WORLD NEWS
Healthy people with autism are set to be euthanized by Dutch and Canadian regimes!
Two relatively healthy autistic women are set to be executed by their respective governments — one in the Netherlands, the first country to legalize so-called euthanasia, and the other in Canada, another northern nation where more than 4% of all annual deaths are now the result of state-facilitated suicides.
Zoraya ter Beek, a 28-year-old Dutch woman, and a 27-year-old Canadian woman identified as M.V. in court documents have both applied for state-facilitated suicide despite neither of them suffering a terminal or debilitating physical illness.
Ter Beek’s boyfriend is apparently willing to hold her hand as she jumps into an early grave. M.V.’s father, alternatively, is desperately fighting to pull her away from the grips of Canada’s suicide regime, which was originally scheduled to kill her on Feb. 1.
Both cases highlight the increasing willingness of the liberal-run countries to expand their state-facilitated suicide offerings to those who may be unable to provide informed consent along with the remainder of society’s most vulnerable members.
The death toll and the number of missing and injured climbs post 7.4 earthquake
The death toll has risen to 9 and at least 50 more are reported missing as a result of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit eastern Wednesday, the strongest earthquake in 25 years, which happened during rush hour. The number of injured is now over 1,000.
The quake triggered landslides in mountainous regions and caused buildings and tunnels to collapse, trapping 137 people in cars, buses, and tunnels. Currently, 87,000 homes are reportedly without power.
Taiwanese seismologists said the 1999 quake unleashed more destructive energy, and struck an area where more buildings were in danger of collapse, but Wednesday’s quake came close to its intensity. Both quakes were strong enough to not only knock people off their feet, but actually fling them into the air.
Japan implements “anti-loneliness” law … And we thought we’d heard everything!
Japan’s Act on Promotion of Policy for Loneliness and Isolation went into effect on
Monday, one year after Parliament enacted it.
The law identifies loneliness as “an issue for society as a whole” and tasks the government at all levels with providing support for lonely and isolated people.
The loneliness law was passed at the beginning of April 2023 as a response to the growing sense of isolation among Japanese citizens after the lockdowns and social distancing measures of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
The effort to help lonely people will be spearheaded by a task force led by the prime minister, currently Kishida Fumio, and will include contributions from all of his cabinet members. Japan has an official “Minister of Loneliness,” a rotating position created in 2021, which Children and Families Minister Kato Ayuko currently holds.
State and local governments have also been directed to create support groups, provide outreach services to isolated persons, and create more opportunities for social interaction. Some early efforts include websites and telephone services where people can discuss their feelings of isolation.
Polls have shown an astounding 40 percent of adult Japanese people experience feelings of deep loneliness on a constant or chronic basis, with an especially heavy concentration among people in their twenties and thirties.
Japan’s growing problem with “lonely deaths” or kodokushi made international news in the summer of 2021, as a growing number of people died during the pandemic lockdowns and went undiscovered for months. A cottage industry of cleaners who specialized in respectfully disposing of the lonely dead quickly flourished.
This arrangement is increasingly seen as an unhealthy lifestyle that increases the isolation of both the young people and their parents, turning the family into an isolated unit that has little interaction with the rest of society. The hikikomori tend to have stunted life and social skills, having lived their entire lives under their parents’ roof, which leads to bizarre situations like elderly parents getting stuffed in closets after they die because their middle-aged children have no idea how to make funeral arrangements.
Widespread loneliness feeds into Japan’s demographic crisis, as isolated people tend to avoid getting married or having children.
One theory holds that Japanese culture was especially vulnerable to the problem of young people feeling helpless and ashamed because they could not find work when the entry-level job market grew tighter. Having endured the intense pressures of the Japanese educational system, generations of hikikomori felt betrayed when they could not ride the smooth track to the career success their parents enjoyed. They moved back in with their parents, found electronic distractions from their loneliness, and abandoned all thoughts of beginning a family of their own.
“The rise in unmarried individuals and financial woes are believed to be driving loneliness among the working population. Better outreach support is needed,” Waseda University sociology professor Ishida Mitsunori said in 2023 when the loneliness law was passed.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
And on this date in 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN
Migrants continue to breach the U.S. Southern Border at El Paso …
According to a source within the Texas National Guard, migrants continue to breach border barriers erected by the state to keep migrants from reaching Border Patrol agents to gain release into the United States. The senior level source tells Breitbart Texas that the border barriers consisting of concertina wire and no-climb fence are cut between 75 and 100 times daily. On average, the source says more than 150 migrants manage to breach the cut wire and fencing each and every day.
Once on the north side of Texas-built barriers, the migrants surrender to Border Patrol agents to claim asylum and win a quick release into the United States as their cases drag on for years in overburdened immigration courts nationwide. The source, currently on deployment to El Paso, says the soldiers make every effort to deny and prevent the migrants from entering the United States and reaching the Border Patrol. In the end, most do, the source bemoaned.
The guardsman, who is not authorized to speak to the media, says the human smugglers and migrants are cutting the fence and concertina wire nightly as if it were butter. Repairs are made daily, and additional layers are added occasionally, but the repairs seem to offer little deterrent to the hundreds of migrants seeking to gain entry each day.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, many of the migrants were ordered released on their own recognizance by a Texas Judge who accused the El Paso District Attorney’s office of not being prepared for detention hearings. Those ordered released by Presiding Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta will be held until they can be taken into custody by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE).
Others facing more serious charges remain in custody. Nine migrants are facing felony rioting charges, according to a Texas DPS spokesperson. Seven migrants are currently in custody and have been booked into the El Paso County Jail. Two others are not in custody and face outstanding arrest warrants.
Trump attorneys renew push to dismiss classified documents case
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith both submitted arguments to the court on the use of the Presidential Records Acts late April 2, responding to a deadline set by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to file hypothetical jury instructions based on “competing” sets of facts, some of which the attorneys have argued against.
Mr. Smith is prosecuting President Trump on 40 counts related to mishandling classified documents, and last month Judge Cannon held a hearing regarding two motions to dismiss counts 1–32 based on the Presidential Records Act and for constitutional vagueness.
Hours after the hearing, the judge denied the second motion without prejudice, writing that the arguments could be renewed in relation to jury instructions.
The judge soon ordered both parties to respond to a jury instruction “exercise,” as the parties described it, opening the door for the defense to submit their arguments to dismiss in the proper form.
The judge had required the parties to contemplate how the Presidential Records Act should be explained to jurors as it applied to the case.
Prosecutors argued the judge used a “fundamentally flawed legal premise” in the scenarios she presented, and said that the Presidential Records Act should play no role at trial at all.
The defense, including President Trump in many public statements, had repeatedly argued that the Presidential Records Act gave President Trump the right to possess the documents he had.
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday filed another request with the U.S. Supreme Court in a bid to avoid prison time after spending about two weeks in prison on contempt of Congress charges.
His lawyers submitted a petition of reconsideration of an emergency request that he filed last month, which was denied at the time by Chief Justice John Roberts. Mr. Navarro faces a four month prison term, and he’s served about 15 days behind bars.
“Dr. Peter K. Navarro self-surrendered to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on March 19, 2024 and has now served fifteen (15) days of his four (4) month sentence,” read the new petition, filed Tuesday. “Of note, on March 26, 2024, the D.C. Circuit set a briefing schedule in his appeal, providing that briefing will not be concluded until July 19, 2024, after he is scheduled to have served the entirety of his prison sentence. Accordingly, we respectfully request your reconsideration of the Chief Justice’s denial.”
Rules for the U.S. Supreme Court allow for emergency applications that were denied by a single justice to be re-sent to another justice. Tuesday’s petition asked for Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, to review Mr. Navarro’s request.
Trump leads Biden in 6 swing states!
A new Wall Street Journal poll found that former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in six critical swing states. This comes as voter discontent appears to be fueled by concerns about President Biden’s job performance and economic management.
When asked which candidate they would support, voters in multiple states selected President Trump over President Biden.
Supporters were asked to choose between the two candidates; the poll reveals that President Trump led President Biden by five points in Arizona, one point in Georgia, three points in Michigan, six points in North Carolina, four points in Nevada, and three points in Pennsylvania. For Wisconsin, President Biden and President Trump were tied.
In six states, President Trump held a comparable lead to President Biden on a test ballot alongside four other independent and third- party candidates. However, the poll indicates President Biden has a three-point advantage over President Trump in Wisconsin.
With a plus or minus four percentage point margin of error, the survey was administered to 600 registered electors in each state from March 17 to March 24.
A majority of voters in all seven states expressed disapproval rather than approval of President Biden’s job performance by 16 percentage points or more.
On the other hand, a margin of two points or more separated those who approved of President Trump’s performance as president from those who disapproved in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan. While President Trump’s approval rating fell one point in Arizona, it remained unchanged in Wisconsin.
Another thing that could hurt President Biden in the 2024 race is the way he has handled the economy. The majority of respondents to the survey think President Trump, not President Biden, is the best candidate to deal with the economy, inflation, and growing prices.
Nebraska State Senator switches from Democrat to GOP!
Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell has announced that he’s switching party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, citing his Christian faith and views on abortion.
Mr. McDonnell made the announcement in an April 3 statement to local media outlets, citing the Democratic Party’s opposition to his pro-life stance.
“When I ran for reelection in 2020, I was pro-life,” he said, adding that he’s Catholic and recalling that in 2016, he ran as a pro-life candidate for Nebraska’s fifth legislative district.
“I have asked the Democratic Party to respect my religious-based pro-life position. Instead, over the last year, they have decided to punish me for being pro-life.”
Mr. McDonnell said that, because he opposes abortion, Douglas County Democrats voted not to seat him as a delegate and not share party resources, while the state Democratic Party voted to censure him for his pro-life views.
“Being a Christian member of the Roman Catholic Church and pro-life is more important to me than being a registered Democrat,” he said, adding that he was switching to the GOP effective immediately.
OpenTheBooks exposes House Freedom Caucus Members’ Earmarks!
The House Freedom Caucus was founded in 2015. Self-styled fiscal conservatives promoted themselves as a bulwark against establishment spending that would bankrupt the nation.
It turns out that many are better at breaking their promises than stopping spending.
In these hyper-partisan times, we discovered 22 of the 49 Freedom Caucus members standing shoulder-to-shoulder with The Squad, whose earmarking we reported last week.
Nearly half the Caucus members are cross-dressing as fiscal conservatives – making 210 earmark requests for pet projects in their districts. Even House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA), erstwhile Freedom Caucus member, earmarked $60 million last year and $7 million in 2024.
Earmarking is a practice that gives individual members with clout in their caucus a ticket to goodies for the folks back home – funding pet projects that otherwise aren’t passing muster despite the seemingly infinite number of federal programs.
Incredibly, members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, the progressive Squad, and the uni-party establishment are an alliance that wasted a stunning $32 billion on earmarks since 2023.
“There is no left or right only up or down.” – Ronald Reagan
House Freedom Caucus members captured $957 million for their own districts using 210 earmarks scattered throughout the omnibus bills in 2023 and 2024. Download the line-by-line database here.
Every dime of these bipartisan earmarks drains the U.S. Treasury from the left and the right.
Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com, an organization I founded and lead, searched out their earmarks and added up the tab.
Recently, our auditors quantified the earmarks doled out by the eight members of The Squad, an aggressive group of democratic socialists, who earmarked $224 million on 215 pet projects since 2023. This year, it was $13.9 million for the average Squad member and $111.4 million in total.
In 2024, the individual hauls for the 22 Freedom Caucus members dwarf those of the Squad. These “freedom fighters” earmarked an average of $23.1 million each for a grand total of $508.9 million.
Those Freedom Caucus earmarks cost taxpayers $4.6 million each — more than double the member average for the rest of Congress.
With every dime borrowed against our $34 trillion national debt, this is a moral outrage.
Judge rules New Mexico officials violated federal law by restricting access to voter data
U.S. District Judge James Browning has ruled that the New Mexico secretary of state’s office and the state’s attorney general had violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by refusing to provide voter data to a conservative backed group named Voter Reference Foundation. Court documents named New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and Attorney General Raul Torrez as the defendants.
The Albuquerque-based federal judge said the Defendants violated the Public Inspection Provision by denying the group’s request for voter data.
Judge Browning ruled that the system “severely burdens the circulation of voter data among the public” and violates federal disclosure requirements.
“The data sharing ban largely deprives individuals and entities of the ability to engage with disclosed records in such a way that facilitates identification of voter registration-related irregularities and thereby severely limits the extent to which the Public Inspection Provision can contribute meaningfully to furthering the NVRA’s objectives,” he said.
The court also stated that the Voter Reference Foundation “is entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs accrued in its prosecution of claims made under the National Voter Registration Act.”
FBI Arrests Couple Three Years Later for Being Inside the Capitol on January 6 for Twelve Minutes
The FBI arrested a Loudon County, Virginia, couple early Thursday morning for entering the Capitol building three years ago on January 6, 2021, according to a recent interview of the couple.
Thomas Kasperek and his wife Dr. Daphne Kasperek told America First with Sebastian Gorka in an exclusive interview on Monday that the FBI came to their home around 6:00 a.m. in cars with flashing lights, pounded on the door, and yelled for them to come out with their hands up.
Thomas said he was up, but that Daphne was still sound asleep. He said he woke her up gently and told her to call his friend Richard Ryan, who was a co-plaintiff in a case related to an election integrity case they filed in November 2022 against Loudoun County’s Electoral Board and Board of Supervisors “based on concerns that the electric voting machines were made in China.” The case was dismissed January 6, 2023, according to LoudonNow.com.
Thomas meanwhile went to open the door.
“They opened the door and stuck an M-4 in my face. They were in full gear,” he told Gorka. “About six guys at the door with their guns drawn.”
He said he asked for a warrant, but they told him they would show it to him when they got downtown.
He said they put him in hand and ankle cuffs with chains and walked him down his driveway and down the street. The FBI also did the same to Daphne. “Never, ever had anything like this happened,” she said.
They were then taken downtown to the FBI field office, fingerprinted, swabbed for DNA, photographed, and then interrogated, they said.
Thomas said it was apparent that the FBI had been building a case against them for entering the Capitol three years ago.
They were then taken to the federal courthouse and handed over to U.S. marshals, who questioned them again separately, he said.
Thomas said they were charged with four misdemeanors — entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building; and demonstrating or picketing in any Capitol building.
Thomas said they were inside the Capitol building for 12 minutes.
Hagerty: Democrats Will Win Elections by Inflating Census with Illegal Immigrants in Blue States
Wednesday, during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) explained how he believed Democrats plan to strengthen their chances at maintaining a hold on Congress.
According to the Tennessee Republican, by allowing illegal immigrants to migrate to blue states that are losing population and counting them in the next census, Democrats will gain an advantage over Republicans.
“I think, I think it all gets back to something that I was able to get every Democrat on the record. I put forward legislation three weeks ago suggesting that we not be allowed to count illegal migrants in the census, because right now, these illegal migrants are used to apportion congressional seats, and therefore electoral votes. If you look at the number of people that have flooded into our country just under Joe Biden, that would account for 13 congressional seats, Maria, congressional seats and therefore that many congressional — that many electoral votes.”
“But will those people ultimately vote? Do they want them to vote in the presidential election?” host Maria Bartiromo asked.
“The Democrats win regardless because they still retain congressional power. If you look at the states that are losing population, New York, Illinois, California, where the sanctuary cities located again, New York, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, San Francisco, they just need the people there. In fact, the Congressional Representative from Brooklyn, the same district of James Madison High School where they turned the kids out, so they could put illegal migrants in for housing. She said it on the air, she said I need these illegal migrants for the purposes of redistricting. She doesn’t want to lose her district.”
“And she’s going to repopulate her district with these people that have come here illegally,” he added. “[T]he point here is that they’re taking what had been called a conspiracy theory. And they’re confirming the fact that this is a real conspiracy to basically inflate the votes of those people in these blue districts, and we can dampen the votes in places like states like mine, we don’t have that many illegal migrants. Think about it, you have twice as many illegal migrants in your district, your voters get twice as much vote. It’s a leverage opportunity that’s on America.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Two brothers plead guilty to insider trading related to Trump’s Truth Social merger!
Two investors in former President Donald Trump’s social media company pleaded guilty on Wednesday to insider trading in connection to the recent merger that ultimately took the company public.
Florida venture capitalists Michael Shvartsman and Gerald Shvartsman entered the pleas in a New York court to one count of securities fraud, which can carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to prosecutors in a news release.
“Michael and Gerald Shvartsman admitted in court that they received confidential, inside information about an upcoming merger between DWAC and Trump Media and used that information to make profitable, but illegal, open-market trades,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the release issued yesterday.
Prosecutors alleged that the pair, who are brothers, made more than $22 million in illegal profits by trading before the announcement that Digital World Acquisition Company (DWAC) was going to merge with the Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social. The two companies merged last month, and Trump Media last week started trading on the Nasdaq.
Shares of DWAC, a so-called “blank check” company, spiked after it publicly disclosed it would merge with Trump Media in 2021.
“Insider trading is cheating, plain and simple, and today’s convictions should remind anyone who may be tempted to corrupt the integrity of the stock market that it will earn them a ticket to prison,” said Mr. Williams.
During a court hearing, the two brothers said in court that what they were doing was illegal when they traded information that shouldn’t have been released to the public.
“I’ve made a terrible mistake,” Gerald Shvartsman said, according to media reports.
The Shvartsmans are scheduled to be sentenced on July 17. While securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, any sentence would be imposed by the judge based on a range of factors. The average prison sentence in federal fraud cases in the United States last year was around two years.
Mass layoffs begin at California fast food chains as $20/hr. minimum wage takes effect!
This result shouldn’t surprise anyone. Inflation has driven up operational costs for businesses across the US and shrunk profit margins for major food chains in the past few years. This has led to higher menu prices (like the “$18 Big Mac”) and slowing sales for every major fast food company. Another anchor dragging on the restaurant business in many regions was at least two years of covid stimulus coupled with rent moratoriums, creating aggressive labor shortages and raising wages in upwards of $16 per hour for brand new no-skill employees.
Small chains and mom-and-pop businesses simply can’t compete. Larger chains raised prices but have also been forced to reduce employees and labor costs through automation, but the layoffs are just getting started.
Enter California’s “FAST Recovery Act” passed into law in 2022 and going into effect in April of this year – The legislation requires a particular set of food chains dealing in certain kinds of products outlined in the law to raise their minimum wages (already at $16 an hour on average) to $20 an hour. The income increase is limited to chains that have 60 or more locations in the state of California (meaning, the combined number of locations regardless of who owns them must be higher than 60) Keep in mind that while many of these chains are associated with international corporations, they are owned and run by franchisees; they are still family run businesses.
Mass layoffs are now a guarantee with many restaurants already firing thousands of workers as well as some chains closing multiple locations because the cost of operation will be higher than the benefits. The “digital options” that many fast food franchises are referring to are automated ordering systems as well as robot workers which are slowly but surely becoming more cost effective than human laborers. At least one fast food location in California is testing a fully robotic restaurant with no human workers.
HEALTH
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. The human lens is normally transparent. Cataracts occur when the lens degenerates, causing it to swell and turn white, leading to blurry vision. In severe cases, the eye can become as white as a bright moon, and light cannot penetrate.
Patients with severe cataracts require surgical treatment, which involves an intraocular lens implant to improve vision. For patients with mild to moderate cataracts, it may be possible to reverse them through traditional Chinese medicine treatment (TCM) combined with home eye care techniques
Research has revealed oxidative stress as one of the main mechanisms leading to cataracts, where nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids in the lens denature, resulting in mutations and programmed cell death. Mr. Wu stated that electromagnetic radiation is a common risk factor for cataracts, especially at low doses. Even widely used LED lights in daily life can damage the lens epithelium, leading to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species.
Cataract patients have lower levels of peroxidase (enzymes involved in speeding up various oxidative reactions) in their serum and aqueous humor, making it difficult to resist oxidative damage. According to modern pharmacological studies, many medicinal plants and natural products used in traditional medicine have antioxidant and anti-cataract effects.
According to Eastern medicine practitioners, the following types of herbs may be helpful in reversing cataracts: tonifying herbs; blood activating herbs and vision-clearing herbs, as well as eye exercises and massage.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Three NY counties declare an emergency ahead of the April 8th solar eclipse
Three New York counties located along Lake Ontario—Oswego, Jefferson, and Wayne—declared or will declare a state of emergency due to the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8.
This comes as other U.S. counties and states have done the same.
“Oswego County is situated in the ‘path of totality’ for this rare event, which means that the eclipse will be viewable in every corner of our county,” said Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup in a statement on April 2, according to a statement issued by the county.
“Our population is expected to temporarily double in size with visitors coming from around the world to experience it with us. While this is an exciting occasion, we also want to make sure that our residents and visitors are all able to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event safely and with as little disruption as possible.”
The chairman said he will close down most county buildings and facilities except for essential operations, including the waste transfer station, the local department of motor vehicles office, and others.
“The Emergency Order and coordinated closures are strictly precautionary safety measures related to the high traffic volumes we’re anticipating and possible communications disruptions we may experience due to a large number of data users overwhelming the capacity of nearby cellular towers,” he added, saying that “these conditions would only be temporary.
“There is no need to panic or hoard supplies, so don’t rush out to the stores and clear out their shelves.”
Officials in New York’s Jefferson County also said they would soon declare an emergency.
“This is nothing negative about the eclipse, rather it becomes a useful tool for the county to secure necessary resources in short order if called to respond to any emergency that could arise at the height of our dramatically expanding tourism population Monday,” county administrator Robert Hagemann told a local news outlet on April 2.
This past week, Wayne County in New York similarly declared a state of emergency.
First man to receive pig kidney transplant leaves hospital
The first man to receive a genetically modified kidney transplant from a pig has been discharged from hospital.
The 62-year-old was sent home on Wednesday, two weeks after the ground-breaking surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
Organ transplants from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past.
But the success of this procedure so far has been hailed by scientists as a historic milestone in the field of transplantation.
The news was shared in a press release on Wednesday by MGH, which is Harvard Medical School’s largest teaching hospital in the US city of Boston.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” AI shopping tech relies on human surveillance!
Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, touted as a fully automated checkout-free system, has been revealed to rely heavily on human reviewers, particularly a team of over 1,000 workers in India.
Gizmodo reports that Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, introduced in 2016 as a groundbreaking innovation in grocery shopping, promised customers a seamless, checkout-free experience. However, recent reports have shed light on the reality behind the technology, revealing that it relies heavily on human reviewers, rather than being a purely AI-driven system.
According to The Information, the “Just Walk Out” technology, which uses cameras and sensors to track customer purchases, employed more than 1,000 people in India to watch and label videos to ensure accurate checkouts. These workers essentially served as remote cashiers, monitoring customers as they shopped.
The report stated that as of 2022, 700 out of every 1,000 ‘Just Walk Out’ sales required human intervention, falling significantly short of Amazon’s internal goal of less than 50 reviews per 1,000 sales. This revelation raises questions about the true nature of the technology and its reliance on human labor.
An Amazon spokesperson, while disputing the characterization of how many purchases require reviews, acknowledged that Machine Learning data associates validate “a small minority” of shopping visits when AI cannot determine a purchase. However, the scale of human involvement in the “Just Walk Out” system appears to be more significant than initially believed.
The heavy reliance on human reviewers has led Amazon to phase out the technology in its Amazon Fresh grocery stores, opting for a more reliable solution called Dash Carts. These shopping carts feature embedded scanners and screens, allowing customers to check out as they shop.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo that Dash Carts are replacing “Just Walk Out” technology in existing stores. “We’re rolling out Amazon Dash Cart, our smart-shopping carts,” the spokesperson stated. Amazon Fresh stores will also feature self-checkout counters for customers who are not Amazon members.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Tennessee says “NO!” to mRNA vaccines in food!
Following concerns over research to embed vaccines in produce, the Tennessee Senate has passed a bill which would require any food containing vaccines or vaccine materials to be labeled as pharmaceutical drugs.
The bill, HB 1894, was passed by the Senate in a 23-6 vote on March 28 after the state House passed it 73-22 on March 4. It awaits the governor’s signature.
The bill comes in response to a University of California-Riverside research project looking into whether mRNA which targets pathogens could be implanted into edible plants, which would then be consumed. The research was funded by a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
“You would have to get a prescription for that to make sure that we know how much of the lettuce you have to eat based off of your body type so we don’t under-vaccinate you, which leads to the possibility of the efficacy of the drug being compromised, or we overdose you based off how much lettuce is [eaten],” said Republican state Rep. Scott Cepicky during a House committee meeting in February, WKRN-TV reports.
Cepicky said that the bill, which local media described as a move targeting “vaccine lettuce,” would classify foods modified to act as vaccines, as pharmaceuticals.
ALARMING: Majority of non-organic fruits and vegetables test positive for toxic pesticides
A consumer guide published its annual report on pesticides in foods and is reporting some sobering numbers regarding pesticides in our food. Almost three-fourths of non-organic vegetables and fruit were found to contain toxic pesticides in unacceptable amounts, with some rating quite high.
EWG’s 2024 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ revealed that foods on the Dirty Dozen list contain very high amounts of fungicides capable of disrupting human hormones. The guide, published annually by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), keeps consumers informed about the amount of pesticides found in the foods they eat.
EWG report: Non-organic produce packed with hormone-disrupting fungicides
Four fungicides were found in produce listed on the Dirty Dozen, a compilation of foods typically high in pesticide residue. These included fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, boscalid, and pyrimethanil.
These pesticides are frequently used to protect crops against fungal diseases, with fludioxonil and pyrimethanil being especially common due to their efficacy in combating mold and decay.
Pesticides in foods pose significant risks to the health and well-being of humans, with children being the most vulnerable to the damage they can do. Some common dangers of pesticides in food include harm to the male reproductive system, metabolic disorders and a greater risk of chronic disease. These chemicals are often endocrine disruptors, which means they can interfere with the body’s endocrine system, which is responsible for producing and regulating hormones.
Why are fungicide levels higher in certain foods?
Pesticides are typically applied to crops while they’re growing to ward off insects and other pests, ensuring the integrity of the harvest. Following the harvest, fungicide is often used to prevent mold formation during the transit and storage process before the produce reaches grocery stores.
This timing difference in application can result in higher levels of fungicide in the produce, primarily due to post-harvest treatment. Conversely, foods tested earlier in the growing season tend to exhibit lower pesticide levels, reflecting the lesser exposure to chemical treatments.
Considering these factors, it becomes evident that organic foods, which are grown without many of these synthetic pesticides and fungicides, offer a compelling argument for their superiority in terms of reduced chemical residue.
What’s on the Dirty Dozen list in 2024?
The Dirty Dozen list for 2024, published by the EWG, contains some of the most nutritious produce. Unfortunately, the non-organic versions of these foods also show the highest amounts of pesticides and fungicides.
The 2024 Dirty Dozen list includes:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale, mustard greens, collard greens
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Bell peppers and hot peppers
- Cherries
- Blueberries
- Green beans
Experts believe that fungicides are showing up in these foods with such high concentrations because they are applied to the produce later in the farm-to-table process. Foods obtained from grocery stores have a more complex journey that often involves sitting in warehouses before being distributed.
The Clean 15 in 2024
The Clean 15 is a list published annually by the EWG that identifies conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with the lowest pesticide residue levels. These foods are deemed to be relatively safer options when purchased as non-organic because they are less likely to contain high levels of pesticide residues.
The latest report from the EWG found that over half (65%) of the foods on the Clean 15 list were free of detectable pesticide residues. The foods that made it onto the Clean 15 list typically have thick skins or outer layers that provide a natural barrier against pests and reduce the need for extensive pesticide application.
Here are the foods that were featured on the Clean 15 list in 2024:
- Sweet corn
- Avocados
- Pineapple
- Onions
- Papaya
- Sweet peas
- Asparagus
- Honeydew melon
- Kiwi
- Cabbage
- Watermelon
- Mushrooms
- Mango
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
Although, the problem with corn (for example) is that the ‘non-organic’ type are genetically modified, so we suggest avoiding this kind of food.
This is why we recommend growing your own food with Heaven’s Harvest non-GMO Seeds
2ND AMENDMENT
Intruder with previous aggravated battery charges won’t leave doorway, gets shot on demand!
An intruder with previous aggravated battery charges against him refused to leave the doorway of an Illinois home last week despite the homeowner’s repeated requests.
When the intruder opened the home’s storm door, he said the homeowner would have to shoot him.
With that, the homeowner fatally shot 31-year-old Jonathan J. Gagen, KDSK-TV reported, citing Collinsville police. Collinsville is about 20 minutes northeast of St. Louis.
Police responded to the 500 block of St. Louis Road just after 6 p.m. last Tuesday, the station said, adding that officers found a male lying wounded on the home’s porch.
Officers gave him aid until a local EMS took over, but the male — identified a day later as Gagen — was pronounced dead at the scene, KDSK said.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office — which took over the investigation because a family member of the homeowner is a part-time Collinsville police employee, the station said — determined that the homeowner asked Gagen leave the residence’s front porch, but Gagen refused.
The homeowner feared for his safety and got a gun from inside the home while making “numerous” requests for Gagen to leave, KDSK noted.
The homeowner also told Gagen to not enter the home, but Gagen opened the storm door and said the homeowner would have to shoot him, the station reported, citing the sheriff’s office. With that, the homeowner fired one shot, KDSK said, adding that it struck Gagen in the chest. Another resident called 911 immediately and requested police assistance, the station reported, adding that all residents at the home were cooperating with the investigation.
KDSK, citing the Madison County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, reported that there are two county cases involving Gagen with aggravated battery charges.
Gagen is accused in a 2020 case of grabbing a Granite City police officer’s face and scratching his eyeball, the station said, adding that Gagen also is accused of fighting a private security officer at a hospital and causing the officer to fall and break his leg and ankle in June 2023.
KDSK reported that both cases were still pending last Wednesday, and there have been a number of pleadings and orders in both cases. The station added that Gagen had to complete a mental health court screening as part of a bond condition in September 2023.
COVID RELATED NEWS
CDC releases hidden COVID-19 vax-jab injury data reports
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released previously hidden reports of facial paralysis and other adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination.
The 780,000 reports were received shortly after the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out and show that people experienced a wide range of post-vaccination problems, including heart inflammation, miscarriages, and seizures.
“Loss of consciousness and seizure immediately following injection. Went to ER by ambulance,” one person reported. Another stated, “Diagnosed with Bells Palsy today due to left-sided facial numbness and paralysis.”
People lodged the reports with V-safe, a text-message system created by the CDC to monitor for possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccines.
The CDC, for years, declined to make the V-safe data public, instead publishing studies that described the reports as providing reassurance about the safety of the vaccines. However, according to data released in 2022, nearly 8 percent of the 10 million users required medical attention or hospital care after vaccination, and many others reported missing school, work, or other normal activities. That topline data came from check-the-box surveys.
The same judge who ordered the release of that data ordered the agency in January to disclose free-text entries from a different section in which individuals could describe their experiences. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump, dismissed the government’s arguments that processing the responses and redacting sensitive information would require too much work.
The first two tranches, made up of 780,000 reports from some 523,000 people, include dozens of reports of heart inflammation, hundreds of reports of facial paralysis, and thousands of reports of tinnitus. Judge Kacsmaryk’s order came in litigation brought by the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), a nonprofit that has compelled the release of a number of government files since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
“ICAN had to sue the Centers for Disease Control in order to gain access to the COVID-19 shot V-safe adverse event data, which is yet another shameful chapter in the decades-long history of federal health officials trying to cover up vaccine risks by ignoring patterns of vaccine reaction symptoms in reports made to the government,” Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, told The Epoch Times after reviewing the new data.
“When people report the same symptoms over and over again after getting a biological product—in this case ’shortness of breath‘ and ’heart palpitations,’ which are both symptoms of myocarditis that has [sic] been causally linked to mRNA COVID shots—the public should be warned, not kept in the dark. It raises questions about what else government health officials are hiding.”
The free-text entries are not dated. Elizabeth Brehm, an attorney representing ICAN, said the group is seeking the dates of the reports from the CDC. The group does know that the entries are the earliest ones received by the CDC. V-safe was launched as the vaccines were rolled out in late 2020. The rest of the entries are expected to be produced on a rolling basis.
University of Kentucky Dance Team member dies of bone cancer at 20
Kate Kaufling, a member of the dance team at the University of Kentucky, died on Sunday
after a battle with bone cancer. She was only 20 years old.
The sophomore was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer, in June of 2023.
The Kentucky athletic department also released a statement marking the passing of the beloved dance team member.
Kaufling was a nursing major with a 4.0 GPA. She is survived by her parents, Holly and Steve Kaufling, and her twin sister, Abbey, who is also a UK dance team member.
CANCEL CULTURE
Nintendo of America has highlighted the importance of “culturalization” and DEI awareness in a job listing for a localization production specialist position based in Redmond, Washington.
That Park Place reports that the job description, posted on Nintendo of America’s career page, outlines various responsibilities for the role, with a notable emphasis on the candidate’s “awareness of culturalization- and DE&I related topics.” This requirement is listed as one of the 18 bullet points under the localization duties section of the position.
Localization in video games is the process of taking games typically published in Japanese and translating it into English for a western audience. It has become a hot topic of debate as progressive leftist localizers often change the original game’s text to suit their personal worldviews, a trend Nintendo is likely to continue by focusing on DEI in its job description.
While the majority of the bullet points focus on traditional localization tasks, such as translating game text, graphic assets, voice scripts, and marketing materials, the inclusion of culturalization and DEI awareness stands out as a unique requirement. This indicates that Nintendo is not only concerned with the technical aspects of localization but also is looking for a woke employee to ensure games fall in line with leftist standards.
In addition to the localization duties, the job listing also includes a marketing section, which requires the employee to leverage their “understanding of game content and target market trends and culture in making recommendations and proposals related to market strategy and tactics.” This further emphasizes the importance of cultural awareness in the role.
Nintendo of America’s commitment to woke DEI policies is not limited to this job listing. The company has an entire page on their website dedicated to DEI, stating, “We believe that our results are better when our teams represent our potential consumers and fans. We’re actively building a culture where employees contribute their knowledge, ideas, and perspectives so innovation and creativity thrive.”
PET NEWS
Into more than heavy petting? Advice columnist on having sex with your pet in the room!
Curious? Jealous? Excited? Traumatized? Do pets even know what’s going on when they end up in the same room as people getting it on? Does your cat or dog watch you having sex the same way you might watch two tigers humping away in a nature documentary? Or is it more like that time you walked in on your parents during birthday coitus and, for a moment, were too shocked to look away?
Cats will often run away if things are getting too active, but it’s not because they disapprove or anything, she explains. “Often cats view the bedroom as a place to sleep and snuggle down, so if something active is happening (like sex), then the room is no longer conducive to that, and they may choose to leave.”
Not every cat is going to respond to sex, active or otherwise, in the same way, though. And while they might not necessarily be judging you for having it, that doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings about who it is happening with.
Unfamiliar people can be disconcerting to cats. “There are some cases where cats will think something bad is happening and jump in to protect their human,” says Dr. Marci Koski. “Again, probably under circumstances where things are getting really active in bed. In that case, their fight-or-flight instinct might kick in and they might choose to fight, even though the action taking place is not directed at them.”
Does your dog understand what’s happening when you and your partner start going at it? Or are they, like cats, more concerned with the novelty or vigor of the act than the act itself?
“Contrary to what their facial expressions might imply, when it comes to humans having sex, dogs don’t really know what’s happening,” says Jessica Jacobson, a dog behavior expert and certified trainer in NYC, whose clients include Madonna, Scarlett Johansson, and Brooke Shields.
It is possible for your dog to exhibit signs of distress when they see you having sex, even if they don’t know exactly what it is they are looking at.
“You have to read your dog’s body language,” Jacobson says. “Sometimes, the signs are obvious: pacing, shaking off, excessive barking, excessive shedding, growling, or even biting. But more subtle signs like yawning, avoiding eye contact, licking of the lips, or urogenital (self) licking, can also be displayed and are just as important as the more obvious ones.”
So, should you keep your dog out of the room while you are having sex? “Only if you or the dog are uncomfortable,” Jacobson says.
GOOD NEWS
Judge who called out Trump hit with an ethics complaint!
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton appeared on CNN and criticized former President Donald Trump and now the judge has been hit with an ethics complaint.
The judge’s comments were “clearly inappropriate, defamatory, highly prejudicial, and outrageous,” the complaint, lodged on April 2, states.
Judge Walton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, went on CNN after President Trump criticized a New York judge and that judge’s daughter in the wake of that judge issuing a gag order against him.
President Trump said in part that New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was
“suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Judge Walton said that the comments were disconcerting. “And it’s particularly problematic when those comments are in the form of a threat, especially if they’re directed at one’s family,” he said. “I mean, we do these jobs, because we’re committed to the rule of law and we believe in the rule of law, and the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm.”
“It’s very important that people in positions of authority be very circumspect in reference to the things that they say, so that they’re not causing others to act on what they say and maybe cause injury or deaths somewhat as a result of that,” he added later.
The judge’s comments were hyperbolic, according to the new complaint.
“A criminal defendant expressed the view that he would not get a fair trial because of the business activities of the presiding judge’s adult daughter, who is a Democrat political consultant. Whether one agrees with this view, one cannot construe it as a threat or a suggestion that anyone else threatens or perpetuates violence against the judge or his family,” it states. “Again, President Trump never doxxed the home addresses of Judge Merchan or his adult daughter. The statement is not a threat to the independent judiciary nor to democracy more broadly. Judge Walton had no basis to comment on a defendant’s assertion of a violation of the constitutional right to a fair trial in a pending criminal case.”
It’s unusual for a federal judge to make comments outside of courtrooms or court filings. CNN described the judge’s remarks as an “extraordinary rebuke” of President Trump.
Judge Walton must have known his interview was highly prejudicial to President Trump, who now must face jury pools–in New York City (starting in less than two weeks), Washington, D.C. (where Judge Walton presides, including over many related January 6th criminal cases), Atlanta, and Florida—who have now heard a sitting D.C. federal judge essentially accuse a criminal defendant of making ‘violent threats’ against another judge and his family for simply raising potential judicial bias by that judge presiding over his case,” the complaint states.
It notes that the code of conduct for federal judges says that a judge “should not make public comment on the merits of a matter pending or impending in any court.” Judge Walton “clearly violated this canon,” according to the complaint. It said the judge should have followed his own advice regarding people in positions of authority.
The complaint was filed by The Article III Project. The group was founded by Mike Davis, a lawyer who previously served as a lawyer for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), in the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The complaint was addressed to Sri Srinivasan, the chief judge for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the head of the Judicial Council of the District of Columbia Circuit.
ICYMI
And the KISS legend lives on …
A Swedish entertainment group co-founded by ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus has acquired the music catalog, name and likeness of KISS and plans to produce a movie about the legendary rock band, the company said Thursday.
Formed in the 1970s by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, KISS became glam metal icons through their iconic face paint, stage theatrics and hard rock riffs.
Some of their breakout hits include songs like “Rock And Roll All Nite” (1975) and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (1979).
Ulvaeus’ Pophouse said in a statement that the deal would enable them to “further develop and amplify the unique KISS legacy worldwide.”
It said it had acquired KISS’ “music catalog, brand name and likeness — including the world-famous face paint designs –- as well as trademarks of the iconic American rock band.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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