SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE MIGHT HAVE TO BE PERMANENTLY RETIRED: AOC’s ‘Tax The Rich’ Gown Designer Is A Tax Scofflaw.

ICYMI: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION BUREAUCRATS: No, we won’t tell you how many of us are vaccinated.

The World Health Organization, a subsidiary of the United Nations, has been trying to lead the way on global vaccination policy during the COVID pandemic. They are keen to see as many people as possible be vaccinated and they keep close track of the progress in nations across the world. They are also quick to note how many vaccinations take place and scold more economically prosperous nations for taking care of their own people before sending more doses to less developed countries. But when it comes to vaccination rates and vaccine hesitancy, how well are the people at the WHO doing themselves? How many of them and their staffers have rolled up their sleeves to set a good example for the rest of the planet? We don’t know because they are refusing to tell us. That sort of medical information is “private,” you see. . . .

Far more likely is the possibility that the WHO just doesn’t want the public snooping around regarding their own vaccination rates. If their own hesitancy rate is higher than that of some of the countries they are barking at, their position as the world’s hall monitor is severely undermined. That’s the same thing we see in governments and organizations everywhere these days, though. They are the first to preach to you about the importance of getting vaccinated, tracking vaccination rates, and scolding areas where the numbers are too low. (Unless we’re talking about an area with a lot of minority residents, in which case it’s simply “unfortunate.”) But when you ask them how they are doing in getting everyone vaccinated in their own offices, it’s suddenly personal information.

Isn’t it curious how this all seems to keep playing out the same way? Normally, people’s private medical information is just that… private. People or institutions peering too closely at anyone’s medical situation can be called out for potential discrimination and all manner of other things. In certain cases, you can be charged with violations of the law for doing so. But now, when it comes to a specific vaccination, everyone is supposed to voluntarily make that information very public.

Well, not everyone, exactly. Bureaucrats everywhere: Privacy for me, but not for thee, but hypocrisy for me by the truckload. It’s a clown show all the way down.

And, of course, it’s certain that the reason they’re not releasing the numbers isn’t “privacy,” but because the vaccination rate is low enough to make the W.H.O. look bad and to undercut its message.

OUTSIDE THE BOX: Why the US should offer to buy France’s submarines for Vietnam.

These submarines would provide outsize value to the U.S. and broader international security interests were they built for Vietnam. The Shortfin Barracudas would be very quiet and a major threat to the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

Vietnam remains in the control of a communist authoritarian government. That said, its people enjoy a degree of freedom and a heavily capitalist-influenced economy. In 2021, Vietnam is defined by a strong export market and a young, internationally connected population. This population is also hostile toward China — angered by Beijing’s arrogant claim that the South China Sea is its own private swimming pool and angered more by Beijing’s not-so-veiled expectation that Vietnam exists as its feudal state.

I actually love this idea. It boxes in China, undoes much of the diplomatic damage done by Biden’s ham-handed announcement of the AUKUS agreement, and is something no one would have expected, especially the Chinese.

It’s such a good idea that I predict it will never happen.

MODERATES? Joe Biden’s Presidency Is Hanging by a Thread as Radicals and Moderates Go to War.

“FOLLOW THE SCIENCE!” Dr. Fauci says he doesn’t have a ‘firm answer’ if natural immunity is better than the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, actual science seems fairly firm: Previous Covid Prevents Delta Infection Better Than Pfizer Shot.

People who recovered from a bout of Covid-19 during one of the earlier waves of the pandemic appear to have a lower risk of contracting the delta variant than those who got two doses of the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.

The largest real-world analysis comparing natural immunity — gained from an earlier infection — to the protection provided by one of the most potent vaccines currently in use showed that reinfections were much less common. The paper from researchers in Israel contrasts with earlier studies, which showed that immunizations offered better protection than an earlier infection, though those studies were not of the delta variant.

The results are good news for patients who already successfully battled Covid-19, but show the challenge of relying exclusively on immunizations to move past the pandemic. People given both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were almost six-fold more likely to contract a delta infection and seven-fold more likely to have symptomatic disease than those who recovered.

“This analysis demonstrated that natural immunity affords longer lasting and stronger protection against infection, symptomatic disease and hospitalization due to the delta variant,” the researchers said.

This will not entirely surprise InstaPundit readers who have been paying attention.

I wouldn’t mind Fauci hedging on this if he didn’t normally pronounce with such confidence on things that support his narrative rather than undercutting it.

Or as America’s Newspaper of Record notes: CDC Says A New COVID Variant May Be Needed To Effectively Bury Afghanistan News.