US Commits $1.2 Billion to Possible British COVID Vaccine

NewsMax – May 21, 2020

The United States has secured almost a third of the first one billion doses planned for AstraZeneca’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine by pledging up to $1.2 billion, as world powers scramble for medicines to get their economies back to work.

While not proven to be effective against the coronavirus, vaccines are seen by world leaders as the only real way to restart their stalled economies, and even to get an edge over global competitors.

After President Donald Trump demanded a vaccine, the U.S. Department of Health agreed to provide up to $1.2 billion to accelerate AstraZeneca’s vaccine development and secure 300 million doses for the United States.

“This contract with AstraZeneca is a major milestone in Operation Warp Speed’s work toward a safe, effective, widely available vaccine by 2021,” U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said.

The vaccine, previously known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and now as AZD1222, was developed by the University of Oxford and licensed to British drugmaker AstraZeneca. Immunity to the new coronavirus is uncertain and so the use of vaccines unclear.

The U.S. deal allows a late-stage – Phase III – clinical trial of the vaccine with 30,000 people in the United States.

AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, England, said it had concluded agreements for at least 400 million doses of the vaccine and secured manufacturing capacity for one billion doses, with first deliveries due to begin in September.

https://www.newsmax.com

Benjamin Netanyahu suggests microchipping kids, slammed by experts

LEON SVERDLOV   – May 8, 2020

Cyber experts slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his proposal to “microchip” children who return to schools and kindergartens as the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, Ynet reported on Friday.

While speaking at a press conference on Monday, Netanyahu suggested the Health Ministry use new technology to help Israel adjust to its new routine as the state is lifting the coronavirus lockdown. “That is, technology that has not been used before and is allowed under the legislation we shall enact,” he clarified.

“I spoke with our heads of technology in order to find measures Israel is good at, such as sensors. For instance, every person, every kid – I want it on kids first – would have a sensor that would sound an alarm when you get too close, like the ones on cars,” the prime minister said.

“It will be hard to do it to more than a million schoolchildren who return to their educational institutions in order to ensure one student sits at the distance of two meters from another. It is fictional and dangerous,” cyber resilience expert Einat Meron told Ynet.

“It will be hard to do it to more than a million schoolchildren who return to their educational institutions in order to ensure one student sits at the distance of two meters from another. It is fictional and dangerous,” cyber resilience expert Einat Meron told Ynet.

“Theoretically, I get the idea behind it,” she said. “But although such distance-sensitive microchips exist in vehicles, it is different in humans.” According to Meron, “a beeping sound telling me I got close to someone is not enough. Who says it will change anything? I would have gotten closer either way.”

The expert added that “the actual issue is the enforcement, and here everything changes.” Meron told Ynet that “microchipping children will not pass any test – both practically and legally.” Similar to Meron’s notion that notifying citizens on their distance will not affect their actions, many fear the state would make use of the information available from the sensors.

https://www.jpost.com

There Will Be Both A Solar and Lunar Eclipse In June

ETH – May 21, 2020

(ETH) – So far in 2020 we have several celestial events transpire. We’ve had three Super Moons in a row, starting with March’s Full Worm Moon, April’s Full Pink Moon, and, as recently reported, May’s peak of the ‘Eta Aquarids’ Meteor Shower took place only days before the Full Flower Moon.

According to The Mind Unleashed, there are plenty more celestial events in store, starting with a partial Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on June 5th and 6th and an Annular Solar Eclipse on June 21st.

This year will have a total of six eclipses, four Lunar, and two Solar Eclipses. The report indicated that Lunar Eclipses will all be partial and the Solar Eclipses will be an Annular Eclipse on June 21st and a Total Eclipse on December 14th.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

In a world gone mad, China must build MORE NUKES to make disarmament possible

Scott Ritter – May 12, 2020

As the US threatens to withdraw from the New START treaty over Chinese non-participation, domestic pressure from inside China builds for a larger strategic nuclear arsenal. Could this be a good thing?

In an op-ed published in Chinese newspaper Global Times, its editor-in-chief Hu Xijin, argued that China should seek to upgrade its strategic nuclear arsenal from its current level of about 200 antiquated weapons to a modernized force comprising more than 1,000 nuclear weapons, including more than 100 modern mobile DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), each armed with 10-12 nuclear warheads, capable of striking the US mainland.

The deployment of DF-41 missiles, when combined with China’s new JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and nuclear-armed H-20 strategic bombers, would give China a capable nuclear TRIAD that rivaled those of the US and Russia.

While Hu Xijin’s op-ed received considerable support on Chinese social media, there was some pushback. Zhao Tong, a senior fellow in nuclear policy at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, based in Beijing, has argued that even in a climate of deteriorating Sino-American relations, any effort on the part of China to build a viable strategic nuclear arsenal on par with that of the US was counterproductive and dangerous.

This point of view has a logic of de-escalation that is inherently attractive, but when viewed in the larger context of global nuclear posture where the US and Russian nuclear disarmament is held hostage by the current non-participation of China in meaningful disarmament talks, any call for China to maintain the nuclear status quo is in itself destabilizing.

The only way to bring China to the table for any meaningful arms control agreement is for it to build up its nuclear arsenal to a level where reciprocal cuts make sense for all involved parties. In short, nuclear symmetry perversely requires that China in effect adopts an “escalate to de-escalate” approach to arms control if disarmament is to have any political viability.

https://www.rt.com

George Soros: Germany’s ECB Ruling May Spell ‘the End of the EU as We Know It’

Sputnik News – May 12, 2020

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that the eurozone’s central bank had overstepped its mandate when purchasing government debt under its quantitative easing (QE) programme and threatened to block new purchases of German bonds by the bank.

Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros has predicted that the ripening institutional showdown in the EU may bring about an end to the union as we know it.

“I am particularly concerned about the survival of the EU because it is an incomplete union,” Soros said in an interview with the Independent.

He added that the EU’s creation process was never completed, and that makes Europe “exceptionally vulnerable – more vulnerable than the US not just because it is an incomplete union but also because it is based on the rule of law. And the wheels of justice move very slowly, while threats such as the Covid-19 virus move very fast.”

The 89-year-old investor expressed grave concern over Germany’s Constitutional Court, which last week challenged the European Central Bank’s mass government debt-buying programme and gave the bank a three-month ultimatum to justify the proportionality of its bond purchases or risk losing the Bundesbank as a participant.

The European Commission in response threatened to sue Germany, although EU officials said on Monday that immediate legal action against Berlin is unlikely.

https://sputniknews.com

6.5 magnitude earthquake hits Nevada near Area 51; quake felt from Utah to California

Chris Irvine, Peter Aitken – May 15, 2020

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in remote western Nevada early Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Service, shaking people from Utah to California — and some pointing out it happened near Area 51.

The temblor was reported at 4:03 a.m. about 35 miles outside Tonopah, just east of the Sierra Nevada range. First recorded as a 6.4 earthquake, the USGS later upgraded it to a 6.5 magnitude.

The initial quake struck about 4.7 miles deep, the USGS said, and at least six sizable aftershocks were recorded shortly thereafter, including two with estimated magnitudes of 5.4. The USGS has advised that Nevada will continue to experience more earthquakes than usual as aftershocks continue throughout the day.

Initial reactions to the earthquake were largely humorous. Most people in the area were still asleep, meaning the earthquake woke them up.

A good number of reactions, though, noted the earthquake originated around the infamous Area 51, spurring a number of jokes that the earthquake was caused by aliens. In a year that has already included a pandemic, the threat of murder hornets and heightened hurricane activity, an Area 51 earthquake seemed to be fitting.

https://www.foxnews.com

You May Not Understand This Now, But You Need To Get Prepared For The Food Shortages That Are Coming

– May 14, 2020

I was going to write about something completely different today, but I felt that I needed to issue this warning instead.  Even before COVID-19 came along, crazy global weather patterns were playing havoc with harvests all over the globe, the African Swine Fever plague had already killed about one-fourth of all the pigs in the world, and giant armies of locusts the size of major cities were devouring crops at a staggering rate on the other side of the planet.  And now this coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented worldwide economic shutdown, and this has put an enormous amount of stress on global food supplies.

On the official UN website, the United Nations is openly using the term “biblical proportion” to describe the famines that are coming.  Even if COVID-19 miraculously disappeared tomorrow, a lot of people on the other side of the world would still starve to death, but of course COVID-19 is not going anywhere any time soon.

Here in the United States, our stores still have plenty of food.  But empty shelves have started to appear, and food prices are starting to go up aggressively.

In fact, we just witnessed the largest one month increase in food prices that we have seen since 1974.

For a long time I have been warning my readers that eventually a loaf of bread in the U.S. will cost five dollars, and one of my readers in Hawaii just told me that “my wife came home with ½ loaf of bread for $2.99”.

So it appears that the day I have been warning about has already arrived for some people.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

Christian groups sue NC Gov. Cooper over restrictions on indoor worship services

Michael Gryboski – May 15,2020

Two congregations, a pastor and a conservative Christian group are suing North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper for a broader exemption to a state order banning indoor gatherings of more than 10 people.

Berean Baptist Church of Winston-Salem and People’s Baptist Church in Greenville joined the Christian conservative mobilization network Return America in filing a complaint Thursday with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The Christian groups are seeking injunctive relief from state executive orders aimed at combatting the spread of the coronavirus by limiting mass gatherings, including church services.

The congregations have been unable to hold in-person, indoor worship services since the governor first signed the orders.

According to the complaint, Cooper’s orders are “unconstitutional both facially and as applied to Plaintiffs.”

“Governor Cooper’s Orders have been interpreted, applied, and enforced by his Office and

local law enforcement authorities as prohibiting indoor gatherings for religious worship by more than 10 people,” the lawsuit reads.

“The Orders are not neutral laws of general applicability because they target Constitutionally protected activity, significantly burdening the Plaintiffs’ right to freedom of religion and assembly, establishing an orthodox form of religious exercise approved by the State, all the while providing broad exemptions for many other gatherings of more than 10 people that are not constitutionally protected.”

https://www.christianpost.com

Benjamin Netanyahu suggests microchipping kids, slammed by experts

LEON SVERDLOV   – May 8, 2020

Cyber experts slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his proposal to “microchip” children who return to schools and kindergartens as the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, Ynet reported on Friday.

While speaking at a press conference on Monday, Netanyahu suggested the Health Ministry use new technology to help Israel adjust to its new routine as the state is lifting the coronavirus lockdown. “That is, technology that has not been used before and is allowed under the legislation we shall enact,” he clarified.

“I spoke with our heads of technology in order to find measures Israel is good at, such as sensors. For instance, every person, every kid – I want it on kids first – would have a sensor that would sound an alarm when you get too close, like the ones on cars,” the prime minister said.

“It will be hard to do it to more than a million schoolchildren who return to their educational institutions in order to ensure one student sits at the distance of two meters from another. It is fictional and dangerous,” cyber resilience expert Einat Meron told Ynet.

https://www.jpost.com

‘Potentially Hazardous’ Asteroid the Size of Golden Gate Bridge Approaching Earth at 11 km/s

Sputnik News – May 11, 2020

Several space rocks are expected to cross paths with earth this month, but the largest one, and potentially the most dangerous, is the Apollo-class 1997 BQ asteroid, as researchers believe that any space objects measuring close to one kilometre in diameter could have devastating consequences for our planet.

NASA disclosed that 1997 BQ asteroid, also known as 136795, will “closely approach” Earth on the evening of 21 May, sweeping round at a speed of around 11.6 kilometre per second. The space rock was first observed back in January 1997 and is measured at between 0.668 and 1.493 kilometers in diameter, judging by its brightness, which makes it “roughly” comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge, the space agency notes.

The asteroid is deemed “potentially hazardous” by NASA, as it belongs to the Apollo category of space rocks, the trajectory of which crosses the orbit of our planet. It might be too early to sound an alarm though, as 1997 BQ will only approach our home from a distance of 0.04115 astronomical units, or 6.156 million kilometres in human terms.

However, NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies is closely monitoring the object which is considered to be larger than 97% of other space asteroids. Any rocks that are close to one kilometre in size can be potentially dangerous to our planet, the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy revealed in 2018, as they can create a significant regional impact with secondary effects such as tsunamis, without even making contact with the earth.

https://sputniknews.com