WORLD NEWS
Brazil Inks Deal to Use Yuan, Not Dollar, in Trade with China
The governments of Brazil, now under the leadership of radical leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and communist China announced an agreement on Wednesday to no longer use the U.S. dollar to conduct trade, instead relying on the Chinese yuan and Brazilian real.
China is Brazil’s largest trade partner, meaning the deal will significant decrease Brazil’s use of the dollar generally. The deal is one of several between the two countries planned to be announced this week, when Lula was expected to travel to Beijing for meetings with dictator Xi Jinping. Lula, 77, was forced to cancel his travels after being diagnosed with influenza-induced pneumonia this week.
Cartels Using Illegal Immigrants as ‘Human Shields’ for Drug Smuggling: Ex-Border Patrol Chief
As historic numbers of illegal immigrants at the U.S.–Mexico border continue to draw the attention of law enforcement and the nation as a whole, the drug cartels are taking advantage of that distraction, according to former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott.
In a March 28 interview with Steve Lance of NTD News, The Epoch Times’ sister outlet, Scott noted that the people crossing the border serve as the perfect “cover” for the cartels’ other operations.
“The cartel uses these people as human shields to shape the border to completely overwhelm all law enforcement in areas very systematically, so that they can bring in other threats—people that are willing to pay more money to not meet a Border Patrol agent, or the narcotics, the fentanyl that we see poured into our cities all across this country,” he said. “Those are the threats that the illegal immigration is a cover or a mask for.”
Canadian Mounties Arrest Extremists Threatening Pipeline Workers
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested five extremists in northwestern British Columbia who are accused of threatening and intimidating workers on a gas pipeline project.
The arrests came after a complaint was filed by the security for Coastal Gas Link, who claimed that a worker on the pipeline had been “swarmed” by a group of masked individuals and that the group had fired flares and they were able to access a vehicle after the worker fled.
Police State: French Woman Arrested for Calling President Macron ‘Trash’ on Social Media
A woman has been arrested for allegedly comparing French President Emmanuel Macron to “trash” on social media, in the latest crackdown on free speech in the supposed home of liberté in Europe.
Last Friday, Valérie, a middle-aged woman in the Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem commune of the Calais region of France, was greeted at her home by three police officers, who arrested her for supposedly insulting French President Macron on Facebook under the controversial criminal code that criminalises spreading “contempt of public officials”.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
New York Grand Jury Indicts Donald Trump
A grand jury in New York has indicted former President Donald Trump, according to emerging reports.
“A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges,” the New York Times reported on Thursday evening.
Gov. DeSantis: ‘Florida Will Not Assist in Extradition Request’ amid Trump Indictment
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said his state will not assist with an extradition request, his announcement coming after former President Donald Trump was indicted Thursday.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American,” he wrote in a social media post:
The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent. Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.
A grand jury in New York reportedly indicted Trump, and the New York Times said the action was in regard to his alleged role in paying hush money to a porn star.
“The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will likely be announced in the coming days,” the report said, adding prosecutors with District Attorney Alvin Bragg “will have asked Mr. Trump to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now.”
Trump Could Still Be Elected President Despite DA’s Indictment, Say Legal Experts
Former President Donald Trump became the first president—current or former—to be criminally charged after he was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office Thursday. But legal experts say he can still become and serve as president even if he’s in federal prison.
Amid multiple investigations, Trump—who has categorically denied any wrongdoing and said such probes are part of a witch hunt designed to wound him politically—has said he won’t bow out of the 2024 race for the White House. Since reports surfaced that he would be charged earlier this month, Trump has made that a central part of his campaign messaging, often posting about his arrest on social media.
The U.S. Constitution does not say that having a criminal record bars an individual from becoming president. It says that natural-born citizens who are aged 35 and older and who have been a resident of the United States for 14 years can become president. The 22nd Amendment, meanwhile, stipulates that people who have twice been elected president cannot become president again.
“The only way he can be disqualified is if they can prove that he actually fought in the Civil War for the South. If he fought for the Civil War in the south, he’s out,” retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz quipped to The Epoch Times earlier this month. “But other than that, if he’s 35 years old, was born in America, and didn’t fight in the Civil War for the south. He’s eligible. And [can] run from prison.”
If Trump goes to prison, he can campaign for president, too, Dershowitz said in another interview. “Even if he’s convicted, he can run for president. He can run for president from prison; he can even serve as president from prison,” he said.
Manhattan DA’s Office Responds to Trump Indictment
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed on Thursday evening that his office contacted lawyers for former President Donald Trump to “coordinate his surrender” to the DA’s office for arraignment after a grand jury handed down an indictment hours earlier.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Bragg’s office wrote that the indictment against Trump “remains under seal” and that “guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected.” Other details were not provided.
Report: NYPD Tells Every Member to Show Up in Uniform Friday Morning After Trump Indictment
The New York Police Department (NYPD) told every member of its force to report in full uniform on Friday morning as a “precautionary measure” following the indictment of former President Donald Trump, the Hill reported.
“All uniformed members of the New York City Police Department are to show up in uniform as of 0700 hours on 03-31-2023 as a precautionary measure,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday night.
Conservatives warned that the indictment of Donald Trump — a former president and current 2024 presidential candidate — is “blatant election interference.”
A Manhattan grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Trump for his alleged “role in paying hush money to a porn star,” the New York Times reported, citing “four people with knowledge of the matter.” Trump would be the first former president in American history to face criminal charges.
Pelosi Inverts American Justice System: Trump Has Right to ‘Prove Innocence’
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appeared to invert the U.S. justice system in a statement Thursday as she was reacting to news that a Manhattan grand jury had voted to indict former President Donald Trump.
Pelosi, the former House speaker, placed the burden of proof in legal cases on defendants, saying that “everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence” and that the justice system “grants [Trump] that right.”
‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley Released Early From Prison After Newly Disclosed Jan. 6 Footage
The man known as the QAnon Shaman, who pleaded guilty to breaching the U.S. Capitol, has been released from prison early after Fox News aired footage of him being escorted by police officers inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jacob Chansley, 35, was moved to a halfway house in Phoenix on March 28, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. He had been serving a 41-month sentence, handed down in November 2021, in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding.
The release comes after Fox News’ Tucker Carlson broadcast never-before-seen footage that showed U.S. Capitol Police officers walking around inside the Capitol with Chansley.
Chansley’s current and former lawyers are offering different views as to whether the footage played a role in his early release.
“Jake is out on schedule. I told him 16 months ago in our first conversation, it would be Feb. or Mar. 2023,” William Shipley, Chansley’s current lawyer, wrote on social media on March 30.
While Chansley was expecting to serve nearly his full sentence in prison, Shipley noted that federal inmates can get early release for good behavior and participation in various programs.
“I didn’t do anything extraordinary—this was always the schedule, I just understood it and could explain it to him,” Shipley said.
China Outpacing US Military at ‘Disturbing’ Rate: Gen. Milley
China is on a trajectory to achieve military superiority over the United States by midcentury, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley warned members of Congress on March 29.
Testifying at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense’s 2024 budget requests, Milley noted that China has a national goal to be a “global coequal” with the United States and “militarily superior” by 2049.
“They’re on that path to do that, and that’s really disturbing,” he said. “That’s really bothersome. And we’re going to have to not only keep pace, but we have to outpace that, and that will assure the peace.”
Of particular concern is China’s nuclear development program, Milley said, holding that there is little the United States could do to “stop, slow down, disrupt, interdict, or destroy” it.
Milley’s unease echoed that of U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who told Congress on Tuesday that China’s expansion of its nuclear force was the most “disturbing” military threat he’d seen in his half-century career.
For months, the Pentagon has been sounding the alarm over China’s nuclear moves, warning in December that the country was on pace to quadruple its number of nuclear warheads to 1,500 by 2035.
Currently, the Defense Department estimates China’s nuclear warhead count to be more than 400. And while that number may seem small compared with the United States’ stockpile of around 3,750, Milley stressed on Wednesday that the communist country’s capabilities should not be underestimated.
“They have a significant nuclear capability today and they have intercontinental ballistic missiles that can range the United States,” he said. “That is obviously bothersome.”
The general also noted that the situation is further complicated by the strengthening relationship between China and Russia, which he described as “troublesome.”
“We are facing two nuclear-armed great powers,” he emphasized. “So, the principles of the Cold War of deterrence still obtain, but now it’s more complicated because it’s two versus one.”
And with the added threat of Iran joining the mix, Milley predicted, “Those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come.”
Journalist Says DOJ Targeting Him for His Aggressive Post-Jan. 6 Commentary
Independent journalist Steve Baker says he was recently warned that his aggressive reporting and commentary about Jan. 6 have created growing ire at the U.S. Department of Justice that could lead to his prosecution for being at the Capitol on that fateful Wednesday in 2021.
Since Jan. 6, Baker, 62, of Raleigh, North Carolina, went through two hours of FBI questioning and faced the looming specter of being added to the list of now more than 1,000 Jan. 6 criminal-case defendants.
He said his recent coverage of Jan. 6 cases and pointed criticisms of the DOJ have once again painted a target on him.
“I got a call from another journalist who has a friendly source inside the Department of Justice there in D.C.,” Baker told The Epoch Times.
“He called me up and said—this is a paraphrase, but he said—‘Your friend in Raleigh, tell him to be careful. He has awakened a couple of people’s attention to his work, and they’re not happy about it at all.’”
The ominous early-morning heads-up got Baker’s attention.
“First of all, when you get a call at 6:30 in the morning from somebody relaying that message, they must have thought that was really important to get a hold of me,” he said. “So the impact of the timing of the delivery was significant.
Cesar Chavez Holiday—Honoring An American Hero
Commentary By Rees Lloyd, Attorney
“I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!” — Cesar Chavez
Cesar Chavez Day is an official State holiday in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and is observed in several other States (including Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin) on the anniversary of his birth on March 31, 1927, of an extraordinary American — Cesar Estrada Chavez, the late co-founder and president of the United Farm Workers of America who became a legend in his own time in the Civil Rights Era.
In his honor, his headquarters for the UFW, which he named “La Paz” (“The Peace”), in the Tehachapi Mountains in Keene, CA, on Highway 58 between Bakersfield and Tehachapi, is now officially the U.S. Cesar Chavez National Monument, established by the federal government.
Supreme Court Suggests IRS Went Too Far in Tax Enforcement Case
The Supreme Court seemed generally sympathetic to the claim of the wife of a delinquent taxpayer that the IRS had gone too far in her case in secretly summonsing third-party bank records.
Throughout the hearing on March 29, the justices acknowledged the Internal Revenue Service needs tools to pursue delinquent accounts but suggested that potential abuses need to be guarded against.
The IRS claims Remo Polselli owes $2 million in assessed taxes and penalties and issued summonses without notice seeking financial records from banks. His bank records as well as those of his wife, Hanna Polselli, and law firms that performed work for them were sought.
The Biden administration says the IRS does not need to provide notice to third parties and that having to do so would give delinquent taxpayers “a head start in hiding assets.” Besides, the administration argues, persons involved in the process have access to the courts to combat alleged abuses.
Petitioner Hanna Polselli and the law firms argue that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit departed from a 2000 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, creating a circuit split the Supreme Court needs to resolve.
9 Service Members Die as Two U.S. Army Helicopters Crash During Training in Kentucky
A pair of U.S. Army helicopters crashed Wednesday night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission with all nine service members on board reportedly killed.
AP reports the two HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, came down around 10 p.m. in Trigg County, Kentucky, according to a statement from Fort Campbell.
The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash, saying on Twitter it resulted in “several casualties” but did not specify whether those were injuries or deaths.
“Right now our focus is on the Soldiers and their families who were involved,” it added.
The state’s governor, Andy Beshear, said it was “tough news” and that “fatalities are expected.”
HEALTH
RECALL WARNING:
Hand Sanitizers Recalled After Testing Finds Presence of Methanol
Hand sanitizers from a cleaning company based in South Dakota are being recalled after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discovered the presence of methanol during testing.
“Canton, SD, Jarman’s Midwest Cleaning Systems, Inc. is voluntarily recalling all lots of Alcohol Antiseptic 80% Topical Solution Hand Sanitizer Non-sterile Solution and Isopropyl Alcohol Antiseptic 75% Topical Solution Hand Sanitizer Non-sterile Solution to the consumer level,” according to a March 28 FDA press release.
Support Your Brain Health Daily By Eating A Handful Of This Fruit
As we get older, minding our brain health is essential to maintaining optimal cognitive function, which includes things like focus, memory, and reaction time. And according to new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there’s one superstar fruit that can help your brain and your heart. Here’s what they found.
Studying the brain on blueberries.
Blueberries have long been considered a “superfood,” rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, phytoflavinoids, potassium, and more. So for this study, researchers wanted to dig deeper into just how much blueberries can benefit the healthy of aging populations.
To do so, they rounded up participants between the ages of 65 and 80, and had one group consume a blueberry beverage that was the equivalent of roughly a cup’s-worth of wild blueberries, while the other group consumed a placebo beverage. The participants drank their respective drinks for 12 weeks.
Throughout the course of the study, those consuming the true blueberry drink saw improvement in memory, improved accuracy on attention tasks, and even lower blood pressure. The same could not be said for the placebo group, who did not reap the same benefits.
As study co-author Claire Williams Ph.D., explains in a news release, “It’s clear from this study that consuming wild blueberries is beneficial to cognitive function, as well as vascular health. The group who had the wild blueberry powder showed signs of better memory and greater mental flexibility when completing cognitive tasks.”
Chew at your own risk: Discover the SHOCKING truth about cancer-causing chemicals in chewing gums
Who doesn’t like to have fresh breath? According to the U.S. Census data and Simmons National Consumer Survey (NHCS), 160.03 million Americans used chewing gum in 2020. That’s a whole lot of gum!
Chewing gum manufacturers in the world have made a massive impact on the human population. But is that impact a positive one? We don’t think so. Tragically, the majority of chewing gums on the market contain cancer-causing chemicals that can destroy your health.
FDA To Finally Let People Get Naloxone Without a Prescription
This morning, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Food and Drug Administration has finally approved the overdose antidote naloxone without a prescription. I have been urging the FDA to make naloxone over the counter for years. Cato adjunct scholar David Hyman and I gave a Hill Briefing on this issue in October 2019. By late 2022 the FDA signaled it might finally happen, perhaps as early as March 2023.
This decision will make it much easier for harm reduction organizations to obtain and distribute the overdose antidote to people who use drugs. It will also make it easier for people who use drugs (licit or illicit) and those who care about them to purchase the antidote discreetly, avoiding the stigma attached to opioid use these days.
Emergent Biosolutions, the maker of Narcan brand naloxone nasal spray, hopes to have the product on the shelves by late summer. This is the first of what may be several brands of naloxone to be soon sold over the counter. Hopefully, the drug will be available in convenience stores and vending machines before long.
As Michael F. Cannon and I point out in our white paper, the prices of prescription drugs commonly fall once they become available over the counter. When the FDA allows other brands of naloxone to be sold over the counter, the competition thus generated may also cause prices to drop.
All of this is good news for medical and non‐medical users of opioids and their friends and loved ones.
US Judge Strikes Down Key ObamaCare Provision
A U.S. judge on March 30 struck down a provision in the Affordable Care Act that required insurers to cover some preventative services such as cancer screenings.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that recommendations on preventative care by an unelected task force were unlawful, and forbade President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing the recommendations.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recommended preventative services must be covered by insurers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as ObamaCare. It has recommended anxiety screening for some children and breast cancer screening for some women, among other recommendations.
Plaintiffs in a legal case in Texas argued that the mandated coverage violated their constitutional rights and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it forced them to purchase insurance that covered aspects that clash with their religion, including coverage of preexposure prophylaxis drugs for people deemed at high risk of getting HIV.
“The ACA forces these plaintiffs to choose between purchasing health insurance that violates their religious beliefs and foregoing conventional health insurance altogether. It is undisputed that putting individuals to this choice imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise,” O’Connor, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in a 28-page opinion.
Under the religious freedom act, the government can substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion if it shows that the burden “is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest” and “is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”
Government officials have failed on both fronts, the judge ruled.
Retired Florida judge died after eating tainted Jif peanut butter, suit claims
A retired Florida judge died in July 2022 after eating peanut butter that was contaminated with salmonella, according to allegations in a lawsuit seeking damages from the maker of Jif and the grocery store that sold it.
The wrongful-death suit was filed March 17 by the family of the late Judge Robert A. Foster Jr. of Tampa, Florida, in Hillsborough County, Florida. The suit defendants are the maker of the peanut butter, the J.M. Smucker Co., and Publix Super Markets Inc.
Jif peanut butter had been recalled. The suit says Smucker sold “unreasonably dangerous” peanut butter, and Publix Super Markets breached a duty “to adequately notify and warn consumers” about the tainted peanut butter.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Hawley, Warren Lead Bipartisan Bill to Hold Bank Executives Responsible for Bank Failures
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are leading a bipartisan group of senators in introducing legislation that would allow federal regulators to take back “all or part of” the compensation bank executives received in the five years preceding the event of another bank failure.
In the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse, the bipartisan legislation, Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act, would ultimately require federal regulators — in the event of bank failures, to take back the compensation bank executives received in the five years preceding the failure.
Jobless Claims Rise By More Than Expected to 198,000
Jobless claims came in above expectations for the week ended March 25 but were still below 200,000.
The Department of Labor said there were 198,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits, up 7,000 from the upwardly revised estimate for the previous week. That was a touch above the 195,000 forecast by economists.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Drones and other high-tech aviation devices are in production all across America, poised to help people’s lives in novel ways, ranging from helping police preview possible crime scenes to transporting emergency medical supplies to patients.
But cumbersome, murky federal processes are impeding developers, witnesses told a Congressional subcommittee on March 30, calling for a reorganization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) lamented, “The FAA has an inability to make quick and sound decisions, and stand by those decisions, resulting in a lack of clarity for new entrants to the market. After over five years of trying, the FAA has succeeded in certifying a grand total of one drone.”
That model of drone was developed by a company called, “Wing,” and faced “innumerable roadblocks” in getting that approval, Graves said.
Kyle Clark is the CEO of BETA Technologies in Vermont, a company that now employs about 500 engineers who are waiting for the FAA to certify electric propulsion. “What we need is a simple regulatory unblock and clarity. That’s it. It’s not complicated,” he said. “The technology is here, and we’re ready to get to work.”
Future Vaccines Could be Delivered by a Gentle Puff of Air
What if vaccines could be puffed through the skin instead, with just a little pressure, like being hit in the arm with a foam toy?
Today, scientists report steps toward making that a reality. Using powdered vaccines that don’t require refrigeration and a system driven by compressed gas, their “MOF-Jet” could easily deliver therapeutics against cancer and other diseases in a painless and less fear-inducing way.
The idea for the project was formed out of pandemic-induced boredom. The project’s principal investigator, Jeremiah Gassensmith, Ph.D., had ordered inexpensive pieces of a compressed gas-powered jet injection system to mess around with while stuck at home.
Later, after everyone was back on campus, he handed the pieces over to Yalini Wijesundara, a graduate student in the lab, with the instructions, “See what you can do with this.”
Despite looking and sounding like something out of science fiction, jet injectors were in use in the military back in the 1960s, but were discontinued due to them actually being more painful, and often blowing the liquid vaccine back into the face of the administer.
The medical media in Wijesundara’s invention is called a MOF, or metal-organic framework; essentially tiny miny cages that can contain a vaccine powder until it’s safely inside a cell.
These are normally made of gold or tungsten and are extremely expensive. Wijesundara and her team instead found a way to use zeolite.
“We can also store vaccine formulations within it as powders at room temperature, which eliminates the need for the extremely cold temperatures many liquid vaccines require,” said Wijesundara.
Conjoined twins with fused brains separated; surgeons practiced for months in virtual reality
Surgeons prepared to separate 3-year-old conjoined twins in Brazil using virtual reality.
The things human beings have figured out how to do boggles the mind sometimes, especially in the realm of medicine.
It wasn’t terribly long ago that people with a severe injury had to liquor up, bite a stick, have a body part sewn up or sawed off and hope for the best. (Sorry for the visual, but it’s true.) The discoveries of antibiotics and anesthesia alone have completely revolutionized human existence, but we’ve gone well beyond that with what our best surgeons can accomplish.
Surgeries can range from fairly simple to incredibly complex, but few surgeries are more complicated than separating conjoined twins with combined major organs. That’s why the recent surgical separation of conjoined twin boys with fused brains in Brazil is so incredible.
The twins, Bernardo and Arthur Lima, are almost 4 years old and have never seen one another’s face. They’ve spent their lives conjoined at the top of their heads, facing opposite directions. Born as craniopagus twins (joined at the cranium), their brains were also fused together, making their separation extremely complex. According to the BBC, they’ve been cared for at the Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer (Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute) in Rio de Janeiro for the past two and a half years.
Surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani is the founder of medical charity Gemini Untwined, which funded the surgery. He helped lead the team of nearly 100 medical workers who worked for months to prepare for the boys’ separation, which was one of the most complicated of its kind.
Jeelani told the BBC that it was the first time surgeons in separate countries practiced by operating in the same “virtual reality room” together, wearing VR headsets.
“It’s just wonderful,” he said. “It’s really great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before you actually put the children at any risk. You can’t imagine how reassuring this is for the surgeons. To do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff.”
Watch Jeelani explain how they prepared for the procedure:
Prior attempts to separate the twins had been unsuccessful, making the surgery even more challenging due to scar tissue. However, after multiple surgeries that took more than 33 hours collectively, the boys were successfully separated in June.
“It was without a doubt the most complex surgery of my career,” said neurosurgeon Gabriel Mufarrej of the Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute, according to EuroNews. “At the beginning, nobody thought they would survive. It is already historic that both of them could be saved.”
Jeelani told the BBC that the boys’ heart rates and blood pressure were “through the roof” for four days after the surgery—until they were reunited and touched hands.
According to Reuters, Bernardo and Arthur are the oldest twins with fused brains to be successfully separated. They will spend the next six months in rehabilitation.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Warning: RESTRICT Act Is A Huge Orwellian Censorship Grab
The RESTRICT Act, introduced by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tom Thune (R-SD), is aimed at blocking or disrupting transactions and financial holdings linked to foreign adversaries that pose a risk to national security, however the language of the bill could be used to give the US government enormous power to punish free speech.
Warner, a longtime opponent of free speech who, as Michael Krieger pointed out in 2018 (and confirmed in the Twitter Files) pushed for the ‘weaponization’ of big tech, crafted the RESTRICT act to “ake swift action against technology companies suspected of cavorting with foreign governments and spies, to effectively vanish their products from shelves and app stores when the threat they pose gets too big to ignore,” according to Wired.
Bad actors listed in the bill are; China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela.
In reality, the RESTRICT Act has very little to do with TikTok and everything to do with controlling online content.
In very specific terms a lot of U.S. websites would be impacted. Why? Because a lot of websites use third-party ‘plug-ins’ or ‘widgets’ or software created in foreign countries to support the content on their site. The “Restrict Act” gives the DNI the ability to tell a website using any “foreign content” or software; that might be engaged in platform communication the U.S Government views as against their interests; to shut down or face a criminal charge. In very direct terms, the passage of SB686 would give the Dept of Commerce, DNI and DHS the ability to shut down what you are reading right now. This is a big deal. –The Last Refuge
The RESTRICT Act can also be used to punish people using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) if they’re used to access banned websites, and directs the Secretary of Commerce to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate” that which is deemed a national security risk associated with technology linked to the above countries.
Penalties include fines of up to $1 million or 20 years in prison, or both.
Bokhari: With RESTRICT Act, the Deep State Seeks to Beat China by Becoming China
Tell me if this story sounds familiar: there’s a national security panic. Foreign adversaries threaten the homeland. Petty bipartisan disputes are put aside, and draft legislation is rushed out. At last, Congress is doing something.
But, lo and behold — the bill that magically emerges, evading the usual partisan disputes that doom legislation, makes no attempt to restrict itself to the foreign adversary in question. What it does do is grant sweeping new powers to the Deep State to punish, harass, spy on, and otherwise trample on the rights of American citizens, with zero transparency or accountability.
The RESTRICT Act allows the federal government to define new countries and regimes as “foreign adversaries,” and then restrict almost all online activities by any U.S. citizens to services even “indirectly” controlled by entities “subject to the jurisdiction” of that foreign adversary.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
29 Dems Join GOP in House Vote to Block Biden Admin From Limiting Access to Gas Stoves
U.S. House lawmakers voted in support of an energy bill amendment that would prevent the Department of Energy from introducing energy efficiency standards that could outlaw most gas stoves on the market today.
More than a dozen Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure, part of a Republican-led pro-fossil-fuel legislative package H.R. 1, also referred to as the Lower Energy Costs Act, which the Biden administration has vowed to veto.
“Glad the House passed my amendment to H.R. 1 preventing @ENERGY from banning 50% of gas stoves on the market,” Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), who proposed the amendment, wrote on Twitter late Wednesday.
“This de facto gas stove ban was supported by 181 Democrats who are complicit in Biden’s quest to control your kitchen appliances,” added Palmer, the chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.
Electric vehicles (EVs) of all makes, models, and sizes have been associated with numerous significant problems – some specifically to their batteries which can and have caused fires that are difficult to extinguish. Additionally, reports have indicated that cold weather can affect battery performance (at least in Tesla models) and batteries can be difficult and expensive to recycle
These electric vehicles need their batteries replaced most often
- A big concern for prospective EV buyers is if the battery will need replacing.
- EV battery replacements could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000, according to Recurrent.
- Recurrent studied how common it was for early EV models’ batteries to be replaced.
One of the biggest concerns that prospective electric-car buyers have is if they’ll ever have to make a costly battery replacement. And while they haven’t been very common among early EVs, some models have needed them more than others.
Excluding major recalls for the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV and Hyundai Kona Electric, of the EVs studied by battery health reporting firm Recurrent, only 1.5% have received battery replacements. About 15,000 EV drivers in the US use Recurrent, so that’s only 225 vehicles.
Including the two well-known EV battery pack recalls raises that percentage of battery replacements to 6.5%, according to Recurrent, or 975 of the 15,000.
Behind the recalled vehicles, unsurprisingly, Recurrent found the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model S have the highest percentage of battery replacements — with the Leaf at 4.92% and the Model S at 3.75% — as they are among the oldest EVs.
The 2011 and 2012 Nissan Leaf saw 8.3% and 3.5%, respectively, rates of replacement. The 2013, 2014, and 2015 Model S saw 8.5%, 7.3%, and 3.5%, respectively, rates of replacement.
Still, Recurrent found the relatively low numbers promising, and said it suggests EV batteries overall maintain a lot of life.
Why does the likelihood of battery replacement matter?
EV drivers who decide to keep their car for a long time won’t want to be stuck with what could potentially be an expensive and major repair, running them anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000. Batteries degrade at varying rates based on a number of factors like how the EV was charged, what type of environment it was driven in, and more.
The state of the battery is also important info once an EV enters the used market. A second or third owner of an EV would want to know if the battery has already been replaced or if it’s something that may need to be done. A battery having been replaced before a second or third owner would actually be a benefit, as the EV would essentially be back to new.
Automakers have a variety of EV battery warranties to assuage fears about potential replacements. BMW and Volkswagen, for example, guarantee 70% of the original battery capacity for 8 years or 100,000 miles. Tesla’s Model 3 Standard Range battery has the same terms, but other trim levels of the Model 3 and Model Y have a 70% guarantee at 120,000 miles or 8 years, Recurrent said.
as well as, of course, replace.
COVID RELATED NEWS
World Council for Health Reveals Spike Protein Detox
If you had COVID-19 or received a COVID-19 injection, you may have dangerous spike proteins circulating in your body
Spike proteins can circulate in your body after infection or injection, causing damage to cells, tissues and organs
The World Council for Health has released a spike protein detox guide, which provides straightforward steps you can take to potentially lessen the effects of toxic spike protein in your body
Spike protein inhibitors and neutralizers include pine needles, ivermectin, neem, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and glutathione
The top 10 spike protein detox essentials include
- vitamin D
- vitamin C
- nigella seed
- quercetin
- Zinc
- Curcumin
- milk thistle extract
- NAC
- Ivermectin
- magnesium
Dr. Robert Malone’s Spike Protein FLCCC Treatment Protocols (recently disclosed):
CANCEL CULTURE
Sen. Hawley’s Efforts to Fast-Track TikTok Ban Blocked by Sen. Paul
Efforts from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to ban Chinese-owned TikTok on U.S. soil suffered a setback on March 29 when fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) opposed the move, arguing the ban would limit free speech.
On the Senate floor, Paul objected to Hawley’s request for unanimous consent to fast-track his No TikTok on United States Devices Act to ban the viral app in the United States over national security concerns, telling his fellow colleagues he sees the ban as a First Amendment issue.
“Before banning TikTok, these censors might want to discover that China’s government already bans TikTok. Hmmm … do we really want to emulate China’s speech bans?” he said.
WASHINGTON, DC —The Rutherford Institute is pushing back against the Department of Education’s efforts to roll back First Amendment protections issued under the Trump administration, warning that it could result in discriminatory treatment and double standards by public colleges and universities against religious student groups.
The regulations in danger of being rescinded by the Biden administration require public colleges and universities that currently receive grant funding to treat religious student groups the same as other student organizations. However, Rutherford Institute attorneys caution that without the current protections in place, religious student groups at more than 1,200 public colleges and universities could face adverse action by administrators inclined to view the groups’ religious beliefs and statements of faith as violating the schools’ non‑discrimination policies.
Illegal Immigration Surged at Northern US Border With Help of Americans
One night this past winter, Lynne Lamon of Plattsburgh, New York, was driving up the U.S.-9 northbound by Canada’s border when she noticed three young men walking on the side of the road.
The men were dressed poorly for the subzero temperatures and wind chill from Lake Champlain. Their down vests were tattered and leaking feathers.
Lamon pulled over, rolled down the window, and told the men to get in and warm up.
Through broken English, she realized they were illegal immigrants from Ecuador who were on their way to the Canadian province of Quebec.
“They were happy to get a ride. I wasn’t afraid at all,” Lamon said. “They were young men that had wives and mothers at home.”
“They were so thankful. I turned on what you call an English-Spanish app on my phone so that we could talk. They were happy about that.”
Lamon drove the men to a local restaurant, bought them breakfast, and gave them water for the trip north.
The men said they wanted to go to the nearest U.S. port of entry, but Lamon said, ‘No. You will be taken in [by federal border officers] and brought back to Plattsburgh.”
ICYMI
NEW CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUND:
- The Freemasons were behind the Covenant school shooting in Nashville!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMeLtqWZX5s
- This sounds like a false flag attack, based on “It’s gotta be the shoes!”
Another Sandy Hook conspiracy in the offing by Max Malone?
https://www.bitchute.com/video/3tGhQGw0pJ43/
WARNING: Beware of future false flag attacks on America during these trying times. Avoid posting extremist or threatening diatribes on social media (you can bet “they” are watching and will do more than “censor” you)! Certain people in positions of power are waiting for conservatives to violently react so martial law can be declared and small pockets of dissidents can be rounded up. This is another trap against ALL conservative movements. America’s enemies are watching the events surrounding the Trump indictment unfold and are gauging the response of We the People to determine their next steps in taking over America.
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Today’s News: April 19, 2024
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