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Monday, May 1, 2023

Why Are So Many COVID Authoritarians Suddenly Shifting Their Narratives?

 In February of 2019, the White House under Trump established the position of Chief Medical Advisor to the President.  The fist person to occupy that position was a physician by the name of Ronnie Jackson and his job was to advise Donald Trump on public health policy.  Right before the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jackson left the post and it remained vacant for a year; instead the role was filled for the most part by Anthony Fauci, who did not become the next Chief Medical Advisor officially until Joe Biden entered office.

After numerous conflicts with Trump on policies and mandates, Fauci transitioned seamlessly into the new Democrat controlled White House.  Biden and Fauci were like two peas in a pod.  

Fauci is a figure with a controversial career in virology and medicine and the key official best known for spreading false claims that created nationwide hysteria over the HIV/AIDS virus.  Why Trump brought him in as an adviser and who recommended him is not widely known and opinions vary.  What we do know is that the elevation of Fauci as a primary point of contact for covid rules was disastrous for the country as a whole.  Specifically, his prominence within the Biden Administration brought America to the brink of medical authoritarianism on a scale that could have erased the Bill of Rights for good.  

Of course, Fauci didn't act alone during the march towards total societal lockdowns and perpetual vaccine mandates, he was just one bureaucrat among many that joined forces to spread fear and panic over a virus with an average official Infection Fatality Rate of 0.23%.  Covid was a non-threat to the vast majority of the population, and yet it was presented as if there would soon be bodies in the streets if Americans did not comply with every government demand.

As if to acknowledge the ultimate failure of the pandemic narrative, multiple government officials have suddenly (and perhaps begrudgingly) started to back away from their original positions.  However, instead of admitting they were wrong and apologizing to the public, they are instead trying to rewrite history and claim that they were actually against many of the measures and restrictions they implemented.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Anthony Fauci made some surprising admissions on “mistakes made” during the pandemic.  Fauci tried to distance himself from the lockdowns and school closures as if he had no say or influence in how they were enacted:

“...When people say, ‘Fauci shut down the economy’ — it wasn’t Fauci. The CDC was the organization that made those recommendations. I happened to be perceived as the personification of the recommendations. But show me a school that I shut down and show me a factory that I shut down. Never. I never did. I gave a public-health recommendation that echoed the C.D.C.’s recommendation, and people made a decision based on that. But I never criticized the people who had to make the decisions one way or the other.”  

Here is the truth:

Fauci also noted that:

“From a broad public-health standpoint, at the population level, masks work at the margins — maybe 10 percent. But for an individual who religiously wears a mask, a well-fitted KN95 or N95, it’s not at the margin. It really does work. But I think anything that instigated or intensified the culture wars just made things worse. And I have to be honest with you, David, when it comes to masking, I don’t know.”

Here is the truth – Fauci changed positions multiple times on the masks according to the political theater involved:

Interestingly, Fauci's latest flip-flop has been published in tandem with multiple other officials who have also tried to adjust the optics surrounding their medical tyranny.  For example, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of the AFL–CIO, advocated for the forced shutdowns of US schools for years despite extensive data showing the lockdowns were pointless.  In fact, she threatened union strikes if schools were allowed to reopen.  Now, she claims she had been trying to reopen schools the whole time...

Justin Trudeau, one of the more malicious leaders among western nations when it came to covid authoritarianism, now claims that he never tried to force Canadians to get vaccinated.  Keep in mind that Trudeau regularly spread propaganda associating anti-mandate protesters with “racists” and “terrorists,” while also arresting those who refused to submit to his lockdowns:

The reason these staunch defenders of limited freedoms in the face of covid are now acting defensively may be because the truth about the science on Covid is becoming insurmountable.  Nearly every narrative that was originally promoted by government officials in the past three years has been debunked.  To summarize, here are the realities of the mandates and vaccines:

The masks were never effective in stopping the spread of covid and mask mandates made little to no difference.  Children were never at any serious risk from covid.  School shutdowns made no difference in stopping the spread, and did more harm than good.  Economic lockdowns made no difference, doing more harm than good. 

There was never any evidence of hospitals in the US being overwhelmed by covid patients (in fact, hospital admissions fell dramatically in 2020).  There is also evidence that the number of deaths associated with covid were inflated by incidental covid infections; covid was blamed for deaths caused by other conditions.

There is no such thing as “Covid Heart” (heart failure caused by covid).  The vaccines do not stop transmission of the virus.  Vaccinated people still die from the virus. Natural immunity is more effective than the vaccines.  The much hyped “pandemic of the unvaccinated” never happened.  And yes, there is ample evidence of negative side effects including heart failure associated with the mRNA vaccines. 

The narratives and the agenda fell apart in spectacular fashion.  Now, the people that rallied around the virus panic and tried to exploit it for their own ends are attempting to fade into the background as if nothing ever happened.  Perhaps even more damning data is on the horizon and officials are preemptively positioning to deflect responsibility.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/why-are-so-many-covid-authoritarians-suddenly-shifting-their-narratives

Addus: Proposed HHS Rule Contradicts Objectives

 Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS), a provider of home care services, commented on the proposed new rule announced last week by the Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) known as "Assuring Access to Medicaid Services." The proposed rule is in addition to those adopted under the Obama Administration in 2016 and incorporates new requirements covering additional Medicaid Services, including Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). The proposed rule is not final and is subject to a sixty-day public comment period.

The proposed rule has a stated goal of improving access to services for Medicaid beneficiaries. However, one part of the rule proposes that state Medicaid agencies be required to provide assurances that a minimum of 80% of Medicaid payments for personal care and similar services be spent on compensation to direct care workers. We believe the specific approach and the proposed minimum threshold would be contradictory to the goal of assuring access to Medicaid services, which we fully support, due to the wide variance in state waiver programs which directly impacts the administrative burden in individual states. We also believe it may adversely affect many smaller providers. Those operating in states with larger rural populations may be unable to continue providing care due to the significant administrative burden required to provide quality, regulatory compliant HCBS services.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/addus-homecare-comments-department-health-120000000.html

Cabaletta Bio Receives FDA Fast Track for CAR-T cell therapy

 Cabaletta Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: CABA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and launching the first curative targeted cell therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation for CABA-201, a 4-1BB-containing fully human CD19-CAR T cell investigational therapy, designed to deplete CD19-positive B cells and improve disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN). Cabaletta has been cleared to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of CABA-201 for the treatment of 6 SLE patients with active LN, and in a separate parallel cohort, 6 patients with active SLE without renal involvement, with an initial dose that is equivalent to the dose used in the September 2022 Nature Medicine publication of a 4-1BB containing CD19-CAR T construct evaluated in patients with SLE.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cabaletta-bio-receives-fda-fast-110000345.html

Biomea Fusion: FDA OKs IND for leukemia therapy

 

  • BMF-500, a novel 3rd generation covalent inhibitor of fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), is the second investigational compound, discovered and developed by Biomea’s FUSION™ System, to advance to the clinic.

  • Phase I study (COVALENT-103) of BMF-500 will examine its safety and efficacy in patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemia with FLT3 wild-type and FLT3 mutations, including those with MLLr / NPM1 mutations.

  • BMF-500 has demonstrated approximately 20-fold greater potency compared to Gilteritinib in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines, MV-4-11 and MOLM-13.

  • BMF-500 has demonstrated more than 50-fold greater potency compared to the clinically investigated reversible menin/MLL inhibitors in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines, MV-4-11 and MOLM-13.

  • BMF-219 and BMF-500 preclinical combination shows greater than additive cell killing in acute leukemia cell lines and patient samples.

Minerva files NDA for schizophrenia symptom therapy

  Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NERV), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed the Company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for roluperidone for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia on April 27, 2023. The decision to file the NDA follows the Company’s request for formal dispute resolution and appeal of FDA’s October 2022 refuse to file letter. The issues cited in the refuse-to-file decision included those discussed at the type C meeting in April 2022. In granting the appeal, the FDA deciding official agreed with the Company that the issues cited in the refuse-to-file decision should be considered during FDA’s review of the NDA.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/minerva-neurosciences-announces-nda-filing-110000829.html

Texas AG Ken Paxton’s COVID-19 vaccine investigation could stick it to Big Pharma execs

 It’s sickening how much Big Pharma bosses have profited from the COVID-19 pandemic, after overselling billions of people around the world on the wondrous qualities of their vaccines. 

Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel made nearly $400 million last year on his stock options and still owns a reported $2.8 billion of shares in the company plus his salary and perks. 

His Pfizer counterpart, Albert Bourla, pocketed a $33 million salary last year, on top of the millions in Pfizer shares he sold. 

But before they ride off into the sunset to count their filthy lucre, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to investigate whether their companies misrepresented the efficacy and safety of the vaccines and manipulated vaccine trial data. 

On Monday, Paxton will launch an investigation into potential violations of his state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, he has revealed exclusively in The Post. 

He also wants to know whether the pharmaceutical giants engaged in gain-of-function research and misled the public about it. 

Immune … to laws 

The Texas investigation could have widespread implications for the legal immunity granted to manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccines and open the door to class-action lawsuits from people injured by the mRNA jabs, amid reports of rare but serious adverse effects. 

“The catastrophic effects of the pandemic and subsequent interventions forced on our country and citizens deserve intense scrutiny, and we are pursuing any hint of wrongdoing to the fullest,” Paxton said in a statement. 

“This pandemic was a deeply challenging time for Americans. If any company illegally took advantage of consumers during this period or compromised people’s safety to increase their profits, they will be held responsible. 

Paxton is probing potential violations of Texas' Deceptive Trade Practices Act by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Paxton is probing potential violations of Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
AP Photo/Nick Wagner, File

“If public health policy was developed on the basis of flawed or misleading research, the public must know.” 

He says Big Pharma had a “vested interest” in the success of its COVID-19 vaccines because of the record profits they drove. 

“This vested interest … combined with reports about the alarming side effects of vaccines, demands aggressive investigation.” 

The existence of federal vaccine mandates “means this investigation into the scientific and ethical basis on which public health decisions were made is of major significance.” 

Paxton will demand the companies hand over documents relating to the “decision-making behind pandemic interventions forced on the public, especially when a profit motive or political pressure may have compromised Americans’ health and safety.” 

Checking Big Pharma 

The Texas investigation comes on the heels of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call for a grand jury investigation into “crimes and wrongdoing committed against Floridians related to the COVID-19 vaccine.” 

DeSantis has appointed independent experts such as Stanford University professor Jay Bhattacharya to a new Public Health Integrity Committee to examine “adverse events from mRNA vaccines.” 

“The Biden administration and pharmaceutical corporations continue to push widespread distribution of mRNA vaccines on the public, including children as young as 6 months old, through relentless propaganda while ignoring real-life adverse events,” DeSantis office said in a statement in December. 

“These risks include coagulation disorders, acute cardiac injuries, Bell’s palsy, encephalitis, appendicitis, and shingles.” 

DeSantis and his state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo maintain that, while the vaccines were effective in protecting older and vulnerable people, risks for younger people may have outweighed the benefits. 

Meanwhile, author Alex Berenson last week sued President Biden, other federal officials and Pfizer bigwigs — including $33 million boss Bourla and board member Scott Gottlieb — for “conspiring to violate my Constitutional rights.” 

A shot in the arm 

Berenson has been the tip of the spear when it comes to holding Big Pharma accountable. 

He sued Twitter and forced it to hand over documents showing that senior Biden administration officials were behind his ban from Twitter in August 2021. 

According to Berenson’s lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, Gottlieb, the former Trump FDA commissioner-turned-Pfizer board member, allegedly pressured Twitter to de-platform Berenson for tweeting that the mRNA injections don’t stop transmission of the virus, a fact that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted in testimony to Congress last week. 

In other words, claims that vaccine mandates would stop the spread of the virus were wildly exaggerated.

But they were great for vaccine sales. 

Twitter was forced to reinstate Berenson’s account and acknowledge that his “tweets should not have led to suspension.” 

But the Big Tech censorship regime first uncovered by Berenson’s court case, and later in the “Twitter files” and lawsuits by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, show that truthful statements about the benefits of natural immunity and the efficacy of vaccines were suppressed in ways that benefited Big Pharma. 

Paxton’s probe will further add to our knowledge about how that cozy arrangement worked. 

“Given the unprecedented political power and influence over public health policies that pharmaceutical companies now wield, it is more important than ever that they are held accountable if they take dangerous, illegal actions to boost their revenues,” he said. 

Amen.

Hunter held to account

Hunter Biden’s showdown with baby mama Lunden Roberts in a Batesville, Ark., courtroom Monday may be the first time in his life that he hasn’t been able to wheedle out of the consequences of his actions. 

The president’s son is crying poor and seeking to cut child support payments to Navy Joan, his unacknowledged 4-year-old daughter with Roberts, a former stripper with whom he had a monthslong affair. 

It appears Hunter’s lawyers will not come to a settlement with Roberts to avoid his opening the kimono on his financial secrets.

New documents, uncovered by nonprofit Marco Polo and published over the weekend by Breitbart News, show that Hunter’s firm Skaneateles LLC, which held the BHR share, is controlled by Morris. 

No doubt Roberts’ attorneys will want to know just how much Hunter received for the BHR stake, which has been estimated to be worth between $420,000 and $20 million, but which he told the New York Times he sold at a loss. 

Hunter received his cut in the Chinese Communist Party-backed fund in December 2013, a few days after flying to Beijing on Air Force Two with his dad, then-Vice President Joe Biden, who met with Hunter’s Chinese partner during the trip. 

By 2019, BHR had $2.5 billion in funds under management but struggled with poor investments. 

Hunter’s abandoned laptop and the financial records it contains are expected to take center stage in the case. Hunter’s attorney Brent Langdon could not answer when Independence County, Arkansas, Circuit Judge Holly Meyer asked: “Is it your client’s laptop or not?” 

“I am not in a position to even begin to answer that question,” Langdon replied. It’s unlikely the judge will allow this evasiveness to continue. 

Whatever the result in the end, little Navy, the president’s unmentioned seventh grandchild, can be proud to know when she grows up that she has a mother gutsy enough to stand up for her against the White House and the best lawyers money can buy.

https://nypost.com/2023/04/30/texas-ag-ken-paxtons-covid-vaccine-investigation-could-stick-it-to-big-pharma-execs/

UroGen Pharma jumps amid takeover speculation

 

Urogen Pharma (URGN) rose 8% amid takeover speculation for the biotech firm focused on bladder cancer.Urogen (URGN) is said to have hired advisors Centerview Partners after receiving a takeover offer for $17 a share, according to a Street Insider report, which cited an unidentified source. The bank is said to be conducting a sales process with final bids due shortly.