A little gem here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_peace_process
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doha_Agreement_(2020)
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Agreement-For-Bringing-Peace-to-Afghanistan-02.29.20.pdf
see part III.1: “the US will request the recognition and endorsement of the UNSC for this agreement”.
Done:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059161
Biden had no more move possible… thanks NATO?

Posted by: Mina | Aug 16 2021 5:59 utc | 103

imo, the whole agitation (BoJo “it shall not be a ground for terrorism” etc) is a smoke screen for the much bigger problem of inefficiency (and plain danger for the unvaxxed) of mRNA vaccines…
what is happening in Afg is the same that Macron announced about Sahel: less troops, more Special forces.

Posted by: Mina | Aug 16 2021 6:08 utc | 105

Debsisdead #100
Comrade Martyanov has a view that will give some a chuckle:

…US loss in Afghanistan is not to capable and supported by other superpower fairly advanced Vietnamese military and Vietnamese people, the United States lost to a primitive force driven by the most retrograde ideology which stands against everything most of the world recognizes as essential for its existence. Meanwhile American idiots, a euphemism for US “journos” and media still discuss percentages and a political psychobabble which in the US, for some reason, is called “strategy”.

He does love to rub salt into wounds but there is merit in his analysis.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 16 2021 6:37 utc | 107

Meanwhile the small nation of Cuba lives on, enduring a gross assault from the USA and dozens of other large countries for having the temerity to live under a mixed economy system with State sovereignty over its banks and finance system.
The USA and its lackeys are the worlds most malign attack on human rights, most evil perpetrators of war crimes and the most foolish financial managers on this planet.
Richard Medhurst gives us 4 minutes of the Cuban Chargée d’Affaires commentary on the impact of the US mandated medical blockade. This is yet another USA breach of the UN code.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 16 2021 7:04 utc | 109

Just heard an interview of a French director of MSF (doctors without borders) in Kabul. Said they have reduced the staff but are planning to stay (remember their role in Syria? well-used to work with special forces when needed).
They are in charge of a number of hospitals, too. Guess what, the journalist did not ask him about the covid situation! Move on… Will be interesting to see the stats of countries that had little vaccination.
(Japan is different because of aged population)

Posted by: Mina | Aug 16 2021 8:19 utc | 111

Seems the MSM are not ready to talk about the prisons opened by the Talibans..
https://twitter.com/kjibi98
https://twitter.com/abdsayedd/status/1427175582148841473
https://twitter.com/SaleemMehsud/status/1427080535873048582
https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1427178745740382214
https://twitter.com/IamUmer1

Posted by: Mina | Aug 16 2021 8:38 utc | 113

re: uncle tungsten | Aug 16 2021 7:04 utc | 108
I’m generally concerned about what is coming down the line for Cuba as younger Cubans who have no memory of amerika’s aggression or how life was before the revolution are likely bored by their current administration – a generational perception irrelevant to the worth of the administration which is undoubtedly regarded by many young Cubans as too socially conservative & hidebound – this is nothing to do with the ‘worth’ of the administration and everything to do with alterations in attitude brought on by generational change which Cuba is going through at the moment and I guess all of us who care are hoping that the baby doesn’t go with the bathwater.
Young Cubans ignorant of the amerikan empire’s duplicity are ripe for allowing big chunks their nation stolen from under them aka USSR in the 1990’s. Still USSR does serve as an excellent example which millenial cubans must heed. We shall see.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Aug 16 2021 8:48 utc | 115

foolisholdman | Aug 16 2021 8:53 utc | 115
Apologies for typo should be “commend” not “comment”.

Posted by: foolisholdman | Aug 16 2021 8:55 utc | 117

Welcome to the local committee of Doha’s intl office, a future model of government for low-income countries (basically the US model of puppet dictators keeping their family in another country than the one they rule)
https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1427199732171034628/photo/1

Posted by: Mina | Aug 16 2021 9:35 utc | 119

Debsisdead #114
Agreed, the young is what the social media propaganda factories are primarily targeting. They have decades of perfected techniques to apply. It is really vital to curtail the open globalisation media concept and restore national media sovereignty. Yes – a mighty difficult proposition but when destructive agencies are permitted and state funded via tax breaks to assault and subvert people in other nations, it is time to design resistance and provide alternatives. Be it a tobin tax on every tweet or email or whatever to perhaps more sophisticated means.
Perhaps Twitter should register as a foreign agent in every state it operates in and be subjected to immediate suspension when propaganda factories start up. Just do to twitter what it does to its clients – suspend for violation and let them find out what you mean by their own research.
The open web concept has been colonised by closed minds and aggressive subversion. This is a mighty fraught situation and may have no real remedy without stifling its benefits.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 16 2021 9:41 utc | 121

@ Mina
“vous avez un message”
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/08/afghanistan-taliban-enter-kabul-will-announce-interim-government.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef026bdee8ef91200c#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef026bdee8ef91200c

Posted by: Rêver | Aug 16 2021 10:26 utc | 123

Yesterday, on US having another “Saigon moment” Mr. “Rule based order” said: “manifestly not Saigon.” Really ? Wondering where US finds this pathetic manifestly rectumhole secretary of states

Posted by: kooshy | Aug 16 2021 11:43 utc | 125

Return of the JediBernard Henry Levy
Kosovo, Syria, Lybia,
Do you remember? The warmonger who hates wars [but always ask for the next one]
https://youtu.be/9S4tm0ztXtQ
And now, where if not there? Who if not us?
###
Le Parti Colonial à la rescousse.

Dans une tribune publiée dans la revue fondée par Bernard-Henri Lévy, le fils du commandant Massoud lance un appel à la résistance face aux talibans qui ont pris le pouvoir en Afghanistan et demande aux « amis de la liberté » de venir en aide à son pays.

“allez-vous, chers amis de la liberté, nous aider une nouvelle fois comme par le passé ? Notre confiance en vous, malgré la trahison de certains, est grande​.”
https://laregledujeu.org/2021/08/16/37530/afghanistan-ahmad-massoud-nous-restons-seuls-debout-mais-nous-ne-cederons-jamais/

Posted by: Rêver | Aug 16 2021 12:05 utc | 127

Apparently it is not obvious to all here that the Russian and the Chinese cultural models give a much better space to women than many other countries in the world…
Thinking that children do good studies when they have never seen a book at home or in their parents’ hands is really delusional.

Posted by: Mina | Aug 16 2021 12:30 utc | 129

Well well well,
Besolver at 69, good question indeed !
The last report ( 6 august ) provided by the british authority is of great importance.
It confirms the data provided yeasterday by the Israeli ministry of health on the severely ill patients :
277->Fully vaccinated. 129->Unvaccinated. 8->Partially vaccinated
But the brit report, appart from data on the lethality amongst vaccinated and unvaccinated also provides the stats regarding the contagiousness between them ( Chapter 1.7.1 :Comparison of viral load Ct by vaccination status ). It states :
« This means that whilst vaccination may ( highligth is mine ) reduce an individual’s overall risk of becoming infected, once they are infected there is limited difference in viral load (and Ct values)
between those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated. Given they have similar Ct values,
this suggests limited difference in infectiousness »
Those Ct graph totally corroborate the latest data provided on the 5 august by the IHU Mediterranée in Marseille : Same viral load . Same infectiousness.
Then, let’s compare the british data covering 300000 cases during 6 month with the data provided by the Oregon health autorithy covering 12500 case on July, given by b’s link.
Let’s have a look :
« In July, there were 12,514 cases of COVID-19; 81% of these cases were unvaccinated1. »
Wait..wait…what is that little 1, sending to the footnote 1. ?:
« 1Unvaccinated proportion includes partially vaccinated individuals »
Really ? Is that a joke ? Meaning : Unvaccinated proportion includes 1 dose Vaccinated individual !
Frankly , how one can extract any valuable information from that kind of work ?
PS : to my opinion, regarding the « saker rant »stuff.
There is only one interesting thing to get from the saker’s blog ( and the unz’s review, for that matter ) : it is to get access to Pepe Escobar articles without the AsiaTimeO paywall. Period.
PSS : just checked … Last one is free on ATO ! I got to read that… good day to all !

Posted by: malamatias | Aug 16 2021 13:55 utc | 131

@Gordog, etc
What to do with the ISS if the Russians don’t renew?
Clearly SpaceX not up to the job.

Posted by: c1ue | Aug 16 2021 14:38 utc | 133

I do find it interesting that b makes no analysis or mention of Massachusetts or Israel data.
Here in CA – the number of hospitalized patients with COVID has hit 7332. The original site stopped updated early last week, so I had to go to the source
To compare: the July 2020 peak according to the above site was 8439. The “good” news is that this jump is less extreme than the winter 2020 spike which peaked at 22665, but the bad news is that it doesn’t seem likely that the growth of this spike is done yet.
On the COVID ICU front: the low of 1070 available ICU beds was in January of 2021. But July 2020 had a low of 2614 ICU beds available with more like 2800-3000 available until October 2020.
Today there are 1750 available ICU beds with the number dropping still.

Posted by: c1ue | Aug 16 2021 15:01 utc | 135

by: NemesisCalling @ 1
Ron Unz, the saker, and you, b, seem dismissive of the fact that tens of thousands of westerners have been routinely marching in city streets decrying draconian lock downs, mandates, and passports. Just yesterday, Montreal saw a massive demonstration.
Nothing from you, of course.
Y’all are engaging in wholesale dismissal of any kind of cost-benefit analysis from the concern of millions in the west who see no proof in these mandates or their government’s narrative re: vaccine uptake curtailing its spread.
It’s unfair, b.
But it points to something more unsettling: that someone could be so right in decrying the forceful spread of “western democracy” abroad and yet so wrong in condoning that same blob’s unfettered power grip inward on its own people.
NemesisCalling @ 1 <=you are so right.. vaccination is itself risky but don't lockown and vaccination mandates infringe 4th amendment<=the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searchers and seizures.. shall not be violated, <=I suspecion America believes that government can not use emergency to a. ignore the 4th amendment. and b. overrule the 14th amendment. Both live virus and mRNA vaccine present the Corona Capsule to the immune system. So how can Ron's numbers prove mRNA vaccination makes people safer? what is not discussed is the lipids in the mRNA vaccination.. here
Cesare @ 10 says Vaccines .. are powerful tools against COVID-19, even variants against which they are less effective.<= I say prove mRNA is an effective.. what tools are you talking about for what part of covid 19 scenario? by: internationalistx @ 12 <=give me some data for the so called real answer? BM @ 14.. says increasing evidence that the mRNA, .. increases the risk of infection - and the seriousness of the infection - relative to no jab. <=I agree but lipid, its metabolism, fractionation, and long term outcome used to package mRNA vaccines is a risk nobody is talking about? So there are likely two kinds of risks to the mRNA vaccines.. the Immune response to the SARSCOV2 corona S1 Spike protein (the 2003-2008 patented Corona structure) that both the virus script and the mRNA script codes for and create, and the long term impact of the package lipids included with the mRNA in the vaccine injection. psychohistorian @ 45 is this a creditable website? Dept of Homeland Security Makes Official U.S. Government Announcement, If You Question Govt COVID Response You are Considered A domestic violent extremist
: Tom_Q_Collins @ 48 The weather forecast used to be more accurate when done by referring to the past history and guessing than by predicting from available current data. Today, Algorithms <=fed current facts; produce pin point accurate <=weather prediction as far out as a week or so. I admit it often is difficult to sort belief from fact. Speaking for my self, I do not care what TQC believes; but I am very interested to know facts which TQC can add to help determine the truth about the mRNA scripts embedded in lipids that are being sold by the government for the profit benefit of favorite monopoly powered private enterprises? Facts distinguish MOA from the NYTs. Comments are to test the quality of the facts, and to sort beliefs from facts. Fact finders drink at the MoA bar; believers and the gullible can be found at the NYT reading rooms? Knowledge added to the knowledge base only after it is verified as fact..who, what, how and for what reason and use was the subject, verified to be factual, and are those new facts likely to be used, or likely to change things. TQC @49 and "pants in public is a personal preference allowance granted to the moralist (believers) in a given community, being forced to allow myself to be genetically engineered by a product produced by a private company so the company can make a buck is a violation of my 4th amendment right and a violation of the 14 amendment promise that law will have an equal benefit to each person to whom is applied to.. roger @ 53.. democracy in Canada, voting for the "least worst" candidate feels like choosing between being hanged or shot. When Trudeau's dad and Jean Chretien seem wonderful compared to the present choices you know that the current political world is a complete shit-sandwich. i think you defined democracy for each one of or most of 256 nation states within the nation state system.. each state is made up of financial, economic, social <= propaganda feed, and political sub domains. The oligarch own and control the financial and economic parts in total, the political system (operates as a both dept store complaint dept<=it hears the complaints of the governed, but so what and it operates as a kindergarten, where it makes and enforces the rules of behavior?) to protect oligarch from the governed. Id @ 55 Passports are coming whether we like it or not. <=the Afghans were told the west is coming like it or not.. it takes activism to repel unwanted fireflies. In a democracy like it or not comes only after a vote by those to be governed agreed by vote to the coming. wagelaborer @ 58 ask some relevant questions to your like it or not propaganda. by: Deltaeus @ 62 <=lack of personal-will to deal with (get and understand the facts as opposed to belief or hope) the underlying complexity explains why the MSM propaganda which sings private enterprise songd is so effective..one must get out of ones bed until it is understood? . Roger @ 65 with support by Wagelaborer @ 68 .. (re) benefits of lock downs not discussed. incredible success of the Chinese lock downs (short and sharp!), it is questionable what would have happened without lock down in China? I think the contrast between lock down. mask, and unregulated open society is part of the Big Pharma study.. and part of the chaos intended to cover for the study.. Bolsover @ 67 WITH EXCELLENT support by NemesisCalling @ 75.. Table 5 page 19 -deaths by vaccination status<=delta variant. from Public Health England Technical Briefing 19 and 20- Sars-Cov-2 Total Unvaccinated - Fully vaccinated - Partial vaccinated. deaths (0 doses) (2 doses) (1 dose) org data 454 165 died. 224 died. 65 died. new data 752 253 died. 402 died. 79 died Its seems to be pretty clear that 289 people that have been vaccinated have died compared to 165 unvaccinated. <=== those numbers make sense to me, the mRNA script laughingly called a vaccine, produces in the VAXXed body the same Corona that the virus does, the S1 part of that Corona makes it possible for s2 to open holes thru the human cell wall; thus in theory, the more corona present, the greater the likelihood S2 can do its thing (after all the mRNA codes for corona) ..? so mRNA injectiion increases the number of possible s2 virus transfer sites? making entry by infectious virus via S-2 holes through the cell wall.. more available .. thanks for the data.. fantastic results.. Track the patent history. SARSCOV2 corona S1 Spike protein (the 2003-2008 patented Corona structure) that both the virus script and the mRNA script codes for and create, ALL OF THIS HAS BEEN PATENTED have a look at this https://mypatriotsnetwork.com/patriot/florida-governor-ron-desantis-signs-bill-to-force-vaccinations-by-any-means-necessary/
mina at 121 re New Caledonia. lock down rules.
The global nation state system at work.. we the governed pledge to be your victims.

Posted by: snake | Aug 16 2021 15:19 utc | 137

Scott Ritter in his article about Israel/Iran shadowy tanker war makes the assertion that there are UN sanctions on Syria. I checked and I found that while there was a draft of sanctions put forward at the UN but Russia and China vetoed it. So no UN sanctions on Syria…

Posted by: Kouros | Aug 16 2021 15:50 utc | 139

Hi Roger @ 138! Right you are – those Tweets might be found in the Global Affairs section? I haven’t checked the foreign policy threads, nor have I looked at Freeland’s Lima Group for their views, neither those of the Organization of American States.
What to say? The Caribbean deserves diplomatic and political solutions. The posts from the Canadian military show them deployed in what is deemed to be Canada’s national defence and national interest. In the Caribbean, the motives at work are many; those clear blue waters we snowbirds are so fond of are too often muddied from the north.

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Aug 16 2021 16:12 utc | 141

re: Rêver | Aug 16 2021 12:05 utc | 129
A cruel and horrible death is the least Bernard-Henri Lévy deserves.

Posted by: tucenz | Aug 16 2021 17:04 utc | 143

librul @126 asks: Will there be benefits to reap for Biden?
If a blood bath of reprisals does not materialize,
if violence and extremism is not exported by the Taliban,
if repression of the Afghan citizenry is not at a higher level than for the rest of the region’s territories,
if people are not displaced,
if people are fed, clothed and housed,
if corruption is not rampant. if opium production and export decreases substantially
I ask-what in US history makes you think that the US bombs, invades, or sanctions for the good of the targeted population? What makes you think that improvement in their lives is the goal? The talking heads and think tank pontificators make it very clear the the Empire of Chaos has the goals of ruining lives, not improving them.
I do wonder about the heroin. Is it possible that the US is dropping their reliance on drug production and distribution because of the push for abolishing cash and switching to digital currency? You can’t run drugs without cash.
S.P. Korolev @90 asks: Wouldn’t you expect a higher % of hospitalisations and deaths among the vaccinated once a very high % of the population is vaccinated eg in ‘Israel’?
No, SP, you would expect NO disease or deaths in a highly vaccinated population. The whole point of vaccination (up until they flipped the story a month ago when it became obvious that the vaccines were ineffective) is to eradicate disease, not spread the disease among the vaccinated.
That entire propaganda narrative is absurd. If you believe it, you might want to check your cynicism level. I’m thinking it isn’t high enough to inoculate you against believing absurdities from the authorities.
Remember 7 months ago? When they were talking about herd immunity? Yeah, that is what you would actually expect from an effective vaccine.

Posted by: wagelaborer | Aug 16 2021 17:31 utc | 145

@Bolsover and other re:british stats
There is one of the “fact-checking” sites that “debunks” these statistics by saying that they are taken out of context. What is the “context”? That the vaccinated group includes a higher proportion of old people, so of course they are more likely to die. OK.

Posted by: Platero | Aug 16 2021 18:05 utc | 147

Thank you, Paco @ 56 – I couldn’t find the poem in English, but here is the original:
Antonio Machado
La saeta
¡Oh, la saeta, el cantar
al Cristo de los gitanos,
siempre con sangre en las manos,
siempre por desenclavar!
¡Cantar del pueblo andaluz,
que todas las primaveras
anda pidiendo escaleras
para subir a la cruz!
¡Cantar de la tierra mía,
que echa flores
al Jesús de la agonía,
y es la fe de mis mayores!
¡Oh, no eres tú mi cantar!
¡No puedo cantar, ni quiero
a ese Jesús del madero,
sino al que anduvo en el mar!
The poet might have been happier with Orthodox Christianity, which downplays the blood, if not the suffering. My priest used to say that always, even during observance of Holy Week, Christ’s resurrection is never lost sight of. And our Creed passes over His death on the cross, with “…who suffered and was buried and the third day He rose from the dead…” Once a visitor asked “Why does it not say “died”? I don’t remember the answer to that, but it goes with all that is a positive affirmation of faith, to my mind.
(Do feel free to translate any parts of the poem you particularly like for those of us who don’t speak Spanish – I only know, I am embarrassed to say, a few words and not the ones used here.)

Posted by: juliania | Aug 16 2021 19:54 utc | 149

Platero @ 152, it seems to me I have done so, but so far back I can’t really remember a lot of it, except that it seemed very dark and descriptive of long held animosities, one tribe against another. Sort of on the theme that the region would never be at peace. I might be not remembering well, sorry.
Why do you ask?

Posted by: juliania | Aug 16 2021 20:26 utc | 151

I must be misremembering then, Platon. It doesn’t sound like the book I read. There is, however, a debate among Christians about the meaning of the term ‘Lamb of God’ as in John the Forerunner saying ‘Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'[John 1:29] I don’t know on which side of that your author falls. I’m on the side that says Christ’s death was not a sacrifice in pagan terms, even though that is how the Jewish high priest describes it. I will do some research so I can describe the distinction better; it’s important.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 16 2021 21:38 utc | 153

Some items from Australia:
1. Anti-lockdown = Nazi. They are not even trying to be subtle about it
Sydney Morning Herald: Politics and anti-lockdown protests: How neo-Nazis seek to spread influence
2. ZDNet: AFP seeks upgrades to telco interception and surveillance device monitoring tool
The Australian Federal Police are building an NSA-like pan surveillance facility
3. In the “Kind of funny but sad” category
Single people need to register their girlfriend/boyfriend with the government. No joke.
A “singles bubble” is allowed, whereby you register your partner with the government. You can visit is she’s less than 5km away. You can meet if you can find a place not more than 5km from each home. Else you are out of luck. Also, don’t break up because you cannot change your selection! Yes, seriously.
Obviously that’s outrageous, but once I say the magic word you’ll feel better: covid. Oh well that’s alright then 🙂
4. The fine in NSW for doing anything wrong with respect to covid is now $5000.

Posted by: Deltaeus | Aug 16 2021 22:07 utc | 155

Deltaeus #157

4. The fine in NSW for doing anything wrong with respect to covid is now $5000.

Hahaha I guess its also wrong to prohibit/obstruct the import of proven effective vaccines from Russia or China or Cuba too. Is it also wrong to incarcerate quarantine people in roach infested hotels and not van parks where there is fresh air and sunshine? Is it also wrong to refuse to use a thorough test other than PCR before releasing quarantined people into the community? Is it also wrong to drive a narrative that feeds mass psychosis and division in the community. Is it also wrong to retard, restrict and suppress medications that assist in the avoidance/recovery of covid.
The medical profession in bunya nut land is a tragic study. Its enough to drive us to eating herbs weeds.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 16 2021 23:44 utc | 157

In a First, U.S. Declares Shortage on Colorado River, Forcing Water Cuts
Look at the nice pool in the bottom right corner of the photo in the article.

Posted by: vk | Aug 17 2021 1:19 utc | 159

Patero 149
So what they are saying is that old people die and whether they have been vaccinated or not is irrelevant. These old people have died just happen to test positive to covid and would have died anyway. No pandemic just people dying as normal.
Or these old people have died from covid despite having being vaccinated which seems to indicate that the vaccine is totally useless for the elderly – the very people it is suppose to protect.
seems like a lose/lose situation for the vaccine promoters.
But then again i could be missing something.

Posted by: Bolsover | Aug 17 2021 1:58 utc | 161

You might observe, fractally speaking, that I am thinking in terms suggested by what has been happening, as b has explained to us, in Afghanistan. The virus does have an artificial component that has been patented, the nasty spike protein. I am hoping its artificiality is its weakness; that in a natural world, once it is not being forceably kept in the mainstream, it will wither away like some occupational entities that shall be nameless herein.
There used to be a commercial that said “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”
😉

Posted by: juliania | Aug 17 2021 4:36 utc | 163

Denmark abolishes all corona measures
https://www.bitchute.com/video/1jgm3KuWNWCq/
being sceptical I did a Lazy Webb search and then this:
Link: https://freewestmedia.com/2021/08/09/denmark-abolishes-all-corona-measures/
Danish parliament decided all Corona measures should be ended. There will no be no mask requirement.or have to provide evidence of whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated, or have tested positive or negative,.no longer rely on vaccination to achieve herd immunity. All pressure, including moral pressure (alleged act of solidarity with one’s neighbor) is therefore illegal in terms of criminal and liability law.
Interesting….
and here: https://www.nutritruth.org/single-post/denmark-abolishes-all-corona-measures

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 17 2021 6:19 utc | 165

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1231686.shtml
US senator tweeting about 30,000 US troops in Taiwan.
Did he just have a brainfart or?

Posted by: Smith | Aug 17 2021 9:08 utc | 167

@ juliana
Interesting.
Reading “>https://www.liveabout.com/translation-of-the-agnus-dei-724428”> here I can see that the agnus dei, which is so central to the western liturgy was inserted as a deliberate measure to make some distance with the eastern.

Posted by: Platero | Aug 17 2021 11:17 utc | 169

Bolsover wrote:
So what they are saying is that old people die and whether they have been vaccinated or not is irrelevant.
___________________________________________________________
That is not what they are saying.
Old people have a higher probability of serious illness or death. Vaccines can reduce that probability.
A healthy teenager has close to zero probability of dying from covid. We will not be seeing many lives saved by vaccinating teenagers. An 80 yo in poor health may have about 20% chance of dying if they get covid. The vaccine may reduce that to 5% or less, but some will still die.
It should be obvious that those who believe they are most at risk of dying from covid are going to want to be vaccinated while those who believe their risk is low are more likely to be less inclined to be vaccinated.
That means the statistics you are promoting don’t really much when they are considered in the context of the self-selection process of the two groups (vaxed or unvaxed) being compared.

Posted by: jinn | Aug 17 2021 12:14 utc | 171

@uncle tungsten | Aug 17 2021 6:19 utc | 167
Somehow you seem to have forgotten to mention that Denmark will lift all Corona-related restrictions from October 1. And that it can do so because they already now a vaccination rate of 75% (1 jab) and 66% fully vaccinated. Numbers still rising.

Posted by: Cemi | Aug 17 2021 12:57 utc | 173

I will add that the eastern church has a beautiful hymn which is sung on the morning of Holy Saturday. Here is the first part of the text:
Arise, O Lord, judge the earth,
For to Thee belong
All the nations.
Christ, the new Passover,
The sacrificial victim,
The lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world…
This hymn is important to Orthodox Christians, as is ‘Agnus Dei’ to westerners,
even though sung but once, the Saturday morning before Easter celebration that night. It was sung in my little church as vestments of the clergy and altar were being changed from black to white. Also, the part of the bread meant for communion during celebrations of every liturgy is called the ‘lamb’, the remainder being distributed to all who attend, at the end of the service.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 17 2021 13:46 utc | 175

I wondered if the spike protein is what set SARS-CoV-2 apart from other viruses, but all corona viruses including the common cold strains have the spike protein.
___________________________________________________________________
Yes, all corona viruses that infect humans have a spike protein that is unique to that particular virus. Even different variants of SARS2 have different spike proteins as they mutate over time. Nobody has a patent on any of them.

Posted by: jinn | Aug 17 2021 15:52 utc | 177

Thailand has the Royal coronavirus blues.
Read it here at secretsiam news

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 17 2021 20:49 utc | 179

Cemi #175
In addition to my above response #182 I have taken a peek at the SWPRS most recent evaluation summary of mRNA and AstraZeneca here.
According to this analysis, these two ‘vaccine’ types appear to render short term attenuation to severe covid affliction:

Importantly, in people who got vaccinated already in January 2021 (primarily the elderly), protection against infection and mild disease may already have dropped to just 16% (see chart above). Moreover, since the Delta covid outbreak is still accelerating in Israel, the effectiveness against hospitalization and severe disease may further decrease (due to lags in hospitalizations).
(Update: New data from Hebrew University shows that protection against severe disease has already dropped to 80%; compared to the original 96%, this results in a five-fold increase in residual risk.)
In the UK, which has primarily used the AstraZeneca DNA adenovector vaccine, the latest estimate by researchers at University College London indicates an effectiveness against infection of only 8% and a total effectiveness against severe disease of about 60%. In very senior citizens, the effectiveness against severe disease may be even lower (due to a weaker immune response).
(A substantially higher estimate by Public Health England, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was based on outdated data from early June. Interestingly, the British government hasn’t updated its data on AstraZeneca vaccine effectiveness since June 13. Update: New data from PHE confirms that effectiveness against infection has dropped below 20%.)

There is some analysis of the ‘vaccinated’ becoming a distribution vector for the infection:

For instance, just this week a “fully vaccinated” Australian managed to pre-symptomatically infect about 60 people at a party in the United States. Many similar stories have already been reported in Europe and Israel: fully vaccinated people can easily transmit the virus even to large groups. Hence, imposing “vaccination certificates” or “green passes” may only serve a political purpose.
(Update: New data from Israel shows that about 20% of fully vaccinated people have infected others. While authorities claim that this is a success, in reality, it is not any different from unvaccinated people, thus confirming zero effectiveness against infection and transmission. A new study by the US CDC also confirms that viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated people are equally high.)
In many countries, mass vaccination campaigns have themselves triggered large coronavirus outbreaks (“post-first dose spike”), possibly due to a combination of vaccine-induced temporary immune suppression and infections at large indoor vaccination centers visited by thousands of people. The vaccine-induced temporary immune suppression may also explain the frequently observed post-vaccination appearance of shingles (i.e. herpes zoster reactivation).

There is some optimism and certainly these ‘vaccines’ appear to give benefit against the worst conditions of the covid-19 infection but there are some wise conclusions here:

Concerning children, since covid remains mostly asymptomatic or mild in them anyway, and since vaccination cannot prevent infection and infectiousness, the vaccination of children and even of young low-risk adults becomes increasingly difficult to justify, especially given the very real vaccine-associated cardiovascular risks to them (e.g. teen myocarditis and cerebral blood clots).
A look at covid data in places like Israel, the UK and Portugal – which were first in Europe to experience the Delta variant summer wave – confirms that, while infections have skyrocketed, hospitalizations have remained rather low and deaths have remained very low so far (see charts below). In contrast, in countries with a low vaccination rate – such as India, Russia, as well as many Asian and African countries, Delta covid deaths have reached all-time record levels (see below).
In conclusion, vaccine protection against infection and “mild disease” has pretty much collapsed, whereas protection against severe disease and death remains at a reasonable level, with the partial exception of the most senior citizens and especially nursing home residents, some of whom have never mounted a neutralizing antibody response to the vaccine. Moreover, future coronavirus variants will likely achieve additional immune evasion.
Given the current situation and outlook, it may once again be emphasized that research and implementation of early treatment options for high-risk patients – especially anti-viral, anti-inflammatory (immuno-modulatory) and anti-thrombotic treatment – should be a top priority.

Note that second last paragraph above – this is likely why Denmark has chosen to abandon covid controls in that the intensity of the infection is severely attenuated for now. Its medical infrastructure MAY cope providing another fatal wave is blocked. I am looking forward to seeing similar comparisons with all other vaccines in use in the world. Do assist if you find same.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 17 2021 22:22 utc | 181

Thanks for correcting me at 179, jinn. I apologize for my error. And thanks to others posting on the subject – especially uncle tungsten’s last @ 183.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 18 2021 1:15 utc | 183

Below is a posting from Xinhuanet that I think describes another flash point where empire will be shown up
”
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged the United States to abide by the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, sever military links with Taiwan and stop arms sales to the island.
There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, said spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing on Tuesday, which marks the 39th anniversary of the issuance of the August 17 Communique.
Citing relevant U.S. commitments made in the August 17 Communique concerning arms sales to Taiwan, Hua said the three China-U.S. joint communiques constitute the political foundation of bilateral relations, the essential core of which is the one-China principle, which the U.S. side should strictly follow.
Hua said that, in fact, the United States has conducted “official” exchanges with Taiwan and sold various kinds of weapons to the island in constant breach of its own promises, to help Taiwan expand the so-called international space. She cited multiple batches of arms sales to Taiwan by U.S. administrations, including a plan recently announced by the Biden administration to sell weaponry to Taiwan worth around 750 million U.S. dollars.
“We’d like to try our best to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity, and at the same time, will reserve the option of taking all necessary countermeasures against foreign intervention, as well as a few ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionists and their activities,” said Hua.
No one should underestimate the firm determination, strong will and powerful capabilities of the Chinese people in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity, she said. No matter how many weapons the United States provides to Taiwan, there is no possibility it will change the general trend of cross-Strait relations, and still less that it will impede China’s reunification process, added Hua.
The spokesperson urged the United States to clearly recognize the highly sensitive and harmful nature of the issue of arms sales to Taiwan, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques with concrete actions, stop official exchanges and military links with the island, cease arms sales to Taiwan, to avoid doing further damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
”

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 18 2021 4:47 utc | 185

uncle
check the interesting case of belgium
no delta wave..festivals allowed with 10,000 ppl…while sitting in the midst of countries witnessing a wave (germany france netherlands)
i.e the natural immunity they acquired during the harsh first wave last year worked marvel

Posted by: Mina | Aug 18 2021 9:31 utc | 187

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/08/some-700000-dutch-are-not-adequately-protected-by-two-vaccinations/
the vaccines used in Europe are far from efficient

Posted by: Mina | Aug 18 2021 13:59 utc | 189

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has put a shot across the bow of the Outlaw US Empire’s weaponization of Human Rights with its own appraisal of the state of human rights in a select list of nations. What follows is the first half of the paper’s Introduction:
“This report is a continuation of efforts by the Ministry to draw attention to the human rights challenges facing today’s international community.
“One of the most serious problems in this field is the so-called double standard approach to assessing various situations and phenomena. This approach is still heavily used by several countries to escalate confrontation. Despite multiple discussions on and reaffirmations of the principle of universality of human rights at various levels and seemingly general understanding of the essence of the matter, the issue of human rights is still used by some countries to serve their political interests and as a pretext for interference in the internal affairs of independent states in violation of their sovereignty.
“In addition, we are witnessing how, despite legal mechanisms existing and functioning within the UN, the OSCE and the Council of Europe to deny, condemn and prevent the glorification of Nazism, racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, a number of countries openly promote racist ideas and values, with radical nationalists raising their heads. More attempts are also made to divide societies based on ethnicity and language. Against this backdrop, there is a steady increase in xenophobic and racist incidents, and outbursts of aggressive nationalism, chauvinism and other forms of racial and religious intolerance in several countries, with their authorities justifying their lack of response to such manifestations by hypocritically invoking the allegedly absolute nature of the right to freedom of expression. The issue has become so prevalent that experts already indicate structural manifestations of racism and intolerance that permeate all areas of public life in certain States.
“The report also reflects how the coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted human rights and freedoms in the world, mainly in the context of the measures adopted by States. It refers particularly to the increase in various manifestations of racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, infringement on the entirety of economic and social human rights, and restrictions on the exercise of rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.”
It’s a long read and will take several hours to digest and is very heavily footnoted. The section on the Outlaw US Empire alone consists of 113 footnotes to document the analysis. I must note that when the West accuses Russia of something, the accusation is never accompanied by facts of any sort. Here’s the opening paragraph of that section:
“The United States and its leadership continue to flagrantly violate human rights within its borders as well as abroad by, for instance, imposing unlawful unilateral and coercive measures (sanctions) against individuals, organizations and nations. The most glaring example is its economic blockade of Cuba that was initiated and remains in place (despite numerous United Nations General Assembly resolutions demanding the end to the embargo). And yet the country continues to position itself as a staunch defender of core freedoms worldwide. A number of non-governmental organizations loyal to the establishment have even conceded that the human rights situation worsens with every year. And any criticism of the actual state of affairs with regards to human rights in the United States is still being ignored by the leadership. Instead, officials focus on violations everywhere else but not at home.” [My Emphasis]

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 18 2021 17:19 utc | 191

No sooner than Saigon II played out in Kabul when gringos are frothing at the mouth on their next White men’s burden, TW.

*Cooperative Taiwanese certainly should anticipate CCP party benefits like all those fresh Christian organs or a piece of those seized properties accrued to the State…as long as there aren’t too many martyrs or secret weapons to take the fun and profit out of a CCP attack.

tHEre aint no PLA goons appropriating ancestral homes in TW, raping LOCAL lass.
Try OKinawa or Diego Garcia or Jeju.….
xtiaN organs ?
Ask your KLA pals in Kosovo.
lying is in your DNA ASSHOLE. ?

*As for China not wanting to invade you must be out of the loop because THAT is what THEY have been talking about and NOT integrating

How many times must I educate gringos ?
China would intervene iff Tsai cross the red line…going independence.
Stop emboldening the Tsai gang,
gET THE fuck out of their family affair and nobody gets hurt.

The ccp has been threatening to take over Taiwan since 1949. Something keeps stopping them]

Who’s been threatening whom ?
TW./CIA made an attempt on Chou Enlai’s life.
They were behind the HK unrest.

Okinawa had less than 80,000 defenders in 1945 and it took the US (with British Naval support) from April Fools day till late June to take an island of less than 500 square]

Geeze, didnt I tell you, FUKUS are crawling with military genius.
Wise man,
No hurry , dont think the TW are too keen to die fighting for that seat in WTO or whatever.
Whats your strategy to R2p OKinawa , they want the occupier out pronto, been crying themselves hoarse for the past 70 years, are you guys deaf or something ?

Personally I think maybe it’s a CCP miscalculation like Germany in 1914 when everybody else gangs up and beats it senseless, and maybe shed a few colonies like Tibet and the Turkmens. And quits trading with it.]

Say who ?
The world’s no 1 mother fucking rogue state.
https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2020/03/25/the-unaccountable-nation/
Tip of an iceberg
Too many !@#$%, too little time,

Posted by: denk | Aug 19 2021 3:30 utc | 193

Mina #189
Thank you I took a peek. Well the news I read seems to indicate that Belgium got off to a slow start with vax and then as people overcame reluctance and infrastructure was implemented, there was a solid rush for vax to the extent that the reports are claiming it was vax that saved them. Belgium manufactures and exports lots of Pfizer so I guess the mainstream media I read would be constrained in saying otherwise.
I discovered this congratulatory tale at a few sites:

As vaccine deliveries started to increase in frequency and volume, Belgium found itself racing from the bottom to nearly the top of the European vaccination charts. Around June 17, it surpassed the United States, which had gotten off to a flying start with its vaccination campaign last winter. And by Aug. 12, almost 72 percent of the Belgian population had received at least one shot of vaccine, with 65 percent fully vaccinated. (The only EU countries ahead of Belgium on the first metric were Denmark, Malta, Portugal, and Spain, and only Malta was ahead on the second.) It’s hard to believe that this is the same country that just a few months earlier was quite literally the sick man of Europe.

So it has a high vaccination rate and no story reports on ‘breakthrough’infection of delta. Infected cases have a very high percentage of ‘minor infection’ compared with hospitalised/critical infection.
So it may be that natural immunity is high but it is now heading into winter where the alpha variant virus seems to thrive. I will watch that space.
One interesting observation I must make is that Australia reports to its people no data differentiation between mild and severe cases of infection whereas Worldometer makes that distinction for some.
The ratio seems to be approximately
Belgium: 99.7% mild to 0.3% severe/critical.
Australia: 99.1% mild to 0.9% severe/critical.
USA UK n/a

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 19 2021 10:31 utc | 195