WORLD NEWS
WHO and Lancet Commission Chiefs Come Out in Support of Lab Leak Theory
News analysis
World Health Organization (WHO) Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reportedly admitted to a senior European politician that the virus that causes COVID-19 most likely came out of a Wuhan lab. The Daily Mail reports that Tedros made the admission citing a catastrophic lab accident.
The disclosure comes on the heels of a WHO investigative report that was published earlier this month, concluding that the pandemic may have started at a Wuhan lab and that Chinese authorities have been blocking access to crucial data.
At the same time, Jeffrey Sachs, leader of the Lancet Commission on COVID-19, now says that he is convinced that the pandemic started in a lab and that SARS-CoV-2 was created with the aid of U.S. biotechnology.
Sachs made his stunning admission last week at a conference in Spain where he had been invited by former Spanish prime minister José Luís Zapatero.
The admissions from two of the world’s most prominent COVID-19 authorities, who also happen to be establishment stalwarts with a record of appeasing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is a significant development in the search for the origin of the pandemic.
Early in 2020, just as the pandemic was starting to unfold, Xiao Botao, a whistleblower from China, published an article claiming that the virus had come out of a Wuhan lab. The whistleblower’s paper was quickly removed from the internet and an all-hands-on-deck effort to scrub and censor the idea of a lab leak quickly ensued.
Two institutions played a key role in that scrubbing effort. The World Health Organization and esteemed British medical journal The Lancet.
Report: Number of Chinese Seeking Asylum Abroad Spiked 10x Under Xi Jinping
The United Nations (U.N.) recently released data showing that the number of Chinese nationals seeking political asylum abroad spiked tenfold from 2012 — when Xi Jinping took office as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — to 2021, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Tuesday.
“Figures released by the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR showed that while around 12,000 Chinese nationals sought asylum overseas in 2012, the year that Xi took office as CCP general secretary, that number had rising to nearly 120,000 by 2021 [sic],” RFA reported on June 21.
Socialist Sri Lanka Announces Its Economy Has ‘Completely Collapsed’
The prime minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, declared in remarks to the nation’s parliament on Wednesday that its economy had “completely collapsed.”
The socialist country is facing the worst economic crisis in its modern history, prompting acute shortages of food, medicine, gasoline, natural gas, and other core goods since March. Lavish spending under the Rajapaksa dynasty’s rule coupled with socialist mismanagement of the economy, a “green” policy that banned chemical fertilizers and made the country reliant on food imports, and trade deals in which Sri Lanka took out predatory loans from China all contributed to the nation’s rapid decline.
Wickremesinghe, who became prime minister for a second time after predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned in May, told parliament that the government has no way of purchasing petroleum fuels (gasoline and diesel) because oil companies and governments do not trust that Sri Lanka will be able to pay.
The government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda’s brother, had announced this weekend that the country had run out of gasoline entirely and would not receive another shipment until June 23. Wickremesinghe’s remarks appeared to indicate that the government could not guarantee that any gasoline would arrive by that day.
“We are now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food. Our economy has completely collapsed,” Wickremesinghe proclaimed in an address to Parliament. “That is the most serious issue before us today.”
Wickremesinghe remarked that the state oil company, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, is currently suffering from such a poor reputation that no one will sell it any fuel – hinting that Sri Lanka may not have gasoline anywhere in the country in the foreseeable future.
Official statistics have revealed that England and Wales saw a record number of abortions in 2021, with one expert in the field blaming the rise on the pandemic and government lockdown rules.
Far from the baby-boom some predicted early in lockdown, Britain has actually experienced an abortion boom. Over 200,000 abortions were carried out in Wales and England in 2021, government statistics released on Tuesday have revealed, marking a new all-time high for abortion in the two UK home nations.
Some operating in the UK’s abortion sector have put the increase down to a worsening financial situation in the UK, with one professional blaming the pandemic as well as government lockdown rules for the rise.
According to documents put out by the UK’s Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, a total of 214,256 were recorded as taking place in Wales and England last year, up from 209,917 in 2020.
This is reportedly roughly equivalent to 18.6 abortions per 1000 women aged between 15 and 44 in 2021.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Supreme Court overturns New York law on carrying concealed weapons
The Supreme Court struck down New York’s century-old law restricting the carrying of concealed firearms Thursday, its first major Second Amendment decision in more than a decade and a ruling that could lead to more weapons on the streets — as well as subways, churches, bars, airports and just about anywhere people gather.
Writing for a 6-3 court, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the law’s requirement that New Yorkers who want a license to carry a handgun in public show “proper cause” that the weapon is specifically needed for self-defense “violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms in public.”
“When the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct,” Thomas added. “The government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association and two upstate men had challenged the law — on the books since 1913 — claiming it violated their Second Amendment rights.
Paul Clement, the lawyer representing the association, told the justices during oral arguments last November that his clients are seeking “nothing more than their fellow citizens in 43 other states already enjoy.”
“Carrying a firearm outside the home is a fundamental constitutional right. It is not some extraordinary action that requires an extraordinary demonstration of need,” he said at the time.
Thomas agreed, writing: “Nothing in the Second Amendment’s text draws a home/public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.”
The justice also wrote that “the Second Amendment guarantees an ‘individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation,’ and confrontation can
surely take place outside the home.”
Retired U.S. Army Major General Paul Vallely is vigorously sounding the alarm against a potential communist takeover of the country and is also very concerned about the mandatory COVID vaccination of all members of the military.
Vallely asserts that there have been many adverse reactions within the force since the rollout of the vaccines, singling out the risk of blood clots and heart problems with the jabs.
“The mandatory vaccines and boosters … under Department of Defense guidance and directives to the commands throughout the Armed Forces have caused a great deal of controversy. Number one: those that declined mandatory vaccination under the First Amendment religious rights,” Vallely told The Epoch Times.
He believes that there is no need to force COVID vaccines on them, as “these are the healthiest men and women we have in the country.”
“They can take [the vaccines] as an option, but we’ve got to stop this mandatory vaccination. It’s hurting the armed forces. And of course, our enemies see that—the Russians, the Chinese, the cartels. And then [there’s] the wokeism, the teaching of critical race theory. So there are a lot of things going on that are affecting the status and the readiness of our forces right now. I’m very worried about that.”
According to U.S. Army Public Affairs, 97 percent of the active army and 88 percent of the army reserve is completely vaccinated. It also states that 2,846 exemption requests have been refused and there have been 3,330 official reprimands, as of April 13. However, an anonymous whistleblower told The Defender that the actual vaccination rates may be significantly lower.
The Army had separated 669 soldiers “for refusing the lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” as of May 19.
Vallely served for 31 years in the U.S. Army and retired in 1992 as the deputy commanding general for the U.S. Army Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has over 15 years of experience in special operations, psychological operations, and civil-military operations.
He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and earned his commission in the Army in 1961, at the height of the Vietnam war.
After serving two combat tours in Vietnam, Vallely also served in several other overseas theaters in Europe and Pacific Rim countries. Vallely also served on U.S. security assistance missions and civilian–military relations tours all over the world.
Biden: ‘We Need More Money to Plan for the Second Pandemic’
President Joe Biden said his administration needs more funding for not just COVID-19 vaccines, but to plan for another pandemic.
“We do need more money,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “We don’t just need more money for vaccines for children eventually. We need more money to plan for the second pandemic. There’s gonna be another pandemic.” He did not elaborate.
“We have to think ahead,” he said, adding that is “why we need the money.”
Biden was making those comments as COVID-19 vaccines rolled out for children as young as 6 months after both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines.
Some municipalities announced over the weekend that those vaccines will be administered starting Tuesday. Monday was a federal holiday.
With the latest vaccine rollout Tuesday, Biden said there is “finally, some peace of mind” and described it as a “monumental step forward” in his administration’s COVID-19 response.
The federal government has already made at least 10 million COVID-19 doses available to states and health providers and will rely on pediatricians and other health care providers to dole them out, officials said. Pharmacies and other health care providers will also give the vaccines.
NRA Responds to Senate’s Gun-Control Bill
The National Rifle Association (NRA) responded to the Senate’s gun control package by saying it “falls short on every level.”
“The NRA will support legislation that improves school security, promotes mental health services, and helps reduce violent crime. However, we will oppose this gun control legislation because it falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners,” the NRA wrote in a statement Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Senate released 80 pages of the bill, which includes funding for states that implement red flag laws, more background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21, and penalties for straw purchases. That same day, the Senate voted to advance the bill 64 to 34 as 14 Republicans support the measure, meaning that it has enough votes to pass the 60-vote threshold to overcome the filibuster.
The NRA continued to say that the bill “can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians.”
“This bill leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions–inviting interference with our constitutional freedoms,” the pro-Second Amendment group said. “Decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Heller and McDonald cases make clear that the Second Amendment is an individual constitutional freedom. We will always fight for those freedoms–and the fundamental values we have defended for over 150 years. ”
4 Key Proposals in Senate’s Gun Control Bill
The Senate voted on June 21 to advance newly unveiled bipartisan gun legislation, with 14 Republicans joining all 50 members of the Democratic caucus in a 64–34 procedural vote.
The bill, which would be the most sweeping gun safety package approved by Congress in decades, includes key proposed changes to existing law.
Closing ‘Boyfriend Loophole’
Funding for ‘Red Flag’ Laws
Intensifying Background Checks
School Security, Mental Health Programs
Trump-Backed Candidates Lose in Georgia Primary Elections
Five of six Georgia Republican primary candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump have lost election contests in 2022.
The latest Trump-supported Georgia candidates to fall in nomination battles are Vernon Jones in the 10th Congressional District (CD 10) and Jake Evans in the 6th District (CD 6).
Neither of their races was close; both were called not long after the polls closed.
The Trump-endorsed candidates were running in two of the four runoffs decided by Republicans on June 21.
In Virginia, voters selected a slate of challengers for incumbents in all of the state’s 11 congressional districts.
Jones, who calls himself “the black Donald Trump,” had been a lifelong Democrat and a former state representative who switched parties. He endorsed Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, and then resigned his state House seat to run for governor.
Nguyen Survives Democratic Primary Runoff, Will Face Raffensperger in November
If elected to be Georgia’s secretary of state in November, state Rep. Bee Nguyen has said she’ll create a government agency to address “rampant” disinformation “caused by Republicans.”
She may get that chance.
Nguyen bested former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler in the race’s Democratic primary runoff on June 21, garnering 77 percent of the vote, as of 1:25 p.m. ET on June 22.
Now, Nguyen will take on incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the general election on Nov. 8.
Not many secretary of state races gain the attention of the entire nation. Georgia’s race defied the trend because Georgia elections have been the topic of water-cooler conversations for nearly two years.
Some of the events of the 2020 election in Georgia fueled the controversy over the legitimacy of the outcome, culminating in the riots in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
That event happened the day after Georgia Republicans lost two U.S. Senate seats in runoff elections, turning control of Congress over to the Democrats. Those results came on the heels of the hotly contested presidential election results which put Joe Biden in the White House.
Ever since, former President Donald Trump has questioned the veracity of Georgia’s election outcome and has denounced Raffensperger for failing to show fraud.
DeSantis Expected to Sign Bill Deeming Religious Services ‘Essential’ in Emergencies
lorida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign legislation to grant places of worship the right to keep doors open during states of emergency.
Florida bill SB 254, which was approved by the Senate in January, would officially designate religious services as being essential and therefore allow houses of worship, including churches, to remain open and host public gatherings in the event of a public emergency or disaster. The governor received the measure on June 17 and has until June 30 to act on it.
“An emergency order authorized by this part may not directly or indirectly prohibit religious services or activities,” the bill states.
It adds that the only circumstance of a shutdown is “in an emergency order which applies uniformly to all entities in the affected jurisdiction [and] may be applied to a religious institution if the provision is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”
If signed into law by DeSantis, the provisions would take effect on July 1.
The Sunshine State will then be one of a dozen states to exempt houses of worship from stay-at-home orders. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many churches were forced to close, while liquor or marijuana stores remained open. Some houses of worship streamed their services online.
Amid the pandemic, DeSantis issued a temporary statewide emergency order in April 2020 (pdf) outlining “attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues, and houses of worship” as essential services and activities, after states such as Washington, New York, and California shuttered local places of worship.
“I don’t think the government has the authority to close a church,” DeSantis told reporters during a news conference at the time. “I’m certainly not going to do that.”
The draft legislation SB 254 would make the executive order permanent.
Bill sponsor state Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Republican, said earlier this year that the importance of houses of worship was one takeaway from the pandemic, according to Florida Politics.
“Basically, if Target and Publix are open, so too should be the religious institution,” he said.
Arizona, Kentucky, and South Carolina signed similar bills in April to protect residents’ right to religious freedom, declaring religious services essential in times of state emergencies.
The Supreme Court agreed on June 21 to hear an appeal from a Romanian-American businessman who was fined $50,000 for failing to file tax forms on time, but whose penalty ballooned to $2.72 million when an appeals court ruled the fine should be imposed based on the number of bank accounts he held, instead of on the number of forms he failed to file.
The Biden administration, which wants to beef up enforcement efforts by the IRS, favors the larger penalty and had asked the high court to refuse to take the case.
The case is Bittner v. United States of America (court file 21-1195) an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The justices did not explain in their unsigned order why they agreed to hear the case, as is their usual practice when deciding the granting of petitions for certiorari, or review.
Alexandru Bittner was born in communist Romania. He moved to the United States in his youth, working as a dishwasher and later as a plumber. Eventually, he was naturalized in the United States and has been a dual Romanian-U.S. citizen ever since.
Bittner returned to Romania after the collapse of Soviet bloc communism in 1990 and lived there for more than 20 years until late 2011.
He was a successful businessman and had several non-U.S. personal bank accounts and owned stock in a number of Romanian corporations that also had foreign bank accounts.
While living abroad, Bittner had limited contact with the United States.
“Like many dual citizens, he was unaware that he was required to file U.S. income tax returns reporting his foreign income,” according to the petition (pdf) Bittner filed with the high court.
Bittner was also not aware of the existence of the FBAR form, that is, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) on Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114, or his duty to file such forms.
Soon after coming back to the U.S. in 2011 he realized he should have filed U.S. tax returns while living in Romania to report his worldwide income.
Bittner retained a professional accountant, who advised him on the requirement to file FBARs, to prepare and file the needed documents.
But the IRS found Bittner had failed to timely file FBARs for five years, 2007 through 2011. In that period, because he had more than 25 foreign accounts, he was not required to detail those accounts, but was permitted merely to state the total number of foreign accounts in which he had a financial interest.
His corrected forms nevertheless volunteered the full information.
Trump Suggests ‘Go to the Reporter’ to Find Roe v. Wade Leak Source
Former President Donald Trump said the Supreme Court should keep an eye on the reporter who unveiled the potential ruling that it would criminalize abortion in the United States.
A leak to the press in early May appeared to show the Supreme Court’s draft majority opinion striking down Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that made abortion a constitutional right nationwide in 1973.
Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the leak shortly after and directed the court marshal to investigate the rare breach.
“The U.S. Supreme Court must find reveal and punish the leaker,” Trump wrote in a June 22 post via his social media site Truth Social. “Go to the reporter who received the leak,” he said, calling it “a tremendously serious matter that has never happened, to anywhere near this extent, before.”
The former president appointed three conservative justices to the high court during his presidency.
Although a final opinion from the Supreme Court is expected soon, the scoop, co-written by Politico reporters Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, set off a political earthquake across the nation.
Congressional Republicans have decried the unknown leaker and demanded that they are found and punished, while President Joe Biden and Democrat leaders blasted the attempt to overturn legal protections for abortion.
Pro-abortion activists have since rallied at the court’s doorstep, Catholic churches, and judges’ home addresses. A recent report reveals more than 40 attacks against pro-life individuals and organizations have been recorded since the leak of the draft opinion.
Trump previously denied the revelation, which he said “cheapens the court,” will have a major impact on the 2022 midterm elections.
And despite his assertion that authorities should “go to the reporter,” disclosing the identity of a confidential source without his or her consent can subject a journalist to civil liability. Most states also have shield laws in place to protect journalists against the compelled disclosure of confidential information, including anonymous sources and unpublished notes.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Powell Says Recession ‘Certainly a Possibility’ as Fed Is Determined to Hike Rates to Tame Inflation
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified in Congress on June 22 that the central bank remains determined to keep hiking interest rates high enough to cool the red-hot inflation, acknowledging that recession is “certainly a possibility” but insisting the American economy is robust enough to withstand tighter financial conditions.
With decades-high inflation running “well above” the Fed’s longer-run target of around 2 percent, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that restrictive monetary policies are needed to quell price pressures and that “you will see continued expeditious progress toward higher rates.”
Finding itself behind the curve on inflation that has risen higher and stayed elevated longer than it previously predicted, the Fed recently raised the benchmark federal funds rate by 75 basis points, the biggest jump since 1994. Markets are now pricing in a 91 percent chance of another 0.75 percentage point hike at the Fed’s next policy meeting in July.
‘Next Stage’ of Inflation Is Coming, Economist Says
Americans hammered by rising inflation should brace for the economy to become even more precarious, an economist has warned. Inflation comes in several stages, and based on historical precedent, the next one the United States is facing won’t be pretty, he said.
Inflation has been ramping up for more than a year after gigantic government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic led the Federal Reserve to print trillions more dollars. Consumer prices rose 8.6 percent year-over-year in May, with prices of some necessities, such as gasoline, housing, and food, rising particularly sharply.
Americans are now quickly realizing the economic consequences. This is stage two, with stages three and four still expected to come, according to Ross McKitrick, a professor of economics at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
CEOs Start to Push Back Against ‘Woke’ Employee Bullying
In an indication that corporate progressivism may be reaching its high-water mark, CEOs for the first time are pushing back against activist employees, in some cases going so far as to fire them rather than steer their companies into the mire of “woke” politics.
Last week, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell became the latest executive to say he has had enough. He invited employees who felt “triggered” by controversial ideas to accept a severance package and leave the company.
The cryptocurrency technology company’s new mission statement says that it “will never ask that our employees adopt any specific political ideology as a requirement for our workplace … We recognize that hurt feelings are inevitable in a global organization that is optimizing for team outcomes above individual sentiment. The ideal Krakenite is thick-skinned and well-intentioned.”
Powell told “Fox & Friends” that of the company’s 3,000 employees, about 30 have chosen to accept the four-month severance pay and leave, citing their need to express political or social beliefs in the workplace. Comments from the remaining 99 percent of Kraken employees regarding the policy to keep politics out of the workplace were “overwhelmingly positive,” he said.
“I think everyone is ready to get back to work and stop being distracted.”
“Suddenly, nobody has any interest in this anymore, and companies are responding accordingly and starting to drop ‘woke,’” said Scott Shepard, director at the National Center for Public Policy Research. “I don’t think this is the end of woke, I don’t even think it’s the beginning of the end, but to borrow from Mr. Churchill, I do think it might be the end of the beginning.”
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space exploration company, joined the chorus on June 16. After several employees publicized a letter denouncing Musk’s campaign to acquire Twitter and steer the social media platform away from censorship, SpaceX responded by firing them.
The employees publicly criticized Musk’s efforts as “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment” for SpaceX. After firing those responsible, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell emailed employees that the efforts against Musk’s Twitter acquisition “made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views. We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism.”
The Athletic, a sports news website owned by The New York Times, told its staff this week to stick to sports and drop the political activism.
“We don’t want to stop people from having a voice and expressing themselves,” Paul Fichtenbaum, the publication’s chief content officer, said in a directive. “We just need to keep it from tipping over into the political space.”
Some employees disagreed. A staffer quickly responded in protest. “What about Black Lives Matter? Is that a social cause? Who will write about athlete protests? What about trans athletes in sports?”
JPMorgan Chase Cuts Thousands of Positions in Mortgage Lending Sector
There are going to be multiple negative economic indicators surfacing in the next 60 days as the first wave signals of a deep and prolonged recession begin to reach shore. Think of it like an economic meteor that hit the mid-Atlantic while only a few people were tracking its inbound trajectory and prepared for what was likely.
We are not likely to see much good economic news, but on the positive side, most readers are prepared. Again, I will repeat… If you did not purchase a home this year, you are already ahead financially.
Housing sales are dropping fast, but housing values are, on a regional basis, holding steady – for now. However, the banks and lending institutions are preparing for those values, and the contained equity, to drop and disappear precipitously.
Today Bloomberg is reporting that JPMorgan Chase is shifting around 1,000 employees in the mortgage side of finance with some being laid-off and others being reassigned to different parts of the bank and financial services. This should not come as a surprise, but it does align with other less noticeable moves in the banking and home loan sector.
(Reuters) – PMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) is laying off hundreds of employees in its home-lending business and reassigning hundreds more this week, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
More than 1,000 employees will be affected, the report said, and about half of them will be moved to different divisions with the bank. “Our staffing decision this week was a result of cyclical changes in the mortgage market,” a spokesperson for the bank said.
[…] “We were able to proactively move many impacted employees to new roles within the firm and are working to help the remaining affected employees find new employment within Chase and externally,” the spokesperson added. (read more)
Here’s Where Things Are at With Elon Musk’s Twitter Purchase
Could billionaire CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter finally be in the home stretch?
According to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform has been unanimously approved by the board, recommending stockholders “that you vote for the adoption of the merger agreement.”
Shareholders must still vote on the $44 billion takeover proposal. If Musk’s purchase were finalized today, investors would receive a premium of more than $15 a share at the current share price.
Musk responded to the news, posting a tweet on Tuesday that “the vote of confidence is much appreciated.”
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk confirmed that there were a few “unresolved matters” before he could seal the deal. For Musk, there are three issues that need to be resolved: fake accounts, shareholder approval, and debt financing.
“There is the question of, will the debt portion of the round come together, and then, will the shareholders vote in favor,” he said.
“There’s a limit to what I can say publicly,” he noted. “It is somewhat of a sensitive matter.”
Musk added that he does not want to be at the head of Twitter, preferring to focus on “driving the product.” He has never been too keen on corporate titles, changing his designation to TechnoKing at Tesla Motors.
Over the last month, there have been widespread concerns that the purchase would be called off.
In May, Musk threatened to walk away from the deal, writing in a tweet that his planned purchase was “temporarily on hold” as he waited for details on spam bots and fake accounts, although he reiterated that he was “still committed to acquisition.”
Later, Musk explained that his $44 billion offer was based on the company’s SEC filings being accurate. However, without accurate proof showing that fewer than 5 percent of the company’s accounts are spam, Musk averred that the “deal cannot move forward” until that proof is provided.
Following a June 6 letter from his legal team that requested comprehensive data, Twitter announced that the tech firm would extend him unprecedented access to the entire “firehose” of internal data.
During last week’s all-hands Q&A meeting with Twitter staff, Musk provided more details on his plans for the microblogging website.
The SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO told personnel that anonymity is critical for people to freely express their political opinions, something that is crucial for him. At the same time, he considered a concept that users could pay to be authenticated as human through a mechanism similar to the Twitter Blue subscription services, which could rank those users’ tweets higher than others.
For content moderation, something he has consistently lamented, Musk believes users should be able to post “pretty outrageous things” as long as those statements are legal. He reiterated his position that if 10 percent of the far left and far right are upset equally, then Twitter is doing a good job.
After laying off about 10 percent of Tesla staff, there had been a concern that Musk would mirror this measure at the San Francisco-based tech giant. But this action might depend on Twitter’s financial situation.
“It depends. The company does need to get healthy. Right now, the costs exceed the revenue,” he said. “Anyone who is a significant contributor has nothing to worry about.”
“If someone is getting useful things done, that’s great. If they’re not then I’m like why are they at the company,” Musk added.
Ultimately, Musk’s goal is for Twitter to have more than one billion users. According to the most recent quarterly report, the website has approximately 229 million monetizable daily active users (mDAUs).
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
The Lies Behind Lab-Cultured Fake Meat
The GMO industry — which is funded, propped up and defended by the tech and chemical industries — is now seeking to replace beef, poultry, dairy and fish with synthetic biology, cultured meat, precision fermentation, cellular-based and gene edited foods Transitioning to cultured meat, made from animal cells grown in a petri dish, is a Great Reset goal for the global food industry. The aim is to control populations by creating dependence on private companies that control the food supply The EAT Forum, cofounded by the Wellcome Trust, has developed what they call “The Planetary Health Diet,” designed to be applied to the global population. It entails cutting meat and dairy intake by up to 90%, and replacing it largely with foods made in laboratories, along with cereals and oil Cultured meat (cell-based meat) is produced from animal tissue cells that are grown in fetal bovine serum (FBS) made from the blood of cow fetuses. So, cultured beef relies on the slaughter of both cows and unborn calves, which are drained of their blood while still alive Plant-based meat alternatives contain no animal fats, only industrial seed oils that are loaded with linoleic acid (LA). Excessive consumption of LA in the modern diet is already one of the key drivers of chronic disease, and plant-based meat substitutes will only worsen the situation
Virtual Children to Help Combat Overpopulation
Artificial intelligence expert Catriona Campbell predicts virtual children will be commonplace within the next 50 years, which can help combat overpopulation
The virtual children would only exist within the metaverse, and parents would interact with them using high-tech wearables like gloves that can deliver tactile feedback to replicate physical sensations
Climate change, overpopulation, transhumanism and the digitization of human life are all part and parcel of The Great Reset agenda, which will not be complete until humanity is enslaved to the unelected few who will run the world through algorithms and AI
World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab wants to create a world in which humans are connected to the cloud, able to access the internet through their brains. This is what the Fourth Industrial Revolution is all about — the merger of man and machine. This is how we know, without a doubt, that transhumanism is part of The Great Reset
The technocratic, transhumanist cabal also wants to track your individual carbon footprint and dictate your diet. Meat consumption is to be cut by 90% and replaced with fake lab-created meats and bugs
HEALTH
F.D.A. Orders Juul to Stop Selling E-Cigarettes
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul to stop selling e-cigarettes on the U.S. market, a profoundly damaging blow to a once-popular company whose brand was blamed for the teenage vaping crisis.
The order affects all of Juul’s products on the U.S. market, the overwhelming source of the company’s sales. Juul’s sleek vaping cartridges and sweet-flavored pods helped usher in an era of alternative nicotine products among adults as well, and invited intense scrutiny from antismoking groups and regulators who feared they would do more harm to young people than good to former smokers.
In its ruling, the agency said that Juul had provided insufficient and conflicting data about potentially harmful chemicals that could leach out of Juul’s proprietary e-liquid pods.
Millions Face New Fluoridation Threats
The published science over the past decade has taught us a lot about water fluoridation, about both the very real and significant side effects inflicted on the public, but also about the credibility of those who continue to vouch for its safety.
At this point, the question we must ask isn’t whether the overwhelming risks outweigh the theoretical scant benefits, or whether more research is needed to draw strong conclusions. No, the only appropriate question now is: How much more harm will the promoters and regulators of fluoridation allow the practice to inflict on the public?
Without the Fluoride Action Network, our coalition partners, and people like you taking a stand, their answer will be a resounding, “a lot more harm!” With their credibility and influence at stake after defending fluoridation for more than 75 years, they’ve sadly shown that they’ll not only be the last to act, but that they plan to double down until we stop them.
As we speak, tens of millions of residents currently living on community water systems with no added fluoride throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are facing the imminent threat of having their water dosed with hazardous fluoridation chemicals.
The CDC has announced a new strategy and helped develop a new technology to fluoridate an addition 19+ million Americans, which will also eventually expand to Canadians, Australians and likely others.
Meanwhile, the governments in the U.K. and New Zealand have exploited the recent pandemic to pass sweeping health care reform bills that effectively include nationwide fluoridation mandates due to decades of strong pushback from residents and elected officials at the local level, keeping fluoridation at bay.
Drinking This Popular Beverage Slashes Dementia Risk, New Study Says
IT HAS MULTIPLE HEALTH BENEFITS, AND YOU MAY ALREADY BE CONSUMING IT DAILY.
The inevitability of aging can feel scary at times—and the associated health risks make it that much more difficult to contend with. Dementia is top of mind for many of us, affecting nearly 55 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And with 10 million new cases each year, it has become a globally pressing concern.
The disease is characterized by memory loss, disability, and increased dependence on others, with Alzheimer’s disease accounting for nearly 6o to 70 percent of cases. Research has found people develop dementia due to both genetic and environmental factors, but there are preventative measures to take. In fact, one new study has investigated the protective effects of a beverage many of us consume daily. Read on to find out which drink could help reduce your risk of developing dementia.
Considering the prevalence of dementia, several studies have investigated how certain foods, drinks, and lifestyle factors may contribute to individual risk. A 2017 study suggested consuming diet soda every day (compared to less than once a week) could triple your risk of dementia. In addition, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the University of California, San Francisco recently found that people who start abusing alcohol later in life may already have dementia. Data from the study showed that abusing alcohol after age 40 could be the first sign of a neurological condition, acting as a “presenting symptom”—also known as the time when a patient seeks out medical treatment.
While you may be thinking of sticking to water from here on out, another study suggests a popular beverage could actually protect you from developing dementia.
If you enjoy a cup of green tea in the morning to jumpstart your day or a relaxing cup of Sleepytime to wind down in the evening, you’ll be happy to learn this practice could also benefit your overall health.
Monkey Business: Monkeypox Or Moneypox?
There are now 2500 moneypox cases diagnosed in the current outbreak, in over 40 countries, and not a single death that anyone can point to, outside of Africa. Maybe ever. One moneypox death is said to have occurred this year in Nigeria, a country of 206 million people, but without any confirmatory details. I think the authorities have been desperate to locate a death.
Only CDC can confirm a case, which means CDC has the ability to decide how many US cases there are.
Canada offered vaccine to high risk men who have sex with men last week, and the UK is doing so now, as reported by the AP on June 21. On June 22, the criteria for vaccinating have already expanded, per today’s Stat:
Yesterday, British authorities recommended taking their monkeypox-fighting tactics one step further: Instead of offering vaccines only to close contacts of those diagnosed with the virus, they suggested broadening the eligibility to anyone at increased risk of exposure. The criteria would be similar to those for pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV, and might include, for instance, men who have sex with men and who have several partners.
This virus has never spread like this before. I don’t think a rave or two can explain how it suddenly appeared in 20 countries on 4 continents at once. The simultaneous nature of widespread cases, and apparent increased human-to-human transmission suggest it was spread deliberately and may have been engineered.
The initial full genome sequence, performed in Portugal, revealed the current strain most closely matched a strain that had been identified in 2018 and 2019 in Israel, the UK and Singapore. This is suggestive of lab origin, but not definitive proof. Hopefully there are some honest virologists who will continue to study the genome, and more will become clear with time. Hopefully Tony Fauci and Jeremy Farrar have not organized yet another coverup of the origins of the moneypox strain.
Why MONEYPOX?? Could it be because there is a vaccine?
- Doesn’t anyone else think it odd that this virus just happens to be susceptible (so they claim) to a vaccine that the US Government has stockpiled?
- Doesn’t anyone else think it is odd that the FDA approved (licensed) a vaccine for moneypox named Jynneos in 2019, when there had only been about 50 human cases diagnosed in the US, cumulatively, during the past 60 years?
- Why license a vaccine for a rare disease that almost nobody dies from?
- Why license the vaccine for moneypox when it was never tested to see if it prevented moneypox in humans?
How Side-Sleeping May Protect Against Alzheimer’s
The glymphatic system in your brain targets the removal of misfolded proteins that are the hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The system is functional only while we sleep, and animal models reveal it works best in the side-lying position
Function declines when you get less sleep. Just one night without sleep increases the accumulation of beta-amyloid in regions of the brain implicated in Alzheimer’s disease
Trans fat foods also increase your risk of dementia significantly as people eating the highest amount in one study had a 74% higher risk of dementia; the largest food contributors were pastries, margarine, candy, croissants and ice cream
Choices that improve the effectiveness of the glymphatic system are omega-3 fatty acids, longer periods of deep sleep and exercise. You may improve deep sleep through exercise at least three hours before bed, exposure to heat such as in a sauna, cyclical nutritional ketosis, reducing EMF exposure at night, limiting food and eliminating alcohol before bed and sleeping in a cool room
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Chevron CEO Fires Back at Biden, Slams ‘Political Rhetoric’ in New Letter
The CEO of Chevron sent an open letter to President Joe Biden after Biden sent a letter suggesting that oil companies could face consequences and accusing them of not doing enough to increase refining capacity.
Mike Wirth, in the letter, called on the White House to end its hostilities toward the oil industry, saying there needs to be a change in its approach and policies before gas prices can drop.
“Addressing this situation requires thoughtful action and a willingness to work together, not political rhetoric,” Wirth said, adding, “Your Administration has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry.”
More than a week ago, Biden attacked oil companies and claimed they’re making record profits before urging them to increase oil production to alleviate record-high gas prices. Targeting ExxonMobil specifically, Biden accused them of making “more money than God” and not drilling enough during comments he made in May.
Soaring Gas Prices
In recent months, Biden has taken criticism as regular gas prices have eclipsed the $5 per gallon mark. AAA data shows that prices fell for several days before rising again this week to $4.96 per gallon.
Since Biden took office, gas prices have been steadily increasing as the president issued a number of energy-related ex
Biden Administration Spends $5 Billion on Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, No Help on Gas Prices
States must submit plans by Aug. 1 to get their portion
The vast majority of the driving public in the United States uses traditional gas-powered vehicles, but the Biden administration is focused on the transportation problems of electric vehicles (EVs), namely the scarcity of charging stations in many areas, rather than tackling record high gas prices.
California has 13,452 EV charging stations, the most of any state, while Alaska has the fewest—just 48—followed by North Dakota with 57, South Dakota with 59, and Wyoming with 62, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is set to spend big to fund more EV charging stations. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $5 billion has been allocated for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula program, with $1 billion being disbursed annually over the next five years.
The money will be split among states and must be used for projects directly related to charging vehicles at facilities that will be open to the public. The goal is to build a network of EV charging stations along the interstate highway system on the “alternative fuel corridors” that most states have identified in recent years.
Before the states see any money, the state governments must describe how they intend to use the funds by submitting an “EV infrastructure deployment plan” by Aug. 1, 2022, to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), which administers the funding. The plan must be approved by the administration.
States are working on plans now and seeking public input on the local placement of charging stations.
Oil Market Could Remain Tight For Next 5 Years: ExxonMobil CEO
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods does not see oil prices cooling down over the next few years, he said while speaking at the Bloomberg Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday.
Woods said that it would take some time for the volatility in the energy market to end. He is expecting oil markets to remain tight for the next three to five years, Reuters reported. He also called on the U.S. government to bring a more efficient investment process while pointing out that ExxonMobil is one of the few companies in America that has been actively investing in the refining sector.
Back in 2017, the firm kicked off an aggressive investment program, Woods stated. “The investment plan that we laid out five years ago is the plan we are currently on and the pipeline of the projects that we have are continuing; they are very robust,” the ExxonMobil CEO said at the event.
Woods’s statement comes after ExxonMobil recently faced criticism from President Joe Biden, who accused the company of being too greedy amid rising oil prices and inflation.
Exxon made “more money than God this year,” the president said on June 10, Reuters reported. He went on to blame Exxon for making money by “not producing more oil” and asked the company to start investing and “paying your taxes.”
An Exxon spokesperson pushed back at Biden’s comments, pointing out that the company lost around $20 billion in 2020 and borrowed over $30 billion to finance operations. In addition, the firm has paid $40.6 billion in taxes in 2021, which is $17.8 billion more than it paid the previous year.
Exxon also laid out measures Washington can take to address rising gas prices and high inflation.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Impacts Semen: Study
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine leads to lower levels of semen, according to a new study.
Researchers analyzed 220 samples of semen from three sperm banks in Israel, drawn from men who received two doses of the vaccine. The semen collection was scheduled seven days after receipt of the second dose.
The researchers, led by Dr. Itai Gat with the Sperm Bank and Andrology Unit at the Shamir Medical Center and Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Medical School, found that there was a decrease in sperm concentration between 75 and 120 days post-vaccination.
The decrease led to a reduction in the motile count, or the number of sperm.
Followup testing completed over 150 days after vaccination revealed “overall recovery,” with semen volume and sperm motility bouncing back, the researchers said. However, the levels outlined in the study were still lower than before vaccination.
The peer-reviewed study was published online (pdf) ahead of being printed by Andrology.
Mask Mandates Linked to Increased COVID Death Rates
Data from Kansas show counties with mask mandates had a higher death rate than counties without a mask mandate; two other large studies found similar results, one that gathered data in Europe only and the other from 69 countries
According to a study in early 2021, face masks increase your daily inhalation of microplastics; another study released in April 2022 found microplastics similar to that used in face masks in lung tissue sampled during surgery. Some were found in the deepest parts of the lung
Data show that masks can collect antibiotic-resistant pathogens and trigger a cluster of symptoms called Mask-Induced Exhaustion Syndrome (MIES) that negatively impacts your immune system, and causes carbon dioxide retention, skin irritation, headaches, difficulty breathing and decreased cardiopulmonary capacity
It is crucial that accurate data are gathered and communicated to provide a strong foundation for developing local public policy before the next plandemic creates a scenario in which government officials attempt to mandate masking and lockdowns
American pathologist Dr. Ryan Cole, founder of Cole Diagnostics, discovered an abnormal increase in certain cancer cases after the COVID-19 vaccines were introduced. Among the disturbing trends, was an unusual increase in some rare cancer cases. He believes this may imply that the COVID-19 vaccines have altered the people’s natural immune system.
Cole is a pathologist, whose job is to view large numbers of pathological sections and provide pathology reports to clinicians, so he is a “doctors’ doctor.” He found that there had been a recent increase in the number of adults with childhood diseases and rare cancers, and that these rare diseases are rising at an abnormal rate and in abnormal age groups. At the same time, he also noted an increase in all-cause deaths among vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated individuals.
With professional sensitivity, Cole is troubled by these phenomena. And he is absolutely right, as we need to pay attention to these messages from the microscopic world.
What Cole is seeing is by no means isolated.
Recently, we received a large number of spontaneously reported cases of leukemia from mainland China, and all of the patients have the common characteristic of having been vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.
We seem to be seeing a similar phenomenon from China as Cole has reported. We would like to publish our findings here and call for an urgent worldwide attention about the adverse events of COVID-19 vaccine-caused hematological malignancies.
Final Analysis of 845 Post-Vaccination Leukemia Cases
As of June 4, 2022 at 10:00 pm EST, we had received two tables with a total of nearly 1,000 reports of post-vaccination adverse leukemia events. In our previous article, due to time constraints, we analyzed only 235 valid cases. This time, we will provide an analysis of all cases.
After careful verification, we eliminated duplicate cases (some cases were reported in two different groups in order to increase the chance of being found by people) and cases with incomplete information, and there are 845 valid cases left.
We adopted a rigorous and conservative approach, one which is accepted by the industry, to tally the data. For instance, if the time of onset of the illness in one case didn’t have a precise date but only the month, we would provide some approximate and ambiguous data in a way which was least conducive to causality analysis.
CANCEL CULTURE
For over 20 years, Ariel Rosenberg, also known by his stage name Ariel Pink, has been embraced in the independent music industry as an enigmatic, imaginative musician who thinks for himself and makes his own way.
But when it was discovered that Rosenberg had been at the rally outside of the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, where former President Donald Trump spoke, preceding what legacy media outlets portrayed as an “insurrection,” Rosenberg—who is pro-Trump—was swiftly banished from his global artist community, dropped from his record label, and exiled because of his own personal worldview.
Now stranded in the limbo between ideologies after having faced the wrath of leftist cancel culture, Rosenberg told The Epoch Times he’s finding “where I fit in this new landscape.”
On having been one of the many who were caught in the storm of propaganda following the events of Jan. 6, Rosenberg compared the leftist rage to pit bulls who have been kept in a cage for four years with a cardboard cutout of Trump in front of them.
With the help of the anti-Trump narratives in the media, Rosenberg said the pit bulls were “foaming at the mouth” by the time they were put into a pandemic situation for a year, before the gate was opened.
“That’s when they ripped Trump and anyone who supported Trump to shreds,” Rosenberg said. “Everyone was abused.”
Critical Race Theory is Part of Globalist Power Grab: Expert
Concerns over the influence of critical race theory on public education have erupted over the past few years, sparking a moral outcry at school board meetings across the country. But the ideology, an expert contends, has been around for much longer than some might think and is being wielded by those in power to achieve a new world order.
“Critical race theory is just one tool—it’s one claw on the dragon,” said James Lindsay, author and founder of New Discourses. “The goal is in fact to install a de facto technocratic government over everything in the world.”
The author of “Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis,” Lindsay is a leading expert on critical race theory who rejects its premises outright.
According to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund: “Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society–from education and housing to employment and healthcare. Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias and prejudice. It is embedded in laws, policies, and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities.”
Lindsay, offering his own more critical definition, said, “It’s calling everything you want to control racist until you control it.”
Also a mathematician and self-described “professional troublemaker,” Lindsay holds that the tenets of critical race theory are rooted in Marxism, but that the ideology’s traditional class-based structure was adapted in the latter half of the 20th century to revolve around race and, more broadly, identity.
And that transformation seems to have proven effective as, according to Lindsay, what originated as a fringe concept found only in the dark corners of universities has been working its way into the mainstream for decades.
“They’ve been very intentionally bringing critical race theory into schools at the institutional level since 1995,” he noted. “It didn’t just happen.”
GOOD NEWS
Arizona Makes Civics Education a High School Graduation Requirement
Proponent says freedom in danger because Americans don’t know its value
Arizona state Rep. Quang Nguyen learned about the sorrows of communism through the eyes of a child in South Vietnam.
His final lesson came in 1975, when his family fled the country as communist North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon, signifying the end of liberty as he knew it.
“I have had the unfortunate [perspective] of dealing with three invasions during my lifetime in Vietnam,” Nguyen told The Epoch Times.
“Some people argue [communism] is an economic system—no more, no less. I would argue against that. It’s a system of total control of the people—but control not because of policies. It’s control because of fear. It’s all about putting the thumb on your life.”
In America, Nguyen said his family discovered “this amazing thing called freedom.”
And it is the freedom he has lived for so many years that he sees slipping away because Americans haven’t experienced the painful lessons of communism.
For this reason, Nguyen sponsored HB2008 to make civics education a high school graduation requirement in Arizona.
On June 12, Arizona’s Senate adopted its version of the bill on a slim 16-12 vote. The House narrowly passed an amended version on Feb. 17. The vote was 31-28.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed the bill into law on June 17.
’I Just Wanted to Call Him Dad’: Boy, 11, Shares Journey of Being Adopted by Stepfather
For an 11-year-old boy from Cincinnati, Ohio, who was officially adopted by his stepdad into their forever family, this special day meant the world to him.
“I’d been waiting for it for a long time,” Connor Julian told The Epoch Times. “When the judge said I was officially adopted, I burst into tears because I was just so happy and relieved that it happened.”
There is no doubt that the preteen shares a great bond with his adoptive father, Derek Julian, 43, but the story of how they became a family is a touching one.
Derek met his wife, Sarah, now 34, for the first time 14 years ago when he was working at a college and she was enrolling in a medical program. Soon, they became friends and eventually dated for a period of time. Although they separated, the two of them continued to remain friends over the years.
When Derek’s grandmother, whom he was close to, passed away due to brain cancer and Sarah’s father died in a motorcycle accident, the two got closer after having faced tragedies of their own.
While Derek had spoken to Connor, then 6, on the phone and on FaceTime, he only met him in person for the first time on Christmas Eve in 2016.
“It was Christmas Eve and Connor knocked on my door,” Derek said. “We ended up spending a couple hours together, me, him, and Sarah.”
After playing games and watching a movie, it was time to leave, as Sarah and Connor had another family event to attend that day.
“We had so much fun together,” Connor recalled, “and when we were leaving, I was very upset.”
Despite only just having met each other for the first time, Derek and Connor had bonded so well that Sarah had to turn the car around because Connor wanted to give Derek another goodbye hug.
From then on, the trio started spending more time together, and Derek and Connor’s relationship grew only stronger. When Sarah and Derek went out on dates, Connor would join them too.
“He was always a really good kid to take out to dinner,” Derek said. “If we would spend an hour and a half or so in the restaurant, he’d sit there and color or play and really give Sarah and I time to talk to each other and reconnect. We just kind of became an instant family, the three of us.”
Derek also began coaching Connor in baseball; something they bonded further over. One day, as Connor and Derek were going out, Connor popped up an unexpected question to Derek, asking him if he could call him Dad.
ICYMI
Biden Calls on Congress to Suspend Gas Tax for 3 Months Amid Soaring Energy Prices
President Joe Biden officially endorsed a suspension of federal and state taxes on gasoline and diesel on June 22.
Speaking at the White House, Biden urged Congress to temporarily lift the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline and 24.4-cent-per-gallon levy on diesel for three months, effective until the end of September.
He also pushed states to adopt equivalent relief for motorists. State taxes on fuel are higher than the federal level. Several states, including Connecticut and New York, have paused state fuel taxes. Other jurisdictions, such as California, have discussed direct relief and consumer rebates.
“We can bring down the price of gas and give families just a little bit of relief,” the president said in his prepared address. “I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem, but it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.”
Biden rejected Republicans’ assertions that it’s his administration’s fault for soaring energy prices. Instead, the president blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for surging oil and gas costs, referring to it again as “Putin’s price hike.”
“I said at the time, during the most serious aggression in Europe, to defend freedom was not going to go without cost for the American people,” he said. “And we’re going to have to pay a price as well.”
The president listed the actions that his administration has taken this year, including tapping into domestic reserves and encouraging nations around the world to release supplies. At a time when companies are enjoying record profits, Biden also urged the energy industry to pass on any savings to consumers.
“I’m doing my part. I want the Congress, the states, and the industry to do their part as well,” Biden said. “Bring down the price you are charging at the pump.”
Having two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine has been linked with negative protection against symptomatic infection with the disease, scientists say, while a previous infection without vaccination offers around 50 percent immunity, according to a study analyzing the Omicron wave in Qatar.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on June 15, examined the Omicron wave in Qatar that occurred from around December 2021 to February 2022, comparing vaccination rates and immunity among more than 100,000 Omicron infected and non-infected individuals.
The authors of the study found that those who had a prior infection but no vaccination had a 46.1 and 50 percent immunity against the two subvariants of the Omicron variant, even at an interval of more than 300 days since the previous infection.
However, individuals who received two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine but had no previous infection, were found with negative immunity against both BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron subvariants, indicating an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 than an average person without prior infection and vaccination.
Six months after getting two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, immunity against any Omicron infection gradually dropped to -3.4 percent, below an average person without infection and vaccination (control) which would be set at 0.
For two doses of the Moderna vaccine, immunity against any Omicron infection dropped to -10.3 percent after more than six months since the last injection.
Biden Admin Trying ‘Backdoor’ Ban on AR-15 Rifles by Blocking Ammo Production: GOP Lawmakers
Republican lawmakers said that the Biden administration is attempting to essentially ban AR-15-style rifles by banning commercial production of AR-15 ammunition at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri—a move the White House has recently denied.
The factory, which is owned by the Department of Defense, allows private firms to operate the facility to produce 5.56mm ammunition for most AR-15 firearms.
“Severely limiting the commercially available 5.56 ammunition, which is most popularly used in modern sporting rifles (MSRs), is effectively a politically sanctioned semi-automatic rifle ban. This blatantly infringes on the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution by limiting law-abiding gun owners’ ability to legally purchase or use lawful semi-automatic rifles,” lawmakers wrote in their letter on Monday to President Joe Biden.
The GOP representatives, led by Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), added that the Missouri plant “currently produces a significant portion of this type of 5.56mm ammunition for the commercial market” and allows the operator to keep the factory at a high state of readiness. That factory, they continued, ensures that the U.S. “Army is ready to ramp up production in the event of a national emergency.”
“This decision will result in the immediate termination of up to 500 highly skilled employees and undermine the facility’s ability to hire and retain the skilled workforce needed to carry out the contract with the Department of Defense,” they wrote in the letter (pdf). “Additionally, the decision will exacerbate an already serious shortage of ammunition in the commercial market currently facing law-abiding gun owners.”
Hartzler said that the reported decision to ban the factory’s production of 5.56mm rounds is merely an attempt to quash Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
“This is a backdoor attempt by President Biden to bypass Congress and ban legal and highly popular commercial ammunition used by law-abiding Americans across the country,” Hartzler said. “The Biden administration has made their priorities clear: dismantle the Second Amendment, compromise military readiness, and push inflation to new heights. It’s time for the Biden administration to stop its attack on our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”
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