WORLD NEWS
WW3 UPDATE! Blinken says Ukraine will join NATO!
NATO is going to “build a bridge” towards Ukraine becoming a member state of the defensive alliance, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on the organization’s 75th birthday.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member states met in Brussels at the alliance’s headquarters on Thursday to toast the 75th anniversary of its founding, among them U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who like others used the occasion to discuss renewed Russian aggression and the potential place of Ukraine among its members. He emphasized the view, already articulated multiple times by NATO leaders in recent years, that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO”.
What he left unsaid, however, was the conditions that generally come with the statement, that this membership would be when Ukraine is in a fit state to join, including not being occupied by a foreign power.
This follows several comments by U.S. President Biden and NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg last year that “Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of NATO”. The truth was more complex than that, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz outlined that in granular detail, saying Ukraine doesn’t meet the criteria to be a member state.
He said in 2023 that: “It is also clear that we then have to discuss which security guarantees can be given in a post-war situation. But we are far from there yet. Now we are concentrating on what is coming up… NATO’s criteria include a whole series of conditions that Ukraine cannot currently meet.
Nevertheless, it appears work towards inducting Ukraine into NATO as soon as can be arranged continued behind closed doors. Responding to Blinken’s comments today, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed the alliance is working on the next steps towards membership. He thanked Blinken for “strong, encouraging messages”.
While Ukraine may be a way off formally joining NATO, individual members are storming ahead with creating ‘NATO-lite’ arrangements with Ukraine, by signing 10-year treaties with Kyiv promising further funding, support, and promising military aid if Russia invades the state again for the duration of the agreement. The eighth such NATO-lite paper was signed just yesterday with Finland, following the United Kingdom in January, then Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Japanese corporation trying to buy U.S. Steel is linked to China!
A few Senators from the nation’s Rust Belt are sounding the alarm over the ties between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nippon Steel Corporation — the Japanese conglomerate looking to purchase the United States Steel Corporation.
In December of last year, executives with U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel Corporation announced a nearly $15 billion deal that would have the iconic American steel giant sold off to Japan’s largest steelmaker.
The deal is significant as U.S. Steel, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, played a critical role in the nation’s “Arsenal of Democracy” during World War II, which ultimately saw the Allied powers defeat the Axis, which included Imperial Japan.
This week, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), and J.D. Vance (R-OH) sounded the alarm to President Joe Biden’s administration over Nippon Steel’s ties to China. The Senators cite a report from the firm Horizon Advisory which details those ties:
In addition to market dependence on China, Nippon directly owns operations in the country. Those operations risk sharing technology and production expertise with the PRC’s industrial base. Nippon has a long-run history supporting the establishment and foundation of the Chinese steel industry; PRC discourse about industrial modernization has referred to the Japanese conglomerate as a “master.” Nippon is also looked to by Chinese peers as a critical source of strategic guidance for maturing the operations of what has grown into the world’s dominant steel industry. [Emphasis added]
That relationship brings Nippon into close and frequent interaction with China’s steel industry.
Nippon maintains active joint ventures with a range of Chinese state-backed steel champions. In addition to those partnerships, Nippon also works with more niche Chinese champions intended to accelerate up various industrial and engineering value chains; Nippon’s variety of partners in China may risk providing those emergent players access to leading international technology. [Emphasis added]
“Nippon’s connection to the Chinese steel ecosystem and industrial policy agenda has concerning implications regarding ties to China’s military-civil fusion strategy and quest for global economic power,” Brown wrote in a letter to Biden, asking him to investigate the matter.
Vance is asking Biden to block the acquisition altogether.
“The foreign takeover of US Steel poses significant national security risks,” Vance told the Financial Times:
We cannot allow one of the largest American steelmakers to be gobbled up by a foreign entity with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its military-industrial apparatus. The president must find the courage to do what’s right and block this deal without delay. [Emphasis added]
While Biden has said he opposes the acquisition, Michael Stumo with the Coalition for a Prosperous America said, “It is critical that his statement of opposition result in action.”
The sale of U.S. Steel, which was founded in 1901 by Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Charles Schwab, to Nippon is significant as the steelmaker served a critical role in the nation’s “Arsenal of Democracy” during WWII.
Biden threatens to change US/Israel policy if food aid workers aren’t protected from strikes!
Yesterday, Biden threatened to condition support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza on it taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians, seeking for the first time to leverage U.S. aid to influence Israeli military behavior.
Biden’s warning, relayed in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, followed a deadly Israeli attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers that spurred new calls from Biden’s fellow Democrats to place conditions on U.S. aid to Israel. Israel said the attack was a mistake.
His warning marked the first time he has threatened to potentially condition aid, a development that could change the dynamic of the nearly six-month-old war.
Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said of the leaders’ phone call. It said the call lasted about 30 minutes.
One has to question exactly: How much blubbering did Biden do during the phone call???
Rescuers in Taiwan say 18 people are still missing after the recent earthquake …
Rescuers in Taiwan faced the threat of further landslides and rockfalls in Friday’s search for a dozen people still missing from this week’s earthquake, as the death toll rose to 12 while some of those stranded were brought to safety.
Searchers discovered two more bodies after Wednesday’s quake of magnitude 7.2 struck the sparsely populated, largely rural eastern county of Hualien, stranding hundreds in a national park as boulders barrelled down mountains, cutting off roads.
About 50 aftershocks rattled the area overnight, some felt as far away as Taipei. Rescuers said about 400 people cut off in a luxury hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park were safe, with helicopters ferrying out the injured and bringing supplies.
“Rain increases the risks of rockfalls and landslides, which are currently the biggest challenges,” said Su Yu-ming, the leader of a search team helping the rescue effort, pointing to expectations for rain.
Taiwan’s fire department said two bodies were found in the mountains, but wanted to confirm their identities before updating the death toll.
It put the number of missing at 18, three of them foreigners of Australian and Canadian nationality.
Aid supplies are arriving at the scene, while senior politicians such as President Tsai Ing-wen said they were donating a month’s salary to relief efforts.
A group of 50 hotel workers marooned on a road to the national park are now mostly safe.
The quake came a day before Taiwan began a long weekend holiday for the traditional tomb sweeping festival, when people head to their homes to spruce up ancestral graves.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Former Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade accused of contempt of court for non-support!
The former special prosecutor who was involved in the Georgia election case targeting former President Donald Trump is accused of not paying child support and for his estranged wife’s medical bills, according to an application for citation of contempt submitted on Wednesday by his estranged wife.
Mr. Wade’s estranged wife, Jocelyn Wade, accused him of failing to pay child support and more than $4,000 for her urgent medical procedure, according to divorce filing submitted by Ms. Wade in Cobb County, Georgia.
“Defendant urgently requires medical procedures, namely an endoscopy, colonoscopy, and ultrasound, due to severe physical symptoms she has been enduring,” according to the new filing. “These symptoms have significantly impacted her ability to consume most foods, leading to a substantial weight loss.”
Her medical condition is allegedly getting worse, according to her filing. She might need an “emergency intervention” in the near future, it added.
The reason why the medical bills are important, Ms. Wade contended, is that Mr. Wade allegedly stopped paying his child support for their two children and put a financial strain on her family.
The “sudden cessation of support” for their children means that she has an income of less than $1,000 per month, it said. Further, Ms. Wade wrote that she can’t work due to her poor health condition.
The latest divorce filing, however, noted that the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over their “young adult children” but added that she “lacks the financial means to cover the medical procedure repayment.” Meanwhile …
Judge denies Trump 1st Amendment challenge to dismiss Georgia election charges
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has denied former President Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss charges under the First Amendment, noting that the way the challenge was brought limited the arguments that could be made.
“Without foreclosing the ability to raise similar as-applied challenges at the appropriate time after the establishment of a factual record, the Defendants’ motions based on First Amendment grounds are denied,” the judge wrote in an April 4 order.
He had brought a First Amendment as-applied challenge, arguing that everything he said listed in the indictment was protected by the First Amendment. The defense also touched on making a First Amendment facial challenge, arguing that the charges were overly broad and the statutes may be unconstitutional.
But when such a challenge is made before trial, the only record of facts that can be used is the indictment itself. The allegations must be accepted as fact at this stage.
Much of President Trump’s speech is cited as part of the RICO charge, in which legal acts and truthful speech can be listed in order to show that an “operation” was in place, prosecutors explained.
Defense attorney Steve Sadow argued that President Trump’s speech could not be prosecuted for falsity, and argued that courts have recognized that even false speech must be protected, as free debate cannot be free from error.
However, the judge found that prosecutors did not bring charges because the speech was “false” but because President Trump allegedly “knowingly” and “willfully” acted in a way that “impacted matters of governmental concern.”
As for proving out that intent, that was a matter for trial, he added.
Judge urged to reject Trump’s motion to dismiss classified docs case in amicus filing
The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida granted a motion on Wednesday for an amicus brief urging the court to reject his request to dismiss the indictment.
In an amicus curiae brief, a group of former prosecutors, elected officials, other government officials, constitutional lawyers, and organizations urged Judge Aileen Cannon to reject the former president’s motion to dismiss on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed and improperly funded.
The argument of attorneys Matthew Seligman and Cristina Alonso, representing the group, hinges on whether Mr. Smith was duly appointed as an “inferior officer” under powers granted to Attorney General Merrick Garland by the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution to “appoint officials … to detect and prosecute crimes against the United States.”
“Defendant Donald J. Trump and his amici contend that the appointment of Special Counsel John ‘Jack’ Smith is unlawful. That contention is demonstrably incorrect,” their brief reads.
The attorneys argue the U.S. Constitution and laws enacted by Congress “unmistakably establish the lawfulness of Special Counsel Smith’s appointment.”
In February, President Trump filed several motions to dismiss the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, arguing that, among other things, Mr. Smith “lacks the authority” to prosecute the case.
At most, Mr. Smith is an employee and not an “officer” under the statutes Mr. Garland cites in making his appointment, the former president’s attorneys argue.
President Trump’s lawyers argue that the only remedy is to dismiss the superseding indictment.
Following the filing of those motions to dismiss, the court granted three amicus curiae briefs in March filed in support of President Trump’s motion to dismiss.
The court found those briefs brought the court’s attention to a “relevant matter that may be of considerable help to the Court in resolving the cited pretrial motions.”
But in their brief filed on Wednesday, Mr. Seligman and Ms. Alonso argue that the former president’s motion to dismiss makes arguments that “are wholly without merit” and that the three amici briefs supporting the former president’s motions to dismiss “are mutually inconsistent” in their positions.
Judge Cannon gave President Trump’s lawyers and the special counsel until April 17 to respond to the amicus brief.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has denied former President Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss an indictment alleging he mishandled classified documents, based on the Presidential Records Act.
“Bound by the four corners of the Superseding Indictment,” the charges in the indictment “make no reference to the Presidential Records Act, nor do they rely on that statute for purposes of stating an offense,” the judge wrote in an April 4 order.
President Trump brought a total of four motions to dismiss charges in this case on different bases, and the judge heard oral arguments on two of the motions last month. Hours after the hearing, she denied the motion to dismiss based on unconstitutional vagueness.
Biden administration installs rule to prevent Trump from firing rogue bureaucrats
The Biden administration has issued a new rule that makes it harder to fire government employees in an apparent bid to thwart former President Donald Trump’s pledge to fire “rogue bureaucrats” and radically reshape the federal workforce.
The new rule, which bolsters job protections for career civil servants, was issued on April 4 by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which hinted in a statement that it’s targeting a promised move by a potential second Trump presidency to “drain the swamp and root out the deep state” by making it easier to fire government workers.
“In the first week of the Biden-Harris Administration, President Biden revoked an Executive Order issued by the previous Administration that risked altering our country’s long-standing merit-based civil service system, by creating new excepted service schedule, known as ‘Schedule F,’ and directing agencies to move potentially large swathes of career employees into this new excepted service status,” OPM said in the statement.
This is in reference to a Trump-era executive order issued in 2020 that allowed tens of thousands of the 2.2 million federal employees to be reclassified as political appointees, making it easier to fire them.
The new rule, which is nearly 240 pages long, apparently seeks to put up a roadblock to prevent President Trump, or anyone else for that matter, from issuing another executive order that would reclassify civil servants.
Senate Democrat pressures Supreme Court justice Sotomayor to retire!
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is publicly pressuring Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to consider retirement.
Despite the fact that Sotomayor, 69, has shown no interest in retirement, far-left Democrats have increasingly called on her to step down. They want Sotomayor to exit the court while President Joe Biden still has the opportunity to name her replacement, remembering that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg chose not to retire. Ginsburg’s decision meant that Donald Trump named Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement when she passed away suddenly in September 2020.
Ultimately, progressives fear history could repeat itself, and, according to Blumenthal, there is a “lesson” to be learned.
“I’m very respectful of Justice Sotomayor. I have great admiration for her,” Blumenthal told NBC News. “But I think she really has to weigh the competing factors.”
Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, added that “justices have to make their personal decisions about their health and their level of energy.” But he warned they should also “keep in mind the larger national and public interest in making sure that the court looks and thinks like America.”
NBC News claimed these comments show that “Democratic senators are not joining calls” for Sotomayor to retire.
And while the news outlet included remarks from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) testifying to that fact, the meaning of Blumenthal’s comments are not subtle.
It’s clear, in fact: Blumenthal thinks Sotomayor should retire now but doesn’t want to say it outright.
Look no further than Blumenthal, in the very same story, attempting to sell the glamorous life of a retired Supreme Court justice.
The White House, meanwhile, is not joining the far-left push to get Sotomayor to retire.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Property taxes on single family homes up 7% across the U.S. in 2023 to $363-billion!
ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its 2023 property tax analysis for 89.4 million U.S. single family homes, which shows that $363.3 billion in property taxes were levied on single-family homes in 2023, up 6.9 percent from $339.8 billion in 2022. The increase was almost double the 3.6 percent growth rate in 2022 – and the largest in the past five years.
The report also shows that the average tax on single-family homes in the U.S. increased 4.1 percent in 2023, to $4,062, after going up 3 percent the previous year.
The latest average tax resulted in an effective tax rate nationwide of 0.87 percent. That was up slightly from 0.83 percent in 2022, marking the first increase since 2017.
The report analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro and county levels along with estimated market values of single-family homes calculated using an automated valuation model (AVM). The effective tax rate shows the average annual property tax expressed as a percentage of the average estimated market value of homes in each geographic area.
Now younger voters are turning on Biden and for good reason: The economy is killing them!
It is no surprise that a new Gallup poll shows a growing number of Gen-Zers and millennials are becoming increasingly frustrated with the failure of ‘Bidenomics‘ as they struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.
We didn’t need a poll to reveal the frustrations of youngsters working two or three jobs just to afford rent, auto payments, and avocado and toast. The writing has been on the wall, especially on social media feeds of TikTok and X.
The new Gallup poll of 18-29-year-olds validates the Biden administration, which seemingly cares more about illegal aliens and the LGBTQQIP2SAA community (not sure what all those letters mean), is quickly losing the young vote.
It’s a wake-up call for the Biden administration. A recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll reveals a surprising trend: Former President Trump is leading President Biden 47% to 40% among voters 18-34 in swing states. This is a significant shift from the last presidential cycle when Biden won 61% of voters under 30.
The Biden administration understands they desperately need Gen-Z and millennial support to win in November. They are trying everything in their power to buy votes by bailing out youngsters with student debt (despite the Supreme Court ruling).
Youngsters are coming of age in one of the worst economic periods this nation has seen in a generation. Elevated inflation is crushing household finances.
With the election cycle well underway, there are mounting risks inflation could accelerate once again, and gas prices at the pump are rising.
Bidenomics has been a colossal failure, and young people are seeing that and are furious with the elderly, senile president who should be in a retirement home. Young people are beginning to understand they might never be able to afford the average American home as that dream died a long time ago. These frustrations are showing up in the polling data.
If this is any indication of things to come, you may be seeing less lipstick wearing!
Within hours of announcing imminent job cuts taking effect June 30 as part of a restructuring plan, The Estée Lauder Companies hosted an earnings call Monday morning, February 5, sharing its second quarter fiscal earnings and unpacking the strategy behind its profit recovery plan. Following the announcement, the NYSE reported an upswing in share prices, opening at a predicated three-month high.
For the quarter, Lauder reported a 7% decrease in net sales, ended December 31, down from $4.62 billion in the same period the previous year. Meanwhile, organic net sales decreased 8% — in line with Asia travel retail challenges, and an ongoing softness in mainland China’s prestige beauty market. It also takes into account a 1% headwind resulting from disruptions to business in Israel, and other Middle Eastern areas.
The company saw organic net sales growth, however, in some markets in Asia/Pacific and Europe, along with almost all of those in Latin America.
Lauder’s restructuring program is designed to right-size and streamline select areas within the organization “which unfortunately necessitates our making the difficult decision of an expected net reduction in positions globally of between 3% and 5%,” explained Travis, who confirmed this will take effect June 30, 2024. Some employees will be retrained and redeployed.
And that’s not all … beauty retailer Ulta’s full-year sales growth target is just 4% to 5%, which falls below Wall Street’s estimates.
HEALTH
Long-term Benadryl use takes terrifying toll on brain health, new study suggests
Allergies seem as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. Trusty antihistamines, like Benadryl, have long been a go-to solution. Yet, beneath its comforting relief lies a potentially harrowing reality.
A new study has emerged, shedding light on a startling revelation: prolonged Benadryl use may exact a terrifying toll on brain health. As millions reach for this seemingly innocuous medication, the findings prompt a sobering reconsideration of the long-term consequences lurking within our medicine cabinets.
Did you know? Benadryl may pose serious risk to your brain
The study referenced, conducted on a Korean national cohort, examined the management of overactive bladders primarily with anticholinergics. Researchers analyzed nationwide population cohorts consisting of those newly diagnosed with overactive bladder syndrome who started medication use in the half-decade between 2015 and 2020. What does Benadryl have to do with this, you ask? While Benadryl was not specifically included in the study, it’s important to note that antihistamines like Benadryl share similar anticholinergic effects with the drugs examined.
Findings from this analysis revealed an increased risk of new-onset dementia associated with anticholinergic usage, which could extend to medications like Benadryl due to their anticholinergic properties. This raises concerns about the potential cognitive risks associated with long-term use of such medications.
Alarming study links anticholinergic medications to dementia risk
In total, the study analyzed data from 3,452,705 individuals. Among them, 671,974 participants used a beta-3 agonist, while 1,943,414 strictly used anticholinergics. Additionally, 837,317 study participants received both treatment modalities in combination.
The unexpected findings revealed that using anticholinergics alone increased the risk of dementia when compared with the use of beta-3 agonists. Furthermore, the risk of dementia was found to increase with higher doses of anticholinergics.
Moreover, the study identified other anticholinergic medications, such as propiverine, fesoterodine, tolterodine, and solifenacin, as also associated with an increased risk of dementia. Additionally, the combination of different treatment modalities taken together significantly heightened the risk of dementia.
Alleviate seasonal discomforts without pharmaceuticals
As the seasons transition, so do the allergens in the air, often leading to seasonal irritations for many individuals. Natural remedies provide a gentle and holistic alternative for those seeking relief without resorting to conventional medications. Here are some natural ways to alleviate seasonal irritations and boost your health.
Local honey: Many swear by consuming local honey as a natural allergy remedy. The theory is that taking small amounts of local pollen through honey may help desensitize the body to allergens over time. Incorporating a teaspoon of local honey into your daily routine may relieve allergy symptoms.
Saline nasal irrigation: Saline nasal irrigation, neti pot, or saline nasal spray are simple yet effective ways to flush out allergens and irritants from the nasal passages. Regular irrigation can help reduce nasal congestion, sneezing, and runny nose associated with allergies.
Steam inhalation: Steam infused with essential oils like eucalyptus or peppermint can help open nasal passages and relieve congestion.
Quercetin-rich foods: Quercetin, a natural plant compound with anti-inflammatory properties, is found in foods like onions, apples, citrus fruits, and berries. Adding these foods to your diet may help reduce allergy symptoms by stabilizing mast cells and reducing histamine release. You may also want to supplement with vitamin C and quercetin.
Get plant based Quercetin from The Power Mall today!
Butterbur: Butterbur, an herbaceous plant native to Europe and Asia, has traditionally been used to treat allergies and migraines. Studies suggest that butterbur extract may help by reducing inflammation and inhibiting histamine release.
While seasonal allergies can be a nuisance, there’s no need to suffer in silence or rely solely on drugs like Benadryl. Natural remedies can help alleviate allergy symptoms while nurturing your body and promoting overall health.
Vaping increases the risk of heart failure by 19% according to a recent study
A new study reports that people who vape or use e-cigarettes are much more likely to develop heart failure compared to individuals who have never used them.
The findings, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific session, highlight a new link between vaping and heart failure.
“More and more studies are linking e-cigarettes to harmful effects and finding that it might not be as safe as previously thought,” Dr. Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, a resident physician at MedStar Health in Baltimore and the study’s lead author, said in a press release. “The difference we saw was substantial.”
The results indicated that those who used e-cigarettes at any point were 19 percent more likely to develop heart failure compared to those who had not used them. The research team found that the participants’ age, sex, or smoking status had no effect on their likelihood of developing heart disease.
The team also found that vaping was more common among those with a type of heart failure that occurs with preserved ejection fraction. This type of heart failure occurs when the heart muscle becomes stiff or rigid and fails to fill properly with blood in between contractions.
The new study builds upon previous research, which has also shown links between e-cigarette use and risks associated with developing heart failure. However, this is the first study to successfully establish a direct link between e-cigarette use and vaping. Previous studies have failed, Dr. Bene-Alhasan said, because of small sample sizes.
Huge spread of TB and measles among Chicago migrant population!
On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez stated that the issues that the city has faced with tuberculosis and measles among migrants in the city could have been avoided “if we had simply instituted the American standard of vaccines upon all of those migrants being shipped to the City of Chicago.” And enforced the city’s vaccine requirements for migrant children.
Lopez said, “I don’t know how much our Department of Public Health or our other officials are listening to the alarms that we’ve been raising since August of last year, and even in September, when we had receipts from our ambulances showing that we had individuals testing positive for tuberculosis. This is a crisis we could have avoided, just like with the measles, if we had simply instituted the American standard of vaccines upon all of those migrants being shipped to the City of Chicago. Many of these individuals come with children, they are in our schools, and all of those vaccination requirements that our kids are responsible for are waived for the migrant asylum seeker children. And that is putting people, families, and communities at risk.”
Chicago’s migrant shelters see a huge uptick in TB!
Health officials in the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois, have reported several cases of tuberculosis at migrant shelters.
Officials with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) revealed that there are “a small number of cases” of tuberculosis (TB) “among new arrivals in a few different shelters over the course of the response.”
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Google plans to charge users of its search engine a fee to search with AI …
Alphabet’s Google is considering charging for premium features on its generative AI-powered search engine, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the plan.
The tech giant is looking at a variety of options, including incorporating AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services, which already provide access to its new Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and Docs, the report said.
Alphabet’s shares dipped about 1% in extended trade.
The move would mark Google’s first time in putting any of its core products behind a paywall, as it seeks to gain ground in the fast-moving AI space. Its traditional search engine would remain free of charge and ads would continue to appear alongside search results even for subscribers, the report added.
“We’re not working on or considering an ad-free search experience. As we’ve done many times before, we’ll continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google,” the company told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Google, which invented the foundational technology for today’s AI boom, is also locked in battle with two industry players that have captured the business world’s attention – ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI and its backer Microsoft.
Talk about a big waste of taxpayer money! NASA to create a lunar time zone (LTC)!
The White House on Tuesday directed NASA to establish a unified standard of time for the moon and other celestial bodies, as the United States aims to set international norms in space amid a growing lunar race among nations and private companies.
The head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), according to a memo seen by Reuters, instructed the space agency to work with other parts of the U.S. government to devise a plan by the end of 2026 for setting what it called a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).
The differing gravitational force, and potentially other factors, on the moon and on other celestial bodies change how time unfolds relative to how it is perceived on Earth. Among other things, the LTC would provide a time-keeping benchmark for lunar spacecraft and satellites that require extreme precision for their missions.
“The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon,” Kevin Coggins, NASA’s space communications and navigation chief, said in an interview.
OSTP chief Arati Prabhakar’s memo said that for a person on the moon, an Earth-based clock would appear to lose on average 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day and come with other periodic variations that would further drift moon time from Earth time.
“Think of the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory (in Washington). They’re the heartbeat of the nation, synchronizing everything. You’re going to want a heartbeat on the moon,” Coggins said.
Under its Artemis program, NASA is aiming to send astronaut missions to the moon in the coming years and establish a scientific lunar base that could help set the stage for future missions to Mars. Dozens of companies, spacecraft and countries are involved in the effort.
An OSTP official said that without a unified lunar time standard it would be challenging to ensure that data transfers between spacecraft are secure and that communications between Earth, lunar satellites, bases and astronauts are synchronized.
Discrepancies in time also could lead to errors in mapping and locating positions on or orbiting the moon, the official said.
On Earth, most clocks and time zones are based on Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. This internationally recognized standard relies on a vast global network of atomic clocks placed in different locations around the world. They measure changes in the state of atoms and generate an average that ultimately makes up a precise time.
Deployment of atomic clocks on the lunar surface may be needed, according to the OSTP official.
The official also said that as commercial activities expand to the moon, a unified time standard would be essential for coordinating operations, ensuring the reliability of transactions and managing the logistics of lunar commerce.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Forecasters issue warning on extremely active 2024 hurricane season!
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season has been forecast to be “extremely active,” meteorologists at a prominent university say.
Researchers with Colorado State University (CSU) released their yearly Atlantic hurricane season forecast on April 4, calling for 23 named storms, including 12 tropical storms and 11 hurricanes. Of the hurricanes, five are predicted to become “major,” or Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
“Current El Niño conditions are likely to transition to La Niña conditions this summer/fall, leading to hurricane-favorable wind shear conditions,” the CSU report said, adding that “warmer-than-normal” Atlantic Ocean temperatures will provide a “more conducive dynamic and thermodynamic environment for hurricane formation and intensification.”
It added: “As with all hurricane seasons, coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season. Thorough preparations should be made every season, regardless of predicted activity.”
The average hurricane season has about 14 named storms with seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
A National Weather Service forecaster, Robbie Berg, said that because of “signals are that we’re heading toward a La Niña,” the forecast “would tend to support more storms” in the Atlantic basin.
The 2024 season could be quite active “but that doesn’t tell us anything about where those storms may move,” he told USA Today.
“So maybe we’d get lucky and have them stay out over the Atlantic,” he said. “But we don’t know that and that’s why every year we still have to be prepared because whether it’s 10 storms or 20 storms, where they form, where they move is what’s critically important.”
Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist with CSU, told Fox News that the La Niña transition creates “colder water in the eastern and central tropical Pacific, typically in the more hurricane-favorable upper-level wind patterns in the Atlantic.”
FOOD, GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Deadly mRNA vaccine trial test results, in hogs?
An unnamed U.S. rancher sounded the alarm about regulators beginning to mandate an experimental mRNA vaccine for livestock that will be processed as meat.
“They took 525 hogs, injected them with a live mRNA vaccine and in 21 days, these were the statistics
– 25 of them suffered from death
– 55 of them became so anorexic that they were near death
– 20 of them suffered from lameness
– 12 of them suffered from loss of condition
– and 25 more of them had near death symptoms”
So we have 70% of these animals that are gonna be okay to an extent, and then we have 30% of them that either have died or have near death symptoms.”
“They did autopsies on the ones that had passed away, and they still found remnants of the live virus vaccine inside the meat of these animals,” he continued. “So from a consumer standpoint we have to worry about a live virus being inside of our meat that we’re putting inside of our bodies, and as a producer standpoint, we have to worry about the health of our animals that can ultimately destroy us, destroy our herd, and destroy our business altogether.”
“Let’s get this information out there and make people aware. And as always, guys, buy American and buy local,” he added.
As we reported, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been looking the other way on the use of mRNA vaccines in meat production categorized as “organic”, according to agribusiness watchdog group OrganicEye.
Limited as to space? How about raising miniature cows?
Miniature cows are a popular livestock option for small farms and homesteads. They are smaller in size than traditional breeds, making them easier to handle and requiring less space and feed. Despite their smaller stature, miniature cows still provide milk, meat, and even companionship for their owners.
While there are many breeds of miniature cows, some of the most popular include the Irish Dexter, Kerry, Shetland, Miniature Hereford, and Miniature Jersey. These breeds typically weigh between 500-1000 pounds and stand at around 36-48 inches tall. Compared to traditional breeds, which can weigh over 1,200 pounds and stand at 5-6 feet tall, miniature cows are much more manageable for those with limited space and resources.
In addition to their practical benefits, miniature cows have a unique charm and personality that make them a favorite among owners. They can be friendly and easy to train; some even make great pets with enough training. With their small size and many benefits, miniature cows are becoming a popular choice for those looking to add livestock to their homestead.
Miniature cows are typically around half the size of a regular cow and are often used for milk, meat, or as pets. They are also known as miniature cattle or dwarf cattle, although that last name is o!en used incorrectly because dwarfism is a scientific term, not simply a description of size.
One of the main advantages of miniature cows is that they require less space and feed than regular cows, making them a more a#ordable option for small farms and homesteads. Many people assume they are easier to handle due to their smaller size, but an 800- pound animal outweighs any human, so they can still be a challenge for a novice.
2ND AMENDMENT
George Alan Kelly’s wife took the stand in his Arizona second degree murder trial
The wife of an Arizona rancher accused of shooting and killing an illegal Mexican immigrant testified in court that she was “terrified” to see two men armed with rifles walking across the couple’s property the day the victim was found dead hours later.
The men were dressed in camouflage clothing and carrying “big brown backpacks,” Wanda Kelly testified under cross-examination by Santa Cruz County prosecutor Kimberly Hunley.
Mrs. Kelly testified that her husband, George Alan Kelly, first saw the men through windows while standing in the kitchen at about 2:30 p.m. local time on Jan. 30, 2023.
“Alan was standing at the counter having his lunch,” Mrs. Kelly told a jury on the seventh day of her husband’s trial in superior court.
“Alan said, ‘Wanda, be quiet. I just heard a shot.’”
Mr. Kelly, 75, faces charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting death of 48-year-old Mexican citizen Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea.
Investigators recovered nine shell casings from the property’s east side porch, where Mr. Kelly allegedly fired the rifle from a distance of 115 yards.
On March 29, a ballistics expert testified the shell casings were “consistent” with the caliber used in an AK-47 rifle.
However, the prosecution witness said that the available evidence doesn’t show that the bullet that killed Mr. Cuen-Buitimea came from Mr. Kelly’s rifle.
Investigators have yet to locate the bullet that caused the fatal wound, which entered through the victim’s right side under the shoulder blade and exited his chest.
On April 2, a Pima County forensic pathologist testified that the bullet caused massive internal injuries and bleeding but couldn’t say whether an AK-47 made the wound. The amount of trauma was “consistent” with a gunshot from a high-powered rifle, the expert said.
CANCEL CULTURE
Abortion rights in Arizona may be up for grabs!
Left-wing activists in Arizona say they have collected enough signatures to move forward
with a ballot measure that would add a right to abortion to the state Constitution.
Arizona for Abortion Access — a coalition of groups including ACLU of Arizona, Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Arizona List, Healthcare Rising Arizona, NARAL Arizona, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona — said it has amassed more than 500,00 signatures, well past the 383,923 required for the proposed amendment to qualify for the ballot in November, CBS Newsreported.
Dawn Penich, communications manager for the coalition, said the group plans to turn signatures in closer to the July deadline, and said they are braced for potential legal challenges around the language of the measure.
The current abortion law in Arizona limits the act after 15 weeks of pregnancy with limited exceptions. The proposed constitutional amendment would “provide a fundamental right to an abortion and restrict the state from adopting or enforcing any law that would prohibit access to the procedure,” according to the report.
“The Arizona Supreme Court is also reviewing whether or not a centuries-old ban law banning nearly all abortions, with exceptions for the life and health of the mother, should go into effect,” the report states.
Tuesday’s announcement about signatures comes after the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision allowing an abortion ballot measure to move forward in the state.
Arizona is one of nearly a dozen states where pro-abortion activists are working to codify the right to kill the unborn.
GOOD NEWS
Springfield urban garden growing hope and providing healthy meals to those in need
Springfield non-profit Victory Mission is giving back with its 4,000-square-foot garden, where people leaving prison and poverty can grow and eat their own food.
The garden has been around since 2019 and was made possible by a partnership with Victory Mission and Springfield Community Gardens. The garden continues to expand since the non-profit recently added a new greenhouse to help extend the growing season.
Dyllan Dale is the garden leader and a chef at the shelter on the garden’s property. He used to be in Victory’s shelter, going through its restoration program after battling homelessness, addiction, etc. Dale said it’s almost been five years since then, and now that he leads the garden, he loves seeing the difference it makes in others’ lives.
“The stories that I hear, you know, there will be guys that will come out, and I’ll hear, “Oh, I’m here just for this,” or “This is kind of my life story,” Dale said. “Then the next time I see them, they’ll say, “Oh, I’m in workforce development, the boot camp we have, or they’ll say they’re looking at getting into the program you guys have or all these different areas we provide. Then you get to see them grow from there, which is just awesome, making those connections with the guys in the shelter and watching them grow.”
He said not only do people in the shelter get to garden and eat what they produce, but the garden has built a real sense of community in the area.
“A lot of these guys in the shelter throughout the years will come out here and work in the garden. At the same time, there are kids from the college campus coming here to volunteer in the garden,” Dale said. There are people from all over, all different walks of life, coming to volunteer, so on a Saturday, you’ll see all these people come together, working together, whereas normally they would never even make a connection.”
A California dog missing since the summer is found in Michigan
A dog missing in California since the summer turned up more than 2,000 miles away in suburban Detroit.
Police in Harper Woods responded to a call about a stray dog last week, picked up the terrier mix and contacted an animal welfare group.
The Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society said it quickly discovered that the dog, named Mishka, had an identity chip implanted in her with information about her owners.
Mehrad Houman and his family live in San Diego but were planning to travel to Minnesota when the call came in. He landed there and then drove 10 hours to Michigan for a reunion with Mishka, the adoption group said on a Facebook post with pictures and video.
“This is a tale that Hollywood would love to tell,” the group said.
Mishka had wandered away from Houman’s workplace, an auto garage, in July and never returned. Her collar had the family’s phone number.
“We think it was stolen and then it was sold and ended up in Michigan,” said Corinne Martin, director of the animal welfare group.
Houman’s wife, Elizabeth, said it’s “been an incredible journey.”
“I never gave up,” she said Thursday. “I put up over a thousand flyers. I had a flyer on my back windshield. I wore her leash whenever I would look for her. … Now I just want to find out how she got to Michigan.”
Trump to rake in $43-million at fundraiser, dwarfing Biden’s record $26-million haul!
Thanks to one big fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, former President Donald Trump’s campaign will emerge $43 million richer this weekend, an event host confirmed to The Epoch Times on April 4.
“The response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelming, and we’ve raised over $43 million so far,” said billionaire John Paulson in an email that a spokeswoman sent. “There is massive support amongst a broad spectrum of donors.”
The amount secured for the April 6 “Inaugural Leadership Dinner” is 65 percent higher than the record-breaking $26 million that his Democrat opponent, President Joe Biden, raked in from a star-studded event in the Big Apple last week. At the time, President Biden’s campaign said no other political fundraiser in history had generated so much money.
The two opposing candidates’ big fundraising events represent an accelerating infusion of campaign cash into their respective camps as the 2024 presidential race shifts into high gear. The men are expected to face off in the Nov. 5 general election.
Last month, the Democrat incumbent and the Republican former president each secured enough delegates to become their party’s presumed presidential nominee. The delegates will vote at the parties’ nominating conventions this summer.
The two candidates first went head-to-head in 2020, during the most expensive federal campaign in history. Spending on the presidential race exceeded $6 billion, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan research group that tracks money in U.S. politics.
ICYMI
Pole dancing could soon be an open sport and not confined to just strip clubs!
With breaking making its first Olympic appearance at the Paris Games later this year, pole dancers feel it could soon be their turn to be in the limelight, although it could come at the cost of losing the spirit of the discipline.
Pole dancing was recognised as a sport by the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF) in 2017 after being essentially confined to cabarets and strip clubs, with some of the physically-demanding moves – Jade Split, Marion Amber – being named after famous strippers.
At The Wild Pole studio in central Paris, strippers in high heels practice alongside women looking for exercise. Some men have also started pole dancing.
“I find it’s a pity that someone would want to dissociate the origin of the discipline and the sport itself. Because if it is a sport now, it is because cabaret dancers were the first to give pole dancing lessons,” Elodie Katze, co-founder of the Wild Pole Studio, told Reuters.
There are pole dancing competitions around the world, but according to French Dancing Federation president Charles Ferreira, it will take time for the sport to become an Olympic event.
“Maybe in 10 years or something. For this to work it needs a social media presence, it needs to reach a young audience,” he told Reuters.
Pole dancing was recognised as a sport by the Global Association of International Sports Federation in 2017 after being essentially confined to cabarets and strip clubs.
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