Arutz Sheva: While Israel hailed the arrival this week of the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the vaccine’s ability to return life to normal may be limited, an expert has warned.
Michal Tal, an immunologist at Stanford University, hinted that some of the optimism regarding the impact of the new vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna may be overblown, according to a report by The New York Times.
Tal noted that the high efficacy rates reported by Pfizer and Moderna for their vaccines – both rated at over 90% effectiveness – relate only to the ability of the vaccine to prevent vaccinated individuals from developing symptomatic cases of the virus. Read More
“I don’t see any way of avoiding a great deal of pain in the commercial real estate market in 2021. It is almost inevitable. My friends at the Federal Reserve and FDIC are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with what’s going on in the commercial real estate world.”
Cam Fine, Former President of Independent Community Bankers of America
Investors hold $3.4T in commercial real estate debt via bonds, direct loans, and securitized loan bundles. Core city commercial real estate valuations could decline if millions of employees work from home (WFH) permanently. Most analysts assume that once virus infections are contained or ended by vaccinations, workers will flock back to cities. The question is: will tens of thousands of workers commute to offices after buying homes in exurbs and other states? The following chart shows the top metro areas for migration based on USPS move data. Information services and banking centers are hotspots of migration to suburbs or other regions. A total of 238k workers have moved out of the top five urban areas since the pandemic started. Read More
Canada’s leftist government reportedly invited communist China’s military to come to their country to train with Canadian soldiers in cold weather conditions, according to classified documents obtained by Rebel News.
“The department of Global Affairs pushed back against a decision last year by Canada’s top soldier to cut back on interactions with China’s People’s Liberation Army, warning Beijing might consider this a reprisal for the arbitrary arrest of two Canadians,”
The Globe and Mail reported. “Government documents, seen by The Globe and Mail and marked secret and for Canadian eyes only, show that officials at the highest levels of Global Affairs were alarmed that General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff, had cancelled winter military exercises with the PLA in 2019.”
“In those same memos you’re talking about, Trudeau’s office was supporting China and condemning the Trump administration.
Stock futures were lower early Friday as the outlook for additional fiscal stimulus remained uncertain.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicated an opening loss of more than 200 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also slid slightly into negative territory.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s staff informed congressional leadership offices that Senate Republicans likely would not support a $908 billion bipartisan proposal, according to NBC News. Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that bipartisan negotiations were leading to “great progress.”
Morocco has agreed to normalize relations with Israel, announced U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday.
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations—a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!” tweeted Trump.
As his time in office winds down, Trump said Israel and Morocco would restore diplomatic and other relations, including the immediate opening of liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv and the eventual opening of embassies. US officials said it would also include joint overflight rights for airlines. Read More
With Politico reporting on Wednesday that Hunter Biden’s criminal investigation covers potential money laundering, and CNN‘s Simon Prokupecz reporting that the feds are looking into a 2017 gift to Hunter from CEFC China Energy Co. founder Ye Jianming – a 2.8-carat diamond, let’s revisit a prime example of what one Chinese professor described as ‘friends in high places‘ within the Democratic party.
James Biden, a financier and brother of the former vice president, was in a hotel lobby in November 2017 when he got a surprise call on his cellphone. The call was from Patrick Ho, Mr. Ye’s lieutenant. Mr. Ho, 69, was in trouble.
Federal agents who had monitored CEFC’s rise since at least the summer of 2016 had sprung into action, arresting Mr. Ho in New York on allegations that he had bribed African officials in Chad and Uganda. Days later, federal agents showed up at Mr. Ye’s luxury apartment building across from Central Park with a subpoena to interview Mr. Ye, said people familiar with the matter.
In a brief interview, James Biden said he had been surprised by Mr. Ho’s call. He said he believed it had been meant for Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s son. James Biden said he had passed on his nephew’s contact information. Read More
In a wide-ranging interview in the New York Times, Melinda Gates made the following remarkable statement:
“What did surprise us is we hadn’t really thought through the economic impacts.”
The 2020 version of “Let them Eat Cake’ …
It’s a maddening statement, to be sure, as if “economics” is somehow a peripheral concern to the rest of human life and public health. The larger context of the interview reveals the statement to be even more confused.
She is somehow under the impression that it is the pandemic and not the lockdowns that are the cause of the economic devastation that includes perhaps 30% of restaurants going under, among many other terrible effects.
Antiochus Epiphanes, Greeks, Hanukkah, Hellenists, Maccabees, Temple Mount
After deliberating a curfew as an anti-pandemic measure, the Israeli government opted out, inadvertently bringing about a prophecy of Hanukkah remaining in place while the other, Biblically mandated holidays will disappear in the era of the final redemption.
The Israeli government was planning on imposing a nightly three-week curfew beginning Wednesday evening and extending throughout the Hanukkah holiday but encountered legal difficulties from the “Coronavirus law”.