WORLD NEWS
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Shot
Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, collapsed during a speech after gunshots were reportedly heard, according to Japanese public broadcasting agency NHK.
Abe collapsed in the western Japanese city of Nara around 11:30 a.m Friday, according to NHK. A NHK correspondent reportedly heard two gunshot sounds and saw Abe fall over while bleeding from his chest.
The former prime minister was reportedly rushed to the hospital after the incident. Abe is showing no vital signs after the reported gunshot, according to Japanese media.
The Associated Press reported Abe “was not breathing and his heart had stopped” and noted “In Japan, officials sometimes use the term [heart failure] to describe situations where victims are no longer alive but before a formal declaration of death has been made.”
The Washington Post’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee reported Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Abe was in critical condition and “doctors are working to save [him].”
Reuters reports a 41-year old man named Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested following the shooting.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel tweeted he was “saddened and shocked” at the news and praying for Abe’s well-being:
“We don’t know his condition, we do know he’s been shot,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of a G20 meeting in Indonesia. “This is a very, very sad moment and we’re waiting news from Japan.”
Former President Donald Trump expressed sadness at the news that Abe had been shot, calling him “a truly great man and leader” and “a true friend of mine and, much more importantly, America.”
Boris Johnson Re-assembles Collapsed British Government
In his resignation speech, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was reassembling his Cabinet as many as 59 government ministers and ministerial aides have quit in recent days.
However, one Conservative MP said he was worried that not “all ministerial posts can be filled.”
As he gave his resignation speech on Thursday, Johnson said that “he has appointed a new cabinet to serve as I will until the new leader is in place.”
New Cabinet Posts Announced
“I’m giving up the best job in the world,” said Johnson, saying that it was “painful” to give up the job of prime minister but he said nobody was “indispensable.”
Among the new cabinet posts announced were Kit Malthouse as Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, replacing the fired Michael Gove, and Greg Clark as Levelling Up Secretary. Andrew Stephenson has also been appointed Minister without Portfolio.
James Cleverly was appointed England’s education secretary, the third in three days.
Robert Buckland is Welsh Secretary and Shailesh Vara has been given the Northern Ireland Secretary role.
Yesterday newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi called for Johnson to resign, less than 48 hours after taking on his new role.
Among the front-runners for the leadership will be Sunak and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Attorney General Suella Braverman, and possibly Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and trade minister Penny Mordaunt.
Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Aaron Bell told Sky News he was worried that not all ministerial posts can be filled.
“I think it’s important that we have all those ministerial positions there.
“I also think the last 48 hours, his refusal to accept reality has done a lot of damage to trust in the institution as a whole in parliament, in conventions that we have in the Conservative Party, that when the game’s up, the game’s up, and unfortunately it took a long time for the Prime Minister to realise that.”
Russia makes new Hunter Biden-related bio-lab claims
Moscow, citing a captured document, has claimed a Pentagon contractor was planning to study the deadly Ebola virus in Ukraine
Metabiota, a company financed by Hunter Biden’s fund, had set its sights on southwestern Ukraine to research the deadly Ebola virus, which is endemic to some parts of Africa, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed in its Friday briefing. Military officials cited a document that Russian troops had allegedly captured in the Eastern European country.
Mechnikov National University, which is located in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, had supposedly been chosen by the American firm for its program.
The Russian military says its troops captured a document in Ukraine compiled by the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency – a body tasked with countering weapons of mass destruction. Covering the period from 2005 until 2016, the report purportedly outlines plans for the further development of military projects in Ukraine.
Metabiota and its involvement with the Ebola virus also feature in the document, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to the ministry, Metabiota, a Pentagon contractor, had previously participated in dealing with the aftermath of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. However, the company’s main objective had supposedly been collecting “highly virulent” strains of the virus and transporting them to the US.
The Russian military went on to claim that, considering the “clear discrepancy” between Metabiota’s activities and the actual fight against the deadly disease, Jarbas Barbosa, then-assistant director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which is a branch of the World Health Organization (WHO), had allegedly recommended that the firm’s staff be withdrawn. The official was supposedly concerned that cooperation with the US company would undermine the WHO’s reputation.
“Seeing that the disease is not endemic and, moreover, has never been identified in Ukraine, a logical question arises as to the necessity of such research and its true goals,” Russian Defense Ministry officials noted.
Moscow claims all of this is “part of the US strategy to transfer research of particularly dangerous pathogens to third countries.”
Russian officials have also suggested that American society should get acquainted with the story and possibly raise questions regarding the US government’s activities, which are apparently in breach of the Biological Weapons Convention.
This is not the first time that officials in Moscow have accused the US of conducting secret studies involving deadly viruses and bacteria on Ukrainian soil.
Washington has consistently dismissed such allegations as fake.
Central Asia Rushes Into Armed Drone Race As Regional Arms Transfers Brew
On June 27, 2022, the official Twitter account of Baykar, the developer of the prominent Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), released a trilingual Turkish–English–Ukrainian announcement stating that it will send three TB2 drones to Ukraine free of charge, so that the funds collected through the “People’s Bayraktar” crowdfunding campaign would be directed to the “struggling people of Ukraine” instead. This gesture by Baykar, an influential private defense company, whose chief technology officer Selçuk Bayraktar is the son-in-law of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, seems to smoothen for a moment Ukraine’s disappointment over Turkey’s reluctance to join anti-Russian sanctions, stated by İbrahim Kalın, the presidential spokesperson, who claimed that sanctions would harm Turkey’s economy more than Russia’s. This “drone diplomacy” remains an important tool to keep up the cordiality of Turkish-Ukrainian relations despite recurrent ups and downs reflected, for instance, in Turkey’s temporary block on Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO bid or alleged involvement of Turkish ports in transporting stolen Ukrainian grain.
Central Asia’s search for military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) started long before the current stage of the Russia-Ukraine war, and was shaped by two evident trends: the imminent rise of military drones, expected to take up a key role in future warfare, and Russia’s gradual lag in advanced military technologies and precision weapons. The latter would also be reflected in the overall fall of the Russian share in global military exports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the leading research institute on military expenditure and arms trade, Russia’s total arms exports in 2017–2021 (5 years) dropped by 26 percent compared to 2012–2016, while its share in global arms exports dropped from 24 percent to 19 percent for the same periods.
The global military drone market, which reached USD 4.4 billion in 2015, was dominated by the United States, China, Israel, Iran and Turkey, the last becoming the fifth state to develop and produce its own unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Currently, the military drone market is valued at almost USD 12 billion and estimated to reach more than USD 17 billion in 2028. ANKA, the first Turkish indigenous military drone developed by the state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) was revealed in July 2010, while the first armed UAV Bayraktar TB2 completed fire tests in 2015. China had already advanced in military drone technology, having in 2012 at least three working UCAVs (CH-3, CH-4, and Wing Loong), with the stealthy UCAV to complete its maiden flight in 2013. In the meantime, Russia was planning to start the development of UCAVs as late as 2014, with flight tests to start only in 2017. On June 13, 2022, Yury Borisov, the former deputy minister of defense and current deputy prime minister, admitted that Russia was late in introducing military UAVs, and this problem became evident in Russia’s Syrian campaign.
According to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, Central Asian states whose overall military spending in 2021 amounted to 1.8 billion USD, started ordering armed UAVs as early as in 2013 to be delivered from 2014 on, with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan opting for Chinese Wing Loong-1, and Turkmenistan purchasing Chinese CH-3 and WJ-600 armed drones. At the same time, despite being a primary supplier of arms to the region, no UCAVs were ordered or delivered from Russia.
Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and ongoing war, which revealed the enormous lag of Russian military technology (especially in the fields of precision, guidance, and autonomous weapon systems, including unmanned aerial systems), the reputation of well praised and promoted Russian arms was already compromised during the recent conflicts in Syria, Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh, where UCAVs played important part. Up until recently, Russia’s enormous media campaign to promote the image of Russian military modernization, which incessantly presented the country as the “global leader by the share of modern and modernized weapons,” seemed to start convincing even Western powers, as was the case of General John Hyten praising Russia for their “unbelievably powerful military” that transformed in the last 20 years, or the NATO Parliamentary Assembly discussing NATO’s lag behind Russia on certain defense technologies.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Judge Sides With Parent, Strikes Down Los Angeles School Vaccine Mandate
A plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccine shots for hundreds of thousands of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will remain on pause after a Los Angeles County judge ruled on July 5 that the district lacks the authority to do so.
In his ruling, Judge Mitchell Beckloff of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County sided with a parent, whose 12-year-old son attends a public magnet school in North Hollywood. The parent filed the complaint in October 2021, about a month after the LAUSD announced its vaccination mandate.
Under the district’s mandate, all eligible students aged 12 and above must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, or get approved for exemptions by Jan. 10 in order to attend school in person. Those who don’t comply would be transferred into the district’s remote learning program, City of Angels, which offers a mixture of live instruction and self-study.
The suing parent, identified as G.F., argued that it is unfair and unlawful for the child, identified as D.F., to have to lose his hard-earned place at a competitive school just because he and his parent have chosen to not get vaccinated on the basis of personal beliefs.
According to G.F., his son had acquired natural immunity after recovering from COVID-19. He also said he worried that vaccinating the child would put the child’s health in jeopardy.
“Either I get him a vaccine that I fear could harm him, or I send him to a virtual school that I know from experience and LAUSD’s own data would prove academically vastly inferior,” the father said earlier this year in a sworn declaration, reported City News Service. “The idea of dumping him into an online school, free of a rigorous academic program and torn away from his like-minded classmates, breaks my heart.”
Online petition seeking impeachment of Justice Thomas has more than a million signatures
A MoveOn.org online petition calls for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign from the high court or face impeachment.
The liberal group’s petition has more than 1 million signatures.
The Hill and Salon have stories.
The petition cites Thomas’ recent concurrence in which he called for reconsideration of precedents establishing a right to contraception in marriage, establishing a right to same-sex marriage and striking down a criminal ban on sodomy. He issued the concurrence in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the June 24 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion.
The petition also cites Thomas’ Jan. 19 dissent, when the Supreme Court refused to block release of White House records to the Jan. 6, 2021, committee at the request of former President Donald Trump. Thomas didn’t recuse himself, even though his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, had voiced support for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
These Sheriffs Are the Difference Between Freedom and Tyranny
Your local sheriff is in charge of enforcing the laws laid down by your state legislature, city or county councils and executive orders made by your state’s governor. If you do not have a sheriff who knows the Constitution and adheres to it, you could end up at the mercy of tyrannical government officials
One area where your local sheriff might end up playing a crucial role is if they roll out forced COVID-19 vaccinations. Were rules or laws enacted saying you must get vaccinated or be barred from various locations, your sheriff could refuse to enforce them
Your sheriff should safeguard your Constitutional rights and protect your civil liberties against unlawful government overreach. Many, however, lack the proper training
The purpose of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is to create a partnership between the people, the sheriff and the local law enforcement chiefs, to make sure county sheriffs are trained on Constitutional rights and their own role as guardians of the Constitution and protectors of civil liberties
If enough people get involved, we can create Constitutional counties and take back America, county by county, one sheriff at a time. Eventually, all the police forces will be on the same page as well, and will no longer enforce unlawful, unconstitutional orders, whatever they might be
Arizona AG Brnovich Could Face ‘Ugly’ Political Cost for Luring Donors With Trump’s Image: Attorney
Former president Donald Trump has been trying, unsuccessfully, to block unauthorized use of his name, image, and likeness, especially in campaign fundraising communications, according to recent reports.
Because legally he’s considered a “public figure,” the practice will also be difficult to stop, an attorney with expertise in that area of law told The Epoch Times.
But candidates who’ve used Trump’s name or image without permission could face “ugly” legal challenges for other reasons, according to Florida attorney Jeff Childers, a specialist in commercial and business law.
Donors could claim fraud if a supposed Trump connection prompted their giving, he said.
Trump’s efforts to stop others from cashing in on his name made headlines on July 4 over a legal tussle with Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Brnovich is running for U.S. Senate in the hopes of unseating incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
An attorney for Trump’s political action committee, Save America, sent Brnovich a cease-and-desist letter rebuking the campaign’s penchant for mentioning Trump in fundraising communications, The Washington Post reported on July 4.
The letter threatened legal action if Brnovich did not stop using Trump’s image and name in “misleading ways,” the newspaper reported.
Top House Republican Presses Yellen for Records on Hunter Biden’s Foreign Business Dealings
A top House Republican is demanding Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen release records on Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities, alleging that the Biden administration’s reluctance to release such details suggests an effort to shield the Biden family from scrutiny.
In a July 6 letter, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), a ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, asked Yellen to provide reports of what he thought was “suspicious activity” on the part of the younger Biden, his business associates, and other Biden family members.
Hunter, the second son of President Joe Biden, is currently under federal investigation for potential tax violations. Scrutiny has been growing over his overseas business dealings in countries such as Ukraine, Russia, and China, particularly during the period in which Biden served as vice president in the Obama administration.
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. banks flag cash transactions exceeding $10,000 per day and automatically generate suspicious activity reports (SARs) in a bid to help government agencies prevent money laundering.
Comer previously wrote to Yellen in late May requesting the SARs for Hunter Biden, but received no answer. He accused the Biden administration of restricting Congress’s access to SARs, citing a recent Treasury Department rule that allows congressional staff to review such materials in a Treasury reading room. They’re barred from making copies of the documents.
“Committee Republicans are investigating whether this change in longstanding policy is motivated by efforts to shield Hunter Biden and potentially President Biden from scrutiny,” the letter reads.
EXCLUSIVE: Key Figure in Jan. 6 Events Backs Claims That Cheney, January 6 Committee Lied
A key lawyer for President Donald Trump who helped draft memos that sought to investigate claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election told The Epoch Times that he backs the charges by a recent committee witness that the January 6 committee lied to the American people.
Witness and former Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney Ken Klukowski, who testified before the committee last week, said in a statement provided to The Federalist over the July 4 weekend, “The January 6 Committee falsely accused me on Thursday of being a go-between in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. That accusation is false both in its broad outlines and its details.”
In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times, former Trump lawyer John Eastman said he supports Klukowski’s claims.
Trump critic and committee member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) said that the testimony only shows that Klukowski was appointed to his DOJ position under the influence of Eastman—a claim that both deny.
‘Liz Cheney Is in a Lot of Trouble in Wyoming’ CNN Admits
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) may not survive the Republican August 16 primary, CNN reported on Thursday.
While Cheney “has become an unexpected hero for Democrats” and the media, CNN’s Harry Enten analyzed, CNN readers “shouldn’t mistake adoring press coverage and bipartisan bona fides for popularity in the place where popularity matters most for Cheney: Wyoming.”
Citing polling that shows Cheney the least popular member of Congress in 2021, Enten acknowledged only 17 percent of Republicans nationwide approved of Cheney’s alliance with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) January 6 committee. Sixty-one percent disapproved. More specifically, the article also noted Cheney’s opponent, Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman, is leading Cheney “by a significant margin” of 28 to 30 points in Wyoming.
“Now, we should treat this data with caution since the people releasing it likely have their own motives, such as rooting for Cheney to lose. Still, the congresswoman trailing makes a lot of sense given what the nonpartisan polling in Wyoming has indicated,” the article stated.
Enten also highlighted Cheney’s campaign strategy of asking Democrats to vote for her, though few think the strategy will be successful, even though she opposed Donald Trump and his policies at nearly every turn:
Wyoming, though, doesn’t have many Democrats. Yet Cheney has been trying to get the few Democrats there are to cross over and vote in the Republican primary. These statistics demonstrate that those efforts probably won’t do much for her.
The problem for Cheney is that there isn’t a lot of room in the Republican Party for those who voted to impeach Trump. A 2021 Pew Research Center poll found that 64% of Republicans said the party should not be accepting of those who had. And recent primary elections also suggest that her actions toward Trump could cost her.
…
“In sum, the statistics are daunting for Cheney heading into her August primary,” the article said. “It’s no wonder that the betting markets give her less than a 10% chance of earning another term in office. That doesn’t mean Cheney can’t win It would just be quite surprising.”
CNN’s negative analysis of Cheney’s reelection chances is not surprising. Cheney is in hot water after opposing America First policies, voting to impeach Donald Trump, and allying herself with the January 6 Committee, which has sought to investigate the January 6 incident without focusing on the alleged FBI informants at the Capitol.
Cheney’s conduct has drawn condemnation from the Wyoming Republican Party and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. After the Wyoming GOP voted to no longer recognize her as a Republican in November, McCarthy announced in February his endorsement of Hageman to defeat Cheney, a rare move for a minority leader.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Pentagon Spending Millions on High-Altitude Spy Balloons
The Pentagon is investing tens of millions of dollars into high-altitude balloons that it intends to use for surveillance. It’s anticipated that the balloons will fly twice as high as most commercial aircraft and may be used one day soon to locate and track China’s hypersonic weapons.
The high-altitude assets are likely to be quite high-tech. While the altitude ceiling for commercial aircraft is about 43,000 feet and that of the U.S. Reaper drone is roughly 50,000 feet, the Department of Defense’s (DOD) new inflatable surveillance balloons are expected to reach heights as great as 90,000 feet, according to a new report by Politico.
Pentagon budget documents show that the technology is moving from the DOD’s scientific community to military service, according to the report. The DOD only spent $3.8 million on the projects over the past two years but is increasing funding for 2023 by up to $27.1 million.
The report states that investment in the projects reflected the adaptability of such aircraft to various military missions and that the balloons would be integrated within the military’s extensive surveillance network. One key way that the balloons could be useful is in providing a cost-effective means of augmenting otherwise expensive satellites that track missiles the world over, particularly the growing hypersonic arsenals of China and Russia.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Breitbart Business Digest: If It’s a Recession, Why Is No One Losing Their Job?
What if we held a recession and no one lost their job?
The Department of Labor on Friday will deliver its report on its two monthly surveys meant to capture the health of the nation’s labor market. The first is known as the household survey and is derived from a survey of around 60,000 households conducted by the Census Bureau. Its main product is the unemployment rate as well as the various breakdowns along demographic lines and reasons for unemployment.
The other is the establishment survey of businesses and government agencies from which we get data on the size of nonfarm payrolls, hourly and weekly earnings, the labor force participation rate, and average hours worked. It is based on the payroll period that included the twelfth of each month, which means it does not necessarily reflect any late-breaking changes in the economy. The data gets seasonally adjusted and adjusted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ estimates of payroll changes caused by the closings and openings of businesses during the month.
One way to think about what a soft-landing would look like is that the establishment survey would show the net number of people added to payrolls falling while the household survey would not record a big jump in unemployment. Back when he was thinking a soft-landing was realistically achievable, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also talked about bringing down the number of job openings without reducing actual employment by much. A month ago or so, Powell seemed to assume that reducing these measures of demand for workers would bring down inflation—although that is very much an unproven assumption.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Silicon Valley Slump: Twitter Lays Off 30% of Recruiting Staff
Far-left social networking platform Twitter is letting 30 percent of its recruiting staff go, amid widespread layoffs throughout the tech sector, as well as the potential of Elon Musk taking over the company.
Via the Wall Street Journal:
Twitter Inc. TWTR 1.52%▲ on Thursday said it laid off 30% of its talent acquisition team, as the company deals with increasing business pressures and a potential takeover from Elon Musk.
The layoffs come after the company in May announced that it would be pausing hiring and looking to cut costs. As a result of the revised business needs, the company is restructuring and reducing its talent acquisition team. The layoffs are expected to affect fewer than 100 people and are limited to the talent acquisition team, the company said.
Twitter is the latest tech company to announce layoffs amid falling stock prices and fears of recession. Last month, Coinbase Global Inc. said it would cut 1,100 employees, or 18% of its staff, while Unity Software Inc. last week announced that it would lay off 4% of its work force.
Twitter is still locked in negotiations with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk over a potential $44bn buyout. Twitter’s stock price slipped by four percent today amid reports that the deal with Musk may be in peril, amid continuing disputes between the parties on the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform.
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” announced his takeover bid earlier this year. Musk’s offer was accepted by the Twitter board at the end of April, but the deal has yet to be executed. If Musk walks away from the deal over the bots issue or anything else, he may be liable for a billion-dollar breakup fee.
HEALTH
An undercover investigator has obtained hidden camera footage from an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., that raises grave ethical concerns.
The candid video, taken by a 28-week-pregnant woman, reveals a nurse saying that the babies they abort do not receive digoxin — a lethal injection given to infants in utero during an abortion to ensure the baby is not born alive during the procedure. This increases the chances of a baby being born alive and possibly being illegally killed after birth.
The nurse also told the patient she may deliver the deceased child in her hotel room after the procedure; and furthermore that the doctor would not speak to her until she took Xanax, a mind-altering drug, prescribed by the clinic. This raises ethical concerns about how the clinic obtains proper consent. The patient has since filed a formal medical complaint.
Watch the undercover footage from the D.C. abortion clinic:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6bqFOnUsfg
‘Systemic Catastrophe:’ MIT Senior Researcher Warns Glyphosate is a Slow Kill
A “systemic catastrophe” is senior researcher Dr. Stephanie Seneff’s verdict on glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, warning that the chemical is a slow kill for humans and other lifeforms.
Seneff, a senior researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been studying this toxic chemical for around 10 years.
She believes that the pervasive use of glyphosate in the United States and around the world in agriculture is the reason behind the dramatic increase in autism, diabetes, cancer, allergies, as well as many other chronic conditions.
This Tea Is Unmatched For Beating Cravings & Revving Up Metabolism
Seasonal changes are a time of transition—and it’s not always easygoing. Emerging from hibernation—of winter, of working from home, of being overall more in and within ourselves—to the social scene that is summer brings with it a process of peeling back (and off) the layers, re-embodying our evolved identity, and being anew.
Transitions of any kind are also great opportunities to create change in a routine. In my practice, I’m very often working with clients and community members on redesigning habits. That is, breaking unwanted cravings, habits, and dependencies and charting new ones.
I’ve found that cravings drive a lot of lives. And they can make us feel outwitted, victimized, discouraged, and undermined. One of the best ways to gain the upper hand with cravings is to replace them with something similar but preferable. Slowly, over time, we can transition further from what’s hindering us and closer to where we want to be.
One of my favorite herbs for charting a healthier path during this time of year is hibiscus. This herb is one of my staples for redirecting cravings because it’s sweet and tart, which satisfies many flavor receptors. It’s also something we can sip on throughout an entire afternoon, it’s easy to find or make, and it’s doing double (or quadruple) duty by both replacing a treat-calling while delivering all of the fairly major benefits below.
Why I love hibiscus for summertime.
Native to parts of North Africa and Southeast Asia, Hibiscus sabdariffa is a shrubby tropical plant that blossoms rich-red calyces (the outermost part of a flower), which are used traditionally in beverage preparations for a whole host of health conditions.
Hibiscus flowers have been used in traditional medicine in India, China, Thailand, Jamaica, Africa, Hawaii, the Middle East, the Philippines and beyond.
Often, hibiscus is popular in summers and as an iced preparation. The rumors about it helping to cool down the body are true. In Egypt and Sudan the tea, called karkade, is popular as a “refrigerant”—that is, a beverage that helps lower body temperature. In Ghana, it is prepared as a cooling sobolo drink. (For a taste of tradition, watch this video showing its preparation, which I found by way of the Center for Plants & Culture.)
Modern applications are informed by plenty of research that confirms its benefits on heart health and metabolism, allergies, urinary tract balance, and yes—more.
Research shows that hibiscus can be used to help ease mild hypertension (it acts as a gentle diuretic and vasorelaxant) as well as imbalanced blood sugar and cholesterol levels. An extract of the flower was also shown to reduce waist circumference/body fat ratio and waist-to-hip ratio in people with obesity, making it a promising adjunct treatment for metabolic syndrome.
Another reason to love hibiscus in warm-weather seasons is its anti-allergy action. Hibiscus has been shown to stabilize mast cells (cells that contain immune chemicals like histamine, heparin, and cytokines), which minimizes overactive allergic responses to irritants in general. (If you’re the sensitive type, this is for you!) Sip it preventively (think six weeks ahead of seasonal allergies, for example) or as needed when the sneezing strikes. Regular consumption of hibiscus tea can help reduce histamine production, and the herb works well in blends (look for turmeric, licorice, and functional mushrooms) to balance allergies and lower the overall inflammatory load.
As if those weren’t enough reasons to love it (you see why I’m married to herbs?), hibiscus can be hugely helpful for urinary tract balance. This is due to its soothing diuretic actions. (A soothing diuretic is more gentle and nourishing than others that can strip our systems of good bacteria or hydration. Many herbs are soothing and nourishing diuretics that replenish and rebalance nutrients as they move through.) Hibiscus has even shown promise in protecting against the development of kidney stones.
Last but not least, hibiscus is practically electric with its glowing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant flavonoids and phenolics, plant compounds we want lots of in life.
Eating This Much Avocado A Day May Have This Health Benefit, Says New Study
The old saying goes: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” but consider opting for avocado instead, as a new study suggests that a serving of this creamy green fruit each day may have some noteworthy benefits for your health. A nutrient-dense, balanced diet is undeniably key for supporting a healthy body, and this high-fat, fibrous fruit was not found to have an impact on belly fat (that’s right, eating fat does not make you gain weight) while also offering a slight decrease in LDL cholesterol levels. Let’s break down what that means.
How eating an avocado daily will affect your body.
It stands to reason that if you’re regularly eating healthy food and experiencing the feel-good benefits of your diet, you’ll be more inclined to continue to improve the rest of your eating habits. A new study, actually a multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted by several universities (Wake Forest University, UCLA, Tufts University, Penn State University, and Loma Linda University) and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found this to be true of people who enjoy avocados daily, noting that study participants had an overall healthier diet while eating avocados regularly.
In the 1,008-person trial (the largest interventional clinical research study on this topic to date), the findings showed eating one large avocado daily, which is known to be a high-fat food, did not lead to weight gain among participants. In fact, the researchers note frequently eating avocados can promote a more balanced diet on the whole. But on top of improving the quality of your diet, avocados have also been shown to slightly reduce LDL (aka “bad”) cholesterol levels within the body, promoting overall heart health.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Biden’s Green Agenda Puts U.S. Power Grid At Extreme Risk
Every U.S. region could be at risk for significant power outages this summer as companies rush to convert to non-fossil fuel and non-nuclear energy sources, an analyst says.
“I think the entire country is incredibly vulnerable, because the entire country is facing a huge energy shortage and I don’t think there is any place that is truly safe,” Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power the Future, told Fox News on July 4.
Turner said that states that have caved to pressure to switch to “green energy” sources, including wind, solar, and hydroelectric power, could suffer this year.
“The areas of the country I’d be most concerned about are the ones that already have inherent weaknesses,” he told the outlet. “Texas, California, New Mexico, New York, all of New England. These are areas whose policies and political decisions have weakened their electric grid.”
Countries and U.S. states that have “pushed green energy mandates by government action” haven’t been successful, he said.
“And you can measure that on multiple levels of success, in terms of what they’ve actually purported to or claim that they would produce in terms of electricity, reliability, cost,” he added. “In terms of actual construction, or cost to the consumers.”
Midwest States
Earlier this year, some power companies, grid operators, and other groups have warned about brownouts and rolling blackouts—especially in the Midwestern states.
“A recent generation capacity auction has revealed that the Midwest could fall short of needed generation capacity to serve the summer peak load under certain conditions,” the SouthEastern Illinois Electrical Cooperative wrote in a recent letter. “In the event that this happens, your Cooperative would be directed to disconnect a portion of the load in order to prevent an electric grid failure.”
Amid possible shortfalls, some Michigan firms have called on consumers to tell officials to keep power companies online.
“We need your help to keep the lights on in Michigan this summer and beyond,” Thumb Electric Cooperative General Manager Dallas Braun wrote on Facebook in a recent post. “Electric reliability is at risk today and demand is projected to grow. As soon as this WEEK Michigan regulators are considering closing down more power plants in Michigan. Please join ME in telling them that reliability matters and that they shouldn’t prematurely close these plants.”
Meanwhile, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO) seasonal assessment said that Michigan could face power shortages this year, according to JT Smith, MISO’s executive director, in media interviews last month and in May.
His group’s seasonal assessment warned that “capacity shortfalls in both the north and central regions of MISO and leaving those areas at increased risk of temporary, controlled outages to preserve the integrity of the bulk electric system,” Smith told NPR.
MISO, meanwhile, will take steps to implement controlled power outages across Michigan. That’s a step the operator has never taken before, it said.
Huh? EU Suddenly Declares Natural Gas, Nuclear To Be ‘Climate Friendly’
The European Parliament on Wednesday voted not to block a proposed rule that would designate gas and nuclear power plants as “climate-friendly.” The rule will take effect unless 20 of the European Union’s (EU) 27 member states band together to stop it.
The EU keeps a “taxonomy,” or rulebook, that designates which types of energy investment can be labeled “green.” The terminology is considered valuable for marketing purposes and to attract investors looking for climate-friendly projects. “Green” projects are also eligible for favorable government loans, and even outright government subsidies.
The taxonomy is supposed to prevent “greenwashing,” loosely defined as falsely claiming a project is climate-friendly, although radical Greens derisively use the term for every enterprise they deem insufficiently pure.
The law approved 328-278 by the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday will add numerous natural gas and nuclear energy projects to the taxonomy, beginning next year.
Environmentalists denounced the move, and demonstrated outside the European Parliament to show their displeasure, because they are unalterably hostile to nuclear power, no matter how “clean” it might be.
“It’s dirty politics and it’s an outrageous outcome to label gas and nuclear as green and keep more money flowing to Putin’s war chest, but now we will fight this in the courts,” howled Greenpeace EU’s Ariadna Rodrigo.
As the Associated Press pointed out, nuclear power is unquestionably “clean” and “climate-friendly” by any scientific definitions of the terms, as it produces no carbon emissions. Green purists insist nuclear power is too risky to play a major role in achieving “carbon neutrality.”
Liquid natural gas (LNG) is also climate-friendly by any rational definition, producing roughly 30 percent less carbon dioxide than fuel oil and 45 percent less than coal, plus dramatically reduced or zero emissions of other compounds thought to be harmful to the environment. Greens despise LNG because it is a “fossil fuel.”
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Foreign Investors Control a State-sized Portion of US Agricultural Land
Multiple foreign countries and investment groups have been quietly acquiring land designated for agriculture in the United States over the past decade.
Foreign interests presently control 37.6 million acres of pasture, timber, and farmland.
This amounts to an area roughly the size of Iowa, or Illinois.
Holdings of U.S. agricultural land by foreign investors grew 55 percent in a 10-year stretch, from 24.2 million acres controlled by outside nations and businesses in 2010.
Much of this surge has been attributed to foreign-owned wind companies using a significant amount of land, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
During the early days of the pandemic, as businesses and homes shut their doors, this number increased 2.4 million acres from 2019 to 2020.
Russia, Iran, China, and Mexico are listed as owners of U.S. farmland, according to a November 2021 congressional report.
However, businesses in Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom are the countries with the most extensive land holdings in America.
Canadian interests represent 10.4 million acres, the Netherlands has 4.8 million, and Italy holds 2.5 million.
Mexico has a spot on the top 10 list with U.S. agricultural land ownership listed at 700,000 acres.
Further, two of the world’s largest offshore banking hubs—the Cayman Islands and Switzerland—own 600,000 acres each.
The trifecta of investors—China, Russia, and Iran—owns a combined 200,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land, with China being the largest owner at an estimated 192,000 acres.
Make a Compost Bin from a Trash Can
Flies, stray pets, and rats are attracted to compost piles
like mosquitoes to murky water . . . especially when the
rotting heap in question contains raw garbage. Fortunately,
we’ve never had a rat problem, but we used to be
troubled by all other kinds of pests whenever we put
kitchen wastes on our compost pile.
The heap itself consisted mainly of dried vegetation and
aged manure that’d been run through our shredder-grinder to
speed decomposition. And these
wastes–alone–didn’t draw many pests. Any time
we put fresh garbage on the mound, however, we
soon saw our backyard invaded by cats, dogs, and flies …
and the vastly increased “earthy” smell wrinkled our
neighbors’ noses.
At first, we attempted to remedy the situation by putting a
fence around the compost pile. This discouraged a few of
the smaller dogs in the neighborhood … but it did nothing
to eliminate the other pests (let alone the pungent odor).
We also tried burying the garbage in the pile … a
technique that took care of the flies, cats, and wrinkled
noses (and all but the hungriest hounds). I wasn’t fond of
having to dig into the compost every time I wanted to dump
my garbage, though, and the fence we’d erected earlier
didn’t make my shoveling any easier.
And then we visited my husband’s Uncle Byron (who happens
to be an avid organic gardener with more years of
experience than I have fingers and toes). And Uncle Byron
showed us how he turned garbage into fertilizer without
attracting vermin: He simply loaded his refuse into either
of two bottomless galvanized-steel trash cans which he’d
buried upright in the ground (only the tops of the cans
were visible).
“All I have to do is put my garbage in one trash can until
it begins to fill up,” Uncle Byron explained, “which
usually takes a few months. Then I start putting garbage in
the second barrel. By the time that container’s
full, the material in the first can has been converted to
compost and is ready to be used in the garden.”
Uncle Byron showed us the contents of the two buried trash
receptacles. One was filled with what looked–and
smelled–like fresh household garbage … while the
other contained beautiful, rich, humus-like material. Not
far away was a compost pile which–my husband’s uncle
told us–contained “digested refuse” from the second
can. It was completely pest- and odor-free.
Needless to say, when I got home I was anxious to try Uncle
Byron’s “double barrel” approach to composting. First, I
rounded up a pair of trash cans and made an opening in the
bottom of each. (The best way to do this is to have a
welder cut the entire bottom out with a torch.
Alternatively, several large punctures will suffice for
drainage purposes.) Then I buried the two barrels in the
ground, leaving just enough of their rims showing so that I
could fit snug lids on them (see photograph). And without
further adieu, I began to empty my kitchen garbage into one
of the two steel compost “Pits”.
The virtues of the new system were immediately apparent.
Cats, dogs, and flies were shut out … while odors were
shut in. At last, no more pests! Maggots did
appear once–after we put fish innards in the
can–but the heat generated by natural biodegradation
killed off the little varmints before they could develop
into adult flies. (Various “trash can” insecticides exist,
but I can see nothing to recommend them. And besides, even
though Maggots ARE repulsive I don’t mind them spending
their short lives working the soil in my subterranean
composter!)
It seemed like forever (actually, it was four months)
before that first small can was completely full. The
container might be brimming with garbage one day … and it
might be down to a third of that amount a few days later.
(in hot weather, the wastes seemed to “melt” like ice.)
Finally–when the barrel was nearly filled to
capacity, and stayed there–I mixed in a shovelful of
manure to help speed decomposition … then I closed the
lid tight and let nature take its course.
In the meantime, I started dumping garbage into the second
can. And–Sure enough–long before it was full,
the first container’s contents had turned into rich, black
compost, ready to be spread on the garden or used to
top-dress our flowering plants.
A bonus we hadn’t counted on, by the way, was
earthworms. The little squirmers were attracted to
the barrels in droves and–after coming in through the
openings in the cans’ bottoms–kept themselves busy
working the rotted garbage into a black, meal-like
fertilizer (which proved, once again, that worms are every
bit as much a blessing to gardeners as to fishermen).
We’re happy to report–thanks to our “underground
composter “–that we no longer have any problem with
pests, our neighbors never look at us with wrinkled noses
anymore, and we now have a garbage disposal that’ll never
choke on a bone or add a cent to our utility bill!
8 Items You Should Never Put in Your Compost Bin
Composting is a simple way to turn your kitchen and yard wastes into something useful for your garden. But not all of these materials are equally good to compost for one reason or another. For example, some food wastes will create an odor that may attract pests. And certain yard wastes can slow down or halt the decomposition process, which can be frustrating. Plus, you don’t want to add anything that could harm you or your plants when you use the finished compost in your garden. Here’s what you definitely should leave out of your compost bin, along with a few household wastes that you probably didn’t know you could compost.
What NOT to Compost
While there are a few materials such as onion scraps, citrus peels, egg shells, and stale bread that are best added only in small amounts, the following items should never be put in your compost bin.
- Meat and Fish Scraps
That fishy stench of old seafood or the fetid smell of rotting meat are foul smells, to be sure. But the same repulsive scents are magnets for skunks, raccoons, rats, flies, and a lot of other wild critters, and even for a few neighborhood pets. So if you don’t want to provide a picnic for your local fauna, never put meat, fish, or bones in your compost pile. Even if you have a closed compost bin, the scent may draw unwanted pests to the area.
- Dairy, Fats, and Oils
Dairy products such as cheese, butter, milk, sour cream, and yogurt, as well as fats and oils, should be avoided for the same reason; they attract unwanted visitors. Processed foods that contain a lot of dairy or fat should also be left out.
- Plants or Wood Treated with Pesticides or Preservatives
Never add any plants that have been treated with insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides to the compost pile. The residue of chemicals used in the garden to kill insects and control plant diseases can unintentionally kill the beneficial composting organisms. Residue from herbicides may affect plants in the garden after the compost is added. The same applies to wood that has been pressure treated, painted, stained, or varnished.
- Black Walnut Tree Debris
Most untreated garden and yard waste makes a fine addition to your compost pile, but there are exceptions. Black walnut leaves, twigs, and especially the roots contain a natural substance called juglone that stunts the growth of many plants and may even kill them. Certain plants seem more sensitive, including edible crops such as tomato, pepper, and potato, and ornamentals such as azalea, viburnum, hydrangea. With enough time and heat, research has found that juglone breaks down enough to lose its toxicity, but it’s better to leave out black walnut debris than deal with potential problems later on.
- Diseased or Insect-Infested Plants
It takes a hot compost pile (one that reaches and maintains a temperature of 141°F to 145°F for at least several days) to kill insects and disease pathogen such as fungi and bacteria. However, most home compost bins and piles never reach such high temperatures, so it’s possible for pests and diseases to survive in them.
- Weeds that Have Gone to Seed
The same applies to weeds that have developed seeds, which generally can survive unless compost temperatures reach 145°F. There’s no sense in sowing next year’s weed crop while spreading your finished compost.
- Charcoal Ash
Although you can add ashes from your wood-burning fireplace or outdoor fire pit (in limited quantities) to your compost bin, you should skip coal and charcoal ash. First of all, these materials contain lots of sulfur, which can make your finished compost too acidic for most plants. Secondly, charcoal briquettes are often infused with chemicals that can harm plants when you add the compost to your garden.
- Dog or Cat Waste
Dog and cat poop never should go in your compost pile. They can turn the end product into hazardous waste, because both cats and dogs can carry bacteria and parasites that cause human disease. Roundworms are the most common issue with dog poop. Cat feces and cat litter are an even greater concern because they can carry the organism that causes toxoplasmosis, a disease of particular concern to pregnant women because it can cause serious injury to an unborn child.
Surprising Things You Can Compost
Now you know the don’ts to avoid, but there are also plenty of waste products you can add to your compost bin that you probably never thought of. However, only add the following items if they are free of any of the aforementioned no-nos.
- Hair and fur
- Dryer lint
- Aquarium plants
- Home brewing wastes (spent hops and malt)
- Used paper napkins and paper towels
- Old herbs and spices
- Unpopped or burned popcorn
- Cardboard and paper plates (small pieces, uncoated)
- Wooden chopsticks and toothpicks
What is worm composting?
Worm composting is using worms to recycle food scraps and other organic material into a valuable soil amendment called vermicompost, or worm compost. Worms eat food scraps, which become compost as they pass through the worm’s body. Compost exits the worm through its’ tail end. This compost can then be used to grow plants. To understand why vermicompost is good for plants, remember that the worms are eating nutrient-rich fruit and vegetable scraps, and turning them into nutrient-rich compost.
Materials to use (and avoid) in a classroom worm bin
For millions of years, worms have been hard at work breaking down organic materials and returning nutrients to the soil. By bringing a worm bin into the classroom, you are simulating the worm’s role in nature. Though worms could eat any organic material, certain foods are better for the classroom worm bin.
We recommend using only raw fruit and vegetable scraps. Stay away from meats, oils and dairy products, which are more complex materials than fruits and vegetables. Thus, they take longer to break down and can attract pests. Cooked foods are often oily or buttery, which can also attract pests.
Avoid orange rinds and other citrus fruits, which are too acidic, and can attract fruit flies. Try to use a variety of materials. We have found the more vegetable matter, the better the worm bin. Stay away from onions and broccoli which tend to have a strong odor.
Setting up a worm bin
Setting up a worm bin is easy. All you need is a box, moist newspaper strips, and worms. To figure out how to set up a worm bin, first consider what worms need to live. If your bin provides what worms need, then it will be successful. Worms need moisture, air, food, darkness, and warm (but not hot) temperatures. Bedding, made of newspaper strips or leaves, will hold moisture and contain air spaces essential to worms.
You should use red worms or red wigglers in the worm bin, which can be ordered from a worm farm and mailed to your school. The scientific name for the two commonly used red worms are Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus rubellus.
Containers
When choosing a container in which to compost with worms, you should keep in mind the amount of food scraps you wish to compost, and where the bin will be located. A good size bin for the classroom is a 5- to 10- gallon box or approximately 24″ X 18″ X 8″. The box should be shallow rather than deep, as red wigglers are surface-dwellers and prefer to live in the top 6″ of the soil..
Whether you choose a plastic, wooden or glass container to use as a worm bin is a matter of personal preference based primarily on what is available. Some teachers have extra aquariums available. Some have wooden boxes which they would like to reuse. Others may prefer to buy or reuse a plastic container, such as commercially manufactured storage bin (e.g. “Rubbermaid,” “Tucker,” “Sterilite”).
No matter what material you choose, make sure to rinse out the container before using. For wooden bins, line the bottom with plastic (e.g. from a plastic bag or old shower curtain). Cover the bin with a loose fitting lid. This lid should allow air into the bin.
Harvesting
If you take care of your worms and create a favorable environment for them, they will work tirelessly to eat your “garbage” and produce compost. As time progresses, you will notice less and less bedding and more and more compost in your bin. After 3-5 months, when your bin is filled with compost (and very little bedding), it is time to harvest the bin. Harvesting means removing the finished compost from the bin. After several months, worms need to be separated from their castings which, at high concentrations, create an unhealthy environment for them.
To prepare for harvesting, do not add new food to the bin for two weeks. Then try one of two methods for harvesting:
Push all of the worm bin contents to one half of the bin, removing any large pieces of undecomposed food or newspaper. Put fresh bedding and food scraps in empty side of bin. Continue burying food scraps only in freshly bedded half.
Over the next 2-3 weeks, the worms will move over to the new side (where the food is), conveniently leaving their compost behind in one section. When this has happened, remove the compost and replace it with fresh bedding. To facilitate worm migration, cover only the new side of the bin, causing the old side to dry out and encouraging the worms to leave the old side.
Hands-On Method:
Dump the entire contents of the worm bin onto a sheet of plastic or paper. Make several individual cone-shaped piles. Each pile will contain worms, compost and undecomposed food and bedding. As the piles are exposed to light,, the worms will migrate towards the bottom of the pile. Remove the top layer of compost from the pile, separating out pieces of undecomposed food and newspaper. After removing the top layer, let pile sit under light for 2-3 minutes as the worms migrate down. Then remove the next layer of compost. Repeat this process until all of the worms are left at the bottom of the pile. Collect the worms, weigh them (for your record keeping) and put them back in their bin with fresh bedding.
Regardless of which method you choose, the compost you harvest will most likely contain a worm or two, along with old food scraps and bedding. If you are using the compost outdoors, there is no need to worry–the worms will find a happy home and the food scraps and bedding will eventually decompose. If you are using the compost indoors, you may want to remove old bedding and food scraps for aesthetic purposes and ensure that there are no worms in the compost. Though the worms will not harm your plants, the worms may not like living in a small pot.
For both methods, you may continue to compost your food scraps after harvesting. Just add fresh bedding and food scraps. If, for some reason, you do not want to continue composting, please offer the setup to another teacher or to someone who will take the worm bin home. Anyone with a garden will find the worm compost extremely valuable. As a last resort, if you cannot find anyone who wants good worm compost, you may add the worms to a garden bed.
Using worm compost
You can use your compost immediately, or you can store it and use it during the gardening season, or whenever. The compost can be directly mixed with your potting soil or garden soil as a soil amendment, which helps make nutrients available to plants. Or, the compost can be used as a top dressing for your indoor or outdoor plants.
You can also make “compost tea” with your compost. Simply add 1-2″ of compost to your water can or rain barrel. Allow compost and water to “steep” for a day, mixing occasionally. Then water plants as you normally would. The resulting “tea” helps make nutrients already in the soil available to plants.
Biology of worms
Worms can live for about one year in the worm bin. If a worm dies in your bin, you probably will not notice it. Since the worm’s body is about 90% water, it will shrivel up and become part of the compost rather quickly. New worms are born and others die all the time.
Worms are hermaphrodites, which means they are both male and female at the same time. In order to mate, they still require two worms. The worms line up in opposite directions near their band (or clitellum), which contains some of the sexual organs. The worms are attached for about 15 minutes while they exchange sperm cells. Several days later, eggs come in contact with the sperm cells and form a cocoon, or egg case. The cocoon separates from the worm, then fertilization takes place. Inside the cocoon, 2-5 baby worms may be found.
The baby worms live in the egg case for at least 3 weeks, sometimes longer depending on the surrounding conditions. For example, in the winter time, baby worms may stay in the cocoon for many weeks until the temperature warms up again. When the baby worms eventually crawl out, they are the thickness of a piece of thread and possibly 1 cm 1/4″ long. Usually the worms appear white, as they have not yet developed pigmentation, or do not have enough pigmentation (or blood) to be seen.
Successful vermicompost projects
Many schools have been successfully composting with worms over the past few years. Some elementary school classes keep worm bins as part of an environmental unit, others for science. In most cases, teachers find a variety of multidisciplinary ways to use a worm bin. For example, one class called their room the “Worm World.” Writing assignments, math lessons and art work focused on worms as a theme.
COVID RELATED NEWS
How Vaccine Trials Routinely Rig the Results
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has adopted a “Future Framework” scheme that will allow Pfizer and Moderna to reformulate and release updated COVID shots without conducting any additional clinical trials
This Framework will allow completely untested, reformulated COVID injections to be churned out; the elimination of clinical trial requirements may also, over time, be expanded to other vaccines and drugs
The “Future Framework” will almost certainly guarantee that future COVID shots be less effective and/or more dangerous, because adding more mRNA (to cover more variants) will result in higher adverse event rates, and less mRNA per variant will lower the effectiveness
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of examples of how vaccine trials are being rigged, and that the “Future Framework” is an extreme expansion and formalization of that rigging
Not recording injuries, or recording them improperly, are a common tactic used to fudge results and make a vaccine appear safer than it is. Another common strategy is to exclude any parameter that turns out to be problematic, and that includes participants who are injured. Because this is such a common trick, the fact that 3,000 of the 4,526 children (aged 6 months through 4 years) enrolled in Pfizer’s pediatric COVID trial were excluded is a huge red flag
Defending Truth and Freedom for 40 Years (video)
The 19th century book, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens opens with these words:1
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …”
He could have been describing the culture wars deconstructing social orders and threatening liberty in this and other countries around the world today. Dickens was talking about Europe just before the French Revolution, which followed the American Revolution that led to the founding of the United States of America, a coalition of independent states united in a constitutional republic that democratically elects representatives to govern the people.
Signed by the founders of the 13 original states, every year July 4 marks the Declaration of Independence from British rule by those states in 1776.2
At the National Vaccine Information Center, this July 4, 2022 we joined with people all across America in honor of those who bravely fought to make liberty a foundational value in America. This was NVIC’s 40th Independence Day.
CANCEL CULTURE
Elon Musk Queries Journalist Over Allegations of Government-Driven Censorship on Twitter
Elon Musk has called on an independent journalist to provide information on how the U.S. government is allegedly pressuring Twitter to suspend the journalist’s account for posting anti-vaccination content.
Musk asked Substack writer, Alex Berenson, in a July 6 post on Twitter, about Berenson’s allegation that the U.S. government had pressured Twitter to censor him for posting his opinion questioning the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Can you say more about this: ‘… pressures that the government may have placed on Twitter …’,” Musk said, referencing Berenson’s blog post about being suspended by Twitter.
“I wish I could,” Berenson said minutes later, responding to Musk, “but the settlement with [Twitter] prevents me from doing so. However, in the near future I hope and expect to have more to report.”
Berenson’s Twitter account was reinstated on July 6 after the social media platform “permanently” banned him over purportedly violating its COVID “misinformation” policy. This follows Berenson filing a lawsuit against Twitter in April.
In a blog post published July 6, Berenson elaborated that despite his inability to discuss his case now, he will be able to disclose further “in the near future.”
“You know what it took Twitter to admit it shouldn’t have done what it did? You do not, and I can’t tell you, because the statement is all I can say about the settlement,” Berenson wrote.
“The settlement does not end my investigation into the pressures that the government may have placed on Twitter to suspend my account. I will have more to say on that issue in the near future,” he wrote.
“I made a promise to readers last month, and I take my promises to readers seriously.”
PET NEWS
dogsforbetterlives.org – PROVIDING ASSISTANCE DOGS TO PEOPLE ACROSS THE NATION SINCE 1977
Science confirms it: The more dogs in your neighborhood, the safer it’ll be
Is there anything that dogs can’t improve? They make us healthier, happier and even more attractive. That’s right. If you have a photo with your dog in a dating profile, people are more likely to swipe right.
Now, a new study reported by Ohio State News shows that having more dogs in your neighborhood can make you safer by lowering the overall crime rate.
The study, conducted by sociologists at Ohio State, was recently published in the journal Social Forces.
According to researchers, dog-walking isn’t just about getting exercise—it makes us all security guards whether we know it or not.
“People walking their dogs are essentially patrolling their neighborhoods,” Nicolo Pinchak, lead author of the study, told Ohio State News. “They see when things are not right, and when there are suspect outsiders in the area. It can be a crime deterrent.”
More Stories
Today’s News: April 25, 2024
Today’s News: April 24, 2024
Today’s News: April 23, 2024