinister threat was lurking on the sidelines. Four young people - three females and a male - told police that they felt a pinching sensation before being overcome with dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and cold sweats.

All four were taken to the hospital by their friends, El Mundo reported on Tuesday. None were separated from their friends, none suffered sexual abuse, and no toxic substances were found in samples from the victims.

While the national authorities have opened an investigation, police don't know who carried out the attacks or why. "There is nothing concrete and nothing clear at the moment," a police source told El Mundo. "We need more time."

Comment: See also:


Eye 1

Pathological persistence? Amber Heard loses request for new trial and wrong juror investigation in Johnny Depp suit

amber heard
© JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Amber Heard had another bad day in court.

The Aquaman star has failed in her attempt to overturn the $10 million verdict in the case, with a judge rejecting her requests for a new trial and an investigation into what her team claimed was a misplaced juror.

On Wednesday, Judge Penny Azcarte handed down her decision, saying there was no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing.

"The juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated, and reached a verdict," wrote the Virginia judge. "The only evidence before this Court is that this juror and all jurors followed their oaths, the Court's instructions, and orders. This Court is bound by the competent decision of the jury."

Comment: See also:


Brick Wall

NY Supreme Court rules state's quarantine and isolation orders unconstitutional

new york supreme court
In February, New York Democratic governor Kathy Hochul enacted a new order that would allow health officials to enforce isolation and quarantine wherever they deemed it necessary.

On Friday, a New York Supreme Court judge struck down the rule after finding it to be in violation of state law.

Rule 2.13 of the law, titled "Isolation and Quarantine Procedures," reads as follows:

Comment: See also:


Eye 1

Bring back mask mandates because pandemic "nowhere near over", WHO tells governments

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom
The COVID-19 pandemic is "nowhere near over", warns WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as he urges governments to reintroduce measures like face masks to "push back" against a rise in global Covid infections. GB News has more.
In a speech at a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday, the Director-General emphasised his "concern" over rising coronavirus cases, stating "further pressure" is being burdened on "health systems and health workers".

Commending the progress governments have made globally in tackling the pandemic, the WHO Director-General said: "Of course, there's been a lot of progress. We have safe and effective tools that prevent infections, hospitalisations and deaths. However, we should not take them for granted."

Noting the recent spike in hospitalisations of patients with coronavirus, he urged governments to "deploy tried and tested measures like masking, improved ventilation and test and treat protocols".

The WHO's emergency committee on the pandemic met on Friday via video-conference and determined the pandemic remains a matter of Public Health Emergency of International concern, the highest alarm the WHO can issue.

Acknowledging several "interlinked challenges" the committee stated how reduced testing made it increasingly difficult to monitor the spread of variants and how measures are reducing these.

He encouraged governments to "review and adjust" their COVID-19 protocol and response plans, in accordance with current epidemiology.