The Patton Assassination

First things first – Happy Birthday Mr President !
The assassination of General George S. Patton on December 21st 1945 will live in infamy .
It was one of the most shocking events of the post-war world , albeit that the shock has been delayed by the absurd official pretense that the great commander died as the result of an automobile accident .
Very frankly the accident theory is as silly as the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy .
The assassination presaged the unstable , violent post-war world , in which political assassinations , invariably organised by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life .
This was the inevitable consequence of the failure to shut down German intelligence at the end of the war .
Reorganised into a new agency , the DVD , it was still headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris , with the equally devious and sinister Generalleutnant Erwin von Lahousen as his deputy .
Herr Admiral of course faked his death at the end of World War II .
It was yours truly who discovered the only known post-war photo of Admiral Canaris ( below ) published in an authorised biography by double-agent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to mention that the man he was writing about was not only still alive but had reviewed the manuscript , no mean feat for someone who was supposed to have been dead for over 20 years !
Canaris wanted to maneuver his man Dwight Eisenhower into the White House .
Tired of being messed around by Eisenhower and another German double-agent , General George Marshall , General Patton had political ambitions of his own by 1945 .
He posed a major threat to the German plan to install Eisenhower in 1948 .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Germans has to wait until 1953 before they got their man Eisenhower into the White House . )
The assassination was organised by the German double-agent William ‘ Wild Bill ’ Donovan , who paid former OSS operative Douglas Bazata $ 10,000 to do the job .
Bazata eventually coughed on September 25th 1979 , at an OSS reunion at the Washington Hilton .
These events are recounted in one of the best books about the assassination , by Bill O ’ Reilly of Fox News and Martin Dugard , Killing Patton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whilst the book comprehensively demolishes the accident argument it suffers from the weakness that the authors thought that Canaris had been executed earlier in 1945 .
They also work on the theory that Eisenhower was working for the Americans .
In fairness , it ’ s an interesting theory and they ’ re not the only ones to have adopted it , but it ’ s wrong .
Eisenhower , who rose without a trace ( he was the only five-star in history never to see combat ) , was Marshall ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dugard point out , he frustrated Patton at every turn .
Denying fuel to Patton ’ s famous Third Army was a nonsense , as was holding him back from D-Day .
D-Day of course was a stitch-up , as I explain in Spyhunter .
The plan was to assassinate our community partner the Führer , install Rommel as President of Germany and make peace .
Obsessed as they were with the Nazis , the Allies would probably have fallen for it , just as they messed up the peace in 1918 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before , thanks to Germany ’ s Spanish Flu bio-weapon .
The date ( June 6th ) was actually suggested by Rommel – it was his wife ’ s birthday and he needed an excuse to be away from the front .
Normandy of course was the silliest part of northern France to invade .
The topography favored the defenders and it was furthest from Germany .
Not only did Bazata murder General Patton in hospital , he was responsible for putting him there in the first place .
Bazata was almost certainly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suddenly veered across the road and rammed General Patton ’ s 1938 Cadillac on December 8th 1945 , near Mannheim .
As O ’ Reilly and Dugard point out there was a minimal investigation ( of course , since ‘ von ’ Eisenhower was in the loop ) .
All the records have been lost , naturally .
The only real controversy is whether or not Bazata paralyzed the general with an injection in the confusion following the crash .
He claimed to have done so , but the other occupants of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Patton ’ s driver , and Brigadier-General Hap Gay , Patton ’ s Chief of Staff claim not to have seen anything .
Some nine years later Gay , who suggested the fatal hunting trip , was promoted to Lieutenant-General by Eisenhower .
It ’ s possible that he was in on the hit , or agreed afterwards to stay silent .
He was ambitious and wanted more stars .
With Eisenhower and Marshall in on the plan he was in a delicate position .
There ’ s no doubt that George Patton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ II .
The efforts by the Abwehr to block his career and have him removed from command were a backhanded compliment .
‘ Monty ’ of course thought that he was the finest general on the Allied side , but then he never lacked for self-confidence !
He was a great commander , to be sure , but he was no Patton .
If Patton had had his way the Third Army would have beaten the Russians to Berlin and the shape of post-war Europe would have looked very different .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eisenhower .
Setting the former Allies at each other ’ s throats was of course a key aim of German intelligence ’ s post-war strategy .
General Patton wasn ’ t the only Allied general to be murdered in World War II and its aftermath .
On August 7th 1942 Luftwaffe aircraft shot up the Bristol Bombay aircraft carrying the brilliant Lieutenant-General William Gott CB CBE DSO & Bar , MC to Cairo , where he was to assume command of the Eighth Army .
There is no doubt that it was an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They repeatedly strafed the aircraft once it was on the ground to make sure of their man .
German assets in Cairo made sure that the Bombay , a reliable but slow transport with wholly inadequate defensive armament , when it carried any at all , was unescorted .
She was a sitting duck , sadly .
There is a fascinating article about this episode in the current ( July ) edition of Flypast magazine by Graham Pitchfork ( p.61 ) .
Graham interviewed the Bombay ’ s pilot , Squadron Leader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bar , DFM , not long before his death in 2015 .
Jimmy was just 19 when he was shot down .
Long suspecting that he had been ambushed , in 2005 Jimmy went to Germany and obtained confirmation from one of the Luftwaffe pilots who had shot him down , probably Oberleutnant Emil Clade .
There is no doubt that Cairo was penetrated , indeed in Spyhunter I name the top German double-agent in the Middle East – Harold Macmillan .
Macmillan of course went on to serve Germany loyally after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hammering the RAF in 1957 , applying to join the EEC and promoting fellow German agent Edward ‘ von ’ Heath , who eventually took us in .
Note that I am still refraining from emotive use of the word ‘ murder ’ .
I am yet to be satisfied that the poor man was murdered .
There are some puzzling aspects to the case .
For starters why would police officers murder a man in full view of a camera , whilst wearing body-cams themselves ?
Secondly , where ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been released in the case of Rayshard Brooks , the African-American who decided to resist arrest in Atlanta GA after failing a field sobriety test , seize an officer ’ s Taser and run away .
( White or black I ’ m not sure that I can think of an easier way of getting yourself shot in Georgia – a Taser may not be lethal but police side-arms certainly are and there ’ s no better way of relieving an officer of his firearm than disabling him first with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ body-cam footage from Minnesota is being suppressed ( assuming that it is being suppressed ) is that it can not be reconciled with the CNN video footage ?
I would not be surprised if the defense challenge this video , which is being widely questioned .
CNN , remember , have form for pushing a scientific hoax ( global warming ) and fake news , such as the absurd suggestion that Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu .
( ‘ Absurd ’ because his claimed mother wasn ’ t pregnant in July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in August 1961 . )
Poor George Floyd was a sick man , which begs the question of why he decided to resist arrest in the first place .
His heart was about 50 % bigger than normal , presumably as a consequence of his hypertension and severe arteriosclerosis .
He had sickle cell trait ( a less severe , generally asymptomatic version of sickle cell disease ) and Covid-19 , which may have reduced his lung capacity .
He was or had been a smoker and a drug addict , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fentanyl is highly lethal , about 50 times more potent than heroin .
For medicinal use it is normally prescribed in microgrammes .
Two milligrams is enough to kill a healthy adult , and George Floyd , sadly , was not healthy .
A synthetic opioid , it depresses the respiratory system .
There is no reporting of the hyoid bone being fractured and there were no soft tissue injuries to the neck , that is to say the autopsy failed to revel any sign of excessive force .
My view of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had taken what for most adults would be a lethal dose of fentanyl , but which was not lethal for him because he was a long-term user .
I don ’ t think that he was in a state of excited delirium due to the fentanyl and other drugs he had taken ( he also had quantities of THC and methamphetamines in his system ) , but I conclude that he was showing some of the symptoms of excited delirium .
I suspect that the poor man died from a combination of respiratory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lung capacity due to Covid-19 , stress , clogged arteries and restricted breathing due to the way the officers restrained him .
The pressure on his diaphragm may actually have been more important than the pressure on the neck , which can ’ t have been that great if there was no bruising .
Whilst he may not have been in a state of excited delirium , given that he presented with some of the symptoms and was resisting arrest , the officers may reasonably have believed that he was .
They also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poor man was suffering from Coronavirus and had been imbibing fentanyl as opposed to cocaine , heroin or another drug .
Certainly there is no sign that they knew that they were dealing with a suspect with Covid-19 , which of course put them at risk .
There is enough here for civil liability , in my view , but not criminal , certainly not murder , as the officers lacked both the knowledge of the deceased ’ s condition and homicidal intent .
Manslaughter in England would be a stretch , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deceased ’ s system .
It would be open to a jury to conclude that whilst the type of restraint used by the officers contributed to George Floyd ’ s death , he helped bring his death upon himself , sadly , through a combination of drug use and resisting arrest when he was in no physical condition to do so .
For Minneapolis to scrap its efficient police department as a response to George Floyd ’ s death is almost as silly as burning down a Wendy restaurant because of the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and I ’ m not just saying that because I quite like Wendyburgers !
Like the calls in Britain to scrap stop and search the likeliest beneficiaries will be organised crime .
I gather there ’ s plenty of that in Minneapolis !
Vandalising a statue of Sir Winston Churchill in London over the disputed death of an African-American drug addict in Minneapolis is just silly , frankly .
It also suggests that the vandals responsible wanted Germany to win World War II .
Winston Churchill was no more a racist than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bit silly blaming Britain for slavery , an institution which was developed in the Middle East and existed for thousands of years before Britain ever did .
Slavery was never legal in England and my country , to her credit , took the lead in abolishing the trade .
The Royal Navy lost many good men in suppressing this odious trade .
The majority of slavers over the course of history have been Arab .
Moreover the slaves transported in British ships were captured in the interior by Africans .
Europeans didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the 17th and 18th centuries , not if they were wise .
The fact that African slaves were enslaved by other Africans before being sold doesn ’ t justify the trade , but it does mean that the blame needs to be spread a bit more fairly .
There was also a trade going the other way of course – men , women and children from English coastal communities captured and taken to North Africa .
Whilst I entirely agree with my colleague Ian Greenhalgh that General Patton was assassinated I regret @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ad idem over the kidnap and murder of Madeleine McCann by the DVD .
The Portuguese police investigation was as much a farce as the Leicestershire and Met investigations have been .
It ’ s important to note that the Portuguese weren ’ t actually trying to find poor little Madeleine – Lisbon already knew that there was a German pedophile ring operating in the Algarve and that they had captured her .
I agree that the McCanns had contacts in the Labour Party and I have no doubt that a government fixer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the kidnap .
The MI6 Head of Station Lisbon pretty much worked out what had happened within 48 hours , which is why the operation was handed over to me , deniably and informally , on the Sunday .
It was way too political for Six and I was the only civilian in the UK outside the official agencies who could enlist the aid of the NSA .
The idea that two respectable British doctors would drug their young child and cart her body around Portugal in the trunk of a rental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absurdity to be apparent .
It also ignores Locard ’ s Exchange Principle – every contact leave a trace .
There was no trace of Madeleine , dead or alive , in said rental , because she was never in it .
The truth , as much of it as could be published , appeared in Spyhunter in 2014 .
Not one of the so-called experts on the case has contacted me in the six years since .
There was an article in yesterday ’ s Sun from two researchers , Anthony Summers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up on TV to talk about the case .
Like every other commentator they are not so much wedded to the preposterous single pedophile theory as welded to it .
The MSM will never get it !
They ’ ll probably still be pushing the single pedophile theory at the end of the Phanerozoic Eon , which started 541 million years ago , never mind the end of the Cenozoic Era , the Quaternary Period or the Holocene Epoch .
There ’ s no nice way of saying it .
Intelligence work requires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a brain is more difficult than running a marathon without legs .
You can always strap on a prosthetic leg , but science has yet to come up with a prosthetic brain , sadly .
These are going badly , as predicted .
GO2 having failed to assassinate Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings with Coronavirus in March , the UK will definitely not be applying for an extension to the transitional period .
We made it official this week .
We ’ re already out of the EU @ @ @ @ @ @ @ December 31st .
Put the champagne on ice !
That Audi on the M23 Apparently not having enough to do policing BLM demos and right-wing counter-demos the rozzers continue to torment motorists with trivia .
West Sussex police have just arrested two 38 year old men for driving an Audi RS6 at 201 mph on the M23 near Gatwick Airport .
Allegedly the driver posted a video of the speedo , showing just over 200 , on social media .
Always assuming that they can prove the video ( if I were defending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strict proof ) they ’ ll be able to pot the driver for speeding , given that the limit was 70 mph , but dangerous driving ?
The motorway speed limit in Britain is stupidly low .
It ’ s designed to cause more accidents by increasing traffic density and driver fatigue ( by lengthening journey times ) and to slow down the economy .
Assuming that the video has not been tampered with , the road was clear , the weather fine and no other road user was put at risk .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ though it ’ s German , is capable of around 190 mph ( allowing for speedometer error ) .
Its braking system is designed for rapid deceleration from high speed and the driver , whoever he or she was ( another problem for the prosecution ! )
was clearly capable of safely controlling his or her vehicle at speeds approaching 200 mph .
If the vehicle had been borrowed without the owner ’ s permission , i.e .
stolen , then the driver might be in greater legal peril , but that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our lock-down entertainment in Britain , Crawl is an enjoyable yarn concerning some giant alligators escaping during a hurricane and swimming into a flooded house .
I gather that this is a problem in Florida , although it ’ s less of an issue in Wiltshire .
Indeed if you owned a house in Wiltshire and were to put in an insurance claim stating that it had been flooded in a hurricane and your partner had been eaten by a giant alligator you might expect a call from a loss adjuster , even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barry Pepper turn in some quite reasonable performances , given the weaknesses of the script .
By the standards of disaster movies it ’ s not that bad , and the alligators are quite well done .
It ’ s enough to make you think twice before going down to the basement , anyway !
Moral of the story – don ’ t rob gas stations in the middle of a hurricane in Florida .
You ’ ll wish you ’ d gone to Georgia and been shot instead .

First things first – Happy Birthday Mr President! The assassination of General George S. Patton on December 21st 1945 will live in infamy. It was one of the most shocking events of the post-war world, albeit that the shock has been delayed by the absurd official pretense that the great commander died as the result of an automobile accident. Very frankly the accident theory is as silly as the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy.
The assassination presaged the unstable, violent post-war world, in which political assassinations, invariably organised by German intelligence, became a fact of life. This was the inevitable consequence of the failure to shut down German intelligence at the end of the war.
Reorganised into a new agency, the DVD, it was still headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, with the equally devious and sinister Generalleutnant Erwin von Lahousen as his deputy. Herr Admiral of course faked his death at the end of World War II.
It was yours truly who discovered the only known post-war photo of Admiral Canaris (below) published in an authorised biography by double-agent Charles Whiting. Whiting of course neglected to mention that the man he was writing about was not only still alive but had reviewed the manuscript, no mean feat for someone who was supposed to have been dead for over 20 years!
Canaris wanted to maneuver his man Dwight Eisenhower into the White House. Tired of being messed around by Eisenhower and another German double-agent, General George Marshall, General Patton had political ambitions of his own by 1945. He posed a major threat to the German plan to install Eisenhower in 1948. (In the events which happened of course the Germans has to wait until 1953 before they got their man Eisenhower into the White House.)
The assassination was organised by the German double-agent William ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan, who paid former OSS operative Douglas Bazata $10,000 to do the job. Bazata eventually coughed on September 25th 1979, at an OSS reunion at the Washington Hilton. These events are recounted in one of the best books about the assassination, by Bill O’Reilly of Fox News and Martin Dugard, Killing Patton (Henry Holt, 2014).
Whilst the book comprehensively demolishes the accident argument it suffers from the weakness that the authors thought that Canaris had been executed earlier in 1945. They also work on the theory that Eisenhower was working for the Americans. In fairness, it’s an interesting theory and they’re not the only ones to have adopted it, but it’s wrong.
Eisenhower, who rose without a trace (he was the only five-star in history never to see combat), was Marshall’s protégé. As O’Reilly and Dugard point out, he frustrated Patton at every turn. Denying fuel to Patton’s famous Third Army was a nonsense, as was holding him back from D-Day.
D-Day of course was a stitch-up, as I explain in Spyhunter. The plan was to assassinate our community partner the Führer, install Rommel as President of Germany and make peace. Obsessed as they were with the Nazis, the Allies would probably have fallen for it, just as they messed up the peace in 1918, taking more casualties after the armistice than before, thanks to Germany’s Spanish Flu bio-weapon.
The date (June 6th) was actually suggested by Rommel – it was his wife’s birthday and he needed an excuse to be away from the front. Normandy of course was the silliest part of northern France to invade. The topography favored the defenders and it was furthest from Germany.
The crash
Not only did Bazata murder General Patton in hospital, he was responsible for putting him there in the first place. Bazata was almost certainly the second man in the truck which suddenly veered across the road and rammed General Patton’s 1938 Cadillac on December 8th 1945, near Mannheim.
As O’Reilly and Dugard point out there was a minimal investigation (of course, since ‘von’ Eisenhower was in the loop). All the records have been lost, naturally.
The only real controversy is whether or not Bazata paralyzed the general with an injection in the confusion following the crash. He claimed to have done so, but the other occupants of the car, PFC Horace Woodring, General Patton’s driver, and Brigadier-General Hap Gay, Patton’s Chief of Staff claim not to have seen anything.
Some nine years later Gay, who suggested the fatal hunting trip, was promoted to Lieutenant-General by Eisenhower. It’s possible that he was in on the hit, or agreed afterwards to stay silent. He was ambitious and wanted more stars. With Eisenhower and Marshall in on the plan he was in a delicate position.
Patton’s legacy
There’s no doubt that George Patton was the finest general of World War II. The efforts by the Abwehr to block his career and have him removed from command were a backhanded compliment.
‘Monty’ of course thought that he was the finest general on the Allied side, but then he never lacked for self-confidence! He was a great commander, to be sure, but he was no Patton.
If Patton had had his way the Third Army would have beaten the Russians to Berlin and the shape of post-war Europe would have looked very different. In the events which happened he was frustrated by Eisenhower. Setting the former Allies at each other’s throats was of course a key aim of German intelligence’s post-war strategy.
‘Strafer’ Gott
General Patton wasn’t the only Allied general to be murdered in World War II and its aftermath. On August 7th 1942 Luftwaffe aircraft shot up the Bristol Bombay aircraft carrying the brilliant Lieutenant-General William Gott CB CBE DSO & Bar, MC to Cairo, where he was to assume command of the Eighth Army.
There is no doubt that it was an ambush and that the Luftwaffe were waiting. They repeatedly strafed the aircraft once it was on the ground to make sure of their man. German assets in Cairo made sure that the Bombay, a reliable but slow transport with wholly inadequate defensive armament, when it carried any at all, was unescorted. She was a sitting duck, sadly.
There is a fascinating article about this episode in the current (July) edition of Flypast magazine by Graham Pitchfork (p.61). Graham interviewed the Bombay’s pilot, Squadron Leader Hugh ‘Jimmy’ James AFC & Bar, DFM, not long before his death in 2015. Jimmy was just 19 when he was shot down.
Long suspecting that he had been ambushed, in 2005 Jimmy went to Germany and obtained confirmation from one of the Luftwaffe pilots who had shot him down, probably Oberleutnant Emil Clade. There is no doubt that Cairo was penetrated, indeed in Spyhunter I name the top German double-agent in the Middle East – Harold Macmillan. Macmillan of course went on to serve Germany loyally after the war, undermining Eden over Suez, hammering the RAF in 1957, applying to join the EEC and promoting fellow German agent Edward ‘von’ Heath, who eventually took us in.
The death of George Floyd
Note that I am still refraining from emotive use of the word ‘murder’. I am yet to be satisfied that the poor man was murdered. There are some puzzling aspects to the case.
For starters why would police officers murder a man in full view of a camera, whilst wearing body-cams themselves? Secondly, where’s the body-cam footage? I understand that it’s been released in the case of Rayshard Brooks, the African-American who decided to resist arrest in Atlanta GA after failing a field sobriety test, seize an officer’s Taser and run away. (White or black I’m not sure that I can think of an easier way of getting yourself shot in Georgia – a Taser may not be lethal but police side-arms certainly are and there’s no better way of relieving an officer of his firearm than disabling him first with a Taser.)
Is the reason the body-cam footage from Minnesota is being suppressed (assuming that it is being suppressed) is that it cannot be reconciled with the CNN video footage? I would not be surprised if the defense challenge this video, which is being widely questioned. CNN, remember, have form for pushing a scientific hoax (global warming) and fake news, such as the absurd suggestion that Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu. (‘Absurd’ because his claimed mother wasn’t pregnant in July 1961 and his claimed date of birth is in August 1961.)
Poor George Floyd was a sick man, which begs the question of why he decided to resist arrest in the first place. His heart was about 50% bigger than normal, presumably as a consequence of his hypertension and severe arteriosclerosis. He had sickle cell trait (a less severe, generally asymptomatic version of sickle cell disease) and Covid-19, which may have reduced his lung capacity.
He was or had been a smoker and a drug addict, and was high on fentanyl when arrested. Fentanyl is highly lethal, about 50 times more potent than heroin. For medicinal use it is normally prescribed in microgrammes. Two milligrams is enough to kill a healthy adult, and George Floyd, sadly, was not healthy. A synthetic opioid, it depresses the respiratory system.
There is no reporting of the hyoid bone being fractured and there were no soft tissue injuries to the neck, that is to say the autopsy failed to revel any sign of excessive force. My view of the case at present is that George Floyd had taken what for most adults would be a lethal dose of fentanyl, but which was not lethal for him because he was a long-term user. I don’t think that he was in a state of excited delirium due to the fentanyl and other drugs he had taken (he also had quantities of THC and methamphetamines in his system), but I conclude that he was showing some of the symptoms of excited delirium.
I suspect that the poor man died from a combination of respiratory depression due to the fentanyl, reduced lung capacity due to Covid-19, stress, clogged arteries and restricted breathing due to the way the officers restrained him. The pressure on his diaphragm may actually have been more important than the pressure on the neck, which can’t have been that great if there was no bruising.
Whilst he may not have been in a state of excited delirium, given that he presented with some of the symptoms and was resisting arrest, the officers may reasonably have believed that he was. They also had no way of knowing that the poor man was suffering from Coronavirus and had been imbibing fentanyl as opposed to cocaine, heroin or another drug. Certainly there is no sign that they knew that they were dealing with a suspect with Covid-19, which of course put them at risk.
There is enough here for civil liability, in my view, but not criminal, certainly not murder, as the officers lacked both the knowledge of the deceased’s condition and homicidal intent. Manslaughter in England would be a stretch, because of the amount of fentanyl in the deceased’s system. It would be open to a jury to conclude that whilst the type of restraint used by the officers contributed to George Floyd’s death, he helped bring his death upon himself, sadly, through a combination of drug use and resisting arrest when he was in no physical condition to do so.
For Minneapolis to scrap its efficient police department as a response to George Floyd’s death is almost as silly as burning down a Wendy restaurant because of the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta GA, and I’m not just saying that because I quite like Wendyburgers! Like the calls in Britain to scrap stop and search the likeliest beneficiaries will be organised crime. I gather there’s plenty of that in Minneapolis!
Vandalising a statue of Sir Winston Churchill in London over the disputed death of an African-American drug addict in Minneapolis is just silly, frankly. It also suggests that the vandals responsible wanted Germany to win World War II. Winston Churchill was no more a racist than Oprah Winfrey.
It’s also a bit silly blaming Britain for slavery, an institution which was developed in the Middle East and existed for thousands of years before Britain ever did. Slavery was never legal in England and my country, to her credit, took the lead in abolishing the trade. The Royal Navy lost many good men in suppressing this odious trade.
The majority of slavers over the course of history have been Arab. Moreover the slaves transported in British ships were captured in the interior by Africans. Europeans didn’t venture into the African interior in the 17th and 18th centuries, not if they were wise. The fact that African slaves were enslaved by other Africans before being sold doesn’t justify the trade, but it does mean that the blame needs to be spread a bit more fairly. There was also a trade going the other way of course – men, women and children from English coastal communities captured and taken to North Africa.
Madeleine McCann
Whilst I entirely agree with my colleague Ian Greenhalgh that General Patton was assassinated I regret to say that we are not entirely ad idem over the kidnap and murder of Madeleine McCann by the DVD. The Portuguese police investigation was as much a farce as the Leicestershire and Met investigations have been.
It’s important to note that the Portuguese weren’t actually trying to find poor little Madeleine – Lisbon already knew that there was a German pedophile ring operating in the Algarve and that they had captured her. I agree that the McCanns had contacts in the Labour Party and I have no doubt that a government fixer turned up in Praia da Luz shortly after the kidnap.
The MI6 Head of Station Lisbon pretty much worked out what had happened within 48 hours, which is why the operation was handed over to me, deniably and informally, on the Sunday. It was way too political for Six and I was the only civilian in the UK outside the official agencies who could enlist the aid of the NSA.
The idea that two respectable British doctors would drug their young child and cart her body around Portugal in the trunk of a rental only has to be stated for its absurdity to be apparent. It also ignores Locard’s Exchange Principle – every contact leave a trace. There was no trace of Madeleine, dead or alive, in said rental, because she was never in it.
The truth, as much of it as could be published, appeared in Spyhunter in 2014. Not one of the so-called experts on the case has contacted me in the six years since. There was an article in yesterday’s Sun from two researchers, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, who keep popping up on TV to talk about the case. Like every other commentator they are not so much wedded to the preposterous single pedophile theory as welded to it.
The MSM will never get it! They’ll probably still be pushing the single pedophile theory at the end of the Phanerozoic Eon, which started 541 million years ago, never mind the end of the Cenozoic Era, the Quaternary Period or the Holocene Epoch. There’s no nice way of saying it. Intelligence work requires brains. Trying to do it without a brain is more difficult than running a marathon without legs. You can always strap on a prosthetic leg, but science has yet to come up with a prosthetic brain, sadly.
The Anglo-European negotiations
These are going badly, as predicted. GO2 having failed to assassinate Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings with Coronavirus in March, the UK will definitely not be applying for an extension to the transitional period. We made it official this week. We’re already out of the EU and we leave the single market on December 31st. Put the champagne on ice!
That Audi on the M23
Apparently not having enough to do policing BLM demos and right-wing counter-demos the rozzers continue to torment motorists with trivia. West Sussex police have just arrested two 38 year old men for driving an Audi RS6 at 201 mph on the M23 near Gatwick Airport. Allegedly the driver posted a video of the speedo, showing just over 200, on social media.
Always assuming that they can prove the video (if I were defending I’d put the rozzers to strict proof) they’ll be able to pot the driver for speeding, given that the limit was 70 mph, but dangerous driving?
The motorway speed limit in Britain is stupidly low. It’s designed to cause more accidents by increasing traffic density and driver fatigue (by lengthening journey times) and to slow down the economy. Assuming that the video has not been tampered with, the road was clear, the weather fine and no other road user was put at risk.
By definition the Audi RS6, even though it’s German, is capable of around 190 mph (allowing for speedometer error). Its braking system is designed for rapid deceleration from high speed and the driver, whoever he or she was (another problem for the prosecution!) was clearly capable of safely controlling his or her vehicle at speeds approaching 200 mph. If the vehicle had been borrowed without the owner’s permission, i.e. stolen, then the driver might be in greater legal peril, but that has yet to be established.
This week’s movie review: Crawl (2019, dir. Alexander Aja)
Part of our lock-down entertainment in Britain, Crawl is an enjoyable yarn concerning some giant alligators escaping during a hurricane and swimming into a flooded house. I gather that this is a problem in Florida, although it’s less of an issue in Wiltshire. Indeed if you owned a house in Wiltshire and were to put in an insurance claim stating that it had been flooded in a hurricane and your partner had been eaten by a giant alligator you might expect a call from a loss adjuster, even with Direct Line.
Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper turn in some quite reasonable performances, given the weaknesses of the script. By the standards of disaster movies it’s not that bad, and the alligators are quite well done. It’s enough to make you think twice before going down to the basement, anyway!
Moral of the story – don’t rob gas stations in the middle of a hurricane in Florida. You’ll wish you’d gone to Georgia and been shot instead.


veteranstoday--2020-06-14--NIH: Study to Evaluate Drugs to Treat Children With COVID-19

NIH-funded study to evaluate drugs prescribed to children with COVID-19 Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have launched an effort to evaluate drugs prescribed to treat COVID-19 in infants , children and adolescents across the country .
The study leverages an existing clinical trial that examines drugs that are prescribed off-label to children for a variety of medical conditions .
Because many drugs have not been tested specifically for use in children , physicians will often prescribe drugs off-label to children because they lack an alternative , approved treatment .
“ As we search for safe and effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure that we do not overlook the needs of our youngest patients who may respond differently to these drugs , compared to adults , ” said Diana W. Bianchi , M.D.
, director of NIH ’ s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( NICHD ) , which oversees the project .
Researchers will investigate several drugs currently given to children diagnosed with COVID-19 , including antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs .
Products will be added or removed from the list as researchers learn more about the treatment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study is not a clinical trial with a control group .
Rather , healthcare providers who are already treating patients with drugs on the list may enroll patients whose parents or guardians have given their consent .
The study is called Pharmacokinetics of Understudied Drugs Administered to Children Per Standard of Care .
ATTENTION READERS Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity .
We ask you to Read Our Content Policy so a clear comprehension of VT 's independent non-censored media is understood and given its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , opinion and media .
All content is owned by author exclusively .
Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT , other authors , affiliates , advertisers , sponsors , partners or technicians .
Some content may be satirical in nature .
All images within are full responsibility of author and NOT VT. About VT - Read Full Policy Notice - Comment Policy Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity.We ask you toso a clear comprehension of VT 's independent non-censored media is understood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world of news , opinion and media.All content is owned by author exclusively .
Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT , other authors , affiliates , advertisers , sponsors , partners or technicians .
Some content may be satirical in nature .
All images within are full responsibility of author and NOT VT .

NIH-funded study to evaluate drugs prescribed to children with COVID-19
by NIH News Release
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have launched an effort to evaluate drugs prescribed to treat COVID-19 in infants, children and adolescents across the country. The study leverages an existing clinical trial that examines drugs that are prescribed off-label to children for a variety of medical conditions. Because many drugs have not been tested specifically for use in children, physicians will often prescribe drugs off-label to children because they lack an alternative, approved treatment.
“As we search for safe and effective therapies for COVID-19, we want to make sure that we do not overlook the needs of our youngest patients who may respond differently to these drugs, compared to adults,” said Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which oversees the project.
Researchers will investigate several drugs currently given to children diagnosed with COVID-19, including antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs. Products will be added or removed from the list as researchers learn more about the treatment needs of patients with COVID-19. The study is not a clinical trial with a control group. Rather, healthcare providers who are already treating patients with drugs on the list may enroll patients whose parents or guardians have given their consent. The study is called Pharmacokinetics of Understudied Drugs Administered to Children Per Standard of Care.
Read More:


veteranstoday--2020-06-14--You Never Know What You Might Find!

You Never Know What You Might Find!

In 2003 , home renovations in a Guatemalan mountain village unearthed what researchers describe as “ unparalleled ” Maya murals .
Now , reports broadcast network RT , a new analysis published in the journal Antiquity has revealed additional insights on the wall paintings , which date to the 17th or 18th century and blend Spanish colonial influences with local indigenous culture .
Local historian and study co-author Lucas Asicona Ramírez found the murals while renovating his kitchen in Chajul , a rural town in Guatemala ’ s highlands , reported Mike McDonald for Reuters in 2012 .
Several houses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , date to the colonial era ( 1524 to 1821 ) ; other locals have discovered similarly historic artworks behind the plaster in their homes .
The majority of Guatemala ’ s colonial-era murals are found in houses of worship .
Centered on Christian themes , these religious artworks were used by the Spanish to assert their dominance over the Maya people , writes Tom Fish for Express .
In contrast , the Chajul wall paintings appear inside private homes—and , most tellingly , contain distinct flourishes of indigenous culture .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Ivonne Putzeys , an archaeologist at the University of Guatemala in San Carlos , told Reuters .
“ It ’ s tangible heritage that represent [ s ] real scenes from history.
” ATTENTION READERS Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity .
We ask you to Read Our Content Policy so a clear comprehension of VT 's independent non-censored media is understood and given its proper place in the world of news , opinion and media .
All content is owned by author @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the views of VT , other authors , affiliates , advertisers , sponsors , partners or technicians .
Some content may be satirical in nature .
All images within are full responsibility of author and NOT VT. About VT - Read Full Policy Notice - Comment Policy Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity.We ask you toso a clear comprehension of VT 's independent non-censored media is understood and given its proper place in the world of news , opinion and media.All content is owned by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessarily the views of VT , other authors , affiliates , advertisers , sponsors , partners or technicians .
Some content may be satirical in nature .
All images within are full responsibility of author and NOT VT .

Renovations Reveal Rare Maya Murals Hidden in Guatemalan Home
by Alex Fox/Smithsonianmag.com
In 2003, home renovations in a Guatemalan mountain village unearthed what researchers describe as “unparalleled” Maya murals. Now, reports broadcast network RT, a new analysis published in the journal Antiquity has revealed additional insights on the wall paintings, which date to the 17th or 18th century and blend Spanish colonial influences with local indigenous culture.
Local historian and study co-author Lucas Asicona Ramírez found the murals while renovating his kitchen in Chajul, a rural town in Guatemala’s highlands, reported Mike McDonald for Reuters in 2012. Several houses in Chajul, including Asicona’s, date to the colonial era (1524 to 1821); other locals have discovered similarly historic artworks behind the plaster in their homes.
The majority of Guatemala’s colonial-era murals are found in houses of worship. Centered on Christian themes, these religious artworks were used by the Spanish to assert their dominance over the Maya people, writes Tom Fish for Express. In contrast, the Chajul wall paintings appear inside private homes—and, most tellingly, contain distinct flourishes of indigenous culture.
“We consider these murals to be very unique,” Ivonne Putzeys, an archaeologist at the University of Guatemala in San Carlos, told Reuters. “It’s tangible heritage that represent[s] real scenes from history.”
Read More:


veteranstoday--2020-06-15--Should You Vaccinate Your Child?

Should You Vaccinate Your Child?

_________ The Spinoff Yes , we ’ re going there : Should you vaccinate your child ?
It ’ s always a good time to talk about vaccination , but with the topic back in the news thanks to the major measles outbreak in Auckland , we ’ re resharing Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw ’ s deep dive into the issue from March 2017 .
A note from Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes : Vaccination is always something you have to think about when you ’ re a parent .
Should you ?
Shouldn ’ t you ?
Lots of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I didn ’ t think too much about vaccination before having a child .
I knew I would because it made sense to – but then I had a child with a serious health condition .
Suddenly I had to advocate for him ; I became vocally pro-vaccination .
Late at night I would sit and cry reading mothers in Facebook groups convince each other not to vaccinate .
They would say things like “ Whooping cough is just a cough ” and “ Some kids just aren ’ t meant to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to put my child at risk for their child.
” I ’ d read these things and feel like I lived on another planet .
A simple cold caused my son ’ s trachea to collapse and he ended up in emergency surgery – and they were saying whooping cough was just a cough .
There is a huge group of mothers weeping over comments that say “ my child ’ s body , my choice ” .
We sit in hospital wards staring at our babies and hoping and wishing someone will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a choice not made in isolation .
It ’ s a choice that impacts vulnerable children and adults .
It ’ s a choice that says to all parents , but especially those of us with medically fragile children , that our children are loved and valued too and that their lives matter .
But I accept that it ’ s scary to give your child any kind of medical treatment .
My son had so many necessary medical procedures in his first few months .
It ’ s harrowing .
To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right choices with some of his care .
My husband and I made our choices based on the advice of a team of doctors – we trusted them .
We needed to trust them .
We saw them save our son ’ s life , so why wouldn ’ t we ?
This post looks at the evidence without the emotion , something I often can ’ t do .
It looks at risk too , because of course there is risk .
It ’ s the first in a two part series @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw , someone who can actually talk about vaccination without resorting to inaccurate scaremongering blogs .
Because you need clear and factual information about immunisation – and that is what this post will give you .
A vaccination prevents an individual getting a disease , that much is pretty straightforward .
Once a vaccination is administered the body responds to the vaccination to make the individual immune to a disease .
However , widespread immunisation also has benefits .
If enough people are vaccinated it eventually makes enough people immune that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease you can catch from someone else who has the virus ) in a community , a society , and eventually worldwide .
Smallpox for example has been eradicated worldwide , thanks to immunisation .
This is known as “ herd immunity ” : when enough people are fully immunised ( for most vaccines this is near 95 % of the population ) , the risk of someone catching the disease and passing it to someone not immunised is very low .
Eventually the disease can not continue to live as it can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ breed in , and it becomes extinct .
If only we could do that with rats and possums so effectively !
A vaccination comes with risks As I have talked about before , it is important to understand that no medical treatment is without risks .
Having an ingrown toenail removed has a risk of toe amputation , having a general anaesthetic has a risk of brain damage .
But with most interventions the likelihood of the most severe side effect is much smaller than the risks associated with not doing the thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a child is immunised , for example inflammation at the site of the injection or fever .
There are even smaller risks of some more serious side effects like an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis .
However , such severe side effects occur much less often with the vaccine than they would if a person caught the disease itself .
The figure below compares the risks of having the MMR ( Measles Mumps Rubella ) vaccine vs. taking your risks with measles .
If a million children had the vaccine , and another million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expect to see the numbers of complications in the table below .
Severe complications due to MMR vaccine and measles among 1 million children aged under 5 years .
Source : The Australian Academy of Science What we can say with certainty is that there is NO risk whatsoever that you will get autism from a vaccine .
This creates a prisoner ’ s dilemma Well as immunisation rates grow in a society ( as they are currently in New Zealand ) , the risks of contracting a disease lessen , as do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being hospitalised or dying from that disease .
So if enough other people are immunised , then it might be rational for some people to take the risk and choose not to vaccinate their child .
In other words , if the chances of their child contracting the disease are low , the parents might choose to avoid the ( also low ) risks associated with getting the vaccination .
Example of a prisoner ’ s dilemma For simplicity sake , let ’ s pretend a community has two undecided and unrelated parents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ herd immunity explained to them , alongside the risks of the vaccination for measles , the risks of contracting the disease and the risks of hospitalisation or death if their child gets the disease .
Each are then asked to decide whether to vaccinate their child against measles .
The risks and rewards for them are as follows : If Andrew and Brian both don ’ t vaccinate , each child has a higher risk of contracting the disease and of experiencing serious health effects of the illness , but they avoid the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Andrew does not vaccinate but Brian does , Andrew ’ s child will have a lower risk of catching the disease , low risk of experiencing serious health effects of the illness and no risk of vaccination side effects .
Brian ’ s child will have a low risk of the disease , low risk of experiencing serious health effects of the illness and some risk of vaccination side effects ( and vice versa ) .
In short , Andrew is taking a ‘ free ride ’ , benefitting from Brian ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Andrew and Brian both vaccinated , both children will have the lowest risk ( becoming no risk ) of the disease and experiencing serious health effects of the illness , while both children have a risk of vaccination side effects .
Assuming Brian vaccinates his child , it might make sense for Andrew to choose not to .
And this applies in the real world – in a mathematical sense the truly ‘ rational ’ parent ( when understanding the real scientific risks ; we are not talking myths here ) may choose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of society has been vaccinated to provide herd immunity .
However , eventually this would backfire on everyone , the rational parent included .
Why the ‘ free-riders ’ are hurting their kids ( and others ) in the long term You can probably see the problems in this ‘ rational ’ but ultimately kind of selfish decision-making process , and not just for the wider community as a whole .
In taking this ‘ free ride ’ , parents who choose not to vaccinate could actually be harming their child in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decline ( as more people choose not to vaccinate believing the risk to be low ) the actual risks of contracting the disease then rise .
So every child is now exposed to a greater level of risk , BUT especially those that are unvaccinated .
How do we know this ?
Because in countries with low vaccination rates , their rate of disease is at epidemic proportions .
This interactive map shows where measles is at an epidemic rate worldwide – the majority of deaths from measles are in children under five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immunisation rate of less than 40 % , there were 6000 cases in 2012 ( likely to be more due to poor reporting mechanisms ) .
And just in case you think this is a developing world problem , in New Zealand in 1991 our immunisation coverage rate at aged two years was less than 60 % overall , and only 42 % of Māori and 45 % of Pacific children .
In 1997 we had a large scale measles outbreak : there were 2169 cases notified , near 100 people hospitalised and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who died were children who were not immunised ( source : Ministry of Health Immunisation Handbook , 2014 ) .
Even now we don ’ t have the levels of immunisation we need for herd immunity – so any parent not vaccinating their child is rolling the dice with disease .
If an unimmunised child does come in contact with measles for example , there is a 90 % chance they will get it .
If they contract measles there is a 1 in 5 chance they will be hospitalised for serious complications @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will die .
So if increasing numbers of parents choose not to vaccinate due to a low risk of disease they are actually , ironically , increasing the risk of their child becoming seriously ill during outbreaks .
What is almost worse is that they are putting some already really vulnerable kids at greater risk .
For children with compromised immunity , and in New Zealand this is mainly children and babies receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer or with immune system diseases , if they contract measles they have a 1 in 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ babies , who have undeveloped immune systems and are too young to get a vaccination , are at high risk of contraction and hospitalisation during an outbreak of a disease .
Children in poverty , who already suffer an additional disease burden compared to their better off counterparts , are more vulnerable also due to their lower vaccination rates .
So as the rate of a disease increases due to a decline in vaccination rates , the kids that suffer from this decline are those that are least able to cope .
Only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free-ride and it needs to be based on need If herd immunity is achieved when 90-95 % of the population are fully immunised ( depending on the disease ) and this rate is maintained for a period of time , then the 5-10 % we can carry unimmunised in our society needs to be reserved for those with the greatest need , not those who want to opt out .
It is like giving the wheelchair to someone with an ingrown toenail when there is a person with paralysis next to him or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if information about the risks and benefits , both individual and population based , are communicated effectively and people are given the opportunity to understand that their personal decision affects everyone .
In summary , having your child vaccinated helps not only your child but also everyone in society .
The risks from a vaccination are much lower than the serious risks that come with the diseases we vaccinate against .
It might seem a good idea , to some , to get a ‘ free ride ’ from the lower disease rates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , this lower rate only exists because people vaccinate their children .
Ultimately such free riding will put all children who are not immunised at greater risk , as disease rates will go up again .
So be bold , be brave , be community minded and do the right the thing , for your child and others .
Dr Jessica Berentson-Shaw is a mother of two , scientist , writer , and author .
This is her approach to writing about science for The Spinoff Parents .

_________
The Spinoff
Yes, we’re going there: Should you vaccinate your child?
by Dr Jessica Berentson-Shaw
It’s always a good time to talk about vaccination, but with the topic back in the news thanks to the major measles outbreak in Auckland, we’re resharing Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw’s deep dive into the issue from March 2017.
A note from Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes:
Vaccination is always something you have to think about when you’re a parent. Should you? Shouldn’t you? Lots of people have opinions and it’s confusing. I didn’t think too much about vaccination before having a child. I knew I would because it made sense to – but then I had a child with a serious health condition. Suddenly I had to advocate for him; I became vocally pro-vaccination. Late at night I would sit and cry reading mothers in Facebook groups convince each other not to vaccinate. They would say things like “Whooping cough is just a cough” and “Some kids just aren’t meant to survive, I shouldn’t have to put my child at risk for their child.”
I’d read these things and feel like I lived on another planet. A simple cold caused my son’s trachea to collapse and he ended up in emergency surgery – and they were saying whooping cough was just a cough. There is a huge group of mothers weeping over comments that say “my child’s body, my choice”. We sit in hospital wards staring at our babies and hoping and wishing someone will come along and properly explain that this is a choice not made in isolation. It’s a choice that impacts vulnerable children and adults. It’s a choice that says to all parents, but especially those of us with medically fragile children, that our children are loved and valued too and that their lives matter.
But I accept that it’s scary to give your child any kind of medical treatment. My son had so many necessary medical procedures in his first few months. It’s harrowing. To this day I hope I made the right choices with some of his care. My husband and I made our choices based on the advice of a team of doctors – we trusted them. We needed to trust them. We saw them save our son’s life, so why wouldn’t we? This post looks at the evidence without the emotion, something I often can’t do. It looks at risk too, because of course there is risk. It’s the first in a two part series on immunisation by our resident evidence-based scientist Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw, someone who can actually talk about vaccination without resorting to inaccurate scaremongering blogs. Because you need clear and factual information about immunisation – and that is what this post will give you.
Emily Writes, editor, The Spinoff Parents
Widespread immunisation helps everyone
A vaccination prevents an individual getting a disease, that much is pretty straightforward. Once a vaccination is administered the body responds to the vaccination to make the individual immune to a disease. However, widespread immunisation also has benefits. If enough people are vaccinated it eventually makes enough people immune that it eliminates a communicable disease (a disease you can catch from someone else who has the virus) in a community, a society, and eventually worldwide. Smallpox for example has been eradicated worldwide, thanks to immunisation.
This is known as “herd immunity”: when enough people are fully immunised (for most vaccines this is near 95% of the population), the risk of someone catching the disease and passing it to someone not immunised is very low. Eventually the disease cannot continue to live as it cannot find enough hosts for it to breed in, and it becomes extinct. If only we could do that with rats and possums so effectively!
A vaccination comes with risks
As I have talked about before, it is important to understand that no medical treatment is without risks. Having an ingrown toenail removed has a risk of toe amputation, having a general anaesthetic has a risk of brain damage.
But with most interventions the likelihood of the most severe side effect is much smaller than the risks associated with not doing the thing. So there are some risks when a child is immunised, for example inflammation at the site of the injection or fever. There are even smaller risks of some more serious side effects like an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. However, such severe side effects occur much less often with the vaccine than they would if a person caught the disease itself.
The figure below compares the risks of having the MMR (Measles Mumps Rubella) vaccine vs. taking your risks with measles. If a million children had the vaccine, and another million caught the disease, then we would expect to see the numbers of complications in the table below.
Severe complications due to MMR vaccine and measles among 1 million children aged under 5 years. Source: The Australian Academy of Science
What we can say with certainty is that there is NO risk whatsoever that you will get autism from a vaccine.
This creates a prisoner’s dilemma
A what?
Well as immunisation rates grow in a society (as they are currently in New Zealand), the risks of contracting a disease lessen, as do the overall risks in a population of being hospitalised or dying from that disease. So if enough other people are immunised, then it might be rational for some people to take the risk and choose not to vaccinate their child. In other words, if the chances of their child contracting the disease are low, the parents might choose to avoid the (also low) risks associated with getting the vaccination.
Example of a prisoner’s dilemma
For simplicity sake, let’s pretend a community has two undecided and unrelated parents, Andrew and Brian. They have herd immunity explained to them, alongside the risks of the vaccination for measles, the risks of contracting the disease and the risks of hospitalisation or death if their child gets the disease. Each are then asked to decide whether to vaccinate their child against measles. The risks and rewards for them are as follows:
If Andrew and Brian both don’t vaccinate, each child has a higher risk of contracting the disease and of experiencing serious health effects of the illness, but they avoid the risk of vaccination side effects.
If Andrew does not vaccinate but Brian does, Andrew’s child will have a lower risk of catching the disease, low risk of experiencing serious health effects of the illness and no risk of vaccination side effects. Brian’s child will have a low risk of the disease, low risk of experiencing serious health effects of the illness and some risk of vaccination side effects (and vice versa). In short, Andrew is taking a ‘free ride’, benefitting from Brian’s choice to immunise his child.
If Andrew and Brian both vaccinated, both children will have the lowest risk (becoming no risk) of the disease and experiencing serious health effects of the illness, while both children have a risk of vaccination side effects.
Assuming Brian vaccinates his child, it might make sense for Andrew to choose not to. And this applies in the real world – in a mathematical sense the truly ‘rational’ parent (when understanding the real scientific risks; we are not talking myths here) may choose not to vaccinate, provided that enough of society has been vaccinated to provide herd immunity. However, eventually this would backfire on everyone, the rational parent included.
Why the ‘free-riders’ are hurting their kids (and others) in the long term
You can probably see the problems in this ‘rational’ but ultimately kind of selfish decision-making process, and not just for the wider community as a whole. In taking this ‘free ride’, parents who choose not to vaccinate could actually be harming their child in the longer term. As the vaccination rates decline (as more people choose not to vaccinate believing the risk to be low) the actual risks of contracting the disease then rise. So every child is now exposed to a greater level of risk, BUT especially those that are unvaccinated.
How do we know this? Because in countries with low vaccination rates, their rate of disease is at epidemic proportions. This interactive map shows where measles is at an epidemic rate worldwide – the majority of deaths from measles are in children under five. In Afghanistan, which has an immunisation rate of less than 40%, there were 6000 cases in 2012 (likely to be more due to poor reporting mechanisms).
And just in case you think this is a developing world problem, in New Zealand in 1991 our immunisation coverage rate at aged two years was less than 60% overall, and only 42% of Māori and 45% of Pacific children. In 1997 we had a large scale measles outbreak: there were 2169 cases notified, near 100 people hospitalised and seven people died; four of those who died were children who were not immunised (source: Ministry of Health Immunisation Handbook, 2014). Even now we don’t have the levels of immunisation we need for herd immunity – so any parent not vaccinating their child is rolling the dice with disease.
If an unimmunised child does come in contact with measles for example, there is a 90% chance they will get it. If they contract measles there is a 1 in 5 chance they will be hospitalised for serious complications and a 1 in 1000 chance they will die. So if increasing numbers of parents choose not to vaccinate due to a low risk of disease they are actually, ironically, increasing the risk of their child becoming seriously ill during outbreaks. What is almost worse is that they are putting some already really vulnerable kids at greater risk.
Free-riders risk making sick and vulnerable children even sicker
For children with compromised immunity, and in New Zealand this is mainly children and babies receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer or with immune system diseases, if they contract measles they have a 1 in 2 chance of dying from it. Young babies, who have undeveloped immune systems and are too young to get a vaccination, are at high risk of contraction and hospitalisation during an outbreak of a disease. Children in poverty, who already suffer an additional disease burden compared to their better off counterparts, are more vulnerable also due to their lower vaccination rates. So as the rate of a disease increases due to a decline in vaccination rates, the kids that suffer from this decline are those that are least able to cope.
Only a few of us can have a free-ride and it needs to be based on need
If herd immunity is achieved when 90-95% of the population are fully immunised (depending on the disease) and this rate is maintained for a period of time, then the 5-10% we can carry unimmunised in our society needs to be reserved for those with the greatest need, not those who want to opt out. It is like giving the wheelchair to someone with an ingrown toenail when there is a person with paralysis next to him or her in the queue.
It helps if information about the risks and benefits, both individual and population based, are communicated effectively and people are given the opportunity to understand that their personal decision affects everyone.
*
In summary, having your child vaccinated helps not only your child but also everyone in society. The risks from a vaccination are much lower than the serious risks that come with the diseases we vaccinate against. It might seem a good idea, to some, to get a ‘free ride’ from the lower disease rates we currently experience and not vaccinate. However, this lower rate only exists because people vaccinate their children. Ultimately such free riding will put all children who are not immunised at greater risk, as disease rates will go up again.
So be bold, be brave, be community minded and do the right the thing, for your child and others.
Dr Jessica Berentson-Shaw is a mother of two, scientist, writer, and author. This is her approach to writing about science for The Spinoff Parents.


veteranstoday--2020-06-15--Intel Drop: Trump’s Presidency, such as it was, ended some weeks ago, then things got worse, much wo

Intel Drop: Trump’s Presidency, such as it was, ended some weeks ago, then things got worse, much worse

VT has an initial diagnosis , after conferring with real medical specialists .
Trump has had either a stroke , most likely , Parkinson ’ s Disease or has a brain tumor .
Insider access has given us a real look at the Trump White House , now a carnival act with Trump the dancing bear His West Point speech had inexorable signs , the shuffle down the ramp and the incident where he uses a second hand to steady a drinking glass .
From the Guardian : “ Donald Trump attempted to solidify his bond with the US army @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cadets at the United States Military Academy and boasting of a “ colossal ” $ 2tn rebuilding of American martial might .
Trump ’ s West Point speech was studiously vapid , with only a modicum of partisan boasting .
But the political setting crackled with civil-military tension .
When all else fails – and that has happened a lot – the president has embraced the flag and hugged the military .
But these days the military is not hugging back .
It stands to attention as duty demands , but as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which Trump has taken to fondling at public events .
The president likes to refer to the soldiers around him as “ my generals ” and “ my military ” .
The possessive pronoun always jarred with the spirit of civ-mil rectitude , even before it became evident how literally Trump interpreted it .
Saturday ’ s ceremony at West Point was the embodiment of the president ’ s approach .
More than a thousand cadets from the class of 2020 were called back from their homes to the campus , 50 miles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus pandemic , so Trump could give a televised speech .
Fifteen cadets tested positive .
The rest had to quarantine for two weeks .
The whole show was widely disparaged as stage dressing for Trump ’ s re-election campaign , days after the president crossed a line in the exploitation of military leaders as props.
” VT has strong evidence ( proof ) Trump has been pushed aside and others are running the country , others we didn ’ t elect and whose capabilities , even while supposedly “ fully functional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this task or any other .
Imagine Barr and Mueller running the country ?
Hell , it would be up in flames .
The neurological issues alone don ’ t preclude the presidency but with the other symptoms , processing deterioration in what was never the “ brightest bulb in the pack , ” and extreme emotional instability , meaning not only is Trump calling for military to overthrow the constitution , he is going further , way further .
48 hours ago , I took a call from a Trump advisor ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to make the call but was forced to for reasons best left unstated .
Not a nice call .
“ They ” ( which includes Barr and Pompeo , Esper as well ) think he is nuts and have walled off Trump from his religious nutso friends like the one that buzzed him up into doing the bleach thing .
From the Guardian : “ The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a “ miracle cure ” for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In his letter , Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “ a wonderful detox that can kill 99 % of the pathogens in the body ” .
He added that it ‘ can rid the body of Covid-19 ’ .
A few days after Grenon dispatched his letter , Trump went on national TV at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Thursday and promoted the idea that disinfectant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus .
To the astonishment of medical experts , the US president said that disinfectant ‘ knocks it out in a minute .
One minute !
’ ” Trump was spoken of as addled , then the call abruptly ended .
Is this good news or bad news ?
From what we are told , the military is “ holding the fort ” at the Pentagon but who they hell are they ?
Anyone know any of them anymore ?
Anyway , back to Trump and the current Twitter frenzy .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden quite probably means he fears dementia and is very aware of his deterioration .
The problem is , by our estimation , that Trump actually doesn ’ t notice he has been pushed aside .
Trump can still fire everyone around him but Trump is terrified of Barr .
Why ?
You know , Trump was , and had been for some time , the consummate “ fastest mouth in the West.
” No more .
He is confused , bumbling , has no filter , continually misspeaks and has lost the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put this down to the White House gossip machine , which the military has a strong tie to , as does VT and other media .
The reports are that Trump is falling apart physically for sure , and is half the foul mouthed idiot he was in 2016 .
Catch this from Twitter :

VT has an initial diagnosis, after conferring with real medical specialists. Trump has had either a stroke, most likely, Parkinson’s Disease or has a brain tumor.
His West Point speech had inexorable signs, the shuffle down the ramp and the incident where he uses a second hand to steady a drinking glass. From the Guardian:
“Donald Trump attempted to solidify his bond with the US army on Saturday, delivering the graduation speech to cadets at the United States Military Academy and boasting of a “colossal” $2tn rebuilding of American martial might.
Trump’s West Point speech was studiously vapid, with only a modicum of partisan boasting. But the political setting crackled with civil-military tension.
When all else fails – and that has happened a lot – the president has embraced the flag and hugged the military. But these days the military is not hugging back. It stands to attention as duty demands, but as inertly as Old Glory, the banner which Trump has taken to fondling at public events.
The president likes to refer to the soldiers around him as “my generals” and “my military”. The possessive pronoun always jarred with the spirit of civ-mil rectitude, even before it became evident how literally Trump interpreted it.
Saturday’s ceremony at West Point was the embodiment of the president’s approach. More than a thousand cadets from the class of 2020 were called back from their homes to the campus, 50 miles north of New York City, despite the coronavirus pandemic, so Trump could give a televised speech.
Fifteen cadets tested positive. The rest had to quarantine for two weeks. The whole show was widely disparaged as stage dressing for Trump’s re-election campaign, days after the president crossed a line in the exploitation of military leaders as props.”
VT has strong evidence (proof) Trump has been pushed aside and others are running the country, others we didn’t elect and whose capabilities, even while supposedly “fully functional,” aren’t up to this task or any other. Imagine Barr and Mueller running the country? Hell, it would be up in flames.
Wait a minute, it is.
The neurological issues alone don’t preclude the presidency but with the other symptoms, processing deterioration in what was never the “brightest bulb in the pack,” and extreme emotional instability, meaning not only is Trump calling for military to overthrow the constitution, he is going further, way further.
48 hours ago, I took a call from a Trump advisor (top advisor) who didn’t want to make the call but was forced to for reasons best left unstated. Not a nice call. “They” (which includes Barr and Pompeo, Esper as well) think he is nuts and have walled off Trump from his religious nutso friends like the one that buzzed him up into doing the bleach thing. From the Guardian:
“The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a “miracle cure” for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump at the White House this week.
Hysterical Sarah Cooper miming Trump's bleach cure for Covid-19. https://t.co/uWflQS9XaK — Candace (@nativelah) June 7, 2020
In his letter, Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide – a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk – is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it ‘can rid the body of Covid-19’.
A few days after Grenon dispatched his letter, Trump went on national TV at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Thursday and promoted the idea that disinfectant could be used as a treatment for the virus. To the astonishment of medical experts, the US president said that disinfectant ‘knocks it out in a minute. One minute!’”
Trump was spoken of as addled, then the call abruptly ended.
Is this good news or bad news? From what we are told, the military is “holding the fort” at the Pentagon but who they hell are they? Anyone know any of them anymore?
Anyway, back to Trump and the current Twitter frenzy.
The pattern of accusations Trump has orchestrated against Biden quite probably means he fears dementia and is very aware of his deterioration. The problem is, by our estimation, that Trump actually doesn’t notice he has been pushed aside.
Trump can still fire everyone around him but Trump is terrified of Barr. Why?
You know, Trump was, and had been for some time, the consummate “fastest mouth in the West.” No more. He is confused, bumbling, has no filter, continually misspeaks and has lost the confidence of the American military.
We put this down to the White House gossip machine, which the military has a strong tie to, as does VT and other media. The reports are that Trump is falling apart physically for sure, and is half the foul mouthed idiot he was in 2016. Catch this from Twitter:
Obvious cognitive decline, clear loss of motor skills. If you didn’t watch his West Point address today, it was a compilation of mush-mouthed clusterfuckery. He butchered Gen. MacArthur’s name several times. https://t.co/giOoIXLa1r — Angry Staffer (@AngrierWHStaff) June 13, 2020
Look Donald, this is how someone who is normal walks. What happened at Walter Reed? Trump has both neurological and balance and motor skills problems They probably carried him down to his bunker #trumpisnotwell #rampgate #BunkerBoyhttps://t.co/Ig4vRpXDx9 — Orrite Then (@OrRite_Then) June 14, 2020
Symptoms of a chronic neurological problem or brain damage from a pinprick stroke, or both. Trump shouldn’t be around inanimate objects that can’t defend themselves. Get Trump out of the WH now.#TrumpIsNotWell pic.twitter.com/njoQ4iyjEh — 99ermikeb 🍑 (@99ermikeb) June 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1272124166305648640?s=20


veteranstoday--2020-06-16--NIH Launches National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C)

The National Institutes of Health has launched a centralized , secure enclave to store and study vast amounts of medical record data from people diagnosed with coronavirus disease across the country .
It is part of an effort , called the National COVID Cohort Collaborative ( N3C ) , to help scientists analyze these data to understand the disease and develop treatments .
This effort aims to transform clinical information into knowledge urgently needed to study COVID-19 , including health risk factors that indicate better or worse outcomes of the disease , and identify potentially effective treatments .
The N3C @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Advancing Translational Sciences ( NCATS ) , part of NIH .
The initiative will create an analytics platform to systematically collect clinical , laboratory and diagnostic data from health care provider organizations nationwide .
It will then harmonize the aggregated information into a standard format and make it available rapidly for researchers and health care providers to accelerate COVID-19 research and provide information that may improve clinical care .
A demonstration of the platform can be viewed at ncats.nih.gov/n3c .
Having access to a centralized enclave of this magnitude will help researchers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they previously could not , such as , ….read more : ATTENTION READERS Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity .
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NIH launches analytics platform to harness nationwide COVID-19 patient data to speed treatments
NIH News Release
The National Institutes of Health has launched a centralized, secure enclave to store and study vast amounts of medical record data from people diagnosed with coronavirus disease across the country. It is part of an effort, called the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C), to help scientists analyze these data to understand the disease and develop treatments. This effort aims to transform clinical information into knowledge urgently needed to study COVID-19, including health risk factors that indicate better or worse outcomes of the disease, and identify potentially effective treatments.
The N3C is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of NIH. The initiative will create an analytics platform to systematically collect clinical, laboratory and diagnostic data from health care provider organizations nationwide. It will then harmonize the aggregated information into a standard format and make it available rapidly for researchers and health care providers to accelerate COVID-19 research and provide information that may improve clinical care. A demonstration of the platform can be viewed at ncats.nih.gov/n3c.
Having access to a centralized enclave of this magnitude will help researchers and health care providers answer clinically important questions they previously could not, such as,….read more:


veteranstoday--2020-06-16--Did threats of Saudi cut off of UN funding buy getting off blacklist?

Removing Saudi-led coalition off childkillers list shows ‘ powerful actors can get away with murder ’ [ Editor ’ s Note : Yes the UN got the Saudis to cut back on their bombing , but got nothing to helped the maimed children they created with their ‘ bomb first and ask questions later ’ bombing methods .
Yemen has a huge rehabilitation bill for seriously injured children that will be invalids possibly all their lives .
I have not had medical training but I know that starving a kid of the age below stunts the bran forever .
Maybe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted , to have all this walking or crawling around examples of Saudi power .
“ Mess with us and we will kill your kids , and get off the bad guy list simply by reducing the body count .
Land strapped UAE has been in the Yemen mess up to its eyeballs , a colonizer in its own right .
Yemen might prefer to have the 1800s version without all the modern weapons .
All that said , the Crown Prince has been staying out of the press for some time now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is nothing I see published even quoting him after March .
Something is going on there , and more ominous , no media seem to be asking… Jim W. Dean ] Jim 's Editor ’ s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim 's work includes research , field trips , Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more .
Thanks for helping .
Click to donate > > The United Nations has removed the Saudi-led coalition from a blacklist for killing and injuring children in Yemen , a move that has drawn widespread drawn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations .
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday removed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition from a United Nations blacklist , several years after it was first named and shamed for killing and injuring children in Yemen .
Guterres said the coalition would “ be delisted for the violation of killing and maiming , following a sustained significant decrease in killing and maiming due to air strikes ” and the implementation of measures aimed at protecting children , adding that the coalition would be subjected to one year of monitoring and “ any failure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result in it being listed again next year .
“ The Secretary-General is adding a new level of shame to his ‘ list of shame ’ by removing the Saudi-led coalition and ignoring the UN ’ s own evidence of continued grave violations against children , ” said Jo Becker , children ’ s rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch , said in a statement .
Adrianne Lapar , director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict , an international advocacy group , said that by removing the Saudi-led coalition , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ the Secretary-General sends the message that powerful actors can get away with killing children .
“ She called for an independent and transparent assessment of the process of delisting the coalition , “ to ensure that all violators are held to the same standard , no matter who they or their friends are.
” Gamba replied in response to a question on whether Saudi Arabia offered the UN any incentives to get off the list , “ absolutely not.
” Supported militarily by the United States , Britain , and other Western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its regional allies launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement .
The invaders have also enforced an all-out aerial , naval , and land blockade on the impoverished country .
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project ( ACLED ) , a nonprofit conflict-research organization , estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years .
More than half of Yemen ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or closed at a time when Yemenis are in desperate need of medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic .

Removing Saudi-led coalition off childkillers list shows ‘powerful actors can get away with murder’
…from Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: Yes, the UN got the Saudis to cut back on their bombing, but got nothing to help the maimed children they created with their ‘bomb first and ask questions later’ bombing methods.
Yemen has a huge rehabilitation bill for seriously injured children who will be invalids possibly all their lives. I have not had medical training, but I know that starving young kids stunts their brains forever.
Maybe that’s what the Saudis really wanted, to have all this walking or crawling around examples of Saudi power. “Mess with us and we will kill your kids, and get off the bad guy list simply by reducing the body count.”
Land strapped UAE has been in the Yemen mess up to its eyeballs, a colonizer in its own right. Yemen might prefer to have the 1800s version without all the modern weapons.
That said, the Crown Prince has been staying out of the press for some time now. I Googled him, and there is nothing I see published even quoting him after March. Something is going on there, and more ominous, no media seem to be asking… Jim W. Dean ]
Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>
– First published … June 15, 2020 –
The United Nations has removed the Saudi-led coalition from a blacklist for killing and injuring children in Yemen, a move that has drawn widespread drawn condemnation and criticism from several human rights organizations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday removed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition from a United Nations blacklist, several years after it was first named and shamed for killing and injuring children in Yemen.
Guterres said the coalition would “be delisted for the violation of killing and maiming, following a sustained significant decrease in killing and maiming due to air strikes” and the implementation of measures aimed at protecting children, adding that the coalition would be subjected to one year of monitoring and “any failure” to further decrease child casualties would result in it being listed again next year.
“The Secretary-General is adding a new level of shame to his ‘list of shame’ by removing the Saudi-led coalition and ignoring the UN’s own evidence of continued grave violations against children,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Adrianne Lapar, director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, an international advocacy group, said that by removing the Saudi-led coalition, which also includes the United Arab Emirates, “the Secretary-General sends the message that powerful actors can get away with killing children. “She called for an independent and transparent assessment of the process of delisting the coalition, “to ensure that all violators are held to the same standard, no matter who they or their friends are.”
Gamba replied in response to a question on whether Saudi Arabia offered the UN any incentives to get off the list, “absolutely not.”
Supported militarily by the United States, Britain, and other Western countries, Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The invaders have also enforced an all-out aerial, naval, and land blockade on the impoverished country.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.
More than half of Yemen’s hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or closed at a time when Yemenis are in desperate need of medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.


veteranstoday--2020-06-16--Beijing Returns to Lockdown After Cluster of Coronavirus Cases at Major Food Market

Lockdown Measures Return To Beijing As Testing Reveals Cluster At Major Food Market China ’ s capital of Beijing has discovered 79 symptomatic new cases of the coronavirus since Thursday , leading city authorities to resurrect lockdown measures and elevating fears of a second wave of infections .
All the new cases were linked to the sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market in the south of Beijing , which supplies the city and its environs with 1,500 tons of seafood , 18,000 tons of vegetables and 20,000 tons of fruit every day , according to the market ’ s website .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , after one man who bought produce from the seafood and meat section of the Xinfadi market on June 3 tested positive for COVID-19 .
It is not yet clear how he became infected ; he denied having any recent travel history .
Two more cases were identified the following day , and the market was sealed off as of early Saturday morning .
Authorities said they tested 5,803 people working at the market on Saturday alone — all were negative for the coronavirus — as well as 2,383 samples taken from surfaces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been in contact with the market or people who have contacted the market since May 30 have been asked by municipal authorities to voluntarily submit themselves to a nucleic acid exam .
ATTENTION READERS Due to the nature of independent content , VT can not guarantee content validity .
We ask you to Read Our Content Policy so a clear comprehension of VT 's independent non-censored media is understood and given its proper place in the world of news , opinion and media .
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@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of VT , other authors , affiliates , advertisers , sponsors , partners or technicians .
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All images within are full responsibility of author and NOT VT .

Lockdown Measures Return To Beijing As Testing Reveals Cluster At Major Food Market
By Emily Feng and Amy Cheng/npr.org
Updated 1:15 a.m. Monday
China’s capital of Beijing has discovered 79 symptomatic new cases of the coronavirus since Thursday, leading city authorities to resurrect lockdown measures and elevating fears of a second wave of infections.
All the new cases were linked to the sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market in the south of Beijing, which supplies the city and its environs with 1,500 tons of seafood, 18,000 tons of vegetables and 20,000 tons of fruit every day, according to the market’s website.
The first new case was confirmed Thursday, after one man who bought produce from the seafood and meat section of the Xinfadi market on June 3 tested positive for COVID-19. It is not yet clear how he became infected; he denied having any recent travel history. Two more cases were identified the following day, and the market was sealed off as of early Saturday morning.
Authorities said they tested 5,803 people working at the market on Saturday alone — all were negative for the coronavirus — as well as 2,383 samples taken from surfaces within the market. Those who have been in contact with the market or people who have contacted the market since May 30 have been asked by municipal authorities to voluntarily submit themselves to a nucleic acid exam.
Read More: