https://twitter.com/rothschildmd/status/1429897997844828168
Three fifths of the Cyber Ninjas team running the sham audit in Maricopa County have covid and can't finish writing their draft report that will save the world.
>Cyber Ninjas have covid
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-20/elizabeth-holmes-warns-lab-chief-s-testimony-may-upend-trial?sref=6uww027M
Elizabeth Holmes Warns Lab Chief’s Testimony May Upend Trial
Of all the high-profile witnesses set for Elizabeth Holmes’s criminal trial, Kingshuk Das isn’t exactly a key player in the collapse of Theranos Inc. But Das poses enough of a risk for her defense that her lawyer said his testimony threatens to upend the proceeding.
Das, a former lab director for Theranos, has said he told Holmes, who founded the company and was its chief executive officer, that its blood-testing equipment was deficient and not reliable, court filings show. He’s one of the few high-level scientists positioned to explain to jurors how aware Holmes was of problems with the machines even as she continued to promote them.
But on Friday, lawyers for Holmes argued in court that Das was added too late to the prosecution’s list of witnesses for a trial that starts in 11 days. The defense said in court filings it wasn’t aware until late last month that the government might rely on his expert opinions about assays, or tests. That didn’t allow enough time to prepare a response at trial, her attorneys said.
Prosecutors argued that Das is providing testimony about facts and events in the case, not expert opinion.
In response, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said he’s inclined to let Das testify – so long as he doesn’t veer into subjects that get too technical for jurors. The judge suggested the subject may be “something we’re going to have to police as the witness testifies.”
Lance Wade, a lawyer for Holmes, warned against “kicking this can down the road,” suggesting that dealing with Das’s testimony in the middle of trial poses possible problems of fairness that could derail it.
“My concern is if we wait and defer on this we’re not going to draw the lines the way we think is appropriate,” Wade told the judge. Waiting until Das testifies, he added, “is creating the serious risk of a continuance down the road.”
Jury selection is scheduled to begin in federal court in San Jose, California, on Aug. 31.
Holmes is charged with lying to doctors, patients and investors about the accuracy and capabilities of blood-testing machines made by Theranos. The company was once valued at $9 billion, but crashed and was dissolved after exposes and regulators revealed myriad problems with the tests.
Possible witnesses at the trial include former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Secretary of Defense James Mattis who both served on the board of Theranos and Holmes herself.
According to court filings, Das said he was told by Holmes when he was hired in 2015 that his job would include responding to findings in an audit of the company’s Edison blood-testing machine by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Das said he was told the CMS audit had uncovered “a few irregularities,” but that specific details weren’t discussed, according to a court filing.
The findings by the CMS were grave enough that the regulator banned Holmes from running a lab company for two years. Theranos also had to retract or correct the results of tens of thousands of medical tests.
In his own review of Theranos data, Das “concluded the Edison devices did not perform well, and the accuracy and precision did not meet the level needed for clinical testing,” court records show. Das told the government that “even using a fairly low bar, none of the Edison tests passed an acceptable level,” and that CMS inspectors were “100% correct with their deficiency findings.”
He was laid off at Theranos in 2018, the year the company ceased operations.
The case is U.S. v. Holmes, 18-cr-00258, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jack-mas-costliest-business-lesson-china-has-only-one-leader-11629473637
Jack Ma’s Costliest Business Lesson: China Has Only One Leader
The billionaire entrepreneur matched the heights of America’s tech legends but failed to heed warnings that Chinese leader Xi Jinping still called the shots
https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-speaks-out-against-china-first-time-vice-president-1622347
Kamala Harris Speaks Out Against China for the First Time As Vice President
Kamala Harris chided China for what she described as coercion and intimidation in the South China Sea, while reaffirming U.S. security commitments to Asia during perhaps the most noteworthy foreign policy speech of her vice presidency so far.
In prepared remarks on Tuesday, Harris told a forum at Singapore's Gardens by the Bay that the U.S. was ready to support allies and partners against threats posed to the existing rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, a region that, more than ever, is the focus of U.S. attention and resources.
Harris said Beijing "continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea. These unlawful claims have been rejected by the 2016 arbitral tribunal decision."
"Beijing's actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations. The United States stands with our allies and partners in the face of these threats," she told the event hosted by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
They were Harris' strongest remarks about China yet, and her first such rebuke as vice president. They came at a time when Chinese state-run news outlets have sought to convince the country's neighbors that the U.S. would likely renegade on its security commitments to the region following its poorly executed withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The vice president's visit was overshadowed by ongoing events in the Middle East. She addressed questions about the evacuations in Kabul and elsewhere but said her visit to Singapore was about reaffirming long-standing U.S. interests and commitments to Asia, where there are a number of American treaty allies.
The U.S. would invest "time and energy" to fortify its relationships in the region, said Harris, repeating much of the Biden administration's consistent use of language when engaging with Southeast Asia, which observers describe as being in the middle of intensifying U.S.-China competition.
Now President Joe Biden's most senior cabinet member to visit to region, Harris stressed openness and inclusiveness as well as shared interests and mutual benefits. She also mentioned familiar policy language including the U.S. pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific, ASEAN centrality, the Quad and freedom of navigation.
Her foreign policy speech included an important reference to the "for, not against" nature of U.S. policy in Asia, an aspect some of its closest partners, including Singapore, have successfully highlighted and maximized. Harris said U.S. common interests in the region "are not zero-sum."
"I must be clear: Our engagement in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific is not against any one country, nor is it designed to make anyone choose between countries. Instead, our engagement is about advancing an optimistic vision that we have for our participation and partnership in this region," she said.
Harris, who is scheduled to meet top officials in Vietnam on Wednesday, called in on senior Singaporean officials on Monday, including President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
During a joint press conference, Lee praised security cooperation between Singapore and the U.S., part of which allows visiting American forces to make use of the city's naval and air facilities. Harris later met U.S. service personnel on USS Tulsa, which is docked at Changi Naval Base.
The Singaporean prime minister offered supportive and optimistic remarks about U.S. foreign policy going forward, in light of the withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years. He appeared to leave further room for the Biden administration to prove its long-term commitments to the Asia.
"[W]e are watching what is happening in Afghanistan on the TV screens today. But what will influence perceptions of U.S. resolve and commitment to the region will be what the U.S. does going forward—how it repositions itself in the region; how it engages its broad range of friends and partners and allies in the region; and how it continues the fight against terrorism," he said.
Lee added: "Countries make calculations and take positions, and they have to make recalculations and adjust their positions from time to time. Sometimes it can be done smoothly; sometimes there are hiccups; sometimes things go awry and take time to put right.
"But countries remain with long-term interests, with long-term partners, and it is a mark of a country which can succeed that it takes these interests and partners seriously and in a dispassionate way, and maintains them over the long term. And the U.S. has been in the region since the war, which is more than 70 years ago.
"There have been ups and downs; there have been difficult moments; there have also been, over decades, dramatic transformations in Asia, wrought by the benign and constructive influence of the United States, as a regional guarantor of security and support of prosperity. Singapore hopes and works on the basis that the U.S. will continue to play that role, and continues to engage the region for many more years to come."
chillin
https://www.who.int/news/item/12-08-2021-who-statement-on-advancing-the-next-series-of-studies-to-find-the-origins-of-sars-cov-2
WHO Statement on advancing the next series of studies to find the origins of SARS-CoV-2
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has been working with Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so that we can be better prepared for the next one.
Following the publication of the WHO-China joint report of the phase one studies on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in March 2021, WHO has outlined the next series of studies that need to be undertaken and continues to be in discussions with Member States and experts on next steps.
To move forward, WHO calls for all governments to depoliticize the situation and cooperate to accelerate the origins studies, and importantly to work together to develop a common framework for future emerging pathogens of pandemic potential.
WHO’s priority is for scientists to build on the first phase of studies, implement the recommendations outlined in the March 2021 report and accelerate scientific efforts on all hypotheses. Searching for the origins of any novel pathogen is a difficult process, which is based on science, and takes collaboration, dedication and time.
WHO reiterates that the search for the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is not and should not be an exercise in attributing blame, finger-pointing or political point-scoring. It is vitally important to know how the COVID-19 pandemic began, to set an example for establishing the origins of all future animal-human spillover events.
Countries have a collective responsibility to work together in the true spirit of partnership and to ensure scientists and experts have the space they need to find the origins of the worst pandemic in a century. Building on what has already been learned, the next series of studies would include a further examination of the raw data from the earliest cases and sera from potential early cases in 2019. Access to data is critically important for evolving our understanding of science and should not be politicised in any way.
WHO is working with a number of countries that have reported detection of SARS-CoV-2 in samples from stored biological specimens from 2019. For example, in Italy, WHO facilitated an independent evaluation by international laboratories of the findings of one such study, which included the blind retesting of pre-pandemic blood samples. Sharing raw data and giving permission for the retesting of samples in labs outside of Italy reflects scientific solidarity at its best and is no different from what we encourage all countries, including China, to support so that we can advance the studies of the origins quickly and effectively.
The International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO, is a new advisory group for WHO, which will be responsible for advising WHO on the development of a global framework to systematically study the emergence of future emerging pathogens with pandemic potential. For SARS-CoV-2, it will support the rapid undertaking of recommended studies outlined in the March 2021 report.
By issuing an open call for nominations to SAGO, WHO is providing a transparent foundation for the new scientific advisory group that we expect all Member States will engage with. WHO hopes for continuity from previous missions to China for SARS-CoV-2, as well as other missions studying the origins of, for example, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, avian influenza, Lassa and Ebola.
This open call aims to ensure that a broad range of scientific skills and expertise are identified to advise WHO on the studies needed to identify the origins of any future emerging or re-emerging pathogen of pandemic potential.
China and a number of other Member States have written to WHO regarding the basis for further studies of the SARS-CoV-2 “lab hypothesis.” They have also suggested the origins study has been politicised, or that WHO has acted due to political pressure.
On review of the phase one study report, WHO determined that there was insufficient scientific evidence to rule any of the hypotheses out. Specifically, in order to address the “lab hypothesis,” it is important to have access to all data and consider scientific best practice and look at the mechanisms WHO already has in place. WHO is only focused on science, providing solutions and building solidarity.
Smallpox is the only human virus to have ever been eradicated. There are two countries in the world that keep stocks of smallpox in secure labs: Russia and the US. Inspections by the WHO biosafety team of VECTOR and CDC smallpox labs occur every two years, most recently in Jan-Feb 2019 (VECTOR) and May 2019 (CDC). A report is then provided to the World Health Assembly and the inspection reports are published on the WHO website.
Analysing and improving lab safety and protocols in all laboratories around the world, including in China, is important for our collective biosafety and security.
Searching for the origins of a novel virus is an immensely difficult scientific task that takes time. WHO is committed to following the science, and we call on all governments to put differences aside and work together to provide all data and access required so that the next series of studies can be commenced as soon as possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an information epidemic or “infodemic”: too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during an acute public health event, which leads to confusion, risk-taking and behaviors that can harm health, and lead to mistrust in health authorities and public health response. The analytical method described is part of the WHO work to develop tools for an evidence-based response to the infodemic, enabling prioritization of health response activities.
This approach has been successfully applied to identify and analyze infodemic signals, particularly information voids, to inform the COVID-19 pandemic response. More broadly, the results have demonstrated the importance of ongoing monitoring and analysis of public online conversations, as information voids frequently recur and narratives shift over time. The approach is being piloted in individual countries and WHO regions to generate localized insights and actions; meanwhile, a pilot of an artificial intelligence–based social listening platform is using this taxonomy to aggregate and compare online conversations across 20 countries. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the taxonomy and methodology may be adapted for fast deployment in future public health events, and they could form the basis of a routine social listening program for health preparedness and response planning.
>a pilot of an artificial intelligence–based social listening platform is using this taxonomy to aggregate and compare online conversations across 20 countries. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the taxonomy and methodology may be adapted for fast deployment in future public health events, and they could form the basis of a routine social listening program
> preprint_30971_.pdf
The analysis was based on the weekly aggregation of publicly available social media data in English
and French usingMeltwater Explore. The Meltwater social listening platform was configured to
collect verbatim mentions of keywords associated with the 35 pre-defined taxonomy category
Boolean searches from nine open data sources and fora (Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, Reddit, Forums,
Comments, Instagram, Product Reviews, YouTube). For each of the 35 taxonomy sub-themes, the
global daily total volume of posts, and the volume of posts posing a question, were recorded on a
weekly basis.
https://www.meltwater.com/en/products/social-media-monitoring
https://nypost.com/2021/06/16/ronnie-oneal-iiis-double-murder-trial-turns-into-circus/
‘You stabbed me,’ boy tells father acting as his own lawyer at double-murder trial
A Florida man on trial for a double homicide turned the proceedings into a circus, as he acted as his own lawyer and cross-examined his 11-year-old son, who responded to his dad by testifying: “You stabbed me.”
Ronnie Oneal III allegedly murdered his girlfriend and their disabled 9-year-old daughter, then stabbed his then 8-year-old boy before setting the family’s Tampa home on fire in 2018.
The surviving child testified Wednesday by remote video that he witnessed the murders.
When it was Oneal’s turn to cross-examine the boy, he asked his son, “Did I hurt you that night?”
“Yes,” the 11-year-old responded.
“How did I hurt you?” Oneal continued.
“You stabbed me,” his son replied.
“I look alone. But I am backed by a mighty God,” Oneal shouted as he gestured and paced in the Tampa courtroom.
Prosecutors said they would prove Oneal shot his girlfriend Kenyatta Barron before beating her to death.
They also said the defendant killed his 9-year-old daughter with a hatchet and stabbed his then 8-year-old son. The young girl had cerebral palsy and was non-verbal.
Prosecutors said the surviving son ran out of the burning house and described what happened.
“The first words that came out of this brave boy’s mouth: ‘My daddy killed my mommy,’” Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon told the court.
The jury also heard a 911 call Barron made after she had allegedly been shot.
“OK, Ronnie, I’m sorry,” she said as Oneal was heard yelling in the background.
“I’m so sorry. Help me. I can’t move my arm. My arm is shot up, Ronnie. Please.”
Oneal told the jury cops fabricated the evidence and coached his son to lie.
If convicted, Oneal could be sentenced to death.
https://nypost.com/2021/08/23/san-francisco-das-brinks-robber-dad-among-six-given-cuomo-clemency/
Outgoing Gov. Cuomo grants clemency to convicted murderers during last hours in office
she strikes me as an unhappy person
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/who_s_in_charge_most_voters_don_t_think_it_s_biden
Who’s In Charge? Most Voters Don’t Think It’s Biden
A majority of voters don’t think President Joe Biden is mentally and physically capable of doing his job, and suspect the White House is actually being run by others.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 39% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Biden is really doing the job of president – that’s down from 47% in March. A majority of voter (51%) now say others are making decisions for Biden behind the scenes. Another 10% are not sure.