Why it’s time to move on from Covid

The Delta variant may have dashed hopes of herd immunity, but we can still live with the virus.

When will Covid be over?

During the winter and spring the swiftly developed vaccines began to show startling success. Deaths from Covid fell, and severe side effects were rare. The UK rollout was among the most efficient in the world. Matt Hancock’s initial plan, laid out back in January, was to ‘cry freedom’ once the over-50s, the vulnerable and healthcare workers had been vaccinated. But then the goalposts were moved. It was decided that all adults should be offered the vaccine before we properly unlocked. Freedom was delayed and diluted in the meantime.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease"

‘It may never happen’: The $88 billion gamble on the Afghan army that’s going up in smoke

I bet these guys joined to get a cool mask.

The United States spent more than $88 billion to train and equip Afghanistan’s army and police, nearly two-thirds of all of its foreign aid to the country since 2002. So why are they crumbling in the face of the Taliban onslaught?

The breathtaking failure to mold a cohesive and independent Afghan fighting force can be traced to years of overly optimistic assessments from U.S. officials that obscured — and in some cases, purposely hid — evidence of deep-rooted corruption, low morale, and even “ghost soldiers and police” who existed merely on the payrolls of the Afghan Defense and Interior Ministries, according to current and former officials directly involved in the training effort.

h/t PK

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inAfghanistan

Fifth consecutive weekend of protests in France over Covid pass

Protesters took to the streets of France for the fifth consecutive Saturday to oppose the country’s pass sanitaire – health pass – now required for everyday activities.

More than 250,000 people were expected at about 200 demonstrations, an increase in the number that officials said had turned out last week. Protesters have accused the government of underestimating the numbers and playing down support.

The protesters are opposed to the government’s decision to make the pass sanitaire obligatory for restaurants, bars, cinemas, theatres and most public buildings apart from shops. They accuse the government of infringing their civil and personal liberties. A number are also opposed to the vaccination of children; France has been vaccinating the 12-17 age group since May.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease"

Ex-Schoolmate of Hunter Biden Opens Up About First Son’s ‘Degenerate’ Behavior

Hunter Biden, the 51-year-old son of US President Joe Biden, became a trending topic on social media earlier this week after the Daily Mail published a video showing a nude man – presumed to be Hunter – telling a woman that a laptop filled with incriminating evidence was possibly stolen. The 51-year-old has asserted he has “nothing to hide.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Joe Sleazebag Biden"

AOC rips ‘talking inferiority complex’ Tucker Carlson for mocking rape fears

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired back at Tucker Carlson late Friday after the Fox News host mocked her for recently saying that she feared she would be raped during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

In an interview released earlier in the week, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, said that she was scared at the time that pro-Trump rioters might rape or kill her after breaching the Capitol building.

I’M SHOCKED!

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

Sir John A. Macdonald statue toppled in Hamilton park after hundreds attend rally, march

A statue of Sir John A. Macdonald was toppled in a downtown Hamilton park on Saturday after hundreds of people attended a rally and march calling for its removal.

The Hamilton Indigenous Unity rally, organized by members of the local Indigenous community, took place on the front steps of city hall in front of the Hamilton sign.

Good for Hamilton City Council. I think people are fed up with hearing all this “genocide” nonsense.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Cancel Culture"

US Military to Conduct Clinical Trial of Anti-Aging Pill Next Year

Lisa Sanders, director of science and technology for Special Operations Forces, acquisition, technology & logistics (SOF AT&L), told the outlet that SOCOM has completed pre-clinical safety and “dosing studies in anticipation of follow-on performance testing” of the drug, which has the potential to “delay aging” and “prevent onset of injury.”

h/t Marvin

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inmilitary, The Future, USA

How China tried to suppress the lab leak investigation

The dismissal of the lab leak theory back in March 2020 was a huge mistake

The lead figure in the World Health Organization’s work on the origins of COVID-19 has given a remarkable interview to Danish TV. Peter Ben Embarek has revealed just how much political pressure the investigation came under and made clear that he thinks the lab leak hypothesis should not, pace the official report, be dismissed as extremely unlikely.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China - Communist Slave State", "China eats weird animals disease"

Biden’s Afghanistan Predictions Were All Wrong

‘Highly unlikely’ Taliban will overrun Afghanistan, Biden said in July

When President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by a September 11 deadline, the president told reporters in July that it remained “highly unlikely” the Taliban would take control of the country.

“The likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely,” Biden said. “The Afghan government and leadership has to come together. They clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place … there’s not a conclusion that, in fact, they cannot defeat the Taliban.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Joe Sleazebag Biden", Afghanistan

60 years ago, the Berlin Wall went up

The former capital of Hitler’s Third Reich was divided after World War II. But the people of Berlin were still able to move around freely in the city. That is, until August 13, 1961.

“Brandenburg Gate Closed” — that was the headline used by the Associated Press (AP) news agency in the early hours of August 13, 1961, to announce a truly momentous event: the beginning of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Built along the fault line between the East and West, it immediately became a symbol of oppression and division. East Germany’s National People’s Army (NVA) and construction crews loyal to the communist German Democratic Republic, or GDR, were deployed to cut off all access routes to West Berlin, initially in most locations with barbed wire.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inGermany

Researchers Claim Facebook Threatened To Sue Them Unless They Shut Down Project

Researchers studying Instagram’s algorithm said they were forced to shut down their project after Facebook threatened to sue them.

AlgorithmWatch, a German research and advocacy organization, issued a statement Friday alleging Facebook had threatened it with legal action. The group was researching Instagram’s news feed algorithm by recruiting volunteers to install a browser extension that automatically scraped their Instagram newsfeed data.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted infacebook, facebook is evil