Saturday, August 13, 2022

Whitney Webb talks about Jeffrey Epstein

Whitney Webb has written a book about dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and she's discussing the book in the interviews below.









This is C.I.'s "

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Thursday, August 11, 2022

Grand Dragon Lisa Kudrow

Marcia's "Lisa Kudrow exposes herself as a racist" just went up.  Support.  Please read it.


Lisa Kudrow played Phoebe on Friends.  Not much since.  But she wanted the world to know that she did not feel the creators of Friends had anything to apologize for about the lack of African-American characters.  She wants you to know that the man and the woman who created the show went to college so they don't know anything about Black people.


You racist piece of garbage.


Since they knew nothing about Black people, they couldn't write Black characters.


Racist.


This is the racist entertainment industry showing their lily white sheets that they put on at night.


This is why our historical male figures, African-American ones, are played in film after film not by American actors but by British ones.  Over and over.


Lisa Kudrow needs to shut her mouth and open her damn ears.  She's making racist statements.


And there's no excuse for Friends not having Black characters.  I remember the show coming on and, Marcia is right, they were called out in real time over and over for this.  For an actor from that show to now, decades later, show up and try to justify this is disgusting and appalling.


In 2005 and 2014, she produced The Comeback -- a two season show.  Do you know how many African-Americans she had in the cast?


That's right, zero.


There were seven main characters and there were five supporting characters.


No Black people for Grand Dragon Lisa. 


She produced Web Therapy.  43 episodes, only one Black recurring character: Rashida Jones (bi-racial but let's let Lisa have it).  Four episodes.  That's all Rashida was on.


Does Lisa, like the creators of Friends, also not know any Black people.


I'm sick of it.


Shut your damn mouth.  You're a hurtful woman who is too stupid to realize what you are saying.  I am an African-American woman married to an African-American man and we have two African-American children.


Your remarks are so offensive to me.


I used to like you.  Those days are now gone.


This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, August 11, 2022.  Joe Biden takes a vacation as troubles mount, Moqtada insists on judicial action or else, and much more.



US President Joe Biden is vacationing and he left without coming up with a real plan to address monkeypox in place.  This despite the fact that this pandemic is a global issue.  


Tamino Dreisam (WSWS) reports on the spread of monkeypox in Germany:

The first monkeypox case in Germany was reported on May 20. Since then, the number has risen steadily, from 28 cases per week in late May to 125 in early June. There are now 300 to 400 cases per week and a total of 2,916 cases have been reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Germany to date, corresponding to an incidence level of 3.54 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. This is more than ten percent of the worldwide cases outside Africa. A recent study estimated the reproductive rate (R-value) of monkeypox in Germany to be 1.21, which is higher than the COVID-19 R-value, which is currently 0.86.

Due to widespread ignorance about the symptoms of monkeypox and generally limited testing facilities, it can be assumed that the actual number of infections is much higher.

Worldwide, Germany is among the most affected countries. In absolute numbers, Germany has the third most infections after the United States with 9,461 cases and Spain with 5,162 cases. On a per capita basis, however, the incidence rate in Germany, at 3.54, is already much higher than in the US, with 2.15 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. This is despite the fact that the US administration has already declared monkeypox a public health emergency.


Joe's 'plan' is to take a vaccine and divide it into fifths and then use the diluted form on Americans.  Supposedly, it may work -- based on a single study done seven years ago.  We noted that yesterday as did Trina.  At THE ATLANTIC, Katherine J. Wu reports:


Once again, the United States is messing up its approach to vaccines. Three months into its monkeypox outbreak, just 620,000 doses of the two-injection Jynneos shot—the nation’s current best immune defense against the virus—have been shipped to states, not nearly enough to immunize the 1.6 million to 1.7 million Americans that the CDC considers at highest risk. The next deliveries from the manufacturer aren’t slated until September at the earliest. For now, we’re stuck with the stocks we’ve got.
Which is why the feds have turned to Inoculation Plan B: splitting Jynneos doses into five, and poking them into the skin, rather than into the layer of fat beneath. The FDA issued an emergency-use authorization for the strategy yesterday afternoon.
This dose-sparing tactic will allow far more people to sign up for doses before summer’s end; if successful, it could help contain the outbreak in the U.S., which currently accounts for nearly a third of the world’s documented monkeypox cases. But this decision is based on scant data, and the degree of protection offered by in-skin shots is no guarantee. The FDA is now playing a high-stakes game with the health and trust of people most vulnerable to monkeypox—an already marginalized population. Call it a bold decision; call it a risky gamble: It may be the best option the country currently has, but one the U.S. could have avoided had it marshaled a stronger response earlier on.
Little is known about how Jynneos performs against monkeypox even in its prescribed dosing regimen, the so-called subcutaneous route; the new method, intradermal injection, is a murkier proposition still. “We are in a very data-thin zone,” says Jeanne Marrazzo, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The shot was approved for use against smallpox and monkeypox in 2019. But to date, researchers don’t have a strong sense of how well it guards against disease or infection or how long protection lasts. Although scientists know that two doses of Jynneos can elicit similar numbers of antibodies as older poxvirus vaccines, no estimates of the vaccine’s true efficacy, from large-scale clinical trials, exist; a human study in the Congo hasn’t yet reported results. And though firmer data have shown that the vaccine keeps lab monkeys from getting seriously sick, “I don’t necessarily trust making the clinical decisions” based just on that, says Mark Slifka, a vaccinologist at Oregon Health & Science University. It’s not even clear if Jynneos can stop someone from transmitting the virus, especially now that many cases seem to be arising via skin-to-skin contact during sex, an understudied form of spread.


Some real leadership would be nice right about now.  Hope Joe's enjoying that vacation.  A case of monkeypox has been discovered at Detroit's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant.  In response, Will Lehman, a candidate for the presidency of United Auto Workers issued the following statement:


I call for an immediate shutdown of all production until the spread of the infection is isolated and contained, with all workers affected receiving full pay. The companies, which are making record profits based on our exploitation, can afford to take the necessary measures to save our health and lives.

We need to break through the misinformation and disinformation that is being put out by the White House, the UAW and corporate media.

All workers need to be made aware that monkeypox is a potentially deadly virus with a case fatality rate similar to COVID. It can cause disfiguring lesions and excruciating pain that in 10 percent of cases requires hospitalization. The experience of Africa shows that it has a particularly severe impact on children.

The official number of monkeypox cases, 7,500 in the US, is likely an undercount, since testing is a complicated and long process. The vast majority of individuals currently being tested are gay men, based on the false claim that the virus is primarily transmitted through sex. In fact, studies have shown that monkeypox can spread through aerosols that linger in the air like the coronavirus. It can also spread through skin to skin contact as well as contaminated fabric and surfaces. The virus can remain alive for weeks outside the body, meaning all potentially contaminated areas need to be regularly disinfected with appropriate cleaning supplies.

Given this, it is highly probable that there are more cases in the auto plants than the single reported case at SHAP, where 7,000 work. For more than two years, management and the UAW have systematically covered up the spread of COVID-19 in the plants, forcing workers to rely on word of mouth.

Giant auto plants with thousands forced to stand close together for hours on end are primary vectors for the transmission of disease that can infect the entire community. The danger will be multiplied when schools reopen in a few short weeks under conditions where nothing is being done to halt the spread of COVID-19 or monkeypox.

No confidence can be put in the profit hungry Stellantis management or their lackeys in the UAW bureaucracy to deal with this emergency. The last two and a half years of the COVID-19 pandemic show they could not care less about workers’ health or lives.

When COVID was first detected in auto plants, it was workers who halted production, not the highly paid UAW bureaucrats. If it wasn’t for the action of workers on the shop floor at SHAP and other auto plants, who stopped production as the pandemic spread in March 2020, there would have been no temporary lockdowns or other limited safety protocols put in place. The UAW worked to prematurely reopen the auto plants before the virus was contained and then steadily removed all the other protocols while covering up its spread.

Now the UAW simply parrots all the corporate and government lies that we must accept mass infection, that COVID will be here forever, killing hundreds of thousands every year and inflicting millions with debilitating “long COVID.”

This means that we workers must act independently to protect the health of ourselves, our families and our communities.

I call for the formation of rank-and-file committees in every auto plant and workplace to oversee health and safety and other workplace conditions.

We need to build a network of rank-and-file committees to link up autoworkers everywhere, including with our brothers and sisters overseas. We cannot allow COVID and now monkeypox to continue to spread in our workplaces and society as a whole.

Medical science has the tools like vaccines, mass testing, quarantine, isolation, and rigorous contact tracing to contain and eliminate these diseases. Workers must not be allowed to continue to die simply to grow the profits of the auto companies and Wall Street.

If you support what I am saying, I ask you to contact my campaign and learn how you can become more involved. 



AP Tweets:


As Joe enjoys his vacation, Marcus Day (WSWS) notes:

Annual price increases for US consumer goods remain at their highest level in nearly 40 years, according to the latest inflation data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Prices for items in the Consumer Price Index rose 8.5 percent in the 12 months ending in July, down slightly from the 9.1 percent rate reported in June, but still the second-largest yearly increase since December 1981.

Food prices in particular have surged in recent months. The BLS’ overall food index rose 10.9 percent year-over-year in July, while the cost of food at home increased 13.1 percent, the biggest increases since May 1979.

Amid a heat wave which has blanketed much of the US this summer and broken records in a number of regions, electricity costs rose 15.2 percent compared to last year, increasing by 1.9 percent over the last month alone.

The cost of shelter also pushed higher, with rent rising 6.3 percent nationally since 2021, with increases far greater in many major metropolitan areas, forcing large numbers of young people to live with their parents, and threatening others with eviction and homelessness. In California, 1.5 million households are behind on their rent, according to Census Bureau data released in late July.

Although the cost of gasoline, which is more volatile, fell somewhat from June, down 7.7 percent, it remained 44 percent higher than a year ago. The national average price for a gallon of gas is hovering near $4, compared to $3.18 in 2021.

The Biden administration and sections of the corporate media nevertheless seized on the latest data to claim that inflation is easing and that a corner being turned, with Biden misleadingly asserting that the BLS report showed “zero percent inflation in the month of July—zero percent.”

In a two-minute appearance, Biden painted a fantastical picture of a booming economy, but the reality facing masses of workers is one of increasing desperate struggle for daily existence. According to a separate BLS release Wednesday, real average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory employees fell 2.7 percent year-over-year in July.  


Over in Iraq, cult leader Moqtada al-Sadr has failed at forming a government so he now demands new elections.  Amr Mostafa (THE NATIONAL) reports:

Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr on Wednesday called on the country's judiciary to dissolve parliament by the end of next week.

“I address the competent judicial authorities, particularly the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, hopefully so they correct the path, especially after the constitutional deadlines for the parliament to select a president and task a prime minister have passed,” Mr Al Sadr said in a statement.

Mr Al Sadr also called on the judiciary to give the Iraqi president the task of setting a date for early elections that will be held “under a number of conditions we will announce later”.


Called on?  Mild language.  PRESS TV gets to the point in their opening paragraph, "Prominent Iraqi cleric and seasoned politician Muqtada al-Sadr has given the country's apex court a one-week ultimatum to dissolve the parliament amid a deepening post-election political crisis gripping the country."  It's an ultimatum from a man infamous for his tantrums.  TRT reminds who caused the political stalemate in Iraq:

Sadr has called for early elections and unspecified changes to the constitution after withdrawing his lawmakers from parliament in June.

The withdrawal was a protest against his failure to form a government despite holding nearly a quarter of parliament and having enough allies to make up more than half the chamber.


So Moqtada screaming for the judiciary to act and?  AL-MONITOR explains:

Judiciary head Faiq Zaidan said earlier this year in an article that the constitution did not set any punishment for the parliament when it fails to form the government within the constitutional deadlines.

The only way to dissolve the parliament is for two-thirds of its members to vote for the dissolution. 

Zaidan asked to add a new mechanism for dissolving the parliament, specifically for the time it fails to form the government within the constitutional deadlines.

The suggested mechanism is to dissolve the parliament by a request from the prime minister approved by the president, after the deadlines meet. 

The only way to amend the constitution is to return the parliament sessions and votes for this amendment, which it does not seems possible now due to Sadr objections to return the parliament sessions.


 


The following sites updated:





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Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Crazy ass Debra Messing

Debra Messing is insane.  Her politics -- or partisanship -- long ago made that clear.  She's nothing like Grace -- her only claim to fame.  So she's again talking about Will & Grace and she talks to People Magazine:

However, after filming nearly 250 episodes of the series, which won Messing a 2003 Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series, the 53-year-old is content to leave the past in the past — for now, at least.

"The only way that I could see another iteration is if it was like Golden Girls in Boca Raton," she says. "So I think we're going to have to wait another 30 years. So we can talk again in 30 years and see where we're at. Until then, just watch reruns."




 30 years?  The woman's an idiot.  We already knew that from her Twitter feed and from the way she destroyed Will & Grace (NBC didn't cancel it after the third season of the revival, Megan no longer wanted to endure Grace Adler Goes To Washington on a daily basis).  And now she thinks the show could come back?

But in 30 years?

How old does the idiot think she is?  Let me tell you.  Next Monday, she will turn 54.

The Golden Girls, when it started, featured a 63-year-old Betty White, a 63-year-old Bea Arthur, a 62-year-old Estelle Getty and a 51-year-old Rue McClanahan.

Does the idiot not grasp that?  

In 30 years, she will be 84.  She is already older than Rue was when The Golden Girls started.

Debra Messing can't even do math, she's that stupid.  (But she's smart enough to wear a wig in her upcoming Netflix project -- that's because she's near bald in real life.)



This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


 Wednesday, August 10, 2022.  Joe Biden has no plans for addressing pandemics in the US, Moqtada wants Iraq to dissolve the Parliament but the Parliament would have to meet to vote on that, and much more.


Where is the action from US President Joe Biden on monkeypox?  We addressed that yesterday.  We're back to the topic for two reasons.  A Zoom yesterday included a woman who brought the topic up and insisted that she didn't have to worry about it because she wasn't gay.  


Well our country does have gay people in it and they are citizens and we should care what happens to everyone.  But there's also the reality that it's not just gay people at risk nor is it a "gay disease."  It's history disproves that.  For whatever reasons, it may show up more in one demographic right now but we are in the early stages and the country is a risk -- the country as a whole.


The second thing that happened was Cordell Gascoigne's article at WSWS:


The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) reported last Thursday that the state has recorded 12 cases of monkeypox. Just a month prior, the state reported its first case of the disease. Notwithstanding the Biden administration’s belated declaration of a state of emergency over the spread of the monkeypox virus, workers throughout the world have voiced their deep concern over existing conditions in which two pandemics are being allowed to rip through the population.

While the far-right have issued baseless claims that monkeypox is a “gay disease,” according to a July 28 statement released by the ADH, “Monkeypox is spread through close contact and can be transmitted to anyone regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity.” (Emphasis added.)

The ADH goes on to report, “It can be spread by direct skin-to-skin contact with infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids. This can include household and/or intimate contact. Spreading can also occur when contacting contaminated items, such as clothing. It can also be transmitted through respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact; however, it is not an airborne illness. Monkeypox is not spread through casual, brief conversations or walking by someone with monkeypox, like at a grocery store.”

These claims are unsubstantiated and at odds with decades of research and reports on monkeypox, which have warned that the virus can spread through aerosols, in addition to direct skin-to-skin contact.

Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson has not issued a statement on the increase in monkeypox cases. As of this writing, 30,189 people globally have contracted the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The US accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cases, numbering 8,933, while four countries in Europe have tallied more than 15,000. In conjunction with the unbridled spread of the monkeypox virus, official COVID-19 cases have reached 589,896,455 internationally, according to the worldometers website, with an official record of 6,438,021 deaths, though estimates of excess deaths place the actual global death toll above 20 million.

ADH Director Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said July 5, “Arkansas has been monitoring cases of monkeypox in the U.S. While this news is concerning, monkeypox is not as contagious as other viruses, like COVID-19. We encourage anyone who feels they may have been exposed to monkeypox to please contact their health care provider and be tested.” Despite the claim monkeypox is not as infectious as COVID-19, the state government has done virtually nothing to prevent its spread. They have refused to reinstate mask mandates, while pressing ahead with the full reopening of schools this fall, where both COVID and monkeypox will spread widely in the coming months.

Over the course of the monkeypox outbreak, coronavirus cases in Arkansas have soared. On Thursday, official cases increased by 1,438, while in the last week ADH reported 8,064 new cases, bringing the case count to more than 911,000. This is more than 30 percent of the state’s population! According to health officials, the latest figures show, as of Thursday, more than half of Arkansans are fully immunized, numbering 1,652,249, with another 287,907 partially immunized. But the inoculated populace is not safe, due to waning immunity and the increased dangers of the Omicron BA.5 and future variants.

In the race for Arkansas governor, Republican former White House Adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Democrat Chris Jones have both refused to address COVID-19 or monkeypox. Exposing all the myths that the Democratic Party represents the working class, Jones’ campaign website has said nothing about monkeypox since the first case was reported in Arkansas late last month, as well as COVID-19, despite its soaring rate of infection.

Jones, as have the Democrats as a whole, has pushed for further armaments in Ukraine and supported Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, bringing the world to the brink of World War III. If he were to win, which is highly unlikely, he would do nothing to address the coronavirus and monkeypox pandemics. 


 

If he were to win, the report notes, he would do nothing to address the coronavirus and monkeypox pandemics -- that sounds like an apt description of Joe Biden.


Joe's gone from he would deal with the pandemic to now catching COVID twice in the last weeks and to presenting the White House 'plan' that we'll all get it (I've had, it scarred my lungs) and that's the plan.  That's the plan.  He and others, in 2020, slammed Donald Trump only to come to power and do even less than Donald did.  


And that's COVID -- the pandemic that existed while he was campaigning for the presidency.


Monkeypox has become a US problem on his watch and he's doing damn little.


The public isn't even prepared for this.


The CDC notes:


Monkeypox spreads in a few ways.

  • Monkeypox can spread to anyone through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact, including:
    • Direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluids from a person with monkeypox.
    • Touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels), and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
    • Contact with respiratory secretions.
  • This direct contact can happen during intimate contact, including:
    • Oral, anal, and vaginal sex or touching the genitals (penis, testicles, labia, and vagina) or anus (butthole) of a person with monkeypox.
    • Hugging, massage, and kissing.
    • Prolonged face-to-face contact.
    • Touching fabrics and objects during sex that were used by a person with monkeypox and that have not been disinfected, such as bedding, towels, fetish gear, and sex toys.
  • A pregnant person can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta.

It’s also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals, either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or eating meat or using products from an infected animal.

A person with monkeypox can spread it to others from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.

Scientists are still researching:

  • If the virus can be spread when someone has no symptoms
  • How often monkeypox is spread through respiratory secretions, or when a person with monkeypox symptoms might be more likely to spread the virus through respiratory secretions.
  • Whether monkeypox can be spread through semen, vaginal fluids, urine, or feces.


Here are some videos.





The more dense the population, the more it's spreading in the US.  So, for example, Montana hasn't yet had a case but New York has had 1960 and California has had 1310.  (Those are CDC figures.)  The virus is spreading in the US.  And what's Joe doing to ramp up production on vaccines?  Nothing.   Georgia is now approaching 750 reported cases.


What's the plan, Joe?


Just going to ignore it and tell everyone they'll end up getting it?  Is that plan for every disease now?


The White House released the following b.s. yesterday:


Combatting the monkeypox outbreak is a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. Today, as part of the Administration’s comprehensive effort to mitigate the spread of monkeypox, the Administration announced that it has taken action to increase the number of vaccine doses available by up to five times through an alternative dosing regimen. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced it is granting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered intradermally. Because intradermal administration requires a smaller dose, this change allows the number of available doses to increase by as much as five-fold while continuing to ensure the vaccine meets high standards for safety and quality.

The White House National Monkeypox Response team today outlined its plan to implement this approach and ensure providers and public health officials put the alternative dosing regimen into practice.

Today’s announcements include:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a Section 564 declaration, allowing FDA to use its authority to allow health care providers to administer up to five times the number of vaccine doses per vial of JYNNEOS vaccine.
Following last week’s public health emergency declaration, today HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a determination under the Section 564 declaration of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows for emergency use authorization of vaccines to prevent monkeypox and prevent severe disease from the virus. This action paves the way for the federal government to get up to five times the amount of doses administered out of a single vial of the JYNNEOS vaccine. 

HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell requested that the Secretary issue the Section 564 determination and last week’s public health emergency declaration. This declaration allows HHS to take emergency measures based on the information currently available about the monkeypox virus.

FDA subsequently granted Emergency Use Authorization for the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered intradermally – enabling the current vaccine supply to increase five-fold without sacrificing safety and quality.
Today, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization allowing healthcare providers to use an alternative dosing regimen of the JYNNEOS Vaccine to expand the total number of doses available for use by up to five-fold. The EUA now allows for 0.1ml of the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered between layers of the skin (intradermally), as opposed to 0.5ml of the vaccine that is administered under the skin (subcutaneously). Data from a 2015 clinical study of the JYNNEOS vaccine prior to its approval, published in a peer-reviewed journal, demonstrated that a fifth of the dose, when given intradermally on the same two-dose schedule as currently administered, produced an immune response that was similar to subcutaneous dosing – meaning individuals in both groups responded to vaccination in a similar way.  Additionally, data shows the intradermal administration of other vaccines such as influenza and hepatitis B, is safe and effective for immunocompromised individuals, such as people with HIV. JYNNEOS has been tested in individuals with immunocompromising conditions and has found to be safe and effective in the trials that were performed to support approval. Two doses of the vaccine given 28 days apart will still be needed. Individuals who received their first dose subcutaneously can receive their second dose intradermally or subcutaneously.

The administration requires a different type of needle than the current vaccine administration, similar to the administration for a tuberculin skin tests (or PPD) or intradermal allergy tests. As part of the Administration’s comprehensive monkeypox response effort, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will conduct trainings and outreach to clinicians, public health officials, providers, and patients to make sure jurisdictions can effectively administer the vaccine using this alternative dosing regimen.

The FDA also authorized use of the vaccine, using the standard dosing route, in individuals younger than 18 years of age determined to be at high risk of monkeypox infection.

The White House National Monkeypox Outbreak Response team will oversee the prompt and coordinated implementation of this strategy by HHS, CDC, FDA, and state and local health officials.
Since the start of the outbreak, HHS has distributed more than 670,000 JYNNEOS vaccines to states and jurisdictions from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).  In addition, the SNS is preparing to distribute approximately 400,000 additional vials to states and jurisdictions as part of the next phase of the national vaccine strategy. Jurisdictions that administer 90% of their current vaccine supply may request additional doses sooner. Because of today’s announcement, the 400,000 vials of vaccine in the SNS’s inventory that have been allocated but not yet distributed hold the potential to provide up to 2 million doses using intradermal administration. Additionally, vaccines that have been received by jurisdictions, but not yet administered, are eligible for intradermal administration. 

In order to quickly and effectively implement this approach to increase JYNNEOS vaccine dose supply five-fold, the Biden-Harris Administration is launching a robust effort to train health care workers and providers on how to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine intradermally.

Intradermal administration of vaccine is currently used by providers across the country, particularly when administering tuberculosis skin tests (in the forearm) and intradermal allergy tests, and providers currently have the supplies needed to administer the vaccine in this way. Nonetheless, the Administration will actively engage providers and clinicians to ensure they are prepared to use this approach for most adults who need JYNNEOS vaccine.

CDC is releasing interim clinical guidance and a Dear Colleague Letter from FDA to public health officials, and will be hosting trainings and webinars to support the transition to intradermal administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching a robust plan to communicate with and train public health professionals and providers to quickly implement the intradermal vaccine administration strategy.

Beginning today, the CDC is releasing:

  • Interim clinical considerations on its website, with relevant guidance on how to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine intradermally. The “Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of JYNNEOS and ACAM2000 Vaccines during the 2022 U.S. Monkeypox Outbreak” document includes an overview of monkeypox vaccines, vaccination strategies and post-exposure prophylaxis, and planning considerations for health departments including health equity. In addition, it provides interim guidance for use of JYNNEOS or ACAM2000 vaccines, including the schedule and dosing regimens that can be considered, dosing intervals, vaccine administration, evidence quality, pre- and post-vaccination counseling, and contraindications and precautions.
  • Supporting documents including FAQs for providers and the general public about monkeypox vaccines
  • Related resources for providers, including template standing orders and preparation and administration summary documents.
  • A video to help train health care providers and medical professionals immediately on intradermal vaccine administration.
  • CDC is making experts and clinicians available this afternoon to answer questions on intradermal administration.
  • CDC also plans to communicate with tens of thousands of public health officials and healthcare providers through a Clinical Outreach and Communications Activity (COCA), and will hold webinars and training sessions online and on the ground in communities where the outbreak is most severe.

Vaccines will continue to be shipped as 0.5ml vials, and HHS will be reviewing existing allocations and future vaccine distribution timelines to reflect the increased number of doses now available.
Vaccine vials shipped from the supplier, the SNS, and jurisdictions will continue to be shipped as 0.5ml vials, from which healthcare providers can withdraw 0.5ml for a single subcutaneous dose or 0.1ml for an intradermal dose.

Currently, the SNS has approximately 400,000 vials of JYNNEOS ready for distribution, totaling up to 2 million doses if administered by the intradermal route. Jurisdictions can order additional vaccine supply starting on August 15th or when they have used 90% of their current vaccine allotment. Jurisdictions can also continue to administer the vaccine subcutaneously while they are training medical professionals on the alternative dosing regimen for administration of the vaccine, and for individuals who still need the standard subcutaneous regimen, like children and adolescents.

In light of today’s announcements and the anticipated increase in JYNNEOS vaccine supply, CDC and ASPR are reviewing the current allocation and distribution timeline for vaccines. The goal of revised allocation or distribution strategies will be to ensure jurisdictions have sufficient vaccine supply to implement a two-dose strategy using intradermal application, and to ensure that jurisdictions aren’t receiving more vaccine than they can store or use in a given time period.

ASPR will proceed with procurement of 5.5 million vials of vaccine, totaling over 25 million additional doses that will be available in the United States.
Even with the alternative vaccine administration, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will proceed with its procurement of 5.5 million vials of vaccine, which, factoring in the alternative dosing regimen, represents as much as 25 million doses that will become in the United States, in addition to current vaccine supply.

The Biden-Harris Administration will also continue to work to accelerate vaccine production and distribution. Last week, the Administration announced that 150,000 vials – totaling up to 750,000 doses administered intradermally – will arrive in the United States and be available for distribution in September, two months earlier than originally planned.

Today’s announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy to combat the monkeypox outbreak and protect those at risk of contracting the virus. Since the first known cases in the United States, the Administration has developed a robust and agile strategy to expand and accelerate the production and distribution of vaccines, increased testing capacity from 6,000 tests per week to 80,000 tests per week, made treatments more accessible, and communicated on an ongoing basis with public health officials, state and local leaders, and individuals most impacted by the virus to date, including the LGBTQI+ community.

###


So the 'plan' is to take 400,00 shots and divide them by five and then claim that's 2 million shots!  And, hey, this 'plan' is based on a peer review study from 2015.  One study.  From 2015.  Seven years ago.  Monkeypox has been a global issue for many years.  Is there a reason this ONE peer reviewed study didn't prompt changes seven years ago when it was published?  Maybe because further studies were needed?  And now US citizens will be the lab monkeys?


This isn't a plan.  A plan is, "We're ramping up production of vaccines and these are our target dates for the production and these are our target dates for giving the immunizations."


Joe has no plan.  He has no vision.  He's a senile old man approaching the end of his life and apparently determined to take the country out with him.


There is no excuse for the White House's refusal to increase production.  They have the powers to do so and they have the money to do so.  Joe is doing nothing.  If monkeypox, in the coming months, gets worse -- as many suspect it will -- then he's going to have to receive the scorn he gave Donald Trump and then some.  Joe is AWOL on this issue.  It's happening on his watch and his answer is to dilute the vaccine and this 'plan' is based on one clinical study.   From seven years ago.

Joe's lucky that he's in the US and not Iraq.  In Iraq, as Charlie Metcalfe  (GUARDIAN) details, they take medicine a litle more personally:


Maryam Ali had just walked into the neurosurgery on-call room when a man grabbed her, shoved her to the ground and put a knife in her back.

Hospital security guards shut the facility down and arrested the man. With unusual fortune, Ali says, the CCTV camera covering the ward was working.

“I remember saying I thought I was going to die,” she said. “I was in complete shock. I cursed the day I became a doctor.”

Ali, 27, was in the second year of her postgraduate medical residency at Baghdad’s Ghazi Al-Hariri hospital when the attack happened in January 2021. Her attacker was caught and jailed but Ali has since, like many Iraqi doctors, considered leaving the country.

A recent survey of Baghdad doctors found that 87% experienced violence in the preceding six months. The majority said violence had increased since the beginning of the pandemic, and three-quarters of the attacks were perpetrated by patients and their families.


Meanwhile Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) reports:

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday said that there will be no dissolution of the parliament or early elections without the return of the legislature to holding sessions, following calls from longtime political rival Muqtada al-Sadr for a snap parliamentary vote.

Influential Shiite leader Sadr on Wednesday called for the dissolution of the current legislature and holding snap parliamentary elections in Iraq amidst demonstrations and a sit-in at the Iraqi parliament building by his supporters in protest of the Coordination’s Framework prime minister pick.

“No dissolution of the parliament, or a change in the system, or early elections without the return of the Council [of Representatives] to holding sessions. For it [the parliament] is the one who discusses these demands, and what it decides, we will follow,” said Maliki in a televised video statement on Monday evening.

Maliki stressed that Iraq is a country of many components and that “no will shall be imposed upon it” unless it is one that reflects the entirety of the Iraqi people.


The Parliament would have to vote to dissolve itself.  On that, Nouri is correct.  That said, he has a long history of statements -- and promises -- that are never what they appear.  The Erbil Agreement is only the most prominent.  The legal contract brokered by the US government gave Nouri a second term after the 2010 vote didn't.  It overturned the votes of the Iraqi people -- one of the reasons voting has fallen off with each election cycle in Iraq.  Now how did Nouri get what he wanted?


By promising others that they would get certain things.  Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya won the election.  The Erbil Agrement promised Iraqiya a governmental position.  That position was never created -- let alone given to Allawi.  The Kurds?  They were promised the implementation of Article 140 and they were stupid enough to believe it. 


Stupid enough?


The Iraqi Constitution demanded that Nouri implement that in his first term.  He didn't.  But they thought that because he swore it would happen in his second term that things had changed?


He never implemented.


He never honored The Erbil Agreement.  He used it to get a second term and then he ignored it.  His spokespweron said, months after it was signed, that it wasn't legal and Nouri wasn't bound by it.


And the White House said . . . nothing.  Despite Barack Obama placing a phone call to Ayad Allawi and telling him -- to get Allawi and his MPs back into Parliament so Nouri could be named prime minister-designate -- that the US stood firmly and fully behind The Erbil Agreement.


So anything Nouri says or does should always be suspect.  He is correct.  The Parliament would need to come back into session to vote to dismantle the current government.  But that doesn't mean that if the Parliament comes back into session it will vote to dissolve. 

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Tuesday, August 9, 2022

EPSTEIN CONNECTION? Mar-a-Lago Raid Green Lit By Judge Who Reportedly DEFENDED Epstein STAFF In 2008

 


This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, August 9, 2022.  Joe Biden plans to send another billion of US tax dollars to Ukraine while Americans continue to struggle, who's ready for monkeypox (doesn't look like the US is), real protests take place in Iraq, and much more.


US President Joe Biden has already wasted over $54 billion US tax dollars on Ukraine.  Now he wants to hand over another billion.  Clara Weiss (WSWS) reports:

In the midst of its escalating provocations against China over Taiwan, the Biden administration approved yet another $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine. This brings the total direct military aid provided by the Pentagon to Ukraine since the beginning of the imperialist-provoked invasion by Russia to $9.8 billion. The White House also announced an additional $4.5 billion in financial aid for Ukraine on Monday. 

According to the Pentagon, the new tranche of weapons deliveries will include:

  • additional ammunition for the 16 long-range HIMARS missiles which the Biden administration began delivering to Ukraine in May;
  • 75,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition; 
  • 20 120 mm mortar systems and 20,000 rounds of 120 mm mortar ammunition;
  • 1,000 Javelin (each worth about $78,000) and hundreds of AT4 anti-armor systems; 
  • 50 armored medical treatment vehicles; 
  • C-4 explosives, demolition munitions and demolition equipment; and
  • Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS).

This comes on top of $23.8 billion in military aid, including direct military aid and financial aid designed to help finance future weapons purchases, that the US had pledged as of July 1, according to the Kiehl Institute for the World Economy. 

The new tranche in weapons is aimed at bolstering the Ukrainian army as it is preparing an offensive in the south of the country which has been largely occupied by Russia. Ukrainian officials have also threatened an offensive targeting the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, with a Pentagon spokesman refusing to rule out such attacks, even though Kremlin officials have threatened to retaliate with nuclear weapons. 

Highlighting the immense dangers posed by the conflict, there has been intense fighting at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—the largest of its kind in Europe—over the past week. Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations of shelling the plant, which was reportedly damaged last week. Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have warned that “there’s a very real risk of a nuclear disaster.” According to Bloomberg, Russia has invited IAEA representatives to visit the plant, but they are still awaiting permission from Kiev, as well as security guarantees and a safe passage through the war zone.

The latest US weapons delivery announcement comes as more and more information emerges that confirms the utterly criminal character of the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and its horrific toll on the civilian population and soldiers on both sides. Reports by Amnesty International and the United Nations have now confirmed that the Ukrainian military is deploying tactics that serve to drive up civilian casualties. In violation of international law, Ukrainian troops have been routinely launching rockets and stationing personnel in densely populated areas, including hospitals, and have been using civilians as human shields.

While the Ukrainian government responded with hysterical denunciations to the report by Amnesty International, there has been no credible denial of the allegations of serious violations of international law.

The United Nations now put the figures of civilian casualties at over 5,400 dead and over 7,300 wounded. At least 12 million people out of a pre-war population of less than 40 million have been displaced by the war. Out of these 12 million, about 5 million have fled to neighboring countries, primarily Poland, while at least 7 million were displaced within Ukraine.

Ever more horrifying figures are also emerging about the shocking number of casualties among the Ukrainian army. While it has been impossible to confirm the veracity of documents circulating on social media which suggest that a stunning 191,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been either killed or wounded in action, it is clear that the casualties among the Ukrainian army must by now be in the tens of thousands. In June, one of the advisers of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Aleksei Arestovich, publicly stated that about 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed with another 100 more dying each day. The total number of dead must have increased significantly in the past months since this public revelation. The Ukrainian army also admitted that 7,200 men were missing in action as of July 11. 

The Russian military has not made a single public statement on its casualties since March, when it acknowledged that 1,351 soldiers had died and 3,825 had been wounded in the first few weeks of the war. The Russian BBC wrote in June that it had established the names of at least 3,502 dead Russian soldiers and officers, based on official statements and information about funerals. The US government claims that the Russian military has had between 70,000 and 80,000 casualties.

Whatever the real numbers, it is already clear that the war in Ukraine is the bloodiest conflict in Europe since 1945, and, indeed, one of the bloodiest in modern history with the Washington Post noting in June that it “is killing far more soldiers per day than the typical war.” Yet Western weapons manufacturers are reaping profits from the slaughter and the massive military build-up by the imperialist powers. 

In the first month of the invasion alone, the shares of the two leading US weapons manufacturers, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies, increased by 28 and 20 percent respectively. A report by Business Insider from May revealed that 20 Democratic and Republican congressmen and women owned shares in these two weapons manufacturers, with some buying their shares on February 24 or just days before the war began. All of them voted in favor of a massive $40 billion bill, which provides for over $17 billion for weapons that are to be manufactured in the US, primarily by these two companies, and then sent to Ukraine. 


And some idiots cheered this on.  


Speaking of cheering, who's going to cheer for Joe in a year or two except for idiots?


Monkeypox.  He's doing nothing.  This is worse than the early stages of the (ongoing) COVID 19 pandemic.  Nothing is being done.  There are no efforts to ramp up the production of vaccinations.  Nothing is being done.  It as though the US has no leadership at all.  COVID will most likely get worse this winter -- historically, that's what happens with these types of pandemics.  Are we going to be dealing with two pandemics then: COVID and monkeypox?


Here are some key facts from the World Health Organization:


  • Vaccines used during the smallpox eradication programme also provided protection against monkeypox. Newer vaccines have been developed of which one has been approved for prevention of monkeypox
  • Monkeypox is caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.
  • Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases can occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6%.
  • Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.
  • Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
  • Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and west Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
  • An antiviral agent developed for the treatment of smallpox has also been licensed for the treatment of monkeypox.
  • The clinical presentation of monkeypox resembles that of smallpox, a related orthopoxvirus infection which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Monkeypox is less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.
  • Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications.


The more dense the population, the more it's spreading in the US.  So, for example, Montana hasn't yet had a case but New York has had 1960 and California has had 1310.  (Those are CDC figures.)  The virus is spreading in the US.  And what's Joe doing to ramp up production on vaccines?  Nothing. 


From the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy:

Controlling the growing international monkeypox outbreak will rely on the availability of millions of vaccine doses. But the vaccines are in very limited supply, with people from all over the United States reporting waiting in long lines only to be turned away from clinics, and experts say sufficient doses of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine likely won't be available for months or even years.

"Without the widespread availability of vaccine, it can't be contained," said Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and, with Bruce Gellin, MD, MPH, of the Rockefeller Foundation, coauthor of an editorial published earlier this week in Science. CIDRAP publishes CIDRAP News.

As of yesterday, 15,848 cases of monkeypox have been reported around the world, nearly all (15,605) in countries previously unaffected by the virus. The total includes 2,593 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2022 Monkeypox Outbreak Global Map. The virus can cause a rash, painful lesions, and flu-like symptoms such as fever.

Monkeypox, which has affected mainly men who have sex with men (MSM), is believed to spread through close, including sexual, contact. While this outbreak has brought the virus to the rest of the world's attention, it has spread for decades in Central and West Africa. The disease is self-limited, and infection or vaccination results in immunity.

Déjà vu amid higher demand than supply

In echoes of the bumpy COVID-19 vaccine rollout, recent reports from the CDC, Oregon, San Francisco, New Hampshire, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Minnesota, Florida, and Virginia all say that demand outstrips availability of the vaccine, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic.

David Margraf, PharmD, PhD, pharmaceutical research scientist at CIDRAP's Resilient Drug Supply Project (RDSP), said that the bottleneck is vaccine production, making the public health measures that Osterholm and Gellin outlined in their paper (increased diagnostic testing and education campaigns targeted to MSM and minimizing social stigma) all the more important.

"The drug and diagnostic test supply chains should be well understood to help mitigate shortages if and when they occur," Margraf said. "Additionally, the supply and allocation of Tpoxx should be closely monitored. There appears to be sufficient supply at the moment, but a rapid increase in the outbreak or mismanagement of existing stock could be disastrous down the road."

Tpoxx (tecovirimat) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2018 to treat smallpox, a close relative of monkeypox. The CDC has made the antiviral drug, which is manufactured by SIGA Technologies, available as an investigational new drug to treat monkeypox.

While the precise need for vaccine doses hasn't been quantified, Osterholm and Gellin said, using the number of people recommended for the HIV oral preexposure prophylaxis as a proxy, that the number could be 2.4 million to 5.3 million globally.

When monkeypox was first detected in the United States in May, President Joe Biden announced that the United States had enough smallpox vaccine (also approved for monkeypox) in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) "to deal with the likelihood of a problem."

Time reports, however, that many of the stockpiled doses consisted of the older ACAM2000 vaccine, which was deployed on May 23. But that vaccine carries the risk of myocarditis (1 in 175 vaccinees) and pain at the injection site, which can fester and further spread the virus with close contact. Plus, people with compromised immune systems cannot safely receive the older vaccine.

Jynneos carries fewer risks, but only 2,400 doses were in the SNS at the onset of the outbreak, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said yesterday in its most recent fact sheet. On May 20, it said, HHS's Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA) requested 36,000 Jynneos doses from Bavarian Nordic, followed by another request for the same number on June 10.

Since then, officials have been scrambling to get more doses and prioritize vaccination equitably. The vaccine still needs to be tested to see if it's possible to achieve some protection with only one dose or by giving a lower dose intradermally rather than intramuscularly, thereby enabling more people to get at least partially covered, experts say. Colorado, for one, has taken this approach. The two doses are typically given 4 weeks apart.


And look at the headlines if you need something shorter.  July 30th, THE WASHINGTON POST offered "'Not enough shots': U.S. faces 'vaccine cliff' on monekypox," August 3rd, THE NEW YORK TIMES had "U.S. Coould Have Had Many More Doses of Monkeypox."  This morning, THE NEW YORK TIMES' Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland report:


The Biden administration has decided to stretch out its limited supply of monkeypox vaccine by allowing a different method of injection that uses one-fifth as much per shot, according to people familiar with the discussions.

In order for the Food and Drug Administration to authorize so-called intradermal injection, which would involve injecting one-fifth of the current dose into the skin instead of a full dose into underlying fat, the Department of Health and Human Services will need to issue a new emergency declaration allowing regulators to invoke the F.D.A.’s emergency use powers. That declaration is expected as early as Tuesday afternoon.

[. . .]

  The administration has faced a barrage of criticism that it was too slow to ship vaccine that was ready for use to the United States from Denmark, where it was manufactured, and too slow to order that bulk vaccine stocks be processed into vials after the disease first surfaced here in mid-May.

In less than three months, more than 8,900 monkeypox cases have been reported. The virus spreads from person to person primarily through close physical contact with infectious lesions.


Are there any adults in the US government -- any adults not suffering from dementia?  Doesn't look like it.  


In Iraq, the faux-test continues.  A handful of members of Moqtada al-Sadr's cult continue to occupy the area around the Parliament.  Robert Tollast (THE NATIONAL) reports:


Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al Maliki has called for an immediate end to the occupation of parliament so his party and its allies can convene to form the next government.

Thousands of protesters loyal to Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr stormed parliament on July 30, protesting against the nomination of Muhammad Al Sudani for prime minister.

Mr Al Sudani is a former Cabinet minister regarded as being close to Mr Al Maliki, a political opponent of Mr Al Sadr.

Since then, the protesters have left the parliament building itself, but remain camped outside in Baghdad's Green Zone, the seat of government power that includes offices and residences of Iraq's elites, as well as foreign embassies.


Chenar Chalak  (RUDAW) adds:

“No dissolution of the parliament, or a change in the system, or early elections without the return of the Council [of Representatives] to holding sessions. For it [the parliament] is the one who discusses these demands, and what it decides, we will follow,” said Maliki in a televised video statement on Monday evening.

Maliki stressed that Iraq is a country of many components and that “no will shall be imposed upon it” unless it is one that reflects the entirety of the Iraqi people.

                                                                             

Away from Moqtada's faux-test, real protests are taking place in Iraq.  Samya Kullab (AP) notes:


Demonstrators blocked roads as protests broke out in southern Iraq on Monday after power outages left many without electricity during scorching peak summer heat. Temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius  (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, nearly matching last year’s record high. Southern provinces, where the heat wave is most intense in Iraq, suspended working hours. The Electricity Ministry last week announced a state of alert, anticipating outages as temperatures rise. In the oil-rich province of Basra, dozens of people took to the streets for a third straight day and burned tires, blocking the main road to the provincial capital to protest power cuts.


ARAB NEWS adds:

 The protests began after the collapse of the electricity grid in six southern provinces due to excessive demand amid high temperatures. Basra Gov. Asaad Al-Eidani said the latest cuts were due to a fire at a power station.

In the holy city of Najaf, a weapons depot belonging to the Iran-backed Hashd Al-Shaabi network of paramilitary groups exploded in the heat.


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