WORLD NEWS
Zelensky to Plead Directly with U.S. Senators for Funding, Military Equipment Boost
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will appeal directly to U.S. senators on Tuesday as he seeks assurances on approval for delivery of the next tranche of aid and lethal military equipment to his embattled country.
The personal entreaty will take place via secure video as part of a closed, classified briefing on the war in Europe, UPI reports.
US Intelligence Community Wasn’t Aware of Oct. 7 Hamas Attack Plans: White House
A senior White House official has stressed that, to his knowledge, the U.S. intelligence community wasn’t aware of Hamas’s plans to target Israel ahead of the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attacks.
In a Dec. 3 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby claimed that the United States didn’t have “any advance warning” or “any knowledge” of Hamas’s attack plan, despite reports that imply otherwise.
Mr. Kirby’s statements come amid a report from The New York Times that Israeli officials had found Hamas’s plans for its surprise attack more than a year before it happened, citing documents, emails, and interviews as evidence. The U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities have shared intelligence in the past.
Employers Have a ‘Blind Spot’ When it Comes to Anti-Semitism, Claims Eric Salama
The former chief executive of the consulting firm Kantar, Eric Salama—who quit as chairman of Comic Relief last month—has said many employers have a “blind spot” when it comes to dealing with anti-Semitism.
Mr. Salama—whose parents were Egyptian Jewish immigrants— told The Times many Jewish people in Britain felt “threatened and vulnerable in a way I’ve not seen before” after a huge rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
But he said many companies had failed to recognise the concerns of their Jewish employees in the same way they had during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.
Young Irish soccer player ‘dies suddenly’
A community in Sydney is stunned over the news that 24-year-old Irish soccer player Matthew McGuigan died suddenly Saturday.
McGuigan, who belonged to Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and captained the Kildress Wolfe Tones, had moved to Sydney with his girlfriend less than 48 hours before. Shortly afterward he “fell ill” and passed away, though no cause of death has been released.
“Our Club and Parish are now (in) dark places following the totally traumatising death of our so dear Matty McGuigan,” the Kildress Wolfe Tones posted on social media.
As of earlier this year Ireland had the fourth-highest rate of excess deaths in the European Union, though Irish authorities are not sure of the cause.
Australian officials have also been struggling to explain an increase in all-cause mortality. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were 30,000 all-cause excess deaths in 2022, a 15% increase over baseline and the highest death rate in Australia since World War II.
McGuigan’s sudden death also highlights a disturbing rise in sudden deaths among athletes.
German judge lets 8 men who gang-raped girl walk free
An expert witness who testified before the Hamburg Regional Court suggested elsewhere that rape may be a means to vent migrants’ ‘frustration.’
AGerman court delivered its verdict Tuesday concerning those responsible for the barbaric September 2020 gang-rape of a 15-year-old German girl in the northern city of Hamburg.
Of the eleven men initially charged in relation to the gang-rape of the minor — only four of whom were technically German — two were acquitted. Nine were found guilty. Eight got probation, not exceeding two years. Only one is headed to prison.
There has been significant backlash following the release of eight convicted rapists, prompting officials to condemn critiques of the judgment, particularly those of an “anti-migrant” nature.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Judge Denies Jack Smith’s Request to Conceal Documents in Trump Classified Materials Case
Judge Aileen Cannon, who’s overseeing the trial in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, has rejected a motion by special counsel Jack Smith to keep some documents hidden from President Trump’s defense.
In an order signed on Dec. 4, Judge Cannon directed a court clerk to unseal multiple documents that Mr. Smith’s team sought to keep sealed in the case that accuses the former president of retaining sensitive government materials, including some that were marked top secret, at his Mar-a-Lago home.
President Trump has said he used presidential powers to declassify the materials, insisting that he isn’t guilty and calling the case an attempt by his political foes to hamper his 2024 presidential run.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum Suspends 2024 GOP Presidential Campaign
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum withdrew from the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Dec. 4, despite an unexpectedly strong performance propelled by his campaign in recent weeks.
Mr. Burgum, a prosperous software entrepreneur and second-term governor, initiated his 2024 presidential campaign in June but was at the time largely unknown on a national scale.
He spent his time in the spotlight emphasizing his leadership of North Dakota and his small-town upbringing, in addition to his focus on energy, the economy, and national security.
Rep. Loudermilk: ‘All’ Jan. 6 Deposition Tapes Have Disappeared
The chair of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., has reported that “all” video depositions given to the Democrat-led House select committee on Jan. 6 have disappeared.
Speaking with Just the News on Thursday, the congressman said, “All of the videotapes of all depositions are gone.
“We found out about this early in the investigation when I received a call from someone who was looking for some information off one of the videotapes, and we started searching, and we had none,” Loudermilk explained. “I wrote a letter to [Jan. 6 committee Chair] Bennie Thompson asking for them. And he confirmed that they did not preserve those [tapes]. He didn’t feel that they had to.”
Chris Christie May Not Appear on Republican Primary Ballot in Maine
New Jersey’s former governor and current GOP presidential candidate, Chris Christie (R-N.J.), is not on Maine’s March 5, 2024, primary ballot, according to an announcement from the Secretary of State.
In a Dec. 1 press release from the Maine Secretary of State announcing the list of candidates on the primary ballot, Mr. Christie and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) were the only GOP candidates still in the presidential race missing from the list. Marianne Williamson was also absent from the Democratic ballot.
As of Dec. 4, Democrats President Joe Biden and Dean B. Phillips are on the Maine primary ballot. Meanwhile, Republican candidates Doug Burgum, Ryan Binkley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and former president Trump have qualified to be on the ballot.
House Report Sheds Light On FBI Targeting Of Catholics, Pro-Lifers
The FBI reportedly “abused its counterterrorism tools” to go after Catholics and pro-lifers “as potential domestic terrorists,” according to a new report from the House Weaponization Subcommittee released Monday.
In February, the FBI retracted an internal memorandum from the Richmond field office, which described traditionalist Roman Catholics as “radical” and claimed they espoused “anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and white supremacist ideology,” after facing immense backlash. The House Weaponization subcommittee conducted an investigation into the memo’s origins and found that the agency had “singled out” Americans with Catholic and pro-life beliefs, according to the documents first reported by Fox Digital.
U.S. Judge Warns Public of Possible ‘Authoritarian’ Rule
The Capitol riot took place on January 6, 2021. Since then, it has made the news several times. This time, it’s thanks to Federal Judge Beryl Howell, who oversaw the judiciary’s response to the incident.
According to her, the Capitol riots are based on “big lies,” and the country is in danger of turning toward authoritarian rule. Judge Howell made these statements for a good reason. She used the opportunity of a rare public speech to emphasize that many of those convicted for their actions were misled.
And they’re off!
Nicole Malliotakis: NYC Officials Are Trying to Register Migrants to Vote
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) accused New York City officials of attempting to register to vote newly arrived border crossers and illegal aliens living in city-contracted shelters, during a press conference Sunday.
Malliotakis said New York City officials required contractors, those tasked with running the city’s widespread migrant shelter system, to hand out voter registration pamphlets and help migrants register to vote.
Don’t be fooled: RFK Jr. is no conservative
A recent Quinnipiac University survey of registered voters revealed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now running for president as an independent, has amassed an astonishing amount of support. If Kennedy can maintain or even build upon that momentum prior to Election Day, his candidacy could prove to be a critical factor in the 2024 election.
According to Quinnipiac’s poll, in a hypothetical three-way race featuring Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Kennedy, RFK Jr. would receive 22% support, compared to 39% for Biden and 36% for former President Trump.
Most importantly, Quinnipiac found that Kennedy would take more voters away from Trump than he would from Biden, a remarkable scenario considering that Kennedy was officially running for the Democratic Party’s nomination until October.
Support for Kennedy from Republicans and conservative-leaning independents is due primarily to his outspoken criticism of COVID-19 mandates and vaccines, as well as his anti-establishment rhetoric and unique, libertarian-leaning views on issues such as drug possession.
Kennedy has, on occasion, railed against establishment politicians, Davos institutions, and the corruption of large corporations — all of which plays well with many conservative and libertarian voters.
“If you go down the checklist of all the things that my father believed in, Robert Kennedy, and my uncle, John Kennedy, believed in, I would check every one of those boxes,” RFK Jr. said.
But a careful review of Kennedy’s entire policy platform and many of his past statements shows clearly that although he certainly isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill establishment Democrat, he is hardly a friend of the conservative or libertarian movements. In fact, on many issues, Kennedy is far more progressive than Joe Biden.
The following is a brief summary of some of Kennedy’s most important anti-conservative policy positions, organized by topic.
And of course, former President Trump won’t be attending …
RNC reveals participant list for 4th GOP presidential primary debate
he Republican National Committee has announced that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and author and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will participate in the fourth GOP presidential primary debate of the 2024 cycle.
When the candidates take to the stage December 6 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, former President Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner according to polls, who is widely expected to win the nomination, will be conspicuously absent just as he was during the first three debates.
“The fourth debate is another fantastic opportunity for our Republican candidates to share our winning agenda with the American people,” RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said, according to the RNC’s press release. “President Reagan was the first sitting president to visit the University of Alabama nearly 40 years ago, just before cruising to a landslide victory in 1984, and I’m thrilled to return our conservative message to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday night.”
Megyn Kelly, Eliana Johnson, and Elizabeth Vargas will be moderating the debate.
While there were five candidates in the third debate, GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina dropped his presidential bid not long after participating in that event last month.
On Monday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was in the first two debates but not the third, announced the suspension of his presidential campaign and slammed the RNC’s debate eligibility criteria. The criteria has required candidates to meet certain polling and unique donor thresholds to qualify for each debate.
“These arbitrary criteria ensure advantages for candidates from major media markets on the coasts versus America’s Heartland. None of their debate criteria relate to the qualifications related to actually doing the job of the president. This effort to nationalize the primary system is unhealthy for the future of the party, especially for a party that proclaims to value leadership from outside of Washington,” Burgum said in a statement.
Whitewash or hogwash?
Trevor Jacob has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for intentionally crashing a small plane in a YouTube publicity stunt.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this year, Jacob confessed to “intentionally crashing his single-engine airplane in a California national forest to gain views for a sponsorship deal, resulting in potentially serious legal trouble.”
Teaching kids to spot fake news: media literacy to be required in California schools
California next year will become one of the few US states to teach students media literacy, a move experts say is imperative at a time when distrust in the media is at an all-time high and new technologies pose unprecedented challenges to identifying false information.
A state bill signed into law this fall mandates public schools to instruct media literacy, a set of skills that includes recognizing falsified data, identifying fake news and generating responsible internet content.
Researchers have long warned that the current digital ecosystem has had dire consequences on young people, and have argued that such instruction could make a difference. The US surgeon general has cited digital and media literacy support as one way to combat the youth mental health crisis spurred by social media. The American Psychological Association already has urged parents and schools to teach media literacy before they expose young people to social media platforms.
Massive House Explosion Caught on Tape After Reports of Man Firing Flare Gun in the Residence
A massive house explosion was caught on video Monday night after there were reports of a man firing a flare gun inside the residence. The blast sent portions of the home flying into the air, set off car alarms throughout the neighborhood, and shook the streets. You can hear witnesses near the person taking the video uttering stunned expletives as the fiery debris rains down.
Senate anxiously waits for Tuberville’s next move on military blockade
All eyes are on Sen. Tommy Tuberville this week as senators wait and see if the Alabama Republican will finally relent on his months-long military promotion blockade, which has held up more than 400 promotions and has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle.
Tuberville — whose hold on military promotions has been in place since February — appeared to soften his stance last week, telling CNN, “We will promote people in the very near future.” He did not, however, disclose how the chamber would move forward with the promotions.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
How the Moore Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Taxation of Unrealized Income
In 2017, Congress made several permanent changes to the taxation of foreign earnings. These changes included an end to the unlimited deferral of foreign earnings from U.S. taxable income
and the introduction of new anti-avoidance rules alongside a dividends-received deduction for corporations.
A major case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court (Moore v. United States) is calling into question one of those provisions. Depending on how the court rules, large portions of the U.S. tax base could quickly become legally uncertain, putting significant revenue at stake.
Spotify cutting 17 per cent of workforce in 3rd round of layoffs this year
Music streaming giant Spotify said on Monday that it will lay off 1,500 employees, or 17 per cent of its workforce, to bring down costs, after letting 600 of its staff go in January, and 200 more in June.
After a round of job cuts at the start of the year by tech companies, some have begun reducing their workforce again, with announcements coming from Amazon to Microsoft-owned LinkedIn.
A representative for Spotify declined to share how many employees in Canada were impacted by the layoffs. The streamer has an office in Toronto.
In a letter to employees, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said the company hired more in 2020 and 2021 due to the lower cost of capital and while its output has increased, much of it was linked to having more resources.
Spotify will incur about 130 million euros (190.6 million Cdn) to 145 million euros (212.6 million Cdn) in charges in the fourth quarter due to the layoffs, the company said, adding that majority of the cash component of the charges will be recorded in the first and second fiscal quarters of 2024.
Zuckerberg Sells First Meta Shares in Two Years After 172% Surge
The Meta co-founder’s trust as well as entities for his charitable and political giving unloaded about 682,000 shares worth almost $185 million in November through trading plans, with the latest disclosed Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from regulatory filings. That’s the first time entities that manage Zuckerberg’s fortune have sold shares since November 2021.
Survey: Most Americans Believe Artificial Intelligence Has a Negative Impact on Jobs, Businesses
Americans have mixed feelings—but mostly negative—on how the progression of artificial intelligence (AI) will impact jobs and businesses, the 2023 Bentley-Gallup Business and Society Report revealed.
The report, released in October in a collaboration between Bentley University and Gallup pollsters, surveyed people on a range of topics, including how businesses utilize AI.
When asked, “In general, how much do you trust businesses to use artificial intelligence responsibly?” 38 percent of respondents said, “not at all;” 41 percent said, “not much,” and 21 percent said, “a lot/some.”
Across all education levels, ethnicities, age groups, and political parties, a minority of people answered that they trust businesses “a lot/some” to use AI responsibly.
The survey also asked respondents their opinion on what effect AI will have on the total number of U.S. jobs available over the next ten years, with six percent saying that the number of jobs will grow, 19 percent responding that there will be zero impact on the number of jobs, and 75 percent answering that they believe the number of jobs will decrease.
Across all education, racial, age, and party demographics, those who think AI will decrease the number of jobs range from 66 percent to 80 percent.
Overall, only one in ten U.S. adults believe AI will do more good than harm.
Half of the respondents believe that AI offers equal amounts of good and harm, while 40 percent replied that the technology will do more harm than good.
By racial category, black and Asian Americans are more likely to believe that AI will either do more good than harm or equal amounts of both.
Respondents were also given a list of several work tasks and asked to compare how well AI completed them to how well humans did.
Most respondents thought the jobs that they deemed AI to “perform worse than a human” included “recommend medical advice to me,” “drive me somewhere in a car,” and “recommend which employees a company should hire.”
Considering that 79 percent of survey respondents “do not trust businesses to use artificial intelligence responsibly,” issues may arise as more businesses adopt AI in their models.
Supreme Court appears divided over Purdue Pharma bankruptcy deal
Supreme Court justices appeared divided over Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy deal Monday, questioning whether it can immunize the Sackler family from civil lawsuits for their role in the opioid crisis.
Described by experts as among the most important corporate bankruptcy cases in decades, the dispute will dictate the fate of the years-in-the-making settlement and more broadly how companies can use bankruptcy to resolve mass injury claims.
An overwhelming majority voted to approve Purdue Pharma’s settlement, but the Supreme Court on Monday wrestled with objections lodged by the Biden administration and a relatively small group of creditors concerning the liability releases for the Sacklers, who previously controlled the company.
During a nearly two-hour argument that transcended ideological lines, several justices raised concerns about how the administration’s position would effectively unravel the settlement.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted a 30-year history of bankruptcy courts approving such releases, also describing a “disconnect” between opioid victims and the administration as the conservative justice insisted the government was saying the perspective of victims “doesn’t matter.”
“What the opioid victims and their families are saying is, you, the federal government, with no stake in this at all, are coming in and telling the families, ‘No, we’re not going to give you prompt payment for what’s happened to your family,’” Kavanaugh said.
HEALTH
FDA Warning: Drug Used by 2 Million Americans Has Fatal Side Effect
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in a recent notice that two anti-seizure medications used by more than 2 million Americans could trigger life-threatening side effects.
Levetiracetam and clobazam were both linked to a condition known as Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms, or DRESS, said the FDA last week in a notice on its website.
The federal health agency said the the two drugs can “cause a rare but serious reaction that can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated quickly,” adding that manufacturers of the drugs are being mandated to add new warnings about the condition.
Micro- and Nanoplastics Linked to Parkinson’s and Dementia
Experts say the new findings add to evidence linking plastics pollution to disease, urge political action to reduce environmental toxins.
That plastic water bottle you regularly drink from could one day decompose into tiny particles that wreak havoc in your brain.
New research shows that nanoplastics—microscopic particles broken down from everyday plastic items—bind to proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
These stealthy nanoparticles have already infiltrated our soil, water, and food supply. Now, they may pose the next great toxin threat, fueling a wave of neurodegenerative disease.
Plastic Cups and Utensils Identified as Risk Factors
Polystyrene nanoparticles, commonly found in plastic cups and utensils, bind to alfa-synuclein, a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, the new study from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and the Department of Chemistry at Trinity College of Arts and Sciences found. The plastic-protein accumulation was seen in test tubes, cultured neurons, and mouse models.
The most surprising finding was the tight bonds formed between the plastic and protein within neuron lysosomes, according to Andrew West, the study’s principal investigator. Lysosomes are digestive organelles within cells that use enzymes to break down waste materials and cellular debris.
“Our study suggests that the emergence of micro and nanoplastics in the environment might represent a new toxin challenge with respect to Parkinson’s disease risk and progression,” Mr. West said in a press statement. This is especially concerning given the expected increase of these contaminants in our water and food, he added.
Growing evidence indicates that nanoplastics circulate in the air, especially indoors. When inhaled, they can travel from the respiratory tract directly to the blood and brain, increasing cancer risk.
Dementia risk tied to early-onset coronary disease
In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, a crucial connection between a healthy heart and a healthy brain has been uncovered. The study’s notable finding reveals that individuals diagnosed with heart disease at a young age are more likely to face dementia later in life, shedding light on the important relationship between cardiovascular well-being and cognitive health.
This underscores the significance of proactive heart care for immediate health, long-term brain function, and overall well-being. Let’s explore the implications of this profound link and its potential impact on holistic health strategies.
Heart health’s unseen impact on long-term brain fitness
Many young individuals often feel invincible; for good reason – they are typically energetic and in peak physical shape. This sense of invincibility takes on new significance in light of a study conducted in China but focused on individuals living in Great Britain. Chinese researchers delved into data from the UK Biobank database, involving 450,000 older individuals and serving as a long-term project exploring the interplay between environment and genetics in disease development.
The study uncovered a noteworthy correlation: individuals with poor heart health before the age of 45 faced a 25% higher likelihood of developing dementia compared to those with better heart health. Fanfan Zheng, the senior author of the study, highlighted the somewhat surprising discovery of a linear connection between the onset of heart disease and subsequent dementia.
Before Zheng’s research, physicians understood that a compromised heart could pose a threat to the brain, potentially causing issues like poor blood circulation and strokes. This revelation amplifies the importance of addressing early coronary heart disease, emphasizing its critical role in safeguarding long-term brain health.
How does the timing of heart disease onset affect your dementia risks?
In the pursuit of uncovering potential links between heart disease and dementia, critical thinkers naturally gravitate toward understanding the timing of heart disease onset. The Chinese research team approached this by examining the medical records of hundreds of thousands of individuals residing in Great Britain, with participants entering the study at an average age of 57.
For transparency, it’s crucial to note that 12% of study participants were already diagnosed with heart disease upon enrollment. Over a 13-year tracking period, heart disease elevated the odds of vascular dementia by just under 80% and increased the chances of Alzheimer’s disease by exactly 13%. Early-onset heart disease was also associated with a 22% rise in vascular dementia risk and a 29% increase in Alzheimer’s disease risk.
The overarching trend suggests that the younger one is when developing heart disease, the greater the risk for a dementia diagnosis several decades later. However, a crucial caveat is in order – the data is derived from an observational analysis of past years, meaning a direct causal relationship isn’t definitively established.
>> Nurture your heart with Strauss Heartdrops
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Smart Dust: What Is It And How It Used?
This article is a few years old, but is a good primer about Smart Dust. The technology and the industry forming around it is huge and totally transformative. Of course, should not be surprising that DARPA started this in the first place, for military applications on the battlefield. Then, Technocrat scientists took it from there. ⁃ TN Editor
Apple Releases Urgent Security Updates for iPhone After Hackers Exploit Gaps
Hackers have exploited vulnerabilities in Apple’s Safari web browser and the iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems, prompting Apple to issue security updates.
Apple has released urgent security updates for its iOS and other operating systems to patch against vulnerabilities that both the tech giant and U.S. cyber security officials say are being actively exploited by hackers.
Apple’s security updates patch gaps in operating systems for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac products, as well as its Safari web browser.
Specifically, the software updates target iOS and iPad 17.1.2, macOS 14.1.2, and Safari 17.1.2, with Apple noting that the patches fix two vulnerabilities in WebKit, the browser engine that powers Safari and other apps.
Meta sued over forcing users to pay to stop tracking
Meta is required to get users’ consent in Europe in order to show them targeted ads. For this reason, Meta has to provide European users with a way to opt out of behavioral advertising or face fines totalling $100,000 a day.
Behavioral advertising are ads tailored to someone’s browsing habits and other online behavior. A profile of the user is built up over time, as they work their way around the web. Tracking users in this was was ruled as a break of GDPR regulations, so Meta had to find a way out.
Meta’s solution was to charge users for an ad-free experience. The choice for European users was keep using Facebook for free or pay to enjoy the platform without personalized ads. In order to enjoy your fundamental rights under EU law, Meta is essentially now proposing that users pay up to $275 per year.
However, organizations concerned about our privacy say that by doing this, Meta has changed the user’s choices from “yes or no” to “pay or okay.”
To put this into perspective, Meta’s annual revenue in 2022 was $120.18 Billion. If every user that visits Facebook daily (2.037 billion) forked out $275 per year, that would bring in roughly $560 Billion.
23andMe Admits Major Data Breach as Hackers Access Ancestry Information of Millions
Genetic testing giant 23andMe has admitted in a SEC filing that it has suffered a massive breach that has exposed the ancestry information of millions of customers utilizing the DNA Relatives feature.
Engadget reports that 23andMe, a popular genetic testing and analysis company, recently admitted it experienced a major data breach. According to an SEC filing, this breach affected a portion of the company’s user base, specifically targeting the opt-in DNA Relatives (DNAR) feature. This feature, designed to match users with genetic relatives, was exploited by hackers to access the accounts of about 14,000 of the 14 million total customers, representing roughly 0.1 percent of 23andMe’s user base.
Although the number of compromised accounts was small, the attackers managed to access the DNAR profiles of approximately 5.5 million customers. Additionally, they obtained Family Tree profile information from 1.4 million participants in the DNA Relatives program. These profiles contain sensitive details including display names, locations, shared DNA percentages, family names, predicted relationships, and ancestry reports. It’s also noted that Family Tree profiles include other voluntarily added information such as birth year and location.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
UN Launches Gates-Funded Global Digital ID Program as Experts Warn of ‘Totalitarian Nightmare’
With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations this month launched its “50-in-5” campaign to promote and accelerate the development of a global digital public infrastructure. One critic called the campaign “a totalitarian nightmare” designed to “onboard” small countries with “digital ID, digital wallets, digital lawmaking, digital voting and more.”
Jim Jordan Zeroes In on Deep-State Surveillance Solution
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) will soon unveil the committee’s proposal to rein in a controversial deep-state surveillance program that will expire by the end of the year.
Jordan will soon unveil legislation that will reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which has been long criticized by Jordan, conservatives, progressives, and libertarians.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
VIDEO: Tucker Carlson on Climate Change
Ep. 44 Another half-demented 80-year-old yelling about things he doesn’t understand. These are our leaders. They don’t care about our future because they don’t have one of their own.
On Monday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Surveillance,” Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk stated that the private sector will boost oil production in the U.S. if it isn’t constrained by the government and also touted oil and gas sector emissions regulations announced by the EPA and lamented that the there hasn’t been enough focus on certain oil and gas emissions.
Turk said, “I think one good thing we’ve certainly seen is a focus from a lot of companies, including here at the climate conference, on reducing methane emissions. This is something we’ve been after for quite some time. Our EPA colleagues recently announced some big news here in terms of the new regulatory structure to really do what’s the biggest no-brainer, I think, in the history of no-brainers on climate, [which] is reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. So, we’re really stepping up on that and we’re seeing some companies step up on that beyond what they’re required to do in the U.S.”
Co-host Tom Keene then asked, “How did we get to be an OPEC-sized oil nation? … How did we get to this hydrocarbon success that America is today?”
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Ice-Bred Plants and Cold Hardy Vegetables
Harvest in winter with ice-bred and cold hardy vegetables
Grow longer without the work of hoophouses or row covers. Harvest and grow ice-bred plants and cold hardy vegetables to maximize your garden’s production.
Winter Mulch for Vegetable Garden
When the temperatures at night fall below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, winter mulch for vegetable garden is one of the best things you can do for your plants.
Mulching acts as an insulation to protect your plants from the freezing-thawing-freezing-thawing cycle which may damage roots. Mulching protect plants from winter.It keeps roots warmer much longer.
Recently Dr. Robert Malone, a man many credit with being the “original inventor” of mRNA technology, joined Dr. Brooke Miller, the former immediate past President of the United States Cattlemen’s Association, to discuss mRNA in livestock, and the valid concerns associated with the practice.
On another note we see yet another push, this time coming from the United Nations, which will be demanding that developed nations “curb their excessive appetite for meat as part of the first comprehensive plan to bring the global agrifood industry into line with the Paris climate agreement,” according to Bloomberg.
Put just those two reports together and it is easy to see how government entities, all in the name of the global warming hoax, where 50 years of predictions all failed to come true, will turn pig and cattle farms across the country into killing fields.
If they cannot force us to stop eating meat, then the next logical step would be to kill off the meat producing animals.
As a quick note, according to Malone, custom mRNA-based vaccines for cattle are not being used yet (Note: I would personally add, “that we know of.” to that assertion.) On the other hand these custom mRNA-based vaccines are being used on swine.
Via Malone’s Substack transcript of the interview: (Video found at that link)
…So what is a viable product is they will go through one of these large swine herds and sample the pathogen load, particularly viruses that are circulating in that particular farm. And then they’ll take that back to the laboratory and design a custom mRNA-based vaccine for that swine herd that’s operating in the close confines of a factory farm. And then go through and jet inject basically all the pigs in that farm to try to make it harder for whatever the viruses are that are circulating there to compromise the viability of the pigs in any of the piglets. So that is absolutely being deployed, and it was rushed through by USDA under something akin to the emergency use authorization process that has happened with humans, which is to say with almost no testing at all. But there is nothing yet in cattle industry, although I’m sure they would like to have it.
Malone talks about the impact on fertility, as well as the eggs that are being produced from the ovaries, which would have direct implications for the calves born from the adults that have received the mRNA-based vaccines.
2ND AMENDMENT
Chuck Schumer Pledges to Bring ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban to Senate Floor this Week
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Monday night via an X post that he will be bringing an “assault weapons” ban to the Senate floor “this week.”
Sen. Schumer posted to X:
“ This week, I will put the Assault Weapons Ban on the Senate floor. After I led the passage of the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban 30 years ago, America saw a decrease in mass shootings and gun deaths. We must stand with the American people and against the gun lobby.”
COVID RELATED NEWS
US Lab Is Linked to COVID Virus, Before Outbreak
In 2018, NIH researchers tested a SARS-like coronavirus in bats at a Montana lab, raising more questions about the origins of COVID-19.
Researchers with the NIH’s National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) infected 12 Egyptian fruit bats with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like WIV1-coronavirus (CoV) in 2018
The bats came from the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve (CWP) in Thurmont, Maryland, a roadside zoo with numerous animal welfare violations and a curator with NIH ties
The WIV1-coronavirus came from the lab in Wuhan, China, that may have caused the COVID-19 pandemic
The research took place at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana — a biolevel 4 facility — under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci
Rocky Mountain Laboratories also has a Lyme disease connection, as evidence suggests it may be a biological weapon gone rogue
The Truth About “White Lung Disease”
This is going to be a very short article because I don’t need a lot of room to show this whistle lung disease nonsense is nothing more than fear-mongering and fraud. Remember, these are the same people that told you COVID would kill everyone, masks help, social distancing is science, and the vaccines were safe and effective. Literally everything they have said for the past 4 years is a lie so when do you trust a liar?
First off, Pneumonia is a disease which means it is a collection of symptoms. The symptoms are caused by some underlying factor. I know some of my readers don’t like germ theory but I’m sticking with it because it is an unnecessary fight for my point. The consensus view is that viruses, bacteria, and sometimes environmental factors can cause pneumonia whose symptoms are generally resulting from fluid in the lungs stemming from those underlying issues. This is all pretty straight forward and requires no scientific understanding.
CANCEL CULTURE
Hillary Clinton Meme Influencer Can Stay Out of Jail Pending Appeal of Guilty Verdict, Court Rules
An appeals court ruled Monday that an online influencer who was found guilty of a conspiracy charge for posting memes can stay out of jail pending appeal.
The parents of a 9-year-old boy accused by a Deadspin writer of wearing blackface during a Kansas City Chiefs football game threatened to sue the outlet and demanded a retraction and apology, NewsNation reported.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) issued a massive troll against Deadspin after one of its reporters attempted to cancel a 9-year-old Kanas City Chiefs fan for his face paint.
Over the weekend, Collins shared a doctored photo of himself wearing black and red face paint in a show of support for the Georgia Bulldogs ahead of the SEC championship game.
PET NEWS
Casper the friendly sheepdog nominated for Farm Dog of the Year
The Great Pyrenees from Decatur, Georgia, defended his flock of sheep by killing eight coyotes and is up for a $5,000 cash prize
Hot Spots: How to Treat Them and What Do They Mean?
Hot spots demand two things: treatment and figuring out what’s causing them. Here’s what I recommend using on hot spots to disinfect without burning and four things you can do to soothe and protect the skin. And then for the cause – could it be emotional?
ICYMI
WATCH: Dick Durbin Lets Cat Out of Bag on Bill Allowing Illegal Aliens Into Military
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) turned all order on its head on Monday in his “solution” to the problem at the border.
Durbin agreed that something has to be done about the southern border, but his response about what that “something” might be was insane and incredibly dangerous for the safety of the nation. Right now, we are letting all kinds of people in without having any true vetting of them at the border. Now Durbin is suggesting that we let these folks who broke our law by entering illegally into the military.
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