NIH: No Documents Available on Removal of ‘Gain-of-Function’ Definition From Website
Epoch TImes – No documents exist explaining why officials decided to remove the definition of “gain-of-function research” from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website, the agency told The Epoch Times.
The NIH site used to include a 232-word definition of the research but it was removed around the same time the agency disclosed that research it funded in China met the definition.
The alteration took place sometime between Oct. 19 and Oct. 21.
The Epoch Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any communications and other documents from between Oct. 1 and Oct. 25 relating to the change, which had been authorized by the NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison.
The request was closed this week. The NIH told The Epoch Times that it “does not have documentation” on the change other than the updated page.
Epoch TImes – California is considering funding abortions for out-of-state women as part of a 45-part proposal to expand abortion accessibility if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The California Future of Abortion Council, started by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and made up of abortion providers and advocacy groups, published recommendations “to protect, strengthen, and expand abortion care in California” in early December. Toni Atkins, the San Diego Democrat who leads the state Senate, helped to develop the recommendations, according to The Associated Press
“We’ll be a sanctuary,” Newsom said, according to ABC News. “We are looking at ways to support that inevitability and looking at ways to expand our protections.”
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, states may have greater latitude to restrict abortions in the first six months of pregnancy. While states like California are expected to continue offering elective abortions into the late stages of pregnancy, Mississippi and other conservative states would likely limit elective abortions.
Senate Blocks Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Private Businesses
Epoch Times – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday narrowly voted to block President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the private sector.
In a 52-48 vote, mainly along party lines, the Senate voted to pass a resolution of disapproval (pdf) of the rule submitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is overseen by the Department of Labor.
All 50 Republicans in the upper chamber joined with Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to challenge the measure under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress to review and, if necessary, overturn new regulations put into place by federal offices such as OSHA.
Two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, joined the Republicans in voting to overturn the vaccine mandate.
Addressing the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) laid out his reasoning for voting against the vaccine mandate.
“Biden’s vaccine mandate—like so many other of the left’s policies—is about power, controlling more aspects of Americans’ lives, & in so doing, eroding Americans’ personal autonomy,” Hagerty said.
It comes after a U.S. appeals court on Nov. 12 rejected a challenge by the Biden administration and reaffirmed its decision to put on hold OSHA sweeping vaccine mandate, which required that businesses with 100 employees or more ensure that workers either be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4, 2022, or be tested weekly and wear a mask.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans stated in an opinion last month that OSHA’s mandate is “staggeringly overbroad” and ordered it to “take no steps to implement or enforce the mandate until further court order.”
The court had previously issued a temporary halt to the mandate on Nov. 6, pending litigation.
Fauci: Definition of Fully Vaccinated Will Be Changed
EpochTimes – The definition of fully vaccinated in the United States will be changed, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.
“It’s going to be a matter of when, not if,” Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during an appearance on CNN.
The term fully vaccinated presently refers to a person who receives two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab.
Fauci previously said the definition could be changed. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—which set the definition—has left open the possibility of changing it.
The definition is used by authorities imposing vaccine mandates across the country, including the federal mandates against healthcare workers and government contractors.
Several of those mandates have been blocked in courts for now due to worries they’re illegal.
Fauci said the timing of the change may be linked to the ongoing cases.
“It has implications for that, and that’s the reason why it matters,” he said.
The CDC did not respond to a request for comment.
Oregon Legislators Seek To Make Indoor Mask Mandate Permanent
Technocracy News – Oregon is moving to making its indoor mask mandate permanent, meaning the rule will only be able to be repealed in the highly unlikely event of Republicans winning the state.
Authorities are progressing in making compulsory face coverings an indefinite mandate and have taken “the first step in making the rule permanent,” reports KATU.
“The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) convened a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) on Thursday. The RAC provided feedback on the indoor mask rule. The point of the committee is to suggest what should and shouldn’t be included in the ruling and discuss the impact it will have on the public.”
“Community stakeholders, including those from the hospitality and faith sectors, joined in the meeting. People from the Seventh Day Adventists Church, the High Desert Museum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and McMenamins were a part of the conversation.”
When the OHA publicly announces its intention to make the rule permanent, a period of public comment will follow, although that is largely meaningless and the mandate is likely to be rubber stamped.
Dr. Paul Cieslak, the medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations with OHA, defended the proposal by ludicrously attempting to argue that permanent doesn’t mean permanent.
“Permanent means indefinite. It doesn’t necessarily mean permanent,” Cieslak said. “We can repeal it as well, but we are only allowed to have a temporary rule for 180 days, and anything that goes beyond 180 days, we cannot extend it.”
In other words, once the mask rule is imposed permanently, it will never be repealed until Republicans win the state, something that hasn’t happened since 1984.
“Bureauweenies say they must make the mandate permanent in order to extend it,” writes Dave Blount. “If they still want to extend it now, why would they ever let it end? Even if Covid ever goes away, there is always the flu — plus, you never know when the ChiComs will oblige them by cooking up a new virus.”
There is still no body of evidence that shows mask mandates significantly stop the spread of COVID-19, with large scale investigations like the Danmask study disproving that premise.
Over 120 Students Hospitalized in Vietnam After Getting Pfizer Vaccine
Epoch Times – More than 120 students in the Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa were hospitalized after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, prompting Thanh Hoa to discontinue the use of that vaccine batch, but continue to vaccinate children with other batches of Pfizer vaccines.
Thanh Hoa has been immunizing children aged 15 to 17 years old since Nov. 30, but over 120 of them have had adverse responses to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 17 of which were severe, the provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC) said on Dec. 2.
The children experienced nausea, high fever, and breathing difficulties, but the cause of their symptoms remains unclear, according to state media Vn Express.
Thanh Hoa CDC director Luong Ngoc Truong said the present vaccine batch has been discontinued and will be stored for adult use in the future.
“We still have other batches, also Pfizer vaccines, so we will continue vaccinating the children,” Luong said.
Director of Ha Trung District General Hospital, Vu Van Chinh, described vaccine-related side effects as “normal” given that children are more prone to experience side effects of the vaccine, but noted that “those who have reactions or faint need to be separated so no chain reaction occurs.”
Meanwhile, three children reportedly died in other districts. A 16-year-old boy in the northern Bac Giang Province and a ninth-grade girl in Hanoi reportedly died on Nov. 28 after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. Two days later, the province of Binh Phuoc reported the death of a 12-year-old boy linked to the same vaccine.
The Health Ministry attributed the deaths to an “overreaction to the vaccine,” claiming that neither the vaccine’s quality nor the vaccination technique was to blame.
How China Controls Your COVID Life
Mercola – The kind of society the technocratic elites are pushing us all toward is one that emulates China’s authoritarian rule, where total submission to government is the only option if you want to live
There’s evidence suggesting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is behind the unscientific denial of the SARS-CoV-2 lab leak theory by mainstream U.S. media
Most U.S. mainstream media have financial ties to the CCP. Scientists working on dangerous gain-of-function experiments also have incentive to protect China from being accused of a lab leak, as they don’t want gain-of-function research to be banned
China also has powerful influence over American businesses, which realize that if the CCP is displeased, it can destroy billion-dollar companies and erase the fortunes of thousands of employees and millions of shareholders
The U.S. is becoming more totalitarian by the day, and many of the incoming changes to society are patterned after the CCP’s iron rule, with round-the-clock digital surveillance, a punishing social credit score and a draconian censorship system that hunts down even the smallest dissenter
Los Angeles School Board Fires 496 Unvaccinated Employees
Breitbart – Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second-largest school district, fired 496 employees on Tuesday for not complying with the district’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.
“Parting ways with individuals who choose not to be vaccinated is an extremely difficult, but necessary decision to ensure the safety of all in our school communities,” said interim Superintendent Megan Reilly. “We wish everyone the best in their future endeavors and encourage everyone to get vaccinated.”
In a unanimous 7-0 decision, the school board voted to terminate 496 employees who did not get vaccinated by the district’s November 15 deadline. These employees likely were on leave since October, when LAUSD employees were required to get their first dose of the vaccine.
Terminated employees may be eligible for reemployment once they become vaccinated, according to the school district.
Parents: Los Angeles Public Schools Vaccinated Children Without Parental Consent, Said Not to Tell
Breitbart – Children at Barack Obama Global Prep Academy in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) were apparently vaccinated against the coronavirus without the consent or knowledge of parents, according to a mother.
“The lady that gave him the shot and signed the paper told my son, ‘Please don’t say anything. I don’t want to get in trouble,’” Maribel Duarte, the mother of a 13-year-old boy who was clandestinely vaccinated, told NBC4.
According to Duarte, her son was offered pizza in exchange for the shot.
But attorney Jennifer Kennedy, who is fighting the school district’s vaccine mandate in court, contends children cannot consent to receiving a vaccine, saying, “you [LAUSD] don’t have the legal authority.”
According to NBC4, “LAUSD says student matters are confidential and wouldn’t comment specifically, but did say its ‘safe schools to safe steps incentive program’ is meant to ensure several steps are in place for vaccinated students to receive prizes.”
Duarte, while being pro-vaccine and vaccinated herself, says she was uncomfortable with the move because her son “has problems with asthma and allergy problems.”
“It hurt to know he got a shot without my permission, without knowing and without signing any papers for him to get the shot,” Duarte told NBC4.
NYC set to approve measure allowing some noncitizens to vote in local elections
CNN – The New York City Council on Thursday is set to approve a measure that will allow for noncitizens who are legal residents to vote in local elections.
Under the bill, individuals who have lived in the city for at least 30 days and are legal permanent residents in the US — including green card holders, individuals with workers permits and DACA holders — will be allowed to vote in city elections, including mayor, public advocate, borough president and city council.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, the prime sponsor of the legislation and an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, told CNN the bill is about championing the issue of “no taxation without representation.”
“If they pay their taxes, they should be able to elect their leaders,” said Rodriguez, who added that his own background as a green card holder from 1983 to 2000 has inspired his push for passage of the bill.
Vulnerable, Moderate Dems Breaking With Biden More Frequently as Midterms Approach
Epoch Times – As the 2022 midterms draw nearer, several Democrats are distancing themselves from President Joe Biden, whose popularity has dwindled since taking office.
At the beginning of Biden’s presidency, congressional Democrats marched largely in lockstep with the president. But as his first year in office approaches its end, that situation has changed drastically.
Still reeling from the public opinion hit incurred by the Afghanistan withdrawal, and faced with ongoing supply chain, inflation, and energy crises, Biden has become far less popular with voters—a fact that has not gone unnoticed by congressional Democrats, who have started to break with Biden more and more frequently.
At the end of May, Biden’s approval rating hit a peak of 55 percent according to Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. This popularity would be short-lived and would fall sharply following Biden’s controversial Afghanistan withdrawal.
On Aug. 9, before the Afghanistan fiasco began, Biden’s approval rate was still at 49 percent. But after the fall of Afghanistan left hundreds of Americans trapped in the country, public support for the president plummeted.
Polling at the time showed that nearly three-fifths of the country—59 percent—felt that the Biden administration was not doing enough to save Americans trapped in the country.
DC Board of Elections Sued for Keeping Voter Data Secret
Epoch Times – A good-government group is suing the District of Columbia in federal court for refusing to allow the inspection of voter list maintenance records as required by federal law.
The D.C. Board of Elections claims it can’t provide the voter list maintenance documents because of its contract with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit that describes its mission as “assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens.” ERIC was created in 2012 with assistance from The Pew Charitable Trusts, a left-wing philanthropy.
The board says its contract with ERIC prohibits the release of the data ERIC provides to member states.
The District of Columbia, along with 31 states, outsources the maintenance of its voter rolls to ERIC. ERIC regularly provides the district board with reports showing which registered voters are no longer eligible because they have died or relocated. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 says that all records used to add or remove voters are public records, yet the board denied a group’s request to inspect the reports ERIC provides to the board.
According to the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), which brought this lawsuit, ERIC has a history of inaccuracy in removing deceased and other ineligible registrants from voter rolls.
“ERIC is being used to hide decisions about who gets to vote and who is removed from the rolls,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams, a former U.S. Justice Department civil rights attorney.
“Transparency in elections leads to trust in results and accountability for election officials. ERIC and its agreement with the District of Columbia is standing in the way of transparency and violating federal law.”
ERIC also has critics on the political left.
Cost Of War: Excess Deaths Soaring Despite Mass Injections
Technocracy News – In the week ending November 12, 2021, the U.K. reported 2,047 more deaths than occurred during the same period between 2015 and 2019; heart disease and strokes appear to be behind many of the excess deaths
> In the last 13 weeks alone, about 107,700 seniors died above the normal rate, despite a 98.7% injection rate
> In Vermont, where the majority are also injected, excess deaths are the highest they’ve been since before the pandemic
> An investigation using official data from NHS and the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that deaths among teenagers increased 47% since they started getting COVID-19 shots
> Deaths from COVID-19 also went up among 15- to 19-year-olds after the shots were rolled out for this age group
> Even with mass injections and some receiving two and even three shots in their arm, excess deaths are rising
FBI Can Collect WhatsApp Metadata in 15 Minutes: Document
Document reveals the speed and scope with which agents can obtain information
Epoch Times – The FBI has the ability to see some of the contents of iMessage and collect metadata from WhatsApp in as little as 15 minutes, according to a recently published internal bureau document.
First published in November by nonprofit organization Property of the People following a Freedom of Information Act request, the document contains an infographic showing the FBI’s ability to lawfully access secure messaging app content and metadata.
While the FBI’s collection of messaging and call data has been well-known for years, the new document reveals the speed and scope with which agents can obtain such information—particularly with Facebook/Meta’s WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage apps.
According to the document, WhatsApp provides the FBI with metadata every 15 minutes in response to a “pen register”—a surveillance request that provides the agency with the source and destination of each message for a targeted individual. Other messaging platforms—including iMessage, Signal, Telegram, and WeChat—provide logs of latent data, according to the document.
The document also states that the FBI can obtain “limited” content from iMessage. Apple encrypts iMessage, although not the backups for it in the cloud—unlike WhatsApp, which started offering encryption for backups in September.
The New Normal: Biometrics Seen As Future Of Airline Travel
Technocracy News – If it’s been a year or more since you traveled, particularly internationally, you may notice something different at airports in the United States: More steps — from checking a bag to clearing customs — are being automated using biometrics.
Biometrics are unique individual traits, such as fingerprints, that can be used to automate and verify identity. They promise both more security and efficiency in moving travelers through an airport where, at steps from check-in to boarding, passengers are normally required to show government-issued photo identification.
In the travel hiatus caused by the pandemic, many airports, airlines, tech companies and government agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and United States Customs and Border Protection continued to invest in biometric advancements. The need for social distancing and contactless interactions only added to the urgency.
“The technologies have gotten much more sophisticated and the accuracy rate much higher,” said Robert Tappan, the managing director for the trade group International Biometrics + Identity Association, who called the impetus to ease crowds and reduce contact through these instruments “COVID-accelerated.”
Many of the latest biometric developments use facial recognition, which the National Institute of Standards and Technology recently found is at least 99.5 percent accurate, rather than iris-scanning or fingerprints.
“Iris-scanning has been touted as the most foolproof,” said Sherry Stein, the head of technology in the Americas for SITA, a Switzerland-based biometrics tech company. “For biometrics to work, you have to be able to match to a known trusted source of data because you’re trying to compare it to a record on file. The face is the easiest because all the documents we use that prove your identity — driver’s licenses, passports etc. — rely on face.”
Shortly after 9/11, Congress mandated an entry and exit system using biometric technology to secure U.S. borders. Some travelers have expressed concerns about privacy, and while companies and agencies using the technology say they do not retain the images, the systems largely rely on willing travelers who agree to their use.
“Privacy is a major concern, as it should be, so most of these programs are going to be opt-in, and the government is trying to grow that pre-vetted audience,” said Jason Van Sice, the vice president of aviation in the Advanced Recognition Systems Division of NEC Corporation of America, which has been working in biometrics since 1971. He added that the loss of business during the pandemic pushed airlines and airports to automate as a cost-saving measure. “That’s really driven a digital transformation that was already underway.”
There are signs that the pandemic may be advancing biometric acceptance. In its recently released 2021 passenger survey, the International Air Transport Association found that 73 percent of passengers are willing to share their biometric data to improve airport processes, up from 46 percent in 2019.
Some of the embrace of biometrics may come from its everyday applications, such as using facial recognition to open your phone or to access your banking app.
New Zealand to ban smoking for next generation in bid to outlaw habit by 2025
Guardian – New Zealand has announced it will outlaw smoking for the next generation, so that those who are aged 14 and under today will never be legally able to buy tobacco.
New legislation means the legal smoking age will increase every year, to create a smoke-free generation of New Zealanders, associate health minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said on Thursday.
“This is a historic day for the health of our people,” she said.
The government announced the rising age alongside other measures to make smoking unaffordable and inaccessible, to try to reach its goal of making the country entirely smoke-free within the next four years. Other measures include reducing the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products to very low levels, cutting down the shops where cigarettes could legally be sold, and increasing funding to addiction services. The new laws will not restrict vape sales.
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offence to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth. People aged 14 when the law comes into effect will never be able to legally purchase tobacco,” Verrall said.
More Stories
Today’s News: April 25, 2024
Today’s News: April 24, 2024
Today’s News: April 23, 2024