Patrick's Notebook

by James Rickards

Many everyday Americans probably believe that the COVID vaccines will keep them from getting COVID. That’s not true and never has been true.

The vaccines do not prevent you from being infected with the COVID virus. They do not keep you from spreading the COVID virus.

There have been many cases of so-called “breakthrough” infections where double-vaxxed citizens get COVID anyway. That’s not uncommon.

There’s even new evidence that double-vaxxed individuals who get COVID will build up huge viral loads in their noses and sinuses, causing them to become super-spreaders and infect others.

Do the vaccines do anything?

Yes, they are effective at reducing severe symptoms of COVID. They also reduce the death rate among those who get infected. That’s advantageous for the most vulnerable, including those over 70 years old and those suffering from obesity, emphysema, diabetes and other conditions closely associated with fatalities due to COVID. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Dave DeCamp

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview published on Thursday that China will be Afghanistan’s “most important partner” as the new Taliban-led government is seeking infrastructure investments.

“China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us, because it is ready to invest and rebuild our country,” Mujahid told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Mujahid said there are “rich copper mines in the country, which, thanks to the Chinese, can be put back into operation and modernized. In addition, China is our pass to markets all over the world.”

Afghanistan faces a potential economic crisis, and the new government is strapped for cash. After 20 years of waging war in the country, the US is now withholding billions in Afghan reserves to use as leverage over the Taliban. » Read the rest of this entry «

by CJ Hopkins

In The Covidian Cult (Part I) and (Part II), I characterized the so-called “New Normal” as a “global totalitarian ideological movement.” Since I published those essays, more and more people have come to see it for what it is, not “insanity” or “an overreaction,” but, in fact, a new form of totalitarianism, a globalized, pathologized, depoliticized form, which is being systematically implemented under the guise of “protecting the public health.”

In order to oppose this new form of totalitarianism, we need to understand how it both resembles and differs from earlier totalitarian systems. The similarities are fairly obvious — the suspension of constitutional rights, governments ruling by decree, official propaganda, public loyalty rituals, the outlawing of political opposition, censorship, social segregation, goon squads terrorizing the public, and so on — but the differences are not obvious. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Brandon Smith

There is a fundamental question that needs to be asked when examining the vaccine passport issue, and what I find is that almost no one in the mainstream is tackling it directly. The question is this:

Is it legally and morally acceptable to constrict the rights and economic access of people in order to force them to submit to an experimental “vaccine”, or any other medical procedure for that matter?

Furthermore, who gets to decide what medical procedures are acceptable to enforce? Who gets to be the all powerful and benevolent overseer of every human being’s health path. I ask this because I don’t think many people realize the future repercussions of allowing governments or corporations (the same thing these days) to dictate covid vaccinations. It doesn’t stop there; in fact, we have no idea where this stops once the Pandora’s box is opened. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Jennifer Margulis

Breakthrough cases reach majority levels in some jurisdictions but numbers elude CDC

“I’m not going to arm wrestle with the administration about where to put you,” Dr. C., a highly skilled gastroenterologist, said gently to my friend who was in bed in a triage room in the ER. “We just want to get you into a bed so we can figure out what’s wrong and get you treated.”

We were at our small town’s hospital. No one was sure why, but my friend had not been able to keep anything more than a handful of raspberries down since a complicated surgery for a chronic health condition three weeks before. Dehydrated and unable to eat, my friend had been violently vomiting after taking just a sip of water or sucking on an ice chip, and had lost nearly twenty-five pounds.

I was by my husband’s side when he had a gallbladder attack so severe that it left his hands shaking. I’ve had three unmedicated childbirths and attended many more, both as a journalist and a patient advocate. Still, I’ve never seen a human in so much pain. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Pepe Escobar

Beijing, Moscow are working overtime to scrub the Taliban’s ‘terrorist’ label and endorse it as a legitimate political movementTaliban fighters drive an Afghan National Army vehicle through the streets of Laghman province on August 15, 2021

The first Taliban press conference after last weekend’s Saigon moment geopolitical earthquake, conducted by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, was in itself a game-changer.

The contrast could not be starker with those rambling pressers at the Taliban embassy in Islamabad after 9/11 and before the start of the American bombing – proving this incarnation of the Taliban is an entirely new political animal.

Yet some things never change. English translations remain atrocious. Here is a good summary of the key Taliban statements. These are the key takeaways:

– No problem for women to get an education all the way to college and to continue to work. They just need to wear the hijab, like in Qatar or Iran. No need to wear a burqa. The Taliban insist “all women’s rights will be guaranteed within the limits of Islamic law.” » Read the rest of this entry «

by South China Morning Post

❚ Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming install foot stops and workbench in foray relayed on state television

❚ They arrived at Tiangong in June and are expected to stay for three months in China’s longest crewed mission

Chinese astronauts edged into space on Friday to add the finishing touches to a robotic arm on the Tiangong space station.

The foray, the second spacewalk in two months and relayed on state television, is part of China’s heavily promoted space programme which has already seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the moon.

In June, three crew arrived at the station, where they are set to remain in space for a total of three months in China’s longest crewed mission to date. » Read the rest of this entry «