AIPAC cancels 2022 conference citing COVID concerns

As the Delta variant is spreading across the globe, many organizations are scaling back their in-person events to avoid a possible future restriction.

WASHINGTON – Last month, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] announced that it will not hold its annual policy conference in 2022, citing concerns over COVID.

“We hoped that by now we would have had greater certainty, more clarity, and the definitive answers needed to determine whether we can safely host a Policy Conference in Washington, DC in 2022,” AIPAC president Betsy Korn wrote to AIPAC members.

This will be the second year in a row the pro-Israel group has canceled its annual policy conference. Last May, as the US was in the middle of the first wave of the pandemic, the organization announced it would cancel the 2021 conference, traditionally held in March. According to the AIPAC source familiar with the discussion, the decision was made because it was “not practical to plan the event a few months in advance as the Delta variant is spreading.”

Last week, JTA reported that The Jewish Federations of North America canceled the in-person portion of its signature annual event, the General Assembly, citing the coronavirus. The event will instead take place in an online setting.

And next month, when the UN General Assembly will take place in New York, the American Jewish Committee will hold its traditional “diplomatic marathon,” a series of some 80 meetings with foreign leaders, in a “hybrid” way: some will take place in person, but most of the conversation will remain virtual.

As the Delta variant is spreading across the globe, many organizations are scaling back their in-person events to avoid a possible future restriction. How has it affected the Jewish organizations’ advocacy efforts?

Jason Isaacson is the Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer for the American Jewish Committee (AJC). He told The Jerusalem Post that the organization adapted very early on to the online environment. ”We’ve had hundreds, literally hundreds of webinars, public broadcasts, but also for various insiders groups. We’ve ramped up significantly our social media presence over the course of the pandemic. We have conducted periodic meetings with senior government officials in the US and worldwide.”

“We have had occasional in-person meetings on a fairly regular basis, very carefully, sometimes outdoors, sometimes socially distant in embassies or in the agency office,” he continued. “But we’ve been extremely careful and I would say that the Delta variant

makes us even more careful.”

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/aipac-cancels-2022-conference-citing-covid-concerns-676585

Scientist arrested in Moscow on suspicion of data transfer to foreign special services

The Lefortovo Court of Moscow has ruled to choose custody for Alexander Kuranov until October 9, 2021

MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Moscow’s Lefortovo Court has issued a warrant to remand in custody for two months the CEO and chief designer of the Scientific Research Enterprise of Hypersonic Systems Alexander Kuranov detained in a high treason criminal case, the court told TASS on Thursday.

"The Lefortovo Court of Moscow has ruled to choose custody for a term of one month and 28 days, i.e. until October 9, 2021 as a measure of restraint for Kuranov suspected of committing a crime stipulated under Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code," the court’s spokeswoman said.

As a source in the law-enforcement agencies specified for TASS, investigators of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) conducted searches at the places of the scientist’s residence and stay in St. Petersburg and accompanied him to Moscow for choosing a measure of restraint. According to the source’s data, Kuranov is suspected of passing over scientific research data to foreign special services.

The FSB has not yet pressed official charges against Kuranov.

As the data of open sources suggest, Kuranov is a Doctor of Technical Sciences and a professor of the chair of control systems and technologies at the St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, the CEO and chief designer of the Scientific Research Enterprise of Hypersonic Systems within the Leninets Group. He engaged in scientific technologies related to hydrocarbon fuel in aircraft.

https://tass.com/society/1325261

Abbott rips White House, says Texas can help with oil production if Biden admin will 'stay out of the way'

'Don’t make us dependent on foreign sources of energy,' Abbott wrote.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, ripped the White House on Wednesday, saying Texas can help reduce the price of gasoline by producing more oil if the Biden administration will "just stay out of the way."

Abbott posted a short open letter to the White House on Twitter Wednesday, touting that Texas could help bring down the price of gas by producing oil domestically.

"Texas can do this," Abbott wrote. "Our producers can easily produce that oil if your Administration will just stay out of the way."

The Texas governor called on the Biden administration to allow "American workers — not OPEC — [to] produce the oil that can reduce the price of gasoline."

"Don’t make us dependent on foreign sources of energy," Abbott added.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/greg-abbott-biden-white-house-texas-oil

FARRELL: The Border Crisis/COVID Spike Connection

The COVID-19 crisis and the border crisis are now tightly connected, but don’t count on the Biden administration admitting there’s a problem.

Last week, President Joe Biden accused Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of contributing to the renewed pandemic emergency by getting in the way of “people who are trying to do the right thing.”

DeSantis responded that he is only standing in the way of those trying to “deny kids a proper in-person education” and “restrict people and impose mandates and ruin their jobs and livelihood.” DeSantis added that Biden should do his job to secure the border, and “until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about COVID from you.”

When told of the DeSantis riposte Biden shot back, “Governor who?” The comment was meant to be snarky, but with our fuzzy-headed chief executive you have to wonder if maybe he really didn’t know.

Biden claimed that Florida and Texas account for “one-third of all new COVID-19 cases in the entire country.” But he failed to make the obvious linkage between the rise in disease rates and the dramatic influx of infected illegal immigrants in these two states.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/in-the-news/border-crisis-covid-spike/

>>14336619

Detained scientist Alexander Kuranov is a suspect in high treason case — court

The FSB’s request will be considered in the near future

MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Russia’s federal security service FSB has not yet brought formal charges against the detained CEO of the open joint stock company Scientific-Research Enterprise of Hypersonic Systems, Alexander Kuranov, in a high treason case.

The press-service of Moscow’s Lefortovo court has told TASS that Kuranov, who is also the company’s chief designer, has the status of a suspect.

"Alexander A. Kuranov, whom the investigation wants to be put under arrest, has the status of a suspect," the court’s press-secretary Anastasiya Romanova said without elaborating. The FSB’s request will be considered in the near future.

According to open sources, Alexander Kuranov, is a doctor of technical sciences, professor of the control systems and technologies department at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical University and CEO and chief designer of the open joint stock company Scientific-Research Enterprise of Hypersonic Systems of the holding company Leninets. He conducted research into hydrocarbon fuel for aircraft.

TASS has not obtained official comments from the investigative authorities yet.

https://tass.com/society/1325189

Presents left behind for the enemy hey Joe - POS

The Taliban Captured Advanced US-Made Drones At Kunduz Airport

The Taliban captured a number of US-made Boeing Insitu ScanEagle drones after taking over Kunduz Airport in northeastern Afghanistan on August 11.

On August 12, the group shared photos showing at least one of the captured drones as well as other weapons which were left behind by government forces at Kunduz Airport. The other weapons included a T-62 battel tank and several MaxxPro MRAP [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected] vehicles.

According to the Taliban’s claims, more than 500 military vehicles were seized at the airport. A Mi-35 attack helicopter was also captured by the group’s fighters.

The ScanEagle is a small, long-endurance, low-altitude drone that is equipped with a day\night optical system. The drone has a range of 100 km and an endurance of 24 hours. The drone was designed for reconnaissance, but it can be equipped for other tasks.

The US supplied a number of ScanEagle systems to the Afghan National Army in the last few years as a part of a $174 million program. The program received much criticism as it failed to achieve its main goals.

The Taliban will not likely be able to operate the ScanEagle drones it seized at Kunduz Airport. Still, the seizure of the drones was a blow to the Kabul government and its allies in Washington.

https://southfront.org/the-taliban-captured-advanced-us-drones-at-kunduz-airport-photos/

>>14336656

LETTER FROM LONDON: Worrying Turn in Assange Case

The U.S. victory in court on Wednesday makes the prospects for Julian Assange at October’s appeal hearing murky at best, writes Alexander Mercouris.

In my previous letter I discussed how Julian Assange’s case had taken a strange and worrying twist. The results of Wednesday’s High Court hearing is even more troubling for the WikiLeaks publisher.

The High Court in July granted the U.S. government permission to appeal the Jan. 4 decision of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser to refuse the U.S. government’s request for Assange’s extradition to the United States, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act 1917 and for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.

The grant of permission was however limited to essentially a single ground: whether Baraitser erred by failing to provide the U.S. government with an opportunity to provide her with ‘assurances’ about the conditions of detention in which Assange would be held if he were extradited and convicted in the United States.

Permission to appeal on another ground, whether Baraitser was right to base her assessment of Assange’s health, and of the risk that he might commit suicide if he were to be kept in rigorous conditions of confinement in the United States, on the evidence of Professor Michael Kopelman, was however refused.

The U.S. government would not accept this decision, and in a most unusual step, obtained a hearing in the High Court on Wednesday in order to appeal that part of the High Court’s decision which had refused permission to challenge the part of the appeal which concerned the issues of Assange’s health and the evidence of Professor Kopelman.

As previously reported by Joe Lauria, at this hearing the High Court reversed its earlier decision to refuse the U.S. government permission to appeal the matter of Assange’s health.

This means the U.S. government has now obtained permission to appeal on all the grounds it has sought. The full appeal will be heard by the High Court on Oct. 27 and 28.

In my previous letter I said that both grounds of appeal looked threadbare.

There had been nothing to prevent the U.S. government from giving its ‘assurances’ (that it would not put Assange in special confinement and would let him serve his sentence in Australia) to Baraitser at the substantive hearing last September.

Its attempt to do so now, months after Baraitser’s decision had been made, was an attempt to use the appeal process in order to introduce the ‘assurances’ as new evidence in the case, so as to change a decision which had already been made. This makes the ‘assurances’ new evidence, which is normally inadmissible on appeal.

As for Baraitser’s decision to base her assessment of Assange’s health and of his potential risk of suicide on the evidence of Professor Kopelman, that was an assessment for her to make as the trial judge in the case, and there is no reason why the High Court on appeal should seek to interfere in it. Mr. Justice Swift, the High Court Judge who refused the U.S. government permission to appeal on this ground in July, was of precisely this view.

https://consortiumnews.com/2021/08/12/letter-from-london-worrying-turn-in-assange-case/

Lancet: Study Suggests Cheap Asthma Drug Budesonide Effective At Reducing CV Recovery Times

A Texas doctor who started using and promoting this treatment to patients back in March 2020 was pilloried for it and censored on social media.

From The Pharmaceutical Journal:

Trial demonstrates efficacy of inhaled budesonide to treat COVID-19 in the community

Findings from the PRINCIPLE trial suggest that inhaled budesonide can improve recovery time and could reduce hospital admissions or death from COVID-19 if administered early.

By Julia Robinson | 11 August 2021

Inhaled budesonide should be considered for patients with COVID-19 who are at higher risk of complications in the community, according to results from a UK-wide clinical study.

The 'Platform Randomised Trial of Treatments in the Community for Epidemic and Pandemic Illnesses' (PRINCIPLE) is the first randomised trial to demonstrate effectiveness of inhaled budesonide to treat COVID-19 in the community.

It builds on earlier evidence from the phase II 'Steroids in COVID-19' (STOIC) trial, which found that early administration of inhaled budesonide reduced the likelihood of needing urgent medical care and reduced time to recovery after early COVID-19.

Findings from the PRINCIPLE trial, published in the Lancet on 10 August 2021, suggested that inhaled budesonide improves recovery time and could potentially reduce hospital admissions or death.

Eligible participants included those who were aged 65 years or older, or aged 50 years or older with comorbidities, who had been unwell for up to 14 days with suspected COVID-19, but had not been admitted to hospital.

Overall, 4,700 participants were randomly assigned to either usual care (n=1,988), usual care plus 800μg of inhaled budesonide twice daily for 14 days (n=1,073), or usual care plus other interventions (n=1,639), and were then followed up for 28 days. The primary endpoints were time to first self-reported recovery, and hospital admission or death related to COVID-19, within 28 days.

Researchers found that, compared with the usual care group, participants using inhaled budesonide recovered an estimated 2.94 days sooner, had a greater sense of wellbeing while recovering and, once recovered, more often remained well.

For the hospital admission or death outcome, the estimated rate was 6.8% in the budesonide group, compared with 8.8% in the usual care group; although this failed to meet the superiority threshold.

[…] They added: "Overall, the consistency of these findings across both primary and secondary endpoints provides the strongest evidence thus far of an effective, safe, cheap and readily available treatment for COVID-19 in the community."

According to the authors of the study, early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, the low prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among people admitted to hospital with COVID-19 led to speculation that the inhaled corticosteroids used to treat these conditions might be protective.

Texas doctor Richard Bartlett has been recommending inhaled budesonide since at least March, 2020 and getting a ton of flack for it.

Dr. Barlett said at the time he didn't want to follow the standard protocol of putting everyone on ventilators as around 90 percent of patients who received the "treatment" were dying.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=62454

Ordinary Canadians are the guinea pigs in a giant vaccine experiment

On last night's episode of The Ezra Levant Show, we looked at government reports of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines, and a report from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health on why they put a temporary stop on administration of the AstraZeneca shot.

Here's a bit of what Ezra had to say about vaccine reactions:

“Ordinary Canadians were the guinea pigs in the experiment. It started going really bad, so they paused it. Then they unpaused it.

“…Did you know that this was still an experiment? Maybe you did. But did they tell you this wasn’t fully tested yet?

“How do you feel about the fact that healthy people were promised protection by the government and they in fact got ill at such a rate that the government panicked and cancelled it? And then restarted it.”

https://www.rebelnews.com/ordinary_canadians_are_the_guinea_pigs_in_a_giant_vaccine_experiment

Spain Intercepts Vessel Carrying 20 Tons of Hashish

Spanish police intercepted on Sunday a cargo vessel carrying 20 tons of hashish and arrested its 11-member Syrian crew, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

The drugs aboard the ship, which was in dangerous condition and at risk of sinking, were seized and the crew arrested in a joint operation between Spanish police, French Customs and the Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre.

The investigation that led to the seizure has been ongoing since January of this year, and centered around an unnamed Lebanese company that offered maritime services to private clients, according to the statement, which added that the same company was tied to a drug shipment seized in Libya in 2016.

Authorities found cause for suspicion when they discovered a vessel belonging to the same company had registration charges that were unpaid. The company also changed the vessel’s name and flag.

After monitoring the ship’s journey across the Mediterranean, two patrol boats decided to apprehend it and eventually board the ship near the Canary Islands, after determining it was heading towards Morocco as suspected, after its departure from Turkey.

As authorities captured and searched the ship, they found 638 bales of the drug weighing at 19,876 kilograms. The 11 Syrians will face trial at the National High Court, the statement said.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14995-spain-intercepts-vessel-carrying-20-tons-of-hashish

Former DEA Special Agent Sentenced to Over 13 Years in Prison for Corruption-Related Charges

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-dea-special-agent-sentenced-over-13-years-prison-corruption-related-charges

PEDO BUN 12 August 21

Border Patrol Agents Arrest 2 Convicted Sex Offenders

https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/border-patrol-agents-arrest-2-convicted-sex-offenders-0

Internet predator admits coercing children to provide sexual images

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/internet-predator-admits-coercing-children-provide-sexual-images

Wichita Man Sentenced to 135 Months for Child Porn

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/wichita-man-sentenced-135-months-child-porn

Rutherford County Man Is Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison For Receipt Of Child Pornography

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/rutherford-county-man-sentenced-11-years-prison-receipt-child-pornography

Jury Convicts Belleville Man of Attempting to Arrange Sex with Young Girl

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/jury-convicts-belleville-man-attempting-arrange-sex-young-girl

Man arrested in Chesterfield child sex sting offered to bring boy marijuana, police say

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/chesterfield-child-sex-sting-arrests-august

Mesa PD: 18 arrested in human sex trafficking operation

MESA, AZ — A police operation targeting human trafficking in the Valley has led to the arrest of 18 people, according to Mesa police.

Officials say the East Valley Human Trafficking Task Force's "Buyer Reduction" operation August 5 and 6 resulted in multiple arrests for prostitution and other sex-related crimes, largely centered around Country Club Drive and the US 60.

Police say the task force is dedicated to reducing human sex trafficking and crime in the East Valley.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security, and officers from Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe police worked together to make the arrests.

https://www.abc15.com/news/crime/mesa-pd-18-arrested-in-human-sex-trafficking-operation

Fourteen Individuals Charged in Multi-State Unemployment Fraud Scheme

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/fourteen-individuals-charged-multi-state-unemployment-fraud-scheme

Attorney Thomas Renz Drops BOMBS! Hospital Administrators Killing For Cash, Threatening Docs

https://rumble.com/vl22xf-attorney-thomas-renz-drops-bombs-hospital-administrators-killing-for-cash-t.html

https://renz-law.com/

J’Accuse! The Gene-based “Vaccines” are Killing People. Governments Worldwide Are Lying to You the People, to the Populations They Purportedly Serve

Urgent Open Letter For The Information Of:

All Citizens Of The European Union (EU), The European Economic Area (EEA) And Switzerland

All Citizens Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland (UK)

All Citizens Of The United States Of America (USA)

To:

The European Medicines Agency (EMA)

The Medicines And Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

The United States Food And Drug Administration (FDA)

The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC)

From:

Doctors For Covid Ethics (D4CE)

21 July 2021

Dear Sirs/Mesdames,

Official sources, namely EudraVigilance (EU, EEA, Switzerland), MHRA (UK) and VAERS (USA), have now recorded more Injuries and Deaths from the ‘Covid’ vaccine roll-out than from all previous vaccines combined since records began.

Official sources, namely EudraVigilance (EU, EEA, Switzerland), MHRA (UK) and VAERS (USA), have now recorded many more Deaths and Injuries from the ‘Covid’ vaccine roll-out than from all previous vaccines combined since records began.

Note, the deaths and injuries are increasing on a weekly basis, below are the most recent data. The earlier data is contained in annex.

Update

CDC: 10,991 Dead, 551,172 Injuries Following COVID-19 Injections

.

EU/EEA/Switzerland to 31 July 2021 – 20,595 Covid-19 injection related deaths and over 1.94 million injuries, per EudraVigilance Database.

UK to 21 July 2021 – 1,517 Covid-19 injection related deaths and over 1.1 million injuries, per MHRA Yellow Card Scheme.

USA to 23 July 2021 – 11,940 Covid-19 injection related deaths and over 2.4 million injuries, per VAERS database.

TOTAL for EU/UK/USA – 34,052 Covid-19 injection related deaths and over 5.46 million injuries reported as at 1 August 2021

Nota Bene: It is important to be aware that the official figures above (reported to the health authorities) are but a small percentage of the actual figures. Furthermore, people continue to die (and suffer injury) from the injections with every day which passes.

Bear in mind, the official figures are obviously higher at the time of writing (1 August 2021) than on the cut-off dates shown above i.e. 21 July 2021 (UK), 23 July 2021 (USA) and 31 July 2021 (EU/EEA/Switzerland).

This catastrophic situation has not been reported by the mainstream media, despite the official figures above being publicly available.

The Signal of Harm is now indisputably overwhelming, and, in line with universally accepted ethical standards for clinical trials, Doctors for Covid Ethics demands that the ‘Covid’ vaccine programme be halted immediately.

Continuation of the programme in the full knowledge of ongoing serious Harm and Death to both adults and children constitutes a Crime Against Humanity/Genocide for which those found to be responsible or complicit will ultimately be held personally liable.

MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE:

Governments worldwide are lying to you the people, to the populations they purportedly serve.

The figures above demonstrate that the mRNA vaccines are deadly.

Yours faithfully,

Doctors for Covid Ethics

https://www.globalresearch.ca/jaccuse-governments-worldwide-are-lying-to-you-the-people-to-the-populations-they-purportedly-serve/5750650

US Will Send 3,000 Troops to Afghanistan to Assist in Departure of Embassy Staff, Pentagon Reveals

Earlier, the US State Department ordered the evacuation of staff at the US embassy in Afghanistan in light of the "security conditions" being posed by the increasing control by the Taliban. Officials, however, have also stressed that the move it part of ongoing withdrawal procedures from the war-torn nation.

The US Department of Defense revealed on Thursday that it will be sending approximately 3,000 US troops to Afghanistan as part of the branch's efforts to assist in the departure of diplomats and other American civilians in the country.

The Thursday revelation was announced by Pentagon spokesperson Adm. John Kirby, who also informed reporters that the additional troops would be on top of the 650 US troops already stationed in Afghanistan.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202108121083591848-us-will-send-3000-troops-to-afghanistan-to-assist-in-departure-of-embassy-staff-pentagon-reveals/

'Significant' Ambulance Response Deployed to 'Serious and Tragic' Incident in Plymouth

Reports suggested that eyewitnesses heard "loud bangs" and "gunshots" in North Prospect in Plymouth on Thursday, noting that several police officers and paramedics arrived at the scene.

South Western Ambulance Service said on Thursday that it is responding to an ongoing incident in Plymouth, which was described by several UK MPs as "serious" and "tragic".

"We responded to the incident with a significant number of resources, including Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART), multiple ambulances, air ambulances, multiple doctors and senior paramedics", the ambulance service tweeted.

https://sputniknews.com/uk/202108121083591935-significant-ambulance-response-deployed-to-serious-and-tragic-incident-in-plymouth/

'Blackmail, Sex Tapes and More': Hannity Asks Why No Arrests Made in Hunter Biden 'Laptop Scandal'

Earlier, an explicit video involving a person who looks like the president's son Hunter Biden and an alleged prostitute was shared by the Daily Mail, where the man shares how his laptop, which contained compromising videos of sex, was supposedly stolen from him at some point in the summer of 2018 by some "Russian drug dealers".

Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday questioned why the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has still not made any arrests in the case of Hunter Biden.

Hannity underscored that the FBI had been in possession of the laptop alleged to have belonged to the president's son and purportedly containing damaging information “for quite some time”.

When he addressed the question to Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, the expert responded by saying:

"It is damning information that looks very much like influence-peddling and corruption."

Jarrett emphasised that the US attorney in Delaware had conducted a two-year investigation, yet there were still no “subpoenas, search warrants… indictments and prosecutions".

"It really makes you wonder, what's going on here? Is this really a sincere, vigorous investigation, or are the Bidens being protected?" queried the legal expert.

Laptop Scandals

A hard drive and laptop believed to belong to Hunter Biden were discovered at a computer shop in Delaware, handed over for repairs in April 2019 and never retrieved, according to records first reported by The Post. While the FBI seized the laptop and hard drive through a grand jury subpoena in December 2019, copies of the contents leaked to the media.

During the final months of the 2020 presidential race that pitted Joe Biden against Donald Trump, The Post revealed a trove of emails from Hunter Biden’s purported laptop, branded by the Trump campaign as a "laptop from hell", that appeared to link his then-candidate father to his shady foreign business ventures in China and with Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Despite having no energy experience, the then-vice president’s son had joined the board of the company.

The documents revealed that Hunter Biden introduced a top Burisma executive to his father, then vice president under Barack Obama. The story contradicted Joe Biden’s stance that he was never involved in his son’s business dealings.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202108121083586225-blackmail-sex-tapes-and-more-hannity-asks-why-no-arrests-made-in-hunter-biden-laptop-scandal/

"Wakeup Call": Pfizer Vax Only 42% Effective Against Infection In July

This week, Dr. Fauci confirmed that "at some time in the future" everyone will likely need a booster shot for the Covid-19 vaccine due to "fading efficacy."

Now, Axios reports that a new preprint study which has 'already grabbed the attention of top Biden administration officials' over the vaccines' effectiveness against new variants, with Pfizer's jab being of particular concern.

The study found the Pfizer vaccine was only 42% effective against infection in July, when the Delta variant was dominant. "If that's not a wakeup call, I don't know what is," a senior Biden official told Axios.

The study, conducted by nference and the Mayo Clinic, compared the effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the Mayo Clinic Health System over time from January to July. -Axios

The overall figures suggest that the vaccines provide robust (yet lower-than advertised) immunity early on, only to sharply drop in efficacy over time.

Between January and July, Moderna's vaccine was found to be 86% effective against infection over the study period, while Pfizer's was 76%. As far as hospitalization, Moderna's vaccine was 92% effective, while Pfizer's was 85%.

Bringing the averages down, of course, was the sharp drop in efficacy observed in July with Moderna proving just 72% effective against infection and Pfizer clocking in at 42%.

In other states such as Florida, the risk of infection in July among those who had taken the Moderna vaccine was around 60% lower than for people full vaccinated with Pfizer.

More via Axios:

Why it matters: Although it has yet to be peer-reviewed, the study raises serious questions about both vaccines' long-term effectiveness, particularly Pfizer's.

It's unclear whether the results signify a reduction in effectiveness over time, a reduced effectiveness against Delta, or a combination of both.

“Based on the data that we have so far, it is a combination of both factors," said Venky Soundararajan, a lead author of the study. "The Moderna vaccine is likely — very likely — more effective than the Pfizer vaccine in areas where Delta is the dominant strain, and the Pfizer vaccine appears to have a lower durability of effectiveness.”

He added that his team is working on a follow-up study that will try to differentiate between the durability of the two vaccines and their effectiveness against Delta.

Bring on the boosters.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/wakeup-call-pfizer-vax-only-42-effective-against-infection-july

Moreton Bay man sentenced for possessing child abuse material

A 49-year-old Moreton Bay man has been sentenced to four years in jail for producing and sharing child abuse material, following an Australian Federal Police (AFP) child protection investigation.

The investigation began in March 2018 after the Australian Federal Police-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about conduct engaged in by an identified user of Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe).

Northern Command’s Brisbane Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET) investigators allegedly linked the Caboolture man to the Adobe user.

A search warrant was executed at the man's Caboolture home in September 2019, with investigators seizing 11 electronic devices which were found to contain child abuse material (CAM).

Further investigations resulted in the categorisation of over 85,000 child abuse images and videos located on these devices. Police alleged that the man was active on the dark net and used various child abuse forums to obtain a large collection of CAM.

Today (Thursday, 12 August 2021), at the Brisbane District Court, the man pleaded guilty to the following charges:

Three counts using a carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);

Two counts making child exploitation material, contrary to section 228B, Criminal Code 1899 (Qld); and

One count knowingly possessing child exploitation material, contrary to section 228D, Criminal Code 1899 (Qld).

AFP Child Protection Operations Detective Superintendent Paula Hudson said investigators diligently hunt down all leads referred from international partners to protect children from abuse and bring offenders to justice.

“Our message to offenders accessing or exchanging child abuse material online is that we will never stop working to de-anonymise and tracking down anyone responsible for spreading this abhorrent material and bringing them before the court,” Detective Superintendent Hudson said.

The AFP-led ACCCE is committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and is at the centre of a collaborative national approach to combatting organised child abuse.

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/moreton-bay-man-sentenced-possessing-child-abuse-material