Tag Archive for: anti-vaxxers

DHS: ‘Freedom Convoy’-style trucker protest may disrupt Super Bowl – National & International News – FRI 11Feb2022

 

 

DHS warns “Freedom Convoy”-style trucker protest may disrupt Super Bowl. Biden urges Americans to leave Ukraine now.

 

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Trucker protest may disrupt Super Bowl

In a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, the Department of Homeland Security has warned that a “Freedom Convoy”-style trucker protest could be in the works. DHS says right-wing groups and anti-vaccination groups may be planning to follow the example of protesters that have used big rigs to bring Canada’s capital and much of its cross-border trade with the U.S. to a standstill.

The agency warns that protesters may converge near Los Angeles on Super Bowl Sunday. Protesters may then travel across the country to Washington, D.C., gathering other truckers as they go. The goal would be to arrive in D.C. by March 1, when President Biden will be delivering his State of the Union address. However, the agency qualified its warning, saying that these plans, at present, are “aspirational”. In other words, there’s no solid information “indicating the event is actually being organized”.

Cross-border bridge partially reopens

After a four day blockade, truckers blocking the Ambassador Bridge, a major U.S.-Canada trade artery, have agreed to open one of the northbound lanes. A Canadian judge will hear a request today from car manufacturers to issue an injunction against the blockade and an order for the truckers to disperse. The blockade on the Ambassador Bridge, which links Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, has forced a slow-down at auto manufacturers on both sides of the border due to parts shortages.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Biden urges U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine now

In an NBC News interview yesterday, President Biden warned that any Americans still in Ukraine “should leave now”. Biden says  the potential for a Russian invasion of Ukraine is growing by the day. “It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world”, Biden said, “It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly”.

When asked if there were any possible scenario in which Biden would send in U.S. troops to rescue fleeing Americans, Biden replied flatly, “There’s not”. Biden explained that any possibility for a direct confrontation between U.S. and Russian troops would be an unacceptable escalation. “That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another” Biden said. “We’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been.”

So far, the U.S. is the only nation to warn its expat citizens to leave Ukraine. However, other U.S. allies, including Britain, have been decreasing staff at their embassies in Kiev for weeks. 

Mixed messages

While the U.S. and Britain have been saying for weeks that a Russian invasion could come any day, the leadership in Ukraine and the rest of Europe have downplayed the threat. Some have argued that the alarmism by the U.S. may actually be playing into Russia’s plan to destabilize Ukraine. Ukrainian leaders have portrayed the build-up of Russian troops on their borders as a “psychological warfare” tactic by Russian President Vladimir Putin rather than as a genuine military threat.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

Please share any thoughts, comments or questions in the Comments section below!

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A call to arms against the tyranny of the unvaccinated

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Pro-vaxxers- Feeling fed up? Unheard? Cowed? Drowned out? Overwhelmed? We see you and hear you! And, dammit, we need you!

 

The ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’

Since the advent of the delta variant, we’ve heard over and over again about the “pandemic of the unvaccinated”. Even “numbers guy” Gov. Tate Reeves recently uttered that phrase. Good on you, Tater! Not often we get to say that.

But many media commentators are hesitant to address how we got here. Usually, they limit themselves to pointing to the flood of misinformation out there, which has, understandably, given many people pause. But they rarely allude to the real problem, if they address it at all. The problem is, of course, that many Americans simply “don’t wanna be told what to do”. Not even if it’s for their own wellbeing and that of their community.

And, boy, are these people vocal!

They protest unmasked in the streets with signs reading “My body, my choice”. (A slogan ironically lifted from the pro-abortion movement, but I digress). They threaten people at schoolboard meetings. They file lawsuits when public or private institutions make a choice to require vaccines to protect those who work for them or rely on their services.

When a neighbor or a family member has the temerity to encourage people they care about to get vaccinated, they risk being on the receiving end of a merciless tirade about “libs-n-tyranny”.

But nowhere is this trend more apparent than on social media. Any mildly pro-vax post on Facebook, even one merely sharing facts and figures, inevitably meets a tide of vitriol in the comments. In this environment, any person who might wanna speak up will likely think twice about doing so. Many others have just given up.

This is what I call the ‘tyranny of the unvaccinated’.

And the fruits of this tyranny are touching all of us, vaccinated or not. Hospitals are unable to care for people who need non-COVID-related urgent care. Why? Because their care wards are full to capacity with COVID patients. Depending on where you are in the country, 95-99% of hospitalized COVID patients are unvaccinated. Some are hardcore anti-vaxxers who exercised their “right” not to get vaccinated. Many more are people who just fell victim to their hype.

What about the “rights” of patients who got vaccinated, but are now unable to receive urgent care for other ailments?

Now that school’s back, children and educators are at risk, because of “parents’ rights” not to send their kids to school with masks. That’s the rationale of governors who banned mask mandates in schools, like Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbot in Texas (who has reportedly received a *third* COVID vaccine).

But what of the “rights” of parents who want to protect their kids and themselves?

I could give example after example. But the point is, somehow, the rights of the anti-vaxxers have superseded the rights of those who want to protect their own health and that of their communities. And we are ALL paying the price for it.

Now, the good news…

It seems (at least to me) that the pro-vax/mask contingent are finally getting fed up. Just a month ago, any post from our website about COVID invariably garnered the “libs-n-tyranny” comments on Facebook. Those still come in, but now I’m seeing more people sharing, liking, and commenting in support of what ought to be merely common sense reporting at this point.

To those who are speaking up, I must say I am very glad to see you. I’m sure you sometimes feel unheard or unseen or just feel like you’re spitting into a hurricane. But rest assured, we do hear and see you! And so does everyone else! And even though it might not feel like it sometimes, that is VERY important. In fact, it is the most important thing.

Governments, businesses and institutions can put up all the mandates they want. A sad necessity, since it’s clear that many simply won’t get the jab until it becomes a giant pain in the ass not to.

But for obvious reasons, mandates do not unharden hearts or change minds. That will only happen when we beat the hardcore anti-vaxxers at their own game and drown them out. And that is something that neither Dr. Fauci nor any other other bureaucrat in Washington or Jackson can do…

BUT YOU CAN!

YES, YOU! The people who live in our communities, whose kids go to our schools, who we see at Wal-Mart and church and everywhere else. Now is your time! Speak up everywhere you can, at town meetings, church meetings, school board meetings and on social media. Don’t be afraid, don’t worry about the haters. Just do it. And do it often!

You may not get many pats on the back, but the people who need to hear you WILL hear you. Be an example to others (our “closet vaxxers”) who have been cowed into silence. Give people who are fearful and on the fence another voice to listen to.

It’s easy to forget that the hardcore anti-vaxxers are actually just a small minority, albeit a very vocal one. Many people are actually very reachable, even many of those who still say they don’t want the vaccine. But to reach those people, we have to turn the tide on the anti-vaxxers by being just as outspoken as they are, and more so. The more of us that speak up, and the bolder we are about it, the quicker this nightmare will be over.

And, unlike our opponents, we don’t have to be rude, hostile, or resort to personal attacks. That’s because we have the facts, figures, and cold hard reality on our side. Instead, our best weapons are information, our experiences, and our empathy. Talk about your vaccination experiences. Share your fears for those you love, or your sorrow for those you’ve lost. Share posts on social media. Whatever, whenever, wherever.

Believe it or not, it all makes a difference. Every word or post from you chips away at the fear, misinformation, and sheer bloody-mindedness plaguing our communities in a way all the pronouncements from Fauci, the FDA, the CDC (or even NEMISS.NEWS posts) never can.

Welcome to the fight and keep chipping away!

Liz

BONUS: Arm yourselves with further reading!

“How a prolific anti-vax doctor … oversees a lucrative empire of junk science” (Business Insider)

“Unvaccinated people need to bear the burden” (The Atlantic) 

Do a deep dive into the “Disinformation Dozen” (Center for Countering Digital Hate).

Read “Pandemic Profiteers” (Center for Countering Digital Hate).

 

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How anti-vaxxers earn $millions by spreading COVID misinformation – National & International News – TUE 10Aug2021

 

How the ‘Disinformation Dozen’ profit from COVID misinformation. A pack of errant elephants ends its mesmerizing journey across China.

NATIONAL NEWS

How the Disinformation Dozen profit from COVID misinformation

Have you ever heard wild claims about the COVID vaccines and wondered where they came from? Or have you ever pondered how the same people who claim that “we don’t know enough about the effects of the vaccines” also confidently assert that they cause everything from infertility to magnetism to bodily infiltration by 5G networks?

If so, you’re in luck. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has produced a profile of what it calls the Disinformation Dozen, a rogue’s gallery of COVID misinformation profiteers. According to the CCDH, the Dozen are responsible for spreading 65% of misinformation about COVID and COVID vaccines online.

The publication Business Insider conducted its own exposé of one prominent member of the Disinformation Dozen, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny. Dr. Tenpenny is an osteopath and has no expertise in infectious diseases or epidemiology. That has not stopped her from being a vocal anti-vaxxer since long before COVID-19. Nor has it prevented her from profiting handsomely from misleadingly selling herself as an “expert” and misrepresenting the science.

Cherry-picking all the way to the bank

Dr. Tenpenny’s case is an especially insidious one. In her frequent appearances in courtrooms, online streams and even statehouses (all of which earn her huge fees), she exudes a sort of homespun charm. Her status as a doctor also lends her an ill-deserved air of authority on the subjects she speaks about. That’s because her training makes her extremely adept at cherry-picking quotes from peer-reviewed papers by actual scientists to suit the narrative she is selling.  

Insider uncovered numerous examples of Tenpenny deceptively quoting scientific papers out-of-context. In one example, she extracts a quote from a paper by Australian Professor Lidia Morawska, implying that social distancing is ineffective in a pandemic. Prof. Morawska told Insider that her argument was actually that the standard 6-ft distance was outdated and needed to be revised. So, if Tenpenny ever actually read Morawska’s paper in full, she either did not understand it fully, or she willfully misrepresented Morawska’s conclusions.

But this is far from an isolated example.

Professor Raymond Tellier, a McGill University microbiologist specializing in coronaviruses, pandemics, and medical microbiology, reviewed a document produced by Tenpenny, titled “20 mechanisms of injury,” about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Tellier rebutted Tenpenny’s misleading assertions about spike proteins, mRNA, human DNA, adenoviruses, and anaphylaxis point-by-point. Tellier summed up his findings by saying: “To paraphrase Luke Skywalker: ‘Amazing. Almost everything she said is wrong'”. He continued, “It is quite clear that [Dr. Tenpenny] does not understand (or willfully misrepresents) the articles she is reading, and is incapable of appreciating them correctly”.

Tenpenny conveniently packages her misinformation slurry into a suite of four educational courses on COVID-19, priced at $79 per module (but currently discounted to $24.95). But that’s just the caboose of Tenpenny’s misinformation money train. The CCDH estimates that Tenpenny earned up to $353,925 from a single webinar titled “How Covid-19 Injections Can Make You Sick … Even Kill You”. As a side gig, Tenpenny charges exorbitant fees as an “expert” witness in medical injury lawsuits.

“But where do the Jews figure into this?”…

Aside from peddling “answers” to questions everyone is asking about the vaccines, Dr. Tenpenny also implies she has answers to questions no one asked. One of those questions being, “Are the vaccines part of a Jewish conspiracy?”.

Dr. Tenpenny has made numerous posts on social media about George Soros and the Rothschilds, insinuating a belief in a worldwide Jewish conspiracy for world domination. (Having some Jewish ancestry myself, I’m outraged that I never get invited to those world domination meetings).

Dr. Tenpenny’s social media has also shared posts denying the Holocaust, and asserting (wrongly) that all the Big Pharma companies are owned by Jews.

Whether or not Dr. Tenpenny actually believes any of this is anyone’s guess. It’s just as likely that these posts, and the controversy they generate, are a marketing ploy. In other words, they are a way of grabbing attention from an audience she believes will be more receptive to the snake oil she is selling.

“The bottom line”

Across conventional social media, Dr. Tenpenny only has around 115,000 followers. But between her appearances on various podcasts, including Alex Jones’ Infowars, Dr. Tenpenny has accumulated more than 1.5 million streaming views.

And those views translate into dollars- lots of them.

According to CCDH’s CEO Imran Ahmed, with Tenpenny and all the Disinformation Dozen, for all their feigned sincerity, their prime mover is profit. “There is no true self” with them, Ahmed says. “There’s no bottom line beyond the bottom line.”

Some CCDH researchers infiltrated a meeting of the National Vaccine Information Center. The NVIC is an organization dedicated to spreading “false and unsubstantiated claims about vaccination”, according to NewsGuard.

At the meeting, prominent anti-vaxxers, including Tenpenny, were putting their heads together to decide how to best capitalize on the COVID panic. Ahmed describes them “bubbling over with glee at the opportunity that COVID presents to them for market growth”.

But wait, there’s so much more…

Dr. Tenpenny’s exploits are too varied and numerous to be listed in detail here, but they are well worth a read. And it is important to remember, she is only 1/12 of the Disinformation Dozen.

If you want to learn more about Dr. Tenpenny, follow this link.

If you want to do a deep dive into the Disinformation Dozen, you can check out CCDH’s report here.

For more on how anti-vaxxers bring in $millions every year, you can read “Pandemic Profiteers” by clicking here.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

China has evacuated 150,000 from path of roving elephant herd

Seventeen months ago, a herd of 14 elephants left their nature reserve in China’s Yunnan province and embarked on an over 300-mile trek. No one knows for sure why the animals left the safety of the reserve. Some believe an inexperienced pack leader may have led them astray, or that the herd just decided to find a new habitat.

The pachyderms’ pilgrimage has captured the imaginations of Chinese and international observers who have monitored their progress through drone, cell phone and surveillance footage. But while enthralling, the elephants’ sightseeing expedition has also brought them into conflicts with some humans. Wandering through fields, villages and even cities, the elephants have consumed $millions worth of crops, and even damaged some buildings. As the animals progressed, Chinese officials have temporarily evacuated about 150,000 people from nearby population centers to ensure the animals wouldn’t come to harm.

Now, their adventure seems to be ending just as mysteriously as it began. The elephants have recently decided to turn back towards their nature reserve in Yunnan. China has only about 300 Asian elephants left in the wild, most of them in Yunnan.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

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NY’s Cuomo faces impeachment probe – National & International News- FRI 12Mar2021

Cuomo faces impeachment probe. Poll: majority of Americans want limits on unvaccinated people. Hong Kongers protest EU-China deal. Nations pause AstraZeneca jabs over clot fears.

NATIONAL NEWS

Cuomo facing impeachment investigation

Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has had a hard fall from grace after raising his national profile immensely during the height of his state’s COVID crisis last year. In recent weeks, at least 6 women who have worked for Cuomo have come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and even assault.

In addition to the sexual misconduct allegations, questions have arisen about the governor’s efforts to bury reports of out-of-control nursing home deaths. Yesterday, New York Assembly speaker Carl Heastie authorized the the Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into misconduct allegations against Cuomo which may lead to impeachment. It appears at the moment that the probe will focus on the sexual misconduct rather than the nursing home deaths.

Cuomo has remained defiant despite many of the state’s prominent Democratic politicians, including NYC mayor Bill DiBlasio, calling on him to resign. The majority of the state’s Assembly have also called on him to step down.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

Poll: Americans support barring unvaccinated people from offices, travel

A Reuters poll indicates that an increasing number of Americans are willing to get COVID vaccines. The poll was small (just over 1000 participants) but the sampling is geographically representative. According to the results, 54% of respondents were “very interested” in getting vaccinated. This is a significant increase over a similar survey conducted in January when only 41% expressed similar interest. Still, 27% said they were not at all interested in getting vaccinate, a number that has remained relatively unchanged since May last year.

The results also point to changing social attitudes as the US slowly emerges from the pandemic. A majority of participants said they were in favor of limiting the ways unvaccinated people mix in public. 72% felt it was important to know “if the people around me have been vaccinated”. 62% said that unvaccinated people should not be allowed to travel on airplanes. 55% were in favor of restricting unvaccinated people’s access to public gyms, movie theaters and concerts.

The poll may also have implications for eventual returns to workplaces. 60% of respondents said they wanted their employers to require :everyone to get a coronavirus vaccine before returning to the office” while 56% thought unvaccinated workers should stay home.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Hong Kong activists urge halt to EU-China deal

Hong Kong democracy activists are calling on the EU to delay signing a massive trade deal with China. The activists fear that ratifying the deal will sap any political will in the EU to challenge China’s authoritarian grip on Hong Kong. Recently, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing government proposed to force the island’s lawmakers to sign a loyalty pledge to Beijing. The Mainland Chinese parliament has also just passed a raft of reforms that will permanently overturn Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous rule. Activists hope that the EU and other international powers can use their influence to withdraw these reforms as well as a controversial security law.

Many fear that China’s growing global economic and military power will silence international criticism of other humanitarian abuses. Notably, a legal report found that China is breaching every article in the genocide convention in its treatment of its Uighur minority. 

At present, the US seems to be the only major world power willing to condemn China’s abuses of the Uighurs and Tibetans. President Biden is currently planning a virtual summit with Japan, Australia and India, China’s most powerful neighbors, to build bolster economic cooperation to rival China’s growing influence.

 

Denmark, Thailand pause AstraZeneca vaccinations over clot fears

Denmark has temporarily halted vaccinations with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab after several recipients formed blood clots. One of these patients has reportedly died. The national health service stressed that the pause was temporary to give researchers time to investigate these cases. The agency stressed there was no firm link has been established between the vaccinations and the clots and there was “good evidence that the vaccine is both safe and effective”. The situation will be reassessed in two weeks’ time.

Six other European countries have stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca doses over similar concerns. The scare has also halted the start of Thailand’s vaccine rollout.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

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