WORLD NEWS
Top Virologist Declares COVID-19 Pandemic Is Over
A top German virologist declared this week that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, saying the virus has moved into the endemic phase.
“We are experiencing the first endemic wave with Sars-CoV-2 this winter; in my estimation the pandemic is over,” Dr. Christian Drosten, the head of virology at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital, was quoted by DW.com as saying. He was referring to the virus that causes COVID-19.
Drosten said that after the 2022–2023 winter, the population will have broad immunity and said the virus will have little chance to spread during the coming summer.
Another German intensive care physician who is a member of the country’s COVID-19 council said the pandemic will likely be over after this coming winter.
“I expect that the pandemic will now increasingly run its course,” Dr. Christian Karagiannidis said in a recent interview, according to the German news website.
Due to Drosten’s comments on Monday, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote that all restrictions should be lifted.
“We are in the endemic situation. As a political consequence, we should terminate the last coronavirus protective measures,” he wrote on Monday.
Chinese Tourists Flock to the Borders, Potentially Spreading Coronavirus Outbreak Worldwide
Travel bookings surged in China on Tuesday after the National Immigration Administration announced passport applications will once again be processed as of January 8, 2023. The policy change ends years-old travel restrictions just as the biggest coronavirus wave of the entire pandemic sweeps across China. Several other countries, such as Japan and India, announced their own restrictions on Chinese travelers in response.
Some Chinese provinces are now reporting millions of coronavirus infections in a single day, as an even more infectious variant of the highly contagious Omicron strain spreads like wildfire through a population with very little natural immunity, thanks to years of dictator Xi Jinping’s brutal “zero Covid” citywide lockdowns.
This would seem like an odd time to loosen (or, as the Chinese Communist Party likes to say, “optimize”) travel restrictions, unless one is determined to ensure the incredibly contagious strain of coronavirus ravaging one’s population is spread as quickly as possible across the world, to ensure China is not the only country to suffer its economy-crushing symptoms.
Nevertheless, China announced the end of mandatory quarantine for inbound travelers on Monday, and on Tuesday it began ramping up its passport machinery for the big Lunar New Year travel season, as reported by the state-run Xinhua news service:
The National Immigration Administration issued a notice on Tuesday, saying that the optimized policies and measures include the resumption of accepting and approval of Chinese citizens’ applications for ordinary passports for the purposes of tourism and visiting friends abroad starting from the date.
The administration will also resume the processing of endorsements for Chinese mainland residents to visit the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for tourism and business purposes, as well as the issuance of exit-and-entry permits of the People’s Republic of China and exit-and-entry permits for border control areas, the notice said.
Services related to the application for ordinary visas, stay permits, and residence permits by foreigners will be resumed, the notice said, adding that expedited procedures may be applied for in case of urgent need.
The BBC reported a “spike in traffic” of up to 1000% at Chinese travel sites, which apparently made Japan and India nervous enough to require negative coronavirus tests and brief quarantine periods from Chinese travelers.
Texas National Guard Builds 2 Miles of Razor Wire Border Fencing near El Paso
While most families across the country celebrated the extended Christmas holiday weekend, members of the Texas National Guard built more than two miles of razor-wire border fencing near El Paso. Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed the Guardsmen under Operation Lone Star to build the barriers after the City of El Paso declared a disaster as migrants surged across the border.
The Texas Military Department tweeted a video on Christmas Day showing the National Guard building a triple-strand concertina barrier “to secure the area from illegal crossings.”
Supreme Court to Decide if States Can Protect Title 42, Leaving Policy in Place for Now
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether states can ask courts to preserve Title 42 border safeguards when the Biden administration tries to let the policy die, voting on Tuesday to leave the Trump-era policy in place until it hands down a decision in the case by early summer 2023.
Title 42 allows federal agents to turn away illegal aliens immediately without taking them into custody if the agent believes the alien might have Covid-19. Even though the number of illegal crossings is at an all-time high, the numbers at the border would be up to double their current levels without that policy in place.
‘Whether You Live or Die, No One Cares’: Chinese Left Helpless Amid COVID Crisis
Heath system, crematoriums overwhelmed; death toll rising among CCP elites
Inside the mortuary of a top hospital in China’s fifth-most populous city of Guangzhou, dead bodies have been piled on the floor since the refrigerated chambers reached capacity. Elsewhere, long lines of cars waiting with bodies to be cremated have formed outside several morgues in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.
Up north in China’s capital, there were so many corpses that cold stores at state-run food companies have been turned into temporary storage facilities for dead bodies.
The grim scenes emanating out of China in recent days, which were shared by witnesses who spoke to The Epoch Times, are reminiscent of the desperation from nearly three years ago, when COVID-19 first erupted in the country. As the rest of the world learned to live with the virus, the regime held steady to its communist-style campaign known as “zero-COVID,” which aimed to eradicate the disease through a mix of massive lockdowns, intrusive surveillance, and mandatory testing—despite the heavy economic, humanitarian, and psychological toll.
Then, following nationwide unrest in November, the regime abruptly made a U-turn, relaxing the zero-COVID policy in early December. The reversal was made without forewarning or the announcement of measures for a graduated retreat from the policy.
Zelensky Says Ukraine Ready to Join WEF Meeting in Davos as It Seeks Postwar Funding
When the global elites of business, finance, banking, and big government convene in Davos next month at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, Ukraine will be amongst them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Wednesday his government will be at the meeting in Switzerland, revealing he also spoke again with BlackRock Inc CEO Larry Fink about financing the postwar rebuilding effort.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Supreme Court Orders Title 42 Border Rule to Remain in Effect
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Title 42, the Trump-era immigration and public health order, to remain in place for the time being.
The high court voted (pdf) 5–4 to grant an emergency request from 19 Republican state attorneys general who sought to intervene in defense of the rule, putting on hold a ruling by District of Colombia Judge Emmet Sullivan, a Clinton appointee, that allowed the rule to expire last week.
Justices Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson voted against granting the request, while Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett voted in favor. Last week, Roberts, the chief justice, paused the plan to give the Supreme Court more time to look into the issue.
“The stay itself does not prevent the federal government from taking any action with respect to that policy,” the short, unsigned order said Tuesday. “The Court’s review on certiorari is limited to the question of intervention. While the underlying merits of the District Court’s summary judgment order are pertinent to that analysis, the Court does not grant review of those merits, which have not yet been addressed by the Court of Appeals.”
Poll: Eight of Ten Americans Want to Keep Title 42
Republican, independent, and Democrat voters strongly support the preservation of the Title 42 border barrier, according to a December poll by Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll.
The poll asked 1,851 registered voters about the barrier, which was established by President Donald Trump and is being removed by President Joe Biden:
Title 42 is a regulation providing that because of COVID, those who attempt to cross the border illegally can be sent to Mexico to wait for a court date. Do you think that provision should be continued and those asylum seekers kept out of the US or do you think the rule should be repealed and those migrants allowed to come into the US to wait for a court date?
Winter Storm Death Toll Rises to 27 in Western New York, 57 Across U.S.
The winter storm ravaging most of the United States during the Christmas holidays has claimed at least 27 lives in western New York and at least 57 nationwide, officials estimated Monday.
Erie County, N.Y., Executive Mark Poloncarz announced at a Monday news conference that 12 additional deaths had been caused by the historic blizzard, bringing the area’s death toll to 25 — most occurring in the city of Buffalo.
Arizona Judge Denies Hobbs’s Request to Sanction Lake Over Election Lawsuit
An Arizona judge on Dec. 27 denied a request from Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County to sanction Republican candidate Kari Lake and her legal team over her lawsuit challenging the results of the 2022 general election.
Judge Peter Thompson wrote that while Lake didn’t meet the burden of providing evidence of her election-related claims, her lawsuit didn’t meet the standard for imposing sanctions. Thompson, however, ruled that Lake must reimburse Hobbs $33,040 for some expenses because she didn’t win her case.
“There is no doubt that each side believes firmly in its position with great conviction,” the judge ruled (pdf) on Dec. 27. “The fact that Plaintiff failed to meet the burden of clear and convincing evidence required … does not equate to a finding that her claims were, or were not, groundless and presented in bad faith. Any legal decision must be based on the law and facts rather than subjective beliefs or partisan opinions, no matter how strongly held.”
Judge Keeps Oregon’s Strict Gun Control Measure on Ice
An Oregon gun-control measure that many predict will wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court remains in limbo.
In a Dec 23 hearing, Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio said he would rule by Jan. 3 whether to lift a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Oregon Ballot Measure 114 requirement that a background check be completed before a firearm can be sold or transferred.
Earlier this month, Raschio issued a TRO on the measure’s permit-to-purchase provision and its ban on magazines that carry 10 or more rounds. Those TROs are still in place.
Passed in November with just 50.7 percent of the vote, Ballot Measure 114 was initially scheduled to take effect Dec. 8 but, starting on Dec. 6, faced a flurry of lawsuits.
Transportation Department to Probe ‘Unacceptable’ Cancellations From Southwest Airlines
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) says it will probe what caused Southwest Airlines’ “unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays” that left travelers stranded at airports across the country amid an intense winter storm.
In a Tweet posted just after 9 p.m. on Dec. 26, the DOT stated that Southwest’s flight disruptions and “reports of lack of prompt customer service” were cause for concern.
“The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan,” reads the tweet, which was viewed by 4.4 million people in less than 12 hours.
That plan spells out how the airline is supposed to handle issues such as cancellations and refunds.
About three hours after the DOT’s announcement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posted the department’s statement and wrote on Twitter: “I’m tracking closely & will have more to say about this tomorrow.”
Trump Makes Announcement on Whether Jared Kushner, Ivanka Joining 2024 Campaign
Former President Donald Trump revealed that his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, will not work on his 2024 campaign, rejecting speculative reports saying otherwise.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said that reports claiming Kushner and Ivanka refused to work on his campaign were false. Instead, according to the former president, he told them that they should not join to avoid the rampant media speculation.
“Contrary to Fake News reporting, I never asked Jared or Ivanka to be part of the 2024 Campaign for President and, in fact, specifically asked them not to do it — too mean and nasty with the Fake & Corrupt News and having to deal with some absolutely horrendous SleazeBags in the world of politics, and beyond,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
FL Investigating Drag Show: ‘Exposing Children to Sexually Explicit Activity Is a Crime in Florida’
Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) is investigating a sexually explicit drag show that took place in Fort Lauderdale on December 26 and welcomed children in the audience.
The drag show, “A Drag Queen Christmas,” appears to be the same show attended by the Democrat mayor of Knoxville in her city, which featured simulated sex acts and exposed fake breasts, as well as other explicit material and scenarios:
In a message to media partners, Bryan Griffin, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), said the office is currently working on behalf of DBPR and added that the department will field follow-up questions as details become available.
According to the statement, DBPR was made aware of “multiple complaints about a sexually explicit performance marketed to children held in Fort Lauderdale on December 26th” and is “actively investigating.” The investigation includes “video footage and photographs from the event.”
“DPBR will, like in other cases, take action,” the statement reads, making it clear that “exposing children to sexually explicit activity is a crime in Florida, and such action violates the Department’s licensing standards for operating a business and holding a liquor license.
“The Department will share any collected evidence with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for potential criminal liability.”
Government Waste: Nearly $690K in Taxpayers’ Money Spent to Study Romance Between Parrots
Nearly $690,000 in taxpayers’ money went toward studying “romance” between parrots, according to Sen. Rand Paul’s annual Festivus report.
Paul released the report, which highlights $482,276,543,907 in government waste, on Friday.
Maine Mother Calls for Resignations After School Social Worker Tried to Secretly Transition Daughter
A mother is calling for the resignation of school officials in Maine after finding out that a public school social worker began attempting to secretly transition her daughter.
The Damariscotta, Maine, mother demanded the resignation of multiple school officials at a school board meeting after she found out that a social worker had been attempting to transition her daughter, a report from the Maine Wire revealed.
Students Could Lose $70,000 Each In Their Lifetimes Thanks To Pandemic Learning Loss
Students enrolled during the pandemic could earn up to $70,000 less in income throughout their lifetime compared to peers who graduated before schools were temporarily closed, according to a study by a Stanford University economist.
The study, conducted by Eric A. Hanushek, found that the hiccup in steady education could cause students to earn 5.6% less than they would have before the pandemic as these students are more likely to be less educated and more underprepared for adulthood. This results from time lost in the classroom during the pandemic as schools were forced to close and/or operate online. (RELATED: Schools Struggle With Massive Nationwide Teacher Shortages As Students Head Back To Classrooms)
“Extensive research demonstrates a simple fact: those with higher achievement and greater cognitive skills earn more,” the study reads. “The evidence suggests that the value of higher achievement persists across a student’s entire work life.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
GasBuddy: Gas Prices to Soar over $4 a Gallon in 2023
GasBuddy warned American consumers on Tuesday that gas prices under the Biden administration could return to $4 a gallon as early as May 2023.
The national average price of gas on Tuesday was $3.10, up about 70 cents since former President Donald Trump left office in 2021, according to AAA. In some parts of the nation, gas prices soared to over $7.00 in 2022.
Target Limits Purchases of Children’s Medicines amid ‘Tripledemic’
Target is restricting purchases of specific children’s medicines as the nation endures what has been dubbed the “tripledemic” — a rise in cases of flu, coronavirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Shoppers trying to find Tylenol, Advil, and Motrin are only allowed two per transaction on the store’s website or inside its brick and mortar locations, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
WSJ: Elon Musk’s Financial Empire Is in Trouble
In a recent article, the Wall Street Journal reports that Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk’s immense wealth and borrowing power are being tested as Tesla shares continue a rapid decline while he attempts to stabilize his $44 billion investment in Twitter.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Elon Musk is facing financial pressure as Tesla stocks continue a downward trajectory and his $44 billion investment in Twitter has yet to pay off. The WSJ states that Musk’s ability to use his Tesla shares to raise money by selling or borrowing against them is being complicated by their rapid loss in value in recent months.
HEALTH
Is Colonoscopy Your Best Bet to Avoid Colorectal Cancer?
Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S., and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for both sexes combined. Despite the fact that there are multiple screening methods, most doctors simply recommend colonoscopy, which is one of the riskier methods
Research shows that while colonoscopies can lower your risk of a colorectal cancer diagnosis, they do not significantly reduce your risk of dying from colorectal cancer
Recent research concluded that about 25% of all colonoscopies performed are unnecessary
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2017 concluded that regular aspirin use was as effective for preventing colorectal cancer incidence and death thereof as screening with flexible sigmoidoscopy or fecal occult blood test. And, when it came to preventing death from cancer in the proximal colon, aspirin was more effective than either of these screens
About 80% of endoscopes are cleaned using Cidex (glutaraldehyde), which fails to properly sterilize these tools, potentially allowing for the transfer of infectious material from one patient into another. If you must get a colonoscopy, make sure the hospital or clinic uses peracetic acid to disinfect their endoscopes. This will minimize your likelihood of contracting an infection from a previous patient
This Type of Therapy Can Save Your Eyes
Blue light damages retinal cells responsible for vision color and clarity, but red and near infrared light help recharge retinal mitochondria and improve sight
The retina has the highest energy demand of any part of the body. A lack of red and near infrared light from the sun and overexposure to blue light from LED and digital devices can speed retinal aging
Artificial light at the wrong time of the day also impacts sleep quality, which is associated with obesity, heart attack, high blood pressure and depression
You can lower your exposure to blue light at home by replacing LED with incandescent bulbs and turning down the blue light in your digital devices at 7 p.m. when the sun naturally sets
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Census: Foreign-Born Population Increases Across All 50 States in 2022
The foreign-born population grew across all 50 states and Washington, DC, this year, a result of the nation’s decades-long legal immigration levels, the latest United States Census Bureau figures show.
While the foreign-born population grew nationwide, California, Florida, and Texas saw the highest gains. California, which lost overall residents this year, added nearly 128,000 immigrants to its population.
A visiting Harvard professor revealed to podcast host Joe Rogan the “heart-wrenching” and “subhuman” origins of nearly every lithium battery-powered tech device produced from Chinese-controlled cobalt slave mines in the Congo.
“The things I saw there were so appalling and heart-wrenching and urgent that I changed my approach,” Siddharth Kara told Rogan on what prompted him to write his new book Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Ivermectin Is Safe and Effective: The Evidence
Decades of use with nearly four billion doses to humans preceded recent use with COVID patients. From the chapter ‘Ivermectin sends COVID to lockdown,’ in my book The Defeat Of COVID.
Ivermectin is on the World Health Organization (WHO) List of Essential Medicines and is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This well-tolerated but potent anti-parasitic medicine has been prescribed billions of times in its 36-year history against a wide range of parasites. It is a drug in the avermectin family, so named because those compounds are produced by the soil organism Streptomyces avermitilis. It has also been studied and used against a wide range of viruses especially over the last decade, and there is evidence of potent antiviral effects against Influenza A and over a dozen other viruses tested. [309]
In a meta-analysis of 63 studies of ivermectin versus COVID-19 in humans, 100% of these have shown positive results. Studies were from all continents except Antarctica. Considered individually, 29 of those studies were found to be statistically significant regarding use of ivermectin alone. Over the 63 studies in meta-analysis, pooled effects showed 69% improvement in early treatment, and prophylactic use showed 86% improvement. Of those studies in the meta-analysis that were peer-reviewed, overall improvement in early treatment was found to be 70% (64% in randomized controlled trials), and 86% of those in which ivermectin was used prophylactically showed improvement (84% in randomized controlled trials).
CANCEL CULTURE
On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Fox News Medical Contributor and Clinical Professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Dr. Marc Siegel reacted to the Twitter files revelations on how statements on the coronavirus were handled by stating that censorship, particularly government censorship “is on the road to totalitarianism,” and “once you started with the term misinformation, the term mandate soon followed,” “Because if only your way is right, you have to impose it. You have to superimpose it.” And the government did this based on factually incorrect premises, like with the vaccine mandate.
Siegel stated, “Very disturbing. Censorship, especially coming from the government, Griff, is on the road to totalitarianism, isn’t it? On either side, anyone in power trying to suppress opinions. … I said at the very beginning of the pandemic, I was concerned about lockdowns because I had researched that for prior books on prior lockdowns going all the way back to the Middle Ages where there were problems with them because people rebel, people were fearful, and they didn’t necessarily contain the pathogen. And this virus, we soon found out, was way more contagious than we thought so lockdowns were a poor strategy. And yet, there was an attempt made to call that misinformation and disinformation. And by the way, once you started with the term misinformation, the term mandate soon followed, right? Because if only your way is right, you have to impose it. You have to superimpose it. And they were superimposing it, the government was, on things that are questionable. Now, you probably know that I believe in this vaccine, but I’ll tell you something else about it, though, it’s not the kind of vaccine that prevents spread consistently. It is not surprising that that soon went off the table and it became more targeted towards severity. And if you’re not preventing spread with the vaccine, how can you mandate its use? That was a problem. And, again, anyone who said that was marginalized on Twitter or attacked on Twitter, which is supposed to be a public forum.”
ICYMI
New York Congressman-Elect George Santos Confesses to Embellishing His Resume
George Santos, the Republican Congressman-elect representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District, admitted that he had lied about his education and work history during his campaign.
In two interviews, published on Dec. 26 by the New York Post and New York-based radio station WABC, Santos said he still plans to take his congressional seat in January and fulfill his campaign compromises despite what he called “resume embellishments.”
“I’m not a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have I ever committed any crimes,” Santos told WABC.
“To get down to the nit and gritty, I’m not a fraud,” he continued. “I’m not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress. I’ve been around a long time. I mean, a lot of people know me. They know who I am. They’ve done business dealings with me.”
“I’m not going to make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate in their resumes, or twist a little bit,” Santos continued. “I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that. I’m just saying, I’ve done so much good work in my career.”
Santos’s biography came under scrutiny after a Dec. 19 report from The New York Times disputed several of his claims, including his alleged past employment at CitiGroup and Goldman Sachs and his attendance at Baruch College.
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