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Modus Operandi of Covid-19–Does It Reflect Genetic Engineering?

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 25, 2020 ⋅ 4 comments

An interesting piece in “The Atlantic” describes how the SARS-CoV‑2 virus that causes COVID-19 differs from other coronaviruses known to infect humans. We present this as supplemental to discussion of DARPA research into bat-borne coronaviruses. A) The SARS-CoV‑2 (Covid-19) virus is unusual in that it infects both the upper and lower respiratory tracts. The ‘spike’ part of the SARS-CoV‑2 virus is unusually good at latching into a protein called ACE2 which is found on the exterior of the cells in human airways. This ability appears to be fundamental to the virus’s ability to infect the upper respiratory tract. The virus appears to infect the upper airways first and then, as cells in them die and are sloughed off, it makes its way down to the lower respiratory tract and lungs where the deadly infections occur. This sequential pattern of infecting the upper respiratory tract prior to making its way down to the lungs enables it to silently spread asymptomatically before turning more lethal in the lower respiratory tract. B) We note that the ACE2 protein appears to manifest more heavily in the lung tissue of East-Asians. As indicated in the Whitney Webb article, genetic modification has been envisioned as applicable to biological warfare to create “ethno-specific” biological weapons. C) Another key feature of the virus’s ability to infect humans concerns a protein bridge connecting two halves of the virus’s spike. Activation of this spike causes the virus injects its nucleic acid into the cell. Activating the spike requires the cleavage of a protein bridge connecting the two halves of the spike. That cleavage is precipitated by the enzyme furin which is ubiquitous in human cells. In contrast, the coronavirus which caused SARS had a protein bridge that was less likely to be cleaved. SARS-CoV‑2 first latches onto to human upper airway cells and, once there, has the protein bridge linking the halves of the spike severed by the furin enzyme. D) Perhaps the most notable observation made about this virus thus far: it doesn’t appear to be mutating in evolutionarily significant ways. Of the 100-plus mutations observed in the virus so far, none has emerged as evolutionarily dominant–unusual for a virus that only recently jumped to humans. and has spread prolifically. It’s as though the virus is already evolutionarily optimized for spreading among humans and there are no ‘gain-of-fuction’ mutations left for it acquire. As Lisa Gralinski, a coronavirus expert at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, described it, “The virus has been remarkably stable given how much transmission we’ve seen . . . . there’s no evolutionary pressure on the virus to transmit better. It’s doing a great job of spreading around the world right now.” E) Gralinsky works closely with Ralph Baric’s lab. Recall that Baric is the researcher who constructed a chimeric virus out of a SARS virus and horseshoe bat coronavirus in 2015. When Gralinski observes that the virus wouldn’t feel any evolutionary pressure to spread because it’s already doing such a good job that is VERY significant. Evolution doesn’t stop just because the status quo of an organism is already effective. A mutation allowing the virus to spread even more readily would be expected. And normally such an event does happen. But it hasn’t happened so for SARS-CoV‑2 because it is already at something of a “coronavirus evolutionary peak”. In addition, an article in “Science Direct” characterizes the advent of the furin-like cleavage site as a “gain-of-function” phenomenon. “Gain of Function” is a mechanism of action of an “Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogen.” “. . . . Strikingly, the 2019-nCoV S‑protein sequence contains 12 additional nucleotides upstream of the single Arg↓ cleavage site 1 (Fig. 1, Fig. 2) leading to a predictively solvent-exposed PRRAR↓SV sequence, which corresponds to a canonical furin-like cleavage site (Braun and Sauter, 2019; Izaguirre, 2019; Seidah and Prat, 2012). This furin-like cleavage site, is supposed to be cleaved during virus egress (Mille and Whittaker, 2014) for S‑protein “priming” and may provide a gain-of-function to the 2019-nCoV for efficient spreading in the human population compared to other lineage b betacoronaviruses. This possibly illustrates a convergent evolution pathway between unrelated CoVs. Interestingly, if this site is not processed, the S‑protein is expected to be cleaved at site 2 during virus endocytosis, as observed for the SARS-CoV. . . .”

FTR #1122 Bio-Psy-Op Apocalypse Now: Fireside Rant about the Covid-19 Outbreak

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 23, 2020 ⋅ 2 comments

This broadcast updates, in a admittedly strident mode, the Covid-19 outbreak. We begin with discussion of Moderna, Inc.

Moderna Inc. is one of the DARPA-funded companies that has been authorized to begin testing of vaccines. As discussed by Whitney Webb, Moderna Inc. is getting a green light to develop its mRNA vaccine (mRNA 1273) for preventing Covid-19 infection. The Western Edition of The New York Times contains information NOT contained in the online manifestation of the article.

Although vaccines that inject nucleic acid–either DNA or messenger RNA–into cells have been seen as promising, they have NEVER been administered to humans. The trials for the Moderna vaccine appear to be “fast-tracked.”

We have done numerous programs about the polio vaccine and how that “fast-tracked” (and consequently insufficiently vetted) vaccine was contaminated with the SV40 cancer-causing monkey virus.

In the context of the destabilization of China (covered in many programs and a key element of analysis in assessing the Covid-19 outbreak), we note that the collapsing of economies abroad, including the U.S., will significantly and adversely affect China’s export-oriented economy.

It may lead to the collapse of the Chinese economy eagerly–and financially–anticipated by J. Kyle Bass, Tommy Hicks Jr. and Steve Bannon.

An op-ed column further develops the potential danger to China’s economy posed by the Covid-19 outbreak. ” . . . . While China is no longer center stage, as the virus spreads worldwide there are renewed fears that the crisis could circle back to its shores by hurting demand for exports. Over the last decade China’s corporate debt swelled fourfold to over $20 trillion — the biggest binge in the world. The International Monetary Fund estimates that one-tenth of this debt is in zombie firms, which rely on government-directed lending to stay alive. . . .”

Next, we tackle the subject of an escalating media war between China and the U.S.

Trump’s labeling of Covid-19 as “the Chinese virus” is apparently in response to suggestions in Chinese social media and some published material pointing to the U.S. and/or national security elements within and/or associated with it as the source of the virus.

In FTR #1109, we examined Donald Trump’s dealings with Deutsche Bank, key “suicides” in connection with the bank’s records on Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s claims of executive privilege in attempts to keep the records secret, the apparent destruction of those records by Deutsche Bank and the tracking of the case to a decision by the Supreme Court.

Now, the Covid-19 outbreak may delay that decision indefinitely.

As highlighted above, Donald Trump has been labeling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” in response to Chinese intimations (correct in their main contention in our opinion) that the U.S. is the point of origin of the virus.

An article in The Asia Times provides more depth on the growing media war between the U.S. and China.

Key points of discussion and analysis:

1.–China now openly views the U.S. as a threat: ” . . . . For the first time since the start of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in 1978, Beijing openly regards the U.S. as a threat, as stated a month ago by Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference during the peak of the fight against coronavirus. . . .”
2.–President Xi Jinping has dropped verbal clues as to the Chinese view of the origin of the Covid-19: ” . . . . Beijing is carefully, incrementally shaping the narrative that, from the beginning of the coronavirus attack, the leadership knew it was under a hybrid war attack. The terminology of President Xi Jinping is a major clue. He said, on the record, that this was war. And, as a counter-attack, a ‘people’s war’ had to be launched. Moreover, he described the virus as a demon or devil. Xi is a Confucianist. Unlike some other ancient Chinese thinkers, Confucius was loath to discuss supernatural forces and judgment in the afterlife. However, in a Chinese cultural context, devil means ‘white devils’ or ‘foreign devils’: guailo in Mandarin, gweilo in Cantonese. This was Xi delivering a powerful statement in code. . . .”
3.–A Chinese Foreign Ministry official cited the Military World Games in Wuhan as a possible vectoring point. (We believe this is possible, although we suspect the Shincheonji cult and a USAMRIID association with a Wuhan virological institute as other possible vectors.) IF, for the sake of argument, fascist elements (CIA, Underground Reich or whatever) chose the US military athletes as a vector, it would have been altogether possible to do so without attracting attention. Military athletes are in superb condition and, if infected with one of the milder strains of Covid-19, their robust immune systems might well leave them asymptomatic, yet still contagious, or mildly ill at worst. They could then communicate the virus to other military athletes, who would then serve as a vector for other countries. ” . . . . Zhao’s explosive conclusion is that COVID-19 was already in effect in the U.S. before being identified in Wuhan – due to the by now fully documented inability of the U.S. to test and verify differences compared with the flu. . . .”
4.–Author Pepe Escobar reiterates the contention that the variants of the virus in Italy and Iran are different from the variants that infected Wuhan, an interpretation whose significance is debated by scientists.
5.–The article highlights the shuttering of Ft. Detrick, which has now been partially re-opened. ” . . . . Adding all that to the fact that coronavirus genome variations in Iran and Italy were sequenced and it was revealed they do not belong to the variety that infected Wuhan, Chinese media are now openly asking questions and drawing a connection with the shutting down in August last year of the “unsafe” military bioweapon lab at Fort Detrick, the Military Games, and the Wuhan epidemic. Some of these questions had been asked– with no response – inside the U.S. itself. . . .”
6.–Escobar also notes Event 201, which we highlighted in FTR #‘s 1111 and 1112: ” . . . . Extra questions linger about the opaque Event 201 in New York on October 18, 2019: a rehearsal for a worldwide pandemic caused by a deadly virus – which happened to be coronavirus. This magnificent coincidence happened one month before the outbreak in Wuhan. Event 201 was sponsored by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Economic Forum (WEF), the CIA, Bloomberg, John Hopkins Foundation and the UN. The World Military Games opened in Wuhan on the exact same day. . . .”
7.–We note that, although we have not been able to conclusively prove that CIA was one of the sponsors of the event, a former Deputy Director of the Agency was a key participant. Having reached such a level of prominence within the agency, one never “leaves” altogether. It is probable that there was Agency participation.
8.–Further discussion notes the possible use of a coronavirus as part of a psy-op: ” . . . . The working hypothesis of coronavirus as a very powerful but not Armageddon-provoking bio-weapon unveils it as a perfect vehicle for widespread social control — on a global scale. . . .”
9.–Escobar alleges that Cuba has developed an anti-viral that is promising against the virus: ” . . . . The anti-viral Heberon – or Interferon Alpha 2b – a therapeutic, not a vaccine, has been used with great success in the treatment of coronavirus. A joint venture in China is producing an inhalable version, and at least 15 nations are already interested in importing the therapeutic. . . .”
10.–Quoting Italian analyst Sandro Mezzadra, Escobar notes the Covid-19 outbreak as a social Darwinian psy-op: ” . . . .We are facing a choice between a Malthusian strand – inspired by social Darwinism – ‘led by the Johnson-Trump-Bolsonaro axis’ and, on the other side, a strand pointing to the “requalification of public health as a fundamental tool,’ exemplified by China, South Korea and Italy. There are key lessons to be learned from South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The stark option, Mezzadra notes, is between a ‘natural population selection,’ with thousands of dead, and ‘defending society’ by employing ‘variable degrees of authoritarianism and social control.’ . . .”
11.–Like many analysts, Escobar–correctly in our opinion–notes that the Covid-19 outbreak threatens the global economy and may collapse the derivative market. That this may be intended to mask an overvalued equities market seems probable to us.

FTR #1121 More than One “Flu” Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Part 2

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 16, 2020 ⋅ 7 comments

OyaGen, Inc. has used a drug developed, tested and FDA-approved that successfully treats and–apparently–cures Covid-19. Interestingly and, perhaps, significantly, the trials were conducted at Fort Detrick. As seen in FTR #‘s 1119 and 1120, the military has been heavily involved in researching viruses of this type.

There continues to be enormous emphasis on Gilead Sciences by hedge funds including Renaissance Technologies. Robert Mercer stepped down as CEO of the firm at the end of 2017, as publicity around Cambridge Analytica and the fallout from the Charlottesville march made him something of a PR liability. Usually in such situations, people like Mercer remain as key investors.

In FTR #1118, we noted that the Board of Directors of the firm is “interesting.” The “disappointing” performance of Gilead Sciences changed dramatically with the Covid-19 outbreak. ” . . . . Until Monday, when it fell in a brutal market rout, Gilead’s stock price had defied the overall market decline of recent weeks, rising almost 20 percent from Feb. 21 to March 6, on hopes that the drug could provide the first treatment for covid-19. The lack of treatment helps explain why. The stock price increased 5 percent on Feb. 24 alone when a top official of the World Health Organization pinned much of the world’s hopes for a treatment on the drug. . . .”

Again, in FTR #‘s 1119 and 1120 we looked at the profound involvement of the Pentagon in researching coronaviruses like Covid-19, as well as DARPA’s deep involvement with companies approved to begin working on vaccines. Now, Medicago, another DARPA-funded company, claims to have a vaccine ready for trial. “. . . . Using plants and genetically engineered agrobacteria works faster than eggs also makes the vaccine much easier to produce at scale, which, in part, is why the U.S. military has invested in the company. In 2010, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, put together a $100 million program dubbed Blue Angel to look into new forms of vaccine discovery and production. A big chunk of that money went to Medicago to build a facility in North Carolina, where they showed that they could find a vaccine in just 20 days, then rapidly scale up production. . . .”

Next, we turn to an article noting that the characteristics of the COVID-19 disease has remarkable overlap with a hypothetical disease, dubbed “Disease X.” In 2018, the World Health Organization emphasized an alarming characteristic of “hypothetical” “Disease X” that appears to be shared with SARS-CoV‑2: the ability to rapidly morph from a mild to deadly disease. The sudden turn towards a deadly disease appears to be due, in part, to an overly aggressive immune response that ends up ravaging the lungs. As one expert points out, this is the same pattern seen in the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic.

In FTR #1117, we reviewed the fact that military researchers had successfully recovered DNA from that infamous 1918 flu virus. as will be seen below, that virus was re-created in a laboratory in 2005.

So the WHO warned a couple years ago about a hypothetical “Disease X” disease that was highly contagious with the ability to spread with asymptomatically, is mild in most cases but with the ability to suddenly turn deadly. And here we are two years later with a disease that fits that profile. It was a pretty prescient prediction.

Note, also, that Marion Koopmans–head of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and one of the WHO personnel who opined that Covid-19 was “Disease X” worked at the same institution as the researchers who performed gain-of-function experiments on the HN51 Avian Bird Flu virus, adapting to ferrets and making it communicable through casual respiratory activity. Those GOF experiements were also discussed in FTR #1117.

” . . . . From recent reports about the stealthy ways the so-called Covid-19 virus spreads and maims, a picture is emerging of an enigmatic pathogen whose effects are mainly mild, but which occasionally — and unpredictably — turns deadly in the second week. . . . The doctor [Li Wenliang], who was in good health prior to his infection, appeared to have a relatively mild case until his lungs became inflamed, leading to the man’s death two days later, said Linfa Wang, who heads the emerging infectious disease program at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School. A similar pattern of inflammation noted among Covid-19 patients was observed in those who succumbed to the 1918 ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic . . .”

We wonder if variants of the Covid-19 may have been modified to infect the upper respiratory tract and/or modified with DNA from the resurrected 1918 “Spanish Flu”?

Peter Daszak of the WHO once again, voiced the (self-fulfilling?) opinion/prophecy that Covid-19 is indeed “Disease X.”

A key factor spurring our suspicion concerning genetic-engineering of one or more variant of the Covid-19 virus concerns a 2015 Gain-of-Function experiment: “Ralph Baric, an infectious-disease researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, last week (November 9) published a study on his team’s efforts to engineer a virus with the surface protein of the SHC014 coronavirus, found in horseshoe bats in China, and the backbone of one that causes human-like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in mice. The hybrid virus could infect human airway cells and caused disease in mice. . . . The results demonstrate the ability of the SHC014 surface protein to bind and infect human cells, validating concerns that this virus—or other coronaviruses found in bat species—may be capable of making the leap to people without first evolving in an intermediate host, Nature reported. They also reignite a debate about whether that information justifies the risk of such work, known as gain-of-function research. ‘If the [new] virus escaped, nobody could predict the trajectory,’ Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, told Nature. . . .”

The above-mentioned Ralph Baric–who did the gain-of-function modification on the Horseshoe Bat coronavirus, has been selected to engineer the Covid-19.

Note what might be termed a “virologic Jurassic Park” manifestation: ” . . . . . . . . The technology immediately created bio-weapon worries. . . . Researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) drove that point home in 2005 when they resurrected the influenza virus that killed tens of millions in 1918–1919. . . .”

FTR #1119 and FTR #1120 DARPA and the Covid-19 Outbreak, Part 1 and DARPA and the Covid-19 Outbreak, Part 2

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 12, 2020 ⋅ One comment

A thought-provoking and disturbing article about DARPA research into bat-borne diseases, including some caused by coronaviruses–is set forth here.

Whitney Webb has provided us with troubling insight into Pentagon research–some of which remains classified:

1.– Into bat-borne coronaviruses. ” . . . . the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), began spending millions on such research in 2018 and some of those Pentagon-funded studies were conducted at known U.S. military bioweapons labs bordering China and resulted in the discovery of dozens of new coronavirus strains as recently as last April. Furthermore, the ties of the Pentagon’s main biodefense lab to a virology institute in Wuhan, China — where the current outbreak is believed to have begun — have been unreported in English language media thus far. . . . For instance, DARPA spent $10 million on one project in 2018 ‘to unravel the complex causes of bat-borne viruses that have recently made the jump to humans, causing concern among global health officials.” Another research project backed by both DARPA and NIH saw researchers at Colorado State University examine the coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in bats and camels ‘to understand the role of these hosts in transmitting disease to humans.’ . . . For instance, one study conducted in Southern China in 2018 resulted in the discovery of 89 new “novel bat coronavirus” strains that use the same receptor as the coronavirus known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). That study was jointly funded by the Chinese government’s Ministry of Science and Technology, USAID — an organization long alleged to be a front for U.S. intelligence, and the U.S. National Institute of Health — which has collaborated with both the CIA and the Pentagon on infectious disease and bioweapons research.. . . .”
2.–At biological research facilities ringing both China and Russia. ” . . . . One of those studies focused on ‘Bat-Borne Zoonotic Disease Emergence in Western Asia’ and involved the Lugar Center in Georgia, identified by former Georgian government officials, the Russian government and independent, investigative journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva as a covert U.S. bioweapons lab. . . . Another U.S. government-funded study that discovered still more new strains of ‘novel bat coronavirus’ was published just last year. Titled ‘Discovery and Characterization of Novel Bat Coronavirus Lineages from Kazakhstan,’ focused on ‘the bat fauna of central Asia, which link China to eastern Europe’ and the novel bat coronavirus lineages discovered during the study were found to be ‘closely related to bat coronaviruses from China, France, Spain, and South Africa, suggesting that co-circulation of coronaviruses is common in multiple bat species with overlapping geographical distributions.’ In other words, the coronaviruses discovered in this study were identified in bat populations that migrate between China and Kazakhstan, among other countries, and is closely related to bat coronaviruses in several countries, including China. . . .”
3.–Networked with Chinese research facilities in Wuhan. ” . . . . The USAMRIID’s problematic record of safety at such facilities is of particular concern in light of the recent coronavirus outbreak in China. As this report will soon reveal, this is because USAMRIID has a decades-old and close partnership with the University of Wuhan’s Institute of Medical Virology, which is located in the epicenter of the current outbreak. . . . Duke University is also jointly partnered with China’s Wuhan University, which is based in the city where the current coronavirus outbreak began, which resulted in the opening of the China-based Duke Kunshan University (DKU) in 2018. Notably, China’s Wuhan University — in addition to its partnership with Duke — also includes a multi-lab Institute of Medical Virology that has worked closely with the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases since the 1980s, according to its website. . . . ”
Into the DNA of both Russian and Chinese populations. ” . . . . Since the Pentagon began ‘redesigning’ its policies and research towards a ‘long war’ with Russia and China, the Russian military has accused the U.S. military of harvesting DNA from Russians as part of a covert bioweapon program, a charge that the Pentagon has adamantly denied. Major General Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military’s radiation, chemical and biological protection unit who made these claims, also asserted that the U.S. was developing such weapons in close proximity to Russian and Chinese borders. China has also accused the U.S. military of harvesting DNA from Chinese citizens with ill intentions, such as when 200,000 Chinese farmers were used in 12 genetic experiments without informed consent. Those experiments had been conducted by Harvard researchers as part of a U.S. government-funded project. . . .”
4.–Into “gene-driving”–a biotechnological development that can permanently alter the genetic makeup of entire population groups and lead to the extinction of other groups. ” . . . . Concerns about Pentagon experiments with biological weapons have garnered renewed media attention, particularly after it was revealed in 2017 that DARPA was the top funder of the controversial ‘gene drive’ technology, which has the power to permanently alter the genetics of entire populations while targeting others for extinction. At least two of DARPA’s studies using this controversial technology were classified and ‘focused on the potential military application of gene drive technology and use of gene drives in agriculture,’ according to media reports. The revelation came after an organization called the ETC Group obtained over 1,000 emails on the military’s interest in the technology as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Co-director of the ETC Group Jim Thomas said that this technology may be used as a biological weapon: ‘Gene drives are a powerful and dangerous new technology and potential biological weapons could have disastrous impacts on peace, food security and the environment, especially if misused, The fact that gene drive development is now being primarily funded and structured by the US military raises alarming questions about this entire field.’ . . . .”
Into overlapping technologies manifesting philosophies of eugenics and ethnic cleansing. ” . . . . In addition, one preliminary study on the coronavirus responsible for the current outbreak found that the receptor, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), is not only the same as that used by the SARS coronavirus, but that East Asians present a much higher ratio of lung cells that express that receptor than the other ethnicities (Caucasian and African-American) included in the study. . . . the U.S. Air Force published a document entitled ‘Biotechnology: Genetically Engineered Pathogens,’ which contains the following passage: ‘The JASON group, composed of academic scientists, served as technical advisers to the U. S. government. Their study generated six broad classes of genetically engineered pathogens that could pose serious threats to society. These include but are not limited to binary biological weapons, designer genes, gene therapy as a weapon, stealth viruses, host-swapping diseases, and designer diseases (emphasis added).’ . . .”
5.–Into the use of “Insect Allies” to supposedly provide crops with protection against pests and disease–a technological program critics have charged masks an offensive biological warfare manifestation. ” . . . . The most recent example of this involved DARPA’s “Insect Allies” program, which officially “aims to protect the U.S. agricultural food supply by delivering protective genes to plants via insects, which are responsible for the transmission of most plant viruses” and to ensure “food security in the event of a major threat,” according to both DARPA and media reports. However, a group of well-respected, independent scientists revealed in a scathing analysis of the program that, far from a ‘defensive’ research project, the Insect Allies program was aimed at creating and delivering ‘new class of biological weapon.’ The scientists, writing in the journal Science and led by Richard Guy Reeves, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany, warned that DARPA’s program — which uses insects as the vehicle for as horizontal environmental genetic alteration agents (HEGAAS) — revealed ‘an intention to develop a means of delivery of HEGAAs for offensive purposes (emphasis added).’ . . .”
6.–Ostensibly aimed at preventing pandemics but–very possibly–masking preparations for offensive biological warfare projects. ” . . . . Many of these recent research projects are related to DARPA’s Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats, or PREEMPT program, which was officially announced in April 2018. PREEMPT focuses specifically on animal reservoirs of disease, specifically bats, and DARPA even noted in its press release in the program that it ‘is aware of biosafety and biosecurity sensitivities that could arise’ due to the nature of the research. . . . In addition, while both DARPA’s PREEMPT program and the Pentagon’s open interest in bats as bioweapons were announced in 2018, the U.S. military — specifically the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program — began funding research involving bats and deadly pathogens, including the coronaviruses MERS and SARS, a year prior in 2017. . . .”
7.–That is heavily networked with the U.S. health and medical infrastructures. ” . . . . The second pharmaceutical company that was selected by CEPI to develop a vaccine for the new coronavirus is Moderna Inc., which will develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus of concern in collaboration with the U.S. NIH and which will be funded entirely by CEPI. The vaccine in question, as opposed to Inovio’s DNA vaccine, will be a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine. Though different than a DNA vaccine, mRNA vaccines still use genetic material ‘to direct the body’s cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins.’ Moderna’s mRNA treatments, including its mRNA vaccines, were largely developed using a $25 million grant from DARPA and it often touts is strategic alliance with DARPA in press releases. . . .”
8.–That is heavily networked with firms chosen to develop vaccines for the Covid-19. ” . . . . the very companies recently chosen to develop a vaccine to combat the coronavirus outbreak are themselves strategic allies of DARPA. . . . For instance, the top funders of Inovio Pharmaceuticals include both DARPA and the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the company has received millions in dollars in grants from DARPA, including a $45 million grant to develop a vaccine for Ebola. Inovio specializes in the creation of DNA immunotherapies and DNA vaccines, which contain genetically engineered DNA that causes the cells of the recipient to produce an antigen and can permanently alter a person’s DNA. Inovio previously developed a DNA vaccine for the Zika virus, but — to date — no DNA vaccine has been approved for use in humans in the United States. Inovio was also recently awarded over $8 million from the U.S. military to develop a small, portable intradermal device for delivering DNA vaccines jointly developed by Inovio and USAMRIID.”
9.–Into vaccines that have not been used on human beings and that use gene-altering manipulation that alarms critics. ” . . . . Not only that, but these DARPA-backed companies are developing controversial DNA and mRNA vaccines for this particular coronavirus strain, a category of vaccine that has never previously been approved for human use in the United States. . . . Inovio’s collaboration with the U.S. military in regards to DNA vaccines is nothing new, as their past efforts to develop a DNA vaccine for both Ebola and Marburg virus were also part of what Inovio’s CEO Dr. Joseph Kim called its ‘active biodefense program’ that has ‘garnered multiple grants from the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and other government agencies.’ . . . . ”
10.–Involving the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, a facility that was closed down in August of 2019 by the CDC for multiple safety violations. ” . . . . The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland — the U.S. military’s lead laboratory for ‘biological defense’ research since the late 1960s — was forced to halt all research it was conducting with a series of deadly pathogens after the CDC found that it lacked ‘sufficient systems in place to decontaminate wastewater’ from its highest-security labs and failure of staff to follow safety procedures, among other lapses. The facility contains both level 3 and level 4 biosafety labs. While it is unknown if experiments involving coronaviruses were ongoing at the time, USAMRIID has recently been involved in research borne out of the Pentagon’s recent concern about the use of bats as bioweapons. . . .”
11.–Into the application of genetic engineering in order to create ethno-specific biological warfare weapons, as discussed by the Project for a New American Century. ” . . . . In what is arguably the think tank’s most controversial document, titled ‘Rebuilding America’s Defenses,’ there are a few passages that openly discuss the utility of bioweapons, including the following sentences: ‘…combat likely will take place in new dimensions: in space, ‘cyber-space,’ and perhaps the world of microbes…advanced forms of biological warfare that can ‘target’ specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.’ . . .”

The program concludes with a summary of six pandemics that struck China within a period of a little less than two years. Are these connected to the many-faceted destabilization of China discussed in past programs and/or the research programs highlighted in the Whitney Webb article?:

. . . . In the past two years (during the trade war) China has suffered several pandemics:

1.–February 15, 2018: H7N4 bird flu. Sickened at least 1,600 people in China and killed more than 600. Many chickens killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products.
2.–June, 2018: H7N9 bird flu. Many chickens killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products.
3.–August, 2018: outbreak of African swine flu. Same strain as Russia, from Georgia. Millions of pigs killed. China needs to purchase US pork products.
4.–May 24, 2019: massive infestation of armyworms in 14 province-level regions in China, which destroy most food crops. Quickly spread to more than 8,500 hectares of China’s grain production. They produce astonishing numbers of eggs. China needs to purchase US agricultural products – corn, soybeans.
5.–December, 2019: Coronavirus appearance puts China’s economy on hold.
6.–January, 2020:China is hit by a “highly pathogenic” strain of bird flu in Hunan province. Many chickens died, many others killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products.

FTR #1118 Update on the Coronavirus Outbreak

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 10, 2020 ⋅ 12 comments

As the title indicates, the broadcast updates a number of points of inquiry and analysis concerning the Covid-19 outbreak. Of particular note in this context, is the fact that the CDC shut down the Army’s research facility at Ft. Detrick. In early August of 2019, shortly before the recorded start of the outbreak in Wuhan, China, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at that facility was closed down by the CDC due to multiple safety violations. “All research at a Fort Detrick laboratory that handles high-level disease-causing material, such as Ebola, is on hold indefinitely after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the organization failed to meet biosafety standards. . . . The CDC sent a cease and desist order in July. After USAMRIID received the order from the CDC, its registration with the Federal Select Agent Program, which oversees disease-causing material use and possession, was suspended. That suspension effectively halted all biological select agents and toxin research at USAMRIID . . . .”

Much of the program centers on an article from Global Research. It is Mr. Emory’s opinion that J. Kyle Bass’s comments (see above) and the State Department crackdown on Chinese media are related to some of the elements of discussion in this article. He had heard allegations for weeks that there was discussion in Chinese media about the virus having originated in the United States. Up until this article came to his attention, he had seen nothing to that effect.

NB: Although Western media and official treatment of Chinese media pronouncements on the coronavirus’s origin being in the U.S. will be dismissed as “fake news,” “propaganda,” etc., the speculation in a major Japanese TV broadcast and the analysis presented in a Taiwanese scientific video presentation are not easily dismissed as “Communist Chinese disinformation.” It is altogether dubious that major Japanese media or Taiwanese scientific presentation would carry water for the Chinese Communist Party.

The article raises a number of points of discussion and analysis, including:

1.–” . . . . A new study by Chinese researchers indicates the novel coronavirus may have begun human-to-human transmission in late November from a place other than the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. The study published on ChinaXiv, a Chinese open repository for scientific researchers, reveals the new coronavirus was introduced to the seafood market from another location(s), and then spread rapidly from the market due to the large number of close contacts. . . .”
2.–” . . . . Chinese medical authorities – and “intelligence agencies” – then conducted a rapid and wide-ranging search for the origin of the virus, collecting nearly 100 samples of the genome from 12 different countries on 4 continents, identifying all the varieties and mutations. During this research, they determined the virus outbreak had begun much earlier, probably in November, shortly after the Wuhan Military Games. . . . ”
3.–” . . . . They then came to the same independent conclusions as the Japanese researchers – that the virus did not begin in China but was introduced there from the outside. China’s top respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan said on January 27. ‘Though the COVID-19 was first discovered in China, it does not mean that it originated from China.’ . . . .This of course raises questions as to the actual location of origin. If the authorities pursued their analysis through 100 genome samples from 12 countries, they must have had a compelling reason to be searching for the original source outside China. This would explain why there was such difficulty in locating and identifying a ‘patient zero’. . . .”
4.–” . . . . In February of 2020, the Japanese Asahi news report (print and TV) claimed the coronavirus originated in the US, not in China, and that some (or many) of the 14,000 American deaths attributed to influenza may have in fact have resulted from the coronavirus. (5) . . .”
5.–” . . . . The TV Asahi network presented scientific documentation for their claims, raising the issue that no one would know the cause of death because the US either neglected to test or failed to release the results. Japan avoided the questions of natural vs. man-made and accidental vs. deliberate, simply stating that the virus outbreak may first have occurred in the US. The Western Internet appears to have been scrubbed of this information, but the Chinese media still reference it. . . .”
6.–” . . . . Then, Taiwan ran a TV news program on February,27,(click here to access video (Chinese), that presented diagrams and flow charts suggesting the coronavirus originated in the US. (6) . . . .”
7.–” . . . . The man in the video is a top virologist and pharmacologist who performed a long and detailed search for the source of the virus. He spends the first part of the video explaining the various haplotypes (varieties, if you will), and explains how they are related to each other, how one must have come before another, and how one type derived from another. He explains this is merely elementary science and nothing to do with geopolitical issues, describing how, just as with numbers in order, 3 must always follow 2. . . .”
8.–” . . . . The basic logic is that the geographical location with the greatest diversity of virus strains must be the original source because a single strain cannot emerge from nothing. He demonstrated that only the US has all the five known strains of the virus (while Wuhan and most of China have only one, as do Taiwan and South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, Singapore, and England, Belgium and Germany), constituting a thesis that the haplotypes in other nations may have originated in the US. . . .”
9.–” . . . . With about 50 nations scattered throughout the world having identified at least one case at the time of writing, it would be very interesting to examine virus samples from each of those nations to determine their location of origin and the worldwide sources and patterns of spread. . . .”
10.–” . . . .The Taiwanese doctor then stated the virus outbreak began earlier than assumed, saying, ‘We must look to September of 2019’. He stated the case in September of 2019 where some Japanese traveled to Hawaii and returned home infected, people who had never been to China. This was two months prior to the infections in China and just after the CDC suddenly and totally shut down the Fort Detrick bio-weapons lab claiming the facilities were insufficient to prevent loss of pathogens. (10) (11) He said he personally investigated those cases very carefully (as did the Japanese virologists who came to the same conclusion).. This might indicate the coronavirus had already spread in the US but where the symptoms were being officially attributed to other diseases, and thus possibly masked. . . .”
11.–” . . . . On February 26, ABC News affiliate KJCT8 News Network reported that a woman recently told the media that her sister died on from coronavirus infection. Montrose, Colorado resident Almeta Stone said, ‘They (the medical staff) kept us informed that it was the flu, and when I got the death certificate, there was a coronavirus in the cause of death.’ . . .”
12.–” . . . . In the past two years (during the trade war) China has suffered several pandemics: A) February 15, 2018: H7N4 bird flu. Sickened at least 1,600 people in China and killed more than 600. Many chickens killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products. B)June, 2018: H7N9 bird flu. Many chickens killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products. C) August, 2018: outbreak of African swine flu. Same strain as Russia, from Georgia. Millions of pigs killed. China needs to purchase US pork products. D)May 24, 2019: massive infestation of armyworms in 14 province-level regions in China, which destroy most food crops. Quickly spread to more than 8,500 hectares of China’s grain production. They produce astonishing numbers of eggs. China needs to purchase US agricultural products – corn, soybeans. E) December, 2019: Coronavirus appearance puts China’s economy on hold. F) January, 2020: China is hit by a ‘highly pathogenic’ strain of bird flu in Hunan province. Many chickens died, many others killed. China needs to purchase US poultry products. . . .”

Program Highlights Include: Further discussion of the State Department’s crackdown on Chinese media outlets; Further discussion of Shincheonji–a South Korean cult that was apparently the vehicle for introducing the virus into that country and which has a branch in Wuhan China; the structural, operational and doctrinal overlap between Shincheonji and the Unificatin Church; Donald Rumsfeld’s position as chairman of the board of directors of Gilead Sciences–at the forefront of Big Pharma’s race to develop countermeasures to the Covid-19 and a major investment target for hedge funds; The presence on Gilead’s board of C. Benno Schmidt, Sr., who helped launch Richard Nixon’s War on Cancer–a cover for the NCI’s Special Viral Cancer Research Program.

Disturbing Article about DARPA and Bat-Borne Coronaviruses

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 9, 2020 ⋅ 4 comments

A thought-provoking and disturbing article about DARPA research into bat-borne diseases, including some caused by coronaviruses–is set forth here, as supplemental to broadcasts on the subject. Whitney Webb has provided us with troubling insight into Pentagon research–some of which remains classified: A) Into bat-borne coronaviruses. B) At biological research facilities ringing both China and Russia. C) Networked with Chinese research facilities in Wuhan. D) Into the DNA of both Russian and Chinese populations. E) Into “gene-driving”–a biotechnological development that can permanently alter the genetic makeup of entire population groups and lead to the extinction of other groups. F) Into the use of “Insect Allies” to supposedly provide crops with protection against pests and disease–a technological program critics have charged masks an offensive biological warfare manifestation. G) Ostensibly aimed at preventing pandemics but–very possibly–masking preparations for offensive biological warfare projects. H) That is heavily networked with the U.S. health and medical infrastructures. I) That is heavily networked with firms chosen to develop vaccines for the Covid-19. J) Into vaccines that have not been used on human beings and that use gene-altering manipulation that alarms critics. K) Into overlapping technologies manifesting philosophies of eugenics and ethnic cleansing. L) Involving the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, a facility that was closed down by the CDC at the beginning of August, 2019, for multiple safety violations. M) Into the application of genetic engineering in order to create ethno-specific biological warfare weapons.

FTR #1117 More Than One “Flu” Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 9, 2020 ⋅ One comment

Researchers found that levels of the Covid-19 virus increased soon after symptoms first appeared, with higher amounts in the nose than in the throats, which is also more consistent with influenza than SARS. Of the 18 patients they examined, one had moderate levels in their nose and throat but no symptoms–people who are asymptomatic can still potentially spread the virus. It’s this combination of airborne transmissions and asymptomatic patients who shed the virus that makes this a particularly infectious disease.

This anomalous new ability to infect the upper respiratory tract, of course, brings up the chilling experiments where researchers modified the H5N1 bird flu virus until it was capable of airborne transmissions between ferrets. That’s the same research that was banned by the NIH following the uproar but has subsequently been reallowed in early 2019. That original 2012 study specifically found that it was mutations that gave the virus the ability to infect the upper respiratory tracts of the ferrets that made it an airborne virus. We have yet to year if the SAR-CoV‑2 virus had the same or similar mutations to those that were induced in the H5N1 bird flu virus experiment but it seems likely.

The infectiousness of the SARS-CoV‑2 coronavirus is unprecedented based on this new study. As one immunologist put it, “This virus is clearly much more capable of spreading between humans than any other novel coronavirus we’ve ever seen. This is more akin to the spread of flu”.

In the context of the Covid-19’s flu-like ability to infect the upper respiratory tract, we explore experiments adapting the lethal H5N1 avian flu to ferrets. These experiments were halted in 2014 but subsequently resumed in 2017.

Might some of this experiment have been adapted to the Covid-19?

We explore additional experiments adapting the lethal H5N1 avian flu to ferrets. These experiments were halted in 2014 but subsequently resumed in 2017.

Might some of this experiment have been adapted to the Covid-19?

These experiments were resumed, shortly before the outbreak of Covid-19. Again, might some of the results of the adaptation of the H5N1 avian flu to ferrets have figured in the Covid-19 phenomenon?

Note that many experts were critical of the process.

A report on the adaptation of the A/H5N1 to ferrets notes that Oseltamivir–marketed under the brand-name Tamiflu–was successful in treating the ferrets. That is one of the anti-virals in a drug cocktail used by Thai doctors to successfully treat a Covid-19 sufferer.

In FTR#55, we noted in 1997 that U.S. Army researchers had successfully recovered genetic material from the 1918 influenza epidemic.

As will be seen in future programs, one of the variants of the Covid-19 does indeed behave like the 1918 flu virus. As we will also see in future programs, that virus was resurrected by researchers in 2005.

In the past, we have heard it alleged by credible sources that Germany was behind the 1918 flu epidemic that killed scores of millions worldwide.

From Germany Watch comes another post reinforcing this line of inquiry.

After maintaining that German agents were sabotaging livestock with anthrax, the post discusses British intelligence distillate indicating that, after discovering the particular strain of virulent flu, German agents began deliberately spreading it in the U.S.

NB: We don’t feel that the information from the book Three Wars with Germany confirms the hypothesis that the flu pandemic was a German bio-warfare weapon gone awry beyond the point of debate. It DOES, however, highlight that possibility.

We then tackle the subject of a cult/church that is at the epicenter of a Covid-19 outbreak in South Korea. The overlap between this organization and the Unification Church is discussed in a Food For Thought post. Might this cult have been a vector for introducing the virus into Wuhan?

The fascistic nature of the cult and some of the rituals and beliefs of the organization would render the group and/or some of its members as viable “useful idiots” for manipulation in connection with this outbreak.

The next two points of discussion concern the fact that the current U.S. Ambassador to South Korea was the former head of the United States Pacific Command. We wonder if he might be ONI and/or CIA, and if he might have any connection to the anti-China blitzkrieg and the Covid-19 outbreak?

As the former Commander of the Guantanamo base in Cuba, Admiral Harris certainly did have operational links with the intelligence community.

FTR #1116 Update on The Chinese Winter and the Coronavirus “Bio-Psy-Op”

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ March 4, 2020 ⋅ 3 comments

In our ongoing series about the Covid-19 breakout and the Chinese winter, we have discussed the damage the breakout has done to the Chinese economy, our belief that the outbreak is part of a destabilization effort against China, and the investments of Steve Bannon associate J. Kyle Bass and, in turn, Bass’s political association and probable co-investment position with Trump associate Tommy Hicks, Jr.

Positioned to profit as a result of a Chinese economic downturn, Bass and Hicks may well be profiting from China’s economic problems, which are growing more severe as a result of the outbreak.

Now, many Chinese firms say they cannot pay their workers their full salaries–a development that will further strain the Chinese economy.

NB: With the economic consequences of the outbreak spreading globally, Bass, Hicks et al would not necessarily have to be invested in Chinese equities to profit enormously from this event.

New bank loans in China hit a record high in January, reflecting the growing need for cash to keep the businesses operating and employees paid. The PBOC, China’s central bank, also cut its benchmark lending rate today as part of a push to ease the financing costs for business. As the article notes, small and rural banks are most at risk–a stress test last year by the PBOC found that 13 percent of banks were considered “high risk”.

As noted below, Tommy Hicks brought in J. Kyle Bass to lecture to interagency government networks about China’s banking system.

We review the fact that Bass is close to, and may well be a co-investor with, Tommy Hicks Jr., a key member of Team Trump. Hicks, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and national security officials are, in turn, working to deny Chinese electronics firm Huawei access to developing 5G networks, further hamstringing the Chinese economy.

Paul Krugman, among others, has noted that Wilbur Ross was openly celebrating the coronavirus as a boon to the United States.

We highlight key aspects of this discussion:
1.–Hicks is not a government official but has access to high-level governmental process, including (apparently) CIA activities. ” . . . . Tommy Hicks Jr., 41, isn’t a government official; he’s a wealthy private investor. And he has been a part of discussions related to China and technology with top officials from the Treasury Department, National Security Council, Commerce Department and others, according to emails and documents obtained by ProPublica. In one email, Hicks refers to a meeting at ‘Langley,’ an apparent reference to the CIA’s headquarters. . . .”
2.–Hicks has used his position to arrange for J. Kyle Bass to network with government agencies and officials. Bear in mind that Bass is positioned to benefit from a downturn in China’s economy. ” . . . . Hicks used his connections to arrange for a hedge fund manager friend, Kyle Bass — who has $143 million in investments that will pay off if China’s economy tanks — to present his views on the Chinese economy to high-level government officials at an interagency meeting at the Treasury Department, according to the documents. . . .”
3.–Hicks and Bass have invested together since 2011. ” . . . . Bass presented his views on China’s banking system in the office of Heath Tarbert, an assistant secretary at Treasury in charge of international markets and investment policy and a powerful intergovernmental committee that reviews foreign investments in the U.S. for national security concerns. Among the officials at the meeting with Tarbert were Bill Hinman, the director of the division of corporation finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ray Washburne, a wealthy Dallas restaurant owner and family friend of Hicks’ who was nominated by Trump to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Hicks and Bass, both Dallas residents and longtime denizens of the financial community there, have invested together since at least 2011, according to securities filings and court records. . . .”
4.–Hicks did not deny that he participated in Bass’s funds, but was evasive.” . . . . But it’s not clear if Hicks or his family have an investment in Bass’ China-related funds. Reached twice on his cellphone, Hicks declined to be interviewed by ProPublica. In the second call, in June, Hicks didn’t dispute that he and his family have invested in Bass’ funds. But when asked to detail their business relationship, he cut the conversation short. . . . ”
5.–Bass has a history of betting against trends that will turn downward, having made his fortune on the 2008 crash. ” . . . . Bass, who made his name and fortune by betting against subprime mortgages before the crash and is known for large bets that economies or certain macro trends will turn downward, declined to comment. . . .”
6.–Official review did not examine possible business relationships between Hicks and Bass. ” . . . . An administration official briefed on the Bass meeting at the Treasury downplayed it as ‘strictly a listening session.’ . . . . He acknowledged that the review didn’t include an examination of any financial relationship between Hicks and Bass. . . .”
7.–Bass is positioned to maintain “massive asymmetry” to down turns in Hong Kong and China, in other words, he will benefit if they go down. ” . . . . Bass has become a vocal advocate for an aggressive U.S. policy toward China. On Twitter and on cable business channels he’s denounced everything from the country’s Communist Party government to its business practices. Securities filings show Bass raised $143 million from about 81 investors in two funds — investments that would benefit if China’s currency were devalued or the country faced credit or banking crises. In April, in a letter to his investors, Bass wrote that his company, Hayman Capital Management, was positioned for coming problems in Hong Kong and was set up to ‘maintain a massive asymmetry to a negative outcome in Hong Kong and/or China.’ . . . ”
Next, we turn to discussion of the possible manipulation of the virus to make it communicable through airborne transmission, similar to the transmission of influenza.

Researchers found that levels of the virus increased soon after symptoms first appeared, with higher amounts in the nose than in the throats–more consistent with influenza than SARS. Of the 18 patients they examined, one had moderate levels in their nose and throat but no symptoms. People who are asymptomatic can still spread the virus. It’s this combination of airborne transmission and asymptomatic patients who are still shedding the virus that makes this a particularly infectious disease.

This sudden anomalous (for SARS-like coronaviruses) new ability to infect the upper respiratory tract, of course, brings up chilling experiments in which researchers modified the H5N1 bird flu virus to become capable of airborne transmissions between ferrets. That research was banned by the NIH following public outcry but resumed in early 2019. The original 2012 study specifically found that it was the genetically engineered mutations that gave the virus the ability to infect the upper respiratory tracts of the ferrets. We have yet to hear if the SAR-CoV‑2 virus had the same or similar mutations to those that were induced in the H5N1 bird flu virus experiment but it seems likely.

Thus, the infectiousness of the SARS-CoV‑2 coronavirus is unprecedented based on this new study. As one immunologist put it, “This virus is clearly much more capable of spreading between humans than any other novel coronavirus we’ve ever seen. This is more akin to the spread of flu”.

The virus can also be spread through human fecal material from an infected person.

Yet another speculative element of discussion concerns a cult/church in South Korea which is the epicenter of a burst of cases in that country. A reputed presence of a branch of the organization is in Wuhan, which has directed discussion in the direction of the virus having migrated from Hubei province to South Korea.

Against the background of Unification Church activity during the Cold War, in connection with CIA, in connection with the fascist power elite in Japan that is continuous with that country’s activities during World War II, we wonder about the possibility of the use of this cult as a vectoring agent.

Might it be possible that it was used to introduce the virus into China in the first place?

As will be highlighted in future programs, there appear to be operational/networking links between the Shincheonji and the Unification Church, as well as doctrinal similarities.

FTR #1113 and FTR #1114 The Chinese Winter: Weaponized Media, Social Media and the Coronavirus Biowarfare Psy-Op Parts 1 and 2

Posted by Dave Emory ⋅ February 24, 2020 ⋅ 10 comments

The first program begins with review of the conclusion of FTR #1112, noting the repetitive, drumroll of articles about the economic effects of the coronavirus on the Chinese, U.S. and global economy, this in the context of Steve Bannon’s links to Guo Wengui, J. Kyle Bass and–through Bass–to Tommy Hicks, Jr. (This was covered at length and in detail in FTR #‘s 1111 and 1112.)

Steve Bannon–one of the luminaries of the “Alt-Right,” and a former key Trump aide is centrally involved in the anti-China effort. Note Bannon’s role in the “Get China” movement and the manner in which Washington is being possessed by this: ” . . . . Fear of China has spread across the government, from the White House to Congress to federal agencies, where Beijing’s rise is unquestioningly viewed as an economic and national security threat and the defining challenge of the 21st century. ‘These are two systems that are incompatible,’ Mr. Bannon said of the United States and China. ‘One side is going to win, and one side is going to lose.’ . . . .”

Next, the program undertakes a review of circumstances that suggest the possibility of investor activity by people linked to Steve Bannon, who is at the epicenter of the anti-China effort. Bannon has been the beneficiary of the enormous wealth of the brilliant, eccentric investor Robert Mercer. Mercer has used AI-directed investment projection to afford a 70% return for his hedge fund.

We wonder if he might have had foreknowledge of the coronavirus outbreak? IF that was the case, this would have enabled him to have made a great deal of money on the torpedoing of the Chinese economy as may well be the case for J. Kyle Bass. On the other side of the coin is Mercer’s/Renaissance Technologies’ enormous investment in Gilead Pharmaceuticals.

IF Gilead’s remdesivir does prove to be the “go-to” treatment for coronavirus, that firm stands to make a great deal of money, as would Mercer/Renaissance Technologies. NB: The information from Dr. Mercola’s post should be factored in to the information about investing and the possibility of short-selling and/or other types of maneuvering to profit from this crisis. Equity markets are very responsive to suggestion, accurate or falacious. We note that the hysteria alluded to in the post by Dr. Mercola may well contribute to the steep decline in markets.

China, of course, has shut down much of its infrastructure to combat the virus. That is contributing, obviously. To what extent they, too, are responding to hysteria is an open question. We also wonder if they know something we don’t. Media have featured pictures of Chinese personnel in protective clothing fumigating public facilities. We wonder if they are protecting against rodents or other animals spreading the virus. Note the reference in the post by Dr. Mercola.

China has begun testing of Gilead’s remdesivir. IF, for the sake of argument, Gilead’s remdesivir becomes the “go-to” treatment for the coronavirus, Gilead–and Mercer–will make a great deal of money. China is a huge market and the drug will find markets elsewhere, as well. Note that a Chinese government research facility has applied for a patent on the drug.

We find it curious that American media outlets have remained silent on such a promising therapeutic regimen. Reuters reported it, as did Agence France Presse. These are major wire services. Why not American media outlets?

Indicative of the “Chicken Little journalism”–weaponzed journalism– that characterizes the U.S. news media is the lack of coverage of the American flu epidemic of 2017–2018. Contrast the statistics about the 2017–2018 flu epidemic in this country with the statistics about coronavirus. In this country, 45 million caught the flu. According to the CDC, 80,000 of them died.

Next, we read in full an Op-Ed column by Rosie Spinks–a rare island of balance and sanity in The New York Times’ coverage of this event. In addition to noting the effects of the coronavirus on the economics of the travel industry, Rosie Spinks notes the draconian reaction of the U.S. State Department. Ms. Spinks tales stock of the relatively mild nature of the virus. ” . . . . Numerous experts have said that the majority of people who contract coronavirus will experience it as a respiratory infection they will fully recover from. But the extreme reactions — the canceling of flights, closing of borders and level-four travel warnings — seem more appropriate for something much worse. . . .”

Because it screens points of entry for MERS coronavirus infection because of its citizens who make the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, Indonesia has no recorded cases. In the column cited above, Ms. Spinks noted the effectiveness of the kind of prophylactic screening measures taken by Indonesia: ” . . . . Measures like screening at airports, quarantining cruise ships or flights with confirmed cases and isolating communities at the center of an outbreak can be effective, said Erin Sorrell, an assistant research professor at Georgetown University who studies emerging infectious diseases. . . .”

The outbreak has occurred in the context of what we have called a “Full Court Press” against China.

Headed by “ex” CIA officer William Barr, the Justice Department has charged Chinese personnel with having hacked the Equifax credit reporting agencies. The Chinese have denied this. It will be interesting to see if the U.S. deploys cyber-weaponry on Chinese computer and internet systems, as it has in Russia. In turn, it will be interesting to see if the “Full Court Press” strategy encompasses the sabotaging of Chinese nuclear power plants, Project HAARP environmental modification warfare or other draconian measures.

The CIA’s hacking tools are specifically crafted to mask CIA authorship of the attacks. Most significantly, for our the purposes of the present discussion, is the fact that the Agency’s hacking tools are engineered in such a way as to permit the authors of the event to represent themselves as Chinese. ” . . . . These tools could make it more difficult for anti-virus companies and forensic investigators to attribute hacks to the CIA. Could this call the source of previous hacks into question? It appears that yes, this might be used to disguise the CIA’s own hacks to appear as if they were Russian, Chinese, or from specific other countries. . . . This might allow a malware creator to not only look like they were speaking in Russian or Chinese, rather than in English, but to also look like they tried to hide that they were not speaking English . . . .”

Pivoting to what Mr. Emory has termed the “weaponized media coverage” of the coronavirus outbreak, we note The New York Times’ stunningly slanted coverage of the 2016 campaign.

Before discussing Allen Dulles and his relationship to “The New York Times,” we set forth events illustrating the fundamental place of Sullivan & Cromwell in the development of American Big Money. Both Allen Dulles and John Foster Dulles worked for Sullivan & Cromwell.

A now famous article by Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) focuses on CIA presence in major U.S. media. We note, here, the deep historical and political relationship between Allen Dulles and The New York Times’s Arthur Hays Sulzberger. This, again, by way of background to the weaponized coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.

In in his 1985 volume “American Swastika,” the late author Charles Higham provides us with insight into the Christian West concept, revealing the extent to which these SS/OSS negotiations set the template for the post-World War II world, as well as the degree of resonance that key Americans, such as Allen Dulles, had with Nazi ideology, anti-Semitism in particular. Weighing the long, profound relationship between Dulles and The Times, this is presented as something of a “navigational aid” to analysis of the weaponized coverage of the virus.

In the context of Allen Dulles’s orientation and his relationship with The New York Times, we present a look at The New York Times’ use of a Third Reich alumnus named Paul Hofmann as a foreign correspondent, serving as chief of The Times’ Rome bureau, and covering the Gray Lady’s coverage of the CIA’s participation in the overthrow of Patrice Lumumba.

The program concludes with an item presented in our landmark series of interviews with the brilliant Jim DiEugenio about Destiny Betrayed.

Nothing illustrates this country’s media and their willingness to distort information than the NBC television broadcast arranged by Walter Sheridan. Sheridan is a career intelligence officer, with relationship with the Office of Naval Intelligence, the CIA, the NSA and the FBI.

Exemplifying Sheridan’s methodology was the treatment meted out to Fred Leemans, who was the climactic person interviewed by Sheridan in his special. Note the open intimidation of Leemans and his family, threatening them if they did not perjure themselves, betray Garrison, and cooperate with both Sheridan and Clay Shaw’s counsel! This is reminiscent of the treatment of Marlene Mancuso detailed in our previous interview.