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An investigation by The Sunday Times has revealed efforts by Beijing to control the agency’s decision making, sabotage investigations and even install officials. …

It has also been suggested officials agreed a ‘backroom deal’ with the Chinese to water down the inquiry into the origins of Covid-19.

China’s secret deal with WHO to hide origins of Covid

An investigation has claimed China used ‘aggressive’ influence on the World Health Organisation to control decision making, sabotage investigations and even install preferred officials.

Beyond attempting to rescue Western sympathizers and intelligence assets from the Taliban there is little that can be done for Afghanistan. In time the Taliban will wear out its welcome and the merry go-round will turn again.

Biden is angry, humiliated and desperate. Yet he has not yet reached the dregs. The finger pointing, accusations of betrayal, the scramble to pass the buck are only just beginning.

It is the loss of confidence in assessments, assurances and estimates that will be noticed next.

In disasters of this magnitude heads have got to roll. Yet the one man most responsible will be the one to do the head rolling, ensuring that the next time — and there will be a next time — it will be worse.

New at the Belmont Club. Get the number of that truck! Look out it’s backing up to run you over again.

Biden Never Saw What Hit Him

Reality is inside his OODA loop

Among those to be evacuated will be Afghan interpreters and contractors who served alongside Australian Defence Force troops.

Australian military to evacuate hundreds from Afghanistan as Taliban advances

Australian troops will embark on a dangerous evacuation mission as early as this week, with the Taliban expected to soon launch an all-out assault on the Afghan capital Kabul.

New at the Belmont Club. Is the end nigh? Or is it just the second coming of Jimmy Carter?

Getting Ready for the End of the World

Elon Musk reprises When Worlds Collide

It started out as a fringe conspiracy theory touted by Donald Trump. Now the suggestion that the deadly coronavirus was leaked from a laboratory in China is gaining both scientific and political traction.

Why the coronavirus lab leak theory won’t go away

The idea that the pandemic began in a laboratory has moved from fringe theory to mainstream.

The demand seeks to stave off an evacuation of the embassy by dangling aid to future Afghan governments — even one that includes the Taliban.

U.S. Asks Taliban to Spare Its Embassy in Coming Fight for Kabul

The demand seeks to stave off an evacuation of the embassy by dangling aid to future Afghan governments — even one that includes the Taliban.

Joe Biden is facing simultaneous challenges.

1. The collapse of Afghanistan in place of a “decent interval”;
2. The resurgence of the Covid Delta variant in place of the anticipated reopening of society;
3. Looming inflation and economic problems in place of the anticipated boom.
4. The unending border crisis.

“It’s interesting that the lab relocated on the 2nd of December 2019: That’s the period where it all started,” Dr. Ben Embarek said in the TV interview. “We know that when you move a lab, it disturbs everything…That entire procedure is always a disruptive element in the daily work routine of a lab.”

Head of WHO Team Investigating Origins of Covid-19 Calls For Closer Look at China Lab

Peter Ben Embarek’s remarks mark the biggest departure by a member of the WHO’s team from their view at a news conference in February that a laboratory incident was too unlikely to merit further studies.

Elon working on his starship while the rest of earth writhes in fear over the pandemic, global warming and the Taliban gives off the “When Worlds Collide” vibe. The lone scientist amid a sea of despair.

When Worlds Collide (1951) – IMDb

When Worlds Collide: Directed by Rudolph Maté. With Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, John Hoyt. As a new star and planet hurtle toward a doomed Earth, a small group of survivalists frantically work to complete the rocket which will take them to their new home.

Dr Tom Frieden

As part of surveillance efforts in Xinjiang, authorities have collected biometric data, including facial scans and fingerprints—used to verify identities at the region’s ubiquitous checkpoints—and DNA data. Moreau says DNA profiling does not directly enable mass internments or forced labor. Rather the impact is psychological, reinforcing citizens’ feelings of constant surveillance. Byler adds that DNA profiling “could be used to enforce a ‘zero illegal births’ policy by tracking maternity and paternity,” and to find matches for organ harvesting from prisoners, “of which there is some limited evidence.”

Genetic papers containing data from China’s ethnic minorities draw fire

Questions about consent and potential for abuse trigger retractions and investigations

‘I think he’s the one that stole my computer. I think the three of them, the three guys that were like a little group. The dealer and his two guys, I took them everywhere. F*ing everywhere, crazy out of your mind sh.’

Video shows a naked Hunter Biden claiming Russians stole his laptop

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT. Hunter Biden claims Russian drug dealers stole another one of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Vegas hotel room in 2018.

“Follow the science” has become the clarion call of the “know-nothing.” Which science is never quite clear. And when it is, it’s ever-changing.

The parents see this too and have a right to be furious, especially because it is now being brought down to their children, both in the form of masks and vaccinations with unknown consequences.

‘It’s About the Kids’—Mask Rebellion Breaks Out in Tennessee

Commentary “All politics is local,” then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill told us back in 1982 but contemporary events remind …

New at the Belmont Club. Blasts from the past. Never let the Narrative disable common sense.

Forecasting Afghanistan, the Pandemic and Technological Disruption

Looking at Afghanistan from 11 years ago

“We need a lot of humility.” — Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, of University of California San Francisco, discussing the many unknowns surrounding whether one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine provides sufficient protection for the previously infected.

“You either choose to live with it, or avoid anything that makes life meaningful.” — Alex Myers, DO, a doctor for the U.S. rugby team at the Olympics, describing the pandemic precautions being taken in Tokyo.

‘We Need a Lot of Humility’: What We Heard This Week

Quotable quotes heard by MedPage Today reporters