Today’s Top 5:
1.Divided Republicans seek to unite behind new leader after McCarthy unseated
The House will try to elect a speaker as soon as next week as Republicans line up for their chance at the gavel.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan both jumped into the race Wednesday to become the next House speaker, setting up a fight to replace Kevin McCarthy after his historic ouster.
3.Kari Lake Files FEC Paperwork to Run for US Senate in Arizona
Lake may find herself part of a rare three-way contest for the seat of Sen. Krysten Sinema, who became an Independent.
4.Trump Says New York Fraud Case Is Exposing His ‘Great Success’
Former President Donald Trump indicated on social media he would attend the second day of his New York civil trial, in a series of posts recapping day one and explaining the legal issues in the case against him.
“People are starting to see what a great company I built through the trial started by the Racist Attorney General of New York State, Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James. It was all supposed to be private, but in many ways it is exposing great success. Incredible assets, lots of cash, and it only gets better,” he wrote.
However, he said, the case would only drive businesses away from New York, describing the ordeal thus far as “heartache.” A partial ruling last week already stripped the former president of his business certificates, and he may yet lose his flagship properties like Trump Tower in New York State.
5.Nancy Pelosi Evicted From Her Private Office by Acting House Speaker
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) ordered Democrats who recently left leadership positions to vacate their private offices in the U.S. Capitol shortly after becoming acting speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mr. McHenry ordered Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was speaker until January, to vacate her hideaway office, Ms. Pelosi said.
“One of the first actions taken by the new speaker pro tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol,” she said in a statement.
WORLD NEWS
Remember the COVID test kits that the Chinese use to extract our DNA?
Millions of Made-in-China COVID Test Kits Are Making Their Way to American Homes
The return of the White House’s free COVID-19 test kits also brings back something else: the “Made-in-China” label.
The program, the fifth of its kind, allows each U.S. household to order up to four free tests online starting from Sept. 25, with shipments delivered through the U.S. Postal Service without charge.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated that it has awarded $600 million to 12 “domestic COVID-19 test manufacturers” to produce 200 million tests to replenish government stockpiles in addition to meeting the demands from orders on COVIDTests.gov.
El Salvador: 2024 Presidential Race Kicks off with Nayib Bukele Enjoying Overwhelming Lead
El Salvador’s 2024 presidential election campaign officially began on Tuesday, with incumbent President Nayib Bukele poised to be reelected by an ample margin despite the nation’s constitution explicitly forbidding him from running.
The election, slated for February 4, 2024, will see more than six million Salvadoran voters head to the polls and cast their votes to elect the country’s next president, vice president, and all 60 members of the Salvadoran Congress for the next five years.
Amazing … J.K. Rowling and Karen Marie Moning gotta love that!
Top British University’s Arab and Islamic Studies School Offers Degree in ‘Magic and Occult Science’
The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter promises “decolonisation… feminism, and anti-racism” in its new Master’s Degree in Magic and Occult Science, the first of its kind in the UK.
The University of Exeter, part of the Russel Group of leading British universities, has launched a Master of Arts in Magic and Occult Science, a development perhaps reflecting the rise of interest in the occult in the increasingly post-Christian West.
Australia to Crack Down on ‘Significant Abuse and Misuse of Visa System’
Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on abuse of Australia’s visa system, which he said has enabled human trafficking and other organized criminal activities.
“The Nixon Review has identified significant abuse and misuse of Australia’s visa system. By once again prioritizing integrity in immigration, we’re able to help protect vulnerable communities from exploitation, and make our visa system fairer for everyone,” Giles said.
The Nixon Review was launched in January 2023 by Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil, who appointed former Victoria police commissioner Christine Nixon to investigate the “exploitation of Australia’s visa system.”
(courtesy of George Freund)
Understanding the Risk of Escalation in the War in Ukraine
The RAND Corporation (derived from the phrase “research and development”) is a non-partisan American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm that engages in research and development (R&D) across multiple fields and industries, which means potential “war mongers” are behind the scenes. It is largely financed by the U.S. government, private endowments, corporations, universities, charitable foundations, U.S. state and local governments, private individuals, international organizations and in small part by foreign governments, which means it lacks objectivity because its outcomes are politically based to favor the elite.
“No one is safe,” said the deputy mayor of Paris, which is battling a bed bug “infestation” 9 months before the Olympics
Paris will welcome the world in nine months as the host of the 2024 Olympics. But right now, the City of Light is dealing with very unwelcome visitors: bed bugs.
The small, blood-sucking insects have been spotted all over the French capitol — on the Metro (Paris’s public transportation system), in hotels and movie theaters and at the Charles de Gaulle airport.
“No one is safe,” Deputy Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Sept. 29. “Faced with a bedbug infestation, coordinated measures are needed that bring together health authorities, communities and all relevant stakeholders to prevent the risk and act effectively.”
According to a survey by Anses, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, “Between 2017 and 2022, more than one in 10 French households were infested by bed bugs.”
South Africa Culls Over 7 Million Chickens to Thwart Bird Flu
Approximately 7.5 million chickens were culled in an effort to contain outbreaks of two separate strains of bird flu that have threatened to create a shortage of eggs and meat for consumers.
Some grocery stores in Johannesburg were limiting the number of eggs customers were allowed to buy this week — in some cases to one carton of six eggs — and the government acknowledged there were “supply constraints.”
The government announced approximately 2.5 million chickens had been culled.
The South African Poultry Association said another 5 million egg-laying chickens had been culled.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Biden Announces Additional $9 Billion in Student Debt Discharged
The Department of Education (DOE) has announced the discharge of an additional $9 billion in student debt amid strong Republican opposition to the Biden administration’s “reckless” relief plans.
The move will wipe out the loans of about 125,000 more Americans, according to an Oct. 4 statement by the DOE. This would take the total discharged by the Biden administration to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million Americans.
“For years, millions of eligible borrowers were unable to access the student debt relief they qualified for, but that’s all changed thanks to President Biden and this Administration’s relentless efforts to fix the broken student loan system,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.
On Tuesday’s “Mark Levin Show,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) reacted to the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House Speaker by stating that those who voted for the ouster didn’t back him up when he pushed against much bigger spending in the CARES Act “because they didn’t want the President screaming at them, even though that was Pelosi’s bill.”
Massie said, “We just shot ourselves in the foot” by booting McCarthy.
He added, “I’m the guy who came to Washington, D.C., during COVID, on March 27, 2020, and made all of these folks show up and vote on the CARES Act. And they hated my guts. That was $2 trillion of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spending. You were with me, Mark. I remember it. But the President was against me. He called me up and screamed at me. … President Trump screamed at me and said he would work against me, said I should be thrown out of the party for merely requesting a –.”
Mayorkas really wants to divert illegals to the proper checkpoints so they can be cataloged before being released into the country!
Mayorkas Will Build a Few Miles of Border Wall
President Joe Biden’s pro-migration border chief says he will build several more miles of President Donald Trump’s border wall to divert migrants away from several gaps that he has left open since 2021.
The extra miles of border are not intended to stop the job-seeking economic migrants. Instead, Alejandro Mayorkas, the Cuban-born Secretary of Homeland Security, is asking migrants to safely register at the official gates along the border so they can be quickly released into U.S. society.
It is not clear when the extra walls will be built. However, video of the construction can be used by Democrats during the 2024 elections.
More “backstory” about Congressional “hideaway offices” …
The Whole ‘McHenry Kicks Pelosi out of Her Hideaway Office’ Story Gets Even More Amusing
We wrote earlier about how one of the first orders of business for speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) in the aftermath of the House’s ousting of Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker was to notify former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that she needed to immediately remove her things and vacate her hideaway office.
Also, according to reports, an email sent from a House Administration Committee aide indicated the room was being redesignated “for speaker office use.”
Naturally, the move prompted some wailing from Pelosi, who proclaimed that the decision was “a sharp departure from tradition.” It was kind of an ironic statement to make considering, as my colleague Bonchie noted, ousting a House Speaker – which Pelosi’s fellow Democrats ultimately supported even after she allegedly told McCarthy prior to him becoming Speaker she would push back against such a move – is quite a departure from tradition as well.
In an update to this story, we’re learning that it wasn’t McHenry but McCarthy himself who was behind the call to get Pelosi kicked out of her hideaway office, something few on the House side have outside of high-ranking members. Further, the person who will be utilizing that office will be … McCarthy:
Kevin McCarthy was behind interim Speaker Patrick McHenry’s move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their office spaces, two Republican sources told CNN.
GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters on Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered her to vacate.
“Look the deal is that the office that Pelosi is in right now is the office of the preceding speaker. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats determined that they wanted a new … speaker, and it’s Kevin McCarthy. So, he’s getting the office,” he said.c
Biden approves new section of border wall as Mexico crossings rise
US President Joe Biden’s administration is to build a section of border wall in southern Texas in an effort to stop rising levels of immigration.
Around 20 miles (32km) will be built in Starr County along its border with Mexico, where officials report high numbers of crossings.
Building a border wall was a signature policy of Donald Trump as president and fiercely opposed by Democrats.
In 2020, Mr Biden promised he would not build another foot of wall if elected.
US takes action against Chinese companies, people tied to fentanyl
The United States on Tuesday announced actions against Chinese companies and people as President Joe Biden’s administration targets trafficking of the deadly drug fentanyl, unsealing indictments and imposing sanctions on dozens of targets.
“We are here today to deliver a message on behalf of the United States government. We know who is responsible for poisoning the American people with fentanyl,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters.
Biden announces $9 billion more in student debt relief – Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that his administration has approved an additional $9 billion in student debt relief for 125,000 borrowers.
Biden has said he will pursue new measures to provide student loan relief to Americans after the Supreme Court blocked his plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in debt.
The president said the latest announcement brought the total approved debt cancellation by the his administration to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million Americans.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Massive Strike Targets US Hospitals: Here’s What It Means
More than 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente went on strike Wednesday morning at hospitals and other offices in several states after the labor union and company failed to come up with an agreement.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system’s employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Kaiser Permanente is one of the country’s largest insurers and health care system operators, with 39 hospitals nationwide. The nonprofit company, based in Oakland, California, provides health coverage for nearly 13 million people, sending customers to clinics and hospitals it runs or contracts with to provide care.
Bud Light’s Loss of Market Share Is a ‘Permanent Shift’ in Favor of Rivals: Molson Coors CEO
Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley said Tuesday that Bud Light’s boycott-driven loss of market share in favor of rival Coors Light and Miller Lite brands represents a “permanent shift” in the American beer market.
Sales of Miller Lite and Coors Light have been buoyed by the backlash to Bud Light’s marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Mr. Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman, showed off a personalized Bud Light beer can with his likeness on it in a video on social media on April Fool’s day, sparking conservative backlash and widespread calls for a boycott.
HEALTH
US Cellphone Radiation Tests Are ‘Rigged,’ Ignoring Long-Term Health Effects: Expert
France’s recent ban on sales of the iPhone 12 due to radiation concerns has sparked apprehension throughout Europe about the health risks of cellphone radiation exposure. While U.S. tests focus narrowly on whether phones heat tissue, some experts argue they fail to show the whole picture.
“The way they’re tested is to see whether or not they heat you up, and not for the chronic long-term effects that have been demonstrated,” Devra Davis, a cancer epidemiologist who holds a doctorate in science studies and a master’s in public health in epidemiology, told The Epoch Times. “Particularly the effects on sperm and lower testosterone, among others.”
6 Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
Research suggests that apple cider vinegar may have beneficial health properties, including antimicrobial and antioxidant effects.
Apple cider vinegar is a popular home remedy. People have used it for centuries in cooking and natural medicine. It may have some health benefits.
These may include:
- aiding weight loss
- reducing cholesterol
- lowering blood sugar levels
- improving the symptoms of diabetes
- High in healthful substances
Acetic acid is vinegar’s primary active compound, giving it its strong sour smell and flavor. Researchers believe this acid is responsible for apple cider vinegar’s health benefits. Cider vinegars are 5–6% acetic acid
- Can help kill harmful bacteria
Vinegar can help kill pathogens, including some strains of bacteria
People have traditionally used vinegar for cleaning and disinfecting, treating nail fungus, lice, warts, and ear infections.
- May help lower blood sugar levels and manage diabetes
To date, one of the most convincing applications of vinegar is helping treat type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels caused by insulin resistance or the inability to produce insulin
- May aid weight loss
Perhaps surprisingly, studies show that vinegar could help people lose weight.
Several human studies show that vinegar can increase feelings of fullness. This can lead to eating fewer calories and losing weight.
- May improve heart health
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death
Several biological factors can affect your risk for heart disease.
- May boost skin health
Some people use apple cider vinegar as a common remedy for skin conditions like dry skin and eczema.
The skin is naturally slightly acidic. But it may be less acidic in people with eczema. Using diluted topical apple cider vinegar topically may help rebalance the skin’s natural pH, improving the protective skin barrier
Drinking Tea Helps Control Blood Sugar
Drinking dark tea daily may help balance blood sugar levels and stave off Type 2 diabetes, the form of the disease most closely tied to obesity.
This is the main message from a new study that looked at tea-drinking habits and diabetes risk among people in China.
Folks who drank dark tea every day had a 53% lower risk of developing prediabetes and a 47% reduced risk for Type 2 diabetes when compared to people who never drank tea. Prediabetes refers to blood sugar levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes yet.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network
The US government has issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the Earth.
The Federal Communications Commission fined Dish Network $150,000 (£125,000) for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from others in use.
The company admitted liability over its EchoStar-7 satellite and agreed to a “compliance plan” with the FCC.
Space junk is made up bits of tech that are in orbit around the Earth but are no longer in use, and risk collisions.
Officially called space debris, it includes things like old satellites and parts of spacecraft.
The FCC said that Dish’s satellite posed a potential risk to other satellites orbiting the Earth at its current altitude.
Report: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Maintains Blacklist of Websites, Including Breitbart News
A self-professed “Comp Sci, Politics and Finance Nerd” claims to have discovered a list of blacklisted websites that OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 will not draw from, for reasons such as “conspiracy theories” and “hate speech” — a list that includes Breitbart News and other conservative outlets like the Epoch Times.
X/Twitter user Elephant Civics says he discovered the blacklist while asking ChatGPT to provide a list of credible and non-credible news sources.
ChatGPT explained that it is forbidden from using some sources, as a result of “features in ChatGPT’s Large Language Model (LLM) like AI safety measures, guardrails, dataset/output/prompt filtering, and human-in-the-loop mechanisms are designed to ensure the model operates within ethical, legal, and quality bounds.”
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Striking Auto Workers Warn: Biden’s Green Agenda ‘Going to Wipe Us Out’
Striking auto workers are warning that President Joe Biden’s green agenda, including Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates, will eliminate their jobs entirely.
About 25,000 auto workers across the United States are striking against General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis after the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced the strike nearly a month ago in the hopes of scoring higher wages to keep up with inflation and commitments that their members’ jobs will not be quashed by Biden’s EV mandates.
In interviews with E&E News, auto workers made clear: Biden’s EV mandates very well could be the end of the road for their jobs in the American auto industry.
“I think EVs are going to wipe us out,” 28-year-old Whitney Walch, who works at Stellantis’ Portland Parts Distribution Center in Beaverton, Oregon, said. “… [EVs] don’t need spark plugs, what else, oil filters, we sell a lot of those. If we don’t have all those parts, I feel like we don’t have a lot to do.”
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
From Garden to Garnish: Drying Culinary Herbs
If you like using herbs in your cooking, it’s a great idea to grow your own. Harvesting and drying your own culinary herbs is easy and fulfilling, and allows you to bring the fresh flavor from your garden to garnishes. In this article, we’ll explore the process of drying culinary herbs
Does Irish Spring Soap Repel Squirrels?
I don’t know of any animal that’s more divisive than the common squirrel. Or at least, more divisive among me, my neighbors, and my friends. Some love them, others despise them.
Squirrels are adorably cute, no doubt about it, but they are rodents and like all rodents, they’re crafty, invasive and pesky.
They steal bird seed, they will nibble on every plant, fruit and veggie on your property and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
I was told a long time ago that all you need to do to keep squirrels out of your garden and away from your home is to use Irish Spring soap.
Could this possibly be true? Does Irish Spring repel squirrels?
Yes, Irish Spring soap will repel squirrels, surprisingly enough. Squirrels, and many other mammals with sensitive noses, seem utterly repulsed by the fragrance of Irish Spring. You can use chunks or shavings of the soap as a simple, safe deterrent.
I’ve got to level with you: I heard about this trick a long, long time ago and always assumed it was nonsense.
But my recent research and tons of anecdotal evidence suggest that it’s absolutely true, so we can chalk this up to one tall tale that isn’t a tall tale at all.
If squirrels are giving you hell in your garden or around your bird feeder, you’ll soon have a safe and non-harmful way to evict them.
Keep reading and I’ll tell you all about how to use Irish Spring as squirrel repellent…
Dog hair is another good squirrel repellant
A dog is a great squirrel chaser, if that’s an option in your backyard! Squirrels can’t stand those pesky dogs! Save the dog’s hair when you brush or groom it, and use it to mulch around your garden beds. The squirrels won’t go near it!
Human hair helps as well, according to one reader who shares, “I used to have a problem with squirrels digging up my bulbs. Now, once in the spring and once in the fall, I ask my hairdresser to save a big bag of hair for me. I lightly dig this into the soil. Squirrels can not stand the smell of humans, so they leave the gardens alone.”
COVID RELATED NEWS
Now Biden Admin Says “We Didn’t Force Anyone Do To Anything… Didn’t Demand Anyone Be Fired”
Biden is not alone. No, no. His entire administration is right there with him. His head of OSHA, Douglas Parker, is also now lying through his teeth about the OSHA mandate that REQUIRED (not suggested) that all employers in the entire nation with 100 or more employees force their employees to get the C19 shot, otherwise they had to wear a mask and test constantly for C19. (That OSHA mandate was struck down by SCOTUS last year because it was unconstitutional, by the way). Then there’s the head of HHS, Xavier Becerra, saying there was never a mask mandate. What?! Another blatant lie.
COVID-19 Shot May Be Linked to Unexpected Vaginal Bleeding: Study
A new study implicates the COVID vaccine in incidences of abnormal bleeding among non menstruating women.
CANCEL CULTURE
China and Russia are reportedly using AI chatbots to control information and push government propaganda, posing a new threat to online freedom. Woke Silicon Valley giants that have already built leftist bias into their own offerings like ChatGPT are likely watching carefully to see how hostile foreign powers wield AI as an information weapon before the 2024 presidential election.
Wired reports that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are typically seen as friendly, helpful tools, guiding users through the vastness of data available online. However, a darker use has emerged in nations like China and Russia, where AI chatbots don’t just have the leftist bias of their western cousins, but instead are being transformed into tools for censorship and vehicles for state propaganda.
Leftist Backfire: Women’s Tech Career Fair Swamped by Men Claiming to Be ‘Non-Binary’
The Grace Hopper Celebration, which bills itself as a the world’s largest conference for women in computing, was recently swamped by men. The influential career fair for women opened itself to disaster by welcoming “non-binary” attendees to be inclusive of the LGBT community — an invitation men accepted in large numbers. Event organizers became frustrated by the sea of men, accusing male attendees of “lying” about their gender identities, with the event’s chief impact officer complaining, “Unfortunately — some of you are taking interview slots right now, from women who need them. Some of you are standing in line, talking to recruiters, instead of letting women speak. All of those are limited resources to which you have no right.”
This year’s Grace Hopper Celebration, an annual conference and career fair for women in tech, was swamped by men who arrived at the event with their résumés in hand, in search of tech jobs, according to a report by Wired.
PET NEWS
Dog Trainer Warns Owners to Never Give Your Dog These 3 Common Things, Suggests Alternatives
A professional dog trainer is using her experience to warn owners against these three common things that could cause more harm than good and suggests some alternatives to help keep playful pooches safer.
According to Ms. Worswick, who shares her tips on social media, contrary to popular belief, three of the most dangerous dog toys are three of the most common: tennis balls, rope toys, and cooked bones.
ICYMI
Report: Bob Menendez’s Wife Struck, Killed Pedestrian in 2018
Nadine Arslanian Menendez, the wife of indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), reportedly struck and killed a pedestrian in 2018. She would have been his girlfriend at the time.
Police records of the incident were revealed on Wednesday by the New York Times. Federal prosecutors have claimed that the couple was “given a new Mercedes as a gift” as part of a “bribery conspiracy to cash in on Menendez’s power and influence. Police records indicate the fatal collision badly damaged Arslanian’s Mercedes,” according to NBC News.
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