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9 New ‘Vaccine Billionaires’ Amass Combined Net Worth of $19.3 Billion During Pandemic

A new report by People’s Vaccine Alliance reveals how Big Pharma’s monopoly on COVID vaccines generated a massive increase in wealth for a handful of people.

A new report shows the global push to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 has spawned nine new “vaccine billionaires” who have amassed a combined net wealth of $19.3 billion.

The author of the report, People’s Vaccine Alliance, said the pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly on COVID vaccines has generated a massive increase in wealth for a handful of people.

In addition to the nine new “vaccine billionaires,” the coalition of health and humanitarian organizations, world leaders and economists said “eight existing billionaires — who have extensive portfolios in the COVID-19 vaccine pharma corporations — have seen their combined wealth increase by $32.2 billion.”

Anna Marriott, health policy manager at Oxfam, a member of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said:

“These billionaires are the human face of the huge profits many pharmaceutical corporations are making from the monopoly they hold on these vaccines. These vaccines were funded by public money and should be first and foremost a global public good, not a private profit opportunity.”

The coalition’s list of new vaccine billionaires includes four tycoons who profited off U.S. vaccine maker Moderna, the CEO of BioNTechand three co-founders of the Chinese vaccine company, CanSino Biologics.

The nine billionaires, in order of their net worth are:

  1. Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, now worth $4.3 billion.
  2. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, now worth $4 billion.
  3. Timothy Springer, immunologist and founding investor of Moderna, now worth $2.2 billion.
  4. Noubar Afeyan, Moderna’s chairman, now worth $1.9 billion.
  5. Juan Lopez-Belmonte, chairman of spanish drugmaker Rovi, which struck a deal to make ingredients for Moderna’s vaccine, now worth $1.8 billion.
  6. Robert Langer, scientist and founding investor in Moderna, worth $1.6 billion.
  7. Zhu Tao, co-founder and chief scientific officer at CanSino Biologics, worth $1.3 billion.
  8. Qiu Dongxu, co-founder and senior vice president at CanSino Biologics, now worth $1.2 billion.
  9. Mao Huihua, co-founder and senior vice president at CanSino Biologics, now worth $1 billion.
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French Fashion Tycoon Overtakes Amazon’s Bezos as World’s Richest Person, Reports Suggest

Bernard Arnault, owner of the European luxury group LVMH, which is home to top global brands Louis Vuitton, Moët, Hennessy, Fendi, Christian Dior and Givenchy, has become the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion, Forbes reported on Monday.

According to the magazine, Arnault’s fortune has doubled since March previous year despite the pandemic, putting him above Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who is worth $186 billion, and Tesla’s Elon Musk, worth $147.3 billion.

Experts believe that the rise of LVMH was propelled by Chinese shoppers, Forbes said. In the first quarter of 2021, the group recorded revenue of $17 billion, which is a 32% increase, compared to the same period in 2020. On Monday, LVMH rose by another 0.4% during the first hours of trading, reaching the market cap of $320 billion.

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Biden’s America: Poll Shows American Economic Confidence Crashed Back to Negative in May

Inflation at a 13-year high, gas shortages, a jobs report that missed the mark by nearly 500 percent — is there any reason to feel economic confidence in President Joe Biden’s administration?

Americans certainly don’t think so. According to a Gallup poll released Monday, the economic confidence index fell back into negative territory after rising during the first months of Biden’s presidency.

Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index, which was +2 in April, went down to -7 in May.

That’s the same level it was at in March, Gallup reported. The numbers have been steadily rising over the past few months, although the polling firm noted there could be reasons for the sudden downturn.

“The recent shifts in confidence may reflect public reaction to a stronger-than-anticipated jobs report in April, followed by a weaker-than-expected report in May,” Gallup reported.

“Last month, Americans were more positive than negative on both measures, while their readings are net-negative on both this month. Twenty-seven percent of Americans now rate current economic conditions as excellent or good, while 30% rate them as poor. Meanwhile, 43% say the economy is getting better, and 53% say it is getting worse.”

This is, mind you, as the country gets back to some semblance of normal. States are opening up, vaccines are readily available and we’re even starting to ditch the mask and get together in public again. We should be thrilled, right?

We’re not — and according to Gallup’s numbers, that’s bad news for the Biden administration.

“Greater concern about the economy is also apparent in the increased percentage of Americans mentioning an economic issue when asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S. Currently, 21% cite an economic issue — such as the economy in general, unemployment or the federal budget deficit — up from 14% in April and the highest since April 2017,” the Gallup news release stated.

“Even during the worst phases of the coronavirus pandemic, Americans’ attention was focused more on the coronavirus and other issues as the most important problem, including times when economic confidence was much lower than today. Before the current survey, the highest percentage mentioning economic matters as the most important problem since the pandemic began was 19% in June.”

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Hillary Clinton on the Anniversary of George Floyd’s Death: ‘Don’t Stop Pushing’

Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton paid homage to George Floyd, who died a year ago today after an incident with former Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin, telling activists “don’t stop pushing.”

“To John Lewis, the effects of the protests following George Floyd’s murder were clear. ‘People will never, ever forget what happened and how it happened,’ he said. ‘And it is my hope that we are on our way to greater change.’ That’s my hope too,” Clinton said, telling activists, “Don’t stop pushing”:

Violent riots and protests followed Floyd’s death last year, coinciding with the nation’s battle against the Chinese coronavirus.

At a time lockdowns remained prevalent, Democrat politicians appeared to make an exception for mass gatherings in the streets, with many protests — particularly in major cities such as Portland, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis — descending into violent riots, resulting in injured police officers and damaged businesses.

Chauvin, the primary officer involved in Floyd’s death, was found guilty on all three charges he faced: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He will be sentenced in June.

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Rand Paul’s wife posts a no-nonsense message for the haters who dare to threaten her husband: ‘We have guns’

Kelley Paul, wife of Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), is no shrinking violet — and she made it perfectly clear Monday night that she and her husband will not be backing down in the face of a recent reported death threat.

If thugs and haters want to threaten her husband and family as the lawmaker continues to “stand up for our constitutionally protected liberties,” they should know that the Pauls will not be intimidated — and are not afraid to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

What happened?

The Pauls received a suspicious package containing white powder and a death threat at their home Monday, the day after Sen. Paul said he would not get the COVID-19 vaccine since he has already had the disease.

The FBI and Capitol Hill police are investigating the incident and checking the package for harmful substances.

The threat to Sen. Paul, who was injured during a violent attack by his neighbor in 2017, said, “I’ll finish what your neighbor started you motherf***er,” and included a picture of the lawmaker in bandages with a gun pointed at his head.

Sen. Paul told Politico, “I take these threats immensely seriously. As a repeated target of violence, it is reprehensible that Twitter allows C-list celebrities to encourage violence against me and my family. Just this weekend Richard Marx called for violence against me and now we receive this powder filled letter.”about:blank

The lawmaker was referring to singer Richard Marx’s repeated messages on social media that he would like to “hug” Paul’s neighbor and “buy him as many drinks as he can consume.”

Marx defended his postings as just a “wise-crack about Rand Pauls’ neighbor.”

But Kelley Paul, who said it was she who received the death threat letter and called the FBI, didn’t find it funny at all — and she took to Twitter to let people know exactly where she stood.

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Suspect Opens Fire at Memorial on Anniversary of George Floyd’s Death

On Tuesday, a suspect carried out a drive-by shooting at the scene where George Floyd died exactly one year previously. Many had gathered to commemorate Floyd’s death at the hands of police, and reporters captured footage of the shooting in progress. Police have reportedly taken possession of the vehicle in question but have not apprehended a suspect.

A 911 caller told police that the suspect’s vehicle left the area “at a high rate of speed.” Police reported that an individual with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound was being treated at a local hospital.

“This is an evolving incident,” police spokesperson John Elder said in a statement to USA Today. “No further information is available at this time.”

The suspect opened fire near George Floyd Square, the intersection where Floyd died on May 25, 2020. Philip Crowther, an Associated Press journalist shooting video at the intersection, reported hearing as many as 30 gunshots about a block east of the intersection. He reported that a storefront window appeared to have been broken by a gunshot.

The AP reporter noted that a fellow reporter had her phone smashed because she took photos of the storefront hit by a bullet.

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Facebook is suppressing ‘facts’ that are flagged as promoting ‘vaccine hesitancy’, whistleblowers claim

Facebook is taking aggressive steps to sideline any content, including factual material, critical of Covid-19 vaccines, two insiders have revealed to Project Veritas. The tech giant claims the policy was publicly announced.

The conservative media watchdog organization published a purported internal Facebook memo concerning “Vaccine Hesitancy Comment Demotion.” The policy aims to “drastically reduce user exposure to vaccine hesitancy,” the document states.

Another document leaked to Project Veritas discusses how to flag and categorize “non-violating content” that raises questions about vaccination, “thereby contributing to vaccine hesitancy or refusal.”

Comments can be “demoted” if they are flagged as directly or indirectly discouraging people from getting vaccinated. It doesn’t matter if the content is factually accurate, Project Veritas reported, citing the leaked documents.

According to the reported policy, “shocking stories” about side effects linked to the vaccines can be suppressed, even if they are “potentially or actually true events or facts that raise safety concerns.” The company explains that such content should be discouraged because it could “present a barrier to vaccination in certain contexts.”

Facebook is also said to target comments that claim vaccination is not necessary due to low Covid-19 death rates, or argue for natural herd immunity against the virus, as such views are considered “indirect discouragement” that could hurt immunization efforts.

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Critical Race Theory: National Parents’ Group Publishes Guide on How to Fight It

U.S. Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) published a resource guide Monday for parents who are waging battles against Critical Race Theory (CRT) in their local school districts.

The national parents’ organization, which grew out of the battle against the Common Core State Standards, has been urging state lawmakers to ban CRT in K-12 schools.

CRT is a Marxist-based philosophy that embraces the concept that all social and cultural issues should be viewed through the lens of race and ethnicity.

Left-wing school boards often now deny they train in or teach “Critical Race Theory” because the phrase has grown toxic, as CRT researcher Christopher Rufo tweeted above. USPIE recommends:

Look for classes like Global Learners Initiative, Global Social Theory and Diversity Clubs. Then look for words like equity (not equality), racial justice, anti-racism, and social or political activism or action. These are words from the racist, divisive, unproven theory that asserts all Blacks are oppressed and all Whites are oppressors and goes by the name of “Critical Race Theory.”

The organization recommends parents gather their facts about what exactly is being taught in schools, not only by reviewing their children’s assignments and checking papers brought home, but also by searching their school district’s website for information about teacher trainings, departments or committees that focus on “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and reading minutes of school board meetings if they have not attended in person.

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GOP Officials Says Wuhan Lab Theory Getting Stronger

Republicans have continued to sound the alarm signaling that the coronavirus may not have been developed naturally.

On Monday, several GOP congressmen and former Trump administration officials responded to a Wall Street Journal report published a day earlier. The report alleged three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology came down with symptoms similar to COVID-19 in November 2019. This occurred just before the coronavirus broke out to other parts of Wuhan and became a global pandemic.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) encouraged Americans to use common sense while claiming it would be a remarkable coincidence if the virus naturally started near the lab, which has a history of testing coronaviruses. Additionally, former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb said this is consistent with State Department data and a growing body of evidence pointing to the lab as a possible ground zero.

Gottlieb also urged naysayers to open their minds to these reports while arguing the speculation behind the virus beginning from an animal is beginning to look less likely as more information emerges.

“Maybe a year ago that kind of statement made a lot of sense because that were the more likely scenario, but we haven’t found the intermediate host,” he stated. “We found no evidence of this virus in an animal or anywhere…we haven’t found the true source of the virus.”

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Trump to Appear on Newsmax’s ‘Cortes & Pellegrino’ Tonight

Former President Donald Trump will appear on Newsmax’s “Cortes & Pellegrino” at 9 p.m. on Tuesday for a face-to-face interview.

The President will do a sit-down with co-host Steve Cortes, a former top advisor to Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.

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