Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 617
January 11, 2022
Common Cold Could Protect Against Covid Infection, Study Suggests
Robert Hart
Forbes
The immune response generated by previous exposure to common colds could protect against Covid-19, according to a new peer reviewed study published in Nature Communications Monday, an early but promising finding researchers say could pave the way to more long-lasting vaccines that protect against current and future variants of coronavirus.
Key FactsPeople with high levels of T cells—a type of white blood cell that is a key part of the immune system—from other coronavirus infections like the common cold are less likely to contract the virus that causes Covid-19, according to a study by researchers at Imperial College London.
For the study, which took place in September 2020 (before most in the U.K. had been infected or vaccinated against Covid-19), the researchers followed 52 people living with someone who had Covid-19, half of whom went on to contract the disease.
For the half that did not get infected, blood samples taken shortly after exposure revealed higher levels of T cells from previous coronavirus infections, such as colds, that could also recognize proteins in the virus that causes Covid-19, the researchers said.
Professor Ajit Lalvani, the study’s senior author, said the findings provide “the clearest evidence to date that T cells induced by common cold coronaviruses play a protective role against” Covid and could hold the key to developing a universal vaccine that protects against current and future variants
The study said the T Cells attack proteins inside the virus, rather than the spike protein (targeted by most widely-used vaccines) on its surface, which Lalvani said mutate much less and make for more “broadly protective vaccines” between various variants.
The Americanization of Mental Health Care
Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche
By Ethan Watters
Scribe Publication (2010)
Book Review
This book concerns the imposition of American mental health standards across the entire world, including indigenous and Third World cultures. According to Watters, this approach assumes human beings suffer from universal emotional disturbances that are unaffected by cultural beliefs and should be treated “scientifically” like medical conditions. It also advocates the best way to achieve “mental health” is to throw off traditional cultural and social roles and engage in individualist introspection like Americans do.
Watters divides the book into five sections: the first concerns the global commodification of anorexia, the second the global commodification of post traumatic stress disorder; the third the distinctly different presentation, management and outcome of schizophrenia in Zanzibar and other African countries; and the the fourth the corporate marketing of “clinical depression” and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in Japan.
Part 1 mainly looks at the changing presentation of anorexia nervosa since the first case report in 1823. Back then anorexics were low income with somatic fixations of fullness and pain in the upper abdomen. During the 19th century, distressed middle class women were more likely to present psychiatrists with psychosomatic conditions, such as hysterical blindness or paralysis.
Owing to a complex process Watters refers to as “symptom negotiation,” women presented with these conditions because psychiatrists recognized them as symptomatic of emotional distress. After World War II, it became more acceptable for women to acknowledge feelings of depression and anxiety and and diagnoses of hysteria became exceedingly rare.
Rare in Hong Kong prior to 2000, anorexia diagnoses followed the original European pattern and were limited to low income women complaining of abdominal discomfort. Thanks to the growing influence of Western media, more recently Hong Kong anorexics present a more Western pattern involving distorted body image and a fatal obsession to be as thin as glamorous Western models and movie stars.
Part 2 mainly looks at the army of Western traumatologists who have descended on every global trauma side since the 2005 tsunami in Sri Lanka. The result has been rowing evidence that, contrary to popular belief, early psychological intervention does not prevent the development of later PTSD. Watters is critical of professionals who fail to recognize that PTSD is a distinctly American and individualist way of suffering for society that has almost completely lost natural social mechanisms for coping with tragedy.
Part 3 looks at the the tendency in Zanzibar (and other African countries) to regard symptoms of schizophrenia* as evidence of spirit possession. The effect of this approach is to keep the so-called “schizophrenic” within their natural social group, rather than excommunicating them, as occurs in the West. This consistently results in a far better treatment outcome.
Overall African societies are more tolerant of community members who display psychotic symptoms. In African societies an external locus of control leads people translates into the common belief that people can control their problems only with support. In contrast most Western societies favor an internal locus of control, which tends to blame individual patients for their problems.
Part 4 looks at the big spike in suicides (more than 30,000 per year) in Japan during their brutal 1990s recession. Traditionally Japanese culture has long supported the philosophical belief that suicide is a perfectly sane and legitimate act of personal will. However thanks to a massive marketing campaign Glaxo Smith Klein (manufacturer of the SSRI Paxil), the Japanese were trained to link suicidal thoughts and personal suffering with clinical depression and seek Paxil prescriptions.
This, despite three decades of outcome studies showing Paxil is no better than placebo in alleviating depression and increases suicide risk in adolescents.
*Schizophrenia is a condition characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior and flat affect.
January 10, 2022
Parasite Empire Unravelled
Struggle for Emancipation, David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1961
By Hiroyuki Hamada
Wrong Kind of Green
So before Covid, a local school where one of my kids used to attend had prominent race issues. Namely, teachers were being accused of being blind to obvious racist incidences against black students. The normalized notion of racism was so rampant that the school was forced to embrace some sort of deprogramming sessions by a parent-led committee on the issue. However, this committee itself was ultimately deemed rather racist in its own way by the school’s black alumni group. To me, at the end, it became rather obvious that the whole momentum was part of a corporate political campaign for the Democratic Party establishment. The same people who raised their fists and said “Black Lives Matter” turned out to be the supporters of Joe Biden who has bragged that he was the architect of crime bills and The Patriot Act—the very root of the school to prison pipeline, the racist, colonial “war on terror,” the prison industrial complex and so on. Is irony completely dead as “reality” continues to be stretched to fit the ruling class interests? In the end, I felt so dirty and violated to be a part of that committee’s activities.
Fast forward to the Black-Lives-Matter-only-if-you-are-vaccinated era, and this school is voluntarily implementing a strict mandatory vaccine policy with few exemptions. My son doesn’t like to gossip and he never really talks behind anyone’s back. But the other day, he said that the whole school is basically bullying the few unvaccinated kids. He was particularly upset about his Black friend being given a hard time, after being subjected to the blatant racism previously.
There are some harsh numbers regarding race related matters and the Covid vaccines. In NYC, where Covid vaccine mandates are effectively shutting people out from indoor activities, roughly half the Black people have chosen not to be vaccinated. How can anyone justify segregating half the Black people from indoor activities? What is that? And what is wrong with businesses that, without a mandate, voluntarily exclude unvaccinated people from entering their premises when statistical risk factors for getting the illness in question range from obesity to old age to having chronic conditions. To be clear, the efficacy of the Covid vaccines is being debated by scientists and doctors vigorously, along with their safety issues. Yet, there are business owners who are calling themselves “community leaders” for being medical cheer leaders for big pharma, proud of being brownnosed social climbers at the expense of those who make their own medical choices. And if we take the whole US, 40% of small Black-owned businesses have been wiped out. This whole virus event is a giant urban renewal push disguised as war on virus—don’t they realize what people have gone through with war on crime, war on drugs and so on?
The cozy Covid life for privileged, resourced people who can work from home or afford not to work is propped up in many ways at the expense of many who are suffering under the economic restructuring process for the oligarchy An unprecedented wealth transfer from the already exploited population to extremely rich and powerful people has been ongoing for the past two years, while the kind of neoliberal restructuring they’ve been dreaming about has been implemented in the name of saving lives.
It’s really demoralizing to really understand that the mechanism of exploitation and subjugation is rather simple. The power of the wealthy oligarchs is so huge that they own everything. They own the media. They own the politics. They own the governments. They own the scientists. They own the military.
And the same people who own everything tell us that we have to respect the separation of powers, we have to rely on “representative democracy,” and we have to obey the legal system which is ultimately ruled by Supreme Court judges who are appointed by, well, the same people who own everything. Needless to say, the whole thing is made to divide us and consecrate the rich and powerful as priests of capitalism, because they own everything and all powers are designed to concentrate in their hands, while the people are effectively deprived of all power.
[…]
Via https://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2022/01/10/parasite-empire-unravelled/
What is a Freedom Cell? (2022)
From Truth11.com
In the beginning, small groups can work together to accomplish goals such as every group member having storable food, encrypted communication, a bug out plan, and ensuring participants can defend themselves. All the while, cell members make themselves readily available to render mutual aid to their tribe, in whatever form that may come.
Groups then begin to encourage the creation of other small groups while existing cells organize themselves into decentralized larger groups. Like the smaller groups, the larger groups too have the common aim of asserting the collective sovereignty of group members through peaceful resistance and the creation of alternative institutions.
Through building and supporting alternatives such as local food networks, health services, mutual defense groups, and peer to peer economies and communication networks, Freedom Cells will be better able to discconnect and decouple themselves from state institutions they deem unworthy of their support.
Once groups become large enough in numbers, it becomes quite possible for participants to opt out in mass and entrust to themselves the securing of their liberty.”
[…]
Via https://truth11.com/2022/01/10/what-is-a-freedom-cell-2022/
BREAKDOWN: Basic Services And Supply Chains Are Rapidly Breaking Down All Over The Globe
In the waning days of 2021, optimists assured us that the computer chip shortage would soon go away, but the numbers are telling us that it has gotten even worse. In fact, the wait time for chip delivery is now the longest that it has ever been. Delivery times for chips jumped in December, signaling the semiconductor shortage is worsening into the new year, according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group. On average, lead times increased six days to approximately 25.8 weeks last month compared with November. This is the longest wait time since the firm began monitoring the data in 2017. And thanks to fear of Omicron, we are starting to see very alarming shortages of meat and eggs at supermarkets from coast to coast…
By Michael Snyder
January10th, 2022
I warned you that things would get even worse in 2022, and that is exactly what is happening. Throughout the latter stages of 2022, I documented how basic services were breaking down all across the country, but this was a trend that was largely ignored by the mainstream media until now. Fear of the Omicron variant has taken things to an entirely new level, and at this point things have gotten so bad that even the mainstream media is full of stories about this crisis. For example, over the weekend this was one of the Drudge Report’s main headlines: “NATIONWIDE BREAKDOWN OF SERVICES”. The following is an excerptfrom that story…
Ambulances in Kansas speed toward hospitals then suddenly change direction because hospitals are full. Employee shortages in New York City cause delays in trash and subway services and diminish the ranks of firefighters…
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DOJ won’t withdraw controversial memo on targeting school parents
Aletho News
Nearly three months after the controversy over the FBI targeting school parents as possible domestic terrorists, Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have gotten a reply from the Dept. of Justice.
They say the response falls far short of what’s necessary.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced this week that he received a reply. He stated the following:
“[I]n December we asked why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division was getting involved in parents expressing their concerns at school board meetings. Now, just to be crystal clear, there’s no excuse for real threats or acts of violence at school board meetings, but if there are such threats, these should be handled at the local level and the Attorney General should withdraw his memo that started this whole thing.
“Well, a couple days before Christmas, the Justice Department responded to us with just a one-page letter.
“In that letter, DOJ had nothing to say about why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division was involved in local school-board matters. DOJ just said, ‘We’re not going to withdraw the memo.’ So, the Feds may be keeping track of school board meetings—even if it creates a horrible chilling effect. And, of course the FBI looking over your shoulder would have a chilling effect. Next week the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on domestic terrorism. I hope we’re going to be focusing on the serious threats facing our country—and I hope no one thinks the focus is on our nation’s parents.”
Grassley then made a public statement on the matter:
The Department of Justice owes the American people a better answer than just a one-page letter that says nothing about why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division is involved in local school-board matters. Now more than ever, parents should be their kids’ strongest and best advocates. They have the God-given right to do so. And the Justice Department ought to be doing everything it can to protect that right, not scare them out of exercising that right. Attorney General Garland should withdraw his memo. And he should take Congress’s oversight, and concern for the rights of parents, more seriously.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
[…]
January 9, 2022
Covid Vaccination and Pregnancy
Sunday, 9 January 2022 — Swiss Policy ResearchOverall, the net benefit of vaccinating healthy pregnant women, recommended by most health authorities despite a lack of clinical trial data, remains rather questionable. For comparison, the largest pregnancy-related drug scandal, the thalidomide or contergan scandal of the 1960s, is estimated to have caused about 10,000 birth defects, including about 4,000 neonatal deaths.
Covid Vaccination and Pregnancy (Oregon Health Authority)According to a preliminary analysis of British data, covid vaccination during pregnancy might be associated with a 33% increased risk of stillbirth.
Please note: No medical advice; readers are asked to consult their doctor.
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Canadian military officer calls for probe into ground 0 ‘Covid’ outbreak at Wuhan forces games 2 MONTHS before world alert of ‘mysterious new illness’
NWO Report
Source: Daily Mail
A Canadian military officer who fears he was at the ‘Ground Zero’ of Covid two months before China officially acknowledged the virus has demanded an investigation into the suspicious outbreak of illness there.
The long-serving officer, who cannot be named as he is still in the forces, was among the scores of athletes who fell sick with a debilitating illness after attending the World Military Games in Wuhan in October 2019.
He said foreign competitors found the city of 11 million people ‘like a ghost town’, and so many cases of a mysterious virus afflicted the Canadian team that a quarantine section was set up on their military flight back home.
The officer, who is still suffering from the effects of his illness despite previous high levels of fitness, said a military-appointed doctor later said he almost certainly caught Covid.
His revelations fuel concerns the Chinese government covered up the outbreak – with devastating consequences. The Beijing regime says the first confirmed case was December 8, three weeks before the World Health Organisation was tipped off by sources in Taiwan.
Several European athletes attending the Games, which attracted more than 9,000 competitors from 100 countries, have said they developed Covid-like symptoms in Wuhan. Reports also suggested Iranian participants died soon after returning home.
[…]
Debunking Corporate Technology Myths
The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900
By David Edgerton
Profile Books Ltd (2008)
Book Review
This book is is a virtual encyclopedia of so-called “old” technology. Focusing on “use-based” rather than “innovation-based” technology, Edgerton makes the case that no 20th century technology is ever fully obsolete. He also totally debunks the corporate myth that modern society will fall apart without the latest high tech innovations (eg 5G, industrial farming and and GMO crops are common examples). As he carefully documents, there are always alternatives and, more importantly, most are already in common use in developing countries.
My favorite section concerns “Creole technology, ” his term for discarded First World technology given a new lease of life in the developing world. Common examples include corrugated galvanized iron, which has replaced thatched roofs in most developing countries,* bicycles and treadle sewing machines (whose production has soared since the 1970s), irrigation pumps re-purposed to propel motor boats, second hand car axles (repurposed to fit donkey carts in Ukraine and South East Asia) and the Kalashnikov machine gun (invented in 1947 and still the most popular machine gun worldwide).
Another interesting chapter describes the “tropicalization” of motor cars in Africa. In many African countries, car mechanics are so skilled they have learned to build new cars from the spare parts from old ones and, where necessary, local substitutes.
One technology I was previously unfamiliar is that of hydrogenation, a process first developed by French chemist Henri Sabatier at the end of the 19th century:
Hydrogenation of animal fats led to the production of margarine, a cheap butter substitute;Hydrogenation of nitrogen (developed by the German chemical firm BASF during World War I, produces ammonia, nitrogen fertilizer and nitrate (a major source of explosives);Hydrogenation of coal (developed by German chemist Friedrich Bergius in 1915) to led synthetic substitutes for gasoline. Without access to oil, the Third Reich relied mainly on coal-based gasoline prior to invading Romania in 1940. East Germany depended on hydrogenated coal to run their vehicles, and South Africa used it after the 1973 oil embargo.*This is also the most common type of roof in New Zealand.
January 8, 2022
International Finance Leaders Hold ‘War Game’ Exercise Simulating Global Financial Collapse. Should We Be Worried?
By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. High-level international banking officials and organizations gathered last month for a global “war game” exercise simulating the collapse of the global financial system. The tabletop exercise was reminiscent of “Event 201,” the pandemic simulation exercise that took place just before COVID-19 entered the global scene.
High-level international banking officials and organizations last month gathered in Israel for a global “war game” exercise simulating the collapse of the global financial system.
The tabletop exercise was reminiscent of “Event 201” — the pandemic simulation exercise that took place in October 2019, shortly before COVID-19 entered the global scene.
The “Collective Strength” initiative was held for 10 days, beginning Dec. 9, 2021, at the Israeli Finance Ministry in Jerusalem. It was relocated to Jerusalem from the Dubai World Expo over concerns about the Omicron variant.
Israel led a 10-country contingent that also included treasury officials from the U.S., Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
Representatives from supranational organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Bank of International Settlements (BIS), also participated.
Described as a simulated “war game,” the exercise sought to model the response to various hypothetical large-scale cyberattacks on the global financial system, including the leaking of sensitive financial data on the “Dark Web,” hacks targeting the global foreign exchange system, and subsequent bank runs and market chaos fueled by “fake news.”
However, the main theme of “Collective Strength” appears not so much the simulation of such cyberattacks but, as the name of the initiative implies, the strengthening of global cooperation in cybersecurity and the financial sector.
As reported by Reuters, participants in the simulation discussed multilateral responses to a hypothetical global financial crisis.
Proposed policy solutions included debt repayment grace periods, SWAP/REPO agreements, coordinated bank holidays and coordinated delinking from major currencies.
The idea of simulated delinking from major currencies raised some eyebrows because of its timing — on the same day participants gathered to launch “Collective Strength,” reports circulated that the Biden administration was considering removing Russia from the global electronic-payment-messaging system known as SWIFT, short for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
This measure would be part of a package of economic sanctions the U.S. would levy against Russia should it attack Ukraine.
However, what may raise even more eyebrows is the list of participants in the “Collective Strength” simulation, which includes: the IMF and World Bank, and indirectly, the World Economic Forum (WEF).
[…]
Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/leaders-war-game-exercise-global-financial-collapse/
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