Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:                

• German, Russian Officials to Meet to Discuss Ukraine: Reuters.  
• Russia Returns Some Troops to Base After Training Near Ukraine.
  
• China to Tighten Foreign IPOs, May Ban Some on National Security.  
• China’s Central Bank Vows Greater Support for Real Economy.   
• Walmart Blasted by Chinese Consumers Over Missing Xinjiang Items.
  
• Mexico Closer to Recession After Surprise Economic Contraction.
• Asian Stocks Mixed After U.S. Rally to Record High: Markets Wrap.
• Oil Trims Weekly Gain Amid Low Liquidity Heading Into Christmas.
• Inflation Trader Who Nailed 2021 Call Sees Risk of 7% U.S. CPI.
• Airlines’ U.S. Holiday Flight Cuts Near 1,800 on Crew Shortages.  
• Our Best Charts, Maps and Interactive Features From 2021.  
• Transcript: Jon Turek on the Macro Outlook for 2022.
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Wall Street Journal:

• Governments Weigh Mitigation, Containment in Omicron Fight.
• A History of Christmas at the White House, in Photos.
• Colin Kaepernick SPAC Deal Collapses, Testing Celebrity Halo.
• Lack of Rental Cars Drives Up Prices and Wait Times.
• Thanks to the Chip Shortage, Texas Instruments Is Worth $170 Billion.
• How the Taliban Outwitted and Outwaited the U.S.

 

NY Post:

• Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Live updates from Day 10. 
• ‘Striking’ vaccine resistance in Omicron variant: Columbia University.

 

IG:

• Weekend Markets Trading Live.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on .
• Had bearish commentary on .
  

CNBC:

• Here’s what some of Wall Street’s most audacious fraudsters are up to now.
• Here are the top-performing technology stocks of 2021.
• Biden administration to lift travel restrictions on 8 African nations.
• Rapper who has sold NFTs for as much as $30,000 expects to be a millionaire ‘very soon’.
• Three out-of-the-box ways to trade the rise of electric vehicles in 2022.

 

 

MarketWatch.com:     

•  The record-breaking IPO market in 2021 masked some problems under the hood.

Fox News:

• Marine court martialed for Afghan withdrawal criticism discharged.

 

 

 

Newsmax:   

• Ex-CBP Chief Morgan: Biden Leaving 'Large Areas' of Border 'Unmonitored'.
• Sen. Daines: Dems' 'Reckless' BBB Plan Includes $400B Tax Increase.
• Report: Biden WH Nixed 732M COVID-19 Test Plan in October.

 

 

NY Times:

• Covid-19 cases are plunging in the South over the last two weeks despite packed college football games and campuses. Florida -51%(vaccination rate: 57%), Louisiana -43%(vaccination rate: 46%), Tennessee -58%(vaccination rate: 46%), Georgia -40%(vaccination rate: 45%), Texas -38%(vaccination rate: 51%), Mississippi -52%(vaccination rate: 44%) and South Carolina -47%(vaccination rate: 47%), Arkansas -46%(vaccination rate: 46%) and Alabama -41%(vaccination rate: 43%).
• Covid-19 hospitalizations are rising at some of the fastest rates in the country over the last two weeks in three of the most vaccinated states. Maine +20%(vaccination rate: 69%), Vermont +14%(vaccination rate: 70%) and Rhode Island +11%(vaccination rate: 68%).
• Covid on the Border: Migrants Aren’t Tested on Arrival in U.S. The Border Patrol says it has insufficient time and space to conduct coronavirus testing at crowded processing stations. Officials in border cities fear further spread of the virus.

Reuters:

• U.S.-bound migrants fill Colombia town as COVID-19 border closures lifted. (Aug. 11).
• Colombia has administered at least 35,750,492 doses of COVID vaccines so far. (graph) Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 35.5% of the country’s population. COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Colombia, with 1,959 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 6% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 27.
• South Africa loosens COVID curbs as third wave eases. Authorities reported 3,961 new cases on Sunday, compared with a peak of about 26,500 per day in early July.
• South Africa has administered at least 26,109,436 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 22.3% of the country’s population(one of world's lowest rates). COVID-19 infections are increasing from a low level in South Africa, with 6,975 new infections reported on average each day(83 infections per 100K people reported last 7 days). That’s 35% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on July 7.
• Singapore has administered at least 10,094,499 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that's enough to have vaccinated about 88.5% of the country's population(4th best rate in world). Singapore is reporting 3,700 new infections on average each day(463 infections per 100K people reported last 7 days), 100% of the peak - the highest daily average reported on Oct. 30.
  

American Thinker:

• The Unvaccinated Are Looking Smarter Every Week. VAERS, our vaccine adverse effect reporting system, showed at the beginning of this week 16,000 deaths, 23,000 disabilities, 10,000 MI/myocarditis, 87,000 urgent care visits, 75,000 hospital stays, and 775,000 total adverse events. The VAERS system is widely known to under-report events by 1-10%.

WXYZ-TV Channel 7:

• After the vaccines were available to everyone, did you lose an unvaccinated loved one to COVID-19? Comment section:

Jerusalem Post:

• COVID-19: New 'Mu variant' from Colombia could be vaccine resistant - WHO.

NBC News: 

• More than 20,000 Haitians are gathered in Colombia for possible migration to U.S.

Nature: 

• Why US coronavirus tracking can’t keep up with concerning variants. (April 7) Laboratories supported by the US government have doubled the rate at which they are sequencing SARS-CoV-2 genomes over the past two months. Still, the number of genomes that the country shared in the online genome repository GISAID in March represented only 1.6% of its positive COVID-19 cases that month.

Newsweek:

• Mu COVID Variant, Which Could Be Resistant to Vaccines, Now in Almost Every State.

 

Our World in Data:

• Singapore is seeing the number of COVID-19 patients in it's ICUs hit record levels despite the 4th best vaccination rate in the world(88.5% fully vaxxed). 
• Despite a very low vaccination rate and the Omicron variant supposedly originating in South Africa, the country is seeing reatively few new confirmed Covid cases. (graph)
  

Apex World News:

• Dr. Ruben on the FDA panel says people are never going to "learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it. That's the way it goes." (video)

 

 

Zero Hedge:

• NFL's Chief Medical Officer Warns There's Almost No Indication Of Asymptomatic Spread.
• 'Biden Seems Confused': CNN Openly Questions President's Cognitive Health After Yet Another Slip Up.
• COVID-19 Restrictions Questioned As Omicron-Related Hospitalizations Remain Low.
• More Than 800 US Flights Canceled On Christmas Morning Due To Staffing Shortages.
• UK Does Not Advise Vaccines For 5-11 Year Olds, While US Starts To Mandate Them.
• 'New Normal' Christmas Wishes In 2021.
• COVID Passport Microchip? Swedish Tech Start-Up Sees Another Conspiracy Theory Become Fact.
• A Myth Is Born: How CDC, FDA, & Media Wove A Web Of Ivermectin Lies That Outlives The Truth.
• Defiance Grows In Face Of Another COVID Christmas.
• You'd Better Watch Out: The Surveillance State Has A Naughty List, And You're On It.
• Is China Signaling Imminent Devaluation: PBOC Fixes Yuan Weaker Than Expected For Record 15th Consecutive Day.
• Judgment Day: Sweden Vindicated. Austria, one of the most repressive European countries during the coronavirus pandemic, has recently overtaken Sweden in terms of total covid mortality, showing that almost all government interventions have been ineffective and unjustified.
• How To Create A Health Care Crisis.
• Australia's Chief Pharmacist Says Public Needs To Accept Boosters & Mask Mandates For "Many Years" To Come. 
• China Gives Celebrities & Social Media Influencers 10 More Days To Pay Taxes Owed.
• Rolling Blackouts Spread Across Europe Amid Energy Crisis.
• Christmas Eve Travel Chaos: Hundreds Of Flights Canceled Due To Staffing Shortages.
• White House Abandons Southern African Travel Ban As Okinawa Outbreak Strains Ties With Japan.
• Germany's Reaction To The Energy Crisis Could Be Catastrophic.
• Russia Fines Google With Record $100 Million For Allowing Banned Content.
• Watch: MSNBC 'Doctor' Calls For Denying Medical Care To The Unvaccinated.
• The ECB Has Launched The Japanization Of Europe... And Now It Cannot Back Down.
• 70% Of London's COVID Hospitalisations Diagnosed AFTER Being Admitted For Other Ailments.
• "An Acquittal Wouldn't Surprise Me": Lawyers Ask Why Just Four Epstein Accusers Were Called During Maxwell Trial.

 

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Tragic. Baltimore Police Officer Who Was Shot in Head During Ambush Dies – Joined the Police Force at Age 37 to Make a Difference (VIDEO). 
• Georgia Voter Files from 2020 and Even 2016 Are Changing – Why Are These Likely Illegal Actions Secretly Happening?
• COVID Crazy: Unmasked Mask Karen Attacks Passenger on Plane; Punches, Scratches and Spits on Man for Taking Mask Off to Eat (Video).
• With Thousands of Americans Reportedly Stranded in Country — The Taliban Halts All Evacuee Flights Out of Afghanistan. 
• Liberal California Lost the Most Population of Any State in 2021, New York Was 2nd, Illinois 3rd. 
• “There is Nothing Fair About Transgender Woman Lia Thomas Competing for the University of Pennsylvania in NCAA Swimming” – Says US Olympic Champion Who Swam Against Doped Up East Germans.
• Mexican Authorities Refuse to Allow Americans Aboard Cruise Ship to Disembark in Puerto Vallarta After 21 *Fully Vaxxed* Crew Members Test Positive For Covid.
• Twitter Leaps into Action – Blocks and Censors #LetsGoBrandon from Trending on Platform after 69,000 retweets.
• Smash-and-Grab Thieves Attack, Pepper-Spray Security Guard During Raids on Prada and Hermès Stores in Chicago.
• The Propaganda Never Stops… UK Leader Boris Johnson Preaches on ‘Getting Jabbed for Jesus’ in his Christmas Eve Message.
• Booster Hysteria: Israel Begins Rollout of 4TH Covid Jab Despite Health Officials Admitting They Have NO DATA About It’s Effectiveness Against Mild Omicron.
• Far-Left Daily Beast Turns on Joe Biden: “Progressives, Moderates, Republicans—Nobody Trusts Joe Biden”.
• HUGE WIN: Court Rules Against Democrat State Leaders – Will Allow Inspection of Fulton County, PA Dominion Voting Machines.
• As Murders Skyrocket Across Country Democrat Thought Leader AOC Picks Fight with Former Police Commissioner and Calls for Defunding the Police.

 

The Post Millennial:

 

 

 

The Epoch Times:

• CCP’s Economic Power Makes American Corporations ‘Subservient’ to Beijing: China Analyst.

 

 

The Sun:

• MAXWELL CAMERAS. Why is the Ghislaine Maxwell trial not being televised live?
• Ghislaine Maxwell trial news – ‘Fragile’ Jeffrey Epstein ‘madam’ will not take witness stand in sex trafficking case.

 

 

Twitter:

• @Redcollie1 -  Northern Territory Australia Covid "Quarantine" Camp. (video)
• @apexwolrdnews - World Bank President David Malpass said: "Pfizer has been hesitant to go into some of the countries because of the liability problems, they don’t have a liability shield..." (video)
• @DiscloseTV - South Africa hospitalization rate plunges to only 1.7% in #Omicron wave, compared with 19% in previous "Delta-driven" wave - Health Minister. (graph)
• @disclosetv - Protests are ongoing against Covid restrictions and mandates in Germany, Sweden, Austria, England
• @DiscloseTV - NOW - Elon Musk: "Wokeness basically wants to make comedy illegal, which is not cool... do we want a humorless society that is simply rife with condemnation, and hate?" (video)
• @DiscloseTV - NEW - Biden says "Let's go Brandon, I agree" during Christmas call with kids and parents of the NORAD Santa tracking program.
• @ProtestNews_EN - Also, in Australia and New Zealand.
  

MintPressNews.com:

• Revealed: Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets. Recipients of this cash include many of America’s most important news outlets, including CNN, NBC, NPR, PBS and The Atlantic. Gates also sponsors a myriad of influential foreign organizations, including the BBC, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom; prominent European newspapers such as Le Monde (France), Der Spiegel (Germany) and El País (Spain); as well as big global broadcasters like Al-Jazeera.
• Media reports noted that the Gates Foundation was paying the entertainment giants to insert information & PSAs into its programming and that #BillGates had intervened to change storylines in popular shows like ER & Law & Order: SVU.

OpenVAERS:

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 701,126(+9,243) Reports Through December 17, 2021.

SKirsch.com:

• Using the MGH numbers with our own VAERS queries, we have 247 cases per million doses from the MGH study divided by 5.97 cases per million doses from VAERS. 247/5.97 = 41. This suggests that the VAERS under-reporting factor (URF) is 41X.

Covid-19(Data, Maps, Graphs):

• Our World in Data:  New Global Covid-19 Cases(7-day rolling average graphs). New US Covid Hospital Admissions/ICU Admissions/Deaths
  
• FT.com:  Fully Vaccinated by Country(graph). Global Lockdown Stringency Index(map).
• Bloomberg.com:  International Travel Restrictions.  Case Graphs by State.
  
• NYTimes.com:  County Trends and Clusters. Local ICU Occupancy.
  
• Brown School of Public Health:  Covid Severity by State/County(map).  US Hospital Capacity(region).
  
• CovidActNow:  Covid Severity/Infection Rate by Metro Area.
  
• KFF:  US Vaccinations by Race/Ethnicity.
  
• Carnegie Mellon: Covid-Like Symptoms in Community. Covid Symptom Searches on Google. Covid-Related Dr.Visits.  Restaurant Visits. Wearing Masks. (graphs)
  
• Safegraph.com:  Commerce Patterns(graphs).