Archive for the ‘Activism’ Category

Who Funds Facebook Fact Checkers?

https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/who-funds-facebook-fact-checkers

Who Funds Facebook Fact Checkers?

Written By:  GreenMedInfo Research Group

© [Nov. 12, 2020] GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here //www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter

Social media fact-checking organizations are not the independent public health watchdogs they’re made out to be. Fact checkers for Facebook are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has given more than $250 million in grants to steer media outlets

In what it describes as a commitment to “fighting the spread of misinformation,”[i] Facebook claims to work with “independent, third-party fact-checking organizations” to review content and take action against that deemed to be “viral misinformation” or fake news.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that when a post is identified as misinformation, meaning it’s given a warning label as such by Facebook, it results in users not clicking through 95% of the time.[ii]

While presented as a tool to protect the public, what it amounts to is blatant censorship, which can easily push certain agendas into public view while silencing others. Facebook, again, claims to be unbiased, but several of its fact-checking partners receive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, raising serious questions about conflicts of interest.

Gates Foundation Funds Prominent ‘Fact Checkers’

Who’s behind Facebook’s fact-checking? Africa Check is one fact-checking organization, which launched in 2018 across five sub-Saharan Africa countries. In 2019, they announced they were expanding coverage to prevent fake news from spreading across 10 more languages, including Swahili in Kenya, Wolof in Senegal and Afrikaans in South Africa.[iii]

In August 2019, the Gates Foundation paid $1,478,700 to Africa Check, for the reported purposes of advocacy to increase the accuracy of health claims made by public figures and promote the use of evidence-backed information by the media and others in terms of public health and development issues.[iv] An additional $445,760 grant was also paid to Africa Check by the Gates Foundation in 2017.[v]

Yet, in the Columbia Journalism Review, journalist Tim Schwab said he found 16 examples of Africa Check fact-checking media claims about Gates, and all of them — save one correction about an incorrect malaria statistic — were supportive or defensive of Bill and Melinda Gates and/or their foundation.[vi]

The Poynter Institute is another of the Gates’ Foundations beneficiaries, receiving a $382,997 grant from Gates in November 2015 “to improve the accuracy in worldwide media of claims related to global health and development.”[vii]

The Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) certifies Facebook’s fact-checking organizations, which must adhere to their code of principles.[viii] And, adding in one more layer of conflict, Facebook is also a major donor to Poynter and its subsidiary PolitiFact.[ix]

Is Bill Gates Media’s Puppet Master?

Bill Gates has emerged as a powerful figure in public health, despite holding no medical degree. Aside from being a top funder of the World Health Organization (WHO),[x] the Gates Foundation funds a number of mainstream media outlets, yielding a potentially disturbing level of control over the free press.

According to Schwab, “I recently examined nearly twenty thousand charitable grants the Gates Foundation had made through the end of June and found more than $250 million going toward journalism.“[xi] Recipients of Gates Foundation grants include:[xii]

BBC

NBC

Al Jazeera

ProPublica

National Journal

The Guardian

Univision

Medium

The Financial Times

The Atlantic

The Texas Tribune

Gannett

Washington Monthly

Le Monde

The Center for Investigative Reporting

Throwing money at the media means favorable press is a given, and the internet is awash in pieces praising the Gates Foundation’s charitable endeavors. Gannett’s USA Today is one example that has been quick to defend Gates from criticism, including claims that he would profit from the drug remdesivir.[xiii]

The Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact, another one of Facebook’s fact-checking partners,[xiv]also pushed back against claims that the Gates foundation would profit from a COVID-19vaccine, stating, “False claims about the Gates Foundation’s connection to the novel coronavirus know no borders” and adding that such “fake news” posts on social media would be “flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.”[xv]

Just how far Gates’ puppet strings over the media extend remain unknown, Schwab reported, because the foundation only discloses charitable grants, not contracts, except for one with media outlet Vox.

“In the same way that the news media has given Gates an outsize voice in the pandemic, the foundation has long used its charitable giving to shape the public discourse on everything from global health to education to agriculture — a level of influence that has landed Bill Gates on Forbes’s list of the most powerful people in the world,” Schwab wrote.[xvi]

Facebook Sued for Censorship

In a lawsuit filed against Facebook, Zuckerberg and the fact-checking organizations Science Feedback, Poynter Institute and its subsidiary Politifact, nonprofit group Children’s Health Defense (CHD) alleges that Facebook censored information it shared regarding vaccine safety and 5G health concerns.[xvii]

In their lawsuit, they compared Facebook to the printing presses of 17th century England, through which the government controlled free speech. They allege that government actors, namely the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO, actively partnered with Facebook to censor CHD’s speech critical of government policy.

In regard to Facebook and Zuckerberg, the suit alleges, “At a time when the social media platform and its creator claim to be exponents of free expression and the scientific method for discovering truth, this case reveals the opposite: that they are indeed censors, and opponents of real science and open debate.”[xviii]

As the line between what constitutes real and fake news becomes increasingly, and perhaps intentionally, blurred, be sure to look beyond mainstream and social media’s seal of approval in your own search for truth.

References

[i]Facebook, Fact-Checking on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2593586717571940?id=673052479947730

[ii] Reclaimthenet.org May 21, 2020 https://reclaimthenet.org/zuckerberg-defends-censoring/

[iii] Africa-Newsroom August 14, 2019 https://www.africa-newsroom.com/press/facebook-together-with-africa-check-expands-its-local-language-coverage-as-part-of-its-thirdparty-factchecking-programme?lang=en

[iv] Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grants, Africa Check https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2019/08/OPP1214960

[v] Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grants, Africa Check https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2017/09/OPP1176188

[vi]Columbia Journalism Review August 21, 2020 https://www.cjr.org/criticism/gates-foundation-journalism-funding.php

[vii] Gates Foundation, Grants, The Poynter Institute for Media, Studies https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2015/11/OPP1138320

[viii] IFCN Code of Principles https://ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org/

[ix] Children’s Health Defense v. Facebook August 17, 2020 https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/FACEBOOK-COMPLAINT-DKT-1-08-17-2020-a.pdf

[x]Devex June 5, 2020 https://www.devex.com/news/big-concerns-over-gates-foundation-s-potential-to-become-largest-who-donor-97377

[xi] Columbia Journalism Review August 21, 2020 https://www.cjr.org/criticism/gates-foundation-journalism-funding.php

[xii] Columbia Journalism Review August 21, 2020 https://www.cjr.org/criticism/gates-foundation-journalism-funding.php

[xiii] USA Today May 14, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/14/fact-check-anthony-fauci-bill-gates-wont-profit-remdesivir/3120063001/

[xiv] Reclaimthenet August 21, 2020 https://reclaimthenet.org/gates-foundation-funds-facebook-fact-checkers/

[xv]Politifact May 14, 2020 https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/may/14/facebook-posts/no-evidence-gates-foundation-will-profit-coronavir/

[xvi] Columbia Journalism Review August 21, 2020 https://www.cjr.org/criticism/gates-foundation-journalism-funding.php

[xvii] Reclaimthenet August 19, 2020 https://reclaimthenet.org/childrens-health-defense-sues-facebook/

[xviii] Children’s Health Defense v. Facebook August 17, 2020 https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/FACEBOOK-COMPLAINT-DKT-1-08-17-2020-a.pdf

The GMI Research Group (GMIRG) is dedicated to investigating the most important health and environmental issues of the day.  Special emphasis will be placed on environmental health.  Our focused and deep research will explore the many ways in which the present condition of the human body directly reflects the true state of the ambient environment.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.
_______________________
 
**Comment**

It isn’t just Gates.

 
 
 
 
 

Category:

Activism, vaccines, Viruses

NIH & Moderna Covid Vaccine Phase 1 Trial Safety Summary Report

ICAN’s legal team led by Aaron Siri, sued the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna to receive a copy of their Covid Vaccine Phase 1 Trial Safety Summary Report and what we found will create an avalanche of opposition to any forced vaccine.

From ICAN:

You and I both know forced vaccines are a bad idea.  

You and I both support common-sense exemptions to any vaccine–like exempting those who may have adverse reactions–or those who have pre-existing health conditions where a vaccine may make their health situation worse.

There are many thousands more who have religious reasons for avoiding a mandated vaccine. 

There are those who are conscientious objectors–and they lean on the right to say no or opt out.  

These are all legitimate reasons — and reasons that have always been supported by our U.S. Constitution and understood to protect all citizens from tyranny. But what if the vaccine itself is unproven. 

What if the vaccine itself is hurting people–making them sick, and risking the very lives of those it claims it will save?

This is what ICAN is discovering right now.

In fact, our legal team led by Aaron Siri, sued the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna to receive a copy of their Covid Vaccine Phase 1 Trial Safety Summary Report and what we found will create an avalanche of opposition to any forced vaccine.

In our initial reporting, we discovered that 70% of trial participants reported adverse events–some of which are extremely concerning.

As promised, I wanted to make sure that you have a copy of this report yourself–so you can be armed with the truth about the Covid 19 vaccine–the truth that the NIH and Moderna DO NOT WANT YOU TO SEE.

This is why I do what I do every day. You see, you and I deserve to know what we are putting into our bodies; I want answers, not stonewalling. 

And sadly, the FDA, the NIH, Big Pharma, Big Government, the MainStream Media, Silicon Valley, all of them are COVERING UP and CENSORING THE TRUTH!  

The only way ICAN and our weekly television program, The HighWire, can survive is with your support.  If you believe in seeking the truth, if you believe in maintaining your liberty and your rights as an American citizen, if you believe in a free and independent press that is unwilling to compromise or cover-up the truth, then I hope you will consider joining our cause today.

Please sign up to receive our weekly email; consider contributing a gift of $25, $50, or even $100 or more today.  Perhaps you can join our monthly donor supporter program.  Whatever you can do will be a godsend. Our weekly news program takes zero advertising and because we don’t want any corporate control of our content. We do that for one reason and one reason only: ICAN seeks to protect YOU, not our advertisers!Thank you for your consideration.

Be Brave, Be Strong, Be Bold!

____________________

**Comment**

While the 312 page report is overwhelming, ICAN has highlighted adverse reaction information in yellow.

Category:

Activism, vaccines

Adaptive Biotechnologies Clinical Study to Advance Diagnostics for Lyme Disease.

https://www.lymedisease.org/members/emails/immunesense-lyme-study-web

Join us to advance diagnostics for Lyme disease by being in a research study

Lyme disease if often missed or misdiagnosed.  If you have recently been diagnosed with Lyme diasea, or suspect a recent infection, your immune system may hold kay information that can help advance development of a novel diagnostic.  By developing a test that recognizes specific immune cells, we may enable more reliable detection of Lyme biases than current diagnostic tests.

You will be compensated $50 for study participation.

Go here to find out if you qualify:  https://1nhealth.com/lyme-disease-study/?

LEARN MORE AND ENROLL BY VISITING
www.ImmuneSenseStudy.com

email-header-grass4

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing

“The Only Thing I Had Control Over Was My Attitude” Says Lyme Patient

https://globallymealliance.org/patient-spotlight-samanthas-story/

This blog post is part of our People to Highlight Series during our 2020 Year-End Appeal. Each week we’ll be spotlighting a GLA community member who has helped to advance our mission. To support GLA during our year-end appeal, donate here.

by Samantha Sloves

In the beginning, I was diagnosed with just about everything in the book. Every and anything you can think of. Unlike many, I actually tested positive for Lyme disease, babesia, bartonella, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. My pediatrician later referred me to an infectious disease doctor. I had never had a worse appointment in my life. The doctor was dismissive and rude. It was GLA who referred me to a Lyme-literate doctor who helped me develop a treatment plan.

I went from holding the walls for stability to needing a walker, to eventually needing a wheelchair.

SAMANTHA’S LYME DISEASE SYMPTOMS

My very first symptom was hives. I was horribly itchy. By the end of the first week, I had developed eye sensitivity and migraines. Whenever the lights were on in a room, I had to put on sunglasses. I also developed brain fog. I became perplexed and constantly felt like whatever I was trying to say was at the “tip of my tongue.” I had never been forgetful, so I immediately became incredibly self-conscious. My school bag seemed to get heavier daily, although I took out more from it every night. I slowly developed body aches and joint pain. My knees started buckling, and I progressively got weaker. I went from holding the walls for stability to needing a walker, to eventually needing a wheelchair.

LYME DISEASE TOOK AWAY ALL NORMALCY

Lyme disease, co-infections, and all the complications I got from tick-borne illnesses took away all normalcy—in every and any aspect of my life. No school. No dating. No socialization. No walking. No freedom. No independence. The only thing I did have control over was my attitude. Not being able to do something for so long made me want to be overly independent when it was over. It took the innocence out of me. I feel like a stranger going through the motions of my own life all the time.

It’s crazy what your body is capable of and how much it can change so quickly. I used to do Soul Cycle all the time, and at one point, I needed help getting on and off the toilet. During some of the most challenging moments of my life, I was out of breath going up and down the stairs, needing tremendous help to stand up.

HOW I FOUND GLOBAL LYME ALLIANCE

I was searching for a Lyme-literate doctor, and GLA’s website came up. I used their website to find a doctor near me, and I ended up going to two specialists that were instrumental to my treatment. When I told my parents that I had been going on Global Lyme Alliance’s website, we realized that Staci Grodin, one of GLA’s board members, is my neighbor’s aunt.

GLA has helped me feel a sense of community. After going to so many doctors who didn’t understand my symptoms and didn’t try to understand my symptoms, GLA was the resource for finding the Lyme-literate doctors who could help me. After finding GLA, I felt a sense of relief knowing that other people were going through the same thing, and there would be doctors who understood me.

GIVING BACK TO GLA

Samantha with her brother wearing #TeamGLA t-shirts

I promote GLA’s mission in any way I can. From hosting events at local boutiques and donating a portion of the proceeds to GLA. I’ve sold “Sammy Strong” bracelets at local shops, made by my friend, and raised about $10,000 for GLA. We’ve also raised an additional $3,000 by selling the bracelets at my brother’s Bar Mitzvah!

It’s crazy how the tables have turned. Now I have become a “mentor” and go-to person for other people going through Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses. I’ve used my blog as a platform for sharing my story and helping others.

WHERE I AM TODAY

I have more good days than bad, and I am functioning. That is the good news. The bad news is that there is no magic pill or cure that I can tell you about that got me to where I am today. The medicine that got me here is my motivation, yes I know that’s cheesy but it’s true. My main goal from the moment I wasn’t feeling well in 8th grade was to graduate middle school on time. I had no idea that I would be ill all through high school, and my goal would change to graduate high school on time and attend my prom.

My piece of advice that I will leave you with is this: If you want to do something, go and make it happen, NO EXCUSES. My experience has shown me that you can do anything you put your mind to. Multiple doctors, teachers, and advisors said that I would not graduate on time, walk at graduation; some even said I would never walk again. Not only am I walking, but I also walked at my graduation, graduated on time with honors, and went to college. I did not let this illness define me or come between my education and my future. Do not let your illness define you, and make sure you keep striving towards your goals.

As you may know, GLA is solely funded by donor support. Due to COVID-19, we have been unable to hold our usual fundraising events. Please donate below if you’d like to support GLA, our programs, and our mission.

Category:

Activism, Lyme

Pfizer COVID Vaccine Frenzy & High Volume of Adverse Reactions Expected

https://www.brighteon.com/852cad05-d8c0-4442-a9ce-bab2b494a6c4  Video Here with Del Bigtree

PFIZER COVID VACCINE FRENZY

Pfizer broke big news this week, that their #Covid19 Vaccine has proven 90% effective in trials. While all major news outlets are in a frenzy, Del has found some shocking information in the fine print.

  • Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of 43,538 participants.  This is .2%.  Repeat, only .2% reporting.
  • They have not noted any serious safety concerns for only 2 months. 
  • While the study states it will evaluate the potential for the vaccine candidate to provide protection against COVID-19 in those who have had prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as prevention against severe COVID-19 disease, IT HASN’T YET DONE SO.  Therefore, they have not yet obtained whether this vaccine does these things at all. 
This is a complete joke.  Don’t buy it.

This is just like the ‘Casedemic’ of COVID-19 based on faulty testing in which nearly everyone tests positive, yet have ZERO symptoms:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/12/fauci-states-covid-test-has-a-fatal-flaw-back-in-july-just-like-he-said-face-masks-were-useless-back-in-may/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/09/30/coronavirus-cases-plummet-when-pcr-tests-are-adjusted/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/01/us-hhs-and-fda-opt-for-arbitrary-perpetual-diagnosis-of-covid19/

For more:

This vaccine isn’t needed:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/09/24/studies-show-proper-levels-of-vitamin-d-slashes-risk-of-covid-as-does-gargling-with-iodine-vaccine-not-needed/

Lastly, please see:

https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4258/rr

Covid-19 vaccines: Should we allow human challenge studies to infect healthy volunteers with SARS-CoV-2?

BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4258 (Published 09 November 2020)Cite this as: BMJ 2020;371:m4258

Rapid Response:

Re: Covid-19 vaccines: Many ADRs are already expected

Dear Editor

The Ted-tenders electronic daily: Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, details a contract negotiated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (MHRA), dated 14.9.20 (1).

It states:

“The MHRA urgently seeks an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software tool to process the expected high volume of Covid-19 vaccine Adverse Drug Reaction (ADRs) and ensure that no details from the ADRs’ reaction text are missed”.

It further explains: “For reasons of extreme urgency under Regulation 32(2)(c) related to the release of a Covid-19 vaccine MHRA have accelerated the sourcing and implementation of a vaccine specific AI tool…… it is not possible to retrofit the MHRA’s legacy systems to handle the volume of ADRs that will be generated by a Covid-19 vaccine. Therefore, if the MHRA does not implement the AI tool, it will be unable to process these ADRs effectively. This will hinder its ability to rapidly identify any potential safety issues with the Covid-19 vaccine and represents a direct threat to patient life and public health”.

Why do they expect that a high volume of ADRs will be generated?

And would it not be more sensible to determine the safety profile of a Covid-19 vaccine while the stable door is shut, rather than monitor the galloping horse once it has bolted?

(1) https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:506291-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0

Competing interests: No competing interests

11 November 2020
Janet Menage
GP retired
 
None
Wales, UK
___________________
Regarding Pfizer, according to this article:  

In 2009 they reached a fraud settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for $2.3 BILLION, the largest ever fraud settlement in the history of the DOJ at that time. (Source.)

Since then, they have faced numerous other criminal investigations, the most recent one being reported just yesterday, November 10, 2020, with the foreign corruption units at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) looking into their activities in China and Russia.  https://healthimpactnews.com/2020/criminal-pfizer-inc-wins-covid-vaccine-race-hundreds-of-millions-of-doses-expected-to-be-ready-within-weeks/

According to Shilhavy:

It is very unlikely that Merck, AZ, J&J and Moderna are just going to sit back and let Pfizer dominate this new, lucrative COVID vaccine market. Look for similar press releases from those companies very soon, touting how effective their vaccines are as well, as they look to get their piece of the pie.

Pfizer’s stock has already soared, and market analysis is now predicting that due to this announcement their sales will now reach $258 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, with sales in 2021 expected to reach $4.6 BILLION. (Source.)

All of these companies have already received BILLIONS through Operation Warp Speed, so they will ALL come out ahead financially no matter what happens.

The real losers will be the citizens of the U.S. and other countries who receive these vaccines.

I couldn’t agree more.

Category:

Activism, vaccines, Viruses