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Monday, February 28, 2022

How many people died believing vaccine misinformation?

Scientists Built a Coronavirus From Scratch, Then Saw It Trying to Hide.



THEY’VE ALWAYS KNOWN IT:   The UK Govt Accepts COVID Lab Leak Theory ‘Behind Closed Doors’.


Clive Palmer has been rushed to hospital two days after cancelling a nationally televised speech because he was showing 'Covid symptoms', and just weeks after declaring he didn't need to be vaccinated as he was 'not in bad shape'.

Daily Mail Australia understands three ambulances were called to his home at Paradise Point in the Gold Coast's upmarket Sovereign Islands precinct, Queensland, earlier on Thursday.


Unvaccinated Clive Palmer is taken to hospital after showing 'Covid symptoms' as three ambulances are rushed to his mansion



The silent killer: Why medical research is fired up about inflammation

From long COVID to Alzheimer’s, all manner of health woes are increasingly thought to have one thing in common: inflammation. But there’s an ongoing mystery: why does it go rogue in some people and not others? Great medical minds are on the case.

How many people died believing vaccine misinformation?

 Washington Post Opinion: “…In a just-published nationwide survey of 18,782 people across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the Covid States Project asked about four vaccine misinformation claims, asking respondents whether they were “true” or “false” or if a respondent was “not sure.” Five percent said they thought that vaccines contained microchips; 7 percent said vaccines used aborted fetal cells; 8 percent said the vaccines could alter human DNA; and 10 percent were concerned that vaccines could cause infertility. Forty-six percent were uncertain about the veracity of at least one of the four false statements. The survey shows how misinformation about vaccines continues to erode confidence in them…”

Sean Penn on the Ground in Ukraine: Boss and Mellencamp: Stewart Brand, 83 years young and still Curious.

“Happiness runs in a circular motion,
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea,
Everybody is a part of everything anyway,
You can have everything if you let yourself be.”

 

A song of prayer written by Donovan after his trip in 1969 to India with The Beatles (with Graham Nash and Paul McCartney’s brother Mike on backing vocals).



Do Blurbs Actually Work?



Sean Penn on the Ground in Ukraine Filming Documentary About Russia’s Invasion Variety


‘GO F*** YOURSELVES:’ The defiant final words of 13 brave Ukrainian soldiers defending Snake Island — just 40 miles from Romanian border in the Black Sea — before Russian navy opened fire and killed them all.



ZELENSKY TO PUTIN: I’m no Nazi — I’m Jewish. “Putin’s address and justification wasn’t meant for Western ears. It was aimed at Russians and ethnic-Russian Ukrainians with long memories and long grudges from World War II. In the run-up to World War II, Ukraine — which at the time did not include as much ethnic-Russian territory — had suffered through the Holodomor, a deliberate genocidal famine imposed by Joseph Stalin. The Soviet leader wanted to suppress the kulaks, but more importantly the western-leaning Ukrainians that chafed at the Soviet occupation. Estimates of casualties from the imposed famine of 1932-33 runs as high as 3.9 million. By June 1933, 28,000 people were dying each day, while the Soviets expropriated millions of tons of Ukrainian wheat. As a result, when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in his surprise war of June 1941, ethnic Ukrainians rallied around the Germans as liberators — but only at first. Rather than take advantage of the Ukrainian hatred for the Soviets, the Nazis imposed the same racial policies in Ukraine that they imposed on other Slavs in eastern Europe. Still, some collaboration took place among ethnic Ukrainians, and that has not been forgotten among Russians.”



 Stewart Brand, 83 years young and still Curious.

Frankly, I don’t understand people who go quiescent intellectually as they get older. In a way, getting olderyou get more control of your time, and you have more savvy on how to do things and how to make things happen, who to call when you have a question, and all that stuff. So, your ability to investigate stuff, especially with the internet now, is going up all the time. Why would you let curiosity fade?

And many don’t. You’ve probably noticed that people you know in their 70s are different from people that you knew in their 70s when you were a little kid. When it was over, they were settling down to play golf or whatever it was. Probably a whole lot of people you know in their 70s and 80s are hard at it, in some cases, just hitting their stride. That’s a change that has occurred in my lifetime. That is a total treat, and as near as I can tell, that one is permanent. I think that’s with us now. People will live longer and thrive longer.

The health span, as it’s now being referred to, instead of life spanhealth span, meaning how long you can be really engaged and productive and alive to things. I think that’s very good in terms of long-term thinking because people who are older have a longer “now.” Their future may be getting shorter, but their past is personally and significantly long. They’ve seen a lot of stuff come and go, and they’ve seen a lot of skills that possibly they had time to pick up that they can now deploy.

All of that makes at least the kind of intellectual life that we both seem to enjoy that much richer. So long as your genes are supporting your brain cells, and whatever other medications and stuff we can do medically, it’s possible for me to carry on in ways that would not have been possible a century ago. So, there you have it. We are living longer, and we’re finding ways to keep the human body and human brain functioning better, longer. Why would you not take advantage of that?”

Don’t Let The Old Man In

 



A self-described Midwestern socialist who campaigned for Bloomberg. A songwriter beloved by Republicans, who wrote multiple radio anthems criticizing the Republican party. A commercial-soundtracking 1980s icon who has collaborated on art shows with Miles Davisand Southern gothic musicals with Stephen King. John Mellencamp has always thrived in contradictions, and he makes his best music when he seems just out of step with the mainstream. In the mid-’80s, Mellencamp just happened to be what the mainstream wanted: a non-coastal elitist attacking Reagan-era greed while landing on every Midwesterner’s lake mixtape during heartland rock’s golden age. 1985’s Scarecrow, his commercial and critical peak, was the scruffy foil to the blockbuster sheen of Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. If Springsteen’s record felt like the dramatic, high-stakes movie version of small-town struggles, listening to Mellencamp was more like the documentary: an earthy and straightforward snapshot of well-meaning people just trying to get through another long day.


“Strictly a One-Eyed Jack” – Wasted Days.



Simply a One-Eyed Jack Lyrics


The Gypsy King is dealing his cards
From the bottom of the deck
Hasn't won a hand, least ways not as yet
The table's getting angry
Some have folded up their cards
Others keep on betting
Even though they know they're playing a loser's game
Looking for the one-eyed Jack

Salome is frying chicken
And the smell of grease is filling up the room
John the Baptist, well he's left the game too soon
Salome has a frying pan in her hand
She'd like to take out the kind of man
That everyone is watching as she's going after
The one-eyed Jack

Some people want to party
Others are trying to leave
Some are telling stories
That are just impossible to believe
The long day's journey is turning into night
Salome looks crazy and she's higher than a kite
No one is in favor
Of the one-eyed Jack

Money and power is the name of the game
It started out as Spit In The Ocean
But things have rapidly changed
It will never go back to the way it used to be
Nature deals with no one, what's the cause
So many eyes will not see
It's the one-eyed Jack

I'd like to go somewhere safe
Watch the world as it changes
And become a folk singer
Sing a song that stops corruption and pain
But there's no reason for that now
We're a long way somehow
We'd better make a move or become the victim of
That lying one-eyed Jack  
Play "Simply A One-Eyed…" 
on Apple Music 



I’m not for everybody,” John Mellencamp  told NPR about his new album Strictly A One-Eyed Jack – a fair observation, and I say this as a longtime fan. I also saw this statement in some of the other reviews I read about the record that was released on Friday, January 21. It’s evident to me the heartland former straight rocker who turned 70 last October has found his sweet spot with roots music. He gradually embraced that style starting with The Lonesome Jubilee from August 1987, which remains one of my favorite Mellencamp records to this day. If you dig his previous records like Plain Spoken (2014) and Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, I think it’s a safe bet you will like his new album – unless perhaps you expect something new. avorite Mellencamp records to this day. If you dig his previous records like Plain Spoken (2014) and Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, I think it’s a safe bet you will like his new album – unless perhaps you expect something new.

Racing, construction identity faces claims of $15m tax dodge

Exclusive by AFR David Marin-Guzman


Racing, construction identity faces claims of $15m tax dodge


One of Queensland’s prominent racing and construction identities is defending allegations from companies associated with his sister that he deliberately shortchanged the Tax Office almost $15 million by setting up labour hire firms to take the fall.

Helga Bennett is a director of two labour hire firms suing her older brother, Gerhardt “Hoss” Heinrich, and Queensland’s largest formwork company, Heinrich Constructions, in the Supreme Court, alleging he secretly controlled the firms that engaged hundreds of his workers so as to avoid Pay As You Go and payroll taxes for his own company.

Mr Heinrich has denied the claims in a defence filed in court, arguing Ms Bennett was the sole director and he did not act as a director or officer of the companies.

Ms Bennett is facing director penalty notices (DPNs) for millions of dollars owed by labour hire firms Heiko and Highform.

Her lawyer, Jon Laws of Gold Coast firm Chancery Legal, said Ms Bennett, on behalf of Heiko and Highform, would take Mr Heinrich to trial this May unless the case was settled.


Heinrich Constructions, which has agreements with the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, has worked on major projects across Queensland, including Star Entertainment’s development at Queen’s Wharf and the billion-dollar Jewel apartment project on the Gold Coast.

Mr Heinrich also owns more than 60 racing horses through his construction company, as per data from Racing Queensland.

Gerhardt “Hoss” Heinrich and his wife, Gold Coast horse trainer Gillian. Supplied

But according to the statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court, Mr Heinrich used his alleged position as shadow director of the labour hire firms “to divert and/or conceal the proper and actual financial position of Heinrich”.

He also allegedly used his position “to incur liabilities in the name of [the firms], for which Heinrich were liable, knowing that Heinrich [Constructions] had no intention of fulfilling” the liabilities, the document said.

The statement of claim alleges Mr Heinrich set up Heiko and Highform in 2015 to effectively act as labour hire firms for his construction company from 2016 to 2018. Ms Bennett would be director, but the siblings allegedly agreed that Heinrich Constructions would pay all costs and expenses and “Hoss would at all times control and be responsible for the proper management and operation of all aspects of Highform and Heiko”.


Over a two-year period, the labour hire firms generated invoices to Heinrich Constructions totalling about $67 million.

But they were allegedly left owing more than $14.6 million in taxes and penalties.

The court case claims Mr Heinrich breached his fiduciary duties by using his alleged shadow director position to benefit himself, his company “and/or third parties”.

Ms Bennett has also personally launched legal action against James Conomos Lawyers and its principal James Nicholas Conomos over the tax dispute, accusing the firm in a separate action of having a conflict of interest when she asked it for advice on her $5 million in DPNs.

She alleged the firm failed to provide “any advice” to her, including how to recover the taxes from Heinrich Constructions, and that it had a conflict of interest because it also acted for Heinrich Constructions, including taking instructions from Mr Heinrich over the tax matter.

The law firm and Mr Conomos have denied the claims and say they advised her that directors are usually personally liable for the DPNs. They allege she responded that she did not want independent advice and would follow Mr Heinrich’s lead

According to their defence, Mr Heinrich advised the firm that he would not pay Ms Bennett’s DPNs and wanted to negotiate a repayment plan with the Tax Office.

Heinrich Constructions attracted attention last year in a court case that found it threatened to cut a worker’s pay if he did not join the CFMEU, in what the judge described as one of the worst examples of coercion.

The decision also revealed that despite Heinrich Construction’s workers being paid CFMEU wages, they were not actually covered by the company’s union agreement as their employer was the labour hire firms, which were not signed up.

Mr Heinrich and his horse trainer wife Gillian are well known in Queensland’s racing industry and the pair won the Gold Coast’s “Magic Millions” race in 2010.

The family has in recent years started selling some of its assets, including parts of its stud and spelling farm in Greenmount.

Mr Heinrich is represented by law firm Tucker & Cowen, which did not return requests for comment.

Is Reddit a better search engine than Google?

Ten Functions of Arts Management

Back in November, I posted about Twelve Functions of Arts Management as a first attempt at a list of key/core clusters of action in...

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said this could be the worst flooding in more than a decade.


Warning about mosquito-borne viruses in South Australia after one person dies and seven sent to hospital


Why Do Some Teams Inspire While Others Sap Energy?

Why might a person let her team down in one situation but give it her all in a different one? Sometimes, as in the first scenario, teamwork is demotivating. In fact, in German, ‘team’ is an acronym for Toll, ein anderer macht’s, meaning ‘Great, someone else does it.’ - Psyche


Nowhere is safe: Record number of patients contracted Covid in the hospital in JanuaryPolitico


ProPublica: TurboTax Maker Intuit Faces Tens Of Millions In Fees In A Groundbreaking Legal Battle Over Consumer Fraud


On Google Maps, tracking the invasion of Ukraine

Washington Post: “[Jeffrey Lewis – Lewis, a professor specializing in arms control and nonproliferation at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif.,] sleuthing helps demonstrate how technology — and specifically Google Maps — is making it so people even far away can see in real time what’s happening , all the way down to the street level. What billions of people around the world can see from the palm of their hands reflects that people on the ground, in the midst of troop movements, are also constantly connected to their devices. And in some cases those devices are becoming a tool for civilians…”


The CIA and the New Dialect of PowerAmerican Affairs

‘Index, A History of the’ Review: List-O-Mania WSJ


Dot Dot Dot Dot Dot Dot​  The Drift



Jungholz: A ski town stuck in the wrong nation BBC


You Can Now Book a Ticket to Outer Space Afar


Bob Marley’s Exodus: An album that defined the 20th Century BBC


The Search Has Begun for an Antarctic Pioneer’s Lost Ship NYT


Storm Eunice, Packing High Winds, Hits Britain and Northern Europe The Weather Channel


Black Former Tesla Worker: Nickname for the Plant Was ‘The Slave Ship’ Capital & Main

 

NYC Landlords Almost Never Get Arrested for Illegal DIY Evictions The City

 

Democrats Are Ditching Class, and It’s Costing Them Working-Class Voters Jacobin

 

How big technology systems are slowing innovation MIT Technology Review

 

More than money: The cost of monopolies in America WBUR

 

Decriminalization Saves Lives: A Conversation with Travis Lupick LA Review of Books

 

Grocery delivery “dark stores” in Amsterdam have residents hopping mad Ars Technica


Fast Company: “A new story anticipating the decline and fall of Google Search comes out about every month, but a blog post Tuesday, called “Google Search is Dying” by the blogger DKB was different. The blog shot up to the top of Hacker News on Tuesday, and is already the 11th most upvoted post on Hacker News of all time, with more than 1,500 comments. The core argument is that many people have become so disappointed in—or distrustful of—good old Google search results that they now append the term “reddit” to the end of their queries. 

So instead of searching the world of information that Google and its web-crawler bots see, you get information and links from the world of things that have been discussed in Reddit land, which are a lot. “Why are people searching Reddit specifically?” the blog post reads. “The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. The long answer is that most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust.”….[Note – please use DuckDuckGo, and include other sites you trust in your searches, be they Subreddits, Wikipedia, or other sites. 

And please review search results below the fold….don’t just look at the first 5 or 10…keep reviewing and refining narrowing your searches based on what you identify as relevant. Also, please use search engines within trusted databases and sites [ex.: USA.gov.] 


Russia Moves Troops into Donbass [Updated]

Even though it was clear that Russia would stage a military operation in Donbass, the speed of its action still caught many by surprise.


Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s Regular Press Conference on February 24, 2022(transcript) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China

AFP: China has consistently refrained from condemning Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. Now that President Putin has begun an invasion. Will China finally condemn Russia’s actions?

Hua Chunying: China is closely monitoring the latest developments. We call on all sides to exercise restraint and prevent the situation from getting out of control…..

Bloomberg: Can you say then China considers Russia’s action an invasion? Is it an invasion? Is it a violation of the UN Charter?

Hua Chunying: We have stated China’s principled position on the Ukraine issue. There is a complex historical background and context on this issue. The current situation is the result of the interplay of various factors.

We noted that today Russia announced its launch of a special military operation in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s defense ministry said that its armed forces will not conduct missile, air or artillery strikes on cities. China is closely monitoring the latest developments and calls on all sides to exercise restraint and prevent the situation from getting out of control.

I would like to stress once again China’s consistent position. We should pursue common, cooperative and sustainable security for all countries. The legitimate security concerns of all sides should be respected and resolved. We hope all sides will keep the door to peace open and continue to work for deescalation through dialogue, consultation and negotiation and prevent further escalation.

 

Chinese Experts Uncover Details of Equation Group’s Bvp47 Covert Hacking Tool The Hacker News

 

Fifty Years Of China The American Conservative

 

Words Versus Deeds in Biden’s Indo-Pacific StrategyWar on the Rocks