March 19, 2024

The Power Hour

Knowledge is Power

Today’s News: April 08, 2022

WORLD NEWS

World Economic Forum Was Created by US Policies

Klaus Schwab, owner and chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is the most dangerous man in the world

WEF’s ultimate goal is to do away with the democratic process and give all ownership and control to the deep state — and the technocratic elite who control it

WEF relies on fearmongering; when the population is controlled by fear, it welcomes authoritarian “protections” like increased surveillance and digital identity systems, introduced under the guise of safety, but which ultimately remove personal autonomy and freedom

WEF’s goal isn’t to just control life on Earth but to fundamentally change it by hacking into humans and removing free will

WEF, in partnership with investment firm BlackRock, has infiltrated the government and is colluding in corporatism, where an unelected corporate elite dictates top down to the population

You can protect your sovereignty by relying on your own critical thinking and choosing bravery over obedience

U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

US Appeals Court Clears Biden’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Federal Employees

President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers is back in effect after a federal appeals court ruling on April 7.

A panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit entered the ruling, overturning a district judge’s earlier block of the mandate.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, had concluded that Biden lacked the statutory authority to issue the mandate. Two judges on the appeals court panel did not directly address that matter, but found that plaintiffs, a group of federal employees, should have taken their complaints to different venues.

Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the procedure for federal workers facing adverse actions may appeal to an entity called the Merit Systems Protection Board, which decides whether the worker was properly disciplined. If the worker prevails, the board can order an agency to reinstate the worker or undertake other measures.

Employees who disagree with the board can appeal to a federal appeals court.

The law “precludes district court adjudication of federal statutory and constitutional claims,” Judge Carl Stewart, a Clinton appointee, wrote in the decision.

He was joined by Judge James Dennis, another Clinton appointee.

The judges also said the plaintiffs could have challenged an agency’s proposed action against them before filing the suit and before getting vaccinated by filing a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel.

Fentanyl Killing Americans at Unprecedented Rate, DEA Says

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has warned of a surge in mass overdose events involving fentanyl, a highly addictive and deadly drug, across the United States, stating that the drug is killing Americans at an “unprecedented” rate.

Mass overdose events are described by the DEA as those involving three or more overdoses occurring within the same location and within a close period of time.

In a letter to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies on April 6, DEA administrator Anne Milgram said there had been at least seven mass incidents since January in which a total of 58 people overdosed, and 29 had died due to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat acute pain but now widely used as a recreational drug.

The overdoses occurred in states including Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, and Florida and Milgram noted that many of the victims had been unaware that they had been ingesting fentanyl.

Milgram cited one incident that took place on Jan. 28 in which 10 people overdosed and nine people died after ingesting crack cocaine laced with fentanyl. They were all within the same city block in Washington, D.C.

Another mass event took place on Feb. 20 when six people overdosed in the same apartment in Commerce City, Colorado, after ingesting what they believed to be pure cocaine but what was in actual fact fentanyl. Of those six, five died.

In another, 21 people overdosed at a homeless shelter in Austin, Texas on March 4 after taking crack cocaine and methamphetamine that included fentanyl. Of those individuals, three died.

“Fentanyl is highly addictive, found in all 50 states, and drug traffickers are increasingly mixing it with other types of drugs—in powder and pill form—in an effort to drive up addiction and attract repeat buyers,” Milgram said.

Such mass events are occurring because drug dealers sell their product to customers marketing it as cocaine when it is actually fentanyl, leading unaware buyers to accidentally overdose.

Clinton-Appointed Judge Rejects Trump’s Demand He Step Back From Lawsuit Against Clinton

A federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton has rejected a demand that he recuse from a new lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the former president’s wife.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks agreed to equate the Clintons’ interests but said previous rulings show that mere appointment to the bench by a litigant will not create a perception of bias.

“Given this precedent, I am not disqualified from presiding, nor should I recuse on the basis of any appearance of partiality,” the judge said in a 5-page order. “To warrant recusal, something more must be involved than solely my appointment to the bench twenty-five years ago by the spouse of a litigant now before me.”

Federal law states that “Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”

In the motion for disqualification, lawyers for former President Donald Trump, who sued Hillary Clinton and others for their involvement in creating the Trump-Russia dossier, cited a previous ruling in making their case.

The federal appeals court that oversees Washington has found that “for determining whether a judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned is an objective one and requires asking whether a disinterested observer fully informed of the facts would entertain a significant doubt as to the judge’s impartiality,” they noted, writing that “There is no question that Judge’s Middlebrooks’ impartiality would be questioned by a disinterested observer, fully informed of the facts, due to judge’s relationship with the defendant, either, individually, or by the very nature of his appointment to the federal bench, by the defendant’s husband.”

But that ruling and another cited “do not supply any conceivable, additional grounds” for recusal, Middlebrooks said.

The judge said he’s never met or spoken with either Bill or Hillary Clinton and apart from being appointed by the former, he has not had a relationship with either.

“Recusal cannot be based on unsupported, irrational or highly tenuous speculation,” he said, quoting from an appeals court ruling.

“Moreover, I have considered whether the nature of this lawsuit—acutely politically charged as it is—might provide some additional cause to question my qualification to preside, but I see no impediment there either,” he added. “Every federal judge is appointed by a president who is affiliated with a major political party, and therefore every federal judge could theoretically be viewed as beholden, to some extent or another. As judges, we must all transcend politics.”

Even as Middlebrooks resisted the push to recuse, a different judge assigned to the case declined to be involved.

Durham Asks Court to Compel Production From Clinton Campaign, DNC

Special counsel John Durham’s team on April 6 asked a federal judge to force Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and two other parties to hand over documents they claim are protected by attorney–client privilege.

The campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and research and intelligence firm Fusion GPS appear to be withholding documents that aren’t actually protected by the privilege, Durham’s team said in the filing, entered in the case against ex-Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann.

Of the withheld materials, almost all “appear to lack any connection to actual or expected litigation or the provision of legal advice,” prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee who is overseeing the case.

In fact, of the 1,455 documents being withheld by Fusion GPS, only 18 emails and attachments are said to involve an attorney.

The Clinton campaign, the DNC, and Fusion didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The documents in question are being sought for the upcoming trial of Sussmann, who was charged with lying to the FBI for going to a bureau lawyer in 2016 and falsely stating he didn’t hand over unsubstantiated claims about then-candidate Donald Trump on behalf of a client.

The claims were compiled with funding from the campaign and the DNC by former British spy Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS, which was founded by former reporters.

Sussmann and his lawyers have been pressing the judge to dismiss the case prior to trial, arguing that the lie about not bringing the information on behalf of a client wasn’t material to the information itself.

Attorney–client privilege protects many communications between a client and their lawyer. Disclosure to third parties usually undercuts privilege claims.

In the new filing, Durham’s team pointed out that Fusion GPS co-founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch penned a book published in 2019, which means even if a valid privilege did once exist, it might have since been waived.

Prosecutors also noted that Fusion GPS operatives regularly communicated with reporters about their work, resulting in several stories before the 2020 election and a spate of others after voters hit the polls.

Further, the Clinton campaign (HFA) and the DNC have claimed privilege over communications sent between Rodney Joffe, whom Sussmann was also representing at the time, and a Fusion operative, “despite the fact that no one from either the DNC or HFA is copied on certain of these communications,” prosecutors said.

The government subpoenaed information from the parties in 2021.

Fusion GPS was paid by the Democratic entities through Perkins Coie, a law firm. The agreement was introduced as an exhibit in the case.

Many if not most of the actions taken by Fusion GPS employees “do not appear to have been a necessary part of, or even related to” Perkins Coie’s legal advice to the campaign and the DNC, Durham’s team said.

Prosecutors want to examine the communications in a private, in-camera setting “in order to resolve these issues and ensure that only legitimately privileged and/or attorney work product-protected communications and testimony be withheld from the otherwise admissible evidence and testimony that is presented to the jury at trial.”

The trial is currently set to start on May 16.

Senate Confirms Judge Jackson to the Supreme Court

The U.S. Senate on April 7 voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, capping weeks of tough scrutiny and heated debates over the nominee’s qualifications.

The 53–47 vote, presided over by Vice President Kamala Harris, included the support of all 50 Democrats and three Republicans—Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

In the hours leading up to the vote, Democrats emphasized Jackson’s qualifications to serve, and said that her confirmation would be a “glass-shattering achievement for America.”

“The president sent us an impressive nominee,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the Senate floor before the vote.

“Later this afternoon, the Senate will fulfill its constitutional duty to finally confirm this remarkable and groundbreaking jurist,” he said.

“This very building was built with slave labor,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the U.S. Capitol, arguing that the confirmation would be a response to the historical treatment of nonwhites in the United States.

Jackson is the first black woman to be confirmed to the nation’s highest court.

In his own speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who leads Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, tied his opposition to Jackson to her lack of a clear judicial philosophy.

“Judicial nominees, their philosophy, how to decide cases, ought to be a primary consideration,” Grassley said.

“Part of having a judicial philosophy is having an understanding of the fundamental principles of our constitution. Natural rights are a part of that system.

“Judge Jackson explained to us that she does not ‘hold a position on whether individuals possess natural rights.’ Now that ought to be very shocking. Natural rights are basic to our constitutional system and principles of limited government.

“The principle of limited government is what makes America an exceptional nation and sets our Constitution apart. Judges must have a proper understanding of those basic principles.

“The way Judge Jackson answered those questions … shows that she lacks those very necessary foundations.”

With the defections of Collins, Romney, and Murkowski, Republicans had little chance of being able to stop the confirmation.

Crapo Says Biden Funding Huge Boost to IRS Enforcement, Ignores Tax Agency Backlogs

President Joe Biden’s proposed 2023 budget for the Internal Revenue Service funds more taxpayer audits at a time when millions of tax returns sit unprocessed, and customers calling the agency for help face long delays, according to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).

“For the third filing season in a row, taxpayers confront vexing customer service challenges as they attempt to fulfill their tax filing obligations. With tens of millions of 2021 tax returns still to be filed, the most recent data we have on this year’s season is concerning, highlighting longstanding issues the IRS has not adequately addressed,” he told a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Crapo is the ranking Republican on the panel.

“For example, more than 60 percent of the millions of items of taxpayer correspondence and amended returns have sat in storage for more than three months, an increase of nearly 30 percent over last year,” he said. “Average hold times for the lucky few taxpayers who reach the IRS by phone are 28 minutes, an increase of nearly 50 percent over last year.

“Scores of taxpayers have seen refunds delayed while their return is suspended for various reasons. Millions of prior-year tax returns await processing. The IRS’s management of paper-filed returns is a persistent problem that the National Taxpayer Advocate recently noted goes back decades.”

Instead of addressing the customer service problems, Biden’s budget proposal puts more tax dollars behind auditing more tax returns and stricter enforcement of the tax code, Crapo said.

“This year’s presidential budget request seeks a large enforcement funding boost, and its ‘reserve fund’ placeholder for the reckless Build Back Better legislation would provide a truly massive $80 billion infusion of mandatory funding, primarily focused on enforcement. The reserve fund could also accommodate the administration’s chilling proposal to monitor Americans’ bank account flows of as little as $600,” he said.

The finance panel’s chairman, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), agreed that the IRS processes tax returns too slowly and leaves too many customer requests for help unanswered, although he pointed to what he called “years and years of Republican cuts” to the IRS budget as the cause of such problems.

Wyden said the IRS currently has a backlog of 12 million tax returns waiting to be processed, and he said IRS agents answer only 11 percent of the millions of telephone calls that come in from customers seeking help with their returns.

“The number of revenue agents at the IRS, the people who audit tax returns, is currently a third of what it was a decade ago. The officers who collect unpaid taxes are down by nearly half. The agency has the same number of employees it did in 1970, when the country’s population and economy were a fraction of the size they are today,” Wyden said.

“Look at the big picture. As a result of years of Republican budget cuts, IRS customer service is struggling at best, wealthy tax cheats are getting away with breaking the law, and the burden of tax enforcement has been shifted onto working people who spend every day walking a tightrope.”

The IRS annual budget for the current year is $12 billion.

Hunter Biden Asked Father to Write College Recommendation Letter for Chinese Business Associate’s Son: Leaked Emails

Joe Biden, at his son Hunter’s request in 2017, wrote a college recommendation letter for the son of a Chinese executive who did business with Hunter, leaked emails suggest.

The emails purportedly from Hunter Biden’s laptop and obtained by Fox News show exchanges in early 2017 between Hunter Biden, his business partners at the private equity firm Rosemont Seneca, and Jonathan Li, CEO of Chinese investment firm BHR. At the time of the initial email, Joe Biden was vice president.

In an email dated Jan. 3, 2017, Li wrote to Hunter Biden and his associates at Rosemont Seneca, Devon Archer and Jim Bulger, stating: “Gentlemen, Please find the attached resume of my son, Chris Li. He is applying the following [sic] colleges for this year.”

Li then listed Brown University, Cornell University, and New York University, before requesting, “Please can you provide some advice for his applications.”

In a reply, Bulger acknowledged receipt of the resume, stating, “Lets [sic] see how we can be helpful here to Chris.”

A few weeks later on Feb. 18, 2017, Rosemont Seneca’s president, Eric Schwerin, sent an email to Li, copying Hunter Biden, Archer, and Bulger.

Schwerin wrote, “Jonathan, Hunter asked me to send you a copy of the recommendation letter that he asked his father to write on behalf of Christopher for Brown University.”

Schwerin then assured Li that the original letter had gone by FedEx directly to Brown University President Christina Paxson and should reach her “the following Tuesday at the latest.”

In his reply to Schwerin, Li acknowledged the help of not only Schwerin, but Hunter Biden as well.

“And Hunter, thank you very much too. All the best to you all,” Li wrote.

Hunter Biden was an unpaid board member of BHR until about October 2019 and held a 10 percent stake in the firm until at least May of last year. By November, he had divested his stake, according to The New York Times.

Trump Reveals What Will Stop Him From Running in 2024

President Donald Trump admitted that his health could prevent him from running for president in 2024.

Speaking in a Thursday interview, Trump, 75, said he was told by advisers that his health would factor into whether he will run again. The former commander-in-chief, however, has not publicly stated whether he would mount another presidential bid.

“You always have to talk about health. You look like you’re in good health, but tomorrow, you get a letter from a doctor saying come see me again,” Trump told the Washington Post. ‘That’s not good when they use the word ‘again,’” Trump added, saying he is in good health.

Trump, who will be 78 in November 2024, again hinted that he will run for president.

“I don’t want to comment on running, but I think a lot of people are going to be very happy by my decision,” the former president said, adding that if he does run, other prominent Republicans like former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo won’t oppose him in a GOP primary.

“If I ran, I can’t imagine they’d want to run. Some out of loyalty would have had a hard time running,” he said in reference to the three. “I think that most of those people, and almost every name you mentioned, is there because of me. In some cases, because I backed them and endorsed them.”

Trump, meanwhile, disputed rumors there are tensions between him and DeSantis. The Florida governor has also denied the claims.

“I have a good relationship with Ron, I have a good relationship with all the names you mentioned,” Trump told the Post. “Would they run against me? I doubt they would run against me. I doubt it.”

As for Pence, the former president told the Washington Examiner last month that he’s ruling him out as a possible running mate.

“I don’t think the people would accept it,” Trump told the outlet. “Mike and I had a great relationship except for the very important factor that took place at the end. We had a very good relationship,” he continued.

“I haven’t spoken to him in a long time,” he said, adding: “I still like Mike.”

Trump’s former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), told reporters several years ago that Trump is in good health.

“I told the president that if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old,” he told reporters at the time. “I don’t know. It’s just the way God made him,” Jackson added.

Sen. Durbin Blocks Legislation That Would Strengthen Sentences for Child Porn Offenders

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday blocked legislation in the Senate that would have strengthened penalties for child porn possession, saying the bill “doesn’t reflect the realities of today.”

The legislation—put forward by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and cosponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.)—comes after weeks of heated debate over Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s track record in sentencing child porn offenders.

After one such debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin, who chairs the committee, said that the Senate had been derelict in its duty to update child porn law, which was originally designed to deal with physical images rather than digital ones.

“I hope you will agree we all want to do everything within our power to lessen incidents of child pornography and exploitation,” Durbin said last week. “I want to tell you, Congress doesn’t have clean hands. We haven’t touched this now for 15, 16, or 17 years.”

Durbin added that Congress had shown “inattention and unwillingness to tackle an extremely controversial issue.”

“I don’t know if you’ve introduced a bill to change this—I’ll be looking for it,” Durbin told Hawley. “If we’re going to tackle it, we should.”

Referencing that interaction, Hawley said on the Senate floor Tuesday: “I agree 100 percent. I agree we should tackle it, this is the time to tackle it, and I’m here to do that today.”

In 2003, Congress passed legislation instituting mandatory minimum sentencing for child porn offenders. In a controversial decision, the Supreme Court in United States v. Booker struck down the mandatory minimum laws, which bind judges’ hands, as unconstitutional.

Hawley’s bill would reinstate those mandatory minimums, requiring that those convicted of child porn possession receive at least five years in federal prison.

“Restore the law back to what Congress intended back in 2003,” Hawley said.

Despite his calls last week for Congress to consider the issue legislatively, Durbin on Tuesday blocked Hawley’s bill.

“I have to ask myself—why now?” Durbin said in his objection.

Reporting comments allegedly made by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, on which Judge Jackson served for several years, Durbin said “these guidelines [imposed by the 2003 legislation] don’t reflect the reality of today.”

Durbin added, “The laws were written in an era where the materials we’re talking about were physical materials and we now live in a world of internet and access to … tens of thousands of images if that is your decision.”

“There are some political groups—at least one well-known political group—that manufactures theories about child pornography and pedophilia and the like, and even inspires deadly reactions to them, and they’re cheering this on,” Durbin said in an oblique reference to QAnon, an online group that says that high-level government and Hollywood officials are involved in a major sex-trafficking ring.

Following the exchange, Hawley took to Twitter to criticize Durbin’s response to the legislation.

Subpoena for Hunter Biden to Testify Before Congress Blocked by Democrats: GOP

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have blocked a Republican-backed subpoena to compel Hunter Biden to testify as a witness.

“Democrats just denied our motion to subpoena Hunter Biden,” the Republican members of the committee wrote on Twitter. “They refuse to hold Hunter accountable for his shady business dealings that make us more dependent on China for renewable energy. It’s past time for accountability.”

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) made a motion to subpoena Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, as a witness at its hearing about making all U.S. Postal Service (USPS) vehicles electric.

“I just made a motion to subpoena Hunter Biden as a witness for the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s hearing on electrifying [the USPS],” Biggs wrote on Twitter. “Hunter sold a U.S. cobalt mine to a Chinese company. Cobalt is necessary for electric car production. Hunter’s expertise is invaluable!”

Last week, House Republicans on the Oversight and Reform Committee called him to testify, according to a letter issued by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), and Democrats on the committee blocked a motion to issue a subpoena.

It came as White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on April 5 that Biden has “never spoken” with his son about “his overseas business dealings.”

Recent reports from The Washington Post and other media outlets belatedly verified emails and documents on a laptop that formerly belonged to Hunter Biden. Reports about the younger Biden’s laptop first surfaced in October 2020, with just days to go before the 2020 general election, although big tech firms quickly moved to suppress them.

A November report from The New York Times alleged that Hunter Biden was the part-owner of a venture involved in the $3.8 billion purchase by a Chinese company of one of the largest cobalt deposits in the world. Cobalt is a key component used in electric vehicles and other electronics.

“A lot of stories about Hunter Biden are surfacing this week. So to ensure the independence of the investigation, would the president support the appointment of a special counsel?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Psaki.

“Well first, the president has never had a conversation with the Department of Justice about any investigations into any member of his family,” she said in response to Doocy’s question.

“He said that during the campaign, and he will continue to abide by that. So I point you to the Department of Justice for any additional steps they would take. They would make those decisions independently.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware is investigating Hunter Biden for reported possible tax fraud, lobbying crimes, and money laundering.

Over the past weekend, Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, told ABC News that the president believes Hunter Biden didn’t break the law.

Report: U.S. Navy Shrinking Under Biden Cost-Cutting as China Keeps Building

As the military world broadens in scale and increases in complexity due to the speed of technological advances, the U.S. Navy wants to scrap 24 ships, including five cruisers and a pair of Los Angeles-class submarines.

The reduction in hulls is designed to help it meet cost-cutting measures needed to maintain the existing fleet at full operational readiness.

AP reports Navy planners seek to decommission nine ships in the Freedom-class of littoral combat ships — warships that cost taxpayers some $4.5 billion in total. All told the decommissioning list would surpass the proposed nine ships to be built.

The cuts would reduce the size of the 297-ship fleet that’s already surpassed by China in sheer numbers.

China’s navy is on track to be double the size of the United States’ by 2030, which puts U.S. interests at risk in the Asia Pacific and around the world, as Breitbart News reported.

Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, defended the proposal that emphasizes long-range weapons and modern warships, while shedding other ships ill equipped to face current threats.

“We need a ready, capable, lethal force more than we need a bigger force that’s less ready, less lethal, and less capable,” he said Monday at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space symposium in Maryland.

The House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday grilled Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the proposal.

U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia, suggested the ship cuts were “grossly irresponsible” when the U.S. Navy has dipped from 318 ships to 297, while the Chinese fleet has grown from 210 to 360 ships over the past two decades with the aim of building further and faster.

Milley said it’s important to focus on the Navy’s capabilities rather than the size of its fleet even as it sizes up China as a potential future foe, the AP report outlined.

Former BLM Leader Calls Report on Organization Buying $6 Million Mansion ‘Racist’, ‘Misinformation’

Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors has spoken against a report that reveals her organization’s purchase of a $5.8 million mansion in southern California, calling the story a “racist and sexist” attack on the movement.

According to the April 4 report by New York Magazine, the 6,500 square-foot California estate was bought in October 2020 using money that had been donated to Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which acts as a fundraising umbrella for BLM activism. It’s unclear who leads the foundation since Cullors stepped down from her position in May 2021 amid criticism over its lack of financial transparency.

The ownership of the house, which comes with “half a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, several fireplaces, a soundstage, a pool and bungalow, and parking for more than 20 cars,” was transferred to an LLC in Delaware so that the new owner’s identity would not be disclosed, the magazine claimed.

In a statement sent to the magazine on April 1, BLM board member Shalomyah Bowers said that the Foundation had “always planned” to disclose the California house, which they had bought “with the intention for it to serve as housing and studio space for recipients of the Black Joy Creators Fellowship.”

The said fellowship, which “provides recording resources and dedicated space for Black creatives to launch content online and in real life focused on abolition, healing justice, urban agriculture and food justice, pop culture, activism, and politics,” was only announced on April 2, the following morning.

Amid a new round of scrutiny over how BLM spends its donation money, Cullors called the magazine’s mansion story a “despicable abuse of a platform that’s intended to provide information to the public.”

“The fact that a reputable publication would allow a reporter, with a proven and very public bias against me and other Black leaders, to write a piece filled with misinformation, innuendo and incendiary opinions, is disheartening and unacceptable,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

Cullors added that the reason the purchase wasn’t announced was that house required “repairs and renovations” before it could serve as a “safe space for Black people.” She further claimed that she “never misappropriated funds,” although the magazine didn’t accuse her of doing so.

The magazine did claim that the BLM leadership hoped to keep the existence of the house a secret. In a video posted to YouTube in June 2021, however, the property appeared to serve as the backdrop as three then-BLM leaders, namely Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Melina Abdullah, toasted to the 1st-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd.

“For me, the hardest moments have been the right-wing-media machine just leveraging literally all its weight against me, against our movement, against BLM the organization,” Cullors says in the now-deleted video, apparently referring to a New York Post report saying she bought four houses totaling over $3.2 million in predominantly white neighborhoods.

A non-profit and tax-exempt organization, BLM Global Network Foundation has recently found itself caught in a series of compliance issues. According to documents obtained by Washington Examiner, the state of Washington notified the foundation in January 2022 that its state charitable registration had been suspended for failing to provide required records of its financial activities, meaning that the foundation must cease all solicitations in Washington until it is “properly re-registered.”

A similar order was issued in California, where the foundation is based. In the Jan. 31 letter, California’s justice department told the foundation that it is banned from soliciting unless it submits financial records to the state within 60 days. The Department also warned that individuals “responsible for failure to timely file these reports” would be personally liable for all late fees.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

New World Disorder And The Demise Of Capitalism

“There is gonna be a new world order out there and we’ve gotta lead it!

And we gotta unite the rest of the world in doing it!”

That is what Biden proclaimed in a recent speech.

But since Biden has a tendency to get his speeches wrong, what he meant to say was:

“There is gonna be a new world DIS-order out there and we’ve gotta lead it!

Sadly, as the world has heard in many speeches by the US president, he hasn’t got a clue that his “empire” is collapsing around him.

But regrettably for Biden, the US isn’t an empire at all but a bankrupt nation without leadership. But even worse, the US has just in a final act of desperation not just shot itself in the foot but in the head.

CONSEQUENCES

Very few, if any, of today’s world leaders understand the consequences of their actions and clearly not Biden.

As the world is experiencing the end of an economic era, we are getting the leaders that we deserve and thus the appropriate ones to take the world to Armageddon.

So the world is now entering the final battle, a battle with totally incompetent heads of state which will lead to everyone losing.

The route to Armageddon will be disastrous for the world. Distressed leaders will take calamitous actions, exacerbating not only their own country’s problem, but also the rest of the world’s.

And that is exactly what we are seeing now with the worst possible concoction of debt deficits, currency debasement and decadence. The consequences were of course always predictable based on history. But no leader in the current era is a real student of history. And that is why the world is in such a mess.

HYPERINFLATION FOLLOWED BY A DEFLATIONARY DEPRESSION

I have in many articles outlined the course of events that I see from here – inflation, hyperinflation, debt collapse, asset collapse, leading to economic misery and eventually to a deflationary depression. “All Hell Will Break Loose for Humanity” as I wrote in a recent article.

There will be continued +migration, but probably to a lesser extent since there will be no promised lands which will offer the migrants a better life. There will be isolationism and many countries will try to close their borders.

Sadly there will also be wars, cyber, civil and even major military wars. Mankind has never for any longer period stayed away from wars and especially not in periods of economic depression and high debts. Wars are such a wonderful excuse for poor leaders both to print more money and as a blame for the misery that the people suffer.

Western dominated media and propaganda are naturally blaming Putin for the war. And many leaders including Biden want him gone.

WARS HAVE BUILT THE WORLD

Wars are of course terrible whoever starts them but as I just said, the history of the world is very much based on wars and empire building whether we talk about Persian, Roman, Han, Mongol, Ottoman, Spanish, Russian, or British empires.

Many of these empires have been revered for what they achieved and still are today whilst some like the Mongol left very little positive traces for posterity.

The British Empire for example was remarkable. A small island created the biggest empire in history lasting for over 300 years and covering 26% of the world. The cultural and language influence is still significant.

Very few voices are heard today requiring that the kings or emperors of those eras to be convicted for war crimes posthumously.

The US never created an empire but unprovoked attacked countries like Vietnam, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Over 300,000 civilians have been killed in these wars led by the US.

Whilst virtually the whole Western world considers Putin to be a war criminal, we have not heard similar attacks on the US, UK or French leaders who were involved in the above recent wars.

Without intending to take sides, why should we have different rules or laws for different war criminals? There is clearly not a level playing field.

Is Austin the next US crypto hub? Officials approve blockchain resolutions

The City of Austin gears up to become America’s next crypto hot spot by passing two resolutions focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation.

Innovative cities across America are racing to become the next hot spot for cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. Miami was the first city to adopt its own part of CityCoins last year, allowing it to implement its own cryptocurrency called “MiamiCoin” to be used for civic engagement. 

New York City has also made a name for itself as a crypto-friendly city by implementing educational initiatives and with Mayor Eric Adams receiving his paycheck in Bitcoin (BTC) in January this year. 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 


Big Tech’s Surveillance Capitalism Is Killing Privacy

Despite recent advances in privacy measures that have disrupted online tracking, new highly effective tracking methods have been deployed by the Masters of the Universe, who have grown used to the megabillions brought in by surveillance capitalism.

In an article titled “You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way,” the New York Times reports that the online advertising industry was disrupted last year when Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency feature that alerted users when apps were tracking them and allowed them to deny access to their online activity.

But less than a year later, online advertising has adapted to the changes and a new type of internet tracking has begun taking hold. The New York Times writes:

For years, digital businesses relied on what is known as “third party” tracking. Companies such as Facebook and Google deployed technology to trail people everywhere they went online. If someone scrolled through Instagram and then browsed an online shoe store, marketers could use that information to target footwear ads to that person and reap a sale.

Now tracking has shifted to what is known as “first party” tracking. With this method, people are not being trailed from app to app or site to site. But companies are still gathering information on what people are doing on their specific site or app, with users’ consent. This kind of tracking, which companies have practiced for years, is growing.

In other words, Google is accumulating data on its own users’ search queries, location data and contact information. Pinterest is doing the same with its users on its site and app, while TikTok is gathering information on the people who are on its app.

HEALTH

An Unrecognized Sign of High Blood Pressure

Nocturia is a condition causing you to awaken at night to urinate; researchers found a correlation between those who get up once a night or more with uncontrolled high blood pressure

Several factors affect your risk of high blood pressure, including an imbalanced potassium-to-sodium ratio, lack of exercise and poor dietary choices

Eating a Mediterranean or Pan-Asian Modified Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables while minimizing synthetic fats, all of which help control your blood pressure

Incorporating the Nitric Oxide Dump exercise may help relax your arterial system and contribute to controlling your blood pressure; do the exercise at home or work as it takes just four minutes, two to three times a day

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

European Environmentalists Have Made Energy Independence Impossible

Europe is not going to achieve a competitive energy transition with the current interventionist policies. Europe does not depend on Russian gas due to a coincidence, but because of a chain of mistaken policies: banning nuclear in Germany, prohibiting the development of domestic natural gas resources throughout the European Union, added to a massive and expensive renewable rollout without building a reliable backup.

Solar and wind do not reduce dependency on Russian natural gas. They are necessary but volatile and intermittent. They need backup from nuclear, hydro, and natural gas for security of energy supply. Dependency on these backup sources rises in periods of low wind and little sun, just when prices are highest.

“Solar goes to zero for twelve hours a day, and that is guaranteed. The wind blows sometimes, and sometimes it does not, also guaranteed. They both depend on weather, which is 100% out of human control. They are on their best day a supplement,” wrote a Navy pilot follower.

Batteries are not an option, either. It is impossible to build an industrial-size network of enormous batteries; the cost would be prohibitive and the dependency on China (for lithium, etc.) to build them would be even more of a problem. At current prices, a battery energy-storage system of Europe’s size would cost more than $2.5 trillion, according to an MIT Technology Review paper, massively more expensive than any other alternative.

The added cost of a battery grid plus the distribution and transmission network would make household bills soar even further.

Inflation was already out of control in Europe before the invasion of Ukraine was even a risk. Consumer price inflation in Spain was 7.6 percent, in Portugal it was 4.2 percent, and in Germany, 5.1 percent. Euro area consumer price inflation was 5.8 percent.

In the face of the impact on prices and energy from the invasion of Ukraine, we must remember:

Europe was already in an energy crisis in 2020 and 2021, with the cost of CO2 permits soaring and wholesale electricity prices reaching record-high levels by December 2021.

Europe does not “depend on Russian gas.” It is codependency. Russia needs Europe to export, and Europe has no cheaper alternative. Let us remember that Russian gas is much cheaper than any other realistic alternative.

The long-term contracts signed with Gazprom are closed at prices that can be up to ten times lower than some of the current alternatives. The 150 billion cubic meters that Europe imports from Russia can be replaced with liquefied natural gas from Norway and the North Sea, the United States, Algeria, Qatar, or Israel, but it will be much more expensive.

The only alternative to Russia is to show that European countries have diverse and cheap sources of supply. If Russia sees that European governments ban nuclear power, prohibit the development of indigenous gas reserves, intervene in imports, and add massive CO2 taxes, Russian authorities will know that there is no competitive alternative, and that European industry and consumers will collapse due to the rising cost of energy

European governments should think hard about misguided policies when the continent has been saved this winter by natural gas imported from the United States produced with fracking, a technology that has been banned in Europe.

Europe wants cheap and abundant energy, but politicians demonize nuclear, gas, and oil. All the interventionist proposals that are put forward by European politicians entail a higher cost for long-suffering consumers.

New Report Shows Forever Chemicals Lurking in Food Wrappers

Testing by Consumer Reports found PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” widespread in food containers and wrappers. PFAS chemicals banned for production in the U.S. were most frequently detected

Testing for specific PFAS compounds is difficult. The researchers found the 30 compounds they could identify accounted for less than 1% of all organic fluorine in the items tested, indicating the extent of the contamination

Biodegradable products may also contain PFAS, which may create a greater problem as the containers are composted and mixed in the soil, and end up back on your plate inside the food you’re eating

PFASs are found in cosmetics and the water supply, which increases your exposure to chemicals known to be associated with liver toxicity, obesity, reduced birth weight and tumors in multiple organ systems

One study showed only 8% of product ingredient labels indicated PFAS chemicals were used. Consider using strategies to lower your exposure such as checking your personal care products on the EWG Skin Deep database, opting for stovetop non-GMO popcorn and drinking granulated activated carbon filtered water

COVID RELATED NEWS

FDA Advisers Oppose Repeated COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters

Experts who advise the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 6 came out in opposition to a strategy of repeated COVID-19 vaccine boosters within a short period of time, during a meeting where FDA officials said they plan on deciding on the future vaccination strategy by June.

“I do not believe that booster every eight weeks or even four months is a long-term strategy for prevention,” Dr. Amanda Cohn, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, said during a virtual meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.

“We don’t feel comfortable with multiple boosters every eight weeks,” Dr. Arnold Monto, the committee’s acting chair, said later. “Would love to see annual vaccination, similar to influenza.”

The FDA in March authorized second boosters of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines four months after the initial booster for all Americans 50 and older, and some as young as 12.

That means over 112 million Americans, if they follow the U.S. government’s recommended vaccination schedule, could get four shots within nine months.

The FDA did not consult its outside advisory committee before making the move.

Dr. Peter Marks, a top FDA official, near the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting defended the decision not to consult the panel, and later agreed with members that repeated boosting wasn’t ideal.

“In terms of what really keeps me up at night, it’s the knowledge that we can’t keep boosting and that we’re going to have vaccine exhaustion. I’m not talking about immune exhaustion, I’m talking about physical exhaustion of people not going to get boosted,” he said.

While about 66 percent of the U.S. population has completed a vaccination series, just half of Americans eligible for a booster have received one, according to federal data through April 7.

“I agree. There’s a weariness if we continue to recommend frequent boosting,” Dr. Cody Meissner, a panel member, said.

“We simply can’t be boosting people as frequently as we are and I’m the first to acknowledge that this additional fourth booster dose that was authorized was a stopgap measure,” Marks also said.

Vaccine refusal leads New York courts to fire 103 workers, ban 4 judges from courthouses

The New York state court system has fired 103 employees and banned four judges from courthouses for refusing to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

One of the four judges is Judge Jenny Rivera of the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s top court, courts spokesperson Lucian Chalfen confirmed to the Associated Press.

“She is not in compliance with the court’s vaccination policy,” he said.

The banned judges are facing possible discipline for refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate, report Law360, Reuters and Bloomberg Law. The judges can’t be fired.

“We had made it clear from the outset that any judge not in and continuing not to be in compliance subjects themselves to a referral to the Commission on Judicial Conduct for their determination,” Chalfen said in a statement cited by Reuters and the AP.

Rivera has been hearing oral arguments remotely. She did not comment when the publications contacted her chambers.

The court system had initially notified 156 employees that they would be fired if they did not comply with the vaccination requirement by the deadline. Forty-one employees got vaccinated, one resigned and 11 retired.

Unions argue that the firings violate collective bargaining agreements. The unions’ case is being heard by the New York Public Employment Relations Board, according to Reuters.

Four unvaccinated court reporters had challenged the policy in a lawsuit, but it was dropped in March. Lead plaintiff Cheryl Ferrelli filed a new case Wednesday, according to Law360.

A separate case filed by about 100 court employees is pending.

FDA, CDC Warns of Norovirus Outbreak in 13 States

Federal health regulators this week have warned of a norovirus outbreak linked to raw oysters across about a dozen U.S. states.

Potentially tainted raw oysters harvested in British Columbia, Canada, were sent to California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington state, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday.

At least 91 norovirus cases have been reported in the 13 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of those who were sickened said they ate raw oysters when interviewed by health officials, said the agency.

On Tuesday, Washington state health officials said that 26 residents reported norovirus-like symptoms after eating oysters sourced from British Columbia in recent weeks.

At least 29 Minnesota residents fell ill after allegedly eating raw oysters at  Travail Kitchen on March 20, according to reports. The restaurant has confirmed it stopped selling Stellar Bay Gold oysters.

The FDA said it is now investigating the outbreak.

“The FDA and the states conducted a trace forward investigation to determine where the raw oysters were distributed and to ensure they’re removed from the food supply,” said a statement from the FDA on Wednesday.

“Retailers should not serve raw oysters harvested from the following harvest locations within British Columbia, BC 14-8 and BC 14-15, with harvest starting as early as January 31, 2022, which will be printed on product tags,” the agency continued. “Oysters can cause illness if eaten raw, particularly in people with compromised immune systems. Food contaminated with norovirus may look, smell, and taste normal.”

The oysters could potentially contain norovirus, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, and fever. Officials say symptoms can start between 12 and 48 hours after eating the contaminated food.

Norovirus was previously known as Norwalk virus because the first known outbreak occurred in Norwalk, Ohio.

The Mayo Clinic says that individuals with norovirus should special care to replace fluids lost by vomiting or diarrhea to prevent dehydration.

FDA Official Defends Bypassing Expert Panel When Clearing Fourth COVID-19 Shots

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official on April 6 defended the agency’s recent decision to authorize fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses for millions of Americans without convening its expert advisory panel.

Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, downplayed the authorization, claiming it was not “a major expansion or a major change.”

Officials “looked over the data and felt was reasonable to do at the time,” he said, citing information from the United Kingdom and Israel that indicated the protection from a third shot, or first booster, has been waning amid circulation of the Omicron virus variant.

Marks was responding to Dr. James Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College, who sits on the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), a panel of outside advisers that the agency typically consults before making decisions like clearing additional vaccine doses.

The FDA convened the VRBPAC on April 6 to discuss how to handle COVID-19 vaccines in the future, including whether to pivot towards variant-specific boosters since the vaccines have proven less effective against recent strains like Omicron.

“I’m just wondering why this discussion is being held now when you already made a major decision about boosters. What was the reason for not convening the VRBPAC to make that decision?” Hildreth wondered.

Marks said clearing a fourth shot was a narrow matter when compared to the subjects being discussed on Wednesday and indicated regulators would heed advice from advisers on at least some future vaccine decisions.

“This discussion today is a much larger discussion, a discussion of what do we do for the entire population and what do we do when we think the virus may have evolved further and that may help preclude a major wave in the next season, the fall/winter season,” he said. “We feel like this discussion is more around the larger population issue. We’re not saying which population necessarily needs to be boosted next fall/winter. I think that’s for the committee to discuss whether it’s the entire population or a segment of the population.”

Members will also weigh in on whether future boosters should have a composition targeted against one or more variants that have circulated more recently than the Wuhan strain, which was displaced in the United States in 2020.

The FDA had not previously said why it bypassed its advisory panel before clearing fourth shots for all Americans 50 and older, and some with weakened immune systems 12 and older.

The agency has increasingly chosen not to solicit advice from the panel before making decisions affecting millions of Americans, stoking criticism from members of the panel and some experts who are not members.

“The culture seems to have changed in the last year,” John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, told The Epoch Times. “They’ve never been mandated to accept the recommendation of advisory committees, but it’s been the norm. And over the past year, that’s not what’s been happening.”

‘Pokemons’, WhatsApp chats: Lawsuit reveals inner workings of nationwide COVID testing operation

The nationwide coronavirus testing chain under scrutiny from the FBI and several states was hit with a scathing lawsuit Thursday – one that provides new insight into alleged deceptive trade practices and garish spending by company executives.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued Illinois-based Center for Covid Control and its primary lab, Doctors Clinical Lab, for “deceptively marketing testing services” and violating the state’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act.

The lawsuit alleges Illinois residents Aleya Siyaj and Akbar Ali Syed, the married couple who founded Center for COVID Control, “funnelled millions of dollars received from the federal government and insurance companies for testing to themselves,” according to the Oregon attorney general’s office.

The lab has been reimbursed more than $153 million through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s COVID-19 Uninsured Program, public data shows. Private health insurers also paid the lab.

According to the lawsuit, Syed brazenly posted pictures of the couple’s purchases on social media, including a $1.36 million mansion and luxury cars – including a sky blue Lamborghini, a red Lamborghini Countach, a Tesla Model Y, and a $3.7 million Ferrari Enzo, as previously reported by USA TODAY.

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