Serious violations but it didn’t matter. But what is the point of process or falsifying the application at all? Kevin Clinesmith’s actions were serious, but the warrant probably would have been approved anyway, a judge rules..
Author Archives: Richard Fernandez
Mail-in Voting Expansion Proposed
If mail in voting was good then more is better. But if it’s bad then more is worse since its defects will be proportionately magnified. The migration from in-person to mail-in voting implies an improvement in the chain of proof of identity. The demand for more identity security may run counter to the political promise …
Why suddenly and now?
They are not deterred by the formidable reputation of the new administration. Doesn’t China know the only adults in the room are watching them? A confirmation that the mission flown on Jan. 23 was simulating an air strike on the U.S. aircraft carrier comes from the Financial Times, that on Jan. 29, 2020 reported: “People …
Starship vs the Gov’t
If Elon ever gets to Mars he’ll declare independence from Earth. The December test launch of the “Serial Number 8” Starship prototype at SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas, facilities was hailed by Musk as a success: “Mars, here we come!!” the chief executive tweeted moments after the rocket exploded on its landing, celebrating SN8’s successful 8-mile-high …
Why is Goliath Still Vulnerable to David?
The quick answer is that there is more bandwidth, more nodes, more complexity and more emergence for David to exploit against Goliath. The status quo has been repeatedly blindsided by events that seemingly came out of nowhere. It responds by creating ever denser and interlinked connections which never quite behave as they’ve modeled. 9/11, Brexit, …
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The Mutants Are Coming
We’re in a slow motion biowar against something — nature, human agency, a combination of both. The name of that something is unimportant for now. The only thing that matters is that it’s chronic. What the experts are telling the public is that vaccines are now a permanent part of 21st century life. The air …
You gotta tell ’em! Bureacracies are made of people!
Even public health bureaucracies are fallib.e. Crises are stress tests. They invite scrutiny in places that might otherwise go unexamined. For decades money meant for pandemic preparation was used “the removal of office furniture, administrative expenses, news subscriptions, legal services and the salaries of other department employees.” Nobody ever really saw the pandemic coming. Institutions …
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China Abandons Its Own Wildlife Market Virus Origin Theory
Do those who dismiss the lab accident origin theory of Covid 19 have a problem with the alternative pushed by the Chinese government itself? That theory is that the virus was imported into China. Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said on Monday (Jan. 18) at a press conference that the US should …
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Wuhan Lab Origin of Virus Goes Mainstream: Questions for Fauci
The “gain of function” research to engineer nightmare viruses may have been the other half of the quest to create flexible vaccine platforms that could create “24 hour bug to drug” preventives as powerful defenses against pandemics. But it was not exempt from the risk of lab accidents. The vaccines are in some sense the …
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WHO advisor: COVID-19 pandemic likely China lab leak says ex-Biden expert
Now it can be told because “because President Biden is very smart and strategic and he understands that American power and American strength doesn’t rest on bluster, it rests on principles, it rests on partnerships, and alliances and accountability.” One year after the pandemic started, World Health Organization advisor Jamie Metzl wants China to come …
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USS Self-deception
Navigating on falsified position reports. The stars are where we want them to be. New at the Belmont Club
Gimme. The Scramble for Vaccines
The world order would have been in real trouble without vaccines to fight over. For decades politics has been premised on the theory that scarcity was a thing of the past; that the only problems left to solve involved redistribution. The pandemic showed real scarcity can still exist and demonstrated how dependent the world is …
Are You a Zombie? The Deprogramming Debate
No this is not about journalists learning how to code. It’s about whether half of America has been taken over by cult. In the words of a Bob Hope movie: “It’s worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, …
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The Dead Hand of Bureaucracy and the Vaccine
The EU was months late in reaching an agreement with vaccine manufacturers because of procedural reasons. Now faced with embarrassing shortfalls the search for a fall guy begins. Analysis by Airfinity, a UK-based analytics company working for the life sciences industry, suggests the UK will have achieved effective “herd immunity” by vaccinating 75% of the …
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France warned of third lockdown, as Dutch protests turn violent
Vaccine nationalism, economic woes build a perfect storm Italy threatens legal action against Pfizer over vaccine supply; Israel to close all airports to most flights
The Media Narrative is the Truth
Public discourse is now a “conflict space” with social media serving as an “information warzone,” the public intellectual Peter W. Singer declared in an essay published a few days after the alternately scary and farcical Trump riot on Capitol Hill, seamlessly adapting a framework of state-level physical violence to a discussion of constitutionally protected speech. …
Doubts Raised Over AstraZeneca Vaccine
In every war there is a constant contest of upgrades between the combatants. Nature is a tenacious and resourceful adversary. It isn’t two weeks to anything. (Reuters) – AstraZeneca denied on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine is not very effective for people over 65, after German media reports said officials fear the vaccine may not be …
As China Planes Test Taiwan ADIZ
Joe Biden has only been in the Oval Office for days, but China is making it clear if he doesn’t change Trump’s course, there will be consequences. Maybe China’s a bigger problem than Parler.
Unrest in Russia vs Putin
Looks like the status quo is having a rough time of it all over the world. “Chatsworth, there’s something wrong with our bloody global world to-day!” In retrospect the pandemic turned out to be a poisoned pawn for political opportunists. What they greedily pounced on as an opportunity to grab power has unleashed furies. Prior …
Riots as AstraZeneca Says It Can’t Fill Orders
The European Union’s Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, tonight slammed the cut, warning it was ‘not acceptable’. It comes after Eindhoven in the Netherlands saw its worst riots in nearly 40 years over the weekend, with Mayor John Jorritsma warning the country was ‘on our way to civil war,’ amid outcry over a new nationwide curfew. …
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