March 29, 2024

The Power Hour

Knowledge is Power

Today’s News: July 11, 2022

WORLD NEWS

An Increasingly Hungry World: 8 Key Takeaways From The Food Inflation And Security Symposium

Morgan Stanley recently held a virtual Food Inflation & Security Symposium, in which the bank discussed a wide range of topics with experts from around the world. The Symposium followed the publication of the bank’s global collaborative note that involved over 30 Morgan Stanley analysts, entitled “Food Security & Inflation: From Seeds to Stores” (the note is available to professional subs).

Below we summarize the bank’s key takeaways and variables that will drive future food prices, along with associated impacts to businesses and geopolitics.

  1. The majority view among experts and executives broadly matched Morgan Stanley’s view that food prices will likely reach a peak in 2022, a view that is below consensus among investors and below forward commodity prices. That said, there was significant discussion during multiple Symposium sessions around the magnitude of variables that could impact pricing, variables that are challenging to predict. For example, a chemical company executive viewed potash prices as likely to have already hit a peak, but the executive also believed that potash prices would remain high, representing a disconnect from prior periods of much lower fertilizer prices. Other experts pointed out the magnitude of impacts to food prices from crucially important (and challenging to predict) variables such as weather (especially in South America over the next several months), energy prices and geopolitics (and many speakers highlighted how closely these last two variables are linked).
  2. Regarding the outlook for grain prices, with fertilizer prices declining, farmers are still investing sufficiently to drive strong yields, which supports the bank’s view that grain prices will peak in 2022. That said, weather could take the world to Morgan Stanley’s high price case on grains, especially as the odds of a third consecutive La Niña are increasing (last time this happened was in 2001), and soil in Brazil and Argentina is already dry. This could be disruptive to inventories in the next year and has become a key concern. Market players are less worried about USA weather and crops, and in their views yields should be good, bringing more inventories and relief to short-term prices. Market players believe export restrictions generate short-term stress but gradually fade away, and were not overly concerned about the impacts of the reduction in Ukrainian supply.
  3. Protein prices, especially beef, could continue to rise, a dynamic that MS analyst, Ricardo Alves, has emphasized in recent reports including. The quote from Ricardo’s recent “Beef Super Cycle” report that has resonated with many investors: “Our in-depth supply & demand analysis shows that there’s just not enough beef in the world right now.” Beef is the most expensive protein, so of course demand is related to trade-down issues (pork and chicken relations), but there are multiple trends that favor strong continued demand for beef (e.g. China with gradual urbanization process, higher income per capita, higher and gradual penetration of beef).
  4. Impacts to “downstream” industries: packaged Food companies are likely to face increasing retailer pushback to higher pricing as the leverage is shifting from suppliers to retailers. For many “downstream” industries such as Packaged Food producers, Morgan Stanley’s base case food price estimates would be in-line to modestly bullish (in the sense that margin impacts from higher food prices may be somewhat overdone among the investor community). While input cost pressures are likely to moderate, consumers’ increasing focus on value when food shopping and greater retailer pushback to higher pricing can weigh on packaged food companies’ topline outlook. The expert discussion highlighted that retailers’ increasing focus on costs and offering consumers value should lead to tougher price negotiations.
  5. Geopolitical issues may continue to pressure existing food supply chains, with no easy short term fix. NATO recently stated the probability of the Russia/Ukraine conflict turning into a years-long war and under such conditions, it would be difficult to envision stable supply chain and trade corridors that could be established for agricultural commodities in the Ukraine. Similarly it’s difficult to envision sanctions on Russia being lifted, which should continue to create friction for their food exports. As Morgan Stanley details in its recent Blue Paper, the food issue is part of a larger secular challenge to supply chains from geopolitical issues. The twin trends of Slowbalization and the move to a ‘Multipolar World’ are forcing a rewiring of the global economy, where companies will out of necessity for supply chain security and public policy compliance invest in geographical diversification of supply chains. These transitions can be costly and have unintended consequences as they evolve. They also drive opportunities for the companies and countries that will be called on to build and house new supply chains.
  6. The impacts of elevated food prices are dramatically different at the national level, with some countries benefiting (such as Argentina and Brazil), while other countries are likely to experience multiple negative impacts. For instance, countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen rely on food aid while not having offsetting oil revenues. Only Nigeria has oil revenues to offset food costs. While food prices are down from recent record highs, prices are still higher than any time since 1974. The ranks of deeply food import-dependent countries are growing. In the United States, programs such as food stamps and school meal programs impact tens of millions of Americans. Though inflation-based indexing and maximum benefit policies have been put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the shift back to pre-Covid policies is poised to significantly impact everyone receiving benefits from any one of 18 programs. Sizing it up, the 18 programs grew from $50b to $150b in program size during Covid. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) alone is $100b. Every three months, the US HHS must extend the Public Health Emergency designation, currently in place through August this year. HHS has indicated that it would give the states a two-month notice prior to expiration. Seven states have already come off the public health emergency, and once it is over, a state may step in to offset a reduction in benefits. However, the amount of government assistance that goes away is likely to be stark. A silver lining would be if the loss of maximum benefits creates a sufficient incentive to increase labor force participation.
  7. The biggest game-changer for AgTech in the last 5 years has not been new innovation so much as cheap computing power. Technology is no longer a nice-to-have but rather a must-have. New technologies from drones to precision fertilizers can deliver 7-15% returns improvements within year one; importantly agnostic to the size of fields which had always been a limiting factor for smaller landowners. However, the biggest challenge at the moment remains sourcing labor. While automation tools are available, there is no expeditious solution in current markets.
  8. Sustainability implications are complex and require a nuanced approach from investors. ESG must address both food security and sustainable approaches to food production, which in some instances, have a complicated relationship. In the current backdrop, historic parallels of food-related social unrest emphasize the social considerations of economically producing sufficient amounts of food. Long-term, however, unsustainable farming practices contribute to climate change, a key structural risk to food security. According to MS panelists, investors should “realistically” approach solutions that have no agreed upon definition from a sustainability perspective – such as gene editing. Investors should also recognize farmers are often too “risk saturated” to realize potentially lower yields from a shift toward regenerative farming practices. As a result, corporates that are dependent on farmers, a critical and climate-vulnerable part of the supply chain, should consider supporting the industry’s transition by absorbing some of this risk.

Canadian mRNA expert SUSPENDED for criticizing COVID vaccine for children

A Canadian expert in messenger RNA (mRNA) was suspended for two months without pay for criticizing the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine for children. Dr. Patrick Provost, microbiology and immunology professor at the Université Laval (ULaval) in Quebec province, was punished for remarks he made in front of a panel of doctors and scientists back in December 2021. He said that the risks of injecting children with an experimental gene-altering mRNA COVID shot outweigh the potential benefits. His remarks were not without basis as he studies mRNA in his own laboratory as part of his position at the university. “Being censored for doing what I’ve been trained to do – and hired to do – well, it’s hard to believe,” said Provost. “I had some concerns about something, [so] I searched the literature, I prepared a speech [and] delivered it to the public. The professor only learned on June 14 that ULaval was suspending him for eight weeks without pay. “We need to be allowed to question again,” Provost remarked. “We should be able to discuss any ideas [and] any opinions. Because I express opinions against the narrative of the government, I was suspended.” Provost was not the only academic who was punished for standing up against COVID-19 vaccines for children. ULaval also suspended biology professor Nicolas Derome for bringing up his concerns about the shots back in November 2021. Simon Viviers, vice president of ULaval’s faculty union, said a grievance against the “attack on academic freedom” had been filed. He added that the penalties on Provost and Derome will make other professors think twice about making public comments on certain issues. “To allow [a university] to judge the validity of the comments made by a university professor in public and to sanction him in this manner is extremely problematic,” he commented. “It could really have a dissuasive effect [and] even lead to self-censorship.”

The Shocking Truth About the Global Depopulation Agenda

“Infertility: A Diabolical Agenda,” produced by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and Children’s Health Defense, details the World Health Organization’s intentions to produce an anti-fertility vaccine in response to perceived overpopulation, and how such vaccines have been used — without people’s knowledge or consent — since the mid-’90s

The WHO has been caught more than once deliberately deceiving women into thinking they were vaccinated against tetanus, when in fact they were being sterilized

The film clearly illustrates the depopulation agenda is not a conspiracy theory. It’s reality, and it’s happening worldwide. The HPV vaccine and the COVID shots also have adverse impacts on fertility that are being ignored

In the decade after the rollout of the HPV vaccine, the teen pregnancy rate dropped by 50%

While VAERS is the only publicly available system to assess COVID jab injuries, the U.S. government has at least 10 other reporting systems they’re not sharing data from. Children’s Health Defense is filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the other systems to get a better idea of the scale of harms, but VAERS and anecdotal reports alone suggest the scale of injuries and deaths is enormous. Data from insurance companies around the world also confirm this

Chinese Bank Run Turns Violent After Angry Crowd Storms Bank of China Branch Over Frozen Deposits

While the world of high, and not so high finance, is obsessing over the volatility of cryptos and recent painful losses for overlevered players who – much to the amazement of plain vanilla equity investors – were not bailed out by a magnanimous Fed (which, however, only rescues stock markets, not cryptos), things in China with its $54 trillion financial system, or more than double the size of assets across US commercial banks, are once again getting heated.

As Reuters reports, a large crowd of angry Chinese bank depositors faced off with police Sunday in the city of Zhengzhou, and many were injured as they were taken away, amid the freezing of their deposits by some rural-based banks.

The banks froze millions of dollars worth of deposits in April, telling customers they were upgrading their internal systems. The banks have not issued any communication on the matter since, depositors said.

According to Chinese media the frozen deposits across the various local banks could be worth up to $1.5 billion and authorities are investigating the three banks.

On Sunday, about 1,000 people gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of China’s central bank on Sunday to demand action; they held up banners and chanted slogans on the wide steps of the entrance to a branch of China’s central bank in the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province, about 620 kilometers (380 miles) southwest of Beijing.

The protesters are among thousands of customers who opened accounts at six rural banks in Henan and neighboring Anhui province that offered higher interest rates. They later found they could not withdraw their funds after media reports that the head of the banks’ parent company was on the run and wanted for financial crimes.

Videos and photographs on social media showed depositors waving banners and throwing plastic bottles at approaching security guards who then roughly dragged some of the protesters away.

‘We Are Not Slaves’: European Farmers Protest Against Green Regs Decimating Food Production

Farmers have staged uprisings across Europe, following the example of Dutch farmers who are fighting against climate policy that could cripple the local agricultural industry, according to multiple reports.

German farmers blocked roads on the Netherlands’ border to protest on July 6, Farmers Weekly reported. The farmers are allegedly advocating against an amendment introduced in the German parliament to increase reliance on renewable energy sources to 100% by 2025, according to Reuters, but would curb biogas production, the Deep Dive reported.

“It is completely incomprehensible that in the middle of this far-reaching energy crisis, a sustainable domestic energy source such as biogas is being curbed in the production of electricity, heat, and biomethane,” Bernhard Krüsken, secretary-general of the German Farmers’ Association, told the Deep Dive.

Protests accelerated across Europe after over 40,000 Dutch farmers staged an uprising in response a policy to cut livestock-related emissions by 50% by 2030 that could put a third of ranchers out of business.

U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Steve Bannon Tells Jan. 6 Committee He Wants to Testify in Public

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon agreed on July 10 to testify in front of the House Jan. 6 Committee after he received a letter from former President Donald Trump telling him that Trump will waive executive privilege.

Bannon, who’s slated to go on trial for criminal contempt charges in July for defying a previous subpoena by the panel, said he wanted to testify in public, according to a letter from his lawyer, Bob Costello.

“While Mr. Bannon has been steadfast in his convictions, circumstances have now changed,” Costello wrote in the letter, according to numerous media outlets. “Mr. Bannon is willing to, and indeed prefers, to testify at your public hearing.”

Trump told Bannon that he would waive his executive privilege. Previously, Bannon’s lawyers have said that he wouldn’t respond to the panel’s subpoenas because of the privilege.

“When you first received the Subpoena to testify and provide documents, I invoked Executive Privilege. However, I watched how unfairly you and others have been treated, having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your Country, and out of respect for the Office of the President,” Trump wrote in his letter.

“Therefore, if you reach an agreement on a time and place for your testimony, I will waive Executive Privilege for you, which allows you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly.”

A member of the House panel, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), told CNN on July 10 that the committee received Bannon’s letter. But Lofgren suggested that the panel won’t have Bannon testify in public.

“Ordinarily, we do depositions. This goes on for hour after hour after hour. We want to get all our questions answered. And you can’t do that in a live format,” Lofgren said.

For not complying with Congress’s subpoenas, Bannon—the former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News—faced two contempt charges. Federal prosecutors have denied his argument that he has executive privilege and said Bannon wasn’t working for the White House during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

Both counts are misdemeanors and carry a minimum of 30 days to a maximum of 1 year in jail, as well as fines of $100 to $1,000, according to the Department of Justice.

In November, Bannon surrendered to the FBI and told reporters at the scene: “We’re taking down the Biden regime. … I want you guys to stay focused, stay on message. Remember signal, not noise.”

His trial is scheduled to start on July 18.

Biden’s Selling of Oil From Reserve to Hunter Biden-Tied Chinese Firm ‘Impeachable’: Republicans

The Biden administration’s move to sell nearly 1 million barrels of oil reserves to China “defies all common sense” and is benefiting U.S. adversaries at the cost of national interests, said Republican lawmakers, with some calling the action “impeachable.”

The Department of Energy in April sold 950,000 barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Unipec America, the U.S. arm of China’s largest trading company Unipec, which is wholly owned by China Petrochemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec.

Sinopec is a state-run Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing that has been tied to President Joe Biden’s second son, Hunter Biden, whose foreign business transactions have fueled growing scrutiny.

The sale, though little noticed at the time, is drawing heavy backlash from Republican lawmakers. As the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the world’s largest emergency supply of crude oil, tank to a historic low while Americans nationwide feel the pinch of soaring gas and diesel prices, such a move runs counter to American interests and is putting national security at risk, the officials said.

“The Biden Administration should not be sending our reserves, which we need for our country, to China. It is foolish and defies all common sense,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who in June introduced a bill to ban oil export to China, told The Epoch Times.

Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Mike Loychik (R-Ohio) described the Biden administration’s sale of oil to China as “impeachable.”

“While you are paying FIVE DOLLARS a gallon at the pump and struggling to pay your electricity bill, Biden just sold one million barrels of our reserved oil to China so his family can make a buck. This is impeachable,” Nehls said on Twitter.

Another White House Official Is Leaving Biden Administration

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield is stepping down from her position, according to the Biden administration’s chief of staff.

In a statement released on July 6, the White House said that Bedingfield has “played a huge role” in the administration. The announcement came after a number of legacy news outlets, citing unnamed White House officials, said Bedingfield would depart soon.

“Her strategic acumen, intense devotion to the President’s agenda, and fierce work on his behalf are unmated,” said White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “She will continue to remain a critical player in the Biden agenda forward from the outside.”

Neither Klain nor the unnamed officials provided a reason why Bedingfield is leaving. Meanwhile, she hasn’t made a public comment on the matter.

“In the White House, Bedingfield continued as the President’s top communications aide and was similarly integral to every major public relations effort while leading the White House Communications Department, ensuring that each part of the team was working to deliver the President’s message and advocate for his agenda,” the statement said.

Characterized as a longtime aide to Biden, Bedingfield helped work for his campaign in 2020 before she was hired to work in the White House. According to recent White House disclosures, she was slated to make $180,000 in 2022, one of the highest-paid administration officials.

Several weeks ago, Jen Psaki, President Joe Biden’s first press secretary, left the White House and was replaced by Karine Jean-Pierre. Psaki is reportedly slated to join cable channel MSNBC, according to an announcement earlier this year.

Cedric Richmond, a former congressman from Louisiana, had led Biden’s Office of Public Engagement, but he recently left the White House to work with the Democratic National Committee. He was replaced by former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Anita Dunn, who previously drew criticism for praising Chinese Communist Party tyrant Mao Zedong, recently returned to the White House as a senior adviser on policy issues.

In a statement last week, Dunn told news outlets that Bedingfield “ensured that our message in 2020 and in the White House was consistent with his voice and principles,” and asserted she would “always be a core member of this family, even as she takes a little time to put her own family first.”

Her departure also comes after White House rapid response director Mike Gwin left in June. Gwin is now at the Treasury Department’s public affairs division.

Biden Admin Sends Another $400 Million to Ukraine

The Biden administration on July 8 announced it is sending another $400 million in aid to Ukraine to “meet critical needs for Ukraine’s fight” in the ongoing Ukraine–Russia war.

The money comes from a Presidential Drawdown (PDA) of equipment from the Pentagon’s inventories—the 15th such authorization for Ukraine since August 2021 under the Biden administration.

The latest security aid will be “especially important and effective in assisting Ukraine and coping with the Russian artillery battle” in Ukraine’s Donbas region, a senior defense official told reporters on July 8.

The security assistance package includes four additional High Mobility Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and additional ammunition for the systems. The systems have a range of about 40 miles and allow Ukraine forces the power to strike faraway targets with more accuracy.

The senior defense official told reporters the additional HIMARS would bring the total number of these systems to 12.

“As the United States surged HIMARS systems and the missiles for those systems, that Ukraine has now been successfully striking Russian locations in Ukraine, deeper behind the front lines, and disrupting Russia’s ability to conduct that artillery operation,” he added.

Wisconsin Supreme Court: Ballot Drop Boxes Are Illegal

The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) in two documents in 2020 said drop boxes can not only be utilized, but that they can be unstaffed and permanent. Further, the agency said “a family member or another person” can drop off a ballot on behalf of a voter.

The guidance was problematic because Wisconsin law states that a voter is the only individual who can deliver their ballot, either in person or via mail, a lawsuit filed last year stated.

In the ruling on Friday, a Wisconsin Supreme Court majority agreed.

“We hold the documents are invalid because ballot drop boxes are illegal under Wisconsin statutes,” Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in the majority opinion.  “An absentee ballot must be returned by mail or the voter must personally deliver it to the municipal clerk at the clerk’s office or a designated alternate site.”

The decision upheld a circuit court ruling that concluded an elector must “personally mail” his or her ballot and that there are only two lawful methods for casting an absentee ballot. Those are mailing the ballot and delivering it in person.

“Because WEC’s memos conflict with these statutory directives, they are invalid,” Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote in a concurring opinion.

The memos were promulgated by the WEC in response to questions from local election clerks amid the COVID-9 pandemic.

“This decision provides substantial clarity on the legal status of absentee ballot drop boxes and ballot harvesting. While the question of whether an agent may mail an absentee ballot remains open, Wisconsin voters can have confidence that state law, not guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission, has the final word on how Wisconsin elections are conducted,” Rick Esenberg, president and counsel for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, told The Epoch Times in an email.

Christian Students Receive $800K in Free Speech Lawsuit Ruling

After a prolonged legal battle with the university over violations of their free speech, students Chike Uzuegbunam and Joseph Bradford have been granted a settlement of $800,000.

Georgia Gwinnett College attempted to avoid the legal ramifications of its actions by changing its free speech policies after the incident.

After a prolonged legal battle with Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) over violations of their First Amendment rights, students Chike Uzuegbunam and Joseph Bradford have finally been granted a settlement of $800,000.

The controversy, which eventually made it all the way to the Supreme Court, dates back to the spring of 2016 when GGC officials restricted Uzuegbunam’s efforts to share his evangelical Christian faith on campus.

GGC is a public college that at the time required students to book appointments in one of their two designated free speech zones to speak openly.

Texas GOP Focuses on Election Integrity After Rejecting Biden as President

After a prolonged legal battle with the university over violations of their free speech, students Chike Uzuegbunam and Joseph Bradford have been granted a settlement of $800,000.

Georgia Gwinnett College attempted to avoid the legal ramifications of its actions by changing its free speech policies after the incident.

After a prolonged legal battle with Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) over violations of their First Amendment rights, students Chike Uzuegbunam and Joseph Bradford have finally been granted a settlement of $800,000.

The controversy, which eventually made it all the way to the Supreme Court, dates back to the spring of 2016 when GGC officials restricted Uzuegbunam’s efforts to share his evangelical Christian faith on campus.

Biden Administration Cannot Ignore Federal Law, Must Remove Illegal Alien Criminals: Court

President Joe Biden’s administration cannot ignore federal law that says authorities must arrest, detain, and remove illegal aliens convicted of certain crimes and/or aliens who are ordered deported, an appeals court has ruled.

Federal law says the attorney general “shall take into custody,” “shall detain,” and “shall remove” illegal aliens convicted of certain crimes and aliens who are ordered deported. But the Biden administration has attempted to prevent the holding and removal of some illegal immigrants convicted of those crimes.

“The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen therefore should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a Biden appointee, said in a memorandum in September 2021 outlining new guidance that narrowed immigration enforcement priorities.

Mayorkas also said that immigration agents should not “rely on the fact of conviction … alone” when deciding to take action against an alien.

That has led to a sharp drop in criminal aliens detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said. The memo and others like it has led to a spike in the rescinding of criminal detainers, or orders to local authorities to detain aliens, court documents show. One hundred and seventy aliens had detainers rescinded in Texas between Jan. 20, 2021, and Feb. 15, 2022, with at least 17 failing to comply with their parole conditions and four committing fresh crimes.

“The data show that the Final Memo ‘increases the number of aliens with criminal convictions and aliens with final orders of removal released into the United States,’ and Texas has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the cost of that reality has fallen on it and will continue to do so,’” the panel said in a ruling dated July 6.

DHS is trying “to claim it acts within the bounds of federal law while practically disregarding that law,” it added.

The panel upheld an earlier ruling from U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee who said the policy had resulted in criminal aliens “roam[ing] free” and ordered the department not to follow the memo.

The Biden administration had appealed, arguing that the lower court order should be overturned because the states lack standing, because they have not suffered any injury, and because any injury that the speculative injury was not traceable to the Mayorkas memo. The appeals court panel disagreed.

Fatherless Homes Linked to Mental Illness, Mass Shootings: Author Warren Farrell

Warren Farrell, author of the book “The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It,” has found that being “dad deprived” is a leading factor in males’ increased mental illness, addiction, and suicide.

He links the mass shootings in 53 developed countries to boys and men who lacked a father figure, and he specifically mentioned six mass shootings that have occurred in the United States in the 21st century.

“All six of those mass school shootings that have killed more than 10 people have been done by boys, and all six of them have been done by boys who have been ‘dad deprived,’ from Sandy Hook right on through to the Texas shooting,” Farrell said during a recent interview for EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” program.

Farrell was referring to the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

He said that girls are growing up in the same environment as boys, with access to the same media, video games, and guns and dealing with the same mental health issues, but they aren’t committing any of the shootings.

Farrell has made it a part of his mission to educate lawmakers about the importance of fathers in the lives of children, especially young boys. His efforts have resulted in Florida and Kentucky enacting laws that acknowledge the crucial role of the father, especially in the case of divorce.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a single mother living with her child or children is the second most common living arrangement in the United States, a number that has doubled in the past 50 years.

As of 2020, 21 percent of children, or about 15.3 million, lived with their mother only, compared to 11 percent, or 7.6 million, in 1968.

‘They’re Going to Challenge Us’: Marine Commandant Speaks on China Threat

China’s military would seek to prevent the United States from mobilizing its forces in the Pacific in the event that war broke out between the two countries, according to the highest-ranking officer of the Marine Corps.

“This competition is going to go on for a while, and we’re going to have to figure out a way through it long term,” Gen. David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, said during a talk at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, in Washington on July 7.

US Marine Corps Modernization Efforts

The Marine Corps is currently undertaking a series of dramatic and, at times, controversial changes in its force design as part of an effort to develop advantages against near-peer opponents, such as China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The effort comes after more than 20 years of counter-terrorism operations, in which the corps has often benefited from battlefield superiority in terms of intelligence and materiel.

Berger said the corps “got comfortable” with such operational superiority during the Global War on Terror and needed to relearn how to operate in a truly contested environment in which even seemingly simple logistical efforts could be impeded by malign Chinese operations.

To do that, it would need to balance its funding and training priorities between meeting threats in the present and preparing for those of the future, he said.

“It’s causing us to approach risk in a different way, managing near term and long term,” Berger said. “We could pull everything forward and be absolutely 100 percent focused on this week, [but] mortgage the future or the inverse and not really be worried about this afternoon and just looking down the road.”

Berger noted that Chinese military capability is “on a very different level” than it was just 10 years ago and that the corps’s extant processes “were not designed with that in mind.”

As such, Berger’s efforts to modernize the force have focused on strategically divesting from legacy systems and procuring new platforms needed for extra flexibility in the hopes of being ready for a fight with the Chinese regime by 2030. The new, leaner corps is hoped to be more decentralized and distributed in preparation for a potential conflict in the expansive Indo–Pacific theater.

Rep. Gohmert: ‘Violations of American Rights’ of Jan. 6 Prisoners ‘Mind Blowing’

Jan. 6 prisoner’s fiancé recalls: ‘We were covered head to toe from all directions with red laser dots from their assault rifles’

At a June 15 press conference in Washington, three GOP representatives joined forces with the Patriot Freedom Project and family members of Jan. 6 prisoners to call out the injustice and denial of due process rights for those incarcerated. According to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), the “violations of American rights” is “mind-blowing.”

“We are extremely concerned to see a Department of Justice, not about justice,” Gohmert said at the press conference. “It’s about vengeance. It’s about intimidation and the tactics that we’ve been seeing from this DOJ and the disregard for rights coming out of investigations showing the FBI lied, intel lied. The DOJ lies. It ought to concern every single American.”

“As a former felony judge and chief justice, it’s particularly mind-blowing for me during a time when we should have the most fair courts in our history. We have more violations of American’s rights than even under the Hoover FBI,” Gohmert told The Epoch Times in a June 22 interview. “It’s just incredible. People that have been nominated and confirmed by the Senate as federal judges, granting warrants that don’t specify with any particularity—as the Constitution requires—what they’re for. What’s worse, when they find out they were lied to under oath by DOJ. But they’re not really bothered. They don’t do anything about it. For heaven’s sake. Have respect for your position if you have no respect for yourself.”

Also in attendance were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).

According to Cynthia Hughes, founder of the Patriot Freedom Project, the press conference was “a great day.”

“We finally got some support from people in congress, which we needed,” Hughes told The Epoch Times. “We are feeling powerful and strong.”

Hughes also said she was glad to finally have the opportunity to “personally call out [Rep.] Liz Cheney and know that she could possibly hear about that.”

“Things are finally moving,” Hughes said. “I think we moved the needle. I just looked at representatives and the incredible women around me and I think we felt more hope than we ever have in almost 18 months now. It was a good thing.”

New York Officials Failed to Remove Hundreds of Thousands of Potentially Ineligible Voters: Lawsuit

New York authorities have failed to comply with federal requirements mandating jurisdictions regularly examine voter registrations and remove ineligible voters from voter rolls, according to a new lawsuit.

Just 22 names were removed between January 2016 and December 2021 in a city of over 5.5 million voters, including zero in Richmond County, according to data provided to the nonprofit Judicial Watch.

“These are ludicrously small numbers of removals given the sizable populations of these counties,” the nonprofit says in its 48-page suit, calling it “inconceivable” that authorities were complying with requirements from the National Voter Registration Act and not removing more names.

The law requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” due to deaths or a change in residence.

During the same period of time, Yates County, which has a total population of under 25,000 and just 14,500 voters, removed 1,251 names from its rolls.

Other counties in New York, on average, removed about 9.4 percent of the names on their rolls through the law, according to data Judicial Watch received.

Explosion Reported at Oklahoma Natural Gas Plant, Officials Order Evacuations

Authorities responded to a significant fire at the ONEOK natural gas plant close to Medford, Oklahoma, after an explosion was reported over the weekend.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday called on anyone who lives within a two-mile radius of the plant to evacuate Saturday afternoon. It’s not clear for how long.

“Please avoid any travel into or through Medford on U.S. Highway 81 at this time,” the sheriff’s office wrote, adding that at the time, there was an “active incident” at the ONEOK plant.

The local Deer Creek Volunteer Fire Department said that people should avoid Highway 81 because of “a major fire” at the facility.

The cause of the fire is not known and an investigation is underway.

ONEOK’s operator released a statement that said it is not aware of any injuries at its Medford plant.

“Earlier today there was an incident at ONEOK’s Medford natural gas liquids fractionation facility. All ONEOK personnel are accounted for, and we are unaware of any injuries at this time,” the statement said. “We are cooperating with local emergency responders and appreciate their quick response. Our focus continues working with emergency responders to extinguish the fire and the safety of the surrounding community and our employees.”

Medford is located more than 100 miles north of Oklahoma City. The ONEOK facility is a natural gas liquids fractionation facility.

More Fires

Days before that, an Energy Transfer natural gas transmission pipeline exploded, setting off a two-hour fire in a rural area on the west edge of Houston, according to state and local officials. The blaze was extinguished at about 12:10 p.m. CDT, according to the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and natural gas drilling and energy pipelines in the state. No injuries were reported from the explosion and fire.

Local firefighters sprayed water on nearby fields until the flow of natural gas was stopped, snuffing the fire.

Several weeks ago, a Freeport LNG plant exploded in southern Texas. Later, the operator said that the facility won’t be back online for several months.

“Completion of all necessary repairs and a return to full plant operations is not expected until late 2022,” Freeport LNG said in a statement in mid-June. The facility, located in Texas’s Quintana Island, suffered an explosion in early June.

There were no injuries or deaths reported, Freeport LNG said. Fire crews extinguished the fire about 40 minutes later. It’s also not clear what sparked the explosion and fire, and the company previously said an investigation is underway.

Fetterman Spent Thousands On CO2-Emitting Jet Travel Despite Pledge To Boycott Fossil Fuel Donations, Records Show

Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman pledged he would not take over $200 from oil, gas and coal industry executives or lobbyists and political action committees. However, despite his pledge, his campaign has spent thousands flying around the country on CO2-spewing commercial airplanes.

Fetterman’s campaign committee spent almost $7,000 on flights between July 2021 and April 2022, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show, despite him drawing a major line in the sand against the fossil fuels industry in February 2021 — the month he announced his Senate bid.

Fetterman joined the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge,” noting he has never taken money from the fossil fuel industry and “never will.” The pledge has been signed by thousands of Democratic lawmakers nationwide, according to a fact sheet by Oil Change U.S., the nonprofit behind the pledge.

The anti-fossil fuel agreement pertains to companies focused on “the extraction, processing, distribution, and/or sale of oil, gas, and/or coal,” according to the fact sheet, which notes that applicable groups should be listed in a database that includes federal campaign contributions.

The fact that Fetterman signed the pledge while his campaign has evidently relied on the fossil fuel industry for travel reeks of hypocrisy, Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, told the DCNF.

“Over 75% of American energy comes from coal, oil, and natural gas, and on top of that thousands of products are derived from oil and gas, such as plastics, fertilizers, chemicals, and synthetic materials,” said Ebell. “Thus, it’s impossible for Mr. Fetterman or anyone to live without fossil fuels.”

Transportation accounted for 27% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector in 2020, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Commercial planes and large jets account for 10% of transportation emissions nationwide, according to the agency.

Still, Fetterman’s campaign made 11 airfare payments that were an average of roughly $632 each, according to the FEC filings. His campaign notably spent more than $2,400 on April 1 with American Airlines.

Fetterman, who was endorsed by Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said on June 26, 2021 at a gay pride event in Warren County, Pennsylvania, that it is “critical” for the U.S. to “transition away from fossil fuels,” according to footage obtained by the DCNF. He said at the same event that climate change is “an absolute existential threat,” according to the footage.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban To Speak At CPAC In Texas

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will travel to the U.S. in August to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas, the Daily Caller has learned.

Orban’s appearance comes after CPAC hosted a May conference in Budapest. Orban spoke there about Hungary’s “12-point recipe” for success. Orban is expected to discuss similar themes during his speech in Texas.

“CPAC is proud to host Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The fight against socialism is a global one,” American Conservative Union (ACU) Chairman Matt Schlapp told the Daily Caller. 

At the CPAC in Hungary, Orban, referencing his “12-point recipe,” mentioned why no U.S.-based outlets were credentialed to attend the event.

“Number four, my dear friends, have your media. You can only present the stupidity of the leftist progressives if you have the media to do it,” Orban said. “Leftist opinion can only seem to be a majority because the media helps them to increase their voice.”

Other international figures such as Nigel Farage of the U.K. and Mexican soap opera actor Eduardo Verastegui are supposed to attend CPAC in Texas, the Daily Caller is told. 

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

Get Prepared With Shelf-Stable Foods

It appears we’re in a phase where global systems of food and energy production are being intentionally dismantled in an effort to force into effect what the World Economic Forum (WEF) calls The Great Reset and the Rockefeller Foundation calls Reset the Table

Controlling food and shifting us away from a natural diet is an important part of The Great Reset. While the destruction of food production is being justified by the Green Agenda, the real goal is to eliminate naturally-grown foods and replace them with patented foodstuffs, frequently synthetic

In addition to restrictions imposed by the Green Agenda, nearly 100 food production facilities in the U.S. alone have also mysteriously burned down since 2021

The U.K. has even issued an “urgent warning” that gardening can cause heart disease by exposing you to harmful soil pollutants. So, now they’re trying to convince you that growing your own food is harmful too

Prepare for unavoidable food inflation, shortages and famine by stocking up on nutritious shelf-stable foods. A list of suggestions is included

Grocery Cart Inflation ‘Far Exceeding’ Official Rate, Studies Say

The average price of U.S. groceries has skyrocketed due to high inflation and shortages among the top ten key food items over the last 12 months up to May 2022, according to a June 28 sales report from NielsenIQ.

American consumers are feeling the pain and are increasingly spending more of their income on many basic groceries, as prices “are exceeding these inflationary measures“​ said the report.

“The effects of high and sustained inflation are much more pernicious than unemployment in the sense that high prices affect more people,” noted Mark Hamrick, Bankrate’s Senior Economic Analyst.

“The cost of basics is increasingly out of reach for many.”

Inflation is costing the average American $460 more per month, according to Ryan Sweet, Senior Director of Economic Research at Moody’s Analytics.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) from June 10, which covers the change in prices paid by consumers for goods and services, rose a record 8.6 percent in the last 12 months through June, the largest price increase since November 1981.

Food store prices were up 0.7 percent for May from April, up 7.4 percent from the same month last year.

Economist That Correctly Predicted Inflation Predicts More

While the hundreds of economists employed by the Federal Reserve were apparently blindsided by the current wave of inflation, there were economists who got their predictions right. Not only have they got the overall inflation number right, but they also explained why so many others got it wrong.

Based on their calculation, they expect inflation to continue, though somewhat diminished, for perhaps two more years.

“At the end of this year, I don’t see how inflation … can be less than 7 percent,” said one of the economists, Steve Hanke, during a recent Wealthion interview.

At the end of 2023, he expects the inflation to stay elevated at about 6 percent, year-over-year.

Hanke, professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, and John Greenwood, chief economist at Invesco in London, predicted last July that the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most popular measure of inflation, would reach at least six percent and as much as nine percent by the end of 2021. The CPI was up 7 percent in December, year-over-year, and hit a four-decade high of 8.6 percent in May.

A lot of economists and politicians, including Fed chair Jerome Powell and President Joe Biden, have blamed idiosyncratic phenomena such as supply chain disruptions and the Ukraine war for the inflation.

These factors are secondary, according to Hanke.

“This is an old game with the White House and the Fed trying to cover their tracks,” he said in a May interview with Larry Kudlow, former economic adviser to President Donald Trump.

It’s true that the pandemic and the related lockdowns have disrupted supply chains. People spent much less on services and much more on tangible goods, which hiked demand for commodities, manufacturing, and shipping. As a result, prices of goods have appreciated much more than those of services.

It’s also true that the Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion have disrupted the oil and grain markets.

But such disruptions should only affect prices in select areas of the economy and only for a limited time. If prices rise across the board, it must be that too much new money has been printed, Hanke has argued.

“There is only one cause underlining it all and that’s an excess amount of money that’s been created,” he said.

He and Greenwood have used the analogy of a “monetary bathtub.” The water in the tub is the number of dollars newly printed by the Fed. There are three “drains”: One is the expansion of the economy. If Americans produce more goods and services and the total amount of money stays the same, prices should go down. A certain amount of new dollars thus offsets such a price decrease. Another drain is the change in the velocity of money, which means how fast is money changing hands in the economy. In recent decades, there has been a growing trend of holding dollars, which decreases the velocity and thus offsets a certain amount of newly printed dollars. Everything else manifests as inflation.

Elon Musk Reacts to Twitter Lawsuit Threat

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk reacted with a series of memes to Twitter’s preparations to sue him in a bid to force him to buy the social media platform for $44 billion.

In a late-night Twitter post on Sunday, Musk shared a meme featuring with images of himself laughing, along with captions that marked several key developments in his buyout bid saga.

Flights to Get More Expensive ‘Without a Doubt,’ Air Transport Association Chief Warns

Flight prices are set to rise even further as fuel prices continue to soar, Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has warned.

Walsh, who previously served as CEO of Aer Lingus and British Airways, told the BBC’s “Sunday Morning” that airlines would ultimately be forced to pass higher oil prices onto customers in the form of higher ticket prices as oil prices remain volatile.

Flight prices have already risen substantially in recent months amid a resurgence in demand for air travel as economies across the globe recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further exacerbated oil prices owing to Western sanctions against Moscow, with the Biden administration announcing a complete ban on oil imports from Russia, while the UK and European Union hope to gradually phase out Russian supplies.

In the past year alone, the consumer price index for airline tickets has risen by 25 percent, according to official data, while fares rose 19 percent between March and April alone, according to a report from Adobe published on May 12.

According to AAA, holiday airfares over the Memorial Day weekend in May cost Americans roughly $160 more on average than a year ago.

As prices continue to soar, travel industry experts have suggested that travelers who have not already booked their summer vacations do so as early as possible as airfares look set to rise even higher over the summer.

Biden Administration Probing Airlines Over Passenger Complaints Amid Chronic Delays, Cancellations

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on July 10 that the Biden administration has completed a string of investigations into several airlines over the alleged failure of the airlines to issue passenger refunds amid a rise in flight delays and cancellations.

Buttigieg told Fox Business that while there was some improvement in the number of cancellations and delays over the Independence Day weekend from June 30 to July 4, these figures were “still higher than they should be” and the situation is still “not to an acceptable level.”

“We have just concluded another 10 investigations on airlines on these issues and have launched another 10 or so that we’re going to pursue to make sure that the consumers and passengers are protected,” Buttigieg said.

In September 2021, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said it had 18 pending investigations against airlines over complaints that they failed to provide timely refunds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airlines being investigated were not identified.

In November 2021, Air Canada agreed to a $4.5 million settlement with the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection to resolve an investigation into claims of extreme delays to thousands of air passengers’ refunds for flights to or from the United States that the carrier canceled or significantly changed.

Buttigieg had previously warned that Americans could face “challenges” when traveling over the July 4 holiday amid chronic labor shortages, despite airlines receiving over $50 billion in COVID-19 relief aimed at keeping employees at work during the pandemic.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 

Totalitarian: Big Tech Shows Its True Colors

In the mid-18th century, a secretive political group began spreading dangerous conspiracy theories throughout Britain’s colonies. British subjects had long enjoyed the freedom of expression, but these radicals abused novel communication platforms to churn out seditious literature not often grounded in fact, even resorting to threats and violence that endangered those around them.

According to their wild theories, a series of modest taxes levied by Parliament actually represented an incremental process to strip away their rights. They had no evidence to back their claims. After they arranged one of the costliest acts of vandalism in the history of the Empire, Parliament very reasonably invoked a state of emergency to protect the public. Yet, characteristically, rather than raising their objections through proper legal channels, these extremists co-signed a document penned by one of their most wily and manipulative agitators, falsely claiming to speak for all the colonists in declaring themselves above the law.

In a helpful rebuttal, Governor Thomas Hutchinson thoroughly debunked the document, outlining the many “false and frivolous” claims in this “list of imaginary grievances,” its signatories relying on spurious overtures to “what they called the natural rights of mankind” to evade substantive argument. Hutchinson noted the signers’ racism, “depriving more than a hundred thousand Africans of their rights to liberty,” discrediting their appeals to so-called “natural rights,” as well as “the absurdity of making the governed to be governors,” a laughable contradiction. Moreover, the document was misleading. “The real design was to reconcile the people of America to that Independence.” The signers even referred to their sovereign as a “tyrant,” a profanity for which “indignant resentment must seize the breast of every loyal subject.” The Empire had always been about saving lives, after all—even if it occasionally fell a bit short.

In this story, most readers now recognize the birth of the world’s oldest democracy and the modern constitutional republic. But perhaps those who presently govern the mega-platforms collectively referred to as “Big Tech,” on which most online discourse now takes place, take it as a warning of what can go wrong if citizens are permitted to freely express their beliefs.

As strangely low an ethical standard as it was, the days of “Don’t be evil” appear to have been left far behind. Big Tech platforms now routinely side with raw state and corporate power, showing a disregard bordering on outright disdain for the rights and welfare of the human beings whom their actions affect. The recent history of Big Tech is a history of repeated usurpations, all demonstrating as their direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the people.

Big Tech platforms openly disavow any role in abiding by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, to which all American citizens owe a duty and to which any person who chooses to become an American citizen must swear an oath to uphold and defend. They censor centuries-old news organizations for publishing true, factual, and timely information.

Big Tech platforms routinely censor the legal speech of citizens, concealing the rationale behind their decisions and applying their terms of service selectively, if at all. They mislead the public as to the scale and scope of this censorship, systematically silencing the most articulate voices on one side of any given debate unbeknownst to the vast majority of the public.

Big Tech platforms openly collude with governments to suppress the speech of their own people, while overtly abusing the legal system and paying massive settlements to conceal the evidence of their collusion. They craft the false illusion of consensus on political issues of their own choosing, a power unprecedented in our democracy and historically held only by the most despotic regimes, promising in every instance to wield it for good, but falling short every time.

Big Tech platforms deploy artificial intelligence to censor and de-boost citizens and opposing viewpoints with increasingly inhuman detachment and efficiency. They retain as leading AI experts—on their boards of directors—personnel with deep and well-documented ties to the militaries of the world’s worst dictatorships.

Big Tech platforms routinely apply fact-check labels to true stories and information based on unrelated contextual issues, manipulating political narratives by deceiving the public into believing that the pertinent information is itself false. Meanwhile, they ignore large-scale bot and astroturf campaigns affecting political outcomes all over the world—despite harrowing accounts from whistleblowers—while misleading the public as to the frequency, scale, and purpose of these bot and astroturf campaigns.

Big Tech platforms censor the voices of the most well-qualified citizens under the Orwellian pretext of combatting “misinformation,” drowning out their views with those of disinformation agents and bots. Meanwhile, they anoint as “experts” those who hold no relevant qualifications in the designated field other than a groveling deference to the viewpoints of Big Tech, who then regularly publish falsehoods without retribution.

Big Tech platforms employ managers who accept bribes to censor political dissidents fighting against the world’s deadliest regimes, to whom they show obsequious deference. They bear a growing resemblance to organized crime syndicates, submitting false statements to the highest courts of law while hiding behind an unlimited legal budget and cutesy PR campaigns replete with amorphous birds and round, lower-case letters to escape legal scrutiny.

This is no far-off dystopia. As rapidly as they’ve transpired, these things are already happening, and this is the reality of the world that Big Tech has created today. Given their systematic suppression of dissent against lockdowns, which ultimately killed over 170,000 Americans and countless millions more around the world, it’s hard to think of any ostensibly-private enterprise since the British East India Company that’s been responsible for more widespread human suffering. Much of this behavior is surely being coerced by the federal government, just as the East India Company was largely doing the bidding of the British Government. But Big Tech might want to ask how well “just following orders” worked as a defense in 1945.

I conclude with the words of another individual who ultimately came to sign that radical 18th-century document, but other than whom no man ever fought harder for peace.

“Look upon your Hands! They are stained with the Blood of your Relations! You and I were long Friends. You are now my Enemy—and I am Yours.”

HEALTH

Antidepressants Overprescribed, Linked to Suicide Risk

Cases of depression and anxiety increased by 25 percent in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic alone by some counts, up from 1 in 20 adults worldwide, and the use of antidepressants has become more common. However, studies have found that antidepressants have unexpected risks.

In the 1960s, it was discovered that depression could be due to a lack of serotonin in the brain. Back then, people believed that serotonin was the “happiness factor” in humans. Serotonin is actually a neurotransmitter. The presynaptic neurons release serotonin and can also reuptake it into the brain to maintain homeostasis.

Thus, drugs were designed with the crude understanding that if the “recycling” pathway for serotonin is blocked, serotonin levels in body fluids will increase, and the symptoms will be relieved.

The main mechanism of the most common classes of antidepressant drugs, which include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), noradrenaline, and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), involves the regulation of serotonin and the uptake of other neurotransmitters.

Although there may seem to be many options available, all of these drugs actually work based on similar mechanisms.

The current antidepressants have a large flaw in their mechanisms, but they are still used in large quantities.

The current antidepressants have a large flaw in their mechanisms, but they are still used in large quantities

An inspiring New Jersey teen who survived a “massive” stroke at the age of 7 has slowly rebuilt his life to become a happy, healthy 15-year-old. He and his family have now become advocates, educating others on the signs of pediatric stroke in hopes of saving lives.

On May 19, 2014, Chase Schweiger had just returned from school and was getting ready to go to his karate class when he saw his friends playing outside and asked his mom if he could skip his class and join them instead, to which his mom agreed. A few moments later, an unexpected event occurred and changed his life.

“I heard one of the other little boys saying, ‘Chase, get up, get up.’ I turned around, and he was a few feet away from me,” Chase’s mom, 48-year-old Wendi Schweiger of Marlton, New Jersey, told The Epoch Times. “I remember seeing him laying on the ground.”

The mom of three walked up to him and recalls him staring at her. “His eyes were very wide … I actually thought he was kidding around for a minute, then I remember seeing drool coming out of the right side of his mouth,” she said.

A neighbor then lifted Chase from the ground and someone dialed 911. Paramedics suspected he was having a seizure and rushed him to the local hospital. At the hospital, Wendi noticed her son’s face “looked weird.” At this time, Chase was still unable to talk and just kept moaning. Shortly afterward, when Wendi’s husband, Jordan, arrived from Pittsburgh, he noticed that Chase wasn’t moving the right side of his body.

“Those were two telltale signs of a stroke,” said Wendi.

Chase was transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia [CHOP], where an MRI confirmed he’d suffered a stroke.

“The acronym for stroke is FAST: face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, and time [to act],” Wendi explained. “Chase had all of them … it’s just crazy because my husband and I were the ones that recognized.”

Chase’s parents’ shock and confusion quickly turned to panic. They worried whether Chase would pull through and whether he would ever talk or walk again.

They remained by his side as he was rushed into emergency surgery to remove a portion of his skull, to relieve the brain swelling that had occurred. It was a life-and-death decision, said Wendi.

“At this point, he still wasn’t talking, wasn’t walking, wasn’t eating; nothing was going on,” she recalled. “The only way he was communicating with us was with a thumbs up or a thumbs down on the left side of his body; because the stroke occurred on the left side of his brain, the right side of his body was the one affected.”

Chase’s surgery went well, but his family still had no idea what his life would look like. Days later, Chase said his first word since the stroke in answer to a question from his nurse, giving his family hope.

Later, CHOP doctors, nurses, and rehabilitation therapists would become a tremendous source of hope for Chase’s family.

“They did not give up on him,” said Wendi. “When Chase was in the pediatric intensive care unit, we remember them literally getting him out of bed, forcing him to do things, and then we’d see him being able to do these things … it was like one step in the right direction, and when we knew that he was able, we knew that there was hope.”

Determined Chase refused to use a cane or walker and instead used a gait belt, which his therapist would hold, to help him learn to walk again. He rebuilt his vocabulary using picture flashcards, moving from common nouns, such as “dog” and “house,” to photos of his own family.

During his five months at the hospital (three months as an inpatient and two months as an outpatient), Chase learned to walk, talk, and eat again. Wendi and Jordan made sure someone was with him 24 hours a day. The couple, who have two younger children—Mason, then 4, and Sloane, then 2—had invaluable support from family and friends.

The couple’s mothers had moved in to take care of the younger children; neighbors brought dinners. Touched by the massive support of their community during Chase’s recovery, Wendi and Jordan are quick to help others whenever they see a family in need to this day.

“I think it’s just important to always have faith and stay positive,” said Wendi. “If you need someone to lean on, you know, that’s important as well.”

Long days consisted of physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and great leaps forward were accompanied by scary setbacks.

“He had to have a couple of other brain surgeries,” said Wendi. “He turned out to be allergic to a medication and broke out in a rash … there were so many ups and downs in the hospital, but those ups were really what kept us going.”

Wendi said that, during this time, he essentially only missed a month and a half of school. “He went back to school in third grade and he was fine … our school systems have been fabulous with providing us any help that is needed,” she explained.

Now, eight years since his stroke, Chase is thriving. He still attends therapy, wears a brace on one leg to keep him from tripping, and has minimal use of his right hand and arm, but has regained his speech, his social life, and his love for school and sports.

Describing the hardworking high schooler as “a typical teenager” and “a very positive person,” Wendi said that her son has amazed his doctors by regaining his speech faculties. He sometimes suffers from aphasia and struggles to answer a question on the spot, but other times will “talk up a storm,” especially before bedtime.

The weakness on his right side prevents him from playing sports, but Chase is still a huge basketball and baseball fan with fierce loyalty to the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia 76ers.

Wendi hopes Chase’s upward streak is here to stay. “One thing I always want to say to him is just never give up,” she said. “Keep fighting, keep doing what you do, keep having this positive attitude, and listen to your parents!”

Since Chase’s journey through the pediatric stroke, his family rallies to help others understand the little-known condition. At Chase’s one-year stroke anniversary, they invited everyone at his elementary school to wear purple ribbons and shared Chase’s story with newspaper and television outlets.

For Chase’s “bar mitzvah,” they visited two fire stations to educate EMTs.

“They’re the people that arrive to houses first and can diagnose people,” said Wendi. “We taught them the symptoms of strokes, we taught them what to look for, and most importantly, we told them that kids can have strokes; don’t just rule it out to elderly people.”

Wendi firmly believes that parents are a child’s best advocate; by staying informed and presenting a united front, anything is possible.

She also stresses that her goal is to make it known that it doesn’t matter where you live, anyone can have a stroke, kids included.

“Unfortunately, the outcome is very different for every single kid,” she reflected, “… but you just have to keep fighting and get the word out there that kids can have strokes, too. That is mine and my husband’s mission, to make it known to everybody … not just everyone in the medical field, but everybody, because if somebody knows, somebody can help save a life.”

2022 Fluoride Action Network Update

The National Institute of Environmental Health Science-funded Bashash study, published in 2017, showed fluoridated water lowers IQ in children. Each 1-milligram per liter increase in fluoride in a pregnant woman’s urine is associated with a four- to five-point drop in her child’s IQ

Canadian researchers found bottle-fed children who lived in a fluoridated community had, on average, nine points lower IQ compared to those who were bottle-fed in a non-fluoridated community

The science showing water fluoridation is hurting our children is significant, and keeps growing. More than 20 studies published since 2017 have confirmed fluoride lowers IQ

Water fluoridation became public health policy in 1950 when the U.S. Public Service endorsed the practice before any of the trials started in 1945 had been completed. For many decades since then, little effort has been made to research harmful effects

The Fluoride Action Network (FAN) has sued the Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to end the water fluoridation policy. A win will make it easier to overturn water fluoridation policies on the state level, even if the EPA drags its heels. We’re currently waiting for a final report from the National Toxicology Program. Once the report is released, FAN can go back to court and hopefully win the case

How Mushrooms Help Protect Your Brain

Eating more than two portions of mushrooms a week reduced the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in study subjects by 50%. Data show people with MCI over age 60 have lower levels of ergothioneine, an antioxidant found in mushrooms

Mushrooms contain ergothioneine and glutathione, also known as the “master antioxidant.” These may help protect against age-related diseases like cancer, heart disease and dementia; countries with the highest levels of ergothioneine in the diet have the lowest risk of neurodegenerative diseases and vice versa

Robert Beelman, professor of food science at Penn State, believes the mushroom’s mycelium releases ergothioneine into the soil and holds the key to the link from healthy soil to healthy crops and human health; this link is severely disrupted using traditional farming techniques and can be reestablished with regenerative farming practices

Mushrooms also contain beta-glucans, which play a beneficial role in immune health and viral protection, insulin resistance, high blood pressure and obesity. Choose organic mushrooms or grow your own since the fungi easily absorb air and soil contaminants

Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Sepsis

The symptoms of sepsis may appear to be like other infectious processes; however, the condition often worsens quickly and is preceded by an infection, such as a wound in the skin, urinary tract infection or intestinal infection

Symptoms may include high fever, reduced urine output as the kidneys shut down, rapid heartbeat and breathing, skin rash and severe muscle pain. Those with sepsis may also exhibit confusion, disorientation, slurred speech and dizziness

Sepsis is not an illness but rather a dysregulated bodily response to the inflammation and chemicals released by your body as it fights the infection, and/or chemicals released by the infectious agent

Conventional treatment uses antibiotics and drugs to contain blood leakage from the vessels; however, vitamin C, thiamine and steroids, administered intravenously, have been shown to significantly improve outcomes, including reducing kidney failure and death rates

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Elon Musk Pokes Fun at Bill Gates’ Claim That ‘Cheap, Green Hydrogen Would Be Massive Breakthrough’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to poke fun at Bill Gates on Thursday after the Microsoft founder claimed that clean hydrogen energy could zero out emissions and help tackle climate change.

Gates, on his Twitter account, had earlier posted a link to a blog entry titled “To cut emissions, use this Swiss Army Knife”; a screenshot of which was captured and shared by The Whole Mars Catalog on Twitter.

“Cheap clean hydrogen would be a great breakthrough we have many uses for it. Also if we could bottle the tooth fairy and clone Santa Claus, and replace public transport with unicorns we’d be all good,” one Twitter user commented in response to the blog post, to which Musk replied with a laughing face emoji.

Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source, and can be used in fuel cells to generate electricity, or power and heat. In the United States, it is predominantly used to refine petroleum, treat metals, produce fertilizer, and process foods.

Because its conversion into electricity does not emit greenhouse gases, Hydrogen could potentially serve to meet climate change coals set out by President Joe Biden as well as other world leaders.

However, critics note that while it is a renewable source and has only minimal impact on the environment, it doesn’t come without its risks: it is more flammable than natural gas and its flame is nearly invisible.

Scientists have also warned that hydrogen leaked into the atmosphere can contribute to climate change by increasing the amounts of other greenhouse gases, thus indirectly resulting in global warming.

GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING

How to Grow Chicken Feed (The Easy Way)

In some places, “chicken feed” is an old slang term meaning “cheap.” That certainly isn’t true today—especially for those of you who feed an organic, soy-free, and corn-free formula to your precious flock. While working for chicken feed may not seem like a good trade-off for you, starting small is the best way to know if growing your own feed is right for you and your flock.This does not mean becoming a grain farmer. Forget about rows of waving grain, harvesting, threshing, and storing. Do it the easy way: Do it one step at a time and set up systems that require minimal labor.

Grow Chicken Feed by Planting Seeds of Change

If you are using cover crops in your garden, you can actually save work and money—just by choosing seed that is chicken friendly.

Many gardeners and homesteaders prefer to keep the flock out of the garden most of the time. But, when winter cover crops are ready to be tilled in (or mowed down for no-till cultivation), the chickens can process that ground for you.

They love doing this work because they eat like little kings and queens! They will also clean up any pests. Any permanent plantings or crops that are still in the ground can be protected from the chickens with row cover or bird netting.

So, while the chickens clean and manure the garden, they are getting fresh grains, legumes, greens, and protein.

When planting time comes, just rake the area smooth, add a layer of finished compost, and you are ready to plant. The layer of finished compost covers the raw manure just enough to keep it from splashing up onto the spring crops and keeps any manure just below the top surface where microbes can process it into nutrients for the plants.

When you grow chicken feed like this, the system mimics nature and optimizes the health of your garden ecosystem.

Improving Your Pasture (or Run)

While your chickens are busy preparing the vegetable garden for spring planting, you can grow chicken feed elsewhere by starting another tasty surprise in their pasture or in the greenhouse.

A chicken pasture can be created from any unused lawn area or weedy meadow. If you don’t have the extra space to create a chicken pasture, an ordinary chicken run can be improved using these same techniques.

First, cover the area with any organic material you can find—cover all exposed ground with wood chips, hay, spent crops, etc. This layer of organic material keeps bare ground covered and creates a base for recycling manure.

Keeping the surface moist as it breaks down attracts more insects for the chickens to eat, and preserves beneficial microbes and nutrients in the finished compost.

A mulched surface is healthier for the flock, is better to walk on for people tending the chickens, and prevents valuable manure from drying out and blowing away.

Consider, too, that a barren, empty chicken run is a haven for neurotic behavior in the flock. Busy chickens are happy chickens. When you grow chicken feed and there are resulting bugs to catch or prize morsels to scratch up, pecking a hole in a neighbor’s head becomes a lot less interesting—it’s simple chicken nature.

Grow Chicken Feed a Patch at a Time

Create small patches of seeded forage, protected by a length of fencing that is wired into a circle. Remove the fence when the plants are ready for use as fodder. A height of 4 to 6 inches of growth is optimal for maximum health benefits.

The seed mix you use can be varied according to the season. This system is perfect for small flocks, because the fodder will be consumed before it becomes overly mature. This system is also helpful for those with a large pasture, because you can test different seed before you commit to planting your entire pasture with it—which can be costly.

If your chickens are as silly as mine are, a test before you grow lots of the same chicken feed is always a good idea.

Growing Chicken Feed Indoors

If you have a greenhouse or a cold frame, flats of fresh fodder can be started every two weeks for a steady supply of fresh greens any time of year.

Garden centers have begun to sell small trays of chicken fodder as treats for pampered backyard chickens in urban areas. But if you germinate your own seeds to make starts for the vegetable garden, a chicken smorgasbord is cheap and easy.

You need seeds, some trays, and some ordinary potting soil or just your own compost. Germinate the seeds and add a mild liquid fertilizer when the fodder reaches about 2 inches tall. At 4 to 6 inches, carry the tray out to the chickens and watch those little rascals party!

Plants for Chicken Runs

If a chicken run is the only space available, grow chicken feed by planting sunflowers along the fence line. Seed for black oilseed sunflowers is inexpensive when purchased in bulk.

Protect the young plants with chicken wire, or plant them on the other side of the fence. When they mature, store the heads and use them to treat the chickens throughout the year. The natural seed heads are feed and container in one!

Sunflowers are the perfect fodder crop where space is limited, because they have such a small footprint. In urban areas, sunflowers are considered attractive even by neighbors who object to the appearance of food crops like corn and squash.

piral tail for an entrance in your yard. It makes a wonderfully shady clubhouse during the summer months. When the sunflower heads are harvested and the stalks are cut off at ground level, it completely disappears—though the memories live forever for your little ones.

Recommended Plants for Chicken Feed

Kale is on the extensive list of crops you can grow for chicken feed. >>> Image by Oldiefan from Pixabay

If you’re ready to grow chicken feed for your flock, the following list of plants should help you get started. These plants are chosen because they provide valuable nutrition to the chickens, allowing you to cut down the feed bill. Experiment with other plants that are good for chickens and grow well in your area.

Cover Crops

Red clover

Rye grass

Millet

Alfalfa

Mustard

Daikon radish

Sunflowers

Alfalfa makes a great cover crop and chicken feed. >>> Image by jmklatte from Pixabay

Orchard & Pasture

Red clover

Swiss chard

Rye grass

Millet

Sorghum (Milo)

Alfalfa

Oats

Popcorn

Pumpkin

Flax

Amaranth

Chicory

Beets

Quinoa

Sunflowers

Forage Circles & Seed Flats

Red clover

Swiss chard

Rye grass

Millet

Sorghum

Alfalfa

Oats

Popcorn

Pumpkin

Flax

Amaranth

Nasturtium

Cucumber

Beets

Spinach

Broccoli

Turnip

Mustard

Kale

Quinoa

Daikon radish

Sunflowers

Better Food Equals Better Nutrition

COVID RELATED NEWS

Bio-Security State: Big Pharma’s Complete Takeover OF FDA

 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

SARS-CoV-2 — A Biological Warfare Weapon?

Francis Boyle, who drafted the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, believes COVID-19 is a weaponized pathogen that escaped from Wuhan City’s Biosafety Level (BSL) 4 facility

A Lancet paper published by physicians who treated some of the first COVID-19 patients in China showed that patient zero, the one believed to have started the transmission, was nowhere near the Wuhan seafood market. What’s more, there were no bats sold in or even close to the market

SARS-CoV-2 appears to be a benign bat coronavirus modified to integrate spike proteins that allows the virus to enter human cells by attaching to ACE-2 receptors

The virus also appears to have been modified to integrate an envelope protein from HIV called GP141, which tends to impair the immune system. A third modification appears to involve nanotechnology, which allows the virus to remain airborne longer

COVID Vaccines Significantly Increase Risk of Myocarditis After Second Dose, Especially in Young Males: Study

Another peer-reviewed study based on passive surveillance from Ontario, Canada, found that the rate of myocarditis was greater in younger males than females, and also greater after the second dose than the first dose of an mRNA vaccine.

On June 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children as young as 6 months old.

On June 24, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) started recommending COVID vaccines to everyone aged 6 months or older and COVID-19 boosters for “everyone ages 5 years and older.”

Dr. Sanjay Verma, a cardiologist from California, told The Epoch Times that the agency is doing this “regardless of risk stratification or prior infection with SARS-CoV2. Using data mostly from VAERS, supplemented with VSD (Vaccine Safety Datalink) data, CDC continues to assert that the COVID-19 vaccines are ‘safe and effective.’”

Previous studies have shown rapidly decreasing vaccine efficacy (VE) in children as well as adolescents during the first few months after completing vaccination.

“The decreasing VE then begs the question if the benefits outweigh the risks in healthy children and young adults given the known increased, albeit rare, risk of myocarditis,” Verma said.

The study had the goal of assessing the association between specific vaccine products to differences in rates of myocarditis or pericarditis; Further estimating the rates based on age, sex, dose number, and interval between the shots.

The study found 97.3 cases of myocarditis per million doses of BNT162b2 (Pfizer) for 12–17-year-old males and 299.5 per million doses of mRNA-1273 (Moderna) for 18–24-year-old males. 

The population-based cohort study was published on June 24 and conducted from December 2020 to September 2021 and used data from Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine registry and passive vaccine-safety surveillance system.

“As the authors also mention in the discussion, this is substantially higher than the VAERS data reported by CDC (38.5 per million for mRNA-1273 doses in males and 69.1 per million BNT162b2 doses for males 16-17 years old,)” Verma said. 

“Furthermore, the authors continue, using data from four claims databases, FDA reported a rate of 283 cases of myocarditis per million of mRNA-1271 doses for males 18-25 years old. This is closer to the rate found in this study (299.5 per million). Vaccine Safety Data (VSD) data, the authors note, found the adjusted rate of myocarditis or pericarditis to be 2.72 times greater for dose 2 of mRNA-1273 than dose 2 of BNT162b2.”

Natural Immunity 97 Percent Effective Against Severe COVID-19 After 14 Months: Study

The protection against severe illness from so-called natural immunity remains superior to that bestowed by COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study.

People who survived COVID-19 infection and weren’t vaccinated had sky-high protection against severe or fatal COVID-19, researchers in Qatar found.

“Effectiveness of primary infection against severe, critical, or fatal COVID-19 reinfection was 97.3 percent … irrespective of the variant of primary infection or reinfection, and with no evidence for waning. Similar results were found in sub-group analyses for those ≥50 years of age,” Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad of Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar and colleagues said after studying long-term natural immunity in unvaccinated people.

That percentage is higher than the protection from COVID-19 vaccines, according to other studies and real-world data.

Swedish researchers, for instance, found in May that two doses of a vaccine were just 54 percent effective against the Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.

Few Young Children Are Getting COVID-19 Vaccines: Data

Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines has been low so far in young children, with a small fraction of those newly eligible for a vaccine receiving one, according to new data.

In a pair of moves in June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines available to children from 6 months to 5 years of age, and recommended virtually every child in the age group get vaccinated.

But parents have been hesitant to get their child a vaccine, according to the newly released data.

Just 1.3 percent of eligible children under 5 have received one or two doses of a vaccine, data from the CDC show.

In many states, meanwhile, the percentage of young children getting a shot is under 1 percent, according to an Epoch Times analysis.

Taken together, the statistics underline the difficulty health authorities will have in getting babies and toddlers vaccinated with shots that have proven much worse than originally promoted.

CANCEL CULTURE

2nd Laval University Professor Suspended for Questioning the Need to Vaccinate Children for COVID

A second professor from Laval University in Quebec City has been suspended for questioning the need to vaccinate children against COVID-19.

Nicolas Derome, a professor of molecular biology, was suspended for the same reason and under similar circumstances as his colleague Patrick Provost, a professor of microbiology, infectious diseases, and immunology.

Derome and Provost both participated in activities organized by Réinfo COVID, which describes itself as a collective of nurses, physicians, scientists, and citizens seeking to generate debate about how the pandemic has been handled by the government.

Derome gave an online presentation organized by the collective in late November 2021, in which he said children were not at high risk for complications from COVID-19.

He said there had been “zero” serious cases among the 0 to 17 age bracket, with or without comorbidity, with his presentation slide indicating the data came from Quebec’s public health institute (INSPQ) and expert assessments.

A review of the INSPQ data for the first four waves, covering Feb. 23, 2020, to Dec. 4, 2021, reveals there were 73 ICU admissions for individuals between age 0 and 19. The data does not indicate if the admissions were “because of COVID” or “with COVID.”

These 73 ICU admissions represent an average of 1.6 percent of total ICU admissions across age groups during the four waves covered.

Derome also said children between 1 and 14 years old were 15 times more likely to die from a road accident than from COVID, and noted there had been no deaths for the 5 to 19 years olds.

“This information is very important to have in order to make a free and informed choice regarding this vaccination campaign for kids 5 to 11,” he said at the start of his presentation.

A current review of data for the first four waves shows one death occurred for the 10–19 age group during the third wave. A separate INSPQ chart reviewed on deaths and presence of comorbidities shows no deaths reported for the 19 and under category with the mention that percentages are not reported when the total number is less than 5.

Derome said, quoting published literature, that children have a better innate response to defend against COVID, which explains why they suffer less serious outcomes.

The professor also quoted from the U.N. children agency UNICEF, which said at the time that the World Health Organization (WHO) did not recommend COVID vaccines for children, due to lack of trials and little to no safety data for that age group.

Since then, the WHO has said that the Pfizer vaccine can be safely administered to children from 5 years of age and that both Pfizer and Moderna are licensed for use in children above 12.

The professor also raised the issue of the waning efficacy of vaccines—not only against infection, but hospitalizations—by quoting White House COVID adviser Anthony Fauci.

Derome gave his presentation when Quebec had just started its vaccination campaign for 5- to 11-year-olds.

Derome was contacted by The Epoch Times but was not available to comment.

Laval University said when contacted that it would not comment on the “personal situation of its employees.”

At the time Derome’s video was published, Laval spokesperson Andrée-Anne Stewart told Radio-Canada that his remarks “in no way reflect the stance of Laval University and its faculty of science and engineering regarding the health crisis.”

“Like all members of the teaching staff, professor Derome is held to all the rigour and scientific integrity required by this function,” Stewart said.

PET NEWS

8 flea remedies that get rid of fleas in your home

If you are a pet owner, the thought of your beloved cat or dog catching fleas is a constant strain on your mind. These parasites feed off the blood of animals and can easily become a problem in your home, biting both you and your furry friends.

Did You Know…? Relative to their size, fleas can jump further than any other insect. If an average sized human had the same jumping ability of a flea, they would be able to jump 295 feet across and 160 feet high!

If you feel that you have a problem with fleas around your home or property and you truly want to know how to get rid of fleas, then you should contact the flea control and prevention experts at Ehrlich Pest Control.

Flea bites

The main reason behind fleas being regarded as a pest is through their biting habits.

Flea bites on humans are quite rare, the majority of the time it’s your beloved pets which come victim to flea bites. They aren’t particular painful compared to wasp stings but you will become aware once you have been bitten. As with all insect bites, itchiness and swelling will occur around the bitten area.

While cases of flea borne disease is very rare (especially in the U.S.), fleas are vectors for a number of diseases.

Flea home remedies

Fortunately, there are a handful of homemade flea remedies you can try to help prevent and get rid of fleas.

  1. Dish soap

This home flea remedy involves creating a flea trap using dish soap and some water. All you have to do is fill a plate or bowl with a mixture of warm water and dish soap and place it in the rooms of your house which receive the most flea activity.

The water and dish soap solutions act as a glue, trapping the fleas due to the high viscosity of the solution. You should repeat this method with a fresh batch every day.

For this flea home remedy to work effectively it should be conducted at night time. This is because, for the most part, fleas are nocturnal creatures. It has been suggested that placing a candle near the solution will help this natural flea remedy, but this is not advised due to the potential fire hazard a naked, unattended, flame can cause.

  1. Herbal flea spray

Rapid home remedies suggest using an herbal flea spray to get rid of fleas from your home. This natural remedy for fleas is made from non-toxic products found around your home, making it suitable to use around pets and children.

Create a flea spray by mixing 4 liters of vinegar, 2 liters of water, 500 ml of lemon juice and 250 ml of witch hazel in a large spray bottle. Before applying the product around your home, you should vacuum properly, emptying the contents into an outside bin, and wash any bedding/cushions that could be infested. Once this is completed, apply the natural flea remedy to your home using a heavy spray, spraying carpets, furniture, pet bedding, window sills, and floors.

  1. Baking soda

If you’re struggling with knowing how to get rid of fleas, know that one of the most effective flea control home remedies is vacuuming. This helps getting rid of fleas by removing them from the fibers of your carpets and furniture. However, there is a way in which you can increase the effectiveness of this by using baking soda!

For this flea home remedy to work, lay down baking soda along your carpets and furniture, take a hard brush and rub it into the fabric. After that, vacuum your home thoroughly and empty the contents of the vacuum into a bag and place in an outside trash can.

  1. Salt

Much like baking soda, salt is a great natural flea home remedy when accompanied by vacuuming. Salt acts as a dehydration agent, helping to get rid of adult fleas.

To treat fleas with this natural remedy take some salt (finely ground works best) and sprinkle it all over your carpets in each room. Leave the salt to rest for 1-2 days, then vacuum your home throughout, emptying the contents in an outside trash can.

  1. Lemon spray

Lemon can be used in a lot of ways around the house, but aside from being a good way to treat wasp stings, it’s also a great natural home remedy for fleas.

Treatment using this natural remedy to get rid of fleas consists of making a citrus spray to use on infected furniture. To make this flea spray, slice a lemon thinly and add to a pint of water and bring to the boil. Let the citrus solution sit overnight and pour into a spray bottle. The next day take the citrus solution and spray it on the infested areas in your home – sofas, pet bedding, chairs etc. Do not soak, only dampen.

  1. Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is the microscopic remains of fossilized algae, diatoms. It’s a very fine powder, which is non-toxic to humans and is a great natural remedy to get rid of fleas as it causes dehydration.

Using diatomaceous earth to treat a flea problem consists of sprinkling the powder over areas you suspect have high flea activity, applying thin layers. Leave the diatomaceous earth to do its magic for 2 days then vacuum promptly, following the necessary flea prevention methods afterwards.

Proceed with caution!

It is important to note that if using diatomaceous earth as a natural flea remedy you should use the food grade option. Although it is non-toxic, the nature of the powder can get messy and irritate your eyes and throat. When using diatomaceous earth to treat your home it is advised that you wear a face mask.

  1. Rosemary

Rosemary is a great organic flea control product. It can be used to treat light infestations as well as on pets (depending on how you use it). This example of a natural flea remedy focuses on creating a powder to be used to treat fleas in your home.

To make an herbal flea powder using rosemary, place this herb with some rue, wormwood, fennel and peppermint into a pestle and mortar and grind into a powder. Then sprinkle it on your carpets, furniture, pet bedding, window sills and anywhere else you suspect flea activity in your home.

Note: Rosemary is a natural flea repellent, it will not get rid of fleas but help repel and prevent them.

  1. Flea repelling plants

The final natural remedy to get rid of fleas is enlisting the help of specific plants to help repel these biting insects. Certain plants contain specific oils, compounds, and chemicals which fleas hate and will try and avoid.

There is a range of different plants that repel fleas. Using these plants around your home in flower pots and flower beds is a great natural home remedy for fleas.

Plants that keep fleas away:

  • Penny Royal
  • Chrysanthemums
  • Lavender
  • Spearmint

How to get rid of fleas

It can be tricky to know how to get rid of fleas. But other measures include washing your pet’s blanket and carrier. You should also take seat cushions off of couches and chairs and vacuum the cushions. Also, vacuum cracks in chairs and couches. Be sure to throw your vacuum bags outside in garbage cans.

Although there is a range of different home remedies for fleas they are not 100% effective. Yes, they can potentially help manage a flea problem, but they cannot successfully solve one. This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of home remedies for fleas only affect the adults of the species, leaving the larvae and eggs behind. This creates a window of opportunity for another flea infestation to arise.

Professional flea control

Want to know really how to get rid of fleas? The best way to get rid of fleas is with the help of a professional pest controller such as Ehrlich. A pest control professional can provide you with the best services and solutions to fully remove a flea infestation in your home or business. If you think you might have a flea problem, get in contact with Ehrlich today. Fleas really like areas where there is a lot of humidity and rain, so they can be found in warm, humid, areas like Atlanta or Miami and infestations can spread faster in densely populated areas like New York or Boston.

GOOD NEWS

Mom Single-Handedly Homeschools 7 Kids During Air Force Husband’s Longest Deployment

A military wife, who has seven children with her husband in the U.S. Air Force, has opened up about the faith-driven, humungous task of homeschooling during her husband’s long deployments, and the love that makes every second worthwhile.

Stay-at-home mom Marcie Ball, 37, was a teacher until 2010 when she had her first child. She and her husband Brad Ball, 38, Air Force personnel since 2003, both grew up in the northern Michigan town of Cadillac. After traveling the world with the military, they settled in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A self-professed “night owl,” Marcie usually finishes up the things she can’t get done in the day only when her seven kids have gone to bed. Marcie, who shares daily life and family messages to Brad on her Instagram page, says it’s her faith that helps her “persevere day in and day out.”

“It truly takes a ton of work to make a large family household run smoothly, but I absolutely feel called to be in this role,” Marcie told The Epoch Times. “The kids are 100 percent worth my time investment and all the hard work and long hours I put in.

“Our faith plays a tremendous role in raising our kids. Our end goal is to do our absolute best in raising children who love the Lord with all their hearts, and all our decisions are based around that.”

Krav Maga Expert Escapes Violent Past, Shares Life-Saving Self-Defense Techniques

After escaping a violent youth, a German-born martial arts enthusiast became an expert in Krav Maga, the self-defense system developed for the Israeli defense forces and Israeli security forces. Today, he’s an instructor who has workshops around the world and shares content to teach others his bespoke defense strategy, claiming it’s never too late to learn the skills that could save your own life.

Michael Rüppel, 53, has earned his 7th-degree black belt in Krav Maga. He founded Krav Maga Street Defence in Essen, Germany, in 1999, after picking up martial arts “relatively late” in life.

Michael told The Epoch Times: “I was 17 and started Thai boxing for a few years; through my job as a bodyguard, I came to Krav Maga.”

As someone who worked in personal protection for many years, Michael said he wanted to be able to offer the best protection to his clients.

Besides running his school in Germany, Michael is an international instructor for law enforcement agencies, including the German and Israeli police, IDF Lotar Counter-Terror School Israel, U.S. Homeland Security, Miami-Dade Special Response Team, and Miami-Dade, Panama, and San Diego police.

103-Year-Old Breaks World Record as Oldest Female to Do a Tandem Parachute Jump

At 103 years and 259 days old, a Swedish woman has fulfilled her dream and broken a world record in the process by becoming the oldest woman to tandem parachute jump from a plane.

Rut Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson scripted history by becoming the world’s oldest female parachutist since free-falling in Motala, Sweden, on May 29 with parachute expert, Joackim Johansson.

The sun shone in a cloudless sky as Rut’s family and local media flocked to support the daring centenarian, Guinness World Records reported.

ICYMI

‘Unruly’ Protesters Hound Justice Kavanaugh From DC Steakhouse

Activists targeted Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on July 6, driving him out of a popular Washington restaurant where he was enjoying an evening meal. The action is apparently part of the “summer of rage” that leftists have promised in protest of the court’s decisions.

Protesters massed outside Morton’s Steakhouse after learning Kavanaugh was inside, Politico first reported. The activists contacted the eatery’s manager demanding that the justice be given the boot because of his court rulings. It’s unclear how many activists were present.

Some activists urged people “to call the restaurant and denounce its hospitality toward the justice,” The New York Post reported.

For security reasons, Kavanaugh exited the restaurant through a back door.

Morton’s condemned the disruption through a spokesperson.

“Honorable Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh and all of our other patrons at the restaurant were unduly harassed by unruly protestors while eating dinner at our Morton’s restaurant,” the spokesperson said. “Politics, regardless of your side or views, should not trample the freedom at play of the right to congregate and eat dinner. There is a time and place for everything. Disturbing the dinner of all of our customers was an act of selfishness and void of decency.”

Responding to the Morton’s statement, Shut Down DC, which has been organizing protests at the home of conservative justices, threatened the steakhouse in a July 8 tweet. “No rights for us, no peace for you. Get [expletive] @mortons.”

The group celebrated the disruption in a Twitter post.

“We hear Kavanaugh snuck out the back with his security detail. @mortons should be ashamed for welcoming a man who so clearly hates women,” it wrote.

Republican Mayra Flores Is Keeping the Faith in Congress

Mayra Flores (R-Texas), whose political Cinderella story made her the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress, isn’t feeling any love from the Left.

Flores ran on a conservative platform of God, family, and country, in a special election to flip Texas District 34 red for the first time in more than a century.

On July 6, the New York Times labeled her and two other South Texas Latina candidates as far-Right.

“It amazes me that because my values are rooted in God, family, and country, the liberal media takes it upon themselves to attack me and label me ‘far-Right.’

“But at least they used the word ‘Latina’ over their other made-up terms. Seguimos Adelante!” Flores said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The newspaper highlighted social media posts asserting Flores’ belief that Donald Trump had won in 2020 and President Joe Biden should be impeached.

The article questioned her use of QAnon hashtags in the past. It noted her pro-life conservative views and that her pastor appeared at her swearing-in.

Flores has denied any connection with QAnon and told the New York Times she intended to oppose the group, which believes Democrats are Satan-worshiping, cannibalistic pedophiles.

Flores has brushed off the criticism and is sticking to her platform, where she openly embraces, “Make America Godly Again.”

It is key to understanding how Flores’ path took her from the cotton fields of Texas to the halls of Congress.

She told The Epoch Times that her faith became the driving force behind her decision to run for Congress, although she had little political experience.

“It played the biggest role for me,” she told The Epoch Times. “I feel our values are being lost. So for me it was really about God.”

Flores wants to “take Jesus to Congress” and believes people need to stand up and not fear criticism for their faith. She believes people are hungry to hear about God and wants to see prayer put back into the classroom.

“We are in so much of a mess because we have put God aside,” she said.

Flores, of Harlingen, Texas, won a special election in the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley, taking 51 percent of the vote, while her main Democratic rival, Dan Sanchez, received 43 percent.

She will finish the term of U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Brownsville), who resigned to work for Akin Gump, a Washington D.C. law and lobbying firm.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called for a special election to fill the vacancy left by Vela.

Flores hopes to win a full term in Congress in November by defeating moderate Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, who is switching districts because the Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew the South Texas voter map, moving his McAllen home from District 15 into District 34.

But the midterm election stands to be a more challenging race for Flores, given that the redrawn Congressional District 34 is much more favorable for a Democratic win.

Gonzalez is running on some popular Democratic themes, such as free college and pre-K.

He is more moderate on border issues. He supports “compassionate” immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship but remains committed to the health and safety of the people he is sworn to represent.

As a Catholic, Gonzalez said he’s pro-life but believes in the separation of church and state, according to an article in The Hill. Gonzalez’s campaign has not responded to a request for an interview.

Flores’ celebrity status as a Latina Republican has Democrats pushing back and vowing to put the muscle of their political machine to work flipping the seat back to blue.

Gonzalez recently told Newsweek Flores was an “unqualified” opponent and a pawn of the Republican Party.

But Flores is keeping the faith—literally. From the beginning, she has turned to City Church in Harlingen and pastor Luis Cabrera for support.

IRS Requests Watchdog Probe of Decision to Audit Comey, McCabe

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked a watchdog to investigate its decision to audit former FBI officials James Comey and Andrew McCabe.

“The IRS has referred the matter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for review,” a spokesperson for the agency told The Epoch Times in an email.

“IRS Commissioner Rettig personally reached out to TIGTA after receiving a press inquiry,” the spokesperson added.

The IRS is part of the Treasury Department. Commissioner Charles Rettig was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, established in 1998, independently oversees the IRS. Its actions include investigating allegations of misconduct by IRS employees.

The watchdog could not be reached.

Comey’s 2017 tax return was “selected at random for a compliance research examination” while McCabe’s 2019 return was picked at random for the same type of audit, according to letters from the IRS to the former officials published (pdf) by the New York Times.

Comey, an Obama appointee, was fired by then-President Trump in May 2017 at the recommendation of the attorney general and deputy attorney general. The officials said Comey was “not able to effectively lead the bureau.”

Comey was later found to have violated FBI policies by providing a memorandum to a friend with instructions for the friend to share the memo with a reporter, and to have kept copies of other memos at his home after his firing.

McCabe, who succeeded Comey, was fired the following year by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Trump appointee, at the recommendation of the FBI

Former Federal ‘Informant’ Warned of Antifa, BLM Infiltrators at Capitol on Jan. 6

The man whose posting on social media warned authorities that agent provocateurs from Antifa and Black Lives Matter would be at the U.S. Capitol dressed as Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, is a self-described government informant tied to former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein warned about a “soft coup” against then-President Donald Trump in fall 2020.

On Jan. 4, 2021, an account under the name @JohnHereToHelp posted on Twitter that Antifa and BLM agitators were being bussed from Baltimore to Washington to cause trouble at the Capitol on the day of Trump’s speech at the Ellipse.

“Pantifa/BLM, Balt./DC branches, are already bussing people in to disturb Jan. 6,” the post read. “Orders [were] given to dress like ‘MAGA,’ blend in [and] cause trouble, especially around cameras. At night, arson has been ordered. All to be blamed on Trump supporters attending. Please be careful.”

The post caught the attention of an assistant commander in the Intelligence and Counterterrorism Branch of the United States Park Police, who forwarded it to officials at the U.S. Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies.

The now-suspended Twitter account belonged to Ryan Dark White, also known as Jon McGreevey.

McGreevey has described himself in court papers and interviews as a former Department of Justice informant who supplied information on corruption in the federal government, law enforcement, and the Trump administration.

He once used the name Ryan White as a cover but now identifies as McGreevey. He is running for federal office in Maryland.

JohnHereToHelp’s original post was shared more than 6,000 times before it hit the radar of the Park Police.

At the time, McGreevey had more than 120,000 followers on Twitter, according to an archived version of his page stored at the Wayback Machine.

Twitter later suspended his account.

Men Arrested in July 4 Mass Shooting Plot Are Illegal Immigrant

The two men arrested for allegedly planning to attack a July 4 celebration in Virginia are both in the United States illegally, with one having been deported twice, according to U.S. officials and court documents.

Julio Alvarado-Dubon, 52, was arrested on July 1 for allegedly plotting the mass shooting with Rolman Balacarcel, 38, who was arrested on July 5.

Both were charged with being non-U.S. citizens in possession of firearms.

Initial documents filed in General District Court in Richmond say the men are in the U.S. illegally. The documents say Alvarado-Dubon has an expired visa.

Both men are Guatemalan nationals, an official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to The Epoch Times in an email.

Balacarcel was deported twice from the United States before, the official said, once in October 2013 and again in August 2014.

Immigration detainers were placed on both men.

Elon Musk Reacts to Biden’s Apparent Teleprompter Gaffe

Elon Musk has weighed in on a video of President Joe Biden reading what appears to be a teleprompter instruction line during a live announcement on Friday.

Biden was addressing the nation over an executive order related to the reversal of Roe v. Wade when he seemingly went too far by reading out directions—”End of quote. Repeat the line.”—from the teleprompter.

“Whoever controls the teleprompter is the real President!,” Musk wrote on Twitter in response, adding a picture that shows a dialogue from Will Ferrell’s 2004 movie “Anchorman,” in which Ferrell is cast as television anchor Ron Burgundy. 

“Who typed a question mark on the Teleprompter? For the last time, anything you put on that prompter, Burgundy will read,” reads the picture quote Musk posted on the social media platform.

Musk was reacting to a post by digital strategist Greg Price, which referenced the CBS news footage showing Biden apparently misreading the teleprompter.

“Joe Biden accidentally reads the part on the teleprompter that says ‘repeat the line’ when they wanted him to say the line again [expletive],” said Price.

Emilie Simons, White House Assistant Press Secretary, later responded to Price’s comments.

“No. He said, ‘let me repeat that line,’” said Simons, denying that Biden was reading teleprompter instructions.

DeSantis Hits Back at Newsom After Campaign Ad Attack: ‘People Vote With Their Feet’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has fired back at his California counterpart Gavin Newsom, saying the Democrat’s “terrible governance” was why the Golden State was “​​hemorrhaging population.”

“People vote with their feet,” he said at a press briefing at the Cape Coral High School on July 8. “When families are uprooting from the Pacific coast to go almost 3,000 miles in search of a better life, that’s telling you something.”

“Yes, we’ve created a citadel of freedom here that has attracted people, and we’re proud of it. But let’s just be clear. California is driving people away with their terrible governance,” he added.

DeSantis made the remarks in response to a 30-second ad campaign that newsom launched around the July 4 holiday, rallying Sunshine State residents to move to California, a state he said still “believe[s] in freedom.”

“Freedom is under attack in your state,” Newsom said in the 30-second ad that aired on Fox News targeting the state’s legislative acts, such as a 15-week abortion ban and a bill barring classroom instruction on sexual orientation in kindergarten through grade 3.

Both Newsom and DeSantis face gubernatorial reelections this November. The ad has fueled speculation that Newsom is positioning himself as a contender in the 2024 presidential race, although the governor himself has disavowed such intentions. DeSantis, while enjoying growing support among Republican voters, hasn’t said if he will run.

“Everyone wants to talk about me and Florida,” DeSantis said at the Friday press briefing when asked about Newsom’s Florida ad. “I’m just sitting here, little old me, doing my job.”

He took a swipe at the California governor’s apparent violation of his own pandemic restrictions, noting that Newsom had dined at the $350-per-person French Laundry restaurant even when the state was in lockdown.

It was “to basically rub his citizens’ noses in the fact that he was treating them like peasants,” said DeSantis.

Newsom later apologized for attending the 12-person dinner, calling it “a bad mistake.”

Despite the California governor’s call for Floridians to join his state, DeSantis noted that the traffic appears to be going in the other direction.

A recent analysis by Moody’s Analytics shows that red states have been outpacing blue states in economic recovery. Florida from July 2020 to July 2021 gained over 211,000 residents, placing it second only to Texas in net population growth, census population estimates show. Roughly 262,000 residents left California over the same period, the second largest population decline next to New York.

Border Agents Falsely Accused of Whipping Had Careers ‘Ruined’ by Biden: Union Chief

Texas—The U.S. Border Patrol agents who were falsely accused of striking illegal immigrants at the U.S.–Mexico border have had their careers “ruined” by President Joe Biden, the head of the agency’s union told The Epoch Times.

“Their careers were ruined by this president,” said Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.

A slew of media outlets in the fall of 2021 claimed that Border Patrol agents on horseback had whipped Haitian aliens who were entering the United States by crossing the Rio Grande at Del Rio, Texas. The outlets later backtracked on the claims.

But multiple government officials, including Biden, used similar language.

Biden told reporters he observed that the agents had “strapped” the immigrants, calling what happened “outrageous.”

“I promise you, those people will pay. They will be—an investigation is underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences. It’s an embarrassment. But beyond an embarrassment, it’s dangerous; it’s wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It sends the wrong message at home. It’s simply not who we are,” he said at the time.

However, an internal review released on July 8 said there was “no evidence” that agents “struck any person, intentionally or otherwise.” Further, U.S. prosecutors declined to charge any of the agents involved, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed.

“The president accused them of a criminal act. He has not apologized for that,” Judd told The Epoch Times.

He said he doesn’t expect Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, who said she was “outraged” by the treatment of illegal immigrants, to apologize.

COMMENTARY

Illegals Invasion: Sheriff Says Enough

Commentary by Devvy Kidd – The open border invasion – because that’s EXACTLY what’s been going on for decades -continues destroying this country as I thoroughly covered in my column, Illegal Aliens Stealing Our Jobs, Food, Housing, Water, Clogging the Courts & Health Care System, June 20, 2022.  Illegals are counted in the census (despite Trump’s efforts to stop it) so they can get a chunk of YOUR paycheck.

The minute illegitimate president and life-long crook, Joe Biden, was sworn into office, border governors should have immediately declared the hordes an invasion and put the National Guard – armed – on the border.  At hot spots and the Rio Grande.  Do not try to step on U.S. soil.  Turn around and go back to Mexico and let them deal with you.

In AZ, where I have been on the border and seen the destruction myself, our brave Border Patrol know the established runs and paths used by illegals, coyotes and the drug cartel.  Same for Texas.  Forget California. My beautiful home state wrecked by freeloaders, leeches and criminals will now get free healthcare paid for by California taxpayers, many who can barely afford their own health care premiums or are going without.  Violation of federal immigration laws about aiding and abetting but California has become nothing but a lawless free-for-all thanks to their legislature and governor Gavin Newsom:  California Gives Free Healthcare To Illegal Immigrants, July 2, 2022

Along came President Trump who had to fight RINO’s as well as maggots in Congress, the Democrat/Communist Party USA and partisan judges who did everything they could to keep “the wall” from being built.

Biden’s handlers have done a good job having their puppet destroy just about everything Trump did to keep illegals on the Mexican side of the border.  Dirty filthy traitor:  DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is vowing an end to the “Remain in Mexico” program despite its success in drastically cutting asylum fraud, July 1, 2022

Well, one sheriff and God bless him, took matters into his own hands in his own county:

Texas sheriff takes migrant crisis into own hands, drives detainees back to border, June 30, 2022 – “Kinney County, Texas Sheriff Brad Coe said he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands at the southern border as the influx of illegal immigrants continues…

“I’ll always place the safety of the residents of Kinney County, the residents of Texas, above the comfort of anybody that’s illegally entered this country,” he said. “My job is, as an elected official in Kinney County, is to protect these people. And that’s my job and that’s what I will continue to do until further notice.”

“According to the sheriff, Biden’s open border policies are anything but compassionate and tragedies like the 53 migrants killed in a human trafficking operation will continue to happen until the administration begins to enforce border laws.”

Oh, you can’t do that! The federals are the ones who enforce immigration laws!  The human invasion has been political from the moment Ronald Reagan sold out this country when he signed an immigration “reform” bill that would end the illegals invasion once and for all!  What he did was open the door and invite millions to come on in and suck off hard working Americans.  Thousands and thousands of dead Americans at the hands of illegals since then while guns and drugs flood across the border every day of the week.

DHS anticipates an average of 441 unaccompanied children per day at border this year, a new record – President Biden’s DHS expects between 148,000 and 161,000 encounters, dwarfing the previous record, July 10. 2022

Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution says:  To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions

As Dr. Edwin Vieira has written so many times in his superb columns it’s a legitimate president’s job to protect these united States of America and that includes repelling an invasion.  How the President Can Secure the Borders by Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.,

August 18, 2015

Of course, we have no constitutional militia in any state of the Union.  Second Amendment:  A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Too bad no one on the U.S. Supreme Court pays any attention to the true meaning of the Second Amendment.  Gun owners in this country READ:   True vs. False Militia and Why the Difference Matters by Dr. Edwin Vieira, July 30, 2007

Our governor, Greg Abbott (who I did NOT vote for in our March primary) has taken some actions long after the cows were out of the barn and at the slaughterhouse:

To build Abbott’s border barrier, Texas will use surplus wall panels from the federal government, Feb. 15, 2022 – “The 1,700 unused wall panels are being stored in Eagle Pass. Texas didn’t have to explain its plans for the panels when it secured the federal donation.”

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Texas Restarts Border Wall Project Cancelled by Biden, Says Governor, March 14, 2022 – “EAGLE PASS, Texas — The State acquired a large quantity of 30-foot wall panels from the Biden Administration to utilize in the construction of a border wall. The materials came from federal contracts cancelled in January 2021.

“Texas is the first state ever to build a border wall,” Governor Abbott began in an exclusive interview. “A lot of the border wall is being built by border wall material that there was a contract for, Texas bought it from contractors who built the wall for President Trump. We’re building the exact same wall.”

Abbott, however, refuses to declare an invasion underway to the delight of the president of Mexico.  Watch: ‘One of the Largest Groups We’ve Ever Seen’ – Mob of 500 Illegals Swarms Texas – Enormous horde of illegals followed by another enter Eagle Pass hours apart, July 7, 2022

JUST IN: Governor Abbott Authorizes Texas National Guard, State Troopers to Apprehend Illegal Aliens and Return Them to Ports of Entry, July 7, 2022 – “Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) on Thursday authorized the Texas National Guard and state troopers to apprehend illegal aliens and return them to ports of entry.  This is the first time the state has ever done something like this.

LONG overdue, but oh, wait!  Gov. Abbott Allows Illegals to Be Taken to Border, But Not Removed – “No significant changes to current policy. This is still catch and release.” – Ken Cuccinelli, July 7, 2022

“This authorization by the governor follows several South Texas counties’—Kinney, Goliad, Uvalde, Val Verde, Terrell, and Zavala—announced intent to declare the border crisis an invasion themselves, as well as the Republican Party of Texas calling Abbott to declare an invasion and invoke Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution to protect Texans.

“Additionally, National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto called out Abbott earlier this week for his hesitancy in declaring the crisis an invasion, stating Texas “should’ve declared an invasion a long time ago.”

No doubt the illegitimate Biden Administration will have their illegitimate Attorney General, buffoon Merrick Garland, file a lawsuit.  But, there’s the problem of losing tens of thousands of National Guard who refuse to have their human rights violated by being forced to take those deadly experimental gene therapy injections being passed off as vaccines.

Army Reserve and Guard members who refused COVID vaccine now banned from drills, training, July 1, 2022 – “Guard officials told CBS News they hope that missing a paycheck for drill weekends will change the minds of the vaccine holdouts. Over time, those who remain unvaccinated will not only forfeit paychecks by missing weekend drilling, but they could also lose their proficiency, no longer be able to perform their mission, and face a discharge.”

Exclusive: Vaccine Mandate Will Force Over 700 Pilots, 40,000 National Guard Troops to Be Discharged, July 4, 2022 – So many who’ve served 18, 19 years will lose all their benefits.  Short video to watch.  Absolutely disgusting.

The solution to the human and drug invasion has been sitting since 1993.  I’ve been pounding on this since 2014.  Below is a letter I sent last week to Gov. Ron DeSantis [R-FL) as neither Abbott or our AG are remotely interested.  Encluded was page one of the bill so he can have his staff look it up.  I also sent a copy with a short cover letter to Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY] who is the most constitutionally grounded member of the U.S. House asking him to introduce the bill – along with the bill name, number and page one.

Dear Gov. DeSantis:

I saw recently you said “Enough is enough” regarding the illegals invasion. This planned nightmare could have been over by 2017. In 1993, (now deceased) Senator Dirty Harry Reid introduced the strongest most constitutionally effective and legal bill that will force millions of illegals to self-deport.

That bill, 76 pages, covers everything and one very important section blows the “legal” myth called “anchor babies” right out of the water. I’m dead serious when I say that bill IS the permanent solution. Of course, later Dirty Harry changed his mind purely for political gain and became a champion of illegal aliens.

The big magnet is welfare in all forms. Reid’s bill wipes it all out including very clearly the asylum issue. It was NOT meant to give asylum for domestic violence and while one can be sympathetic to the conditions in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, abuse of our asylum laws is just an excuse to come suck off the government teat paid for by working Americans who can barely make it every month.

Three months after President-Elect Trump was sworn in (2017), I sent him a letter (overnight express mail) along with the bill; also a copy to Stephen Miller who was Trump’s Senior Advisor and very vocal against illegals and supported “build the wall”. Not even a canned letter response.

I also sent the information to six GOP reps and six GOP senators who claim to be fighting to close the border. Rep. Louis Gohmert, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, etc.

I told them to introduce Dirty Harry’s old bill. You own Congress and Trump will sign it, of that I have no doubt. I never received a response from any of them. I waited three more months and repeated my efforts. To this day, not a peep from any member of Congress about the permanent solution. I have NO doubt China’s lapdog, crook Mitch McConnell will never support the bill.

No doubt in my mind Dirty Harry did NOT write that bill. It was likely written by their top attorneys to withstand court challenges. Reid wasn’t very intelligent but he was a cunning scoundrel.

Our governor owned by big money here in Texas has refused to do what needs to be done so he’s been putting a Band Aid on a patient hemorrhaging on the operating table. Greg Abbott is NOT the big hero people think he is or a great conservative. Rubbish.

I’m sending a copy of this to Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY] who is the most constitutionally grounded member of Congress. A true warrior who fights like a lion against the RINOs in Congress who care nothing for the Constitution.

You, Gov. DeSantis, make things happen and I don’t say this lightly having nothing but contempt and disgust for Congress – especially Republicans. They had control of both chambers of Congress for 17 months under Trump and could have gotten Reid’s bill passed and onto Trump’s desk.

I hope you will use your considerable power in the Republican Party to get this bill, not only in front of Republican governors, but to the public. I’ve been trying since 2014 through my weekly column. I know tons of my readers have written or emailed their GOP reps and senators about Reid’s bill and receive either no response or some canned BS email response.

Hoping also Rep. Massie will re-introduce the bill even though the communists currently control both chambers of Congress for now. But, that bill should be the talk of America and rub it in the face of dementia addled Nancy Pelosi, Schumer and the rest of the scum in the Democrat/Communist Party USA.

Attached is the announcement by Reid back in 1993 for his bill. *End*

To read Dirty Harry’s press release on booting out illegals, here’s my column.  A Bill:  Stop All Public Welfare in Any Form for Illegal Aliens, August 24, 2014.  If you can’t read it now, book mark and read later because not only is it the strongest bill to self-deport millions of illegals, I discuss an important court case.

DeSantis has tremendous pull in the GOP.  If the “big red wave” does happen in November, hopefully Rep. Massie will introduce it again and that’s when the big push by the American people needs to be heard around the world.  Unless and until ALL forms of welfare and illegal minors are removed from OUR schools, the wall sections will help some, but it won’t stop the hordes until they’re caught.  And NO AMNESTY.  Rewarding those who break our laws to get into this country only invites more illegals.  Time has shown that to be a fact.

If there is a super majority in the House and enough votes in the Senate (and tell Mitch McConnell to go to Hell) they can over ride a veto penned by whoever is stinking up the White House by January 2023.  OUR HOUSE.

There is one consideration which I’ve written about before and I focused on the ag belt in California.  Yes, there are workable programs that can fairly benefit seasonal workers and Americans the right way.

If the solution isn’t signed into law and enforced America will no longer be America.  As planned, our sovereignty will be dead, over run with tens more millions of illegals from more than 100 countries.

If you live in Florida, call or write a letter to DeSantis encouraging him to pursue this with every GOP house member and senators in his state:  Make that bill the talk of his state.  If you live in Rep. Thomas Massie’s district [KY], call or send him a short letter about Harry Reid’s bill and ask him to re-introduce it now and in January.

Of course, one of the big problems is the same incumbents who haven’t cured the problem – both parties – allegedly winning their primaries, will likely win in November and go right back to DC to do nothing unless We the People demand that bill get passed by both chambers of Congress.

One senator will have to introduce Reid’s bill.  It won’t be this POS:  Republican John Thune Asks Biden for More Foreign Workers to Fill U.S. Jobs as Millions of Americans Jobless, July 6, 2022.  “Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) is joining Democrats, as well as the big business lobby, in asking President Joe Biden for more legal immigration to the United States to fill American jobs.”

Thune allegedly won his primary and will likely win in November.  He is the quintessential example of why the Seventeenth Amendment must be abolished.  It’s a damn shame Rep. Mo Books [R-AL] allegedly lost his bid for the senate in Alabama while a poltroon like Thune wins.

We are the solution but not if we don’t act so get involved here.  Keep up to date on the illegals invasion here.  Encourage your border sheriffs to do the same as Kinney County, Texas Sheriff Brad Coe mentioned at the top.  Want a show down with the federals?  Bring it on.

Call talk radio and make that bill the discussion instead of more Biden this or that.  The American people can see he’s nothing but a brain impaired old man manipulated by his wife and handlers.  We either go for the solution or we, our children and grandchildren are doomed.  America is turning into a third world sh*t hole and if you think it won’t affect you or your family, you’re in denial.  Take a look at the two illegals in the photo below.

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