WORLD NEWS
Digital Identification Is Central To Total Control
Law and justice are a central part of the social contract, but many people do not have access to the system. The UN wants to change this. Everyone must be included in the legal system, but this also means that they themselves can be held liable if they violate international law and fail to obey the dictates from above. To remedy this, a digital legal identity is required. This also opens the door to a programmable digital currency, social credits and automated decision-making. The international law specifically refers to Agenda 2030. It should not be possible to escape fulfilling the sustainable development goals. This applies to nations, companies, and individuals.
As former UN Agenda 2030 coordinator David Nabarro stated in an interview with Swedish Radio 2016:
Agenda 2030 is not something you can choose to say yes or no to – it is mandatory, it is the key to the survival of humanity and the planet.[1]
As early as 2012, the UN held a High Level Summit on the Rule of Law, which stated in the resolution:
…our collective response to the challenges and opportunities arising from the many complex political, social and economic transformations before us must be guided by the rule of law, as it is the foundation of friendly and equitable relations between States and the basis on which just and fair societies are built.[2]
International law must be in tune with the great transformation (the post-2015 international development agenda).
To work, there must be a universal access to the Internet. Digitization is the key and forms a central part of the UN’s partnership with the World Economic Forum. As expressed in the strategic framework 2019::
“Digital Cooperation – Meet the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution while seeking to advance global analysis, dialogue and standards for digital governance and digital inclusiveness.”
A legal identity for all is closely linked to the development of a digital ID and is part of Agenda 2030 GOAL 16: Promote Peaceful and Inclusive Societies for Sustainable Development. This is the purpose of the public–private partnership ID2020 and in the long run means that everyone needs a digital ID and internet connection to access various forms of community service.[3] Behind this initiative are the Rockefeller Foundation, GAVI, Accenture and Microsoft, in collaboration with, among others, the United Nations International Computing Center (UNICC), Mastercard and Facebook. Their annual meetings have been held at the UN headquarters in New York since 2016. (I also describe this in the chapter “The Passport” in The Global Coup D’état).
In 2016, the World Economic Forum also released the report A Blueprint for Digital Identity (with participation from actors such as Identity 2020 (ID2020), Mastercard, Visa, Lloyds, Gates Foundation and BlackRock) led by the auditing firm Deloitte where the benefits of developing a digital identification system were investigated and how the financial industry could help to realize this goal.[4] In 2018, digital identity was linked to “the new social contract” when WEF, under the leadership of the IT consulting company Accenture, released the report Identity in a Digital World with a number of smiling happy children on the front page.
The Vaccine Stockpile Is Headed to the Dump
The U.K. stockpiled 650 million doses of COVID-19 injections during the pandemic, but only 142 million have been used
The remainder expire six to 12 months after their date of manufacture, which means millions of doses are going to end up as trash; about $5 billion stands to be wasted on unused shots in the U.K.
The U.K. government has also written off billions of dollars in money spent on protective equipment and ventilators that went unused
The overuse of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to another problem — a massive volume of medical trash that’s straining waste management systems and the environment
According to WHO, 87,000 tons of PPE were accumulated from March 2020 to November 2021 in order to fight COVID-19, but most of it has gone to waste
To Arm or Not to Arm Ukrainians?
Commentary By Jordan Cohen
Do US weapons provide Washington with “leverage” over its clients? A former high‐ranking diplomat certainly believes so, arguing that arms transfers give “the United States leverage and influence.”
Unfortunately, the only leverage US weapons sales provide is the type that recipient countries use to receive ever more arms, despite their risks. According to academic studies, foreign aid for influence and arms for influence attempts are unsuccessful.
The Cato Institute’s arms sales risk index project sees similar results. For example, Saudi Arabia has the largest recipient of American‐made weapons since 2009. Riyadh has used these weapons against US interests to continue ravaging Yemen and an “anti‐corruption purge” to crack down on those fighting government corruption.
Former President Donald Trump ironically understood the follies of arms providing influence. Congress attempted to cancel sales to Saudi Arabia after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. But Trump argued that “we would be punishing ourselves” by canceling these weapons transfers. He believed that stopping the weapons flow would hurt the United States more than the Saudis, and as a result, these sales would continue.
Weapons sales instead created a “reverse leverage.” In other words, any exertion of leverage by the United States became self‐harming because economic and political blowback from canceling a sale is significant. Further, if the United States cancels a sale, there is a risk that the recipient will seek arms from a US competitor. Research finds that US military aid causes recipient states to be oppositional instead of cooperative. Yet, the weapons continue to flow. For example, the Saudis asked for and received weapons to defend their homeland but used them to wage human rights abuses in Yemen.
Ignoring risk gives other countries leverage over the United States, not the other way around. “Arms for influence” becomes a self‐licking ice cream cone. The more weapons that are transferred to risky countries, the more the United States becomes complicit in human rights abuses and unnecessary conflicts.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
US Navy Fires 5 Officers in Less Than a Week, Gives No Reason Why
The U.S. Navy announced that it fired five officers in the span of only a few days, with the most recent termination occurring on Tuesday.
Commodore of Destroyer Squadron 23 Capt. Patrick O’Mahoney confirmed that Cmdr. Peter Lesaca was fired on Tuesday, with O’Mahoney saying that he lost confidence in Lesaca’s ability to lead the USS Preble. It’s not clear why the Navy lost confidence in his capability to lead.
Capt. Larry Repass, the deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron 23, took over as commanding officer of the USS Preble until a permanent one is named, according to a news release from the Navy. It’s not clear what will happen to Lesaca, and no other details were provided.
“Navy commanding officers are held to high standards of personal and professional conduct. They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability, and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards,” the release stated.
Over the past weekend, it was announced that three other naval leaders, including commanding officer Cmdr. Devine Johnson and Command Master Chief Petty Officer Earl Sanders with the USS Bulkeley, were removed last week.
Johnson and Sanders will be temporarily reassigned to a department within the Naval Surface Force Atlantic, the Navy said.
“There is no impact to the command’s mission or schedule due to this relief,” the statement said.
And Capt. Jeffry Sandin was removed as the head of Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, on Saturday, the Navy said.
Days before that, on June 8, the Navy removed Cmdr. Matthew McCormick was commanding officer of a Growler squadron that was sent to the Mediterranean Sea as part of a strike group associated with the USS Harry S. Truman carrier, according to the service.
In each of the four additional cases, the Navy cited a “loss of confidence.” However, no details were provided.
On May 31, the Navy also removed several officers leading the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. They include Capt. Amy Larson, the commanding officer, and Marine Corps Lt. Col. Bret Swaim, the executive officer, according to the Navy, citing a loss of confidence. No details were provided, either.
Since the rollout of the U.S. military’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine regime last year, thousands of service members have been discharged. It’s not confirmed if the recent firings were related to the vaccine mandate.
Wisconsin School Board Group Cuts Ties With NSBA Over Letter Comparing Parents to Terrorists
The Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) has terminated its membership with the National School Boards Association (NSBA) amid controversy over a letter sent to the Biden administration likening concerned parents at school board meetings to “domestic terrorists.”
WASB voted Tuesday not to renew its membership with NSBA, joining a number of states which have opted to do so since the letter came to light last year, the board confirmed in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“The board’s rationale for the decision includes ongoing concerns—many of which pre-date last fall’s events—about NSBA leadership, governance structure and transparency; the fiscal management and financial oversight of the national association; and its failure to prioritize and serve state school board associations. The WASB’s Board of Directors concluded that the interests of Wisconsin school boards are not being represented effectively at the national level by the NSBA,” it read.
“Actions by the NSBA’s leadership last fall needlessly harmed school board relationships and inflamed partisan tensions,” WASB said in another statement to its members. “Those actions caused more than half of the state school board organizations across the nation to distance themselves from the NSBA or drop membership entirely.”
The WASB noted that it is “encouraged by the NSBA’s new executive director Dr. John Heim,” Fox News reported.
Republican Mayra Flores Flips Texas US House Seat in Special Election
Latinos come out strong for Republican candidate in the traditionally blue Rio Grande Valley
Republican Mayra Flores won the special election for an open seat in 34th Texas Congressional District, flipping a heavily Hispanic district to the GOP.
“I’m forever grateful,” Flores said in a victory speech on June 14, her voice breaking with emotion. “For 100 years, we have been taken for granted.”
The victory proves that Republicans have made significant inroads in the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley, which Democrats have dominated for decades.
Flores received about 51 percent of the vote, while Democratic rival Dan Sanchez received 43 percent.
Flores becomes the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress. She thanked God first, her family, and workers for her success.
Flores, a legal immigrant from Mexico who is married to a Border Patrol officer, campaigned on the idea that Democrats have taken Latinos for granted. She ran as a pro-life and pro-Second Amendment candidate, blaming Democrats for soaring food and gas prices.
The winner replaces former Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas), who resigned this spring to work for Akin Gump, a Washington law and lobbying firm. The district lines are shifting for the next election in November, but Flores will hold this seat until January.
Republicans at the national level committed money and effort to the race, believing that South Texas Latinos also share conservatives’ concerns about border security and the economy.
The opportunity to break the South Texas blue barrier has emboldened Republicans, who aim to flip the region red and regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
‘A Disarmed Individual Will Be a Subject,’ Not a Citizen: Lt. Col. Allen West
As new gun control legislation makes its way from the U.S. House to the Senate, where enough Republican senators have indicated they will vote in favor of it, opponents of the bill say these laws already exist and have not—and will not—stop mass shootings.
Instead, what history has shown, Lt. Col. Allen West said, is that these laws will put Americans on the path to losing the right to bear arms, and people becoming subservient to the government and its tyranny.
West told NTD’s Capitol Report during a recent interview that the Founding Fathers created the Bill of Rights and Second Amendment because “they realized that an armed individual can be a citizen, a disarmed individual will be a subject.”
“Every single instance where the government, totalitarian, tyrannical governments have removed private gun ownership, what did they end up doing? They turn citizens into subjects,” West continued. He noted that Canada’s progressive government has just tightened the buying of firearms and he fears the United States will follow that example.
The regimes of Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez took away gun rights before clamping down on citizens, taking more of their rights and killing their own citizens, said West.
One controversial part of the Democrats’ new bill would create a universal background check system, but West said most states already have background check requirements. So, codifying them would not change much except to infringe upon the rights of lawful gun owners.
He said it is not true that people can just buy guns online. “I mean, you can order a weapon, but that weapon then has to be sent to a gun dealership or a Federal Firearms Licensee, FFL, and you have to go and guess what you have to do? You have to fill out a 4473-background check before that weapon can be released to you. You have to pass that background check,” said West.
Democrats’ new gun control bill seeks to give “resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others.”
Their legislation also includes a so-called red flag provision, but these laws are already enacted in many states across the country, and can actually be used indiscriminately against law-abiding citizens by omitting due process.
Generally, these types of laws allow almost anyone to bring a claim to an emergency court hearing alleging that another person is mentally unwell and is a danger to themselves or others. If the court accepts the claim, the person targeted can be “flagged” and prevented from buying firearms and can have any firearms in their possession seized by police.
West said the problem is that mentally disturbed or dangerous individuals, like many of the mass shooters, “fall through the cracks” of the gun control system, which includes background checks and red flag laws.
Mass shooters including Devin Patrick Kelley, Dylann Roof, and Seung-Hui Cho all managed to legally purchase a firearm, even though each should not have according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives’ own criteria during a background check.
In Uvalde, however, where the shooter purchased his rifles from a private dealer, there was no law requiring those private firearms dealers to initiate background checks before transferring the firearm to the shooter.
In a recent letter, 13 Texas Senate Democrats urged their colleagues to pass legislation that raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 years old and enact universal background checks.
“Texas has suffered more mass shootings over the past decade than any other state. In Sutherland Springs, 26 people died. At Santa Fe High School outside Houston, 10 people died. In El Paso, 23 people died at a Walmart. Seven people died in Midland-Odessa,” the Democrats wrote in the letter.
Radical Abortion Group ‘Jane’s Revenge’ Threatens Domestic Terrorism
Jane’s Revenge, the group responsible for firebombing dozens of pro-life pregnancy centers throughout the country, has now threatened acts of domestic terrorism.
In an open letter issued to pro-life centers across the country, Jane’s Revenge took ownership for acts of violence and vandalism at pregnancy centers throughout the country and promised to escalate their tactics if pro-lifers continue operations as usual. The group declared:
Your 30 days expired yesterday. We offered an honorable way out. You could’ve walked away. Now the leash is off. And we will make it as hard as possible for your campaign of oppression to continue. We have demonstrated in the past month how easy and fun it is to attack. We are versatile, we are mercurial, and we answer to no one but ourselves.
Promising to take “increasingly drastic measures” without giving any details, the group said it will attack these centers both overtly and covertly until insurance companies and financial backers “realize you are a bad investment.” The manifesto continued:
From here forward, any anti-choice group who closes their doors, and stops operating will no longer be a target. But until you do, it’s open season, and we know where your operations are. The infrastructure of the enslavers will not survive. We will never stop, back down, slow down, or retreat.
After admitting the “joy” it finds in causing such destruction, Jane’s Revenge concluded its manifesto by addressing its supporters, encouraging them to take matters into their own hands wherever they see fit:
And for the allies of ours who doubt the authenticity of the communiqués and actions: there is a way you can get your beautiful proof that these actions are real. Go do one of your own. You are already one of us. Everyone with the urge to paint, to burn, to cut, to jam: now is the time.
The shocking threats of domestic terrorism prompted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) to call on Attorney General Merrick Garland to open an investigation.
According to LifeNews, as many as 59 cases of “pro-abortion violence and intimidation” have been reported since the leak of the Supreme Court draft decision that aims to overturn Roe v. Wade. Catholic Vote has also documented as many as 23 cases of “attacks on pregnancy centers and pro-life groups” in the same time frame.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has vowed to take legal action against what she described as “false and disgusting” claims she previously worked as an escort and underwent two abortions.
On Tuesday, the American Muckrackers PAC issued a shocking and salacious press release claiming that Boebert worked as “an unlicensed, paid escort and met clients through SugarDaddyMeet.com.”
Among other wild claims, the press release added that Boebert worked as a client for a wealthy member of the Koch family who introduced her to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), leading to the launch of her political career. Worse still, the PAC even claimed that the pro-life Boebert obtained two abortions, the first when she was 18 in 2004 or 2005 and the second in 2009. The PAC said the report was based on “an exhaustive investigation and a tip from a verified source close to this matter who has requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.”
Boebert told Fox News the claims were “false and disgusting accusations.” She said:
Partisan organizations putting out blatantly false and disgusting accusations won’t stop me from advancing freedom and conservative values. This group’s vile conduct demonstrates why people are fed up with politics. I am not going to stand by and pretend this is normal behavior.
This political committee, funded by far-left Democrat donors and run by two left-wing political operatives, published pages of false statements knowing they were completely fabricated. The law on this type of defamation is clear and this conduct will be subject to civil and criminal penalties. Attached is a letter from my attorney introducing our response to these lies.
Boebert’s attorney, John Anderson, wrote that the PAC published “a series of false and defamatory statements.” Anderson wrote:
We have irrefutable evidence that each one of these statements is patently false. You knew this though. Muckrakers published these outlandish statements knowing they were fabricated but you likely operated under the inaccurate assumption that publishing false statements against a public figure would not create legal liability.
“This will be a costly miscalculation for Muckrakers, Wheeler and Muckrakers’ donors,” the attorney added.
Report: Hunter Biden Reveals ‘There Are 5 Guns in Dad’s House’ While Berating Sister-in-Law via Text
A report from the Washington Examiner claims texts recovered from Hunter Biden’s laptop show he lambasted his sister-in-law Hallie Biden over her disposal of his gun, mentioning her son’s firearms, as well as guns stored at his father’s house.
According to the Washington Examiner, Hunter was triggered by discovering Hallie had allegedly “thrown his gun in the trash near a Delaware high school in October 2018.”
He texted Hallie afterward, outraged that he might be investigated over the disposal of the gun.
Hunter texted, “That’s now in the hands of the FBI.”
On October 23, 2018, Hunter wrote: “Beau owned a handgun issued by the state and I[t] was in the front glove compartment of his car. So f*** you … What right do you f***ing have Hallie. ….There are 5 guns in dads house. There are f***ing more weapons in your sons room then in an armory.”
On March 25, 2021, Breitbart News pointed out that Hunter Biden, who is President Joe Biden’s son, may have lied about his history of drug use when filling out ATF Form 4473 for a gun purchase in 2018.
Breitbart News noted:
The question pertinent to Hunter Biden’s alleged 2018 gun purchase is drug related. It asks:
Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.
The would-be gun purchaser is required to answer “yes” or “no”.
ATF Form 4473 states, “The information you provide will be used to determine whether you are prohibited by Federal or State law from receiving a firearm. Certain violations of the Gun Control Act, 18 U.S.C. 921 et. seq., are punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000 fine.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Court: Amazon customers can sue over lack of toxic warnings
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday left intact a ruling that allows customers to sue Amazon.com for failing to warn buyers that some products it sells may contain hazardous substances such as mercury.
The court denied a request by Amazon’s lawyers to review a lower court ruling that said Amazon violated the state’s Proposition 65, which requires companies to warn consumers about products they make or sell that contain chemicals known to cause cancer, reproductive harm or birth defects.
The case involved a lawsuit filed in Alameda County that said the online retail giant knowingly allowed skin-lightening creams to be sold on its website for years despite being aware of concerns about toxic mercury levels in such creams.
Mercury can harm pregnant women and their fetuses. The suit alleged that some of the products produced by third parties but sold on Amazon contained mercury levels that were thousands of times the U.S. federal legal limit.
Cuban Dissidents Urge FCC to Review Sale of Anti-Communist Radio Stations to Soros-Backed Leftist
The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a coalition of pro-democracy Cuban groups on and off the island, sent a letter on Tuesday to the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to engage in a “diligent review,” including revealing all financiers, of the proposed sale of historic Spanish radio stations to a leftist network.
Latino Media Network (LMN), a newly minted organization founded by left-wing activists and Obama White House alum, announced in early June that had raised $80 million to purchase Spanish-language radio stations and came to an agreement with UnivisiónTelevisa to buy 18 stations for $60 million. The stations reportedly in the package are a diverse mix of talk radio and music, partially because a Univisión attempt to launch talk radio shows in 2015 failed, located throughout the country. Rapidly rising to the top of Hispanic-American concerns is the inclusion of two Miami stations, Radio Mambí 710 AM and WQBA 1140 AM, which spearheaded anti-communism commentary on local radio for decades.
LMN leaders have said in interviews that they are concerned about “misinformation” driving Hispanic voters to support conservative candidates, alarming listeners who fear that the new owners of the stations will censor conservative voices. Opponents of the deal have also noted that one of the reported funders of LMN is an investment fund with ties to far-left billionaire George Soros. Among other named funders are left-wing Hollywood actress Eva Longoria and longtime Univisión news anchor María Elena Salinas.
The FCC must approve all sales of this size and invites public commentary prior to making a decision.
In that spirit, the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance published its letter on Tuesday to Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel.
“Among the 18 stations, there are two iconic Miami radio stations, namely Radio Mambi 710 AM and WQBA 1140 AM, which since their foundation have been key voices of our community,” the letter read in part. “This community is full of victims of Communist and totalitarian rule, be it in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, or Bolivia.”
“We are a community that loves and appreciates the United States of America and what it stands for as a beacon of freedom for the oppressed. We also know how easily these freedoms can be lost!” the letter continued. “Radio Mambi and WQBA have served as a vital and credible source of information for our community and have given voice to those persecuted and oppressed in Cuba and elsewhere. Thus, we are extremely concerned that these two vital radio stations for our community may be silenced if this proposed sale to LMN goes through.”
The Assembly’s members asked the FCC to “conduct a diligent review of the principals’ experience and qualifications as it pertains to radio broadcasting and that our voices be heard.”
“The financial backers of this proposed venture should be fully disclosed. The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance remains available to you to ensure that the FCC has as much information as possible before making such an important decision for our community,” the letter concluded.
According to an initial article breaking the news of the sale on the website of Florida’s WLRN-FM station, Stephanie Valencia, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, and left-wing activist Jess Morales Rocketto will be directing the LMN. Valencia said in the article that Hispanic listeners are the victims of “very one-sided communication” and “disinformation” that their leadership at the stations will aspire to address. In an interview with MSNBC, Morales addressed the sale of Radio Mambí in particular, saying that LMN hoped to have the station air more “balanced” information.
The sale has prompted protests in Miami, including outside of Univisión’s local television station, where protesters held up protest signs reading “down with communism” and “Radio Soros.” The Bay of Pigs Veterans’ Association also hosted an event last week to bring attention to the sales and express disgust with the proposal.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Not-So-Smart Cars: U.S. Report Lists 400+ Crashes of Vehicles on Auto Pilot
Upwards of 400 crashes were recorded over a 10-month period involving vehicles on auto pilot, including 273 Teslas, statistics released Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators reveal.
AP reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cautioned against using the numbers to compare automakers, saying it didn’t weight them by the number of vehicles from each manufacturer that use the self-drive systems, or how many miles those vehicles traveled.
Automakers reported crashes from July of last year through May 15 under an order from the agency, which is compiling the statistics for the first time.
The NHTSA first launched a separate investigation into 765,000 Tesla cars ten months ago following 11 cases of models colliding with first-responder vehicles, as Breitbart News reported.
“As we gather more data, NHTSA will be able to better identify any emerging risks or trends and learn more about how these technologies are performing in the real world,” said Steven Cliff, the agency’s administrator.
Tesla’s crashes happened while vehicles were using Autopilot, “Full Self-Driving,” Traffic Aware Cruise Control, or other driver-assist systems that have some control over speed and steering.
The company has about 830,000 vehicles with the systems on the road.
The next closest of a dozen automakers that reported crashes was Honda, with 90, AP outlined. Honda says it has about six million vehicles on U.S. roads with such systems as the push to fully automate grows around the world.
Subaru was next with 10, and all other automakers reported five or fewer.
In a separate report last week the agency said it had documented more than 200 crashes involving Teslas that were using Autopilot, ‘Full Self-Driving,’ Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or some other of the company´s partially automated systems.
Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ is designed to complete a route on its own with human supervision, with the eventual aim of driving itself and running a fleet of autonomous robo-taxis, which CEO Elon Musk promised would be running in 2020.
Tesla has always maintained Autopilot and ‘Full Self-Driving’ cannot drive themselves, cautioning drivers should be ready to intervene at all times, the Daily Mail reported.
In February the company announced a recall of nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.
U.S. safety regulators said Tesla was asked to disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update. The “rolling stop” feature allows vehicles to go through intersections with all-way stop signs at up to 5.6 miles per hour.
Last December Tesla agreed to update its software to prevent video games from being played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving.
HEALTH
Do Psychiatric Meds and War Games Lead to Mass Shootings?
While many have bought into the simplistic idea that availability of firearms is the cause of mass shootings, a number of experts have pointed out a more uncomfortable truth, which is that mass shootings are far more likely the result of how we’ve been mistreating mental illness, depression and behavioral problems
Gun control legislation has shown that law-abiding Americans who own guns are not the problem, because the more gun control laws that have been passed, the more mass shootings have occurred
97.8% of mass shootings occur in “gun-free zones,” as the perpetrators know legally armed citizens won’t be there to stop them
Depression per se rarely results in violence. Only after antidepressants became commonplace did mass shootings really take off, and many mass shooters have been shown to be on antidepressants
Antidepressants, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are well-known for their ability to cause suicidal and homicidal ideation and violence
Artificial Sweetener ‘Fad’ Additives: Worse Than Sugar?
Merisant has created a line of artificial sweeteners fortified with vitamins and minerals under the company’s Equal Plus brand, and is available in three versions: vitamin C and zinc; B vitamins; antioxidant formula with vitamins C and E
The products are marketed as a “good source” of these nutrients, as a single packet provides 10% of the daily recommended value of the added vitamins and minerals
The addition of vitamins and minerals does absolutely nothing to change the artificial sweetener’s detrimental impact on your health. Studies have shown artificial sweeteners raise your risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and related health conditions
Artificial sweeteners promote metabolic dysfunction by interfering with learned responses that contribute to glucose control and energy homeostasis
They also destroy gut microbiota, induce glucose intolerance and interact with sweet-taste receptors expressed throughout your digestive system that play a role in glucose absorption and trigger insulin secretion
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
John Kerry: ‘We Absolutely Don’t’ Need to Drill for Oil Despite Soaring Gas Prices
The Biden administration’s climate czar, John Kerry, proclaimed that despite record-high gas prices, the United States doesn’t need to drill for more oil or natural gas.
Speaking during a forum, Kerry said that Republicans and some analysts have suggested that “we need more drilling” and “we need to go back to coal.” He then argued: “No, we don’t. We absolutely don’t.”
The former secretary of state also suggested that he will push back on alleged false narratives that the United States needs to drill more and use more traditional energy sources. Kerry delivered his remarks at the University of Southern California’s Center for Public Diplomacy on June 10.
“We have to prevent a false narrative from entering into this,” he said.
Kerry’s comments come as data from auto club AAA shows that the average price for a gallon of gasoline remained steady at $5.01 nationwide. California is still leading the way with an average price of $6.43 per gallon. No other state has reached $6 gas so far.
Because of the elevated prices, Republicans and oil industry executives have suggested that the Biden administration’s policies are at least partially to blame. President Joe Biden issued a series of executive orders last year, including suspending the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, suspending new drilling on federal land, and ending federal subsidies for fossil fuels, among other orders.
Democrats and Biden, meanwhile, have said the high gas prices are caused by the war in Ukraine, often blaming the spike on Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, gas prices and year-over-year inflation had been rising long before the invasion in February.
Some analysts, including GasBuddy, have said that a surge in the demand for oil and other petroleum products as countries emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns is also contributing to the high prices. A report in June of last year found that U.S. refining capability shrunk about 4.5 percent in 2020 as COVID-19 caused oil and gas facilities to shut down.
Although Kerry said the United States and other Western countries shouldn’t opt for more coal-based energy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been heavily promoting relying more on coal-fired plants in recent months. CCP officials in April said China, which has a significant amount of coal reserves, plans on boosting coal production by 300 million tons in 2022, according to reports. That’s equal to 7 percent of last year’s output of 4.1 billion tons, or a 5.7 percent increase over 2020’s figures, according to The Associated Press.
And late last month, India’s government said that it would reopen old coal mines to increase output by 100 million tons as cities have suffered frequent rolling blackouts amid a heat wave. In a memo released on May 7, the Indian environmental ministry gave coal mines permission to boost production by as much as 50 percent without permits.
Energy Advocates Fire Back at Joe Biden’s Letter Slamming Oil Industry: ‘Height of Hypocrisy’
Leaders in the oil industry and other stakeholders are responding to threats Joe Biden made in a letter to fossil fuel executives charging that corporations are putting profits over increasing fossil fuel production.
Biden warned oil companies in his letter that “at a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable.”
“My administration is prepared to use all reasonable and appropriate Federal Government tools and emergency authorities to increase refinery capacity and output in the near term, and to ensure that every region of this country is appropriately supplied,” said Biden, who during the 2020 campaign vowed to stop fossil fuel production in the U.S.
This comes as the president plans a trip to Saudi Arabia next month to beg that hostile country for more oil exports to the U.S.
One of Biden’s critics is West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore, who on Wednesday condemned Joe Biden for the attack.
“The President lecturing the oil industry about high prices is the height of hypocrisy,” Moore said in a statement distributed to the media. “If President Biden is looking for someone to blame for high gas prices, he need only to look in the mirror. From day one this administration has waged an open war on fossil fuels, and working-class Americans are now paying the price.”
“Since last May, Treasurer Moore has been leading national efforts to push back against attempts by President Biden and his allies to diminish access to capital for fossil fuel companies,” the press release said. “Those efforts began with a multi-state letter critical of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry for privately pressuring banks to cut off lending for fossil fuel industries.”
“We have been sounding the alarm for over a year now that this administration’s command-and-control tactics to cut off coal, oil and natural gas supplies, aided by the radical ESG [environmental, social and governance ratings] globalists on Wall Street, would hurt families across our country, and sadly these warnings have become reality.”
“This only underscores the importance for our states to take aggressive action to combat these misguided, anti-American policies,” Moore said.
In November, Moore announced a 15-state coalition of state treasurers and financial officers who are committed to reforming their state banking contract process to push back against the boycotts of coal, oil, and natural gas companies.
“We need to return to energy independence in this country,” Moore said. “Instead of going to Saudi Arabia to beg for oil while demonizing our domestic producers, President Biden should unleash American energy production by removing regulatory roadblocks to drilling, approving new pipelines like the Keystone XL, and encouraging Wall Street to resume the flow of investments and capital to fossil fuel companies.”
The fossil fuel trade group American Petroleum Institute (API) also issued a statement to the media.
“While we appreciate the opportunity to open increased dialogue with the White House, the administration’s misguided policy agenda shifting away from domestic oil and natural gas has compounded inflationary pressures and added headwinds to companies’ daily efforts to meet growing energy needs while reducing emissions,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said in an email distributed to the press.
“I reinforced in a letter to President Biden and his Cabinet yesterday ten meaningful policy actions to ultimately alleviate pain at the pump and strengthen national security, including approving critical energy infrastructure, increasing access to capital, holding energy lease sales, among other urgent priorities,” Sommers said.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Starving Sri Lanka Shortens Work Week to Give People Time to Grow Food
Sri Lanka’s federal government on Monday approved a proposal that would shorten the work week of most public sector staff to four days so that workers will have time to farm their own crops, Reuters reported Tuesday, noting the measure aims to combat Sri Lanka’s worsening food shortages caused by a recent economic crisis.
“Sri Lanka’s Cabinet late on Monday approved a proposal for public sector workers to be given leave every Friday for the next three months, partly because the fuel shortage made commuting difficult and also to encourage them to farm,” Reuters reported on June 14.
“It seems appropriate to grant government officials leave of one working day … to engage in agricultural activities in their backyards or elsewhere as a solution to the food shortage that is expected,” the Sri Lankan government information office said in a statement.
The shortened work week will not apply to public sector employees in “essential” fields, such as health or education, Sri Lanka Cabinet Minister Dinesh Gunawardana said on June 13.
In addition to the four-day work week, Sri Lanka’s federal government approved a program on Monday in which “public servants can apply for five year no pay leave to go abroad for employment opportunities [sic],” Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror reported on June 14.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Anthony Fauci Tests Positive for Coronavirus
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, has tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and is experiencing mild symptoms.
The 81-year-old Fauci is fully vaccinated and has received two boosters.
“Today, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, tested positive for COVID-19 on a rapid antigen test. He is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice.” the NIH said in a statement. “He is currently experiencing mild symptoms. Dr. Fauci will isolate and continue to work from his home. He has not recently been in close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials. Dr. Fauci will follow the COVID-19 guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical advice from his physician and return to the NIH when he tests negative.”
Dr. Russell Blaylock: Truth Or Consequences In The Days Of Covidmania
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most manipulated infectious disease events in history, characterized by official lies in an unending stream lead by government bureaucracies, medical associations, medical boards, the media, and international agencies.[3,6,57] We have witnessed a long list of unprecedented intrusions into medical practice, including attacks on medical experts, destruction of medical careers among doctors refusing to participate in killing their patients and a massive regimentation of health care, led by non-qualified individuals with enormous wealth, power and influence.
For the first time in American history a president, governors, mayors, hospital administrators and federal bureaucrats are determining medical treatments based not on accurate scientifically based or even experience based information, but rather to force the acceptance of special forms of care and “prevention”—including remdesivir, use of respirators and ultimately a series of essentially untested messenger RNA vaccines. For the first time in history medical treatment, protocols are not being formulated based on the experience of the physicians treating the largest number of patients successfully, but rather individuals and bureaucracies that have never treated a single patient—including Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, EcoHealth Alliance, the CDC, WHO, state public health officers and hospital administrators.[23,38]
The media (TV, newspapers, magazines, etc), medical societies, state medical boards and the owners of social media have appointed themselves to be the sole source of information concerning this so-called “pandemic”. Websites have been removed, highly credentialed and experienced clinical doctors and scientific experts in the field of infectious diseases have been demonized, careers have been destroyed and all dissenting information has been labeled “misinformation” and “dangerous lies”, even when sourced from top experts in the fields of virology, infectious diseases, pulmonary critical care, and epidemiology. These blackouts of truth occur even when this information is backed by extensive scientific citations from some of the most qualified medical specialists in the world.[23] Incredibly, even individuals, such as Dr. Michael Yeadon, a retired ex-Chief Scientist, and vice-president for the science division of Pfizer Pharmaceutical company in the UK, who charged the company with making an extremely dangerous vaccine, is ignored and demonized. Further, he, along with other highly qualified scientists have stated that no one should take this vaccine.
Dr. Peter McCullough, one of the most cited experts in his field, who has successfully treated over 2000 COVID patients by using a protocol of early treatment (which the so-called experts completely ignored), has been the victim of a particularly vicious assault by those benefiting financially from the vaccines. He has published his results in peer reviewed journals, reporting an 80% reduction in hospitalizations and a 75% reduction in deaths by using early treatment.[44] Despite this, he is under an unrelenting series of attacks by the information controllers, none of which have treated a single patient.
Neither Anthony Fauci, the CDC, WHO nor any medical governmental establishment has ever offered any early treatment other than Tylenol, hydration and call an ambulance once you have difficulty breathing. This is unprecedented in the entire history of medical care as early treatment of infections is critical to saving lives and preventing severe complications. Not only have these medical organizations and federal lapdogs not even suggested early treatment, they attacked anyone who attempted to initiate such treatment with all the weapons at their disposal—loss of license, removal of hospital privileges, shaming, destruction of reputations and even arrest.[2]
A good example of this outrage against freedom of speech and providing informed consent information is the recent suspension by the medical board in Maine of Dr. Meryl Nass’ medical license and the ordering of her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation for prescribing Ivermectin and sharing her expertise in this field.[9,65] I know Dr, Nass personally and can vouch for her integrity, brilliance and dedication to truth. Her scientific credentials are impeccable. This behavior by a medical licensing board is reminiscent of the methodology of the Soviet KGB during the period when dissidents were incarcerated in psychiatric gulags to silence their dissent.
Moderna: Hacking The Software Of Life With mRNA Injections
Not-So-Humble Beginnings
Moderna, the producers of the mRNA-1273/Spikevax vaccine, are the ones principally responsible for the development of the mRNA transfection tech currently used in various COVID-19 vaccines.
The seed of the idea that would germinate into Moderna was planted in 2005, when Derrick Rossi read a paper written by Hungarian scientist Katalin Karikó on how nucleoside-modified mRNA could be made to evade human immune responses from toll-like receptors.
The paper in question was published in Cell, back in 2005:
According to this paper, using pseudouridine in place of uridine allows foreign mRNA to escape detection by TLR7/8.
Toll-like receptors are a type of PRR, or pattern-recognition receptor, the smoke alarms of human (and other mammalian) cells. Their purpose is to detect molecular signs of damage or foreign objects (DAMPs and PAMPs) and induce an inflammatory response.
Frontiers – Toll-like receptor signaling pathways
The innate immune system employs germline-encoded pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) for the initial detection of microbes. PRRs recognize microbe-specific molecular signatures known as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and self-derived molecules derived from damaged cells, referred as damage-associated molecules patterns (DAMPs). PRRs activate downstream signaling pathways that lead to the induction of innate immune responses by producing inflammatory cytokines, type I interferon (IFN), and other mediators. These processes not only trigger immediate host defensive responses such as inflammation, but also prime and orchestrate antigen-specific adaptive immune responses (1). These responses are essential for the clearance of infecting microbes as well as crucial for the consequent instruction of antigen-specific adaptive immune responses.
Mammals have several distinct classes of PRRs including Toll-like receptors (TLRs), RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), Nod-like receptors (NLRs), AIM2-like receptors (ALRs), C-type lectin receptors (CLRs), and intracellular DNA sensors such as cGAS (2, 3).
Normally, foreign DNA or RNA triggers an immune response, and with good reason; its presence is often a sign that a pathogen is infiltrating the body. However, this poses a conundrum for scientists who wish to transfect human cells in vivo with foreign DNA or RNA for the purpose of gene therapy. What Dr. Karikó’s research suggested was that there was a way to “cloak” mRNA from TLRs by substituting nucleoside subunits in those mRNA strands with something else that would not be recognized by those receptors as a constituent of mRNA. In other words, what she proposed was to reduce the immunogenicity of foreign mRNA by rendering them, from the perspective of the body, chemically inert.
Derrick Rossi took an interest in this, immediately seeing the therapeutic potential of nucleoside-modified mRNA. In 2010, he solicited the help of Timothy A. Springer, Robert S. Langer, Kenneth R. Chien, and Noubar Afeyan to form the company ModeRNA Therapeutics.
In 2011, Noubar Afeyan hired Stéphane Bancel, formerly the CEO of bioMérieux, to head up ModeRNA. As mentioned in our previous articles, the founder of bioMérieux, Alain Mérieux, is a personal friend of Xi Jinping and assisted in the construction of the P4 lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The strange saga of how France helped build Wuhan’s top-security virus lab
The maximum-level biosafety laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the first of its kind to be built in China, and has been the center of huge speculation since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic which originated in that city. The laboratory, which is equipped to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) including dangerous viruses such as Ebola, was built with the help of French experts and under the guidance of French billionaire businessman Alain Mérieux, despite strong objections by health and defense officials in Paris. Since the laboratory’s inauguration by prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve in 2017, however, France has had no supervisory role in the running of the facility and planned cooperation between French researchers and the laboratory has come to a grinding halt. Karl Laske and Jacques Massey report.
—> Watch: Interview – Edward Hammond – Biodefense & Bioweapons Research
CANCEL CULTURE
A week after launching the “Rock the Woke” campaign meant to “highlight egregious examples of ‘wokeness’ hijacking free-market capitalism,” Job Creators Network (JCN) is spreading the word with a massive billboard in the heart of Times Square.
The “No Mouse in My House” initiative will “pressure companies to focus on providing products and services that consumers want—not on being culture warriors,” JCN said in a statement. “’Rock the Woke’ will include a national radio ad campaign, high-profile billboards, digital ads, social media videos, and potential legal actions.”
The Job Creators Network (JCN) is one of America’s largest small business advocacy groups. The first company they intend to pressure is the Walt Disney Co.
“It has become all too common for companies like Disney to get involved in political and cultural debates that have little to do with their business model in an effort to appeal to the latest push from liberal politicians and activist groups,” Alfredo Ortiz, JCN President and CEO, said in a statement.
“These decisions have nothing to do with the companies or their profitability and serve to divide rather than unite. We need to actively put pressure on them, and that means getting Americans involved,” Ortiz continued. “Rock the Woke is just that, a cultural effort to shame corporations who are going woke. Through radio ads, social media efforts, billboards, and even potential legal action, our goal is to course-correct these corporations.”
Indeed, Disney has dived headlong into politics, declaring war on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which bars the teaching of sexual orientation and gender ideology, including transgenderism, to children in kindergarten through third grade.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek has vowed to fight to repeal the law, despite bi-partisan support for it among Florida voters.
Disney’s stock has since collapsed to under $100 a share for first time in years.
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