Podcasts about and south korea

A Dubai resident has died amid more missile and drone attacks on gulf countries.It comes after Iran's president offered an apology to its neighbours, stating Iran would not strike them unless attacked first.The United Arab Emirates has come under attack from Iran, with debris from a drone falling onto the popular Dubai Marina and the international airport.US President Donald Trump has vowed to hit Iran very hard as the US and Israel launched big attacks across Iran. In Lebanon, there have been more strikes in the capital of Beirut, with tends of thousands of people displaced.----Meanwhile at home, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Sydney's Town Hall, calling for the monarch to return to power in Iran.Following military backing from the U-S and Israel targeting the Islamic regime in Iran, diaspora in Sydney took to the streets yesterday afternoon in support of US President Donald Trump.---A flood emergency warning remains current for the Katherine River.Authorities says major flooding is occurring at Katherine Bridge, where the river level peaked near 19.2-metres just before 11 o'clock last night.This is above the bridge deck and around the 2006 flood level.Further rainfall is possible for the next few days, which my cause renewed river level rises.---Meanwhile the weather bureau says south-east Queensland residents should be prepared for the risk of flooding today as a tropical low brings rain further south.The system made landfall near Innisfail on Friday and has moved into the interior before an expected path towards south-east Queensland.The bureau says the south-ease will see the heaviest of the rain today.---And South Korea says it will be going all out for the win in tonight's final group game against the Matildas in the Asian Cup.The South Koreans have a better goal difference than Australia, and only need a draw to top the group.Speaking through a translator, coach Shin Sang-Woo says it's an important match for his side. 

Allen covers Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen’s optimism on European auction reforms and bilateral CfDs, Australia’s Warradarge wind farm expansion paired with major grid upgrades, New Zealand’s wind-to-hydrogen project, South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean building a new installation vessel, and Siemens Energy’s debate over spinning off Gamesa. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Happy Monday everyone Henrik Andersen has seen a lot of failed auctions. The Vestas chief executive watched subsidy-free tenders collapse in Germany… France… the Netherlands… even his home country of Denmark. Developers wouldn’t bid. The risk was too high. But this week… Andersen stood before investors with different news. The UK’s AR7 delivered eight point four gigawatts. A record. Eight projects approved… including two floaters. Denmark and eight North Sea nations committed to one hundred gigawatts. And Germany’s onshore auction pipeline… is finally moving. Andersen sent thanks directly to Ed Miliband… Britain’s Energy Minister. “Now it’s starting to work.” … The difference? Bilateral CfDs. After watching zero-subsidy models fail across Europe… governments returned to revenue stabilization. Strike prices developers can actually finance. Andersen believes the industry should learn from these auction designs… before repeating old mistakes. Steen Brødbæk at Semco Maritime agrees. Projects are maturing. Suppliers… can finally earn a living. … Vestas identified three priority markets in their annual report. Germany for onshore. North America. And Australia. The drivers? Energy security concerns. Data center load growth. And the AI electricity surge that every grid operator is scrambling to model. As for Chinese OEMs entering European tenders? Andersen would be surprised. “You should never be surprised by anything these days,” he said. “But in this case… I would actually be surprised.” … Down in Western Australia… Warradarge is proving his point about mature markets. Four of thirty additional turbines are now vertical. When the expansion completes… eighty-one machines will generate two hundred eighty-three megawatts. The state’s largest wind farm. Owned by Bright Energy Investments… a joint venture between Synergy and Potentia. One hundred twenty workers at peak construction. And critically… the state is building transmission to match. Clean Energy Link North… the largest grid upgrade in Western Australia in more than a decade… will unlock capacity in the South West Interconnected System. Generation AND grid… moving together. That’s how you hit a 2030 coal exit. … Meanwhile in Taranaki… New Zealand… Vestas secured a twenty-six megawatt order with a twenty-year service agreement. Hiringa Energy is integrating wind with green hydrogen production at scale… serving transport… industry… and agriculture. Turbine delivery begins Q1 this year. Commissioning… Q2 twenty-twenty-seven. One of New Zealand’s first large-scale wind-to-hydrogen projects. The electrolyzer economics are finally penciling. … But you can’t install offshore turbines without vessels. And South Korea just solved a bottleneck. Hanwha Ocean won a three hundred eighty-five million pound contract… to build a WTIV capable of fifteen-megawatt class installations. Korea’s first vessel at that scale. Delivery… early twenty-twenty-eight. Korea expects twenty-five gigawatts of offshore capacity by 2035. They’re not waiting for European vessel contractors. They’re building their own supply chain. Hanwha has now delivered four WTIVs globally. … Not everyone is celebrating. At Siemens Energy… activist investor Ananym Capital is pushing to spin off Siemens Gamesa. CEO Christian Bruch calls the idea reasonable. But timing matters. The wind division must stabilize first. Bruch believes offshore wind can follow the same recovery path as the grid business… which went from crisis… to profitability. Turnaround before transaction. … So, last week we had: CfDs reviving European auctions. Australia building generation AND transmission together. New Zealand coupling wind with hydrogen. Korea investing in installation vessel capacity. And Siemens… working to fix its turbine business before any restructuring. Different geographies. Same lesson. The projects that succeed… are the ones where policy… supply chain… and capital… finally align. … And that is the state of the wind industry for the 9th of February 2026. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime wind energy podcast.

On the Wednesday December 3rd edition of Georgia Today: Georgia voters elect new leaders in runoff and special elections across the state; Atlanta traffic deaths outnumbered homicides last year; And South Korea's ambassador visits Georgia to promote economic coordination.

Markets are steady ahead of the Fed's expected rate cut tomorrow. Australia's disinflation progress is set to have stalled in Q3. And South Korea gets a GDP growth bump from a mid-year fiscal stimulus. In our Deep-Dive interview, ANZ Senior Commodities Strategist Daniel Hynes looks at how US sanctions on Russian oil companies might affect the global market. Before accessing this podcast, please read the disclaimer at https://www.anz.com/institutional/five-in-five-podcast/

Next week, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit will be underway. President Trump is expected to meet with South Korea President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping for separate bilateral talks that may shape trade relations for years to come. In the states, senior South Korean officials visited Washington today to resume trade negotiations to bridge their differences over Seoul's $350 billion investment pledge under a bilateral trade deal struck in July. For more on what's ahead at the APEC Summit, we heard from Kang Kyung-hwa, South Korean Ambassador to the United States. She spoke to Bloomberg's Joe Mathieu and Julie Fine on Balance of Power. And - South Korea and the US are focusing on the structure of a $350 billion investment pledge by Seoul, rather than a currency swap, according to Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol. Officials in Washington including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent now see the potential for a shock to Seoul's foreign-exchange market from an "upfront" deployment of funds, Koo told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Wednesday that also touched on weakness in the Korean won stemming from the unfinished deal, car tariffs and AI technology. He spoke exclusively with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn about the progress of talks, on the sidelines of the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting in Incheon, South Korea. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Global markets are on tenterhooks ahead of US jobs data tonight, looking for clues on the Fed's rate cut path. ANZ Research pulls its RBA rate cut call forward to July after weak retail sales. And South Korea's inflation rate may allow for one more rate cut. In our Deep Dive interview, ANZ Economist Maddy Dunk analyses the recent pick up in Australia's housing market. Before accessing this podcast, please read the disclaimer at https://www.anz.com/institutional/five-in-five-podcast/

Inside Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb—a tactically brilliant drone operation against Russian bombers...but does it change anything? Why Palantir is a civil liberties nightmare. The bureaucracy of a white supremacist foreign policy—inside Rubio's restructuring of the State Department. Elon Musk and the fractures in the oligarch coalition. And South Korea's Bernie Sanders—the global (gendered) context of Lee Jae-myung's stunning victory.Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Catch Un-Diplomatic on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/undiplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Ukraine launched a massive secret drone strike on Russia and shocked the world with its technical ability. The Trump White House put 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from anywhere outside the U.S. And South Korea elected the Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung as the country's next president after ousting Yoon Suk-yeol a little while back.Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin & Jake break down the rest of the week's headlines to keep you in the know about what is happening in the rest of the world. This podcast turns into an article summary at each week's episode over on Substack. We'd love for you to subscribe! You can also follow us on Instagram (@staywithmeherepod), Facebook, or Bluesky (@swmhpod.bsky.social).Stay With Me Here is an independent project, and all views and opinions expressed in this show, and in this writeup, represent our personal views and not that of any organization we're affiliated with. Erin Flanagan is a former U.S. Coast Guard intelligence officer and Agence France-Presse digital investigations journalist.Jacob Shropshire is an editorial intern at Worldcrunch and the managing editor of Peacock Media at the American University of Paris. He spent two years working for Democratic political campaigns in the U.S.Liam Kuhns provided scripting and editing assistance for the podcast.

The Treasurer has described today's Interest Rate cut as "welcome relief for millions of Australians" Nationals Leader David Littleproud insists there is no "angst or animosity" -- after splitting from the Coalition agreement with the Liberals. And South Korea has cancelled Kanye from performingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Treasurer has described today's Interest Rate cut as "welcome relief for millions of Australians" Nationals Leader David Littleproud insists there is no "angst or animosity" -- after splitting from the Coalition agreement with the Liberals. And South Korea has cancelled Kanye from performingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump imposed taxes on goods sent from basically every other country in the world and the stock market is suffering for it. Hungary pulled out of the International Criminal Court to invite Benjamin Netanyahu for a visit. And South Korea's Constitutional Court approved Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment, with the government setting new elections. Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin & Jake go through the rest of the week's stories to keep you in the know about what else is happening out there in the world. This podcast turns into an article summary at each week's episode over on Substack. We'd love for you to subscribe! You can also follow us on Instagram (@staywithmeherepod), Facebook, or Bluesky (@swmhpod.bsky.social).Stay With Me Here is an independent project, and all views and opinions expressed in this show, and in this writeup, represent our personal views and not that of any organization we're affiliated with. Erin Flanagan is a former U.S. Coast Guard intelligence officer and Agence France-Presse digital investigations journalist.Jacob Shropshire is an editorial intern at Worldcrunch and the managing editor of Peacock Media at the American University of Paris. He spent two years working for Democratic political campaigns in the U.S.Liam Kuhns provided editing assistance for the podcast.

Chinese authorities have expressed determination to protect the country's interests in the face of U.S. tariff threats, calling them an act of bullying and protectionism (01:02). Protesters doubt if the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump will help reach a hostage release deal (15:20). And South Korea has confirmed June 3 as the date for the next presidential election (22:36).

Plus, China hits back on Trump's levies with 34% tariffs on U.S. goods. And South Korea's political turbulence continues as President Yoon Suk Yeol is removed from office. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. and Ukraine have agreed the terms of a draft minerals deal as Donald Trump seeks to quickly end the war with Russia. U.S. stocks tumbled on Tuesday, after February figures showed a drop in consumer confidence. The Republican-controlled House off Representatives has advanced Trump's tax-cut and border security agenda. And South Korea's birthrate has risen for the first time in nine years.  Find our recommended read here. Listen to our weekend episode on Saudi Arabia's role in global diplomacy here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. All episodes of the Reuters Econ World podcast can be found here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Devina Gupta looks at how China's slowing economy is helping some countries…Also, from cooling economies to cooling appliances that are becoming dangerous for our planet we look at the latest UN report and find out how a business in India is using solar energy to run a cold storage unit.And - South Korea's plan to make dog meat farmers move away from their profession.

Get ready for a game-changing episode of Connecting the Dots! Dr. Wilmer Leon and Caleb Maupin dive into the seismic shifts happening worldwide—where the U.S. is no longer the sole superpower and what that means for our future. They explore a growing movement challenging America's global influence and break down what the 2024 election could mean for the future of U.S. politics. If you care about where our country is headed, this is a must-listen. Don't miss out on insights that could change how you see the world!     Find me and the show on social media. Click the following links to find @DrWilmerLeon on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Patreon and YouTube!   Hey everyone, Dr. Wilmer here! If you've been enjoying my deep dives into the real stories behind the headlines and appreciate the balanced perspective I bring, I'd love your support on my Patreon channel. Your contribution helps me keep "Connecting the Dots" alive, revealing the truth behind the news. Join our community, and together, let's keep uncovering the hidden truths and making sense of the world. Thank you for being a part of this journey!   Wilmer Leon (00:00:00): As we are living through a pivotal moment in world history, the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world, anti-imperialism is at the core of this global movement as the US is at the center of this global shift. How did anti imperialism take hold in the us? Let's find out Announcer (00:00:27): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Wilmer Leon (00:00:35): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon and I am Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they happen in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which these events take place. During each episode, my guests and I have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between these events and the broader historical context in which they take place. This enables you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode. The issue before us, the issues before us, are the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world. How is this happening and what does it mean? As well as the developing 2024 US presidential political landscape to help me work through these issues. Let's turn to my guest. He's an author, independent journalist, political analyst and reporter for RT, and his latest book is entitled “Out of the Movement to the Masses, Anti-Imperialist Organizing in America”. And he's also the author of Kamala Harris and The Future of America, an essay in Three Parts. He is Caleb Maupin, my brother. Welcome back! Caleb Maupin (00:01:53): Sure. Glad to be here. Wilmer Leon (00:01:55): So first of all, your thoughts on my introduction, is that a hyperbole or is that a fairly accurate description of the dynamics that we find ourselves dealing with? Caleb Maupin (00:02:13): Trying to stop the rise of a multipolar world would be a lot like trying to stop the sun from rising in the morning, maybe trying to stop gravity. That's the way the world is moving. But our leaders are committed to trying to keep the world centered around Wall Street and London and they are going to fail. The question is how much of a cost in terms of human lives, in terms of the economy, in terms of political repression, are we going to have to endure before they come to the terms of reality, which is that we're going to have a world where there are other centers of power and countries trade with each other on a different basis. So I would agree with you, Wilmer Leon (00:02:54): And so as we look at this changing dynamic from the unipolar to the multipolar, we've got China, we have Russia, we have India. There are a number of countries that over the years have been targets of American sanctions, regimes and all other types of pressure from the United States. With all of that or from all of that, we now have the rise of the BRICS nations, we've got Brazil, we've got Russia, we've got India, we've got China, we've got South Africa, and now what about how many, I've lost track now about 15 or 17 other countries that have joined this organization, this economic organization, which also seems to be an anti imperialist organization. Caleb Maupin (00:03:49): Sure. I mean, if you understand imperialism in the economic sense, imperialism is a system rather than a policy, right? Kind of layman's terms imperialism is when one country is mean to another country or attacks another country. But we're referring specifically to imperialism as an economic system when the world is centered around financial institutions, trusts, cartels and syndicates centered in the Western countries that dominate the world through the export of capital, sending their corporations all over the world to dominate the economies of developing countries, to hold back economic development, to keep countries as captive markets and spheres of influence. That process whereby countries are prevented from lifting themselves up, from electrifying, from building modern education systems, developing modern industries, developing their own economies, and just kind of used to dump the excess commodities of Western countries and have their economy dominated by a foreign country and a foreign monopolies and big corporations from another country from the west. (00:04:55): That process refers to, that's what I mean when I say imperialism. I'm referring to a global economic setup, and that economic setup is on its way out. And that's been pretty clear and a lot has gone on, went on in the 20th century to kind of erode imperialism. And in the 21st century, imperialism continues to be in the decline, and there is this new economy rising around the world, centered around the two U superpowers, Russia and China. They are kind of at the center, the linchpin of a global network of countries, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba. But then there's even other countries that are willing to trade and are kind of on the one hand friendly to the United States, but on the other hand are happy to work with Russia or China if they give them a better deal. The shape of global politics is changing, the world is changing, and this is just something we need to embrace. The world is not going to be centered around the West as it was for so long during the age of colonialism and sense. Wilmer Leon (00:05:54): In fact, what we're finding out is that on the 27th and the 28th of August, Moscow is hosting the sixth annual, the sixth International Municipal BRICS Forum. And what might surprise a lot of people is there are delegations from 126 countries that are expected to take part, more than 5,000 participants from 500 cities around the world. This isn't getting very much attention or coverage here in the western media, but folks need to understand, as we talked about the shift from the unipolar to the multipolar, this is a perfect example of that shift isn't happening, that shift HAS happened. Caleb Maupin (00:06:45): Sure. When I was at the Valdi Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia in the mountains near the city, I saw Ael Togi, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and he pointed out that in the Eurasian subcontinent and outside of the Western countries, this is like a golden era. The amount of electrification that's going on, the amount of roads and railways that are being constructed, I mean, there is a whole exploding new economy happening in the world. And I saw that when I was at the Yalta Economic Forum in Crimea in 2018, and other people have seen it when they go to the Vladi Stock Economic Forum in the Russian Far East. People have seen it with the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that China is building. There is this whole new economy in the world now that is focused on development and growth, building power plants, building schools, building universities, building hospitals, and it's a really, really big part of the global economy. And our leaders are being very foolish by trying to just barricade it and blockade it and oppose it because they're locking the United States out of that economic growth. When somebody's growing economically, they have more money to spend, they have more products they can buy, and we could be benefiting from this new economy that's rising, but instead, our Western leaders are committed to maintaining their monopoly at all costs. And so we are getting locked out of an explosion of growth. It's just a very, very mistaken approach. Wilmer Leon (00:08:18): And I want to, with that intro shift to shift to your book out of the movement to the masses, anti-imperialist organizing in America, because as I said in the intro, one of the major elements I believe of this shift from the unipolar to the multipolar is anti imperialism. And you write in the second paragraph of your introduction, what made the Communist party USA important was that it was the first anti-imperialist organization to take hold in the country. There were certainly anti-war organizations such as Mark Twain's, anti-Imperialist League. There had been pacifists and socialists like Eugene Debs, who opposed War on a Class basis, but the Communist party of USA was founded on the ideological breakthroughs of the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia specifically the teachings of Vladimir Lenin. So I wanted to use this book out of the Movement to the Masses, which is a textbook, and wanted to start the conversation with what motivated you to write this book and what motivated you to write this as a textbook? Caleb Maupin (00:09:33): Well, it's important to understand that I think the ultimate interest of we the American people is in a society free from imperialism. I don't think that helping ExxonMobil and BP and Shell and Chevron dominate the global oil markets really benefits American working people in the long run. There might be some short-term bonuses, but those things are fading and that there is a long Wilmer Leon (00:09:57): Short-term bonuses such as, Caleb Maupin (00:09:59): Well, we've had a higher standard of living at least in the past, but that standard of living is in decline, and the future of the United States is not in this decaying western financial system. It's in a new order where we're trading with countries on the basis of win-win cooperation. And the reason I wrote the textbook is because I wanted people to be aware of the fact that there has been a strong anti-imperialist movement in this country, and that we can learn from these struggles of the past and these organizations that existed and what they achieved as we figure out in our time how we can build an anti-imperialist movement to rescue our country from the nightmare of the emerging low wage police state and the drive toward World War iii. And I mean, really, you don't have anti imperialism as we understand it, right? You don't have the rise of Russia and China. (00:10:50): You don't have the bricks. You don't have any of that without the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. That was a pivotal moment. That was a country that broke out of the Western imperialist system during World War I and started on an independent course of development. And it came out of the Bolshevik started out as part of the Marxist movement. Marxism was the ideology of the labor movement, right? The worker versus the employer. But there was a division in the labor movement increasingly between wealthy labor union bosses and higher paid skilled trade jobs that increasingly became supporters of empire and supporters of their country, colonizing countries in Africa and countries in Asia, et cetera. And the lower levels of the labor movement of more oppressed workers, the American Federation of Labor, the A FL was the big labor federation in the United States. And the people who started it, like Samuel Goer's, they were socialists or Marxists, but they were not anti-imperialist. (00:11:55): And by the time World War I came along, the A FL was a union that largely was for whites only. Most of the unions that were part of it banned black people from joining, banned people not born in the United States from joining, banned people who did not speak English as their first language from joining. And they were big supporters of World War I when it happened. And there was a divide in the labor movement and Marxism that had been the ideology of the labor movement got very much divided. And you had parties like the British Labor Party, the ruling party of Britain today. It originated as a Marxist party of labor organizers, but it became a pro imperialist party. Well, Bolshevism and the people who took power in Russia, the Bolsheviks, they were a breakaway from the Marxist movement that had developed this new theory of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. (00:12:48): And they said, we're not just fighting against regular capitalism. We're fighting against the monopolistic capitalism of Britain and France and Germany and America, and that means that we support nations, right? Originally, Marxists and the labor movement said, there are no nations workers of the world unite. It's just the workers versus the bosses. No borderers in our struggle. Well, Lenin says, actually, we do support nations in their fight against imperialism. And after the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, one of the first things they did is they called a conference in Baku in Azerbaijan. And at that conference, they invited all kinds of people from all over the world and they said, we will support you as long as you're fighting imperialism. And one of the people that came to that conference and was given military support by the Bolsheviks was the Amir of Afghanistan. And the Amir of Afghanistan was a conservative monarchist. (00:13:40): He was not a Marxist, not a socialist of any stripe. He was a conservative monarchist, a very conservative Muslim, but the Bolshevik said, you're fighting imperialism and so and so, we support you. And he gave them support. And many people around the world were inspired by the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist message that the Bolsheviks had, which was kind of a breakaway from the standard Marxist movement. The understanding was we're not just fighting capitalism, we're fighting against imperialism, and we support nations and colonized people of all different classes, workers, capitalists, whoever who are struggling against imperialism. That is the basis of this new movement that we are trying to build. And the Communist Party of the United States was the incarnation of that movement, and that's why it was embraced by many different sections of the population, most especially the black community in America, because they viewed black people as a colonized people, an oppressed nation within US borders. Marcus Garvey had been leading the black nationalist movement in the United States, the Back to African movement, and many black people saw African-Americans as a colonized people within the US borders. And the Communist Party agreed with that, and that was a winning point that they had with many people in the United States. And the Communist Party was supportive of anyone around the world who was struggling against British American or French imperialism. Wilmer Leon (00:15:04): And as we look at that history and we bring it forward to the current moment and the Russia phobia that we find ourselves subjected to, I submit, and please if I'm wrong, correct me that one of the things that's at the crux of this Russia phobia is the fact that America is an imperialist nation and a neo-colonial power, and Russia has the Soviet Union and then into Russia has been anti-colonialism, which is one of the reasons why we find now Russia gaining so much traction with countries on the continent of Africa. Caleb Maupin (00:15:53): Well, I got to tell you, just a few weeks after the special military operation in Russia began a couple of years ago, I was in New York City with Tanner, 15 of my friends, and we were marching around with American flags and Russian flags chanting, Russia is not our enemy, Russia is not our enemy. And we chanted this in Union Square, and then we went up to Grand Central Station, we marched around Grand Central Station chanting that, and while we were doing that, we got thumbs up from a lot of different people. Now, many people did not agree with us, but the people who did give us thumbs up, many of them were people that were not from the United States. New York City is a big international center. You have the United Nations that's there. You have Wall Street that's there. And I would say the majority of the people who gave us thumbs up and gave us support were from the continent of Africa. (00:16:40): They were people from West Africa, from Nigeria. They were people from South Africa. And that the economy of Africa is very tied in with the Russian economy, and Russia provides fertilizer to many countries. Russia has partnerships with many countries to help them develop their state run mining industries or their state run oil and natural gas industries. So support for Russia on the African continent is widespread. Now, this doesn't match the narrative of liberals. Liberals would have us believe that Russia is a white supremacist country, and that's why they rigged the elections in 2016 to get white supremacist. Donald Trump elected, and that just does not match reality. The Soviet Union, which modern Russia is built on the foundations of the Soviet Union, was the best friend of anti-colonial and liberation movements on the African continent, and those relationships still exist. When I was in Russia, I sat down with people from various African countries. (00:17:43): I sat down with people from Namibia. Well, the ruling party of Namibia is the Southwest People's Organization, which was a Soviet aligned, Soviet funded organization that fought for Namibia to become independent. The ruling party of South Africa, the African National Congress was armed and funded by the Soviet Union. If you go to Ghana, the man who created modern Ghana was Kwame Nkrumah, who was a big friend of the Soviet Union and was called himself an African socialist and developed his own interpretation of the Marxist philosophy that was specific to the African continent. I mean, there was Julius Nire, there was Gaddafi who built Libya into the most prosperous country on the African continent. There are just so many examples of how Russia is intimately tied in with the struggle against colonialism on the African continent with the struggle of African countries to pursue their own course of development. (00:18:43): And that is rooted in the foundation of the Bolshevik Revolution. And the Bolshevik ideology, which I will emphasize was a break with the standard Marxist view. Marx himself, he believed that the first communist revolution would happen in Germany, and it would be the European countries that had the communist revolution first because they were the most advanced. And it was Lenin who came along and said, well, actually, that's wrong. The center of revolutionary energy is going to be in the colonized and oppressed countries of the world. And the working class in the imperialist homeland is largely being bought off, and it's going to be the division between what we now some academics talk about the global north and the global south. It's going to be that division that brings socialism into the world. And that is kind of the defining aspect of what Lenin taught. And as much as the global anti-imperialist movement is not explicitly Marxist Leninist in the Soviet sense, they don't exactly follow that Soviet ideology. That understanding of imperialism and what happened in the 20th century with the Soviet Union, with later the Chinese Revolution, the Vietnamese revolution, the Cuban Revolution, all of that laid the basis for what exists today. And that understanding is important, and that's why I wrote this textbook. Wilmer Leon (00:19:55): And to your point about all of these myths and stories and fictions about Russia being involved in our election and all of this other foolishness, mark Zuckerberg just wrote a letter to Jim Jordan saying that he apologizes for having purged stories from Facebook regarding the Hunter Biden laptop and some of the other stories, because he has now come to understand that that whole narrative was not Russian propaganda as the FBI had told him, he now has come to understand that those stories are true. And I bring that up just as one data point to demonstrate how so much of this rhetoric that we've been hearing, so much of this propaganda that we've been hearing about China being involved in our elections and Russia being involved in our elections, and Iran, mark Zuckerberg, the head of Facebook, just sent a letter to Jim Jordan laying all this out, that it was bs. It was a fiction created by the FBI, Caleb Moin. Caleb Maupin (00:21:14): Well, we've been through this before, right after the Russian Revolution, just a few years later in London, in Britain, there was a scandal called the Enovia of letter. And the British people were told, oh my goodness, the Russians are meddling in our elections. They're trying to get the Labor Party to win the election. And Lloyd George, who was the conservative military leader, was playing up the idea that the Labor Party was being funded and supported by Russia, and they held up this piece of paper they said was the smoking gun. It was the proof, the Enovia letter, this letter supposedly from the Russian government official of Enovia to the Labor Party. Well, it was later proven to be a complete hoax. It was fake, right? But that was happening back in the 1920s. And we've been through this over and over and over again. When Henry Wallace ran for president, he was the vice president under Roosevelt, and then when Truman was president, he ran against the Democrats as they became a pro-war party, the party that was leading us into the Korean War, et cetera. (00:22:12): He ran as an independent candidate in 1948, and they acclaimed his campaign was a big Russian conspiracy, and it was a communist conspiracy. There's a whole history of this and the FBI, if you look at the number of investigations they've done into supposed Russian influence in American elections, it's endless, but it's always a hoax, right? American elections happen because of events in America, not because of Russia. However, there is no question that many people in the United States do want peace, and they do want peace with the Soviet Union or with modern Russia, and they may vote for candidates who they think are more likely to bring about that peace, but that's not a conspiracy. That's doing what you're supposed to be able to do in a democracy expressing yourself at the ballot box. And what they're really worried about is Americans thinking wrong. They're really worried about not having a monopoly over the information that we receive. They're really worried about us questioning what we're told and not marching in lockstep behind their agenda of war and dividing the world into blocks and isolating certain countries. And this story has happened over and over and over again in American politics. We've been through it so many times. Wilmer Leon (00:23:25): Final point on this, I don't want to get back to the book. As you just said, events happen in American elections due to America. Well, all of this chicken little, the sky is falling and the world is interfering in our elections. Well, there was a story in the New York Times about what, three months ago, about APAC spending $100 million to unseat what they consider to be left-leaning Democrats, whose position on Israel was not consistent with the Zionist ideology. I'm going to say that again. This was in the New York Times. I'm not making this up. This is an anti-Semitic dialogue. It was in New York Times APAC spending $100 million on primary campaigns to remove Democrats that they consider to be anti-Israeli. What happened in New York with Jamal Bowman? That's what happened in Missouri with, what's her name? I think she's in St. Louis, the Congresswoman. I'm drawing a blank on her. Anyway, and they were successful in a number of campaigns. So we're running around chasing ghosts, chasing Russian ghosts, and Chinese ghosts when the real culprits are telling you right upfront in the New York Times what it is they're doing and why it is they're doing it. With that being said, you can either respond to that or how did you organize your textbook and why is it organized in the manner in which it is? Caleb Maupin (00:25:16): Well, I went over like case studies of three different anti-imperialist movements or organizations in the United States. I started with probably the most successful, which was the Communist Party of the United States, which at one point had a huge amount of influence During the Roosevelt administration, they entered an alliance with Roosevelt, and in the late 1930s, the Communist party controlled two of the city council seats in New York City. They had a very close ally in the US Congress representing Harlem named Veto Mark Antonio. They also had a member of Congress in Minnesota who was their friend and ally and read their newspaper into the congressional record. They had meetings at the White House with President Roosevelt. On multiple occasions, members of the Communist Party or the Young Communist League were brought to the White House to meet with Roosevelt, and they led the CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which was a new labor federation they had created as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor. (00:26:14): And they were a very influential group in the labor movement among intellectuals in Hollywood. And they put forward an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist message, and their successes are worth studying. There were certainly mistakes that were made, and they were very brutally crushed by the FBI in the aftermath of the Second World War with the rise of McCarthyism. But there were studying then from there, I talked about the Workers' World Party, which was a Marxist Leninist political party that really came into prominence in the late sixties and really kind of peaked in its influence during the 1980s. And they were a party that took inspiration, not just from the Soviet Union, but from the wave of anti-colonial movements that emerged. They were sympathetic to Libya and Gaddafi. They were sympathetic to North Korea and others, and they did a lot of very important anti-war organizing, building anti-war coalitions. They were very close to Ramsey Clark, the former US Attorney General who left the Lyndon Johnson administration and became an international lawyer and an opponent of the International Criminal Court in his final years and such. (00:27:17): And then I talked about the new communist movement of the 1970s, which was a number of different organizations that emerged during the 1970s that were trying to take inspiration from China. They wanted to take guidance from the Chinese revolution. China had argued that the Soviet Union had kind of abandoned the global anti-colonial, anti-imperialist struggle. They felt it was holding back revolutionary forces, but China was at that point presenting itself as a bastion of anti imperialism. And so there were a number of new political parties formed during the 1970s that modeled themselves on China. And all three of these case studies, all three of these groups made big mistakes, but also had big successes. The most successful was the Communist Party prior to it being crushed by the FBI during the McCarthy period. All of them had big successes and were able to do big important things, and I studied all of them. (00:28:08): And then from there, the fourth chapter talked about divisions in the ruling class, and why is it that we see, at this point, we're seeing a big all-out fight between Donald Trump and those who oppose him. And when you talk about the Watergate scandal and you talk about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, what was really going on behind closed doors? And then in the final chapter, I tried to kind of take from all of that what we could take and what we could learn when trying to build a movement in our time. One thing I made a point of doing in the book is that every chapter is accompanied by a number of original texts from the period discussed. I have a number of texts from the Communist Party, from the Workers' World Party, from the new communist movement of the 1970s, so that we can hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak, what these people were preaching and what they believed as they were building their organizations. Wilmer Leon (00:29:01): So how does this history, how relevant is this history you just mentioned Donald Trump? How relevant is this history to where we find ourselves today with our politics? Caleb Maupin (00:29:15): I would argue it's extremely relevant. And if you look at Roosevelt and who opposed him, and if you look at the Kennedy assassination, and if you look at the Watergate scandal, there has always been a divide among the American elite between what you can call the Eastern establishment, the ultra rich, the ultra monopolies, the Rockefellers, the DuPonts, the Carnegies that are now at this point aligned with Silicon Valley, the tech monopolies, bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and others. There's always been a divide between these entrenched ultra monopolies and a lot of lower level rich people who are not part of the club and feel that those entrenched monopolies are kind of rigging things against 'em. And I quote, there's a very good text called the Anglo-American Establishment by Carol Quigley that talks about this divide. I think he was one of the first people to talk about it. (00:30:06): But then from there, you also have a great book by Carl Oglesby called The Yankee and Cowboy War that talks about this and specifically applies that analysis to what went on with the Watergate scandal, with the assassination of JFK and the political crisis in the 1960s and seventies. And I would argue that in our time, this is the fight that kind of defines things when we talk about trying to build a movement against colonialism and imperialism in the United States, these lower level capitalists would gain if America had paved roads, if America had a stronger economy, and if we were doing business with the countries around the world that are growing right now in alliance with China, right? If we were trading with them and some of that wealth was flowing into our economy, we would be benefiting. However, it is the ultra monopolies that are very much tied in with the intelligence apparatus, the people who brought us, Henry Kissinger, the people who brought us z, big new Brozinsky. (00:31:01): They are determined to keep the United States at the top and keep Western imperialist this financial system at the top of the world at all costs, even if that means kind of playing a long geopolitical game and if it means dramatically decreasing the standard of living and kind of collapsing the domestic economy of the United States. And so when Trump talks about America first and his supporters rail against globalists, this is really what they're getting at is the lower levels of capital are fighting against the Eastern establishment. And that creates an opening for those of us who want to build an anti-imperialist movement in this country to intervene. And I talk about that, and unfortunately, it seems like really since the 1970s and since kind of the end of the 1960s and seventies, political upsurge, much of the left has kind of just deteriorated into being the foot soldiers of that Eastern establishment. (00:31:56): They see those lower level capitalists as being the most hawkish and warlike as being the most anti-union and the most authoritarian. So they think, okay, we're going to align with the Eastern establishment against them. And I argue that that's not the correct approach because right now it is those lower level capitalists who feel threatened, and it is among them that you found support for Julian Assange that you find interest in being friendly with Russia and with China and anti-establishment sentiment, you find opposition to the tech monopolies and their censorship. And that really we're in a period where those of us who are anti-imperialist need to pivot into trying to build an anti-monopoly coalition. And that's what the Communist Party talked about at the end of the Second War as the Cold War got going, as they were being crushed by the FBI, they said their goal was to build an anti-monopoly coalition to unite with the working class, the small business owners, even some of the wealthy against the big monopolies in their drive for war. (00:32:54): And I would argue that's what we should be aiming to do in our time, is build an anti-monopoly coalition. And that's what I've pulled from that textbook and from that history going over what has been done and what has been successful and that the Communist Party really gained from having an alliance with Roosevelt that was very strategic on their part. And I would argue that similar alliances are necessary, but the main thing is that there needs to be a network of people that are committed to building anti-imperialist politics in America. We need a network of people who can work together, who can rely on each other and can effectively carry out anti-imperialist operations. And there are examples of this. I'm about to go to Florida to support the Yahoo movement, the Yahoo movement, the African People Socialist party. They are an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist organization, and they're doing it. And if you go to St. Louis, Missouri, and if you go to St. Petersburg, Florida, Wilmer Leon (00:33:50): Who, Cory Bush, I'm sorry, her name you said St. Louis, Cory Bush, sorry, is the other congresswoman that was defeated by the, sorry, I had to get it out. Go ahead. Okay. Caleb Maupin (00:34:01): But you'll see the huge community centers that they've built, the farmer's markets that they've built, I mean, they have built a base among the African-American community in these two cities where they are providing services to people while teaching an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist ideology. Now, I don't necessarily agree with their entire approach on everything, but I see why they're being targeted because they are laying the foundations of building a broader anti-imperialist movement. And what they are doing is a great model to look at. They are building a base among the population. The title of the book is Out of the Movement to the Masses. I've been going to anti-war protests, and I've been going to socialist and communist spaces, and very rarely did I ever encounter the African People's Socialist Party, but they were organizing where it counted not in these kind of obscure academic bohemian spaces. (00:34:54): They were organizing in communities and they were providing real services, and they were building community centers and having classes for pregnant mothers and having organic farmer's markets. And they were doing things among the masses of people, not among the, so-called movements of people that like to read books about communism or whatever. And that is why they're being targeted, because they are actually building the kind of movement that needs to be done. They're doing what the Communist Party did during the 1930s. They're doing what the new communist movement of the 1970s attempted to do and was pretty unsuccessful because of global circumstances, et cetera. They are doing what needs to be done to build a real anticolonial movement. And that's kind of what I'm in the text is we have to have a reevaluation and we have to figure out how we can reach the bulk of the American people and not confine ourselves to kind of left academic and intellectual spaces. Wilmer Leon (00:35:50): Is it too simplistic to, when you look at this battle between the elites, is it too simplistic to categorize it as the financials versus the industrialists? Caleb Maupin (00:36:01): Yes. It's a little bit too simplistic because there is a lot of financialization, a lot of the lower levels Wilmer Leon (00:36:07): Of capital. Caleb Maupin (00:36:09): Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not exactly right, but you're pointing to a certain trend that there is one faction that favors economic growth because economic growth will mean more money for them. There's another faction that is not concerned about economic growth so much as they're concerned about maintaining their monopoly. And in order to maintain their monopoly, they need to slow down growth around the world, and they're actually pushing degrowth or slow growth economics. So that's probably the primary divide is pro-growth and anti-growth, right? You would think that every businessman would be pro-growth, but the ultra monopolies that are heavily involved in finance at this point, they're blatantly talking about degrowth as a way to stay at the top. Wilmer Leon (00:36:51): In fact, one of the ways that they maintain their position is through consolidation. One of the ways that the banks control their monopoly is by buying smaller banks and bringing the or. So that's just one example. Caleb Maupin (00:37:10): Sure, sure. I mean, we live in a time where at the end of the day, the issue is technology is that it is human labor that creates all wealth, right? It is only human labor that creates value at the end of the day, and it is the value that workers create that lays the basis for the profits that capitalists can make, et cetera. And we are in a period where the technological revolution is reducing the role of workers at the assembly line. There's a lot of jobs that are no longer in existence because of technological advancement. And in a rational society that would be great. But in our society where profits are in command, that's leading to an economic crisis. Great example is self-driving cars, self-driving cars should be a great thing. It should be great that this job called driving this chore, this human labor of driving cars is no longer necessary. (00:38:02): But if they introduce self-driving cars, you would immediately in this country have millions of truck drivers unemployed, millions of Uber drivers unemployed, millions of traffic court employees unemployed. You would have riots in the streets. And Andrew Yang talked about how if self-driving cars came to the United States, we would have a society-wide crisis of unemployment and chaos like we never seen. How is that rational? Why should technological advancement lead to greater poverty? And that is the problem that we are facing. Human creativity and brilliance has outstripped the narrow limits production organized to make profit. We need a rationally planned economy so that economic growth can continue and technological advancement leads to greater prosperity for all Wilmer Leon (00:38:46): That sounds like China. Caleb Maupin (00:38:47): Yeah. And China, by controlling their economy and by having the state assigned credit based on their five-year plans and having state controlled tech corporations that are in line with the Communist party's vision, they're able to continue having growth despite having technological advancement. And that's ultimately what we need to have. And that is what Marx wrote about. One of the writers I quote extensively from is a brilliant thinker from the new communist movement named Nelson Peery and his autobiography, black Radical, which is very good, talks about his involvement in the Communist Party and then getting kicked out of the Communist Party and FBI infiltration of the Communist Party and then starting the Communist Labor Party during the 1970s. But also his very important book that he published before he died, I believe in 2004, called The Future Is Up To Us, which really gets into this contradiction of technology leading to impoverishment. (00:39:42): And he's saying this like during the Bush administration before ai, before any of what we're saying now he's laying out how this is going to lead to a big economic crisis that's going to necessitate a new economic system. Nelson Period is a brilliant thinker who had this kind of understanding. I also draw from Fred Goldstein, from Sam Marcy from some of the other writers who said the same thing. But this has always been kind of the understanding is that technological advancement should not lead to impoverishment, it should lead to greater prosperity. I often quote, there's an old story called the coal miner's riddle, the coal miner. He's sitting in his house with his son. The son says, father, why is it so cold in the house? And he says, because I can't afford to buy any coal. And he says, well, why can't we afford to buy any coal? (00:40:30): And he says, because I lost my job at the coal mine. I was laid off. And he says, father, why were you laid off from the coal mine? Why did you lose your job? He says, because there is too much coal. That's capitalism, but that's not rational. It's poverty created by abundance. I keep hearing our politicians talk about a housing shortage. Have you heard this? A housing shortage in America, there's no housing shortage. I live in New York City, there's four empty apartments for every homeless person. There's millions of empty housing, there's no housing shortage in America. There's a shortage of affordable housing black, because the national economic system, Wilmer Leon (00:41:06): BlackRock bought up a lot of the housing stock and instead of putting those houses back on the market, they held those homes off the market and then put 'em out for rent. So in many instances, it's not a matter of oh, $25,000 credit to those first time home buyers allegedly to lower the price of housing or to make housing more affordable. No, all that's going to do is raise the price of houses by $25,000. What you need to do is get that housing stock that BlackRock has as bought up and put that on the market, make that available. Because if you look at the Econ 1 0 1 supply and demand, you put more houses on the market, chances are the price of houses is going to decline. Caleb Maupin (00:42:02): Absolutely. Absolutely. When we talk about imperialism and we talk about anti-imperialist movements, one great example is the situation with Yemen, right? Yemen right now, this is one of the poorest countries in the world, and right now, this country that has a big movement called the Houthis or Anah, they're shaking the world. But if you go and listen or read the sermons or the founder of the Houthis movement, Hussein Al Houthis, what he's fighting for is economic development because he points out that Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, but yet it has a huge amount of oil. It has a huge amount of arable land to grow food, but the people there are very, very poor. And the Houthis movement that is now at this point, stopping ships in the Mediterranean and standing with the Palestinians and sending drones to the Indian Ocean and just shaking the world. (00:42:56): That was a movement of very, very poor people in one of the poorest countries in the world that demanding to take control of their natural resources and take control of their economy. My understanding of imperialism and such very much had a lot to do with the fact that in 2015, I participated in a humanitarian mission attempting to deliver medical aid to Yemen after the upsurge of 2015 when the Houthis movement and their revolutionary committee took power, I went on a ship from the Islamic Republic of Iran with the Red Crescent Society, and we tried to deliver medical aid to Yemen, and we were blocked in doing so. And reading about this anti-colonial movement that was formed in Yemen, a very religious Shia Muslim movement, demanding economic development, demanding, taking control of their resources, reading about that was very inspiring in the aim of building an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movement in the United States. (00:43:54): Now to see what the Houthis are doing as they're blocking ships to support the Palestinians as they're withstanding us attack, this is a movement of impoverished people fighting for their economic development and fighting to build a new country. This is a mass anti-colonial movement that is worth studying. And the fact that they align themselves with Russia and China, they're not blocking ships from Russia, they're not blocking ships from China. They are blocking ships from Israel and any country that trades with them, that shows you that this global anti-imperialist movement that is about mobilizing millions of people to fight for their rights, this global movement has a real strength. Wilmer Leon (00:44:34): Let's shift now to the 2024 presidential election. We've come out of the Republican Convention, we've now come out of the Democratic Convention and the Democratic Party convention, and Donald Trump was shocked when Joe Biden stepped down, Kamala Harris stepped in. That has changed the dynamic, at least in terms of the dialogue, and we're starting to see some shift in the numbers. Your thoughts on where we are now with this landscape. Caleb Maupin (00:45:09): I think that Kamala Harris is a completely manufactured candidate. She was created by the people who brought us the Hillary Clinton State Department when it was made clear that Hillary Clinton couldn't run for president once again in 2020, all of Hillary Clinton's financial backers put their money behind Kamala Harris. She was not popular with the American people, but yet powerful forces twisted Joe Biden's arm and put her on the ticket as vp. She has not been popular or successful as vp, but she is the candidate that the forces that are committed to regime change and all out efforts to oppose Russia and China at all costs. She is the one that they have invested the most in supporting. And I don't think she's going to win. I think that Trump will win the upcoming election. And that doesn't mean everything about Trump is good or I endorsed Donald Trump. (00:46:03): I'm just telling you that I think Trump is going to win. But I also believe that there are very powerful forces that see Kamala Harris as their best bet at getting what they want, which is more regime change wars, more destabilization around the world. I did write a book in 2020 about Kamala Harris four years ago, and I thought it was very odd that right after she got the Democratic nomination, this book that had been on sale for four years on Amazon suddenly got removed from Amazon. And for seven days my book was banned from Amazon and then restored with no explanation seven days later. I thought that was very, very odd. It raised a lot of eyebrows, but it also points to the amount of power the tech monopolies really have. It seems like everything was being done to support Kamala Harris. What I also thought was interesting is that in my book, I talked about Tulsi Gabbard and how Tulsi Gabbard kind of represents forces in the Pentagon that are really worried about another Arab Spring and what Kamala Harris and the Hillary Clinton State Department forces people like Samantha Power, people like Anne-Marie Slaughter, what they might engineer if they come back to office. (00:47:11): My book highlighted Tulsi Gabbard as being kind of a faction that is opposed to Kamala Harris. And the very same day that my book was pulled from Amazon, Tulsi Gabbard was added to the Quiet Sky's terrorism watch list by the American government. When she tried to board a plane, she found out she was accused of being a terrorist. And I thought that was interesting as well. And it just kind of points to, and there was all kinds of weird stuff going on in terms of social media and Google searches that was being manipulated around that time. But the book that I wrote about Kamala Harris and who has backed her and the ties that she has getting pulled from Amazon, it was interesting to see the timing, Wilmer Leon (00:47:52): The position of the Democratic Party as it relates to Gaza. And I was at the DNCI was also at the RNC conventions, but there were protestors in Chicago demanding a change in the US policy as it relates to the genocide in Gaza. Then you had uncommitted delegates that were able to have a sit-in at the DNC right outside the front door of the entrance to the United Center, demanding that a pro-Palestinian spokesperson be added to the speaker's list. And none of that was agreed to. In fact, it was basically dismissed summarily. So your thoughts on the dangers that the Democrats are playing with taking that position as it relates to the general election? Caleb Maupin (00:48:55): Well, if the Democrats are going to win this election, they're going to need lots of votes in Minnesota, lots of votes in Wisconsin and lots of votes in Michigan. And what do all three of those states have in common? Those swing states, Wilmer Leon (00:49:06): Large Arab populations. Caleb Maupin (00:49:08): That's right. Lots of Muslim Americans, lots of Arab Americans, and with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris giving a blank check to Israel to do what they're doing. I think it's very unlikely to see those folks lining up to vote for them. Now, Kamala Harris has made some noise about this or that, but she's basically the president already. If she was going to do something, she could do it right now. I mean, she's the vice president, but Joe Biden doesn't seem to be as actively involved in the political running of the country as some people might expect. That said, I will say that Donald Trump, I mean his position on Israel Palestine, I mean, is pretty reprehensible, and he continues to play up the idea that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are somehow anti-Israel, which they are not. What I think is interesting though, and I noticed that it seems like anti-Israel voices in the Trump camp, they may not be on the front stage, but they do have a lot of influence. (00:50:03): And I'm not saying all these people are doing what they're doing for necessarily good reasons, but I noticed when Elon Musk was interviewing Donald Trump in the chat, it just exploded. And all over Twitter, it exploded. The phrase, no war on Iran that came from Nick Fuentes. Now, Nick Fuentes is somebody that I don't agree with on many, many things and find a lot of his views and just his presentation style to kind of reprehensible and gross, but he, for his own reasons says no war with Iran. I also noticed that Candace Owens, who is a conservative and was very pro-Israel at one point, she was not pro-Israel enough. Now she's kind of moved for interesting reasons that are very different than anything I would say. She's moved into an anti-Israel direction and she has also got a lot of people in the Trump camp who listen to her and she is making noise, no war in Iran and urging Trump supporters not to support Israel. And this points to the fact that opposition to Israel, I think is much more widespread in both parties than anyone wants to recognize. (00:51:07): It's an element of the emperor has no clothes. Both parties pretend that everyone in their camp just supports Israel. But anyone who talks to a typical Democrat, you were at the Republican Convention and the Democrat Convention, and you could probably confirm that opposition to what Israel is doing is boiling beneath the surface, amid both political parties and amid all sections of this country. And that there is a lot of growing outrage about the influence and power of Israel and American politics, even among people who might support Israel otherwise, but just don't appreciate the arrogance and grip that they seem to have over policymaking. Wilmer Leon (00:51:46): And some people just help me understand why, but some people just have a problem with genocide. It's a bit os there are growing groups, Republicans for Harris, and there are those who are positing that this is because she's a stooge of the elite and this represents how she who's truly backing her. What about the argument that many of those in those types of organizations see her as an opportunity to reclaim the Republican party by getting rid of Donald Trump? And it's almost a any port in the storm kind of mentality, they see her as the stalking horse. If they can back her, if she can defeat Trump, they then can, the old school, the traditional Republicans can regain control of their party. What say you Caleb Opin? Caleb Maupin (00:52:58): Well, I would say that the Bush era Republican party is gone. It's never coming back. And Donald Trump is a symptom of that. And that's very clear. And that Donald Trump's recent embracing of Tulsi Gabbard and RFK, that indicates that Donald Trump is taking his campaign in an anti-establishment direction. Now, that doesn't mean that he's going to necessarily do good things as president. That just means that he's increasingly realizing that his appeal is to people that are opposed to the establishment. And I think that means the establishment is going to fight him a lot harder. There's no question about that. And that there are your regular traditional neo-conservative Republicans, my country, right or wrong, if you don't like it here, move to some other country, support the military, support the wars, support America dominating the world, and showing the world about our great American way of life. (00:53:51): Those folks are increasingly finding the Republican party to not be their home. And this is all very interesting. I noticed in Kamala Harris's DNC speech, she attacked the Republicans for denigrating America. And that made me smile because it reminded me of what I always heard about the far left, right? It was the far left. They hate America. They're always saying things are bad. Why are you always running down our country? And a lot of things that Kamala Harris said in her speech almost sounded like Neoconservatism. She attacked Donald Trump for meeting with Kim Jong-Un. She said he was cozying up to tyrants and being friendly with tyrants. And it seemed to me like there was very much the Republican Party, I believe over time is going to become more of a catchall populist, anti-establishment party, whereas the Democratic party is more and more becoming the party of the establishment of the way things are supposed to be. I think that what I would call the late Cold War normal in American politics is being flipped. It used to be the Republican party was the party of the establishment, and the Democrats were the party of opposition. Not very sincere opposition in many cases, but they were the party of, if you didn't agree with what you're supposed to think necessarily, if you're a little more critical, you become a Democrat. Well, Wilmer Leon (00:55:05): If you were proc civil rights, if you were pro-environment, if you were anti-war, that's where you went. Caleb Maupin (00:55:12): Yeah. And I think it's being flipped. And that doesn't mean that Republicans and the MAGA base that are talking a certain way are sincere at all. That just means who they're appealing to. The Republican party has an anti-establishment appeal more and more every day. The Democratic party has a ProE establishment appeal. And I think this Republicans for Harris is a great example of that. Wilmer Leon (00:55:32): So as we move now, spiraling towards November 5th, you've already said you believe that Donald Trump is going to win the election. One of the things that I find very, very telling, and I check it every day when you go to the Harris website, there's still no policy positions stated. There's no policy tab. In fact, when I asked that question a couple of times at the DNCC, I was told, oh, you don't understand. She hasn't had time. There hasn't been. I said, wait a minute. She ran for president four years ago. So she had to have, we hope she had established some policy positions as a candidate. She was the vice president going on four years now, we hope during those four years she could have figured out some policy and it's now been almost a month. You can't tell me that she couldn't pick up the phone and call a bunch of people in the room and say, Hey, I need policies on education, on defense, on the economy, on these five positions. I need policy in 10 days. Go get it done. Caleb Opin. Caleb Maupin (00:57:00): Well, I think there are three possible outcomes for the election. In my mind, probably the worst case scenario would be Kamala Harris winning. And I think that would be followed by a number of, there'd be chaos in the streets. A lot of Trump supporters will not accept it as a legitimate election. And I expect there will then be a big crackdown on dissent, and I expect there'll be a lot of provocations, et cetera. And that will be used by the establishment to crack down on dissent. Wilmer Leon (00:57:26): Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. And people need to understand the crackdown on dissent has already started by looking what's being done to who's being platformed from social media sites. Look at what's happening to folks who are getting arrested, the guy that started Instagram and all of these folks, the three Scott Ritter, your book taken off of taking all of these things are data points to support your position that the crackdown on descent has already started? Caleb Maupin (00:58:02): No, I mean the Biden administration has already indicted. Sue me, Terry, who was the top advisor to Obama and Bush on South Korea. And I mean the fact that she's been indicted as a foreign agent of South Korea just because South Korea wants to have mattered negotiations with North Korea. I mean, it looks like blatant retaliation. Wilmer Leon (00:58:22): And South Korea is an ally. Caleb Maupin (00:58:23): Yeah, their closest friend in Washington dc Sumi Terry has now been accused of being a foreign agent. She's facing decades in prison. I mean, this is craziness. This is a top CIA person who's been a top advisor on career matters. So that would be kind of what I think the worst case scenario would be. The most likely scenario is that I think Donald Trump will win. But all the negative things about Trumpism will amplify. I think the pro-Israel stuff, the pro-police stuff, the anti-immigrant stuff will amplify Wilmer Leon (00:58:55): Project 2025. Caleb Maupin (00:58:56): Yeah, the government will try to, the powers that be will try to ride the wave of Trumpism to push forward their own agenda, which is not good But I do think there is a third possible scenario, which is a real long shot. It's a real long shot, which is that Donald Trump takes office in a completely defensive position. And under those circumstances, he may be compelled to do a lot of good things because he's just at odds with the establishment and needs popular support. So much so we shall have to see. But those are my three predictions. But in all of those circumstances on anti-imperialist organization, a network of people that are committed to anti imperialism and building a new America beyond the rule of bankers and war profiteers is going to be vitally important. And at the end of the day, what really matters is not so much who is in office, it's what the balance of forces is in the country and around the world, and what kind of movement exists, what kind organizations. (00:59:58): There are people that are involved in the political process and to change the world and taking responsibility for the future of their country. And I wrote the book as a textbook for the Center for Political Innovation. My organization as we try to do just that, as we try to build a network of people who can rely on each other and build an anti-imperialist movement in the United States to support the Hru three, to study these ideas to be out there. That is one thing we aim to do. If Donald Trump wins the election, one thing that we aim to do is and intend to get that picture of Donald Trump shaking hands with Kim Jong-un and get it everywhere and say that this election is a mandate that the peace talks on the Korean Peninsula should continue. And that could be a way to nudge the discourse toward a more peace oriented wing of Trumpism. (01:00:46): That's one thing that we intend to do. We have other operations that we intend to carry out with the aim of nudging the country in an anti-colonial direction. One thing that I think is very important is Alaska, right? Alaska is right there close to Russia and there's the bearing Strait that separates Russia and Alaska and Abraham Lincoln had the idea of building a bridge to connect Alaska to Russia. And a lot of great people have had the idea of doing that since. And I think popularizing the idea of building a world land bridge to connect Alaska to Russia and pivot the US economy toward trading with the Russian Far East and with the Korean Peninsula and with China that could nudge the world and a direction of Multipolarity pivot away from Western Europe and towards the World Land Bridge and the bearing Strait and all of that. (01:01:36): So there are various things that we can do to try and influence discourse, but I must say the explosion is coming, right? I mean, you can feel it rumbling in the ground. The avalanche is going to pour, the volcano is going to go off. It's only a matter of time. Those of us who study these ideas and understand things, we have the job not of making the explosion come, but rather of trying to guide it in the right direction. The conditions in this country are getting worse. Americans are angry at the establishment. Things are going to change. But what we hope to do is guide that change and point it in a good direction toward a better world. And that's all we can really hope to do. I quote Mao the leader of the Chinese Revolution. He said The masses are the real heroes and at the end of the day, it will be the masses of the American people and their millions who determine what the future of this country will be. I think they are going to awaken and take action. The question is only what type of action will that be? And I think guys like you and I have a role to play in shaping what kind of action they might take when they do awaken. Wilmer Leon (01:02:39): Well, thank you for putting me in that group. And if we are able to build a bridge across the bearing strait between Alaska and Russia, I'm sure Sarah Palin will be the first one. Should be operating the toll booth. My brother. Alright, my brother Kayla mopping. Man, thank you so much for being my guest. Thank you so much for joining the show today. Caleb Maupin (01:03:05): Sure thing. Always a pleasure Wilmer Leon (01:03:07): Folks. Thank you so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Woman Leon. Stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, follow us on social media. The Patreon account is very, very important. That helps to support the effort. You can find all the links below in the show description and remember that this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge talk without analysis is just chatter. And we don't chatter here on connecting the dots. See you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wilmer Leon. Have a great one. Peace. I'm out Announcer (01:03:50): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge.    

Plus, Huawei is close to introducing a new chip for artificial intelligence use. And South Korea proposes voluntary disclosure of electric vehicle battery brands following Mercedes-Benz fire. Zoe Thomas hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hurricane, which peaked as a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean, bombarded Texas with flooding rain, destructive winds and storm surge earlier this week, upending lives and causing billions in economic damage. Also, Hurricane Beryl set plenty of records as a tropical storm, then set more after it came ashore and spawned tornadoes. And South Korea's highest mountain is facing environmental damage from an unexpected source – instant noodles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A U.S. military-built pier off Gaza's coast is being temporarily removed after part of the structure broke off, in the latest blow to efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Mexico's election frontrunner looks set to take a tough stance on cartels. And South Korea accuses the North of sending over balloons filled with trash and excrement.  Also, the jury in Donald Trump's criminal trial could be sent out as soon as today. For more on the case listen to our special episode here Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. For more on South Africa's election listen here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Policy makers and experts have gathered in Beijing for the China-Germany Dialogue Forum(01:03). Israel has confirmed the killing of the sons of Hamas' leader(11:06). And South Korea's opposition scores a big win in parliamentary elections(18:44).

Support us on Patreon for BONUS episodes each month & other perks: https://www.patreon.com/thesavegpodcast In this week's episode we kick off discussing the tragic story of a young man who burned himself in protest of the Israel & Palestine conflict. Taylor Swift fans are angry with poor merchandise quality. Landlords in London getting cheeky with putting in "no sex" clauses into tenancy agreements. Hasan Piker under fire for commenting that Twitch Streaming is harder than "real jobs". Apparently we are headed towards a dementia tsunami, given several factors including an aging population. And South Korea doctors protest the governments plan to increase the number of admissions into med school. Hope you enjoyed the episode!! LISTEN TO THE SAVEG PODCAST - https://linktr.ee/thesavegpodcast

World News in 7 minutes. Thursday 15th February 2024Today: Sierra Leone kush. Nigeria energy debts. Colombia endangered species. Mexico drug raid. Russian ship sunk. EU influencers. Indonesia presidential election. India farmers march. And South Korea beef rice.With Ben MallettIf you enjoy the podcast please help to support us at send7.org/supportSupporters can read the transcripts at send7.org/transcriptsSupporters can try our weekly news quiz at send7.org/quizContact us at podcast@send7.org or send an audio message at speakpipe.com/send7Please leave a rating on Apple podcasts or Spotify.SEND7 (Simple English News Daily in 7 minutes) tells the most important world news stories in intermediate English. Every day, listen to the most important stories from every part of the world in slow, clear English. Whether you are an intermediate learner trying to improve your advanced, technical and business English, or if you are a native speaker who just wants to hear a summary of world news as fast as possible, join Stephen Devincenzi and Ben Mallett every morning. Transcripts can be found at send7.org/transcripts. Simple English News Daily is the perfect way to start your day, by practising your listening skills and understanding complicated stories in a simple way. It is also highly valuable for IELTS and TOEFL students. Students, teachers, and people with English as a second language, tell us that they listen to SEND7 because they can learn English through hard topics, but simple grammar. We believe that the best way to improve your spoken English is to immerse yourself in real-life content, such as what our podcast provides. SEND7 covers all news including politics, business, natural events and human rights. Whether it is happening in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas or Oceania, you will hear it on SEND7, and you will understand it.For more information visit send7.org/contact

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has answered questions from domestic and foreign journalists on the sidelines of China's annual legislative session. (04:44) China will set up a national financial regulatory administration, with a plan submitted to the national legislature for deliberation. (07:48) And South Korea has announced compensation plans for people forced to work under Japan's occupation in the early 20th century. (20:17)

What's the true scale of China's virus surge? An estimate puts the number at 600 million. The United States is considering new steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 as infections skyrocket in China. A growing number of countries are now taking action, from France to Australia. Twenty feet—the dangerously close distance between Chinese and American military aircraft. But which side is to blame? North Korea is celebrating the new year with missiles. Its leader is vowing to develop a larger nuclear arsenal. And South Korea responds. Will there be a nuclear race on the Korean peninsula? The Chinese ambassador to the United States is given an unprecedented spotlight at an NBA game. We look at why. ⭕️ Watch in-depth videos based on Truth & Tradition at Epoch TV

Eight billion: That's the number of people now living on planet Earth, according to a UN report. And it took only 11 years for the world's population to grow from 7 billion to 8 billion.In a symbolic move, a baby girl born today in the Philippines was welcomed as number 8 billion, especially since it's difficult to accurately calculate the number of people in the world, with sums possibly being off by a year or two.Meanwhile, India is projected to become the world's most populous country by next year, surpassing China.The World's host Carol Hills discussed the issue of population growth and what it means for society with Jennifer Sciubba. She is a demographer and author of the book, "8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World," and joined the discussion from Washington, DC.Carol Hills: Jennifer, you've said the focus should not just be on the number of babies being born — that that's the wrong way to frame things. I wonder why and what is the right way?Jennifer Sciubba: Well, if we were in the last century, it would make a lot of sense for us to think about numbers overall, because we started last century with only 1.6 billion people and ended it with 6.1 billion. It was a century of exponential population growth. This century, even though we've already added 2 billion people, that's not what will characterize this moment for us. Instead, it's a story of differential population trends. We've never been further apart around the world in terms of births, deaths and migration. And that's where we really need to keep our focus as we go through this century, toward a time when actually global population trends will be converging. A graphic showing global human population milestones. Credit: Courtesy of Jennifer Sciubba Living standards is a big issue on this topic. And living standards for Americans — we consume a tremendous amount of resources. If the whole world lived like us, would we just be totally sunk?I think we would be. I think that where we really need to focus our innovation and our attention over the next few decades is places in the world that have standards of living that are rising to meet those in America. It's not necessarily places that actually have high fertility. I think the really remarkable place to look at is India, for example. On average, for the whole country, the fertility rate is actually below replacement, below the number needed just to replace who's already born. But we know that this is one area of the world that is about to be the most populous country in the world, really, any day now will surpass China, and standards of living there are rising. So, how do we equip Indians to have a rising standard of living, a better quality of life, but in a way that will be sustainable for them and their environment?A lot of the future growth in population is projected for Africa. What specific countries have the highest birthrate there and what are the implications of that?We might look at Nigeria. Nigeria's population is looking to double between now and mid-century, and Nigeria will replace the United States as the third most-populous country. And the leadership in Nigeria has not shown quite the level of commitment needed to rights-based family planning and reproductive health, girls education, ending child marriage, those kinds of policy measures that would help lower fertility. They lower preferences for the number of children, and they also allow people to exercise those preferences.Isn't there an inherent tension between living standards and population, meaning the higher the living standard, the fewer kids people have? Is that correct?Yes. So, when we think about 'why do people start to have fewer children?' — it's not just one thing. So, we know that with more educational opportunities, people will delay the time when they have their first child. And of course, when you delay the time you have your first child, eventually, biologically for women, you end up running out of time. We know when there are other economic opportunities outside the home, and we also know that there are some real negative pressures on fertility. I think something for us to watch out for are places where total fertility rates are very low. We're talking in South Korea, for example, less than one child per woman on average. And South Korea is not alone. It may be the lowest, but I think that a lot of countries are really seeing that very low pressure on fertility. A graphic breaking down the difference between healthy and overall life expectancy at birth. Credit: Courtesy of Jennifer Sciubba/Data from World Health Organization I want to turn to climate change. Many people worry that global population growth is bad for the fight against global warming. Others say that's not necessarily the case. Break down those two camps and how do you see it?Two out of every three people on the planet live somewhere with the low replacement fertility, meaning the number needed to just replace who's already born. So, if we want to frame the issue of population as one of overpopulation, that doesn't work when you're talking about places where people are already having few children. So, to frame it as overpopulation can be really ethically a quagmire. Certainly, there are places in the world that still have high fertility, and those places, we need to double down on our efforts to have education and family planning.We've talked about regions where populations are growing fast and regions where birthrates are crashing. There's a third dynamic, too, which is regions where populations are physically moving. How does global migration factor into understanding how 8 billion people fit together on this planet?Migration is the third pillar of population change and it's just as important as trends in births or deaths. But the impact of it is uneven. If we look globally, over 96% of us stay put. We don't move. The effect globally is that, while there are millions, hundreds of millions of people who move, the proportion of the world population who lives outside the country in which they were born has actually been steady and been quite low — below 4% — over the last several decades. But where these people move, and where they move from, is uneven around the globe.Bottom line, how many people can the planet feed and sustain?The planet can feed and sustain billions more. It is a matter of whether or not we have the political will and the know-how and the innovation to do so. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. Related: China now allows 3 kids per family, but many couples say they can't afford it

The lockdown in China's economic capital Shanghai is now one month old, with most of the city's 26 million inhabitants still confined to their homes, despite a fall in Covid cases this week. The city has recorded over 530,000 cases since the start of the latest outbreak in early March. A military court in Myanmar has sentenced the country's former leader, Nobel peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in prison for corruption. Prize in 1990. And South Korea and Japan agree to "change tenor" of their recently frosty relationship, ahead of the May inauguration of new Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol.

President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen of the nationalist-populist National Rally party will advance to a run-off; in the continuation of our series, we ask what to expect in an unexpectedly tight race. Russian military communications have proven easy to intercept, leading to poor co-ordination and heavy battlefield losses. And South Korea's millennials are frantically hunting for Pokémon-themed snacks.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen of the nationalist-populist National Rally party will advance to a run-off; in the continuation of our series, we ask what to expect in an unexpectedly tight race. Russian military communications have proven easy to intercept, leading to poor co-ordination and heavy battlefield losses. And South Korea's millennials are frantically hunting for Pokémon-themed snacks.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The latest on China's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including calls for Xi Jinping to use his leverage over Vladimir Putin to convince the Russian leader to back down. Ed says despite all of the mounting objections to Russia's actions, there are signs that western allies India and Pakistan are moving even closer to Russia since the invasion, meanwhile Taiwan is starting to take its own defence and security more seriously after being rocked by the events in Ukraine. And South Korea has a new president after a scandal ridden campaign which has enraged women voters. Ed White is a correspondent with the Financial Times.

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for February 18th, 2022.One influential model estimates 73% of Americans are, for now, immune to Omicron, and that could rise to 80% by mid-March. The coronavirus is still dangerous and tens of millions remain vulnerable. But at this point, experts say at least most immune systems have seen the coronavirus before and won't be as vulnerable. California is moving on. It became the first state to formally shift to an “endemic” approach to the coronavirus with a plan that emphasizes prevention and quick reaction to outbreaks rather than mandated masking and business shutdowns. A disease reaches endemic status when the virus still exists but becomes manageable as immunity builds.Is the White House aware of what stage of the pandemic we're in and that several states are dropping mask mandates? The administration says it's now going to focus on making sure kid-sized masks are distributed to pharmacies and community health centers. Regular masks don't always fit little faces well. The CDC does recommend kids 2-years old and up who aren't vaccinated stay masked in indoor public spaces.You'll notice the vaccination rates we've been reporting have been pretty much stuck. But now that we have some hindsight, what arguments did work in terms of convincing skeptics to get the shots? A Harvard Business School study says altruistic messages like protecting others or the economy worked better than self-protection messages. The study found mixed results at best for vaccine mandates making a difference.It was accused of being a super spreader event, but was it? The CDC has concluded that just because a person tested positive for Omicron after attending an anime convention in New York City late last year, it wasn't a super spreader event. They credit vaccinations and good airflow at the convention center. Plus, a lot of cosplay going on, so it was a place you were going to find a lot of masks anyway. In the United States, cases were down 68%, deaths are down 13%, and hospitalizations are down 39% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 14. The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Idaho. There are 27,940,922 active cases in the United States.The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Nome Census Area, AK. Attala, MS. Big Horn, MT. Floyd, KY. Perry, KY. Marengo, AL. Butler, KY. Estill, KY. Clay, KY. And Letcher, KY. There have been 931,505 deaths in the U.S. recorded as COVID-related.The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Rhode Island at 80.1%, Vermont at 79.9%, and Maine at 78.1%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 49.9%, Wyoming at 50.3%, and Mississippi at 50.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 64.5%.Globally, cases were down 35% and deaths down 1% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since January 25. There are 70,345,679 active cases around the world.The five countries with the most new cases: Germany 227,613. Russia 180,622. Brazil 129,266. The United States 103,377. And South Korea 93,127. There have been 5,861,456 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Vaccine 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Vaccine 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Covid 411, the latest on Omicron and other COVID variants, and new hotspots for February 18th, 2022. One influential model estimates 73% of Americans are, for now, immune to Omicron, and that could rise to 80% by mid-March. The coronavirus is still dangerous and tens of millions remain vulnerable. But at this point, experts say at least most immune systems have seen the coronavirus before and won't be as vulnerable. California is moving on. It became the first state to formally shift to an “endemic” approach to the coronavirus with a plan that emphasizes prevention and quick reaction to outbreaks rather than mandated masking and business shutdowns. A disease reaches endemic status when the virus still exists but becomes manageable as immunity builds.Is the White House aware of what stage of the pandemic we're in and that several states are dropping mask mandates? The administration says it's now going to focus on making sure kid-sized masks are distributed to pharmacies and community health centers. Regular masks don't always fit little faces well. The CDC does recommend kids 2-years old and up who aren't vaccinated stay masked in indoor public spaces.You'll notice the vaccination rates we've been reporting have been pretty much stuck. But now that we have some hindsight, what arguments did work in terms of convincing skeptics to get the shots? A Harvard Business School study says altruistic messages like protecting others or the economy worked better than self-protection messages. The study found mixed results at best for vaccine mandates making a difference.It was accused of being a super spreader event, but was it? The CDC has concluded that just because a person tested positive for Omicron after attending an anime convention in New York City late last year, it wasn't a super spreader event. They credit vaccinations and good airflow at the convention center. Plus, a lot of cosplay going on, so it was a place you were going to find a lot of masks anyway. In the United States, cases were down 68%, deaths are down 13%, and hospitalizations are down 39% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 14. The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Idaho. There are 27,940,922 active cases in the United States.The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Nome Census Area, AK. Attala, MS. Big Horn, MT. Floyd, KY. Perry, KY. Marengo, AL. Butler, KY. Estill, KY. Clay, KY. And Letcher, KY. There have been 931,505 deaths in the U.S. recorded as COVID-related.The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Rhode Island at 80.1%, Vermont at 79.9%, and Maine at 78.1%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 49.9%, Wyoming at 50.3%, and Mississippi at 50.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 64.5%.Globally, cases were down 35% and deaths down 1% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since January 25. There are 70,345,679 active cases around the world.The five countries with the most new cases: Germany 227,613. Russia 180,622. Brazil 129,266. The United States 103,377. And South Korea 93,127. There have been 5,861,456 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Covid 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Covid 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Czech President Milos Zeman has been hospitalized for a week with no word to his constituents about what's wrong with him.捷克总统米洛什·泽曼已住院一周，但没有向选民们透露他的病情。Zeman was taken into intensive care on October 10.泽曼于10月10日被送进了重症监护室。No diagnosis has been provided.还未提供诊断结果。His doctors have not said how long he will need to recover.他的医生还未说明他需要多久才能康复。The president's silence is all the more worrying because the Czech Republic has just held an election and it is the president's duty to appoint the next prime minister.总统的沉默更加令人担忧，因为捷克共和国刚刚举行了选举，总统有责任任命下一任总理。(A) president spokesman said Zeman has been in communication and following developments in the country.总统发言人说，泽曼一直在沟通之中并关注着该国的事态发展。He said being in the hospital has not gotten in the way of the president's constitutional duties.他说，住院并没有妨碍总统履行宪法职责。NASA launched a first-of-its kind mission on Saturday to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system's outer planets.美国国家航空航天局周六启动了一项史无前例的任务，对木星的特洛伊小行星进行研究。木星特洛伊小行星是由两大群太空岩石组成的，科学家们认为它们是形成太阳系外行星的原始物质的残留物。The space probe dubbed Lucy and packed inside a special cargo capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.名为“露西”的太空探测器装载在一个特殊的货舱里，从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射升空。And South Korea plans to test its first domestically produced space launch vehicle next week.韩国计划下周测试其首个国产太空运载火箭。That's a major step toward jump-starting the country's space program and achieving ambitious goals in 6G networks, spy satellites and even lunar probes.这是该国启动太空计划迈出的重要一步，也是实现6G网络、间谍卫星甚至月球探测器方面宏伟目标的重要一步。If all goes well, the three-stage rocket designed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will carry a dummy satellite into space on Thursday.如果一切顺利，韩国航空宇宙研究院设计的3级火箭将于周四搭载模拟卫星进入太空。The man who killed five people with a bow and arrow and other weapons in Norway on Wednesday was probably suffering from mental illness, according to police.据警方称，周三在挪威用弓箭和其他武器杀死5人的男子可能患有精神疾病。The attacker went on a half-hour rampage in the southern town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, assaulting people in the streets and forcing his way into houses and into one supermarket.周三，这名袭击者在南部城市康斯伯格横冲直撞半小时，袭击了街上的人，并强行闯入民宅和一家超市。Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government is keen not to interfere in any file related to the judiciary, this according to a statement from his office on Saturday.据黎巴嫩总理纳吉布·米卡提办公室周六发表的一份声明称，政府不愿意干涉任何与司法有关的卷宗。The statement came following a meeting with the justice minister and the head of the higher judicial council after seven people were killed in violence in Beirut on Thursday.该声明是在与司法部长和高级司法委员会负责人会晤后发表的，此前有7人于周四发生在贝鲁特的暴力事件中丧生。

Czech President Milos Zeman has been hospitalized for a week with no word to his constituents about what's wrong with him.捷克总统米洛什·泽曼已住院一周，但没有向选民们透露他的病情。Zeman was taken into intensive care on October 10.泽曼于10月10日被送进了重症监护室。No diagnosis has been provided.还未提供诊断结果。His doctors have not said how long he will need to recover.他的医生还未说明他需要多久才能康复。The president's silence is all the more worrying because the Czech Republic has just held an election and it is the president's duty to appoint the next prime minister.总统的沉默更加令人担忧，因为捷克共和国刚刚举行了选举，总统有责任任命下一任总理。(A) president spokesman said Zeman has been in communication and following developments in the country.总统发言人说，泽曼一直在沟通之中并关注着该国的事态发展。He said being in the hospital has not gotten in the way of the president's constitutional duties.他说，住院并没有妨碍总统履行宪法职责。NASA launched a first-of-its kind mission on Saturday to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system's outer planets.美国国家航空航天局周六启动了一项史无前例的任务，对木星的特洛伊小行星进行研究。木星特洛伊小行星是由两大群太空岩石组成的，科学家们认为它们是形成太阳系外行星的原始物质的残留物。The space probe dubbed Lucy and packed inside a special cargo capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.名为“露西”的太空探测器装载在一个特殊的货舱里，从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射升空。And South Korea plans to test its first domestically produced space launch vehicle next week.韩国计划下周测试其首个国产太空运载火箭。That's a major step toward jump-starting the country's space program and achieving ambitious goals in 6G networks, spy satellites and even lunar probes.这是该国启动太空计划迈出的重要一步，也是实现6G网络、间谍卫星甚至月球探测器方面宏伟目标的重要一步。If all goes well, the three-stage rocket designed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will carry a dummy satellite into space on Thursday.如果一切顺利，韩国航空宇宙研究院设计的3级火箭将于周四搭载模拟卫星进入太空。The man who killed five people with a bow and arrow and other weapons in Norway on Wednesday was probably suffering from mental illness, according to police.据警方称，周三在挪威用弓箭和其他武器杀死5人的男子可能患有精神疾病。The attacker went on a half-hour rampage in the southern town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, assaulting people in the streets and forcing his way into houses and into one supermarket.周三，这名袭击者在南部城市康斯伯格横冲直撞半小时，袭击了街上的人，并强行闯入民宅和一家超市。Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government is keen not to interfere in any file related to the judiciary, this according to a statement from his office on Saturday.据黎巴嫩总理纳吉布·米卡提办公室周六发表的一份声明称，政府不愿意干涉任何与司法有关的卷宗。The statement came following a meeting with the justice minister and the head of the higher judicial council after seven people were killed in violence in Beirut on Thursday.该声明是在与司法部长和高级司法委员会负责人会晤后发表的，此前有7人于周四发生在贝鲁特的暴力事件中丧生。

Czech President Milos Zeman has been hospitalized for a week with no word to his constituents about what's wrong with him.捷克总统米洛什·泽曼已住院一周，但没有向选民们透露他的病情。Zeman was taken into intensive care on October 10.泽曼于10月10日被送进了重症监护室。No diagnosis has been provided.还未提供诊断结果。His doctors have not said how long he will need to recover.他的医生还未说明他需要多久才能康复。The president's silence is all the more worrying because the Czech Republic has just held an election and it is the president's duty to appoint the next prime minister.总统的沉默更加令人担忧，因为捷克共和国刚刚举行了选举，总统有责任任命下一任总理。(A) president spokesman said Zeman has been in communication and following developments in the country.总统发言人说，泽曼一直在沟通之中并关注着该国的事态发展。He said being in the hospital has not gotten in the way of the president's constitutional duties.他说，住院并没有妨碍总统履行宪法职责。NASA launched a first-of-its kind mission on Saturday to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system's outer planets.美国国家航空航天局周六启动了一项史无前例的任务，对木星的特洛伊小行星进行研究。木星特洛伊小行星是由两大群太空岩石组成的，科学家们认为它们是形成太阳系外行星的原始物质的残留物。The space probe dubbed Lucy and packed inside a special cargo capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.名为“露西”的太空探测器装载在一个特殊的货舱里，从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射升空。And South Korea plans to test its first domestically produced space launch vehicle next week.韩国计划下周测试其首个国产太空运载火箭。That's a major step toward jump-starting the country's space program and achieving ambitious goals in 6G networks, spy satellites and even lunar probes.这是该国启动太空计划迈出的重要一步，也是实现6G网络、间谍卫星甚至月球探测器方面宏伟目标的重要一步。If all goes well, the three-stage rocket designed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will carry a dummy satellite into space on Thursday.如果一切顺利，韩国航空宇宙研究院设计的3级火箭将于周四搭载模拟卫星进入太空。The man who killed five people with a bow and arrow and other weapons in Norway on Wednesday was probably suffering from mental illness, according to police.据警方称，周三在挪威用弓箭和其他武器杀死5人的男子可能患有精神疾病。The attacker went on a half-hour rampage in the southern town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, assaulting people in the streets and forcing his way into houses and into one supermarket.周三，这名袭击者在南部城市康斯伯格横冲直撞半小时，袭击了街上的人，并强行闯入民宅和一家超市。Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government is keen not to interfere in any file related to the judiciary, this according to a statement from his office on Saturday.据黎巴嫩总理纳吉布·米卡提办公室周六发表的一份声明称，政府不愿意干涉任何与司法有关的卷宗。The statement came following a meeting with the justice minister and the head of the higher judicial council after seven people were killed in violence in Beirut on Thursday.该声明是在与司法部长和高级司法委员会负责人会晤后发表的，此前有7人于周四发生在贝鲁特的暴力事件中丧生。

Czech President Milos Zeman has been hospitalized for a week with no word to his constituents about what's wrong with him.捷克总统米洛什·泽曼已住院一周，但没有向选民们透露他的病情。Zeman was taken into intensive care on October 10.泽曼于10月10日被送进了重症监护室。No diagnosis has been provided.还未提供诊断结果。His doctors have not said how long he will need to recover.他的医生还未说明他需要多久才能康复。The president's silence is all the more worrying because the Czech Republic has just held an election and it is the president's duty to appoint the next prime minister.总统的沉默更加令人担忧，因为捷克共和国刚刚举行了选举，总统有责任任命下一任总理。(A) president spokesman said Zeman has been in communication and following developments in the country.总统发言人说，泽曼一直在沟通之中并关注着该国的事态发展。He said being in the hospital has not gotten in the way of the president's constitutional duties.他说，住院并没有妨碍总统履行宪法职责。NASA launched a first-of-its kind mission on Saturday to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system's outer planets.美国国家航空航天局周六启动了一项史无前例的任务，对木星的特洛伊小行星进行研究。木星特洛伊小行星是由两大群太空岩石组成的，科学家们认为它们是形成太阳系外行星的原始物质的残留物。The space probe dubbed Lucy and packed inside a special cargo capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.名为“露西”的太空探测器装载在一个特殊的货舱里，从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射升空。And South Korea plans to test its first domestically produced space launch vehicle next week.韩国计划下周测试其首个国产太空运载火箭。That's a major step toward jump-starting the country's space program and achieving ambitious goals in 6G networks, spy satellites and even lunar probes.这是该国启动太空计划迈出的重要一步，也是实现6G网络、间谍卫星甚至月球探测器方面宏伟目标的重要一步。If all goes well, the three-stage rocket designed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will carry a dummy satellite into space on Thursday.如果一切顺利，韩国航空宇宙研究院设计的3级火箭将于周四搭载模拟卫星进入太空。The man who killed five people with a bow and arrow and other weapons in Norway on Wednesday was probably suffering from mental illness, according to police.据警方称，周三在挪威用弓箭和其他武器杀死5人的男子可能患有精神疾病。The attacker went on a half-hour rampage in the southern town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, assaulting people in the streets and forcing his way into houses and into one supermarket.周三，这名袭击者在南部城市康斯伯格横冲直撞半小时，袭击了街上的人，并强行闯入民宅和一家超市。Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government is keen not to interfere in any file related to the judiciary, this according to a statement from his office on Saturday.据黎巴嫩总理纳吉布·米卡提办公室周六发表的一份声明称，政府不愿意干涉任何与司法有关的卷宗。The statement came following a meeting with the justice minister and the head of the higher judicial council after seven people were killed in violence in Beirut on Thursday.该声明是在与司法部长和高级司法委员会负责人会晤后发表的，此前有7人于周四发生在贝鲁特的暴力事件中丧生。

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 14th, 2021. After a 19-month freeze, the United States will open its land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel. Fully vaccinated foreign nationals can enter the U.S. for whatever reason starting early November. Travelers will be asked about their vaccination status as part of the standard Customs and Border Protection admissions process, and no testing will be required to enter by land or sea. Despite full steam ahead by the U.S. administration and other countries, the Director General of the World Health Organization called booster shots while initial inoculations lag in some countries is "immoral, unfair, and unjust.” He went on to say, "To start boosters is really the worst we can do as a global community." A federal judge ruled the state of New York can't impose a vaccine mandate on healthcare workers and not allow their employers to consider religious exemption requests. The judge said the vaccination requirement conflicted with the workers' federally protected right to seek religious accommodations from their employers. The Governor vowed to fight the decision. At least 24 states have imposed vaccine requirements on workers, usually in healthcare. Boeing told employees they have to be vaccinated and if they don't, they might get fired. Deadline is December 8 and the company said compliance is a condition of employment. This affects about 125,000 U.S.-based employees. The International Association of Machinists union said it's their responsibility to defend and advocate for members, but the fact is the membership is polarized on the issue. So can you get a booster from a different vaccine than your original doses? A new NIH study found yes, it's safe and effective. However, Moderna and Pfizer were found to spark a stronger immune system response than Johnson & Johnson. The study found those that got J&J got stronger antibody levels after getting a Moderna or Pfizer booster, compared to another J&J shot. In the United States cases were down 21%, deaths are down 4%, and hospitalizations are down 20% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since September 13. There are 9,695,293 active cases in the United States. With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Michigan 23%, Minnesota 18%. North Dakota and Pennsylvania 12%. And Montana 10%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Karnes, TX. Bethel Census Area, AK. Lewis, KY. Stark, ND. Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK. Knox, IN. Goshen, WY. Rio Grande, CO. Clay, TX. And Nome Census Area, AK. There have been at least 717,812 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 70.3%, Connecticut at 69.6%, and Rhode Island at 69.4%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia still unchanged at 40.7%, Idaho at 42.5%, and Wyoming at 42.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 56.5%. The five countries with biggest 24-hour increases in the number of fully vaccinated people: Taiwan up 5%. And South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Oceana 2%. Globally, cases were down 13% and deaths were down 14% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 26. There are 17,774,995 active cases around the world. The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 84,154. The U.K. 38,076. Turkey 33,860. Russia 28,190. And Romania 16,743. There have been at least 4,870,663 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for October 14th, 2021. After a 19-month freeze, the United States will open its land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel. Fully vaccinated foreign nationals can enter the U.S. for whatever reason starting early November. Travelers will be asked about their vaccination status as part of the standard Customs and Border Protection admissions process, and no testing will be required to enter by land or sea. Despite full steam ahead by the U.S. administration and other countries, the Director General of the World Health Organization called booster shots while initial inoculations lag in some countries is "immoral, unfair, and unjust.” He went on to say, "To start boosters is really the worst we can do as a global community." A federal judge ruled the state of New York can't impose a vaccine mandate on healthcare workers and not allow their employers to consider religious exemption requests. The judge said the vaccination requirement conflicted with the workers' federally protected right to seek religious accommodations from their employers. The Governor vowed to fight the decision. At least 24 states have imposed vaccine requirements on workers, usually in healthcare. Boeing told employees they have to be vaccinated and if they don't, they might get fired. Deadline is December 8 and the company said compliance is a condition of employment. This affects about 125,000 U.S.-based employees. The International Association of Machinists union said it's their responsibility to defend and advocate for members, but the fact is the membership is polarized on the issue. So can you get a booster from a different vaccine than your original doses? A new NIH study found yes, it's safe and effective. However, Moderna and Pfizer were found to spark a stronger immune system response than Johnson & Johnson. The study found those that got J&J got stronger antibody levels after getting a Moderna or Pfizer booster, compared to another J&J shot. In the United States cases were down 21%, deaths are down 4%, and hospitalizations are down 20% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since September 13. There are 9,695,293 active cases in the United States. With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Michigan 23%, Minnesota 18%. North Dakota and Pennsylvania 12%. And Montana 10%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Karnes, TX. Bethel Census Area, AK. Lewis, KY. Stark, ND. Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK. Knox, IN. Goshen, WY. Rio Grande, CO. Clay, TX. And Nome Census Area, AK. There have been at least 717,812 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 70.3%, Connecticut at 69.6%, and Rhode Island at 69.4%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia still unchanged at 40.7%, Idaho at 42.5%, and Wyoming at 42.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 56.5%. The five countries with biggest 24-hour increases in the number of fully vaccinated people: Taiwan up 5%. And South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Oceana 2%. Globally, cases were down 13% and deaths were down 14% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 26. There are 17,774,995 active cases around the world. The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 84,154. The U.K. 38,076. Turkey 33,860. Russia 28,190. And Romania 16,743. There have been at least 4,870,663 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for October 1st, 2021. Time to get your vaccine. We're not talking about your COVID vaccine although you're supposed to get that too. It's also flu shot time. And yes, health experts are very worried that there's plenty of vaccine fatigue out there which could result in an atypical drop in the number of people getting their flu shots. It also could be a hard sell because flu cases are at historically low levels, at least partly because of the pandemic. You might think the vast majority of Americans are of one mind and in favor of vaccine mandates, but an AP poll shows that's not the case. In fact, as we so often are these days, the country is split almost 50/50 on the issue. 51% approve, 34% disapprove and 14% haven't formed an opinion yet. Even 23% of people who have been vaccinated are against mandates. As for how mandates by employers are working, United Airlines say of the employees facing firing for not accepting the vaccine shots, almost half eventually submitted. That leaves only about 320 employees to fire. Delta's trying another tactic, charging unvaccinated workers an extra $200 a month on their health plans. We thought we'd go ahead and answer this question before you ask it. Are you considered fully vaccinated so you can work and travel and go shopping if you do not get a booster shot? The CDC says yes, you're fully vaccinated two weeks after getting a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. Boosters are recommended for people 65 and over, long-term care residents, and those 50 to 64 with health problems like diabetes or heart disease if they got their last Pfizer shot at least six months ago. People who got Moderna and J&J aren't even eligible for boosters yet. In the Broadway show, Aladdin sings about a whole new world and that's obviously what we're living in. Because that show was cancelled Wednesday when several of the company's members tested positive. They had just reopened the show the day before. In the United States cases were down 26%, deaths are up 2%, and hospitalizations are down 17% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since September 13. There are 9,875,879 active cases in the United States. With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Maine 21%, Vermont 20%, and Montana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia 18%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Kodiak Island Borough, AK. Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK. Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK. Green, KY. Cleburne, AL. Lewis, WV. Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK. Letcher, KY. Whitley, KY. And Waynesboro, VA. There have been at least 697,832 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 69.4%, Connecticut unchanged at 68.6%, and Maine at 68.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia still unchanged at 40.4%, and Wyoming and Idaho at 41.5%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 55.5%. The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Taiwan up 4%. Ethiopia 3%. And South Korea, Australia, and Indonesia 2%. Globally, cases were down 17% and deaths were down 13% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,404,118 active cases around the world. The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 113,922. The U.K. 36,480. Turkey 29,104. Brazil 27,527. And India 27,300. There have now been at least 4,781,886 deaths reported as Covid-related... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for October 1st, 2021. Time to get your vaccine. We're not talking about your COVID vaccine although you're supposed to get that too. It's also flu shot time. And yes, health experts are very worried that there's plenty of vaccine fatigue out there which could result in an atypical drop in the number of people getting their flu shots. It also could be a hard sell because flu cases are at historically low levels, at least partly because of the pandemic. You might think the vast majority of Americans are of one mind and in favor of vaccine mandates, but an AP poll shows that's not the case. In fact, as we so often are these days, the country is split almost 50/50 on the issue. 51% approve, 34% disapprove and 14% haven't formed an opinion yet. Even 23% of people who have been vaccinated are against mandates. As for how mandates by employers are working, United Airlines say of the employees facing firing for not accepting the vaccine shots, almost half eventually submitted. That leaves only about 320 employees to fire. Delta's trying another tactic, charging unvaccinated workers an extra $200 a month on their health plans. We thought we'd go ahead and answer this question before you ask it. Are you considered fully vaccinated so you can work and travel and go shopping if you do not get a booster shot? The CDC says yes, you're fully vaccinated two weeks after getting a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. Boosters are recommended for people 65 and over, long-term care residents, and those 50 to 64 with health problems like diabetes or heart disease if they got their last Pfizer shot at least six months ago. People who got Moderna and J&J aren't even eligible for boosters yet. In the Broadway show, Aladdin sings about a whole new world and that's obviously what we're living in. Because that show was cancelled Wednesday when several of the company's members tested positive. They had just reopened the show the day before. In the United States cases were down 26%, deaths are up 2%, and hospitalizations are down 17% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since September 13. There are 9,875,879 active cases in the United States. With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Maine 21%, Vermont 20%, and Montana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia 18%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Kodiak Island Borough, AK. Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK. Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK. Green, KY. Cleburne, AL. Lewis, WV. Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK. Letcher, KY. Whitley, KY. And Waynesboro, VA. There have been at least 697,832 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 69.4%, Connecticut unchanged at 68.6%, and Maine at 68.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia still unchanged at 40.4%, and Wyoming and Idaho at 41.5%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 55.5%. The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Taiwan up 4%. Ethiopia 3%. And South Korea, Australia, and Indonesia 2%. Globally, cases were down 17% and deaths were down 13% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,404,118 active cases around the world. The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 113,922. The U.K. 36,480. Turkey 29,104. Brazil 27,527. And India 27,300. There have now been at least 4,781,886 deaths reported as Covid-related... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for September 3rd, 2021.The CDC says if you're not vaccinated, you should cancel any travel plans you might have for the long Labor Day weekend. Holidays have always been worrisome to health officials because they often result in spikes. But this spike would occur on top of the Delta surge. Last year, even without vaccines available, more than 3 million airline passengers were screened over the Labor Day holiday.More than 500,000 children in the US tested positive from August 5 to August 26, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Since kids under 12 can't get vaccinated, an increasing number of states and school districts are imposing mask mandates. Others are trying to limit exposure among the unvaccinated. A new study of breakthrough infections in the UK finds vaccines not only reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization, but they can lower the odds you'll have long-term symptoms. They found the odds of having symptoms for 28 days or more after a post-vaccination infection were just about cut in half. The European Medicines Agency is joining the World Health Organization in going against the United States where booster shots are concerned. It said there's no urgent need for booster shots for fully vaccinated people and the emphasis and supply should stay focused on primary vaccinations. If you think people who are against the vaccine aren't serious, observe how many are willing to give up their careers over it. We've seen it in healthcare, law enforcement, fire departments, and now America's pastime. Longtime Washington Nationals Vice President Bob Boone has chosen to resign rather than comply with orders to vaccinate. Two scouts are also leaving the team for that reason. Boone joined the Nationals in 2005, and as a player was with the Phillies, Cardinals, and Royals.In the United States cases were up 14%, deaths are up 67%, and hospitalizations are up 16% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. There are 8,650,330 active cases in the United States.With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the biggest 14-day increase in hospitalizations: North Dakota up 304%. South Dakota 105%. Wyoming 65%. And New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Delaware 59%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Perry, KY. Taylor, FL. Clinton, KY. Marion, TN. Hardee, FL. Bell, KY. Dorchester, SC. Glynn, GA. Bledsoe, TN. And Sequatchie, TN.There have been at least 643,594 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont again unchanged at 67.9%, Connecticut at 66.2%, and Massachusetts at 66%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi and Alabama at 38.4%, and Wyoming at 38.7%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 52.6%.The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Sri Lanka up 6%. Nepal 5%. Vietnam 4%. And South Korea and Argentina 3%.Globally, cases were down 7% and deaths were down 20% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,803,773 active cases around the world.The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 177,568. India 45,482. The U.K. 38,154. Iran 30,279. And Brazil 26,497. There have now been at least 4,550,984 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Coronavirus 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for September 3rd, 2021.The CDC says if you're not vaccinated, you should cancel any travel plans you might have for the long Labor Day weekend. Holidays have always been worrisome to health officials because they often result in spikes. But this spike would occur on top of the Delta surge. Last year, even without vaccines available, more than 3 million airline passengers were screened over the Labor Day holiday.More than 500,000 children in the US tested positive from August 5 to August 26, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Since kids under 12 can't get vaccinated, an increasing number of states and school districts are imposing mask mandates. Others are trying to limit exposure among the unvaccinated. A new study of breakthrough infections in the UK finds vaccines not only reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization, but they can lower the odds you'll have long-term symptoms. They found the odds of having symptoms for 28 days or more after a post-vaccination infection were just about cut in half. The European Medicines Agency is joining the World Health Organization in going against the United States where booster shots are concerned. It said there's no urgent need for booster shots for fully vaccinated people and the emphasis and supply should stay focused on primary vaccinations. If you think people who are against the vaccine aren't serious, observe how many are willing to give up their careers over it. We've seen it in healthcare, law enforcement, fire departments, and now America's pastime. Longtime Washington Nationals Vice President Bob Boone has chosen to resign rather than comply with orders to vaccinate. Two scouts are also leaving the team for that reason. Boone joined the Nationals in 2005, and as a player was with the Phillies, Cardinals, and Royals.In the United States cases were up 14%, deaths are up 67%, and hospitalizations are up 16% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. There are 8,650,330 active cases in the United States.With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the biggest 14-day increase in hospitalizations: North Dakota up 304%. South Dakota 105%. Wyoming 65%. And New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Delaware 59%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Perry, KY. Taylor, FL. Clinton, KY. Marion, TN. Hardee, FL. Bell, KY. Dorchester, SC. Glynn, GA. Bledsoe, TN. And Sequatchie, TN.There have been at least 643,594 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont again unchanged at 67.9%, Connecticut at 66.2%, and Massachusetts at 66%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi and Alabama at 38.4%, and Wyoming at 38.7%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is 52.6%.The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Sri Lanka up 6%. Nepal 5%. Vietnam 4%. And South Korea and Argentina 3%.Globally, cases were down 7% and deaths were down 20% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,803,773 active cases around the world.The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 177,568. India 45,482. The U.K. 38,154. Iran 30,279. And Brazil 26,497. There have now been at least 4,550,984 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Vaccine 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Vaccine 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for September 2nd, 2021.The World Health Organization has another “variant of interest” to watch. It's being called the Mu variant and there are concerns it may partially evade the immunity developed from past infection or vaccination. The variant has been detected in 39 countries. It was first identified in Colombia in January. A new survey shows most firms are now planning on having vaccine mandates for their workforce, and that will be happening in the next several months. While 21% of firms currently have some vaccine mandate in place, 52% said they'd have one by the fourth quarter of this year.The approach is a good bit different in Florida. The state will start issuing $5,000 fines to businesses, schools and government agencies that require people show proof of vaccination. That will start September 16.The great missing data problem continues. An NPR analysis found that in trying to get more detailed information from the CDC, such as where patients live, whether they were hospitalized or died, demographic details, it comes up that about 1 in 5 known cases — or 7 million people — are completely missing. And about two-thirds of the data present is unusable with fields left blank or marked "Unknown.” Some states have submitted less than one-tenth of their total cases. A 24-year-old woman from Illinois is not quite as slick as she thought she was. She submitted a fake vaccination card to visit Hawaii which didn't work at all. Mainly because she misspelled Moderna. Also, she lived in Illinois but her make believe shot was taken in Delaware, so that was suspicious. And the hotel she said she'd be staying at had no reservation for her. Having failed at the crime of the century, she was arrested for two misdemeanors and is awaiting a hearing.In the United States cases were up 18%, deaths are up 75%, and hospitalizations are up 17% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. There are 8,532,849 active cases in the United States.With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the biggest 14-day increase in hospitalizations: South Dakota up 103%. Delaware 70%. Wyoming 67%. New Hampshire 61%. And West Virginia 59%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Marion, TN. Perry, KY. Taylor, FL. Clinton, KY. Bledsoe, TN. Bell, KY. Lewis, TN. Sequatchie, TN. Hardee, FL. And Glynn, GA. There have been at least 642,004 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 67.9%, And Massachusetts and Connecticut at 66%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi still unchanged at 37.7%, Alabama at 38.3%, and Wyoming at 38.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is unchanged at 52.4%.The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Sri Lanka up 7%. Vietnam 4%. And South Korea, South Africa, and Ukraine 3%.Globally, cases were down 5% and deaths were down 4% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,679,281 active cases around the world.The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 184,420. India 45,971. The U.K. 35,693. Iran 33,170. And Brazil 26,348. There have now been at least 4,541,140 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Coronavirus 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for September 2nd, 2021.The World Health Organization has another “variant of interest” to watch. It's being called the Mu variant and there are concerns it may partially evade the immunity developed from past infection or vaccination. The variant has been detected in 39 countries. It was first identified in Colombia in January. A new survey shows most firms are now planning on having vaccine mandates for their workforce, and that will be happening in the next several months. While 21% of firms currently have some vaccine mandate in place, 52% said they'd have one by the fourth quarter of this year.The approach is a good bit different in Florida. The state will start issuing $5,000 fines to businesses, schools and government agencies that require people show proof of vaccination. That will start September 16.The great missing data problem continues. An NPR analysis found that in trying to get more detailed information from the CDC, such as where patients live, whether they were hospitalized or died, demographic details, it comes up that about 1 in 5 known cases — or 7 million people — are completely missing. And about two-thirds of the data present is unusable with fields left blank or marked "Unknown.” Some states have submitted less than one-tenth of their total cases. A 24-year-old woman from Illinois is not quite as slick as she thought she was. She submitted a fake vaccination card to visit Hawaii which didn't work at all. Mainly because she misspelled Moderna. Also, she lived in Illinois but her make believe shot was taken in Delaware, so that was suspicious. And the hotel she said she'd be staying at had no reservation for her. Having failed at the crime of the century, she was arrested for two misdemeanors and is awaiting a hearing.In the United States cases were up 18%, deaths are up 75%, and hospitalizations are up 17% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. There are 8,532,849 active cases in the United States.With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the biggest 14-day increase in hospitalizations: South Dakota up 103%. Delaware 70%. Wyoming 67%. New Hampshire 61%. And West Virginia 59%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Marion, TN. Perry, KY. Taylor, FL. Clinton, KY. Bledsoe, TN. Bell, KY. Lewis, TN. Sequatchie, TN. Hardee, FL. And Glynn, GA. There have been at least 642,004 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 67.9%, And Massachusetts and Connecticut at 66%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi still unchanged at 37.7%, Alabama at 38.3%, and Wyoming at 38.6%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is unchanged at 52.4%.The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Sri Lanka up 7%. Vietnam 4%. And South Korea, South Africa, and Ukraine 3%.Globally, cases were down 5% and deaths were down 4% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,679,281 active cases around the world.The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 184,420. India 45,971. The U.K. 35,693. Iran 33,170. And Brazil 26,348. There have now been at least 4,541,140 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Vaccine 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Vaccine 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bark CEO Manish Joneja (BARK) on the business of dogs -- and what it teaches us about all business. The ONLY thing that isn't working with Zoom's (ZOOM) business. StoneCo (STNE) wants to be the Square of Brazil -- but can't seem to understand customers who rip them off. Wake up Canada! Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) gets approval for a narcolepsy drug in the Great White North. Nigeria recruits Bitt Inc. to create its own digital currency -- is it a big gain for Overstock (OSTK)? And South Korea slaps Google and Apple. The Drill Down with Cory Johnson offers a daily look at the business stories behind stocks on the move. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for August 30th, 2021. A UK study published in Lancet says people who get the Delta variant are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized as those infected with the alpha strain. Early studies of the Delta variant found it was 50% more transmissible than other strains. The study's author said absent vaccination, Delta outbreaks will keep imposing a huge burden on healthcare. If you're an American who had plans to travel to the EU for fun, start thinking about new plans. The block of nations is expected to announce today that you are too risky to let in. The U.S. is expected to get pulled from the EU's “safe” list for non-essential travel after being on that list less than two months. Of course, the U.S. has maintained its ban on all non-essential travel from Europe. Stressed as healthcare workers are, many continue to refuse to set an example. An American Nurses Association survey shows 1 in 8 nurses still aren't vaccinated and have no plans to get vaccinated. Of those who won't take the shot, 84% said there's not enough info about possible long-term effects. Such nurses have started being fired, adding to critical staff shortages. If you're not scared of COVID maybe you're afraid of snakes. A new published medical study says getting the virus is not unlike being bitten by a poisonous rattlesnake. An enzyme has been identified in the virus that ravages the body like snake venom and causes severe inflammation. It's hoped that targeting that enzyme will help with treatments for COVID. Another shortage might be coming right behind the nursing shortage. School board members. Across the nation, many are deciding the position is just not worth it amidst tense, sometimes violent confrontations about masking in schools. Many are being harassed, threatened, and some have even contemplated suicide. Others are quitting over policies they disagree with. In the United States cases were up 20%, deaths are up 95%, and hospitalizations are up 25% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. There are once again over 8 million active cases in the United States, at 8,184,348. With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the biggest 14-day increase in hospitalizations per capita: South Dakota up 104%. New Hampshire 90%. Delaware 77%. Maine 75%. And West Virginia 66%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Taylor, FL. Clay, KY. Cook, GA. Pierce, GA. Bell, KY. McIntosh, GA. Hardee, FL. Live Oak, TX. Emanuel, GA. And Crockett, TN. There have been at least 637,525 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 67.6%, Massachusetts at 65.6%, and Connecticut at 65.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 37%, Mississippi unchanged at 37.3%, and Wyoming unchanged at 38.2%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is at 51.9%. The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Sri Lanka, Australia, and India up 2%. And South Korea and Malaysia 1%. Globally, cases were down 1% and deaths were up 1% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,589,957 active cases around the world. The five countries with the most new cases: India 43,381. The United States 37,262. The U.K. 33,196. Iran 31,516. And Japan 22,748. There have now been at least 4,500,291 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Vaccine 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Vaccine 411... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 30th, 2021. A UK study published in Lancet says people who get the Delta variant are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized as those infected with the alpha strain. Early studies of the Delta variant found it was 50% more transmissible than other strains. The study's author said absent vaccination, Delta outbreaks will keep imposing a huge burden on healthcare. If you're an American who had plans to travel to the EU for fun, start thinking about new plans. The block of nations is expected to announce today that you are too risky to let in. The U.S. is expected to get pulled from the EU's “safe” list for non-essential travel after being on that list less than two months. Of course, the U.S. has maintained its ban on all non-essential travel from Europe. Stressed as healthcare workers are, many continue to refuse to set an example. An American Nurses Association survey shows 1 in 8 nurses still aren't vaccinated and have no plans to get vaccinated. Of those who won't take the shot, 84% said there's not enough info about possible long-term effects. Such nurses have started being fired, adding to critical staff shortages. If you're not scared of COVID maybe you're afraid of snakes. A new published medical study says getting the virus is not unlike being bitten by a poisonous rattlesnake. An enzyme has been identified in the virus that ravages the body like snake venom and causes severe inflammation. It's hoped that targeting that enzyme will help with treatments for COVID. Another shortage might be coming right behind the nursing shortage. School board members. Across the nation, many are deciding the position is just not worth it amidst tense, sometimes violent confrontations about masking in schools. Many are being harassed, threatened, and some have even contemplated suicide. Others are quitting over policies they disagree with. In the United States cases were up 20%, deaths are up 95%, and hospitalizations are up 25% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. There are once again over 8 million active cases in the United States, at 8,184,348. With not all states reporting daily numbers, the five states with the biggest 14-day increase in hospitalizations per capita: South Dakota up 104%. New Hampshire 90%. Delaware 77%. Maine 75%. And West Virginia 66%. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Taylor, FL. Clay, KY. Cook, GA. Pierce, GA. Bell, KY. McIntosh, GA. Hardee, FL. Live Oak, TX. Emanuel, GA. And Crockett, TN. There have been at least 637,525 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that's been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 67.6%, Massachusetts at 65.6%, and Connecticut at 65.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 37%, Mississippi unchanged at 37.3%, and Wyoming unchanged at 38.2%. The percentage of the U.S. that's been fully vaccinated is at 51.9%. The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Sri Lanka, Australia, and India up 2%. And South Korea and Malaysia 1%. Globally, cases were down 1% and deaths were up 1% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since August 27. There are 18,589,957 active cases around the world. The five countries with the most new cases: India 43,381. The United States 37,262. The U.K. 33,196. Iran 31,516. And Japan 22,748. There have now been at least 4,500,291 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

S3E5 Struggling to get my episode to the masses, my internet crashes on me while attempting a DJT segment. Major League baseball finally answering questions on it's position about the Oakland Athletics possibly relocating elsewhere. Are they going to follow the Raiders to Las Vegas?! And South Korea imposes certain covid19 restrictions on gyms that can only play certain music. Thanks for listening

A puzzle that may baffle the inquiring mind is how a college dropout, a computer nerd without any notable biological or medical background, and at one time the wealthiest person in the world before being unseated by the self-centered playboy Jeff Bezos, could rise to become one of humanity's leading spokespersons about vaccination. After transitioning away from Microsoft to work full time for his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006, funding vaccine development and agricultural genetic engineering seems to have turned into one of Bill Gates' deeper passion. in the past, he has been a public protector of Monsanto's chemical-dependent GMOs and continues to promote the agro-chemical paradigm throughout the developing world. Although there is nothing wrong with philanthropic enterprises for causes we believe in, what is disturbing is that a non-medical expert has assumed the role of being a national thought leader on vaccination safety and policy. What people do is less important than their motivations and intentions.  Personality- wise, it is no secret that Gates was a difficult boss to work with. He was known to be extremely critical, belligerent, sarcastic and his anger would often degrade employees. He was a fierce taskmaster as the Washington Post reported, and Fortune magazine listed him as an "egotistical jerk" along with other billionaires such Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos.  Now with COVID-19 upon us, some, such as NPR, would call Gates prophetic for warning about viral pandemics five years ago. However, there is nothing extraordinarily novel, and definitely not Delphian, in this pronouncement. Gates is certainly no oracle. As personal experience confirms, such conversations among scientists have gone on in the corridors and cafeterias of biotech firms for over three decades. More likely is Gates simply fear mongering to turn his enormous investments into vaccine research and development for a coronavirus vaccine with the outcome being greater profits? To call Gates a vaccine and genetic engineering fanatic is an understatement. While lecturing at the elitist TED 2010 conference in Long Beach, CA, he slipped a statement while speaking about the dangers of climate change and over population: “Vaccines? I love them.” His admission was made in the context of his philanthropic strategy and vaccines play a crucial role in his firm conviction that population reduction is an urgent priority for the survival of humanity. Of course the question that arises is who should be eliminated from the population? And who is elected from the public to make such decisions? The short answer is no one. Nevertheless this agenda is covertly proceeding through foundations, international agencies, non-profits, and private industry. In 2000, the Gates Foundation founded the International Finance Facility for Immunization (GAVI) and that organization's Global Fund for Children's Vaccines. GAVI is a global collaboration that includes governments health ministries, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, WHO, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, UNICEF, corporate vaccine makers, and other influential entities. All of these are zealot vaccination promoters. One of the organization's goals is to vaccinate every child in Africa. In 2019, GAVI reported having reached over 960 million campaign immunizations in developing countries.  In his deconstruction of Bill Gates' charitable agenda, F. William Engdahl writes, “Vaccinating a child who then goes to drink feces-polluted river water is hardly healthy in any respect. But of course cleaning up the water and sewage systems of Africa would revolutionize the health conditions of the Continent.” Far more effective would be the Foundation donating its billions to improve sanitation and hygiene, and provide nutrition to the 2.6 billion people who have little to none, for increasing clean water sources so 900 million global residents can have access to drinkable water (now at 1 in 3 Africans). Instead, the Foundation could be funding thousands of health clinics focusing on the chronic illnesses these populations suffer from most. This is simply common sense. “Bad water,” says the Stockholm International Water Institute's director, Anders Bentell, “kills more people than HIV, malaria and war together.”  And globally, contaminated water, which kills approximately 9 million people annually, is a far more serious crisis than the evidence now indicates for coronavirus.  Over the past several years, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet has printed a series of in-depth analyses of the Gates Foundation with disturbing revelations. In a September 2008 article, “Misfinancing Global Health: A Case for Transparency in Disbursements and Decision Making,” the authors' investigation came to the conclusion that aside from excessive funding of high profile Western institutions and organizations, there was “a heavy bias in funding towards malaria and HIV/AIDS, with relatively little investment into tuberculosis, maternal and child health, and nutrition–with chronic diseases being entirely absent from its spending portfolio.” And a later study by Dr. David McCoy from the Center for International Health found that “the grants made by the Foundation do not reflect the burden of disease endured by those in deepest poverty.” None of these findings have been covered to any extent by mainstream media nor any governing body. Seemingly Gates is riding on the coat tails of the COVID-19 panic that has infected much of the global community, when in fact, some analyses, such as one recently out of Stanford, indicate that the danger is likely over exaggerated. Earlier this month, Gates announced he would be spending billions of dollars to fund seven separate coronavirus vaccine development initiatives. As a result, his Foundation has emerged as perhaps the foremost leader in the vaccine industry's response to the pandemic. Gates has gained free entrance into the offices and boardrooms of all the leading players savoring the opportunity to launch a fast-tracked coronavirus vaccine that may likely be made mandatory for Americans, including National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Disease director Anthony Fauci, the CDC's vaccine advisory committee and the WHO. Thus far, Gates has shown reservation against a hasty launch of a vaccine that will likely not have been reviewed long enough to determine its safety and efficacy in long-term immunity. During a White House press conference with Trump, Fauci indicated a vaccine might take a year or two before approval. The anti-science Trump replied he would prefer it were a couple months. There is a strong possibility that like the influenza vaccine, immunity will wane quickly. We may recall that Fauci aggressively pushed for fast-tracking the H1N1 flu vaccine during the swine flu epidemic that never appeared as predicted. He was called out on this failure by Senator Tom Coburn for advocating a vaccine found to be only 30% effective in trials conducted in Thailand. Recent studies out of Shanghai already show that 30 percent of those who contract a wild COVID-19 virus show only minor or no neutralizing antibodies. And South Korea is now reporting cases of individuals getting infected with COVID-19 a second time. Other seasonal coronaviruses, which are only mild common colds, return repeatedly and indicate infection triggers only short temporary immune responses and even then not in everyone. However, not all leading vaccine advocates are on board with rushing a vaccine. During a Philadelphia Inquirer interview with rotavirus vaccine inventor Dr. Paul Offit at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Offit warned against efforts being made to get a vaccine on the market as swiftly as possible. This is a virus, according to Offit, that we still know very little about. He stated, "If you're going to be testing this in otherwise healthy people who are very, very unlikely to die from this infection, you better make sure it's safe." He offers the example of the poorly developed dengue vaccine that was tested in Latin America and the Philippines and found to increase the risk of dengue shock syndrome. The same could happen with a COVID-19.  Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University, developed a vaccine against SARS in 2016 before money dried up. Yet in a recent appearance before Congress, he testified a coronavirus vaccine could have a "unique potential safety problem."  We should be warned that questions would remain if and whether Hotez's team were to get a vaccine into advanced trials. An earlier University of Texas effort to develop a vaccine against the SARS coronavirus was appalling. Despite inducing neutralizing antibodies, all the mice in the trial exhibited immunopathological events in the lungs. More recently, a global analytics firm, Clarivate, investigated two COVID19 vaccines in the pipeline that have reached later clinical trials. Their report estimates that it will require over 5 years for developing a safe vaccine and it will likely be only 5 percent effective. In other words, it is an enormous waste of funding.  Gates, on the other hand, seems to be ignoring these warnings from persons who have devoted their lives to vaccine development. He is stubbornly determined, irrespective of money spent, to get a COVID19 vaccine onto the market. A question that arises in our minds is how concerned Gates might be of vaccine safety issues. If the past is any indication of his priorities, it appears his focus is to increase vaccine compliance while ignoring the high incidence of serious adverse events and deaths. Bobby Kennedy Jr. at the Children's Health Defense organization has listed some of the vaccination debacles that are directly associated with his Foundation: In 2002, operatives in the Gates network enforced a meningitis campaign in Sub-Sahara Africa that paralyzed up to 500 children. In 2010, his foundations support for Glaxo's experimental malaria vaccine trials killed 151 African infants and seriously injured another 1,000.  Gates collaboration with India's National Technical Advisory Group resulted in a catastrophe of unmonitored overlapping polio immunization programs triggering an epidemic of non-polio acute flaccid paralysis that affected 490,000 children. Gates vaccine programs were forced to leave India. Cases of vaccine derived polio now outnumber cases from wild polio.  In 2014, Foundation funds went to experimental HPV vaccine trials in India, in joint collaboration with Glaxo and Merck, that violated ethical standards. Over 1,000 girls developed severe autoimmune diseases and fertility disorders.  It is easy to overlook the larger significance of the results Gates' vaccination campaigns. In short, Gates was responsible for implementing and funding these programs that injured and caused the deaths of innocent children and adults. Due to his stature among governmental and international health agencies, he has not been held accountable. People such as Gates are judged by a different standard, meaning they are not judged at all. Equally worrisome, aside from his vaccine frenzy, Gates makes efforts to influence the nation's health policies. In the past he has been a fanatical advocate for mandatory vaccination.  During a recent TED Talk interview, Gates advocated a national campaign to issue certificates for those who have been either infected with COVID-19 or vaccinated against it. "Eventually what we'll have to have is certificates of who's a recovered person and who's a vaccinated person," he stated, "because you don't want people moving around the world... (without their certificates)." Gates however is a symptom of another side of national crisis. There would be no need for citizen billionaires to be taking the helm to manipulate national policy responses to health crises, such as the COVC-19 pandemic, if there was in place a functioning healthcare system. Unfortunately it has been the gross failures of the Trump and previous presidential administrations that have opened the doors for others like Gates to step in. For too long, the US's federal health agencies have been thoroughly compromised and corrupted by private pharmaceutical interests. The pandemic is revealing to Americans that we have the most dysfunctional medical system in the developed world.  Unfortunately the wealthiest elite on the planet are rarely questioned about the correctness of their actions and schemes. As long as a Bill Gates says he is giving huge sums of money to a cause to end disease and suffering, we are not suppose to probe further. Rather, in the case of mainstream media, such people are to be worshiped as saviors. The oligarchic elite are so well interconnected on multiple boards of directors, clubs for the rich and powerful, think tanks, media conglomerates, and among the high ranks of elected legislators and politicians that it is difficult to have an open and honest debate on the merits of their actions and spending.  So when someone like Ted Turner says we should reduce the world's population by more than half, and Bill Gates suggests a 15 percent reduction, do we fully understand the potential for eugenic efforts?  And this is another issue about Gates that should disturb every person on the planet.  As a keynote speaker at the TED 2010 conference, Gates laid out his rationale for an international effort towards global depopulation. He said, “If we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that [projected to be 9 billion people by 2050] by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.“ Therefore it was shocking to learn that a tetanus vaccine administered to Kenyan women in child bearing years was purportedly laced with Human Chorionic Gondatropin (hCG) that causes miscarriage and renders a woman sterile. The discovery was made by the Kenyan Catholic Doctors Association that noted something was seriously wrong with women following vaccination and had the vaccine analyzed. But more appalling was tracing the vaccination campaign to funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for distribution by UNICEF. Further evidence is found in a 2005 Foundation press release stating Gates' gift of $26 million to UNICEF for a vaccine to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. Curiously, Brian Shilhavy at Health Impact News observed, "there was no outbreak of tetanus in Kenya, on the perceived threat of tetanus due to local flood conditions." Therefore, why the campaign to vaccinate young women en masse? In conclusion, we have the world's second richest billionaire who deeply believes he has a personal authority to be a policy maker for America's public health. Therefore, do we truly realize the dangers of billionaires, unelected to any position of authority over the nation, and their threats that undermine democracy?  

tbs eFM Highlights Interview with Bengt Holmstrom tbs eFM This Morning interviews the legend, Bengt Holmstrom 2016.10.17 [The Best Incentive, No Incentive] Turning the world of economics on it's head, Bengt Holmstrom along with Oliver Hart received the Nobel Prize in Economics for their research into incentivised contracts and how they really work in the real world. So in amongst all the different prizes that have been handed out in recent weeks we now have the pleasure of catching up on the line with professor Bengt Holmstrom from Finland, a US based scholar who has been awarded jointly with professor Oliver Hart from Britain the Nobel Economics Prize for their research into real life contracts. Good morning to you, first of all from Seoul. It's great to have you on the line. -Good to hear you. And, I mean obviously your day job is working at MIT Department of Economics, this subject is very familiar to you, but this research goes back decades, doesn't it? You looked into contracts, the way they're structured, can you tell us what was so ground-breaking that drew the Nobel Economics Prize's attention? -Well, it is correct that this is work that was done, you know, in the late 70's, 80's, 90's and these were times when people started getting interested in the role of information in economic decision making and how to treat, you know among other things, contracts and what kind of incentive they provide and so on. And this is not the first prize in incentive contracting but it is the first prize perhaps focusing on what's called contract theory, which deals with incentivising people to do things right. I mean some of that borrows from common sense, doesn't it? How do you take the common sense idea that, you know, if I want to get a job done I give someone a contract to perform and I try to make sure the contract is as appealing as possible to suit both parties? How do you take that further, that idea? -Yes, it's very important to understand that there are two stages of a model, if you want to apply it, you know, there's a part of this stage which is about trying to understand why contacts look the way they do in reality, and this was new. You know, the traditional economic theory just assumed that if we write a contract and then it's enforced the way it is and that's what happens, that's what's written in the contract. This theory takes into account the fact that you don't know the same information as the other side and so on so it's much more complicated in that sense to even study the question of quality and conceptual issues. But some of the, when you do models, you do want them to be giving obvious answers to obvious questions. So, you know, some of it seems to the outside as obvious because partly there's a sense that the model is sensible one. And the model is like a conversation partner; you want it to answer in a sensible way to simple questions. You know, so if I give you stronger incentives do you want it to provide, the person to work more or do more closely what you want and so on. So that, I would say that there are a couple of things in my book that matter, there are other things that work that Oliver was very significant, discoveries that he made. In my book, the key thing was to understand exactly what information is relevant for contracting? And a lot of people at the time I wrote my thing thought that you know, if it gets very noisy the information it becomes irrelevant. But to make matters simple in some sense I showed that that's not the right way to think about it. And it turns out that it's always relevant, or most of the time relevant and when it's not relevant it's for a very different reason than they used to think. It led to relative performance evaluation, there's a lot of people who think it's natural but even there there's a question of how you weigh the different measure that reflect relevance and the logic of why relative performance evaluation matters. And it is about filtering out information that is relevant, that's the basic idea. And sometimes in order to filter out information that's irrelevant you need to bring in information that is not directly related to what I'm doing but it just filters out the noise. So that was the first step and I stop here because I will explain the second step which is much bigger than this, but it was a way of getting started. Firstly, at this point I'd like to ask about the legal implications for this, whether this empowers workers when they go into contracts, because sometimes here in Korea we hear red flags go up when you talk about performance related pay. In fact, it's the workers themselves who protest against those sorts of deals. -Yes, so that's the second part, the question is why is there so much work that isn't performance based? And that's where my book is relevant, especially is relevant showing that when you have a situation where people, these early models were about incentivising a particular task or job or action really. And then what we worked on was what happens when people can do many different things. So that was the first step and then you can get to a situation where if you on one hand need to for instance bring – you want your worker to sort of make sure that the reputation of the firm is growing or at least maintained, on the other hand you want the worker to work very hard to say produce short term results, these are inconsistent with each other. And therefore, you know, if you are really worried about reputation, say or, environmental issues which are very hard to measure but you are worried about them that downstream somewhere, five years from now six years from now some bad things will happen, you know, environmental consequences then the best way and almost the only way to provide incentive for that is to not provide incentives for current performance and then structure instead – and this is very critical – then structure instead the task in such a matter that even though they don't have any incentive these people will still do a good job. Now one has to realize that people, it's not like people do nothing if you don't provide them incentive. So it is about realizing that a lot of the incentive issues don't have to do with whether they work hard or don't work hard but whether they work smartly and on the right things. So this was a big shift in the theory of incentives, to align it better with reality and that I would say is one of the major contributions by this, and most of the work we've done. And (that is) understanding that sometimes the best incentive is no incentive and that leaves then to a reset the instruments, you know, realizing that one of the, that actually firms in some sense are in the business of not providing very strong market wide consensus. So this movement towards you know, saying that we have to incentivise people who are inside the firm and provide priority incentives in some instances it's very misguided. And I don't know if you have followed the Wells Fargo case, you know, the scandals from Wells Fargo, but that's a good illustration of it. They were incentivised to create new accounts and new products and have customers buy the products and initially it worked very well because there were customers wanted it but then they forced upon customers products that they didn't want and then eventually, they just created customers, products that were actually just fictitious. Well the Wells Fargo case is certainly something that our listeners can look into further, because we are so short on time I had to ask you and I need to get your thoughts during our own interview on what you said in a press conference after winning this prize. You talked about owner management and you used the family management of Korean conglomerates as an example, is that a fundamentally flawed model in the modern age? -I don't recall that I said that, most of the things you see are not flawed, I don't believe in the thought that, you know somehow Korea could have systematically for decades done a flawed model. I can't believe that… It's a very top-down model, I didn't say you said that, I'm just asking if it's flawed, in your opinion? If we need to get away from this conglomerate structure because we have a lot of young people who can't even get contracts. -I would not position myself ever, my interest is in understanding why did you do that, it's therefore a doctor, you know, I first want to diagnose why are you doing that, why is this happening? Because my premise is that there's a good reason why you are doing it, good in the sense of there's a reason; good reason a rational reason in some sense. Now that reason may be connected to a wrong objective or a narrow objective or maybe not a desirable social objective but narrowly good for this conglomerate or whatever. That we can fix, but to believe that people could systematically make mistakes, big mistakes, I'm not, that's not part of the economics I'm doing. Now I understand, but what was your purpose then of highlighting the Korean system at the press conference? -Well, I think the reason it was we probably didn't have capital markets at the time in Finland, so we didn't have – and we still don't have – very well working capital markets in the sense of the US. In fact, the US capital market is shrinking right now, that is the stock market. Half of the stocks on the New York stock exchange have been delisted because of regulations, because the stock market is more expensive than it used to be, backlashes, corporate governance is so intense that it's just not worthwhile being on the stock market. So you know, the reason the Koreans, and I'm guessing because I haven't studied you at all, but it is because you didn't have a very functional stock market and you used internal capital markets and it made perfectly good sense. Now, as the world is changing and you want capital from abroad, you want a broader resharing and information flow into Korea, then that model may not be sensible anymore, but it's not that you did stupid things. I mean Korea is a very successful in the history of economics, I mean economic development. So you have a fabulous example of how you can grow fast out of a failure – Finland by the way is the same. Finland was very poor, you know, seventy years ago, it's a miracle really. And South Korea is a miracle. So it would be stupid for an economist to say that it was a stupid system that brought you that kind of miracle. No. I mean it's just with specific reference to you contract expertise, as you mentioned it's not something that you've gone into yourself but clearly we have a problem right now with the way that the economy is structured; the top down approach with what some people view as not necessarily the fairest system and not necessarily the fairest contracts. But maybe that's something that you can look into in the future professor Holmstrom, we've got to leave it there. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. -Thank you. Bye bye. Professor Bengt Holmstrom at MIT Department of Economics. You can get in touch with us right now, you can send us a message via Facebook by searching tbs eFM This Morning.

Amid uproar in and around Syria, Kevin Connolly considers suggestions that there have been attempts by the authorities in Damascus to manipulate the news agenda to distract the world from events going on in their country. A year after violent disturbances in the Kyrgyz town of Osh Rayhan Demytrie, who covered those events, considers the difficult legacy they've left in their wake; Tracey Logan is in the Republic of Ireland examining how an EU directive, aimed at protecting Ireland's peat bogs, is being widely flouted. Tom Blass takes a walk in a Belgian village which has been swallowed up by the inexorable growth of Antwerp's docklands. And South Korea's a country which takes recycling very seriously -- it's causing our correspondent there, Lucy Williamson, some difficulty.