René Magritte Meditation 1936
Bulford
https://twitter.com/i/status/1490418278157717518
“To anybody who is annoyed, we apologize. Please call Justin Trudeau, his office, and get these mandates lifted, and we’re out of here..”
Sending in the riot police when there is no riot…
• Ottawa Mayor Declares State of Emergency Due to Convoy Protest (ET)
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency due to the trucker protest that continues in the city’s downtown core. In a brief statement, the city said the decision reflects the “serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government. ” “It also provides greater flexibility within the municipal administration to enable the City of Ottawa to manage business continuity for essential services for its residents and enables a more flexible procurement process, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders,” the city said in its statement. Protest organizers say their demonstration is peaceful.
The protest started as a demonstration by truckers against the federal government’s requirement for cross-border truck drivers to be vaccinated, but has since evolved into a large movement joined by people from across Canada to oppose different COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. Vehicle convoys came to Ottawa on Jan. 29, and many have stayed in the city, with trucks and other vehicles parked by Parliament Hill. Many protesters say they will remain until the mandates are lifted. Sounds of honking horns can be heard throughout the day in the Parliament Hill area, which residents are complaining about.Protest organizer Benjamin Dichter says people who are unhappy about the honking should be contacting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and ask him to lift COVID-19 mandates.“To anybody who is annoyed, we apologize. Please call Justin Trudeau, his office, and get these mandates lifted, and we’re out of here,” Dichter said at a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 6.
Trudeau has refused to meet with the protesters. Tom Quiggin, who is helping the organizers with “protective intelligence,” said many people across Canada have lost their jobs, homes, and businesses as a result of COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, and they have grievances too, which is why they are protesting in the nation’s capital. “Let’s remember most of Ottawa is government, huge number of civil servants here. They haven’t missed a paycheque. They’ve got pay raises, some of them have got back pay, most of them are working from home. Some of them who can’t work from home are just doing nothing and still getting paid,” Quiggin said at the press conference. “So yes, it’s unfortunate that they feel bad about the horns, yes, it’s unfortunate they feel bad about the disruption, but the rest of the country is hurting.”
Ottawa riot police
Riot police in Ottawa at the Freedom Convoy protest. pic.twitter.com/39itidJJR9
— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) February 7, 2022
In the middle of winter…
• Ottawa Police Threaten Arrests For Sharing Fuel With Freedom Convoy (RT)
Anyone who attempts to provide “material support” to the Freedom Convoy truckers and other anti-Covid-mandate protesters could be subject to arrest, Ottawa police announced, as Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency in the city. Police issued the warning on Twitter on Sunday afternoon. Asked whether “material support” included vital necessities like food and water, a police spokesperson told Fox News that the announcement “relates to hazardous materials that represent a public safety or fire hazard.” Officers on the ground in downtown Ottawa reportedly told the drivers that after midnight on Sunday, no gas and diesel cans or propane tanks would be allowed into the area.
Officially, the Ottawa Police Service would not comment on the alleged deadline, saying they do not speak about operations “for officer safety reasons,” according to the Ottawa Citizen. According to several videos shared on social media, police have already seized multiple batches of fuel from protesters, but there were no reports of arrests as of 9pm local time. Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon, citing “serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents,” as the Freedom Convoy shows no signs of ending. “The situation at this point is completely out of control because the individuals with the protest are calling the shots,” Watson said, adding that the protesters have “far more people than we have police officers.”
Over the past week, authorities placed heavy barricades at key crossing points throughout downtown and closed multiple roads, effectively blocking new trucks with full tanks of fuel from coming into the so-called ‘red zone’, so the protesters started using gas cans. Now authorities are seeking to cut off this lifeline as well. The protesters have promised to hold the line until the government repeals its vaccination mandates and QR code “health passports.” Organizers have indicated that they plan to stay in Ottawa for the “long haul,” seeking donations from supporters to cover the costs of fuel, food and lodging. After fundraising platform GoFundMe froze some $7 million in donations following “discussions” with Canadian authorities, the movement regrouped on competitor GiveSendGo, raising another $3.8 million in less than three days.
Ottawa fuel
Ottawa police have removed all fuel and propane from Freedom Convoy truck parking lot pic.twitter.com/oJDaceHHlo
— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) February 7, 2022
Population Canada: 38 million.
• Canada Contracts To Deliver 100 Million Vaccine Doses Annually For Years (CBC)
Federal COVID-19 vaccine contracts mean Canada should get enough doses to give two or three more mRNA shots to every Canadian, every year, until at least 2024. But even as the National Advisory Committee on Immunization is now suggesting some Canadians get in line for their fourth doses, the World Health Organization is warning that “repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition” are not a sustainable plan to end the pandemic.The WHO’s vaccine technical committee said today vaccines need to become more effective at keeping up with emerging variants.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday there will be third and fourth booster doses available in this country if or when they’re needed.
Contracts signed last year provide for delivery of up to 65 million doses from Pfizer and 35 million from Moderna this year, followed by 60 million from Pfizer and 35 million from Moderna in each of the next two years. More than three in four Canadians already have their first two doses, and more than one in four already have a booster shot as Canadian health authorities try to cut off the Omicron variant. The variant is breaking through the original vaccines but is mostly not causing serious illness, even in those with just the first two doses. Dr. Srinivas Murthy, a British Columbia pediatrician and co-chair of the WHO’s clinical research committee on COVID-19, said the booster response is panicky politics not public health.
“It’s a continually boost and boost and boost and hope that the virus will eventually go away or will build up enough of a immunity wall so that the virus can’t creep over it and get into Canada,” he said. Murthy said with Omicron there is some data that suggests a third dose is doing better at preventing infection outright than the original two doses, but he said there is no evidence a fourth dose is helping at all.
Good and long. Do read.
• 6 Big Differences Between Natural Vs. Vaccine-Induced Immunity (Verkerk)
Look again at figure 3 and note the vertical red lines we’ve inserted for all age groups 50 and older. The red line on the left of each of the lower 6 graphs intersects the horizontal axis on the date antibodies were found in 80% of the population. The red line on the right side intersects the horizontal axis on the date boosters were administered to 80% of that same age group. Note the many months that separate these two events. The take-home is that elevated antibodies were already widespread in the older age groups well before the booster campaign was even started — and even longer before coverage reached 80% of each of the age groups.
It’s also worth noting that antibody-mediated partial (non-sterilizing) immunity in heavily vaccinated populations is increasingly clouded by the fact that it is in essence “hybrid” immunity that, at least for a short period, includes naturally-acquired and jab-induced immunity. For any population group that isn’t vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease and COVID-19 death – which represents almost everyone since omicron has become dominant – the risk of serious adverse events almost certainly outweighs any benefits. Deception no. 2 can therefore be summarized as follows: Boris Johnson deceived the public when he said boosters were the reason the UK was ready to lift restrictions. One wonders, rhetorically, who put those words in his mouth? I, cynically speaking, just can’t imagine.
We know why.
• Why Was There No Warp Speed for Therapeutics? (Suissa)
When Congress investigates our response to the pandemic, this ought to be the first question: Why was there no Operation Warp Speed for therapeutics, just as there was for vaccines? This question is crucial for the obvious reason that countless lives could have been saved, but also because a warp speed initiative for therapeutics might have minimized the relentless lockdowns and mandates that have devastated and divided our country, not to mention triggered a mental health crisis and forced millions of school children to isolate at home in front of computer screens. A lot may have changed in two years as we’ve learned more about the virus and its variants, but this truth hasn’t changed: We should have treated therapeutics a lot more seriously from the very beginning.
Why didn’t we? Congress must get to the bottom of this, but there are things we already know. For starters, we know the elephant in the room: drug companies make more money with vaccines. That’s just a fact. Whereas vaccines aim for 100 percent of a population and have repeat doses, therapeutics aim only for those who get sick. According to Nature magazine, global sales of COVID vaccines were expected to top $50 billion in 2021. It’s no surprise, then, that the warp speed initiative for vaccines was so speedy—the drug companies had a major financial incentive. We also know that the hyperfocus on vaccines had serious repercussions. Because vaccines prioritize mass protection over treatment, we were urged to protect ourselves at all cost.
This created a climate of fear, making us more willing to accept any public measure or mandate we believed would protect us. Eventually, it made us resentful of anyone who didn’t share our beliefs. Therapeutics nurture caution but not paranoia. You know that even if you get infected, there is a treatment. In recent months, as the health establishment has tried to catch up, more and more doctors have been using different sorts of therapeutics to help treat COVID, using the best data available. Unfortunately, without a massive, concerted and credible effort behind them, therapeutics are still seen as the stepchild to vaccines. This is tragic, because with millions of lives at stake around the world, therapeutics deserve to be at least equal partners. While vaccine efficacy can wane with time, as we’re seeing now with COVID vaccines, therapeutics are precision weapons that have no such limitation.
My precious…
• EU Wants To Keep Vaccine Passports In Place For Another Entire Year (SN)
The unelected bureaucrat governors of the EU in the European Commission have proposed keeping the bloc’s COVID vaccine passport system in place for another entire year, despite the fact that many member countries are ramping down restrictions. In a notice on its website, the Commission states “Today the European Commission is proposing to extend the EU Digital COVID Certificate by a year, until 30 June 2023.” It continues, “The COVID-19 virus continues to be prevalent in Europe and at this stage it is not possible to determine the impact of a possible increase in infections in the second half of 2022 or of the emergence of new variants.”
“Extending the Regulation will ensure that travellers can continue using their EU Digital COVID Certificate when travelling in the EU where Member States maintain certain public health measures,” the statements adds. It continues, “The Commission is adopting the proposal today to make sure the European Parliament and the Council can conclude the legislative procedure in time before the current Regulation expires.” The move comes even as several countries, including Denmark, Norway, Italy, Sweden, France, in addition to non-EU countries such as Switzerland and England move to scrap restrictions including the vaccine passes. The European Commission admits in its statement that it is up to the individual countries whether they carry on using the EU COVID vaccine passport scheme.
“The domestic use of EU Digital COVID Certificates remains a matter for Member States to decide, the statement notes, adding “The EU legislation on the EU Digital COVID Certificate neither prescribes nor prohibits the domestic use of EU Digital COVID Certificate (such as for access to events or restaurants).” It also notes that “At the same time, where a Member State establishes a system of COVID-19 certificate for domestic purposes, it should continue to ensure that the EU Digital COVID Certificate is also fully accepted for those purposes. Beyond that, the Commission also encourages Member States to align their domestic validity periods with the validity period set at EU level for the purpose of travel.”
Google translation from Dutch.
• Broad Support For Petition Puts A Lot Of Pressure On Corona Pass (Tr.)
Immediately abolish the corona ticket because the pass does not work and does not suit the Netherlands. In short, that is the message of a manifesto drawn up by the ‘Undistributed Open’ action group, led by CDA celebrity and former State Secretary Mona Keijzer. The call received support from hundreds of thousands of people over the weekend. The question that arises is: are politicians in The Hague sensitive to such a large movement and does this action herald the end of the QR code? Within 24 hours, the counter was already above 300,000 signatures, the limit that until recently existed to enforce an advisory referendum. By Sunday evening, 480,000 people had put their names to the petition.
The authors of the manifesto are against any form of a corona pass, now and in the future, because they believe that the damage caused by the pass – reduced freedom of movement for many Dutch people and polarization in society – is disproportionate to the marginal gain for public health. The corona ticket is currently mandatory in many places from the age of 13: in the catering industry, the cultural sector and in indoor sports (from 18 years). People get a QR code if they are vaccinated, cured or tested (3G). The manifesto is a logical consequence of a broadened opposition to the corona pass. The QR code has been a controversial subject since its introduction in September last year.
While demonstrations against the regular corona policy last year often did not attract more than a thousand demonstrators, there were 20,000 demonstrators in Amsterdam just before the introduction. Distinguishing between vaccinated and unvaccinated was going too far for many people and there was a lack of good evidence, they said. When the coalition wanted to expand the pass to ‘2G’ at the end of November, whereby unvaccinated people no longer have access, the discussion became sharp. Omikron gave the resistance an extra push: due to the contagiousness of this milder variant, the effect of the pass is very limited, a recent study by TU Delft showed.
Taliban tactics.
• The Revolution Has Come For Joe Rogan (Techno Fog)
The Taliban took back Afghanistan in the late summer of 2021, shortly after the Americans withdrew, tired and weary and broke after nearly 20 years of fighting. They seized control of the country in the broad and particular sense: setting up command in the presidential palace in Kabul and targeting the individuals who criticized the new government. By December 2021, regular Afghans and the members of the Afghan press who had expressed critical views of their new rulers had “been subjected to months of intimidation and fear.” The Biden Administration has adopted these same tactics, calling for their critics to be silenced by the Administration’s corporate and media allies.
After 20 years of trying to export Western values to Afghanistan, they ended up importing Taliban-style repression to the United States. And it only cost us trillions of dollars and thousands of lives. Now, the Regime and its comrades target Joe Rogan, an inquisitive comedian with a podcast. He is accused of spreading “misinformation” by those that illegally spy on their citizens and lies without remorse. In reality, this isn’t about misinformation. It’s that Rogan’s crimes are those of words and thought. They prosecute on behalf of the god they have created, searching to eradicate those guilty of the sin of blasphemy. The Taliban would be proud. We can be certain that the Regime is not concerned with the truth. Have you seen them struggle to explain the “evidence” that Russia was planning a false-flag in Ukraine to justify an invasion?
Or, consider how the COVID-19 misinformation originated from the U.S. government and its bureaucratic arms. In early 2020, Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins were both presented with arguments that SARS-CoV-2 was engineered. Instead of investigating this issue, they saw to it that this theory was killed off. Despite – or perhaps because of – these lies, Fauci and Collins remain dear sons of the Regime. Reminders that “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” (The Christians of the Left – such as David French – even go so far as to say that you have a “spiritual problem” if you don’t trust Fauci and Collins. Both the left and the right make their idols.) They killed the truth before. Who is to say they’re not trying to do that with Rogan?
Apparently we all could, for sharing Covid disinformation.
• Mark Zuckerberg Could Face Jail Time Under New UK Law (RT)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Big Tech executives risk ending up in jail if their social media platforms do not block content deemed harmful under upcoming online safety laws, UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has warned. Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday, Dorries said Zuckerberg, who heads Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and other tech bosses could “absolutely” be put behind bars if they did not comply with the government’s draft Online Safety Bill. She expressed hope that the legislation would be a “notice to the online platforms to say here it is, we’re letting you know what it is now, so start doing what you need to do.”
Under the bill’s proposed ‘duty of care’ regime, communications regulator Ofcom’s powers could jail tech executives for up to two years for failing to remove illegal content, The Telegraph reported. The government had announced on Friday that several new criminal offenses had been added to the bill, including revenge porn, hate crime, fraud, the sale of illegal drugs or weapons, the promotion or facilitation of suicide, people-smuggling, and sexual exploitation. The government claimed that naming these offenses would enable Ofcom to take enforcement action against non-compliant firms more quickly. But Dorries said these platforms “don’t need to wait for the bill” since they “have the powers to [take action] now.”
Once a country is part of Brick and Road, it’s much harder for the CIA to work its magic.
• Trapped in IMF debt, Argentina Turns To Russia And China (Norton)
The United States constantly intervenes in the internal affairs of Latin America, organizing coups d’etat, destabilizing independent governments, trapping nations in debt, and imposing sanctions. Washington sees the region as its own property, with President Joe Biden referring to it this January as “America’s front yard.” Seeking alternatives to US hegemony, progressive governments in Latin America have increasingly looked across the ocean to form alliances with China and Russia. Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández did exactly that this February, taking historic trips to Beijing and Moscow to meet with his counterparts Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
Fernández signed a series of strategic agreements, officially incorporating Argentina into Beijing’s international Belt and Road Initiative, while expanding economic partnerships with the Eurasian powers and telling Moscow that Argentina “should be the door to enter” Latin America. China offered $23.7 billion in funding for infrastructure projects and investments in Argentina’s economy. In the meetings, Fernández also asked for Argentina to join the BRICS framework, alongside Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Xi and Putin reportedly both agreed. “I am consistently working to rid Argentina of this dependence on the IMF and the US,” Fernández explained. “I want Argentina to open up new opportunities.” The Argentine president’s comments and meetings with Putin and Xi reportedly angered the US government.
Fake news.
• Biden Security Advisor Sullivan: Russian Invasion ‘Any Day Now’ (CNBC)
A Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday. “We are in the window,” Sullivan said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “Any day now, Russia could take military action against Ukraine or it could be a couple of weeks from now, or Russia could choose to take the diplomatic path instead.” Sullivan appeared on several morning news programs to discuss the ongoing situation in Eastern Europe. His appearances come after two U.S. officials said Russia has in place about 70% of the combat power it believes it would need for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The number of battalion tactical groups in the border region has risen to 83 from 60 as of Friday and 14 more are in transit, according to Reuters.
“We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine and we have been working hard to prepare a response,” Sullivan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The form of attack could take different forms, Sullivan told NBC. Possible attacks could include annexing Ukraine’s Donbass region, cyberattacks or a full-scale invasion. “Part of the reason we’ve been working so intensively over the last few months is not just to prepare for one contingency but to prepare for all contingencies and to work with our allies and partners on what a response would look like in each of those instances,” Sullivan said. The U.S. and its allies have been clear the nations would act aggressively if Russia launches an attack. The U.S., for example, has threatened severe sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin invades.
The timeline for diplomatic negotiations could be dwindling. “We believe that there is a very distinct possibility that Vladimir Putin will order an attack on Ukraine,” Sullivan said on ABC’s “This Week.”If a full-scale Russian invasion occurs, thousands of civilians and troops could die, according to Reuters. Ukraine could suffer 5,000 to 25,000 troop casualties, the outlet reported, citing a U.S. official. Russia’s troop casualties could be between 3,000 and 10,000, and civilian casualties could range from 25,000 to 50,000, according to U.S. estimates. It would also prompt millions of Ukrainians to be displaced.
Turin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1490253682721574915
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