It would bar nearly two-thirds of Black adolescents from attending school
By Pierre Kory – – Tuesday, August 23, 2022
OPINION:
While the attention was focused on Mar-a-Lago, Denmark made major news by banning the COVID-19 vaccine for children under age 18. You read that correctly: The Scandinavian nation, often heralded by pro-vaccine liberal politicians as a health model for the United States, issued a policy declaring it “no longer be possible” for young people to get vaccinated, citing the low risk posed by the virus.
Meanwhile, back home, the Biden administration, whose inner circle includes secret consultants for Pfizer, is for the most part letting states move forward with a similar laissez-faire attitude toward vaccination requirements with one notable exception: Washington, D.C., which is requiring all students over the age of 12 receive a vaccine.
The discrepancy between the treatment of children in our nation’s capital and the rest of the country reflects a deeper disconnect ripping our nation apart. It also undermines President Biden’s commitment to racial equity. On the campaign trail, Mr. Biden, who owes his 2020 victory to Black voters in South Carolina, turned heads by declaring, “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump then you ain’t Black.” On Inauguration Day, he signed an executive order outlining his “comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all.”
Yet when Team Biden moved back to Washington, they found a region moving away from its “Chocolate City” roots. In 1977 when Mr. Biden was a first-term senator, D.C. was 77% Black. Today, that number has been cut nearly in half to just 41%.
The city’s gentrification has deepened inequality. Every latte shop or yoga studio in the Navy Yard or Logan Circle pushes lower-income Washingtonians east of the Anacostia River, where Wards 7 and 8 remain nearly 80% Black and with average income less than half its counterparts across the river.
If enforced, Washington’s vaccine mandate would bar nearly two-thirds of Black adolescents from attending school, creating another obstacle for a population government should be empowering. The elite ruling class is happy to plaster “Black Lives Matters” stickers on their Teslas while supporting policies that hold back the next generation mere miles away.
Over socially distanced glasses of chardonnay, well-to-do Beltway residents cling to their COVID-19 narrative where vaccines funded by the big pharmaceutical companies offer the only hope. In their world, no one — not even children — is safe without a vaccine. Anyone who dares deviate from the company line is dismissed as a backwater Trump-supporting conspiracist, even lifelong Democrats like me.
They ignore data that challenges their point of view, including data finding 70% of U.S. public schools reported an increase in students seeking mental health services since the start of the pandemic, or a Harvard University study showing “remote instruction was a primary driver of widening achievement gaps.”
These districts are not in places where parents can earn their six-figure salaries from Zoom, ordering Uber Eats and enjoying a steady diet of Netflix.
As a medical doctor who has helped more than 700 patients recover from COVID-19 and its complications, I have treated numerous adults and children injured by the vaccine and can assure you that there is a significant cause for concern. I’ve outlined the large and growing body of data on the injury risks of COVID-19 vaccinations — particularly among healthy children — which you can read in a vaccine exemption letter that I provided to concerned parents who wanted to send their children to summer camp without exposing them to these risks.
Consider the large, unexplained rise in U.S. life insurance claims among working Americans of ages 18-64
The true scope of harm is difficult to grasp because our public health agencies refuse to engage in the debate for fear of undermining their preferred narrative. But there are plenty of signals. Consider the large, unexplained rise in U.S. life insurance claims among working Americans of ages 18-64 beginning in early to mid-2021, when the vaccination campaign began. A similar trend is evident in German health insurance claims data — and the CEO of one of the country’s largest health insurance companies was fired for releasing data suggesting the government was concealing the extent of vaccine injuries.
Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden pledged to “shut down the virus.” Now, with more deaths on his watch than his predecessor’s, he and his allies still refuse to change course. Instead, they are clinging to a failed political agenda, sacrificing the next generation at its altar. Washington’s vaccine mandates will hurt Black children the most, undermining Mr. Biden’s equity agenda. In November, let’s hope a reckoning is brewing for those who have suffered the most from a failed public health response. Our children, especially the most underserved, depend on it.
Dr. Pierre Kory is president and chief medical officer of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance.
Guédelon Castle is being built using the old 13th-century methods.
By Kim Willsher
At Guédelon Castle the year is 1253 and the minor nobleman, Gilbert Courtenay, has ridden off to fight in the Crusades, leaving his wife in charge of workers building the family’s new home: a modest chateau that befits his social position as a humble knight in the service of King Louis IX.
Here, in a forest clearing in northern Burgundy, history is being remade to the sound of chisel against stone and axe against wood, as 21st-century artisans re-learn and perfect long-forgotten medieval skills.
The Guédelon project was dreamed up as an exercise in “experimental archaeology” 25 years ago. Instead of digging down it has been built upward, using only the tools and methods available in the Middle Ages and, wherever possible, locally sourced materials. Now, in an unforeseen twist of fate, Guédelon is playing a vital role in restoring the structure and soul of Notre Dame cathedral.
Notre Dame’s complex roof — know as La Forêt because of the large number of trees used in its construction was destroyed in the 2019 fire.
Paris’s imposing 13th-century cathedral, a world heritage site, was consumed by fire in April 2019, destroying its complex roof structure, known as La Forêt because of the large number of trees used in its construction. The widespread view was that it would be impossible to rebuild it as it was.
“The roof frame was extremely sophisticated, using techniques that were advanced for the 12th and 13th centuries,” Frédéric Épaud, a medieval wood specialist, tells the Observer.
They said it was impossible.
“After the fire, there were a lot of people saying it would take thousands of trees, and we didn’t have enough of the right ones, and the wood would have to be dried for years, and nobody even knew anything about how to produce beams like they did in the Middle Ages. They said it was impossible.
“But we knew it could be done because Guédelon has been doing it for years.”
The beams of La Forêt lasted for 800 years, The builders must have done something right.
A number of the companies bidding for the Notre Dame work have already engaged carpenters trained at Guédelon, and more are expected to beat a path to the Burgundy clearing 200km down the autoroute du Soleil from Paris.
It might be quicker and cheaper to turn wooden beams out of a sawmill – especially with French president Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to reopen the ravaged cathedral in 2024 – but you will not find anyone at Guédelon who believes it should be done that way.
Stéphane Boudy is one of a small team of carpenters at the medieval site, where he has worked since 1999. Boudy, 51, trained as a baker, then an electrician, until discovering his vocation at Guédelon. He explains how hand-hewing each beam – a single piece from a single tree – respects the “heart” of the green wood that gives it its strength and resistance.
“We have 25 years’ experience of cutting, squaring and hewing wood by hand,” he says. “It’s what we [have done] every day for 25 years. There are people outside of here who can do it now, but I tell you they all came here to learn how. If this place didn’t exist, perhaps the experts would have said: no it’s not possible to reproduce the roof of Notre Dame. We [have shown that] it is.
“This isn’t just nostalgia. If Notre Dame’s roof lasted 800 years, it is because of this. There’s no heart in sawmill wood,” he says.
Maryline Martin is co-founder of the Guédelon project that attracts around 300,000 paying visitors every year and was featured in a 2014 BBC documentary series, Secrets of the Castle. She says the chateau’s blacksmith has been commissioned to make the axes that will cut the wood for Notre Dame, and its carpenters are expected to train others to work on the cathedral.
“…a private enterprise lost in our forest that receives no public money.”
Guédelon’s woodworking experts will be invaluable in restoring Notre Dame’s roof. Photograph: Guédelon
“It’s prestigious for us that Notre Dame will be restored by many who learned their trade at Guédelon. We are a private enterprise lost in our forest that receives no public money. We work with many state research bodies, but some people wrote us off as a theme park,” she says.
“Now, after 25 years, we are the only ones who can understand and are able to do what has to be done, and they discover we have not sold our soul to the devil. Our people will be working on Notre Dame one way or another, but why would we want to go to Paris? We will continue our 13th-century work here.”
Florian Renucci, the Guédelon site manager and a philosopher turned master mason, has already been asked to oversee training of artisans expected to work on Notre Dame.
“All we heard over and again after Notre Dame burned was that it was not possible to reconstruct the roof as before. There was no wood, no savoir faire – it was an argument used by those who wanted to modernise. We showed that it can be done and we know how to do it,” he says.
“All those who didn’t think it was possible didn’t know about Guédelon.”
Épaud is on the scientific committee at Guédelon and the committee overseeing the reconstruction of Notre Dame, as well as a member of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France’s national research body. He says that going back to build the future is not just nostalgia.
“I have studied the 13th-century technique for many years and, if we respect the internal form of the tree, the beams will last for 800 years. Guédelon is the only place in France, and I believe in Europe, where they build this kind of roof structure in wood. All those who didn’t think it was possible didn’t know about Guédelon.”
He adds: “But it shouldn’t be rushed. Macron’s insistence that the cathedral be open by 2024 is idiotic. We are talking about a cathedral, we’re not in a hurry and we have the money to do it the right way. If we rush it, there’s a risk it [will] be done badly and something is missed. Sadly, I fear Macron doesn’t understand that.”
How free is an election that uses software written in Wuhan, China?
In the first article, I explained how Konnech Inc., a U.S. software company based out of East Lansing, Michigan, helps manage the poll workers, poll locations, campaigns, assets, mail-in ballots, and supplies necessary to run elections in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Although, the American technology company is used by the U.S. Department of Defense and ‘thousands of election offices across North America’, Konnech Inc., which was founded in 2002, previously built a ‘communication platform’ called ChineseBrief.com for the Confucius Institute.
Furthermore, many of the company’s software engineers and employees graduated from Chinese universities such as Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Beijing Language and Culture University, China Agricultural University, and HuaZhong University of Science and Technology.
For instance, Eugene Yu, the CEO of Konnech Inc., graduated from Zhejiang University in Zhejiang, China, with a bachelors degree in 1982 before receiving his MBA from Wake Forest University in 1988.
Moreover, in Queensland, Australia’s 2020 elections, “count reporting problems on election night” were partly the result of “a new computer system not being tested as planned because ‘coding resources’ were locked down in Wuhan”, according to the digital news company InQueensland.
In fact, these Wuhan coding resources led to four members of the Queensland Parliament — MP Crandon, MP Lister, MP Simpson, and MP Robinson — asking the Queensland Premier on July 15, 2020, why Konnech was given the contract to produce the software administering Queensland’s elections using “China based coders”?
MP Robinson questioned the Premier, “Can the Premier guarantee that Konnech, Inc. does not have a connection to the Chinese Communist Party through its China based subsidiary Jinhua Konnech Inc.?”
And that is where today’s story begins.
Jinhua Konnech Inc.
Consider that a patent application was filed in China for a system of “network voting of absent electorates” by Jinhua Konnech Inc. on February 4, 2015, under two inventors named Chen Wei (陈伟) and Shao Guojun (邵国君).
The rights of that patent were then transferred on October 7, 2015, from Jinhua Konnech Inc. to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd. (金华鸿正科技有限公司), a Chinese election technology company also founded in 2015.
Rather impressively, Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd. is a software provider for the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China.
Hongzheng Technology builds hardware and software including mobile applications for more than 400 NPC clients in more than 20 provinces across China.
Hongzheng Technology is also partnered with Lenovo, Huawei, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile and has branch offices in Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuhan among other places, according to the company’s website.
Interestingly, Hongzeng Tech. was only established on April 13, 2015 which is relatively recent for such a successful company.
The company started with seven investors, two of which that had the last name Yu, which should be familiar to you at this point in the story.
In China, first names and last names are reversed so Yu Lin (于林) would own 99.4% of the company and Yu Jun (于君) along with five other investors would each receive 0.1% of Hongzeng Tech.
Shao Guojun (邵国君), the aforementioned Chinese inventor listed on the Jinhua Konnech Inc. patent, which was transferred to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd., was also one of the initial investors 0.1% of the company.
Incredibly, once upon a time, on April 18, 2012, Shao Guojun (邵国君) and Yu Jun (于君) co-applied for a U.S. patent with none other than Konnech Inc. and Eugene Yu.
co-applied for a U.S. patent with none other than Konnech Inc. and Eugene Yu.
Meaning Shao Guojun (邵国君) not only turns up on a patent with Eugene Yu and Konnech Inc. in the United States, but his name also appears on a Chinese voting technology patent transferred from Jinhua Konnech Inc. to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd in 2015.
A company which Shao Guojun (邵国君) is a part owner of and a company that is actively building software technology for the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China and openly partnered with Lenovo, Huawei, and numerous Chinese government-owned telecom giants.
A deeper dive into the internet archives on Eugene Yu further reveals that he was once a financial advisor at Prudential Securities Inc. after graduating from Wake Forest University.
To better understand Eugene Yu, an archived 2005 magazine produced by the China Association for Science and Technology in the United States and the American Zhu Kezhen Educational Foundation reveals that Yu was an officer of the American Zhu Kezhen Education Foundation in 2000 and 2001, a foundation which stated mission is to bridge Zhejiang University with American universities.
Most importantly, you will notice that the 2005 magazine list Eugene Yu followed by a Chinese name, Yu Jianwei (于建伟).
That same magazine with a cover page that says, “Overseas Scholars” provides this paragraph (translated via Google) on Yu Jianwei validating that he is none other than Konnech Inc’s CEO Eugene Yu:
“During this period, I was honored to have Wang Feiyue, Zhu Cheng, Yu Luping (Chemistry 82) and Yang Fang to join the senior Yu Jianwei (Thermophysics 81). Huge help. Under the auspices of Yu Xin (Biochemical 82) and President of Zhejiang University Pan Yunhe, Jianwei holds an MBA degree.
He was the financial advisor of Prudential Company, which seriously held the annual department of Zhu Kezhen’s famous scholar with the support of the famous American. He gave us a lecture, Every year, I invite several academic masters to talk about the same leading into many professional financial systems and investment approaches.
He later studied the frontier progress in the field, which made a huge frontier progress in the academic improvement of Zhejiang University, which made a huge contribution to the academic improvement of Zhejiang University, construction and installation of communications equipment.”
To understand the timeline of how all of these events coincide, I must now introduce you to the Substack article that I stumbled across on Thursday evening that led me to these patents, Shao Guojun (邵国君), and Yu Jianwei (于建伟).
diggersleuth’s Newsletter
A dive into a voter software company
Konnech Inc. was incorporated in 2002 in Michigan by Eugene Yu. In 2005, Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China with $130,000 USD funds by Yu Jianwei, a person who was a “foreign national person” to China. Is Eugene the Americanized name of Jianwei…
This next segment will be a timeline featured directly from the author’s excellent analysis that further explains all of these connections.
Timeline
(all domains noted below were registered to Konnech)
2002-03-20 Konnech Inc. Incorporated in Michigan ID Number: 800599006. Eugene Yu holds all officer titles: President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Director of Konnech, Inc. (2021 is the most recent Annual Report with officers listed)3
2002-03-30 konnech.com domain created
2005-11-29 Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. established in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China with $130,000 USD funds. Principal of the company is Yu Jianwei (于建伟), a foreign natural person (ie, a US resident).4
2009-03-25 Konnech filed for PollChief trademark. Serial Number 77698702, Registration Number 39513965
2010-11-12 abvote.com domain created
2011-04-26 Trademark registered for PollChief
2011-09-07 Konnech filed for ABVote trademark. Serial Number 85416420, Registration Number 43845776
2012-04-18 US Patent application US-20130104090-A1 “Device and method for selection of options by motion gestures“.78 Inventors:
Eugene Yu (Okemos, MI)
Jun Yu (Zhejiang)
Guojun Shao (Jinhua) (See 2015-04-13 and 2015-10-07)
2012-09-05 ipetitioner.com domain created (Signature Verification Software)
2012-09-26 plocation.com domain created
2012-10-12 Konnech filed for iPetitioner trademark. Serial Number 85752482, Registration Number 43910139
2013-04-25 US Patent granted “Device and method for selection of options by motion gestures”. 1011
2013-08-13 Trademark registered for ABVote
2013-08-27 Trademark registered for iPetitioner
2014-2015 Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. engaged in “Research and Development of Network Election Backend Server Subsystem”.12 [Translated via Google]
2014-06-06 votedge.com domain created (a Konnech shake to vote app)
2015-10-07 Transfer of patent application right for a Chinese Patent (CN-104618378-A & CN-104618378-B). System and data processing method for network voting of absent electorates. Rights transferred from JINHUA KONNECH, INC., TO JINHUA HONGZHENG TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.15
Inventors:
Chen Wei 陈伟
Shao Guojun 邵国君
2015-10-07 Transfer of patent application right for a Chinese Patent (CN-104618378-A & CN-104618378-B). System and data processing method for network voting of absent electorates.
For starters, you will notice that Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. (金华宇联网络科技有限公司) was established in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China on November 29, 2005 by Yu Jianwei (于建伟), a “foreign natural person” to China.
Furthermore, utilizing Chinese search engines, you will find business registrations claiming that Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co. is the “China R&D subsidiary of Konnech Inc.”
Created communications platform for the CCP befroe creating election software.
Konnech Inc., an American election technology company founded in 2002 based in Okemos outside of East Lansing, Michigan, previously built ChineseBrief.com, a ‘unique interactive communication platform and Chinese language learning tool’ for the Confucius Institute, according to the company’s Facebook page and an archived Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute webpage.
According to Konnech’s website, the company’s ‘PollChief’ software products, which include the ‘Election Worker Management System’, ‘Asset Management System’, and the ‘MyBallot Tracking System’ are used by “thousands of Election Offices across North America”.
Konnech’s software helps manage the poll workers, polling locations, campaigns, assets, mail-in ballots, and supplies necessary to run elections in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
In December 2006, the company posted on their Facebook page, “… Confucius Institute at Michigan State University has reached an agreement with Konnech, Inc. to build ChineseBrief.com—a unique interactive communication platform and Chinese language learning tool.”
In February 2007, an archived webpage of the Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute announced, “The Confucius Institute recently signed an agreement with the Okemos, MI based company Konnech to offer daily 3-5 minute Mandarin lessons delivered to your phone. The phonecasts are sent based on a schedule setup by the user with an on-line interface. The service will be initially free for a limited time. Registration for the service will be available soon.”
A May 19, 2020, article published at InQueenslandexplained that the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works conceded it had been a “difficult few years” after the “failure of the election reporting system” — starting with the former commissioner’s “decision to acquire the Konnech system”.
The Queensland digital news company stated, “count reporting problems on election night” were partly the result of “a new computer system not being tested as planned because “coding resources” were locked down in Wuhan”.
Queensland Chief Digital Officer Chris Fechner said: “The delivery of the project was further impacted in the final development and bug fixing stages during January and February 2020, as most of the coding resources were based in Wuhan China and were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 lock-down”.
On July 15, 2020 according to records of the proceedings in Queensland Parliament, MP Fiona Simpson asked the Queensland Premier why, “foreign owned company Konnech was given an important contract to produce the software to administer Queensland’s elections using China based coders over every Queensland coding firm?”
At least three other Members of Parliament — Mr. Lister, Mr. Crandon, and Dr. Robinson — asked similar questions about Konnech, according to Queensland Parliament records.
According to his Linkedin, Eugene Yu, the CEO of Konnech Inc., graduated from Zhejiang University in Zhejiang, China, with a bachelors degree in 1982 and from Wake Forest University with an MBA in 1988. He is a native Chinese and English speaker.
Eugene Yu at the 2014 National Association of Secretaries of State Conference Source: Linkedin
Konnech CEO Eugene Yu speaks at the Lansing Economic Area Partnership organized by the Michigan State University Foundation in July 2022. Source: Linkedin
An October 26, 2018 article written in The West Australian entitled ‘Hacking over new software management system at Queensland’s Electoral Commission’ says: “Yu has acknowledged that he uses a team of software developers in China for his election-related projects, including the new system expected to be operational in Queensland for the March 2020 local government poll.”
George Giddings, who worked for Konnech Inc. in 2007, states on his Linkedin page that his experience from the company consisted of, “Was in charge of the day to day business. Driving to detriot to help out the clients. Increase sales and traffic. Talk to the engineers in china during the night”, according to his Linkedin page.
Konnech Software Engineer, Wang Xiang, graduated from China’s Nanjing University with a bachelors degree in Computer Science in 2012. He speaks English and Chinese and went on to get his M.S. in Computer Science at the University of New Mexico where he managed the website of the ‘Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) of the University of New Mexico’, according to his Linkedin.
The CSSA is the official organization for overseas Chinese students and scholars registered in most colleges, universities, and institutions outside of the People’s Republic of China.
Journalists and human rights groups have referred to the CSSA as government-organized non-governmental organizations used to surveil and report on Chinese students abroad.
In a 2017 New York Times article, chapters of CSSA were described as having “worked in tandem with Beijing to promote a pro-Chinese agenda and tamp down anti-Chinese speech on Western campuses.”
Since The Confucius Institute is linked to the CCP, why the %^@*! was Konnech ever allowed to write voting software for ANY country?
Loaded with crispy bits of bacon, extra-sharp cheddar cheese, and chives. The biscuits come out perfectly flaky and buttery every time.
Since most of our topics are not inducive to an appreciative smile, I thought I’d change things up a bit. These are heavenly, and the next time you make them you might want to double the portions (I have a tendency to pig out and find myself eating three or four if I’m not careful.)
These bacon cheddar chive biscuits are the definition of comfort food, with buttery, flaky goodness in ever bite.
Not to mention, the loads of cheese and bacon there.
Bacon Cheddar Chive Biscuits
Yield: 12 servings
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, diced (You CAN substitute Bacon Bits, if you choose to, but real bacon is better for my taste.)
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain excess fat; transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.(Skip if using pre-crumbled bacon or Bacon Bits.)
In a large bowl, combine bacon, flour, cheese, chives, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
Grate butter using the large holes of a box grater. Stir into the flour mixture.
Add buttermilk and stir using a rubber spatula until a soft dough forms.
Working on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 1 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Cut out 10-12 rounds using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit or cookie cutter. Place biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet; place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove biscuits from freezer. Place into oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.
Most of the people responding are women with just a few men. Just like anybody can learn to be a wonderful, kind, and caring person, everybody has the potential to be an awful, cruel, and malicious individual. Being a horrible human being who spreads negativity and misery isn’t restricted by gender, age, race, or culture.
However, the internet usually tends to hyper-focus on toxic masculinity, suggesting that it’s mainly only guys who have the potential to be terrible human beings. That’s not the case. This time, we’re shining a light on some honest examples of what toxic femininity looks like, as shared by internet users in this candid and blunt r/AskReddit thread.
redditor u/imogen2797 who was kind enough to answer our questions and share her insights about toxic femininity. “I think a lot of toxic femininity is caused by jealousy, the need for a hierarchy and similarly, in a way, to feel empowered by bringing down other women,” she said.
British psychotherapist Silva Neves shared his thoughts about toxic behaviors. He stressed that it’s very important to highlight that “people are not toxic as and of themselves.” In other words, it’s the ideas and belief systems that are at fault, not necessarily the people themselves. Read on for his insights as well.
Illegals in DC
#1
I hate the whole “oh if you hold a baby you’ll want one” or “baby smell is the best” or my least favorite “you’re so good with kids, you’ll be a great mom!” comments. NOT EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO BE A MOM, NOT EVERY WOMAN EVEN LIKES KIDS! The fact that I’m a decent human being to my friends kids doesn’t mean I’ll be a good mom. You know what I love? My current lifestyle. I didn’t work today and you know what I did? I sat in bed, ate chocolate, watched Ice Cold Killers, and now I’m gonna take a nice long nap at 3 in the afternoon! How in gods name would a child enhance my life in any way? I’m 26 and the constant barrage of “you’re not getting any younger” comments are starting to get under my skin.
Redditor u/imogen2797, who created the thread on r/AskReddit in the first place, told Bored Panda that she personally believes that jealousy and bullying lie at the core of toxic femininity, not manipulation and passive aggression.
“Unfortunately, both toxic femininity and toxic masculinity seem to have their roots deep in our society at this current stage. For someone who is in the firing line of this, I would suggest seeking support from like-minded women, as well as calling out toxic behaviors as they happen,” she shared her thoughts on what someone should do if they find themselves a victim of toxic femininity. It’s vital to have firm boundaries, as well as the courage to cut toxic people out of your life.
“People can (mostly) choose the people they surround themselves with, and if something isn’t serving you in a positive way, cut it out.”
#2
Assuming men are never the victim of physical abuse or intimidation.
Meanwhile, for someone who recently figured out that they are a toxic individual, this sense of recognition is a good start. “I think 99% of women will at some point hold toxic views about other women in some way or another, but it is so important to value body autonomy and the rights that women have to choose what they want to do with their bodies and lives. In a world that is ruled by men, we need to lift up other women instead of tearing them down,” the redditor said.
The author of the thread also opened up about the inspiration for the question. “I first heard the term ‘toxic femininity’ when I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a post that read, ‘When are we gonna start talking about toxic femininity for a change?’ To be honest, at first, I thought it was a cop-out written by men to deflect an issue that faces that community so heavily, back onto women. I posted to Reddit to get opinions on both sides and I realized that toxic femininity is actually a really prevalent issue that women face,” she shared with us.
“On the one hand, I’m glad that the post got so much attention because it brings light to an issue that isn’t talked about very much. On the other hand, I did notice a lot of the comments were from men using the term ‘toxic femininity’ as a mask to hate on women and be sexist in general, e.g ‘acting as if men are put on earth to serve women,’ ‘most feminists,’ and ‘forever victimhood,’ ‘wanting the same wages as men but less work,’” the redditor stressed that some people have a very subjective understanding of toxicity and use it to further their own goals.
Meanwhile, for someone who recently figured out that they are a toxic individual, this sense of recognition is a good start. “I think 99% of women will at some point hold toxic views about other women in some way or another, but it is so important to value body autonomy and the rights that women have to choose what they want to do with their bodies and lives. In a world that is ruled by men, we need to lift up other women instead of tearing them down,” the redditor said.
The author of the thread also opened up about the inspiration for the question. “I first heard the term ‘toxic femininity’ when I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a post that read, ‘When are we gonna start talking about toxic femininity for a change?’ To be honest, at first, I thought it was a cop-out written by men to deflect an issue that faces that community so heavily, back onto women. I posted to Reddit to get opinions on both sides and I realized that toxic femininity is actually a really prevalent issue that women face,” she shared with us.
“On the one hand, I’m glad that the post got so much attention because it brings light to an issue that isn’t talked about very much. On the other hand, I did notice a lot of the comments were from men using the term ‘toxic femininity’ as a mask to hate on women and be sexist in general, e.g ‘acting as if men are put on earth to serve women,’ ‘most feminists,’ and ‘forever victimhood,’ ‘wanting the same wages as men but less work,’” the redditor stressed that some people have a very subjective understanding of toxicity and use it to further their own goals.
#3 (See also #21)
Don’t you dare hit me back! I’m a lady!
Girls who hit guys because they know the guy won’t hit them back
“I think it is very important to highlight that people are not toxic as and of themselves. When we describe toxic masculinity, we do not mean that some men are toxic, we mean that the ideas and belief systems that promote strict and unrealistic ideals of masculinity are toxic—the beliefs are, not the men themselves,” psychotherapist Silva said.
“These beliefs may encourage unpleasant behaviors—behaviors can be challenged and changed too, but we don’t need to change who they are, just what they believe and how they act upon those beliefs. The same goes for toxic femininity. Being kinder, more tolerant, and more caring involves talking and connecting to a diversity of people, rather than staying in the echo chamber of only interacting with the people sharing the same beliefs.”
The expert pointed out that everyone is flawed, whether they have toxic beliefs or not. “If you are aware that you have some flaws that get in the way of living a good life, you can see a therapist to make sense of it, learn to live with it, be kinder to yourself and also learn to challenge and change some of your thought and behavioral patterns to learn to live with your own integrity and values and not against them,” Silva said that reaching out to a professional for help can be a very important step in growing as a person.
#4
Putting women down for choosing not to have children. As if the only reason we were put on earth was to be baby makers
#5
“Real women have meat on their bones.” No. No no. Real women exist regardless of size.
#6
I see a lot of body positive women that shit on my girlfriend for working out and keeping her body hairless. They always say she should be more loving of her body and embrace her body hair.
It’s annoying. She does it cause SHE likes it. She goes to the gym and does deadlifts cause it empowers her and makes her feel AMAZING. Like, we all have different ideals and visions for our life. And after moisturizing herself and shaving she likes to rub her legs together like a cricket, and nobody should be taking that little slice of heaven from her.
“Heterosexual men do not need to fight for their rights because traditionally they are the ones making the rules—which is the very roots of encouraging toxic masculinity. The only time when toxic femininity might be noticed is on social media on forums when women promote the idea that all men are bad, and to its extreme promoting the movement of ‘kill all men’. This is what we call misandry, the hate of men,” Silva said
#7
Woman arrested for making false accusations of rape
Fake domestic violence or rape accusations.
This is why I feel like the phrase “every woman should be believed” should be changed to “every woman should be taken seriously.”
Not every woman is truthful, so we can’t go in with the mindset of “oh, she’s definitely innocent.” At the same time, we can’t let cases of false accusations prevent us from taking a case seriously because “she may be another liar.”
Sadly, people are bound to make decisions on who’s innocent and who’s not without even watching the trial.
#8
Amber Heard
Caro Caro Amber TURD. She not only hurt Johnny but hurt the women struggling for safety, equal rights and justice.
#9
The quote “If you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best.”
Basically expecting a partner to put up with your drama as proof of them actually being into you/making them jump through hoops to prove they’re into you.
Toxic women are often called ‘nice girls’ or even ‘Karens.’ They’re often egocentric, arrogant, put others down, and are entitled to the point of looking like Sunday cartoon villains. They firmly believe that the world owes them, and they will manipulate, lie, and cheat their way to whatever goal they have in mind. Everyone else be damned. So, in other words, not all that different from walking paragons of toxic masculinity (aka ‘nice guys’ and ‘Kyles’).
Redditor u/CTFOE_is_Fee, one of the moderators running the r/Nicegirls subreddit about toxic women, explained to Bored Panda during an interview why someone is a ‘nice girl.’
“Some of them are too immature to realize what they’re doing. Others are that manipulative on purpose. Lastly, some do not even realize what they’re doing,” they told us.
#10
Telling mothers that they should “suck it up” and deal with postpartum depression without help because women from previous generations were able to raise children without any complaints.
No, Carol. I’m fucking miserable, and there’s nothing shameful about getting the treatment I need to cope with my depression.
#11
Expecting all the affection and love in the world from their boyfriends and never showing a glimpse of it towards them. Men DO have feelings you know?
#12
Saying that mothers who adopt aren’t real moms. I’m adopted and I got all the love and support I needed from my mom. She continues to put her all into her kids and grandkids. I’ll be damned if anyone says she isn’t a real mom because she didn’t give birth to me and my siblings.
Commander OwO Someone once said a quote, “Mom is a verb, not a noun” meaning one can nourish and care like a mom but not be one in actuality. I think it’s a nice quote.
They shared their opinion on where the line lies between actual, genuine niceness and fake, manipulative ‘niceness’ meant to exploit someone.
“Personally, for me, the line is drawn when you can tell that someone is being passive-aggressive; when you can sense the subdued maliciousness in their words and actions. If your gut is telling you that something is not genuine about the person then they probably are not genuine. I think we’ve all experienced a few relationships like that in our lives. I do not see there being a large grey area between the two. You know when someone is being kind or not,” moderator u/CTFOE_is_Fee said.
According to Forbes, toxic femininity in the workplace revolves around backstabbing others, failing to support other women in their success, as well as being a “tool of the patriarchy to undermine femininity.”
Toxic femininity is often expressed through passive aggression. “It’s when we allow relationships and productivity to suffer because we’re not being honest about our own objectives, or when we are assuming we know best with a ‘caring’ face. It’s being a ‘Karen’ and it’s not a step forward from patriarchal systems of control. It might not involve yelling, but it’s still manipulating other people,” Forbes writes, adding that the antidote to this and to toxic masculinity are good leadership skills.
#13
When we are blind supporters of other women. Like, a woman uninvited slapping another woman’s ass isn’t as bad because it’s a woman. Cardi B drugging and robbing dudes isn’t bad because men have done that to women for ever. We don’t get passes because we’ve been victims.
Also, women who refuse to accept that men can also be victims of the patriarchy. Sure, it fucks us all in different ways to different extents, but still.
#14
The whole “mamma bear” knows better than a medical professional about anything to with their children.
#15
The idea that women should be meek and pretty 24/7, and if you are a loud, tomboyish woman, you’re not a real woman.
As a lifelong tomboy, I’ve been put down a lot for not wearing makeup and doing “manly jobs”. I’ve actually got some internalized misogyny as a result. I have a much harder time trusting other women than I have trusting men, because in my experience, it’s mostly other women who accuse me of not being a woman.
#16
Placing your entire self-worth on being desirable to men, or assuming any woman who dislikes you must be jealous of your desirability. Not knowing who you are without male attention.
#17
Thinking that being in a romantic relationship/marriage or being able to have children makes you inherently better than women who aren’t.
#18 (See also #27)
Defaulting to the female parental figure in all things child-related.
I worked an hour’s drive away, my husband worked 15 minutes away. We clearly listed him as the primary emergency contact on all school forms and even noted that he was closest. We told the kid to specifically request they call Dad.
Every time there was an emergency, guess who got called? I would then instruct them to call my husband because my leaving work to take the kid home means they have to deal with an extra hour or so of projectile vomit (or whatever).
We ended up just listing his number as mine.
Stupid!
#19
Using “feminism” as a shield to justify every shitty thing they do.
Voodoops_13 ANYONE who tries to hijack the term Feminist/Feminism by equating it with being a bitch/ugly/angry/single/childless can fuck all the way off. Male or female, doesn’t matter.
#20
Shitting on stay at home moms or Sex Workers because you don’t understand their choices. Feminism means we all get to choose our own path . Not everyone wants a high powered career and that’s Ok.
#21 (See also #3)
“No man is ever allowed to hit a woman, in any circumstances.”
Uh, hell no. I’m a woman, but I fully expect that if I started punching a guy or trying to kill him, that he would be well within his rights to give me a slap. Being female doesn’t mean you get to start physical fights and face no repercussions.
#22
“If you gave birth through c-section, you’re not a real mom.”
What. The. Fuck? Suddenly 9 months of pregnancy, a terrifying procedure and caring for a newborn doesn’t count because MacDuff from his mother’s womb was untimely ripped? Whose baby is this then, since apparently no mothers are present?
#23
“all other girls are bitches”
If you’re a girl and think that, that’s a you problem
#24
Karens are a prime example (of Toxic Femininity). They show peak entitlement found more often in women then men. Everything must be done for them. They are a mother or they’re a “struggling” woman who should be given everything she wants.
There’s also abusive women. Abusive men will hit you, abusive women will give you several mental and emotional disorders and claim you made it all up while you suffer alone in silence. I know this from personal experience having an abusive biological father and step mother.
If a woman does hit you, you aren’t allowed to hit back. If you defend yourself you’re the aggressor because… men big?
#25
Last week: 3 women admiring my fiancé’s new engagement ring (which is a bit flashy) My fiancé tells them it’s lab-made, which is what she wanted One of them responded with “Oh, that doesn’t count then”
#26
I had an ex who laughed and took advantage of me after I cried in front of her. She told me she didn’t see me as a man and that crying is for girls.
#27 (See also #18)
The expectation of doing emotional labor. If you fall short of being the default caretaker/nurturer in any way, you are a bad woman. If you don’t put your family’s needs before your own all the time, you might be called a bad mom, a bad wife, or a bad daughter or sister, etc. Meanwhile women who sacrifice themselves completely to take care of others are good mothers, good wives, etc
Similarly, the overly glorified societal idea that a woman’s love is supposed to fix her partner. I read a lot of romance novels and wow is hetero romance content overwhelmingly saturated with the idea that even the most broken person (usually a man in the examples I have personally read) can be healed by the true love of the other person (usually a woman in the examples I have read). There’s no therapy, no focus on healthy ways to deal with trauma, just the idea that some woman can walk into some broken man’s life and completely heal him instantly with “true love”.
#28
Using your period as an excuse to be physically or emotionally abusive. Turns out my mom was just a bitch, not PMS’ing.
#29
Being unable to critize another woman for shit she did since “women support each other“. Has the exact same energy as frat guys saying “bro code”.
#30
Mothers who tell their sons that they are less than equal, based on gender alone. “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” “The future is female, not male.” That type of stuff.
We’re all in this world together and equally capable of greatness and kindness. Please don’t tell your kids otherwise. If you teach someone they’re “less than,” you’re giving them a lifelong hall pass to be a selfish jerk because you don’t need them anyway.
#31
Being all “Claire!! Hiiiii it’s soo good to seee youuuuu oh my goooodddd!!!!” in that obnoxious tone of voice, to every single woman in the group, then turning around and talking the most nasty gossip you can behind their backs or purposely being snaky to the group. This is so toxic, if you don’t like the people you spend time with then drop the mask and stop shoving “positive vibes” down their throats.
#32 (Related to #3 and #21)
Girls who start an argument or fight with a stranger and expect their bf/husband/partner to be the one to handle the fall out.
#33
Just generally assuming men are made of emotional rubber and can bounce back from anything,then accusing a man of “male fragility” if they don’t.
When a guy has an really good platonic male friend who he enjoys spending time with , and a woman thinks it’s odd and says “ you two should get it over with and make out/have sex” as if men only become close if sex is involved.
#34
Believing that its a man’s job to impress her when she’s dating. If you like someone ACT AS THOUGH YOU LIKE THEM. Dating is an equal exchange of time and emotional labour, if she feels like she needs further financial compensation beyond that (paying for the food/show/whatever it is) then maybe she don’t like him enough.
El Dee This one is deeply ingrained. It’s like an internalised form of self sabotage. Now things are beginning to change but I think it will be my grandchildren who benefit.
#35
The “I get along with guys better.”
I cringe because I used to be like this. Don’t discount a whole gender. There’s a lot of awesome women out there, find them and befriend them! Not all guys are awesome so why assume all women aren’t?
According to the Washington Post (albeit a discredited newspaper but a reliable shill for the Washington political elite), the FBI was looking for nuclear documents in the Presidential collection Donald Trump stored at his Palm Beach estate. This speaks to the frantic desperation of the anti-Trump crowd, especially the corrupt officials that infest the leadership of the FBI and the Department of Justice. They used this ludicrous pretext to obtain a search warrant with the help of a credulous, cretinous Judge, Bruce Reinhart.
The nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago tale was more desperate than usual.
It lasted less than 12 hours.
U.S. federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they searched former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida this week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Having failed to produce any evidence that Trump was working with good old Vladimir Putin to destroy America’s democracy with Russiagate 1.0, the anti-Trump crowd apparently has decided to trot out another Russia-tainted meme, the ultimate red herring, to portray Donald Trump as a 21st Century Dr. Strangelove. We now know the truth.
Donald Trump was trying to build a nuclear weapon in his wine cellar at Mar A Lago.
Seriously, the theory was that Trump was building a bomb for Putin, because — you know — Russia is a technologically backward country and needs outside help. Really???
And if you believe that, I have some oceanfront property located just outside Winslow, Arizona for sale. Cash only and small bills.
Maybe we now know why the FBI was pawing through Melania Trump’s lingerie. Did they intercept a text from Trump telling his wife that she looked like a nuclear tipped cruise missile in her red Teddy. Of course, the FBI had to assume that was code word for something far more nefarious. I had to wonder why the FBI spent so much time handling and sniffing Melania’s panties and negligees.
(Maybe they are members of a “J. Edgar Hoover Cross Dressing Club,” and were looking to upgrade their outfits before their next Monkey Pox rave.)
The Deep State-Fake News cabal needs to work harder on their conspiracies.
Scott Adams, the cartoonist and author behind the Dilbert comic strip, posted a list of the most prominent deep state-fake news lies and conspiracies attacking President Donald Trump.
Here is a list of 11 previous fake news conspiracies that fell flat.
If you believe Trump squirreled-away some nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago -- and refused to return them -- because you heard the Washington Post say two anonymous sources (that CNN can't confirm) told them it was true, I give you some useful context. . . pic.twitter.com/EVTLy8VyLz
What this whole episode shows us is that Kamala Harris is no longer the dumbest member of the Biden team. Nope. That honor goes to Merrick Garland. He apparently believed that this scheme would discredit Trump and elevate Garland as the Clausewitz of the Biden Presidency. Warner Brothers may file a copyright infringement lawsuit against the mad Attorney General for adopting a Wile E Coyote plot. Garland strapped himself to the tip of the missile before activating the fuze that ignited the rocket. He failed to recognize that he would be riding a political nuclear bomb to his own political demise. Maybe he is just a secret admirer of Slim Pickens and wanted to recreate Pickens’ iconic moment in Dr. Strangelove.
Alright, back to serious. Trump may be right that someone may have planted a document related to nuclear weapons or nuclear technology in the boxes he had locked up. That does not incriminate Trump and is no crime. The prosecutors would have to show that Trump instructed someone on his staff to put such a document in one of the boxes. Trump may be a lot of things, but stupid and reckless are not how he became a billionaire and beat the dickens out of Hillary in 2016. Is there another Alexander Vindman lurking in the shadows keen on helping create a pretext to discredit Trump?
Trump may be a lot of things, but stupid and reckless are not how he became a billionaire and beat the dickens out of Hillary in 2016.
If Trump really was trying to hide such information why would he have instructed his attorneys to negotiate with the National Archives on getting an agreement to return the records to the Feds? In fact, if he had mens rea*, do you really think Trump would keep something so figuratively radioactive on his estate?
[*mens rea Latin, literally ‘guilty mind’; in the law “criminal intent”.]
Merrick Garland, despite his Harvard education, is not a smart man. He signed off on a warrant rather than ask Trump and his lawyers if he had such documents in his possession. Are they going for the old – he lied to me tactic that they used on General Michael Flynn? Lying to Federal Agents is a crime unless you are former FBI Chief Andrew McCabe.
Instead of doing the reasonable, lawyerly thing, Garland chose the nuclear option. It will come back to haunt him.
Trump lawyer Christina Bobb said in interviews Thursday night (8-11) that President Trump and his family in New York watched the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago Monday via closed circuit TV security cameras. Bobb said the FBI had ordered staff at Mar-a-Lago to turn the cameras off but that Trump lawyers had the cameras turned back on. [Now we know why the FBI wanted them turned off. — TPR]
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is weighing whether to release the search warrant and inventory of material seized at Mar-a-Lago before a federal judge rules on the matter, according to a Florida-based attorney for Trump, Lindsey Halligan.
Earlier Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal the warrant and related documents, “absent objection from the former president.” Trump has until 3 p.m. Friday to respond.
His legal team is also discussing whether to release video and photos of the search, Halligan said. Two sources familiar with Trump’s legal strategy said that before FBI agents executed the warrant, they asked that Mar-a-Lago’s private security cameras be turned off. Trump’s team refused to comply.
The U.S. Secret Service, which maintains a permanent presence at the former president’s home, was not a party to the dispute over the cameras because the private club owns and controls the cameras, not the government.
It isn’t clear what any video that may have been captured by Mar-a-Lago’s cameras would show. According to Halligan, there were security cameras in Trump’s office, but not in all of the areas that were searched. She also said that there are photos of FBI personnel on the grounds.
Why does the fake news insist on lying to the American public?
Having a flat tire is never a happy experience, especially after “office hours.”
But what if you called your “trusty” AAA hotline — and were told they wouldn’t help you? Not “couldn’t” but WOULDN’T! It seems the purpose the American Automobile Association was created for has been forgotten.
This happened August 9, 2022. A 68-year-old retiree called the Roadside Assistance hotline — finally getting through on the third attempt. He went through the ritual dance of name, card number, location, etc.
Then, the PA CSR asked if the car had a current inspection. Being honest, the member admitted that he was out of date — having mistaken the “6” for an “8” in casually glancing at it after purchasing it earlier that year. He was already in the process of making an appointment for the missed inspection but didn’t have it confirmed yet.
If you live in a state that requires inspections, you could find yourself stranded if your car’s inspection is not current.
Then he got the bombshell. The CSR told him bluntly that AAA didn’t do service calls if a car was more than 10 days past due. Not for a tow, not for a jump, not for a tire change. Not for ANYTHING. She compounded the already exasperating situation by stating it was a PA state law. (It isn’t, she was lying.)
To say the retiree reacted badly to the news would be a masterful understatement since it was now almost completely dark and he was parked just off a busy state route in a township near Penn State, but with no tow-capable gas stations nearby.
The CSR was unsympathetic.
This left the man to his own devices. Covid lock-downs had killed the only tow-truck business in the area that he had a phone number for. Many places had ceased 24-hr operations even if he had been able to find a working number.
He was out of luck.
In the age of air-powered torque wrenches, getting the lug nuts loose by hand was no easy task. After about fifty minutes of straining, he was finally able to drive back home, exhausted.
Once there, he immediately went to his computer and filed a complaint via the website. About 10:30 the next morning, he received a call from the Southern PA office.
This agent — while careful not to repeat the CSR’s lie that it was against PA state law to render roadside assistance based on a car’s inspection status — was equally unsympathetic. He reiterated that it was company policy not to render assistance to a member who was otherwise in good-standing.
Redacted Screenshot of complaint filed with AAA- Southern PA
Chairman of the Lancet’s COVID-19 Commission ‘pretty convinced’ pandemic’s origin from ‘US lab biotechnology,’ suggests governments aren’t investigating because even more ‘dangerous research underway right now’
The chairman of the Lancet’s COVID-19 Commission has come forward to say that he is “pretty convinced” that the pandemic’s origin is from “U.S. lab biotechnology.” He also warns that even more dangerous research is happening right now – which could be why governments don’t seem to be interested in investigating the origins of COVID-19.
Jeffrey Sachs is the director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, the president of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, winner of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, a best-selling author, and a Chairman of the Lancet’s COVID-19 Commission.
In November 2020, Sachs assembled a task force for the prestigious medical journal to determine the origins of COVID-19. He hand-selected Dr. Peter Daszak – the president of EcoHealth Alliance – to be the chairman of the task force. However, Daszak recused himself from the investigation in June 2021, following accusations of a conflict of interest.
Daszak had deep ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars of National Institutes of Health funding to the Chinese lab. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Daszak has vehemently argued that COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease that jumped from animals to humans. Furthermore, he vociferously argued that suggesting that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak is a baseless conspiracy theory.
By September 2021, the task force organized by the Lancet’s COVID-19 Commission was disbanded because of EcoHealth’s conflict-of-interest issues.
Sachs said at the time, “I just didn’t want a task force that was so clearly involved with one of the main issues of this whole search for the origins, which was EcoHealth Alliance.”
Last week, Sachs told Current Affairs that he appointed Daszak to the task force dedicated to discovering the origins of COVID-19 because he said to himself, “Well, here’s a guy who is so connected, he would know.”
Sachs added, “And then I realized he was not telling me the truth. And it took me some months, but the more I saw it, the more I resented it.”
Sachs revealed that he disbanded the task force because other members were “part of this thing.”
He noted that the NIH had been hiding documents from the public – which were later revealed by a Freedom of Information Act request. Emails exposed by a FOIA request revealed that officials with the NIH and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases were concerned that EcoHealth could be conducting gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan lab.
Sachs noted that Daszak should have informed him that EcoHealth Alliance was “manipulating the viruses.”
Sachs said that he requested a research proposal from Daszak, but the EcoHealth head allegedly balked, “No, my lawyer says I can’t give it to you.”
A video went viral last month featuring Sachs proclaiming that “after two years of intensive work,” he is “pretty convinced” that COVID-19 originated from “U.S. lab biotechnology, not out of nature.”
“So it’s a blunder in my view of biotech, not an accident of a natural spillover,” he said. “We don’t know for sure, I should be absolutely clear.”
Sachs noted, “But there’s enough evidence that it should be looked into. And it’s not being investigated, not in the United States, not anywhere.
“And I think for real reasons that they don’t want to look underneath the rug.”
In the interview with Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson, Sachs suggested that scientists were “creating a narrative” of COVID’s origins early in the pandemic by collectively claiming that COVID-19 naturally originated from the Wuhan wet market without definitive evidence.
Sachs asked, “Did we find an animal? No. Do we have an explanation of where that furin cleavage site came in? No. We don’t have an explanation of the timing, which doesn’t quite look right.”
He accused health officials and the media of pulling a “kind of misdirection” since February 2020.
Sachs believes the laboratory hypothesis is “very plausible.”
“The alternative that is the right one to look at is part of a very extensive research program that was underway from 2015 onward, funded by the NIH, by Tony Fauci, in particular NIAID, and it was to examine the spillover potential of SARS-like viruses,” Sachs told Robinson.
Sachs suggested that COVID-19 may have come from gain-of-function research, “There was a lot of research underway in the United States and China on taking SARS-like viruses, manipulating them in the laboratory, and creating potentially far more dangerous viruses.”
Governments could be saying, “Don’t poke your nose into that.”
“We know that at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the scientists there had been trained by American scientists to use advanced bioengineering methodologies,” Sachs explained. “And in particular, we have scientists in North Carolina, Texas, and so forth who do this kind of research, believe in it, argue for it, and say that they don’t want any regulations on it and so on. And they were in close contact with Wuhan Institute of Virology, and they were part of a joint research group that was stitched together by something called EcoHealth Alliance.”
Sachs described EcoHealth Alliance as a “vehicle for funding from the U.S. government, especially from the National Institutes of Health, and especially from Tony Fauci’s unit, the NIAID.”
Sachs said Dr. Anthony Fauci and the NIH “haven’t shown us anything” about possible research at the Wuhan lab.
“So you saw a narrative being created,” he continued. “And the scientists are not acting like scientists. Because when you’re acting like a scientist, you’re pursuing alternative hypotheses.”
Robinson asked Sachs why governments aren’t vigorously investigating the origins of a disease that has killed more than 6.4 million people in less than three years.
Sachs responded, “There are at least two reasons why they might be doing what they’re doing. One is, as you say, the implications are huge. Imagine if this came out of a lab. And we have, by some estimates, about 18 million dead worldwide from this. That’s not the official count. But that’s the estimated excess mortality from COVID. Well, the implications of that—the ethical, the moral, the geopolitical—everything is enormous.”
The chairman of the Lancet’s COVID-19 Commission added, “But there’s a second matter that is really important, too. One thing that is rather clear to me is that there is so much dangerous research underway right now under the umbrella of biodefense or other things that we don’t know about, that is not being properly controlled.”
He suggested that governments could be saying, “Don’t poke your nose into that.”
On Saturday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said, “The fact that virtually no one in Washington DC wants to investigate the origins of COVID-19 should tell you all you need to know about the origins of COVID-19.”
Hmm. Guess all those “conspiracy theory nuts” weren’t so nuts after all.
Amber Heard 
