WORLD NEWS
Forever War: Germany Commits Another $3 Billion in Military Aid to Ukraine
Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, the government said Saturday.
The announcement came as preparations were underway in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia invaded his country last year.
Former Labour Government MP Jailed for Just 28 Months for Possessing Child Porn
A former MP who previously served in a Labour Party government has been jailed after being found with nearly 1,500 indecent images of children.
Paul Clark, 66, the former Labour Party MP for Gillingham in Kent from 1997-2010, will be jailed for just 28 months after being found in possession of nearly 1,500 images of child pornography. He will also be put on the Sex Offenders’ List for a decade.
EXCLUSIVE: Five Migrants on Terror Watch List Arrested near AZ Border Post-Title 42
Border Patrol agents in a single border sector arrested five migrants later discovered to be on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) watch list. The apprehensions occurred on Friday in the Tucson Sector of the United States Border Patrol shortly after the end of Title 42. According to a source within Customs and Border Protection, not authorized to speak to the media, the migrants were referred to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task for further investigation and identity confirmation.
The source says the arrests of the foreign nationals who illegally crossed the border and attempted to avoid detection and apprehension occurred in separate incidents throughout the day and evening on Friday. Information regarding the demographics and nationalities of the arrested migrants was not available.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
The Border Crisis …
US Border Communities Declare Disasters as Title 42 Ends
Several South Texas counties issued disaster declarations as the Title 42 immigration order expired Thursday and amid predictions that waves of illegal immigrants will cross the border in the coming days.
Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez on Thursday issued (pdf) a disaster declaration, allowing his county to obtain relief funds. The county sits across the Rio Grande from Tamaulipas, Mexico, and there have been reports of thousands of would-be illegal immigrants located across the river waiting to cross.
Around the same time, Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, too, issued a disaster declaration on Thursday “in response to the imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from the Border Security Disaster,” according to a statement from his office. The “Border Security Disaster” went into effect immediately and will last for seven days until further review, his office said.
Cortez said that he received word that some 20,000 illegal migrants could potentially surge into Hidalgo County in the coming days. His county is located at the very southern tip of Texas.
Homeland Security Chief Warns Border Could Still See Surge After Title 42 End
U.S. Border Patrol agents have seen a 50 percent drop in the number of border crossers since the pandemic-era immigration policy known as Title 42 expired at midnight on May 11, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an interview.
“Over the past two days, the United States Border Patrol has experienced a 50 percent drop in the number of encounters versus what we were experiencing earlier in the week before Title 42 ended at midnight on Thursday,” Mayorkas told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on May 14. “It is still early. We are in day three. But we have been planning for this transition for months and months.”
However, amid such claims from Mayorkas and other Biden administration officials, Republicans described what’s unfolding at the border as catastrophic. On May 11, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News that Mayorkas “is lying” about the “chaos and catastrophic results at the border.”
There have been widespread bipartisan concerns that ending Title 42, which has been in effect for the past three years, would spur a significant increase in illegal immigration amid reports that large groups of people are heading from Mexico and Central America to the U.S. border. Multiple Texas counties along the border have also declared emergencies over the anticipated spike in illegal immigration.
Mayorkas said U.S. Border Patrol agents had about 6,300 encounters with border-crossers on May 12 and another 4,200 on May 13. That’s compared with more than 10,000 per day shortly before Title 42’s expiration.
Biden Admin Seeks to Resume Fast-Track Release of Illegal Immigrants
The Biden administration on Friday asked a federal judge to resume the fast-track release of illegal immigrants in a court filing.
In a ruling in Florida v. United States (Case number: 23-cv-9962), U.S. Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday night against the Biden administration’s new parole policy that would have replaced Title 42, the measure that allowed for the immediate expulsion of illegal border crossers to Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The policy titled “Policy on Parole with Conditions in Limited Circumstances Prior to the Issuance of a Charging Document” would release the illegal immigrants without a court date.
Instead, the illegal immigrants would schedule an appointment to appear at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility online within 60 days or would get a Notice to Appear (NTA) via mail after being released.
Wetherell also blocked another U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) parole known as “Parole + Alternatives to Detention (ATD)” in a separate case, Florida v. United States (Case number: 21-cv-01066) in early March.
The “Parole + ATD” policy allows CBP to release illegal immigrants into communities after national security and public safety evaluation.
Illegal immigrants who enrolled in the ATD program are subject to supervision, reads the CBP policy memorandum.
In the filing in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida, the Justice Department (DOJ) asked the judge to stay both orders and said they will appeal two rulings by the court by May 15 at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court.
“The Solicitor General has authorized an appeal of both orders and the government has filed a notice to appeal in 21-cv-01066 and will file a notice to appeal in 23-cv-9962, and intends to move to consolidate the two appeals,” the DOJ said. “Defendants advise the Court that they intend to seek emergency relief from the Eleventh Circuit by Monday, May 15, 2023, at 2:00 pm with respect to their requests to stay both orders if this Court does not grant the requested stays.”
On Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE Director during the Obama administration, called for better funding for the asylum system and stated that most of the people arriving at the border now “will be released into the United States” and won’t be in court for several years and that this is “what’s going to continue to draw people here.”
Sandweg began by saying that the Biden administration is probably happy with how things are going at the border in the wake of Title 42 ending so far, and their strategy has been a success so far.
NY Hotels Boot Homeless Veterans to Shelter Released Migrants
Upstate New York hotels began kicking homeless veterans from their properties to make room for migrants being bused to the region from New York City. The homeless veterans, many Vietnam-era veterans, were receiving temporary shelter in the hotels through the efforts of a nonprofit agency.
The New York Post reports that nearly two dozen homeless veterans “have been booted from the upstate hotels to make room for migrants.” One of the hotels told a 24-year-old Afghanistan war veteran their temporary housing was being pulled out from under them and they would have to move somewhere else.
Sharon Toney-Finch, CEO of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation, told the New York Post, “Our veterans have been placed in another hotel due to what’s going on with the immigrants.”
New Yorkers Say Their Hotel Rooms Are Being Canceled and Given to Migrants
As illegal immigration overwhelms the United States as a result of President Joe Biden ending the Title 42 border control, New Yorkers say hotel rooms they booked months in advance are now being given to newly arrived border crossers and illegal aliens.
A couple, originally from New York but now residing in Florida, told the New York Post the 30 hotel rooms they had booked at the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, New York, were abruptly canceled to accommodate border crossers and illegal aliens.
Mayorkas: White Supremacy the Greatest Terrorism Threat to U.S.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show” that a “rise in white supremacy” was the United States’ greatest domestic terror threat.
Host Jonathan Capehart asked, Today marks one year since white supremacists opened fire in a black neighborhood at the Top Supermarket in Buffalo. The president, yesterday at his commencement address for Howard University graduates, called white supremacy the major domestic terrorist threat in this country. Is that correct? ”
Mayorkas said, “It tragically is. And the terrorism context, domestic violent extremism is our greatest threat right now. Individuals are driven to violence because of ideologies of hate, anti-government sentiment, false narratives, personal grievances. Regrettably, we have seen a rise in white supremacy. The principal under lying our work is that when one community is targeted, Jonathan, when one community is targeted, we as a country are targeted.”
Political Theatre …
House Republicans appear split on whether to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee that seeks a document with whistleblower allegations that now-President Joe Biden received a bribe from a foreign official.
In a May 3 letter to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the Oversight Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote that they “have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures.
“Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.”
The May 3 subpoena required the FBI to hand over any FD-1023 forms—which note information from confidential human sources—with the word “Biden” in them.
The FBI refused to comply with the subpoena’s May 10 deadline.
Former Prosecutor Against Trump Takes the Fifth in Deposition Before GOP Committee
Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who led an investigation into former President Donald Trump’s finances, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his deposition before the House Judiciary Committee on May 12.
The GOP-led committee is conducting oversight of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “unprecedented indictment” of a former U.S. president.
In March, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged; he pleaded not guilty in April to all 34 felony counts (pdf) of falsifying business records in the case brought by Bragg.
As part of the House Judiciary Committee’s oversight, Pomerantz was subpoenaed to provide testimony. While Bragg sued in an attempt to block the congressional subpoena, a judge denied his request.
In Pomerantz’s opening statement on May 12, he called the GOP-led committee’s investigation “political theater.” He said he was appearing to testify “as required” because he respects the rule of law.
“What I do not respect is the use of the Committee’s subpoena power to compel me to participate in an act of political theater,” he said in the statement. “This deposition is for show. I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative ‘oversight.’”
“Although the rule of law compels me to be here, it does not require that I play a substantive role in your theatrical production. Under the law, I can decline to answer your questions for several reasons.”
Ex-CIA Chief Testified Hunter Biden Laptop Letter Was Purely Political: Jordan
Former CIA Director John Brennan privately testified before a House Judiciary Committee panel that the letter he and 50 other current and former intelligence officials signed suggesting that Hunter Biden’s laptop could be Russian disinformation had a political motive, according to committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“He [Brennan] sat for a four-hour interview … and he further confirmed that this thing was all political,” Jordan told Fox News’ Jesse Watters on May 11 after Brennan completed his interview with the committee’s Weaponization of the Federal Government panel.
Jordan alleged that it was Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then a senior adviser to President Joe Biden’s campaign, who set the wheels in motion for the open letter (pdf) by reaching out to the letter’s eventual author, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell, to discuss the laptop story.
“And then Blinken, later that same day, Oct. 17, 2020, sends Mike Morell the USA Today article, the story,” Jordan noted, referencing an article that suggested the laptop was being investigated as potential Russian disinformation.
“That story gets put in the very letter that John Brennan, Mike Morell, and 49 other intel officials sign on to.”
Blinken has denied having any role in the letter’s publication.
Morell, however, drafted the letter to “give the [Biden] campaign … a talking point to push back on Trump” during an upcoming debate, according to emails between Morell and Brennan released on May 10.
The email exchange also showed that Brennan was not only aware that the letter was a political effort but was also eager to participate.
“OK, Michael, add my name to the list,” he wrote. “Good initiative. Thanks for asking me to sign on.”
Greg Abbott: Dominion Must ‘Answer’ Questions About Role Played in Tucker Carlson Firing
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on Dominion Voting Systems to “answer” questions about its alleged role in Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox News after reports surfaced the outlet fired Carlson as part of the network’s settlement with Dominion.
Earlier in the week, Carlson’s attorneys reportedly sent a letter to Fox News accusing them of breach of contract and fraud. The letter also alleged the conservative cable news outlet fired Carlson as part of its $787.5 million settlement with Dominion.
The Failed Justice System …
Online Fund Closes on $2 Million to Aid Daniel Penny’s Legal Defense
Nearly $2 million has been raised as of Monday morning for the legal defense of Daniel Penny via a dedicated online contribution site.
The funds will help the U.S. Marine veteran who faces a second-degree manslaughter charge in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway.
The 2024 Crisis …
Citing Tornado Warning, Trump Cancels Iowa Rally, Touts 150 Endorsements and Poll Lead Over DeSantis
Former President Donald Trump announced that a tornado warning forced the cancellation of his Iowa rally at an outdoor venue on Saturday, May 13.
Just before 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for many Iowa counties including Polk County, where Trump’s rally was to be held at the Laurisden Amphitheater in Des Moines.
The tornado warning was to remain in effect until 7 p.m., the same time Trump was scheduled to speak; other Republicans had been expected to make remarks beginning at 4 p.m.
As he announced the cancellation in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!” The Des Moines event would have been Trump’s second campaign stop in the state this year; he appeared March 13 in Davenport, Iowa.
Despite the Des Moines event being canceled, Trump touted his successes in Iowa. His campaign announced that he had gathered endorsements from more than 150 elected officials and grassroots leaders in all 99 Iowa counties.
That support signals “his commanding position in the Hawkeye State,” his campaign said.
“We are proud to receive the support of Iowa’s most conservative and committed Republicans,” Trump State Director Marshall Moreau stated in a news release. “These grassroots leaders have long fought for the America First Movement and are just the beginning of an army that President Trump is building to win the First-in-the-Nation Republican caucuses.”
ANALYSIS: DeSantis Seizes Opportunity as Trump Cancels Iowa Event
News Analysis
Under gray spring skies, the Dean Classic Car Museum in northwestern Iowa was packed. Local politicos, the media, and everyday conservatives had swarmed the showroom to hear Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speak at Rep. Randy Feenstra’s (R-Iowa) May 13 family picnic.
In previous years, Feenstra has hosted former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in Sioux Center.
Like DeSantis, who could be just days from a formal announcement, they’re top players in the GOP’s 2024 presidential spectacle.
2ND AMENDMENT
He said it on CNN! Did you watch it? Didn’t think so.
Sen. Chris Murphy Hints at a ‘Revolt’ if SCOTUS Strikes Down More Gun Control (This buffoon is part of the swamp!)
Gun control proponent Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is hinting that there could be a “popular revolt” if the Supreme Court of the United State strikes down “assault weapons” bans or other favored Democrat gun laws.
Murphy said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, “If the Supreme Court eventually says that states or the Congress can’t pass universal background checks or can’t take these assault weapons off the streets, I think there’s going to be a popular revolt over that policy,” Politico noted.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
US ‘Has to Default’ on Something If Debt Ceiling Isn’t Raised Before Deadline: Yellen
The U.S. government will have to default on some payments if Congress fails to raise the national debt ceiling before June, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
“If Congress fails to do that, it really impairs our credit rating. We have to default on some obligation, whether it’s Treasuries or payments to Social Security recipients,” Yellen said on Friday in an interview with Bloomberg.
“That’s something America hasn’t done since 1789,” she continued, referring to a time when the new-born United States failed to pay back money it borrowed to finance the war against the British Empire. “And we shouldn’t start now. So we’ve not discussed what to do.”
Recession Odds Rise to Highest in 40 Years: Fed
The odds that the United States will fall into a recession at some point over the next 12 months have risen to a 40-year high, according to a probability model from the New York Federal Reserve.
The probability that the country will enter a recession within the next year has risen to 68.2 percent, according to the New York Fed, which is the highest level since 1982.
The Fed’s recession risk indicator is now greater than it was in November 2007, not long before the subprime crisis, when it stood at 40 percent.
The recession model is based on the spread between the three-month and 10-year yields on U.S. Treasurys.
For months, the U.S. economy had been projected to show slowing real GDP growth and labor market softening.
Amid the banking sector turmoil sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, economists at the Federal Reserve have projected a shallow recession.
“Given their assessment of the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments, the staff’s projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years,” stated the minutes from a March meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).
California Report Shows Exodus Continues, Los Angeles Lost the Most People
Population declines continue to plague the Golden State, with a newly released report detailing the losses. While some areas in the Central Valley and Inland Empire saw growth, Southern California led the way in departures.
The state’s population dipped .4 percent from January 2022 compared to the same time this year, falling below 39 million residents for the first time since 2015, according to the California Department of Finance.
Recent declines are unprecedented in the state’s history, with data showing growth every year from 1900 until 2020—when nearly 1 percent of residents chose to leave during the height of pandemic restrictions—and declines have persisted since.
“It is crucial for California policymakers to evaluate and implement measures to reverse this concerning trend,” economists at Forensic Economic Services, an economic consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles, told The Epoch Times in a statement May 8. “While individual decisions to relocate can be influenced by a variety of factors, it is essential for California to analyze and understand the root causes behind this significant decline.”
Seven of the 10 largest cities lost population according to the most recent data, with Fresno, Sacramento, and Bakersfield bucking the trend with modest gains of .2 percent or less.
Los Angeles lost nearly 37,000 residents between 2022 and 2023, representing the biggest decline, with Anaheim’s loss of more than 7,000 the second most, according to the finance department.
The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses” – Anjeanette Damon, Byard Duncan and Mollie Simon
Unlike real estate agents, house flippers operate in a largely unregulated space. Real estate agents have a fiduciary responsibility to represent a homeowner’s best interests in negotiations, which is defined in state laws, licensing requirements and an industry code of ethics. But in most states, flippers don’t need a license.
HomeVestors, the self-proclaimed “largest homebuyer in the United States,” goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from the hedge funds and YouTube gurus that have taken over large swaths of the real estate investment market. The company says it helps homeowners out of jams — ugly houses and ugly situations — improving lives and communities by taking on properties no one else would buy. Part of that mission is a promise not to take advantage of anyone who doesn’t understand the true value of their home, even as franchisees pursue rock-bottom prices.
Treat every customer like they’re your 85-year-old grandma who’s never done a real estate deal, HomeVestors trainers tell franchise owners at annual conferences.
But a ProPublica investigation — based on court documents, property records, company training materials and interviews with 48 former franchise owners and dozens of homeowners who have sold to its franchises — found HomeVestors franchisees that used deception and targeted the elderly, infirm and those so close to poverty that they feared homelessness would be a consequence of selling.
One HomeVestors franchisee falsely claimed to a 72-year-old woman suffering from a hoarding problem that city code enforcement officers would take her house, according to court documents. An Arizona woman said in an interview that she was forced to live in her truck after trying unsuccessfully to cancel the sale of her home. One court case documented the plight of an elderly man in Florida who was told if he sold his condo he could continue living there temporarily. But he spent his final days alive waiting to be evicted when — after the contract was signed — the franchise owner informed him the homeowners association rules didn’t allow it.
“You were always lying to them. That’s what we were trained,” said Katie Southard, who owned a franchise in North Carolina. “There was a price that you could pay, but you would always go lower and tell them that was the price you could pay.”
Even when homeowners believed they were being taken advantage of and tried to back out of deals, franchise owners sued or filed paperwork to block a sale to another buyer. Some homeowners fought from hospital beds to keep their properties. At least three died shortly after signing sales contracts; a fourth died after three years of worrying about money. Their families told ProPublica that they are convinced the stress of losing their houses contributed to their loved ones’ deaths, though all had been ill or infirm.
Vice Media files for bankruptcy ahead of sale
The company behind the websites Vice and Motherboard has filed for bankruptcy in the US and is set to be sold to a group of its lenders.
Vice Media Group – which was valued at $5.7bn (£4.5bn) in 2017 – could be taken over for $225m.
The youth-focused digital publisher said it will continue to operate during the bankruptcy process.
It added that it “expects to emerge as a financially healthy and stronger company in two to three months”.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Who Is Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s New CEO?
Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s new CEO, has had decades of experience with the advertising industry and has a position at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been running Twitter since he bought it last fall, said he is “excited” to welcome Yaccarino to the post, which she will take on in about six weeks. Musk added that Yaccarino “will focus primarily on business operations” while he will “focus on product design & new technology.”
Yaccarino graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1985. She lives in Sea Cliff, New York, with her husband, Claude Madrazo. They have two children, Christian and Matthew.
James Corbett on Technocratic Control and the Dangers of AI
Rather than squabbling about controlled opposition, we would be better served by spending our time productively engaged in research, verifying and triangulating information to discern what is true and what is false
“Divide and conquer” is the primary way the control network maintains control, and all that’s needed to divide a previously unified front is insinuation and the seeding of doubt
As AI-equipped chatbots are getting more sophisticated and start to monopolize online searches and virtual assistants, state-endorsed propaganda may become the only information available
Narrative is the ultimate weapon; with a convincing-enough narrative, you can motivate entire populations to go to war or anything else that you want them to do
One of the most important strategies you can implement to prepare yourself for the likelihood of what they plan on throwing at us next lies with community, meeting like-minded people that share your views and complement your skills. It will also be wise to relocate from high density urban areas
Break The Rules? AI Will Show You No Mercy
AI is emerging as the judge, jury and executioner. If you break the rules, there will be no mercy or human understanding. AI is incapable of human understanding or emotions. Punishment will be swift and there will be no appeal or other recourse to clear your name. Science fiction has dealt with this on several occasions, such as RoboCop, Judge Dredd and the Minority Report. ⁃ TN Editor
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, May 13, 2023, #405
While large regions of Canada and Siberia bake and burn, flash flooding, extreme hail and tornadoes are hammering Texas, the southern border and much of the Central US. Along the US West Coast, weather and temperature whiplash has taken a toll with up to fifty degree temperature swings in a day. Colliding hot and cold air masses continue to fuel climate chaos, global geoengineering operations are inseparable from these scenarios. As many more awaken to the manipulated weather mayhem, matrix media is ramping up the official denial of the same. How will the story end?
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Ronnie Cummins may have recently passed away, but his legacy lives on!:
Changing the World — One Chicken at a Time – Analysis by Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin and Ronnie Cummins
HEALTH
First-ever drug-resistant ringworm infections found in US: CDC
Two cases of drug-resistant ringworm infections were reported in New York City, the first such cases in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced Thursday.
The highly contagious infection was present in two patients in the city who did not improve with typical treatments. One, a 28-year-old woman, developed a rash in the summer of 2021 across much of her body. Another, a 47-year-old woman, developed a rash across most of her upper body.
>> Related: Ringworm Treatment: 6 Natural Remedies + How to Prevent It
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8 Kidney-Damaging Factors and Physician’s Dietary Advice for Optimal Renal Health
The kidneys are important detoxification organs of the human body. Their main function is to filter waste in the blood while retaining useful substances for reabsorption and future use. Proper nutrition is key to caring for these essential organs. What are the signs that our kidneys may not be functioning well?
Powerful and Hard Working–Kidneys Filter 200 Liters of Water a Day
The kidneys are high-performance organs. Blood pumped from the heart passes through millions of tiny “blood filter” renal tubules and glomeruli in the kidneys to be filtered of wastes. Throughout a 24-hour cycle, the kidneys filter a total of 200 liters (nearly 53 gallons) of water.
Kidneys filter various metabolic wastes and harmful substances, including urea, uric acid, creatinine acid, excess minerals, food additives, water-soluble pesticides, drugs, alcohol, chemical toxins, and heavy metals.
8 Factors That May Impair Kidney Function
- Diabetes
Diabetes can cause damage to small blood vessels, which can degrade the filtering function of glomeruli and lead to kidney failure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 37.3 million Americans are living with diabetes. - Hypertension
High blood pressure causes damage to elastic fibers in blood vessel walls. Conversely, kidney disease will also promote the secretion of some hormones that raise blood pressure, forming a vicious cycle. - Other kidney problems
Chronic nephritis, kidney stones, and polycystic kidney disease may impair proper kidney function. - Gout
If the uric acid level is high, crystallization in the joints will cause arthritis, and crystallization in the kidneys will cause kidney damage. - Medications
Many medications require kidney detoxification, and excess medications may damage the kidneys—particularly anti-inflammatory and anti-infective medication. - Excessive dietary phosphate
Excessive phosphorus, generally from the consumption of processed foods, will disrupt the body’s regulation of phosphate, calcium, and vitamin D, causing mineral disorders and vascular calcification.
High phosphorus, also called hyperphosphatemia, can be a sign of kidney damage in many cases. The normal range for phosphorus levels in the blood is typically between 2.5 and 4.5 mg/dL for individuals with healthy kidneys. If phosphorus levels in the blood are consistently higher than this range, it may indicate an underlying medical condition or kidney dysfunction.
- Heavy metals
Chromium, mercury, and lead are heavy metals harmful to the kidneys. Smokers should pay special attention, as cigarettes contain heavy metals such as chromium and lead, and nicotine can also constrict blood vessels and cause blood pressure to rise. The risk of CKD in smokers and heavy alcohol drinkers is five times greater than that of the general population. - Products that contain melamine
Melamine, found in cooking utensils and a variety of plastic and paper products, is toxic to the kidneys. It cannot be metabolized when it enters the human body and can damage the renal tubules, causing kidney stones and kidney failure. It is best to avoid using products that contain melamine.
Nutrients, Foods, and the Importance of Water for Kidney Care
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin E, quercetin, anthocyanin, curcumin, catechin, and zinc can help maintain kidney health. They can reduce the damage of reactive oxygen species in the body to the cells, reduce the damage to glomeruli and renal tubules, and reduce uric acid levels.
A study found that participants in the highest tertile of proanthocyanidin (polyphenols, naturally occurring compounds found in fruits and vegetables) intake had a 9 percent lower concentration of cystatin C (P<0.001) compared to those with low consumption. Cystatin C is a protein that is produced by the cells in the body. Healthy kidneys keep the level of cystatin C in the blood within a normal range. When the level of cystatin C in the blood is elevated, it may indicate that the kidneys are not functioning properly.
Sufficient daily water intake is vital to the detoxification of the kidneys and the prevention of kidney stones. You should boil your water to make it safe to drink. Boiling is the surest method to kill disease-causing germs, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Seven or eight cups a day is deemed sufficient and can be increased appropriately during summer.
A balanced diet including vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, and a moderate amount of eggs, fish, and meat can also help remove toxins from the body.
High-quality protein such as fish, eggs, and poultry is recommended for those with kidney damage. A plant-protein-based diet takes greater care as foods such as nuts, often eaten in greater abundance in vegetarian and vegan diets, can increase the burden on kidneys.
For those with poor kidney function, zinc may be of benefit. In a peer-review research article published in 2021 among patients with chronic kidney disease, it was found that those who consumed less zinc were more likely to develop end-stage renal disease than those who consumed more zinc. Zinc is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that regulates enzymatic activity and protects the kidneys from damage caused by metals such as lead, copper, and mercury.
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Cranberries Can Reduce Risk for Urinary Tract Infections
- Polyphenols found in cranberries may help reduce the risk of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs) and reduce the risk of symptomatic, culture-verified UTIs in women with recurrent UTIs
- Cranberry products had little to no benefit in elderly men and women in residential facilities, in pregnant women or adults with incomplete bladder emptying
- Data have conclusively demonstrated that a majority of the rising number of UTIs are caused by exposure to contaminated chicken. A close genetic match has been found between drug-resistant E. coli in humans and bacteria found in poultry
- Cranberries are rich in iodine, and a diet high in flavonoids, also found in cranberries, can lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and all-cause mortality, and have a sustained benefit on the cardiovascular system of healthy individuals
- Several preventive practices can reduce the risk of a UTI, including staying well-hydrated, taking showers instead of baths, urinating when you feel the need and avoiding feminine hygiene sprays; consider starting a UTI treatment at home
Does Peppermint Oil Work for Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Peppermint is an antispasmodic without the irritable bowel syndrome-type side effects common to medications. The number needed to treat with peppermint oil is far lower than the most common pill.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Could Aspirin Have Cut COVID Deaths in Half?
There was a massive discrediting propaganda campaign hurled at aspirin by Big Pharma fifty years ago when it came out with expensive and dangerous non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs)
Aspirin is a staple medicine that is frequently recommended as a remedy to control inflammation and prevent blood clots. It could have helped limit the pandemic death toll, had it not been downplayed and ignored
According to research published in April 2021, aspirin reduced COVID-19 patients’ need for mechanical ventilation by 44%, ICU admission by 43% and mortality by 47%
Proteolytic enzymes like lumbrokinase, serrapeptase and nattokinase are safer and perhaps even superior choices to aspirin for its anticlot properties. These enzymes, when taken on an empty stomach, act as natural anticoagulants by breaking down fibrin
Proteolytic enzymes may also be helpful for long-COVID. Researchers have found that people who die from COVID have extensive lung damage caused by persistent virus-infected cells that cause scar formation. Proteolytic enzymes can help dissolve this scar tissue, as fibrin is a primary component
Judge Orders FDA to Accelerate Release of COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Data to Just 2 Years
A federal judge in Texas ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make public data it relied on to license COVID-19 vaccines at an accelerated rate, requiring all documents to be made public by mid-2025 rather than, as the FDA wanted, over the course of about 23.5 years.
In a May 9 decision hailed as a win for transparency by the lawyer representing the plaintiffs (the parents of a child injured by a COVID-19 vaccine) in a lawsuit (pdf) against the FDA, the agency was ordered to produce the data on Moderna’s vaccine for adults and Pfizer’s for children about 10 times faster than the agency wanted.
“Democracy dies behind closed doors,” is how U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman opened his order (pdf), which requires the FDA to produce the data on Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines at an average rate of at least 180,000 pages per month.
The FDA had argued it would be “impractical” to release the estimated 4.8 million pages at more than between 1,000 and 16,000 pages per month, which would have taken at least 23.5 years.
Top U.S. “Non-Profit” Hospitals & CEOs Racked Up Huge Pandemic Profits
The 20 largest non-profit hospitals in the country continued making massive profits while their cumulative net assets soared to $324.3 billion in 2021 from $200.6 billion in 2018. The year 2021 is the latest year available for cross-comparison purposes.
Those hospital systems received congressional Covid bailouts of $23 billion and only two providers partially paid their Covid bailout back.
Meanwhile, hospital executives racked up Wall Street-sized compensation packages which frequently exceeded $10 million per year. For example, the CEO at Ascension Healthcare based in St. Louis, Missouri made $13 million in 2021 – with three-year pay exceeding $22 million.
Furthermore, American life expectancy during this period sharply declined by a staggering 2.5 years from 2019 through 2022. While “comparable country averages” rebounded from a Covid-related drop in 2021, the U.S. continued declining in life expectancy.
Yet, the cost of health care is still astronomically high, as the average family paid $22,463 in health insurance premiums in 2022. That does not include out-of-pocket costs like co-pays and deductibles, which can be thousands more.
This has led to medical debt for about 100 million Americans.
COVID Public Health Emergency Finally Ends: Here’s What It Means
After more than three years, the U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency ended on Thursday, May 11.
Earlier this year, the White House announced that it would end the emergency as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have been at their lowest levels since March 2020. Based on a fact sheet issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), many Americans likely won’t notice the emergency is ending as it primarily impacted Medicare waivers and related services, coverage for COVID-19 testing, virus surveillance, and changes to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
“Our whole-of-government response to Long COVID will not change,” said HHS in a fact sheet earlier this week, referring to what some medical professionals say are lingering, long-term symptoms of COVID-19. “The Department has and will continue to coordinate a whole-of-government response to the longer-term effects of COVID-19, including Long COVID and associated conditions. On April 5, HHS released this Fact Sheet outlining the progress made in responding to Long COVID and actions the Department is taking to address the needs of the growing population with Long COVID and associated conditions.”
It also said that “major telehealth flexibilities,” too, won’t be impacted by the end of the order. That means Medicare-backed provisions for telehealth meetings and prescriptions will still remain intact until December 2024, and “states already have significant flexibility with respect to covering and paying for Medicaid services delivered via telehealth,” according to the sheet.
Perhaps most notably, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will still have the ability to hand down emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 products, vaccines, and treatments. The agency’s decisions to use emergency use authorizations to approve certain COVID-19 vaccines has been controversial, as some independent health experts and researchers have said that not enough data on possible side effects were obtained before the FDA approved the shots.
A number of Medicare and Medicaid recipients will be impacted by the ending of the emergency, the HHS fact sheet suggested. The agency that manages the two federal programs used a combination of waivers, regulations, guidance, and other means to expand access to the programs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“States, hospitals, nursing homes, and others are currently operating under hundreds of these waivers that affect care delivery and payment and that are integrated into patient care and provider systems. Many of these waivers and flexibilities were necessary to expand facility capacity for the health care system and to allow the health care system to weather the heightened strain created by COVID-19; given the current state of COVID-19, this excess capacity is no longer necessary,” said the agency.
With COVID-19, Medicaid grew to be larger than it’s ever been as about 95 million beneficiaries are estimated to fall under its coverage. Under a congressional provision, states could begin disenrolling people from the federal program as of April 1.
There have been studies and reports suggesting that as many as 15 million people may lose Medicaid coverage in the coming months as states work to update their rolls.
Some COVID-19 waivers for Medicaid will end on May 11, said
CANCEL CULTURE
Tucker Carlson’s Twitter Show Announcement Was the No. 1 Tweet of the Week
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s Twitter post announcing he would be bringing his show to Twitter was the No. 1 post for the week, according to an analysis.
His post and video accumulated around 900,000 likes and nearly 200,000 retweets as of Saturday afternoon, Forbes magazine said, adding that the post beat out everyone else on the platform for the time. It outperformed Korean pop superstars BTS, which posted a photo of one of its members that got 530,000 likes, and Taylor Swift, who posted an update from her tour that generated some 463,000 likes.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk also fell behind Carlson’s post. Musk’s post announcing that a new CEO—NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino—would take over Twitter generated some 408,000 likes, according to the analysis.
Google’s New AI Plan To Demolish Journalism Industry
Journalism, as we have known it, is headed for a massive train wreck, thanks in bulk to Google. Google dominates the Internet and its content. With Google as the sole opinion-maker for acceptable content, how long will it take for the whole world to morph into Google’s belief system? A global echo-chamber, anyone? ⁃ TN Editor
PET NEWS
The 21 Longest-Living Dog Breeds
If you’re thinking about adding a dog to your household, chances are you’re hoping to have your new canine family member around for a very long time.
With that thought in mind, many prospective dog parents make a deliberate effort to look for breeds known for their longevity, which is often based first and foremost on size. Generally speaking, the smaller the breed, the longer the lifespan. The littlest dogs can live into their late teens or even early 20s, whereas giant breeds like Newfoundlands and Great Danes often live only half that long. According to PetMD, the 21 longest lived dog breeds are
The Colorado General Assembly has passed unprecedented and groundbreaking legislation known as The Colorado Wild Horse Project, a new law that adds state protections for the rights of mustangs and burros to reside in their homes, instead of being traumatically and expensively rounded up.
The move comes as a response to last year’s tragedy when 145 horses died during a flu outbreak in a holding facility that was later found to be in breach of 13 policies.
The bill’s sponsors included the Colorado House Majority Leader, Rep. Monica Duran (D), and the House Minority Leader, Rep. Mike Lynch (R), reflecting the vast bipartisan support in the General Assembly where SB23-275 was passed by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers—an indication of how important wild horses and public lands are to a broad swath of Americans.
ICYMI
Resurfaced Clip of Volodymyr Zelensky Dancing in High Heels Goes Viral
INVASION OF PRIVACY … REASON WHY YOU SHOULDN’T HAND YOUR CELL PHONE TO A CAR SALESMAN TO HELP EXPEDITE YOUR CAR LOAN FINANCING PROCESS:
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