Some interesting articles and videos I consumed the past few days ... May 2021

 

Further Evidence That SARS-CoV-2 Genes Can Integrate With Human DNA & What That Means For You 

https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/further-evidence-that-sars-cov-2-genes-can-integrate-with-human-dna-what-that-means-for-you/

 

 

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https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/05/cia-wokeness.html

CIA Wokeness

Michael Tracey writes about a weird CIA video that is making the rounds (emphasis added):

In a mind-blowing marketing video first published on March 25, but which had escaped widespread notice until recent days, the CIA enthusiastically endorsed several key tenets of what has now indisputably become a hegemonic left/liberal ideological and rhetorical construct:

“I am a woman of color,” the video’s protagonist, an unnamed CIA officer, triumphantly proclaims. “I am a cisgender millennial who’s been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. I am intersectional, but my existence is not a box-checking exercise.”

She continues, “I used to struggle with imposter syndrome. But at 36, I refuse to internalize misguided patriarchal ideas of what a woman can or should be. I am tired of feeling like I’m supposed to apologize for the space I occupy.”

I have to admit that I do not know what the words in bold are supposed to mean. (Nor does my Firefox spellchecker. It flags them.)...................................

 

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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dr-peter-mccullough-tells-tucker-carlson-today-the-world-has-gone-off-the-rails-with-treating-covid-19

 Dr. Peter McCullough tells ‘Tucker Carlson Today’ the world has gone 'off the rails' with treating COVID-19

“I can tell you I am not recommending pregnant women get the vaccine,” Dr. McCullough says.................

 

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343863194_COVID-19-Extending_Surveillance_and_the_Panopticon

COVID-19—Extending Surveillance and the Panopticon

• August 2020
• Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Symposium: COVID-19(3-4)

DOI:10.1007/s11673-020-10036-5

• Project: COVID-19 writings

Authors:

Danielle Couch

• Monash University (Australia)

Priscilla Robinson

• La Trobe University

Paul Komesaroff

• Monash University (Australia)
•  
•  

 

Abstract

Surveillance is a core function of all public health systems. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have deployed traditional public health surveillance responses, such as contact tracing and quarantine, and extended these responses with the use of varied technologies, such as the use of smartphone location data, data networks, ankle bracelets, drones, and big data analysis. Applying Foucault’s (1979) notion of the panopticon, with its twin focus on surveillance and self-regulation, as the preeminent form of social control in modern societies, we examine the increasing levels of surveillance enacted during this pandemic and how people have participated in, and extended, this surveillance, self-regulation, and social control through the use of digital media. Consideration is given to how such surveillance may serve public health needs and/or political interests and whether the rapid deployment of these extensive surveillance mechanisms risks normalizing these measures so that they become more acceptable and then entrenched post-COVID-19................................

 

 

 

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Iran and the GCC: Prospects for a Grand Reconciliation

To realize shared priorities and fulfill the Persian Gulf’s potential as a global cornerstone for energy and trade, hardline Gulf states must acquiesce to waning U.S. hegemony and pursue reconciliation with Iran.

By Sharmine Narwani

https://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/iran-and-the-gcc-prospects-for-a-grand-reconciliation/

 

Mired in turmoil from the Levant to the Persian Gulf, on the surface, the Middle East’s future has rarely looked this bleak. There is, however, an inherent value in hitting rock bottom, and that is the prospect of remaking it all from scratch. But to do so, there needs to be a unique constellation of actors, incentives, alliances, and opportunity. Today, that critical mix exists in the region; the only question is when and where it will give shape to the Mideast’s new direction.

While the war-torn and economically-crippled Levant draws all eyes, it is in the Persian Gulf where the seeds of a changed future will be planted. Simply put, the confrontations throughout the region since the start of the Arab uprisings have largely been driven by actors in the Persian Gulf, and hence that is where the settlements will be reached. 

The recent conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and now Lebanon are all connected to the decades-long standoff between the United States and Islamic Republic of Iran, which has split the region into two poles. Some parties view this fight as a zero-sum game, while others believe a win-win solution still exists within the region. The latter is possible and there have been a number of initiatives—from Iran, Kuwait, and Oman in the main—that have thus far proven unsuccessful, largely because many parties, both inside and outside the region, are still attempting to gain leverage on the ground in various battlefields and confrontations.............

 

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