Not all vaccines are equal; study says some fade

Data collected from 18 states between March and August suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 by 91% in the first four months after receiving the second dose. Beyond 120 days, however, that vaccine efficacy drops to 77%.

Meanwhile, Moderna’s vaccine was 93% effective at reducing the short-term risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and remained 92% effective after 120 days.

LA Times
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How Israel assassinated Iran’s top nuclear scientist

Preparations for the assassination began after a series of meetings toward the end of 2019 and in early 2020 between Israeli officials, led by the Mossad director, Yossi Cohen, and high-ranking American officials, including President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel.

NYT
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US ramps up plan to expel Haitian migrants stranded at Texas bridge

DHS said that in response to the more than 10,000 migrants sheltering under the Del Rio International Bridge that connects the city with Ciudad Acuna in Mexico, it was accelerating flights to Haiti and other destinations within the next 72 hours.

It said it was working with nations where the migrants began their journeys – for many of the Haitians, countries such as Brazil and Chile – to accept returned migrants.

TRT
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A generic drug is the same, right?

Whereas name-brand drugs can be so expensive that people can’t afford them, generics are often so cheap that companies stop making them or cut corners to turn a profit. Competition for market share at rock-bottom price points has led to chronic shortages, unpredictable price-spikes, allegations of illegal price-fixing, and substandard and even dangerous practices. Production of generics has shifted overseas, where it’s harder for the Food and Drug Administration to inspect factories.

NYT
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Biden’s over-the-horizon scheme annihilates innocent family

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A survivor of an errant U.S. drone strike that killed 10 members of his family demanded Saturday that those responsible be punished and said Washington’s apology was not enough.

The family also seeks financial compensation and relocation to the United States or another country deemed safe, said Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was among those killed in the Aug. 29 strike.

AP
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The global reshuffle against China

There are 2 alliances against China. The Quad, consisting of Japan, India, Australia and the US. This is an immensely regional powerful coalition with multiples of China’s population, land area and GNP. Two coalition members, India and Japan, are in current territorial conflict with China.

AUKUS consists of a coalition not directly in conflict with China, but in strategic rivalry. The US, UK, Australia. They are competing for global leadership of planet earth.

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Rushed counterpunch following Taliban flurry to Biden’s glass jaw

An investigation by U.S. Central Command has determined that an Aug. 29 drone strike in Kabul killed an innocent aid worker and nine members of his family, not a member of the ISIS-K terrorist group, a top general announced Friday.

Politico
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French anger over lost $90B sub deal

WASHINGTON—France has recalled its ambassadors to Washington and Canberra in response to a new deal among the U.S., U.K. and Australia to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarine technology, the French foreign minister said, in an unprecedented diplomatic rift among close allies.

WSJ

$90 Billion “stab in the back”

The trilateral security cooperation aims to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, US President Joe Biden said in a press conference, and its first initiative is to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. This new arrangement has resulted in Australia scrapping a $90 billion contract signed with France in 2016. On Thursday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the decision a “stab in the back,” while a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the AUKUS deal “seriously damages regional peace and stability” and “intensifies the arms race.”

AP
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AI needs to be curbed until it is more Woke

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence technology that poses a serious risk to human rights, voicing concerns that it “enables discrimination, invades our privacy and undermines our rights.”

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Biden buries Obama’s 3rd term

The media mostly reports stories about the new anglo military alliance against China, the forthcoming Quad summit in Washington, the coming new cold war with Beijing without pointing out the single most important thing: it represents the total collapse of the 21st century dream of a ‘rule based global world order’ and a reversion to the old competitive rivalry between civilizations and nations.

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Sussman was not just a ‘good citizen’

The indictment, returned by a Washington, D.C., grand jury on Thursday, charges attorney Michael Sussmann, of Perkins Coie, a law firm tied to the Democratic party, with making a false statement during a meeting with officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shortly before the 2016 election.

WSJ
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England vaccine passport plans ditched

Under the scheme, people would have been required to show proof – whether of double vaccination, a negative Covid test or finishing self-isolating after a positive PCR test – in order to gain entry to clubs and other crowded events.

BBC

Trapped on earth’s biggest island

‘Home suddenly feels like such a long way away’ …

Julia’s hopes of temporarily returning to the UK to live and work close to family before her son started secondary school have been thwarted. And like thousands of others, the inability to see close relatives for almost two years has been agonizing.

BBC

House Democrats Consider 26.5% Corporate Tax Rate

House Democrats also are considering raising the minimum tax on U.S. companies’ foreign income to 16.5% from 10.5% and increasing the top capital-gains tax rate to 28.8% from 23.8%. Lawmakers are also expected to raise money by expanding Internal Revenue Service enforcement and might include other tax increases on corporations and high-income individuals.

WSJ

Maternity hospital pausing deliveries as employees quit over mandate

Six employees at the Lewis County Health System have resigned, and seven more are unwilling to get vaccinated, meaning Lewis County General Hospital will stop delivering babies for the time being.

NY Post

Winning, then losing the war on authoritarianism

Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, Americans were reasonably positive about the state of their rights and liberties. Today, after 20 years, not as much…

That attitude has eroded in the years since, with far fewer people now saying the government is doing a good job protecting rights including the freedom of speech, the right to vote, the right to bear arms and others.