The growing evidence on vitamin D and Covid

Spectator 18 May 2020

The argument that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to more severe cases of Covid is gaining ground. It is now reaching the point where it is surprising that we are not hearing from leading medical officials and politicians that people should consider taking supplements to ensure they have sufficient vitamin D.

This is not the same as arguing that vitamin D is a magic bullet that will cure the disease. Vitamins are not medication, the taking of which will have positive effects on everybody. They are top-ups: things that hurt you when you don't have enough of them in your system but do no extra good when you have enough. Indeed, with many vitamins, including D, taking too much can be toxic.

However, it is true that many people are deficient in vitamin D, especially at the end of winter. That is because, uniquely, vitamin D is a substance manufactured by ultraviolet light falling on your skin. You can get some from fish and other foods, but not usually enough. So most people's vitamin D levels fall to a low point in February or March when the sun has been weak and its UV output especially so. Public health bodies have long advised people to supplement vitamin D in winter anyway.

The level falls especially low in people who stay indoors a lot, including the elderly, and in those who have darker skin. Whereas the safe level of vitamin D is generally agreed to be above 10 nanograms per millilitre, one recent study of South Asians living in Manchester found average levels of 5.8 in winter and 9 in summer: too low at all times of the year. Darker skin reduces the impact of sunlight; so does the cultural habit of veiling; and so does a reluctance among some Muslims to take supplements that might have pork-derived gelatin in them.

Meet Bill Gates

DTP Vaccine Associated with Increased Rate of Total Mortality in Low-Income Countries

Biospace Aug 16, 2019

SHERIDAN, Wyo., Aug. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- DTP is one of the most common vaccines used in the world.  In 2012, SAGE requested that the WHO review the evidence concerning the possible effects of DTP vaccines on mortality¹. In a new expert report, Peter C. Gøtzsche, Professor, DrMedSci, MSc analyzed the WHO systematic review as well as any studies published after the WHO report that assessed the effect of DTP vaccine on total mortality. This new expert report concludes that the "evidence tells us that it is likely that the DTP vaccine increases total mortality in low-income countries." ²

This echoes the conclusion by Peter Aaby – a highly acclaimed scientist renowned for studying and promoting vaccines in Africa - that "all currently available evidence suggests that DTP vaccine may kill more children from other causes than it saves from diphtheria, tetanus or pertussis. Though a vaccine protects children against the target disease it may simultaneously increase susceptibility to unrelated infections." ³ Dr. Aaby's recent study, the first ever naturally randomized comparison of mortality between children receiving DTP and those that are unvaccinated, found that children vaccinated with DTP were 10 times more likely to die in the first 6 months of life than the unvaccinated.³ 

One of the five goals of the WHO's Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) is to exceed the UN Millennium Development Goal 4 target of reducing child mortality.⁴ A strategy for achieving this goal is to reach 90% national vaccination coverage on DTP containing vaccines worldwide.⁴ According to Gøtzsche's conclusions, this strategy would be counterproductive toward the goal of reducing child mortality.

Gøtzsche offers several suggestions for potential next steps. As stated by UNICEF, "the percentage of children receiving the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTP) is often used as an indicator of how well countries are providing routine immunization services" ⁵. Gøtzsche recommends that the indicator be changed to something that is "known to be positively associated with better child survival."² Gøtzsche then explains that "it is the duty of a manufacturer of a drug or vaccine to demonstrate in randomized trials that it works and has a positive benefit to harm balance. This has not been done for the DTP vaccine." ² As such, he advocates for the initiation of randomized trials and considers the need for them "an urgent ethical imperative."²

Gøtzsche concludes with a call for the re-evaluation of current DTP vaccination practices. "No one should be offered this vaccine without full informed consent that includes information that the vaccine is likely to increase total mortality. I also believe that the vaccine should not be recommended and that, if anyone wants to use it, it must be as part of a large randomized trial."²

References:
^1. https://www.who.int/immunization/sage/sage_wg_non_specific_effects_vaccines_march2013/en/
^2.  https://vaccinescience.org/expert-report-effect-of-dtp-vaccines-on-mortality-in-children-in-low-income-countries/
^3.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5360569/
^4.  https://www.who.int/immunization/global_vaccine_action_plan/GVAP_doc_2011_2020/en/
^5.  https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/immunization/

The time for a deep and global ecological conversion

AP News May 18, 2020

The Vatican is marking the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical by calling for the world to map out a sustainable post-coronavirus future that considers the plight of the hungry and poor.

To kick off the week, 42 faith organizations from 14 countries announced they were divesting from fossil fuels. Among them are a handful of Catholic dioceses and religious orders in Britain, Ireland and the developing world, as well as some individual Methodist, Baptist and Quaker churches.

Francis has made protecting the planet one of the hallmarks of his papacy, and in 2015 issued a landmark encyclical, “Praised Be,” to lay out his appeal in the most authoritative teaching document a pope can pen. In it, Francis denounced the “perverse” economic model that had allowed the wealthy to exploit the poor and turn the Earth into an “immense pile of filth.”

Coronavirus speeds up the move to cashless society

Boston Herald May 9, 2020

Last year seems a lifetime ago, but even then, cash was no longer king. The greenback had already lost its premier role as Americans’ medium of exchange in dollar terms. Plastic card and digital transactions had taken over. And that’s how stores, restaurants and other businesses seemed to want it.

COVID-19 has accelerated this process for several reasons. Cash cannot change hands at a distance of six feet, and besides, who wants to grab that dirty bill? Sheltering at home means more purchases are being done over the internet.

The move away from legal tender was well on its way pre-virus. Some stores and eateries had stopped accepting cash altogether. If you’re a sandwich shop doing a brisk lunch business, processing plastic takes less time than waiting for someone to fish 55 cents out of their pocket. The restaurant chain Sweetgreen ran a stopwatch and found that cashless payments could be completed up to 15% faster than ones using paper money. That would enable businesses to hire fewer of what we used to call “cashiers.”

The Federal Reserve reports that debit cards are the most frequently used means of paying. Cash is employed in 26% of all transactions and 49% of those under $10. But every age group up through the baby boomers is doing more of them using digital means and plastic than cash. Not surprisingly, millennials lead the pack.

Biometric payment cards are expected to play a major role in the aftermath of COVID19

Biometric Update  May 15, 2020

Biometric payment cards are expected to play a major role in a trend towards the use of multi-factor contactless transactions in the aftermath of COVID-19, ABI Research forecasts based on new research.

Contactless payment card issuances are expected to increase by 110 million more than previously expected to more than 2 billion in 2020, driven by demand for touchless interactions due to the pandemic. The new numbers mean that issuance estimates are up 6 to 8 percent from estimates made prior to the pandemic, for total year-over-year growth of 14 percent. Nearly two out of three new cards this year are expected to be contactless.

“Although the overarching trend toward contactless was well in place prior, COVID-19 will further increase the speed of contactless adoption, particularly within countries and economies where cash remains king, and usage not only being encouraged by payment ecosystem players and suppliers but also by governments and health organizations including the WHO,” explains Phil Sealy, Research Director at ABI Research.

“The way people pay for things is rapidly evolving and changing. COVID-19 has driven a significant shift in consumer spending habits spurred by economic uncertainly and a push toward the purchase of mainly essential items. There is also a surge in e-commerce whereby consumers are becoming even more heavily reliant on online retail channels to avoid crowded places to limit social interactions,” Sealy points out in the press release.

Is the Lockdown the Greatest Policy Disaster in U.S. History?

UNZ May 18, 2020

Donald Trump calls the media “the enemy of the people”, but it’s much worse than that. The media is a national security threat. Just look at the way they’ve handled the coronavirus. The hysterical 24-7 coverage has people so terrified they’ve locked themselves in their homes inflicting catastrophic damage on the economy. That disaster never would’ve taken place if the media hadn’t focused all their energy on scaring people to death. Now the damage is done, millions of people have lost their jobs, tens of thousands of small and mid-sized businesses are facing bankruptcy, and the world’s biggest economy has been reduced to a smoldering wastelands. And what was gained? Nothing.

The Pushing for Coronavirus Vaccines

Neo 18.05.2020

The US White House has appointed a coronavirus “Vaccine Czar” from Big Pharma to oversee something dubbed Operation Warp Speed. The goal is to create and produce 300 million doses of a new vaccine to supposedly immunize the entire US population by year-end against COVID-19. To be sure that Big Pharma companies give their all to the medical Manhattan Project, they have been fully indemnified by the US government against liabilities should vaccine recipients die or develop serious disease as a result of the rushed vaccine. The FDA and NIH have waived standard pre-testing on animals in the situation. The US military, according to recent remarks by the US President, is being trained to administer the yet-to-be unveiled vaccine in record time. Surely nothing could go wrong here?

Warp speed is a term out of the sci-fi Star Trek media, defined as a speed faster than the speed of light. In recent weeks billions of dollars have been pledged from governments, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others to fast-track a vaccine as well as test medical treatments to combat the VODIV19 illness said to originate from a novel coronavirus first discovered late 2019 in Wuhan China. This rush to create a “miracle” vaccine is ominous and suggests some hidden agenda.

United Nations Claims It’s Politically Incorrect to Say “Husband” or “Wife”

Summit 18 May, 2020

The United Nations has put out a tweet asserting that people shouldn’t use politically incorrect terms like “boyfriend,” “girlfriend,” “husband” and “wife” in order to “help create a more equal world.”

“What you say matters. Help create a more equal world by using gender-neutral language if you’re unsure about someone’s gender or are referring to a group,” states the tweet.

It then lists a number of terms alongside their politically correct alternative.

These include mankind, chairman, congressman, policeman, landlord, boyfriend/girlfriend, manpower, maiden name, fireman and husband/wife.

The government is not hidding its plans anymore

Rutherford May 20, 2020

For years now, the powers-that-be—those politicians and bureaucrats who think like tyrants and act like petty dictators regardless of what party they belong to—have attempted to brainwash us into believing that we have no right to think for ourselves, make decisions about our health, protect our homes and families and businesses, act in our best interests, demand accountability and transparency from government, or generally operate as if we are in control of our own lives.

We have every right, and you know why? Because we were born free.

As the Declaration of Independence states, we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights—to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness—that no government can take away from us.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped the government from constantly trying to usurp our freedoms at every turn. Indeed, the nature of government is such that it invariably oversteps its limits, abuses its authority, and flexes its totalitarian muscles.

Take this COVID-19 crisis, for example.

What started out as an apparent effort to prevent a novel coronavirus from sickening the nation (and the world) has become yet another means by which world governments (including our own) can expand their powers, abuse their authority, and further oppress their constituents.

Until now, the police state has been more circumspect in its power grabs, but this latest state of emergency has brought the beast out of the shadows.

We are on a slippery slope to outright despotism.

This road we are traveling is paved with lockdowns, SWAT team raids, mass surveillance and forced vaccinations. It is littered with the debris of our First and Fourth Amendment freedoms.

This is what we have to look forward to in the months and years to come unless we can find some way to regain control over our runaway government.

The government has made no secret of its plans.

Just follow the money trail, and you’ll get a sense of what’s in store: more militarized police, more SWAT team raids, more surveillance, more lockdowns, more strong-armed tactics aimed at suppressing dissent and forcing us to comply with the government’s dictates.

It’s chilling to think about, but it’s not surprising.