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New Zealand concedes 'Covid zero' approach no longer viable as Delta spikes to 'astonishing' 72 cases


The Journal
Sun, 22 Aug 2021 16:21 UTC
Jacinda Ardern Covid
© Robert Kitchin/Pool Photo via AP
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a Covid-19 response update press conference in Wellington, New Zealand.
New Zealand conceded its ambitious "Covid zero" elimination strategy may no longer be viable today as an outbreak of the virulent Delta variant spread further.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins reported a further 21 cases in a virus cluster that emerged in Auckland last week, ending a six-month run of no local cases and sparking a national lockdown.

Hipkins said Delta's highly transmissible nature was making this outbreak more difficult to contain than others, raising "big questions" about the elimination strategy.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

A mere 2,500 Americans evacuated from Afghanistan while up to 15,000 remain

Patrick Reilly
New York Post
Sun, 22 Aug 2021 16:30 UTC
Hamid Karzai International Airport US Marine Army
© Handout via REUTERS
A US Marine escorts Department of State personnel to be processed for evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 15, 2021.
A mere 2,500 Americans have been evacuated from Kabul over the last week, US officials said Saturday, adding that Washington is fighting against "time and space" to get people out of Afghanistan.

Major General William Taylor said that a total of 17,000 people have so far been evacuated including the 2,500 Americans.

President Biden in an interview on Wednesday said that between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans remain in the Taliban-controlled country.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Saturday said he did not have a "perfect figure" on how many Americans remain in Kabul and Afghanistan.
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USA

Trump targets Biden over Afghanistan, gets booed for advocating vaccines at Alabama rally

Paul Steinhauser
Fox News
Sun, 22 Aug 2021 16:14 UTC
donald trump save america rally
© Kristinn Taylor
President Trump speaks at Save America rally in Wellington, Ohio, June 26, 2021.
In what seemed like a preview of a potential stump speech should former President Trump eventually follow through on his flirtations to launch a 2024 White House bid, Trump once again took aim at his successor on Saturday night.

"One year ago this month in my nomination speech," Trump told the large crowd of supporters at a large rally in Cullman, Alabama, harkening back to his 2020 Republican National Convention address, "I warned the entire country of the disastrous consequences of a Biden presidency."

Trump then blasted President Biden, criticizing him over crime, inflation, and the haphazard evacuation of U.S. personnel and allies from Afghanistan after repressive Taliban forces rolled into Kabul, the central Asian country's capital and largest city.

"This is a great stain on the reputation of our country," the former president charged.
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Pirates

Troll of the century: Taliban special forces unit dons discarded US military gear to mock famous WWII photo

James Anthony
The Post Millennial
Sun, 22 Aug 2021 16:10 UTC
Iwo Jima Taliban
An elite Taliban fighting unit known as the Badri 313 Battalion has been spreading propaganda while wearing captured American military gear and posted one photo appearing to mock the iconic World War II photo, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

It is believed that they came across the gear which used to belong to American soldiers and US allies while going on patrols in the captured city of Kabul. The unit has also been seen driving around in armored Humvees.

The Taliban are also reportedly searching "door to door" for US-involved collaborators and groups at this time. They are also reportedly negotiating with UNICEF on subjects such as women's rights to education.
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Attention

Scientists question evidence behind U.S. COVID-19 booster shot drive

Deena Beasley and Ahmed Aboulenein
Reuters
Fri, 20 Aug 2021 02:17 UTC
woman vaccinated covid
© REUTERS/Hannah Beier
A woman receives the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine as a booster dose at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Aug 19 (Reuters) - The Biden administration's plan to provide COVID-19 vaccine boosters is based on concerns that a decrease in the vaccines' ability to protect against milder infections could also mean people will have less protection against severe illness, a premise that has yet to be proven, scientists said on Thursday.

U.S. officials, citing data showing waning protection against mild and moderate illness from the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), and Moderna (MRNA.O) vaccines more than six months after inoculation, on Wednesday said boosters will be made widely available starting on Sept. 20.

The additional dose will be offered to people who received their initial inoculation at least eight months earlier.
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Question

The Taliban are 'country boys with a code of honour'?

Kevin Hurley
RT
Sun, 22 Aug 2021 11:37 UTC
kabul airport us evacuation plane people
© AFP / Wakil Kohsar
Afghan people sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021.
Is this really an apt way to describe these cold-eyed killers of women?

Britain's top general has come under fire for his assessment of the terrorists who have just defeated his troops and America's. Is he a 'Taliban apologist', or seeking to placate the militants while he still has soldiers in Kabul?

Watching the chaos at Kabul International Airport as people of all nationalities try to escape from what they think the Taliban will do to them reminds me of what went through my mind each time I got off my plane after landing there.

Comment: It must be hoped the Taliban have learned the lessons of their earlier ascendency. There was universal condemnation over the enforcement of their interpretation of their faith. They are aware that if they wish to participate as a legitimate government on the world stage, they must at least appear to adopt more modern attitudes. As the general has said, we can only wait and see.

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Attention

Thoughtcrime: DOJ demands judge send Jan 6th protester BACK TO JAIL for 'returning to conspiracy theories' after he violated restrictions and watched Mike Lindell's symposium online

Julian Conradson
The Gateway Pundit
Fri, 20 Aug 2021 21:45 UTC
jan 6 capitol protest
A January 6th protester is facing the possibility of sitting behind bars once again after he violated the conditions of his pre-trial release by reading news and watching conservative videos on Rumble.

Douglas Jensen was one of the first unfortunate citizens who was arrested in the Jan. 6th witch hunt. He was stripped of his rights and thrown into jail on January 8th.

He was charged with a seven-count indictment and multiple felonies despite causing no harm or damage. His biggest mistake was having a pocketknife on him when he was inside, which predictably caused these bloodthirsty radicals to gleefully increase the severity of his charges.

Comment: The US has reached a whole new level of fascism, as 'thoughtcrime' becomes a reality.

And there's this from RT:
InfoWars' Owen Shroyer has been charged with participating in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. Shroyer, a co-host of controversial media personality Alex Jones, says he's innocent of the charges, which include violent entry.

Shroyer was charged on Thursday with knowingly entering a restricted building, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.


The charges are no more severe than those faced by most of the 500 or so rioters who entered the Capitol that day to protest the certification of Joe Biden's electoral win, but Shroyer at the time was already barred from demonstrating on Capitol grounds after he live-streamed himself accusing Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler (New York) of "treason" during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

The FBI complaint against Shroyer alleges that the InfoWars host marched to the Capitol and simply stood in a restricted area outside the building. The violent and disorderly conduct charge stems from Shroyer allegedly shouting "they stole the election, we know they stole it, and we aren't going to accept it!"


So much violence!


The complaint included a warrant for Shroyer's arrest, and speaking on his InfoWars show later on Friday, Shroyer told viewers that he had to "turn [himself] in by Monday morning."

"I plan on declaring my innocence of these charges, because I am," Shroyer announced.



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Mr. Potato

CBS accused of eco-overreach after claiming CLIMATE CHANGE 'helped strengthen' Taliban


RT
Sat, 21 Aug 2021 11:20 UTC
taliban kabul
© REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
A Taliban fighter holding an M16 assault rifle stands outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2021.
CBS has been accused of spinning fanciful, Greta Thunberg-inspired yarns about the disastrous outcome of the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan, after claiming that the Taliban received outside support from climate change.

The American news outlet published an exclusive report on Friday that endeavored to shine a light on what may have caused the trillion-dollar debacle in Afghanistan, ending with the complete collapse of the Afghan National Army on August 15 just weeks after US-led coalition forces accelerated their exit from the country.

Authoritatively titled, 'How climate change helped strengthen the Taliban,' the CBS investigation discovered that the Taliban benefited immensely from the covert support of a formidable global power: Earth's climate.

Comment: See also:

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NPC

Welsh language is racist and 'excludes minorities', art body's own bombshell report finds

Kris Boratyn
Express
Fri, 20 Aug 2021 16:38 UTC
arts council of wales
© Getty
The Arts Council of Wales, which is publicly funded, commissioned the research worth £51,000.
A report commissioned by the Arts Council of Wales has found the organisation is "systematically racist" and said the Welsh language requirement "excludes minorities".

The Arts Council of Wales, which is publicly funded, commissioned the research that cost £51,000, and branded the body's policies as "racist," along with those of National Museums Wales. Both organisations have now accepted the findings of the report. The findings come after Welsh arts groups and professionals appealed for a report on racial inclusion at these organisations as they raised concerns that "Welsh meant white" and that "Welsh could exclude Black and non-Black people of colour".

The report further added that both the Council and National Museums Wales uphold "white supremacist ideology" by limiting opportunities for minorities.

Comment: While it's certainly important to address racism in any culture, when people start talking about diluting or changing the culture, the very language itself in this case, in order to cater to a slim minority (black people make up a reported 0.6% of Wales' population), who may not even want these changes, red flags should be rising. The woke ideology driving these viewpoints is divisive poison.

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Eye 1

US targeted Black Lives Matter activists in bid to disrupt movement, report finds


The Guardian
Thu, 19 Aug 2021 11:30 UTC
blm march us
© VIEW press/Corbis/Getty Images
The report highlights how policing has been used historically to deter Black people from exercising their right to protest. including those last year following the murder of George Floyd.
Coalition of civil rights groups documents federal prosecutions of activists after the murder of George Floyd last year.

The federal government deliberately targeted Black Lives Matter protesters via heavy-handed criminal prosecutions in an attempt to disrupt and discourage the global movement that swept the nation and beyond last summer after the Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, according to a new report.

Movement leaders and experts said the prosecution of protesters over the past year continued a century-long practice by the federal government, rooted in structural racism, to suppress Black social movements via the use of surveillance tactics and other mechanisms.

Comment: One gets the impression that these guys were watching different BLM protests than the rest of us. One also can't help but find this report to be a little naïve. Like all social movements that have the potential to disrupt and make change, BLM was likely steered towards the ends that served the purposes of the elites as soon as it emerged. It's really not about punishing BLM protesters more harshly, it's about using them as pawns in the macro-level chess games of the elites. Until they can see that, they're still only pieces on the board.

See also:

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