March 19, 2024

The Power Hour

Knowledge is Power

Today’s News: February 01, 2022

WORLD NEWS

Finland To Scrap All Coronavirus Restrictions By Mid-February

Breitbart – Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has announced that the country will be lifting all Wuhan coronavirus restrictions by mid-February as the country starts easing some restrictions this week.

The Finnish Prime Minister stated on Monday that all coronavirus restrictions would end this by mid-February and that some restrictions will begin to ease this week, starting on Tuesday, such as restrictions on restaurants and sporting facilities.

Russia & China may be ready to challenge America’s ‘Monroe Doctrine’

With tensions heating up both over Ukraine and NATO expansion, Moscow is considering a drastic response

RT – For 200 years, the Monroe Doctrine – asserting a US sphere of influence over Latin America – has been a cornerstone of American policy. But as Russia and China assert their opposition to the US-led world order, American dominance in the region is beginning to look a little shaky.

As the “Russian invasion” scare enters its fourth month, and Russian tanks still fail to roll into Kiev, the parameters of Moscow’s likely response to the West’s rejection of its security demands are becoming a little clearer. Frustrated with what it sees as decades of Western contempt for its concerns, Moscow has demanded that the US offer it security guarantees, including a promise not to expand NATO further to the east. As has become clear through America’s negative response this week, the US has no intention of doing as Russia desires. The issue is now how the Kremlin will react.

Despite hysterical headlines in the Western media about a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has categorically ruled this option out. “Our nation has likewise repeatedly stated that we have no intention to attack anyone. We consider the very thought that our people may go to war against each other unacceptable,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev this week. 

100+ Anti-War Groups Demand Biden End Brinkmanship With Russia

Activist Post – More than 100 advocacy organizations representing millions of people across the U.S. demanded Tuesday that the Biden administration take immediate steps to defuse tensions with Russia as the two nuclear-armed powers remain perilously close to war over Ukraine.

“We call upon President Biden to end the U.S. role in escalating the extremely dangerous tensions with Russia,” the progressive groups said in a joint statement spearheaded by CodePink and RootsAction.org. “It is gravely irresponsible for the president to participate in brinkmanship between two nations that possess 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.”

The statement—signed by 105 organizations, including Physicians for Social Responsibility, Just Foreign Policy, and Peace Action—came hours after a sharp verbal back-and-forth between U.S. and Russian representatives at a United Nations Security Council meeting, which did little to abate fears of a looming military conflict.

FBI urges temporary phones for Olympic athletes

BBC – Athletes and visitors heading to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing should leave their phones at home and use temporary ones instead, the FBI has urged.

It comes in a wider warning about how cyber-activities may disrupt the events.

Those include ransomware and denial of service attacks.

But it also cautioned about malware, data theft and the installation of “tracking tools” on mobile devices.

“The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the Games,” it wrote.

The FBI said it was not aware of “any specific threat” against the Olympics but encouraged partners to “remain vigilant”.

It added that the National Olympic Committees in some Western countries were also advising against the use of personal mobile phones.

The warning comes after a similar one from cyber-security group Citizen Lab.

Earlier this month, it looked into the official app for the Olympics – which people attending are required to download for Covid health monitoring purposes.

Its report suggested:

  • it was insecure when it came to protecting personal data.
  • an encryption flaw enabled a third party to access documents, audio and files
  • it was subject to censorship based on a list of keywords
  • its privacy policy was not clear about who received and processed any data uploaded to it.

China dismissed the concerns.

‘Fringe Minority’? Crowd-Funding for ‘Freedom Convoy’ Truckers Outraises Canada’s Top Political Parties

Breitbart – The massed ‘Freedom Convoy 2022’ of Canadian truckers currently stationed around the capital Ottawa is close to raising $10m to support its cause of defeating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “political overreach,” according to the protest GoFundMe page.

The GoFundMe page set up by protest supporters clearly shows Tuesday the money pouring in to the cause from across the nation, with backers happy to dismiss the sneering attack by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who labelled the anti-mandatory vaccination trucker convoy a ”fringe minority” with “unacceptable views.”

The Independent reports this amount is higher than the money raised by major federal political players of Canada during the closing months of 2021, public records with Elections Canada showed.

According to the record, Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada raised $3.7m during the last quarter of 2021, with the opposition Conservative Party of Canada ranking a close second with over $3m during the same period.

U.S. NEWS, POLITIC & GOVERNMENT

All US federal prisons in lockdown after deadly gang fight

The rare nationwide lockdown of federal prisons comes after two inmates died in a fight in Texas.

BBC – All federal prisons in the US have been placed on lockdown after a gang fight left two inmates dead at a facility in Texas.

Two other prisoners were seriously hurt in the violence at the high security Beaumont facility on Monday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said.

The bureau said it was responding with “an abundance of caution”, adding that the lockdown was a temporary measure.

It is rare for such a measure to apply to the entire federal prison system.

Most of America’s prisoners are held in facilities run by the individual state as opposed to the federal government.

The BOP has 134 facilities housing more than 150,000 inmates around the US, according to the latest information on its website.

New York District Attorney Declines to Pursue Sexual Harassment Allegation Against Andrew Cuomo

Epoch Times – A district attorney in upstate New York on Monday said that he will not be pursuing a sexual harassment allegation against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo because there was “not a sufficient legal basis” to bring charges against the Democrat.

The decision by Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes brings to an end the last of five criminal probes into the disgraced former governor regarding allegations of sexual misconduct.

Monday’s decision pertained to a sexual harassment allegation from a woman named Virginia Limmiatis, 55, an employee of an energy company.

Limmiatis had accused Cuomo of touching her chest during a conservation event in Oswego County in May 2017.

According to the report from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office, Limmiatis claimed that Cuomo ran two of his fingers across her chest while she stood in a rope line.

She said the governor leaned toward her, putting his face close to her cheek, and whispered, “I’m going to say I see a spider on your shoulder” before “brushing his hand in the area between her shoulder and breasts (and below her collarbone),” leaving her shocked.

Limmiatis immediately informed a number of other people attending the event about what had happened but did not go public with her story until March 3, after she heard Cuomo say at a press conference that he had never touched anyone inappropriately, and felt “compelled to come forward to tell the truth.”

Cuomo denied the accusation, but he resigned last August after an investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office found that he had sexually harassed 11 women, one of whom was Limmiatis, from 2013 to 2020.

On Monday, Oakes said that while he had found Limmiatis to be “reliable and reasonable” ultimately, “there is not a sufficient legal basis” to criminally charge Cuomo based her allegations.

“After a thorough review of the available evidence and applicable law, the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office has concluded that there is not a sufficient legal basis to bring criminal charges against former Governor Andrew Cuomo based upon the allegations of unwanted physical contact made by Virginia Limmiatis,” Oakes said in a statement on Monday.

“To be clear, this decision is based solely upon an assessment of the law and whether the People can establish a legally sufficient case under controlling precedent. In no way should this decision be interpreted as casting doubt upon the character or credibility of Ms. Limmiatis, or how harmful the acts she experienced were,” he added.

Schumer Announces $1.5 Billion Push for Interstate Gun Task Force

Epoch Times – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is pushing for the federal government to provide his state with at least $1.5 billion to deal with illegal guns.

Schumer said the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns, headed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, will only work if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and other federal officials have the resources.

“The ABCs of beating back the scourge of gun violence depends on three federal letters: A, T, and F,” Schumer said during a Jan. 30 press conference in Manhattan.

“I am pushing for $1.5 billion dollars in federal funds for the agency, so they can help with this work and do much more at the national level. Without the $1.5 billion … these plans will not have their full impact, and we need full impact to address the flow of these crime guns in our communities and across our state.”

The call comes after two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were shot and killed in late January, allegedly with a stolen firearm. Mayor Eric Adams launched a plainclothes NYPD unit aimed at gun trafficking. But Adams, a Democrat, warned that he’ll fire officers for alleged misconduct.

“If you don’t follow the law, you’re not going to serve in my police department,” he said on Jan. 30.

New York, along with Chicago and Los Angeles, has some of the strictest gun control laws in the United States. Before purchasing a firearm in the city, the buyer has to have a license for a handgun, shotgun, or rifle, while, in New York state, a buyer doesn’t need to have a permit to purchase a rifle or shotgun—only handguns.

Critics of gun control measures have said such rules don’t lead to lower crime or homicide rates, but simply unfairly penalize lawful gun owners. Chicago saw more than 800 murders in 2021, while New York saw nearly 500 murders—the highest total in years.

In late November 2021, some members of the Supreme Court had pointed questions about the New York state law and similar laws in California, Maryland, and other states that sharply limit an individual’s ability to carry a gun outside of their home—suggesting that the high court may overturn the law.

“We are likely to see New York be forced to rewrite its law,” Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California–Los Angeles, told The New York Times in November 2021 regarding a pending Supreme Court decision. “We’ll have to wait until we see the court’s opinion before we know what’s constitutionally permissible.”

Former Miss USA’s Death Under Investigation by NYPD: Official

Epoch Times – Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst’s death is being investigated by the New York Police Department (NYPD), a spokesperson said.

The NYPD will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kryst, 30, who won the pageant in 2019, Detective Martin Brown told media outlets on Jan. 31.

Officials said Kryst, who also was an attorney, jumped to her death from a Manhattan building; Brown said it’s standard procedure to investigate any apparent suicides.

Authorities also told Fox News that she jumped to her death from the 29th floor of The Orion condominium building on the morning of Jan. 30. Police were called to the building at about 7:05 a.m.

A medical examiner’s report hasn’t been released on her cause of death.

“In devastation and great sorrow, we share the passing of our beloved Cheslie,” Kryst’s family said in a statement. “Her great light was one that inspired others around the world with her beauty and strength. She cared, she loved, she laughed and she shined.”

Before her death, Kryst posted an Instagram photo of herself with a caption: “May this day bring you rest and peace.”

According to the New York Post, citing unnamed sources, Kryst left behind a note saying that she would leave her wealth and property to her mother, also a former pageant winner who was crowned Mrs. North Carolina in 2002.

Kryst also worked as a correspondent for the TV show “Extra.”

US Prosecutor Issued Grand Jury Subpoena for Hunter Biden Bank Records Connected to China

Epoch Times – A U.S. attorney issued a grand jury subpoena for the bank records of President Joe Biden’s son and brother in 2019, according to documents released to the public for the first time in January.

David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, passed the subpoena onto JP Morgan Chase Bank for the bank records of Hunter Biden, James Biden, and two other individuals, according to the set of papers.

The records requested corresponded to transactions between Chase and the Bank of China.

The documents are dated May 15, 2019.

They were obtained by Marco Polo, a nonprofit started by Garrett Ziegler, who worked in the White House’s Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy during the Trump administration.

Ziegler told The Epoch Times in an email that a whistleblower who was a party to the subpoena provided the documents.

“This wide-ranging grand jury subpoena confirms that Joe’s son and brother received transfers from an account with the Bank of China,” Ziegler said.

Wire transfers involving at least one Bank of China account were listed on a laptop computer that was said to be dropped off by Hunter Biden at a computer repair store in Delaware in 2019, “but it helps the public to see independent corroboration,” he added.

The subpoena also demanded records concerning Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer, two former business associates of Hunter Biden.

Archer, who has been convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud, and Hunter Biden founded an investment firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, with Christopher Heinz in 2009 and went on to serve together on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while Joe Biden was vice president. All three have connections with Chinese nationals, including some linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

Matthew Schwartz, an attorney for Archer, said that his client was not aware of the 2019 subpoena.

“But Mr. Archer has cooperated completely with the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation from the moment he became aware of it,” he told The Epoch Times via email.

A lawyer representing Hunter Biden and a White House spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. White House press secretary Jen Psaki was not asked about the document during a briefing on Jan. 31. Biden has said he’s confident his son did nothing wrong. A query sent to Schwerin’s company wasn’t returned.

Spokespersons for the U.S. attorney’s office and Chase did not dispute the authenticity of the documents but declined to comment.

Little is known about the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, which he described in late 2020 as dealing with “tax affairs” but was reportedly examining the younger Biden’s business dealings with China.

Arizona Senate Committee Passes Election Integrity Bills—Includes Class 5 Felony for Voting In More Than One Place

Epoch TImes – An Arizona Senate subcommittee passed six more pieces of legislation on Jan. 31 aimed at shoring up the state’s electoral process following a disputed 2020 election and ballot audit and recount in Maricopa County.

The bills were passed by the Senate Committee On Government along party lines, with the committee’s Republican majority edging out Democrats mostly on 4-3 votes. On Jan. 24, the committee voted in similar fashion to recommend eight other election integrity bills for a full Senate vote.

On Monday, the committee adopted SB1260, proposed by Sen. Javan Mesnard (R), which introduces and clarifies language regarding electors who register to vote in more than one county.

The bill reads: “If the county recorder received credible information that a person has registered to vote in a different county, the county recorder shall confirm the person’s voter registration with that other county and, on confirmation, shall cancel the person’s registration” in accordance with state law.

Other proposed safeguards in the bill include a requirement that voters report ballots received at the address of a former tenant, and that county recorders remove voters from the voting list once it has been confirmed that they have moved away.

Those who knowingly vote in more than one place will be guilty of a Class 5 felony fraud charge.

Michigan High School Student Sues School for Suspending Him for Privately Talking About Christian Beliefs

Epoch TImes – A Plainwell, Michigan, high school junior has gone to federal court to fight for his right to talk about his religion.

The case arose when Plainwell High School student David Stout was suspended for three days for expressing his Christian beliefs and opinions in a private conversation with a like-minded student on school property and in private text messages outside of school with friends.

In his conversations and text messages, Stout put forth the biblical teaching of the love of God through Christ for sinners and expressed his own love for his peers. He shared the Judeo-Christian doctrine that homosexual conduct was a sin and that God created only two biological genders—man and woman.

Before being suspended, Stout alleges he was asked by a faculty member why he had not “self-reported” his sharing of his religious and political beliefs with fellow students to school officials.

Stout also alleges he was told that talking about religious or political beliefs was not allowed anywhere on campus for fear of hurting someone’s feelings. He alleges the faculty member told him that he must stop all religious conversations with other students because, if overheard, they might feel offended and unsafe.

Stout said the whole thing seemed to him to be a one-sided method to shame, intimidate, and silence conservatives and Christians.

The superintendent of Plainwell Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

The complaint, which was filed Jan. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, states that the school’s principal and assistant principal allegedly explained to Stout that it was a student’s responsibility, not only to stop hurtful comments and behaviors, but to preempt such conduct.

Stout said that the administrators warned him that anything he did or said in school, outside of school, or on social media could negatively affect his future employment prospects—a statement that Stout alleges was a threat.

On Oct. 25, 2021, Stout’s parents received notice that their son had been suspended.

David’s father, David Stout, Sr., stated, “We have always taught our son to be respectful of everyone’s opinion and to be polite to others…(He) is entitled to properly express his faith and beliefs without being disciplined and suspended by Plainwell schools. We trust the court will uphold David’s constitutional rights and his school record will be cleared.”

The Stouts’ attorney, David Kallman of the Great Lakes Justice Center, said, “David was suspended for three days last fall for stating his Christian beliefs in a private text conversation and in a hallway at school. He is also being punished for not policing and reporting the inappropriate jokes of fellow students. He was instructed to stop posting his religious comments on all his social media platforms, and was disciplined for the offensive behavior of some other students; something he was unaware of and did not participate in.

“David is a good student with a clean record. Nothing he did caused a disruption or any problem at the school. He has the right to express his opinion in accordance with his religious beliefs without vilification or punishment from the government.”

Stout asked the court for a declaratory judgment that the Plainwell School District violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and his civil rights under the Michigan Constitution, and other state statutes. He is asking his suspension be expunged from his school record and is seeking compensatory and/or nominal damages, costs and attorney fees.

Report: Joe Biden’s ATF Has Stockpiled over 900M Records of Gun Purchases

Breitbart – A report by the Washington Free Beacon says the Biden Administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, (ATF) has a database detailing well over 900 million firearm purchases by Americans.

According to the January 31, 2022, report, “The ATF disclosed to lawmakers that it manages a database of 920,664,765 firearm purchase records, including both digital and hard copy versions of these transactions.”

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

Entrepreneurship Is an Economic Bright Spot

CATO – Recent economic news has been mixed with supply chain bottlenecks and high inflation on the one hand, but solid growth on the other. Another bright spot is entrepreneurship. Since the summer of 2020, the number of U.S. business startups appears to have soared.

The chart below shows Census Bureau data for the number of actual and estimated business formations or startups. Business formations plunged at the start of the pandemic, but then reversed course and have risen to levels not seen in more than a decade. As the chart shows, the recession a decade ago hammered entrepreneurship and appeared to have permanently downsized startup activity. So the recent data is surprising good news.

The chart data is for employer businesses, meaning firms that hire at least one worker other than the owner. It is based on the first instance of payroll tax liabilities. The Census also tabulates business applications based on requests for employer identification numbers (EINs), and then uses that data to project future business formations, as discussed here.

On the chart, the number of startups is estimated to have jumped 21 percent between December 2019 and December 2021. Regional data show that the jump was 29 percent in the South, 20 percent in the Midwest, 16 percent in the Northeast, and 15 percent in the West.

Why has the number of startups risen? One factor is hardship. People laid‐​off during downturns may turn to entrepreneurship to earn income. Also, when downturns cause some businesses to close, it creates space for new businesses to fill the void. Many restaurants closed during the pandemic, but that has opened the door for new restaurants to try their luck.

Another factor is that fast‐​changing economic conditions and technologies create opportunities for startups to meet new demands. The pandemic has shaken up the economy, creating new needs in industries such as internet, healthcare, and transportation. John Haltiwanger notes that the startup spike has been strong in nonstore retail, personal and business services, trucking, and food services.

What are the policy implications of the chart? Generally, governments should stay out of the way and let entrepreneurs keep our economy growing and innovating. The Census estimates include startups that are not necessarily in operation yet, and new tax or regulatory impositions could cause entrepreneurs to shelve their plans. I discuss startups and taxes here, and startups and regulations here.

Rising inflation and supply chain problems could also undermine the startup surge. America’s entrepreneurs need price stability from the central bank and regulatory flexibility from governments to allow them to solve logistical problems. Governments could enhance flexibility by privatizing infrastructure such as seaports and airports.

Past startups such as Amazon, Tesla, and Apple have become some of the nation’s most important companies. And millions of past startups populate every American neighborhood as small businesses. Let’s keep the startup train rolling and avoid policy actions that could stall the entrepreneurial engine room of the economy.

EXCLUSIVE: Hershey Fires Unvaccinated Employees

Epoch Times – The Hershey Company has begun firing office workers who did not get vaccinated against COVID-19. On the way out the door, Hershey is asking employees to sign a nine-page confidentiality and release agreement that would remove their rights to sue the company or talk about their experience.

Although their signature comes with a “special separation payment,” many have not signed the agreement and won’t get the money. Employees say the payment was determined by an algorithm and for some, amounted to just over two months’ pay.

By most accounts, working at Hershey was a great job. Employees at the Hershey, Pennsylvania headquarters and at offices in other states report higher than average wages and bowls of candy placed around the offices for snacking. During holidays, employees would get a big bag of treats to take home, although that practice stopped after Easter 2021. There is a sample room for trying new products, colorful graphics decorating the walls, and the products are more fun than selling insurance.

But it stopped being fun after months of human resources meetings that employees say included education about the vaccines, asking if the employee had changed their mind about getting the shots, and uncomfortably invasive questions.

“I really thought I’d be OK,” Kim Durham, a payment analyst and sourcing buyer, told The Epoch Times. “I thought, you cannot question my faith. Nobody can question that.”

Durham asked for a religious accommodation in August and assumed she would get it.

“I thought this was behind me until September when I met with an HR representative. It was an interrogation on your religious beliefs. They twisted your words and tried to put words in your mouth. It was terrible. I was asked such personal questions that had nothing to do with religion.”

She was shocked when, in November, she received word that her request for religious accommodation had been denied.

The Epoch Times interviewed two other Hershey employees who are in their final days with the company and didn’t want their names used until they are fully separated, for fear of losing certain benefits.

Everyone interviewed mentioned being troubled by similar questions during the meetings, usually held with an immediate supervisor and someone from HR, such as:

Have you ever been vaccinated? Are your children vaccinated? How do you protect yourself when you leave your home? How often do you go to church? Do you take Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Tums, or Midol? If so, how can you say that you’re truly a religious person, because a lot of those medicines also have the same ingredients as the vaccine?

Several people were told the Pope is vaccinated, and he says that the greatest gift you can give your community is to be vaccinated as well.

One new parent submitted their baby’s birth certificate and other papers to set up insurance, and was asked why the baby had received vaccinations if the parent wouldn’t get the COVID shots.

“What does that have to do with me keeping a job? From the time we started this ordeal, we have had seven meetings about my vaccination status,” one employee said. “It was like harassment. I felt like I wanted to crawl under a rock when I was done.”

While office workers must be vaccinated or fired, employees working in food production and Chocolate World, the company’s retail outlet stores, are encouraged but not required to get the vaccination.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 

Robot Performs First Laparoscopic Surgery on Pig Without Human Help

Newsmax – A robot performed challenging keyhole surgery on pigs without any human help in what could be a major step toward fully automated surgery on people.

“Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine,” said senior study author Axel Krieger. He is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

“The STAR performed the procedure in four animals and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure,” Krieger said in a Hopkins news release.

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Sparks Massive Surveillance Speed Camera Nightmare

Technocracy News – US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s plan to ‘promote speed safety cameras’ is raising the troubling specter of ubiquitous automated traffic enforcement in the style of the UK, where the cameras are widely despised.

Buttigieg’s 42-page road safety plan that was unveiled on Thursday and is backed by $14 billion in funding from the new infrastructure bill contained only brief mention of the speed camera plan, but it was enough to set alarm bells ringing for worried motorists.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson slammed the plan as a misuse of the funds in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill, fuming that ‘you’re about to get a lot more speeding tickets from robots.’

When the country applauded $1.2 trillion going to fixing the roads, bridges and buildings, a lot of us were dumb enough to think that’s what might actually happen,’ he said.

Nonpartisan motorist advocate groups are also against the plan. The National Motorists Association has a top 10 list of why speed cameras are bad, arguing ‘they can actually make our roads less safe.’

‘The government’s reaction, per the National Roadway Safety Strategy announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week, is again to restrict driving speeds despite historical data that indicate the nation’s roads are as safe as they have ever been, the estimated uptick in 2021 notwithstanding,’ NMA President Gary Biller told DailyMail.com Sunday.

‘In the brave, new world being staked out by the National Roadway Safety Strategy, you may pay a literal price for letting a family member or friend borrow a car registered to you,’ he added. ‘The true solution to roadway safety is continued improvements in street design, vehicle technology, and road user – drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians – education, not flawed, command-and-control enforcement.’

Speed cameras have also drawn sharp criticism from some on the left, who are angry that the fines are often directed to fund police departments, making the issue rare grounds for bipartisan agreement.

Currently, eight US states have laws specifically prohibiting speed cameras.

Only 18 states plus D.C. have speed cameras in use by law, with the other states having no law on the books authorizing their use.

COVID RELATED NEWS

L.A. Times Slams Newsom, Garcetti for Defying Own Rules, Going Maskless at Rams Game

Breitbart – Images of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), and San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) posing for photos maskless at the NFC Championship on Sunday night has angered more than just conservatives.

An op-ed from the Los Angeles Times editorial board on Monday excoriated the California Democrat politicians for violating their own rules at the football game while demanding that the citizenry abide by some of the strictest coronavirus restrictions in the country.

Huge volumes of COVID medical waste posing health hazard: WHO

Tens of thousands of tonnes of medical waste have been generated in the two years since the coronavirus began spreading globally.

Al Jazeera – The vast amount of waste accumulated as part of efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat to human and environmental health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Discarded syringes, used test kits and old vaccine bottles have piled up to create tens of thousands of tonnes of medical waste, putting a huge strain on healthcare waste management systems, the United Nations health agency said in a new report on Tuesday.

Governors Say Time to Learn How to Live With COVID-19

Epoch Times – Several governors said over the weekend that Americans will have to learn how to live in a world with COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

“We’re not going to manage this to zero. We have to learn how to live with this,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Murphy said he agreed with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who earlier in the program said he believed it was time to start treating the illness differently.

“I do believe that we need to move from a pandemic status and mode of operation, to more endemic, where we’re normalizing, taking it very seriously, preparing, but I think we need to move out of the panic mode. I think we need to handle this to make sure that we continue with our normal lives,” Hutchinson said.

The keys to the COVID-19 response now are ensuring access to therapeutics and tests, which requires improving the supply chains for those products, the governor added.

The comments come as cases in many states, including Arkansas and New Jersey, continue to drop after hitting record highs in early or mid-January.

Boy refused heart surgery due to unvaxxed parents

RT – A sick infant from Cyprus is flown to Greece after his German hospital refuses to operate

A three-year-old boy from Cyprus has been flown to Greece for emergency surgery after doctors in Germany refused to treat the child because his parents were not vaccinated against Covid-19.

On Monday it was reported that the boy was awaiting emergency surgery after being flown by air ambulance to Greece over the weekend. The boy, who has not been named, had been hospitalized with a serious heart condition.

New Drug for Seriously Ill COVID-19 Patients Shows Promise Under Right to Try Act

Epoch Times – New information collected under the federal Right to Try Act shows promise for the new drug ZYESAMI, now in clinical trials for the treatment of serious cases of COVID-19.

The information was collected by a hospital in the U.S. southwest, drug developer NRx announced in a news release Jan. 26.

ZYESAMI, developed by the Radnor, Pennsylvania-based pharmaceuticals company, currently is being tested with patients as part of the approval process of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company hopes to earn emergency-use authorization (EUA) that would allow widespread use of the drug in the treatment of COVID-19.

For now, the drug has progressed far enough in the process to be used by more patients under the federal Right to Try Act. That law allows the use of investigational drugs for patients diagnosed with life-threatening diseases or conditions, who have tried all approved treatment options, and who cannot participate in a clinical trial to access certain unapproved treatments.

The hospital reported that 16 of the 19 patients treated with ZYESAMI for COVID-19 respiratory failure “survived the ICU,” NRx announced. ZYESAMI is the brand name of aviptadil, a synthetic version of a natural chemical made in the human body called human vasoactive intestinal polypeptide.

The hospital’s report said there were no serious adverse events associated with the use of the drug, according to the company’s statement. Patients were treated during the Omicron surge at the first onset of respiratory failure, after first trying remdesivir and other approved therapies.

Under Right to Try, NRx currently provides the drug for just the cost to overnight it to the patient, company spokesman Jack Hirschfield told The Epoch Times. Requests can be made through the form on the company’s website. The only catch is that the request must be made by the patient’s doctor.

And that can keep patients from actually trying it.

146 Research Studies Affirm Naturally Acquired Immunity to COVID-19

Epoch Times – We should not force COVID vaccines on anyone when the evidence shows that naturally acquired immunity is equal to or more robust and superior to existing vaccines. Instead, we should respect the right of the bodily integrity of individuals to decide for themselves.

Public health officials and the medical establishment with the help of the politicized media are misleading the public with assertions that the COVID-19 shots provide greater protection than natural immunity.  CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, for example, was deceptive in her October 2020 published LANCET statement that “there is no evidence for lasting protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 following natural infection” and that “the consequence of waning immunity would present a risk to vulnerable populations for the indefinite future.”

Immunology and virology 101 have taught us over a century that natural immunity confers protection against a respiratory virus’s outer coat proteins, and not just one, e.g. the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. There is even strong evidence for the persistence of antibodies. Even the CDC recognizes natural immunity for chicken-pox and measles, mumps, and rubella, but not for COVID-19.

The vaccinated are showing viral loads (very high) similar to the unvaccinated (Acharya et al. and Riemersma et al.), and the vaccinated are as infectious. Riemersma et al. also report Wisconsin data that corroborate how the vaccinated individuals who get infected with the Delta variant can potentially (and are) transmit(ting) SARS-CoV-2 to others (potentially to the vaccinated and unvaccinated).

This troubling situation of the vaccinated being infectious and transmitting the virus emerged in seminal nosocomial outbreak papers by Chau et al. (HCWs in Vietnam), the Finland hospital outbreak (spread among HCWs and patients), and the Israel hospital outbreak (spread among HCWs and patients). These studies also revealed that the PPE and masks were essentially ineffective in the healthcare setting. Again, the Marek’s disease in chickens and the vaccination situation explains what we are potentially facing with these leaky vaccines (increased transmission, faster transmission, and more ‘hotter’ variants).

Moreover, existing immunity should be assessed before any vaccination, via an accurate, dependable, and reliable antibody test (or T cell immunity test) or be based on documentation of prior infection (a previous positive PCR or antigen test). Such would be evidence of immunity that is equal to that of vaccination and the immunity should be provided the same societal status as any vaccine-induced immunity. This will function to mitigate the societal anxiety with these forced vaccine mandates and societal upheaval due to job loss, denial of societal privileges etc. Tearing apart the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in a society, separating them, is not medically or scientifically supportable.

The Brownstone Institute previously documented 30 studies on natural immunity as it relates to Covid-19.

Race Is On for an Omicron Jab

Mercola – Omicron infection is rapidly ripping through populations, leaving natural herd immunity in its wake. Despite that, vaccine makers are still hard at work to produce an Omicron-specific injection, slated to be rolled out in March 2022, well after a majority have already been infected

After the rollout of a fourth dose, Israel now has the highest COVID case rate per capita of any country in the world since the beginning of the pandemic

The definition of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” against COVID keeps shifting with the rollout of additional boosters. Vaccine passport holders in various countries face the prospect of losing their “privileges” unless they get boosted

Government data from Australia, the U.S., Canada, Scotland and England suggest people who have received at least two shots are now showing signs of serious immune system degradation

This immune erosion, aka, acquired immune deficiency, is thought to account for elevated rates of myocarditis and other post-jab conditions, some of which can result in death if progressing rapidly, or chronic diseases if moving more slowly

BMJ Demands Immediate Vaccine Data

Mercola – BMJ editor Peter Doshi has publicly called for release of raw data from the clinical trials that led to the emergency use authorization of the COVID-19 shots. The FDA has a statutory obligation to publish the Pfizer data after drug approval, leaving Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca to provide the raw data

The delay in releasing raw data is reminiscent of Roche’s handling of Tamiflu and Gilead’s determination to get authorization for remdesivir to treat COVID-19, despite clinical data demonstrating the drug showed little or no positive effect

At least one Pfizer testing facility had poor practices, including data that were falsified, patients who were unblinded and poorly trained people hired to administer the injections

In an opinion piece published coincidentally on the day the FDA announced full approval of the Pfizer injection, Doshi noted Pfizer’s August 2021 preprint paper held no new information since April 2021, and the shot demonstrated waning immunity in Israel, where it was used exclusively

Funeral director finds bizarre, rubbery blood clots in bodies of the vaccinated

NaturalNews – Richard Hirschman, a board-certified embalmer and funeral director, has made a shocking revelation that could help intensify the worldwide call to stop injecting people with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

Interviewed by Dr. Jane Ruby on Rumble channel’s “Dr. Jane Ruby Show” Wednesday, Jan. 26, Hirschman shared that he’s been seeing “unnatural blood clot combinations with strange fibrous materials” that completely filled the vascular system and totally clogged the arteries and veins of the deceased.

“I don’t know how someone could live with something like this inside of them,” he said, adding that he has never seen anything like those rubbery blood clots in over 20 years of practice until last year.

Those are not simple blood clots, Hirschman said. They’re compounded with long, stringy, white, elastic structures that he can rinse under water.

“Typically a blood clot is smooth. It is blood that’s coagulated together but when you squeeze it, or touch it, or try to pick it up, it generally falls apart. You can almost squeeze between your fingers and almost get it back to blood again. But this white fibrous stuff is pretty strong, it’s not weak at all,” he said.

According to Hirschman, the unnatural blood clot combinations started to appear about six months after the vaccine rollout – which makes sense to him as he said he “can’t imagine something like that happening overnight.”

“What I’ve been finding is a lot of bodies have been very flooded. I could literally raise the collages, rub the blood off of one hand, the white stuff holds strong. It does not dissolve. You can break it but it’s stretchy. And in I thought maybe you know something’s not right. I contacted colleagues of mine, and they’re all seeing the same thing. It is not normal for anybody that I know.

COVID-19-Infected HIV Patient Developed 21 Mutations: Study

Epoch Times – A South African woman suffering from “poorly controlled” HIV who also had COVID-19 for nine months saw the CCP virus develop at least 21 mutations while in her body, a recent preprint study found.

The woman, 22, was able to overcome the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus which causes COVID-19, within six to nine weeks after she started taking anti-retroviral medication that is used to treat HIV, according to researchers at Stellenbosch and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

They concluded that “increased vigilance is warranted” among HIV patients who contract COVID-19 to “prevent the emergence” of COVID-19 variants. Notably, the Omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa in November 2021, and U.S. health officials say it’s now the dominant strain across the United States.

“This case, like others before, describes a potential pathway for the emergence of novel variants,” the scientists said in the pre-print study, adding that it is still a hypothesis and much more data is needed. “Our experience reinforces previous reports that effective anti-retroviral treatment is the key to controlling such events.”

South Africa has the world’s largest HIV epidemic. About 8.2 million of out its 60 million population is infected with the virus.

According to the researchers, the patient observed in the study had developed around 10 mutations on the CCP virus spike protein, which allows it to bind to cells, along with 11 other mutations. Some of the mutations were similar to those seen in the Omicron and Lambda variants, whereas others were consistent with mutations that allow the virus to bypass antibodies.

“Once again our experience reinforces previous reports that effective [anti-retroviral drugs are] the key to controlling such events. Once HIV replication is brought under control and immune reconstitution commences, rapid clearance of [the CCP virus] is achieved, probably even before full immune reconstitution occurs,” they said. “This underscores the broader point that gaps in the HIV care cascade need to be closed which will benefit other conditions and public health problems, too, including COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, after weeks of Omicron spreading through the country, some South African experts said they are optimistic that the country has reached a “turning point.”

“The Omicron wave now accounts for less than 5 percent of all of the deaths that have occurred due to COVID-19 [in South Africa] since the start of the pandemic,” vaccinologist Shabir Madhiti, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, told CBS News on Monday.

While more COVID-19 variants may emerge, he believes the worst of the two-year-long pandemic is over.

“I’m highly optimistic that we have reached a turning point in this pandemic,” Madhiti said. “I can’t see us revisiting what we experienced during the course of the first three waves in South Africa.”

Ivermectin Shows Antiviral Effect Against Omicron: Japanese Pharma Firm

Epoch TImes – A Japanese conglomerate that is studying the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin has found that the medication had an antiviral effect on Omicron, according to joint non-clinical research.

Kowa Co. Ltd., a conglomerate with interests in trading, hospitality, and electronics, along with health and medical applications, issued a press release (pdf) on Jan. 31 stating that ivermectin has been found to be effective against Omicron in in vitro studies. The firm is also in the process of carrying out a Phase 3 clinical trial on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients, though the company’s remarks on effectiveness pertain to the findings of lab-based research.

Kowa representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

The company, working with Kitasato University based in Tokyo, said that ivermectin has the “same antiviral effect” on all “mutant strains,” including Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. Kowa added that ivermectin suppresses invasion of the virus and inhibits its replication.

“[Ivermectin] is expected to be applied as a therapeutic drug (tablet) for all new coronavirus infectious diseases,” the report said.

Ivermectin has been used by the World Health Organization for over 30 years to treat parasitic infections. Volunteers have distributed the drug in African countries where it has been found to be extremely effective, said the Kowa report.

However, the treatment has been mired in controversy during recent times as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, even though the drug is used in humans to treat a variety of conditions.

The FDA has refused to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) asking for details about any reports of side effects related to the use of ivermectin in treating COVID-19 while publicly denouncing its usage.

The federal government pays hospitals across the country to treat COVID-19 patients, but the payment is tied to approved methods, and ivermectin is not part of the protocol.

However, families desperate to save their loved ones are resorting to secretly sneaking the drug into hospitals as a last-ditch effort that often ends up helping the infected person recover.

All or part of 22 countries around the globe have approved the use of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19, based on multiple studies. Japan has not yet approved ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19.

Report reveals how much money UK lost buying PPE over Covid

RT – Health Department report states government bought unusable PPE at inflated prices

The British government spent £12.1 billion ($16.3 billion) on personal protective equipment (PPE) as the Covid-19 pandemic raged between March 2020 and March 2021. However, £8.7 billion of this splurge has since been written off as a loss, due to defective and unsuitable equipment, and the government buying at above-market prices.

The Department of Health’s shocking loss – equivalent to 5% of its entire annual budget – was revealed in its Annual Report and Accounts, published on Monday. The report, covering the March 2020 to March 2021 financial year, revealed that the government spent a whopping £12.1 billion on PPE during this period.

“Most of these items were bought at speed early in the pandemic, at a time when there was a surge in demand in other countries and a temporary decline in global supply,” the report states. Once this “seller’s market” evened out, the government had overpaid for this PPE by £4.7 billion.

CANCEL CULTURE

Joe Rogan Addresses COVID-19 Misinformation Criticism, Says He’s ‘Not Mad’ at Neil Young

Epoch TImes – Podcast host Joe Rogan has addressed claims that he is trying to share misinformation about COVID-19 on his Spotify podcast after scientists and medical professionals, as well as singer Neil Young, claimed that he had.

In a 10-minute video posted to Instagram on Sunday night, Rogan said he wanted to address the controversy over the past few days and thank his fans for their support.

It comes after Spotify agreed to remove Neil Young’s music when the singer accused Rogan, 54, who hosts Spotify’s top-rated podcast, of spreading false information about coronavirus vaccines and “potentially causing death.”

“A lot of people … have a distorted perception of what I do,” Rogan said Sunday while defending two recent episodes of the “The Joe Rogan Experience” that featured guests Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, who shared opinions about COVID-19 that differed from the “mainstream narrative.”

He called these guests “highly credentialed, very intelligent, very highly-accomplished people” and stressed that the aim of his show was to interview people with different opinions.

“These podcasts are very strange because they’re just conversations,” Rogan said. “And oftentimes I have no idea what I’m going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people. And that’s why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I’m literally having them in real time, but I do my best and they’re just conversations, and I think that’s also the appeal of the show. It’s one of the things that makes it interesting.”

Rogan also said he was “very sorry that this is happening” to Spotify and that “they’re taking so much heat from it.”

He pledged to bring more balance to his show with opinions from a variety of experts, while also reiterating that he himself is “not a doctor or a scientist.”

Stressing that he is not trying to be controversial or promote misinformation with his podcasts, Rogan admitted that his show has become “some out-of-control juggernaut that I barely have control of” and that he doesn’t “always get it right.”

He then pledged to “try harder to get people with differing opinions on” and “do my best to make sure I’ve researched these topics.” He reiterated a few times that he is “not a doctor or a scientist.”

During the lengthy video, Rogan also claimed that he is “not mad at Neil Young” and called himself a life-long fan of the singer.

Top Cardiologist: ‘Spotify Never Contacted Me’ After Joe Rogan Interview

Epoch Times – Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, who appeared in a popular episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” in recent weeks, disputed claims that he promoted “misinformation” about COVID-19 and vaccines following an announcement made Sunday by Rogan’s host, Spotify.

“When I went on with Rogan I brought my laptop and went over my grand rounds slides. Every point was cited and referenced either preprint (studies) or PUBMED,” he wrote on Twitter Monday, referring to a medical database.

In recent days, Spotify and Rogan have come under pressure after the podcaster hosted several individuals, including McCullough, who has argued that healthy children don’t need COVID-19 vaccines.

“Spotify never contacted me for slides which are freely available to them to adjudicate with their doctors,” he also wrote. “Bring it on Spotify!”

Dr. Robert Malone, a key mRNA vaccine technology contributor who also appeared on Rogan’s show, wrote on his Telegram page: “Well, well. They got to Spotify now. Only a matter of time at this point.”

Their remarks come as Rogan issued a statement following decisions made by musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to pull their music from streaming service Spotify over alleged misinformation about COVID-19 said on Rogan’s show by these experts.

HEALTH

Weight Loss May Reduce Risk For Pre-Cancerous Colon Polyps

Newsmax – Colon cancer rates are increasing for younger Americans, along with rates of obesity. Could slimming down reduce young people’s risk for malignancy?

A new study suggests that even a small amount of weight loss may cut your odds for benign growths in the colon known as adenomas, or polyps. Left unchecked, these growths can lead to colon cancer.

“We have two main public health messages based on our findings. The first is that avoiding weight gain in adulthood may help reduce colorectal adenoma risk. And that may, in turn, reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer,” said study author Kathryn Barry.

“Superfood” Spices You Should Add To your Diet Today

Dr. Michelle Kmiec – Before I talk about these amazing spices, I’d like to mention something that I believe is vital when pursuing optimal health. During my recovery, one of the best decisions I made was to eat only 100% organic foods. I believe that this is a non-negotiable issue, especially when you are in a disease state. And I also believe, without question, that organic foods are of a much higher nutritional quality than conventional food.

What you eat directly affects your overall health and well-being!

If you want to reduce inflammation and add quality years to your life, start experimenting with the following spices:

  1. Turmeric – To Learn More about the health benefits of Turmeric, go to Why Turmeric Should Be Included In Your Diet!

—> Get the Golden Milk (or Turmeric Tea) recipe in today’s email blast!

  1. Cayenne
  2. Cinnamon
  3. Cilantro
  4. Garlic
  5. Ginger

GOOD NEWS

Missouri Teen Who Was Turned Down for 17 Jobs Starts His Own Digital Marketing Firm

Epoch Times – After trailing around 17 local fast-food joints looking for a job, and being rejected by all of them, a Missouri teen decided not to give up and instead change his track.

“It got pretty tiring,” Jonathan Bell, 17, told The Epoch Times. “So that’s when I decided to start my own thing.”

Bell, a full-time student and senior at Parkview High School, said he always knew he had the spirit to work for himself in the future; however, he didn’t know that it would be before the age of 18. After being turned down by local businesses, the then-15-year-old knew he had something much coveted in the modern world—and he knew he could use it.

“I’m part of Gen Z,” he said. “Growing up with technology and social media is something I’ve always been great at.”

With some past experience in marketing, combined with educating himself in learning algorithms and how social media truly works, Bell launched his own business—Bells Marketing Consultant LLC, a digital marketing firm in Springfield—at the onset of the pandemic in April 2020.

Still a student at Parkview High School, Bell was able to use time spent at home, alongside remote learning, to build his dream.

OTHER

Wokeism: The Cruel Destruction Of Society To Make Way For ‘Build Back Better’

Technocracy News – Wokeism has been described by its critics as the omnipresent use of race—and to a lesser extent, gender—to replace meritocracy and thus ensure equality of result. What follows from implementing that ideology are reparatory actions to reward those of the present by atoning for the injustices done to others in the past.

Some see it as an update of 1960s cultural Marxism fads. Others scoff that it is just a return to 1980s-style political correctness.

Still more see it as the logical successor to 1990s-type race, class, and gender obsessions—albeit with a shriller and more dangerous Jacobin, Soviet, and Maoist twist. Wokeism’s hysteria also invites comparisons to the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism.

But few have described wokeism as the cruel creed that it is.

Wokeism’s natural logic is to destroy the lives of people of both genders, of all races, and—if need be—those of every age, all to leverage an otherwise unworkable ideological agenda. It is nihilist and destroys everything it touches. It tears apart foes and friends alike, whether by fueling media-driven hatred of Donald Trump or faux-deification of the disaster that is now Joe Biden. 

Naomi Wolf: On The Subtlety Of Monsters

Wolf correctly notes, “people are asked to join a cult and offer up their bodies; if they don’t, they are ostracized and denied social life and professional advancement.” Similarities must be drawn to the period of Nazi Germany during 1931-33 that set the stage for unspeakable evil. ⁃ TN Editor

Technocracy News – My first post in this three-part series, about how the evil that surrounds us has manifested, was about the elite global technocrat class and their distance from the people whose lives they may crush; I noted too their lack of belief in, or loyalty to, the nation-state. Added to this toxic mix, I argued, is the certainty of this class of people that they know best about your life.

I made the case in that essay that surrounding us now was a metaphysical, seemingly a Satanic, level of evil.

I am seeking to explain in this series of essays, how otherwise nice people — and indeed Western people, who grew up with post-Enlightenment norms about human rights and the rule of law — can be doing evil now, with whole hearts.

I am asking how they can be suppressing the respiration of children intentionally; how they can be consigning friends and colleagues to eat in the street like outcasts, or sending cops to arrest a woman and terrify a nine-year-old child, whose crimes were that they tried to visit the Museum of Natural History in New York without “papers”?

How could “nice” people in the humane West, can have be put on the agenda in Washington State just two weeks ago, plans to detain those exposed to a “contagious disease” in forcible quarantine, without charge or trial, and dependent on a court order and good behavior to get out?

All of this is happening right now in America – -in the land of people who, since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, have had the principle of equality governing human relations as a matter of law; a nation that had passed laws against the abuse of or corporal punishment of children in public schools in the 1970s in virtually every state; and a people who have been raised in a culture of freedom and civility compared with lawless or totalitarian regimes, that led them, for the most part, to be, on the scale of decency to cruelty, until two years ago, very decent people.

How could good people be going along with this?

There are lessons from history that we have to learn, or re-learn, and quickly.

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