Today's News: August 11, 2022

WORLD NEWS

‘Anything But A Cashless Society’: UK Consumers Defy Banks’ War On Cash

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has been pushing hard for a ‘cashless society’ in a post-pandemic world, though physical money has made a comeback in at least one European country as consumers increasingly use notes and coins to help them balance household budgets amid an inflationary storm.

Britain’s Post Office released a report Monday that revealed even though the recent accelerated use of cards and digital payments on smartphones, demand for cash surged this summer, according to The Guardian. It said branches handled £801mln in personal cash withdrawals in July, an increase of 8% over June. The yearly change on last month’s figures was up 20% versus the July 2021 figure of £665mln.

Across the Post Office’s 11,500 branches, £3.31bln in cash was deposited and withdrawn in July — a record high for any month dating back over three centuries of operations.

The report pointed out that increasing physical cash demand was primarily due to more people managing their budgets via notes and coins on a “day-by-day basis.” It said some withdrawals were from vacationers needing cash for “staycations” in the UK. About 600,000 cash payouts totaling £90mln were from people who received power bill support from the government, the Post Office noted.

Britain is “anything but a cashless society,” according to the Post Office’s banking director Martin Kearsley.

“We’re seeing more and more people increasingly reliant on cash as the tried and tested way to manage a budget. Whether that’s for a staycation in the UK or if it’s to help prepare for financial pressures expected in the autumn, cash access in every community is critical,” Kearsley said.

We noted in February 2021, UK’s largest ATM network saw plummeting demand as consumers reduced cash usage. At the time, we asked this question: “How long will the desire for good old-fashioned bank notes last?

… and the answer is not long per the Post Office’s new report as The Guardian explains: “inflation going up and many bills expected to rise further – has led a growing numbers of people to turn once again to cash to help them plan their spending.”

So much for WEF, central banks, and major corporations pushing for cashless societies worldwide, more importantly, trying to usher in a hyper-centralized CBDC dystopia. With physical cash back in style in the UK, the move towards a cashless society could be a much more challenging task for elites than previously thought.

The Chinese Regime Commits and Enables Human Trafficking: US State Dept Report

The Chinese regime commits and enables trafficking in persons, primarily by subjecting religious and ethnic minorities to forced labor, according to the U.S. Department of State’s latest Trafficking in Persons Report.

Forced labor in China is so prevalent—that it amounts to a “government policy or pattern”—conducted by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials at all levels, the report stated.

Chinese citizens have further reportedly suffered forced labor at Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as “One Belt, One Road”) projects abroad due to the regime’s neglect to supervise recruitment and labor conditions, the report added.

During the reported period—from April 2021 to March 2022—China showed indicators of state-sanctioned forced labor, did not meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons, and did not make serious efforts to fight it, causing the country to rank among the lowest tier of nations, the State Department said in the report.

U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Judge Orders Department of Justice to Respond to Requests to Unseal FBI’s Trump Warrant

The Justice Department has to respond to motions to unseal a warrant that triggered the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, according to a magistrate judge who reportedly approved the search.

Judicial Watch and the Albany Times Union newspaper filed a motion to unseal the document earlier this week, which was granted by a judge in the case.

“On or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on August 15, 2022, the Government shall file a Response to the Motion to Unseal,” wrote U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Wednesday afternoon, referring to the Department of Justice.

“The response may be filed ex parte and under seal as necessary to avoid disclosing matters already under seal. In that event, the Government shall file a redacted Response in the public record. If it chooses, the Government may file a consolidated Response to all Motions to Seal,” he wrote.

Neither the FBI nor Justice Department has issued public comments about the raid, which was first confirmed by Trump on Monday evening.

The FBI declined to comment when contacted by The Epoch Times, and the Justice Department has not responded to several requests for comment.

As for the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden was not aware of the raid before Trump’s announcement. Her claim was refuted by Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“What I can tell you definitively and for sure, he was not aware of this,” Jean-Pierre said of Biden. “Nobody at the White House was. Nobody was given a heads up and we did not know about what happened yesterday.

Eric Trump Reveals More Details From the FBI Mar-a-Lago Raid

Former President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump revealed that FBI agents wouldn’t hand over the search warrant during their Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago and removed an attorney from the property.

“There’s 30 agents there,” he told the Daily Mail on Aug. 10 of the FBI raid. ‘They told our lawyer … you have to leave the property right now. Turn off all security cameras.

“They would not give her the search warrant. So they showed it to her from about 10 feet away. They would not give her a copy of the search warrant.”

Attorney Christina Bobb was confused as to why the FBI couldn’t present the search warrant, according to Eric Trump.

“It’s all a coordinated attack with the FBI,” he said. “Do you think that the FBI director is going to raid the former president’s house, especially a house as you know, kind of world-renowned as Mar-a-Lago … without getting the approval of President [Biden]?”

The younger Trump said security cameras weren’t turned off. FBI agents accessed areas of the property where they “shouldn’t have been,” he claimed.

The former president confirmed the FBI raid on his property on the evening of Aug. 8. Both the FBI and Department of Justice haven’t issued public comments about the matter; The Epoch Times has contacted both agencies for comment.

Unconfirmed reports and anonymous sources say the raid pertained to a Department of Justice probe into whether Donald Trump held onto government documents after he left the White House last year.

All presidential correspondence and documentation have to be handed over to the National Archives when a president leaves office, according to a 1978 law.

Ideologically Driven New York Bail Law Needs a Reality Check, Former Prosecutor Says

Former New York City prosecutor Jim Quinn, a vocal critic of New York’s 2019 bail law since day one, still hopes state lawmakers face reality and repeal the damaging law.

In his latest report, published under the Manhattan Institute, Quinn shows how earlier ideologically-driven movements aided the birth of the law, how the law drove up re-offending rates and crime, and how the two fixes didn’t solve the law’s root problem.

Quinn is a former executive assistant district attorney at the Queens District Attorney’s Office, one of five district attorney offices in New York’s five boroughs. He worked as a Queens prosecutor for 42 years.

His report came as the debate over criminal justice laws heats up in New York.

Recently, two high-profile Democrats—New York mayor Eric Adams and Albany County district attorney David Soares—joined Republican forces to plead for a special legislative session to fix bail reform and raise the age law, respectively.

So far, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins showed no appetite for it.

Trump Pleads the Fifth During Deposition in New York Probe Into His Business Practices

Former President Donald Trump said he declined to answer questions during a deposition on Aug. 10 in the New York investigation into his business.

“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question,” Trump said on Truth Social after meeting with New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice,” he added.

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says in part that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”

The deposition came after months of delay following a judge’s order in February.

James, a Democrat who vowed while campaigning to take action against Trump if she won the election, began investigating the Trump Organization shortly after she entered office in 2019.

James has said that the investigation into Trump’s business uncovered evidence of fraud, and asked a court in the state to compel the testimony of Trump and two of his children. New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump, Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump to testify. An appeal was rejected by the state’s top appeals court in June.

Trump said that based on his counsel’s advice, “I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”

James’ office declined to comment.

Conservative Group Says Wisconsin Voting Van Violates Neutrality Rules

A city van for voting visited majority-Democrat vicinities of Racine, Wisconsin, more often than it visited Republican ones, a complaint by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) said.

This violation of voting laws must not be vindicated, wrote WILL deputy counsel, Anthony LoCoco.

“Racine’s use of mobile voting sites violates clear directives in state law on the collection of absentee ballots at alternative sites.

“WEC [Wisconsin Elections Commission] must make clear that Racine is violating the law and ensure that clerks across the state understand what is and is not permitted in Wisconsin law,” he said.

As of now, the city plans to use the voting van again in November’s midterm election.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Woke Airline Policies Threaten Safety, Workers Say

Southwest Airlines Co. is basking in accolades for its “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) efforts, award-winning customer service, and record-breaking quarterly revenues.

Behind the scenes of that rosy picture, heartaches are afflicting Southwest, called “the airline with Heart” because of its heart-shaped logo and a corporate culture steeped in “The Golden Rule,” treating others the same way they’d like to be treated.

But eight current Southwest employees, including three minorities, told The Epoch Times that “woke, leftist” DEI policies, as implemented, have tarnished the cherished Golden Rule principle, fractured a once-cohesive workforce, and, ultimately, may put safety at risk.

Faced with pandemic-related staffing shortages and pressure to add minorities, the company has changed the way it hires, trains, and disciplines workers—mostly to benefit less-qualified new hires representing the diversity rainbow, the employees say.

One Southwest flight attendant, a Hispanic female, said: “They are compromising safety for the sake of race, gender identity, and sexual preference … They’re risking people’s lives because of agendas.”

Southwest, one of America’s largest air carriers, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.

Similar issues have spread industry-wide, according to 10 airline employees who agreed to be interviewed. Four are pilots and six are flight attendants; most have 20 or more years of experience. All of them, including two American Airlines pilots, spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their jobs.

While no one thinks the policies are causing an imminent threat of a plane falling out of the sky tomorrow, all of the interviewees agreed that each time a standard is lowered, or a less-qualified employee is hired, the risk that something can go horribly wrong inches forward a notch or two. In an industry that depends on a near-miracle integration of people, machinery, and computers, even a few deviations can culminate in catastrophe.

Still, some employees worry about what could happen if current trends continue to stress out and distract safety professionals. Said one flight attendant: “It’s a recipe for disaster. I just hope I’m not at work when it happens.”

Ex-Trump Adviser Says There Are Clear Winners From Democrat Spending Bill—Just Not America

China and Russia are the clear winners of the the carbon-reducing provisions in the Democrats’ latest spending bill that aim to cut fossil fuel emissions by 40 percent by 2030, according to former President Donald Trump’s erstwhile economic adviser.

Stephen Moore, a Trump-era adviser and senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told NTD in a recent interview that the climate-related provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act—now en route to final House approval—would hamstring American energy production and benefit adversaries.

“The two big winners from this bill clearly are Russia and China,” Moore said, adding that he thinks the bill is not just bad for the U.S. economy but it’s “really bad for national security to give up our energy dominance.”

Moore pointed out that China—which is responsible for around five times more carbon emissions than the United States—is now building dozens of massive coal plants and “obviously, they don’t care about climate change.”

As a major exporter of fossil fuels, Russia also stands to gain from efforts to accelerate curbs on U.S. carbon emissions as that would keep crude prices elevated and bolster Russia’s revenue stream, Moore said.

The economist argued that the Biden administration has “basically declared a war on our fossil fuels,” while pointing to Germany’s “experiment” of going all-in on clean energy a decade or so ago that he said “basically led to a complete economic collapse.”

“Let’s not follow in their footsteps,” he said.

Elon Musk Sells $6.9 Billion in Tesla Shares Ahead of Twitter Court Battle

Elon Musk has sold a further $6.9 billion of his shares in Tesla Inc., according to new filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission published on Aug. 9.

The selloff took place between Aug. 5 and Aug. 9 following Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting last week, and amid the tech billionaire’s legal battle with social media platform Twitter.

Musk sold 7,924,107 shares, according to multiple filings. He now owns just over 155 million shares in Tesla.

In April, Musk sold $8.5 billion worth of shares in the company just days after he agreed to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. At the time, the businessman stated that there were “no further TSLA sales planned.”

However, taking to Twitter on Aug. 10, the CEO of the electric vehicle maker said the latest share selloffs were done in the “hopefully unlikely” event that he would be forced to buy Twitter and would be unable to secure the funding needed for the deal.

The latest sales bring total stock sales by Musk to about $32 billion in the past ten months.

Asked by one Twitter user if he was finished selling Tesla shares after the latest selloffs were disclosed, Musk responded: “Yes. In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock.”

Texas Restaurant Owner Sues US Labor Dept. Over Compensation Rule

Texas restaurateur Robert Mayfield is suing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to halt a rule that restricts his ability to offer his managers compensation packages that he believes are appropriate.

The legal complaint (pdf) in the case, Mayfield v. U.S. Department of Labor, court file 1:22-cv-00792, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on Aug. 9. Labor Secretary Martin Walsh is also named as a defendant.

Mayfield, a resident of Austin, is the sole shareholder and owner of R.U.M. Enterprises Inc. He took over the family business in 1979 and has been working for it for 43 years. The company operates 13 Dairy Queen franchises and a Wally’s Burger Express.

Mayfield already pays well above the minimum wage, beginning at $15 per hour to bring in top talent. When they take on management roles, employees receive a guaranteed salary, as well as bonuses based on company profits.

But his managers would earn larger bonuses if a DOL regulation gave employers greater flexibility in determining compensation rates, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a national nonprofit public interest law firm that’s representing Mayfield.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act specifically exempts “bona fide executive, administrative, or professional (EAP) employees” from its default hourly pay rules, but the department issued a regulation contradicting the law’s exemption for employees performing executive, administrative, or professional duties unless they are paid $35,568 annually.

DOL boosted the salary level requirement by 50 percent in 2019—from $23,660 annually. Now, the Biden administration has announced that it plans to propose a new rule that will likely raise the minimum salary even higher. Some analysts say the new floor could be as high as $70,000.

“The Department of Labor doesn’t have authority to dictate salary level requirements for management-level employees that Congress has exempted from hourly pay requirements,” PLF attorney Luke Wake told The Epoch Times.

“If Congress wanted a salary level requirement for exempt white-collar employees, it would have said so in clear terms—rather than giving a blank check for the Secretary of Labor to draw the line wherever he might like.”

Nothing in the Fair Labor Standards Act gives DOL authority “to impose salary requirements on this class of employees at all,” Wake said.

According to the legal complaint, the Constitution gives Congress alone “the power to make law and prohibits Congress from giving away its lawmaking power to the Executive Branch.” Despite this, the secretary asserts he has “broad, discretionary lawmaking power to impose and freely modify salary-level requirements for executive (i.e., management) employees who are expressly exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s general rule that employees must be paid on an hourly basis.”

DOL claims Congress gave it the power to make the rule when it authorized it to “define” and “delimit” the scope of the act’s exemption for management employees, but PLF says the statutory text denies any power to mandate salary levels.

“Any other interpretation of the statute would violate the separation of powers because Congress cannot give the Secretary an unbridled power to decide what salaries employers should pay their exempt employees,” the complaint states.

But DOL “has long assumed that it has that authority. And we don’t think that’s the proper interpretation of the statute,” Wake said.

The department argues that it has what amounts to “lawmaking power with regard to this issue and the Constitution prohibits Congress from giving away its lawmaking powers,” the lawyer added.

Department of Labor officials didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Time for comment.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Robot Arms Replace Shelf Stockers In Japan Stores, Targets World

Telexistence Inc. and FamilyMart Co. are rolling out a fleet of AI-driven robots to restock shelves in 300 convenience stores across Japan.

The robot arms are designed to replenish drinks in refrigerators and are now in mass production, Tokyo-based Telexistence said in a statement Wednesday. They’ll be installed in FamilyMart locations across major metropolitan areas later this month and help relieve store workers while also filling the void left by a shrinking workforce in the country.

Dubbed TX SCARA — standing for Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm — the machines are largely autonomous, with remote piloting as a fallback option should the artificial intelligence fail or encounter out-of-place items. Each unit can replace one to three hours of human work per day per store, Telexistence said.

“The decline in Japan’s labor population is one of the key management issues for FamilyMart to continue stable store operations,” said Tomohiro Kano, general manager at FamilyMart. “The newly created time can be reallocated to customer service and shop floor enhancement.”

FamilyMart will pay Telexistence a monthly fee for the robot’s labor, its maintenance and the support of remote workers who can pilot the arm using a virtual reality headset when needed. The bots can work without human assistance 98% of the time, Telexistence said.

US tech giants Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. collaborated with Telexistence on the development and technology of the bots. The SCARA arms use Nvidia’s Jetson AI platform to process information and Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure to record and reference sales data to optimize restocking tasks.

The 5G War — Technology Versus Humanity

5G relies primarily on the bandwidth of the millimeter wave, known to cause a painful burning sensation. It’s also been linked to eye and heart problems, suppressed immune function, genetic damage and fertility problems

FCC admits no 5G safety studies have been conducted or funded by the agency or telecom industry, and that none are planned

The FCC has been captured by the telecom industry, which in turn has perfected the disinformation strategies employed by the tobacco industry before it

Persistent exposures to microwave frequencies like those from cellphones can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and nuclear DNA damage from free radicals produced from peroxynitrite

Excessive exposures to cellphones and Wi-Fi networks have been linked to chronic diseases such as cardiac arrhythmias, anxiety, depression, autism, Alzheimer’s and infertility

>>Video: Everything You Need to Know About 5G

HEALTH

Light at Night Boosts Obesity, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure

Exposure to any amount of light at night has detrimental effects on the health of older adults, increasing the risk of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes

Even one night of sleep with moderate light exposure increased nighttime heart rate, decreased heart rate variability and increased next-morning insulin resistance in a separate study

A 2019 study found that exposure to artificial light at night while sleeping was significantly associated with an increased risk of weight gain and obesity

Nighttime exposure to light inhibits the secretion of melatonin, which can cause circadian disruptions that play a role in cancer

If your bedroom is affected by light pollution, be sure to use blackout shades to keep light out or wear an eye mask when you go to sleep; also remove all sources of light from your bedroom, including a digital alarm clock or cellphone

What Happens When You Stop Taking Collagen? An Expert Explains

Ever since collagen supplements exploded onto the market, there has been some controversy over whether or not they, well, work. (Our take? They absolutely do, and there’s plenty of research to back us up!) UK-based doctor and nutrition research expert Iddy Mughal, MBBS, MRes agrees; recently, he even posted a quick summary of collagen supplement research, with some pretty interesting takeaways.

Not only does Mughal name-drop multiple clinical studies and a meta-analysis review showcasing the skin benefits of hydrolyzed collagen supplements, but he also touches on what happens when you stop taking them.* Here, a quick overview.

What happens when you stop taking collagen?

Hydrolyzed collagen supplements have been shown to promote the body’s natural levels of collagen.* This is important, especially for those with concerns about skin aging (think fine lines and wrinkles), as collagen production decreases with age.

The research shows that these hydrolyzed collagen peptides are able to support skin elasticity and dermal collagen density, assuming you consume it on a daily basis. But Mughal explains that “the beneficial effects [of collagen] lasted up to one month after stopping the supplement.”*

Let’s dive further into the research, shall we? One clinical trial found that participants who took 2.5 grams of collagen peptides once daily for 24 weeks experienced stronger nails and improved growth rate—and after four weeks post-supplementation, 88% of them had maintained that improvement. Another randomized controlled trial measuring eye wrinkle formation also found positive, long-lasting effects four weeks after the last time participants took collagen peptides (again 2.5 grams). Finally, a 2019 study found that a liquid collagen supplement (which included collagen peptides, acerola fruit extract, vitamin C, zinc, biotin, and a vitamin E complex) was associated with positive effects on skin hydration, elasticity, roughness, and density—and after a follow-up period of four weeks, those benefits were “substantially retained.”*

In context, this means that if you skip a day or two of your collagen supplement, you’re not going to see a dramatic drop off (although, we still recommend you stick to a daily routine if you can!). Again, that doesn’t mean you should slack off when it comes to collagen; the benefits noted in the clinical trials above came from a routine supplement routine. Emphasis on routine.

Mughal finishes up the video by noting that skin health is largely related to diet, but, “objectively speaking, collagen supplements do help.”*

—> Power Mall Products of Recommendation:

This Surprising Ingredient Will Make Your Baked Goods Way Healthier, Study Finds

If you’re aiming to build a more sustainable lifestyle, odds are you’ve already taken up composting your food scraps. But have you considered actually integrating them into your recipes? Although not all food remnants are going to complement your baking, there’s one ingredient that may actually be worth looking into: banana peels. More specifically, banana peel flour.

Sure, you’ve probably heard of almond or oat flour, but a new study recently revealed that using banana peels within your baking alongside traditional flour can actually provide a slew of nutritional benefits. Let’s take a look.

Baking with banana peel flour.

Looking specifically at sugar cookies prepared with varying amounts of banana peel flour substituted for wheat flour, this study published in ACS Food Science & Technology discovered several benefits. Compared to “control” cookies (i.e., with no banana additions), cookies that had 15 percent of wheat flour substituted with banana peel flour had the highest level of moisture (important for cookie consistency) and micronutrient content, plus an increase in antioxidant properties without changing the flavor or appearance of the cookie.

“Banana flour is mostly made of carbohydrates, but it also provides some fiber and protein,” registered dietitian Mia Syn, RDN previously told mbg. Although cookies in the control group of wheat flour contained the highest volume of protein and fat, the overall nutritional value was improved by mixing banana peel flour with wheat flour while baking. If you’re sold on adding banana peels into your diet, may we recommend banana peel “bacon” as well?

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Exclusive: Rep. Randy Weber — The Reckless Depletion of Our Strategic Petroleum Reserve

On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, he fired the first shot in his war against fossil fuel production in the United States by signing an executive order to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline. We are over 500 days into his term, and it has been an all-out assault against American energy.

But one of the most alarming offensives is Biden’s abuse of the U.S.’ invaluable Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This misguided policy encapsulates President Biden’s recklessness with America’s resources.

The SPR is at its lowest point since 1986 due to President Biden’s profligacy.

Around 60 percent of the crude oil stored in the SPR resides at two sites in Texas’ 14th Congressional District: Bryan Mound in Freeport and Big Hill near Winnie, making this issue extremely close to home. The SPR is an emergency supply of crude oil that has rarely been tapped since its inception, only during times of great need, such as in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

Its capacity is 714 million barrels of oil, and at the beginning of Biden’s tenure as president, the SPR held 638 million barrels (almost 90 percent full).

GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING

Top 17 Winter Vegetables to Grow in The Garden (With Pictures)

Growing winter vegetables is a great way to enjoy fresh vegetables from your garden all year long. Many vegetables such as kale, carrots, parsnips, and broccoli continue to grow in cold weather. There are even some winter vegetables that survive harsh frosts—albeit with some protection. If you plant some vegetables in late summer or fall, you can expect to enjoy plenty of healthy winter crops.

The Best Vegetables to Grow in Winter

Winter Kale — Leafy Green Vegetables

Carrots — Winter Root Vegetables

Parsnips — Cold Weather Root Vegetables

Collards

Broccoli

Cabbage

Brussels Sprouts

Kohlrabi

Beets

Leeks

COVID RELATED NEWS

Head Of Lancet’s COVID-19 Origins Commission Blows Whistle

The head of the preeminent scientific journal The Lancet’s COVID-19 origins Commission is ‘convinced’ that the virus came out of a lab and says that a real investigation is being blocked.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs told Current Affairs that he is “pretty convinced [COVID-19] came out of US lab biotechnology” and has warned that ongoing research could lead to another pandemic outbreak.

Sachs notes that scientists who dismissed the lab leak theory did so “before they had done any research at all,” adding “they’re creating a narrative. And they’re denying the alternative hypothesis without looking closely at it.”

Sachs points to the ‘gain of function’ research and the genetic markers found in the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus that indicate it was manipulated to be more deadly.

“What’s interesting, and concerning if I may say so, is that the research that was underway very actively and being promoted, was to insert furin cleavage sites into SARS-like viruses to see what would happen. Oops!” Sachs states.

“They’re not looking,” Sachs says of scientists who dismiss the lab leak, adding “They just keep telling us, ‘Look at the market, look at the market, look at the market!’ But they don’t address this alternative. They don’t even look at the data. They don’t even ask questions. And the truth is from the beginning, they haven’t asked the real questions.”

Sachs further labels the efforts to distract from the lab research as “misdirection” and “sleight of hand”.

“There is a huge amount of reason to believe that that research was underway. Because there are published papers on this. There are interviews on this. There are research proposals. But NIH isn’t talking. It’s not asking. And these scientists have never asked either,” Sachs further asserts.

He continues, “From the very first day, they have kept hidden from view the alternative. And when they discuss the alternative, they don’t discuss the research program. They discuss complete straw men about the lab, not the actual kind of research that was underway, which was to stick furin cleavage sites into SARS-like viruses in a way that could have created SARS-Cov-2.”

“What I’m calling for is not the conclusion. I’m calling for the investigation,” Sachs urges, adding “Finally, after two and a half years of this, it’s time to fess up that it might have come out of a lab and here’s the data that we need to know to find out whether it did.”

Sachs also addresses EcoHealth Alliance and Peter Daszak, noting that he originally personally appointed Daszak to chair the task force of the Lancet’s pandemic commission.

Sachs says “I realized he [Daszak] was not telling me the truth. And it took me some months, but the more I saw it, the more I resented it. And so I told him, ‘Look, you have to leave.’”

Sachs adds that once he fired Daszak, other scientists began attacking him.

“I asked them: “What are your connections with all of this?” They didn’t tell me. Then when the Freedom of Information Act released some of these documents that NIH had been hiding from the public, I saw that people that were attacking me were also part of this thing. So I disbanded that whole task force,” Sachs notes.

“So my own experience was to witness close up how they’re not talking. And they’re trying to keep our eyes on something else. And away from even asking the questions that we’re talking about,” Sachs further warns.

Sachs concludes that he “Doesn’t trust” the governments and scientists who are dismissing the lab leak theory, adding “I want to know. Because even what we know of the dangerous research is enough to raise a lot of questions of responsibility for the future. And to pose the question: ‘Hey, what other viruses are you guys working on? What should we know?’”

“I want to know what’s being done. I want to know what other governments are doing, too, not just ours. I want some global control over this stuff,” Sachs further urges.

The professor finally calls for “a bipartisan congressional oversight investigation that has subpoena power,” urging “Give us your lab records, your notebooks, your data files of virus strains, and so forth.”

As we have highlighted, this is what Senator Rand Paul is pursuing relentlessly.

Following an initial hearing last week before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, Paul revealed that there is a committee that is supposed to oversee experimentation with potentially lethal viruses, but that it is above the oversight of Congress.

“We don’t know the names. We don’t know that they ever meet, and we don’t have any records of their meetings,” the Senator noted, adding “It’s top-secret. Congress is not allowed to know. So whether the committee actually exists, we’re uncertain.”

29 Percent of Young Pfizer COVID Vaccine Recipients Suffered Heart Effects: Study

Nearly three in 10 children who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine experienced heart effects afterwards, according to a new study.

Researchers studied 301 students across two schools in Thailand. The students were aged 13 to 18 and had received a dose of Pfizer’s vaccine without a serious adverse event. Most had no underlying disease, while 44 had conditions such as asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Researchers conducted laboratory tests to establish a baseline and followed up at three days, seven days, and 14 days after the students received a second dose of the vaccine.

Researchers found that 29 percent of the youth experienced cardiovascular effects, including heart palpitations, chest pain, and shortness of breath. Fifty-four had abnormal electrocardiogram results. Six experienced mitral valve prolapse, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a heart valve disease; six had high blood pressure, and seven were diagnosed with heart inflammation.

Two of the children were hospitalized, with one being admitted to intensive care.

Limitations of the study, published ahead of peer review and funded by Mahidol University, included requiring parental permission for blood testing, which could have impacted participation.

Nearly 100 percent of the vaccine recipients recovered within two weeks, researchers said. Still, due to the detection of heart effects, young people receiving any of the vaccines based on messenger RNA technology—both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are—”should be monitored for side effects,” the authors said.

CANCEL CULTURE

Facebook Posts Reveal Epstein-Linked Magistrate Bruce Reinhart’s Woke, Anti-Trump Attitudes

Bruce Reinhart, the magistrate judge who signed off on the FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s Florida home at Mar-a-Lago, has a history of endorsing woke and anti-Trump viewpoints on his Facebook page, according to reports.

Images that appear to be of Reinhart’s Facebook page seen by Breitbart News show Reinhart praising leftist Robert Reich for his criticism of Donald Trump, accusing the former President of lacking “moral stature,” and sharing a woke video about “white privilege.”

In a Facebook post dated 14 January 2017, Reinhart attacked President Trump for his comments about former congressman and woke hero John Lewis.

“I generally ignore the President-elect’s tweets, but not this one,” said Reinhart. “John Lewis arguably has done more to “make America great” than any living citizen. Last August, I took my son to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma so he could understand the kind of courage and sacrifice required to live in a democratic society. John Lewis embodies that spirit. Although I’ve never met him, he is one of my heroes.”

“Thank you, Robert Reich, for saying what many of us feel, “John Lewis is the conscience of America. Donald Trump doesn’t have the moral stature to kiss John Lewis’s feet.”

“Or, as Joseph Welch said to Joseph McCarthy, “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Reinhart, who donated to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Jeb Bush, also shared a video from a page called “WokeFolks,” showing an instructor teaching teenagers about “racial privilege” by making them line up for a race in different starting positions based on the conditions of their birth and upbringing.

As Breitbart News’ Wendell Husebø reported, Reinhart is also linked to the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Via Breitbart News:

Magistrate Bruce Reinhart approved the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s estate of Mar-A-Lago, a source confirmed to Breitbart News. Reinhart is also reportedly linked to representing convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s employees.

Since 2018, Reinhart has been a Florida federal magistrate judge after working in private practice for ten years, where he reportedly represented Epstein’s employees. According to the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Reinhard was “a solo practitioner and as the co-chair of the white collar crime practice group of a national firm.

The raid on Donald Trump’s home has led to cross-party condemnations from politicians, with even Democrats like Andrew Cuomo and former Democrat presidential candidates like Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard speaking out about the FBI’s tactics.

PET NEWS

A New Study Found That Affection From Dogs Could Ease Physical Pain in Humans

Ask any dog parent if time with their pup can cure any ailment, and you would probably be met with a resounding, “Yes!” Most dog parents claim that time with your pooch can help cure most ailments. But a new study is putting scientific evidence behind this assertion.

In the study, Canadian researchers found that spending just 10 minutes with a therapy dog reduced levels of pain, anxiety, and depression and increased feelings of well-being in patients in the emergency department experiencing pain.

In the study, participants visited by therapy dogs reported a:

43% reduction in pain
48% reduction in anxiety
46% reduction in depression
41% improvement in well-being

To conduct the study, the researchers asked 97 ED patients to rate their levels of pain, depression, anxiety, and sense of well-being on 11-point rating scales (with 1 being the lowest and 11 being the highest) before time with a therapy dog, immediately after, and then 20 minutes after. The patient’s heart rate and blood pressure were also measured at these intervals.

In the control group, these same factors were evaluated and recorded for 101 ED patients that weren’t visited by a therapy dog at two separate intervals 30 minutes apart. The researchers state there were no statistically significant differences in the gender, age, or ethnicity of experimental and control group participants.

There were several limitations to the study, so we can’t say with certainty yet whether these findings are valid. For starters, the researchers didn’t account separately for the impact of the therapy dogs and their handlers. Data used in the study were also only collected in one hospital setting and did not factor in information about medications patients took that could have impacted pain levels or whether people experienced chronic pain or not.

Yet despite these limitations, Jessica Chubak, senior investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email to CNN that the results of the study are promising. “Our current understanding of the effects of therapy dog visits in emergency department settings is fairly limited,” she wrote. “So, it is particularly important to have more research in this area.”