Today is Groundhog Day.
Our nation’s rodent prophet laureate, Punxsutawney Phil, will deliver his weather forecast today, and if you’re unsure what to wager in the office pool, here are some historical Phil stats to help, per the York Daily Record. Since 1887, Phil has predicted longer-lasting winters 107 times and early springs 20 times, while for 10 years we don’t have records and once he was a no-show. That means he’s forecast longer winters in 84% of his known predictions. He’s also called for longer winters for the past three years.
WORLD NEWS
EU agrees $54 billion in new aid for Ukraine as Hungary falls in line
European Union leaders unanimously agreed on Thursday to extend 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in new aid to Ukraine, sending a message to the United States split on whether to keep backing Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
The agreement overcomes weeks of resistance from Hungary and comes amid uncertainty over the future of U.S. aid. Kyiv relies heavily on Western support as the war, the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two, nears its third year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he hoped the EU decision would help U.S. President Joe Biden convince Congress to follow suit.
“This … is also a good signal towards the U.S. The American president is a good friend and ally who is working hard to win support for his demands from the Congress,” Scholz said, his comments echoed by EU chiefs in Brussels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the EU agreement, saying the aid would strengthen his country’s long-term economic and financial stability.
Ukraine’s dollar bonds gained on the news and Kyiv said it expected to receive the first tranche of 4.5 billion euros from the EU in March from a total of 50 billion euros to come from the bloc’s shared budget through 2027.
“The message is clear: Russia can’t count on any fatigue from the Europeans in their support to Ukraine,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
The agreement comes after weeks of wrangling with Orban, who vetoed the aid last December.
On Thursday, he said he gave the green light after receiving assurances the aid would be used sensibly and would not come from EU funds that had been earmarked for Budapest from the bloc’s joint coffers.
The EU executive is withholding some 20 billion euros from Hungary over widespread accusations that Orban has damaged democracy at home during his 13 years in power.
Diplomats told Reuters that, in exchange for Hungary’s nod, the bloc did not commit to releasing any of the billions of euros of EU funds until Budapest meets conditions.
They said the deal includes a yearly discussion of the package and the option to review it in two years “if needed”, but no outright veto for Budapest.
In recent days, the EU has piled pressure on Orban to fall into line. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Orban on Thursday time was up for “games” and that Budapest needed to pick sides in the existential challenge posed by Russia’s war.
“He has to consider if he is in, or out,” Tusk said.
Orban has had many bitter run-ins with the EU over the rule of law in Hungary, and has increasingly criticised Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. He has also cultivated closer ties with the Kremlin than EU peers.
A German diplomat said Orban felt at the summit that his increasing isolation in the bloc was “not comfortable”.
“The Hungarian economy is under pressure, that might have helped as well,” said the diplomat, who spoke under condition of anonymity. “Orban knows that he needs the EU.”
The EU leaders also agreed at their summit in Brussels on Thursday on an “urgent need” to accelerate the delivery of ammunition and missiles to Ukraine.
A day earlier, the EU executive said the bloc would fall far short of its target of sending Ukraine one million rounds of artillery shells by March.
The summit also stopped short of endorsing a call by some countries to inject 5 billion euros for Ukraine – on top of the 50 billion euros already agreed – into a broader military assistance fund, the European Peace Facility (EPF).
Germany has been calling for major reform of the system to take account of EU members’ bilateral military aid to Ukraine and Scholz said after the summit that Germany – the EU’s paymaster – cannot manage military support alone.
FBI Finds Chinese State Hacker Malware on Hundreds of U.S. Infrastructure-Related Routers
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday announced they were able to disrupt a massive Chinese cyber-espionage campaign called Volt Typhoon that penetrated critical American infrastructure systems.
Volt Typhoon was detected and made public by Microsoft’s cybersecurity team in May 2023. Microsoft described the perpetrators as state-sponsored hackers from China who were developing “capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises.”
Microsoft’s conclusions were backed by the intelligence agencies of the “Five Eyes” alliance: the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. China denied the allegations and accused the Five Eyes nations of pushing “disinformation.”
Volt Typhoon’s activities were originally thought to be centered on Guam, with the goal of disrupting American network communications across the Pacific in the event of a conflict with China, such as China might cause by invading Taiwan. Further investigation showed the scope of the operation was much greater, with targets including West Coast ports, oil pipelines, and the power grid of Texas.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in December that China was clearly “pre-positioning” cyber warfare assets to “disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict, to either prevent the United States from being able to project power into Asia or to cause societal chaos inside the United States.”
Volt Typhoon was cited by cybersecurity experts as one of the biggest, most dangerous examples of “living off the land,” a technique in which hackers infiltrate a system without causing any damage or revealing their presence, using tools that mimic normal network activity. As DHS put it, the Chinese operation was all about scouting ahead and preparing for destructive attacks that could be triggered if the U.S. and China came into conflict.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Oregon Supreme Court Blocks 10 Republicans From Running for Reelection
Ten Republican senators in Oregon cannot run for reelection, the state’s top court ruled yesterday. The court found that the senators are banned from running for reelection under a constitutional amendment approved in 2022.
The amendment, Ballot Measure 113, states that lawmakers who miss at least 10 legislative days without an excuse cannot seek reelection.
The ruling upheld a decision from Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a Democrat.
Ms. Griffin-Valade said in 2023 that the senators, under the measure, could not try for another term.
“My decision honors the voters’ intent by enforcing the measure the way it was commonly understood when Oregonians added it to our state constitution,” she said at the time.
The decision sparked a lawsuit from some of the Republican senators, but the Oregon Supreme Court sided with the secretary of state.
“Because the text is capable of supporting the secretary’s interpretation, and considering the clear import of the ballot title and explanatory statement in this case, we agree with the secretary that voters would have understood the amendment to mean that a legislator with 10 or more unexcused absences during a legislative session would be disqualified from holding legislative office during the immediate next term, rather than the term after that,” the new ruling states.
Justices said they used their typical methodology in construing the amendment “by determining how the voters who adopted the amendment most likely understood its text.” The method included considering the information presented to voters, which stated that voting yes would disqualify legislators with 10 unexcused absences for the term “following current term in office.”
Verdict Delayed in Trump Civil Fraud Trial as Judge Engoron Weighs Lifetime Business Ban
The verdict in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in Manhattan that could see him banned for life from doing business in New York has been delayed until mid-February, according to a court spokesperson.
Justice Arthur Engoron said during the trial’s closing arguments on Jan. 11 that he hoped to make his final decision by Jan. 31 in a much-anticipated verdict that could, in addition to hitting the former president with a lifetime business ban, see him fined $370 million.
After the tentative Jan. 31 deadline came and went without a verdict, a spokesperson for the New York State Office of Court Administration, Alfred Baker, said that the judge is now expected to deliver his decision in early to mid-February.
While it’s unclear why Justice Engoron is taking more time to deliver the verdict, reports suggest that it could have something to do with a 12-page letter issued by a court-appointed monitor claiming that parts of President Trump’s financial disclosure appeared incomplete or inconsistent.Attorneys for President Trump, who maintains his innocence and has called the case a political witch hunt, have disputed the monitor’s characterization of the financial disclosures.
The letter from the monitor, former judge Barbara Jones, pointed out errors on seven disclosure forms, three inconsistencies, and five clerical errors.
President Trump’s attorneys have said the issues flagged by Ms. Jones are immaterial amid the thousands of pages of financial data she has received, which include Trump Organization financial disclosures to third parties, documents related to transactions, bank statements, and all manner of paperwork related to taxes.
Recently, Ms. James’s office provided Justice Engoron with a “notice of supplemental authority,” basically a newfound legal precedent, to bolster her call for a Trump business ban.
Colleen Faherty, Ms. James’s assistant, provided Justice Engoron with the notice to draw his attention to a verdict in an unrelated case that banned the defendant from participation in the pharmaceutical industry for life. This is the same type of ban that Ms. James is asking Justice Engoron to impose on President Trump.
While it’s unclear how the judge will weigh the notice, even before the start of the trial he ordered the immediate cancellation of President Trump’s business certificates and the dissolution of his LLCs.
However, that order was paused by an appeals court for at least the duration of the trial after the defense argued it would suddenly cast hundreds of Trump Organization employees’ livelihoods into disarray.
An attorney representing one of the defendants in the high-profile election racketeering case, which Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is prosecuting, is countersuing the district attorney for allegedly failing to produce documents to the defense and “intentionally withholding information” in violation of state law.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant, of the Georgia-based Merchant Law Firm, sued the district attorney’s office on Jan. 30, revealing in the lawsuit that Ms. Willis has been subpoenaed to testify at an upcoming Feb. 15 hearing during which prosecutors will have to address allegations Ms. Merchant made in a shocking filing earlier this month. Ms. Merchant is also suing for documents regarding several other contractors on Ms. Willis’s team.
Ms. Merchant represents Michael Roman, a GOP strategist who was involved in the 2020 Trump Campaign. Mr. Roman, former President Donald Trump, and 13 others are defendants in a large-scale case alleging their efforts to challenge the 2020 election results violated Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and amounted to 40 other crimes.
Mr. Roman had accused the district attorney of improperly and personally profiting from public funds, using monies meant to clear COVID-era backlogs to hire an attorney she was having a romantic relationship with, who then took Ms. Willis on “lavish” vacations after receiving close to $700,000 in payment from her office.
He is arguing that the conduct of the district attorney compromises the case and is seeking to dismiss the indictment and disqualify Ms. Willis and Nathan Wade, the attorney hired to prosecute the election case.
Neither Ms. Willis nor Mr. Wade have publicly responded to questions about the nature of their relationship.
At the time the motion was filed, Mr. Wade was in the middle of what appeared to be a contentious divorce according to court filings, and Mr. Wade had been subpoenaed by Joycelyn Wade, Mr. Wade’s wife, for a deposition regarding fees Mr. Wade was paid. In court filings, Ms. Wade disclosed bank records showing expenses for multiple vacations, including flight tickets in Ms. Willis’s name. Mr. Wade settled the divorce case on Jan. 30, avoiding testimony and the possibility of having Ms. Willis deposed. Mr. Wade was one of the prosecutors Ms. Merchant has subpoenaed to testify in the election case.
“Mr. Roman has subpoenaed Willis and Wade to testify at the February 15, 2024 hearing,” the lawsuit reads.
Report: Fani Willis Will Refuse to Step Down After Corruption Allegations
Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis will reportedly refuse to step down after allegations surfaced in recent weeks of corruption surrounding her probe into former President Donald Trump.
If Willis resigns or recuses herself from the case, it could effectively end the county’s prosecution of Trump or potentially delay the proceedings until after the presidential election. Republicans accuse Willis of interfering in the presidential election.
Sources familiar with Willis’ thinking told CNN that she will not step down, but will continue her prosecution despite the allegations. Willis has until Friday to respond to the allegations filed by co-defendant Mike Roman, who alleged Willis had an “improper” financial and romantic relationship with her top prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
CNN reported:
Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a February 15 hearing for both sides to present evidence related to the allegations. CNN previously reported that defense attorneys issued nearly a dozen subpoenas for potential witnesses to testify publicly in that hearing, including to Willis, Wade and others.
While some inside the DA’s office believe the odds are low Willis will ultimately have to take the stand during the February 15 evidentiary hearing, sources acknowledge it is not out of the question.
Willis was also subpoenaed in Wade’s contentious divorce dispute in neighboring Cobb County, but the judge has paused any decision on whether she will ultimately have to testify. Wade was scheduled to testify on Wednesday over allegations he hid income from his estranged wife but on Tuesday afternoon, the dispute was temporarily settled, much to the relief of some in the DA’s office, a source told CNN.
Initiatives are in the works to investigate Willis’s conduct. The Georgia State Senate on Friday approved launching a subpoena-powered investigation. The probe does not have the power to remove her from office, but the hearings could embarrass her.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) launched an investigation into Willis on January 12, 2024, for accepting more than $14.6 million in grant funds from the Department of Justice between 2020 and 2023. The timeframe of the funding suggests the DOJ granted Willis federal funds to finance the prosecution of Donald Trump.
On Monday, Georgia House members passed a bill to recreate a committee to remove Willis. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) supports this method, as he opposed launching a criminal investigation into Willis. Kemp denied Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) complaint that sought the dismissal of the charges against Trump.
Georgia House Passes Bill to Discipline ‘Rogue’ Prosecutors Amid Fani Willis Controversy
The Georgia House of Representatives has passed a bill to revive an oversight panel with powers to discipline and remove wayward county prosecutors, which could potentially target alleged misconduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her case against former President Donald Trump.
The House on Jan. 29 voted 95-75 along party lines for House Bill 881, sending it to the Senate for further debate.
The measure would empower the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission to operate after the state Supreme Court in November 2023 refused to approve rules governing its conduct.
“This commission will now be able to begin their real work, which is bringing accountability to those rogue prosecuting attorneys who abuse their office,” Rep. Joseph Gullett, a Republican who sponsored the measure, told House members on Monday.
The bill lays out grounds for discipline, removal, or “involuntary retirement” of wayward prosecutors, including for engaging in “willful misconduct” or for being convicted of a “crime involving moral turpitude” or persistently failing to carry out their duties.
Ms. Willis, who charged President Trump over his efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, has been accused of misconduct, court documents show.
She’s accused of having had an “improper” relationship with her top Trump prosecutor and benefitting from the relationship financially, among other allegations.
Jan. 6 Defendant Sentenced to 24 Months’ Probation With 30 Days Home Detention
A Jan. 6 protester who spent 18 seconds inside the Capitol building during the protests has been sentenced to 24 months of probation with 30 days of home detention.
Angelo Pacheco, a 24-year-old man from Kansas City, will also have to pay $500 restitution for damages done to the Capitol building that day, which the federal government says totaled more than $2.73 million, according to an April 8, 2022, court filing.
Mr. Pacheco’s sentencing was held before Judge Randolph D. Moss on Jan. 31 via video conference in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
He faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail, a $5,000 fine, and five years of probation.
According to the Jan. 6, 2021, criminal complaint, Mr. Pacheco was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.
As stated in the July 14, 2023 Statement of Facts, “The FBI received a tip from a confidential human source (CHS)” that Mr. Pacheco “was on the U.S. Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.”
While the informant did not know Mr. Pacheco, the CHS “identified him by comparing images on his Facebook and Instagram pages with open-source photos from January 6, 2021.”
Based on this information, the special agent investigating the case conducted database checks for “Angelo J. Pacheco,” later identifying him as a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. The special agent then compared Mr. Pacheco’s driver’s license photo to the one provided by the unidentified informant and confirmed it was the same individual.
RNC Most Broke It Has Been In Nearly A Decade, FEC Filings Show
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has the smallest amount of cash on hand that it has had in almost a decade, according to recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
End-of-year 2023 FEC filings show that the RNC has about $8 million cash on hand. The number is the lowest it has been since 2014, when the RNC had about $5 million cash on hand, FEC filings from the year show. Party members expressed concern over the party’s finances in November 2023 after the RNC had previously disclosed it had $9.1 million cash on hand as of Oct. 30, 2023, The Washington Post reported.
“It’s a revenue problem,” Oscar Brock, a national RNC member from Tennessee, told The Washington Post. “We’re going through the same efforts we always go through to raise money: the same donor meetings, retreats, digital advertising, direct mail. But the return is much lower this year. If you know the answer, I’d love to know it. The staff has managed to tighten down on expenses to keep the party from going into the red.”
The RNC’s amount of cash on hand has rapidly declined following former President Donald Trump’s administration. In 2015, just ahead of a presidential election year, the RNC had about $18.7 million cash on hand, FEC filings show. In 2019, the RNC had more than $71 million cash on hand.
At the end of 2022, the party had $14.3 million cash on hand, FEC filings show. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has $21 million cash on hand,
according to 2023 end-of-the-year FEC filings.
While party members voiced concerns about the RNC’s finances, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told The Washington Post in November donors are focused on funding individual candidates during election season. McDaniel said she expects the RNC’s finances to improve once a presidential nominee is picked.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Jamie Dimon Warns of ‘Rebellion’ as Government Debt Balloons, Economy Heads Towards ‘Cliff’
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that out-of-control spending in Washington that keeps adding to the growing pile of U.S. government debt threatens to trigger a reckoning in the form of a market “rebellion.”
Mr. Dimon made the remarks while speaking on a panel at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington last week alongside former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a self-proclaimed deficit hawk.
At one point in the discussion, Mr. Ryan said that the “most predictable crisis we’ve ever had” is the looming debt spiral as the U.S. government faces increasing levels of indebtedness, threatening America’s ability to pay it back—and risking a default.
Mr. Dimon, who agreed with Mr. Ryan’s take, was asked what it means for the U.S. economy if the federal government fails to tackle the issue of massive government spending.
He recalled that in the early 1980s, the debt was around 35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Today, the debt-to-GDP ratio is above 100 percent, and Mr. Dimon said it’s projected to reach 130 percent by 2035.
“It’s a hockey stick,” Mr. Dimon said of his prediction for the future path of the debt-to-GDP ratio, applying a term often used to describe a chart pattern showing plotted values moving more or less sideways—before they suddenly spike and vault skyward.
While the United States has not yet suffered the “hockey stick” surge, Mr. Dimon warned that “when it starts, markets around the world—by the way, because foreigners own $7 trillion of U.S. government debt—there will be a rebellion.”The bank chief added that a “rebellion”-type reckoning—which could involve a sudden deepening of the debt crisis as investors lose confidence in the government’s ability to service its debts and sell off U.S. Treasurys—would be “the worst possible way to do it.”
The point at which America’s public debt becomes unsustainable is fast approaching, Mr. Dimon warned.
“It is a cliff. We see the cliff. It’s about 10 years out. We’re going 60 miles an hour,” he said.
Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas Awards More Than $900K in Heirs’ Property Grants Through Members
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) has awarded $905,200 in Heirs’ Property Program grants to assist 21 organizations with preventing or remediating heirs’ property issues.
Heirs’ property refers to property inherited without a will or legal documentation of ownership. As property is passed down, each successive generation generally results in more heirs being added to the inheritance. The absence of a deed or will can make it more complicated to obtain a clear title to land or homes as time passes. The inability to provide clear title can make it very difficult for families to transfer, or obtain loans on, the impacted property.
The grants, awarded through 15 participating FHLB Dallas members, will be used to clear an estimated 442 titles and prevent heirs’ property issues for more than 900 individuals. The funding is also expected to assist more than 8,200 people with training and education.
New Orleans-based Louisiana Appleseed, which started helping individuals with property title issues in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, received $25,000 for preventative education from FHLB Dallas member institution Hancock Whitney Bank.
“We are going to use this grant to double-down on our outreach,” Louisiana Appleseed Executive Director Adrienne Wheeler said.
Clearing a clouded real estate title can be a time-consuming and costly process, which is one reason why Louisiana Appleseed will ramp up education and outreach to resolve more heirs’ property issues ahead of future natural disasters.
Katrina and Rita hurricane victims flooded Louisiana Appleseed with requests for help after they discovered they didn’t qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance to rebuild or repair their homes because they lacked proof of ownership, Ms. Wheeler said. In the years following the 2005 hurricanes, the organization has continued to expand its education and remediation efforts.
Hancock Whitney Vice President/Community Outreach Officer LaCarsha Babers said the FHLB Dallas Heirs’ Property Program provides yet another opportunity for the bank to assist in efforts to help mobilize much needed resources around Heirs Property issues which plague much of the southern Gulf region, including those communities in which the bank serves. Home preservation is just as important to wealth building as homeownership for the next generation.
A total of $40,000 in FHLB Dallas Heirs’ Property Program funding was awarded through Hancock Whitney to three organizations.
In this inaugural 2023 funding round, organizations could receive up to $75,000. Awardees included affordable housing associations, community development groups, legal aid organizations and a university.
The next application window for Heirs’ Property Program awards opens September 3 and closes on September 30. For the next round, the total allocation has increased to $2 million and recipients can receive up to $100,000 each. Recipients must be in FHLB Dallas’ five-state District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico or Texas and meet the program’s requirements.
Home Equity Down Slightly Across U.S. During Fourth Quarter But Remains Strong
ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its fourth-quarter 2023 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 46.1 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the fourth quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market values.
The portion of mortgaged homes that was equity-rich in the fourth quarter of 2023 decreased from 47.4 percent in the third quarter of 2023, marking the second straight quarterly decline. The latest figure also was down from 48 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
At the same time, the report shows that the portion of mortgaged homes that were seriously underwater in the U.S. rose slightly in the last few months of 2023, from 2.5 percent to 2.6 percent of all residential mortgages. Seriously underwater mortgages are those with combined estimated balances of loans secured by properties that are at least 25 percent more than those properties’ estimated market values.
RECALL WARNING:
Toyota Tells 50,000 US Owners To Stop Driving, Seek Immediate Repair
Toyota Motor Corp has warned 50,000 owners of older American vehicles to stop driving them immediately and seek repairs for a condition that could be deadly. Toyota asks that you don’t even drive it to the dealer, but instead make arrangements for pickup.
Once again, the danger springs from Takata airbags, more than 67,000 of which have already been recalled across 19 different manufacturers, 34 brands and model years spanning 2002 to 2015. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called that undertaking “the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history.”
While the recall has been going on since 2016, some 11 million haven’t been replaced yet, according to Consumer Reports. Meanwhile, the US fatality count has reached 26, alongside hundreds of injuries.
The latest stark warning focuses on certain 2003-2004 Corolla, 2003-2004 Corolla Matrix, and 2004-2005 RAV4 vehicles in the USA. On the RAV4, the dangerous bag is on the driver side. On the others, it’s the passengers side. Some Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles are under another recall, where they are at risk of airbags deploying outside of an accident, Reuters reports.
The problem is getting worse over time, said Toyota in a statement, such that an airbag that deploys to save your life could instead end it:
“Due to the age of the vehicles, if the airbag deploys, a part inside is more likely to explode and shoot sharp metal fragments which could cause SERIOUS INJURY or DEATH to the driver or passengers. Owners SHOULD NOT DRIVE these vehicles until the FREE safety recall repair has been conducted.”
You can check the status of your vehicle by entering your license plate number or Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) at Toyota’s recall website, or by entering the VIN on the NHTSA recalls page. The repair is free, and most vehicles are done in about an hour, according to Toyota. Some dealers are equipped to perform mobile repair where your vehicle is parked.
In July, Chrysler’s parent, Stellantis, alerted the owners of 29,000 2003 Dodge Ram pickups to likewise stop driving those vehicles until their air bags were replaced. The move followed the latest American fatal rupture.
HEALTH
First Outbreak of Deadly Fungal Infection Confirmed in Washington State, Officials Say
Authorities in Washington state confirmed an outbreak of a deadly fungal infection that has been on the rise across the United States in recent years.
Officials in King County, Washington, said in a statement on Tuesday that an outbreak involving three patients infected by Candida auris, or C. auris, was reported at Kindred Hospital in Seattle beginning in mid-January. Another case was detected on Jan. 26 at a nursing home in nearby Snohomish County, officials said.
“These patients had previously tested negative for C. auris when they were first admitted,” it said. “This is the first known outbreak of C. auris in Washington state.”
The health department said it will “work together” with Kindred Hospital to limit the transmission of C. auris, including keeping those who test positive for the fungal infection to stay “away from other patients.”
Kindred Hospital will also notify other facilities that “received patients who were previously at Kindred and will notify facilities that may receive any patient who screens positive for C. auris,” the county’s statement added.
“As is the case with many multi-drug resistant organisms, it can be difficult to identify the initial source of the infection, and while the investigation is ongoing, the original source of C. auris in this situation may never be identified,” the statement continued. “However, with the early identification of these cases, there is a greater opportunity to reduce the risk of further spread.”
The cluster of cases comes as the fungal infection continues to spread across the United States, according to data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since 2016, cases of C. auris have risen each year.Between 2019 and 2021, the CDC said, 17 states identified their first cases, with clinical cases rising nationwide from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021.
“Screening cases tripled from 2020 to 2021, for a total of 4,041,” the CDC said.
The reason for the increase, the agency added, is due to a multitude of factors such as poor practices around general infection prevention and control in health care facilities, and also possibly due to an increase in reporting and detecting cases.auris was first identified in 2009 in Japan, officials said. The CDC classifies the infections as an urgent public health issue because the fungus is “often resistant to multiple antifungal drugs, spreads easily in healthcare facilities, and can cause severe infections with high death rates.”
“In general, C. auris is not a threat to healthy people,” the CDC said. “People who are very sick, have invasive medical devices, or have long or frequent stays in healthcare facilities are at increased risk for acquiring C. auris.”
It added that the mortality rate of a severe infection is between 30 and 60 percent, but because it generally affects people with compromised immune systems, the CDC considers it rare.
123 passengers sickened aboard cruise ship: CDC
More than 100 passengers and crew aboard a Queen Victoria cruise ship have fallen sick with a gastrointestinal illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
The Cunard Cruise Line ship departed on Jan. 22 and is set to return on Feb. 12, the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) said.
Among the ship’s 1,824 total passengers, 123 have reported being ill during the voyage. Of the 967-person crew, 16 have also become ill. The cases are for the entire trip so far and don’t represent the number of active cases.
The cause of the sickness is unknown, but symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting.
According to the CDC, the cruise line and crew have reported increased cleaning and disinfection procedures that are in accordance with the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan. Sick passengers and crew are isolating.
“VSP is remotely monitoring the situation, including reviewing the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures,” the notice said.
According to ABC News, the cruise departed Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and is scheduled to go to San Francisco before ending in Honolulu.
“Cunard confirms that a small number of guests had reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness on board Queen Victoria. They immediately activated their enhanced health and safety protocols to ensure the wellbeing of all guests and crew on board,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Ad firm that marketed OxyContin agrees to $350M settlement
An advertising agency that helped develop a marketing strategy to sell opioids like OxyContin agreed to a $350 million national settlement, attorneys general announced Thursday.
The settlement will be paid by Publicis Health, part of the French media conglomerate Publicis Groupe and one of the world’s largest health care advertising companies. It marks the first time an advertising company has reached a major settlement over the U.S. opioid epidemic.
The settlement money will be divided among every state and will mostly be used to fund opioid abatement, treatment and prevention efforts. Publicis agreed to pay the entire settlement in the next two months, including $7 million that will be used for states’ legal fees.
The agreement prohibits Publicis from accepting any future contracts related to the marketing or sale of opioids and requires it to make public hundreds of thousands of internal documents detailing its work in opioid promotion.
According to a court filing, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma was Publicis’s top opioid client from 2010 until 2019, and Publicis was Purdue’s No. 1 marketing partner. Publicis worked with Purdue to promote branded opioids OxyContin, Butrans and Hysingla.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who co-led negotiations with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D), said Publicis was responsible for creating advertisements and materials, such as pamphlets and brochures, that promoted OxyContin as safe and unable to be abused.
According to James, Publicis implemented Purdue Pharma’s “Evolve to Excellence” scheme, which targeted the doctors who prescribed the most OxyContin and flooded them with sales calls and marketing touting the “abuse-deterrent” aspects of OxyContin and promoted the benefits of increasing patients’ dosages.
That campaign was developed for Purdue by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. McKinsey has already agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in a series of settlements for its role in the opioid crisis.
Study Shows Tea Can Reduce Risk and Progression of Diabetes
Enjoying a daily cup of dark tea such as Pu-erh may result in better blood sugar control, and lower risk of Type 2 diabetes by 47%.
Compared with those who never drank tea, daily dark tea consumers had a 53% lower risk of prediabetes and a 47% lower risk of Type 2 diabetes
Bioactive compounds in dark tea may influence glucose excretion in the kidneys, potentially explaining some of tea’s beneficial effects
Daily dark tea drinkers had an increase in urinary glucose excretion and reduced insulin resistance
Pu-erh, one type of dark tea that’s also known as black tea in China, is unique from typical black teas in the U.S; it’s produced via microbial fermentation, which may increase its concentration of powerful bioactive compounds
Among adults with Type 2 diabetes, replacing one sugar-sweetened beverage a day with tea led to health benefits, reducing all-cause mortality by 16% and cardiovascular disease mortality by 24%
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
John Podesta: Portrait Of A Consummate Technocrat (And Climate Czar)
Like a bad penny, John Podesta just won’t go away. He is a former member of the Trilateral Commission, the founder of the Center for American Progress (CAP), and the leading architect of America’s deleterious climate change plan, starting in the 1990s when he served as Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.
It was President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, both members of the Trilateral Commission, who ushered in the UN’s Agenda 21 policies. When Clinton was busy reinventing government, he brought his lifetime friend Podesta on in 1998. Podesta created the infamous presidential strategy of “ruling with a pen and a phone” to skirt Congress. Every president since has used and abused this. But, it was essential to cram Agenda 21 and climate change policies down our throats.
I have thoroughly documented the Trilateral Commission’s singular role in creating Agenda 21 and advancing sustainable development.
Since 2022, Podesta has been listed as a senior advisor to President Biden. His sole function was to disburse the $780 Billion to clean energy authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
John Kerry has retired as Climate Czar at age 80; now Podesta assumes that title and function for himself.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
How to escape the surveillance state: Use a VPN
This may sound difficult, but it is pretty simple to set up. You create an account, download it to your computer and phone, and you are ready to go. You can get your VPN going in less than half an hour.
What is a VPN, and what does it do?
When you use the internet, your computer has an internet protocol address that is trackable and traceable. Using a virtual private network masks your computer’s address so it cannot be traced as easily.
VPNs are essential when using a public network like those at a coffee shop or airport. These wireless networks can easily be hacked. Sometimes, you cannot tell if you are using the coffee shop’s actual network or if a hacker set one up with the store’s name to fool you. A hacker can set up a wireless account with a fake name — such as the name of the coffee shop you are in. And you, thinking it is safe, access the internet through the wireless network of the hacker, who then takes your data.
VPNs are also crucial at home. While you probably don’t need to worry about hackers tricking you, it doesn’t mean your online activity is private. Your internet service provider, like Comcast or AT&T, can collect your searches and online activities and use or sell your data to advertisers. So even if you are using a good browser, search engine, and mail service that respects your privacy, you still want to use a VPN at home.
Finally, you’ll want to use a VPN on all your devices, including phones and tablets. Anything that connects to the internet should be through a VPN. There are more advantages to a VPN than I can mention here. Here are some articles on how a VPN works and why to use one.
- What is a VPN?
- How to Choose a Good VPN
- Why You Need a VPN, and How to Choose the Right One
Several companies provide the service.
Express VPN Proton VPN
I have used Express VPN and Proton. You can get Express VPN for about $12 a month or Proton for $8 (+$4 for email).
The big thing is to get one and try it out. You can set up Express or Proton in several minutes. I promise. If you don’t like the first one you try, you can always cancel and get another one. If you are like me, you may hesitate because you are trying to find the perfect solution. Don’t do that. It’s a time waster.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Conflicting Pole Shift Agendas Between the East and West
The French farmers are dumping manure onto government buildings and onto the roads. They are turning the freeways into fields and setting them on fire. They are blocking the motor ways. And they are dumping and destroying foreign imported foods. They are sending a message out to the people that government-decreed starvation is coming. And it’s not just the French, it’s happening in Germany, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Ireland. And it looks like it’s just getting started.
This is of course in response to the European Union’s Green Agenda. The E.U. is imposing extreme regulations on farmers which are forcing them out of business. Globalist media is spreading propaganda that farming is bad for the environment. And domestic terrorists in America are setting fire to farms.
This is all being blamed on the lie that humans are responsible for climate change. And so the solution for Western governments seems to be to depopulate, or rather, murder its own people.
History tells us that the climate does radically change. Examples such as the Younger Dryas ice age that occurred twelve thousand years ago shows us that these things do happen. And the current level of earthquake activity and volcanic eruptions could be an indicator that the climate is radically changing again.
In the late nineteen-forties, Major Maynard White, commander of Project Nanook, discovered that the Earth experiences routine magnetic pole flips that occur in the span of just one day. But this information was suppressed from the public and was directly followed by the birth of the United Nations Global Warming propaganda campaign. Western governments adopted the man made global warming cover story, but this does not seem to be the case in the East.
In Russia, talk of a pole shift is openly being discussed. Russian scientists have been tracking the wandering magnetic north which has been exponentially moving towards Siberia for decades. And even state run media, Ria News, has been reporting that the north and south magnetic poles have repeatedly changed places and that it could happen again at any moment.
Russian media has even cited the work of the sleeping American prophet, Edgar Cayce, who predicted a sudden climate change that would “lead to the death of cities” and cause the European arctic to thaw.
The Russian Federation seems to be preparing for this pole shift. Massive infrastructure is being developed in the Eurasian arctic, and Russian bases in Antarctica are being drastically restored. The farmers in Russia are not being attacked, they are being given extra subsidies by the government and encouraged to expand.
These contrasting agendas between the East and the West could explain the current conflicts. If the poles are expected to flip, then it would explain just about all the madness that is happening today. And the plan of the Western governments appears to be to cull the population and weather the storm underground.
L.A. Prepares for ‘Toilet-to-Tap’; Will Recycle 60% of Wastewater
Local water authorities are preparing to implement new “toilet-to-tap” technology by 2032 that could see 60% of L.A.’s wastewater recycled rather than being flushed out to sea.
Three years ago, Breitbart News visited the “demonstration” project at what is now known as the A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility, where a large proportion of L.A. County’s wastewater is treated.
At that time, innovations in reverse osmosis technology made it possible to purify wastewater to a higher quality than typical drinking water.
As this reporter wrote at the time:
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has partnered with the Sanitation Districts in a new project to test the feasibility of treating and reusing a large percentage of the county’s water that is currently discharged to sea.
I was the first reporter to be allowed a look at a new demonstration project called the Advanced Purification Center, which, when operational, could result in a full-scale recycled water plant that would purify up to 150 million of the 250 million gallons per day that flow through the [facility].
The test facility, where construction began in 2017, will be completed later in 2019. It will purify about half a million gallons of water from [the facility] per day, using a special process that first uses microorganisms to remove ammonia and other nitrogen compounds from the water; then uses advanced filters to remove microorganisms and solids; and finally uses RO membranes to purify the water, just as in a desalination plant.By 2028-2029, the facility should be up and running, and processing 30 million gallons per day. And by 2032, that number could hit 150 million gallons per day.
The process is less expensive and less energy-intensive than desalination, because the treated water, while too salty for immediate use, is only about a tenth as salty as sea water.
But the regulations had yet to be developed — and public reluctance had to be overcome.
Last year, California regulators gave “toilet-to-tap” the green light. Now plans are unfolding to expand the “demonstration” project to a large scale alongside the Warren facility in Carson, just north of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Once purified, the water will be pumped back north and east, where local water authorities can either divert it to recharge ponds that percolate water back into the aquifer — or they can put it into the regular water system for household and industrial use.
Steve Krai, an engineer at the Warren facility, told Breitbart News that the facility is currently going through the environmental approval process, starting with the production of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that will describe potential impacts.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
You might think that if you want to start a garden you need to buy a gas guzzling tiller. But that is only one option. There are actually several ways to start a garden without using a tiller at all. Here are five methods that we’ve used.
Straw bale gardens
This is exactly what it sounds like. You plant vegetable seeds and transplants in straw bales. Bales are usually tied together with two strings. It works best if you put the bales on their sides rather than putting the strings on the ground. This helps to keep the straw together, but it also makes it easier to separate the straw for planting. One word of caution — ask your straw supplier if the straw was ever sprayed with weed killer. If so, the residue may kill your transplants or cause your seeds to fail to germinate.
Raised beds
I never had raised beds until I volunteered to help with our church community garden. Several other volunteers said they would not help unless we had raised beds. I admit I really did not see the attraction until I actually started working in raised beds. It is amazing how much easier it is to work in garden beds that are a foot off the ground. It doesn’t sound like it would be that awesome, but it is.
You can create raised beds by simply nailing together a square or a rectangle of 2-inch by 12-inch boards in whatever length you want. At our church, we had 4-foot by 12-foot beds. After getting spoiled by them, we built some here, and they’re 4-foot by 8-foot. You really don’t want them wider than four feet because you want to be able to reach into the middle easily from either side of the bed. We made eight-foot beds here because I didn’t want to try to bring home boards longer than eight feet.
Once the bed is built, fill it with soil and your choice of amendments, such as sand, compost, straw, etc. If you are creating raised beds at least three months before you’ll be harvesting above ground crops and four months before harvesting root crops, you can also mix in some raw manure.
If you have raised beds, it is easy to create low tunnels and cover them with greenhouse plastic, so you can grow year-round. This picture shows our low tunnels in March. The plants have been there since early fall. Row covers combined with greenhouse plastic kept the raised beds toasty and warm all winter in spite of temperatures that sometimes fell below 0. The sun heats up the ground during the day, the low tunnel traps the heat, and overnight the ground emits that heat to keep the plants from freezing.
Put down plastic to kill grass
If you’ve ever left a kiddie swimming pool or a tent in one place on your lawn for too long, you know this works. It kills the grass. If it’s there for only a week, it will take at least a few weeks for the grass to grow back. If you leave it there for a month or longer, everything should be dead. Dig holes to plant your transplants, and add mulch to control weeds in the future.
Plow with pigs
If you have a larger area that you want plowed up but don’t have a tiller or a tractor, use pigs. They’re nature’s plowing champions. They love using their shovel-like snouts to dig in the dirt. They actually love to eat the weeds, grass, and roots, so they’re feeding themselves too. Leave them in there until you don’t see anything green. You need to go in with a rake to level everything as soon as you remove them from the area while the soil is loose. After a few rains, the soil will get hard, and you will have a lot of holes and bumps that will be challenging to flatten.
BONUS: they’ll add fertilizer while they’re plowing! However, that also means that you can’t harvest anything for 3-4 months after you remove the pigs. We usually put the pigs in an area in the fall and leave them there all winter. We remove them from the area about four months from the time when we expect to start harvesting from the area.
To keep them fenced in, you’ll want to use some type of electric fencing. If they’re already trained to electric, you can probably use a single strand of electric with pigtail posts (pictured). Otherwise, you’ll need to use ElectroNet for sheep and goats or poultry netting. You will want to be there when they’re first introduced to the fencing so that you can get them untangled if they attempt to go through it. Do NOT put pigs in your garden and expect welded wire to keep them contained. They can rip through that without even trying hard. (Do I have to tell you how I know this? Remember I make all the mistakes so you don’t have to.)
Tilling
Sure, you can use a tiller, but it really isn’t our first choice. In fact, last year we broke new ground to expand our garden, and we were disappointed at how stubbornly the grass kept trying to come back. So, even though we have a tiller, last fall, we laid down plastic tarps on the new garden areas so that the grass will die.
2ND AMENDMENT
STRUCK DOWN! California Background Check for Ammo Purchase Violates 2nd Amendment
Citing the Bruen decision and the 2nd Amendment, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, struck down a recent California law that requires background checks for small-arms ammunition purchases. The ruling by Benitez took effect immediately. California Attorney General Rob Bonta asked Benitez on Wednesday to delay the ruling to give him time to appeal the decision. It’s unclear if Benitez will grant that request.
While the decision will certainly be appealed and end up in the most liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, this is another case where the implications of the Bruen decision are making themselves known – and another affirmation that the Second Amendment means precisely what it says – “shall not be infringed.”
CANCEL CULTURE
WATCH: Illegal Aliens Flip Middle Fingers Upon Release from Jail After Attacking NYC Cops
Illegal aliens charged with violently attacking New York Police Department (NYPD) officers flipped their middle fingers as they pranced out of jail without having to pay bail, shielded from deportation by New York City’s sanctuary policy.
As Breitbart News reported, a mob of illegal aliens attacked NYPD officers Tuesday outside of a taxpayer-funded migrant shelter in Midtown Manhattan. The violent attack was caught on camera, and seven of the illegal aliens involved have been arrested.
On Thursday, five of the illegal aliens arrested for the mob attack on the NYPD officers were freed from jail without bail thanks to New York’s bail reform law, which ensures criminal suspects deemed “nonviolent” can be released after charges without paying a dime.
Two other illegal aliens were arrested late Wednesday evening for the attack and are also expected to be freed from jail without paying bail.
A couple of the illegal aliens proudly left jail, flipping their middle fingers to media and camera crews with one saying in Spanish, “I didn’t do nothing.”
The illegal aliens arrived in New York City in 2023 after crossing the United States-Mexico border from Venezuela. They were likely released into the U.S. interior by President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before making their way to the Big Apple.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has refused to request bail for any of the illegal aliens thus far charged with attacking the NYPD officers. Instead, prosecutors have asked that they be released from jail while the investigation is ongoing.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has fallen short of calling for the illegal aliens to be arrested and deported by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Hochul said deportation should be merely “looked at” as an option, though the state’s sanctuary policy prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE agents.
GOOD NEWS
The Wheelchair Dad: Builder Paralyzed in a Fall Creates Dream Bunkbed for 3 Daughters
He may be wheelchair-bound, but when dad Dan Kotter sets his mind to achieving something, he gets the job done. The devoted 46-year-old father from West Haven, Utah, used what little free time he had between surgeries and family trips last year to build the ultimate bunk bed for his daughters.
Mr. Kotter, who sustained life-changing injuries in his construction job just over 10 years ago and is paralyzed from the waist down, explained his attitude toward life to The Epoch Times:
“The saying we have is, punch today in the face. Essentially, don’t give up; don’t let the day beat you down; don’t let life beat you down. Don’t make excuses—just try to work hard.”
150 Democrats Vote Against Bill To Make DUI A Deportable Offense
A bill intending to deport illegal migrants caught driving under the influence, titled Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act, passed the House with a 274-150 vote, with all voting against the legislation being Democrats, according to the roll call vote. Fifty-nine Democrats joined all 215 Republicans to vote in favor of the legislation.
The bill makes driving while impaired grounds for barring a non-U.S. national from entry into the U.S. and for deportation, according to the legislation’s description. The individual must be convicted of the offense to be subjected to deportation.
Several Republican members of Congress stood by their support for illegal migrants to be deported for a DUI.
The bill advises officers to examine the individual’s past offenses and any “evidence of rehabilitation” while considering whether to deport them, according to The Hill. It encourages officials to focus on targeting illegal migrants deemed to be a public safety threat or an endangerment to national security or border security.
Conflicts between state and federal law have allowed a DUI conviction to not be considered in whether a non-citizen or illegal migrant is allowed to remain in the U.S., according to The Hill.
Ravens’ Mark Andrews Helps Save Women’s Life During In-Flight Emergency
Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews made the biggest catch of his life Thursday when he helped provide critical aid to a woman going into a diabetic coma during a flight from Baltimore to Phoenix.
A passenger identifying himself as Andrew Springs posted the details of Andrews’ potentially life-saving actions on their Southwest flight.
“The doctor and nurse attending to her couldn’t find a strong pulse; her blood pressure was extremely low, and she required oxygen to breathe. It was genuinely scary,” Springs wrote. “A man in the aisle seat popped up, ‘Could it be her blood sugar? I have a diabetic testing kit.’ It was @Ravens TE Mark Andrews. Andrews instructed the medical professionals (equal citizen heroes in this story) on using his test kit. Eventually, her heart rate stabilized.”
Springs added, “Paramedics met the flight as soon as we landed. Andrews deplaned quietly. No fanfare. As he has done his whole career, he stepped up in a huge moment when people needed him most. Watching complete strangers spring into action to help save someone’s life is truly amazing.”
The Ravens confirmed Springs’ report, and Mark Andrews himself commented on the incident.
“In addition to the fast-acting flight attendants, the real heroes are the nurse and doctor who also happened to be on the plane. Thankfully, they were able to provide the woman the quick assistance she needed,” Andrews said.
The Ravens’ season didn’t end the way they wanted it to end. But, thanks to Andrews’ efforts, this far more important story had a happy ending.
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