My fellow Americans, four years ago we launched a great national effort to rebuild our country, to renew its spirit, and to restore the allegiance of this government to its citizens. In short, we embarked on a mission to make America great again for all Americans. As I conclude my term as the 45th president of the United States, I stand before you truly proud of what we have achieved together. We did what we came here to do—and so much more. This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous. We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck—a very important word. I’d like to begin by thanking just a few of the amazing people who made our remarkable journey possible. First, let me express my overwhelming gratitude for the love and support of our spectacular …
For Joe Biden, withdrawing the remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan was a recognition of the inevitable after 20 years of war with no clear victory in sight. The president’s critics argue it will obliterate American leverage over the Taliban and doom the country’s few but fragile gains.
maad Zuberi, a major Democratic fundraiser facing 12 years in prison, has filed an extraordinary complaint with the CIA’s chief watchdog alleging he witnessed “flagrant problems, abuses, violations of law” while working as an asset for U.S. intelligence, according to documents and interviews.
Zuberi, of Los Angeles, recently hired the CIA’s retired acting general counsel Robert J. Eatinger Jr. to review his case and help to appeal his conviction on a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
After reviewing evidence, including secret communications between Zuberi and his alleged CIA handlers that were enumerated in a secret Classified Information Protection Act filing in his criminal case, Eatinger prepared and delivered two complaints to the CIA inspector general earlier this month.
The Florida House passed a bill that would prohibit school athletic teams and sports designated for girls and women from admitting males.
HB 1475, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, passed in the Republican-led state House by a vote of 77-40, mostly along party lines.
The bill would require admission to public school and college sports teams to be based on male/female sex, not gender identity.
The Hillreported the legislation, if enacted, “would require that sports team eligibility be based on a student’s ‘biological sex,’” and explained the phrase refers to “the sex assigned at birth.”
“Conspiracy Theorists” have been arguing since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic that political figures, corporations and mainstream media have used the crisis to gain power, money and influence. They may be right. Project Veritas, well worth a visit and your support, once again exposes the sheer disgusting madness of our American media establishment as CNN’s Technical Director, Charlie Hester, cheers on more Covid-19 deaths to stimulate higher CNN viewership.
President Joe Biden says U.S. troops will be coming home from Afghanistan, Minnesota saw its third consecutive day of violent demonstrations after the shooting of Daunte Wright, and the House Oversight and Reform Committee passes a bill that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st state of the United States.
By Lauren Fruen For Dailymail.com
|
April 14, 2021
Protesters set fire to Portland police union building as Daunte Wright violence spreads and cops in Minneapolis arrest 60 in clashes outside police station
Cop Kimberly Potter is said to have confused her gun for a taser when she shot at Daunte Wright Sunday
Her home was barricaded up Tuesday after a police source said that they anticipate protests there
Curfews were in place for Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding areas from 10pm local time
About 90 minutes before the curfew deadline, state police announced over a loudspeaker that the gathering outside the Brooklyn Center police station had been declared unlawful and ordered the crowds to disperse
Cops used pepper spray and flash bombs to try to disperse the crowd; protesters used umbrellas as shields
Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Matt Langer said at a midnight press conference 60 people were arrested
Wright’s killing, just 10 miles from the scene of George Floyd’s death last May in Minneapolis, has led to unrest in Minnesota and nationwide; the trial of Derek Chauvin, charged in Floyd’s death, is ongoing in the city
Protests also broke out overnight Tuesday in NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago; a riot was declared in Portland
Warning: the video may be upsetting to some viewers Body cam footage recorded the struggle between Brooklyn Center Police officers and suspect Daunte Wright, age 20. Authorities reportedly pulled over Wright on a traffic violation and learned he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest related to a criminal gun violation. As they attempted to […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s cyber regulator has launched a hotline to report online comments that defame the ruling Communist Party and its history, vowing to crack down on “historical nihilists” ahead of the Party’s 100th anniversary in July.
The tip line allows people to report fellow netizens who “distort” the Party’s history, attack its leadership and policies, defame national heroes and “deny the excellence of advanced socialist culture” online, said a notice posted by an arm of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Friday.
“Some with ulterior motives … have been spreading historical nihilistic misrepresentations online, maliciously distorting, denigrating and negating the history of the Party,” said the notice.
By Ivan Pentchoukov | The Epoch Times
|
April 14, 2021
Major League Baseball had extended and expanded its contract with a Chinese telecommunications giant shortly before boycotting the state of Georgia over the league’s disagreement with the election reforms recently enacted by the Peach State’s democratically elected governor and legislature. Chinese state media reported on April 1 that the MLB will continue to be aired on the streaming platform operated by Chinese tech giant Tencent, which has significant ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Tencent is of the Chinese companies that had temporarily dropped NBA games as a form of censorship after former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey spoke out in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. On April 2, the day after the announcement of the Chinese deal, the MLB moved its annual All-Star game out of Atlanta, Georgia, in response to a set of election reforms signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last month. MLB …
America’s top health agencies called on doctors to pause their use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 18 Republican senators are calling for the FBI to investigate President Joe Biden’s top Pentagon pick, and new secretly recorded footage of a CNN employee has been released by Project Veritas.
By Betsy McCaughey | The New York Post
|
April 14, 2021
On Monday, Justice Clarence Thomas announced that the Supreme Court soon will have to put an end to Big Tech tyranny. Amen. If the high court fails to act, it could mean the end of free speech in the 21st century and the shriveling of our constitutional rights to mere “paper rights” — still there…
By Hillel Italie | AP National Writer
|
April 14, 2021
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” was among the most criticized books of 2020, according to the American Library Association. | AP
The ALA defines a “challenge” as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”
NEW YORK — The closing of physical libraries because of the pandemic has slowed but not stopped patrons and others from calling for books to be banned or restricted.
On Monday, the American Library Association reported more than 270 challenges to books in 2020, from Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” to Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” compared to 377 the year before. The number of challenges is likely far higher than reported; the association estimates that only a small percentage are formally registered or publicized — a trend that got worse during the pandemic.
“The shutdowns didn’t just make it less likely that patrons would complain, but because of all the furloughs and layoffs at schools and libraries, it disrupted the whole infrastructure that enables us to be aware of complaints,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Alex Gino’s “George” was the most frequently criticized book, with objections including LGBTQ content and “not reflecting the values” of the community. The No. 2 book for complaints was Ibram X. Kendi’s and Jason Reynolds’ “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You,” challenged in part for “selective storytelling incidents” that do not reflect racism against all people.
A second book co-written by Reynolds, “All American Boys,” faced complaints about political bias, bias against men, and the inclusion of rape and profane language. Others in the top 10 include Angie Thomas’ bestseller about police violence, “The Hate U Give”; John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”; and the National Book Award winners “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, and “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie.
Several of the top 10 books — which also included “Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice,” by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard — received greater attention last year after the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matters protests.
“We did see pushback against anti-racist materials, some of which were seen as anti-police,” Caldwell-Stone says. “I always say that the challenged book list reflects the conversations going on around the country.”
The ALA defines a “challenge” as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.” The list, based on media reports and on accounts submitted from libraries, is part of the association’s annual State of America’s Libraries report. It comes out during National Library Week, which ends Saturday.
Some books were simply criticized, others actually pulled. In Burbank, California, last November, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of Mice and Men” were among several novels removed from school reading lists because of racist language that educators allege led to harassment of minority students. The National Coalition Against Censorship condemned the decision, saying that “banning books does not erase racist ideas or prevent racist incidents.”
It appears that the Chinese Communists have learned quite a bit from the American Left, or is it the other way around? Chinese Communists don’t like talk of freedom, as in freedom of speech, freedom of thought and self governance. Perhaps they view such things as sinful and censorship as virtuous, as Apple CEO Tim Cook told the world. The reason for it there, is the same reason for it here: It’s bad for business run by collusion, monopolies and crony capitalism (which is Marxism in practice). So what to do with these little “insurrectionists” that want a free Chinese people? Take a page from the U.S.A. If you think communism is bad, then you hate communism. As you know, We Must Stop The Hate. Here’s a good rule to remember: when a group, the American Left, coddles a regime that represses it’s own Chinese people and that corporations use for slave labor, you can be sure that American Left will say they are wholeheartedly against attacks against Asians. . . in America.
A number of America First commentators, including former Congressional candidate Laura Loomer, and Nick Fuentes, are demanding the proposed Big Tech bills in Florida’s legislature be strengthened with various amendments.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced at the start of February a number of actions that would be taken against Big Tech by his administration, with the focus more on how Big Tech censorship and interference would effect elections within the state. As National File reported:
Some of the new regulations include a mandatory opt-out from content filters created by Big Tech companies, which can leave users “shadowbanned” without the need for full platform removal, a right of action for all Floridians against Big Tech companies who violated this, and a number of daily fines related to interference in elections, including a $100,000 daily fine levied for any company that suspends political candidates. DeSantis claimed that the Big Tech companies were the number one threat to democracy and freedom of expression in America.
Fox News’s Tucker Carlson remarked that the proposed action plan “really does set the standard for the rest of the country.” However, this is what a number of America First commentators currently fear, who argue that the Big Tech bills now put forward in the Florida House and Senate based on DeSantis’s plan go nowhere near far enough.
Laura Loomer, the former Florida Congressional candidate who was the first de-platformed candidate in US history, criticized the bills in two key areas. Loomer said that the fines proposed for Big Tech companies were “chump change” for the huge corporations, with the $4.6 million fine that Facebook and Google would have received for censoring her during 2019-2020 campaign only amounting to 0.006% and 0.002% of their 2020 revenues respectively. There is also no evidence to suggest that such fines would happen retroactively regardless.
“Paying a minor fine to prevent a candidate or candidates they don’t like from winning an election is a steal of a deal,” Loomer said. “In its current form, the wording of this legislation would make things worse for censored candidates, because it would give Big Tech an easy way to interfere with an election with minimal consequences in the form of small fines.”
Secondly, Loomer argued, there is no protection for constitutional speech in Florida’s Big Tech bills, and only requires the social media platforms to “apply censorship, deplatforming, and shadow banning standards in a consistent manner” among its users. “Sounds nice and all, but Zuckerberg and Dorsey read that as ‘Sweet! I can consistently ban conservative speech among all of my little users!’” Loomer argued.
By Chuck Ross | Daily Caller | Georgia Star News Staff
|
April 14, 2021
by Chuck Ross
A Hong Kong-based think tank suspected of working as a front group for the Chinese Communist Party has cultivated close ties to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and members of the Congressional Black Caucus since 2014.
The China-U.S. Exchange Foundation’s (CUSEF) outreach to the black community is part of a broad initiative to cozy up to prominent organizations in the U.S., including foreign policy think tanks and other elite universities.
CUSEF’s activities have drawn the attention of CIA Director William Burns, who testified at his Senate confirmation hearing last month that he cut ties with CUSEF when he was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace out of concern over “Chinese influence operations.”
Most of CUSEF’s contacts with HBCUs and Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members have been arranged by Wilson Global Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm.
Since 2018, Wilson Global Communications has disclosed its activities for CUSEF to the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law that regulates foreign lobbying activity.
According to Wilson Global’s most recent FARA filing, submitted March 22, CUSEF paid the firm $89,844 over the past six months to hold virtual meetings with the leaders of HBCUs and college students. She also had contact with Yu Jiang, a professor at Xavier University who operates the school’s Confucius Institute, which U.S. officials also consider to be an influence agent of the Chinese government.
CUSEF has paid Wilson Global $667,641 since January 2017, according to FARA filings.
In its FARA disclosures, Wilson Global says it provides CUSEF with “communications and public relations services, which included outreach to U.S. elected officials.”
The firm coordinates trips for college students and leaders of HBCUs to China, all funded by CUSEF. Wilson Global has also arranged contact between CUSEF and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Julia Wilson, the owner of Wilson Global, has held meetings with CBC members Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Jim Clyburn, Donald Payne, and others, according to Wilson Global’s FARA filings.
On July 12, 2019, Wilson Global hosted a virtual event for Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson and CUSEF advisor Alan Wong held at Clark Atlanta University, an HBCU.
ormer U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday suggested that United States athletes should boycott next year’s Olympian competitions in China, calling them “Genocide Olympics” in reference to China’s alleged humanitarian crises while noting Major League Baseball’s recent move from Georgia over a comparably tame voting law.
China has received sustained criticism from both the Trump and Biden administrations in large part due to the country’s mass imprisonment of its ethnic Uyghur population. Critics have argued that Beijing’s policy of alleged brainwashing and forced assimilation of Uyghurs amounts to an effective genocide against that demographic
On March 30, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken unveiled the annual State Department report on human rights abuses. While doing so, he formally announced the disbanding of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. This was unfortunate as the Commission had become an important tool for advancing and defending human rights through U.S. foreign policy.
Established by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2019, and chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon, the Commission was created as an advisory group for the Secretary. The Commission’s Charter stated that its task was “not to discover new principles, but to furnish advice to the Secretary for the promotion of individual liberty, human equality, and democracy through U.S. foreign policy.” The Charter also specified the Commission’s advice must be “grounded in our nation’s founding principles and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
However, the Commission was recently disbanded amidst liberal criticism for being a mechanism to “promote evangelical Christian beliefs and conservative politics,” and for establishing a “hierarchy” of rights.
But these criticisms misunderstand the purpose and importance of the Commission on Unalienable Rights.
Essential universal rights are under siege by regimes around the world. For example, the United States has issued a declaration of genocide against the Chinese Communist Party for the forced labor, arbitrary imprisonment, ideological indoctrination, and population control that targets Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. In Iran, the Shia Islamic regime has suppressed free speech, denied its citizens due process, and carried out arbitrary killings and forced disappearances. In Nigeria, attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State are responsible for the internal displacement of more than 2 million people. And, in Venezuela, a United Nations investigation reported that citizens are subject to extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and torture carried out at the highest levels of government. . .
By Allum Bokhari | Breitbart News
|
April 14, 2021
The Facebook oversight board, commonly known as the “Facebook supreme court,” which was established by the social network as a quasi-independent body to hear appeals on Facebook’s decision to censor or ban content, has now been empowered to demand more censorship from Mark Zuckerberg’s platform.
JERUSALEM – The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can “break through” Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer-reviewed. The study, released on Saturday, compared almost 400 people who had tested positive for COVID-19,…
By Jack Phillips | The Epoch Times
|
April 13, 2021
A study from Tel Aviv University found that a South African variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus affects people vaccinated with the Pfizer shot more than unvaccinated people. The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicated that the B.1.351 variant of the virus—also known as the novel coronavirus—was found eight times more than individuals who were unvaccinated, or 5.4 percent against 0.7 percent. Clalit Health Services, a top Israeli health-care provider, also helped in the study. “We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group,” said Adi Stern of Tel Aviv University. “This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine’s protection.” The study looked at 400 people who received at least one shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and had contracted the COVID-19 variant and compared …
By Staff Writer | The National Pulse
|
April 13, 2021
On Day 74, Joe and Jill Biden released a brief Easter message—but Hunter Biden had much more to say. Biden’s Easter Message On Vaccine “Moral Obligation.” President Joe Biden and…
By Elizabeth Rosner | The New York Post
|
April 13, 2021
A New Jersey man is in the hospital with COVID-19 — just five weeks after being vaccinated. Francisco Cosme, 52, was ecstatic when he booked an appointment for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Javits Center on March 6. After Cosme was vaccinated, he continued to wear a mask and follow social distancing…
By Madeline Kenney | Chicago Sun Times
|
April 13, 2021
Karen Jozefowicz receives her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Wrigley Field, which opened as a mass vaccination site earlier this month. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Illinois is seeing a troubling upward trend in its coronavirus data as the state continues to vaccinate residents at a record pace.
Illinois is seeing a troubling upward trend in coronavirus cases as the state continues to vaccinate residents at a record pace.
State health officials on Sunday announced 2,942 new and probable COVID-19 cases and an additional 16 virus-related deaths.
The new cases were detected among 69,600 tests processed by the Illinois Department of Public Health in the last day. That keeps the statewide seven-day positivity rate at a 10-week high of 4.2%.
Illinois is averaging about 3,204 new cases each day this month, up sharply from the first 11 days of last month when the state recorded a daily average of 1,610.
The state has also seen an uptick in coronavirus hospitalizations over the last month. As of Saturday night, 1,834 beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients — a 23% increase from last week. Of those, 409 were in intensive care units and 173 were on ventilators, officials said.
The rise in cases comes as Illinois is vaccinating more people than ever.
The state injected 131,285 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday, marking the fifth consecutive day Illinois has inoculated more than 130,000 in a single day. Over the last week, Illinois has reported three record-setting vaccination days, including Friday when the state administered an all-time high of 175,681 shots.
The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 126,827 doses.
In total, the state has doled out nearly 7.2 million coronavirus vaccines since mid-December. However, only 2.85 million Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, meaning two weeks removed from their final dose, according to the IDPH website. That’s just over 22% of the state’s population — well under the 80% needed for herd immunity.
Illinois is expanding eligibility for the vaccine this week. All residents 16 or older will be eligible for inoculation, starting Monday, though that excludes Chicago providers who won’t expand eligibility to all adults until April 19.
Over 2,500 people said “Absolutely not!” when asked whether they support “vaccine passports” in the latest unscientific poll at SharylAttkisson.com. That represents 97% of those who responded to the poll. Two percent (2%) of the respondents answered “not much”, to the question about “vaccine passports”, representing the next most popular answer. And less than 1% […]
Biden regime medical advisor Anthony Fauci proclaimed on Monday that it was “still not okay” for people who have received a Covid vaccine to visit bars, restaurants, or other indoor businesses, dashing the hopes of many who had hoped getting the shot would enable them to return to normal life.
“No, it’s still not okay for the simple reason that the level of infection, the dynamics of infection, in the community are still really disturbingly high,” Fauci pontificated during an appearance on MSNBC.
“Like, just yesterday, there were close to eighty thousand new infections, and we’ve been hanging around sixty, seventy, seventy-five thousand, so, if you’re not vaccinated, please get vaccinated as soon as the vaccine becomes available to you, and if you are vaccinated please remember that you still have to be careful and not get involved in crowded situations, particularly indoors where people are not wearing masks,” Fauci continued.
Fauci is at it again. “It’s still not ok for vaccinated Americans to eat and drink indoors.” pic.twitter.com/yWHTnRN18f
Navy veteran and U.S. House candidate Jarome Bell slammed Fauci’s remarks on Monday, tweeting “This Fauci clown keeps moving the goalposts for the precise reason that he wants you inured to following random, senseless orders. Real patriots ought not tolerate this idiocy. Fauci was a bad actor under Trump, and remains so under Biden. Reject him and his nonsense.”
This Fauci clown keeps moving the goalposts for the precise reason that he wants you inured to following random, senseless orders.
Real patriots ought not tolerate this idiocy.
Fauci was a bad actor under Trump, and remains so under Biden.
President Donald Trump excoriated Fauci as a “king of flip-flops” who “said he was an athlete in college but couldn’t throw a baseball even close to home plate” in a scalding statement last month.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) on Friday approved a “vaccine passport” program for inter-island travel that could begin as early as May and expand to out-of-state travel by the summer, …
By Noah Weiland | The New York Times
|
April 13, 2021
The remarks rebuff efforts by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to secure an extra supply of vaccine doses as Michigan is seeing a worst-in-the-nation surge of coronavirus infections.
By Brodigan | Louder With Crowder
|
April 13, 2021
Sen. Rand Paul doesn’t like Anthony Fauci. Sen. Paul isn’t alone. While some view their love of Fauci as a personality trait, I’d venture to guess many of you reading this have grown tired of the media’s favorite useless bureaucrat. But Rand Paul has a certain panache to how hard he hates Fauci. “Hate” may be too strong a word. I doubt Rand “Hitler-hates” Fauci. But he really, really, really doesn’t like him.
Fauci was in front of cable news cameras again, saying his usual Fauci things about what we’re not allowed to do. Yes, even while vaccinated. The vaccine we were told would get us back to normal. Rand was not impressed.
Fauci continues to ignore 100 years of vaccine science.
His only real theme is “do what I say” even when it makes no sense.
If you’ve recovered or been vaccinated – go about your life. Eat, drink, work, open the schools.
Fauci continues to ignore 100 years of vaccine science.
His only real theme is “do what I say” even when it makes no sense.
If you’ve recovered or been vaccinated – go about your life. Eat, drink, work, open the schools.
Enough with the petty tyrants!
And furthermore:
I agree with Sen. Paul’s sentiment. Both about Fauci and going about your life. My only thing is, who are the people who haven’t been going about their lives this whole time? Yeah, with adjustments. I own like ten different masks. But I eat. I drink. I work. Kids, where I live, are in school. I find it comical that there are real people living among us who turn to Fauci to see what they are and aren’t allowed to do. At first, I thought it couldn’t be true. Then I started to see more people double masking out in the wild, and it felt like I saw Santa Claus playing a pickup game with Bigfoot in the park. “Wow, you people really do exist.”
I get why Fauci keeps lecturing what we can’t do. He likes being on television. I get why the media keeps asking him on. If not, they’d be forced to report promoting lockdowns for the past year since “15 Day to Flatten the Curve” may have been a dunderheaded thing to do. But if you’re someone who is STILL living your life based on what Fauci says you are allowed to do, stop.
Photo by Liz Flores, Star Tribune – Registered nurse Sherry Donnahoo filled syringes with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to be used at the vaccination site at the Masjid Al Tawba Mosque.
The total is the highest since early January and includes 161 people who needed intensive care due to breathing problems or other complications of their COVID-19 cases. The state reported the latest hospital figures on Monday along with two more COVID-19 deaths and 1,994 newly diagnosed infections with the novel coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease.
Those additions bring Minnesota’s totals in the pandemic to 6,959 COVID-19 deaths and 544,046 known infections.
More than half of population in Hennepin County has received COVID-19 vaccine, statewide rate rises to 47%.
By Tom Schuba | Chicago Sun Times
|
April 13, 2021
Rush University Medical Center staff collect swab samples last fall. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
The state’s seven-day test positivity rate jumped to 4.4% and continued an incremental upward trend that could lead officials to again place stronger restrictions on businesses. The statewide positivity rate had dipped to 2.1% on March 13.
Officials on Monday announced that Illinois’ coronavirus test positivity rate has reached its highest point since late January, when a previous surge in cases was tapering off.
The seven-day positivity rate — a crucial figure for measuring the virus’ spread — jumped to 4.4% and continued an incremental upward trend that could lead officials to again place stronger restrictions on businesses. The statewide positivity rate had dipped to 2.1% on March 13.
The Illinois Department of Health also announced 2,433 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed from 53,115 tests. Eighteen additional deaths were also reported.
Nearly 2,000 people diagnosed with the virus were hospitalized Sunday, according to the agency’s data. That’s the highest number of statewide hospitalizations since Feb. 10.
Meanwhile, the number of inoculations administered Sunday dove to 64,772 after five straight six-figure vaccination days, state health officials reported. So far, more than 7.2 million vaccine doses have gone into arms.
By Brianna Kraemer | Just The News
|
April 13, 2021
The Pentagon is attempting to develop a coronavirus vaccine that would protect recipients from all variants and add implantable microchip technology that can detect the virus in the body.
Retired Col. Matt Hepburn, an Army infectious disease physician leading the Pentagon’s ‘s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s pandemic response, introduced the technology and hopes it also will combat future pandemics.
“It’s like a check-engine light,” Retired Colonel Matt Hepburn, leader of the project told “60 Minutes” in an interview.
By Aerowenn Hunter | Children's Health Defense Fund
|
April 13, 2021
The Defender is experiencing censorship on many social channels. Be sure to stay in touch with the news that matters by subscribing to our top news of the day. It’s free.
It’s been a bumpy ride for Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID vaccine rollout.
At the beginning of the month, the vaccine maker had to throw out 15 million doses of its vaccine after they were contaminated with AstraZeneca vaccine ingredients at an unapproved manufacturing plant. The setback contributed to last week’s announcement that the company won’t be able to deliver on its promise of 24 million additional doses of its one-shot vaccine by the end of April.
Those weren’t the only negative headlines. Last week, J&J vaccine sites in four states had to shut down after reports of adverse reactions. There also were multiple reports of COVID breakthrough cases in people who received the vaccine, marketed under its subsidiary, Janssen.
J&J is on notice regarding investigations by European and U.S. regulators for reports of blood clots in individuals who received the vaccine.
And today, the company faced more backlash from investors after its CEO was awarded a 17% pay raise while billions are being paid out for the company’s role in the nation’s opioid epidemic.
Here’s a breakdown of the five reasons J&J is having a very bad month:
1. Vaccination sites shut down in four states after more than 45 people suffer adverse reactions.
A vaccination site in Colorado, three sites in North Carolina, one in Georgia and one in Iowa shut down last week after more than 45 people suffered adverse reactions to the J&J shot.
Centura Health, which helped run the community vaccination center at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, said in a statement that 11 patients who received the vaccine experienced reactions. Two people were transferred to the hospital after medical staff determined they required additional observation. Centura officials did not specify what reactions were observed or their severity.
Health officials in Wake County, North Carolina, paused COVID vaccinations on Thursday after 18 people at the PNC Arena experienced adverse reactions and four were transferred to area hospitals. A few hours later, UNC Health’s Friday Center and Hillsborough Campus vaccination sites also stopped administering J&J’s vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed the vaccine lot used at the PNC Arena and UNC sites and recommended J&J vaccinations continue.
Georgia was the third state to temporarily pause vaccinations after the Georgia Department of Public Health said eight people suffered adverse reactions at the Cumming Fairground site Wednesday. The CDC said it analyzed the vaccine lots and found no concerns.
The Pottawattamie County Health Department in Iowa paused operations April 7 after three of 35 people who received J&J’s COVID vaccine experienced adverse reactions. The site consulted with the CDC and determined the shot was safe.
Operations resumed on Thursday but the county now requires people to stay for 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes after their appointment to be monitored, KCCI News reported.
2. Reports of COVID in people fully vaccinated with J&J’s vaccine continue to mount.
A New Jersey man is in the hospital fighting for his life after being fully vaccinated against COVID, reported ABC7 NY. A woman reported she and her husband got J&J’s vaccine on March 6, but tested positive for COVID on April 1. The husband is hospitalized in critical condition and is also being treated for pneumonia.
According to the CDC, J&J’s vaccine was 66.3% effective in clinical trials, with people having the most protection two weeks after receiving the shot. Clinical trial data also indicated the vaccine was highly effective at preventing hospitalization in those who did get sick, according to the company.
Chief Health and Science Officer for the American Medical Association, Dr. Mira Irons, said on March 26 J&J’s COVID vaccine has “100% efficacy against hospitalization and death from the virus.”
Irons noted that White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, among other top experts said “it’s really important to focus on the severe end of the spectrum, preventing hospitalization and death.”
A Brooklyn woman, Ashley Allen, managed to avoid catching COVID during 2020, but was diagnosed with the disease three weeks after being vaccinated with J&J’s vaccine. Even after getting the one-shot vaccine, Allen said she continued to take precautions against the virus — masking up and washing her hands frequently.
“I definitely was very confused by it,” Allen said Monday, thinking perhaps it was a false positive.
As The Defender reported March 31, an increasing number of “breakthrough cases” of COVID in fully vaccinated people (including people vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines) have been reported in Washington, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, New York, California and Minnesota. The cases included some people who required hospitalization, including at least three who died.
3. U.S. and European regulators are reviewing cases of blood clots in people who received J&J’s vaccine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating rare blood clots in people who received the J&J vaccine, Fierce Pharma reported today.
The news came after Europe’s drug regulator said Friday it is reviewing reports of blood clots in people who received J&J’s COVID vaccine, Reuters reported.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said three serious cases of clotting and low platelets occurred in the U.S. during the rollout of J&J’s vaccine, and one person died from a clotting disorder reported during a clinical trial.
On April 7, the EMA confirmed a “possible link” between AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine and blood clots. Like AstraZeneca, J&J uses a modified adenovirus vector as opposed to the mRNA technology used in the Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID vaccines.
J&J said it was aware of the reports of rare blood clots in individuals given its COVID vaccine and was working with regulators to assess the data and provide relevant information. The company also noted there was no causal relationship between these “rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine,” in a statement to Reuters.
4. J&J vaccine output dropped by 85% after 15 million doses were contaminated with AstraZeneca ingredients.
ABC News reported the U.S. will experience an 85% drop in availability of J&J’s COVID vaccine, and is unlikely to see a steady output from the vaccine maker until the company resolves production issues at a facility in Baltimore, Maryland, according to federal officials and data.
As The Defender reported April 1, 15 million doses of J&J’s COVID vaccine failed quality control after workers at a plant run by Emergent BioSolutions — a manufacturing partner with J&J and AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has yet to be authorized for use in the U.S — were contaminated with AstraZeneca ingredients.
The mix-up forced regulators to delay authorization of the plant’s production lines and prompted an investigation by the FDA.
AstraZeneca and J&J’s COVID vaccines employ the same technology which uses a version of a virus — known as a vector — that is transmitted into cells to make a protein that then stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies. However, J&J’s and AstraZeneca’s vectors are biologically different and not interchangeable.
Records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Associated Press showed Emergent has been cited repeatedly by the FDA for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and mold around one of its facilities
According to The Washington Post, the Biden administration put J&J in control of manufacturing at the Emergent BioSolutions after the incident. Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, told reporters on Friday J&J is still working to address issues with Emergent Biosolutions, but expects the plant to be certified by the FDA.
5. Critics take shots at J&J over CEO’s $30 million pay package while the company pays out billions for its role in the opioid epidemic.
Proxy adviser Glass Lewis recommended investors reject the nearly $30 million pay package for J&J Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky, arguing the healthcare company is shielding its top executives from the legal cost of poor business decisions, Reuters reported.
J&J is attracting investor scrutiny because it excluded from its calculation of stock awards to its top executives costs related to lawsuits, including $4 billion tied to J&J’s role in the nation’s opioid epidemic and damages related to asbestos in its talc baby powder that caused cancer.
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) joined rival advisory firm Lewis in recommending that J&J investors vote to reject Gorsky’s compensation deal. ISS said J&J’s corporate governance was poor, giving it a 7 rating on a scale of 1-10, where 10 is the worst. On compensation, ISS gave J&J a rating of 9, reported CBS News.
“In our opinion, the adjustments related to well-documented legal actions essentially shield executives’ compensation from the detrimental impact of their decisions for the company,” Lewis said.
Gorsky became CEO in 2012, and was at the helm of J&J during the opioid crisis which according to the CDC, claimed nearly 450,000 lives in the U.S. between 1999 and 2018. In 2019, 50,000 people died in the U.S. from opioid related overdoses, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“I think [Gorsky’s] pay was excessive,” said Rosanna Landis Weaver, who analyzes executive compensation at As You Sow, a nonprofit that promotes shareholder advocacy on inequality, the environment and other issues.
“You have to treat one-off events whether they are positive or negative in the same way,” she said. “He’s going to want credit for the extraordinarily good things that happen, like developing a COVID-19 vaccine, but that means he should also get a penalty for the extraordinarily bad things that happen as well.”
The Biden regime is running PSA’s on television programs like Deadliest Catch, NASCAR, and Country Music TV in an effort to target unconvinced conservative white Americans who refuse to receive experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
“We’ve run PSAs on the Deadliest Catch, we’re engaged with NASCAR and Country Music TV,” said Psaki. “We’re looking for a range of creative ways to get directly connected to White conservative communities.”
The Biden administration is reportedly launching a $250 million advertisement campaign to convince hesitant Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The White House is also reportedly investing in a community corps program, which involves using organizations like churches to push pro-vaccination narratives to the public, as many Americans don’t trust the assurances of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris amid reports of horrifying reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We won’t always be the best messengers, but we’re still trying to meet people where they are, but also empower local organizations,” Psaki explained.
Jen Psaki on plan to reach white conservatives on getting the vaccine: “We’ve run PSAs on the Deadliest Catch, we’re engaged with NASCAR and Country Music TV”
In February, it was reported that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) had partnered with the Discovery Channel to “encourage the importance of mitigation measures to slow the spread of the virus, including wearing face masks.”
“We have one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet — but right now, it’s dangerous everywhere,” Hansen continues, holding up his own mask. “So when medical experts say to wear your mask to fight the pandemic, wear your mask.”
Credit: Discovery Channel
Globalist former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama urged Americans to take the experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in creepy videos released by the Ad Council.
Former Wall Street power players and celebrities appeared in a another strange video telling US businesses to get the “WELL Health-Safety Seal” from the International Well Building Institute, a company with massive ties to Communist China.
“The video itself has raised eyebrows, but what is most concerning could be the IWBI leadership’s questionable connections to China and the Communist Party. In 2016, Scialla and Ya met with Ming Li, the Chairman of Chinese real estate company, Sino-Ocean Land, who later would join the Delos Advisory Board “to provide strategic advice and recommendations to help guide the growth of healthy building in China,” according to Business Wire.”
Ya Xue, China Director of Delos; Paul Scialla, Delos Founder and CEO; Ming Li, Chairman of Sino-Ocean Land; and Mahesh Ramanujam, Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Green Building Council and President, Green Business Certification Inc. (Photo: Business Wire)
While one quarter of the United States says they would refuse to take the COVID-10 vaccine, it was reported that over 40% of the US population rejects the idea of controversial vaccine passports, which Americans would be required to present in order to prove their vaccine status “before they will be allowed to engage in commerce in a ‘return to normalcy’ that looks nothing like the past,” as National File reported.
The Biden regime and it’s influenced corporations continue to tout the experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccines as “safe and effective.” However, the administration’s decision to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on targeted COVID-19 vaccine advertisements is raising questions concerning influence that the federal government has on corporate America, and why the two entities are moving in lockstep to convince Americans to get vaccinated despite officials like Dr. Fauci saying vaccinated Americans still can’t return to normal life.
By Betsy McCaughey | The New York Post
|
April 13, 2021
In the race to save lives from the novel coronavirus, the United States and Britain are winning. A stunning 47 percent of UK residents and 36 percent of US residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Compare that with the European Union, where only 15 percent of the population has gotten at least one jab. America…
The Epoch Times’ Hong Kong print shop was attacked last night, a young black man died after he was shot by police in a suburb of Minneapolis, and Arizona’s governor just signed a bill into law that bans donations for election processes.
Most of CUSEF’s contacts with HBCUs and Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members have been arranged by Wilson Global Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm.
