WORLD NEWS
Ukraine hits Russian border regions with overnight barrage
Ukraine has launched a massive overnight drone and missile attack on Russia’s southern regions, as it seeks to advance its incursion further.
Russia reported on Wednesday morning that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones as well as several missiles overnight, mostly over the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
North Korea set to reopen borders to foreign tourists
North Korea is set to reopen its borders to international visitors after years of strict COVID-19 border controls, say two Chinese tour operators.
Beijing-based Koryo Tours announced on its website on Wednesday that the reclusive country would be welcoming tourists to the northeastern city of Samjiyon and “likely the rest of the country” in December 2024.
US armored unit stages live-fire drills as part of rapid deployment exercise
A U.S. armored unit staged live-fire drills at a firing range near the border with North Korea last week as part of an exercise designed to check its readiness to swiftly deploy from the U.S. mainland, the U.S. Army in South Korea said Tuesday.
Troops from a battalion within the 1st Armored Division mobilized M1A2 Abrams tanks, M109-A6 howitzers and M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles for the drills at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, about 30 kilometers south of the border, from Aug. 5-9, according to the 8th Army.
After being notified of the rapid deployment exercise in mid-July, the battalion based in Fort Bliss, Texas, arrived in South Korea late last month, where they received their combat equipment from a U.S. military base in the southeastern part of the country.
“This opportunity to train … reinforces our commitment to the ROK in maintaining security and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Lt. Col. Christopher Lorete, the battalion commander, said in a release.)
More cattle kept in UK ‘megafarms’, BBC finds
More cows could be kept indoors for the whole of their productive lives, animal welfare campaigners have warned, after the BBC found a rise in “megafarms”.
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by the BBC show the number of larger-scale beef and dairy cattle farms in Britain has increased from 756 to 802 in five years, now holding more than 915,000 cows.
Campaign group Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) said the rise in large-scale cattle farming was “deeply concerning” as many would be intensive “megafarms” housing cattle all year round.
The NFU said it was neither farm size nor whether cattle were kept outdoors or indoors that dictated welfare but how livestock were managed.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
WATCH: Tim Walz ordered National Guard to shoot paintballs at residents
A new report is revealing the reason Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ nominee for president, chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her VP sidekick.
Because “he’s a complete nutcase.”
That’s the conclusion in a report on Walz’s actions during COVID by the Gateway Pundit.
The conclusion was supported by a video showing National Guard troops, under Walz’s orders in Minnesota during COVID, ordering people to get off their porches and back inside their homes.
Then shooting paintballs at them.
Labeling Walz a “tyrant,” a description that echoed others’ opinions about Walz, the report charged, “This guy is not only Stolen Valor, he’s a complete nutcase.”
It noted, “In the video you can see police officers walking the streets of Minneapolis on May 30, 2020, screaming at residents and shooting paintballs at anyone who is sitting on their porch.”
CNN Analyst: Trump More Popular Today than in 2016, 2020
Former President Donald Trump is more popular in August 2024, than he was in August of 2016 and 2020, CNN analyst Harry Enten revealed Tuesday.
The findings suggest Trump has a significant chance to complete the greatest comeback story in modern American politics, despite Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent surge in the polls.
Trump’s favorability rating compared to the last two election cycles:
- August, 2024: 44 percent
- August, 2020: 41 percent
- August, 2016: 33 percent
“The bottom line is Kamal Harris is doing better in the polls but there is a long way to go,” Enten said. “The polls can shift”
Enten also pointed out enthusiasm among Democrats to vote for Harris dropped one point (61 percent) compared to enthusiasm among Democrat voters in May for Biden (62 percent).
Savanah Hernandez, a prominent reporter with Turning Point USA (TPUSA), took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to expose a controversial new tactic being deployed by the left-leaning organization Voto Latino.
According to Hernandez, Voto Latino, a group notorious for targeting so-called “Latinx voters,” has resorted to offering cold hard cash in exchange for public endorsements of the least popular presidential candidate, Kamala Harris.
Voto Latino is a dual 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States, founded in 2004.
The organization allegedly put out an ad on Craigslist promising up to $1,000 to Latino swing voters who are willing to join their social media campaign and publicly endorse Kamala Harris.
But that’s not all—Voto Latino is reportedly specifically targeting former Latino Trump supporters, offering an initial $100 for an interview and a staggering $1,000 if these voters publicly declare that they have switched their support from Trump to Harris.
More from Hernandez:
This is the latest example of the Democrat party trying to pay influencers and voters, to publicly support the current Democratic ticket.
Voto Latino, which boasts a following of 115k on X and 135k on Instagram, have publicly endorsed Kamala Harris for President stating that they are planning on committing, “$44 million to the largest Latino-focused registration and turnout campaign in U.S. history”.
Back in 2022, Voto Latino worked against “proof of citizenship” laws in Arizona that would have required voters to prove that they’re legal citizens in order to vote.
They also halted “Clean Elections USA” from engaging in certain drop box monitoring activities and worked to issue restraining orders against Americans who tried to surveil drop boxes during the 2022 Arizona midterms.
They even invested $1 million to stop the recall effort against Governor Gavin Newsom back in 2021, sharing that they mobilized “600,000 young Latinx voters in the state”, helping to stop the recall.
The Harris Campaign Will Base Its Platform on Biden’s Fake Economic Accomplishments
Later this week, Kamala Harris is expected to break her campaign’s strange silence about policy by unveiling much of her economic platform. The vice president is scheduled to first join President Joe Biden for an event in Maryland on Thursday about “the progress they are making to lower costs for the American people” and then to deliver a speech about her own economic platform on Friday.
The Harris campaign clearly intends to continue spinning the Biden administration’s economic record as a success, and now to frame Harris as instrumental to that success. But the accomplishments that the president and vice president are set to celebrate this week are not real.
Biden and Harris entered office in January of 2021. The country was almost a year into the pandemic, and the economy was a disaster. President Donald Trump had abandoned any semblance of economic conservatism and ushered through two of the largest spending bills in U.S. history: the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March of 2020 and a $900 billion Covid-related addendum to the annual omnibus spending bill in December of 2020 in addition to several other expensive measures and interventions.
The scale of government spending unleashed during Trump’s last year was unheard of, but was declared necessary because governors nationwide had shut down most of the economy in response to the virus. Production ground to a halt in the spring of 2020 for weeks, even months. The federal government flooded the economy with trillions of dollars — most of which were freshly printed by the Fed — to hide and delay the devastating economic impact of the lockdowns.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Inflation sparking a car care revolution as new models become unaffordable
As inflation continues to impact the cost of living, a new survey reveals that Americans are taking proactive steps to maintain their current vehicles rather than face the prospect of purchasing new ones.
The study, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Pennzoil, is shedding light on changing consumer behaviors in response to current economic pressures throughout the United States. In a striking revelation, 73% of car owners surveyed have made a conscious decision to better maintain their old vehicles due to rising costs. This trend is particularly pronounced among older generations, with 75% of Gen X respondents revealing their increased efforts in car maintenance compared to 60% of their Gen Z counterparts.
The survey, which polled 2,000 car owners, uncovered a strong preference for brand-name products when it comes to vehicle maintenance. In fact, 57% of Americans opt for brand-name products over private-label alternatives (34%) when maintaining their vehicles. This preference places vehicle maintenance second only to personal technology (72%) in terms of categories where consumers are most likely to choose brand names.
Inflation Revived In July as Housing Prices Continue To Rise
Inflation picked up in July, reversing the decline in prices seen in the prior month, but remained cool enough to lock in a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month.
The consumer price index climbed 2.9 in July from a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. In June, the government’s main inflation index was up three percent from a year earlier.
Paramount TV Shutting Down, Laying Off Thousands Amid Industry Upheaval
Paramount Global announced on Tuesday it would be shutting down its TV studio, laying off thousands amid the industry’s uncertain future.
The company announced that Paramount Television Studios will be shutting down later this week. In a memo to staff on Tuesday morning, president Nicole Clemens said the overall transformation in the industry has affected the studio drastically.
“As you’re all aware, Paramount Global has made the difficult decision to close Paramount Television Studios as part of the company’s broader restructuring plans,” the memo said. “This has been a challenging and transformative time for the entire industry, and sadly, our studio is not immune.
“Over the past 11 years, PTVS has weathered seemingly insurmountable obstacles through a combination of strength, determination, and unwavering commitment. We met these challenges with incredible resilience, creativity, and passion for what we do, and I could not be prouder of our team,” it added.
Thousands Of Businesses Are Going Bankrupt, But The Economy Is “Fine”
Businesses are declaring bankruptcy at a much faster rate than they did last year. Thousands upon thousands of once thriving businesses are failing, but this just must be another sign that the economy is “fine”. No matter how bad the numbers get, we are assured that the people running things have everything under control and that the outlook for the future is wonderful. Of course I understand that this is an election year and virtually everyone is trying to put their own unique spin on things. But there is no possible way that you can make numbers like these look good…
Personal and business bankruptcy filings rose 16.2 percent in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2024, compared with the previous year.
According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 486,613 in the year ending June 2024, compared with 418,724 cases in the previous year.
Business filings rose 40.3 percent, from 15,724 to 22,060 in the year ending June 30, 2024. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 15.3 percent to 464,553, compared with 403,000 in the previous year.
Read that last line again.
Business bankruptcy filings were up by more than 40 percent in just one year.
But don’t worry.
Everything is “fine”.
HEALTH
Adding honey to yogurt can have an amazing impact on your gut health
When it comes to gut health, the combination of yogurt and honey has long been hailed as a delicious way to promote digestive wellness. But what if this pairing is more than just a tasty treat? Researchers from the University of Illinois suggest that clover honey, when mixed with yogurt, can significantly improve the survival of beneficial bacteria in our digestive systems. This discovery could make your next spoonful of honeyed yogurt not just a dessert but a powerhouse of health benefits.
Yogurt is already well-known for its probiotic content, specifically strains like Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (B. animalis), which supports a healthy gut. However, the journey of these probiotics through our digestive system is fraught with challenges. The acidic environment of the stomach and the harsh conditions of the intestines can reduce the number of live probiotics reaching the gut, diminishing their health benefits.
That’s where clover honey comes into the picture. A pair of studies in The Journal of Nutrition investigated how different types of honey affect the survivability of B. animalis during digestion. The researchers discovered that clover honey, in particular, provides a protective effect, helping more of these beneficial bacteria survive the journey through our digestive system. This means that adding clover honey to yogurt doesn’t just make it sweeter — it makes it healthier, too.
“The enzymes in our mouth, stomach, and intestines help with digestion and facilitate nutrient absorption, but they also reduce the viability of microbes. That’s great when it’s pathogens but not necessarily when it comes to beneficial bacteria,” says study co-author Hannah Holscher in a university release. “We wanted to see if honey could help probiotic bacteria survive in the gut.”
“Our findings showed that pairing honey with yogurt supported the survival of the yogurt’s probiotic bacteria in the gut, so the lab study results did translate to real-world application in humans,” Holscher adds.
Scientists Predict Diseases by Analyzing Tongue
There’s new meaning to the old medical instruction to “stick out your tongue and say aaah.”
A computer algorithm developed by Iraqi and Australian researchers can diagnose diabetes, stroke, anemia, COVID-19, and a wide range of vascular and gastrointestinal issues with remarkable accuracy by observing the color of your tongue.
The breakthrough technique proved accurate in 98% of cases observed. According to ScienceDaily, the artificial intelligence (AI) model was trained using 5,260 images to detect diseases.
Scientists from Middle Technical University (MTU) in Baghdad, Iraq and the University of South Australia (UniSA), developed the breakthrough technique that provides a highly accurate on-the-spot diagnosis, confirming the value of AI in medicine.
The new research published in Technologies is the modern version of a 2,000-year-old practice used in Chinese medicine that advocates examining the tongue for signs of disease.
“The color, shape and thickness of the tongue can reveal a litany of diseases,” said senior author Ali Al-Naji of UniSA. “Typically, people with diabetes have a yellow tongue; cancer patients a purple tongue with a thick greasy coating; and acute stroke patients present with an unusually shaped red tongue.”
The Secret Cooking Ingredient Greeks Use for Longevity
The Greek Island of Ikaria is one of the areas National Geographic fellow and explorer Daniel Buettner has labeled a Blue Zone. Blue Zones are communities where people tend to live longer as a whole, often to the age of 100 and beyond.
The people in Ikaria live on average eight years longer than Americans, have half the rate of heart disease, and almost no dementia. One in three make it to the age of 90 thanks to a vigorous life, robust red wine, and a rugged terrain that draws them outdoors. But it’s the food, including garlic, that residents swear keeps them young and hearty.
The Ikarian diet tends to be mostly plant-based, with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, potatoes, olive oil, and of course, lots of garlic.
“Garlic is one of the defining components of the Mediterranean diet,” explains Diane Kochilas, whose family has lived on the island for many generations. Kochilas has written 18 books on Greek cuisine and runs the Glorious Greek Cooking School on Ikaria.
She tells CNBC that research has verified the medicinal benefits of garlic long touted on her native island including its benefits for health and longevity. Garlic helps boost the immune system and lowers blood pressure.
While garlic lends its unique flavor to many delicious Greek dishes, such as garlic spread or classic Skordalia, and a traditional vegetable dish called Ikaria Fresh Bean & Corn Stew, you can also derive the health benefits from supplements and aged garlic extract (AGE).
Research shows that garlic is an excellent healing herb with antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral properties. Scientists attribute its medicinal power to the sulfur compounds found in garlic, according to Healthline. Studies have shown that consuming garlic not only improves cardiovascular health but may also prevent Alzheimer’s disease, boost athletic performance, and help you live longer.
AGE is effective in reducing the LDL, or “bad” cholesterol levels in people with elevated cholesterol, says Dr. Matthew Budoff, a UCLA cardiologist. Budoff says that taking AGE supplements can also reverse arterial plaque buildup to help prevent heart attack and stroke.
It could also stave off Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Australian researchers found that the antioxidant property of AGE helps preserve the integrity of the blood-brain barrier reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Big Pharma and WHO collude to create permanent market for EXPERIMENTAL injections
The globalist World Health Organization (WHO) and Big Pharma have colluded to create a permanent market for “vaccines” and other experimental treatments, ensuring the uninterrupted flow of revenue.
Max Jones of Unlimited Hangout first disclosed the development in an investigative report. According to him, Big Pharma and its key investors are now pivoting toward “the full takeover of the public sector, specifically the WHO, and the regulatory system that now holds the entire market hostage. Jones added that the pivot seeks to address the so-called “patent cliff” – the loss of revenue that followed the expiry of patents for certain drugs, which manufacturers of generic medicines quickly capitalized on.
A February 2023 report by Biopharma Dive expounded on the patent cliff, noting that “blockbuster medicines that had fueled years of growth were losing patent protection.” This exposed pharmaceutical giants to generic competitors.
Jones said that to ensure continued profits, Big Pharma firms deployed a “mergers and acquisitions” strategy for years, buying up smaller drug companies to add to their product portfolios. Because of this, the industry is now dominated by a handful of companies, conventional chemical drugs exist for most health issues, and the regulatory process for new ones has become onerous.
But now, pharmaceutical giants are facing an even larger patent cliff in the form of biological products manufactured from living cells. These products could lose market exclusivity, with more than $200 billion in annual revenue on the line through 2030.
Given this, Big Pharma has now sought to acquire biotechnology and biologic companies whose products are “more complex, unpredictable and difficult and expensive to make” than chemical-based medicine. According to the Defender, biologics offer an appealing solution to the patent cliff problem as they can’t be easily replicated like generic versions of conventional drugs.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Hurricane Ernesto has now formed north of Puerto Rico, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. update on Wednesday. Packed with 75 mph winds, the storm is churning north of Puerto Rico, where “significant flooding” is likely.
The storm developed just days just days after Debby finished its trek along the U.S. East Coast.
Ernesto had remained a tropical storm through most of the morning, reaching hurricane status once its winds reached the minimum 74 mph for classification, as measured by the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. This scale does not account for cyclone size, speed, precipitation or storm surge, all of which pose additional dangers.
Ernesto, currently moving at about 16 mph, is expected to continue strengthening in the coming days. The hurricane center predicted earlier in the morning that it could become a major hurricane, which is when a cyclone becomes a Category 3, or its winds reach 111 mph or higher.
President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, the White House said Tuesday night, authorizing FEMA to help with storm recovery.
COVID RELATED NEWS
In early January 2022, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was just selected to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, tried to bribe Minnesota families into “vaccinating” their children with the latest shots for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).
In a then-Twitter post, Walz offered families who jabbed their children aged five through 11 a $200 reward, which he saw as a fitting amount to forever ruin the immune systems of little ones throughout his state.
“That’s cash in your pocket for starting the year off right by protecting your child from COVID,” Walz declared in the post, dated Jan. 11, 2022.
Dubbed “Kids Deserve a Shot,” the program from Walz was eventually ended and the Twitter post in question removed. Perhaps Walz is embarrassed now about what he did, or maybe it’s bad for he and Kamala Harris’ chances of getting elected this fall?
“Minnesota families who get their child 5-11 years old fully vaccinated in January and February can get a $200 Visa gift card,” read the official website for Kids Deserve a Shot.
“Parents / Guardians can register their 5- to 11-year-old once they have completed their two-dose series.”
CANCEL CULTURE
Rowling, Musk named in French probe on boxer Imane Khelif’s ‘cyberbullying’
Lawsuit says the Algerian Olympic gold medallist was subjected to ‘misogynist, racist and sexist campaign’ during the games.
French prosecutors have opened a probe into a cyberbullying claim made by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who has filed a case alleging that several prominent figures had taken part in online harassment over her gender.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said Harry Potter author JK Rowling, X owner Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump have been named in the complaint filed by Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi.
However, the claim was filed against social media platforms including X, and not against a specific individual, a common formulation under French law that leaves it up to investigators to determine which person or organisation may have been at fault.
The prosecutor’s office said its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime has opened an investigation on charges of “cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insults on the basis of origin”.
Khelif, who was at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, is Algeria’s first gold medallist in women’s boxing. She is also the country’s first athlete to win an Olympic gold since 1996.
Boudi had filed the complaint late last week, saying the 25-year-old boxer was targeted by a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” as she fought her way to gold in the women’s welterweight division.
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