WORLD NEWS
Russia sanctions Kamala Harris, Mark Zuckerberg, Toronto mayor
Russia has issued fresh retaliatory sanctions, including travel bans on United States Vice President Kamala Harris, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford and Toronto’s Mayor John Tory.
The wide-ranging list of 29 Americans and 61 Canadians released on Thursday includes several other members of the US administration of President Joe Biden and Canadian President Justin Trudeau’s government, as well as several prominent media figures.
The US helped Ukraine forces in their attack against Russia’s Moskva warship, according to a fresh revelation. A US surveillance aircraft provided Kyiv forces the accurate location of Russia’s now-sunken warship.
US marine surveillance P-8 Poseidon aircraft was tracking Moskva in the hours before the ship was attacked. The US aircraft had shared the location of the Russian vessel to the Ukrainian military, according to The Times.
Washington used its new marine surveillance aircraft to provide accurate targeting data to Ukrainian forces to sink the Russian Black Sea flag ship Moskva.
Kyiv struck the warship with its two Neptune missiles on April 13. The loss of Moskva is seen as humiliating to the Russian Navy and President Vladimir Putin’s leadership. Therefore, Moscow scaled up attacks against Kyiv to avenge the sinking of Moskva.
This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author
To understand the sinking of the Moskva and Putin’s impending retaliation against the United States, you first have to realize that any national leader wanting to make bold military moves first needs the support of his own people. In 1941, Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen (the US government knew all about it and even provoked it) in order to create the emotional support for the US to enter the Pacific theater of war.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was, essentially, the 9/11 of World War II. And just as with 9/11, the US government knew all about it and allowed it to take place in order to produce the casualties and emotional reaction that would see the American people demanding retaliation against Japan.
It has now been revealed that the US military ran the entire operation to sink the Moskva, including running the tracking of the ship via a P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, which then handed off fire solutions to the Ukrainians who were all trained by the US military as well. Thus, the United States provided the weapons, the training, the tracking and the fire solution to sink the Moskva. All Ukraine did was press the “fire” button, essentially. This is so widely known know that it’s even being reported by the UK Daily Mail. It reports:
REVEALED: US maritime surveillance plane was over Black Sea minutes before Russian flagship Moskva was ‘hit by Ukrainian missiles’
A P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft was patrolling the coast before the attack
The high-tech jet can spot ships on radar at ranges of more than 100 miles… The US Navy used its new marine surveillance aircraft to provide accurate targeting data to Ukrainian forces to sink the Russian Black Sea flag ship Moskva on April 13.
By sinking the Moskva, the US just handed Putin something akin to “Russia’s Pearl Harbor moment,” in which Putin can claim to his people that the USA initiated an attack on the Russian Navy, sinking one of their ships and killing hundreds of their people. This news has, of course, been paraded all across Russian media, driving domestic support for Putin even higher than before.
Just like with Pearl Harbor in the United States, the people of Russia are now demanding “payback” from the aggressors, whom they see as the United States. In effect, the USA just handed Putin the final piece of the puzzle that he needs to launch retaliatory nuclear strikes against the West.
UK, India agree to step up defence, trade cooperation
The United Kingdom and India have agreed to step up defence and business cooperation, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicating a bilateral free-trade deal could be wrapped up by October this year.
On his first visit to the Indian capital since taking office in 2019, Johnson held talks with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on ways to boost security ties between London and New Delhi, which buys more than half of its military hardware from Russia.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
To understand the sinking of the Moskva and Putin’s impending retaliation against the United States, you first have to realize that any national leader wanting to make bold military moves first needs the support of his own people. In 1941, Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen (the US government knew all about it and even provoked it) in order to create the emotional support for the US to enter the Pacific theater of war.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was, essentially, the 9/11 of World War II. And just as with 9/11, the US government knew all about it and allowed it to take place in order to produce the casualties and emotional reaction that would see the American people demanding retaliation against Japan.
It has now been revealed that the US military ran the entire operation to sink the Moskva, including running the tracking of the ship via a P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, which then handed off fire solutions to the Ukrainians who were all trained by the US military as well. Thus, the United States provided the weapons, the training, the tracking and the fire solution to sink the Moskva. All Ukraine did was press the “fire” button, essentially. This is so widely known know that it’s even being reported by the UK Daily Mail. It reports:
REVEALED: US maritime surveillance plane was over Black Sea minutes before Russian flagship Moskva was ‘hit by Ukrainian missiles’
A P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft was patrolling the coast before the attack
The high-tech jet can spot ships on radar at ranges of more than 100 miles… The US Navy used its new marine surveillance aircraft to provide accurate targeting data to Ukrainian forces to sink the Russian Black Sea flag ship Moskva on April 13.
Joe Biden Berates Florida Republicans: ‘Nothing Conservative’ About Punishing Disney
President Joe Biden criticized Republicans for trying to punish Disney after the company attacked Florida’s parental rights bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The president spoke out against the bill during a fundraiser hosted in Seattle by Brad Smith, the president and vice chair of Microsoft.
“There’s nothing conservative about throwing Disney out of its current posture… over saying gay?” Biden said, referring to the Republican-led effort to strip Disney’s special tax status on Thursday.
Florida Republicans pushed the law forward after the family entertainment company said they would fight Florida’s new law preventing teachers instructing students in kindergarten through third grade on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The law reached final passage in the Florida state House of representatives with 70 votes in favor, 38 against, and 11 missing votes.
DeSantis plans to sign the bill on Friday.
Biden called for unity, urging Americans to find common ground.
“We are more united… when we focus on what we have in common,” he said, adding, “If we don’t bring it together, what the hell are we gonna do?”
Biden urged wealthy Americans attending the fundraiser to help him keep Democrat majorities in the House and Senate.
“We can’t afford to lose the House, we can’t afford to lose the Senate,” he said, boasting that during his first term he had “gotten a helluva lot done.”
The president appeared frustrated that Americans still blamed him for high inflation.
“People are angry and don’t quite know what to do,” he said.
Trump: Piers Morgan ‘Deceptively’ Edited His Interview
Former President Donald Trump said pundit Piers Morgan deceptively edited his interview with the former president after the “Good Morning Britain” host published a video that appeared to show Trump walking out of the interview.
“Piers Morgan, like the rest of the Fake News Media, attempted to unlawfully and deceptively edit his long and tedious interview with me. He wanted to make it look like I walked out on the interview when my time limit of 20 minutes went over by an hour,” Trump said in a statement Wednesday.
Trump continued to say that his interview with Morgan “was taped by us as a means of keeping him honest” and added that “for those who want to make Piers look bad, compare his video promo and how it was doctored to the real thing.”
“Hopefully they will now be doing some big changes to their final product,” the former commander-in-chief added.
A recording of the interview that Trump released included audio of Trump and Morgan laughing and thanking one another. “That was a great interview,” Morgan is heard saying.
In a promo of the interview, Morgan alleged that Trump stormed out of an interview for his new show, “Uncensored,” which will stream on Fox Nation. The video, which featured short edited clips from the interview, included dramatic-sounding music and ended with a sound byte of Trump telling Morgan he’s “very dishonest,” although it’s not clear what exactly occurred.
Audio: Kevin McCarthy Tells Liz Cheney He Will Recommend Trump Resign
New York Times reporters Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin offered a recording on Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” allegedly of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) telling Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) that he would recommend to then-President Donald Trump that he should resign.
Earlier today, a spokesman denied the report that McCarthy called for Trump’s resignation from the upcoming book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future,” authored by Burns and Martin.
Partial transcript as follows:
CHENEY: I guess there’s a question. When we’re talking about the 25th Amendment resolution, and you asked if, you know, what happens if it gets there after he’s gone, is there any chance, are you hearing, that he might resign, is there any reason to think that might happen?
MCCARTHY: I’ve a few discussions. My gut tells me no, I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of days. From what I know of him, I mean you guys know him too, do you think he’d ever back away? But, what I think I’m going to do, is I’m going to call him. This is what I think, we know it’ll pass the House.
I think there’s a chance it’ll pass the Senate, even when he is gone. And I think there’s a lot of different ramifications for that. Now, I haven’t had a discussion with the DEMs, that if he did resign, with that happen? Now, this is one personal fear I have. I do not want to get into any conversation about Pence pardoning. Again, the only discussion I would have with him is that, I think this will pass. And it will be my recommendation you should resign. I mean, that would be my take. But I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know.
Supreme Court Revisits Decades-Old Miranda Rights Precedent
The Supreme Court revisited its 56-year-old precedent, Miranda v. Arizona, at an April 20 hearing as justices and attorneys sparred over the extent to which the landmark decision protects criminal defendants and provides a basis for post-trial litigation by acquitted defendants.
The specific issue in Vega v. Tekoh, court file 21-499, an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, is the following question: When an arresting officer fails to provide a criminal defendant with the warnings required by the Miranda decision, can that defendant file a federal civil rights lawsuit based solely on the failure to provide the warnings?
Law enforcement officer Carlos Vega arrested Terence Tekoh in 2014 on suspicion that he had sexually assaulted a patient at a Los Angeles medical facility where he worked. A criminal court jury acquitted Tekoh. Tekoh sued Vega, noting that the law enforcement officer had failed to provide a so-called Miranda warning to him before he offered what he later characterized as a false confession.
In the lawsuit, the trial court held that Miranda-related violations aren’t enough on their own to justify lawsuits against arresting officers. The often-reversed 9th Circuit overturned the trial court, and Vega filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court revisited its 56-year-old precedent, Miranda v. Arizona, at an April 20 hearing as justices and attorneys sparred over the extent to which the landmark decision protects criminal defendants and provides a basis for post-trial litigation by acquitted defendants.
The specific issue in Vega v. Tekoh, court file 21-499, an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, is the following question: When an arresting officer fails to provide a criminal defendant with the warnings required by the Miranda decision, can that defendant file a federal civil rights lawsuit based solely on the failure to provide the warnings?
Law enforcement officer Carlos Vega arrested Terence Tekoh in 2014 on suspicion that he had sexually assaulted a patient at a Los Angeles medical facility where he worked. A criminal court jury acquitted Tekoh. Tekoh sued Vega, noting that the law enforcement officer had failed to provide a so-called Miranda warning to him before he offered what he later characterized as a false confession.
In the lawsuit, the trial court held that Miranda-related violations aren’t enough on their own to justify lawsuits against arresting officers. The often-reversed 9th Circuit overturned the trial court, and Vega filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
News analysis
In a coordinated legal action between a number of Hillary Clinton operatives and associates, almost two dozen separate documents were simultaneously filed on April 19 in special counsel John Durham’s case against former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann.
This sudden flurry of mass filings included responses from former Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta, campaign manager Robby Mook, Clinton campaign lead lawyer Marc Elias, contractors Fusion GPS, the Clinton campaign itself, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The trigger for the flurry of filings was a request by Durham to unseal a number of emails involving the parties. The emails are currently being withheld on very questionable grounds of attorney–client privilege. Based on the coordinated filings, it appears that a large number of important people associated with the Clinton campaign are very concerned about the information in those emails becoming public.
Based on available metadata, it appears as if most of the individuals involved in Clinton’s scheme to vilify Trump with claims of Russia collusion were all communicating with each other as that scheme unfolded in real time.
The first person who filed in response to Durham’s request was Rodney Joffe, the tech executive who produced data that purportedly tied Trump to Russia. Joffe had been promised a top government job in case of a Hillary Clinton election victory.
Joffe claimed in his filing that his communications should be treated as privileged because they were part of his attorney-client relationship with Sussmann. Joffe was indeed a client of Sussmann’s starting in 2015. But, in an unexpected and perhaps unintentional comment, Joffe also disclosed that he had hired Sussmann specifically to advise him how to share sensitive information concerning Trump with government agencies—without revealing his identity and thereby exposing himself to potential liability.
Police: Georgia 4-Week-Old Dead After Father Spiked Bottle with Alcohol
A mother and father from Hiram, Georgia, have been charged with murdering their four-week-old infant, who doctors said “had a quantity of alcohol in its system that was well over four times the legal limit for an adult,” according to authorities.
In a release, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced it arrested Sydnei Dunn, 24, and Maquis Colvin, 25, on April 14, and both were charged with malice murder, a felony; second-degree murder, a felony; first-degree cruelty to children, a felony; and reckless conduct, a misdemeanor. Colvin faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and parole violation — both felonies.
On April 13, officials at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) called deputies to the hospital regarding the unresponsive infant who was taken to the hospital, the PCSO said in a press release. “CHOA officials stated that the circumstances surrounding the child’s condition did not make sense and sounded as if they needed to be looked into by law enforcement,” the PCSO said.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they met with medical professionals before speaking to the child’s parents, Sydnei Dunn and Maquis Colvin. After Dunn suggested that the child must have suffered from alcohol poisoning due to breastfeeding as she had consumed a significant amount of alcohol the previous day, she “indicated that the child’s father put alcohol in the baby’s bottle,” according to the PCSO.
That day, detectives issued a search warrant of the Hiram basement apartment and found evidence in addition to a firearm, the PCSO noted. Colvin, a convicted felon, is not allowed to possess or be near a firearm.
The following day, the child died “as a result of its condition,” hospital officials said, according to authorities. “Doctors further advised that the child had a quantity of alcohol in its system that was well over four times the legal limit for an adult,” the release said.
Both parents are being held at Paulding County Jail without bond, and they could face additional charges, according to the sheriff’s office.
Joe Biden’s Unpopularity Drags Down Vulnerable Senate Democrats
Vulnerable Senate Democrats in tough reelection bids continue to get dragged down with President Joe Biden as his unpopularity continues.
Democrats looking to save their slight majority in the Senate comes down to defending a handful of states, with members that need to tread lightly when it comes to the president.
As Politico noted, “The president’s popularity is dangerously low in the four states where Democratic incumbents are most endangered… And in all of them, President Joe Biden is underwater in the polls.”
Biden dragging down the four most endangered Democratic incumbents — Sens. Mark Kelly (AZ), Raphael Warnock (GA), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), and Maggie Hassan (NH) — has become one major factor in the campaign for Republicans looking to unseat them. As Politico added, a loss of just one seat will cost the Democrats their majority, which has caused some of the members to take steps to distance themselves from the party as Republican challengers and Republicans-aligned groups are using the president’s unpopularity to their advantage.
Less than two years ago, when Biden carried the four states to win his election against former President Donald Trump, his poll numbers have dropped to dangerously low levels from a president who has yet to be in office for half a term. The most recent pushback of policy disputes from the vulnerable Democrats is Biden lifting Title 42, a Trump-era border restriction. The Democrats are looking to distance themselves.
Politico also pointed out the vulnerable Democrats’ use of social media, which has shied away from praising the president and his administration and has instead focused on their efforts to urge the White House to take action. But, all have voted in wide support of the majority of Biden-backed agenda ideas. Kelly and Hassan have voted on Biden-backed legislation 97.7 percent of the time, while Warnock and Cortez Masto has 95.5 percent of the time.
A potentially precedent-setting disqualification hearing is underway Friday in an Atlanta courtroom, aimed at determining if Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is constitutionally barred from running for reelection because of her role in the January 6 insurrection.
Greene is expected to be called as a witness during the marathon hearing — making her the first lawmaker to testify under oath about their involvement in the insurrection. The outcome will reverberate beyond Georgia, because similar challenges are pending against other Republican officials and could be lodged against former President Donald Trump if he runs again in 2024.
The firebrand GOP lawmaker is in the courtroom with one of her close congressional allies, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who is sitting with her legal team. Greene walked in to a rousing applause and cheers from the crowd assembled in the courtroom. A court security official quickly chastised the room and said outbursts would not be tolerated.
The case resolves around a Civil War-era provision of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says any American official who takes an oath to uphold the Constitution is disqualified from holding any future office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” But how this applies to today is a hotly debated legal question.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Musk Secures $46.5 Billion Funding to Buy Twitter, Says Ready for Tender Offer
Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured the required financing to buy Twitter and take the company private, according to a new regulatory filing. Musk is also exploring a tender offer to buy shares directly from stockholders.
The document shows that Musk has received $46.5 billion in commitment to help finance the proposed deal. If he decides to go ahead with a tender offer, he will approach Twitter shareholders and offer to buy their shares within a specific time frame. He’s still considering whether to launch a tender offer for Twitter, according to the filing.
Musk, the richest man in the world, has secured $25.5 billion in debt financing from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions, including Bank of America, Barclays, and Mizuho. He has also committed to provide $21 billion in equity financing, according to the document.
Musk is seeking to negotiate a “definitive agreement” with the board for the acquisition of Twitter.
“Twitter hasn’t responded to the proposal,” Musk says, according to the filing. “Given the lack of response by Twitter,” he’s “exploring whether to commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares” at a price of $54.20 per share.
The billionaire, however, “has not determined whether to do so at this time.”
Some had speculated earlier that Musk lacked sufficient cash for the acquisition. The latest funding information, however, could make it harder for the board to claim he’s not a serious bidder.
Musk made a bid on April 14 to take the social media company private for $54.20 per share, which valued the company at around $43 billion. The firm’s board of directors the next day unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense to prevent a hostile takeover.
The poison pill, also known as a shareholder rights plan, is used as a defense strategy to make Musk’s takeover more expensive and difficult.
If Musk reaches 15 percent ownership, the poison pill will be triggered. That would allow other stockholders to purchase additional shares at a discounted price, thus diluting Musk’s ownership stake.
On April 4, Musk announced that he had purchased 73.5 million Twitter shares, or 9.2 percent of the firm. Musk later reduced his holdings to 73.1 million shares, or 9.1 percent of the company, according to a securities filing. Twitter’s other large shareholders include The Vanguard Group (10.3 percent), Morgan Stanley (8.4 percent), and BlackRock (6.5 percent).
Pressure Mounts on Twitter’s Board as Elon Musk Hints at Potential Tender Offer
Ownership contest for Twitter has devolved into a chess game after the company’s board last week adopted a poison pill to thwart an unwelcome takeover attempt by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
Many people around the world, including the company’s stockholders, are now eagerly awaiting the billionaire’s next move.
Musk on Tuesday posted a mysterious message on Twitter that had a blank space for a word followed by the phrase “is the Night.” The message was thought to be a veiled reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “Tender Is the Night.”
Tesla and SpaceX CEO had earlier posted a tweet that read “Love Me Tender,” which was surrounded by musical notes.
Breitbart Business Digest: ESG Is Cancel Culture for Fossil Fuels
If you want to know why the supply of oil is responding so sluggishly to demand, direct your attention toward Oregon.
The state came under fire on Thursday for its investments in fossil fuels. A group called Divest Oregon, which describes itself as “a statewide grassroots coalition of individuals and organizations representing unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities,” issued a report lambasting the state for allegedly holding $5.3 billion of investments in fossil fuel companies. That includes—gasp!—nearly $1 billion in coal company investments.
It is not just Oregon, of course. Back in February, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the state’s retirement fund would restrict investments in 21 shale oil and gas-producing companies. Maryland lawmakers have passed a bill making it much harder for any of its investment advisors to invest in anything that is deemed to contribute to climate change.
Interest in investing on what are known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors has exploded in recent years. According to Deliote’s Center for Financial Services, professionally managed assets with ESG mandates swelled to $46 trillion globally in 2021, representing nearly 40 percent of all assets under management. The result of this is that it has become incredibly hard to raise funds for expanding fossil fuel production. So even oil prices above $100 a barrel are not attracting capital into the sector.
In a recent episode of Bloomberg’s Odd Lots Podcast, Goldman Sachs’ top commodities strategist describes ESG investing as “a blunt instrument that is reducing capital flows into a very critical sector.” It is, in other words, what happens when cancel culture meets investing. The result is even more inflation and higher gasoline prices. If Joe Biden really wants to encourage more oil production in the U.S., he may want to lean on the ESG left to back off.
Report: Disney Suspends Movie Shoot over Complaint Against Bill Murray for Inappropriate Behavior
Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures has suspended production of the Aziz Ansari-directed movie Being Mortal reportedly over a complaint against star Bill Murray for what is being described as inappropriate behavior.
An investigation is currently underway regarding Murray, with production currently on hold after about a month of shooting, according to a report from Deadline. The complaint was filed last week, with production halting on Monday. Cast and crew were told about production being suspended late Wednesday in a letter from the studio.
It remains unclear who filed the complaint against Murray and what specific accusations the 71-year-old actor faces. Ansari, who co-stars in the movie, isn’t part of the complaint, nor is co-star Seth Rogen, according to Deadline.
Report: Warner Bros. Discovery to Cancel CNN+ Just 23 Days After Launch Announcement
Warner Bros. Discovery will reportedly shut down CNN+ 23 days after announcing the streaming service.
Warner Bros. Discovery will nix the streaming service on April 30 just after CNN after having fewer than 10,000 daily views, according to reports. The move comes after CNN was acquired by the parent company, Variety reported:
Spokespersons for CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery could not be reached for immediate comment. The decision puts an end to a venture that people familiar with the matter say rankled David Zaslav, the new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, from the start. Zaslav was annoyed by the decison of Jason Kilar, the former CEO of WarnerMedia when it was owned by AT&T, to launch CNN+ just weeks before Discovery was set to take over operations.
Chris Licht, the incoming CEO of CNN, sent a memo to staffers Thursday morning about “an important meeting” to be held at noon, and is at that time expected to inform employees about the decision, these people said. Licht has already told Andrew Morse, the CNN executive vice president who oversees the newly-launched streaming-video outlet, of the decision, these people said. Morse could not be reached for immediate comment.
CNN+ had been stricken with reports that many employees would be laid off in the coming weeks.
Netflix Nightmare: Stock Crash Cost Company $50 Billion
The sharp drop in Netflix stock “led to a wave of downgrades from Wall Street on fears over the company’s long-term growth potential,” resulting in a loss of more than $50 billion of its market cap.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
New Transistor Could Cut 5% of World’s Digital Energy Use While Upgrading Memory Capacity
Inside nearly every piece of electronic equipment, there’s a transistor—a simple component that receives a current and sends it in one or more other directions.
It’s one of those things that deserves an expression like “a new mousetrap,” because if someone were to invent a better one, that would change the industry immediately, to the inventor’s great fortune.
Now that very thing has happened, and a new transistor design could cut the entire world’s energy usage by around 5%, by reducing the number of individual transistors needed to store data by three-quarters.
Millions of transistors line the surface of every modern microchip, which itself is manufactured in staggering numbers around the world, reaching into the trillions. However, the microchip is now reaching the limit of how small it can be made—and with that, how much heat can be dispersed from the electronic demands of modern computing by something that’s only 25 silicon molecules-thick.
Physicist Peter Dowben, the Charles Bessey Professor of physics and astronomy at Nebraska University, has created a new design that to understand requires putting one’s thinking cap on.
Noninvasive sound technology developed at the University of Michigan breaks down liver tumors in rats, kills cancer cells, and spurs the immune system to prevent further spread—an advance that could lead to improved cancer outcomes in humans.
By destroying only 50% to 75% of liver tumor volume, the rats’ immune systems were able to clear away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% of animals.
“Even if we don’t target the entire tumor, we can still cause the tumor to regress and also reduce the risk of future metastasis,” said Zhen Xu, professor of biomedical engineering at U-M and corresponding author of the study.
Results also showed the treatment stimulated the rats’ immune responses, possibly contributing to the eventual regression of the untargeted portion of the tumor and preventing further spread of the cancer.
The treatment, called histotripsy, noninvasively focuses ultrasound waves to mechanically destroy target tissue with millimeter precision. The relatively new technique is currently being used in a human liver cancer trial in the United States and Europe.
This is not the first time there has been American opposition to tracking illegal immigrants and/or asylum seekers via smart technology. In 2020, California legislation was introduced to stop ICE from obtaining 24/7 customer utility usage data collected on “Smart” Meters. Of course, controversial, expensive, and hazardous “Smart” Meters (electric, gas, and water) allow utility companies to collect 24/7 utility usage data on ALL Americans as well as sell that data to 3rd parties. But I digress. ICE is now being sued for requiring asylum seekers to use a privacy invasive app.
From GovTech:
ICE Gets Sued for Privacy Concerns Over Immigrant Tracking
U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement has been using an app called SmartLINK to monitor immigrants. The app was touted as an alternative to detention, but civil rights groups believe the app violates privacy.
Davide Mamone, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
(TNS) — A tracking app used by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement that was initially lauded as an alternative to detention has raised concerns about immigrants’ privacy and civil rights.
ICE began using the SmartLINK app in 2018, during the Donald Trump administration, but recently released data shows the number of asylum seekers being monitored by the app has nearly tripled since Joe Biden took office. The New Orleans field office is ranked No. 3 out of the 24 field offices in the number of asylum seekers being monitored by the technology.
On April 14, three immigrant advocacy groups — Mijente, Just Futures Law and Community Justice Exchange — filed a lawsuit against ICE, calling on the agency to provide information showing what data is being collected in the program, and how that data is used, either by the government or law enforcement agencies’ contractors.
The privacy concerns stem from a reported lack of transparency in how immigrants’ data are stored by BI Inc., the private company that was granted $2.2 billion to run alternative-to-detention programs.
“There isn’t a lot of clarity about the limitations on how the data collected can be used and what the regulations are. We want transparency to understand what’s happening,” said Jacinta Gonzalez, campaign director of No Tech for ICE with Mijente, a Latinx rights organization that support asylum seekers.
“The program asks migrants to send pictures of their location. They are under constant surveillance 24/7, seven days a week.”
HEALTH
Arizona’s Top Water Official: “We’re Going To Have To Live With Less Water”
Following the U.S. Department of the Interior’s call to limit water deliveries from Lake Powell, Arizona’s top water official warned of an impending water crisis that could affect the drinking water for millions of people.
“This is really getting to (be) a health and safety issue… the health and safety of those who want to turn on the tap and have water,” Tom Buschatzke, Arizona’s director of water resources, told Phoenix’s 12 News on Sunday.
He said Arizona and other western states have until the end of the week to respond to an emergency request by the federal government to delay water deliveries from the Colorado River, a move that would hopefully allow more water to flow into Lake Powell.
“I never thought this day would come this quickly … But I think we always knew that this day was potentially out there,” he said.
Lake Powell recently declined to 3,525 feet (1,075 meters), the lowest level since the federal government dammed the Colorado River at Glen Canyon (located in northern Arizona) more than five decades ago. If Lake Powell drops below 3,490 feet (1,063 meters), it could begin to inhibit the production of hydropower and the movement of water from the dam.
Buschatzke said the water outlook is bleak, adding, “we’re not in danger of shutting off the taps at home today — but the levels of the lakes [Lake Powell & Lake Mead] would become difficult to move water past the dams because of the infrastructure design — so even if there is water in the reservoir, it’s limited to how much can come out.”
He said the goal is to keep water levels at Lake Powell high enough to continue operations at Glen Canyon Dam and supply water to Lake Mead.
Why Has Early Puberty Skyrocketed During the Pandemic?
Incidence of early puberty has surged since the start of the COVID pandemic, and is affecting children at ages that are historically unprecedented
Many children diagnosed with slow-progressing early puberty also experienced an acceleration of pubertal progressing during and/or after lockdown
Early puberty can have serious consequences for those affected. It’s been linked to a higher risk for depression, eating disorders, substance abuse and antisocial behavior
The cause for the unprecedented rise in early puberty is unknown, but experts suspect it has to do with lifestyle changes related to lockdowns, such as stress, elevated electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure, an unhealthy diet, low physical activity, increased obesity, elevated exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the home and poor sleep
Several COVID-19 clinical trials have involved anti-androgen drugs, with many showing positive results in terms of blocking the progression of infection. Some have suggested the influence of androgen on SARS-CoV-2 infection may be why young children have such a low incidence of COVID-19, as they have low androgen levels
How Does Coffee Affect Your Metabolism?
There’s an, often unspoken, effect of coffee drinking that many would consider a benefit — it makes you poop
Colon activity increases quickly after a cup of coffee — within four minutes — and the effect persists for at least 30 minutes
In terms of acting as a colonic stimulant, drinking caffeinated coffee has effects similar to that of eating a meal, and leads to activity that is 60% stronger than drinking water and 23% stronger than drinking decaffeinated coffee
Molecules including exorphins, which are opioid-like compounds in coffee, motilin or the hormone gastrin may be involved in coffee’s metabolic effects, possibly due to neurohumoral responses, meaning they involve both neural and hormonal mechanisms
By potentially increasing metabolic rate and enhancing the function of brown fat, it’s possible that coffee could also contribute to weight loss
Eat This Kind of Meat and You Could End Up With Alzheimer’s
For a number of years now, researchers have theorized and found evidence suggesting Alzheimer’s disease may in fact be a type of prion-based disease, capable of being contracted via prion-contaminated meat and transmitted via certain invasive medical procedures
Research published in 2011 found a prion-like protein called TDP-43 in 25% to 50% of Alzheimer’s patients, and research presented in 2014 revealed Alzheimer’s patients with TDP-43 were 10 times more likely to have been cognitively impaired at death than those without it.
More recent research adds further weight to this hypothesis, finding the two hallmark proteins associated with Alzheimer’s — amyloid beta and tau — act as prions, effectively making it a double-prion disease
Higher levels of prion-like amyloid beta and tau were found in those with early onset of Alzheimer’s who died at an earlier age, with tau buildup showing the strongest correlation
Compared to a patient who died of Alzheimer’s at the age of 90, a patient who died at 40 had on average 32 times higher amounts of tau prions in their brain
Other recent studies suggest amyloid beta is an antimicrobial peptide, a primary effector protein of your innate immune system that target bacteria, viruses and fungi, which has led to the development of the antimicrobial protection hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease. The presence of beta amyloid may not be the actual cause of Alzheimer’s but rather the result of an innate defense mechanism against prion infection
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
American opposition to controversial GMO mosquitoes being released in their communities is not new (see 1, 2). Nevertheless, last month the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the release of billions more in California and Florida. Of course, there continues to be differences of opinion in regard to the mosquitoes’ effectiveness and safety.
From Children’s Health Defense:
Bill Gates-Funded Biotech Firm Claims GMO Mosquito Project a ‘Success,’ But Critics Cite Lack of Proof
Oxitec this week said its first study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the U.S. produced “positive” results, but critics said the experiment so far hasn’t stemmed the spread of mosquito-borne illness.
Oxitec this week announced results of the first open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the U.S.
The U.K.-based firm described the results as “positive,” but said, “Larger tests are still needed to determine whether the insects can achieve the ultimate goal of suppressing a wild population of potentially virus-carrying mosquitoes.”
The company’s self-reported results are not yet independently confirmed or peer-reviewed.
Oxitec, the recipient of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for “self-limited mosquito field trials,” in April 2021 launched its pilot project in the Florida Keys.
The company completed the first stage of the study with the release over seven months of nearly 5 million engineered Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
The pilot study was conducted under an experimental use permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It was the first to be approved in the U.S., though the company has since received a permit to conduct a similar experiment in California.
Reporting this week on Oxitec’s announcement about its Florida results, Nature stated:
“Wild A. aegypti mosquitoes can carry viruses such as chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever, so scientists have sought ways to reduce their populations. Oxitec’s engineered males carry a gene that is lethal to female offspring.
“If all goes to plan, when released into the environment, the engineered males should mate with wild females, and their female offspring will die before they can reproduce. Male offspring will carry the gene and pass it on to half of their progeny. As each generation mates, more females die, and the A. aegypti population should dwindle.”
Oxitec’s pilot project in the Florida Keys involves releasing up to 1 billion OX5034 mosquitoes — the first genetically modified (GM) mosquito approved for release in the U.S — in Monroe County over a two-year period.
Oxitec said the mosquitoes have a “self-limiting” gene that makes the females dependent on the antibiotic tetracycline. Without the drug, they will die.
Mosquitoes require water to mature from an egg to an adult. By adding water to the boxes the mosquitoes are deployed in, both GM males and GM females will hatch.
However, with no tetracycline present in the box, the GM females are expected to die in early larval stages.
The male mosquitoes will survive and carry the gene. When they leave the boxes, according to Oxitec, the insects will fly away to mate with wild females to pass the gene to the next wild generation.
Hot, dry and windy conditions mean some drought-stricken areas of the Southwest face an “extremely critical” threat of fire Friday, from central and eastern New Mexico to eastern Colorado, including Denver.
Other higher population centers threatened include Albuquerque in New Mexico and Colorado Springs in Colorado.
“A dangerous and dire weather situation will take shape today,” the National Weather Service (NWS) in Albuquerque said. “Extremely critical fire weather is possible today when very strong winds will combine with exceptionally low humidity, above normal temperatures, and an unstable airmass.”
COVID RELATED NEWS
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) has the right to make a partnering U.S. lab wipe all data arising from their collaborative work, a legal document reveals.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) of cooperation, signed between the Wuhan lab and the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, makes it obligatory for each of the two labs to delete “secret files” or materials upon the request of the other party.
“The party is entitled to ask the other to destroy and/or return the secret files, materials, and equipment without any backups,” states the MOU obtained by U.S. Right to Know, a nonprofit investigative research group focused on public health, through a freedom of information request.
The MOU focused on promoting research and training cooperation between the two labs. It was signed in 2017 and stays in effect through this October. But the confidentiality terms would remain binding even after the agreement’s five-year duration expires, the agreement states.
The document goes on to broadly define what materials are to be treated as “confidential,” opening the door to potentially all documents and data from any collaboration being subject to a deletion request.
“All cooperation and exchange documents, details and materials shall be treated as confidential info by the parties,” the MOU states.
The WIV has been at the center of the controversy due to growing speculation that the virus that causes COVID-19, which has now killed millions around the globe, may have leaked from the facility. The lab has denied these allegations but Beijing has blocked international investigators to data and records from the facility thus preventing any meaningful probe into the hypothesis.
WIV and the Galveston National Laboratory formally declared their partnership the following year to “streamline future scientific and operational collaborations on dangerous pathogens,” according to a joint announcement in the journal Science.
Experts said the MOU terms about data removal raise alarm bells and can potentially constitute a breach of the law.
“The clause is quite frankly explosive,” Reuben Guttman, a partner at Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC who focuses on ensuring the integrity of government programs, told Right to Know. “Anytime I see a public entity, I would be very concerned about destroying records.”
“You can’t just willy nilly say, ‘well, you know, the Chinese can tell us when to destroy a document.’ It doesn’t work like that,” he added. “There has to be a whole protocol.”
FDA official: We can’t keep ‘boosting’ for COVID-19
President Joe Biden receives a COVID-19 booster shot in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive office Building, Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, at the White House. (Official White House photo by Cameron Smith)
A top FDA official says a fourth COVID booster shot should be seen as a “stop gap” measure, concluding “we simply can’t be boosting people as frequently as we are.”
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, made the remark at the recent meeting of the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, TrialSite reported.
“I think we are very much on board with the idea that we simply can’t be boosting people as frequently as we are,” said Marks, a New York University-trained molecular biologist and hematologist/medical oncologist.
Marks said he’s the “first to acknowledge that an additional fourth booster dose that was authorized was a stopgap measure until we got things in place for the next potential booster, given the emerging data researching … advanced vaccines, mucosal vaccines, pan coronavirus vaccines.”
“But we are not going to get there for this coming year,” he continued. “And so this is really, trying to do the best we can with the knowledge we have at hand, which is something that we had to do a fair amount of over the past two years.”
GOOD NEWS
Seven in 10 Americans Said Their Mom is Their Best Friend: ‘They are Superheroes’
People may come and go, but moms are forever friends. In fact, seven in 10 Americans said their mom is their best friend.
A survey of 2,000 adults asked them how they show their appreciation toward the women in their lives who are mothers and found that three in five believe every day should be Mother’s Day (60%).
A whopping 86% of respondents said these women are the most hardworking people they know, but 69% agree that moms don’t get enough credit for all that they do.
Seven in 10 Americans said their mom is their best friend, and 63% said their mom is a superhero who can take on any challenge and resolve it with grace.
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