Preparing for election, post election riots

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upporters of President Donald Trump and counter-protesters are getting into fights and clashes in the streets of downtown Washington, D.C., Saturday night after thousands of the president's supporters rallied earlier in the day to protest election results they say are fraudulent.

One person was stabbed when a fight broke out between two large groups at 10th Street and New York Avenue NW about 8:30 p.m., a spokesperson for D.C. Fire and EMS said. Medics took the person with critical injuries to a trauma center, the spokesperson said.

The march was largely peaceful during the day before turning tense at night, with multiple confrontations as small groups of Trump supporters attempted to enter the area around Black Lives Matter Plaza, about a block from the White House, where several hundred anti-Trump demonstrators had gathered.

In a pattern that kept repeating itself, those Trump supporters who approached the area were harassed, doused with water and saw their MAGA hats and pro-Trump flags snatched and burned, amid cheers. As night fell, multiple police lines kept the two sides apart.

hree Trump supporters were at a restaurant at 16th and K streets NW when someone set off fireworks in their direction, News4's Shomari Stone reports.

Ten people have been arrested during the protests, D.C. police said Saturday afternoon.

Officers arrested four people for firearms violations, two for simple assault, one person for assaulting a police officer, one person for "no permit" and two people for acting disorderly, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

A man was stabbed Saturday night during a series of violent clashes downtown between demonstrators in support of President Donald Trump and counterprotesters.

The man is in critical condition, according to a spokesperson for D.C. Fire and EMS. The stabbing occurred near 11th Street and New York Avenue NW around 8:30 p.m.

Several newsoutlets have reported that the figure has jumped to 20 arrests and two MPD officers have been injured, citing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office.

Throughout the evening, a number of sites downtown—including Black Lives Matter Plaza, the area outside the Capital Hilton, and K Street—saw repeated confrontations between pro-Trump factions and counterdemonstrators. In some cases, they turned into full street brawls.

At one point, the extremist far-right group and other pro-Trump supporters gathered around Washington Monument. Reporters captured members of the crowd making white nationalist hand gestures and chants of “break out Kyle,” referring to the Illinois teenager who is accused of killing two people and wounding a third at a protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

How did that delay scientists from around the world in achieving a vaccine?

How did that delay scientists from around the world in achieving a vaccine?

Probably because of diminished research funding? If I recall correctly, didn't Trump stop, or at least drastically cut, the U.S. contribution to the WHO?

Probably because of diminished research funding? If I recall correctly, didn't Trump stop, or at least drastically cut, the U.S. contribution to the WHO?

I can only ask questions myself about that.

Was the rest of the world unable cover WHO funding?

Did Pfizer rely upon WHO funding to develop its vaccine?

Not to my knowledge.

I can only ask questions myself about that.

Was the rest of the world unable cover WHO funding?

Did Pfizer rely upon WHO funding to develop its vaccine?

July 22: HHS announced up to $1.95 billion in funds to Pfizer for the large-scale manufacturing and nationwide distribution of 100 million doses of their vaccine candidate. The federal government will own the 100 million doses of vaccine initially produced as a result of this agreement, and Pfizer will deliver the doses in the United States if the product successfully receives FDA EUA or licensure, as outlined in FDA guidance, after completing demonstration of safety and efficacy in a large Phase 3 clinical trial, which began July 27th.

A substantial chunk of WHO's funding came from the U.S. government -- apparently at least 20%, if I correctly understand the sources I was able to find. Other countries (and various private entities, most notably the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) do contribute money too, but still, obviously, a sudden loss of 20% of an organization's budget is inevitably going to slow things down.

The details of how WHO gets funded are rather byzantine, and I don't have time to dig into the details, but here is the relevant section of the WHO website. Just now I also looked at the following blog posts, which contain links to more info:

- AC/VC: The shock of WHO funding (originally published 2012; reposed 2018
- Who’s funding WHO? (June 2018)



Probably not. Usually, research grants are given to scientists in academia, not to corporations. In order for the CoViD crisis to be dealt with as quickly as possible, both academic and industrial research are needed. Academic scientific research is basic research that doesn't directly lead to a product to sell, but lays groundwork for the development of more effective products.

EDIT: Although research grants are, in general, more commonly given to academia than to corporations, it looks like Pfizer got a direct grant from the U.S. government via Operation Warp Speed: