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Bad Guys

Best of the Web: How The Vanguard Group is building an empire

Rhoda Wilson
The The Daily Exposé
Tue, 04 Jan 2022 18:38 UTC
The vanguard group logo sign
© Bloomberg
Along with BlackRock and State Street, Vanguard is considered one of the "Big Three" index fund managers that dominate corporate America, and ultimately the world. "If historical trends continue, a handful of giant institutional investors will one day hold voting control of virtually every large U.S. corporation," said Jack Bogle in November 2018.

Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal shortly before his death in January 2019 in which he warned:
"Most observers expect that the share of corporate ownership by index funds will continue to grow over the next decade. It seems only a matter of time until index mutual funds cross the 50% mark. If that were to happen, the "Big Three" might own 30% or more of the U.S. stock market — effective control. I do not believe that such concentration would serve the national interest."
By November 2020, the "Big Three" managed US$15 trillion in combined assets, equivalent to more than three-quarters the size of the US economy and combined, they were the largest owner in 88% of the S&P 500 companies. By January 2021, the "Big Three" had almost US$18 trillion in assets under management.

Being the largest owner of a publicly traded company doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want, but it does give you enormous power.

Comment:

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Bomb

Best of the Web: Coercing consumers into making 'green energy choices', the British government risks blowing itself up

Dominic Lawson
The Times, UK
Sun, 02 Jan 2022 12:59 UTC
energy crisis uk
Yup
Blackouts bring down governments. The Conservative administration of Ted Heath paid such a price at the ballot box in 1974 when it had failed to keep the lights on, having mishandled (to put it mildly) the coal industry. Now gas, rather than coal, is the dominant fuel in heating our homes. While a shortage of the stuff is not so critical as to lead to people freezing through lack of available energy, the effect on domestic bills could have a similar effect, at least among the poorest.

The soaring open-market price for gas combined with a consumer price cap imposed by Theresa May's administration (as pledged in her 2017 election manifesto) has caused the collapse of numerous suppliers. If the entire industry is not to be rendered bankrupt, the cap will have to be lifted to a level that would at least double the average household's gas bill.

That is a recipe for mass discontent. But, extraordinarily, it represents success in terms of the government's energy strategy. While natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels, it is still a hydrocarbon and therefore set for gradual elimination under the government's "world-leading" commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Comment: The full extent of their hubris is gauged when you realize they're intentionally destroying the economy, something they're betting that we plebs won't survive but which they will.

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Snowflake Cold

Best of the Web: Tahoe sets new December snowfall record with nearly 18 feet of powder - the most in 142 years

Amy Alonzo
Reno Gazette Journal
Mon, 03 Jan 2022 12:47 UTC
Deep snow from recent storms have partially buried the Donner Lake West End neighborhood just west of Truckee, as seen on Dec. 30, 2021.
Deep snow from recent storms have partially buried the Donner Lake West End neighborhood just west of Truckee, as seen on Dec. 30, 2021.
This story has been updated to correct the snow lab's elevation.

Almost 18 feet of snow fell in North Tahoe during December, more than any other December in the past 142 years.

Located at Donner Pass, U.C. Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Lab reported a whopping 214 inches of snow through the month.

On Dec. 27, the lab recorded 193.7 inches of snow, breaking the previous record of 179 inches set in 1970. An additional 20-plus inches fell between Dec. 27 and 31, cementing 2021 in the history books for the snowiest December on record.

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Bad Guys

Flashback Best of the Web: Former top level Facebook executive claims "150 men rule the world" & everyone else is a 'puppet'

Gavin Nascimento
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 30 Sep 2020 00:01 UTC
washington puppet strings
Here's the thing, there's about 150 people that rule the world. Anyone that wants to go into politics they're all f*cken puppets, okay? There are 150 — and they're all men — that run the world. Period. Fullstop. They control most of the important assets — they control the money flows. And these are not the tech entrepreneurs. Now, they are going to get rolled over, over the next 5-10 years by the people that are really underneath pulling the strings.

— Chamath Palihapitiya, Nov 10, 2017, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Some of you may remember Chamath Palihapitiya from his warning that social media was "ripping apart the social fabric of how society works," which received generous attention in the media and went viral as a result. What most people completely missed, and what no single major media outlet reported — at least to the best of my knowledge — was when he explained that "150 men rule the world" and they are "going to roll over" the tech entrepreneurs in the coming years.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

Best of the Web: As three more studies show NEGATIVE vaccine effectiveness, when will health authorities face up to what the data is telling us?

Will Jones
The Daily Skeptic
Wed, 29 Dec 2021 11:18 UTC
vaccine efficacy graph covid
The last two weeks have brought three new studies finding negative efficacy for two vaccine doses, meaning the vaccinated are more likely to be infected than the unvaccinated. These are study findings, not raw data, so have been adjusted for various biases and confounders, making it harder to dismiss them as anomalous or skewed.

The first is a pre-print study from Denmark, published on December 23rd, which looked at nearly all PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 infections in Denmark from November 20th to December 12th and investigated them to see if they were likely to be the Omicron variant.

By comparing the vaccination status of those infected, the researchers found a vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron variant of minus-76.5% for Pfizer and minus-39.3% for Moderna three months after double vaccination (see chart above), meaning the double-vaccinated were considerably more likely to be infected than the unvaccinated.

They found the vaccine effectiveness against Omicron was significantly lower than against Delta, with Pfizer vaccine effectiveness at 53.8% and Moderna at 65% against Delta after three months. They reported that a third dose of Pfizer got vaccine effectiveness against Omicron back up to 54.6%, at least for a month. The full results are in the table below:
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Attention

Best of the Web: Top footballers REJECT Covid jabs amidst spike in players collapsing on the pitch suffering 'mysterious' heart problems

Kieran Lynch
Daily Mail
Thu, 23 Dec 2021 12:31 UTC
footballer collapse pitch covid vaccine
News reports of footballers that collapsed on the pitch since the beginning of the vaccination campaign.
Premier League players are reportedly concerned that recent on-field heart problems are a possible consequence of taking the Covid-19 vaccine.

There have been a number of recent high-profile incidents involving players enduring heart problems on the field - including Christian Eriksen who collapsed due to a cardiac arrest at the European Championships and Sergio Aguero who was forced into retirement after he was diagnosed with heart arrhythmia.

The worrying spate of heart-related episodes in football has raised concerns over links with Covid and the vaccination programme to prevent it.

Comment: Check out the alarming reports of sportsmen below to get an idea of just how many incidents have been documented - bearing in mind that it doesn't even list every single incident.

See also: RNA Vaccines, Obedience and Eugenics

And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Pandemia Today, Pandemia Tomorrow, But Not Forever


The list:


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Snowflake Cold

Best of the Web: Western US states hit by record freeze and record-breaking snowfall


The Guardian
Tue, 28 Dec 2021 13:11 UTC
snow
Severe weather brings record low temperatures in Seattle and huge snowfalls in California and Nevada

Severe weather sweeping parts of the US continues to bring record-breaking cold temperatures to the Pacific north-west and heavy snow to mountains in northern California and Nevada.

Emergency warming shelters were opened throughout Oregon and western Washington as temperatures plunged into the teens (below zero in centigrade) and forecasters said an Arctic blast would last for several days.

Sunday's snow showers blew into the Pacific north-west from the Gulf of Alaska, dumping up to six in (15 cm) across the Seattle area.

The National Weather Service said Seattle's low on Sunday was -6.7C (20F), breaking a mark set in 1948. Bellingham was -12.8C, which was three degrees colder than the previous record set in 1971.

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Bad Guys

Best of the Web: CDC changes 'The Science' of Covid quarantine from 10 to 5 days after critically low staff numbers threaten industries

Aria Bendix
Business Insider
Mon, 27 Dec 2021 23:38 UTC
woman desk mask
The CDC shortened its COVID-19 isolation recommendation to 5 days for asymptomatic people after some disease experts said 10 days was too long
The CDC shortened its COVID-19 isolation recommendation to 5 days for asymptomatic people after some disease experts said 10 days was too long The CDC's 10-day isolation period was excessive, experts say. The agency also reduced quarantine guidance for people exposed to COVID-19.

It was a steadfast rule for most of the pandemic: People with COVID-19 must isolate for 10 days after their symptoms start — or, if they're asymptomatic, for 10 days after their first positive COVID-19 test.


Comment: This just proves how these recommendations never were based on any real science, because once politicians realise that certain critical industries will collapse, and, more importantly, that they will be liable for the fall out, 'the science' suddenly changes.


But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention altered that recommendation on Monday amid a steep rise in Omicron cases across the US.


Comment: Unless these tests are checking for the particular variant, we don't know whether what people have caught is Omicron or not. Considering how unreliable the tests are, we can't even be sure these 'case' numbers are accurate.


Comment: Actually, South Africa has provided ample and reliable data about Omicron, we know that it's even milder than the other variants, and because of this the country has dropped the majority of its restrictions: Sigh of relief in South Africa as Omicron variant appears to be 'super mild' mutation with Covid death rate not jumping

The Wall Street Journal reports that part of the reason for this quarantine requirement shift is because certain industries have been suffering critically low staffing numbers. As just one example, just on Christmas Eve in the US, more than 800 flights were cancelled due to staff absence, with airlines claiming that lengthy quaratine periods being partly to blame. Note that if hospitals were to suffer a similar reduction of staff, the consequences would be deadly.

Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Pandemia Today, Pandemia Tomorrow, But Not Forever



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Evil Rays

Best of the Web: Conspiracy theory? COVID-19 passport microchip is here

Mayukh Saha
Activist Post
Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:01 UTC
covid passport microchip
What one year ago would be considered a crazy conspiracy theory is now becoming a reality.

A Swedish company, Epicenter, has brought forward new tech where they created a subdermal implant to show COVID-19 vaccination certificates. This makes it possible for people to keep their vaccination certificates, right under their skin in a microchip.

This implant contains a Near Field Communications (NFC) implant, whose data can be retrieved with an NFC-compatible smartphone or any such reader.

Comment:

alex jones
See also:

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Attention

Best of the Web: Two-thirds of new UK Covid hospital patients only tested positive AFTER being admitted, evidence still accumulating that Omicron is mild


The Daily Mail
Thu, 23 Dec 2021 20:57 UTC
vaccine nurse
© AFP / Dimitar DILKOFF
Two-thirds of new Covid hospital patients in England were actually admitted for a different ailment, MailOnline's analysis of NHS data suggests - as a growing number of studies show Omicron is much milder than Delta.

In the two weeks to December 21, hospitals in England recorded 563 new coronavirus inpatients — the majority of which are believed to be Omicron now that the variant is the country's dominant stain.

But just 197 (35 per cent) were being primarily treated for Covid, with the remaining 366 (65 per cent) only testing positive after being admitted for something else.
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