WORLD NEWS
A group of older Swiss women have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights.The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.
The court said Switzerland’s efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.
It is the first time the powerful court has ruled on global warming.
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg joined activists celebrating at the court in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK. Meanwhile, the Epoch Times has come out with a video piece that claims that jeans negatively affect climate change. However, it just released a premium piece that states that hundreds of “ghost” climate stations are no longer operational; instead, they are assigned temperatures from surrounding stations.
The Times of Israel publishes “hit piece”; tit for tat, against Iran if retaliation occurs …
Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday threatened that if Iran launches attacks from its own soil then Israel will strike back inside Iran, amid increasingly belligerent rhetoric between the two countries.
Katz’s warning came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel “must be punished and it shall be” for allegedly attacking an Iranian consular building in Syria’s Damascus, killing two generals among several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers.
Khamenei said that in bombing an embassy site, Israel “attacked our territory.”
“If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will react and attack in Iran ” Katz posted in Hebrew to his official account on social media platform X.
He then repeated the same warning in a Persian-language post and tagged Khamenei’s official X account.
Iran, which says it seeks to destroy the Jewish state, has developed rockets with a range that can hit anywhere in Israel and has boasted of its ability to strike.
In a major escalation of Israel’s war with regional adversaries, suspected Israeli warplanes bombed a building in the Syrian capital on April 1 in a strike that Iran said killed seven IRGC military advisers at a consulate site, one of whom was Iran’s top commander in Syria, Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE! It would have been a workday for Bryan Malinowski, executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. But at 6 a.m., an hour before sunrise on March 19, he was still in bed drifting in peaceful sleep.
Outside, a convoy of 10 law enforcement vehicles rolled into his upscale neighborhood in West Little Rock, Arkansas, parking near his 3,000 square foot home, a neighbor’s doorbell camera shows.
Wearing full tactical gear and holding automatic rifles in the ready position, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), walked up the darkened sidewalk to the front door of the Malinowski home.
The first ATF agent reached toward the Malinowski’s doorbell camera and rubbed a piece of opaque tape on the camera lens, obscuring the view.
“At this stage, there is no publicly available evidence showing whether agents knocked on the door or announced their presence, adequately identifying themselves,” Attorney Bud Cummins, who represents the family, said in an email statement released on Monday.
Mr. Malinowski was jolted out of sleep by the sound of the door crashing in. He grabbed a gun.
“His wife believed the noise must have been intruders and she fully believes her husband thought the same. He loaded a magazine into a pistol and emerged from the master bedroom into a hallway leading indirectly to the front entryway,” Mr. Cummins described of the incident.
“He reached a corner in the hall and looked around it to see several unidentifiable figures already several steps inside his home. We do not know who shot first but it appears that Bryan shot approximately three times at a decidedly low angle, probably at the feet of the intruders who were roughly 30 feet away.”
The ATF has previously said Mr. Malinowski shot first.
Agents immediately returned fire and struck him at least once in the head, causing massive injury to his skull and brain, Mr. Cummins said.
His wife of 25 years, Maer Malinowski, was taken outside, where it was 34-degrees and, still wearing her thin night clothes, she was placed in custody in the back seat of a police car, Mr. Cummins said. She was not allowed to go to a neighbor’s home for clothes or to use the bathroom for four or five hours.
Mr. Malinowski, 53, died in the hospital two days later.
An avid gun and coin collector, Mr. Malinowski sometimes sold guns and coins privately, or at gun shows.
The ATF put a tracker on his car in February after watching him for months, the affidavit shows. The agency believed Mr. Malinowski was selling guns without a $200 Federal Firearms License (FFL) and without asking buyers for the proper information. According to an affidavit of probable cause, some of the guns he had sold were recovered during the commission of a crime, although the crimes did not involve the direct use of guns.
In one case, police made a traffic stop and found the driver had a gun allegedly sold by Mr. Malinowski, plus marijuana and a 4-year-old child in the car. In a similar traffic stop, police recovered more marijuana and a gun. And in a third traffic stop, again with marijuana in the car, a person who had been previously convicted of robbery and was prohibited from buying or possessing a gun, had a gun previously purchased by Mr. Malinowski just 15 days before that traffic stop. An interview with the person in the car, the individual revealed that the gun was purchased at a gun show. He identified Mr. Malinowski in photos.
But gun sellers are not obligated to know where guns go after they are sold, Mr. Cummins said, and the affidavit does not indicate he was going to be charged in connection to the traffic stops.
“In Arkansas, a private seller may legally sell a firearm without holding an FFL and without filling out forms or conducting background checks. A private seller may do so until such time they cross a subjectively defined barrier becoming ‘a person engaged in the business of selling firearms.’” Mr. Cummings said. “There is no bright line test. It is a subjective test.”
A citizen’s ability to sell firearms without a license is sometimes called the gun show loophole. For decades, there has been discussion and bills in Congress to close the gun show loophole. None have passed. But in 2023, the ATF proposed new regulations to tighten the loophole.
“Mr. Malinowski’s family and close friends don’t think he had any inkling the ATF was concerned about his gun show sales,” Mr. Cummins said. “They are all confident that he would have never jeopardized his career in airport management by knowingly flaunting a regulation pertaining to his weekend hobby.”
In the days after the shooting, Mr. Malinowski’s family asked why the ATF had not arranged to meet him at his workplace to communicate with him that he was under investigation.
“The justification for the search involved suspicion of a crime carrying a puny 0–6-month U.S. sentencing guideline range, which typically results in a sentence of probation or more often, probation ending with complete dismissal,” Mr. Cummins said.
The ATF did not respond to a request for comment. It has not said when or if it will release body camera footage from the agents who entered the home that morning.
An executive order issued in 2020 by President Joe Biden requires federal agents to use body worn cameras when executing search warrants and to make an “expedited public release” of such video after incidents involving serious injury or death to promote transparency and accountability.
“In spite of requests to ATF on behalf of the Malinowski family, no … recordings have been released. ATF has made no public statement since the March 19 shooting of Bryan Malinowski,” Mr. Cummins said.
The law requires law enforcement to identify themselves and give a person a reasonable time to answer the door, Mr. Cummins told The Epoch Times in a phone interview. He added, the law implies a person should be given time to recognize that it is law enforcement at the door.
“The whole purpose of the exercise is for them to give the occupant an opportunity to submit to the authority of law enforcement. But to do that, you’ve got to know that they’re law enforcement. I don’t know why most people buy ring cameras, but I think it’s to find out who’s at the front door. To cover [the camera] up seems counterproductive if your goal was for them to know you are law enforcement, so they’ll submit to your authority, open up, and let you in.
“We don’t have all the evidence. The evidence we have tends to show that the search was not conducted legally.”
The Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission voted last week to give a $24,000 bonus to Mr. Malinowski posthumously for a productive year of work, during which he expanded the Falcon Jet facility and secured money for a terminal canopy to shelter arriving vehicles from the elements.
High school shooter’s parents sentenced to more than 10 years!
The two parents who were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after their son killed four of his classmates at Oxford High School in 2021 were sentenced to 10–15 years in prison on April 9 in Pontiac, Michigan.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are the first parents in the United States to be held criminally liable for a school shooting committed by their child, both having been found guilty in separate jury trials earlier this year.
They will each receive credit for 858 days served and were both ordered to have no contact with the families of the victims. A separate order by the judge will follow as to whether they are allowed contact with their son, Ethan, the shooter.
The parents do not stand accused of having had knowledge of their son’s plan to murder the teenagers. However, prosecutors said they did not take adequate measures to lock up the gun used in the killings at their home in addition to having ignored warning signs relating to the mental health of their son.
Woman who stole Ashley Biden’s diary sentenced to a month behind bars!
A Florida woman has been sentenced to one month in prison for her role in stealing a diary that belonged to President Joe Biden’s daughter and selling it to undercover journalist group Project Veritas weeks before the 2020 election.
In a ruling handed down on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Aimee Harris, a resident of Palm Beach, Florida, to report to prison in July while her two young children would be out on vacation.
The prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, including three months of home detention, along with participation in an outpatient substance abuse program. The 41- year-old was also ordered to forfeit $20,000 that was paid to her by Project Veritas.
In August 2022, Ms. Harris pleaded guilty to conspiring with 60-year- old Robert Kurlander in September 2020 to steal Ashley Biden’s belongings from a private home in Delray Beach, Florida. Ms. Harris said she took the diary and other personal items and tried to sell it.
Ms. Harris and her co-defendant pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
“I found property, including a journal, belonging to another person in a place where I was living. Knowing that I did not have a right to take the property, I agreed with another person and did cause a journal to be transported from Florida to New York City,” Ms. Harris said in court. Kurlander will be sentenced later this week.
Federal court rejects free speech appeal from J-6 convicted defendant …
A federal court on April 9 rejected an appeal from a man convicted over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
John Nassif had argued one of the laws he was convicted of violating was unconstitutionally overbroad and vague. The law prohibits “parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.”
Mr. Nassif, who both parties agree went inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 but did not carry out any violent acts, told the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia that the law “is overbroad because it prohibits a substantial amount of constitutionally protected speech” in the Capitol, despite some Capitol buildings containing portions open to the public.
U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush who convicted and sentenced Mr. Nassif, said that the law applies to all “organized conduct advocating a viewpoint” in a Capitol building.
“A ban on all organized conduct expressing a viewpoint within the publicly accessible portions of the Capitol Buildings is impermissible under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. A statute whose plain language criminalizes all such expression might be expected in an authoritarian regime. It cannot stand in the United States of America,” Mr. Nassif said in his appeal.
Government lawyers countered by saying the law only covers demonstrations “that would tend to disrupt the orderly business of Congress.” Even if Capitol buildings are public forums, they said, “the statute would pass constitutional muster as a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction narrowly tailored to serve the compelling government interest of ensuring that the activities of Congress can proceed without disruption.”
The appeals court sided with the government. The judges ruled that while Capitol grounds and sidewalks surrounding the Capitol are public forums, Capitol buildings, based on the current body of evidence, are not.
FBI Director announces arrest of 18-year-old for violent plot to attack churches!
The FBI announced it arrested an 18-year-old Idaho man for concocting a “violent plot” on local churches on behalf of the ISIS terrorist group, according to a new release issued Monday.
Alexander Mercurio is facing a federal charge of attempting to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a release, adding that he was plotting to incapacitate his father, restrain him, steal his guns and other weapons, and carry out attacks on churches in Coeur d’Alene, a city in northwestern Idaho, on Sunday.
“The defendant allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS and sought to attack people attending churches in Idaho, a truly horrific plan which was detected and thwarted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Mr. Mercurio allegedly “planned to wage an attack in its name on churches in Coeur d’Alene,” adding that he was taken into custody before he could act.
If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in a federal prison, according to the DOJ’s news release. Mr. Mercurio is currently in custody awaiting his court appearance. No court date has yet been set, local media reported.
The arrest followed an FBI investigation, which said that he declared his support online for ISIS and other terrorist groups, according to court documents. He met with a law enforcement source working on behalf of the FBI and made those statements, court papers show.
Arizona Supreme Court reinstates Civil War-era abortion ban!
A nearly two-year legal battle over abortion in Arizona ended on April 9 with the state Supreme Court’s ruling that a pre-statehood ban on most abortions is legally enforceable in the state. The 1864 law bans all abortions in Arizona, save those performed to save the life of the mother.
The 4–2 ruling reverses a lower court’s opinion that a 15-week abortion limit passed in 2022 supersedes the older law’s abortion restrictions. The Arizona Court of Appeals had held that the two laws could be “harmonized,” allowing doctors to perform abortions up to 15 weeks, but also permitting the prosecution of non-physicians who perform abortions in the state.
“We conclude that [the 2022 law] does not create a right to, or otherwise provide independent statutory authority for, an abortion that repeals or restricts [the 1864 ban], but rather is predicated entirely on the existence of a federal constitutional right to an abortion since disclaimed by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” the Arizona Supreme Court wrote in its majority opinion.
The law is slated to take effect on April 23.
Trump’s lawyer seeks immediate review in Fani Willis case …
Former President Donald Trump and other co-defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia, case filed a notice that they will appeal a judge’s order that rejected their arguments to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds.
Court papers filed Monday on behalf of President Trump and his co-defendants asked the Fulton County Superior Court to conduct an “immediate review” of their motions to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds. They argued that the indictments handed down by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office last year violate their First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Last week, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee rejected President Trump’s motions to dismiss the case on the argument that it violated his right to free speech. Monday’s filing argued that an appellate review of Judge McAfee’s ruling is needed and that their “arguments are well-founded and fall squarely within the almost absolute First Amendment protections.”
If their appeal is successful, it would mean that most counts of the indictment against the dozen or so defendants would then have to be thrown out, according to the court papers.
Trump responds to Lindsey Graham’s criticism of his abortion announcement …
Former President Trump recently voiced his opinion on abortion and states’ rights:
“We had a Great Victory, it’s back in the States where it belongs, and where everyone wanted it. The States will be making the decision. Republicans are now free to run for Office based on the Horrible Border, Inflation, Bad Economy, and the Death & Destruction of our Country!” he added.
Then RINO Sen. Lindsey Graham had to pipe up and counter Trump’s comments with the typical mainstream, establishment argument of his own.
Former President Donald Trump then took to the media to respond to Graham and other critics of his recent abortion-related announcement, saying that Republicans will likely lose in 2024 if they pursue Mr. Graham’s proposals.
“Senator Lindsey Graham … should study the 10th Amendment and States’ Rights,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to an earlier announcement he made stating that he believes states should make their own choices on abortion. “When they do, they should proudly get on with helping Republicans to WIN ELECTIONS, rather than making it impossible for them to do so!”
“They (Democrats) love this Issue, and they want to keep it going for as long as Republicans will allow them to do so. Terminating Roe v. Wade was, according to all Legal Scholars, a Great Event, but sometimes with Great Events come difficulties,“ the former president wrote on social media. ”Many Good Republicans lost Elections because of this Issue, and people like Lindsey Graham, that are unrelenting, are handing Democrats their dream of the House, Senate, and perhaps even the Presidency.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Costco is selling up to $200-million in gold bars each month!
Costco has taken in significant revenue since it started selling gold bars online last year, said a Wells Fargo analyst in a note issued on April 9.
The retailer last year started selling one-ounce gold bars for about $2,000 depending on the price of gold. The firm is also selling silver for approximately $675 for a tube of 25 coins.
Wells Fargo estimated that the firm’s revenue for gold “may now be running at” $100 million to $200 million each month, reported CNBC. The major U.S. bank did not provide an estimate for Costco’s silver sales.
The FTC and the DOJ plan to fight food inflation by going after anti-competition conduct!
As food prices continue to edge higher, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) plan to collaborate moving forward to combat anti-competitive conduct and mergers throughout the U.S. food supply chain.
According to FTC Commissioner Rachel Slaughter, the two federal departments will tackle the food inflation issue in cooperation with other federal agencies and state entities.
In the last few decades, there has been a concentration “up and down the food supply chain,” involving food distributors, food processors, pesticide manufacturers, and supermarkets.
“The food supply chain discussion reflects an important and light conversation throughout competition policy,” Ms. Slaughter said in her opening remarks at a DOJ-FTC summit on April 8.
During the event, officials highlighted the wide array of cases, enforcement issues, and investigations addressing competition issues.
“There are real questions as to whether the high prices of the grocery store not simply by mirroring higher costs, but rather reflect higher profits for those retailers,” she added.
The number of players in the food production industry has dwindled as reforms to antitrust policy in the 1970s facilitated more businesses to scoop up their competitors.
Years later, four corporations are estimated to control approximately 60 percent of the U.S. market for alcohol, bread, coffee, cookies, and pork. Additionally, the top four companies own about 80 percent of the market for baby food, beef processing, pasta, and soda.
The FTC and the DOJ’s antitrust division are cracking down on hotels engaged in price fixing through algorithms. Now they’re invading the grocery markets.
HEALTH
Toxic “forever chemicals” found in 65% of popular bandage brands!
Popular BAND-AID and bandage brands may contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) called “forever chemicals” linked to endocrine disruption, thyroid disorders, infertility, and other health conditions, according to a recent consumer study.
Mamavation, in partnership with Environmental Health News, tested 40 bandages from 18 brands to see whether they contained forever chemicals. The lab, certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), found toxic levels of organic fluorine in 65 percent of the bandages tested, ranging from 11 parts per million (ppm) to 328 ppm.
Additionally, 26 of the 40 bandages tested contained organic fluorine above 10 ppm, and 63 percent of bandages marketed to people of color with black and brown skin tones tested positive for PFAS.
Terrence Collins, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry and director of the Institute for Green Science at Carnegie Mellon University, scientifically reviewed the results. Mr. Collins told The Epoch Times in an email that he considers 100 ppm and even 10 ppm to be “massively unacceptable amounts of PFAS as these pertain to potential exposures from a bandaid.”
The following products labeled as “Best Bandages” by Mamavation did not test positive for the presence of fluorine using the lab’s 10 ppm cutoff:
3M Micropore Surgical/Medical Tape
All Terrain Neon Kids Bandages
Band-Aid Hello Kitty Assorted Adhesive Bandages
CVS Sterile Manuka Honey Sports Bandages
FEBU Organic Bamboo Strip Bandages
Patch Bamboo Bandages for Kids with Coconut Oil
TRU COLOUR Skin Tone Bandages Diversity in Healing (olive)
TRU COLOUR Skin Tone Bandages Diversity in Healing (dark brown)
TRU COLOUR Skin Tone Bandages Diversity in Healing (brown black)
Trutone Skin Tone Adhesive Bandages Dark Brown Trutone Skin Tone Adhesive Bandages Brown Trutone Skin Tone Adhesive Bandages Olive
Welly Good Vibes Bravery Bandages
Welly Waterproof Bravery Assorted Waterproof Bandages
“Testing of the immense family of PFAS compounds for endocrine disruption is woefully inadequate. The regulatory control of endocrine disruptors is currently pitiful. We need to consider all PFAS compounds as suspect endocrine disruptors,” he added.
Have You Tried Curcumin for Indigestion?
When seeking to avoid heartburn medications that are linked to adverse events, including heart attack and cognitive decline, research suggests you should consider curcumin.
If you experience chronic heartburn, a new study indicates that taking curcumin, the biologically active polyphenolic compound found in turmeric, may offer the same protection and relief as the popularly used proton pump inhibitor (PPI) Prilosec (omeprazole)
Despite knowing the serious side effects associated with PPIs, data show people are prescribed and are taking them at doses higher than recommended and for longer than is recommended by clinical guidelines
PPIs may increase your risk of a gut infection, vitamin B12 deficiency, heart disease, heart attack, bone fractures and events of cutaneous and systemic lupus erythematosus. In just one week of use, PPIs are associated with significant impairment in attention, executive function, visual memory and working and planning functions
Steps you can take to naturally reduce symptoms are to identify your trigger foods and eliminate them, don’t eat within four hours of going to bed, consider elevating the head of the bed if you experience nighttime symptoms and don’t wear clothing that is tight around the waist
Power Mall Product of Interest: CurcuminX4000 With Fenugreek
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Frogs are screaming – we just can’t hear them, scientists in Brazil discover
Scientists have recorded the first documented case of “defensive ultrasound” being used by amphibians.
Some frogs scream at an ear-splitting volume for other animals but its frequency is inaudible to humans, scientists have discovered.
Small leaf litter frogs were arching their backs, throwing back their heads and opening their mouths wide.
They looked like they were screaming but the scientists could hear nothing.
When they recorded the frogs using high-frequency audio recorders, the scientists captured the first documented case of “defensive ultrasound” being used by amphibians.
The scream is a response to predators, according to researchers from Brazil’s State University of Campinas.
It could be a call to arms to attract another animal to attack the predator.
The researchers recorded the distress call on two occasions.
When they analysed the sound using special software, they found that it had a frequency range of 7 kilohertz (kHz) to 44 kHz.
Humans cannot hear frequencies higher than 20 kHz, which are classed as ultrasound.
Not Science Fiction: Harvard Scientists Have Developed an “Intelligent” Liquid
Scientists have developed a metafluid with programmable response.
Scientists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a programmable metafluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid.
The first-of-its-kind metafluid uses a suspension of small, elastomer spheres — between 50 to 500 microns — that buckle under pressure, radically changing the characteristics of the fluid. The metafluid could be used in everything from hydraulic actuators to program robots, to intelligent shock absorbers that can dissipate energy depending on the intensity of the impact, to optical devices that can transition from clear to opaque.
The research is published in Nature.
“We are just scratching the surface of what is possible with this new class of fluid,” said Adel Djellouli, a Research Associate in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at SEAS and first author of the paper. “With this one platform, you could do so many different things in so many different fields.”
“Unlike solid metamaterials, metafluids have the unique ability to flow and adapt to the shape of their container,” said Katia Bertoldi, William and Ami Kuan Danoff Professor of Applied Mechanics at SEAS and senior author of the paper. “Our goal was to create a metafluid that not only possesses these remarkable attributes but also provides a platform for programmable viscosity, compressibility, and optical properties.”
Using a highly scalable fabrication technique developed in the lab of David A. Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at SEAS, the research team produced hundreds of thousands of these highly-deformable spherical capsules filled with air and suspended them in silicon oil. When the pressure inside the liquid increases, the capsules collapse, forming a lens-like half-sphere. When that pressure is removed, the capsules pop back into their spherical shape.
The metafluid also changes its optical properties when exposed to changing pressures.
When the capsules are round, they scatter light, making the liquid opaque, much like air bubbles make aerated water appear white. But when pressure is applied and the capsules collapse, they act like microlenses, focusing light and making the liquid transparent. These optical properties could be used for a range of applications, such as e-inks that change color based on pressure.
The researchers also showed that when the capsules are spherical, the metafluid behaves like a Newtonian fluid, meaning its viscosity only changes in response to temperature. However, when the capsules are collapsed, the suspension transforms into a non-Newtonian fluid, meaning that its viscosity will change in response to shear force — the greater the shear force, the more fluid it becomes. This is the first metafluid that has been shown to transition between Newtonian and non-Newtonian states.
Next, the researchers aim to explore the acoustic and thermodynamic properties of the metafluid.
“The application space for these scalable, easy-to-produce metafluids is huge,” said Bertoldi.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Intel lawmakers fight Patriot Act spy powers bill 2.0!
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) and Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT) offered an amendment to a spy powers reform bill that effectively serves as a “Patriot Act 2.0” and greatly expands surveillance of Americans.
Turner and Himes offered an amendment to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). Section 702 is meant to target foreign adversaries; however, intelligence agencies often surveil American citizens’ private communications without a warrant.
Himes and Turner said in their summary that their amendment “narrowly updates” the definition of electronic communication service provider under Section 702; however, the proposal would drastically increase the areas that intelligence agencies could surveil.
The measure updates the definition of electronic service provider to also include “any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications.”
Essentially, the amendment would significantly expand the number of businesses and their employees who could be compelled to spy on their customers and provide warrantless access to their communications systems in accordance with this controversial FISA provision.
This provision has been referred to by privacy advocates as a “trojan horse” for “PATRIOT Act 2.0.”
Demand Progress Policy Director Sean Vitka and FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon said in a joint statement in December about a prior version of this proposal:
The FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act is a Trojan Horse for PATRIOT Act 2.0. Chairman Turner and Ranking Member Himes should be ashamed of themselves for either deliberately or incompetently writing legislation that would dramatically expand warrantless surveillance under Section 702 of FISA, the massive spying power that has been abused on a ‘persistent and widespread’ basis. This is staggering overreach that is absolutely at odds with the millions of Americans crying out for Congress to protect their privacy. [Emphasis added]
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) wrote, “No more warrantless searches of U.S. citizens. The FBI should be required to GET A WARRANT.”
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview Tuesday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) kowtowing to the intelligence agencies on a controversial surveillance law is a “prime example” of the “D.C. cartel.”
Biggs spoke as the House Rules Committee prepares to review the process by which the House will consider the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that attempts to reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a controversial surveillance law that is aimed at targeting foreign adversaries; however, it often surveils Americans’ private communications.
Johnson once supported a warrant requirement and also voted for an amendment that would bar intelligence and law enforcement agencies from purchasing Americans’ private information, which is viewed by privacy advocates as a run around the Fourth Amendment. Now that Johnson is Speaker, he reportedly supports neither reform in a surveillance reform bill.
Biggs is the sponsor of the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, a Section 702 reform bill that advanced through the House Judiciary Committee. Former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) said it is one of the most consequential bills to protect civil liberties in “several generations.”
The Arizona conservative called Johnson’s sudden about-face on privacy reform a “prime example” of the D.C. cartel pressuring leaders to preserve the establishment status quo.
Biggs said, “I think you get swept up in the D.C. cartel. I think they come and tell you that, that blood would be on your hands. And, so the cartel tries to intimidate, put fear into people. And, so some people forget why they were taking the original position.”
Biggs noted that January 6 protesters and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters have been surveilled under section 702.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Elon Musk’s Tesla cybertrucks plagued by malfunctions and quality issues!
Elon Musk’s long-awaited Tesla Cybertrucks have been met with a wave of complaints from frustrated owners, who report numerous malfunctions and quality issues just months after the vehicle’s launch. One owner reported a complete failure after driving the EV for just one mile.
The New York Post reports that since hitting the road in December 2023, two years behind schedule, Tesla’s Cybertruck has been panned by owners for a range of problems. According to posts on the Tesla Owners’ Club forum, issues include vehicles dying after traveling just one mile, random hard-braking on open roads, and rust spots appearing on the stainless steel exterior.
One owner reported that their $80,000 Cybertruck “made it 1 mile down road, started getting steering error, flashing red screen, pulled off side of highway now the truck is dead and I’m waiting for a tow truck.” The owner added, “Tesla really rushed these trucks out, what a nightmare.”
Another user shared a photo of their Cybertruck displaying a warning: “Pull over safely. Critical steering issue detected.” They noted that “a lot of trucks are having high-voltage issues…which makes the trucks unusable.”
Another owner reported a “WTF moment” when their Cybertruck suddenly hard-braked as another truck approached in the opposite lane on a highway. “Luckily there is no vehicle at the back as it would have been a definite collision,” the user wrote.
A critical review posted on the Tesla Motors Club forum by a Canada-based owner described the Cybertruck as “a toy truck at best, an experimental concept at worst.” They cited issues with the suspension, steering wheel size, headlights, windshield wipers, and windshield glare, calling the visibility “borderline dangerous.”
FOOD, GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Map shows where the cicadas are likely to emerge and swarm … by the trillions!
The dual cicada brood emergence will primarily be seen in parts of Illinois and Iowa, as well as parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
This spring, the 13-year Brood XIX and the 17-year Brood XIII will co-emerge in Illinois for the first time since 1803. It is a chance to see all seven periodical cicada species as adults in one year, not happening again until 2037.
Makes you wonder whether the swarms would become natural chicken feed.
Map the Sun in Your Garden With a Shade Survey
Did you know that in April, the day length is the same as in September? That means if there is shade in April, there will also be just as much shade in September. There might be even more because trees do not have leaves in April, but they do in September. It is a good idea to do a shade survey in April to see how much shade the garden area will have. You can map the sun in your garden easily with a shade survey. Here is why and how.
To plan your garden for optimum yield, you need to know your sunshine conditions. You want to have at least 6 hours of direct sunlight for a vegetable garden. Some heat-loving plants need even more. The ideal garden should have morning and midday sun and some shelter from the afternoon sun. In cooler climates, it is good to have sunshine all day.
To grow the right plants in the best light conditions, you need to know where there is full sun, partial shade, or full shade in your garden. If you only have morning sun, you can still grow lettuce, herbs, radishes, peas, and other cold-weather plants. If you have a lot of afternoon and evening sun, the place is better suited for warm-weather plants, such as tomatoes and zucchini.
Even if you do not have the optimum solar conditions, you can still grow a garden. Unfortunately, a cold-climate edible garden in total shade will not produce. Choose ornamental perennial plants for a shade garden instead.
2ND AMENDMENT
Investigators now believe a January altercation at a Houston area gas station that ended when a bystander shot and killed a robbery suspect was actually part of a staged attack to facilitate fraudulent insurance and immigration claims.
22-year-old Rasshauud Scott was shot and killed during an altercation at the Chevron gas station at 11095 Ella Blvd in Houston on Jan. 27. In a Monday press update, the Houston Police Department said witnesses told homicide detectives they had seen a male suspect had robbed multiple people while they were pumping gas before another male who witnessed one of the robberies fired on the suspect, whom police identified as the deceased 22-year-old.
Police say the shooting suspect initially left the scene, but they were subsequently able to identify him as Jesus Vargas. Detectives interviewed Mr. Vargas, who described witnessing the robbery, fearing for his life and the lives of others at the gas station, and firing his weapon. After shooting the robbery suspect, Mr. Vargas said he approached one of the apparent robbery victims and told him to retrieve his stolen possessions but asked the apparent victim not to identify him as he is on probation.
Upon further investigation, Houston police detectives found Mr. Scott’s phone and uncovered messages on the encrypted messaging app Telegram that appeared to detail a plan to carry out a robbery. An individual with the Telegram handle “CUHZ52” sent messages to Mr. Scott’s device the night before the fatal shooting, including a photo of a car that had been occupied on the night of the fatal encounter by two of Mr. Scott’s apparent robbery victims, Ransley Fernandes and Gleena Rodriguez. Another photo sent to Mr. Scott’s device appeared to be a selfie of Mr. Fernandes.
Detectives asked Mr. Fernandes about the photos and he confirmed that the selfie was indeed his image, but said he took it in December and was unsure if he shared it with anyone or posted it to social media.
Additional messages sent from “CUHZ52” to Mr. Scott’s device said “PUMP 8,” “THEY GONE BE THERE AT 12:30,” as well as messages telling Mr. Scott “JUST DON’T HIT HIS WIFE” and “WHEN YOU DONE RUN MAKE ALL THE [expletive] TO LOOK REAL.”
Congresswoman urges police to “Escape New York and move to Texas” …
Texas Republican Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne ran a full-page ad in the New York Post urging New York police officers to leave the city behind and come to the Lone Star State.
The ad in the newspaper’s April 9 edition features the headline: “Ladies and Gentlemen of Law Enforcement, It’s Time to Escape New York and Move to Texas!”
“Your lives don’t have to be endangered by violent career criminals who are never locked away,” reads the ad. “You don’t have to be beaten on the streets by gangs of illegal immigrant criminals. And you don’t have to be endlessly insulted by budget cuts by Defund the Police politicians.” “It’s time for you to leave these loathsome and destructive fools behind,” the ad continues. “Escape from New York.”
Ms. Van Duyne’s ad follows the death of slain New York policeman Johnathan Diller, who was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop last month. The 31-year-old officer and his partner had approached two men in a vehicle parked illegally in front of a bus stop.
Multiple media outlets reported that both suspects had lengthy criminal histories.
COVID RELATED NEWS
CDC hid finding of possible link between the COVID vaccines and tinnitus!
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners uncovered signs that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines might cause the persistent condition called tinnitus but never disclosed the findings to the public, The Epoch Times can report.
The signs were found while analyzing data from the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), which has been described as one of the stronger CDC surveillance systems because it utilizes health care records.
The detection of the signs came just after the CDC told a reporter that there were no signs of large numbers of cases of tinnitus, which commonly manifests as a constant ringing in the head, following COVID-19 vaccination, documents obtained by The Epoch Times show.
The CDC never updated the reporter, whose story reported that the CDC had not found a clustering of cases.
The CDC declined to comment.
The documents “prove that they were aware of a safety signal of tinnitus after the COVID-19 shots as early as 2022,” Dr. Joel Wallskog, co-chair of the advocacy group React19, told The Epoch Times via email. “However, to my knowledge, this safety signal was never communicated to the public and no further epidemiological study on tinnitus in VSD was ever completed.”
The Epoch Times obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Previous requests have yielded other evidence the CDC knew about possible safety problems with the COVID-19 vaccines but did not alert the public. That includes the detection in May 2022 of a safety signal for tinnitus and the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, in an analysis of data from another CDC system, which is based on reports filed by doctors and others.
“As time passes and more FOIA requests are executed, how many more safety signals will we learn about that the CDC knew about years ago? When does this nightmare end? When will the American public know the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is the CDC evil or incompetent? Or maybe both,” Dr. Wallskog added.
A CDC spokeswoman, according to one of the emails obtained by The Epoch Times, told a reporter on Sept. 21, 2022, that the CDC was aware of reports of tinnitus after COVID-19 vaccination lodged with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). That CDC-run system accepts reports from anybody, although most are filed by health care workers.
CANCEL CULTURE
Planet Fitness franchise hit with dozens of bomb threats since the Alaska transgender fracas!
Planet Fitness has been hit with more than two dozen bomb threats across the country following an incident involving a transgender woman — a biological man — shaving in the women’s locker room at a franchise in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The original incident occurred in March after one gym goer, Patricia Silva, discovered a man shaving in the women’s locker room. According to reports, she told employees and made a video about it.
“Good day, I just wanted to say I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in a women’s bathroom,” she said in one of the videos.
“I realize he wants to be a woman; he gets to be a woman. I love him in Christ. He’s a spiritual being having a human experience. He doesn’t like his gender, so he wants to be a woman,” she said, adding, “but I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom.”
“Alright, I just thought I’d say it out loud,” she said.
“I was a voice. That’s all I did. I have a voice, and I always use it,” she said of her calling attention to the matter and taking photos to show law enforcement.
She was later informed that Planet Fitness revoked her membership.
Planet Fitness’s chief corporate affairs officer McCall Gosselin later told Fox News Digital that Planet Fitness is the “home of the Judgement Free Zone” and is “committed to creating an inclusive environment.”
“Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity,” he said.
“The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated,” he added.
Since then, there have been bomb threats against the fitness chain across more than two dozen locations in several states, including at least three in Alabama, four in Rhode Island, four in Mississippi, six in Michigan, one in Kansas, one in Delaware, one in Maryland, three in Connecticut, and three in Florida.
One of the locations in Florida — the Old St. Augustine location — is one of several that actually evacuated the members.
“I think it’s stupid. I think it’s unnecessary,” one gym goer said of the threats.
“If you have opinions about it, you should not come out and threaten other people’s lives. The kids we talked to said their parents don’t want them to come to any place where people are threatening to bomb the place,” the individual added.
Planet Fitness does allow individuals to choose a locker room facility or bathroom based on “self- reported gender identity.”
“All members, including transgender members, may use Planet Fitness® locker room facilities, bathrooms, showers, and all other facilities/programs separated by sex based on their self-reported gender identity,” the policy reads.
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