WORLD NEWS
Italy’s Meloni Says Technocrats May Join New Government
Italy’s next cabinet will include “high-profile” figures who might not be career politicians, Giorgia Meloni, widely expected to be named prime minister, told party members on Wednesday.
Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party led a rightist bloc, including Forza Italia and the League, to victory during a general election last month, and negotiations among the allies on key government jobs have begun.
The “starting point” to fill posts is “qualifications”, and if this means finding “the best candidates outside parliament, this will certainly not be a problem,” Meloni was quoted as saying at a party meeting, the first since her victory on Sept. 25.
The role of economy minister is widely seen as the most important and difficult position to fill, amid a grim outlook as Italy’s economy is expected to have shrunk in the third quarter and to keep falling until mid-2023.
South Africa May Soon Take Land Without Compensation
South Africa’s National Assembly passed a bill on Sept. 28 that would allow the government to seize land without paying the owners, a practice known as “expropriation without compensation.”
“This thing is emotional. We cannot deny it,” said South African farmer Herman J. Roos in a Sept. 29 message to The Epoch Times.
He noted that the law would not change Article 25 of South Africa’s constitution—a more radical move that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has frequently advocated.
The Expropriation Bill, the latest gesture toward land reform in a racially and economically divided nation, still awaits approval from the National Council of Provinces.
It would then need the signature of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has publicly supported expropriation without compensation for years.
The bill passed over the objections of several minority parties.
Notably, the National Assembly is dominated by the country’s ruling party, the left-wing ANC.
Elon Musk Praised by Beijing, Draws Ire From Taipei for His Taiwan Proposal
After Elon Musk said Taiwan could be made into “a special administrative zone” under the Chinese regime’s control, he was praised by Beijing, but Taipei had a different response.
Neither Taiwan nor any other country would accept a proposal to change a democratic country into a special administrative region of an authoritarian-led country to benefit corporate investment, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council stated on Oct. 9, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
The council stated that Musk’s proposal is based on business interests and invited the chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX to visit democratic Taiwan.
Xi Jinping Is Poised To Rule China For Life, Experts Say
Xi Jinping will likely emerge from the upcoming party congress in October as communist China’s life-long dictator, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
While China’s new leader will be forced to navigate new domestic and international challenges, none will pose a significant threat to his hold on power.
“He’s re-written the rules for exactly this,” Dan Harris, an attorney at the Harris Bricken Sliwoski law firm who specializes in Chinese law, told the DCNF.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
‘Elitist Cabal’: Tulsi Gabbard Announces She’s Leaving The Democratic Party
Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced Tuesday her departure from the Democratic Party.
Gabbard said Twitter video that the Democratic Party is controlled by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” promoting division and “anti-white wokeism.”
DOJ Seeks to Jail 5 Members of Texas Family for 52-Minute Walk Through the US Capitol on Jan. 6
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to jail five members of a Texas family for their 52-minute walk through the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, under a plea deal for “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.”
Members of the Munn family of Borger, Texas, did not commit violent acts, damage property, or harass police in the Capitol, but prosecutors argue jail is needed for general deterrence so Jan. 6 never happens again.
Being sentenced on Oct. 12 in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. will be parents Thomas Vincent Munn, 55, and Dawn Marie Munn, 57; with their children Kristi Marie Munn, 30; Joshua Munn, 25; and Kayli Munn, 20.
Prosecutors are seeking 30 days in jail for each parent and 21 days in jail for each of the children. Attorneys for the defendants said probation is the more appropriate sentence. The final decision rests with U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. Parading is a petty misdemeanor under federal law.
The New York Times has added an editor’s note to an article it published on Oct. 3 claiming that allegations against a Michigan-based election software company were a “conspiracy theory.”
One day later, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon announced charges against the CEO of Konnech, the company, for allegedly stealing and storing election worker data on servers in China.
“After this article was published, the chief executive of Konnech, Eugene Yu, was arrested in connection with an investigation into the possible theft of personal information about poll workers,” the New York Times’ note says.
“In communications with The Times for this article, neither Mr. Yu nor a spokesman for Konnech said that the company was the subject of an investigation. They also asserted that all the company’s data was stored on servers in the United States; prosecutors in Los Angeles, who brought the charges against Mr. Yu, said that they had found some company data stored on servers in China. The Times is continuing to report on this story,” it added.
Rapid Recovery: Over 99% Have Power Restored in Florida, Access Opened to Battered Areas
Rapid recovery efforts are still underway in Florida following Hurricane Ian’s landfall which hit the west coast portion of the state, as residents finally have access to battered areas and over 99 percent have power restored, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
DeSantis over the weekend announced that residents of Fort Myers Beach — one of the areas hit hardest by the Category 4 storm — now have access to the area.
Elections Offices Severing Ties With Elections Software Firm After CEO’s Arrest
Governments around the country are reconsidering contracts with a firm whose CEO was arrested last week on allegations of illegally storing election workers’ personal data on servers in China.
Eugene Yu was arrested on Oct. 5 near Lansing, Michigan—where his Konnech firm is based—on data theft charges lodged by Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascon. Storing such data offshore violates its contract with the county, Gascon’s office said.
Konnech subsequently lost contracts with Detroit and Fairfax County, Virginia.
However, the Elections Board of DeKalb County, Georgia, voted on Oct. 10 to continue its contract with Konnech.
San Antonio officer fired after shooting at teen sitting in McDonald’s parking lot eating a burger
The officer was responding to an unrelated disturbance call at the restaurant. Erik Cantu, 17, is “fighting for his life” in the hospital, his attorney said.
A San Antonio police officer still in his probationary period was fired after he shot at and injured a 17-year-old boy in the parking lot of McDonald’s, the department said Wednesday.
The teenager, Erik Cantu, is hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. His attorney, Brian Powers, said Saturday that Cantu is “fighting for his life.”
The officer, identified as James Brennand, responded to the fast-food eatery on Blanco Road around 10:45 p.m. Sunday for an unrelated disturbance call, according to police.
“As the officer attempted to gather information from witnesses, he noticed a vehicle that had evaded him the day before as the officer attempted a stop because the registered license plate did not match the actual vehicle,” Capt. Alyssa Campos, the department’s training commander, said in a video statement.
The car, driven by Cantu, was not the subject of the disturbance call at the McDonald’s, according to Campos.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Survey– 32% Americans Paying Bills Late amid Bidenflation: ‘Life Getting More Expensive by the Day’
Citizens suffering amid the rising cost of living in Democrat President Joe Biden’s America are finding it difficult to pay their bills on time, LendingTree reported October 3.
LendingTree said 32 percent of citizens paid a bill late over the past six months. It recently surveyed approximately 1,600 consumers regarding their bill-paying habits and one key finding was that “61% of Americans who’ve paid a bill late in the past six months say they didn’t have enough money to cover the cost.”
Social Security Payments Update Coming This Week, and It Could Be Significant
The Social Security Administration is expected to announce its cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for Social Security recipients this week—and it could be the largest increase in decades.
Analysts with the Senior Citizens League say the COLA hike will be 8.7 percent to keep pace with year-over-year inflation. Last year, the Social Security Administration announced a 5.9 percent adjustment.
A report (pdf) released by the nonpartisan senior group last month that such an increase “would be the highest ever received by most Social Security beneficiaries alive today.” The official cost-of-living adjustment is usually announced by the Social Security Administration during the month of October.
That calculation is based on the most recent consumer price index data that showed inflation rose 8.3 percent over the past year as of August.
“COLAs are intended to help maintain the buying power of Social Security benefits when prices rise. They are a permanent increase that will gradually boost the total Social Security income that individuals will receive over the course of their retirement,” said the report. “Without a COLA that adequately keeps pace with inflation, Social Security benefits purchase less and less over time, and that can create hardships especially as older Americans live longer lives in retirement.”
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Electric truck and SUV maker Rivian Automotive said on Friday that it is recalling nearly all of its vehicles because the company had improperly installed fasteners, which could potentially cause the loss of steering control.
Rivian Automotive, an EV startup founded in 2009, is recalling roughly 13,000 vehicles built in 2021 and 2022 after it was discovered that a fastener connecting the upper control arm and steering knuckle may have been improperly installed, according to multiple reports including the Wall Street Journal.
Zuckerberg’s Metaverse Struggles For Relevancy
Last October, when Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, announced that the company would change its name to Meta and become a “metaverse company,” he sketched a vision of a utopian future many years off in which billions of people would inhabit immersive digital environments for hours on end, working, socializing and playing games inside virtual and augmented worlds.
In the year since, Meta has spent billions of dollars and assigned thousands of employees to make Mr. Zuckerberg’s dream feasible. But Meta’s metaverse efforts have had a rocky start.
The company’s flagship virtual-reality game, Horizon Worlds, remains buggy and unpopular, leading Meta to put in place a “quality lockdown” for the rest of the year while it retools the app.
Some Meta employees have complained about frequent strategy shifts that seem tied to Mr. Zuckerberg’s whims rather than a cohesive plan.
And Meta executives have butted heads over the company’s metaverse strategy, with one senior leader complaining that the amount of money the company had spent on unproven projects made him “sick to my stomach.”
SURVEILLANCE STATE
TikTok’s “secret operation” tracks you even if you don’t use it
Consumer Reports (CR), a US-based nonprofit consumer organization, has revealed that TikTok gathers data on people who don’t even use the app itself.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s happened before. Meta’s near-omnipresence wherever you are online enabled it to gather data on users, even those who don’t have Facebook accounts—thanks, in part, to the Facebook “Like” button, a piece of code embedded on most websites. According to this Facebook Help Centre page, if a logged-in user visits a website with this button, the browser sends user data to Facebook so it can load content to that website.
Something similar happens to users who are either logged out of Facebook or don’t have an account. The only difference is that the browser sends a limited set of data. However you look at it, Facebook gets your data.
In TikTok’s case, the company embeds a tracker called a “pixel.” Pixel gathers user data from these websites to help companies target ads and measure how these work.
CR sought the aid of security firm Disconnect to scan for websites containing TikTok’s pixel, paying particular attention to sites that regularly deal with sensitive information, such as .gov, .org, and .edu sites. It turns out that pixels are already widespread.
“I think people are conditioned to think, ‘Facebook is everywhere, and whatever, they’re going to get my data.’,” said Disconnect Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Patrick Jackson. “I don’t think people connect that with TikTok yet.”
Among other data, TikTok collects the IP address; a unique number; the page a user is on; and what they’re clicking, typing, or searching for. While the data is used for targeted ads and ad effectiveness, TikTok spokesperson Melanie Bosselait said the data “is not used to group individuals into particular interest categories for other advertisers to target.” Data collected from non-TikTok users, however, are used in aggregated reports sent to advertisers.
HEALTH
Students Nationwide Face Pressure to Become LGBT
In a small, conservative town in North Dakota, 12-year-old Rebecca has faced unrelenting pressure from friends to announce an LGBT identity. It’s a pressure she doesn’t want or need, according to her mother, Sarah.
The two asked to have their full names withheld to prevent them from being identified, which, they fear, would exacerbate the problem.
Rebecca has helped care for a terminally ill relative, and wants to be a nurse one day, said Sarah. The middle-schooler values her friends and does great in school.
But a few years ago, she was sexually abused by another girl close to her in age, who made unwanted advances and touched her inappropriately, Sarah said. She feels Rebecca isn’t even old enough to mentally process the trauma she experienced.
Among young girls, it’s a common trend now for friend groups to suddenly all announce an LGBT gender identity because it’s cool, experts say. And children often suddenly choose a new gender identity as a result of intense peer pressure, experts say.
Future of Child Transgender Surgeries to Be Decided in Pivotal Trial
39 states take sides in challenge of Arkansas ban on transgender treatments of minors
Combatants on both sides of the war over gender-altering drugs and surgeries for minors are crying out: “We’ve got to help these distressed children!”
But trying to chart a course toward that goal is like trying to see clearly through a dust storm.
Arguments over medical standards, morality, and money are swirling through statehouses and courthouses, schools and churches, hospitals and homes. Undisputed facts are in short supply, obscured by waves of emotion and evolving, politicized terminology.
At the same time, a rising tide of juveniles experiencing gender dysphoria, a persistent dissatisfaction with one’s gender, demands urgent attention.
Against that backdrop, Arkansas, home of the nation’s first ban on gender-altering procedures for children under 18, will see if its law holds up in court.
The law’s constitutionality goes on trial in Little Rock starting Oct. 17, less than three weeks after a very different law became official, declaring California the first “sanctuary state” where out-of-state minors can come for transgender-related medical treatments.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
John Kerry Commits Biden Admin To WEF’s ‘Great Reset’
In June, elites at important international institutions such as the World Economic Forum and the United Nations launched a far-reaching campaign to “reset” the global economy.
The plan involves dramatically increasing the power of government through expansive new social programs like the Green New Deal and using vast regulatory schemes and government programs to coerce corporations into supporting left-wing causes.
The two justifications for the proposal, which has been aptly named by its supporters the “Great Reset,” are the COVID-19 pandemic (the short-term justification) and the so-called “climate crisis” caused by global warming (the long-term justification).
According to the Great Reset’s supporters, the plan would fundamentally transform much of society. As World Economic Forum (WEF) head Klaus Schwab wrote back in June, “the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”
Internationally, the Great Reset has already been backed by influential leaders, activists, academics and institutions. In addition to the World Economic Forum and United Nations, the Great Reset movement counts among its the International Monetary Fund, heads of state, Greenpeace and CEOs and presidents of large corporations and financial institutions such as Microsoft and MasterCard.
But in America, most policymakers – including President-elect Joe Biden – have been relatively quiet about the Great Reset, leaving many to speculate what a Biden administration would do to support or oppose this radical plan.
There has been some evidence suggesting that Biden and some of his biggest allies back the Great Reset and would attempt to impose it on the United States. But Biden and his team have never explicitly stated that America would be involved — that is, until now.
Oil and gas company Valero Energy slammed Democrat-controlled California as a “hostile regulatory environment for refining” after the state’s Energy Commission accused them of price fixing.
On Wednesday, California Energy Commission (CEC) Chair David Hochschild wrote a public letter to five oil refiners — Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, PBF Energy, Phillips 66, and Valero — demanding answers as to why gasoline prices were soaring. The agency had
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
More and more people are turning their rooftops into gardens, front-yards into farms, and vacant lots into vegetable patches. And while the burgeoning urban garden movement can add beauty and affordable produce to any neighborhood, it can also bump up against a few city, state, and federal ordinances.
So if you’re getting into urban agriculture to be more health conscious, eco conscious, or money conscious, make sure you’re also conscious of the laws and statutes that might apply.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Congressman Reveals Cause of Death of Teenage Daughter
The family of a 17-year-old who died over the summer says she passed away from sudden heart problems.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and his wife said in a statement that Gwen Casten died in June of a sudden cardiac arrhythmia.
“In layman’s terms, she was fine, and then her heart stopped,” the grieving parents said. “We don’t know what caused the arrhythmia, and likely never will.”
According to the National Liberty of medicine, arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat. It can refer to a heart that is beating too quickly, too slowly, or with an otherwise irregular pattern.
Gwen died on June 13, her family announced. At the time, they said they wouldn’t discuss details of the death.
According to media reports, Gwen died in the family’s home just before 7 a.m.
In the update, the Castens said the teen died after spending time with friends.
“She had just come home from an evening with friends, went to bed, and didn’t wake up,” they said.
The parents said Gwen was a healthy teenager.
Why Is Fauci Continuing to Fund EcoHealth Alliance?
EcoHealth Alliance was a key participant in risky gain of function research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China, which is now suspected of having played a role in the creation of SARS-CoV-2. That research was funded by Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Despite EcoHealth’s shady history and potential role in the COVID pandemic, Fauci, before leaving office, is now giving EcoHealth another $3.3 million in additional funding
The NIAID has approved a $653,392 EcoHealth grant to analyze “the potential for future bat coronavirus emergence in Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.” That sum is for the first year of a five-year project, so the total funding comes out to about $3.3 million
In addition to collecting and cataloguing novel bat coronaviruses, EcoHealth will also “rapidly supply viral sequences and isolates for use in vaccine and therapeutic development, including ‘prototype pathogen’ vaccines”
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst has introduced the “Defund EcoHealth Alliance Act,” which specifies that “No funds authorized or appropriated by federal law may be made available for any purpose to EcoHealth Alliance Inc, including any subsidiaries and related organizations that are directly controlled by EcoHealth Alliance Inc.” This does not go far enough, however, as there are many others that would simply take their place. What we need is a ban on dual use, gain of function research
CANCEL CULTURE
The PayPal Fiasco Was No Accident
Commentary
PayPal on Oct. 8 sent out an update to its terms of use, or acceptable use policy (AUP), that included a shocking addition. It reserved the right to confiscate $2,500 from people’s accounts if they spread “misinformation.” It was a clear announcement of what many already suspected: PayPal has enlisted in the information war.
This comes weeks after PayPal blocked several important accounts in the UK, including Toby Young’s personal account, the Free Speech Union, and the DailySceptic. These are hugely important venues for the English-speaking world in countering the COVID propaganda narrative. It was no accident that they were targeted.
After global protests and news coverage from alternative sources, PayPal relented and restored their accounts without explanation.
In a similar vein, protests all over the world poured in about PayPal’s new policy. Twitter filled up with announcements from people who were canceling their accounts.
By the following day, PayPal reversed itself, claiming that the banning of “misinformation” was just a mistake.
“An AUP notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times. “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy.”
In other words, PayPal claimed that its policy on misinformation was itself misinformation!
It’s very likely that the user protest itself—and a big selloff in PayPal stock—made the crucial difference. Many people cheered, but actually, this is extremely unsettling. We can’t live in a world where our essential rights, privacy, and liberties always hang in the balance and depend on Twitter-based protests in order to have them recognized.
In addition, surely PayPal doesn’t expect that anyone on the planet really believes the claim that this was an “error.” There’s just no way. Everyone knows that something as legally and institutionally critical as the acceptable use policy would have to go through many layers of compliance bureaucracy and attorneys, especially highlighting the changes.
This change was so obviously approved at the highest levels. It was intended to stick, and PayPal had every intention of preparing the way to confiscate funds from people based on their political loyalties and opinions. This is truly how bad it has gotten.
PayPal Stock Plunges Despite Pulling Controversial Policy Fining Users $2,500 for ‘Misinformation’
PayPal’s stock dropped more than 6 percentage points on Monday after reports emerged that the firm may attempt to fine people $2,500 for spreading “misinformation” via the platform.
Over the weekend, the company told The Epoch Times that “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy,” adding, “An [acceptable use policy] notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” the statement said.
But before, the firm had expanded its policy to prohibit “the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials” that “promote misinformation” or “present a risk to user safety or wellbeing.”
Individuals who violated the policy could face a fine of $2,500 taken from their PayPal account for each violation. That policy was supposed to go into effect on Nov. 3.
Users were directed to PayPal’s user agreement, which states in part that PayPal can take a number of actions if users participate in restricted activities, such as holding their money in balance indefinitely. It also says that “you will be liable to PayPal for the amount of PayPal’s damages caused by your violation of the Acceptable Use Policy” at the amount of $2,500 per violation.
That money will cover internal administrative costs for PayPal to monitor and track violations and damage to PayPal’s brand, among other costs, according to the agreement.
PET NEWS
Your Pet’s Behavioral Issues Might Be All in Their Gut
When it comes to life decisions, you listen to your gut a lot. Maybe even deciding to adopt your pet was a gut decision — heavily influenced by cuteness. When it comes to our physical guts, though, there are all sorts of vitamins and supplements claiming to set things right and make you feel better.
Although our pets’ noses tell them more about the world than their guts might, they need some TLC in that area, too. If you’ve got a dog or cat that acts anxious or lashes out, you’ve probably tried everything from environmental changes to behavior modification to medication. But one thing you may not have considered is a deep dive into your pet’s gut microbiome.
Not sure how gut health connects to one’s emotional response? It has to do with the gut-brain axis, which is how the digestive tract communicates back and forth with the central nervous system. If you’ve ever felt butterflies in your stomach when you’re worried, you’ve experienced the gut-brain axis in action.
Researchers studying the connection between gut health and mental disorders in humans have found evidence suggesting that regulating gut bacteria could help alleviate anxiety symptoms. And it turns out the same could be true for our furry friends.
GOOD NEWS
‘It’s Never Too Late’: Retired Air Force Pilot, 58, Returns to the Cockpit After Raising 4 Kids
A trailblazer who was an Air Force pilot for more than seven years and then quit as a T38 instructor to raise her children has returned to the cockpit after a 24-year hiatus, alongside her husband, a commercial jet pilot. Her reentry into the world of flying has left her “grinning ear to ear.”
Mom-of-four Tamaron Nicklas, 58, of Dallas, Texas, graduated Air Force Academy in 1986 as a member of the seventh class ever allowing women to enlist. When she gave up her career to raise a family, she assumed she would never fly again, so stepping into the cockpit of a Southwest Airlines aircraft with her husband, Larry, was a dream come true.
Former New York couple describes horror and hope of Hurricane Ian
For Floridians, the last week of September 2022 saw unprecedented destruction at the hands of Hurricane Ian, but the effects touched close to home for people around the country. One couple that used to live in Elmira and now lives in North Port, Fla. described to 18 News the horrors of waiting out the hurricane for hours in their home.
Karen Phillips grew up in Southport, lived through the 1972 flood, graduated from Southside High School, and later met her husband John in Big Flats. They still consider the Southern Tier their home, though they’ve lived on Florida’s west coast for a little over a year, describing their home as vulnerable but a paradise.
When Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida on Sept. 28, Karen said their power cut out at 2:04 p.m. She and her husband stayed in their bathroom for seven hours straight, listening to the wind roar over their home.
An elderly couple who didn’t have a wedding ceremony when they got married in 1972, were surprised when their family organized a full church ceremony and a party for their 50th wedding anniversary.
Scottie and Kay first met in March 1972, when Scottie was living with her sister and brother-in-law in Ohio.
Kay, who is Scottie’s brother-in-law’s brother, was invited to a Sunday dinner, and the rest was history. The couple tied the knot at a courthouse in North Carolina, a month after Scottie’s 19th birthday on Sept. 2, 1972. With most of their family in Virginia, the young couple opted for a quiet wedding.
Today, they have nine children, 26 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
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