WORLD NEWS
London Banks Prepping For Possible Blackouts
Banking and financial firms in London are closely studying and updating contingency electricity supply plans to protect themselves and their customers in case power outages hit the UK this winter.
Some banks are discussing the idea of again encouraging the work-from-home policies from previous Covid lockdowns or using offsite locations, representatives of the trade association UK Finance, coordinating the talks, told Bloomberg.
The UK and the rest of Europe are preparing for potential blackouts this winter, especially if the weather is colder than usual and gas and power shortages strain the grids. Governments in Europe are asking people to conserve energy to avoid rolling outages.
In the City of London, banks are paying closer attention to plans for backup power supply in case of blackouts.
“There is no sense of panic, just everyone is making sure that their ducks are in a row,” Andrew Rogan, director of operational resilience at UK Finance, told Bloomberg in an interview.
This summer, London narrowly avoided a blackout in the eastern part of the city at the end of July. While London and much of the UK were reeling from the hottest day on record in Britain, high power demand and a bottleneck on the grid left parts of East London close to blackout. The UK, however, managed to avoid a blackout in London by buying more electricity from Belgium at a mind-blowing price of $11,812 (£9,724) per megawatt-hour (MWh), which was more than 5,000% higher than the typical price.
Reports: Russians Attack Conscription Centers with Gunfire, Molotov Cocktails
A man upset at being conscripted into Russia’s war on Ukraine opened fire at a recruiting office in Irkutsk on Monday, gunning down a recruiter at point-blank range.
Another man hurled firebombs at an enlistment office in Uryupinsk, making it the latest of 20 such offices to be set ablaze since Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced nationwide mobilization to support the flagging war effort.
Indians Divided Over Calls to Ban Non-Vegetarian Food
According to a 2021 Pew survey, only 39 percent of Indians are vegetarian, while out of those who eat non-vegetarian food, 81 percent eat meat or chicken with some restrictions – like they avoid eating them on certain days due to religious concerns or don’t eat certain non-vegetarian meals.
India has been witnessing a controversy over non-vegetarian food. Recently, demands have been raised by some groups in a few states of the country to ban the sale of meat or chicken, especially during Hindu festivals.
In one such development, three charitable trusts of Jain religion and a businessman filed a petition in the Bombay High Court urging a ban on advertisements of non-vegetarian food items, alleging that they infringe on their right to live peacefully and tamper with the minds of the children.
Such demands especially come up during Hindu festivals like Navratri which is celebrated twice a year. During Navratri, a lot of people prefer to avoid eating meat or drinking alcohol whereas the devout observe a fast for nine days.
Earlier this year in April, meat shops in Delhi were forced to shut for Navratri after civic body officials asked them to do so. It triggered massive outrage, and several politicians also slammed the move.
Similarly, the civic body in Bengaluru city of Karnataka imposed a ban on meat and slaughter on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Controversy also erupted in Gujarat in November last year when Rajkot Municipal Corporation announced that roadside stalls selling non-vegetarian food and eggs on the main roads would be removed. The decision was implemented in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Junagadh and Bhavnagar.
In order to understand the implications of such demands, Sputnik reached out to some people who preferred vegetarian food as well as non-vegetarian lovers and General Secretary of Ghazipur Murga Mandi (Chicken wholesale market).
Talking about the demands being raised to ban the sale of non-vegetarian food items, Mohammad Salim, general secretary of Ghazipur Murga Mandi told Sputnik: “Such demands are not new. In a country as diverse as India, there can’t be one food habit. Everybody has the right to choose what he or she wants to eat.”
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Florida Sees First Mandatory Evacuations in Anticipation of Hurricane Ian
Florida is now seeing its first mandatory evacuations in anticipation of Hurricane Ian, which could bring “life-threatening storm surge” along “much of the Florida West Coast,” according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
A mandatory evacuation has been issued for certain parts of Tampa, per Hillsborough County officials.
“A mandatory evacuation order has been issued by @HillsboroughFL for Evacuation Zone A. A voluntary evacuation has been issued for Zone B,” the City of Tampa announced Monday morning. Evacuation zones can be found here.
Major Hurricane Ian BRIEFING:
https://www.weather.gov/media/tbw/dssbriefs/dssbrief.p
NOTE: R.J. Malloy, General Manager of WKDW-FM Radio in North Port, Florida will be calling into the show today reporting in on Hurricane Ian. https://www.tropicaltidbits.com
White House Warns Russia of ‘Catastrophic’ Consequences Over Nuclear Weapons
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday issued a warning to the Kremlin following recent statements by top Russian officials regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons.
“Let me say it plainly: If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia,” Sullivan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a directive to partially mobilize Russia’s reserve forces and suggested Moscow would use all weapons in its arsenal. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile, issued a more explicit threat about using nukes if Russia’s territorial integrity were threatened.
“This is not a bluff,” Putin said during his speech. “And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.”
But if nukes are used, the United States will respond, Sullivan warned. He did not elaborate.
“The United States will respond decisively,” Sullivan said Sunday. “Now, in private channels, we have spelled out in greater detail exactly what that would mean, but we want to be able to have the credibility of speaking directly to senior leadership in Russia and laying out for them what the consequences would be without getting into a rhetorical tit for tat publicly.”
Pennsylvania Pro-Life Advocate to Appear in Federal Court Following Dawn SWAT Raid
A pro-life advocate and father of seven will appear in federal court in Philadelphia on Sept. 27 to face charges that he violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) outside a Pennsylvania abortion clinic nearly a year ago.
Mark Houck, a Catholic pro-life speaker and author from Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, is accused of twice physically assaulting a patient escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic during an altercation in October 2021.
On Sept. 23, a heavily armed Justice Department SWAT team arrested the 48-year-old Houck at his home at gunpoint, placing him in handcuffs while his terrified wife and children looked on.
Houck became the latest target of President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice solely to “intimidate people of faith and pro-life Americans,” said Peter Breen, an attorney at the Thomas Moore Society, a national non-profit law firm representing Houck in the case.
Donations Pour In for Pro-Life Father Targeted in FBI Raid
Donations continue to pour in for a father of seven who was handcuffed by FBI agents last Friday and arrested in front of his children.
Mark Houck, a Catholic pro-life speaker and author from Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, became the latest target in a string of Department of Justice-sponsored SWAT raids and arrests.
“With no prior warning, and in spite of the fact that Mark is represented by an attorney, Biden’s Justice Department sent a fully armed SWAT team into a home full of young children at daybreak, to arrest a father for protecting his son,” Pennsylvania pro-life activists Ashley Garecht and her husband said via Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo, calling the action harassment driven by what they called “a corrupt and politicized justice system” under President Joe Biden.
About 25 to 30 FBI agents swarmed Houck’s rural property in Bucks County at around 7 a.m. on Sept. 23, pointing rifles at the parents in front of their horrified children, according to Houck’s wife Ryan-Marie. The 48-year-old was charged the same day with physically assaulting a patient escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia nearly a year ago.
If convicted of the offense, Houck faces up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000, according to the Justice Department.
The Garechts had gathered more than $137,000 via their crowdfunding page for the family as of Sunday, far beyond an initial $30,000 goal. Funds raised through the campaign will go to help the family with any necessary expenses, according to the site.
“We will not back down, we will not stop fighting to protect the lives of Pennsylvania’s unborn children,” said the Garechts.
The couple’s two teenage daughters were once harassed in 2019 by then-state Democrat Rep. Brian Sims for several minutes while praying outside a Planned Parenthood.
The Oath Keepers not only “had no plan” to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III warned his members that afternoon, “whatever you do, don’t try to enter the Capitol,” Rhodes told the FBI in an extensive interview obtained by The Epoch Times.
Information from Rhodes’s interview with two FBI agents in Texas in May 2021 contradicts much of what is in the January 2022 indictment charging him with seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties, and two other Jan. 6 charges.
Rhodes and four co-defendants will go on trial Sept. 27, accused of plotting to interfere with the counting of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6 and preventing the “peaceful transfer of power” between President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison, based on threats by prosecutors to seek sentencing enhancers for alleged terrorism.
In the interview—a transcript of which was obtained by The Epoch Times—Rhodes repeatedly asserts the Oath Keepers had no plan to attack the Capitol and, in fact, did nothing of the sort.
When he realized some Oath Keepers had gone into the Capitol, Rhodes said, he called an end to their event-security mission and ordered them all to rendezvous with him on the east side of the complex.
“Everyone came right there where I told them to go, not because I wanted them to go do anything else, [but] because I wanted to get them all together to keep them out of trouble,” he said. “I didn’t want them getting involved in any of the [expletive].”
Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs informed Rhodes he and other Oath Keepers went into the Capitol on a first-aid mission, Rhodes said.
8 Key House Races That Could Flip This November
Though Democrats currently have a majority in the House, Republicans feel confident they will flip enough seats to regain control of the chamber when midterm election results are announced on Nov. 8.
Every one of the House’s 435 seats is up for grabs. At least 212 lean Republican while 192 favor Democrats, the Cook Political Report announced on Sept. 21. The organization rates 31 elections as toss-ups.
There are dozens of races that could result in new party representation. Newly drawn maps that now favor one party over another will have an impact on some districts. Some races feature battles between first-time candidates vying to replace longtime representatives who are retiring or seeking another office.
There are also districts where Democrats were elected during former President Donald Trump’s term and now face steep re-election challenges at a time when President Joe Biden’s approval rating is low and the economy is plagued with high inflation.
Based on one or more of the aforementioned factors, here are eight examples of House seats that could flip and determine which party has control.
A lawsuit filed by parents against Attorney General Merrick Garland for a memo he wrote, which characterized parents protesting against school district policies as a threat, has been dismissed by a federal judge.
In the memo (pdf) issued by Garland on Oct. 4, 2021, he stated that there had been a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) would use its authority and resources to discourage such threats, identify them, and prosecute people, it said.
The memo was written in response to a letter sent by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to the DOJ on Sept. 29, 2021, which described parental opposition to school policies like teaching critical race theory or imposing COVID-19 restrictions as being akin to “domestic terrorism” and warned that the country’s public schools and education leaders are under “immediate threat.”
On Oct. 19, 2021, Saline Parents, an association of parents in Saline, Michigan—along with six individual parents from either Saline, Michigan, or Loudon County, Virginia—filed a lawsuit against Merrick.
It claimed that the attorney general adopted an unlawful policy to use the resources of federal law enforcement to “silence parents and other private citizens” who object and oppose “policies of the ‘progressive’ Left” that are being implemented in public school districts.
Biogen Inc., a pharmaceutical company that produces multiple sclerosis drugs, agreed to settle for $900 million to resolve allegations that it provided kickbacks to physicians and submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, the Justice Department announced Monday.
A former Biogen employee, Michael Bawduniak, filed the lawsuit against the Massachusetts-based company accusing Biogen of providing kickbacks to health care professionals in exchange for prescribing its multiple sclerosis drugs. The complaint alleged that Biogen provided physicians with improper payments from January 1, 2009, through March 18, 2014.
Bawduniak alleged that the payments were disguised as reimbursements to physicians who spoke at or attended the company’s speaker programs, speaker training meetings, or consultant programs. During those events, health care professionals collected remunerations from Biogen labeled
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Recession Signals Intensify as Key Economic Gauge Drops for 6th Straight Month
‘Economic activity will continue slowing more broadly throughout the US economy’: Conference Board
The recessionary drums beat louder in August as a key U.S. economic gauge from the Conference Board dropped for the sixth consecutive month, with a “major driver” being the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate increases.
The Leading Economic Index (LEI), which is a forward-looking gauge that includes 10 individual indicators, fell by 0.3 percent in August, the Conference Board said on Sept. 22. The latest reading brings the total six-month drop to 2.7 percent in the LEI measure, which is designed to predict business cycle shifts, including recessions.
“The US LEI declined for a sixth consecutive month, potentially signaling a recession,” Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director for economics at the Conference Board, said in a statement.
While the U.S. economy met the common rule-of-thumb definition for a recession when gross domestic product (GDP) printed negative for two quarters in a row earlier this year, recessions are formally called by a panel of economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). They use a broader definition than the two-quarter rule, relying on a wide range of indicators, including the labor market, which has remained on relatively solid footing.
There are signs, however, that the tight labor market is starting to loosen.
U.S. Home Prices Fall For First Time Since 2012, Largest Ever Deceleration
Home prices fell in July compared with the previous month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. This is the first national decline since 2012.
Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index fell 0.3 percent month-over-month decrease in July, while the 10-City and 20-City composites both posted decreases of -0.8 percent. After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index fell -0.2 percent. The 10-City composite fell 0.5 percent and 20-City Composites fell 0.4 percent.
Despite the month-to-month decline, home prices in July were still higher than they were a year ago. Nationally prices 15.8 percent over July 2021, a significant cooling from the 18.1 percent year-over-year gain in the previous month. The 10-City composite is up 14.9 percent year over year, a slowdown from 17.4 percent in June. The 20-City composite rose 16.1 percent, a decrease from 18.7 percent in the previous month.
“Although U.S. housing prices remain substantially above their year-ago levels, July’s report reflects a forceful deceleration,” says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI, in a statement. He said that the the 2.3 percent difference between the June and July monthly rates of gain is the largest deceleration in the history of the index.
Morgan Stanley Warns of Something Worse Than a ‘Normal Recession’
Morgan Stanley’s Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Michael Wilson said that he’s convinced a corporate earnings recession is coming—and that it could be worse than a “normal” recession.
Wilson said in a Sept. 26 interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that his team at Morgan Stanley is looking closely at the U.S. business earnings story and the impact of corporate profits on equities, which have been on a wild ride in recent months.
“We think it’s unavoidable … to avoid an earnings recession and that’s what matters for stocks,” Wilson said, with his remarks coming on the same day that the so-called Wall Street fear gauge soared to its highest level since mid-June when U.S. equities last hit a bear market bottom.
The CBOE Volatility Index, known as the VIX, tracks the 30-day implied volatility of the benchmark S&P 500 and is seen a measure of stock market investor fear.
The volatility gauge surged to a reading of 32.88 on Sept. 26, its highest level since it closed above the psychological barrier of 30 in the middle of June amid a sharp stock selloff.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Giant Food Companies Stampede To Raise Insects For Food
Innovafeed, a leader in the production of insects (Hermetia Illucens) for animal and plant nutrition, today announced it has raised US$250 million in Series D funding. This round, led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), also includes existing investors Creadev and Temasek, and new strategic and financial investors: global agribusiness leaders ADM and Cargill – both of which have strategic partnerships with Innovafeed – as well as Future French Champions, ABC Impact, IDIA Capital Investissement and Grow Forward.
This new round of financing brings Innovafeed’s total cumulative financing to US$450 million.
“The confidence demonstrated in us by our partners through a new round of fundraising confirms the insect industry is a key solution for our planet’s food production needs. Their support will allow us to accelerate our deployment in service of an ever healthier, natural and sustainable food system,” said Clément Ray, Co-founder & CEO of Innovafeed.
Innovafeed has already secured commercial partnerships for volumes representing more than €1 billion over the next 10 years.
Innovafeed will use the capital to:
- Continue to increase production capacity in France through the further expansion of its Nesle site in the north of France, the world’s largest vertical insect farm;
- Accelerate its international expansion, notably in the United States with the construction of a new production plant in Decatur, IL, in collaboration with ADM; and prepare global roll-out of Innovafeed’s technology, including development in Asia; and
- Continue to invest in breakthrough technology and R&D for the formulation of high-precision and high-performance ingredients for animals, plants and, in the future, for human food.
New Chief Operating Officer and US General Manager appointments
The Company also announced that Yves Amsellem has joined Innovafeed as Chief Operating Officer. With more than 30 years of experience in end-to-end supply chains for international food & beverage and industrial groups, including Danone and Chromology, Amsellem brings outstanding insights and proven capabilities to Innovafeed’s expansion plans.
In addition, the Company has appointed Maye Walraven, a French-American national, as Innovafeed’s General Manager for North America, a newly created role. She previously served as Innovafeed’s vice president of business development.
Unique partnerships for the international deployment of Innovafeed’s technology
The participation of world-class agribusiness leaders ADM and Cargill, both customers and suppliers of Innovafeed’s feedstock inputs, underscores the role of Innovafeed’s unique and cutting-edge technology and the insect industry’s ability to transform the food system into more natural and sustainable one.
“Our expansion in the United States is a critical step for our scale-up. It will enable us to access a deep source of feedstock and significantly increase our production capacity. I am very excited to be working closely with our local industrial partners, who are key contributors to accelerate the development of the entire industry and are supporting our momentum by their investment,” added Walraven.
An ambition: to go beyond the “impact-native” industry
Innovafeed also announced today the creation of an Impact Committee to place sustainable development and social impact at the heart of its business model and thus reinforce the global positive impact of the industry.
This committee will be responsible for defining and supporting Innovafeed’s ESG strategy over the next three years and will be chaired by Dr. Darian McBain, who is recognized for her more than 20 years of sustainability work and was formerly the Global Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability for the seafood conglomerate Thai Union.
“I am proud to take on the role of President of Innovafeed’s Impact Committee, an emerging company whose values and commitment to finding sustainable solutions to global food challenges I share. I believe that the insect industry will have a key role in building sustainable food systems and reducing our impact on climate change. I hope to contribute my sustainability expertise to enhance Innovafeed’s sustainability and ESG commitments and performance,” commented Dr. McBain.
NASA Successfully Crashes Into Asteroid. What’s Next?
NASA successfully plunged the DART probe into the Dimorphos asteroid Monday, completely obliterating the technology.
Thankfully, the entire point of the DART probe was to utterly destroy itself by smashing into the small Dimorphos asteroid. The purpose of the program was to see whether us mere Earthlings could divert the course of an asteroid so that we can potentially avoid a catastrophic collision in the future.
The DART probe launched in November 2021 made impact with the Dimorphos asteroid early Tuesday evening, according to the BBC. The camera attached to the probe sent back an image every second until the probe crashed into the asteroid’s surface, the outlet continued.
The next stage of the research is to ensure the experiment truly worked — whether the DART probe was successful in nudging the trajectory of Dimorphos, the BBC continued. Despite the success of impact, the mission has not yet achieved its purpose.
“We’re embarking on a new era of humankind, an era in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourselves from something like a dangerous hazardous asteroid impact. What an amazing thing; we’ve never had that capability before,” NASA director of planetary science Dr. Lori Glaze told reporters, the BBC noted.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Executive Order Advances Biotech-Transhumanist Agenda
September 12, 2022, President Biden signed the “Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe and Secure American Bioeconomy”
Specified in that order is the development of genetic engineering technologies and techniques “to be able to write circuitry for cells and predictably program biology in the same way in which we write software and program computers,” as well as genetic technologies to “unlock the power of biological data” using “computing tools and artificial intelligence”
This executive order establishes a fast-tracked pipeline of mRNA shots and other gene therapies that will further the transhumanist agenda to create augmented humans and bring us into a post-human world
Drug makers have clearly expected this free-for-all as they have loads of mRNA candidates in their pipelines. September 14, 2022, Pfizer initiated a Phase 3 study that will test a quadrivalent mRNA-based flu shot on 25,000 American adults
Moderna began its Phase 3 mRNA flu jab trial in early June 2022. Ultimately, Moderna wants to create an annual mRNA shot that covers all of the top 10 viruses that result in hospitalizations each year
5 things to teach your kids about social media
With children now back at school, it’s time to think about social media, and their use of it.
Are they already firing out tweets, chatting in Discord channels, or even just looking to set up a Tik-Tok account? Now is the time to consider giving your kids some security and privacy tips for all their social media needs.
- Get to grips with default settings
Most sites are in the business of making your data their business. EULAs and privacy policies are frequently terribly confusing for grown ups. Expecting a child to make sense of 1,000 very legal words is unfeasible. Social networks are absolutely in the business of providing services for free, and then using analytics to drive advertising on their sites.
Often, privacy settings are defaulted in a way which makes it easier for marketing/advertising/data-gulping to take place.
- It’s all about location
We touched on this briefly above, but this is a key component of your “Please watch out for these things” conversation. Trolling. Doxxing (grabbing personal details in a way which identifies an individual and then publishing them online). Swatting (sending fake emergency calls to law enforcement which results in armed officers crashing through your door). All of these things are very bad, and you don’t want your child getting tangled up in any of it.
Sadly, location services on social networks can cause problems in this area. Sometimes location is kept private for the user only. Other times, the location is in full view. It may be somewhat generic and say a major city like London, or it may drill down to a street.
Even without tech related issues or troublesome settings, the real-world can also give details away. Thanks to open-source tools, reverse image searches, and crowd-sourcing data, it’s never been easier to give the locational game away
- The value of anonymity
Back in the olden days, most of us were online using a pseudonym. It wasn’t massively common to have your real name or other potentially unique identifiers following you around from site to site. In fact, for the first few years of my security career, writers and journalists referred to me as my online handle because they didn’t actually know my name.
This is a far cry from what we currently have, with real names everywhere, verified profiles, authentication, and the common refrain that only people with something to hide don’t use their real name.
The reality is, people don’t use their real name online for all sorts of valid reasons. There might be domestic abuse or harassment issues. They may live somewhere where free speech or being critical of their government is frowned upon.
- Watch out for the fakers
Social media is rife with scams, and scammers will happily target anyone in front of them. In fact, some will actively target children specifically because of their likely inexperience in spotting a fake-out. Kids are also unlikely to use additional security measures like two-factor authentication. This means less work for the attacker. Fortunately you can help with this.
Any platform you can think of has scams particularly suited to it. Instagram is awash with Bitcoin scams and bogus competitions. Twitter has lots of phishing, NFT scams, bogus video game downloads, and get rich quick schemes. Facebook sees a fair amount of fake PlayStation sales and more generic Messenger scams. Compromised verified accounts, which add legitimacy to fraud, are common across all platforms.
- Be honest and respect privacy
Many times, young children and teens don’t want the hassle of locking everything down and micromanaging passwords or security settings. They may already have email addresses and various social media accounts. Are those email addresses locked down? Using two-factor authentication? Do your kids know their way around the various security settings across all of their logins? How about password managers?
Closing out the Summer
It’s not easy getting kids ready to go back to school. It’s even trickier to ensure they keep themselves safe from harm online. We hope the advice above will be helpful to you in getting one of those two gargantuan tasks off the table. Stay safe out there!
HEALTH
Study: 5 Hours of exercise a week can help prevent 46,000 cancer cases in the US yearly
A major study estimates that three percent of all U.S. cancer cases annually (about 46,000 cases) could be prevented if inactive adults made lifestyle changes to meet the physical activity guidelines of five hours every week.
The study was released in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. This study is the first to estimate the number of cancer cases attributable to physical inactivity based on cancer sites for each state, highlighting the need for “strong research involving exercise and cancer.”
Regular exercise key to reducing cancer risk
According to AICR’s comprehensive analysis of the global research, exercising regularly can help reduce the risk of breast, colorectal and endometrial
cancers. Data suggests that physical activity may also help lower the risk of esophageal, liver and lung cancers, but the researchers acknowledged that the evidence isn’t strong enough to meet AICR’s rigorous guidelines for them to conclude a clear link.
In previous years, single studies have shown that physical activity lowers the risk of several cancers beyond what AICR has concluded. The research involving exercise and cancer also reveals the many benefits of physical activity for cancer survivors.
Both laboratory and clinical studies have found that physical activities support the immune system, reduce chronic inflammation and promote healthy levels of hormones, such as insulin and estrogen.
The AICR recommends meeting the U.S. government’s recommendations for physical activity of at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per day (about 2.5 to five hours per week). Another option is to engage in about 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week.
All activities that raise your heart rate to at least a moderate activity count toward weekly exercise, such as brisk walking, dancing and swimming.
Cancers associated with inactivity
Compared to the highest recommended level of physical activity, or at least five hours a week, the results of the study estimated that at least three percent of all incident cancer cases, with the exception of nonmelanoma skin cancers, were linked to physical inactivity. They also found that the proportion of cancers due to inactivity was higher in women and that the annual cases were more than double the numbers of men.
For specific cancer sites, 9.3 percent of colon cancers, 8.1 percent of esophageal cancers and 6.5 percent of female breast cancers were linked to a lack of exercise.
When classified by state, the proportion of cancer cases attributable to physical inactivity ranged from 2.3 percent in Utah to 3.7 percent in Kentucky.
There are many obstacles to physical activity. Some are more likely to affect historically marginalized populations and those with a limited income, explained the researchers.
The study findings emphasized the need for interventions such as community programs and appropriate infrastructure that can help promote physical activity across states, especially in states with a higher prevalence of physical inactivity and attributable cancer cases.
As the study has proven, exercising regularly helps you maintain a healthy weight and also protects you against certain kinds of cancer.
If you’ve never been physically active, take small steps and start with manageable and moderate, 15-minute exercise sessions. Do five sessions during week one.
As you get stronger, gradually add five, 10, or 15 minutes over the next several weeks until you can easily get past the 30-minute mark each session.
If you have health issues that prevent more vigorous activities, try going for brisk walks to reduce your cancer risk.
To become consistently active, you also have to consider your mindset. Motivate yourself by thinking of exercise as play instead of a task.
FDA Issues New Safety Warning on Rare Cancers Linked to Breast Implants
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a new warning about rare cases of certain cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and various lymphomas, linked to breast implants.
In a safety communication notice posted on Sept. 8, the FDA said it had received reports of cancers found in the scar tissue, or capsule, that forms around breast implants.
SCC is the second most common form of skin cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic, and occurs in the skin’s squamous cells, which construct the middle and outer layer of the skin. Lymphomas refer to cancer of the lymphatic system.
These cancers are different from those described in previous warnings from the FDA about Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), which was first identified in 2011, the FDA said.
BIA-ALCL is not breast cancer but a rare type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or cancer of the immune system. Although rare, it can develop in the scar tissue capsule and fluid surrounding a breast implant and in some cases can spread to the rest of the body, according to Breastcancer.org.
Black Pepper: So Much More Than a Spice
Pepper comes in several colors, but the most common are black and white. Both come from the same plant and the color difference is related to when the fruit is picked and how it’s processed
The major bioactive compound in pepper is piperine, which is responsible for many diverse health benefits. Peppercorns are high in antioxidant properties, which may play a role in cancer, liver disease, atherosclerosis and the aging process
Piperine increases the absorption and bioavailability of other nutrients, and has cardioprotective, neuroprotective and hepatoprotective properties
Black pepper improves digestion, aids weight management, promotes skin and hair health, and aids in blood sugar control. Lab studies show the antiviral properties of black pepper are effective against Ebola, Dengue and SARS-CoV-2
For best results, grind whole peppercorns just before using them to retain the flavor and potency of the health benefits
Researchers found the caffeine in one standard cup of coffee stimulated brown fat activity, burning more energy and potentially improving insulin sensitivity. These activities may help improve weight management
Daily coffee drinkers also enjoy greater metabolism of fatty acids and a downregulation of the endocannabinoid system, which regulates cognition, immunity, sleep and appetite, having the opposite effect in the body than the ingestion of cannabis
Your body has white fat and brown fat cells; the white cells may be programmed to brown cells when the programming is not naturally suppressed by a special protein. Conversion of white to brown fat is known as “beige” or “brite” fat
The location of fat is important, since subcutaneous fat just under the skin is not as dangerous as visceral fat found deep in your abdomen around your organs. You may increase the activity of the brown fat you already have through exercise, exposure to cold and sleeping in a cool environment
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
California Air Resources Board (CARB) Voted To Ban Natural Gas Heaters And Furnaces by 2030
The California Air Resources Board today approved a statewide plan for attaining the federal health-based standard for ozone, typically experienced as smog. The 2022 State Implementation Plan Strategy identifies the state’s control strategy for meeting the federal 70 parts per billion, 8-hour ozone standard over the next 15 years.
The 2022 State Implementation Plan (SIP) Strategy includes an unprecedented variety of new measures to reduce emissions from sources under the state’s authority using all mechanisms available to transition away from combustion through regulations along with incentive and voluntary programs. Strategies outlined in the plan build on measures and commitments already made and range from the Advanced Clean Truck Measures and In-Use Locomotive Measure to a proposed zero-emissions space and water heaters measure, measures to reduce emissions from consumer products, and more.
“We need to take every action we can to deliver on our commitments to protect public health from the adverse impacts of air pollution, and this strategy identifies how we can do just that,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph said. “While this strategy will clean the air for all Californians, it will also lead to reduced emissions in the many low-income and disadvantaged communities that experience greater levels of persistent air pollution. But to truly meet the ozone standard, California needs more federal action to clean up harmful diesel pollution from primarily federally controlled sources, from locomotives and ocean-going vessels to aircraft, which are all concentrated in communities that continue to bear the brunt of poor air quality. We simply cannot provide clean air to Californians without the federal government doing its part.”
Electric Vehicles ‘Laughable’ Proposition for at Least a Decade: ExpertGeopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan has dismissed the possibility of electric vehicles (EVs) going mainstream in the next 10 years owing to limitations on materials and unresolved supply chain issues.
“The lithium comes from one place, and it’s all processed in China. So, just building the alternate processing infrastructure … and by the way, we have to invade Russia too … just to get the materials to do EVs at scale is just laughable for the next decade. We need a new technological series of breakthroughs in material sciences before that is possible,” Zeihan said on Sept. 8 at the 54th Annual ECC PerspECCtive Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
In a post on his personal website, Zeihan points out that electrifying “everything” will require more copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, zinc, chromium, graphite, silicon, rare earths, and other materials. A single electric car needs 200 kilograms (441 pounds) of such materials, whereas a conventional car only demands less than 50 kilograms (110 pounds).
Moving away from oil involves walking away from complex, often violent, and always critical supply and transport systems, “only to replace it with at least 10 more,” he said.
The United States will not just have to deal with Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, but also with countries like Chile, Bolivia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, Germany, Indonesia, and China, where such materials needed for electric vehicles are concentrated.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Growing Garlic: Fall Is The Time To Get Planting!
Fall is the time to plant garlic. Here’s what you need to know to prepare now for an abundant crop next summer!
In early autumn, when thoughts turn from vegetable gardening and move reluctantly toward preparations for winter, there’s still one crop that can be planted: garlic. Depending on where you live, garlic is usually planted during the first or second week in October, covered in at least 6 inches of a good mulch of shredded leaves or grass clippings, and harvested the following July.
Can I Grow Grocery Store Garlic?
It’s not advised to use supermarket garlic—unless you know it was locally grown. This “softneck” garlic may have been treated with sprouting inhibitors. If you want to grow from a supermarket bulb, find one organic and locally grown.
How To Grow Garlic
Get the dirt! Getting the soil ready is an important and often neglected prerequisite for successful garlic growing. Although garlic evolved in poor soils (most likely in the desert regions of Siberia), application of organic matter to the soil prior to planting will definitely increase your yield. Late summer is the best time to add compost or well-rotted manure to the site where you intend to plant. To prevent weed growth between when you are finished with preparations and when you plant, cover the bed with black plastic or heavy mulch. You can add a little more nitrogen to your garlic bed in the spring in the form of compost or rotted manure, but lay off after that; too much nitrogen may cause premature yellowing of the leaves.
Divide and conquer!
When you’re ready to plant, it’s best to divide your garlic bulbs into cloves before starting. Plant the cloves 6-8 inches apart, with the pointed end of the clove facing up, in rows or double rows with room to weed in between. You may have to remove some of the mulch in the spring if it is compacted and impedes your plants’ growth. Often, though, the mulch breaks down enough over the winter to allow the garlic to push through.
Bug free!
Planting garlic is a joy because the days are crisp and cool and there are few bugs to intrude on your revery. There are few pests that bother garlic. In fact, it may even deter some insect invaders and is often used in companion plantings to protect other plants from pests.
Choose your favorite!
Selecting the type of garlic you want to plant is a matter of individual taste, but be aware that there are many species of garlic out there other than the California white you usually see at the supermarket. There are dozens of exotic varieties available with names like Russian Red, Purple Stripe Porcelain, Rosewood, Kabar and on and on. So-called “hardneck” varieties develop a flowerhead on the stem called a “scape,” which curls and then extends upward, eventually becoming woody (hence the name “hardneck”).
Great ‘scapes!
Off with their heads! Cutting the flowerheads off of garlic when they appear also allows more of the plant’s energy to go into producing larger bulbs. Many commercial operations “pop the tops” off of their garlic for this reason.
Garlic scapes are considered a delicacy in their own right. They are harvested soon after they appear, and are often sold in bunches at farmers’ markets.
Harvesting Tips
Your garlic is ready to harvest once the cloves have distinctly formed. When the bottom leaves of the plant turn brown, it’s usually a good indication that the bulbs have nicely divided into cloves. You will need to cure the harvested bulbs by hanging the whole plants in bunches in a dry, airy location for a couple of weeks. A barn, garage, or shed is ideal, but you can also lay them on a screen under cover of a tarp or porch roof. Once your garlic has cured, trim off the stem and store at room temperature, because refrigerated garlic tends to sprout more quickly.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Doctor Turns Against Messenger RNA COVID-19 Vaccines, Calls for Global Pause
A doctor who promoted COVID-19 vaccines is now calling for health authorities around the world to pause administration of two of the most-widely utilized COVID-19 vaccines, asserting that the benefits from the vaccines may not outweigh the risks.
“There is more than enough evidence—I would say the evidence is overwhelming—to pause the rollout of the vaccine,” Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist and evidence-based medicine expert, told The Epoch Times.
A paper from Malhotra was published on Sept. 26 detailing the evidence.
Among the citations is a recent reanalysis of the Pfizer and Moderna clinical trials that concluded vaccinated trial participants were at higher risk of serious adverse events. Malhotra called the study a “smoking gun.”
Malhotra also pointed to the lack of reduction in mortality or severe disease in the trials, which were completed in 2020.
Taking into account death rates and other figures since then, the number of people who need to be vaccinated to prevent a single COVID-19 death ranges from 93,000 for people aged 18 to 29 to 230 for people aged 80 and above, according to an analysis of UK safety and effectiveness data by the Health Advisory & Recovery Team.
The author also noted that serious side effects have been detected after the trials, such as myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation.
Overall, looking at the absolute benefits and drawbacks of the vaccines, it’s time to halt their usage and allow authorities and other experts to closely examine the data to see if the vaccines should be used again down the road, according to Malhotra.
The paper was published in the Journal of Insulin Resistance in two parts following peer review.
Majority of federally-funded trials did not meet federal requirements, recent NIH report reveals
If we are implored to “believe science,” “follow the science,” and “trust science” (or whatever catchy slogan is plastered on t-shirts and social media profiles these days), only to learn that the clinical trials upon which the science is based are often faulty and flawed, then how much trust are we actually expected to have?
Of course, mainstream voices will dismiss critical thinkers and skeptics as “conspiracy theorists,” especially regarding hot-button topics like COVID-19. But the reality is science – and more specifically, federally-funded scientific research – is imperfect …, and evidently, it’s not even properly reported to the public most of the time.
U.S. Office of Inspector General (OIG) reveals that more than half of clinical trials audited did NOT comply with federal reporting requirements
In August 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the results of an audit that was conducted to “determine whether [the National Institutes of Health (NIH)] ensured that NIH-funded Intramural and Extramural clinical trials complied with Federal reporting requirements.”
The OIG says that the “NIH is responsible for ensuring that NIH-funded Intramural and Extramural clinical trials are reported on the public website ClinicalTrials.gov.” Why is the NIH responsible for making sure this happens? Because “[p]osting the results of clinical trials on ClinicalTrials.gov provides the public information that is available for understanding the safety and effectiveness of interventions,” explains the OIG.
The OIG was specifically looking at “all 72 NIH-funded Intramural and Extramural clinical trials for which Federal law and NIH policy required the results to be reported in calendar year 2019 or 2020.” To reiterate, the OIG audited ALL NIH-funded trials that were supposed to report their results in 2019 or 2020.
It is not immediately clear if any of these 72 studies involved COVID-related interests, including vax trials. However, given that virtually all studies regarding the pandemic didn’t begin until at least 2020 – and therefore were most likely not required to report in the 2020 calendar year, and certainly not the 2019 calendar year – it’s probable that none of the 72 studies were pandemic-related. Even so, check out what the OIG found:
Over HALF of the studies audited (37 out of 72) were NONCOMPLIANT with federal reporting requirements – 12 of the studies submitted their results late, and 25 of the studies did not submit their results at all.
Of course, not posting study findings is a convenient way to hide negative results about intervention “safety and effectiveness.” In fact, this phenomenon is so insidious that it has a specific name: publication bias, or “the failure to publish the results of a study on the basis of the direction or strength of the study findings,” according to the NIH.
Are government-funded researchers finding out things they don’t want to know – e.g., that an intervention doesn’t help or even causes harm – and hiding the results because of this?
The OIG summarized other key findings from their audit, which you can read about in detail in their report. These findings include:
- The NIH did not always ensure that responsible parties submitted clinical trial results
- The NIH did not have adequate procedures to ensure that responsible parties for NIH-funded clinical trials complied with federal reporting guidelines
- The benefits (and we’ll add – the risks) of clinical trials may not be fully realized when federal reporting requirements are not met
Audit revelations of past NIH-funded research failures shed a harsh light on government failures during COVID-19 pandemic
If you’re wondering what prompted this audit in the first place, the OIG explains that “our preliminary review of data from ClinicalTrials.gov showed that the results of most NIH-funded clinical trials that were completed in calendar year 2018 were not posted.”
Read that again – most of the trials that the NIH is funding (thanks, in large part, to taxpayer dollars) are NOT being properly reported. This appears to be a historical precedent. So how and why the government expects the public to blindly trust the current “science” on COVID-19 vax clinical trials is beyond imagination.
This harrowing realization of clinical trial failures mirrors the audacious and jaw-dropping admission by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a video recently distributed to CDC employees about the agency’s pathetic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Walensky said, “To be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes, from testing to data to communications.”
CANCEL CULTURE
The Right Response to Mandates, Propaganda and Censorship
In this interview, Dr. Meryl Nass shares astonishing figures on the blatant PCR testing and case count frauds that occurred during the pandemic.
Dr. Meryl Nass shares astonishing figures on the blatant PCR testing and case count frauds that occurred during the pandemic
The FDA has given emergency use authorization to 281 tests for COVID-19 but not one has received approval; this means their manufacturers have zero liability if the tests don’t work
The number of people who actually had and/or died from COVID in the beginning of the pandemic is unknown, because everybody who died “with COVID” was labeled a “COVID-caused” death
Hospitals were financially incentivized to increase the number of COVID cases because they got paid more if their patients had a COVID-19 diagnosis
Nass has created a pledge to provide a way to speak out against the injustice of vaccine mandates, propaganda and censorship that’s run rampant since March 2020
The Ideal Communist American City By Kathleen Marquardt
Amatai Etzioni, futurist and communitarian told us, “To make our physical environment more community-friendly, our homes, places of work, streets, and public spaces – whole developments, suburbs, and even whole cities – need to be designed to enhance the Communitarian nexus.”
Don’t know how communitarians think? In simple words, groupthink is vital; individualism is to become extinct (no, we will not all comply). You like your pink house on a 1/3-acre yard? Too bad, the group want to walk, live, eat, shop, think in tandem. Well, the plebians and useless eaters need to understand that is the way they “will now think, or else”. The Global Elite may also think in lockstep – but, for themselves, their groupthink is big mansions, 6 airplanes and a helicopter, caviar, foie gras, Wagyu beef, and Petrus or Romanee-Conti wine – while they devise the next weapon to do away with more of us until they reach the magic number – somewhere around 500 million, max.
Why this rant? What part of Cancel Culture am I so displeased with now?
According to Smart Cities Dive, a website for everything having to do with Smart Cities,[1] thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lock-down, people loved it so much they are going to lock themselves down permanently in the ultra-smart cities being built.
The COVID-19 outbreak enhanced the popularity and growth of live-work-play buildings, up to a high of 49,100 new units completed during the height of the pandemic in 2020. This building style appeals to renters because it offers daily activities — living, working and entertaining — under one roof, according to report author Andrea Neculae.
The development of new multifamily units as part of mixed-use “live-work-play” properties, which combine residential, office and commercial/entertainment uses at one site, has quadrupled in the past decade, according to data from Yardi Matrix. New unit completions in this category per year have risen from 10,000 in 2012 to 43,700 in 2021.[2]
This is straight out of The Ideal Communist City, written in 1968, for Communist East Germany, “built upon the rich heritage left by Soviet architecture and urbanism in the twenties (Unlike Western architecture which constantly turns to the past and is pseudo-conservative) . . .. The city embodies the highest achievements of our material and spiritual culture. As an inclusive organization, it connects residence and factory, past and future, individual and society. [3]”
Up until Agenda 21/ Sustainable Development was dumped on us, Marx and Lenin were universally and justifiably vilified. Now Marxism is making a comeback via other evil-minded men and women trying to take control of the entire World.
The U.S. Air Force Academy has defended its teaching cadets to avoid “gender-specific terms” such as “mom” or “dad,” saying that “inclusive language” is important to its mission of training leaders capable of winning wars.
The Colorado Springs-based military school recently met with criticism over a slide that instructs cadets to replace gender-specific terms with gender-neutral ones. For example, “partner” is considered a better alternative to “boyfriend” or “girlfriend.” Terms like “parents,” “caregivers,” and “guardians” are preferable to “mom” or “dad.”
To be “inclusive,” cadets should also avoid saying that they are “colorblind” or that they “don’t see color” or “we’re all just people,” according to the slide.
A screenshot of the slide, which is part of a training titled “Diversity and Inclusion: What it is, why we care, and what we can do,” was shared with Fox News by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), an Afghan War veteran and vocal critic of “wokeness” in the U.S. military.
“It’s been a tradition in the military to get letters from Mom and Dad or your boyfriend and girlfriend for as long as there’s been a military,” Waltz told Fox News. “Now we’re instructing every cadet entering the Air Force to not say ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ to not say ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ and this kind of drive towards gender neutrality.”
“I think the Air Force should be worried about the ‘macroaggressions’ against America that are happening all over the world,” he added in a mocking reference to “microagression,” a term leftists use for behaviors they see as unintentional or indirect discrimination against members of a marginalized group.
ICYMI
Liz Cheney Will Campaign for Democrats, Leave Republican Party If Trump Is 2024 Nominee
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on Saturday that she will not remain a Republican if former President Donald Trump is the GOP presidential nominee in the 2024 elections, and that she would also be willing to campaign for Democrats to stop GOP nominee Kari Lake from being elected in the Arizona gubernatorial race.
Cheney, who has been called a “Republican in name only” by others in her party and lost the Republican primary to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman in August, made the comments at The Texas Tribune festival in Austin.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Kari Lake is not elected,” Cheney said.
Former television anchor Lake, who is endorsed by Trump, won the Republican nomination in the Arizona primary election in August. Lake has been vocal in contending fraud in the 2020 election and has pledged to improve election security if she wins the gubernatorial race.
When asked by Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith whether doing everything she can to ensure Lake is not elected included campaigning for Democrats, Cheney simply stated: “Yes.”
Cheney, who has become one of the most vocal voices in the Republican Party against former President Donald Trump, later added that she would not remain a Republican if he were to gain the party’s nomination in 2024.
“I’m going to make sure Donald Trump, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he is not the nominee. And if he is the nominee, I won’t be a Republican,” Cheney said.
Psaki Admits Democrats Will Lose If Midterms Are a ‘Referendum’ on Biden
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday said the Democrats will lose if the November midterm elections are a “referendum” on President Joe Biden.
“If it is a referendum on the president, they will lose. And they know that. They also know that crime is a huge vulnerability for Democrats, I would say one of the biggest vulnerabilities,” Psaki said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sept. 25.
On the contrary, Psaki said that if the focus of the midterm elections is on the “most extreme” party, mentioning House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) by name, the Democrats will secure a victory in November.
With a little more than 40 days to go before the November elections, Biden’s public approval rating remains low. According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, 39 percent of Americans approved of the president, while 57 percent disapproved.
Additionally, 67 percent of the respondents said the United States was heading in the wrong direction, while 21 percent said the country was on the right track.
Another recent Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found that 50 percent of Americans thought Biden “should do more” on “blocking illegal immigrants” from entering the United States.
Even Democrats are abandoning Biden as the party’s nominee for president in 2024. According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, just 35 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents prefer Biden for the 2024 nomination, while 56 percent say the party should pick someone else.
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