Anti-vax protests erupt worldwide amid plan for major D.C. event
WND – Preparations are underway for an anti-vaccine-mandate protest at the National Mall in Washington, but citizens across Europe and Down Under have been holding mass demonstrations for some time now, including over the holiday weekend.
The march in Washington on Jan. 23 will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Washington Monument and conclude at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, about one mile away. Called Defeat the Mandate DC, it’s organized by The Unity Project, Children’s Health Defense and the International Alliance of Physicians and Medical Scientists.
“The mandates are un-American. Stop the mass firings. Stop segregating by vaccination status. Stop calling Americans ‘unpatriotic’ for making a personal medical choice,” the organizers declare on their website.
In New York City on Monday, protesters against vaccine mandates crossed the Brooklyn Bridge chanting “We the people will not comply.”
Fauci: Vaccine Mandate for Domestic Air Travel ‘Would Be Welcome’
The Epoch Times – White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci says the U.S. government should consider vaccine requirements for domestic air travel.
Currently, the United States mandates that noncitizens coming into the country present proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of departure. Travelers who took the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as shots approved by the World Health Organization, are authorized to enter the United States under federal health guidelines.
But Fauci said those requirements should be expanded.
“If you’re making a requirement for vaccination for people to get on planes who are coming into the country, that’s understandable,” he told MSNBC on Dec. 27. “You don’t want to bring more cases into the country. But if you’re talking about requiring vaccination to get on a plane domestically, that is just another one of the requirements that I think is reasonable to consider.”
Fauci didn’t explain why he believes the requirement would be a “reasonable” one.
Critics of mandates and vaccine passport systems say that such measures create a two-tiered society of vaccinated and unvaccinated people that denies rights and privileges to unvaccinated individuals, even though data have shown that fully vaccinated people can contract and transmit COVID-19.
Epoch Times – Airlines across the United States continued to cancel hundreds of Christmas holiday flights on Dec. 26 amid the nationwide surge in Omicron coronavirus variant cases, which has also affected employees and flight crew.
Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Alaska Airlines all reported hundreds of canceled or delayed flights at a time when more than 109 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more via plane and other forms of transportation to visit friends and family between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2.
As of Dec. 26, 189 Delta Air Lines flights were canceled and 881 were delayed, according to flight-tracking website Flight Aware. United Airlines has had 118 flight cancelations and 613 delays. JetBlue canceled 132 flights on Dec. 26, while 527 were delayed. Alaska Airlines canceled 196 flights and delayed 249.
On Dec. 25, airlines canceled a total of 957 flights, including domestic and international travel, while nearly 2,000 flights were delayed, according to the tracking website. On Dec. 24, 690 flights were scrapped.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the figure of more than 109 million Americans expected to travel this holiday season represents an almost 34 percent increase from 2020. It was anticipated that a total of 27.7 million more people were set to travel in 2021 compared to 2020, bringing those numbers to pre-pandemic levels.
However, the highly transmissible Omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections, which airlines have said has directly affected employees and flight crew.
“As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” a spokesperson from United Airlines told ABC News last week. “We’re sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays.”
What Happened in These States When Unelected Bureaucrats Took Over Redistricting
The Daily Signal – In Michigan, the state’s civil rights agency said proposed maps of legislative districts “do not measure up to the requirements of the law.” In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers complained about an “extreme partisan gerrymander.” And in Virginia, incumbents and potential challengers scrambled to work with proposed district maps.
In theory, new bureaucracies to draw up maps for congressional and legislative districts were supposed to save democracy from politics and block the practice of gerrymandering.
But this month has seen controversies on multiple fronts regarding the independent redistricting commissions involved.
When Virginia voters approved its redistricting commission in 2020, that made a total of 10 states that have a commission with primary responsibility for drawing both congressional and state legislative districts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Five other states have a commission only to draw legislative districts. At least five other states have some form of advisory commission to assist their legislatures.
“The idea is to put it outside the political process,” Mike Watson, research director for Capital Research Center, an investigative think tank based in Washington, told The Daily Signal. “Redistricting commissions take this out of the political process and there is less accountability.”
How the Endless Boosters Will Destroy Immune Function
Mercola – The COVID shots reprogram your immune system to respond in a dysfunctional manner. Aside from increasing vulnerability to infections, this can also result in autoimmune diseases and cancer
A paper published in early May 2021 reported the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID jab “reprograms both adaptive and innate immune responses,” causing immune depletion
Antigens in vaccines have been shown to induce defects in the immune system that can raise the risk of autoimmune diseases
Leaky or nonsterilizing vaccines can also trigger the evolution of more hazardous viruses, and the COVID jabs are among the leakiest “vaccines” ever created
According to health authorities, the vaccine-evading Omicron variant necessitates a third COVID injection, but this recommendation will only perpetuate mutation
BREAKING — Japan Puts Warnings on COVID Jabs
Mercola – Japan has taken steps to warn its citizens about serious side effects linked to COVID-19 injections
They’ve added a warning label to the jabs, warning about the risk of myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle
Japan is also taking strict measures to monitor and report all side effects to the unprecedented jabs
Hospitals must report, in detail, any adverse effects that occur within 28 days of receiving a COVID-19 injection
Japan’s Ministry of Health includes a “consent to vaccination” section on its website, which states mandatory vaccination and discrimination against those who choose not to be vaccinated are not advised; this includes at workplaces, which are told not to force anyone to get injected
Japan is standing out as a protector of informed consent and medical freedom, during a time in history when many other countries are opting for totalitarian control
CDC Shortens COVID-19 Quarantine Guidelines for General Population
Epoch Times – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a reversal of a previous recommendation, cut the number of days of isolation for Americans who contract COVID-19 from 10 days to five days regardless of vaccination status.
The agency similarly shortened the time that close contacts of COVID-19 need to quarantine. Authorities with the CDC said that its latest guidance is in line with more and more evidence suggesting that those who contract the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus are the most infectious two days before and three days after symptoms emerge.
Meanwhile, the CDC said that a surge in the Omicron variant across the United States propelled the latest guidance change. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told The Associated Press on Monday that the United States will experience significantly more Omicron cases.
“Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact, many are going to be asymptomatic,” she told the newswire service. “We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science.”
Since the emergence of the new strain in southern Africa last month, only one Omicron death has been reported so far in the United States. Officials in Texas said a Harris County man apparently died from the variant last week.
49-year-old N.Y. Times editor dies ‘less than a day’ after COVID shot
‘All I had to do was fill out this form in a language I can’t read’
WND – A New York Times deputy Asia editor, Carlos Tejada, posted on social media he had gotten a Moderna COVID-19 booster shot.
Less than a day later, he died, at age 49.
The National Pulse documents that Tejada “was grateful to receive the mRNHA/LNP booster while in Seoul, South Korea, after originally getting the Johnson & Johnson DNA-AAV COVID-19 shot in July.”
“Less than a day after receiving his Moderna booster on December 17th, Tejada died of a heart attack. The news was shared via Tejada’s social media by his wife Nora the following morning,” the report said.
Tejada worked in part on the paper’s COVID-19 coverage and was married with two children.
He previously had worked at the Wall Street Journal.
Growing Number of Highly Vaccinated Cruise Ships Facing Disruption Over COVID-19
Epoch Times – At least four cruise ships have reported COVID-19 cases in recent days, coming as Colombia officials prevented the Seven Seas Mariner ship from allowing anyone to disembark in Cartagena after seven positive cases were reported onboard.
Authorities in Mexico also prevented the Holland America Line Koningsdam vessel from allowing passengers to disembark in the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta late last week after 21 crew members tested positive for the virus.
Health authorities in Jalisco state, Mexico, were going to allow individuals who tested negative to leave the ship. But on Thursday, they changed their decision due to an “exponential growth of confirmed cases in the crew,” according to the department.
The Holland America ship has a fully vaccinated crew and requires all passengers to show proof of vaccination before boarding, according to its website. Crew and passengers also have to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test.
Seven Seas Mariner, which has a capacity of 445 crew and 769 passengers, was refused entry in Cartagena, Colombia, last week after Mayor William Dau issued a directive against it. Operators of the cruise ship, which started its trip on Dec. 18, requires all passengers and crew members have to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks before departing.
Over the long weekend, Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Freedom confirmed it has been forced to alter its stops in the south Caribbean after several individuals onboard tested positive for the virus.
NASCAR Driver at Center of Eponymous ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Chant Speaks Out
Epoch Times – Brandon Brown, the NASCAR driver after whom the viral “let’s go Brandon” political chant was named, revealed that he’s found it difficult to find corporate sponsors now.
“It got extremely difficult for us … If you’re a national corporation, that means you sell to all consumers … and unfortunately, when you get dragged into the political arena, people want you to take a side,’” Brown told Sports Business Journal during a recent interview.
“It’s hard for a brand to want to attach to somebody who might be kind of divisive in their consumer base,” he added. “If I’m going to divide Coca-Cola, why would they want to talk to me?”
In October, the phrase erupted into a viral meme after an NBC reporter erroneously claimed that NASCAR fans were saying “let’s go Brandon” during an interview with Brown after his October Xfinity Series win at Talladega Superspeedway. They were actually chanting “[expletive] Joe Biden.”
The euphemism is now synonymous with criticism of President Joe Biden and his policies, and has been heard during numerous sports events, concerts, or even events where Biden or other top Democrats have spoken. Over the past weekend, an Oregon man, identified as Jared Schmeck, told the president the phrase in a call during a Christmas hotline event that was being live-streamed.
CDC Shortens COVID-19 Quarantine Guidelines for General Population
Epoch Times – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a reversal of a previous recommendation, cut the number of days of isolation for Americans who contract COVID-19 from 10 days to five days regardless of vaccination status.
The agency similarly shortened the time that close contacts of COVID-19 need to quarantine. Authorities with the CDC said that its latest guidance is in line with more and more evidence suggesting that those who contract the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus are the most infectious two days before and three days after symptoms emerge.
Meanwhile, the CDC said that a surge in the Omicron variant across the United States propelled the latest guidance change. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told The Associated Press on Monday that the United States will experience significantly more Omicron cases.
“Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact, many are going to be asymptomatic,” she told the newswire service. “We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science.”
Since the emergence of the new strain in southern Africa last month, only one Omicron death has been reported so far in the United States. Officials in Texas said a Harris County man apparently died from the variant last week
Outgoing Mayor’s Vaccine Mandate Now in Effect for NY Businesses, Indoor Venues
Epoch Times – The New York City vaccination mandate for private businesses went into effect on Dec. 27 as the surge in the Omicron variant intensified.
The city’s expanded vaccine mandate, as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Key to NYC program, is the strictest in the nation. It defines only individuals with at least two doses of a mRNA vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson to be “fully vaccinated.”
De Blasio first announced the mandate expansion on Dec. 6, four days after NY State authorities reported the state’s first case of Omicron.
According to de Blasio, NYC has seen tens of thousands of new cases each day, with more than 14,000 positive cases on Dec. 26 alone.
The mayor said earlier this month that employees of 184,000 private businesses would need to submit proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot.
“We’re implementing the strongest vaccine mandate in the country,” said de Blasio on MSNBC.
“This is what we need to do everywhere. Every mayor, every governor, every CEO in America should do vaccine mandates now. 2022 has to be the year we leave COVID behind.”
All employers will have to keep full records of their workers’ vaccination status. Those who do not comply face fines starting from $1,000.
Employees who have only gotten one shot are required to get a second one within 45 days.
Companies must display a sign affirming that they are complying with the rule “in a conspicuous location.”
The new rules cover private places where work is performed in contact with other persons, which includes not only stores, but offices and taxis.
Biden Signs $768 Billion Defense Spending Bill Into Law
Epoch Times – President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a nearly $770 billion defense bill, setting policy for the Pentagon on a number of areas, the White House announced.
The sweeping National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2022 authorizes a 5 percent increase ($25 billion) in military spending from last year and includes a 2.7 percent pay raise for most military service members.
Congress earlier this month scrambled to pass the annual legislation, with the Senate and the House of Representatives voting overwhelmingly in favor of the bill after several hurdles over China and Russia policy.
“The Act provides vital benefits and enhances access to justice for military personnel and their families, and includes critical authorities to support our country’s national defense,” Biden said in a statement after approving the policy.
The $768.2 billion bill was passed by the House in early December in a 363-70 vote, while the Senate passed the NDAA by a 88-11 vote.
The NDAA is closely watched by a broad swath of industry and other interests because it is one of the only major pieces of legislation that becomes law every year and because it addresses a wide range of issues. The NDAA has become law every year for six decades.
It sets policy for the Pentagon on a wide range of areas, and this year’s legislation includes more aircraft and Navy ship purchases to meet the increasing threats directed at Taiwan from China’s ruling communist party, and outlines strategies with a particular focus on “strategic competition” with China and Russia.
On China, the bill triples funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative in the Indo-Pacific at a cost of $7.1 billion and outlines a statement of congressional support for the defense of Taiwan. It also includes a ban on the Department of Defense procuring products produced with forced labor from China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.
Biden had requested a lower figure of $5.1 billion for efforts in the Indo-Pacific. The $7.1 billion will support the Pentagon’s plans to further disperse and supply U.S. forces across the first island chain, from the Philippines to Taiwan and Japan, to make them less vulnerable to missile attacks from China.
The United States may also be playing catch up with China and Russia on hypersonic weapons, with the Pentagon being directed to compare its capabilities.
This year’s legislation also includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides support to Ukraine’s armed forces, $4 billion for the European Defense Initiative, and $150 million for Baltic security cooperation.
It creates a 16-member commission to study the war in Afghanistan. Biden ended the conflict in August after he withdrew all remaining U.S. troops from the country before a self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline. The Biden administration has received widespread criticism for how it handled the pullout.
The measure also lays out policy for the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which is compelling a large portion of the U.S. military to receive a vaccine in order to remain in the service. It states that members who are discharged for failing to meet a deadline to get vaccinated receive at least a general discharge under honorable conditions, which would allow those affected to qualify for re-enlistment.
Biden in his statement also highlighted certain provisions that he opposed, including policy that bars the use of funds to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States or to the custody of certain foreign countries unless certain conditions are met.
Alexa tells 10-year-old girl to put penny in plug socket
BBC – Amazon has updated its Alexa voice assistant after it “challenged” a 10-year-old girl to touch a coin to the prongs of a half-inserted plug.
The suggestion came after the girl asked Alexa for a “challenge to do”.
“Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs,” the smart speaker said.
Amazon said it fixed the error as soon as the company became aware of it.
The girl’s mother, Kristin Livdahl, described the incident on Twitter.
She said: “We were doing some physical challenges, like laying down and rolling over holding a shoe on your foot, from a [physical education] teacher on YouTube earlier. Bad weather outside. She just wanted another one.”
That’s when the Echo speaker suggested partaking in the challenge that it had “found on the web”.
The dangerous activity, known as “the penny challenge”, began circulating on TikTok and other social media websites about a year ago.
Many metals conduct electricity and inserting them into live electrical sockets can cause electric shocks, fires and other damage.
“I know you can lose fingers, hands, arms,” Michael Clusker, station manager at Carlisle East fire station, told The Press newspaper in Yorkshire in 2020.
“The outcome from this is that someone will get seriously hurt.”
Fire officials in the US have also spoken out against the so-called challenge.
Ms Livdahl tweeted that she intervened, yelling: “No, Alexa, no!”
However, she said her daughter was “too smart to do something like that”.
Amazon told the BBC in a statement that it had updated Alexa to prevent the assistant recommending such activity in the future.
Four Dead, Officer Wounded, After Colorado Shooting Spree
Breitbart – Four people were killed and others, including a police officer, were wounded during a shooting spree in Colorado late Monday afternoon.
FOX News reports an unidentified gunman began shooting people in Denver “about 5 p.m.”
His first two victims were women, both of whom were fatally shot.
Reuters notes the armed assailant then drove away and fatally shot a man in Denver’s Cheesman Park neighborhood.
The shooting suspect next opened fire in a different neighborhood, striking no one, and was soon exchanging gunfire with police.
The gunman made it to Lakewood, Colorado, where he shot and killed his fourth victim.
He was soon cornered by police and fled on foot, “entering a hotel, where he shot and wounded a clerk.”
The gunman once against exchanged gunfire with gunfire, wounding an officer before being killed.
Colorado is one of states with universal background checks, which Democrats push as a way to keep Americans safe. Colorado also has capacity limits on ammunition magazines and a red flag law, among other gun controls.
NaturalNews – Over the past several years, avocado oil has really grown in popularity due to the many known health benefits of avocado fruit. But is all avocado oil created equally? Not exactly.
New research published in the journal Food Control has found that, much like olive oil, avocado oil purity and quality varies dramatically.
The report found that the vast majority of commercially available avocado oils labeled as “extra virgin” and “refined” are adulterated and / or of poor quality. A whopping 82 percent were also found to have gone rancid before their expiration date.
Disturbingly, three of the 22 “avocado oils” tested as part of the research did not even contain avocado oil at all, and were instead composed of something else entirely such as soybean oil.
Study co-author Selina Wang says she expected to find “some percentage of adulterants” within the lineup, but was instead shocked to learn that all of the avocado oils tested were adulterated.
“This study analyzed avocado oils currently on the market in the U.S. to evaluate their quality (e.g., free fatty acidity, peroxide value, UV absorbances, vitamin E) and purity (e.g., fatty acids, sterols, triacyglycerols),” she said.
“Our results showed that the majority of commercial samples were oxidized before reaching the expiration date listed on the bottle. In addition, adulteration with soybean oil at levels near 100% was confirmed in two ‘extra virgin’ and one ‘refined’ sample.”
Know what you’re buying before feeding potentially rancid or adulterated oils to your family
An oil can only be considered authentic and pure when no other additives or oils have been added to it. It must be 100 percent what it says it is, otherwise it cannot be labeled as a specific oil.
Other factors considered include quality of raw material, the extraction process used, and storage methods. However, the biggest factor is “mostly related to the level of hydrolysis of the fruit and oxidation of the oil.”
Based on this, the study’s authors are now compiling a database “to support standards development for this industry.”
All of the 22 “avocado oil” samples obtained for the research were purchased from one of six different grocery stores or two online sources. They covered major brands and types of oils, including extra virgin, unrefined and refined. The oils came from either California, Mexico, Brazil or Spain.
The vast majority of them tested as “low quality,” meaning they were improperly stored or stored for too long, or used damaged or rotten fruits. In some cases, extreme or harsh processing damaged the quality of the oil.
“While previous researchers have proposed a healthy level of free fatty acidity (FFA) should be between 0.1% and 0.55% for refined avocado oils, three of the 22 samples had FFA values close to 2.5%,” reported Dr. Joseph Mercola about the study’s findings.
“Extra virgin avocado oils had an FFA range between 0.03% and 2.69%, with an overall average of 1.31%.”
Unhealthy avocados are those that become damaged, bruised or overripe. In some cases, the fruit is infested with insects or even black before it is overheated, processed and pumped into bottles labeled avocado oil.
Another major problem with most commercial avocado oils is high oxidation. Oxidated oil is highly inflammatory and essentially toxic, and yet most oils that remain liquid at room temperature fall into this category, avocado oil included.
A lack of industry standards is largely to blame for this disturbing situation, which is why some are now calling for reform. The reality is that true avocado oil is extremely healthy, but one of the problems is finding the real thing.
Truckers Boycott Driving to Colorado After Driver Gets 110 Year Sentence for Accident
Free Thought Project – In April of 2019, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ brakes failed on his semi-truck as he drove down a hill on Interstate 70. The brake failure caused him to come slamming into traffic, killing four people and injuring several others. The horrific accident destroyed 28 other vehicles as well.
It was proven in a court of law that Aguilera-Mederos had no control over his brakes and though he certainly bears some responsibility, thanks to ridiculously harsh mandatory minimum sentencing, he will be thrown in a cage for the rest of his life.
In October, Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty and convicted on 27 counts — 4 counts of vehicular homicide, 6 counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempt to commit assault in the first degree- extreme indifference, two counts of vehicular assault- reckless, one count of reckless driving, four counts of careless driving causing death.
This month, a judge in Jefferson County sentenced him to 110 years in prison. Two days later, more than 4.5 million people had signed an online petition asking Gov. Jared Polis to grant clemency, or commutation as time served.
Also, after he was sentenced, truckers across the country took to social media to announce a boycott. They announced that they will no longer be driving into Colorado unless Aguilera-Mederos is granted clemency.
One Tiktoker said, “this truck is no longer going to Colorado. We want justice for Rogel Aguilera. Truckers he needs our help.”
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