WORLD NEWS
Ukraine, Poland Agree on Joint Customs Control
Ukraine and Poland agreed on Sunday to establish a joint border customs control and work on a shared railway company to ease the movement of people and increase Ukraine’s export potential.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish President Andrzej Duda touted the increased cooperation between the countries during a meeting in Kyiv on Sunday, with Duda offering Warsaw’s backing for the embattled neighbor.
“The Polish-Ukrainian border should unite not divide,” Duda told lawmakers as he became the first foreign leader to give a speech in person to the Ukrainian parliament since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
Zelenskyy called the joint border customs control a “revolutionary” move.
“This will significantly speed up border procedures,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, after Duda’s visit.
Most Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, have crossed to the European Union through border points in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Poland has granted the right to live and work and claim social security payments to over 3 million Ukrainians.
Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksander Kubrakov said that the two neighbors were working on easing transport of Ukraine’s goods to the European Union.
“We are also working on the creation of a joint venture railway company to increase the export potential of the Ukrainian economy,” Kurbakov said in a statement.
Shanghai’s Economy Takes Hit in April Amid Citywide Lockdown
Shanghai’s economy was hit hard in April by a nearly two-month-long lockdown because of COVID-19.
The latest data published by authorities show that in April, the total industrial output in Shanghai fell by 61.5 percent year-over-year. An expert pointed out that the Chinese communist regime’s extreme lockdown of Shanghai under its “Zero-COVID” policy has crushed investors’ confidence.
According to the numbers released by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Statistics on May 20, the total output value of industrial enterprises in Shanghai in April was 128.617 billion yuan ($19.22 billion), a 61.5 percent tumble from the same month a year ago. The numbers for the first four months of this year show a 12.5 percent slide from the year-earlier period.
April’s data show that only the total output value of the oil and natural gas industry had growth and that the rest of the industries had a steep decline. Among them, key industries, such as automobile manufacturing, fell by 70.9 percent year-over-year, and the transportation equipment manufacturing industry plunged by 88.9 percent year-over-year. Newly begun commercial housing development in Shanghai dropped by 47.1 percent from January to April, and the sales of commercial housing fell by 17 percent.
First Mandatory Quarantines for Monkeypox as White House Warns of More Cases
Belgium has become the first country in the world to introduce a mandatory 21-day monkeypox quarantine for those who contract the virus after several cases were found, with a White House official warning Sunday that more U.S. cases are likely.
Those who contract the virus will have to self-isolate, confirmed Belgian health authorities to news outlets. Individuals who have had close contact with monkeypox cases aren’t required to self-isolate but should remain vigilant if they have been in contact with vulnerable people, officials said.
The fourth case was reported in Belgium on Saturday, said Emmanuel Andre, the official in charge of the National Reference lab for COVID-19 in Belgium. “This patient is being treated in Wallonia and is linked to the Antwerp event in which two other people were infected,” he wrote, referring to a festival that was held in the city earlier this month.
Monkeypox, which originates in Africa, is a virus related to smallpox and symptoms include a bumpy rash, a fever, sore muscles, and a headache. It’s less deadly than smallpox, and health officials have said that its mortality rate is around 4 percent. Experts, however, have expressed concerns about monkeypox’s spread beyond Africa in recent days.
White House officials, including President Joe Biden, said they are worried about the spread of the virus in public remarks issued on Sunday.
“I would not be surprised Martha if we see a few more [monkeypox] cases in the upcoming days,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha told ABC News on Sunday. “And I think the president’s right, anytime we have an infectious disease outbreak like this, we should all be paying attention.”
But Jha said that the administration is “confident we’re going to be able to get our arms around it … but we’re going to track it very closely and use the tools we have to make sure that we continue to prevent further spread and take care of the people who get infected.”
In a Saturday update, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there were 92 confirmed cases in 12 different countries, with more under investigation. So far, cases have been confirmed in the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, the United States, Australia, and Canada.
Dr. Susan Hopkins, one of the top medical advisers to the UK Health Security Agency, warned over the weekend that there is community transmission of the virus in the United Kingdom.
Officials in Belgium and the United Kingdom said that it appears a significant portion of the virus’s transmission is among homosexual males. In statements to local media, Belgian officials said that “we are observing transmissions among men who have sex with men,” and it is a development “that we must study properly to better understand the dynamics.”
WHO Warns Monkeypox Could Accelerate as Cases Spread to Switzerland, Israel
Israeli and Swiss officials on May 22 confirmed monkeypox cases as the World Health Organization has warned that the virus could accelerate during the summer months.
Both nations said in their respective statements that they identified at least one infected person who had recently traveled. Israel said it was investigating other suspected monkeypox cases.
“This is a disease, not a pandemic,” Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz wrote on Twitter. “This is a known disease with—usually—light symptoms that is not similar in any way to the coronavirus.”
He added that his agency is prepared to deal with the virus.
Horowitz didn’t give details about the Israeli case, but said the smallpox vaccine also can protect against monkeypox. The patient is a man in his 30s who had returned from a trip to western Europe, according to the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov), where he’s been quarantined in mild condition.
In Switzerland, the person consulted a doctor because they had a fever and a rash and felt ill, officials said, adding that the person is in isolation at home and the illness is developing in a “benign” way. A person they had been in contact with has been informed, Swiss officials added.
So far, 80 monkeypox cases have been reported in North America, Europe, and Australia, WHO says. The virus is common in West and Central Africa.
Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, told news outlets over the weekend that cases could increase in a dramatic way.
“As we enter the summer season … with mass gatherings, festivals, and parties, I am concerned that transmission could accelerate,” he said.
Weighing in on the rise in cases, President Joe Biden said on May 22 that Americans should be concerned about the virus, although he admitted that his advisers “haven’t told me the level of exposure yet, but it is something that everybody should be concerned about.”
“We’re working on it hard to figure out what we do and what vaccine, if any, may be available for it,” he said.
“But it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread, it’s consequential. That’s all they have told me.”
Labor Party Wins Australian Election, Centre-Right Splintered by Climate Action Independents
Labor leader Anthony Albanese will become Australia’s 31st prime minister and the fourth person to lead Labor to government from opposition since World War II after outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat on May 21.
With 69.9 percent of the votes counted by Sunday 5 p.m., 72 of the 151 House of Representatives seats were called for Labor, 52 for the Coalition, 14 for minor parties and independents, according to an election results summary by the ABC.
Both major parties, centre-left Labor and centre-right Liberals, secured less votes than in the 2019 election, although Labor saw a smaller projected swing of 0.5 percent, while the Liberals saw a projected swing of 5.5 percent against them. These votes went instead to minor parties and independents, with the anonymously-funded “Climate 200” independents, conservative One Nation, and progressive Greens being the biggest winners.
While Labor is projected to win government, it is not clear whether it will win the 76 seats needed to govern in its own right, or whether it will have to form a minority government.
By Sunday 5 p.m., the centre-left party had won just 32.9 percent of the primary votes, while the Coalition won 35.6 percent. Minor parties and independents won 31.5 percent. The Liberal Party lost at least 15 seats, with seven going to Labor after preferences and eight going to minor parties or independents, including one to the Greens. The Nationals, which had shared government with the Liberals, held all their nine seats in the lower house.
Winners from ‘rigged’ economic system revealed – charity
Pharma, food, energy and tech sectors are all profiting from world’s pain, Oxfam says
Over the past two years, a new billionaire has popped up about every 30 hours as moguls from the pharma, food, energy and tech industries reaped the rewards of a “rigged” economic system, Oxfam reported on Monday. With commodity prices skyrocketing, 263 million more people will crash into extreme poverty this year, unless the windfall is redistributed, the charity warned, directing the message to a gathering of the ultra-rich in the Swiss resort of Davos.
The release of the Oxfam report titled “Profiting from Pain” was timed with the first World Economic Forum to be held face-to-face since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Oxfam called on the wealthy and powerful individuals gathering this week in Switzerland to choose whether they wanted to be “proxies for the billionaire class who plunder their economies” or act in the interest of humankind.
“The extremely rich and powerful are profiting from pain and suffering. This is unconscionable,” Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director of Oxfam International, warned. “This grotesque inequality is breaking the bonds that hold us together as humanity. It is divisive, corrosive, and dangerous. This is inequality that literally kills.”
According to Oxfam’s calculations, 573 people became new billionaires during the pandemic. The combined wealth of the class rose more in the first 24 months of the Covid-19 crisis than it did over the previous 23 years. The total wealth of billionaires equals 13.9% of global GDP now, up from 4.4% in 2000, the brief outlined.
The pharmaceutical, food, energy and tech sectors saw the biggest benefits from the transfer of wealth, Oxfam said. The pandemic created 40 new pharmaceutical billionaires as companies like Moderna and Pfizer enjoyed a bonanza from their vaccines against Covid-19.
The development of their products was funded by public investment, but despite this they are charging governments up to 24 times more than the cost of generic production, Oxfam argued. The vaccines alone brought Big Pharma $1,000 a second in profit, the group estimated.
Food and agribusiness billionaires saw a 45% increase of their wealth over two years, reaching $382 billion and adding 62 people to their ranks. The American Cargill family alone now has 12 billionaires, up from eight before the pandemic, Oxfam noted. Their peers, the Waltons, who own roughly half of the retail chain Walmart, are now collectively worth $238 billion, the calculation said.
The five largest energy companies, including BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon, and Chevron, made a combined profit of $82 billion last year alone. The oil sector saw its profit margins double during the pandemic as prices soared, Oxfam said. Oil, gas, and coal billionaires have increased their wealth by $53.3 billion, or 24% in two years.
The tech sector likewise enjoyed rapid growth amid the pandemic and produced some of the wealthiest individuals as a result, the brief said. Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Amazon, and Alphabet made $271 billion in profit in 2021, almost twice as much as in 2019. Seven of the ten richest people in the world are tech entrepreneurs.
“Billionaires’ fortunes have not increased because they are now smarter or working harder. Workers are working harder, for less pay and in worse conditions. The super-rich have rigged the system with impunity for decades and they are now reaping the benefits,” Bucher said.
“They have seized a shocking amount of the world’s wealth as a result of privatization and monopolies, gutting regulation and workers’ rights while stashing their cash in tax havens – all with the complicity of governments,” she added.
With prices of essential products like food going through the roof, Oxfam expects 263 million more people to plunge into extreme poverty in 2022. It recommends addressing the situation by taxing the ultra-rich. The group called for a one-time solidarity tax on the pandemic windfalls, taxes on excess profits to end crisis profiteering and permanent wealth taxes to rein in the economic and political power of wealthy individuals and big corporations.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Biden Sounds Alarm on Monkeypox as CDC Alerts American Doctors
President Joe Biden claimed Sunday that “everybody” should be concerned about an increase of monkeypox cases in Europe and the United States, although the president admitted that he hasn’t received information from his advisers on the disease yet.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Japan and South Korea, Biden said that his health advisers “haven’t told me the level of exposure yet, but it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” adding, “We’re working on it hard to figure out what we do and what vaccine, if any, may be available for it.”
“But it is a concern in the sense that if it were to spread, it’s consequential. That’s all they have told me,” Biden continued.
As of May 21, more than 80 cases of monkeypox have been reported in Australia, the United States, Canada, and Europe. In a statement the day before, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it is working to investigate another 50 suspected cases, warning that more could be reported in the near future.
“WHO is working with the affected countries and others to expand disease surveillance to find and support people who may be affected, and to provide guidance on how to manage the disease,” the WHO said in a statement on Friday.
Also on Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the United States has vaccines “relevant to treating monkeypox,” although he did not elaborate.
New York declares state of emergency
The mayor announced the move amid an ongoing nationwide baby formula crisis
A state of emergency has been declared in New York City amid the ongoing nationwide baby formula shortage, potentially allowing officials to combat profiteering on the scarce products.
The move, which was announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday, gives the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection the power to prevent price gouging by cracking down on retailers.
“This emergency executive order will help us to crack down on any retailer looking to capitalize on this crisis by jacking up prices on this essential good,” said Adams. “Our message to struggling mothers and families is simple: Our city will do everything in its power to assist you during this challenging period.”
A press release by city officials also states that parents in New York City who feel they are being
Feds Halt Sales of Homemade Guns Before August Rule Is Implemented
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has told one of the nation’s largest homemade firearms parts retailers, JSD Supply, to stop selling its products.
The move comes more than three months before President Joe Biden’s controversial “ghost gun” regulation goes into effect on Aug. 24, 2022.
The new rule, which is expected to be challenged in court, bans the business of manufacturing unserialized “buy-build-shoot” kits that can be purchased without a background check. The so-called ghost guns contain parts that can be assembled into a gun.
These kits will now be considered firearms under the Gun Control Act.
Pennsylvania-based JSD Supply received a letter from ATF dated May 9, 2022, ordering the company to immediately cease and desist the sale of full sets and parts that could be converted into a functioning firearm.
The letter has caused the company to shut down its operation.
“ATF has held that kits which include all components necessary to produce a functional firearm, including the jig or template used to finish the unfinished frame or receiver, the slide assembly, and the necessary components to complete the frame or receiver are themselves properly classified as firearms under the Gun Control Act,” the letter says.
“Specifically, these kits are a weapon that may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. These kits are firearms under the gun Control Act and have always been firearms pursuant to statute.”
Biden Has Not Given a Media Interview in 100 Days
On Friday, President Joe Biden reached a unique milestone by not conducting a sit-down interview with any media outlet for 100 consecutive days.
The last time Biden participated in a sit-down with the press was when NBC news anchor Lester Holt talked to him on Feb. 10. Though the president has held several press conferences and responded to questions from interviewers, he has not done any extensive interviews since then.
“One hundred days without a press interview underscores how little Biden cares to answer for struggling Americans seeking solutions to the crises he created,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Emma Vaughn said, reported the Washington Examiner. “This milestone is yet another pitiful mark on Biden’s long list of failures.”
Biden has given four interviews since Feb. 10, with none being sit-down interviews with professional reporters. This includes two podcasts the president taped in February, remarks he gave to TV anchors during a traditional off-the-record lunch ahead of his first State of Union address, and the final one being a two-word reply to a CNN reporter on March 18.
“100 days since the Big Guy sat down with a reporter. What do you think Biden is more afraid of talking about: His failed record on any given topic, or his obvious involvement in his son’s shady business dealings?” Tommy Hicks, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, said in a May 21 tweet.
Since taking office in January last year, Biden has only conducted 23 interviews, which is the lowest among the past seven American presidents. While Donald Trump had given 95 interviews by this time, Barack Obama gave 187 interviews, George W. Bush 60, Bill Clinton 64, George H. W. Bush 70, and Ronald Reagan 78 interviews, data from the White House Transition Project shows (pdf).
Interestingly, Reagan, who was shot in the lung during his first year in office, gave more interviews than Biden. Reagan had given his first interview post the attack in less than a month.
Biden has often been accused of being in mental decline. He is the oldest president of the United States and will turn 80 this year. Some Biden supporters believe that his staff is overprotecting him as they are worried the president’s distracting actions might have significant domestic and international consequences, reported the New York Post.
The White House has been pre-screening journalists who are allowed near Biden at events that take place in the East Room and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Such restrictions were never in place during the time of previous administrations.
Elon Musk Calling for ‘Hardcore’ Legal Team Made of ‘Streetfighters’
‘There will be blood,’ the billionaire says
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is assembling a “hardcore” legal team made of “streetfighters” amid a series of quarrels with some of the most powerful people in the country.
“Tesla is building a hardcore litigation department where we directly initiate & execute lawsuits,” said Musk in a May 20 tweet. “The team will report directly to me.”
Musk’s move comes at an intriguing time as the billionaire is entangled in a string of high-profile controversies, including his criticism of the Democratic Party and the Biden administration, his recent proposal to purchase Twitter, and a sexual harassment claim against the billionaire that Musk named “Elongate.”
Most notably, the billionaire picked a fight with the Clinton campaign on May 20.
“Bottom Line: A prominent lawyer working for the Clinton campaign fabricated Russia-Trump collusion using a retired MI6 spy & some actual Russians. This is not ok!” Musk said in a tweet, citing The Epoch Times’ Spygate investigation series.
In the thread, the Tesla CEO reiterated how he expects the ligation team to operate.
“We will never seek victory in a just case against us, even if we will probably win,” he wrote. “We will never surrender/settle an unjust case against us, even if we will probably lose.”
This post echoed Musk’s reaction to a lawsuit against Tesla in 2021, in which Tesla agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle claims that the company’s software update reduced the maximum battery voltage in Model S sedans.
“Tesla policy is never to give in to false claims, even if we would lose, and never to fight true claims, even if we would win,” the Tesla CEO said in 2021.
In a notice to those considering the position, however, the Tesla CEO said he is looking for people who are not just regular folks.
“Please send 3 to 5 bullet points describing evidence of exceptional ability,” the CEO said in the tweet. “Looking for hardcore streetfighters, not white-shoe lawyers like Perkins of Cooley who thrive on corruption.”
Senate Republicans Pledge to Block Domestic Terrorism Bill Passed by House
Several Republican senators signaled they will work to stop the passage of legislation approved by the House that would authorize special offices within several government agencies to investigate alleged domestic terrorism, warning that such measures could be weaponized against the public.
“It sounds terrible,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told The Hill about the proposal, comparing it to the PATRIOT Act, or the Disinformation Governance Board that was set up under the Biden administration before it was put on “pause” last week.
“It’s like the disinformation board on steroids. Another way to look at is the PATRIOT Act for American citizens,” the Missouri senator said in reference to the Bush-era bill that was enacted in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The PATRIOT Act has long been flagged as a law that expanded the government’s surveillance capacities, allowing it to track email and phone conversions as well as collect bank records—although it was initially to be used to target Islamic terrorists.
Hawley also said that the measure would likely not receive 10 GOP votes in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would bring the bill to the floor, in response to the mass shooting on May 14 at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 dead.
The bill was approved by the House in a 222–203 vote. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), who introduced it, suggested that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson helped incite the Buffalo shooting—without providing evidence—and said that the “Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act is what Congress can do this week to try to prevent future Buffalo shootings.”
Republicans say they’re opposed to giving more power to the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security to surveil Americans, arguing that a potential law could be used to target dissidents and political speech.
“I’m completely opposed to this idea that we would be giving the federal government and federal law enforcement power and authority to surveil Americans, to engage in any kind of monitoring of speech that is directed toward censorship,” Hawley told The Hill. “I think it’s extremely frightening and I can’t believe they haven’t learned their lesson from the disinformation board debacle.”
He said the measure is actually designed merely to target Republicans and conservatives, although the alleged Buffalo gunman, Payton Gendron, wrote in a manifesto attributed to him that he wasn’t a conservative and appeared to have some Marxist-aligned viewpoints. Gendron, who described himself as a white supremacist, also said he was targeting the supermarket because black people frequented the establishment.
Federal Court Judge Blocks New Alabama Law Banning Puberty Blockers for Kids
A federal judge has blocked a second state from banning puberty blockers, other gender-changing drugs, and surgeries for minors.
After being passed into law by a 66–28 vote, the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act went into effect on May 7.
Less than a week later, U.S. District Court Judge Liles Burke blocked the new law, saying it was “likely unconstitutional.”
It is now the subject of a pending lawsuit filed by a windfall of opposition including several LGBTQ+ organizations, pediatricians, the ACLU, a minister, and parents of alleged transgender children including a 13-year-old girl who has identified as a boy nearly since she was a toddler.
Carmarion Anderson-Harvey, director of the Human Rights Campaign in Alabama called the measure “the most anti-transgender legislative package ever passed.”
The U.S. Department of Justice also released a statement calling the Alabama law unconstitutional.
“The act ignores established medical science finding that transgender minors who do not receive this essential medical care suffer serious injuries to their physical and mental health,” the 35-page lawsuit challenging the law claims.
Support for the ban, however, is also widespread.
In addition to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey—a staunch supporter of the ban—attorney generals from 17 states filed briefs in the lawsuit in support of the law.
“We will continue fighting to protect Alabama’s children from these radical, unproven, life-altering drugs, despite this temporary legal roadblock,” said Ivey in a statement released to The Epoch Times. “We will continue to uphold our duty to ensure that children are free to grow up into the adults God intended them to be, even with today’s societal pressures and modern culture.”
Becky Gerritson, executive director of Eagle Forum Alabama a parents group that fought for the passage of the state law, told The Epoch Times that her organization considers it not only criminal to give children the type of drugs being used to turn them into another gender, but beyond “all comprehension.”
“These are the same exact drugs being used to chemically castrate convicted pedophiles,” she said, “if that’s not highly disturbing then I don’t know what is.”
Gerritson said an administrator from the University of Alabama Gender Clinic in Birmingham, which has publicly censured the Alabama law, also admitted at a previous legislative hearing that they were administering gender-affirming therapy to children as young as 3 years.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Goldman Sachs Releases Recession Manual to Prepare Clients for Downturn
Goldman Sachs economists believe the chances of the economy entering a recession in the next two years are still low, even as the investment bank’s equity team has just released a recession manual for its clients on how to prepare for a downturn.
“A recession is not inevitable, but clients constantly ask what to expect from equities in the event of a recession,” chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin wrote in a note to clients on May 19. “Our economists estimate a 35% probability that the U.S. economy will enter a recession during the next two years and believe the yield curve is pricing a similar likelihood of a contraction.”
Kostin pointed out that the latest rotations in the U.S. equity market suggest that traders are pricing growing odds of a recession that doesn’t mirror “the strength of recent economic data.” The research note cited that the dividend futures market suggests that S&P 500 dividends will drop by close to 5 percent in 2023.
“During the last 60 years, S&P 500 dividends have not declined outside of a recession,” Kostin stated.
According to Seeking Alpha, Goldman Sachs listed four key trends in the S&P 500 from past recessions to help navigate the financial market.
HEALTH
How to Mitigate the Infant Formula Disaster
In mid-February 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shut down Abbott Nutrition’s infant formula manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Michigan, resulting in a severe shortage of formula across the U.S., as labeling regulations bar most infant formula from other countries to be imported
May 16, 2022, the Biden administration announced it had reached a deal to reopen the Abbott plant in about two weeks, which should result in shelves being restocked in another six to eight weeks
The Biden administration is also loosening the regulations around foreign imports of infant formula, relaxing WIC restrictions on the types of formulas you can obtain, and cracking down on price gouging to discourage hoarding and reselling at higher prices
While that may solve the problem in the short term, it does nothing to address the underlying problem, which is the fact that the U.S. market is monopolized by three companies: Abbott, Mead Johnson and Gerber
Recipes for a superior and healthy homemade infant formula are included
>>>Video: Weston A Price Foundation Baby Formula
The Egg Crackdown — A Scorecard for Nutrition and Taste
“Egg Crackdown,” a CBC Marketplace report, investigates the marketing of supermarket eggs and visits egg producers to get a firsthand look at what the company’s label actually means
Health conscious consumers know to look for designations like “organic,” “free-range,” “pastured” and “cage-free,” but while you may think many of these are interchangeable, they’re actually not
While organic poultry and eggs are guaranteed to be free-range, as required by organic standards, free-range poultry are not required to be organic
The organic label is the only way to ensure you’re getting eggs from chickens that have not been fed antibiotics for growth purposes, as this is not allowed under the organic standards
Overall, the cage-free and free-range labels say little to nothing about the conditions in which the chickens are raised. For the best quality eggs, from the most humanely-raised hens, the label you’re looking for is “organic” and “pastured”
COVID RELATED NEWS
Spike Protein Detox: 6 Main Medicines and Natural Compounds
Some patients who were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 have had difficulty getting rid of some symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and heart pain. This prolonged condition is known as “long COVID.”
However, some people who have had COVID vaccinations rather than infection have similar symptoms.
This is due to the spike proteins that remain in the body after both after vaccination or infection with the virus.
Spike proteins are the “keys” to viral invasion of our cells, so we will discuss how the spike proteins work, antidotes to detoxify spike proteins, and nutrients that inhibit their toxic effect.
Spike proteins are small mushroom-like bumps on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They’re like a key that opens the door for the virus to enter cells, which are then infected by the virus.
Previously, scientists believed that the spike protein itself was harmless to the human body.
The mRNA vaccines were designed based on the mRNA sequence code of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The original intention was to let the mRNA in the vaccines enter human cells and produce a large amount of spike proteins, which would stimulate immune cells and induce them to produce antibodies to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in the bloodstream.
However, a growing number of cases and studies have revealed that the stimulation by spike proteins to produce antibodies can also cause varying degrees of damage to human cells.
Will NAC Become a Banned Supplement?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suddenly cracked down on NAC in 2020, claiming it is excluded from the definition of a dietary supplement, as it was approved as a new drug in 1963
Retailers, including Amazon, pulled supplements containing NAC from their shelves in response, as the FDA’s move meant NAC could no longer legally be marketed as a supplement
Draft guidance released by the FDA in April 2022 gives a glimmer of hope that NAC will continue to be available over-the-counter
The new verbiage suggests that the FDA will not be enforcing their policy that NAC cannot be marketed as a dietary supplement, even though it’s technically still illegal to do so
In another positive step, while the FDA stated that their full safety review of NAC is ongoing, its initial review “has not revealed safety concerns with respect to the use of this ingredient in or as a dietary supplement”
The FDA stated it is “likely to propose a rule providing that NAC is not excluded from the definition of dietary supplement”
Young Boy Died With Evidence of Heart Inflammation After COVID-19 Vaccination: CDC
A young boy died after getting Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and evidence was found of the boy suffering from heart inflammation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers revealed on May 19.
The male child experienced fever 12 days after getting the dose, which was his first. A day later, he experienced abdominal pain and vomiting. He died that day.
“This patient had a rapid clinical course. From the time they started experiencing their abdominal pain day 13 after dose one until the time they were brought into the [emergency department] and subsequently died was on the order of a couple of hours,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a CDC vaccine analyst, said during a virtual meeting.
“Histopathological evidence of myocarditis was present on autopsy, and that was resolved to be the cause of death,” he added.
Two teenage boys were previously determined to have died shortly after getting the Pfizer vaccine.
The date and location of the newly reported death was not clear, besides happening between the fall of 2021 and April 24, 2022. The boy who died was between 5 and 11 years old.
The death was reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is co-run by the CDC, and verified by the CDC through an interview with the healthcare provider who worked on the case and/or a review of the medical records.
Testing on the boy, which included testing by the CDC’s infectious disease pathology branch, “did not find evidence of viral infection at the time of death,” Shimabukuro said. The CDC is continuing to review the case.
Shimabukuro was presenting during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that advises the CDC on vaccines.
Panelists later recommended all children aged 5 to 11 get a booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, and the CDC quickly accepted the recommendation.
Will a Manmade Bird Flu Become the Next Pandemic?
As news of the COVID pandemic winds down around the world, we’re suddenly seeing warnings of another pandemic brewing – bird flu, aka avian influenza. Before you start to panic, here’s what you should know.
As news of the COVID pandemic winds down around the world, we’re suddenly seeing warnings of another pandemic brewing — bird flu, aka avian influenza (H5N1)
Natural bird flu is notoriously harmless to humans, but Bill Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci have, for many years, funded research to develop a bird flu pathogen capable of infecting humans
Some of that research has been undertaken in Pentagon-funded biolabs in Ukraine
Gates funded research by Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, in which the bird flu virus was mixed with the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) virus, creating an airborne hybrid capable of completely evading the human immune system, effectively rendering humans defenseless against it
The U.S. and other countries have already started stockpiling H5N1 vaccine, and the H5N1 vaccine Audenz is being marketed “for 2022.” As if on cue, the first-ever H5N1-positive case was identified in the U.S. at the end of April 2022
How to Prevent and Treat COVID Jab Injuries
The introduction of the experimental COVID jabs has opened the eyes of many to the fact that there are fundamental flaws with the vaccine program — not just with the mRNA shots, which have never existed before, but also with conventional vaccines
Toxins in food, water and air; vaccines, mRNA shots, electromagnetic field exposures and more, are making children sicker than any generation before them
When trying to prevent and/or treat a COVID jab injury, there are five toxic components that need to be addressed: spike protein toxicity, PEG, inflammation from the nanolipid, graphene oxide and nanotoxicity
A key tool in Dr. Michelle Perro’s treatment arsenal is spike protein-binding therapies like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine
Other helpful remedies include fibrinolytic enzymes like lumbrokinase, NAC, pine needle tea, curcumin, zeolite and symptom-specific homeopathics
Researcher: ‘We Made a Big Mistake’ on COVID-19 Vaccine
Canadian immunologist and vaccine researcher Byram Bridle, Ph.D., has gained access to Pfizer’s biodistribution study from the Japanese regulatory agency. The research demonstrates a huge problem with all COVID-19 vaccines
The assumption that vaccine developers have been working with is that the mRNA in the vaccines would primarily remain in and around the vaccination site. Pfizer’s data, however, show the mRNA and subsequent spike protein are widely distributed in the body within hours
This is a serious problem, as the spike protein is a toxin shown to cause cardiovascular and neurological damage. It also has reproductive toxicity, and Pfizer’s biodistribution data show it accumulates in women’s ovaries
Once in your blood circulation, the spike protein binds to platelet receptors and the cells that line your blood vessels. When that happens, it can cause platelets to clump together, resulting in blood clots, and/or cause abnormal bleeding
Pfizer documents submitted to the European Medicines Agency also show the company failed to follow industry-standard quality management practices during preclinical toxicology studies and that key studies did not meet good laboratory practice standards
What COVID Jabs Are Doing to the Immune System and How the Injured Can Heal
Jab-induced spike injuries are on the rise, but in order to heal, the injuries must first be recognized
Del Bigtree’s Football Analogy simplifies how spike protein reprograms the body’s immune system to attack itself
The latest science explains the mechanism of jab-induced spike injuries, and spike’s affinity for certain organs
Understanding the mechanisms of injury can help people heal: energy-boosting exercises reinvigorate the immune system and compounds like N-acetyl-L-cysteine can neutralize the toxic effects of the spike protein
Heart specialist sees many more cases of heart inflammation since COVID vaccine roll out
Dr. Sanjay Verma, an adult cardiologist practicing in Coachella Valley, California, sees a few hundred patients a month, and since last summer, he has seen “possibly a dozen” patients whose heart conditions might be connected to the COVID vaccines.
“I can only say possibly—not definitively—because we do not yet have any diagnostic test that 100 percent says ‘this caused this.’ What we do is what’s called a process of exclusion. We look for common associations like coronavirus, influenza virus, other infections, atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease, alcohol, recreational drugs, and if everything keeps coming back negative or normal, then by default and process of exclusion, vaccine-associated heart injury is a probability.
“Usually we don’t even see that many [heart problems] in a year,” Verma said.
Adding that prior to the pandemic it would be “much less than that per year.”
Verma is puzzled as to why the media has given more attention to COVID vaccine blood clot issues when there have been many more cases of myocarditis, according to his observation.
“I cannot, with confidence, conclude why one is getting more attention. And by attention, it’s not just news reports, it’s to the extent that they’ve basically put a caution to only use the Johnson and Johnson if there’s no other choice. So that’s a pretty strong caution. Whereas for the mRNA vaccines and heart issues, the warning is there on the FDA factsheet. But the number of people affected is far greater,” Verma said.
“The blood clot issue with Johnson & Johnson may be in the hundreds, but the heart issue is in the thousands. It’s a different level of patient exposure.”
PROPAGANDA
CDC Advises Doctors to Be on Alert for Monkeypox as WHO Confirms Outbreaks in 11 Countries
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory on Friday asking doctors across the United States to be on the watch for monkeypox, as the World Health Organization has confirmed 80 confirmed cases across 11 countries.
Monkeypox is a viral disease typically endemic to central and western Africa, but since the start of May, dozens of confirmed cases have been reported in several countries outside of the continent. Many more suspected cases are being investigated.
The CDC is asking doctors to “be vigilant to the characteristic rash associated with monkeypox” and describes the rash as involving “vesicles or pustules that are deep-seated, firm or hard, and well-circumscribed,” adding that the lesions “may umbilicate or become confluent and progress over time to scabs.”
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
Judge Blocks Biden Administration From Lifting Title 42
Policy remains in place amid ongoing litigation
A federal judge has blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42, a border policy that has enabled border authorities to quickly expel illegal immigrants at the southern U.S. border back to Mexico on public health grounds amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a 47-page ruling on Friday, Judge Robert Summerhays in Louisiana granted a nationwide injunction to block the termination of Title 42, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) move to terminate the policy didn’t comply with the Administrative Procedure Act that requires public notice and time to gather public comment on the plan.
“Simply put, the CDC has not explained how the present circumstances prevented the CDC from issuing the Termination Order through the required notice and comment process under the [Administrative Procedure Act],” Summerhays wrote. The notice and comment process can potentially take months to complete.
“Given the impact of the Termination Order on the Plaintiff States and their showing that the CDC did not comply with the [Administrative Procedure Act], the Court concludes that the public interest would be served by a preliminary injunction preventing the termination of the CDC’s Title 42 Orders,” the ruling reads.
The ruling means the CDC is blocked from terminating Title 42, and the policy will remain in place amid ongoing litigation until a final decision is made on the merits of the case. The full trial is likely to take many months.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will appeal the latest ruling.
Hillary Clinton Approved Giving Trump–Russia Allegations to Reporter: Testimony
Hillary Clinton greenlighted the plan to give allegations against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to a reporter ahead of the 2016 election, Clinton’s campaign manager testified in federal court on May 20.
“We told her we have this and we want to share it with a reporter. She agreed to that,” former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said.
The allegations purportedly showed a secret back channel between Trump’s business and Russia’s Alfa Bank.
Several stories were published about the claims on Oct. 31, 2016. Hours later, Clinton herself promoted them.
“Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank,” Clinton wrote in a Twitter post.
Neither she nor Jake Sullivan, a top campaign official and currently the White House national security adviser, mentioned that the allegations were passed to the media by her campaign.
The allegations stemmed from Rodney Joffe, a technology executive who hoped to score a position in the government if Clinton won the election; researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology; and Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for the campaign who’s on trial for allegedly lying to the FBI.
Sussmann informed his colleague Marc Elias of the allegations in the summer of 2016, who passed them on to the campaign in August of that year, Elias told the court last week.
“I thought that if there was a news account of the allegations,” it would “benefit the campaign,” Elias said.
Elon Musk Denounces Business Insider’s Report Alleging Sexual Harassment
Elon Musk has denounced claims made against him in a new report by Business Insider on Thursday, calling them “wild accusations” that are “utterly untrue” while vowing to continue with his plan to protect freedom of speech on Twitter if his bid to purchase it goes through.
SpaceX founder Musk took to the social media platform to dismiss the “wild” claims, however, he did not state specifically what those accusations were or name Business Insider.
His comments came shortly after a report by Business Insider accused him of sexual misconduct in 2016.
According to the report, which cited interviews and documents that Insider had allegedly obtained, Musk’s company SpaceX allegedly paid a flight attendant $250,000 in 2018 to settle the sexual misconduct claim against him. The Epoch Times has not seen or verified the authenticity of the documents.
Musk took to Twitter on Thursday where he wrote: “The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens— this is their standard (despicable) playbook—but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech.”
In a number of follow-up tweets Musk said, “for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue.”
“But I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public,” the CEO added. “She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened.”
Insider reported that the alleged incident took place aboard a SpaceX jet on a flight to London in 2016, in Musk’s private room. The flight attendant told her friend that Musk asked her to come to his private room for a “full body massage,” according to documents.
Musk denied the sexual claims in a statement to Business Insider, insisting that there is “a lot more to this story.”
“If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light,” he wrote, calling the story a “politically motivated hit piece.”
Cancer Cells Can Be Starved to Death, Here’s How
Just like how people survive on food, cancer cells survive on sugar.
Around one century ago, Otto Warburg, well-known German physiologist, discovered that cancer cells are addicted to sugar.
Normal cells depend on oxygen for their growth. Cancer cells, however, grow by devouring large amounts of glucose, even in an oxygen-rich environment. This phenomenon occurs in as many as 80 percent of cancers.
The metabolic way cancer cells use sugar as an energy source is called glycolytic metabolism. This phenomenon is known as the Warburg effect.
Cancer Cells Consume 100 Times More Sugar Than Normal Tissue Cells
The metabolism and growth rate of cancer cells are much faster than normal cells, and their consumption of sugar is also faster than we can imagine. It can be said that cancer cells are constantly thirsty for sugar.
In a 2014 paper published in BMC Biology, American scientists showed that many cancer cells specifically choose glucose as their food and consume glucose 50 to 100 times faster than normal tissues.
Cancer cells desperately absorb sugar and consume it rapidly in order to grow, multiply, and spread rapidly.
Sugar can produce carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, which to cells are like bricks, cement, and insulating materials with which to build homes. In addition, sugar also makes DNA and RNA for cells as their genetic blueprints.
Inspired by the Warburg effect, scientists have further developed a new way to diagnose cancer— positron emission tomography (PET).
It works by injecting the patient with a contrast agent (usually fluorinated deoxyglucose) and waiting an hour or so for the fluorinated deoxyglucose to enter the body’s metabolic system, at which point imaging scans are taken. When the glucose is concentrated in a certain area of the body, the image of that area will become brighter.
For example, when a patient is examined for pancreatic cancer, a normal pancreas does not light up on PET scans. However, when parts of the pancreas become brighter, it means that cancer is present.
A Diet High in Sugar Increases the Risk of Many Cancers
Cancer is not just one type of disease. It is a series of genetic or metabolic diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction of cells. Moreover, the organs or sites where cancer occurs are often places where the metabolism of the organisms is relatively vigorous.
Since cancer cells prefer glycolytic metabolism as their energy source, high consumption of sugar can lead to faster growth and spread of cancer. This explains why there is much epidemiological evidence that people with diabetes are more likely to develop cancer, especially breast, colon, prostate, liver, and pancreatic cancers.
A growing number of studies have found a direct correlation between sugar intake and increased cancer risk.
Researchers in the United States followed 3,184 Americans aged 26 to 84 from 1991 to 2013 and found that higher juice intake increased the risk of prostate cancer by 58 percent and higher sugary drink intake increased the risk of obesity-related cancers by 59 percent in subjects with over-central obesity.
Beyond Cutting Sugars
You may wonder, since cancer cells love sugar, if we cut out carbohydrates and sugar completely, can we starve them to death?
Unfortunately, this is not the right way.
This is because our body’s functions are extremely sophisticated and complex. If we simply cut out sugar and carbohydrates, the body will quickly turn to other substances to maintain metabolism and survival. This is especially true of the cunning cancer cells. And those who have undergone specific cancer treatments need to consume adequate amounts of nutrients, including carbohydrates, to help their bodies recover further.
However, it is possible to block the cancer cells from eating sugar and consuming energy through specific treatments.
Sugar Restriction
Although we cannot completely cut out sugar and carbohydrates from our diet, we can prevent cancer by consuming sugar correctly.
Control the proportion of carbohydrates in the diet: Carbohydrates are a general term for monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides (such as starch). After being consumed, starch is broken down into glucose.
Our body needs carbohydrates, but a diet high in sugar and carbohydrates is dangerous for both healthy people and cancer patients.
To reduce the incidence of cancer, we can use the “plate method” to control the proportion of carbohydrates in each meal.
With the plate method, a typical meal is represented by the amount of food on a plate. We should fill one quarter of the plate with carbohydrate foods, another quarter with protein, and the second half with vegetables (as low on the glycemic index as possible). In the middle of the plate, there can be foods rich in healthy fats, such as avocado.
Choose complex carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates are dietary fiber and starch. Starch, not easily digested by the body quickly, includes beans, whole grains, and sweet potatoes. They are not quickly converted into sugar in the body and are extremely rich in diverse nutrients.
Due to deep processing, the ratios of fiber, vitamins, minerals and protein in refined carbohydrates decrease. Once in the body, they are quickly broken down into large amounts of glucose. Typical refined carbohydrates include pasta and bread with fine flour, and baked goods, such as cakes and cookies.
We should eat fewer refined carbohydrates. We may want to replace half of our white rice with brown rice or mixed rice, replace white breads with whole wheat breads, or occasionally use steamed corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, or taros as staple foods.
We should limit our intake of sugar, especially refined sugar. It is better to eat low glycemic index fruits instead of drinking fruit juices. We should also avoid eating foods with high added sugar. If we want to add sugar to our food, we can replace white granulated sugar with natural sugar substitutes, such as stevia and monk fruit sweeteners. However, we shouldn’t use synthetic sweeteners as sugar substitutes, because they can damage the probiotics in our intestines and harm our health.
When cooking, we should use herbs and spices that have a hypoglycemic effect, such as fenugreek, onions, garlic, shallots, chives, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cloves.
Secret Service Agents Sent Home After Drunken Assault During Biden’s Asia Trip
Two United States Secret Service agents who were assigned to President Joe Biden’s trip to Asia are being sent back home after one of them was investigated in relation to an assault.
The agent was arrested in the early hours of Thursday in South Korea after he got into a fight with a local over a taxi, a police official from Yongsan district told Reuters. The incident took place outside the Grand Hyatt hotel where Biden was scheduled to stay as part of his five-day Asia trip that began on May 20.
An official from Washington disputed that the accused individual was arrested or detained, insisting that he was only “investigated” by Korean officials. The other agent who was involved in the dispute was not investigated.
The name of the agent investigated by local authorities is not known. According to South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun, which first reported the incident, the person was arrested after a fellow guest at the hotel called the police. The agent is said to be in his thirties.
“The Secret Service is aware of an off-duty incident involving two employees which may constitute potential policy violations,” Anthony Guglielmi, Chief of Communications at the United States Secret Service, said to The Epoch Times. “The individuals will be immediately returned back to their post of duty and placed on administrative leave. There was no impact to the upcoming trip.”
The Secret Service has “very strict protocols and policies” for all of its employees, he added, saying that it holds itself to the “highest professional standards.” Since the issue is an active administrative personnel matter, Guglielmi refused to comment further on the matter.
The U.S. Secret Service is tasked with protecting the White House and the president. It’s not the first time members have been involved in public disputes.
During the Obama administration, agents were sent home in 2012 after they got into argument with a prostitute in Cartagena, Columbia. In 2014, agents assigned on a presidential trip to Amsterdam were sent home after getting drunk in the Netherlands capital.
In 2017, an agent who was part of the security detail assigned to then-Vice President Mike Pence was suspended from duty after allegedly meeting with a prostitute at a hotel in Maryland.
On Biden’s Asia trip, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned during a press briefing on May 18 about potential nuclear tests conducted by North Korea.
“We’ve indicated in quite clear terms that our intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility that there will be either a further missile tests (sic)—including a long-range missile test or a nuclear test or, frankly, both—in the days leading into, on, or after the President’s trip to the region,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan added that they are coordinating with both Japan and Korea on the issue. He has also spoken with his Chinese counterpart on the matter.
During his five-day trip, Biden will be visiting South Korea and Japan as part of Washington’s efforts to strengthen alliances in the region amidst the conflict in Ukraine. He will also take part in the Quad Summit scheduled for May 24.
Pelosi Barred by Catholic Church From Receiving Communion Over Abortion Advocacy
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been barred by the Catholic Church from receiving Holy Communion over her support of abortion, which the Catholic Church strongly opposes.
The decision was announced by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, who serves as archbishop for Pelosi’s home city.
“After numerous attempts to speak with Speaker Pelosi to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, [and] the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” Cordileone summarized in a Twitter post attached to a letter announcing the decision.
“There can be no more extreme example of … cultural depravity than when direct attacks on human life are enshrined in a nation’s law, celebrated by society, and even paid for by the government,” Cordileone wrote in the opening to the letter, published to the diocese website. “This is why Pope Francis, as much as any pope in living memory, has repeatedly and vividly affirmed the Church’s clear and constant teaching that abortion is a grave moral evil.”
“As the Archbishop of San Francisco, I am bound to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care,’” Cordileone continued.
“This most serious duty can sometimes become unpleasant, especially when Catholics in public life explicitly promote practices that involve the direct taking of innocent human life, which is what abortion does,” he wrote. “I have struggled with this issue in my own conscience for many years now, especially with regard to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and member of our Archdiocese, Nancy Pelosi.”
“I have received letters from very many of you over the years expressing distress over the scandal being caused by such Catholics in public life who promote such grievously evil practices as abortion,” he continued. “I have responded that conversion is always better than exclusion, and before any such action can be taken it must be preceded by sincere and diligent efforts at dialogue and persuasion.
“Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months.
“Just earlier this month she once again, as she has many times before, explicitly cited her Catholic faith while justifying abortion as a ‘choice,’ this time setting herself in direct opposition to Pope Francis: ‘The very idea that they would be telling women the size, timing or whatever of their family, the personal nature of this is so appalling, and I say that as a devout Catholic’; ‘They say to me, “Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope.’ Yes I do. Are you stupid?’
“After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance. I have accordingly sent her a Notification to this effect, which I have now made public.”
Cordileone added that he “take[s] no pleasure” in the decision, saying that Pelosi’s “advocacy for the care of the poor and vulnerable elicits my admiration … my action here is purely pastoral, not political.”
Court Temporarily Blocks Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena for RNC Records
A federal court on May 20 temporarily blocked a House of Representatives subpoena for Republican National Committee (RNC) records.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, rejected the RNC’s motion for an injunction against the subpoena pending appeal. But Kelly entered a brief injunction to allow Republicans to ask an appeals court for the same relief he denied.
At issue is a subpoena from the House panel charged with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The panel subpoenaed documents and testimony from Salesforce, which the RNC and former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign utilized to send emails and perform other services.
The House panel wants data from Salesforce to see whether the platform was used “to disseminate false statements about the 2020 election in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the panel’s chairman, said when the subpoena was issued.
The RNC sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the panel members over the subpoena, asserting it was unconstitutional. Kelly rejected the arguments on May 1.
The RNC filed an appeal to the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, then asked Kelly to block the subpoena pending the outcome of the appeal.
Plaintiff “seeks an injunction pending appeal while the D.C. Circuit considers the novel constitutional questions presented in this case regarding challenges to congressional subpoenas issued to a political party’s third-party vendors,” the RNC said in its motion.
The court should “maintain the status quo while higher courts examine the important issues presented in this case,” it added.
The House members named as defendants said that the court should deny the motion, arguing the RNC will likely not succeed in its appeal.
Kelly, the judge, said that the RNC “has shown that its appeal presents a ‘serious legal question’” and that “without doubt, the RNC has shown that it will suffer one sort of irreparable harm absent an injunction pending appeal.”
But the party has not shown that it is in the public interest to block the subpoena, he said, because delaying its enforcement will interfere with the House panel’s investigation, which defendants say is at a “critical juncture.”
Nevertheless, Kelly entered a brief administrative injunction to allow the RNC to ask the appeals court for an injunction pending appeal. The judge said the House members agreed to the request. He said the circuit court “is better positioned” to weigh the merits of the case.
The injunction will automatically dissolve on May 25.
GOOD NEWS
Treasure Hunter Finds 2.38-Carat Diamond in the Dirt in Arkansas State Park After Decades of Sifting
At Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, a would-be treasure hunter “wet sifts” through pay dirt with a set of screens. Immersed in water, finer material washes away, leaving coarser rocks caught in the metal mesh. Sometimes, there are diamonds.
It was here, at the East Drain of the park’s 37.5-acre tilled soil search area, that a regular visitor, Adam Hardin, on April 10 found his first-ever diamond weighing over 2 carats. The rough-shaped, coffee bean-brown gemstone is about the size of a pinto bean, and is the largest diamond found at the park so far this year.
“It was right in the middle when I flipped my screen over,” Hardin told park officials. “When I saw it, I said, ‘Wow, that’s a big diamond!’”
He placed it in a pill bottle and carried it to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff confirmed the find, and registered it as a 2.38-carat brown diamond.
Following the state park’s tradition, Hardin named his diamond, dubbing it “Frankenstone” because of its monstrous appearance. “I thought of the name because it has a pretty and kind of not-so-pretty look to it,” Hardin said. “Us diamond miners call that ‘character!’”
He’s been digging for diamonds for over a decade, and has found hundreds of littler ones over the years. The quest for the valuable gemstones has even gotten competitive among park regulars.
“One of the other guys and I have been going back and forth, seeing who can find the biggest diamond,” Hardin said. “I found a big one, then he got a 1.79-carat, and we were joking about who would find the next big diamond and be ‘king of the mountain.’ As soon as I found this one, I had a feeling I had him beat. Now he’s trying to find a bigger one, but I’m planning on staying on top!”
Park interpreter Wayman Cox said wet sifting with a set of screens of varying mesh sizes is a common method used by visitors to quickly sort gravel by size and wash away loose dirt. When proper technique is employed, the heavier diamonds settle on the bottom of the screen; when flipped over, the sparkling stones sit on top of the pile.
“Mr. Hardin’s diamond is about the size of a pinto bean, with a coffee-brown color and a rounded shape,” Cox added. “It has a metallic shine typical of all diamonds found at the park, with a few inclusions and crevices running all along the surface.”
According to the park, Hardin typically sells his diamonds locally, and that’s what he’s planning to do this time.
Hardin’s diamond is the largest found at the park since September, when a 4.38-carat yellow gem was located on the surface of the diamond search area by a visitor from Granite Bay, California. Hardin’s Frankenstone is the largest brown diamond removed from here since the 9.07-carat Kinard Friendship Diamond was produced on Labor Day in 2020.
More Stories
Today’s News: May 01, 2024
Today’s News: April 30, 2024
Today’s News: April 29, 2024