WORLD NEWS
Macron Berated by French Farmers: ‘You Gave Ukraine Colossal Sums, But Gave Us Crumbs!’
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday was surrounded by groups of farmers who chastised the neo-liberal leader for his green agenda and for prioritizing Ukraine over his own people.
At the 60th Agricultural Show held in Paris over the weekend, agricultural groups clashed with security and breached the gates in order to air the grievances of farmers to Emmanuel Macron directly. After initially showing hesitancy, the French president acquiesced and held an impromptu debate with several farmers.
“You gave Ukraine colossal sums, but you gave us crumbs,” one farmer said to Macron according to broadcaster BFMTV.
Ukraine was not the only issue raised by the farmers to Macron on Saturday. Multiple farmers spoke of the problems they are facing due to transitioning their operations to organic farming at the urging of the government in Paris and the EU.
Farmers in France, and indeed throughout Europe, have been financially impacted by the war in Ukraine in more ways than having their tax dollars sent to Kyiv. Last year, the European Union decided to allow Ukrainian agricultural imports to flow into the bloc without any tariffs. The move has severely hurt the ability of local European farmers to compete, given that the lower regulatory burden and the lower cost of labor in the former Soviet state means that food can be produced at a much cheaper rate.
France’s Eiffel Tower Reopens to the Public as Union Strike Ends
The Eiffel Tower reopened yesterday after being closed for five days after striking union workers negotiated a deal with the monument’s management. The walkout was the second within two months in protest of what the unions say was insufficient investment, which resulted in the loss of some 100-thousand admissions.
European Leaders Flock to Kyiv as Ukraine Marks Two Years Since Russian Invasion
EU leaders traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine over the weekend to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in an apparent show of solidarity for the war-torn country. Russia still controls roughly a quarter of the country after Ukraine failed to make any major breakthroughs with its summertime counteroffensive. Meanwhile, millions of Ukrainians continue to live in precarious circumstances in the crossfire of battles, and many others face constant struggles under Russian occupation. Most are waiting for a Ukrainian liberation that hasn’t come. Ukrainian military officials continue to complain of not having enough ammunition and supplies to counter what they say is a heavy Russian offensive. In the U.S. Congress, Republicans have stalled $60 billion in military aid for Kyiv, desperately needed in the short term, trying to stop the tide of the ever-burgeoning debt of the United States to the Central Banks. The EU recently approved a 50 billion-euro (about $54 billion) aid package for Ukraine meant to support Ukraine’s economy, despite resistance from Hungary.
US, UK Lead Retaliatory Strike Against Houthis in Yemen
Multiple nations, led by the United States and the UK, carried out strikes against the Houthis in Yemen on Feb. 24 following the terrorist group’s continued attacks against naval and commercial vessels traveling through the Red Sea and surrounding waters.
The strikes were supported by Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
“Today’s necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across 8 locations in Yemen,” the countries said in a Feb. 24 joint statement.These targets are associated with Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, and other military equipment, according to the statement.
The strikes aimed to “disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, naval vessels, and the lives of innocent mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”
To date, the Houthis have carried out more than 45 attacks on naval and commercial vessels since mid-November 2023, constituting “a threat to the global economy, as well as regional security and stability, and demand an international response.”
In the joint statement, the group of nations asserted that their goal was to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea but that they would not hesitate to retaliate to defend life and the free flow of commerce.
WWII-Era Bomb Detonated at Sea After Sparking One of the UK’s Largest Peacetime Evacuations
A World War II-era bomb whose discovery prompted one of the largest peacetime evacuations in British history has been detonated at sea, the Ministry of Defense announced.
The 1,100-pound explosive was discovered last week in the backyard of a home in Plymouth, a port city on the southwestern coast of Britain.
More than 10,000 residents were evacuated to ensure their safety as a military convoy transported the unexploded bomb through a densely populated residential area to a ferry slipway, from which it was taken out to sea. Plymouth, home to major naval bases for centuries, was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Britain during the World War II.
The Chinese communist regime’s central bank in recent days cut the long-term loan prime rate by more than 25 basis points to 3.95 percent in an attempt to boost the property market amid a slumping economy. However, the Chinese public who have just experienced a stock market crash are skeptical about the cut and remain reluctant to invest in the real estate sector. Last week, the CCP’s National Bureau of Statistics released its latest report showing that January’s sale prices for commercial housing in 70 large and medium-sized cities in China continued to fall.
Residents in Beijing, East China Report Spike in COVID-19 Cases, Deaths After Chinese New Year
Health officials in Beijing have admitted that the COVID-19 epidemic is once again on the rise after the Chinese New Year holiday (Feb. 9–17). Chinese residents in Beijing and East China reported a spike in infections and more deaths during the holiday week.
The Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Feb. 22, that respiratory infectious diseases in Beijing are currently caused by both influenza and COVID-19. Influenza has shown a slight downward trend recently, while COVID-19 continues to rise. The COVID-19 positivity rate in hospitals in the past week was 21.1 percent, and the JN.1 variant is the main circulating strain causing infections.
On Feb. 1, before the Chinese New Year, the COVID-19 positivity rate reported by the Beijing CDC was 6.4 percent. In about two weeks, it jumped to the higher rate. Chinese netizens posted on social media: “The outbreak is coming.”
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
5 Takeaways From the South Carolina Republican Primary
President Donald Trump notched another decisive win in the Republican presidential primary, former governor Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina.
Given the lopsided polling in this two-person race between President Trump and Ms. Haley, the outcome of the Feb. 24 contest was never in doubt.
About 60 percent of the vote was tallied as of 9:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, and Trump’s share of the total was the highest of the three primaries in which he has faced opposition.
President Trump won the Iowa caucuses with 51 percent of the vote, beating three principal challengers, including Ms. Haley. She earned 19 percent of the vote.
In New Hampshire, President Trump bested Ms. Haley by 54 to 43 percent.
Yet despite losing three times to President Trump, Ms. Haley maintains that her ability to claim approximately 40 percent of the vote in two head-to-head contests indicates that Republican voters are seeking a Trump alternative. Ms. Haley’s defeat is partly attributable to President Trump’s overwhelming popularity in the state.
Nikki Haley Wastes $76.4M in South Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa Defeats to Donald Trump
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley wasted $76.4 million in losing efforts to defeat former President Donald Trump in the first three GOP primary contests: Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
The massive amount of money spent in the first three primaries of the 2024 cycle shows how strong Trump’s grassroots support is around the nation.
The money spent also reveals the number of resources the Republican Party did not spend on defeating President Joe Biden.
Leading up to Saturday’s election. Haley claimed she will not drop out of the race until Super Tuesday, which is March 5.
After Haley’s defeat Saturday in South Carolina, it is unclear how much money she will be able to raise to continue her campaign for the next few weeks. Haley and her super PAC only had $15 million cash on hand at the end of January, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
In January, the donor class began to cut off all future funding of Haley’s campaign after she lost the critical Republican primary in New Hampshire, multiple advisers to political mega-donors told the Washington Post.
The financial setbacks are expected to increase for Haley, one political mega-donor adviser told the Post. “Without a New Hampshire win, she doesn’t have the momentum she needed to win South Carolina,” the adviser said. “And without a lane to South Carolina, she has no chance on Super Tuesday.”
Koch Network Withdraws Financial Support for Nikki Haley
The billionaire Koch family’s libertarian policy advocacy group “Americans for Prosperity Action” has said that it is pulling back its financial backing of GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
Following the former South Carolina governor’s performance in her home state’s primary on Saturday, in which she trailed former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, by about 20 percent of the vote, Americans For Prosperity (AFP) CEO Emily Seidel said on Sunday that the group’s policy arm had decided it was time to “take stock” of its campaign spending.
President Trump received 47 of South Carolina’s delegates, while Ms. Haley got three.
Seidel said the group would now turn its attention to competitive Senate and House races “where we can make the difference,” in a tacit acknowledgement of President Trump’s commanding support among a majority of voters in the primary. President Trump’s performance on Feb. 24 broke records for the most votes of any presidential candidate for any party in a South Carolina presidential primary.
RFK Jr. Campaign Threatens Legal Action If Kansas Ballot Access Bill Is Passed and Signed
If a Kansas bill that would substantially impact statewide ballot access for independents passes the state Senate and is signed by Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign said it will file legal action.
The Kansas House passed HB 2516 by a 68-52 vote on Feb. 22. The measure now heads to the Senate. If passed and signed by Ms. Kelly, the bill will raise the number of signatures that independent candidates must submit from 5,000 to 2 percent of the last gubernatorial vote, which is around 21,000. The proposed legislation would also eliminate an independent candidate’s ability to pay a filing fee instead of completing the signature requirement.
“These are the kinds of dirty politics that has [sic] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running for office in the first place,” a statement from Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said on Feb. 23. “If this stands, our campaign will be forced once again (like we did in Utah) to bring legal action—legal action that costs dollars and cents.”
Since announcing that he would run as an independent instead of a Democrat last October, Mr. Kennedy has frequently lamented the challenges that an independent candidate faces compared to Democrats and Republicans, who have no ballot access constraints.
“Nearly all of our budget is devoted to achieving ballot access in the 50 states and D.C. so we can end these political stunts aimed at preserving power between two and only two political parties,” the campaign statement added.
Mr. Kennedy has said that it will take around $15 million to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. He said there are “a handful of states that make it very, very difficult. New York is one. California is another. Texas is another. We’ll likely have to do some litigation, and we will have litigation against us,” Mr. Kennedy said.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to resign after Super Tuesday
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel announced she will officially step down from her position on March 8, days after Super Tuesday. McDaniel, in a statement shared with CNN, said she will leave her post at the RNC spring training in Houston “to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing,” according to the statement.
“I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing. The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition. I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing Republicans up and down the ballot in November,” McDaniel said in a statement.
Trump Private Investigator: New Phone Data Casts Serious Doubt on Fani Willis Relationship
Former President Donald Trump’s Georgia attorneys hired a private investigator to obtain phone records of calls made between the Fulton County district attorney and her special counsel, finding they allegedly made more than 2,000 calls and 12,000 texts in 2021, many months before their relationship allegedly started, according to a court filing.
The report from the investigator, Charles Mittelstadt, said he used CellHawk, a geo-mapping and analysis program, to report that allegedly “more than 2,000 voice calls and just under 12,000 text messages [were] exchanged over the 11-month period in 2021” between the two. It also included a heat map that “highlights the interaction patterns which demonstrate a prevalence of calls made in the evening hours.”
In an affidavit filed in the Willis case going into last weekend, Trump attorney Steve Sadow suggested that cellphone data could be used to show that Mr. Wade visited her home more times than he let on.
Fani Willis Demands Judge Reject Cellphone Evidence Suggesting Relationship With Fellow Prosecutor
Meanwhile, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has called on Judge Scott McAfee to disallow as evidence cellphone records submitted by Trump lawyers suggesting she and special prosecutor Nathan Wade may have lied about when their romantic relationship began.
Ms. Willis’s objection to the new evidence, which Trump attorneys say adds weight to their argument she hired her then-boyfriend for mutual financial gain in a corrupt bargain and should be disqualified.
Some of the data, which Ms. Willis argues in her filing is inadmissible for technical or procedural reasons, purports to show that Mr. Wade was at the condominium where Ms. Willis was living late at night and well into the morning on multiple occasions in September and November 2021.
Both Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade have claimed their relationship began in early 2022, only after she hired him to serve as special prosecutor on the Trump case, which accuses the former president of engaging in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
President Trump has pleaded not guilty and insists the case is a political ploy to undercut his 2024 comeback bid.
If the cellphone data analysis proves to be accurate, it could bolster the case being made by Trump lawyers that Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis deceived the court about when their relationship began.
Sen. Marshall Raises Alarm Over Spike in Chinese Illegal Immigrants
Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) raised concerns about a significant surge in Chinese migrants crossing into the United States illegally over the past year.
In September last year, he sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas expressing concerns about the surge in Chinese illegal migrants and the potential national security threat they pose. In an interview with NTD, Mr. Marshall said he still has not received any response from the secretary.
“What we simply asked of DHS was: Where are these people? Who are they? What’s their background? And as we’re seeing fentanyl poisoning continue to explode, we’re starting to see human trafficking explode as well,” Mr. Marshall said.
In his letter to Mr. Mayorkas, the Kansas senator noted that most of the Chinese nationals are single adults, with some of them having ties to China’s People’s Liberation Army.
Last year, he co-sponsored the “No Asylum for CCP Spies Act” to prohibit members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from being granted asylum in the United States.
“If you’re having 10,000 people cross the border in a day, there is no way the Border Patrol has the opportunity to vet who this person is or their background, let alone what their intentions are,” Mr. Marshall said.
Venezuelan influencer, Leonal Moreno, urges his followers to show financial support of migrant teen’s charges against Times Square shooting.
Venezuelan migrant Leonal Moreno posted a video to his social media urging his over 300,000 followers to “unite” and pay the fines of a 15-year-old migrant who allegedly shot a tourist in Times Square earlier this month.
“I invite you to find [his] mother and [for] all of us to unite to pay the fines [so] that the young Venezuelan feels that he’s not alone during difficult moments. Remember that up there there’s a God who sees everything [down here],” the Venezuelan TikToker said.
He continued,” An entire nation [is] on top of him instead of helping him – remember that the young man is going to be released. And he will be released, do you know why? Because he’s underage.”
“You don’t know when God is going to put you in a situation like the one this young man is in,” Moreno continued in the clip, referencing the attempted murder charges against teenager Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, who’s being tried as an adult for his actions on Feb. 8.
“Let’s unite forces so that this child can be free and has an opportunity,” he captioned his 90-second TikTok video in Spanish, which has since garnered 2.5 million views.
The comments section of the video collected mixed sentiments, with one user calling Moreno a “clown”, while another wrote, “He broke the law, and he should stay in jail or go back to his country.”
Moreno’s content focuses around his lifestyle and how he earns an income by begging strangers on the streets and living off of money distributed by the government.
In another video posted February 21st, Moreno expressed his intention behind migrating to the United States, stating, “You came to the United States to work, and I came to vacation, look at the difference. You and I didn’t come with the same purpose. You came to the United States to pay the taxes that you didn’t pay in Venezuela.”
The same day, the migrant posted another video, admitting, “I confess that I don’t like to work because it gives me allergies. You work, I don’t, but in the end, neither of us have money. They keep criticizing us because I live off of taxes that you pay monthly.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
H&R Block used deceptive ads, pressured users into overpaying, deleted tax data: FTC
The Federal Trade Commission said Friday it filed a complaint accusing H&R Block of deceptively marketing its online tax-filing software as free when that is not true for many consumers.
The FTC also alleged the company deleted consumers’ tax data and required them to contact customer service when downgrading to more affordable products.
The FTC said H&R Block’s TV ads and promotions indicated consumers could file their tax returns for free while including language — sometimes in fine print — that the free offer only applied to simple returns.
The ads did not explain what a simple return was, and the company has changed the definition of the term “multiple times in recent years,” the commission said, saying H&R Block was aware of consumers’ frustration and confusion with the ads.
The company added it has offered a free, do-it-yourself “filing option for more than 20 years to help millions of Americans file their taxes.”
Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants Released on San Diego Streets After Funding Runs Out
The U.S. Border Patrol began releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants onto the streets of San Diego on Feb. 23, a day after a nonprofit group that was contracted to provide transportation, food, and other basic services for the immigrants ran out of funding and shut down operations.
More than 550 were released Friday morning, a Border Patrol source who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation told The Epoch Times.
The illegal immigrants were transported from a processing facility in Otay Mesa which was at 190 percent overcapacity and released at the Iris transit station in San Ysidro, just north of the border, the source said.
San Diego County has paid $6 million to South Bay Community Services (SBCS) since October to operate a “migrant welcome center” at a closed school in San Diego.
A taxi driver, one of three waiting for fares outside the facility on Feb. 22, told the Epoch Times that he often runs the immigrants to the airport, bus stations, and cheap hotels in San Diego area, but he said Thursday was unusually slow for him.
The man, who also asked not to be named, said he still saw bus after bus and van after van transporting people to the site.
Lately, he said, there has been “a lot from China,” he said.
Recently, an illegal immigrant from Senegal claimed that after he had gone three days without food before he arrived, nonprofit staff offered him only an apple and water, the cab driver said.
“He was yelling. He was really angry,” he said.
IRS Commissioner Claims Wealthy Americans Evading $150 Billion in Annual Taxes
High-income Americans are evading tax payments to the tune of billions of dollars, according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Danny Werfel, who admitted that the agency has fared poorly when it comes to auditing this group.
“When I look at what we call our tax gap, which is the amount of money owed versus what is paid for, millionaires and billionaires that either don’t file or [are] underreporting their income, that’s $150 billion of our tax gap,” Mr. Werfel said during an interview with CNBC on Feb. 22. “There is plenty of work to be done.”
He blamed the lack of funding over the past years for the inadequate audit in this category. A scarcity of monetary support resulted in the agency having lower staff levels and starved it of the technology and resources necessary to fund such audits, the IRS commissioner said.
Over the past decade, audits of taxpayers making more than $1 million annually declined by over 80 percent even as the number of such wealthy individuals jumped by 50 percent, the outlet said citing IRS data. “For complex filings, it became increasingly difficult for us to determine what the balance due was,” Mr. Werfel stated.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had set aside $80 billion for the IRS, which has been reduced to around $60 billion. Last month, the agency said it set up new initiatives using the funding to go after millionaires who owe taxes, and announced a collection of $482 million from 1,600 millionaires under the initiative.
Arizona Sues IRS Over ‘Unlawful’ Decision to Tax Rebates
Arizona is suing the IRS after the agency imposed federal income taxes on the state’s Family Tax Rebate, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced on Feb. 21.
In a statement on Feb. 21, Ms. Mayes said the lawsuit—filed in federal district court on the same day—argues that taxing the rebates is “unlawful and contrary” to the IRS’s treatment of similar tax rebates in dozens of other states.
“This lawsuit is about standing up for Arizona taxpayers,” she said. “The federal government’s decision to tax these rebates is unfair and unlawful–and I will do everything I can to ensure the tax relief provided to Arizonans by their state government remains in the pockets of Arizona taxpayers, as intended.”
The lawsuit comes after the IRS decided in December to tax the state’s rebate, which was initially part of a relief plan enacted in Arizona in 2023 by Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat.
Under the rebate, tax revenue was returned to taxpayers who had dependents, had met the income threshold to claim the Dependent Tax Credit, and had paid state income tax in a year between 2019 and 2021.
A young woman’s lament has gone viral after she posted a video on TikTok that she cannot buy “nice things” and even hope to buy a home after earning a college degree.
“Is anyone else just working their ass off for like the last three or four years and now you have a job that you hate and you still can’t afford life?” said the TikToker on her account named “placeofpods.”
“And you’re still f***ing miserable and you can’t pay any of your bills and you can’t live in a house that you imagine and you just feel lied to because you thought that if you just went to college and got a degree you’d be able to afford a house and like things that make you happy, but you still barely can afford groceries or clothes, or literally anything that makes you happy at all?” she added.
Her rants and expletives garnered more than a million views on TikTok and another million views on X. In another video, she divulged that she earned about $60k in her job, which is far more than the median U.S. wage of about $47k.
Responses to the video were not consistent across partisan lines. Some accused her of being lazy and entitled while others blamed the economy under President Joe Biden for her complaints.
“Our government and its institutions broke the social contract when they saddled us with a lifetime of debt and limited opportunity. Stop paying back your school loans,” read one response.
“I’m 44 yrs old, no college debt, trades job, no car payments, just a mortgage. And we are slowly drowning. GFY with the boomerpoasting. The American Dream was mortgaged so the olds could buy a bigger McMansion,” replied another commentor.
“Most of us had little or nothing starting out. Work, save, find a good partner, patiently acquire as you actually spend time in the work force. Stop whining and expecting instant wealth,” responded one critic.
“She can afford a house. But it’s not the house she wants. Younger generation doesn’t want to do starter homes,” said another.
The median wage for a person older than 25 years with a bachelor’s degree is about 76% higher than that of a person older than 25 but with a high school degree.
Similar complaints were made by a TikToker who said she can’t enjoy life and work 40 hours a week. That garnered millions of views.
‘Sudden and Unfortunate’: West Virginia Hardwood Producer Shuts Down, Affecting 850 Jobs
A West Virginia hardwood producer shut down on Friday, a move that erased hundreds of
jobs that were filled by community members.
When state Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael heard that Allegheny Wood Products, which has been operating for the past 50 years, had closed, he described the situation as “very sudden and unfortunate,” MetroNews reported on Friday.
According to WCHS-TV, the decision affects approximately 850 workers and contractors. However, the outlet noted that state officials are working to help find jobs for those who no longer have one.
The company had a meeting with employees late last week to inform them of the decision, the MetroNews article said, adding its owners had been working to sell the company.
Allegheny Wood Products is based in Grant County but has a number of locations and various operations around the state including in Kingwood, where its largest mill is located. The company has an operation including its headquarters in an industrial park near Petersburg and a fumigation facility in Moorefield. The company employs about 600 people but also a few hundred contractors.
Hardy County residents opposed a second fumigation facility that Allegheny was seeking last year. The company withdrew its application for an air quality permit last May.
Paramount’s Future Looks Grim Amid Perfect Storm of Declining Cable TV, Streaming Woes
The future doesn’t look good for Paramount Global — the Hollywood giant that owns CBS,
Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, BET, Pluto TV, and many other media properties.
Paramount Global’s financial outlook took a hit Friday when S&P Global slapped it with a “credit watch negative” rating over concerns about the company’s cash flow. The report blamed “the ongoing deterioration of the linear television ecosystem and the shift toward a lower margin direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming model.”
Like other legacy Hollywood studios, Paramount is feeling the pain from tens of millions of Americans canceling their cable TV subscriptions. At the same time, the studio’s streaming services — including Paramount+ and Pluto TV — continue to lose money at an alarming rate.
The bad news comes amid ongoing acquisition rumors that have swirled around Paramount for many months. Among the possible suitors is David Ellison’s Skydance, which helped finance the latestMission: Impossible movies and Top Gun: Maverick.
This month, Paramount began laying off around 800 employees, or 3 percent of its workforce, in an effort to cut costs.
The layoffs represent the latest Hollywood bloodbath following similar moves at other media giants, including Disney, NBCUniversal, Amazon MGM Studios, and Universal Music Group.
Nearly Half of US College Graduates Working High-School Level Jobs, Survey Finds
A new study confirms that almost half of America’s college graduates are working at high-school-level jobs.
The study, published Feb. 22, also found that 52 percent of college graduates are underemployed a year after graduation.
The study, a collaborative effort by Burning Glass Institute and Strada Institute for the Future of Work, confirmed the trend reported in other studies, that employers are increasingly turning to factors other than college degrees to determine competency.
While most see college degrees as “a bridge to economic opportunity and upward mobility,” the study said that “some are calling into question whether higher education is delivering on that promise.”
Despite what is seen statistically as a robust labor market, the study confirmed that 52 percent of college graduates are underemployed a year after graduation. Even 10 years after graduation, 45 percent of college graduates remain underemployed.
Conversely, 73 percent of college graduates who enter the labor market underemployed stay that way for 10 years.
A June 2023 analysis by Campus shows that an associate degree costs about $11,600 per year, including room and board, for a full-time student. That’s $23,200 for this two-year degree.
The average yearly cost to attend a four-year public college or university with room and board was $21,035. That’s $84,140 for a bachelor’s degree.
HEALTH
Shingles Vaccine May Increase Risk of Ocular Shingles Recurrence
Getting the recombinant zoster (shingles) vaccine (RZV), or Shingrix, if you have had an ocular shingles event, may increase your risk of experiencing a second event, a recent study shows.
Ocular shingles refers to all shingles that manifest in the eye area. Milder cases of ocular shingles typically occur near the eyelids, while more severe cases may cause inflammation inside the eyes and potentially lead to blindness.
Researchers at the University of California (UC)–San Francisco found that, compared to unvaccinated people with a history of ocular shingles, those who receive the RZV have a 93 percent higher rate of developing ocular shingles again.
Shingles is caused by the chickenpox (varicella) virus. After a person gets chickenpox, the virus retreats into the nerves in the body and becomes dormant. If the virus lies dormant in the nerves going into the eye, it can later cause ocular shingles during viral reactivation.
Around 10 percent to 20 percent of people who contract shingles will develop ocular shingles, according to the American Academy of Neurology.
Why cilantro (coriander) is good for your health
Researchers at the University of California–Irvine have made an important discovery about cilantro exerts its medicinal effects.
Principal investigator Geoffrey Abbot and colleague Rian Manville have uncovered the molecular action through which cilantro delays the onset of certain seizures in epilepsy and other diseases. The discovery could pave the way for the development of more effective drugs.
The herb cilantro is a member of the Apiaceae family, which is made up of around 3,700 species including celery, parsley and carrots. It contains nutrients that offer various health benefits including anti-cancer effects and improved skin health. The herb is a good source of antioxidants and also helps to cut down sodium intake.
Cilantro has been consumed by humans for thousands of years, but the mechanisms underlying the herb’s beneficial effects had not been known.
As recently reported in FASEB journal, Manville and Abbot have now shown that cilantro is a highly potent activator of the neuronal voltage-gated potassium channel subfamily Q (KCNQ) channel. KCNQ dysfunction can cause severe epileptic encephalopathies that do not respond to current anticonvulsant medications.
We discovered that cilantro, which has been used as a traditional anticonvulsant medicine, activates a class of potassium channels in the brain to reduce seizure activity.”
Geoffrey Abbot, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Biophysics
Stevia Has Potential Side Effects on Gut Microbiome and Brain, but Experts Explain Bottom Line
Stevia, known for its zero calories and potential benefits, such as lowering blood pressure and blood sugar, is often considered an excellent substitute for sugar. However, is this sweetener— used by Paraguayans for over a thousand years and by the Japanese for several decades—truly free from side effects?
Generally, stevia is thought to be metabolized and excreted without accumulating in the body.
Stevia’s sweetness comes from steviol glycosides. Steviol glycosides are a group of substances, among which stevioside and rebaudioside A are the two most common in commercial products.
Our stomachs and upper small intestines cannot break down or absorb steviol glycosides. Therefore, ingested steviol glycosides enter the lower gastrointestinal tract intact. In the colon, gut bacteria break down steviol glycosides into steviol, a process completed within 24 hours. Subsequently, most of the steviol is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal wall, while any unabsorbed steviol is excreted in feces. The steviol entering the bloodstream is further metabolized into steviol glucuronide in the liver and ultimately excreted in the urine. This is why human experiments have shown no detectable levels of steviol in the blood after consuming steviol glycosides, while steviol glucuronide is detected in urine, and steviol is found in the feces.
Some in vitro and animal experiments have found that stevia or steviol may potentially impact the gut microbiome.
An animal study published in Nutrients in 2019 revealed that, compared to those only drinking water, rebaudioside A consumption altered the gut microbiome composition in mice. However, Ms. Young noted that while the hindgut microbiome of mice and humans share some similarities, many bacteria present in the mouse gut are absent in humans. Therefore, there are certain limitations to animal studies.
A study conducted by Israeli scientists in 2020 revealed that stevia and steviol do not possess bactericidal properties. However, they may potentially interrupt communication among Gram-negative bacteria in the gut, leading to gut microbial imbalance. Additionally, steviol may also exhibit inhibitory effects on the competition among gut bacteria.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Alabama AG Has No Plans to Enforce Controversial IVF Ruling
Despite the fact that the Alabama Supreme Court declared that human embryos, including those outside the uterus, as children under state law, thus bringing them under the protection of the state’s wrongful death laws, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office has now made clear its position regarding the enforcement of this ruling in relation to IVF families and providers.
“Attorney General Marshall has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,” Chief Counsel Katherine Robertson said in a brief statement provided by Marshall’s office.
The controversial ruling was the outcome of a lawsuit brought forth by several couples against the Center for Reproductive Medicine. These couples sought damages under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act for embryos that were destroyed when an individual unlawfully accessed and removed them from the center’s cryogenic nursery in December 2020.
The Supreme Court’s 7–2 decision unequivocally stated that “the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location,” thereby setting a precedent that could have wide-ranging implications for IVF treatments and reproductive rights in the state.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
US Tracking Balloon Flying Over West, Poses No Security Threat: Military
U.S. military aircraft have intercepted an unidentified high-altitude balloon flying over the western continental United States, military officials have acknowledged.
Fighter aircraft continue to track the balloon over the western United States though it appears to pose no immediate threat, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the joint U.S.-Canada command responsible for overseeing North American airspace. “In close coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected a small balloon at an altitude varying between 43,000- 45,000 ft,” in a statement shared with The Epoch Times.
“The balloon was intercepted by NORAD fighters over Utah, who determined it was not maneuverable and did not present a threat to national security. NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon. The FAA also determined the balloon posed no hazard to flight safety. NORAD remains in close coordination with the FAA to ensure flight safety.”
The balloon and its origin have not yet been publicly identified, though it appears to be moving eastward with the jetstream given its lack of maneuverability.
A journalist accused of leaking videos of former Fox News star Tucker Carlson was arrested in Florida last week and hit with 14 federal charges.
Timothy Burke, 45, was charged with one count of conspiracy, six counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization, and seven counts of intercepting or disclosing wire, oral, or electronic communications. Burke faces up to 62 years in federal prison if convicted on all counts.
Burke was released on the condition that he severs contact with his alleged co-conspirator.
The Department of Justice stated that Burke and his co-conspirator “secured and used compromised credentials — usernames and passwords — to gain unauthorized access to protected computers owned or used by the victim entities.”
The indictment said Burke and the co-conspirator were able to steal unaired Carlson video clips by hacking into StreamCo — a U.S.-based online media streaming company used by Fox News.
Federal prosecutors accused Burke and the co-conspirator of obtaining and stealing StreamCo proprietary information from its website and then “used that stolen StreamCo proprietary information to intercept, download, and save the StreamCo broadcaster-customers’ streams.”
The suspects allegedly stole video of Carlson caught on a hot mic after the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” show had ended.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, February 24, 2024, #446
Regions of China experience “flash freeze” down to -52.3C / -62.1F degrees while “zombie fires continue to burn underground in Canada even in winters”. How many are looking toward the skies and taking notice of what has long since been occurring above our heads? Many are finally awakening to the fact that weather everywhere is completely chaotic and unprecedented. Would governments around the world inform their populations if climate engineering operations had already been fully deployed? The short answer is no. The planet’s life support systems are hurtling toward abrupt collapse, how long till impact?
Mercedes-Benz Scraps Plans to Make Only Electric Vehicles Due to ‘Market Conditions’
Mercedes-Benz has backtracked on their plan to transition to selling only electric vehicles after 2030, with company officials saying that “market conditions” have not allowed that to happen.
It was just three years ago when the German luxury vehicle manufacturer announced that it would go “all-electric,” the Verge reported at the time.
The company said it would commit $47 billion to electrifying its fleet, with CEO and board chair Ola Källenius saying, “We are convinced, we can do it with strong profitability, and we believe that focus on electrical is the right way to build a successful future and to enhance the value of Mercedes Benz.”
Those plans were scrapped this week in the company’s fourth quarter earnings statement:
“Customers and market conditions will set the pace of the transformation. The company plans to be in a position to cater to different customer needs, whether it’s an all-electric drivetrain or an electrified combustion engine, until well into the 2030s.”
The automobile giant went on to state that its electric vehicle sales are expected to only reach a maximum of 50 percent of the overall sales in the second half of this decade.
The business model change comes after multiple highly-publicized instances of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles catching on fire and causing massive damage.
An EQB model caught ablaze while being charged in a car showroom in Malaysia on New Year’s Eve 2023, with video footage showing the terrifying moment a portion of the building went up in flames.
The fire destroyed “about 90 percent of the car, five percent of the showroom building structure, and 20 percent of the electric vehicle charging bay” the local fire and rescue operation commander told the Star.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Pruning Shears – Which One to Choose?
Pruning shears are garden tools that act like heavy duty scissors for plants. They are commonly known either as hand pruners or in Europe, they’re called secateurs. The larger versions of these pruners are loppers and pruning saws.
Don’t use scissors as a substitute for pruning shears, that is, if you want to use them for cutting anything else.
Pruning shears range in price from $10-$50 and you get what you pay for, as cheap pruners don’t hold an edge and dull pruners make it tougher to get a clean cut.
Bypass pruners are designed to make the clean cuts suited for live plant material. With a sharp bypass pruner, you can cut live stems and branches up to a ½-inch in diameter without crushing the plant.
For dead branches, an anvil pruner is the best tool for the job. A lopper or hand saw works for cutting branches over a ½-inch in diameter.
Stainless steel blades are rust resistant, but they tend to dull quickly. Carbon steel blades are tougher than stainless steel blades, but they’re more likely to rust. Titanium coated blades are the best as they are corrosion resistant, sharp and durable.
2ND AMENDMENT
Jury Finds Ex-NRA Head Wayne LaPierre Liable, Must Pay $4.3 Million in Damages
A New York jury found former National Rifle Association (NRA) boss Wayne LaPierre liable in a civil case on Friday, ordering him to pay $4.3 million in damages for the mismanagement and misuse of charitable funds. The six-person jury found that Mr. LaPierre violated his fiduciary duties, causing $5.4 million in damages to the NRA. Notably, they recognized that he had repaid just over $1 million to the charity, which reduced the net damages.
In addition to the financial penalty, the jury determined that Mr. LaPierre should be removed from his position as executive vice president of the gun rights group, finding in many cases that overall, the NRA’s business arrangements were appropriate. However, the jury found that the NRA violated whistleblower protections in New York and failed to properly administer assets.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Study Finds Hearing and Balance Disorders Among COVID-19 Vaccinated
More cases of hearing and balance disorders have been observed after people received COVID-19 vaccines, according to a recent study, which asked vaccinated people to remain alert to such complications.
The Australian peer-reviewed study, published in the Vaccine journal on Feb. 22, aimed to determine whether there was an increase in “audiovestibular events” following COVID-19 vaccination in south-eastern Australia. Audiovestibular refers to conditions related to hearing and balance disorders.
“Healthcare providers and vaccinees should be alert to potential audiovestibular complaints after COVID-19 vaccination,” the authors said.
Researchers found a rise in vertigo and tinnitus cases after vaccination. Tinnitus is a condition that makes an individual hear sounds like humming, ringing, or rushing, in the absence of external stimuli. Vertigo makes people feel like they’re spinning, and can result in dizziness.
CANCEL CULTURE
A suspect was arrested on Friday in connection with the brutal murder of a Georgia nursing student.
The University of Georgia Police Department arrested 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra on Friday in connection to the murder of 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley.
University Police Chief Jeff Clark said Ibarra is not a U.S. citizen and did not attend the university.
“According to multiple DHS sources, he is here illegally from Venezuela. Sources confirm he crossed in September of 2022 into El Paso, Texas, and was released due to lack of detention space,” NewsNation reported.
Ibarra is being held on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another, according to WSB-TV.
Police believe that Ibarra did not know Riley, and said the murder of the nursing student at Augusta University was a “crime of opportunity.”
“He saw an individual and bad things happened,” University of Georgia Police Chief Jeff Clark said at a news conference on Friday. “This was an individual who woke up with bad intentions that day.”
Police do not know of a motive as of yet.
Riley’s maimed body was found around 12:38 p.m. on Thursday in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick at the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Police said she was “unconscious and not breathing, and had visible injuries.” First responders pronounced her dead at the crime scene.
Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, was arrested during the investigation for allegedly presenting fake green cards after law enforcement confronted him.
Public Health Crisis: 2,033 Homeless People Died in Los Angeles in 2023
Over 2,000 homeless individuals died in Los Angeles in 2023 — a nearly 300 percent
increase from 2014, according to county officials.
The surge in deaths, revealed by a Guardian review of county medical examiner data, demonstrates the impact of the homelessness and drug abuse crisis sweeping through many of the nation’s cities.
Bodies have been found in “tents, encampments, vehicles, parks, alleys, vacant lots, underpasses, bus stops and train stations,” the report found.
Officials with the county medical examiner have recorded a total of 11,573 homeless deaths over the past decade, with the number rising each year. The 2,033 people who died in 2023 is a 291 percent increase from the 519 deaths reported in 2014, and an eight percent increase from 1,883 in 2022.
The Guardian noted that the numbers are an “undercount,” because the medical examiner’s department only reviews deaths considered “violent, sudden or unusual, or where the deceased has not recently seen a doctor.”
The real total number of homeless deaths is likely to be significantly more than what has been recorded, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
A department spokesperson told the outlet that an estimated 20 percent more deaths have been logged in its database due to its further reach, though they have not yet released the most recent data.
In the last 10 years, 6,720 deaths of homeless people (58 percent) were designated as “accidental,” which includes drug overdoses.
2 High School Girl Basketball Players in Massachusetts Injured by Transgender Player From Other Team
Two high school girl’s team players from the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell were injured by a 17-year-old bearded transgender player opponent from the KIPP Academy Collegiate School of Lynn recently and chose to forfeit the game rather than risk further injury to their players.
It appears that Title IX, the federal law that protects students from being discriminated against on the basis of race, religion and gender, or gender identity, has a constitutional amendment that prohibits the exclusion of boys from girls’ athletic teams. It also prohibits schools from asking for any proof that would validate a male student’s claim they are transgender.
ICYMI
AT&T ‘making it right’ with $5 credit to customers after last week’s hours-long outage
AT&T says it will be giving a $5 credit to customers affected in last week’s nationwide telecommunication outage.
The outage, which lasted several hours on Thursday Feb. 22, was caused by a technical error due to “the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyberattack,” the telecom provider said Friday.
AT&T said late Saturday it planned to give affected accounts credit for the outage.
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