WORLD NEWS
Report: Pandemic Lockdowns in Philippines Led to Boom in Online Child Sex Trafficking
Australia’s ABC News on Wednesday published a disturbing report that found “online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines” more than doubled during the coronavirus lockdowns — and “many of the predators are Australians.”
If the reader is wondering how Australians managed to sexually abuse Filipino children while both counties were under heavy coronavirus travel restrictions, the answer is that Australian clients used social media platforms and dating apps to hire “facilitators” in the Philippines who arranged to have children abused on-camera for the customer’s amusement.
Anti-Farmer Great Reset Push Causes Political Chaos in Belgium
Green great reset policies aimed at cutting nitrogen pollution in Flanders have thrown the region’s coalition government into chaos, as politicians worry about the impact the measures will have on farmers.
Flanders — the northern, Dutch-speaking region residing within the Belgian state — has seen its ruling coalition government thrown into turmoil, after one of
the three parties ruling the region opted to resist the implementation of green agenda changes aimed at curbing nitrogen pollution in farming.
Ukraine Insists it Had Nothing to Do with Blowing Up Nord Stream Gas Pipelines
The Ukrainian government has insisted they had nothing to do with an attack that blew up part of the Russo-German Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Officials from within the Ukrainian government have insisted that their country is innocent of any wrongdoing after a New York Times report linked the country to the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany.
French Senate votes on controversial pension reform
Despite strong opposition from labor unions and violent protests, lawmakers decided in favor of raising the retirement age by two years
French labor unions have vowed to put pressure on the government after senators on Thursday voted in favor of raising the national retirement age from 62 to 64. Protests and strikes staged ahead of the measure’s passage have already caused major disruptions.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
>> Document: Open the Books Annual Report 2022
Carlson on Democrat, Media Reaction to January 6 Videos: ‘It’s Not Outrage — It’s Fear, It’s Panic’
Tuesday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson responded to the backlash from Democrats and the media over recently unreleased January 6 Capitol footage depicting a slightly different picture than what had been portrayed over the past two years.
Carlson called the reaction from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other media figures to be a fear and panic.
Biden Admin Evaluating Mass Poultry Vaccination Amid Persistent Bird Flu Outbreak
The Biden administration is considering the mass vaccination of the poultry population in response to an ongoing outbreak of avian flu that has killed off millions of birds and has helped spike egg and poultry costs.
There are some existing vaccines for farm birds, but U.S. Agriculture Department spokesman Mike Stepien told The New York Times that no vaccination effort has been authorized and the department is unsure if the existing vaccines will be effective against the current strain of H5N1 bird flu. Erica Spackman, a researcher for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, told the newspaper that scientists are researching new vaccine candidates to help curb the ongoing bird flu outbreak.
Thus far, the Biden administration has made no decision to impose a poultry vaccine mandate.
Mitch McConnell Hospitalized After Fall in Hotel
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was hospitalized after falling at a Washington, DC, hotel, his spokesman announced Wednesday evening.
“This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment,” McConnell spokesman David Popp said in a statement.
12 Dead in San Bernardino Mountains After Blizzard Gavin Newsom Fled
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported Wednesday that twelve people have been found dead after the recent blizzards in nearby mountains — with some of the deceased trapped within their homes.
Lawsuit: 19-Month-Old Girl Dies of Fentanyl Overdose While Staying in Florida Airbnb
The family of a child who died of a fentanyl overdose while staying in a Florida Airbnb rental is suing the property owner, the property manager, and a previous tenant for wrongful death, according to the lawsuit.
The family of Enora Lavenir, who was 19 months old, rented a Wellington, Florida, property through Airbnb in August 2021. A lawsuit brought by the child’s mother, Lydie Lavenir, claims the day after the family checked in, she found her daughter “unresponsive and foaming at the mouth.”
Federal Judge Deep-Sixes Biden’s ‘Catch-and-Release’ of Illegal Migrants
A federal judge in Florida has shut down President Joe Biden’s catch-and-release rules — and his quasi-legal “parole pathway.”
“For the most part, the Court finds in favor of Florida because, as detailed below, the evidence establishes that [Biden’s deputies] have effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand,” district court Judge T. Ken Wethererell, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote.
United States Marine Tyler Justin Vargas-Andrews broke down in tears during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing as he recalled the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and the Kabul airport bombing that left him grievously wounded and killed his mentor and friend.
It was the first hearing by House Republicans to examine the withdrawal that happened under the Biden administration’s watch and led to 13 service members killed — the highest casualty count for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 10 years.
FOIA Request Uncovers FBI Effort to Get Hospitalized Americans to Forfeit 2nd Amendment Rights
The Washington Examiner reported new information Tuesday from a Gun Owners of America (GOA) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showing the FBI “coordinated secretly with hospitals and medical centers to strip U.S. citizens of their rights to own, buy, or even use firearms.”
This news comes just months after a GOA FOIA revealed information about a form used by the FBI in an effort to secure forfeiture of Second Amendment rights.
Treasury Official Backs out of Testifying Friday About Biden Family’s ‘Suspicious’ Wire Transfers
Treasury Department official Jonathan Davidson, who was set to testify Friday about the agency withholding the Biden family’s “suspicious” bank records, has “declined to attend the hearing.” His absence means House Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) must again threaten the use of a subpoena to compel the 150 suspicious activity reports (SARs) generated by U.S. banks.
Davidson was scheduled to testify Friday at 9:00 AM about the Biden family SARs, which “often contain evidence of potential criminal activities, such as money laundering and fraud,” according to a 2020 Senate report.
FTC Orchestrated Aggressive Campaign to Harass Twitter After Elon Musk Takeover: House Panel
The House panel investigating the weaponization of the federal government said Tuesday the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has orchestrated “an aggressive campaign to harass Twitter” as part of its “unusual response” to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social network.
The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released an interim report highlighting the FTC’s apparent overreach in making more than 350 specific demands for information within a period of less than three months after Musk took the helm.
According to the report, the federal agency inundated Twitter with demands to reveal information about hiring and firing decisions and “every internal communication relating to Elon Musk.”
HEALTH
This Healthy Fat Supports Cognitive Longevity — Many Women Don’t Get Enough
It’s no secret that omega-3s support our heart health, brain function, and efforts to live a long, healthy life. For this reason, many Americans take a daily omega-3 supplement because they don’t get adequate omega-3s from their diet alone (i.e., from fatty fish, sea vegetables, and other omega-3-rich foods).
But there’s one overlooked factor in omega-3 dosing: age. According to a 2016 study, women over 50 might want to consider upping their dose even more to promote cognitive vitality as they age.
—> Power Mall Product of Interest: Super Krill Oil – 100% Pure Antarctic Krill Oil. Next-generation Omega-3 with no fishy aftertaste
Governor Makes Minnesota ‘Refuge’ for Doctors to Provide Genital Mutilation, Chemical Castration
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed an executive order Thursday making his state a “refuge” for persons seeking “transgender” surgeries and drugs and the doctors willing to prescribe them.
The order buys entirely into the controversial “gender-affirming care” model that has become at best dubious in Western medicine, with doctors around the globe slowing and halting its practice.
The DARK HISTORY of CIGARETTES and why 32 million Americans are still addicted
For over a century, Big Tobacco has manipulated the American Medical Association, the Food and Drug Administration, and even the Centers for Disease Control, using big money payoffs for thousands of medical doctor endorsements. They covered up and hid the science for over 30 years that smoking causes lung cancer, which they all knew about since the 1930s and 40s.
Then came the early 1960s, when Marlboro (and Kool) commercial cigarette manufacturers figured out they could freebase nicotine using ammonia, making the “hook” of the addiction much stronger, and thus much tougher to quit. They nearly put all the other brands out of business. It was called “ammonia technology” by Philip Morris, and it’s said to deliver up to 100 milligrams of nicotine potency in one cigarette, even though machines that gauge the milligrams only read it as 20 – 30 milligrams. That’s the hook, and it robs millions of people of their health and livelihood, every day.
Loading the “Bait” of the Hook: Bleach, Ammonia, Fiber Glass, Plastic, and Hornworm-Killer Pesticide in Commercial Cigarettes
More than 32 million Americans smoke cigarettes right now, and more than 16 million are suffering from related diseases and disorders. Cigarettes are a death trap. What most smokers don’t understand is that the nicotine is just relief from the nightmarish cigarette “hangover” that comes from the boatload of chemicals woven into the commercialization, on purpose, to drive repeat business. This deserves careful consideration.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Stampede: Companies Jump On ChatGPT To Automate Daily Business Tasks
Two of the largest corporate influencers, Microsoft and Salesforce, are diving into ChatGPT with total abandon, which will normalize ChatGPT throughout large and small businesses. This is transformative for life on earth and will henceforth be required in order to be competitive.
AI chatbots are already being used to send custom email pitches. It shows how AI like ChatGPT may soon play a significant role in business, with companies like Salesforce and Microsoft beginning to offer tighter integration between the chatbot and their software.
A recent viral Tiktok showed how it’s possible to use ChatGPT integrated with Google Sheets to write ten custom LinkedIn messages to executives asking for a meeting. It identified different potential companies in an industry and their CEOs, and generated different outreach notes for each one, including a unique question to ask.
“I think we’re at a very interesting inflection point of how we’ll begin to use AI in the future in our day-to-day lives that wasn’t as easily accessible even six months ago, before ChatGPT was more readily available to the public,” said Alex Klufas, a creator who makes videos focused on working in the tech industry.
The video — and previous viral posts displaying similar techniques — clearly struck a nerve, with 2.5 million views, and scores of comments asking how it worked.
Analysis: Over 15.5M Illegal Aliens in U.S. Costs Taxpayers $150B Annually
More than 15.5 million illegal aliens live in the United States today, costing American taxpayers over $150 billion annually, analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates.
The FAIR analysis estimates that taxpayers pay some $182 billion in annual costs for illegal aliens at the federal, state, and local levels. That cost is only minimally made up by illegal aliens contributing $32 billion to the economy, making the annual net cost more than $150 billion.
EU country to restrict semiconductor exports to China
The Netherlands is joining the US supply ban on the most advanced chip technology
The Netherlands plans to restrict exports of semiconductors to China under pressure from the US to join its policy of curbing Beijing’s access to advanced technology, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the Dutch government.
In a move that is reportedly aimed at defending national security interests, the Dutch authorities are set to take the first step towards adopting the new export controls initiated by Washington last year.
Biden To Propose 5.2% Raise For Federal Employees; Republicans, Unions Slam
One day after President Biden proposed raising taxes on high-earning Americans to keep Medicare afloat, the Washington Post reports that Biden is now expected to float a 5.2 percent pay raise for federal employees, the largest salary boost since Jimmy Carter was president.
The raise, which would apply to 2.1 million workers, would go into effect in January as part of Biden’s fiscal year budget that starts Oct. 1, according to an anonymous senior federal official. It would be the largest since Jimmy Carter’s 9.1 percent increase in 1980, but would still fall short of the 8.7 percent raise called for by Congressional Democrats and federal employee unions.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Flashback: America Is A Technocracy, Not A Democracy
Perhaps never before in American history have the unelected technocrats played such an enormous role in shaping public policy in America.
In recent weeks, members of Congress have been missing in action. Late last month, the House of Representatives passed the biggest spending bill in history while most members were absent. Member votes were not recorded and the legislation was passed with a voice vote, which required only a tiny handful of members.
Weeks later, the Senate refuses to even meet, and may finally get around to debating some legislative matters in May. As with the House, a handful of members assembled earlier to approve another enormous stimulus bill. Many Senators stayed home. This is “representative government” in modern America.
But if you thought this lack of congressional action means not much is happening in Washington in terms of policymaking, you would be very wrong. It’s just that the democratically elected institutions have now become a largely irrelevant sideshow. The real policymaking takes place among unelected experts, who decide for themselves—with minimal oversight or control from actual elected officials—what will happen in terms of public policy. The people who really run the country are these experts and bureaucrats at the central banks, at public health agencies, spy agencies, and an expanding network of boards and commissions.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
‘Geofence’ Warrants Threaten Every Cell Phone User
If you inadvertently and unknowingly pass by a crime scene with cell phone in hand, you may be intentionally caught in a “geofence” police dragnet to find all people within a radius of the criminal act. Upon sifting the data, “suspects” will be identified and targeted for investigation. This practice is an egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment, yet typical of Technocrat modus operandi.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
An alarming increase in the number of dead marine mammals washing up along the New Jersey coast has renewed enthusiasm against Trenton and White House plans to litter the shoreline with wind farms, a “green” measure on which Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy has gambled his legacy.
For years, Jersey shore leaders — mayors, fishermen, local councilmen, and lawmakers — have objected to the plans on the grounds that building the massive turbines necessary to generate energy could destroy critical fishing grounds. Now, bloated, decomposed whale carcasses floating onto boardwalk-lined beaches that families frequent, even in winter, to eat funnel cakes and play crane game machines are becoming a routine event, distressing locals who fear the shore may not be there for their children if the wind projects go forward.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
The ‘Lavender Double’ poppy was introduced by Seed Savers Exchange in 2023.
You’ve flipped through those beautiful seed catalogs. You’ve made your list of old favorites and new varieties you’re excited to grow. You’ve planned out your garden plot(s). You’ve ordered your supplies and seeds for the coming gardening season (or, if not, there’s still time: visit seedsavers.org!). And as those days get longer, you’re chomping at the bit for that last frost to arrive so you can soon begin working that soil in your garden.
But did you know that there are certain seeds that you can sow when the temperatures are still cool and there’s still snow on the ground in some parts of the country? Late winter is a good time to sow hardy annual and perennial flowers such as poppies, bachelor buttons, delphinium, nicotiana, and calendula that germinate well in cold, wet weather. In fact, any plant that is “hardy” in your zone can be planted in winter.
Maintaining a no-till garden is simple, but it is not without work. You replace the tilling and digging with mulching and covering the garden soil. A covered soil does not have to be tilled. It stays soft and becomes better the longer it is maintained.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Fauci Testimony ‘Not Credible’ in Light of Other Evidence: Lawyers
Statements made by Dr. Anthony Fauci under oath aren’t credible because of evidence that contradicts him, lawyers told a court in a new filing.
That includes the claim that Fauci didn’t think he had ever met with Dr. Ralph Baric, an American virologist who helped perform risky research on bat coronaviruses in China.
“I know who he is. I doubt if I’ve ever met him,” Fauci said during the late 2022 deposition—the first time he answered questions under oath since the pandemic began.
Fauci acknowledged the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he headed until around the New Year, provided funding for Baric.
“But you don’t remember ever meeting him in person?” he was asked.
“I don’t recall. I could have met him. I run into several thousands of scientists that we refer to, but I don’t recall, certainly, having a relationship with him,” Fauci responded.
But Fauci’s official calendar lists a one-on-one meeting with Baric on Feb. 11, 2020. And a newly revealed message from a professor who recounted Baric’s account of the meeting showed they talked about man-made virus combinations.
“I talked to Ralph for a long time last night. He sounds beat,” Matt Frieman, a University of Maryland professor, wrote in a Feb. 18, 2020, message. “He said he sat in Fauci’s office talking about the outbreak and chimeras.”
Mild Obesity Can Double Your Risk for COVID Complications
Even mild obesity may raise the risk of COVID-19 severity, calling into question current United Kingdom guidelines that only classify severe obesity as a risk factor
Patients with mild obesity had a 2.5 times greater risk of respiratory failure and a five times greater risk of being admitted to an ICU compared to non-obese patients
Those with a BMI of 35 and over were also 12 times more likely to die from COVID-19
Inflammation triggered by obesity may be responsible for a threefold greater risk of pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs) in COVID-19 patients who are obese
Dysregulated lipid synthesis triggered by obesity may aggravate inflammation in the lungs, contributing to increased disease severity during respiratory viral infections
Processed foods, junk foods and soft drinks are key culprits in the rise of obesity and chronic diseases that have a key role to play in COVID-19 deaths
Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr. Robert Redfield said Wednesday he believes he was deliberately excluded from early conference calls discussing the origins of COVID-19.
Redfield told the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci and National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins allegedly wanted to promote a “single narrative” about the origins of COVID-19. Redfield, an early proponent of the lab leak theory, has been a staunch critic of investigations conducted by the World Health Organization into the spread of the virus.
“I obviously had a different point of view” from Fauci and Collins, Redfield told Republican New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis. “I felt it was not scientifically plausible that this virus went from a bat to humans and became one of the most infectious viruses we have in humans. All viruses are not the same. So when you look at coronaviruses, SARS and MERS for example, when they entered the human species which they did via an intermediate, they never learned how to go human to human. Even to this day they don’t know how to go human to human.”
How Pfizer’s Trials Were Fraudulent
Die Welt, a mainstream media outlet in Germany, revealed that numerous subjects who suffered adverse events, including deaths, during Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot trials were removed from the trial data
A person known as “Pfizer subject C4591001 1162 11621327” died three days after receiving the second dose of Pfizer’s COVID shot, reportedly due to stroke and arteriosclerosis; it was deemed unrelated to the shots
The CDC has since warned that people ages 65 and older who received Pfizer’s updated (bivalent) COVID-19 booster shot may be at increased risk of stroke
Die Welt also revealed contradictions in Pfizer documents, adverse events from the shot downplayed and mass unblinding of study subjects, which wasn’t revealed in a later approval study
In November 2020, Pfizer claimed their COVID-19 shot was 95% effective against COVID-19, but this was highly misleading and based on flawed methodology, including excluding people who got COVID-19 within 14 days after their first shot
Pfizer has profited immensely despite the concerns, earning a record $100 billion in 2022, including $37.8 billion for its COVID-19 shots and $18.9 billion for its antiviral drug Paxlovid
CANCEL CULTURE
The Minnesota Wild admitted on Wednesday that it decided as a team not to wear their gay pride jerseys for its warmup period during Tuesday’s gay pride night game.
Advanced publicity for the game noted that the team would be wearing gay pride-themed uniforms.
PET NEWS
Dog Breeds and Life Expectancy
Anyone who has had the joy of loving a furry friend has likely felt a pang of hope wishing dogs would live longer. Learning about dog longevity can help pet owners help their dogs live long, happy lives. When you have a dog, the decisions you make – from selecting dog food to scheduling vet visits – can make a big difference in their life expectancy.
ICYMI
Federal Judge Sides with Biden Admin, Ruling Missouri Second Amendment Law ‘Unconstitutional’
A Missouri law that would have penalized police for enforcing federal gun laws was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge Tuesday, handing a win to the Biden administration Department of Justice that filed suit against the law last year.
The DOJ alleged the law was undermining federal drug and weapons investigators by placing heavy fines of up to $50,000 on police departments if they “infringed” on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights by following any federal laws.
The Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) was ruled “invalid, null, void and of no effect” by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Wimes, an Obama appointee.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement on social media he plans to appeal the court’s ruling at the Eighth Circuit Court and expects a “better result” there.
“As Attorney General, I will protect the Constitution, which includes defending Missourians’ fundamental right to bear arms,” he said in a Twitter thread. “If the state legislature wants to expand upon the foundational rights codified in the Second Amendment, they have the authority to do that. But SAPA is also about the Tenth Amendment. It’s about federalism and individual liberty, so we will be appealing the court’s ruling.”
White House Reverses Course, Gives Congress Green Light to Pass Bill Banning TikTok
The White House has reversed direction this week, saying it would support a Senate bill that would outlaw TikTok in the United States.
The Biden administration had been at a standstill for two years over how to deal with the threat to national security posed by the Chinese-owned mobile app.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday welcomed a bipartisan bill that would allow the Biden administration to ban the video-sharing app.
“This legislation would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” he said in a statement.
“We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk.”
Chaim Topol: Fiddler on the Roof star dies aged 87
The actor Chaim Topol, best known for his portrayal of milkman Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, has died at the age of 87, Israel’s president has said.
His death was confirmed by President Isaac Herzog, who described Topol as “one of the giants of Israeli culture”.
Topol was Oscar nominated for his performance in the 1971 film adaptation of the musical.
His other famous film role included in Flash Gordon, Follow Me, and the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
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