For the Gullible

The smart folks didn’t need to confirm this.

Records Reveal Fauci Made Over $300 Million From the Covid Pandemic While Americans Suffered
Townhall.com ^ | 13 August A.D. 2023 | Sarah Arnold

While the entire United States was under authoritarian mandates, top so-called Covid-19 “experts” were making hundreds of millions of dollars on the pandemic that caused lifelong hurdles for many Americans.

According to records, the former NIH Director, Dr. Francis Collins, and former NIAID Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, made huge profits from royalty checks during the Chinese virus-fueled pandemic. At the same time, thousands of people struggled to put food on the table.

OpenTheBooks, a transparency organization, recently released over 1,500 unredacted records revealing the leaders of the country’s National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases profited off the virus that killed thousands of people.

On top of that, Fauci funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology to research the Coronavirus.

The records show Collins and Fauci got 58 royalty payments for allowing companies to use their COVID-19 vaccines, which in return was developed with funding from U.S. taxpayers by private pharmaceutical firms.

So, in other words, the Covid pandemic was one big ploy for the government to get massively wealthy.

Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 56,000 transactions were recorded, totaling over $325 million banked by the “experts.”

“The NIH continues to refuse to voluntarily divulge the names of scientists who receive royalties and from which companies over the period of time from 2010 to 2016, 27,000 royalty payments were paid to 1800 NIH employees,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said. “We know that. Not because you told us, but because we forced you to tell us through the Freedom of Information Act.”

Between 2010 and 2021, Fauci received 37 payments from three entities, including 15 from Santa Cruz Biotechnology— which ranks fifth in royalty payments. Fauci also received 14 from Ancell Corp. and eight from Chiron Corp., which was later bought by Novartis, allowing the company to obtain significant NIH funds.

According to OpenTheBooks, names, and license numbers for each payment is absent from the records— data that the NIH initially withheld but was later forced to release by a court. This information is essential to know if there were any potential conflicts of interest.

Records also show that Fauci, the highest-paid federal worker with a 2022 salary of $480,000, failed to donate his royalties to charity as promised.

Oh, Well, There’s Your Problem Right There, Brits

I mean, one of them. We’ll get to calling Muslims “Asians” and illegal immigrants “migrant workers” some other time.

Whatever. I’ve heard science is racist.

One in Three Britons Do Not Know “Transgender Women” Are Biological Males
Breitbart.com  | 4/11/2023 | Kurt Zindulka

Over a third of the population of the UK are not aware that so-called “transgender women” are in fact biological males, as campaigners accuse the LGBT movement and the legacy media of adopting “intentionally” confusing lingo to muddy the debate around transgenderism.

A survey conducted by the policy analysis firm Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM) found that 35 per cent of Britons incorrectly believe a “transgender woman” was someone who was born as a biological woman or were unclear about what the term meant. The poll went on to find that there was even more confusion over the term “trans woman”, with 40 per cent of the public unable to correctly define the term.

The MBM survey found that there were disparities in understanding among different age groups, yet interestingly, it was the 25-34 age group that was most confused about the issue, with just 55 per cent being able to correctly state that a transgender woman was born as a man. 

So I’m Guessing Dylan Mulvaney Didn’t Make the Elimination Round

Walrus, in Vegas, Made Honorary Judge of Miss Universe Indonesia Contest – Without His Consent, It Should Be Noted

Miss Universe Indonesia Contestants Allege They Were Asked by Organizers to Strip for Topless ‘Body Checks’
People Magazine | 8/9/23

Six Miss Universe Indonesia contestants have filed complaints against pageant organizers following this year’s pageant.

Mellisa Anggraeni, an attorney who is representing the women, claimed five of the contestants were asked to take off their tops for “body checks” two days before the final round of this year’s pageant on Aug. 3, according to Reuters and CNN.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Anggraeni alleged organizers said this was so they could “examine any scars, cellulite or tattoos on their bodies,” the BBC reported.

The women also claimed they were photographed topless while men were present, per the outlets.

“I feel that my rights have been violated,” one contestant, whose face was blurred out by local broadcasters, told members of the media, per the BBC. “It has affected me mentally. I have had trouble sleeping.”

A local police spokesperson told reporters the formal complaints were filed on Monday and will serve as “the basis for our investigation,” according to CNN

In a statement shared Monday on Instagram, Miss Universe Indonesia director Poppy Capella claimed the allegations are “baseless and false.” Capella went on to say the pageant “prides itself on upholding the highest standards of fairness, transparency, and professionalism.”

“We respect freedom of speech and the right to one’s opinion,” Capella added. “However, spreading unfounded and damaging allegations against our organization is not only reprehensible but potentially libelous.”

In a separate statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Miss Universe Organization says it has been made aware of the allegations, and that the organization “takes allegations of sexual abuse and impropriety extremely seriously.”

“Providing a safe place for women is the Miss Universe Organization’s utmost priority, and we are looking into this matter,” organizers said.

Poppy Capella? You’ve gotta be kidding me. Weak porno name.

Whatever — Science Is Racist, Anyway

Hey, maybe we can get Biden’s Department of Misinformation onto this:

‘TrUsT tHe ScIeNcE!’ – Study Retractions Up 13,650% in 22 Years
The National Pulse  | 8-10-23 | Jack Montgomery

The number of scientific papers retracted annually rose from just 40 in 2000 to almost 5,500 in 2022, representing a whopping 13,650% change over the past 22 years, with researchers estimating an astonishing 100,000 would have to be withdrawn every year with more thorough vetting.

Delivering a blow to the “trust the science” cheerleaders, Retraction Watch’s co-founders Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus detail the alarming issues with modern science for the left-wing Guardian newspaper.

The surge in bogus papers is driven in part by the fact that scientists are often “required… to publish papers in order to earn and keep jobs or to be promoted,” which leads to some turning to so-called “paper mills” that “sell everything from authorships to entire manuscripts to researchers who need to publish lest they perish.”

Only around a fifth of retractions are a result of “honest error,” Oransky and Marcus note, highlighting serious misconduct cases such as that of Joachim Boldt, a German anesthesiologist whose falsified data on an ineffective blood substitute was once widely cited and led to many people being harmed.

A related issue is the so-called replication crisis. It has become increasingly apparent that the results found in many scientific papers – possibly a majority of them – cannot be reproduced by other researchers. In 2015, for example, efforts to reproduce psychology studies published in supposedly high-quality journals failed 61 out of 100 times, with similar results in 2018.

The issue is also present in the hard sciences, with efforts by the University of Virginia to reproduce five “landmark” cancer studies failing in one case and producing inconclusive results in two others – hinting that “the science” may be mostly wrong across the board.

Researchers Retract Over 300 COVID-Era Medical Papers For Scientific Errors, Ethical Concerns
Daily Caller  | May 30, 2023 | Dylan Housman

At least 330 COVID-19-related medical papers have been retracted since the coronavirus pandemic began, oftentimes for scientific errors or ethical shortcomings, according to watchdog Retraction Watch.

There’s far more scientific fraud than anyone wants to admit: Despite recent scandals of research misconduct and error, the academic world still seems determined to look the other way
The Guardian | 08/10/2023 | Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus

Scientific misconduct has enjoyed some limelight lately. The president of Stanford, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, resigned last month after a series of investigations exposed serious problems in his research; an independent review of Tessier-Lavigne’s work found no evidence that he falsified data himself but concluded that his research failed standards “of scientific rigor and process” and that he failed to correct the record on multiple occasions.

And in June it was revealed that a scholar at Harvard Business School, Francesca Gino, was accused of having falsified research about – wait for it – honesty.

Of course, scientific misconduct does not happen only at Stanford and Harvard. Of the nearly 5,500 retractions we catalogued in 2022, and the thousands of cases we have reported on since launching our watchdog website Retraction Watch in 2010, the vast majority involve researchers at institutions without anywhere near Stanford and Harvard’s pedigrees.

Top journal “Science” says more than 2,600 of its papers may have ‘exaggerated claims’
Just The News | 08/23/2023 | Addison Smith

A non-profit watchdog reported that the AAAS has received millions of dollars per year from the federal government. The AAAS publication “Science” is reviewing 2,600 of its own articles for possible “exaggeration.”

A top international science journal funded by the federal government recently acknowledged that thousands of its published research papers may contain misleading language.

More than 2,600 of the papers from “Science,” the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and one of the world’s top academic journals, were examined in depth by another research journal, “Scientometrics.” It found in a study that from 1997 to 2021, the use of “hedging” words have fallen by about 40%.

Internal Memo From the Desk of FrnakJ

Not from himself, just from his desk —

IT HAS BEEN NOTICED THAT EVEN THOUGH WALRUS HAS COMMENTED WHILST ON VACATION THAT VIEWERSHIP IS DOWN ON THIS WEBSITE AND THIS CANNOT BE PERMITTED TO CONTINUE. WE ARE ENLISTING THE AID OF BUD LIGHT EXECUTIVEXTRESSES TO ADDRESS THE SITUATION AND IT SHOULD BE TURNED AROUND OR ELSE GUMBEAUX WILL HAVE TO BAIL US OUT WITH HIS SOON TO BE VEGAS WINNINGS.

I THINK THAT’S ALL FOR NOW.

–FRANK J.’S DESK AND GET THAT INTERN OFF IT HE’S NOT BACK UNTIL NEXT WEEK

All Dem Poi Folk Look Alike

WH spokesperson botches names, gender of Hawaii Democrat senators
NY Post | 08/14/2023 | Josh Christenson

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre both mispronounced the names of Hawaii’s two Democratic senators and misgendered one of them at a Monday press conference after the island suffered the most devastating US wildfire in more than a century.

“Senator Harino [sic], who I said the president spoke to just last night, he thanked the president for the immediate support of federal agencies have delivered for residents of Hawaii,” the Biden administration’s chief spokesperson told reporters, “and so does, has, so has Senator Shorts, Sharts — Schatz.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), the first female senator from the Aloha State, is serving her second term in the upper chamber after having been a member of the House of Representatives for two consecutive terms.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is serving his second full term after having been tapped in 2012 by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie to replace the late Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Shorts, Sharts, Schatz. Great campaign slogan. Memorable.

Babesleaga Group V : Week 6 : Florence Pugh vs Karen Gillan

Good night.

Florence Pugh vs Karen Gillan

Florence Pugh (1-4-0 Pts. 201 Avg. 40.20)

  • Lost to Reese Witherspoon 41-87
  • Lost to Gemma Arterton 32-82
  • Defeated Jennifer Lawrence 72-55
  • Lost to Eva Green 31-105
  • Lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones 25-89

VS

Karen Gillan (3-2-0 Pts. 370 Avg. 74.00)

  • Defeated Jennifer Lawrence 90-32
  • Defeated Reese Witherspoon 79-43
  • Defeated Eva Green 68-62
  • Lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones 71-81
  • Lost to Rachel Weisz 62-68

This poll is no longer accepting votes

Who do you prefer?
103 votes · 103 answers

Aw, Gee, and I Was Just Going To Buy an Electric Vehicle

Guess Where California Plans To Get Energy To “Stabilize”‘ Its Power Grid?
Hotair | 08/10/2023 | Ed Morrissey

Hint: It’s not fossil fuels. It’s not nuclear power. It’s not even wind or solar, although the state will undoubtedly keep expanding both.

The answer? California’s largest electric utility PG&E wants to suck the batteries of electric-vehicle owners plugged into charging stations to stabilize the grid during unstable periods. The Ford F-150 already allows for bidirectional charging, but that was sold as a benefit to the owner as a kind of independent generator for households during blackouts. PG&E wants to use it to commandeer all EV batteries and use their power to prevent grid collapse:

“It’s been said before, California’s power grid will have to expand in order to meet the demand for more energy. PG&E’s CEO Patricia Poppe has come up with an “unconventional” idea, using electric cars to send excess power back to the grid to prevent blackouts. …

“Lawmakers in Sacramento are helping to move things along. For example, Senate Bill 233 would make bi-directional charging mandatory for all new electric vehicles.

“Now the question is how quickly can that electrical connection be up and running in any ordinary home to make vehicle-to-grid a reality.”

Does anyone see the problem here? California’s power grid is destabilizing for a number of reasons, mainly from nonsensical and hypocritical public policies. Chief among those are (a) a refusal to use scalable power sources (oil, gas, coal, nuclear) for demand at current levels, and (b) forcing Californians to transfer their vehicles to the grid rather than use gasoline for independent power, thus escalating demand on the grid dramatically.

This proposal doesn’t solve either of those problems. It instead creates a kind of three-card Monty with the grid — shifting power to the vehicles, and then pulling it back when the state decides to apply it elsewhere. It’s only an illusion of a solution; no additional power gets created. PG&E and the state would simply confiscate that power for their own uses as they see fit. Technically, the grid would operate more efficiently if it never charged the EVs at all, considering the inevitable power losses that would take place in regional “bidirectional charging.”

It’s the ultimate in authoritarian redistribution — no real production, and lots of opportunity for losses and scarcity rationing.

And what does that mean for car owners? PG&E argues that cars are parked 95% of the time, a rationalization for energy seizure which may be true but is irrelevant. The issue for car owners is having the car function the (arguable) 5% of the time they need to travel — to work, school, social functions, and commerce.

What happens when car owners wake up in the morning to go to work to find that their car has been drained overnight to “stabilize the grid”? What happens when they all plug them in at the same time to get them charged enough to go to work? Wouldn’t that sudden demand destabilize the grid?

Nor is that the only issue for car owners in this new proposal. Unlike gas tanks, which can last for decades, batteries have a finite number of charge/discharge cycles before they begin to fail. Bloomberg noted that concern near the end of their otherwise sunny report on this idea:

“Utilities will need to offer drivers incentives, such as paying them for the kilowatt hours they contribute. One study estimates ratepayers could save as much as $1 billion a year from using the technology.

“However, some EV owners have reservations about the potential impacts on their car battery’s lifespan, while concerns linger about the installation adding an estimated $3,700 to an EV’s cost, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.”

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln? This proposal would cost consumers more, shorten the lives of their already-too-expensive vehicles, with the only benefit to consumers being a refund for power they bought to charge the car the first time — which they would have to spend again to charge it after PG&E drains it. I’d bet that consumers won’t even get a full refund for that power use, and that PG&E ends up profiting from the charge/discharge/recharge cycle. Amazingly, neither Bloomberg nor ABC7 even thinks about that issue, let alone investigates it to any extent at all. Bloomberg just passes along the happy talk about A Billion Dollars In Savings!! without wondering how consumers will use their cars without buying the same power twice with those “savings” — and likely more.

There’s nothing wrong with owning an EV if you choose to do so. This, however, isn’t a choice. California is forcing its citizens into EVs . . .

Bonus article:

Rivian Tires Are Lasting As Little As 6,000 Miles (EV Truck)
Jalopnik | 08/10/2023 | Collin Woodard

The Rivian R1T and R1S are both super cool electric vehicles, offering huge power, impressive range and distinctive styling. They aren’t cheap, but if you can afford one, we suspect you’ll find it’s an absolute hoot to drive. Sadly, no vehicle is perfect, and apparently, one downside of owning a Rivian is that they tend to eat through tires much faster than you’d expect given that the Pirellis they come with from the factory are warrantied for up to 50,000 miles.

According to The Drive, owners have been complaining on Rivian forums that their tires, specifically their front tires, haven’t lasted as long as they expected. At least one owner claims to have had to replace theirs after only 6,000 miles. Considering they’re large EVs with big, heavy batteries, it’s not surprising to hear that tires wear out faster than they would if they were installed on, say, a Mazda Miata. But there’s more going on here than the fact that the R1T is heavy.

As it turns out, this excessive front tire wear can likely be tied back to Rivian’s “Conserve” drive mode. In order to maximize range, when you switch to Conserve, your Rivian switches from four-wheel drive to front-wheel drive and lowers the ride height. Sending more than 400 hp to the front wheels in a truck that weighs more than 7,000 lbs is bound to increase tire wear, but it appears that lowering the suspension also causes problems.

Apparently, the lowest ride height causes toe-in and more negative camber, which can accelerate and also cause uneven tire wear. According to one owner who drove in Conserve mode for 6,000 miles, the front tires lost an entire millimeter more than the rears. Which seems bad but also explains why Rivian has reportedly told owners not to use Conserve mode over long distances. Owners have also reported issues with the stock alignment.

So, essentially, Conserve mode gives you better range, but the changes that improve range also wear through tires faster. It’s a tradeoff that owners will need to weigh for themselves, although, as The Drive points out, owners who want to maximize range while minimizing treadwear can also get a more toe-out alignment that will help preserve their tires while driving in Conserve mode. Rotating tires regularly can also help. But ultimately, there’s no getting around the fact that you’re driving something that weighs as much as three Miatas.

Babesleaga Group V : Week 6 : Eva Green vs Rachel Weisz

Good evening.

Eva Green vs Rachel Weisz

Eva Green (3-2-0 Pts. 383 Avg. 76.60)

  • Lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones 54-76
  • Defeated Jennifer Lawrence 92-33
  • Lost to Karen Gillan 62-68
  • Defeated Florence Pugh 105-31
  • Defeated Gemma Arterton 70-51

VS

Rachel Weisz (4-1-0 Pts. 340 Avg. 68.00)

  • Defeated Gemma Arterton 63-61
  • Lost to Catherine Zeta-jones 48-79
  • Defeated Reese Witherspoon 73-58
  • Defeated Jennifer Lawrence 88-39
  • Defeated Karen Gillan 68-62

This poll is no longer accepting votes

Who do you prefer?
110 votes · 110 answers