12 Major Cities Hit All-Time Homicide Records
December 8th, 2021Via: ABC:
At least 12 major U.S. cities have broken annual homicide records in 2021 — and there’s still three weeks to go in the year.
Of the dozen cities that have already surpassed the grim milestones for killings, five topped records that were set or tied just last year.
‘Mouse Movers’
December 8th, 2021Via: Vice:
Bossware is spyware from your boss. Some companies make employees use keyboard or mouse-tracking software to ensure that they’re working every moment they’re on the clock, even if they’re at home. Even if managers aren’t spying on your mouse, chat apps quickly turn users’ activity bubbles to “away” when they’re inactive for a short time, like in Leah’s case.
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Company computer surveillance has been a problem since long before 2020, however; Lorenzo, a founder of a mouse mover device company, told Slate that he tried tricking Microsoft Lync (a chat platform, now called Teams) with a DIY moving platform made of plastic and wood way back in 2017, because his boss would message him whenever he briefly got up for a drink of water.
Recently, more remote workers have been hacking together DIY mouse movers, like this one made of LEGO pieces or as brutal as a brick on a spacebar, as their own recent revolts against bossware. But online retailers like Amazon are also full of plug-and-play mouse movers, with options that physically rotate the mouse’s cursor from below, or USB sticks that come preloaded with software that mimics mouse movements. Plugging in the stick tricks the computer into thinking it’s an active mouse.
Judge Blocks Biden’s Nationwide Vax Mandate For Federal Contractors
December 8th, 2021Via: ZeroHedge:
The Biden administration suffered yet another blow on Tuesday after a federal judge in Georgia blocked a nationwide vaccine mandate requiring employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated.
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The mandate, set to take effect Jan. 4, would apply to approximately 25% of the US workforce and would affect companies that do business with the federal government – including Google, General Motors, Microsoft and several airlines.
Vietnam Province Suspends Pfizer Vaccine Batch After 120 Children Hospitalized
December 8th, 2021Via: ZeroHedge:
The Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa has suspended the use of a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine batch after over 120 students were hospitalized following their inoculation.
As VN Express reports, since November 30, the central province has been vaccinating children aged 15-17 with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. However, over 120 of the children were admitted to hospitals after exhibiting symptoms like nausea, high fever or breathing difficulties, the provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.
Of these, 17 had severe reactions, but their health has stabilized and they continue to be monitored at the hospital, the center said. The cause of their symptoms has yet to be confirmed by Thanh Hoa authorities.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden Declares There Will Never Be an Endpoint to the Vaccination Program Due to the Need For Boosters
December 8th, 2021Via: Conservative Treehouse:
Putin to Biden: Finlandize Ukraine, or We Will
December 7th, 2021Via: Pat Buchanan:
Neocons and Republican hawks such as the late John McCain sought to bring Ukraine and two other ex-Soviet republics, Georgia and Moldova, into NATO.
Putin, who served in the KGB in the late Soviet era and calls the breakup of the USSR the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, is now saying: Enough is enough.
Translation: “Thus far and no further! Ukraine is not going to be a member of NATO or a military ally and partner of the United States, nor a base for weapons that can strike Russia in minutes. For us, that crosses a red line. And if NATO proceeds with arming Ukraine for conflict with Russia, we reserve the right to act first. Finlandize Ukraine, or we will!”
Spread of Small Kamikaze Drones Will Change Ground Warfare as Profoundly as the Machine Gun Did
December 7th, 2021Via: NBC:
A revolution in unmanned aerial vehicles is unfolding, and the U.S. has lost its monopoly on the technology.
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Some experts believe the spread of the semi-autonomous weapons will change ground warfare as profoundly as the machine gun did.
They can leapfrog traditional defenses to strike infantry troops anywhere on the battlefield, and they cost just $6,000 apiece, compared to $150,000 for the Hellfire missile typically fired by Predator or Reaper drones.
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Dubbed kamikaze, suicide or killer drones, these unmanned aircraft don’t fire missiles — they are the missiles. But unlike typical missiles, they can circle above a target, wait for the ideal moment and strike with incredible precision.
The U.S. military couldn’t have fought the way it did in Iraq or Afghanistan if the enemy had had killer drones. The next battlefield opponent is likely to have them. And terrorists will eventually get them, too — a possibility that has homeland security officials scrambling to find a solution, given that there is no surefire defense against them.
Hospitals’ Incentive Payments for COVID-19
December 6th, 2021Via: Association of American Physicians and Surgeons:
Creating a “National Pandemic Emergency” provided justification for such sweeping actions that override individual physician medical decision-making and patients’ rights. The CARES Act provides incentives for hospitals to use treatments dictated solely by the federal government under the auspices of the NIH. These “bounties” must paid back if not “earned” by making the COVID-19 diagnosis and following the COVID-19 protocol.
The hospital payments include:
A “free” required PCR test in the Emergency Room or upon admission for every patient, with government-paid fee to hospital.
Added bonus payment for each positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
Another bonus for a COVID-19 admission to the hospital.
A 20 percent “boost” bonus payment from Medicare on the entire hospital bill for use of remdesivir instead of medicines such as Ivermectin.
Another and larger bonus payment to the hospital if a COVID-19 patient is mechanically ventilated.
More money to the hospital if cause of death is listed as COVID-19, even if patient did not die directly of COVID-19.
A COVID-19 diagnosis also provides extra payments to coroners.
CMS implemented “value-based” payment programs that track data such as how many workers at a healthcare facility receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Now we see why many hospitals implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates. They are paid more.
Outside hospitals, physician MIPS quality metrics link doctors’ income to performance-based pay for treating patients with COVID-19 EUA drugs. Failure to report information to CMS can cost the physician 4% of reimbursement.
Because of obfuscation with medical coding and legal jargon, we cannot be certain of the actual amount each hospital receives per COVID-19 patient. But Attorney Thomas Renz and CMS whistleblowers have calculated a total payment of at least $100,000 per patient.
“Sherif Zaki, a Legendary Disease Detective at CDC, Dies at 65”
December 6th, 2021Via: Stat:
Sherif Zaki, a legendary disease detective at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who had a photographic memory and a knack for cracking hard cases, has died.
Name a newly emerged or vexing infectious pathogen and chances are Zaki played a role in identifying it or tying it to a mysterious outbreak that was defying investigation. He and his team pinpointed Zika virus in the brain tissues of miscarried fetuses, found the hantavirus later named Sin Nombre in the first known hantavirus outbreak in the United States, and confirmed that anthrax was responsible for early deaths in what would become a spate of attacks that petrified the country in the autumn of 2001.
The CDC announced Zaki’s death to staff on Monday. The cause of death was not provided but Inger Damon, director of the division of high-consequence pathogens and pathology and Zaki’s supervisor, told STAT it was “sudden and unexpected.”
A native of Alexandria, Egypt, Zaki would have turned 66 on Wednesday.
Bitcoin: Michael Saylor Orange Pills Tucker Carlson
December 5th, 2021Via: Fox:
