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A Tale Of Two COVID Narratives

A Tale Of Two COVID Narratives

Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

This is a double list from longtime Automatic Earth regular commenter ‘TAE Summary’, posted in yesterday’s Debt Rattle thread. It’s too useful, and nice, and well-done, to leave it there, it should -and deserves to- be seen by more people…

The Mainstream Narrative

– It is not known where Covid 19 originated but the most likely origin is the transmission from an animal to humans

– Covid 19 has killed 600K people in the US

– Trump botched the Covid 19 response costing many lives

– Many deaths were preventable if we’d tested, masked, tracked and locked down better

– Vaccines are good and have eradicated polio, measles, whooping cough and other diseases

– Vaccines against Covid 19 are safe and effective and have saved many lives with only minor, acceptable adverse reactions

– There are no effective treatments for Covid 19 besides the vaccines

– Covid is spread by droplets and aerosols from infected people, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, and can be spread through momentary casual contact both indoors and outdoors

– Children and young adults are at risk form Covid 19 and can spread the disease and should take the same precautions and measures as adults

– We need to do whatever it takes to defeat Covid 19 including frequent testing, mass vaccination, continued lockdowns and wearing masks

– The best information comes from the CDC, FDA and NIH

– The mainstream media warns us of the dangers of Covid 19 but unfortunately many do not take these warnings seriously

– As usual, conspiracy theorists and nut-jobs abound

– Antivaxxers are against all vaccines and now also against the Covid 19 vaccines

– Antivaxxers have believed phony information disseminated by scurrilous, right wing charlatans

– These people cost many lives and are the reason Covid still spreads and mutates

– They are responsible for continued lockdowns and the further decimation of the economy

– They are selfish, evil and anti-science

– The Covid 19 response is all about trying to get us back to normal as quickly as possible

The Counter Narrative

– Covid 19 was most likely created in a lab in China or the US

– Covid 19 kills people but far fewer than the official count

– Almost all officials in government have botched the Covid 19 response, costing many lives

– Most deaths were preventable if we had investigated and deployed early treatments including vitamin D, zinc, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin

– Vaccines are good and have eradicated polio, measles, whooping cough and other diseases

– The Covid 19 vaccines however are not actually vaccines but gene therapy and have not been adequately tested

– The Covid 19 vaccines have serious side effects including death and other as yet unknown consequences which are not being investigated and are suppressed by the media

– We need to defeat Covid 19 and the best way to do this is through early outpatient treatment with known, effective drugs and known drug protocols for hospitalized patients

– Covid 19 is primarily spread by aerosols from symptomatic and pre-symptomatic people, mostly in indoor situations with poor ventilation where peoples spend a long time together

– Children and young adults are at low risk from Covid 19 and need take fewer precautions and measures but should be treated with drug protocols if infected

– Masks, distancing and lockdowns are mostly ineffective

– The best information comes from front line doctors who actually treat patients and experienced researchers who have no financial interest in big pharma

– The CDC, FDA and NIH are largely compromised because of their association with and funding by drug companies

– The mainstream media is also compromised by their association with big pharma and the government

– The truth about Covid 19 is suppressed and labeled conspiracy theory in order to support the mainstream narrative

– People who insist that the vaccines are the only way to fight Covd 19 have believed lies told to them by the MSM from big pharma and a corrupt medical establishment

– The vaccine narrative has cost many lives and ineffective vaccines are responsible for the continued spread and mutation of Covid 19

– The fallacious mainstream narrative is responsible for all lock downs and the decimation of the economy

– The people who push the mainstream narrative are evil and anti-science; The people who believe this narrative are naive, dogmatic and anti-science

– The Covid 19 response is all about money, power and control

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/27/2021 – 16:40

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3f0ZOhg Tyler Durden

On Paper, Biden Is Ending the U.S. Combat Mission in Iraq. He’s Actually Leaving American Troops in Danger.


zumaamericastwentysix215535

In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq would draw to a close by the year’s end. At face value, the move sounds much like Biden’s push to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by August 31.

But the devil’s in the details, and a closer look reveals that these troops won’t be leaving Iraq. Rather, the Pentagon and other administration officials say they will remove a small number of the 2,500 American soldiers in Iraq, and will reclassify on paper the roles of those who remain. They won’t be fighting anymore; they’ll be “training and advising” the Iraqi Security Forces. When quizzed, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wouldn’t say how many American troops would stay in Iraq—signaling that there may not even be a meaningful drawdown, let alone a full departure.

What could’ve been a promising end to another bloody theater of U.S. involvement in the Middle East is actually an anticlimactic maintenance of the status quo. Held against Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, the Iraq option seems even less sensible. If the president feels it’s time for Afghans “to decide their future and how they want to run their country,” and if he questions the sense in leaving American troops in Afghanistan where their lives are at risk, why isn’t he applying that logic to Iraq?

Dan Caldwell, senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America and himself a veteran of the Iraq War, says an American troop presence in Iraq “is not required for our safety or conditions or prosperity,” nor will it “fundamentally alter the direction in which Iraq is heading.”

American troops began fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2014, leading to the group’s territorial defeat in 2019. The New York Times reports that U.S. officials maintain “there are no combat troops” in Iraq, but concede that “a small number of U.S. Special Operations Forces serving as advisers and trainers occasionally accompany Iraqi counterterrorism forces on combat missions against Islamic State fighters.” Beyond this, proponents of involvement say the U.S. needs to counter the threats of Iran and Iran-backed militias. The mission isn’t yet over, and the U.S. has invested so much money and manpower up to this point, so it’s too soon for American forces to fully depart. So goes the forever war logic, and so goes the justification for staying entangled in Iraqi affairs.

Caldwell notes that leaving American boots on the ground, no matter the capacity they nominally fill, means putting them in harm’s way. “American service members in Iraq will still likely be attacked frequently by rockets fired by Iraqi militias,” he says, which “will not…make the distinction between combat and non-combat troops and will continue to view American forces in the country as easy targets.”

“When I left Iraq from Al Asad Airbase in 2009,” Caldwell continues, “the feeling was that the war was over and that we would not be in the country much longer. However, 12 years later, there are still American troops at Al Asad and they are under frequent attack.”

Rockets hit the base in early July, proving that maintaining even a small U.S. troop presence in Iraq—reduced drastically from a December 2007 peak of 170,000 soldiers—carries risks. Though no American soldiers were injured or killed in that attack, it’s only a matter of time before they are. Those lives are just as worth preserving as the troops coming home from Afghanistan, even if on paper they’re not engaged in combat. To hostile parties in the Middle East, that distinction will mean nothing.

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WTI Extends Intraday Rebound After Bigger Than Expected Crude, Gasoline Draws

WTI Extends Intraday Rebound After Bigger Than Expected Crude, Gasoline Draws

Oil prices ended relatively unchanged today, despite some significant swings intraday as investors worried that global demand could be dented by surging COVID-19 cases, even though supplies are tightening and vaccination rates rising.

“The API inventory data may jolt crude prices back into life,” said Craig Erlam, senior analyst at OANDA.

API

  • Crude -4.728mm (-2.55mm exp)

  • Cushing -126k

  • Gasoline -6.226mm

  • Distillates -1.882mm

Despite last week’s surprise build, analysts expected crude to resume its series of inventory draws in the last week. Both crude and gasoline stocks saw a bigger than expected inventory drawdown…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI was hovering around $71.80 ahead of the API data and rallied from there on the big draw…

“The problem right now seems to be the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is holding the market back even though all the evidence right now suggests a dramatic tightening of supplies,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

He said that tightness otherwise should cause prices to “break out to the upside.”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/27/2021 – 16:35

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3zJotyY Tyler Durden

Town Drops Obscenity Case Against New Jersey Homeowner for ‘Fuck Biden’ Signs


fuck biden

A New Jersey homeowner is no longer facing obscenity charges for refusing to take down signs from her property that said “Fuck Biden.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) announced today that a state superior court has dismissed obscenity charges against Patricia Dilascio, a resident of Roselle Park, New Jersey, at the request of the town. As Reason reported last week, a Roselle Park municipal court judge had ordered Dilascio to take down three flags from her property that said “fuck Biden,” finding that they violated the town’s obscenity ordinance. She faced fines of $250 a day for not complying.

The ordinance defines obscenity as anything that “appeals to the prurient interest; depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct as hereinafter specifically defined, or depicts or exhibits offensive nakedness as hereinafter specifically defined; and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

The judge’s order was roundly condemned by free speech advocates, who pointed to the Supreme Court’s landmark 1971 ruling in Cohen v. California. In that case, the Court upheld a man’s right to wear a jacket that said “fuck the draft” into a courthouse, making it clear that the First Amendment protects political expression even when it’s profane or offensive.

For example, police in Liberty, New York, arrested Willian Barboza in 2012 and charged him with 2nd-degree aggravated harassment for scrawling “fuck your shitty town bitches” on a speeding ticket. A judge later dismissed the charges, finding that Barboza was exercising his protected First Amendment rights.

Dilascio, represented by the ACLU of New Jersey, appealed the order to take down her anti-Biden flags, and the politically charged small-town kerfuffle in Roselle Park ended up being covered in The New York Times. The reaction was apparently enough that the town filed an application with a state superior court to voluntarily dismiss the charges, which the court granted.

“The continued attention garnered by the inappropriate display and the escalating costs to the taxpayers of continuing to litigate the matter causes far greater harm to the Borough, as a whole, than good,” the town said in a statement.

The ACLU of New Jersey applauded the town’s decision to drop the fight.

“The First Amendment exists specifically to make sure people can express strong opinions on political issues—or any other matter—without fear of punishment by the government,” ACLU-NJ executive director Amol Sinha said in a press release. “Today’s decision confirms that our position was correct: Roselle Park had no grounds to issue fines for a political sign and the town’s use of its obscenity ordinance infringed upon fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment. It was an uncomplicated case.”

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On Paper, Biden Is Ending the U.S. Combat Mission in Iraq. He’s Actually Leaving American Troops in Danger.


zumaamericastwentysix215535

In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq would draw to a close by the year’s end. At face value, the move sounds much like Biden’s push to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by August 31.

But the devil’s in the details, and a closer look reveals that these troops won’t be leaving Iraq. Rather, the Pentagon and other administration officials say they will remove a small number of the 2,500 American soldiers in Iraq, and will reclassify on paper the roles of those who remain. They won’t be fighting anymore; they’ll be “training and advising” the Iraqi Security Forces. When quizzed, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wouldn’t say how many American troops would stay in Iraq—signaling that there may not even be a meaningful drawdown, let alone a full departure.

What could’ve been a promising end to another bloody theater of U.S. involvement in the Middle East is actually an anticlimactic maintenance of the status quo. Held against Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, the Iraq option seems even less sensible. If the president feels it’s time for Afghans “to decide their future and how they want to run their country,” and if he questions the sense in leaving American troops in Afghanistan where their lives are at risk, why isn’t he applying that logic to Iraq?

Dan Caldwell, senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America and himself a veteran of the Iraq War, says an American troop presence in Iraq “is not required for our safety or conditions or prosperity,” nor will it “fundamentally alter the direction in which Iraq is heading.”

American troops began fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2014, leading to the group’s territorial defeat in 2019. The New York Times reports that U.S. officials maintain “there are no combat troops” in Iraq, but concede that “a small number of U.S. Special Operations Forces serving as advisers and trainers occasionally accompany Iraqi counterterrorism forces on combat missions against Islamic State fighters.” Beyond this, proponents of involvement say the U.S. needs to counter the threats of Iran and Iran-backed militias. The mission isn’t yet over, and the U.S. has invested so much money and manpower up to this point, so it’s too soon for American forces to fully depart. So goes the forever war logic, and so goes the justification for staying entangled in Iraqi affairs.

Caldwell notes that leaving American boots on the ground, no matter the capacity they nominally fill, means putting them in harm’s way. “American service members in Iraq will still likely be attacked frequently by rockets fired by Iraqi militias,” he says, which “will not…make the distinction between combat and non-combat troops and will continue to view American forces in the country as easy targets.”

“When I left Iraq from Al Asad Airbase in 2009,” Caldwell continues, “the feeling was that the war was over and that we would not be in the country much longer. However, 12 years later, there are still American troops at Al Asad and they are under frequent attack.”

Rockets hit the base in early July, proving that maintaining even a small U.S. troop presence in Iraq—reduced drastically from a December 2007 peak of 170,000 soldiers—carries risks. Though no American soldiers were injured or killed in that attack, it’s only a matter of time before they are. Those lives are just as worth preserving as the troops coming home from Afghanistan, even if on paper they’re not engaged in combat. To hostile parties in the Middle East, that distinction will mean nothing.

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Microsoft Shares Slide Despite Top- & Bottom-Line Beat

Microsoft Shares Slide Despite Top- & Bottom-Line Beat

Microsoft shares are sliding after hours despite a top- and bottom-line beat…

  • *MICROSOFT 4Q REV. $46.15B, EST. $44.26B (up 21%)

  • *MICROSOFT 4Q EPS $2.17, EST. $1.92 (up 49%)

“We are innovating across the technology stack to help organizations drive new levels of tech intensity across their business,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft.

“Our results show that when we execute well and meet customers’ needs in differentiated ways in large and growing markets, we generate growth, as we’ve seen in our commercial cloud – and in new franchises we’ve built, including gaming, security, and LinkedIn, all of which surpassed $10 billion in annual revenue over the past three years.”

“As we closed out the fiscal year, our sales teams and partners delivered a strong quarter with over 20% top and bottom-line growth, highlighted by commercial bookings growth of 30% year over year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. “Our commercial cloud revenue grew 36% year over year to $19.5 billion.”

And under the hood things looked positive, beating expectations…

  • Productivity and Business Processes revenue  14.69 billion, estimate $13.97 billion

  • Intelligent Cloud revenue $17.38 billion, estimate $16.43 billion

  • More Personal Computing revenue $14.09 billion, estimate $13.87 billion

But the hardware side appears to have spooked investors (although these are more secondary to Azure):

  • *Microsoft 4Q Surface Revenue Down 20%

  • *Microsoft 4Q Windows OEM Revenue Down 3%

  • *Microsoft 4Q Xbox Content and Services Revenue Down 4%

Sending the stocks down over 3% after hours…

Microsoft did not share a forecast in its release, as executives typically share their guidance in the company’s conference call, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Eastern time and is typically a secondary catalyst for the stock in the extended session after earnings are released.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/27/2021 – 16:15

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3BLahHn Tyler Durden

The CDC Wants Vaccinated Americans To Wear Masks Again


zumaamericasthirtyone772401

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will once again recommend masks for vaccinated Americans under certain circumstances, even though the odds of a vaccinated person transmitting COVID-19 to someone else remain exceedingly low.

The new guidance, issued by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday afternoon, also instructs school districts to require masks of all students, teachers, and staff members when classes resume in the fall.

Walensky said these decisions were made because the delta variant of COVID-19 is somewhat more transmissible than the other strains.

“Information from other states and countries shows that in rare cases some vaccinated people may be contagious and spread the virus to others,” said Walensky. “This new science is worrisome and unfortunately warrants an update to our recommendations.”

Unsurprisingly, this new recommendation is excessively cautious to the point of absurdity. Note that the vaccines still hold up remarkably well against the delta variant in terms of preventing severe disease and death. They also substantially reduce infection rates and transmissibility. But what the CDC has found is that when rare, breakthrough infections do occur, delta’s viral load is high enough that a vaccinated person could potentially transmit the virus—probably not to another vaccinated person (who is extremely protected, in any case), but to an unvaccinated person.

The government is essentially saying that vaccinated people must resume indoor mask-wearing, not because the delta variant poses any danger to them or their vaccinated friends and family members, but because the minority of the country that stubbornly refuses to get vaccinated is at risk. (Note as well that the most at-risk group, senior citizens, have extremely high vaccination rates; the least vaccinated group, young children, are exceedingly unlikely to suffer death from COVID-19.)

It is hard to see how this new guidance is fair to the vaccinated, who have thus far done everything that was asked of them. Masks and other social distancing requirements were supposed to be temporary measures—remember “two weeks to slow the spread”?—until the vaccines were available. Federal health bureaucrats cannot perpetually deprive people of their rights in the name of public health.

The cure for the pandemic is here, and if people won’t take advantage of it in order to keep themselves safe, at some point—like, now—that’s on them, not the already vaccinated.

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Stocks, Dollar, & Bond Yields Tumble After Beijing Bloodbath, Mask-Mandate Miasma

Stocks, Dollar, & Bond Yields Tumble After Beijing Bloodbath, Mask-Mandate Miasma

What a shitshow! All the narratives are breaking (tech’s not a bubble, growth to the moon alice, and vaccines work)…

Between China Tech’s trouncing and the China virus’ reemergence driving American ‘health’ officials to reinstate mask mandates, the recipe for derisking and growth scares was set.

More China pain overnight prompted total carnage in the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, which is now down 50% from its highs…

Source: Bloomberg

Spread to US markets amid rumors of a “Asia-focused fund in trouble”. Markets did their usual magical levitation back after around 1330ET..

Source: Bloomberg

 Cyclicals were slammed as defensives maintained modest gains today…

Source: Bloomberg

VIX rose back above 19 today as China’s chaos spread to FX vol and could mean more trouble ahead…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar took a dive too today…

Source: Bloomberg

As did Yuan, plunging to 3-month lows…

Source: Bloomberg

Bonds were bid (the chart shows the double pump from China and then the mask mandate rumors)…

Source: Bloomberg

10Y yields fell back below 1.25% again…

Source: Bloomberg

Real yields tumbled to yet another record (negative) low, decoupling from gold for now…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold oscillated around $1800 once again…

Oil prices ended lower today and like gold, choipped around wildly…

Bitcoin rallied back from last night’s Amazon-driven tumble, back above $38,000…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, here is why the CDC just re-engaged their mask mandate!! No one is f**king dying!!!

Source: Bloomberg

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/27/2021 – 16:01

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3f0Hogw Tyler Durden

The CDC Wants Vaccinated Americans To Wear Masks Again


zumaamericasthirtyone772401

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will once again recommend masks for vaccinated Americans under certain circumstances, even though the odds of a vaccinated person transmitting COVID-19 to someone else remain exceedingly low.

The new guidance, issued by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday afternoon, also instructs school districts to require masks of all students, teachers, and staff members when classes resume in the fall.

Walensky said these decisions were made because the delta variant of COVID-19 is somewhat more transmissible than the other strains.

“Information from other states and countries shows that in rare cases some vaccinated people may be contagious and spread the virus to others,” said Walensky. “This new science is worrisome and unfortunately warrants an update to our recommendations.”

Unsurprisingly, this new recommendation is excessively cautious to the point of absurdity. Note that the vaccines still hold up remarkably well against the delta variant in terms of preventing severe disease and death. They also substantially reduce infection rates and transmissibility. But what the CDC has found is that when rare, breakthrough infections do occur, delta’s viral load is high enough that a vaccinated person could potentially transmit the virus—probably not to another vaccinated person (who is extremely protected, in any case), but to an unvaccinated person.

The government is essentially saying that vaccinated people must resume indoor mask-wearing, not because the delta variant poses any danger to them or their vaccinated friends and family members, but because the minority of the country that stubbornly refuses to get vaccinated is at risk. (Note as well that the most at-risk group, senior citizens, have extremely high vaccination rates; the least vaccinated group, young children, are exceedingly unlikely to suffer death from COVID-19.)

It is hard to see how this new guidance is fair to the vaccinated, who have thus far done everything that was asked of them. Masks and other social distancing requirements were supposed to be temporary measures—remember “two weeks to slow the spread”?—until the vaccines were available. Federal health bureaucrats cannot perpetually deprive people of their rights in the name of public health.

The cure for the pandemic is here, and if people won’t take advantage of it in order to keep themselves safe, at some point—like, now—that’s on them, not the already vaccinated.

from Latest – Reason.com https://ift.tt/2UYvywF
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The Overall Mood In The US Grows More Pessimistic

The Overall Mood In The US Grows More Pessimistic

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows most disapprove of Biden’s handling of gun violence, immigration, and crime…

A new Ipos Poll shows support for Biden is crumbling in several areas. 

Key Findings

  • Currently, 45% are optimistic about where the country is headed over the next year, while 55% are pessimistic.

  • This marks a nearly 20-point decline in optimism from late April, the last time this question was asked. At that time, 64% were optimistic about the year ahead.

  • A majority approve of Biden’s handling of the pandemic, economic recovery, and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. However, Biden’s approval rating on handling the pandemic is now nine percentage points lower than at the end of March; his standing on the economic recovery is seven points lower over the same time period.

  • Overall, slightly more than a third of Americans approve of the way the president is handling crime (39%), immigration and the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border (37%), and gun violence (37%).

  • On these three issues, just over one in three independents approve of the job Biden is doing, while he receives positive marks from only around one in ten Republicans.

  • Growing pessimism is happening across all age groups, income levels, educational attainment, and partisan affiliation.

Midterm Election Key

Independents will hold the key as to how well Democrats do in the midterm elections. 

The incumbent party normally loses seats and Democrats have no seats to spare in the Senate and only 4 seats to spare in the House.

A loss of 5 seats (assuming the vacancies split 2-2) would cost Nancy Pelosi he job as House Speaker.

It would also kill any chances of Biden passing further legislation regardless of what happens in the Senate.

And if Republicans gain control of the House expect a deep investigation into Hunter Biden.

For now, independents as a group are undoubtedly upset at the strong Socialist turn by the Democrats.

Stagflation Threat 

Yesterday I noted The Stagflation Threat is Very Real but Congress Holds the Key

Here is the key question: Are Manchin, Sinema, and Tester On Board Biden’s $3.5 Trillion Socialist Express?

Meanwhile, the Progressives are pushing for even more. Bernie Sanders is back with more demands.

The problem for all of us is that if Congress does pass this monster socialist program, it will be impossible to undo.

Biden will hold veto power even if the Republicans take the House and Senate.

*  *  *

Like these reports? I hope so, and if you do, please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/27/2021 – 15:40

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3BPljLW Tyler Durden