WORLD NEWS
No Joke: Russia Assumes Presidency of U.N. Security Council
Russia’s rise to the presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month is not an April Fool’s joke, Moscow’s delegate to the globalist organization indignantly declared Monday.
The presidency has rotated monthly in alphabetical order among its 15 members since it was founded at the conclusion of World War II.
Finland Joins NATO Alliance Today After Nordic Nations Pushed West by Russian Aggression
Finland’s President will attend a ceremony at the NATO headquarters in Belgium today to mark the accession of the Nordic nation to the military alliance, the 12th new member this century.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has a new member today in Finland, a northern European state with a considerable land border with Russia. Yet today’s accession is one less than first thought as Sweden, who co-applied with Finland in May 2022 and was ratified as a joining member that July, continues to have its membership blocked by Turkey.
The Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the continental U.S. before President Joe Biden had it shot down collected intelligence from sensitive military sites, at times doing figure eight formations to hover over certain sites according to a report.
The balloon gathered intelligence from “several” military sites, despite the Biden administration insisting that measures were taken to prevent that from happening, NBC News reported Monday, citing two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.
Ecuador’s President Authorizes Armed Civilians to Fight Crime
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, announced an authorization this weekend that allows civilians to carry and use guns amid surging crime in the country.
Reuters noted that crime has reached a point where it is hard to curtail, and Lasso hopes to find some degree of respite in allowing citizens to be armed for self-defense.
Shutting Germany’s Remaining Nuclear Power Plants a ‘Strategic Mistake’, Government Party Warns
Germany’s decision to shut down its remaining nuclear power plants is a “strategic mistake”, the head of one of the coalition ruling parties has said.
Bijan Djir-Sarai, the Secretary General of the c0-ruling Free Democratic Party (FDP), has warned that the country’s decision to shut down its last few nuclear power plants this month is a “strategic mistake”.
Biden Admin Reportedly Negotiating Sanctions Relief For Iran Nuclear Program
The Biden administration is reportedly negotiating a potential freeze of elements of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, according to Axios’ Barak Ravid.
Israeli officials, Western diplomats and American policy experts allegedly told Ravid that the administration has been in talks with its allies in Europe and Israel about a deal, which would be aimed at curbing the advancement of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has stockpiled 87.5 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, according to a recent International Atomic Energy Agency report, the Associated Press noted.
If enriched to 90%, that much uranium would be enough to produce a nuclear weapon, Axios reported. Israeli officials have reportedly told counterparts in the United States and Europe that they would consider taking military action if Iran begins enriching uranium above 60%.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Former President Arrives at Trump Tower Ahead of Arraignment
Former President Donald Trump waved to supporters on April 3 before entering his namesake tower in New York City, where he will spend the night before his arraignment on April 4, when charges from a grand jury indictment will be unsealed.
Trump walked into the building through a side door on 56th Street, away from the throngs of reporters and dozens of supporters waiting for him at the main entrances. Three black helicopters hovered over the building ahead of his arrival at the 58-story skyscraper, where his motorcade pulled up not long after 4 p.m. local time.
Stephanie Lu, a Chinese American, was among a small group of Trump supporters who waved U.S. flags and chanted “we love Trump” as the former president walked by with his son Eric Trump. She said she felt excited for the chance to express her support.
“At least he saw us waving the flags,” she told The Epoch Times. “We love him so much, because he’s fighting for our country.”
Trump Lawyer Opposes Release of Mug Shot: ‘It’s Not Going to Help Anything’
A lawyer for Donald Trump opposes a potential release or leak of the former president’s mugshot, stating that it is “not going to help anything” because of his campaign and because mugshots are for recognition of a suspect.
After his indictment for alleged hush money payments, Trump is expected to surrender himself to the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday morning for processing, when he will be fingerprinted, photographed, and read his Miranda rights. The arraignment hearing is then scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at the New York County Supreme Court.
When asked if there should be cameras in the courtroom during Trump’s trial, one of the former president’s attorneys, Alina Habba, stated that she is not against the notion.
Habba, who has represented Trump on other issues, stated that the former president’s mugshot should remain confidential because he is running for president in 2024.
“I like transparency. I think that in certain situations, it’s a good thing. I do have a problem with leaking of pictures,” Habba told CNN’s Don Lemon on April 3. “I think that because we’re in a campaign because he’s the leading GOP candidate, it’s not going to help anything.”
Donald Trump’s Fundraising Soars $7 Million After Indictment
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign fundraising soared $7 million after news of the indictment Thursday evening, Jason Miller, senior adviser to Trump, announced Monday.
“In only three days since news of the indictment, President @realDonaldTrump’s campaign has raised a record $7M,” he tweeted.
New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), the prosecutor behind charges against former President Donald Trump, has built a record of dropping felony charges, decreasing felony convictions, downgrading felonies to mere misdemeanors, and not bothering to request bail for suspects accused of felonies.
Bragg has only been in office since the beginning of 2022 — running on a promise to not prosecute suspects for marijuana misdemeanors, turnstile jumping, trespassing, driving with a suspended license, prostitution, resisting arrest for non-criminal offenses, and obstructing the work of the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
America’s Biggest Banks See Surge in Deposit Withdrawals
America’s 25 biggest banks saw a huge $90 billion outflow of deposits last week, a sharp reversal from the prior week where larger financial institutions absorbed some of the deposits being withdrawn at a record pace from smaller banks in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse.
Between the collapse of SVB over March 10 weekend and March 22, domestically chartered banks in the United States lost a total of roughly $213 billion in deposits as skittish savers rushed to withdraw their money, according to the latest seasonally adjusted Federal Reserve figures on deposit outflows.
But while the first week following the failure of SVB saw a record drop of $196.4 billion in deposits in smaller banks—defined as ones smaller than the top 25 in terms of assets—the latest week saw a reversal.
Thousands of Hours of Jan. 6 Video Hidden, Withheld From Defendants, Court Filing Says
The U.S. Department of Justice has withheld thousands of hours of video recorded at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, from January 6 criminal defendants, and U.S. Capitol Police might have held back more than 1,300 hours of security video from a congressional oversight committee, a new federal court filing alleges.
Defendant William Pope contends in an update to a previous court filing that he and others charged with crimes at the Capitol that day need access to what should be more than 152,000 hours of video. That is if Capitol Police preserved it all.
“Americans have historically been skeptical of opaque government processes, and that skepticism has never been more intense than it is now regarding January 6,” Pope wrote in a 17-page court filing before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.
“Concealment of the Capitol CCTV is fueling public speculation that there is more to January 6 than is being reported.”
Pope, who is representing himself, is seeking full access to the U.S. Department of Justice evidence database so he can use it in his defense.
Pope dissected a declaration from Capitol Police general counsel Thomas DiBiase introduced by federal prosecutors in his case. He also compared it to an earlier DiBiase declaration. In his new filing, Pope calls these documents the “dueling dubious DiBiase declarations.”
“Despite hundreds of January 6 CCTV clips now being public, Mr. DiBiase still believes other footage from those same cameras must be hidden from the American people,” Pope wrote.
US Now a Majority Permitless Carry Country After DeSantis Signs Gun Rights Law
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a “permitless carry” bill into law on April 3, making Florida the 26th state to do so, according to pro-Second Amendment groups.
The legislation, passed by the Florida Legislature, allows people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit and without state-mandated training. It will go into effect starting July 1.
John Velleco, executive vice president of Gun Owners of America, confirmed to the Miami Herald that DeSantis, a Republican, signed the legislation in front of a group of about 20 people. An official with the National Rifle Association (NRA) also confirmed DeSantis signed the measure.
After DeSantis’s signature, Florida is now the 26th state in the United States to allow permitless carry, according to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA). Before Monday, DeSantis said he would sign the bill into law.
There has been debate about the meanings of the terms “permitless carry” and “constitutional carry.” The USCCA says the two terms are often used interchangeably. However, the group notes on its website that permitless carry can refer to laws in states that allow people to openly carry a firearm without a permit, but that require a permit for concealed carry.
Ahead of the bill signing, DeSantis said that Florida supports the Second Amendment during a book tour event on March 30.
“You don’t need a permission slip from the government to be able to exercise your constitutional rights,” he said.
The sponsor of the measure, Republican state Rep. Chuck Brannan, said residents should be able to carry their firearms without “government interference or local preemption.”
“In the State of Florida, government bureaucracy will no longer stand between law-abiding Floridians and their freedom to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Brannan said in a statement. “This bill recognizes that while the government has a duty to protect its citizens, its citizens have a right to protect themselves.”
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Will Not Pursue Charges Against Garage Attendant Who Shot Alleged Robber
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says charges will not be pursued against a garage attendant who shot an alleged robber on Saturday.
Breitbart News noted that early reports indicated the attendant, 57-year-old Moussa Diarra, was charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and assault, after shooting the alleged robber, 59-year-old Charles Rhodie.
HEALTH
RECALL WARNING: FDA Announces Recall of Drug of Possible Contamination That Can Cause ‘Life Threatening Infections’
Camber Pharmaceuticals said it recalled some of its pneumonia medicine after it discovered the drug may be contaminated with the Bacillus cereus bacteria, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement.
The voluntary recall impacts one lot of Atovaquone Oral Suspension, USP in either 750-milligram or 5-milliliter doses to the consumer level due to possible contamination, the March 31 announcement said. The drug is meant to prevent and treat pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis jiroveci, a type of fungus that can cause infections in adults and teens who can’t tolerate other drugs.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
US Banks Lost Nearly $1 Trillion in Deposits Since Recent Peak
The month of March witnessed the fastest withdrawal of funds from commercial banks in U.S. history.
According to data released by the Federal Reserve, a staggering $360 billion was withdrawn from banks across the country in the past month alone. To put this into context, not a single monthly decline in 2008 exceeded $100 billion. The recent withdrawals have dwarfed those of the past, bringing total bank deposits down by almost $1 trillion since the highs in April 2022.
Data from Bank of America show a commensurate surge in money-market fund assets over the past few months. Money-market funds invest in short-term debt—often government bonds—to earn yield while offering high liquidity.
Many are speculating that the recent bank scares are causing depositors to look for safer alternatives, finding solace in debt backed by the U.S. Treasury—an institution that has never defaulted.
“Who wants to make 0.3 percent with a bank account when you can make 5 percent in a money-market fund?” Genevieve Roch-Decter, founder of Grit Capital, wrote on Twitter on April 3.
Wendy’s customer hospitalized after ordering cheeseburger sues food fast chain
A Wendy’s customer is suing the fast food chain after she was hospitalized after eating a contaminated burger.
Court documents obtained by McClatchy News allege that customer Jena Vogt has been plagued by long-term health issues and staggering medical bills as a result of her meal, which contained a preformed toxin.
Jena Vogt ordered a medium double cheeseburger combo from a Wendy’s restaurant in St. Rose, Louisiana on July 27.
The plaintiff says that the burger was contaminated due to “poor handwashing procedures” and that food was not properly washed, inspected or ensured to be safe.
“Within (24) hours of consuming the Wendy’s double cheeseburger, Mrs. Vogt felt nauseous and began to have gastrointestinal abnormalities,” the lawsuit says.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Sex Traffickers Using TikTok to Lure Children, Youth Therapist Warns
TikTok may be providing opportunities for sex traffickers to groom children, a youth therapist has warned.
Dr. Katie Guinn has spent the past 10 years providing in-home family therapy to young people and their families in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. She’s the regional director of The Center for Children and Families, a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, counseling, and other services for families in need.
The need for mental health services among young people has skyrocketed in the past two years, according to Guinn, who said she’s encountering more and more children who have been victims of sex trafficking.
In providing a definition of the term, she said that “sex trafficking involves engaging in sexual activities against the will of a person for an exchange of goods.” The transaction isn’t always associated with money, but can also include drugs, food, or shelter, for example.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guinn said, a relatively new concept has emerged, which she called “cybersex trafficking.” The goal of luring children and adults into sex trafficking remains the same, but in this approach, she said, “everything is virtual.” Websites and a variety of phone apps with messaging capabilities are utilized to communicate with users, who are often minors.
Victims and participants can upload content, such as photographs or videos, and a transaction occurs using cryptocurrency. According to Guinn, “this new realm of sex trafficking is incredibly difficult to track and learn more about because it constantly and instantly evolves.”
What is known, she said, is that children are particularly vulnerable.
“For a child or another victim to be susceptible to sex trafficking, there first has to be a vulnerability,” she said.
A vulnerability can be defined as “something missing in a child’s life that needs to be filled.” This void or need can come in many forms, she explained.
“It can be connection, survival, love, substance abuse, shelter, food, stability, and more,” she said.
“In the last three years, the biggest need we have seen in children is connection, [as] kids have been incredibly isolated as a result of the pandemic.”
Guinn identified connection as a human need that is as significant for a child as eating or breathing.
“People need connection, especially children,” she said.
Ethically Unacceptable: Eugenics By Any Other Name Is Still Eugenics
The Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held earlier this month at the Francis Crick Institute in London, closed with a statement that “heritable human genome editing remains unacceptable at this time”, adding, “Public discussions and policy debates continue and are important for resolving whether this technology should be used. Governance frameworks and ethical principles for the responsible use of heritable human genome editing are not in place.” Pointing to “risks and unintended effects” of gene editing, the statement warned that “Necessary safety and efficacy standards have not been met.”
The statement may have prompted sighs of relief from those who were concerned that the summit’s participants would exploit the event to immediately push for changing the law banning human germline (heritable) genetic modification (HGM) in the UK. Indeed, it was a significant step back from the conclusion of the previous summit on HGM in 2018, which concluded that “it is time to define a rigorous, responsible translational pathway” toward clinical trials of germline editing.
But the statement failed to meaningfully engage with the biggest ethical question around HGM. It focused on how to make the technology acceptable by improving “safety and efficacy”, while failing to lay to rest the spectre of eugenics that loomed over the summit. The anti-eugenics group Stop Designer Babies has pointed out that legalising HGM will inevitably lead to a eugenic society of genetic “haves” and “have-nots” in which wealthy parents can choose “designer” traits in their babies, such as skin, hair and eye colour, IQ, and athletic prowess. In the worst case scenario, those who can’t afford genetic “enhancement” would be banned from reproducing. And the statement doesn’t clarify whether, if scientists manage to solve the safety issues yet “public discussions and policy debates” come up with the answer that HGM should continue to be banned on ethical grounds, that decision will be accepted.
This question must be faced head-on because contrary to common belief, eugenics didn’t die with the Nazis. It is very much alive and kicking in scientific circles in the UK and US. Yet conspicuously absent from the publicity around the summit were the disconcertingly eugenicist connections and views of some of the scientists associated with it and, historically, with the venue that hosted it, the Crick Institute. That topic will be returned to later in this article.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
ChatGPT happy to write ransomware, just really bad at it
This morning I decided to write some ransomware.
I’ve never done it before, and I can’t code in C, the language ransomware is mostly commonly written in, but I have a reasonably good idea of what ransomware does. Previously, this lack of technical skills would have served as something of a barrier to my “criminal” ambitions. I’d have been left with little choice but to hang out on dodgy Internet forums or to sidle up to people wearing hoodies in the hope they’re prepared to trade their morals for money. Not anymore though.
Now we live in the era of Internet-accessible Large Language Models (LLMs), so we have helpers like ChatGPT that can breathe life into the flimsiest passing thoughts, and nobody needs to have an awkward conversation about deodorant.
So I thought I’d ask ChatGPT to help me write some ransomware. Not because I want to turn to a life of crime, but because some excitable commentators are convinced ChatGPT is going to find time in its busy schedule of taking everyone’s jobs to disrupt cybercrime and cybersecurity too. One of the ways it’s supposed to make things worse is by enabling people with no coding skills to create malware they wouldn’t otherwise be able to make.
The only thing standing in their way are ChatGPT’s famously porous safeguards. I wanted to know whether those safeguards would stop me from writing ransomware, and, if not, whether ChatGPT is ready for a career as a cybercriminal.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Officials say a widespread severe weather threat with strong tornadoes may impact about a dozen states from the Midwest to the South on Tuesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center warned that a “large area of severe potential will exist from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning” that will affect the eastern portions of the Plains states, stretching to the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys.
“Strong tornadoes and particularly damaging winds are expected. Both afternoon and overnight potential will exist across various regions, including the risk of dangerous nighttime tornadoes,” it said on Monday.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCSSTUS1&f=M
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Executive Order Lays Foundation for Lab-Created Foods
September 12, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an “Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe and Secure American Bioeconomy.” This executive order makes biotechnology a national priority across agencies and branches of government. Similar legislation has been introduced in the U.K.
In late March 2023, Biden expanded on this premise in a “Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing” report. According to this plan, the food industry is now to be led by biotech, and the “improvements” we can look forward to are more lab-grown meats and bioengineered plant foods
Rather than investing taxpayer dollars in regenerative agriculture, which is what could really solve our problems, government is instead backing a whole new industry of fake foods, from lab-grown meats to large-scale insect production
Two cell-based lab-grown meat companies have now received the green light to produce and sell fake chicken in the U.S.
Meanwhile, a Food Hazards Identification report by the British Food standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, published in March 2023, warns there are “considerable gaps in knowledge” when it comes to cell-based meat production, and many potential hazards
Ronnie Cummins Describes Strategy for Taking Back Organics
I interviewed Ronnie Cummins, cofounder and international director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), in honor of Regenerative Food and Farming Week
One of OCA’s major endeavors is the Billion Agave Project, an ecosystem-regeneration strategy being used by Mexican farms to turn agave into inexpensive animal feed
While small farms around the globe are using organic methods to grow food, they’re not getting credit for the truly sustainable farming methods they’re embracing because they’re not certified
OCA’s No. 1 project is to replace “the bogus carbon credits” with a system that measures the ecosystem services that farmers are providing, so they can be paid for these beneficial services along with the food they provide
OCA and their collaborators are working on a cellphone app that will streamline the organic certification process, enable farmers to apply to be certified organic and demonstrate higher levels of regenerative practices
COVID RELATED NEWS
Corrupt Lawyer Joey Gilbert Resigns in Disgrace from AFLDS Board to Avoid Further Legal Scrutiny
The corrupt facade of Joey Gilbert continues to crumble around him, as his failed attempt at a hostile takeover of America’s Frontline Doctors is now leading to ethics complaints against him, and his entire slew of high-priced corporate attorneys abruptly quitting on him.
After AFLDS Founder and President Dr. Simone Gold returned from an unjust J6 incarceration and self-imposed leadership hiatus, she resumed her leadership of the organization, only to discover financial malfeasance and other corrupt actions by Gilbert, a now ex-Board member who was clearly operating from the shadows to position himself for a coup in Gold’s absence. The corruption was initially discovered by the independent accounting firm that has managed the AFLDS finances for years, along with the Executive Director, who alerted Gold to the troubling issues and provided her with substantial documentation of Gilbert’s misdeeds. Gold brought this directly to Gilbert and the rest of the Board of Directors privately, urging an immediate investigation and subsequent removal of Gilbert from the Board.
Instead of quietly resigning without undue attention, Gilbert instead exploded with a wild barrage of defamatory public statements and reckless litigation, all funded by AFLDS donations, which he illegitimately directed under the guise of his role as a board member. He filed a frivolous lawsuit containing false and defamatory claims against Gold, which was quickly discredited and dismissed, and he further spent AFLDS funds in hiring several media hit men, including Chris Barron and the dubious Kevin Jenkins, to continue smearing Dr. Gold across numerous TV shows and media outlets.
As a result, Gold filed a lawsuit in Arizona on behalf of AFLDS against Gilbert, seeking judicial relief to remove him from the Board. Gilbert’s dishonesty in falsely accusing Gold was exposed by the Judge during a Preliminary Injunction hearing, as the Court’s formal statement declared his allegations to be untrue, and that Gilbert’s actions “smacked of self-dealing” while also confirming Gold’s leadership is requisite to the survival of AFLDS, and that the Board should work with Gold to resolve the conflicts amicably. Gilbert ignored this, instead distorting the Court’s statement with additional public defamations, and purported to fire not only Gold but the entire organization of nearly 50 people.
With Dr. Gold continuing to successfully lead the organization according to the status quo maintained by the Judge, the lawsuit against Gilbert was proceeding to discovery where further evidence of Gilbert’s misdeeds would be reviewed in open Court. Instead of facing the impending legal jeopardy and public shaming, Gilbert followed his lawyers’ abrupt departure, suddenly abandoning ship by submitting his own resignation, once again leaving a trail of deceptive, defamatory statements and financial corruption in his wake. Avenatti-Lite is now sinking fast.
Dr. Gold continues to work with the Arizona Court to maintain control of AFLDS and to uphold her commitment to the organization’s mission of exposing corruption, working tirelessly to restore complete integrity within the Board of Directors, as well as traveling the country for speaking engagements and other advocacy in defending civil liberties.
“We must Drain the Science Swamp” she urges the public, as Gold and the AFLDS Affiliate Physicians continue to expose government and media propaganda and provide accurate, life-saving medical information.
For reliable and accurate information regarding AFLDS, please consult our website, AFLDS.org.
CANCEL CULTURE
Country singer Kelsea Ballerini opened the CMT Music Awards with a tribute to victims of a school shooting while sharing in that community’s grief, then danced alongside drag artists as states across the country consider legally limiting drag show performances.
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