WORLD NEWS
The special “Future of the EU” Conference came to a conclusion a few days ago.
There may have been a familiar veneer of “public consultation”, but the aim of the conference was simple: tell the EU to do what they’ve already been planning to do for years.
If that wasn’t clear from the outset, it became unavoidably obvious a couple of days ago when the conference’s list of 49 “recommendations” was published on April 27th.
You can read the whole list here, if you are so inclined.
Talabat food delivery drivers go on rare strike in Dubai
Talabat drivers refuse to work until pay demands are met, after similar action by Deliveroo drivers earlier in May.
Foreign food-delivery workers in the United Arab Emirates have staged a mass walkout, calling for better pay and working conditions in a rare instance of industrial action in the country.
The strike on Tuesday followed similar action earlier this month in which foreign workers forced another company to suspend plans to cut pay.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned that shortages of Ukrainian and Russian grain caused by the war and associated Russo-Western sanctions class will likely cause famine and new migration waves.
“The embargo against Russia will exclude Russian grain from the world market, the war will exclude Ukrainian grain, there will be famine in many parts of the world from which migrants have already arrived in Europe, and this pressure will increase,” warned the Hungarian prime minister, who recently matched Germany’s former leader, Angela Merkel, by winning a fourth consecutive term.
“I want Hungary to be able to protect itself, and so we need to strengthen our defences against migration pressure,” the national conservative said during a Kossuth Radio interview, a transcript of which has been seen by Breitbart London.
He stressed elsewhere that Hungary, which has adopted a strong borders policy since the height of the migrant crisis in 2015-16, has still “accepted 600,000 refugees – almost 700,000 – from Ukraine, without any reservations” and provided “the greatest amount of humanitarian aid in [Hungarian] history”, despite what he described as the abuse of Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority “because they are Hungarians” by Kyiv.
The disruption of grain exports from Ukraine, known as the breadbasket of Europe despite its recent history of communist-engineered mass starvation, could force many third world states already suffering precarious food security over the edge, with the head of the UN’s World Food Programme warning that “famine, destabilisation, and mass migration” are inevitable if the West does not spend billions to shore up his organisation.
“If you think we’ve got Hell on earth now, you just get ready,” said World Food Bank Executive Director David Beasley, a former Governor of South Carolina, in late March.
“If we neglect northern Africa, northern Africa’s coming to Europe. If we neglect the Middle East, [the] Middle East is coming to Europe,” he added.
Crucial NATO decisions expected in Finland, Sweden this week
To join or not to join? The NATO question is coming to a head this week in Finland and Sweden where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered the long-held belief that remaining outside the military alliance was the best way to avoid trouble with their giant neighbor.
If Finland’s president and the governing Social Democrats in both countries come out in favor of accession in the next few days, NATO could soon add two members right on Russia’s doorstep.
That would be a historic development for the two Nordic countries: Sweden has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, while Finland adopted neutrality after being defeated by the Soviet Union in World War II.
‘Emergency Loans & Rationing’: Germany ‘Devising Crisis Plan’ for Abrupt End to Russian Gas Supply
A team of German officials led by the Ministry for Economic Affairs has been working on a contingency plan in the event of an abrupt halt in Russian gas supplies, Reuters reported.
The emergency measures currently being thrashed out could include the government signing off on further loans, emergency credit lines, and guarantees to prop up energy firms, the report said.
Furthermore, it could take control of critical companies, such as refineries, as a last resort, sources were cited as saying, adding that a legal change allowing this was approved in April.
For example, in practice, the government could take over control of the PCK refinery operated by Russia’s Rosneft in Schwedt near Poland, the sources revealed. The refinery, accounting for most of Germany’s remaining Russian oil imports, would be hit hardest by a European Union embargo.
Nationalisation of energy companies was an option being warily considered, the report said, as it would have to be duly justified on the grounds of securing critical energy supplies. Other aspects of the emergency package presuppose Germany taking stakes in other companies, according to the insiders, with the 2018 move by state development bank KfW a case in point. At the time, it acquired 20 percent of the energy network operator 50Hertz as an offer was looming from China’s State Grid.
Options contained in the government emergency package, yet to be finalised, such as taking minority stakes in companies, remained under discussion, the sources were quoted as saying.
Looking ahead towards a worst-case scenario, Germany is also purportedly examining how to ration gas in an emergency. Thus, in a reversal of its current policy, regulator Bundesnetzagentur is said to be considering whether to give industry priority over households.
German gas storage sites are currently just 38 percent full, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Nonprofit Watchdog Uncovers $350 Million In Secret Payments To Fauci, Collins, Others At NIH
An estimated $350 million in undisclosed royalties were paid to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and hundreds of its scientists, including the agency’s recently departed director, Dr. Francis Collins, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to a nonprofit government watchdog.
“We estimate that up to $350 million in royalties from third parties were paid to NIH scientists during the fiscal years between 2010 and 2020,” Open the Books CEO Adam Andrzejewski told reporters in a telephone news conference on May 9.
“We draw that conclusion because, in the first five years, there has been $134 million that we have been able to quantify of top-line numbers that flowed from third-party payers, meaning pharmaceutical companies or other payers, to NIH scientists.”
The first five years, from 2010 to 2014, constitute 40 percent of the total, he said.
“We now know that there are 1,675 scientists that received payments during that period, at least one payment. In fiscal year 2014, for instance, $36 million was paid out and that is on average $21,100 per scientist,” Andrzejewski said.
“We also find that during this period, leadership at NIH was involved in receiving third-party payments. For instance, Francis Collins, the immediate past director of NIH, received 14 payments. Dr. Anthony Fauci received 23 payments and his deputy, Clifford Lane, received eight payments.”
Collins resigned as NIH director in December 2021 after 12 years of leading the world’s largest public health agency. Fauci is the longtime head of NIH’s National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), as well as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden. Lane is the deputy director of NIAID, under Fauci.
Senate passes bill to give police protection to families of Supreme Court justices
A bill to grant security for the families of U.S. Supreme Court justices unanimously passed the Senate Monday.
The Supreme Court Police Parity Act would provide police protection to the immediate families of the nine justices and other officers of the court, if the “Marshal determines such protection is necessary,” the legislation says.
The bill, which was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, will now go before the House of Representatives.
“Threats to the physical safety of Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to intimidate and influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated,” Cornyn said in a statement.
Supreme Court Justice Alito and family moved to a secure location, reports say
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is paying a price for authoring a draft opinion that was leaked last week in which he and four other justices appear to be on the verge of overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
For the sake of safety, Alito has reportedly been moved to a location that will not be revealed, according to Breitbart.
Last week, Alito canceled an appearance at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ judicial conference. Although no official reason was given for the cancellation, the move came only days after fierce protests greeted the leak of the opinion.
May 11 Protest at California Capitol
A protest against legal corruption impacting families will take place on May 11 in Sacramento, CA, in front of the California State Capitol Building, West steps. The protest is sponsored by Families Resist, which focuses on the devastating impact of Child Protective Services on families and children. Families Resist is partnering with other organizations and the protest will also include advocates concerned about the abuse of the elderly and disabled through court authorized guardianships.
According to retired Illinois attorney Ken Ditkowsky, “Before I retired I practiced law for over 1/2 a century and never even imagined the type of total disregard for human rights and the Constitution of the United States that has been exhibited in these Guardianship cases.”
He goes on to declare that “It is no longer safe to grow old in America.”
Apparently, it isn’t safe to grow up here, either.
Alabama Ban on Gender Transition Surgery, Drugs for Children Takes Effect
An Alabama law making it a felony to conduct gender transition surgeries or provide puberty blockers and other hormone treatments to children under the age of 19 took effect Monday, carrying a sentence of up to ten years in prison for those convicted.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed the Alabama Vulnerable Child Protection Act into law in April, telling opponents like White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “Alabama will continue protecting our kids and not letting out-of-state liberals like Jen Psaki and the Biden White House tell us what to do.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Issues LGBTQ ‘Call to Arms’ over Supreme Court Leak
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has issued an LGBTQ “call to arms” in response to the leaked Supreme Court decision signaling the end of Roe v. Wade.
Echoing the leftist fearmongering, Lightfoot charged that the Supreme Court will soon be targeting LGBTQ rights if it has its way with ending Roe.
Rand Paul on Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board: ‘We’re Going to Shut It Down’
Monday, during an appearance on FNC’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he was working with lawmakers to dissolve Biden’s so-called Disinformation Governance Board.
The Kentucky Republican lawmaker said he opposed policing news organizations and argued determinations about “disinformation” should be left up to the public.
“We’re going to shut it down,” he said. “And I’m busily getting signatures from other senators. There is a way that we can get it onto the calendar. And there is perhaps a way we can actually get a vote. It’s not very easy when the Democrats control things, but I’m going to do everything I possibly can to get a vote to defund this organization. Boy, is it any — is it not with amazement you see how far that they have come from Kennedy’s Democrat Party? This is not your grandfather’s Democrat Party anymore. So much for the marketplace of ideas. They have decided that they are going to determine what disinformation is.”
“But my point to Mayorkas was this,” Paul continued. “We have a $32 million Mueller investigation to see if there is collusion between Russia and Trump. There wasn’t any. And, yet, the Steele dossier, upon which they base this all on, which was given to Steele by Russians, it was Russian disinformation. If they can’t admit that that’s disinformation, it was propagated by CNN for years and years. If they can’t admit that, how could they possibly do the job of policing disinformation? Now, I don’t think it’s a job that you could possibly do. So even if you could, and they admitted that it was disinformation, I would be against policing CNN. People can turn the channel when they see that CNN doesn’t care about the truth. But I would not police CNN. I’m against policing any news organization. The public can figure this out.
First on CNN: White House bolsters cyber office with hires from Microsoft and CIA
The Biden administration is building out a nascent White House office for strengthening federal cybersecurity policy and strategy by hiring a prominent Microsoft executive and a former CIA official, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN.
They are some of the biggest hires yet for the Office of the National Cyber Director, which was established by law in 2021 in the face of persistent criminal and state-backed cyber threats to US critical infrastructure. The hires come as US officials continue to be wary of potential Russian hacking threats to US organizations stemming from the war in Ukraine.
Kemba Eneas Walden, who led a Microsoft program to counter ransomware, will serve as principal deputy national cyber director, the administration is set to announce on Tuesday. Walden will be the “linchpin” for the office and will work closely with National Cyber Director Chris Inglis, a source familiar with the announcement told CNN.
Neal Higgins, who was most recently a senior CIA official focused on cybersecurity and open-source collection, and Rob Knake, a veteran of cyber policy teams in the Obama administration, have also joined the cyber office in senior roles, officials will announce.
Instead of Going After Her Clients, Court Quietly Reduces Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sentence
For years, Ghislaine Maxwell rubbed elbows with the elite. She frequently visited Donald Trump’s Florida retreat, Bill Clinton’s White House, and was a good friend to Prince Andrew for decades. During her sex trafficking trial, a number of high profile associates of Jeffrey Epstein had their ties to the pedophile ring exposed. They include not only Trump, Clinton, and Prince Andrew, but also Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, Bill Gates, and others.
Last December, Maxwell was found guilty for her crimes — which consisted of delivering children to rich pedophile men. Unfortunately, however, it is extremely likely that the men who participated in this child sex trade, will never face any consequences.
Instead of pressing Maxwell to reveal her clients, last month, a court quietly decided to reduce her sentence by ten years. Seriously.
At the end of April, trial judge Alison Nathan heard an appeal from Maxwell’s attorneys in an attempt to have the guilty verdict overturned. Her defense claimed that the trial was tainted because one of the jurors had been a victim of sexual abuse. Luckily, the court did not overturn the verdict.
“The Government at trial presented extensive witness testimony from multiple victim witnesses and others, as well as corroborating documentary and physical evidence,” documents said. “The testimony and other trial evidence established the Defendant’s role in grooming and recruiting underage girls and using the cover of massage to perpetrate sexual abuse.”
Though Nathan didn’t overturn the verdict, she did knock ten years off of Maxwell’s maximum sentence and upgraded her living conditions in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. The judge agreed with the defense that three of the five guilty charges against Maxwell were similar and in turn reduced her sentence.
“I am finally going to be able to see Ghislaine,” Maxwell’s brother Ian told The Telegraph after the upgrade. “Apart from a few seconds of snatched conversation I had with her at the bar of the court, we have not had any meaningful interactions. I will be able to do that because she has been released into the general population.
“She finally has access to things she has not had for almost two years starting with human company. The prison guards were told not to talk to her. She has had no human interaction; she has had no human company.”
As Maxwell has her sentence reduced and her living conditions upgraded, her long list of elite pedophile clients continue to enjoy protection from the establishment — free from investigation and media scrutiny.
New DOJ Notes Reveal FBI Panic After Trump Tweeted He Knew He Was Being Spied On
Newly released notes taken by high-level Department of Justice (DOJ) officials during a March 6, 2017, meeting with FBI leadership expose some of the lengths the FBI engaged in to cover up its spying on the 2016 campaign of President Donald Trump.
(L–R) Former FBI agent Peter Strzok; former FBI Director James Comey; and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. (Getty Images/Illustration by Epoch Times)
The notes were released on May 8 by lawyers representing former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann as part of an effort to clear him on charges of having lied to the FBI. The notes, in reality, appear to do little to exonerate Sussmann but do provide quite a bit of information on the FBI.
The meeting at which the notes were taken took place just two days after Trump’s March 4, 2017, tweet in which he accused former President Barack Obama of having wiretapped Trump Tower. Trump’s tweet panicked FBI leadership, who were unsure exactly how much Trump knew about their efforts to tie him up with Russia collusion allegations.
What the notes reveal is that in response to the tweet, they tried to cover their tracks.
By March 2017, FBI leadership already knew with near-certainty that the Trump–Russia collusion claims were a hoax. They knew that Clinton’s campaign had a plan to vilify Trump by portraying him as a puppet of Putin. The FBI also knew that not a single claim in the so-called Steele dossier—which was the primary source of allegations of Trump–Russia collusion—had checked out.
In fact, at that point, the FBI had already spent three days interviewing Steele’s primary source, Igor Danchenko, who disavowed pretty much every claim in Steele’s dossier. The FBI also knew that the Alfa Bank story, which claimed that a Trump server was communicating with a Russian bank—information that had been brought to them by Sussmann—was bogus.
In short, the FBI knew that all the claims of Trump-Russia collusion had proven to be fake.
But things took a sudden and dramatic turn on March 4, 2017, when Trump said on Twitter that he knew that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower, a very public claim of spying that set off alarm bells with both FBI and DOJ leadership. Trump’s tweet so alarmed these DOJ and FBI officials that the topic dominated a meeting two days later that included FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and the acting U.S. attorney general, Dana Boente.
The problem for the FBI was this: They didn’t know how much Trump actually knew about their actions. Just a day earlier, on March 3, 2017, radio host Mark Levin had reported that the Obama administration had obtained Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants that involved Trump and several of his campaign advisers. Levin also reported that Trump’s off-the-cuff joke in July 2016—“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing”—had become the basis for the Russia collusion accusations.
But as we now know, the FISA warrants weren’t the only thing that the FBI leadership was involved with. The FBI was actively spying on the Trump campaign and the incoming Trump administration’s transition communications, a fact that also was revealed in the new notes. The FBI had not only spied on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, but also on another aide, George Papadopoulos, going so far as to lure him to London, where they tried to set him up in a clumsy but elaborate sting.
There were also the new fake accusations brought forward by Sussmann that Trump was tied to the use of a Russian Yota phone. And there was the matter of tech executive Rodney Joffe–a man with deep ties to the FBI–who had been using his access to non-public data to spy on Trump both at Trump Tower and at the White House.
In all likelihood, Trump probably only knew what Levin had reported the day before–that there was a FISA warrant on a campaign aide–but the FBI leadership didn’t know how much Trump knew and had to assume that he knew a lot more.
The discussion at the March 6 meeting was dominated by Trump’s tweet, with the FBI’s McCabe kicking things off by stating that the bureau was trying to determine what was behind Trump’s tweets.
The real bombshells are in the many pages of notes that Sussmann doesn’t cite; those notes reveal the true extent of the FBI’s panic over Trump’s tweet. The first reaction from FBI leadership appears to have been to tell the acting attorney general, Boente, a sequence of lies about their investigation.
The notes reveal that the FBI repeatedly referred to Steele’s dossier as “Crown reporting,” suggesting the dossier represented some sort of official UK government intelligence, when it was mostly information made up by Steele and Danchenko–a fact the FBI already knew at the time.
The new notes also revealed that FBI agent Peter Strzok lied to his DOJ superiors about what triggered Alexander Downer, the Australian ambassador in London, to come forward to the FBI with information regarding his meeting with Papadopolous. It has always been the FBI’s official story that it was Downer who initiated the official Trump–Russia investigation, but that story is now undermined in the new notes, in which Strzok claims that it was Trump’s joke about Russia finding Clinton’s emails that had triggered Downer.
In truth, Downer had come forward before Trump had even made the joke.
The FBI also lied to the DOJ about the Carter Page FISA warrant, which they claimed was “fruitful,” when it actually had revealed nothing nefarious–something that the FBI was aware of by this time.
Biden’s New White House Press Secretary Claimed Trump Stole the 2016 Election
Democrats and the media have made it quite clear that no one is allowed to question the integrity of the 2020 election.
Doing so can even get you banned from social media platforms.
Yet Joe Biden’s new White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that Trump stole the 2016 election.
How is that any different?
FOX News reports:
Biden’s new WH press secretary claimed Trump, Ga. Gov. Kemp ‘stole’ elections
President Biden’s new White House press secretary has previously claimed the 2016 presidential election was “stolen” from Hillary Clinton and that Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp “stole” the 2018 gubernatorial election from Stacey Abrams.
“Stolen emails, stolen drone, stolen election …..welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump,” Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted after former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential win, repeating Clinton’s claims that Trump was illegitimately elected.
“Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams,” Jean-Pierre tweeted on April 2, 2020, reacting to a news story about Kemp saying he only just learned that asymptomatic people can spread COVID-19.
Abrams, who announced in December that she would take another shot at running for Georgia governor, has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” from Georgia voters and has never conceded her loss to Kemp.
Woman Finds Box of Over 100 Mail-In Ballots While Walking Her Dog in Hollywood
A woman walking her dog in East Hollywood found a box of 104 unopened mail-in ballots on the sidewalk on Saturday evening.
Christina Repaci, the woman who found the ballots, said that she saw the USPS box just sitting there filled with envelopes. When she picked one up to investigate, she realized that they were ballots.
“I turned the corner and I just saw this box of envelopes, and it was a USPS box. I picked some envelopes up and I saw they were ballots,” Repaci told Fox 11.
Repaci told the news station that she then took the ballots home for “safe keeping” while she determined what to do with them. She then began sending videos of the ballots to popular social media accounts asking them to share the content.
Finally, she called politicians and the sheriff’s department asking what to do.
“I actually called the Sheriff’s Department. I couldn’t get through, so I emailed them,” she said. “I got an email back from a deputy basically in so many words saying it wasn’t their problem, and to contact the USPS.”
The LA County Registrar’s office eventually contacted her to pick them up, and Registrar Dean Logan personally drove to pick them up.
“It was so much stress and for just one person to get back to me. What do I do here? Now if it happens to someone else, they don’t know what to do. They’ll just put them in a dumpster or throw them in the trash. I just don’t think it should have been this hard to figure out what to do with legal ballots. This is a country of freedom and our votes should matter and something like this should never happen,” said Repaci.
The Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office and the United States Postal Service have confirmed that they have launched an investigation into the mystery box of ballots.
The Registrar’s Office released the following statement about the ballots:
Our office was notified over the weekend of a mail tray found containing approximately 104 unopened, outbound Vote by Mail ballots and additional mail pieces. Thanks to the cooperation of the person who found the ballots, we were able to quickly respond and coordinate the secure pickup of the ballots. We have reissued new ballots to the impacted voters. Early signs indicate that this was an incident of mail theft and not a directed attempt at disrupting the election. We are cooperating with the United States Postal Service and law enforcement to investigate.
Security protocols such as signature verification are in place to protect against any misuse or wrongdoing of Vote by Mail ballots. If a voter sees or hears something that could impact the voting process, they are encouraged to call our office directly at (800) 815-2666 or email voterinfo@rrcc.lacounty.gov.
If a voter has not received their ballot by the end of this week, we encourage them to sign up to Where’s My Ballot? – a free service that sends automatic notifications by text, email, and voicemail to voters throughout California.
Satanic Temple Will Argue Abortion Is Religious Ritual in Legal Challenges
The Satanic Temple joined Democrats in their battle against the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade.
The Satanic Temple released a statement arguing they will fight in court for the right to “religious abortion.”
FOX News reported:
The Satanic Temple (TST) said its adherents should be permitted religious exceptions to perform religious abortion rituals in states that have put up barriers to the controversial procedure.
Responding to a leaked Supreme Court opinion draft that would overturn Roe v. Wade, TST said it was committed to protecting “religious abortion access” for its members.
“In states that outlaw abortion but grant exceptions for instances of incest and rape,” TST said in a statement, “members should be permitted a religious exception to perform TST’s religious abortion ritual.”
“States that outlaw abortion and do not grant exceptions present more significant challenges, but TST has a number of plans that we will be undertaking quite soon,” TST said. “First, we will be suing the FDA to permit TST access to Mifepristone and Misoprostol for use under medical supervision as part of our religious abortion ritual.”
Fauci Raises “Concerns” Over “Anti-Science Attitude”
As Aaron Rodgers said: “if science can’t be questioned, it’s propaganda.” The United States has become the heavyweight champion of propaganda with its Ministry of Truth. Now head medical tyrant Dr. Anthoy Fauci says that he is concerned over the “anti-science attitude.”
Fauci is upset at people who question his official narrative. “The anti-science atmosphere that many of us have experienced is very troubling,” he said during a Boston radio appearance. It looks like at least one sociopath is delighted in the Ministry of Truth.
“We’re living in an era where the normalization of untruths is just so much part of what we live with,” he said. “It’s so prevalent, the denial of reality, conspiracy theories about vaccinations. It’s stunning how distorted that is. I mean, that’s bad in and of itself, but when it gets in the way of the proper and appropriate response to a deadly outbreak, it becomes even more tragic,” Fauci said according to Boston.com.
This guy is an obvious tyrant who doesn’t like it much when the slaves act up and start thinking for themselves. “We’re living right now into what I think is a growing anti-science attitude,” the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden said Monday on WGBH’s “Boston Public Radio.” “We’ve seen that growing over the past few years, and it’s reaching a point now with COVID, where some very obvious scientific truths based on clear cut, very visible data are rejected by people. The anti-science atmosphere that many of us have experienced is very troubling.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
40% of bitcoin investors are now underwater, new data shows
Bitcoin is off nearly 55% from its November peak, and 40% of holders are now underwater on their investments, according to new data from Glassnode.
In the last month alone, 15.5% of all bitcoin wallets fell into an unrealized loss, as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency plunged to the $31,000 level, tracking tech stocks lower.
Bitcoin’s close correlation to the Nasdaq challenges the argument that the cryptocurrency functions as an inflation hedge.
Baby Formula Shortage Forces CVS Health to Limit Purchases
Pharmacy chain CVS Health Corp. said Tuesday it has limited in-store and online purchases of baby formula products to three per order, citing a supply shortfall and surging consumer demand.
The move comes after Abbott Laboratories recalled some of its infant formula products including Similac in February due to complaints about bacterial infections in infants who consumed the products. Abbott maintains no formula that has been distributed has tested positive for bacteria.
CVS said in an emailed statement it was working with its baby formula suppliers to address the shortage.
On his first day in office, Joe Biden killed off 42,100 jobs by ending construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The project would have delivered 830,000 barrels of crude to the US every day.
Today gas prices reached another all-time record under Joe Biden breaking his previous record from March.
Gas prices remain at all-time highs under the failed leadership of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.
as prices have doubled since the 2020 election.
Gas was $2.11 a gallon back in November 2020. It is now $4.37 a gallon today.
Now We Are Being Warned That Shortages Of Diesel Fuel And Electricity Are Coming In The Months Ahead
On top of everything else that is going wrong, shall we add a diesel fuel shortage and a nationwide electricity shortage to the equation? I never imagined that I would be writing about such things in the middle of 2022, but here we are. I will discuss the potential electricity shortage in a moment, but first I want people to understand how serious a widespread diesel shortage would be. Without diesel, our trains and trucks don’t run, and if they don’t run America’s supply chains completely and utterly collapse. So even a moderate shortage would be absolutely paralyzing for the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, supplies are rapidly dwindling and we are being warned that a “global diesel shortage that will shock people” could begin as soon as next month…
We are looking at a nightmare in terms of global diesel shortage that will shock people starting June.
Diesel inventory on the east coast is 18 million (About 3 days demand) as of today, we will run down to sub 10 million.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Watch: Autonomous Chinese Drone Swarm Flies Through Forest While Hunting For Humans
A swarm of micro-drones autonomously navigated a dense bamboo forest in China without GPS, able to avoid trees, branches, and brush. The incredible footage suggests these drones could one day be used for search and rescue efforts or even put to sinister use: hunting humans.
Chinese scientists from Zhejiang University published a report and footage of ten lightweight drones maneuvering at speed through a forest. The technology behind the drones autonomously navigates the best flight path through high-tech sensors.
Lead author Xin Zhou wrote in a paper published Wednesday, in the journal Science Robotics, that “multi-robot aerial systems are a symbol of future technology” and cited science fiction films, Prometheus (2012), Ender’s Game (2013), Star Wars: Episode III (2005), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), where drones or drone swarms were used, which ultimately “inspired” the research team.
Here is the drone swarm navigating through the woods. Full video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPul9WKQ6oQ
Chinese researchers develop autonomous drones that can track people through dense forests
A team of scientists from Zhejiang University in China has just released footage of a swarm of drones flying through a dense forest to track down human targets.
The two-minute-long video features a group of 10 palm-sized drones that scientists noted weighed less than a can of soda. The drones can be seen navigating through a dense bamboo forest by moving through gaps between bamboo trunks and navigating uneven ground, weeds and tangled branches.
In their latest experiments, the researchers proved that the swarm could easily track a human target as he walked through the forest. The drones even stayed focused on him when he disappeared from their view. The swarm was also able to avoid moving objects such as people walking in front of them.
The emerging technology works by using an algorithm that brings together collision avoidance, flight efficiency and swarm coordination. The flight plan of the drones is updated every few milliseconds.
The drones communicate with one another to stay in formation. They share data collected onboard using depth-sensing cameras to map their surroundings. This means that if one drone sees its path is blocked, it can transmit this information to the rest of its flock so they can avoid this route and plot a new one. (Related: China ramping up production of military drones to rival US drone fleet, leaked defense ministry document shows.)
Current applications of drone swarm technology are fairly limited. Its most common use today is to create elaborate light shows. The drones used in these events follow preset trajectories with no obstructions using tracking technology to orient themselves.
HEALTH
Vitamin D Isn’t Just For Bones: 6 Surprising Perks You Probably Don’t Know Yet*
If bone health was vitamin D’s initial claim to fame, let’s call its role in immune health the 2020 comeback tour that put this essential vitamin back on the map.* And while calcium absorption and immune response are fantastic ways for vitamin D to support our well-being, we shouldn’t sleep on the other amazing talents this vitamin has to offer.*
The many ways vitamin D supports our whole-body health.
Vitamin D receptors are found in just about every cell in the body—meaning the sunshine vitamin plays a huge role in our health across many physiological systems. Here are six additional ways that vitamin D aids in whole-body health support.*
- Promotes muscle strength and function.
If you’re looking to holistically support your musculoskeletal system during exercise (or day-to-day movement, for that matter), you may want to consider getting your vitamin D levels checked.
Sufficient vitamin D levels are crucial for maintaining healthy muscle mass throughout your lifespan and supporting the form and function of skeletal muscles.* In vitamin D insufficient or deficient individuals (41% and 29% of the U.S. population, respectively), vitamin D supplementation has even been shown to improve muscle strength.*
- Supports antioxidant activity and longevity.
Promoting musculoskeletal longevity isn’t the only way vitamin D can help bolster a long, healthy life—a recent Cureus study suggests that D plays a part in antioxidant activity, as well.*
Evidence from the study indicates that individuals with sufficient vitamin D levels are more likely to experience healthy antioxidant balance, while those with deficient levels are more likely to see increased oxidative stress.*
- Provides fertility and reproductive health support.
When it comes to reproductive health and fertility support, vitamin D is involved in everything from erectile function and sperm motility to conception and pregnancy (for both mama and baby).*
While still ongoing, this up-and-coming area of research suggests that both women and men can benefit from the reproductive support that vitamin D supplementation can provide.*
- Maintains oral health and dental integrity.
It turns out vitamin D plays a massive role in both tooth and overall oral health—a fact that should not be shocking given its role in bone integrity and immune function but surprised us nonetheless.*
Indeed, this essential vitamin plays a part in maintaining strong tooth enamel, supporting the oral immune response, and promoting healthy gums.* In other words: Vitamin D is the secret weapon your dentist might not be telling you about!
- Helps promote a healthy gut.
Make way, probiotics—there’s another gut-supporting supplement in town! While a high-quality probiotic is still our No. 1 tool for promoting a healthy GI tract, it turns out vitamin D plays a part in diversifying the gut microbiome as well.*
However, it’s worth noting that as much as vitamin D helps with overall gastrointestinal health, a healthy gut is also vital for proper vitamin D absorption—so make sure you’re covering all your bases for optimal results!*
- Supports cognitive function and mood.
Vitamin D receptors are located throughout the nervous system, indicating vitamin D is a key player in supporting nervous system function and brain health.*
As it turns out, research evidence reveals that vitamin D sufficiency promotes overall cognitive function, brain development, and even mood balance—making it a powerful tool for your noggin when it comes to both function and mental well-being.*
The takeaway.
Vitamin D has a role to play in just about every system throughout the body. While bone health and immune support may be vitamin D’s best-known contributions to our well-being, this essential nutrient has so much more to offer.*
To fully support your whole-body health, consider adding a high-quality vitamin D3 supplement—like Vitamin D3 (4000 IU) or Optivida Vitamin D – 2000IU
Epsom Salt: A Natural Way to Treat a Variety of Ailments
A leading emergency room physician has an unusual prescription to treat patients’ aches and pains. He tells them to “Add two scoops of Epsom salt to a warm bath. Soak for 20 minutes then rinse with a cold shower. Repeat nightly as needed.”
According to USA Today, Dr. Michael Daignault, a board-certified ER physician in Los Angeles, says that soaking in Epsom salt helps relieve low back pain, muscles strains, occupational aches and pains, and stress. It’s also inexpensive, widely available over the counter, and doesn’t interact with medication people take for other medical problems.
“The therapeutic benefit of soaking in Epsom salt does not require metabolization or detoxification by our liver or kidney the way pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen do,” says Daignault. “And unlike more potent narcotic medications, Epsom salt is not habit-forming or addicting. It’s a great option for almost everyone.”
However, people suffering from diabetes should be careful about soaking in a bath as they are at increased risk for open wounds, nerve damage and poor circulation which makes it more difficult to gauge water temperature, which could result in burns. Those with low blood pressure should also exercise caution as the baths could lower pressure even further.
Epsom salt is also known as magnesium saltate, says Healthline. It’s a chemical compound made up of magnesium, sulfur, and oxygen. The name is derived from the town of Surrey, England where it was originally discovered. For centuries this salt has been used to treat ailments such as constipation, insomnia, and fibromyalgia. Although many of the benefits have not been well researched, it is believed that the mineral magnesium is responsible for the healing effect.
FDA Fails to Protect Public from Chemicals
A blistering op-ed argues that the agency not only fails to ensure food safety, it fails to prevent chemical contamination of our food and cosmetics.
The op-ed, published in Environmental Health News, notes that in 2013, the FDA initiated an internal review of its chemical safety assessment program. As part of this review, FDA scientists, experts from other agencies, and outside experts were all brought in and interviewed. The consensus: FDA’s methods to evaluate the toxicity of chemicals was woefully outdated.
Among the findings of this review were that the FDA:
- Lacks processes for identifying and managing risks of endocrine-disrupting chemicals;
- Needs better data on effects of chemicals at low doses;
- Lacks understanding of chronic toxicological effects;
- Lacks adequate assessment of sensitive populations who may be at greater risk, like infants and those living in underserved communities; and
- Needs to consider exposure to mixtures and related chemicals.
As the author points out:
One of the problems highlighted by experts within and outside of the agency is that when it comes to chemical assessments at the FDA, regulatory science is too static and has evolved little since the 1980s, despite a tremendous growth in our understanding of chemicals and their effects on the body. The FDA has maintained its predilection to adhere to precedent regardless of whether scientific advances render that precedent misguided or irrelevant.
As we’ve stated previously, as we learn more about the effects of long-term exposures to chemicals, we’re seeing the relationship between these exposures and chronic diseases like diabetes. A small change in hormone concentration—the equivalent of one drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools—is enough to have an effect on the human endocrine system, which impacts growth, metabolism, sleep, and other important bodily functions. This means that even low exposures to BPA, PFAS (so-called “forever chemicals”), and other ubiquitous endocrine disruptors could have profound human health consequences.
The problem is particularly apparent in those who have multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), which affects about 13 percent of the population. These individuals experience acute, chronic, and disabling health effects like headaches, dizziness, breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, nausea, and asthma from exposures to common chemicals and pollutants at low levels.
Increasing Numbers of Swedes Diagnosed as Mentally Retarded
The spike in diagnoses has no medical explanation, although in some extreme cases – such as in the city of Örebro – a whopping 617-percent rise has been measured.
The number of Swedish adults diagnosed with mild forms of intellectual disability has increased sharply.
A review of statistics from the National Board of Health and Welfare by the trade newspaper Psykologtidningen has indicated that that the number of adult patients with mild forms of retardation has more than doubled, increasing by 143 percent, between the years 2008 and 2020.
In concrete figures, the number of adults diagnosed during this period increased from 1,133 to 3,114 people.
In some extreme cases, like the city of Örebro, the increase has been measured at an incredible 617 percent.
The National Board of Health and Welfare has no explanation for the spike.
“Obviously there has been an increase. It is therefore important to have a closer look at this,” Peter Salmi, a psychiatric investigator at the National Board of Health and Welfare, said in a statement.
According to Salmi, one possible explanation for the rise could be the fact that the diagnosis manual was updated in 2013. Before that, people with an IQ below 70 were automatically classified as mildly retarded. However, since then more importance is placed on how they function in everyday life and between 2013 and 2020, the number of diagnoses “only” increased by 37 percent.
Salmi further explained that investigations for ADHD and autism have increased in recent years, and those surveys include an aptitude test, which may have increased the number of diagnoses.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Florida Approves Release of Billions of GMO Mosquitoes
Overlooking potential public health risks, lingering scientific questions, and deficient public data, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) approved the extension of Oxitec’s two-year field trial on Wednesday, which includes releasing several billion more genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes into the Florida Keys — one of Florida’s most ecologically sensitive areas.
FDACS’ approval comes on the heels of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granting the British biotechnology company Oxitec a two-year extension for its Experimental Use Permit for the release of a GE version of the species Aedes aegypti across Monroe County, Florida.
“FDACS should have required Oxitec to cease claiming as ‘confidential business information’ their data on the human health and environmental effects of the release of the mosquitoes,” said Jaydee Hanson, Policy Director at Center for Food Safety. “In Spain, when Oxitec withheld the data, the Spanish government told Oxitec to make public the health and environmental safety effects of their genetically engineered insect. Florida should have done the same. Moreover, FDACS should not have allowed a second major release without making public the data from the first trial and having it reviewed by unbiased scientists in the field.”
FDACS’ approval came despite unresolved public health and environmental concerns raised by scientists, public health experts and environmental groups about potential impacts of the release. The data from Florida’s 2021 field trial release of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the Florida Keys still has not been made public or reviewed by independent scientists.
“We should all be very concerned about an EPA that forgets its middle name, protection, with this approval. Our public trust is abused by Oxitec’s lack of scientific transparency and no independent scientific investigation from EPA to show this experimental insect will not create infinitely more problems than it will solve,” said Barry Wray, Director of Florida Keys Environmental Coalition. The EPA has behaved as if it is in partnership with Oxitec, disregarding the company’s history of deception and allowing a lobbyist to meet with former EPA Administrator Pruitt. “It is ethically repugnant to release these mosquitoes.”
COVID RELATED NEWS
WHO Admits Sweden’s Death Rate Among Lowest in Europe—Despite No Draconian Lockdowns
“The Science,” we have been told since March 2020, is the rigorous set of guidelines that must be “followed” with unquestioning obedience in order to reduce the spread, flatten the curve, return to normal, get our freedom back, end the lockdowns, or any other arbitrary carrot placed on the stick (yes they literally said this) that is wielded by the tyrant class.
If you don’t follow said “The Science” you are a science denying buffoon who wants grandma to die, doesn’t care about the children, are an alt-right Trump humper, a white supremacist, extremist, and most likely a domestic terrorist.
In reality, however, people who questioned the lockdowns were merely making observations that were plain to see. Having a control group in Sweden helped the world see early on that draconian lockdowns were unnecessary but if you mentioned this, you were “fact-checked” into oblivion.
As time passed, however, the alleged fact checkers would be proven wrong and Sweden didn’t become the bloodbath they hoped and prayed for. Instead of watching their economy crumble, their businesses close down, and their freedoms turn to dust, Sweden largely remained unscathed during covid thanks to their government taking a laissez-faire approach to the pandemic.
New figures from the World Health Organization this week show that team doom was dead wrong on their policies. The WHO released estimates of excess deaths — people who died directly and indirectly from Covid — and the numbers don’t bode well for the lockdowners. As the Telegraph reports:
Sweden, which was criticised in the early stages of the pandemic for resisting a mandatory lockdown, had fewer deaths per capita than much of Europe.
In 2020 and 2021, the country had an average excess death rate of 56 per 100,000 – compared to 109 in the UK, 111 in Spain, 116 in Germany and 133 in Italy.
Experts noted how Sweden encouraged people to take care of their health instead of simply masking up and staying inside — the opposite of what the United States did.
“The lesson from Sweden is to invest in your population’s health and have less inequality,” Prof Devi Sridhar, the chairman of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, told The Telegraph.
On the contrary, in heavily locked-down Britain, “there have been too many preventable deaths,” according to Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton. “By the end of the pandemic, it’s likely that the UK will probably end up mid-table on various metrics that measure pandemic performance, such as excess mortality,” he added.
PET NEWS
Can You Feed Green Peas to Your Pet?
Green peas contain antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as vitamins and fiber, that can benefit your pet when prepared properly
Green peas and other legumes also contain phytates, which are naturally occurring molecules that can interfere with the absorption of crucial minerals from other foods, if fed in excess (greater than 20% of caloric intake)
You can minimize phytates in green peas via boiling. Cooked peas can be given in small amounts to your pet as training treats or toppers
Recently, legumes have come under scrutiny for being linked to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). All vegetable matter (and especially foods containing anti-nutrients) should constitute less than 20% of daily calories for dogs and cats, assuring the bulk of their calories comes from meat-based protein
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