It’s been almost a quarter century since the Supreme Court of Canada told us that Indigenous oral traditions must be considered “on an equal footing” with other types of historical evidence. Alas, as the attack on famed Canadian filmmaker Michelle Latimer shows, the CBC still hasn’t gotten that memo. Thus does it fall to me to pour my emotional labour into educating the cultural reactionaries who staff our national broadcaster.
EXC: Fauci-Funded Researchers Headlined Wuhan Lab ‘Gain Of Function’ Conference.
The May 2017 event was “co-organized by U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), CAS and Hubei Society for Microbiology.”
According to the Wuhan lab, the event had five academic sessions, the first of which was “gain of function research, gene editing, targeting and delivery and other novel biotechnology.”
Among the Americans in attendance as special guests were Professors Linda Saif, James LeDuc, and David Relman. Together, the three professors have received nearly 200 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with 75 coming from Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
h/t Marvin
FUREY: Michigan’s situation debunks the argument that Ontario’s lockdowns work
The Ontario government and its medical advisors remain committed to the idea that blunt and broad lockdowns not only work but are the reason why the situation is improving throughout the province.
But some infectious diseases experts in the province say evidence out of Michigan — which borders Ontario — calls that argument into question.
Rockets launched from Syria amid Palestinian solidarity riots on borders
Eleven Palestinians were killed as over 5,000 people gathered to protest in the West Bank. Over 150 people were injured in the same protests.
Three rockets were launched from Syria towards Israel on Friday evening amid a number of solidarity riots with the Palestinians amid ongoing escalations between Israel and Hamas, as well as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
One of the rockets failed to launch, falling on the Syrian side of the border. The other two rockets fell in an open space, leading to only open air sirens to be sounded. No injuries were recorded.
The target: The Hamas ‘Metro’ tunnel system in Gaza.
The operation: 160 aircraft, tanks, artillery and infantry units along the border.
We struck 150 targets and damaged many kilometers of the Hamas ‘Metro’ network. pic.twitter.com/otn7JKxB9c
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 14, 2021
The Paranoid Style in Progressive Politics
Its attempts to pathologize every instance of Republican opposition to the Democratic program say much about the Left’s own anxieties.
The other day I found myself staring at this headline in the New York Times: “GOP Focuses on Polarizing Cultural Issues in Drive to Regain Power.” For a moment, I thought the article would, in a commonsense way, explore how Republicans were confronting the polarizing cultural issues that had been created by liberals. That is to say, I thought the article would be about the hardball nature of American politics.
Theories COVID-19 created in lab ‘remain viable’ says group of 18 leading scientists
A group of prominent scientists have agreed not to rule out the possibility that the coronavirus was man-made in a laboratory, pending additional information needed.
Until there is proof that signals otherwise, the theory that COVID-19 got created in a Chinese laboratory and it somehow leaked onto the rest of the world is something to take into serious consideration, the scientists say, Reuters reported.
In its earliest development, the virus was first reported to be in China in 2019, however, like Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Cambridge, said: “More investigation is still needed to determine the origin of the pandemic.”
US officials confirm 130 incidents of mysterious Havana syndrome brain injury
There have been more than 130 incidents of unexplained brain injury known as Havana syndrome among US diplomats, spies and defence officials, some of them within the past few weeks, it has been reported.
The New York Times said three CIA officers had reported serious symptoms since December, following overseas assignments, requiring outpatient treatment at the Walter Reed military hospital in Washington. One episode was within the past two weeks.
The reported number of cases is about 70 more than had previously been acknowledged.
The Realignment: In the Middle East, Biden is finishing what Obama started. And his top advisers are all on board.
…The Realignment rests on, to put it mildly, a hollow theory. It misstates the nature of the Islamic Republic and the scope of its ambitions. A regime that has led “Death to America” chants for the last 40 years is an inveterately revisionist regime. The Islamic Republic sees itself as a global power, the leader of the Muslim world, and it covets hegemony over the Persian Gulf—indeed, the entire Middle East. But the only instrument it has ever had to achieve its objectives is regional subversion.
Longish read making the case for what we all knew or suspected. As under Obama the OK is being given to Mullah hegemony by Biden.
ISIS used chemical weapons on Iraqi prisoners, U.N. investigators find
The Islamic State used Iraqi prisoners as human test subjects in experiments with chemical and possibly biological weapons, United Nations investigators conclude in a report that sheds new light on the terrorist group’s forays into making a weapon of mass destruction.
The previously unknown experiments happened sometime after 2014, when the Islamic State seized control of Mosul and commandeered the city’s main university as a research center for new kinds of weapons, according to the report by a panel appointed by the U.N. Security Council to investigate war crimes by the extremist group. At least some of the prisoners died, the report said.
Germany classifies UK coronavirus risk region due to rise of Indian Variant
The UK has one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world. But the emergence of a highly infectious variant first discovered in India has caused concern.
UK – Indian variant: Second jabs could be brought forward to tackle rise
Second vaccine doses could be brought forward and local restrictions introduced to help tackle the Indian variant in the worst-affected areas, the UK government has said.
Minister Nadhim Zahawi said steps could also include vaccinating younger people in multi-generational households.
Meanwhile, a top scientist has warned lifting restrictions on 21 June is in doubt because of the Indian variant.
Cases in the UK have more than doubled to 1,313, Public Health England said.
Arizona AG Calls On Biden To Fire Harris As Border Czar For ‘Abysmal’ Performance, Ignoring Crisis
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich called on President Joe Biden to replace Vice President Kamala Harris as his “border czar” after weeks of “absolutely abysmal” leadership.
In many countries, including Canada, dissatisfaction with governments’ COVID-19 pandemic response is growing, study finds
A global study involving more than 540,000 people shows that vaccine hesitancy and concerns about safety have declined steadily over the past year, but people in many countries, including Canada, have become more unhappy with how their governments have handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers at Imperial College London have been tracking people in 29 countries since April, 2020, to gauge how the public has responded to the virus. The latest findings, released Friday, showed polling results from 14 countries, including Canada, that have been surveyed most regularly.
Partially vaccinated Canadians can socialize outdoors this summer, Tam says
Canadians who have been vaccinated with one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can socialize with close family and friends outdoors over the summer months, Canada’s chief public health officer said today.
With the vaccine supply ramping up, virtually all Canadians will have access to at least one vaccine dose by June. Dr. Theresa Tam said that extra layer of protection will allow some of the more stringent social distancing measures to be relaxed — but Canadians must continue to avoid indoor gatherings altogether until more people are fully vaccinated.
‘Beavers are just being beavers’: friction grows between Canadians and animals
At first, the theft of wooden fence posts seemed like a crime of opportunity – amid soaring lumber costs, stacks of wood have gone missing from construction sites across North America.
But officers in the Canadian prairie community of Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan, soon identified the culprit: local beavers had stolen the posts to build their dam.
‘Extremists Recruit Openly Without Resistance’: Swedish Researcher Warns of Growth in Islamism
Despite Daesh’s* self-proclaimed “caliphate” having fallen, the threat of Islamism is far from over, Sweden’s leading terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp of the National Defence College has warned.
Furthermore, the security threat against Sweden has increased and is expected to further spike in the next few years, national broadcaster SVT reported.
According to Ranstorp, the current situation, where “extremists recruit openly without resistance”, is largely a product of the authorities’ ham-handed approach and lack of timely measures.