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Survivors of Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes accuse govt of whitewashing ‘illegal’ vaccine trials on children
17 Jan 2021 12:57
© Reuters / Clodagh Kilcoyne
Survivors of Ireland’s infamous mother-and-baby homes have accused the government of failing to properly investigate vaccine trials that they unwittingly participated in as infants.
The Irish government formally apologized on Wednesday for the now-defunct institutions, noting “an appalling level of infant mortality” at the 18 homes. During their 76 years of operation, an estimated 9,000 children died at the shelters, which were often the last resort of unwed pregnant women ostracized by society. The institutions were not shuttered until 1998.
The government’s five-year investigation also found that a total of 13 vaccine trials involved children living at the homes, describing the tests as illegal and a clear violation of the Nuremberg Code, which was established following Nazi medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners during World War II.
It is believed the trials took place between 1930 and 1973, and all involved either the Wellcome Foundation or Glaxo Laboratories, which later became GlaxoSmithKline.
However, the probe concluded that there was “no evidence of injury to the children involved as a result of the vaccines,” prompting survivors of the homes to question the thoroughness of the inquiry.
Mari Steed, who was born at the Bessborough mother-and-baby home in Cork, was injected with a trial vaccine in 1960 before being adopted by an American family. She was administered a “4-in-1” jab that was designed to ward off diphtheria, polio, tetanus and whooping cough.
Speaking to RTE, she argued that there was no way for the government to determine that the illegal trials didn’t harm the unwitting participants, because survivors such as herself were never properly screened.
“My adoptive parents didn’t know I’d been used in a trial. I’ve never been offered any screening by the state (or the commission) to see if my current health at age 60 has been affected,” Steed said.
In an earlier interview she said she had felt like a “guinea pig” and was furious that her birth mother was never informed she had been used in the tests.
Another survivor of Bessborough, who was injected with an experimental “5-in-1” jab (anti-diphtheria, polio, tetanus, whooping cough and measles), was similarly upset by the commission’s conclusion that the trials resulted in no injuries.
“How do they know there were no ill effects? We don't even know which infants were involved in this trial,” said Philip Delaney, whose vaccine records suggest he was part of this trial.
The commission that authored the report claims it identified “a number of the children involved” in the tests.
Questions about the potential adverse health effects of the illegal trials are not unwarranted. The commission found that during the 1930s and 1940s, over 40 percent of “illegitimate” children born at the homes died before their first birthday. Despite the shocking statistic, the commission appears to believe that the illegal medical experimentation played no role in the shameful level of infant mortality. Notably, Bessborough had a shockingly high infant mortality rate, with 75 percent of newborns dying within their first year.
Blasting Bill Gates and claiming Covid vaccine contains Satanic microchips gets Mexican cardinal censored by Facebook
17 Jan, 2021 11:14
A Mexican cardinal has been censored by Facebook after claiming that the Covid-19 pandemic is part of a “new world order plot” and saying vaccines against the disease contain satanic microchips.
Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez claimed in a video on the social media platform that vaccines to combat the spread of the coronavirus contain “the mark of the beast.”
In a video titled ‘Plot of a new world order’, which was released on January 12, the 87-year-old claimed that the pandemic will continue for several more years.
“This pandemic won't end in a month or two months, perhaps not this year, perhaps not in three, four, five, six years. That's what these men want,” he said.
Sandoval went on to blast Bill Gates, saying the Microsoft founder has given himself the attributes of a “prophet” by forecasting the outbreak of deadly diseases.
“It turns out, coincidentally, that a laboratory in Atlanta, of which Bill Games is a benefactor, has a strain of smallpox, so we are prepared for this new pandemic,” he said.
Facebook quickly censored the post, making the video inaccessible and adding a warning that read: “This publication repeats information about COVID-19, which independent fact checkers indicated is false.”
Sandoval served as archbishop of Guadalajara for 17 years before retiring in 2011. He said that the goal of the plot was to establish a single world government with a single army, economy, and religion, which will not be Christian.
The archdiocese posted the video on its website along with a story about its removal. “Cardinal Juan Sandoval denounced the imposition of a new world order, hours later his video was censored,” it said in a Facebook post.
Sandoval was part of the papal conclaves that elected Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The National Catholic Reporter said he has “detoured into conspiracies throughout the pandemic”.
Former Adelaide Archbishop dies two years after cleared of
concealing child sex abuse
By Inga Neilsen • Associate Producer
8:40pm Jan 18, 2021
The Catholic Church is mourning the death of former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, who died two years after being cleared of concealing child sex abuse.
Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge said on Twitter that Emeritus Archbishop Wilson, 70, had died unexpectedly on Sunday afternoon. The cause of death remains unknown.
He was accused of not alerting authorities to the crimes of pedophile priest Jim Fletcher in the Hunter Valley in the 1970s.
After four months of home detention he was cleared on appeal with a magistrate finding doubts he had been told about the abuse.
He stepped down as Archbishop shortly before his sentence was quashed.
Peter Gogarty, a survivor of Fletcher's abuse, says the death of Emeritus Archbishop Wilson is a lost opportunity.
"Philip Wilson could have done a lot to repair a lot of the damage to victims by saying look we did have policy of child abuse, that was a horrendous thing to do," Mr Gogarty said. "That never happened, and I think that is the missed opportunity."
Those close with him hope Emeritus Archbishop Wilson will be remembered for his reforms and victim advocacy, rather than the allegations he became embroiled in.
A mass was held today at Adelaide's St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, which Emeritus Archbishop Wilson led for 18 years, to mark his passing.
A mass was held today at Adelaide's St Francis Xavier's Cathedral to mark the death of Emeritus Archbishop Philip Wilson. (9News)
"I honour his work which he's done for god and for the church and for the people," Brenda, a parishioner at the mass, told 9News.
Church leaders will meet tomorrow to discuss funeral arrangements which will largely depend on the impact of COVID travel restrictions on family members in New South Wales.
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