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Black Magic

Best of the Web: Professor Neil Ferguson interview: "There's something very nice about pandemics"

Tom Whipple
The Times, UK
Thu, 31 Dec 2020 11:57 UTC
neil ferguson covid-19
Neil Ferguson: The man behind the casedemic
There was a time in a different world, a world that shook hands, met relatives and commuted to work, when none of this was obvious. When it wasn't clear that the way to stop an infectious disease was to stop a society and the very idea was horrifying and unimaginable.

"Of course we knew it was possible that social distancing could control a respiratory virus," says Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College professor whose maths is now for ever associated with the lockdown. "But there is an enormous cost associated with it."


Comment: No, they did not know that it was possible that "social distancing could control a respiratory virus." The idea was first bruited in a high school project, by the daughter of a 'senior scientist', just over a decade ago. Her project work didn't even win first prize because it is long since scientifically and medically established that respiratory illnesses caused by aerosolized viruses cannot be controlled by keeping people apart.


Back in 2019, about the time someone was getting infected by a bat, no European country's pandemic plans seriously entertained the prospect of putting a country on pause.


Comment: No one was infected by a bat. Sars-CoV-2 is a laboratory-tweaked coronavirus. It either leaked directly from a lab, or leaked through person-to-person transmission when people vaccinated with this experimental virus began spreading it to non-vaccinated people.


Then, that's what China did. "I think people's sense of what is possible in terms of control changed quite dramatically between January and March," Professor Ferguson says.

He is speaking in a short hiatus in another busy day. In the morning, he has spent two hours briefing a Commons select committee on the new Kent variant, which his calculations suggest spreads faster. In the afternoon, in part on the basis of those calculations, Matt Hancock, the health secretary, will put another swathe of the country into stricter restrictions. Just hearing that the professor's maths is behind another lockdown this month will at this stage in a politicised pandemic provoke some to fury.

Comment: 'A minority of people are not like us' - he wishes!

In reality, he is part of the minority that believes in the pseudo-reality they have built in their minds. And such people will not rest 'until all think and see as I do'...

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USA

Best of the Web: Murder rates soar across the US in 2020, nearly double in some cities

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse Blog
Tue, 29 Dec 2020 12:00 UTC
New York City
© Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
We have seen spikes in certain major cities before, but there has never been a year quite like this. In 2020, murder rates have been soaring dramatically from coast to coast, and many are deeply concerned about what our big metropolitan areas will look like if this trend continues into 2021 and beyond. The civil unrest that erupted in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd certainly contributed to the rising numbers, but authorities have been shocked that murder rates have remained so elevated all year long. Americans are killing Americans in record numbers, and nobody seems to have a solution to this growing national crisis.

Let's take a look at some of the hard numbers. In New York City, the number of murders has risen 41 percent compared to 2019...

Comment: There are a number of factors to consider, and they include the redirection of police resources, budget cuts, the deteriorating economic situation that is years in the making, and then there's the lockdowns that have destroyed businesses, opportunities, and are, overall, tearing society apart.

As we said at the outset of the Covid-19 scamdemic, it will break civilization. The elites believe they can 'fix it' via their 'resets' and 'climate agendas', but they can't. It's all over bar the crying.

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Magic Hat

Best of the Web: Welcome to RussiaGate 2.0, right on schedule

Tom Luongo
Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 25 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
Russiagate 2
Now that a majority of the country believes the election was fraudulent and the Supreme Court has completely abdicated its authority now the next obstacle in front of President Trump is here.

And, as always, it comes from his complicit Secretary of State who undermines Trump with his every move to turn the State, Defense and Intelligence apparatuses of the U.S. against Russia.

Pompeo goes on Mark Levin's show, whose ratings are through the roof right now, to tell all the slavering normie-conservatives that it was definitely the Russians who hacked our government.


Comment: We may, in fact, be treated to an overturning of the election. We'll just have to wait and see,

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Dollars

Best of the Web: Harboring terrorists: Senate investigation finds Obama administration knowingly funded al-Qaeda affiliate

Brittany Bernstein
National Review
Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
Obama
© Carlos Barria/ReutersFormer President Barack Obama, December 16, 2016
Non-profit humanitarian agency World Vision United States improperly transacted with the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA) in 2014 with approval from the Obama administration, sending government funds to an organization that had been sanctioned over its ties to terrorism, according to a new report.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) recently released a report detailing the findings of an investigation his staff began in February 2019 into the relationship between World Vision and ISRA.

The probe found that World Vision was not aware that ISRA had been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2004 after funneling roughly $5 million to Maktab al-Khidamat, the predecessor to Al-Qaeda controlled by Osama Bid Laden.

However, that ignorance was born from insufficient vetting practices, the report said. Grassley said in a statement:
"World Vision works to help people in need across the world, and that work is admirable. Though it may not have known that ISRA was on the sanctions list or that it was listed because of its affiliation with terrorism, it should have. Ignorance can't suffice as an excuse. World Vision's changes in vetting practices are a good first step, and I look forward to its continued progress."
The investigation was sparked by a July 2018 National Review article in which Sam Westrop, the director of the Middle East Forum's Islamist Watch, detailed MEF's findings that the Obama administration had approved a "$200,000 grant of taxpayer money to ISRA." Government officials specifically authorized the release of "at least $115,000" of this grant even after learning that it was a designated terror organization, Westrop wrote.

Comment: Wrists slapped. USAID is a front organization for the CIA. What does this suggest when it awarded World Vision the $723,405 grant? Either World Vision needs corrective lenses or it saw quite clearly the intent and performed its function.

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Eye 1

Best of the Web: Lockdowns could continue into SUMMER 2021, even with mass vaccination campaign - UK govt report


Mirror
Wed, 30 Dec 2020 11:09 UTC
Brighton masks
© Adam Gerrard / Daily MirrorAn unusually quiet North Street in Brighton City Centre
A full UK lockdown is needed to prevent an early 2021 'catastrophe', a Government scientist has warned.

Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at University College London, warned the country was "entering a very dangerous phase of the pandemic" and said "decisive" action was needed.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme Professor Hayward said: "I think we are entering a very dangerous new phase of the pandemic and we're going to need decisive, early, national action to prevent a catastrophe in January and February.

"A 50% increase in transmissibility means that the previous levels of restrictions that worked before won't work now, and so Tier 4 restrictions are likely to be necessary or even higher than that.


Comment: If the lockdowns 'worked before' why are more and harsher ones needed? Either the advisor is dangerously stupid or maliciously deceptive, both should disqualify him from any position of influence.


Comment: RT reports that the pseudo-reality pushers are aiming for mass vaccination and lockdowns running into summer 2021:
Britain must ramp up vaccine distribution by TEN TIMES & retain national lockdown

uk coronavirus clinic testing
© Reuters / Carl RecineFILE PHOTO: Patients enter a clinic to receive their first of two injections of a coronavirus vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, in Wolverhampton, Britain.
Conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and delivered to the UK's official SAGE [The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] advisory group late last week, the research notes that with a new coronavirus strain found to be "56% more transmissible" than other known variants, the country faces a significant "wave" of infections, hospitalizations and deaths short of continued restrictions and a vast ramping-up of its vaccine program.


Whilst the virus may be more transmissable, we know from previous fearmongering about 'mass death and overwhelmed hospitals' that SAGE predictions have been almost always wrong.


"We found that regardless of control measures simulated, all NHS regions are projected to experience a subsequent wave of Covid-19 cases and deaths, peaking in spring 2021 for London, South East and East of England, and in summer 2021 for the rest of England," according to the study, which was based on mathematical modeling.


So even WITH mass vaccinations AND total lockdown across the entire country, the government is predicting 'waves' into summer 2021?


"We project that large resurgences of the virus are likely to occur following easing of control measures. It may be necessary to greatly accelerate vaccine roll-out to have an appreciable impact in suppressing the resulting disease burden."


Resurgences of the virus occurs because lockdowns that have unnecessarily shielded the healthy from being exposed to it.


The UK's vaccination program currently doles out 200,000 doses each week, around 10 times less than what the study argued would be needed to halt a major uptick in the outbreak.

While the researchers noted they could not find "clear evidence" that the new strain results in more severe symptoms, its greater transmissibility "is likely to lead to a large increase" in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths, even with the restrictions that were in place before December 19. Only an "England-wide" Tier 4 lockdown - currently the highest level on the country's multi-level framework - coupled with a rapid increase in vaccinations can reduce the "peak ICU burden" to numbers below those seen in 2020.

"Our estimates suggest that control measures of a similar stringency to the national lockdown implemented in England in November 2020 are unlikely to reduce the effective reproduction number... unless primary schools, secondary schools, and universities are also closed," the study went on, referring to the rate at which the coronavirus spreads.

However, even with the recommended 2 million vaccinations per week and a national Tier 4 lockdown, the researchers' models estimated 35,700 additional deaths in the UK between now and the end of June. Short of the tenfold boost to inoculations and tightened restrictions, that projection soared to 118,000 deaths.


Note that 9 months into this farce and the best that the fearmongers can come up with are predictions, and the reality is that those predictions made many months ago never came to pass.


UK health officials' repeated warnings about the new mutant strain have helped drive fears of another long-term lockdown in the country, including rumors of even harsher 'Tier 5' restrictions. The concerns prompted a pre-Christmas exodus from London and elsewhere as thousands of citizens sought to flee a new round of measures imposed in some areas over the holidays.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the temporary restrictions will be reviewed on Wednesday, but in light of the new strain and the recommendations from the LSHTM, it is unclear whether health officials will be ready to scale back the containment measures, which remain in force at Tier 4 across London and much of South East England. While the rest of the country has been placed on Tiers 2 and 3, denoting "high" and "very high" risk on the four-level system, "millions" more could be moved into Tier 4 after this week's review, according to Whitehall sources cited by the Telegraph.
See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Info

Best of the Web: Pence signals support for deep state coup against Trump by ignoring pressure to acknowledge competing slates of electors


Newsmax
Tue, 29 Dec 2020 18:18 UTC

Comment: If this is correct, it signals that Pence will probably just be exercising his role as president of the Senate in the conventional symbolic sense come January 6th. Americans do indeed have numerous constitutional means to check the abuse of power - electoral fraud in this case - but their political elites have not used a single one of them thus far...


Mike Pence
© Getty
Before Vice President Mike Pence was sued by a Republican congressman from Texas in a Hail Mary attempt to reverse the November election, their lawyers held a private meeting in which they disagreed about how the Electoral College vote is formally accepted.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, who claims Pence has the power to hand President Donald Trump a second term by rejecting Democratic electors from swing states, described the failed talks in a Tuesday filing in federal court in Tyler, Texas. Gohmert is seeking a court order requiring the Office of the Counsel for the Vice President and the U.S. Justice Department to respond to the lawsuit by Wednesday evening.

The Senate and House meet jointly on Jan. 6 to open and count certificates of electoral votes. The vice president has the constitutional role of presiding over the Senate, which has traditionally included overseeing the formal acceptance of the Electoral College vote.
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X

Best of the Web: Pennsylvania's certified election result for presidential race is WAY off: The error is twice the size of the difference between Trump and Biden

Joe Hoft
Gateway Pundit
Mon, 28 Dec 2020 03:45 UTC
Trump and FRAUD Penn.
© Unknown/AP/Alex Brandon/KJN
After nearly two months, the state of Pennsylvania is found to have certified votes that are in error. What a mess. Republican State Representative Russ Diamond uncovered and reported today that the results for President are way off in Pennsylvania. More ballots were cast than people voted by more than 200,000 votes. This is more than twice the difference between President Trump and Joe Biden.
PA voter deficit stats
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Yoda

Best of the Web: Frank Capra's Defense of Humanity: Cinema Considered as a Moral Institution

Matthew Ehret
Rising Tide Foundation
Tue, 29 Dec 2020 19:16 UTC
It's A Wonderful Life still
© Associated PressScene from 'It's A Wonderful Life', directed by Frank Capra
For those who find themselves with excess time this holiday season which they would prefer not to squander with idleness or Netflix binges, then I'd like to offer this serving of Frank Capra films to uplift the soul.

Frank Capra (1897-1991) stands as one of the most brilliant directors/producers of the 20th Century, and sadly also one of the least understood- known at best for the film It's a Wonderful Life played every year as a Christmas tradition, or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
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Bomb

Best of the Web: Nashville blast: Lone bomber or false-flag attack?

Stephen Lendman
stephenlendman.org
Mon, 28 Dec 2020 17:12 UTC
damage nashville bombing
© Associated PressEmergency personnel work near the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020
On Christmas day, a recreational vehicle exploded in downtown Nashville, TN outside an AT&T transmission building — one block from the company's office building.

What happened knocked out communications and 911 emergency call centers over a wide area, including parts of neighboring Kentucky and Alabama.

Was the motive behind what happened what official reports claimed? Or was something else responsible for the blast? Was it a false flag?

Comment: Lendman raises important questions. The investigation is certainly following the same pattern as other false flag incidents, with the media predictably falling into line. Yet no one has yet asked the key question, 'Qui bono'? Who (ultimately) benefits from the damage to the AT&T building?

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Attention

Best of the Web: Scamdemic: More under-60s died on UK roads last year than those with no underlying conditions from coronavirus

Mason Boycott-Owen
The Telegraph, UK
Mon, 28 Dec 2020 14:15 UTC
road accidents uk
Road accidents, an actual thing. Unlike Covid-19-as-plague-like-pandemic...
Almost three times as many under 60s died in road crashes last year as those without health conditions killed by coronavirus, NHS data shows.

Just 388 people under the age of 60 with no underlying health conditions have died of coronavirus in England, NHS data has revealed.

The figures show that only 0.8 per cent of all deaths from coronavirus between April 2 and December 23 came from this group of the population.

In the same time 45,770 people had died with underlying health conditions, while 1,979 were viewed as healthy.

Of these, only 388 were between 40 and 59, 44 were between the ages of 20 and 39, and only six were younger than 19.

In comparison, during the whole of 2019, 955 under-60s died on England's roads.

It comes amid further criticism of the Government that their policy on lockdown and the tier system is doing more damage to the economy and mental health of it's working-age population than only shielding the vulnerable.
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