Today’s Top 5:
1.GOP Report Accuses DHS Secretary of ‘Actively’ Encouraging ‘Mass Illegal Immigration’
Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee released a scathing report on Wednesday evening accusing DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of intentional “dereliction of duty” in securing the nation’s borders.
The GOP interim report claims Mr. Mayorkas has “actively encouraged and facilitated mass illegal immigration,” neglecting his sworn oath to “control and guard” the borders. The investigation, initiated earlier under Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.), comes amid criticism of the administration’s handling of the border crisis.
“Over the past two years, Mayorkas has repeatedly ignored or refused to enforce immigration laws passed by Congress, ended commonsense, effective border security policies, implemented an open-borders agenda that has spread millions of illegal aliens throughout the United States, and continuously misled Congress and the American people about his actions and the nature of the border crisis sparked by his policies,” the report states (pdf).
2.Ukraine Begins Firing U.S.-Supplied Cluster Bombs on Battlefield
Ukraine is using cluster bombs against Russian forces less than a week after they were first delivered from U.S. reserve stores, the White House confirmed Thursday.
President Joe Biden called the decision to send the deadly munitions “very difficult” while acting in defiance of allies like the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain who stand opposed their use, as Breitbart News reported.
3.FBI Source Provided Allegations That Joe Biden, Hunter Biden Received Bribes: Document
A confidential source provided information to the FBI in 2020 alleging that then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were bribed to pressure Ukraine to remove a prosecutor investigating Burisma, the Ukrainian company that employed the younger Mr. Biden, according to a document made public on July 20.
The source said he traveled to Burisma’s office in Ukraine in 2015 or 2016 with a man named Oleksandr Ostapenko. During the meeting, Vadim Pojarskii, chief financial officer of Burisma, told the source that the company hired Mr. Hunter Biden “to protect [the company], through his dad, from all kinds of problems.”
Burisma contacted the source to seek assistance in buying a U.S. company to merge with in the hope that it could go public in the United States.
On Wednesday, at least 25 to 30 IRS agents in tactical gear raided a business along Southeast Slater Street in Stuart, Florida, Fox 29 reported.
The raid, which began around 9:30 a.m. on July 12th, saw agents entering and leaving the premises of Tee Off Temps and Elite Payroll Solutions, each time laden with boxes and large backpacks.
5.Glenn Youngkin Education Guidance Puts Parents Back in Control
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has directed public schools to help parents shield their children from transgender advocacy.
The new guidelines require all state-funded schools to abide by the names and pronouns listed on students’ official birth records unless parents submit a written request asking otherwise, according to a report by msn.com.
WORLD NEWS
Mysterious Explosion Rocks Johannesburg, South Africa
A huge explosion damaged vehicles and caused numerous injuries on Bree Street in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday.
Early reports suggested a gas leak might have caused the blast, but the local gas company insisted there was no evidence of such a leak, and all of its customers in the area “continue to receive gas uninterrupted.”
Iranian ‘Asylum Seeker’ Jailed After Raping 70-Year-Old Woman, Sexually Assaulting Child
An asylum seeker from Iran has been jailed for raping an elderly woman and sexually assaulting a child just ten months after he arrived in the United Kingdom.
Europe Arms Race: U.S. Clears $2.9 Billion Sale of Air-to Air Missiles for Germany
The U.S. State Department approved an arms sale to Germany on Wednesday built around air-to-air missiles for the Luftwaffe worth an estimated $2.9 billion.
When completed the foreign military sale would see Germany receive up to 969 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related equipment for its air force, according to a July 19 news release by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified Congress of the department’s approval.
Iraq Expels Swedish Ambassador as Mob Sets Embassy on Fire
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani expelled the Swedish ambassador on Wednesday, even as a mob of protesters waving photos of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire.
The attack was a preemptive strike against a scheduled burning of the Quran in Stockholm by Salwan Momika, the same Iraqi refugee who burned a Quran last month.
India’s ban on rice exports raises fear of global food price rises
India has introduced an immediate ban on non-basmati white rice exports to curb domestic inflation after heavy rains hit domestic crops, raising fears of further increases in global food prices.
Grain prices rise after Russian pullout of Black Sea deal sparks food crisis fears
Wheat prices have been climbing on global markets, just days after Russia pulled out of an agreement that guaranteed safe passage for ships carrying cereals through the Black Sea, reigniting fears of the impact on poorer, grain-importing countries, as well as on western nations dealing with stubbornly high inflation.
US Navy official says multination military training in Australia demonstrates unity to China
U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said Friday that the major multination military training exercise launched in Australia sends a message to China that America’s allies are cooperating to defend their security and democratic values.
Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between
the United States and Australia but has expanded this year to 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
Del Toro and his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, welcomed ever-closer closer bilateral military ties as they launched the exercise at a Sydney naval base.
Del Toro said land, sea and air military platforms are becoming increasingly complicated and allies need to exercise together to be able to operate as a single task force.
Concern mounts in East Africa over halted Black Sea grain deal
For years, East African countries have relied on Ukrainian grain exports for sustenance. Now, an end to the agreement could lead to rising consumer prices, and further strain farmers and cash-strapped aid organisations already struggling to respond to challenges like conflict to drought, analysts say.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Federal Reserve set to oversee bank transactions
The federal government this month is set to launch FedNow, a “safe and efficient” instant payments service which will allow the Federal Reserve to facilitate payments between bank customers and receive their transaction data.
With FedNow, the Federal Reserve will act as a middleman in transactions between banks and credit unions. Currently, transactions pass through a financial institution called a clearing house, which facilitates the payments. But at the end of this month, the clearing house will instead be the Federal Reserve for many banks.
For example, if John Doe wishes to pay a bill, he would initiate the transaction as he normally would through an end-user platform like his banking app. John’s bank would then send the request to the Federal Reserve, which would notify the recipient’s bank that funds are about to be transferred and would give the go-ahead to John’s bank to release the funds. The Federal Reserve would then take the funds from John’s bank and deposit them in the recipient’s bank. This would all happen in the span of six seconds.
John would be none the wiser that the Federal Reserve had not only just seen his transaction but had conducted it from beginning to end.
Shocking Release of FD-1023 Reveals Egregious Attempt by the FBI to Cover for the Bidens
As RedState reported, Sen. Chuck Grassley has released the infamous FD-1023 form which provides evidence that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden received bribes from Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky.
AMERICA UNDER ATTACK: Multiple Explosions Hit Propane Tanker Yard Near Phoenix Airport
By JD Rucker – A propane tanker yard near Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix was hit with multiple explosions Thursday. Watch:
It just keeps happening. Unexplained catastrophes happen across the nation. News reports struggle to find a cause but law enforcement claims it’s DEFINITELY not sabotage or terrorism despite not knowing what it is. Days go by and somehow no cause is ever reported, or a bogus excuse is leaked and the story is dropped forever.
Railways, food processing plants, oil refineries, power stations… it appears that America is truly under attack and corporate media is keeping it secret. I’m not suggesting that EVERY incident is intentional, but there have been so many “unexplained” incidents over the last two years that it’s foolish to not consider the possibility that we’re being targeted from within.
One of the key components to nearly all of these alleged attacks is that they usually do not involve many deaths, if any. That would draw more attention to them. But somehow these incidents happen on a massive scale with limited loss of life. In this latest potential attack, the headline from local media claimed several cars were damaged but nobody was injured:
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal challenging a modern-day form of highway robbery which empowers police to seize and keep private property (cash, jewelry, cars, homes, and other valuables) they “suspect” may be connected to a crime.
In Culley v. Marshall, The Rutherford Institute, ACLU, and Cato Institute joined in an amicus brief to argue against the government’s use of delaying tactics in asset forfeiture proceedings which make it difficult for individuals innocent of any wrongdoing to timely recover their property—especially cars and cash—seized by police who stand to profit from the forfeiture.
“Asset forfeiture is the government’s new, twisted form of guilt by association. Only it’s not the citizenry being accused of wrongdoing, just their money,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. “What this adds up to is a paradigm in which Americans no longer have to be guilty to be stripped of their property, rights and liberties. All you have to be is in possession of something the government wants.”
RFK Jr. Responds to Democrat Attacks at Weaponization Hearing
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to attacks from Democrats during a July 20 hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
The hearing on federal government censorship of certain stories and viewpoints featured Mr. Kennedy—an advocate for enhanced vaccine safety screening and research into the effects of pharmaceutical drugs—as the star witness. Democrats sought to deplatform Mr. Kennedy both before and during the hearing.
IRS Issues Important Notice to Storm Victims in 4 States About Paying Taxes Owed
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a notice to taxpayers in parts of four disaster-stricken states that they must file their federal income tax returns and pay any taxes owed by the end of the month or face consequences.
This year, most taxpayers were required to file by April 18, which was also the deadline for paying any taxes owed to the IRS.
However, the agency granted special relief to taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters in various regions in the form of filing and payment due date extensions.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will begin warning illegal aliens at the United States-Mexico border not to travel and resettle in New York City, telling them that the cost of housing is high and that they are not guaranteed shelter or care.
Since the spring of last year, more than 90,000 border crossers and illegal aliens have arrived in sanctuary New York City. The majority, about 55,000, are living off local taxpayers in city-run hotel rooms, shelters, and other facilities.
Sexual relationship between judge and prosecutor entitles murder defendant to new trial, court rules
The top criminal court in Oklahoma has ruled that a defendant convicted of murder in 2021 is entitled to a new trial because the judge and one of the prosecutors had a prior sexual relationship.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled for defendant Robert Leon Hashagen III in a 3-2 summary opinion July 13.
2ND AMENDMENT
ATF Gets Roasted on Twitter for Posting Range Photo with Agent Breaking Gun Safety Rules
On Wednesday, the Houston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives tweeted a photo of ATF Austin agents at the gun range, and the photo appears to show an agent on the wrong side of the loading table with at least one gun pointed at him.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
US ambassador to Beijing targeted in Chinese cyber-attack – report
The US ambassador to Beijing, Nicholas Burns, was reportedly one of the American officials whose emails were accessed in a recent Chinese hacking attack which took Washington by surprise with its sophistication.
Another target was Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for east Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. When the attack was first disclosed last week, the administration admitted the email account of the commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, had also been compromised. US officials were quoted as saying those were the three most senior targets but that in total, hundreds of thousands of government email accounts could have been breached.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
FTX sues founder Sam Bankman-Fried and three others for $1bn
Lawsuit by cryptocurrency exchange, which collapsed in November, is attempt to recoup assets sought by creditors
The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange
FTX is suing its founder Sam Bankman-Fried and three other former executives for $1bn (£0.78bn).
UPS walkout would trigger pandemic-era supply chain issues.
As talks between UPS and the union that represents more than 300,000 delivery drivers break down, a strike this summer is looking more likely. That could impact 25 to 30 percent of parcels and packages shipped in
the U.S.
The Teamsters represent 340,000 UPS workers. If a strike does happen, it would be the first since a 15-day walkout by 185,000 workers crippled the company a quarter century ago.
Since then, UPS has become an even bigger part of the U.S. economy. UPS says it delivered 24.3 million packages daily in 2022, totaling 6.2 billion packages by year’s end. That’s about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes.
UPS says it has contingency plans if staff do go on strike after the July 31 contract deadline, but disruptions would still be substantial, Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, previously told The Hill.
“You’d have supply chain disruption like we witnessed during the pandemic potentially, where you won’t be getting your deliveries,” Gold said. “So, those who are relying on next day, two-day delivery of whatever you buy online or somewhere else, potentially cannot be delivered.”
Profits On Home Sales Rebound Across U.S. In Second Quarter Of 2023 As Housing Market Revives
ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its second-quarter 2023 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that profit margins on median-priced single-family home and condo sales in the United States increased to 47.7 percent in the second quarter – the first gain in a year.
The improvement in typical profit margins, from 43.9 percent in the first quarter of 2023, came amid a rebound in the U.S. housing market that pushed the median nationwide home price up 10 percent quarterly to $350,000. Both the nationwide profit margin and median home price increased after three straight quarterly drop-offs that had begun to reverse a decade-long market boom.
Netflix Shares Crater as Ad Revenue Set to Dwindle Amid to Hollywood Writers, Actors Strike
Shares for streaming giant Netflix are already taking a hit ahead of the expected down turn in ad revenue that will inevitably result from the ongoing strike by Hollywood actors and writers, who are seeking remedies for pay disparities from streaming services.
Netflix already spooked investors with its latest lower-than-expected earnings even before the full effect of the strike might become evident. The company just reported second-quarter earnings of $8.19 billion, well below the $8.3 billion expected by Wall Street analysts, The Messenger reported.
SCIENCE & TECHOLOGY
Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang is warning lawmakers that China is directing the “full power” of its industries toward artificial intelligence. “AI is China’s Apollo project,” Wang said.
“The country that is able to most rapidly and effectively integrate new technology into warfighting wins,” Wang told the House Armed Services Committee this week.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Biden Admin Looking To Outlaw Almost All Portable Gas Generators
Just months after a Biden-appointed regulator teased a ban on gas stoves, the administration is working to enact a rule that would prohibit the manufacturing of nearly all portable gas generators on the U.S. market.
A proposed Consumer Product Safety Commission rule limits the amount of carbon monoxide a product can emit, with the commission admitting that 95 percent of portable gas generators on the market cannot comply with its new standard. As a result, industry leaders say, the rule will prompt widespread generator shortages, as manufacturers only have six months to design generators that meet the proposed regulation. That process normally takes years, Portable Generator Manufacturers’ Association executive director Susan Orenga told the Washington Free Beacon.
Solar Flares, Blowing Out Satellites, Massive Infrastructure Damage
Commentary from Devvy Kidd – Regular readers of NWV’s are aware I’ve written about and encouraged people to protect their home and vehicle against an EMP attack.
Not just from a terrorist attack which a lot of people are very concerned about right now. Top of the list would be a false flag event to blame MAGA supporters and all of us conservative constitutionalists working to stop the forces of evil. At this point in time, nothing is off the table for these madmen determined to destroy this country and all she’s stood for since the Revolutionary War. They’re in hyper drive as their nefarious plans are being exposed. Dan Bongino reported today that China is getting ready to invade Taiwan which will disrupt the global economy and urging people to prepare.
This column is focused on a weather event.
Use The Power Hour code TPH to get $50 off the purchase of any EMPShield!
COVID RELATED NEWS
US Military Confirms Myocarditis Spike After COVID Vaccine Introduction
Cases of myocarditis soared among U.S. service members in 2021 after the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, a top Pentagon official has confirmed.
There were 275 cases of myocarditis in 2021—a 151 percent spike from the annual average from 2016 to 2020, according to Gilbert Cisneros Jr., the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, who confirmed data revealed by a whistleblower earlier this year.
The COVID-19 vaccines cause myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation that can lead to mortality, including sudden death. COVID-19 also causes myocarditis.
The diagnosis data comes from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database.
Mr. Cisneros provided the rate of cases per 100,000 person-years, a way to measure risk across a certain period of time. In 2021, the rate was 69.8 among those with prior infection, compared to 21.7 among members who had been vaccinated.
“This suggests that it was more likely to be [COVID-19] infection and not COVID-19 vaccination that was the cause,” Mr. Cisneros said.
No figures were given for members who had been vaccinated but were also infected. The total rate, 20.6, also indicates that some members weren’t included in the subgroup analysis.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has been investigating problems with the database, questioned how the military came up with the figures.
“It is unclear whether or how it accounted for service members who had a prior COVID-19 infection and received a COVID-19 vaccination,” Sen. Johnson wrote to Mr. Cisneros.
In early 2023, Del Bigtree, founder and CEO of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), gave a speech about the pandemic of lies, and how truth is winning
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, placebo-controlled safety studies of vaccines have never been done because it would be “unethical” to conduct such studies, as children in the control group would be deprived of the protection that vaccines provide. It’s a circular argument that begins with a pure assumption, namely that vaccines are safe, which has never been studied
Heidi Larson, an anthropologist who served on the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy, in December 2019 admitted that mass vaccination of children has “shifted the human population to dependency on vaccine-induced immunity,” and that this strategy was always based on “the great assumption that populations would cooperate”
According to Larson, the world is now in a “very fragile state,” because once the Baby Boomer generation dies, the human population will have no natural immunity against infectious diseases
Despite the largest, most comprehensive propaganda campaign in history, the globalists failed to achieve their target COVID jab rate of 80% to 90%, as a “meaningful minority” refused to comply. And because this meaningful minority refused to shut up, the percentage of people waking up to the truth about vaccine hazards is growing exponentially
CANCEL CULTURE
Google Is Developing AI To Write News Stories
Google is testing a product that uses artificial intelligence technology to produce news stories, pitching it to news organizations including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal’s owner, News Corp, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The tool, known internally by the working title Genesis, can take in information — details of current events, for example — and generate news copy, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the product.
Psychological Warfare: A Bag of Tricks
People have dealt with cold-blooded, ambitious predators and tricksters for as long as we have been around
Predators look for weaknesses in people’s emotional “armor” — and attack where they see holes — whether it’s a lack of situational awareness, anxiety, pride, ideological addition, insecurity, fear, anger, or being attached to pain
Noticing predators is good situational awareness but it’s important to not be scared
There is no such thing as something for nothing, and some of the most effective things we can do to protect ourselves from psychological tricks aren’t fancy — but they require work. They are choices like practicing spiritual courage, staying even-headed and patient, letting go of ego, and praying for protection like children, from the heart
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
So, How Many Acres Do You Need for a Horse?
If you want to own a horse, you’ll need to know how much land you need. Horses are huge animals, and this isn’t something you can get wrong.
Typically 2 acres of land are needed for a single horse in order to provide them with adequate grazing and room for exercise, but if you have several, you only need to add an additional acre per horse. Don’t forget to allocate extra room for a barn or other shelter if needed.
Want to grow your own nutritious broccoli? Our guide can help you from sowing to harvesting and preserving it too. Learn tips for growing broccoli in your own backyard vegetable garden.
Broccoli, with its vibrant green florets and rich nutritional profile, is a vegetable that both gardeners and food enthusiasts can enjoy. Whether you’re a health-conscious individual looking to incorporate nutrient-dense foods into your diet or an avid gardener seeking a rewarding and versatile crop, growing broccoli offers a multitude of benefits.
Not only is broccoli packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, but it is also remarkably easy to grow in your own backyard. By learning the basics of growing broccoli, you can enjoy a delicious harvest of this delicious and wholesome vegetable.
HEALTH NEWS
FDA Approves Emergent BioSolutions’ Anthrax Vaccine
Emergent BioSolutions said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its anthrax vaccine for use in adults aged 18 through 65.
The vaccine, Cyfendus, has been approved for use following suspected or confirmed exposure to a type of bacteria and has to be administered together with antibacterial drugs.
Study Finds Espresso Could Help Prevent Alzheimer’s
New research has found that a cup of espresso ─ even in an espresso martini ─ not only gives you a jolt of energy but may also prevent Alzheimer’s disease. In laboratory tests, espresso compounds inhibited tau protein aggregation, a process believed to be involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Juul asks FDA to authorize new high-tech vape product
Juul is seeking federal authorization for a new high-tech electronic cigarette that can electronically verify a user’s age and prevent the use of illicit counterfeit and unauthorized pod refills.
Juul said the new device can connect to a web or smartphone app that uses third-party verification to ensure users are adults, and it includes features like device locking.
6 surprising, scientifically-backed ways to cool down quickly during a heat wave
Some of this advice may seem counterintuitive, but it may help you beat the heat.
Phoenix is known for its scorching hot summers, with temperatures sitting at or above 100 degrees for much of the season. But even those seasoned by the Sonoran sun are struggling with nearly three weeks straight of high temps over 110 degrees, with overnight lows not dipping below 90 degrees for days on end.
- Focus on cooling your hands and feet.
Everyone seems to have a different body part to focus on first for the quickest cool-down—your face, your neck, your wrists, etc.—but according to Professor Mike Tipton from the Extreme Environments Laboratory at the University of Portsmouth, the hands are where it’s at.
“Your hands have a high surface area to mass area—they have lots of blood flowing in them when you’re hot. If your core temperature is hot, your body will send blood to the extremities in order to lose heat,” Tipton told Science Focus.
“Immersing your hands in cold water won’t feel as nice, but it’ll cool you much faster than even an ice bath! It’s so important to make a distinction between things that make you feel cooler and things that actually make you cooler.”
Cooling your feet works for the same reasons. We have lots of blood flow to our feet, so immersing them in cool water (not ice water, as that causes the blood vessels to constrict and reduce blood flow) can help cool you down quickly.
- Try drinking hot liquids.
Yes, drinking cold drinks feels amazing when you’re hot, but some experts say hot drinks can actually do more to help your body’s natural cooling system work more efficiently. Ollie Jay, a researcher at the University of Ottawa’s School of Human Kinetics, explains why.
“What we found is that when you ingest a hot drink, you actually have a disproportionate increase in the amount that you sweat,” Jay told The Smithsonian. “Yes, the hot drink is hotter than your body temperature, so you are adding heat to the body, but the amount that you increase your sweating by—if that can all evaporate—more than compensates for the added heat to the body from the fluid.”
The one caveat is that the increased sweat has to have someplace to evaporate, so take humidity levels into consideration.
“On a very hot and humid day, if you’re wearing a lot of clothing, or if you’re having so much sweat that it starts to drip on the ground and doesn’t evaporate from the skin’s surface, then drinking a hot drink is a bad thing,” Jay added. “The hot drink still does add a little heat to the body, so if the sweat’s not going to assist in evaporation, go for a cold drink.”
- Try some spicy foods, too.
Have you ever noticed that tropical places often have the spiciest foods? There are several theories for why that is, but one of them may be that spicy foods can actually help you stay cool.
Similarly to drinking hot beverages, eating spicy food makes you sweat, and sweat is the body’s main cooling system. (Again, though, the effectiveness of this approach depends on your sweat being able to evaporate, so you may not benefit from your mouth burning if you’re in a very hot and humid climate.)
- Ditch the fan if it’s extremely hot AND extremely dry or humid.
Fans can provide a nice breeze to help you cool down, but many public health agencies have recommended against using fans above 95 degrees F (35 degrees C).
However, Ollie Jay and 12 colleagues published a study in 2021 that found humidity levels make a difference in whether fans are actually effective for cooling in extremely high temperatures. Essentially, if temps are extreme and conditions are very dry or very humid, fans can make things worse. But as Science Alert points out, those conditions are not the norm in most places. When humidity is moderate, the temperature at which fans are effective can be higher than 95 degrees.
“[T]here are many locations on Earth where fan use could be safely recommended as an alternative to air conditioning all of the time despite air temperature exceeding the currently recommended threshold of 35 °C,” the authors wrote.
(However, it is important to note that fans increase the risk of dehydration, so always make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids. And for older adults, fan use is not as effective as it is for younger people and can actually result in raising their body temperatures. So it’s important that elderly folks and their caregivers follow heat guidance specifically for older adults.)
- Just say no to the cold beer—or any alcoholic or caffeinated beverage
Cracking open a cold one may sound incredibly refreshing when you’re sweltering, but alcohol and heat actually make poor bedfellows. That’s because alcohol actually dehydrates you. Same goes for caffeine. And the fact that they are liquids is especially deceptive because they give you a false sense of hydration.
“If you’re drinking a lot of beer or alcoholic seltzer, it can feel like you’re taking in a lot of liquid and staying hydrated,” registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, tells the Cleveland Clinic. “But the alcohol offsets that because of the dehydrating factor.”
(If you’re interested in the biological reason for alcohol being dehydrating, it reduces the release of vasopressin, an antidiuretic hormone (ADH) that works with your kidneys to keep your body fluids balanced. Alcohol is also a diuretic, which means it increases the fluid being pulled out of your body as urine.
Hydration is key to making it through a heat wave, so drink aplenty, but make it water. (And start hydrating early in the day. Keeping water near you at all times and continually drinking throughout the day will go a long way toward preventing heat illness.)
- Try dabbing on some peppermint oil
In this case, even though it doesn’t drop your core temperature, there really is a scientific basis for topical peppermint oil making you temporarily feel cooler.
There are plenty more tips for beating the heat, from wearing light-colored clothing to avoiding strenuous activity, but the big takeaway from this list is helping our body’s built-in cooling system work as well as it possibly can during extreme heat.
GOOD NEWS
Veterinary Conference Turns into Free Clinic to Care for the Pets of Denver’s Homeless
This year’s annual convention for the American Veterinary Medical Association has been turned into a medical care drive for the companion animals of the homeless in the Denver area.
In partnership with the Street Dog Coalition and a number of corporate sponsors, the event held over last weekend allowed anyone to bring in an animal to receive a free health check, vaccinations, and essential supplies to take home with them.
Social isolation is as deadly to human beings as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and a companion animal can almost entirely alleviate those maleffects.
For people experiencing homelessness, that emotional support can be even more important.
“I think there’s a big judgment and stigma out there about, ‘gosh you need to be able to afford everything or you shouldn’t have a pet,’ and I really struggle with that,” says Dr. Ashley Ackley, one of the volunteer veterinarians who offered up their time during the convention.
Each pet owner was given a referral for spaying, neutering, or follow-up vaccinations depending on what was required within the Denver area.
The farm that grows vegetables in the middle of the desert
This Jordanian farm shows it’s possible to grow vegetables in the unlikeliest places, using lo-fi tech that’s widely available
It’s called the Sahara Forest Project, and it’s showing how farming can adapt to the challenges of climate change and water scarcity. And this futuristic farm is just getting started.
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