WORLD NEWS
Police threaten to arrest protesting truckers
Ottawa law enforcement tells Canadian protesters they will be fined or detained, and their vehicles seized
RT – Police in the Canadian capital, Ottawa threatened the Freedom Convoy protesters on Wednesday with fines, arrests, and seizure of their trucks if they do not stop their “mischief.” The truckers demand an end to vaccine mandates and other Covid-19 restrictions in Canada.
To “obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment, or operation of property,” is a criminal offense known as “mischief to property,” Ottawa police announced on Wednesday afternoon, adding that the “unlawful act of blocking streets in the downtown core” amounts to just such a crime.
Anyone blocking the streets or assisting others in doing so, directly or indirectly, may be guilty of that offense and may be arrested without a warrant, they said. Those arrested may be denied bail, and their property – including trucks – may be seized and forfeited.
“You must immediately cease further unlawful activity or you may face charges,” police said.
Ottawa is also threatening hefty fines for idling, open fire, and noise complaints – all designed to force the truckers to leave – according to the CBC.
Protest Is Protected by the Charter, Legal Group Supporting Truckers Tells Police
Epoch Times – As police step up efforts to deter the Freedom Convoy demonstration in Ottawa, the legal group representing the truckers is urging the authorities to respect their charter right to peacefully protest.
In recent days police have seized fuel and arrested individuals in relation to the transportation of fuel to supply the convoy.
“It is winter in Canada. Protesting publicly in freezing temperatures requires the truckers to have fuel to stay warm. Confiscation of fuel jeopardizes the personal safety of the peaceful protesters,” said lawyer Jay Cameron, litigation director at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), in a statement issued Feb. 8.
In efforts to end the ongoing demonstration, the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) had initially targeted the truckers’ funds by lobbying crowdsourcing platform GoFundMe to cancel the Freedom Convoy’s fundraiser. In recent days the OPS has moved to disrupt the truckers’ fuel supply.
On Feb. 6, the OPS said on Twitter that “anyone attempting to bring material supports (gas, etc.) to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest. Enforcement is underway.”
The OPS said on Feb. 8 it had arrested 23 individuals on various criminal charges, some in relation to the transportation of gas, who were charged under “mischief.”
Section 430 of the Criminal Code defines “mischief” as wilfully destroying or damaging property; rendering property dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective; and interfering with the lawful use and enjoyment or operation of property.
“Taking fuel from Canadian citizens in the downtown Ottawa area is an illegal seizure in a context where no crimes are being committed,” said lawyer Nicholas Wansbutter, counsel for the JCCF.
“In my view, the truckers are not doing anything illegal by protesting peacefully against the 23 months of politicians restricting our Charter freedoms. Citizens have every right to bring food, water, fuel, and other necessities of life in the winter to other Canadians, including truckers.”
Mayor reveals plan to deal with truckers blocking US-Canada bridge
Protesters are willing to “die” for their cause, he says
RT – Trying to forcibly remove truckers blockading the busiest US-Canadian border crossing at the Ambassador Bridge could lead to violence and even death, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario cautioned on Wednesday, while his police chief called for a diplomatic approach.
“You have a number of people who are … part of the protest group who have openly stated … they feel such a passion for this particular cause that they are willing to die for it,” Mayor Drew Dilkens told reporters on Wednesday.
“If you have people who hold that sentiment, the situation can escalate and get very dangerous for police and those members of the public in very short order. It’s fair to say we don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”
Dilkens added that he’s been getting calls from Windsor residents and businesses demanding the forcible removal of the truckers, but said “such action may inflame the situation and cause more folks to come and join the protest.”
The Ambassador Bridge runs between Windsor and Detroit, Michigan. It has been closed to commercial traffic since Monday, when several dozen truckers set up a blockade on the Canadian side, in solidarity with the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. Another group of truckers and farmers has been blockading a border crossing in the western province of Alberta for over a week as well.
Global Trucker Convoys Protest Mandates
Mercola – STORY AT-A-GLANCE
The Canadian “Freedom Convoy” started pulling into Ottawa January 29, 2022, gathering in front of the Parliament building. They have vowed to stay put until the Canadian government agrees to roll back all federal mandates, including the vaccine mandate and the vaccine passport
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tried to downplay the protest, referring to it as a “small fringe minority” of people “who hold unacceptable views” and don’t represent the views of Canadians
As the convoy descended on Ottawa, Trudeau moved out of his residence and then claimed to have contracted COVID and that he would remain in isolation for a week
Inspired and encouraged by the Canadian trucker movement, truckers in other countries are now organizing their own Freedom Convoys. In Europe, a European Freedom Convoy will meet up in Brussels, February 14, 2022, and remain there “until vaccination passports and associated restrictions are abolished” across the European Union
Australia also organized a Freedom Convoy to gather outside the Parliament House in Canberra, starting January 31, 2022, and in the U.S., American truckers are planning a DC Freedom Convoy
Canada-style Covid protests are prohibited in the French capital, police have announced
RT – The Paris authorities on Thursday issued an order prohibiting Canada-style ‘Freedom Convoy’ demonstrations over the weekend. The ban will run from February 11 to 14.
The edict came as thousands of motorists took to the road on Wednesday and headed in the direction of Paris to demonstrate against government’s Covid policies – in particular the vaccination pass.
“The stated objective of these demonstrators is to ‘block the Capital’ – by obstructing road traffic in the streets of Paris to promote their demands, before continuing their journey towards Brussels on Monday February 14,” a press release from the police headquarters read.
The police cite an increased “risk of public order disturbances that this gathering could cause” as their reason for banning any Canada-style protests.
The authorities will impose heavy penalties for those who are “obstructing or hindering a road open to public traffic.” The misdemeanor carries a penalty of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of €4,500 ($5,150).
Organizing such a demonstration is punishable by six months’ imprisonment and a fine of €7,500.
The police also announced that a “specific device” will be used by the authorities to prevent the convoy from entering the city.
French protesters have seemingly been inspired but the Canadian truckers’ protest. The Canadian Freedom Convoy has brought parts of Ottawa and other strategic parts of Canada to a standstill.
It started as a demonstration against vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers, but has grown into a broader protest against restrictions.
Dozens arrested as police & anti-mandate protesters clash (VIDEO)
Officers moved to disperse people camping outside the New Zealand Parliament in solidarity with Canadian truckers
RT – New Zealand police cracked down on protesters outside Parliament in Wellington on Thursday, arresting more than 50 people after forcibly dispersing the demonstration against Covid-19 restrictions.
Shortly before the scuffles erupted, police threatened the crowd of around 150 protesters with arrest if they refused to leave the area voluntarily. Those who ignored the order were subsequently detained by law enforcement.
Protesters could be seen chanting “this is not democracy” and “shame on you” as police officers moved in to clear the grounds.
China Bets on US-Born Athletes to Boost Beijing’s Olympic Gold Medal Drive
Epoch Times – San Francisco Bay Area-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu crashed the Chinese internet after winning gold for China on her debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the first of three medals she hopes to claim on behalf of her mother’s home country.
“The future is bright” for Gu and her teammates, reads a Feb. 8 letter from China’s Winter Sports Administrative Center, congratulating them for claiming China’s first gold on snow.
“Score greater glory for the Party and the people,” the letter urged the team.
On China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo, the outpouring of adulation from Chinese fans for the 18-year-old champion, who is listed on the Olympic program as Gu Ailing, temporarily overloaded the site.
“Dad with Harvard, mom with Peking University and Stanford, grandmother an athlete, she herself beautiful and stylish,” said one post that was shared 115,000 times.
The reception to Gu’s performance sharply contrasts with the intense scrutiny faced by Zhu Yi, the figure skater who gave up her U.S. citizenship and changed her name from Beverly to Yi after deciding to compete for China in 2018.
CCP Is ‘Terminally Ill’: Author Says China’s Domestic Troubles Could Trigger Leadership Coup
Epoch Times – A group of Chinese officials might stage an internal coup against Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and transition China to a democratic political system, according to Roger Garside, author of “China Coup.”
“The body politic of China is terminally ill. Only a transplant can save the body politic, and the only other system on offer is competitive democracy,” Garside, a former diplomat, told Epoch TV’s “China Insider” program on Jan. 31.
Garside, who served twice at the British Embassy in Beijing, argues that high-level officials in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including Premier Li Keqiang, believe that Xi is taking China in a “very risky and dangerous” direction, jeopardizing their wealth and power, as well as the future of the CCP. He contends that this is the reason why they are plotting against the Chinese leader.
The author went on to explain some indications of the CCP’s vulnerability that could enable such a coup.
U.S. NEWS, POLITIC & GOVERNMENT
Bob Saget’s Cause of Death Revealed: Family
Epoch Times – Comedian and actor Bob Saget’s cause of death was revealed by his family on Wednesday, coming about a month after he was found dead in a Florida hotel room.
A statement from the “Full House” star’s family said he died from head trauma. Saget, they said, accidentally hit his head on something and went to sleep. They did not elaborate on how he hit his head or what object his head struck.
“In the weeks since Bob’s passing, we have been overwhelmed with the incredible outpouring of love from Bob’s fans, which has been a great comfort to us and for which we are eternally grateful,” the family said on Wednesday in a statement to news outlets. “Now that we have the final conclusions from the authorities’ investigation, we felt it only proper that the fans hear those conclusions directly from us.”
After hitting his head, Saget allegedly “thought nothing of it and went to sleep” before his death, according to his family. No drugs or alcohol were involved, Saget’s family continued.
“As we continue to mourn together, we ask everyone to remember the love and laughter that Bob brought to this world, and the lessons he taught us all: to be kind to everyone, to let the people you love know you love them, and to face difficult times with hugs and laughter,” the statement said.
Unconfirmed reports on Wednesday said he died specifically of “brain bleed.” Those reports cited anonymous sources.
US Appeals Court Will Not Reinstate Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Federal Employees
Epoch TImes – A U.S. appeals court panel on Wednesday said it would not reinstate President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees, declining to overrule a lower court ruling that put the order on hold.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay the lower-court injunction against the mandate by a 2-1 vote and asked both parties to file arguments in March.
The lower court’s injunction against the mandate was issued by Texas-based District Judge Jeffrey Brown last month, who ruled that Biden does not have the authority to impose such a mandate.
In a 20-page ruling, the judge sided with plaintiffs who argued that language used in federal law does not give way to the mandate being enforced.
Government lawyers stated that federal law says the president “may prescribe regulations for the conduct of employees in the executive branch,” and that the act of becoming vaccinated is “plainly conduct.”
Something isn’t right’: Biden warned his ‘mental decline’ is worsening
Dozens of members of Congress write letter urging Joe to take cognitive test
WND – That there have been questions for a long time already about Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities is without dispute, as a poll weeks ago from McLaughlin & Associates showed majorities of Americans believed him to be incompetent as president, and they wanted him to take a cognitive health test and release the results.
That poll revealed 52% believe Biden to be incompetent, only another 6% said they didn’t know or they declined to answer. Only 43% believed him all right at that point.
Now members of Congress have joined the chorus expressing concern for the 79-year-old, with dozens of GOP members urging him to take a cognitive test because his “mental decline” is becoming “more apparent.”
A report at Fox News explained nearly 40 Republicans are pushing for the evaluation in a letter organized by Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a former physician to the president.
Hunter Biden Tried to Broker Energy Deal With China’s State-Owned Oil Company: Emails
Epoch Times – Hunter Biden, the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden, tried to broker a $120 million oil agreement in 2014 and 2015 between a Chinese state-owned oil company and Kazakhstan’s prime minister at that time, according to emails recently obtained by British newspaper the Daily Mail.
The Chinese oil company alleged to be part of the deal, the State China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), isn’t an ordinary firm. In 2021, the U.S. Commerce Department identified the company as posing a threat to U.S. national security and added it to a trade blacklist called the “Entity List.”
The Pentagon named CNOOC as one of Beijing’s “military companies” in December 2020. That month, the U.S. State Department asked U.S. investors (pdf) to steer away from investing in stock and bond indices having “malign PRC companies” on their portfolios, with CNOOC being one of the many companies named. The People’s Republic of China is the official title of China.
The Daily Mail obtained the emails from what is alleged to be Biden’s abandoned laptop, showing him traveling to Beijing and Kazakhstan in an effort to broker the oil deal in the two-year period. At that time, he tried to negotiate the deal on behalf of a Ukrainian energy firm named Burisma for which he was a board member, according to the outlet.
According to the emails, the plan was for the Kazakh government to award drilling rights to CNOOC, while Burisma would operate rigs and wells in the Central Asian country.
Kazakhstan, once a part of the Soviet Union, is rich in oil and natural gas, sitting on one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Currently, an oil pipeline runs from Atasu, a town in Kazakhstan, to Alashankou, a border city in China’s far-western Xinjiang region.
Biden apparently tried to team up with Karim Massimov, who was Kazakh prime minister from 2007 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2016, to make the deal happen. In the emails, Biden described Massimov as a “close friend” and his son as a “very good friend.”
Massimov also headed Kazakhstan’s intelligence agency—the National Security Committee (KNB) that succeeded the Soviet-era KGB—until he was sacked in early January. Soon after, he was detained on suspicion of treason.
According to the Daily Mail, there’s no indication that the treason charge against Massimov is connected to the oil deal.
Police Beating of Unconscious Trump Supporter Was ‘Objectively Reasonable,’ Department RulesInternal Affairs Bureau conducted probe in response to a police-brutality complaint
Epoch Times – The beating of an unconscious Trump supporter by a DC Metropolitan Police Department officer on January 6 was deemed to be “objectively reasonable” after an investigation by the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, The Epoch Times has learned.
The Internal Affairs investigation was opened in September 2021 based on a complaint filed by a Texas man who assembled video evidence of the officer striking an unconscious Rosanne Boyland with a steel baton and a large wooden stick at the entrance to the West Terrace tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Ga., was pinned under a pile of protesters who fled the tunnel when police deployed a crowd-control gas. After several minutes of being crushed by the weight of other fallen protesters, Boyland lost consciousness and stopped breathing, witnesses have said.
Boyland traveled to Washington D.C. that day to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally and hear then-President Donald Trump speak at the Ellipse. She became trapped in a crowd that sought entry to the Capitol through the West Terrace tunnel.
As Boyland lay unconscious on the ground DC Metro Police Officer Lila Morris repeatedly struck her with a steel baton and what appeared to be a wooden walking stick, according to a video recording.
Texas probes shutdown of Freedom Convoy fundraiser
The state’s AG said the crowdfunding platform engaged in “deceitful action” after it froze donations to vaccine mandate protesters in Canada
RT – The Texas state government has opened an investigation into crowdfunding platform GoFundMe after the site shut down a campaign on behalf of Canadian truckers in the Freedom Convoy, a large anti-vaccination mandate protest staged primarily in Ottawa.
The state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced the move on Wednesday, saying he would act to “protect Texas consumers” and “get to the bottom of this deceitful action” following the platform’s decision to cancel the Freedom Convoy fund drive.
“GoFundMe’s response to an anti-mandate, pro-liberty movement should ring alarm bells to anyone using the donation platform and, more broadly, any American wanting to protect their constitutional rights,” he said, arguing that Texans deserve to “know where their hard-earned money is going, rather than allowing GoFundMe to divert money to another cause” without their consent.
Billionaire tapped for Pentagon job
RT – Ex-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will head the Defense Innovation Board
Michael Bloomberg, the owner of one of the leading global business news providers, is set to chair the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board, DOD spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. He said the multibillionaire will “leverage his experience and strategic insights on innovation, business and public service.”
The Pentagon said it wants to tap into Bloomberg’s “wealth of experience… as an innovator in business, government, and philanthropy.” The businessman, 79, said he was honored to work with the Department of Defense, “our largest government agency,” to “help bring new ideas and outside perspective that can help protect Americans and our values, interests, and allies around the world.”
The Bloomberg Data Terminal owner will be succeeding Mark Sirangelo, the former CEO of rocket and satellite company SpaceDev. Sirangelo was appointed to the position under the Trump administration.
The Defense Innovation Board was created in 2016 to advise the Pentagon on how to adopt Silicon Valley’s experience in innovation for the military. Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt served as its first chair, before being replaced by Sirangelo in 2020.
The board was scrapped in the final days of the Trump administration, along with a number of other advisory bodies. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reinstated it and eight others on Wednesday.
In addition to running a news business that helped make him one of the richest people in the world, Bloomberg served as the mayor of New York between 2002 to 2013. He switched parties and sought the Democratic nomination for president during the 2020 election cycle, but failed to win public support in the primaries and eventually endorsed Joe Biden’s candidacy.
Watch – Virginia Students Serve Lawsuit to Mask-Crazy Loudoun County School Board
Breitbart – Viral video showed a group of Virginia students serving a lawsuit to the Loudoun County school board over its mask mandates.
Delivered at a meeting on Tuesday, the students were seen carrying piles of affidavits into the chamber as parents cheered.
‘Felonious behavior’: Congressman catches Biden admin opening his mail
‘The Democrats’ spying on political opponents appears to know no end
WND – The actions of the federal bureaucracy under Democrat presidents has left suspicions abounding in recent years. Recall what happened under Barack Obama when partisans created the now-debunked Russia collusion conspiracy theory.
It was FBI, DOJ and other federal operations that now know their employees were at work on it.
In fact, special counsel John Durham already has obtained one conviction and has filed two other cases over those clandestine operations – and his investigation appears to not have hit its full stride yet.
Then there were the IRS attacks on conservatives under Obama. And more.
Under Joe Biden, there have been all types of claims about misbehavior on the part of his appointees, the Capitol Police, various bureaucrats and more.
But the new claim from U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, appears to take it to an entirely new – and illegal – level.
In an announcement on his website, he shared that the executive branch has been intercepting and marking his mail.
“In January, my staff received a letter addressed to my official office from a Christian missionary, which was already opened and stamped ‘DOJ MAILROOM’ with a date and ‘X-RAYED’ on the stamp. Last week, my office received a second piece of mail from a constituent, mailed from east Texas and postmarked September 2021. It took four-and-a-half months to reach my office and was also opened and bore a stamp from the DOJ,” he explained.
“It is deeply concerning that Legislative Branch mail is somehow being co-mingled with Executive Branch mail when we have completely different proprietary zip codes. We are separate but co-equal branches of government. Even if it were a mistake to deliver Congress’ mail to the DOJ, the DOJ has an obligation to immediately notify Congress and forward the mail without opening it,” he said.
Air Force ordered to pay more than $230 million in Texas church shooting
For failing to flag a conviction that might have kept gunman from legally buying weapon
WND – The Air Force must pay more than $230 million in damages to survivors and victims’ families of a 2017 Texas church massacre for failing to flag a conviction that might have kept the gunman from legally buying the weapon used in the shooting, a federal judge ruled Monday.
More than two dozen people were killed when Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Kelley, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after being shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church, had served in the Air Force before the attack.
U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez had ruled in July that the Air Force was “60 percent liable” for the attack because it failed to submit Kelley’s assault conviction during his time in the Air Force to a national database.
From Riches to Rustbelt: A Microcosm of the 2022 Midterms
Epoch Times – Ohio’s Lorain County, located along Lake Erie 30 miles west of Cleveland, is a textbook example of a region that has gone from riches to rustbelt.
Because of the protracted deterioration of major manufacturing, a loss of jobs, and empty downtown storefronts, many consider it ground zero for the direction that the region—and maybe the United States—could go next.
The road to the future is in voters’ hands, and it begins with the state’s May 3 primaries for the 2022 midterm election.
Some believe that the seats in play are up for grabs for either political party—the Democrats or the Republicans. Others see the 2022 midterm elections as an important turning point because of the issues at hand that quickly emerged in 2021 and are continuing into this year: inflation, supply chain problems, high gasoline prices, workforce shortages, new variants of COVID-19, unrest around the world, and chaos at the southern border.
Although Lorain County has been a Democrat stronghold for at least six decades, former President Donald Trump’s victory there during the 2020 election signaled that times could be changing.
“That was big,” said Tom Patton of Avon Lake, who owned Avon Lake Beach Park Plaza along Lake Erie for 20 years.
Patton, who has a large collection of Lake Shore Electric Railway memorabilia, plans to place a museum at the plaza.
Anthony Giardini, the executive chairman of the Lorain County Democratic Party, agreed that the area has been changing from blue to red lately with the housing developments in the cities of Avon, Avon Lake, and North Ridgeville.
Giardini, who has served as the executive chairman for seven years, told The Epoch Times that he believes that the county is doing well—speaking from an economic, quality of life, and political point of view.
“I would say Lorain County is a 50–50 county,” he said. “Lorain County is still growing. The economy is decent, not super great, but decent. On housing developments, we don’t get too high, and we don’t get too low.
“Bendix Brakes are expanding in Avon. There’s also the Duck Tape plant off of Interstate 90 in Avon providing jobs. We no longer have the major or huge employers employing thousands, but we have a lot of medium-sized industries.
“If there’s a national downturn I don’t believe we’d be hit as hard. There’s not extreme poverty or bad crime—not to say we don’t have any, but not a lot of it. We also need to focus on lakefront development and establishing things that make Lorain County a destination area.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
US May Be on ‘Cusp’ of Inflation Slowdown, Fed’s Bostic Tells CNBC
Epoch Times – The U.S. economy may be nearing a turn lower in inflation, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday, though he added he is still leaning towards a slightly faster pace of interest rate increases this year.
“I am very hopeful we are going to start to see that decline … There is some evidence we are on the cusp of that,” Bostic said in an interview on CNBC.
While Bostic still expects just three quarter-percentage-point rate increases will be appropriate this year, he said: “I am leaning a little towards four. We are going to have to see how the economy responds as we take our first steps,” with an initial rate increase expected in March.
New inflation data on Thursday is expected to show the consumer price index continued to rise at an annualized pace of more than 7 percent in January—a high stretching back decades and reminiscent of the inflation shocks of the 1970s and 1980s. That has pushed the Fed to accelerate plans to raise rates and reduce its holdings of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities.
Bostic said more important to him than the high headline inflation number is whether the month-to-month pace of change continues to moderate, a sign the economy may be working through the supply-chain problems and other difficulties that have been driving prices higher but are associated with the bumpy reopening from the coronavirus pandemic.
“If we are going to see a return to numbers closer to our (2 percent) target we need to see those month-over-month changes start to decline,” Bostic said. In recent months “what we have seen is inflation not get worse on a month-to-month level, and I am hopeful that will translate into a slow decline as we move through the spring and into summer, which will give me some comfort that we are heading in the right direction.”
There is broad agreement at the Fed for the need to begin raising its benchmark overnight interest rate from the near-zero level set to offset the economic effects of the pandemic. But there is no clarity yet on how fast or high the U.S. central bank will move, with some officials still hoping inflation will ease on its own and allow them to be less aggressive in raising borrowing costs.
BIG TECH, MEDIA & CENSORSHIP
The Daily Signal –
Instances of censorship included Facebook’s decision to flag the British Medical Journal with a “fact check” and “missing context” label, reducing the visibility of a post, for a study delving into data-integrity issues with a Pfizer vaccine clinical trial.
Facebook also deleted the page of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter led by dozens of medical professionals, including Dr. Jay Battacharya, a Stanford epidemiologist, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a former employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advocated for less restrictive measures to address the dangers of COVID-19.
Major technology companies and social media platforms have removed, suppressed or flagged the accounts of more than 800 prominent individuals and organizations, including medical doctors, for COVID-19 “misinformation,” according to a new study from the Media Research Center.
The study focused on acts of censorship on major social media platforms and online services, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Ads, and TikTok.
Major technology companies and social media platforms have removed, suppressed or flagged the accounts of more than 800 prominent individuals and organizations, including medical doctors, for COVID-19 “misinformation,” according to a new study from the Media Research Center.
The study focused on acts of censorship on major social media platforms and online services, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Ads, and TikTok.
Instances of censorship included Facebook’s decision to flag the British Medical Journal with a “fact check” and “missing context” label, reducing the visibility of a post, for a study delving into data-integrity issues with a Pfizer vaccine clinical trial.
Facebook also deleted the page of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter led by dozens of medical professionals, including Dr. Jay Battacharya, a Stanford epidemiologist, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a former employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advocated for less restrictive measures to address the dangers of COVID-19
“Big Tech set up a system where you can’t disagree with ‘the science’ even though that’s the foundation of the scientific method,” Dan Gainor, MRC vice president of Free Speech America, told the Daily Caller National Foundation. “If doctors and academic journals can’t debate publicly, then it’s not science at all. It’s ‘religion.’”
Big Tech also scrubbed podcast host Joe Rogan’s interviews with scientists Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, the latter of whom was instrumental in pioneering mRNA technology. Twitter banned Malone from its platform permanently in late December over the virologist’s tweets questioning the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We tallied 32 different doctors who were censored, including mRNA vaccine innovator Dr. Robert Malone,” Gainor said. “Censoring views of credentialed experts doesn’t ensure confidence in vaccines. It undermines faith in government COVID-19 strategies.“
In addition to medical doctors, the study examined instances in which members of Congress were censored by tech platforms.
These included an incident last August in which YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for posting a video arguing that “cloth masks” are not effective against the coronavirus, a view later echoed by many prominent medical commentators. Twitter also flagged a tweet from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in which he wrote “studies show those with natural immunity from a prior infection are much less likely to contract and spread COVID than those who only have vaccine-induced immunity.”
The study also examined Big Tech censorship of prominent media personalities, such as Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and Dan Bongino.
Joe Rogan Responds to Video Compilation: ‘Political Hit Job’
Epoch TImes – Podcaster Joe Rogan responded Tuesday to a video compilation of him saying the N-word, describing the release of the video as a “political hit job” designed to cancel his show.
Speaking with his guest, Rogan said: “In a lot of ways, all this is a relief, ’cause that video had always been out there. It’s like, this is a political hit job. And so they’re taking all this stuff that I’ve ever said that’s wrong, and smushing it all together. But it’s good ’cause it makes me address some [expletive] that I really wish wasn’t out there.”
Rogan also responded to some political figures’ comments that he should not have apologized over the weekend after the clip surfaced online and went viral.
“You should apologize if you regret something,” Rogan stated. “This idea that you should never apologize, like if you regret something, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with apologizing. But I do think you have to be very careful not to apologize for nonsense.”
He added: “I think you just have to be yourself. I really do … And all this nonsense of worrying what your base is, is crazy. It’s like, ‘Who are you?’ You are you. If you start thinking I have to be who these other people want me to be because they’re the ones that make me popular, you’re [expletive].”
The UFC commentator has been the subject of a widespread campaign to get him removed from Spotify. It started several weeks ago when singer Neil Young wrote a letter demanding that either Spotify remove his tracks or Rogan’s podcast, and a Spotify representative later confirmed it would remove Young’s songs.
Young complained that Rogan’s show was allegedly sharing misinformation about COVID-19, although the singer did not provide evidence for the claim. Rogan responded by saying that several guests he had on his program are accredited doctors and questioned the claims of misinformation.
This week, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both Republicans, suggested Rogan shouldn’t have apologized because, according to them, a mob of people is trying to get his program canceled and that apologizing would be capitulating.
“Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but he’s got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics,” Trump said in his statement, published Monday. “How many ways can you say you’re sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and don’t let them make you look weak and frightened. That’s not you and it never will be!”
DeSantis, meanwhile, said that mainstream news outlets and the left “fear the fact that he can reach so many people, and so they’re out to destroy him.”
Joe Rogan declines $100 million offer
Podcaster says he won’t move to Rumble despite growing censorship pressure
RT – Spotify has stood by him amid calls for censorship and he does not intend to leave it, Joe Rogan told an audience in Texas during a stand-up performance on Tuesday. Rumble had offered Rogan $100 million over four years to move his podcast there.
Rogan, who was in Austin for a stand-up comedy set, revealed his decision during a question-and-answer period after the show on Tuesday evening.
“No,” he said when asked about moving to Rumble.
“Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably,” Rogan added. “Let’s see what happens.”
His comments came a day after Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski publicly offered Rogan “100 million reasons” to switch to his platform.
“We stand with you, your guests, and your legion of fans in desire for real conversation,” Pavlovski wrote. “This is our chance to save the world. And yes, this is totally legit.”
Spotify reportedly paid north of $100 million in 2020 to become the exclusive home for The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and to license his back catalog. The platform has since pulled more than 70 episodes from that archive, but CEO Daniel Ek claimed in an internal memo that this was done at Rogan’s request.
“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” Ek wrote in the memo, reportedly meant to be internal but leaked to the press over the weekend.
The comedian, MMA announcer and America’s most popular podcast host has been under fire for weeks over having guests with views critical of the government’s Covid-19 stance. The White House last week hailed Spotify’s decision to put “misinformation” disclaimers on some of his shows but said “there’s more that can be done.”
Over the weekend, a video compilation showing Rogan using a racial slur went viral on social media, amplified by a Democrat super-PAC MeidasTouch. Responding to it on Tuesday’s podcast, Rogan called it a “political hit job.”
During his stand-up routine later in the day, Rogan said he “used to” say the racial slur “in context,” when he discussed a routine by black comedian Richard Pryor, and that he hasn’t used it for years. “But it’s kind of weird people will get really mad if you use that word and tweet about it on a phone that’s made by slaves,” he told the audience in Austin.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Solar storm knocks out 40 newly launched satellites from Elon Musk’s SpaceX
MSM – A geomagnetic storm triggered by a large burst of radiation from the Sun has disabled at least 40 of the 49 satellites newly launched by SpaceX as part of its Starlink internet communications network.
The incident was believed to mark the largest collective loss of satellites stemming from a single geomagnetic event, and was unique in the way it unfolded, Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said.
SpaceX said the satellites were hit last Friday, February 4, a day after being launched into a preliminary “low-deployment” orbit about 210 kilometres above Earth.
Elon Musk’s company said it routinely put satellites into low orbits in order to be able to crash them back to Earth and incinerate them on re-entry if malfunctions were detected during initial system checks.
But it was not clear if the company had anticipated the severity of the extreme space weather conditions it faced.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Country changes definition of ‘fully vaccinated’
RT – Australian health officials have updated guidance to declare that for a person to be considered “fully vaccinated” against Covid-19, they must have received a booster shot.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) issued the new set of recommendations on Thursday, saying a third dose will be required for a person to be regarded as “up to date with vaccination,” against the virus.
“A person is ‘up to date’ if they have completed all the doses recommended for their age and individual health needs,” Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said, as cited by ABC News.
All Australian citizens aged over 16 are currently eligible for a booster shot three months after their primary course is complete. The modified rules suggest that if such a person hasn’t received a booster in six months after their primary course, they will be considered “overdue.”
People under 16 years won’t require booster shots to get the ‘up to date’ status, with the exception of “severely immunocompromised people aged five years and older.”
US to introduce vaccines for children under 5yo
10 million doses will be rolled out upon FDA approval
RT – The US is planning to introduce Covid-19 vaccines designed for children from six months to five years old, as soon as they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The initial plan is to roll out 10 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. According to a document published online by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if it is approved, all facilities will be able to receive the first shipment as soon as February 21, which is a federal holiday.
The meeting between outside advisers for the FDA to discuss the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use authorization is due to take place on February 15. If they approve the shot for the only age group in the US not yet eligible for vaccination, the roll-out will begin in less than a week.
The second and third shipments of the vaccine for children are scheduled for February 23 and 25 respectively, or approximately one week after CDC authorization.
According to the documents, the authorities will decide which areas to target first, based on several criteria, such as risk levels, vaccine equity, and the ability of sites to ensure effective programs.
“There are approximately 18 million children ages 6 months through 4 years in the United States. The US government has procured enough vaccine to support vaccination of this population,” the CDC noted in the online document.
The Pfizer-BioNTech shot for children aged between six months and five years has a similar product configuration for the vaccine designed for 5 to 11-year-olds, but has a lower dose, according to the CDC. Younger children will receive a 3-microgram dose, compared with 10 micrograms for the older age group, and 30 micrograms for people aged 12 and above.
New Jerseyans Rally Against Tightening COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Governors announces extension of emergency powers and end of mask mandates the same day
Epoch TImes – New Jerseyans rallied on Monday, holding signs and chanting slogans, to demand an end to tightening COVID-19 vaccination mandates enacted by the governor of New Jersey.
Despite cold and drizzly weather, about one hundred people gathered outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton to protest recent COVID-19 vaccination mandates without a testing option for correction officers and health care workers, mandated in January by Gov. Phil Murphy via executive order.
Newly elected state Senator Ed Durr spoke at the rally, criticizing the mandates. New Jersey correction officers are being treated as second-class citizens because they are forced to take a vaccine while inmates do not have to take it, Durr said.
The senator called on the rally attendees to keep asking their state legislators to take action on this issue.
“We are still in the minority, but if you keep hammering [at it], things can change,” Durr, a Republican, said referring to the Democrat-dominated New Jersey legislature.
The senator said that he had introduced two bills in the state Senate to limit the governor’s powers. One will prohibit a person or entity other than health care professionals from requesting the personal health information of an individual, preventing discrimination based on vaccination status. The second bill prohibits mandating masks or other medical devices on children without informed parental consent.
Durr also told people to contact their state lawmakers and urge them to put both bills on the floor for a vote since some bills never get voted on. “Then you see who votes for you and votes against you.”
“Make them show themselves and then come back and you vote them out. Vote them out on the school board, vote them out on the council, vote them out in the legislature–do that and things will change,” Durr said.
6-year-old child stricken with myocarditis after COVID shot
WND – Dr. Peter McCullough, a well-known expert on vaccines, is on record warning that myocarditis triggered by the COVID-19 vaccinations is way more serious than the same problem from the China virus itself.
In an interview, he said cases of inflammation of the heart muscle spiked significantly among previously healthy people in nations where COVID shots are used widely.
He explained that myocarditis coming from COVID-19 is relatively “mild” and “inconsequential.”
But he said when cases follow the experimental shots, it gets bad.
And he concluded that the risks for children far outweigh the possible benefits.
The situation seems especially alarming when, a report from Alpha News confirmed, the victim is a young child.
WHO: New Omicron BA.2 Subvariant Will Rise Globally
Epoch Times – The World Health Organization (WHO) said that a more transmissible subvariant of Omicron will increase around the world as the U.N. health body reported a decline in overall COVID-19 cases in the past week.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, told reporters on Feb. 8 that four different versions of the Omicron variant—first described and named in November 2021—are being tracked around the world. The BA.2 subvariant of the virus, which is believed to be more contagious, will likely become more common worldwide, she said.
“BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1 so we expect to see BA.2 increasing in detection around the world,” Van Kerkhove told reporters during a WHO briefing. There is no indication, she said, about whether the subvariant might cause a more severe illness than the original.
Danish researchers discovered BA.2 is about 1.5 times more transmissible than BA.1 and can infect fully vaccinated and boosted individuals with ease. Making note of the Denmark-based study, Van Kerkhove pushed for vaccines and said they are effective at preventing severe forms of the disease and death.
In a weekly update, WHO stated that COVID-19 cases are down by 17 percent worldwide in the week between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6 when compared with the previous week.
“The prevalence of the Omicron variant has increased globally and is now detected in almost all countries,” the WHO stated in the weekly report. “However, many of the countries which reported an early rise in the number of cases due to the Omicron variant have now reported a decline in the total number of new cases since the beginning of January 2022.”
The most common form of the Omicron variant, BA.1, accounted for 98.8 percent of sequenced cases submitted to the public virus tracking database GISAID as of Jan. 25. But several countries are reporting recent increases in BA.2, according to the World Health Organization.
Some countries are gradually lifting restrictions as the outbreak eases locally. Spain has scrapped a requirement for people to wear masks outdoors, extending a wider rollback of restrictions as the contagion slowly recedes in the country. On Feb. 7, Greece started allowing tourists with a European vaccination certificate to enter the country without having to show a negative test for COVID-19.
Roughly 62 percent of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, while only 11 percent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, according to figures from Our World in Data.
Denial of Natural Immunity in Vaccine Mandates Unprecedented
Mercola – COVID-19 injection mandates raise glaring questions, with a key one revolving around natural immunity. Your immune system is designed to work in response to exposure to an infectious agent. Your adaptive immune system, specifically, generates antibodies that are used to fight pathogens that your body has previously encountered.1
If you’ve had COVID-19, the research is strong that you’re well protected against reinfection. New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even show that prior COVID-19 infection, i.e., natural immunity, is more protective than COVID-19 injections.2
However, people with natural immunity continue to be discriminated against and are still expected to get double- or triple-jabbed in order to comply with vaccine mandates — an unprecedented move in history.
‘Unprecedented’ Denial of Natural Immunity
The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld a vaccine mandate at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The mandate affects 10.4 million health care workers employed at 76,000 medical facilities,3 making no exceptions for those who have natural immunity to COVID-19 due to prior infection.
Speaking with The Epoch Times, Dr. Scott Atlas, a former White House COVID-19 Task Force adviser, called the SCOTUS ruling “another denial of scientific fact,” adding:4
“Our continued denial of superior protection in recovered individuals, with or without vaccination, compared to vaccinated individuals who’ve never had the infection … the denial of that is simply unprecedented in modern history. Proven fact and decades of fundamental immunology are somehow denied. If we are a society where the leaders repeatedly deny the fact, I’m very concerned about the future of such a society.”
While upholding the vaccine mandate for medical facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid payments, SCOTUS blocked a White House mandate that would have required private companies with 100 or more employees to ensure staff have gotten a COVID-19 injection or were tested regularly for COVID-19 — or face steep fines.
The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was supposed to be in charge of enforcing the rule, which would have affected more than 80 million U.S. workers.5 Of their decision, the court noted:6
“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category.”
Despite the private business vaccine mandate being struck down, the White House urged states and businesses to voluntarily enact sweeping vaccine mandates,7 again ignoring the fact that many people are already naturally immune.
World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic is a prime example — despite previously having COVID-19, and therefore having acquired natural immunity, he was barred from playing at the Australian Open because he didn’t get the COVID-19 injection.8
Natural COVID-19 Immunity Superior to Shot-Derived Immunity
Data from New York and California health officials, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, show that people who had previously had COVID-19 were far better protected against COVID-19 infection with the Delta variant than people who had been jabbed. The report states:9
“By the week beginning October 3, compared with COVID-19 cases rates among unvaccinated persons without a previous COVID-19 diagnosis, case rates among vaccinated persons without a previous COVID-19 diagnosis were 6.2-fold (California) and 4.5-fold (New York) lower; rates were substantially lower among both groups with previous COVID-19 diagnoses, including 29.0-fold (California) and 14.7-fold lower (New York) among unvaccinated persons with a previous diagnosis, and 32.5-fold (California) and 19.8-fold lower (New York) among vaccinated persons with a previous diagnosis of COVID-19.
During the same period, compared with hospitalization rates among unvaccinated persons without a previous COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization rates in California followed a similar pattern. These results demonstrate that vaccination protects against COVID-19 and related hospitalization, and that surviving a previous infection protects against a reinfection and related hospitalization.
Importantly, infection-derived protection was higher after the Delta variant became predominant, a time when vaccine-induced immunity for many persons declined because of immune evasion and immunologic waning.”
In another study,10 researchers reviewed studies published in PubMed and found that the risk of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 decreased by 80.5% to 100% among people who had previously had COVID-19. Additional research cited in their review found:11
- Among 9,119 people who had previously had COVID-19, only 0.7% became reinfected.
- At the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, the incidence rate of COVID-19 among those who had not previously been infected was 4.3 per 100 people; the COVID-19 incidence rate among those who had previously been infected was zero per 100 people.
- The frequency of hospitalization due to a repeated COVID-19 infection was five per14,840 people, or .03%, according to an Austrian study; the frequency of death due to a repeated infection was one per 14,840 people, or .01%.
Given these findings, the researchers concluded that previous infection status should be documented and recovered patients counseled on their risk for reinfection. They stated:12
“Given the evidence of immunity from previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, policy makers should consider recovery from previous SARS-CoV-2 infection equal to immunity from vaccination for purposes related to entry to public events, businesses, and the workplace, or travel requirements.”
World powers pressed omicron discoverer to exaggerate danger
WND – The South African scientist credited with discovering the milder omicron variant that is now dominant in Western nations says she was “pressured” by international agencies, politicians and scientists to declare the variant to be more dangerous that it actually is.
Dr. Angelique Coetzee told the Daily Telegraph of Australia that after publicizing her conclusion that omicron was presenting with mild symptoms for most patients compared to the previous delta strain, she became the target of “attacks.”
“Because of all of COVID’s mutations, all of these scientists and politicians who aren’t from South Africa were contacting me telling me I was wrong when I spoke out, that it was a serious disease … they were telling me I had no idea what I was talking about, they kept attacking me,” she told the paper.
Politicians and scientists in Europe, she said, told her, “Please don’t say it is a mild illness.”
But her initial assessment, including that it is more contagious, with cases rising and dropping sharply, has borne out in Europe, North America and around the world.
Coetzee said that she resolved to “stick to her guns.”
“I will not give in to pressure, and I am not easily intimidated,” she said.
The Daily Telegraph noted Coetzee is not the first scientist “to come under attack for attempting to put COVID in perspective.”
As WND reported, emails recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act showed then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins asked White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci to carry out a “quick and devastating published takedown” of the Great Barrington Declaration. The project, by epidemiologists from Harvard, Stanford and Oxford described by Collins as “fringe,” urged public officials to focus on protecting the high-risk populations and avoiding universal lockdowns.
HEALTH
Saffron improves brain function in MULTIPLE ways, studies suggest
NaturalHelath365 – Saffron is one of the world’s most exotic and expensive spices. Besides its culinary prowess, it is a powerful healer with a long history of use as a medicinal herb dating back to ancient times.
Thankfully, modern science is finally catching up and realizing the therapeutic effects of saffron on memory and mood.
Real proof that saffron improves memory
One of the most exciting findings on saffron’s medicinal use comes from a couple of studies published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Psychopharmacology. These studies show that saffron can protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
In these two studies, patients were given 30 milligrams of saffron each day. One study monitored patients for 16 weeks, while the other study monitored patients for 22 weeks.
At the end of the two studies, study authors discovered that the patients who took the daily saffron (in both monitored groups) did better on cognitive memory tests than those who did not take it.
Diversity of Bacteria in the Gut Linked to Better Cognitive Skills
Newsmax Health – What’s good for your tummy may be good for your mind.
New research shows that folks with a more robust balance of bacteria in their gut are more likely to perform well on tests of standard thinking skills including attention, flexibility, self-control and memory. Exactly how the bacterial milieu in our gut affects our brains is not fully understood, but researchers have some theories.
“We know from animal models that the gut microbiota is involved in systemic inflammation, which is a risk factor for brain pathology,” said study author Katie Meyer, an epidemiologist at the Nutrition Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A Mediterranean diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and lean protein, and low in processed foods, plus regular physical activity, is known to be good for the brain.
“These health behaviors have been associated with gut microbial features,” Meyer said, “And it is possible that protective effects of diet and activity may, in part, operate through the gut microbiota.”
The gut microbiome is made up of trillions of microorganisms and their genetic material. For this new study, researchers analyzed bacteria colonizing the guts of nearly 600 participants (average age: 55).
Instead of sequencing all of the genetic material, the investigators analyzed one gene that identifies the general bacteria group but doesn’t go into the specifics.
People with gut microbial diversity tended to do better on six standard tests of thinking skills and memory (cognition). Several specific kinds of bacteria — Barnesiella, the Lachnospiraceae FCS020 group and Sutterella — appeared to affect performance on mental tests.
But the researchers said they must dig deeper to understand how and why.
“We know that the overall community is related to a lot, but we are still not sure which specific members or characteristics of the community may be most relevant, at least for something like cognition,” Meyer said.
—> Power Mall Products of Interest: Living Streams Multi-Blend Probiotic (8 oz) & Latero-Flora Probiotic (60 CT)
The Alarming Reason Why Some People Die From Flu
Mercola – This article was previously published February 1, 2018, and has been updated with new information.
As the COVID pandemic enters its second year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is ramping back up on its influenza recommendations, and stressing that it’s important to get a flu vaccine along with your COVID shots and boosters.1 The CDC is urging everyone aged 6 months and older to get a flu shot, with rare exceptions.2
During the height of the pandemic, influenza cases appeared to drop or nearly disappear, but with the 2021-2022 flu season, more flu cases are being reported. By the end of December 2021, the CDC reported that two children had already died of flu, and that flu hospitalizations were rising quickly.3 But how many deaths and hospitalizations are actually due to flu?
Many Flu ‘Deaths’ Are Actually From Secondary Infections
While influenza can indeed be deadly in rare cases, what most health experts fail to tell you is that these deaths are typically the result of secondary infections, not the flu virus itself. Importantly, research has highlighted the link between influenza and severe sepsis — a progressive disease process initiated by an aggressive, dysfunctional immune response to an infection in the bloodstream (which is why it’s sometimes referred to as blood poisoning).
Symptoms of sepsis are often overlooked, even by health professionals, and without prompt treatment, the condition can be deadly. Not only that, sepsis also goes hand in hand with COVID-19 infection, particularly in patients in intensive care with COVID.4
Unfortunately, conventional treatments often fail, and most hospitals have yet to embrace the use of intravenous (IV) vitamin C, hydrocortisone and thiamine,5 which has been shown to reduce sepsis mortality from 40% to a mere 8.5%
How Influenza May Cause Lethal Sepsis
A decade and more ago, severe sepsis was generally associated with bacterial infections, but by 2013, viral infections like flu, and now COVID, had become a prominent cause of sepsis.8 To complicate matter even more, as noted in the video above, some sepsis symptoms also resemble influenza, which can lead to tragedy. The video offers guidelines on how to tell the difference between the two.
Sepsis, without doubt, requires immediate medical attention, whereas most people will successfully recover from the flu with a few days to a week of bedrest and fluids. Just how influenza can lead to sepsis is a somewhat complex affair, described as follows:9
“Regardless of the etiologic agent, the inflammatory response is highly interconnected with infection. In the initial response to an infection, severe sepsis is characterized by a pro-inflammatory state, while a progression to an anti-inflammatory state develops and favors secondary infections …
In the predominant pro-inflammatory state, Th1 cells activated by microorganisms increase transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interferon-γ (INF-γ), and interleukin-2 (IL-2).
[C]ytokines … released from endothelial cells and subsequently from macrophages can induce lymphocyte activation and infiltration at the sites of infection and will exert direct antiviral effects. Subsequently, with the shift toward an anti-inflammatory state, activated Th2 cells secrete interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10).
In certain situations, T cells can become anergic, failing to proliferate and produce cytokines. Type I IFN has a potent anti-influenza virus activity; it induces transcription of several interferon stimulated genes, which in turn restrict viral replication. However, influenza virus developed several mechanisms to evade IFN response …
Viral infections such as the influenza virus can also trigger deregulation of the innate immune system with excessive cytokines release and potential harmful consequences. An abnormal immune response to influenza can lead to endothelial damage … deregulation of coagulation, and the consequent alteration of microvascular permeability, tissue edema, and shock.”
Signs and Symptoms of Sepsis
Common signs and symptoms of sepsis to watch out for include:10
- A high fever
- Inability to keep fluids down
- Rapid heartbeat; rapid, shallow breathing and/or shortness of breath
- Lethargy and/or confusion
- Slurred speech, often resembling intoxication
Should a few or all of these be present, seek immediate medical attention to rule out sepsis. Also inform the medical staff that you suspect sepsis, as time is of the essence when it comes to treatment. As noted in the featured video, hydration is of utmost importance, as much of the damage caused by sepsis begins with fluid loss.
POSITIVE NEWS
Memphis Woman Says Youth Deserve Praise After Young Man ‘Insisted’ on Paying for Her Gas
Epoch Times – A 59-year-old Tennessee native was touched when a young man she’d never met before insisted on paying for her purchase in line at the gas station. She snapped a selfie with the stranger on the forecourt and claims it’s about time the goodness of her city’s youth made headlines.
On the morning of Dec. 28, 2021, Olivia Binns-Jennings of Memphis pulled into her local Marathon gas station on Summer Avenue, in the Binghampton neighborhood near Midtown. There were two young men buying snacks and drinks in line ahead of her.
“We began a conversation, just having some good fun and laughter,” Olivia told The Epoch Times. “One of the young men offered to pay $20 for my gas as I was waiting for them to complete their purchase. I said, ‘Thank you but I have it.’ The young man insisted.”
As Olivia was pumping gas to her car, it occurred to her that she wanted others to know how a random act of kindness can go a “miraculously long way.”
“I’m merely trying to get a message out here that the media has been so focused on crime and stories about disarray,” she said. “We as a society are missing the most basic of kindnesses, especially from our younger generations.”
Olivia asked the stranger, a youth about the same age as her own son, if she could snap a photo with him and post it to Facebook.
“He agreed,” she said. “We had never met before and I have never seen him since, but I pray he knows he has touched so many people with this small gesture.”
Epoch TImes – What if you saw someone about to jump off a bridge to commit suicide over a busy highway?
Would you stop and open your heart to save a life?
Utah man Joe Tuia’ana, 42, found himself in that situation while driving his three daughters to one of their basketball games on Saturday, Jan. 29.
At around 3 p.m., they were crossing the I-15 overpass between 350 North and 760 North when Joe, a sales account manager from Lehi, spotted a young man in his early 20s in a black hoody.
The run-in changed Joe’s life.
“He was crying and was very shaky, standing on the other side of the protective barrier fence, facing the interstate,” Joe told The Epoch Times. “He was looking down at the moving cars below while holding himself with his right hand.”
Immediately, Joe knew the man was suicidal and swung his car around, parking behind the young man’s car on the bridge. He told his eldest to call the police and for his girls to stay put.
“I got out of the car and immediately thought, ‘If you screw this up, not only is this young man going to die, but your daughters are going to see it happen,’” he said. “I nearly passed out due to fear and anxiety.”
Joe said a small prayer, asking God to help him do the right thing.
“From that point, I felt inspired to do what I thought Jesus would do: walk slowly to this young man, with your arms open to him,” said Joe.
As he drew near, the young man looked over and then back to the freeway.
Few words were needed, Joe knew. Just love.
“When close enough, I told him, ‘I love you. I love you, bro,’” Joe said. “He looked at me with fear and pain, crying so hard. With my arms open to him, I repeated, ‘I love you. I love you, bro.’”
After a few minutes, he uttered softly, “help.”
That was all Joe needed to hear. He jumped up, embraced the young man, and pulled him over to his side of the fence.
“I held the young man in my arms like he was my own child and cried with him,” said Joe. “No words said, no questions asked. Just time for him to hug and sit with someone who loved him in peace.
“He was hurting and I felt like he just needed someone to love him.”
Minutes later, police and first responders arrived. After the young man calmed down enough, they relocated to a parking lot down the street, as a crowd had formed with cars stopping on the overpass.
“The police knew I was first there to help him and that he was comfortable with me so they asked if I could stay with him for a little while longer and I agreed,” the dad said.
Joe doesn’t know what led to the young man’s suicide attempt or what happened after, but hopes to reunite with him.
Vintage Dating and Courtship Etiquette According to a Gentleman’s Handbook From the 1880s
Epoch Times THE correct behavior of young men toward young ladies, and of young ladies toward young men, during that portion of their lives when they are respectively paying attention to, and receiving attention from, one another, is a matter which requires consideration in a work of this nature.
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