1573: 4 No Youth

Podcasts

In general re podcasts: any podcasts covered by the SAG-AFTRA Podcast Agreement are not affected by a strike of the TV/Theatrical Contracts; podcasts produced by companies that are not part of the AMPTP are not affected by a strike of the TV/Theatrical Contracts; guest appearances on podcasts to promote struck work is not allowed under any circumstance; and both hosting and guest appearances on podcasts promoting struck work that are produced by struck companies are not allowed under the strike order. If you have any questions about appearing on a podcast, please contact SAGAFTRAstrike@sagaftra.org.

What are the SAG-AFTRA Strike Demands?

The Union is demanding increased minimum pay rates, increased streaming residuals, better working conditions and a way to make royalties relevant once again. Since the streaming model prioritises shorter seasons over longer periods of time, the actors are running out of jobs and opportunities, and they plan to protest against that as well. Like the WGA Strike, the guild is also trying to focus on the artificial intelligence aspect of this whole ordeal.

Given that AI has become capable enough to generate content and digital likenesses, they are trying to include some kind of regulation, giving the studios certain rules within which they can operate. The contract ended without any concrete deal, so the Union is likely to go on strike soon, giving solidarity to the Writers’ Strike in a whole new different way.

What Does the AMPTP Have to Say About the SAG-AFTRA Strikes?

While they had made their positions clear in the negotiations, members of the guild were not happy with the response they had received and broke off negotiations on opposing terms. Since then, the AMPTP has shared a statement regarding the same, saying that they’re unhappy with the way the negotiations proceeded. Their statement also shared that they had offered historical pay and residual increases, higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods and other benefits, but the guild refused.

The alliance has thrown the ball in the Union’s court, noting that the latter had walked away from negotiations rather than the former doing anything. They are saddened that these rifts will deepen the financial hardships of these people who depend on this industry as their livelihood.

Sissy Hypno Porn Anon mole

I'm a 25 year old trans woman (male to female) currently living in Portland OR and I'd like to share information that you and John will hopefully find insightful.

I started transitioning 3 years ago after a life of depression and self exploration. I knew when I was around the age of 12 but felt that coming out would ruin my chances at living a normal life. I have by no means been brainwashed by what has been (and is currently) happening.

I have always been crawling the net, and have been interested in computers for most of my life, so I found out about early forms of sissy hypno from being in 'trans-spaces' all the way back in 2013. I'm happy you have been covering it on the show because it is a major problem now.

Born out of the depths of fetishes like 'femdom' (female domination over a man) and 'forced feminization' (a woman making a man wear makeup and womens clothing) sissy has turned into a new-age and destructive rebirth of the term crossdresser. The porn has permeated parts of reddit and all the major porn sites. TikTok does have a huge role in this because a lot of TikTok inspired hypno videos have started to sweep the main sites that host this type of content.

The main one I've followed is hypnotube.com (NSFW)

(TikTok style video - NSFW)

https://hypnotube.com/video/sissies-love-tiktok-21091.html

Created by a trans woman who goes by Mia Electra. Her Instagram is @thehypnogirl

Her and the people adjacent to her circles are trying to cover all the bases by having marketed online store fronts like hypnofem.club and even creating fake fantasy pages like hypnouniversity.net

The thing that I'd really like to drive home is that discord, twitch, anime, youtube, and gaming culture all collide with this.

Discord is full of groomers soliciting nudes and sending hormones to minors through the mail. Twitch is full of degenerates who play games for 12 hours a day that are slowly taking the roles of friends and parental figures to their viewers (parasocial relationships). A lot of anime is porn adjacent. Youtube is the new TV for gen z acting as a hub that links to games that link to discord servers that link to twitch streamers that lead to being involved in ridiculous internet communities etc.

Another example is F1nn5ter, a British twitch streamer that started out playing minecraft and has now gained massive popularity for losing a bet to a friend where he had to jokingly dress up as a girl and go on omegle in 2018. He has now continued to 'be a girl' for 5 years because of the money and notoriety he started receiving and has recently created an onlyfans where he labeled himself as a 'femboy'.

https://youtube.com/@F1nn5terLIVE

https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/F1NN5TER

These are the influences that are weighing on young kids now. It makes all of this seem very normal.

I've been watching this slowly happen my whole life. Young men like my past self and friends around me being raised on a steady diet of video games, porn, and fast food with no real purpose, father figures, or hope for the future gives you exactly what we're seeing.

I hope that this sheds some more light on the topic from an insiders perspective and I will continue to be a mole in plain sight for all the dames and knights :)

Thank you both for everything you do!

Best,

Anon

From American Dream to Orwell’s Nightmare - Chronicles

Have schools stopped teaching “Nineteen Eighty-Four”—or are they now teaching it as a playbook for America to follow?

Either way, nearly a third of Generation Z loves Big Brother.

A survey by the Cato Institute finds 29 percent of Americans aged 18-29 respond affirmatively when asked, “Would you favor or oppose the government installing surveillance cameras in every household to reduce domestic violence, abuse, and other illegal activity?”

In 1791, the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham proposed building a “panopticon” in which people’s behavior could be monitored at all times.

But Bentham’s panopticon was meant to be a prison. A sizable segment of Generation Z would like to call it home.

Millennials are almost as submissive: 20 percent of the cohort between the ages of 30 and 44 also wants everyone watched. Among Americans 45 and older, support for such totalitarian surveillance rises no higher than 6 percent.

Yet the youngest adults are not the only ones with a disproportionate desire to live under the state’s all-seeing eye. There are political disparities, too, with 19 percent of liberals and 18 percent of centrists agreeing that our daily lives ought to be captured on camera for our own safety.

Only about half as many respondents (9 to 11 percent) who identify as conservative, very conservative or very liberal say the same thing.

Privacy and civil liberties seem like a “horseshoe” issue that unites the ends of the political spectrum. It’s the middle that has the ethic of old East German secret police—or the KGB.

Link

Disneyland empty Uber driver BOTG

Hey Adam, this is Sir Ulfgarr Knight of Orange County. I'm an Uber driver and I almost exclusively drive around Disneyland. I can confirm that park attendance is way down. The number of rides I get from guests is significantly less than what it was last summer when I started driving. I know a few annual pass holders and they confirm that the wait times are way down, especially since it is the busiest time of the year. I also know an employee and the scuttlebutt among the employees is that it's down because most of the guests are passholders who are blocked out. This is complete nonsense because the reason for the blackout dates is due to the massively increased summer demand. I started noticing the downturn a few weeks after Target started getting hit and I think the lag time is due to pre-planned vacations. It always brightens my day when you mention us drivers and I hear it while I'm driving. TYFYC and I'm proud to be a knight of the BPITU.

Snow Piercer theory

Adam, I'm a few episodes behind, but I just heard you and John briefly talk about the movie Snow Piercer in episode 1569. There's a theory out there that it's actually an unofficial sequel to Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Here are a couple videos discussing it:

https://youtu.be/jEX52h1TvuA

https://youtu.be/ygYlxTxSaCM

They make some pretty good points and the theory certainly makes the movie more interesting. Maybe you'll make it through if you try to watch again.

Thanks,

Kevin

UPS driver BOTG strike iminent

ITM Adam,

I am a FT Driver for UPS been with the company for 5 years. Yesterday, Friday, our our PT Supervisors on any shift and Full Time Supervisors were told to get DoT cards. Any Supervisor Full/Part time that hasn't driven before is getting orders to go to driving school. Intergrad is what it's called in Dallas. Any Supervisor that had driving experience will get a Zoom refresher. The rumors are if Part and Full time union employees strike the Pilots and Feeder (18 wheeler) drivers are striking too. It seems fantasies of strike are becoming reality.

In my opinion UPS has been bleeding workers dry since the beginning of the year. Force mandatory 1 hour lunches. Most would work and take 15 minutes of lunch to get off early. Operations has gone away from stops per to hours per day a year ago in our center. I told them 11.5 hrs of work a day and get dispatched for 8 hrs. I constantly remind them of my hrs and work I want. Also layoffs galore.... meaning they will call senior drivers to bottom serionity and ask if they want the day off because of over staffing. Last year they also sent APEX Teams out to set up a ridiculous system of holding mass amounts of packages in rural loops (Routes) a day. So we would grab these packages off the conveyor belt and have to load into 18 wheeler then it would be reprocessed the next morning. Massive amounts of damaged packages, old hello fresh (food), and medical packages some in dry ice. Also as a driver if you found a package on truck for another truck you would have to deliver it. Not any more I haven't ran a misload in 4 months medical, food, Amazon, next day air. They tell me to shoot it missed meaning non delivered.

Taking your advice I have listened to podcast with our CEO Carol Tomei. She has heavily invested UPS in to battery powered plane research with Beta Inc. All green data centers enough energy to power 50k homes. Increased dividends and did stock buy backs equating to 8.5 Billion dollars.

Wish us luck and what should my strike sign say? I was thinking Brown Lives Matter to Co-opt the messaging from BLM.

TYFYC

Anonymous

PFAS mitigation BS BOTG

Adam if you use this keep me anonymous,

The PFAS scare fall down to "If you can measure it mitigate it." In most cases they are detecting PFAS in the parts per billion range, and mitigating down to parts per trillion. I've worked in the water treatment business for over a decade. I've installed multiple PFAS mitigation system at well heads consisting of carbon filtration as well as ion exchange resin. Both of these processes work well. I find it funny that a cold war chemical weapons manufacturer, Battelle is involved in mitigation testing...

Ironically the pipe dope and thread sealing tape used to assembled the mitigation system piping CONTAINS PFAS!

As for your comments on Teflon. Teflon was developed at a Dupont plant outside of Parkersburg, WV and one of the PFAS chemicals label C8 was getting dumped into a tributary of the Ohio river for decades. This info was released to the public in the mid 2000s Dupont paid individuals $400 per blood sample looking for PFAS in the local population.

There are 2 movies on this subject one documentary and a Drama staring Mark Ruffalo. Both are worth a viewing.

Documentary: The Devil We Know(2018)

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7689910/

Drama: Dark Water(2019)

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9071322/

ATC turbulence departures BOTG

Hello Adam

On the two recent episodes you spoke about the gradual descent paths taken by aircraft going into land at their destination airports.

While I do agree with the overall thesis there are some additional elements that I feel need to be added to the conversation.

Within the last decade, FedEx at Memphis has done testing, and the FAA continuing FedEx's tests, and have shown that the formerly standardized wake turbulence separation of aircraft based on maximum takeoff weight is no longer valid. Modern aircraft, based on these tests, are actually able to withstand greater wake turbulence encounters than previously thought. For example, what used to be 5 miles wake turbulence radar separation with a large behind a heavy aircraft can be reduced to as little as 3.5 miles. These tests have led to re-categorization of aircraft from the traditional Small, small-plus, large, heavy, and Super weight designations, to now using categories A-I each with their own separation criteria. These new categories allow for reduced spacing of aircraft in the terminal environment. Enroute separation is still 5 miles minimum or 1000 ft.

On its own, its a good thing. Less delays, faster flights, etc. But, when combined with another innovation by the FAA, it creates a greater issue.

Standard Instrument Departures, SIDs and Standard Terminal Arrival Routes, STARs, have been introduced into Aviation over the last number of years and especially RNAV routes. It has allowed for reduced separation on departure, and aircraft flying GPS programmed routes out of the terminal area. With all these aircraft flying the same stretch of sky on take-off and landing, you have air that is constantly unstable and having pilots ride the edge of being under control.

This is also combined with many major airports moving to dedicated departure and arrival runways. That means that the natural gaps on final for aircraft to depart the runway are being eliminated in favor of increased runway utilization, and smaller gaps in traffic. High-speed exits off runways allow for even more increased in-trail spacing. Closer aircraft, greater turbulence, less comfort in the flight overall.

While the gradual descent profiles are having aircraft descent through clear air turbulence at the expense of passenger comfort, in the terminal environment it feels like the FAA is shooting itself in the foot in passenger comfort.

Source: I am a controller in the FAA. I recently asked for ATC final exam karma on a recent show. Good news: I failed! I don't get to go to new york! I instead get to stay in the south and got a facility in Baton Rouge, LA. I lived in New Orleans prior to being hired. GF's family is in Lafayette and I couldn't be happier.

TYFYC, Brandon; future Sir Homebound, separator of Baton Rouge Airspace

No fertilizer exported from Russia under grain deal – media — RT Business News

Not a single vessel carrying Russian fertilizer has been dispatched since the adoption of the Black Sea grain deal last year, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday, citing the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) for the initiative.

Enabling fertilizer exports from the sanctioned country was one of the conditions for the UN-brokered agreement that allowed for the safe passage of ships carrying Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. The deal was extended several times and is due to expire on Monday.

"The agreement of July 22, 2022 allows the export of [Russian] fertilizers, including ammonia, however not a single ship with fertilizers has been dispatched within the framework of the initiative," the JCC said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

Link

Delta8 BOTG

Hi Adam-

I want to share this story with you, not that it’s anything discussed on show lately but in light of the “that mother fucker’s not real” woman on the airplane and an incident our friends had a couple weeks ago, more stories like this may be on the horizon.

When I asked my friend a few days ago if he had seen the video, he searched and viewed it, and then told me it looked exactly like an episode with his wife.

A short time ago, his wife was having insomnia and started taking Delta8 as a sleep aid. She began to gradually have psychotic events, at first seeming humorous and harmless, claiming she was making the rain stop, the fireflies come out. These quickly escalated and she began claiming she was God and eventually one night she told her husband that he was Satan and she had to kill him. He called 911 for assistance and the first thing the police asked him was if she had been taking D8. She was admitted to a local mental health facility and over the course of about 2 weeks the psychosis began to fade and finally stopped. She was then released and has had no episodes since. During her stay at the facility the doctors told her husband that 80% of the patients there had been taking D8. I know that D8 is considered D9 light but the doctors seem to think that it’s the synthetics in the D8 that are bringing on these episodes. Although the effects of taking this appear to be well known, it seems no one is willing to look into anything that might kill the cash cow.

Kratom BOTG

Wow thanks for the mention and the

Anti Kratom report

A large population that use Kratom do what's called Toss and Wash micro powder/flour that after a while will build up in the GI and people will develop said problems ie constipation and the D word from lack of Hydration and also from excessive use

Most powder users

Daily intake 2 to 15 tablespoons

That's all fiber

All the product I make comes from crumbs/flakes and filtered so there is a little residue

So prior to the change

Dr Scott Gottlieb who is the big anti Kratom guy yes big pharma douchebag in 2017/2018

The FDA had a Kratom caused deaths list

That once you read it you can see that the only time the HuffPo actually did it's homework

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kratom-deaths-fda_n_5a7a3549e4b07af4e81eda8b

https://speciosa.org/big-pharma-forces-fda-to-create-kratom-hysteria/

Also people who end up in rehab usually are there because they are doing a diy home detox trying to get off something else but detoxing off Kratom is simple High pH water and Alka Seltzer that triggers the Alkaloids that remain in the GI from to much powder and needs to be flushed out

I have counted a dozen stories regarding Kratom detox Even a discussion with a Rehab Nurse after I asked her if she had drug tested the person? saying that they only used Kratom and they were there only for that reason someone detoxing off major drugs would react badly and hellish withdrawals she actually didn't respond I take that as a No!

Better to blame a plant and hide a real addiction

When I ship the next batch of bottles out I will send you some Crumbs and Powder I only use powder when I get a order for resin thats far and nil

This study shows when mixed with other drugs

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/kratom#addictive-withdrawal

The last Keep Up Kratom

Was a mix of Red Kratom and Green and I mixed it for you when you started your dental journey mostly for pain.

Best regards Steven

Dropped iPad implicated in fatal Rotak Chinook helicopter crash - Vertical Mag

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 15:31

By Elan Head |

July 13, 2023

Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 51 seconds.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have demonstrated that an Apple iPad likely jammed against the co-pilot's left pedal prior to the fatal crash of a Rotak Helicopter Services Chinook in Idaho last year.

The CH-47D operated by Rotak Helicopter Services crashed in the Salmon River during firefighting operations on July 21, 2022. NTSB PhotoThe Boeing CH-47D had been filling its bucket on a long line in the Salmon River on the afternoon of July 21, 2022, when it began spinning to the left. Eyewitness video captured the helicopter continuing its counterclockwise rotation as it descended and impacted the river just 13 seconds later.

Although ground firefighters on scene quickly extracted the pilot, Thomas Hayes, 41, and co-pilot, Jared Bird, 36, from the water, both men ultimately died from their injuries.

The NTSB has not yet released its final report on the accident, which will include its determination of probable cause. However, the newly opened public docket for the crash contains an ''Exemplar Helicopter and iPad Examination Summary'' that details how investigators established the source of damage on the flight crew's iPad, which was recovered from the river with three distinct gouge marks and a bend from the back of the case toward the screen.

Apple iPads and other so-called electronic flight bags (EFBs) have become common equipment in aircraft cockpits, used for flight planning, as a supplemental navigation aid, and to replace paper documents, among other purposes.

NTSB investigators were able to align gouge marks on the accident flight crew's iPad with a sharp, vertical metal piece of the co-pilot's heel slide support assembly. NTSB PhotoNTSB investigators conducted their study using an exemplar CH-47D with a cockpit configuration similar to that of the accident helicopter. During the accident flight, the pilot was sitting in the left seat and the co-pilot in the right.

Using auxiliary power to activate hydraulic assistance, investigators first pushed the pilot's left pedal forward, which resulted in the co-pilot's left pedal also moving forward. (Left pedal is used to commence a yaw to the left and/or stop a right yaw, and vice versa.)

Investigators then placed the study's iPad between the left pedal and the airframe, next to the heel slide support assembly, on the co-pilot's side. When additional pressure was applied to the pilot's left pedal, the iPad fell and jammed between the left pedal and heel slide support assembly. That prevented the pedals from re-centering while also pushing against the co-pilot's left pedal adjustment lever.

When pressure was applied to the pilot's right pedal, the iPad was squeezed in between the pedal and the heel slide support assembly. The gouges in the recovered iPad aligned with a sharp, vertical metal piece of the assembly underneath the heel slide.

Additional right pedal input forced the iPad to apply more pressure to the co-pilot's pedal adjustment lever. Examination of the accident helicopter's wreckage revealed that the co-pilot's left pedal was at the forward-most adjustment setting, while his right pedal was at the middle adjustment setting.

According to investigators, the accident co-pilot's height was five feet, ten inches. During the study, with seat restraints on and seats adjusted for comfort, neither a slightly shorter (5'7'') nor a slightly taller (6'2'') man could reach the iPad in its jammed position.

Investigators demonstrated how seat restraints and the instrument panel visor would have prevented the co-pilot from quickly retrieving the jammed iPad. NTSB PhotoInvestigators also pointed out that the co-pilot's flight helmet would have further complicated any attempts to retrieve the iPad, as the helmet would have contacted the visor over the instrument panel.

Andy Evans, director of the aviation safety consultancy Aerossurance, said that while operators are generally required to conduct risk assessments before adopting EFBs, there is often not an explicit requirement to consider the risk of the EFB as a loose object.

''Hopefully this accident will prompt operators to have a long hard look at all possible loose articles in cockpits and robustly securing valuable tools and sources of situational awareness like EFBs,'' he told Vertical by email.

White House Voluntary Disclosure Policy Visitor Access Records | whitehouse.gov

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Archived Version

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 15:20

The President has decided to increase governmental transparency by implementing a voluntary disclosure policy governing White House visitor access records.

The President has decided to increase governmental transparency by implementing a voluntary disclosure policy governing White House visitor access records. The White House will release, on a monthly basis, all previously unreleased WAVES and ACR access records that are 90 to 120 days old. For example, records created in January 2010 will be released at the end of April 2010. The short time lag will allow the White House to continue to conduct business, while still providing the American people with an unprecedented amount of information about their government. No previous White House has ever adopted such a policy.

The voluntary disclosure policy will apply to records created after September 15, 2009, and the first release of records (covering the month of September) will occur at the end of the year, on or about December 31, 2009. We expect that each monthly release will include tens of thousands of electronic records. Since the White House considers these records to be subject to the Presidential Records Act, it will continue to preserve them accordingly.

The White House voluntary disclosure policy will be subject to the following exceptions:

The White House will not release fields within the access records that implicate personal privacy or law enforcement concerns (e.g., dates of birth, social security numbers, and contact phone numbers); records that implicate the personal safety of EOP staff (their daily arrival and departure); or records whose release would threaten national security interests.The White House will not release access records related to purely personal guests of the first and second families (i.e., visits that do not involve any official or political business).The White House will not release access records related to a small group of particularly sensitive meetings (e.g., visits of potential Supreme Court nominees). The White House will disclose each month the number of records withheld on this basis, and it will release such records once they are no longer sensitive.Visitor information for the Vice President and his staff at the White House Complex will be disclosed pursuant to the policy outlined above. It is not possible, however, to release visitor information for the Vice President's Residence in an identical format to the White House Complex at this time because the Residence is not equipped with the WAVES and ACR systems that are in place at the White House Complex. The Office of the Vice President will, instead, release the guest lists for official events at the Residence and will also review the Vice President's and Dr. Biden's daily schedules and release the names and dates of visitors to the Residence who appear on those schedules. The Vice President's staff is working with the Secret Service to upgrade the visitor records system at the Residence. When the electronic update is complete, visitor information for the White House Complex and the Residence will be released in a common format.WAVES and ACR records created between January 20 and September 15, 2009 will not be subject to the voluntary disclosure policy. Instead, the White House will respond voluntarily to individual requests submitted to the Counsel's Office that seek records during that time period, but only if the requests are reasonable, narrow, and specific (e.g., requests that list specific possible visitors). Responses to reasonable requests will be subject to the four exceptions described above.

Diet Coke safe as long as you don't drink 14 cans every day, WHO says after aspartame cancer fears | The Independent

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Archived Version

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:12

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An artificial sweetener found in Diet Coke is ''possibly'' carcinogenic but only if you drink the equivalent of nine to 14 cans every day, the World Health Organisation has ruled.

General advice on how much aspartame we can eat or drink has not been changed on the back of the studies which looked into whether consumption of the additive could cause cancer.

The news will come as a relief for industry executives who were anxiously awaiting the announcement on Thursday.

Aspartame is also found in ice cream and chewing gum and has been ruled safe to consume in limited quantities.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organisation, has said only heavy consumers of aspartame should consider cutting down.

Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Pepsi Max and 7 Up Free all contain aspartame but, depending on their body weight, the drinker would need to down between multiple cans per day to consume a potentially harmful amount.

For someone weighing 70kg, they would need to drink nine to 14 cans per day to exceed the guidelines.

It means that aspartame ducked the more serious categories of ''probably carcinogenic to humans'' and ''carcinogenic to humans''.

Aspartame is also found in gelatine, ice cream, dairy products such as yoghurt, breakfast cereal, toothpaste and medications such as cough drops and chewable vitamins.

Dr Francesco Branca, director of the organisation's department of nutrition and food safety, has said that while the report ''raised the flag'' it should not concern people who enjoy the occasional diet drink.

''We're not advising consumers to stop consuming (aspartame) altogether. We're just advising a bit of moderation,'' he said.

''The assessments of aspartame have indicated that, while safety is not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used, potential effects have been described that need to be investigated by more and better studies.''

Diet Coke, which contains aspartame, on sale

(Reuters)

However, the studies cited ''limited evidence'' and called for more research into the issue with the organisation and its sub-group pledging to monitor evidence.

Harriet Burt, senior policy and international projects officer for World Action on Salt, Sugar and Health based at Queen Mary University of London, said the report emphasised the need for a new approach by food and drink manufacturers.

She said: ''This new report from the WHO shows that companies need to reduce the overall sweetness of their products rather than relying so much on sweeteners.

''When done correctly, reformulation can gradually remove excess sugars, salt and saturated fat from foods to improve their overall healthiness without the need for replacement ingredients such as non-sugar sweeteners.''

Russian parliament bans gender reassignment surgery for trans people - BBC News

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Archived Version

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:09

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, LGBT flags at a previous protest in St Petersburg

Russia's lower house of parliament has passed a new law banning gender reassignment surgery, in the latest attack on LGBT rights in the country.

The State Duma approved the bill, which will also ban people changing their genders on state documents, on Friday.

It now needs approval from the upper house and President Vladimir Putin, moves normally seen as formalities.

Speaker of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the bill would "protect our citizens and our children".

In a telegram post on Friday, Mr Volodin also called gender-affirming surgery a "path to the degeneration of the nation".

"We are the only European country that opposes all that is happening in the States, in Europe and does everything to save families and traditional values," he said during the debate on Friday. "And we need to understand that there won't be any future if we don't adopt the law, if we don't ban gender change."

Fresh amendments added to the bill on Friday during its final reading included banning individuals who have undergone gender changes from adopting children, and annulling marriages where one party had undergone gender reassignment.

LGBT rights groups said the legislation would have a serious impact on the health of people denied access to care.

"I think this is an absolutely fascist law, which deprives people of medical care and any basic human rights," said Yan Dvorkin, head of the Center T organisation which provides support for Russian transgender people.

"It is very difficult psychologically for people to be worrying that the government might designate you as an enemy of the people and deprive you of rights, deprive you of any assistance, and leaves you in a lawless state."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov sought to dismiss the concerns, telling reports in Moscow that some of the issues raised by activists against the bill were "perhaps excessive".

But Yulia Alyoshina, Russia's only openly trans politician, accused the government of trying to "repress this small group, which is already discriminated against and stigmatised".

According to the Russian interior ministry, 2,990 people legally changed gender between 2016 and 2022. The country has a population of 146 million.

The law marks a further rolling back of civil rights in Russia, following the passage of last year's anti-LGBT propaganda laws.

Under the legislation, any public expression or portrayal of LGBT culture was outlawed in public spaces. Individuals can be fined up to 400,000 roubles (£5,400) and organisations 5m roubles (£68,500) for "propagandising non-traditional sexual relations".

In recent years the Russia has seen the Orthodox Church and the state enter into an increasingly powerful alliance, with the government pushing the church's conservative social outlook.

President Putin himself has said LGBT lifestyles run counter to traditional Russian values and he has repeatedly railed against trans rights.

The latest attack comes just a day after Russia's internal security service, the FSB, announced that it had arrested a transgender rights activist on charges of treason for supporting Ukraine.

In footage carried by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, the man was seen being slammed into a wall by armed officers clad in tactical gear, before being driven away in a van.

The agency alleged he had donated to OVD-info, a human rights monitoring organisation banned in Russian in 2021 under its foreign agents laws.

Arrest after activist told crowd at London Trans Pride to 'punch Terfs in the face'

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Archived Version

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:09

A 53-year-old woman has been arrested, police said, after an activist told a crowd at a trans pride event to punch gender-critical people in the face.

At the march in London on July 8, an activist was filmed apparently calling for protesters to ''punch Terfs in the face''.

The Metropolitan Police said a woman had now been arrested on suspicion of incitement to violence in Westminster after a video of the incident was widely shared on social media.

Terf is an abbreviation for ''trans-exclusionary radical feminist'', a term used to describe people who believe that a trans woman's gender identity is illegitimate.

In the video, the activist was apparently seen telling a cheering crowd: ''I was going to come here and be really fluffy, be really nice and be really lovely and queer and gay and laugh.

''But if you see a Terf, punch them in the f------ face.''

The incident occurred at the London Trans Pride march, which has been running since 2018 and this year was supported by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London.

When asked if Mr Khan supported the alleged comments, a spokesman said: ''The mayor is a proud LGBTQI+ ally and has been clear in his support for the trans community. He is also clear that violence is never acceptable.''

There was an initial report to the Met over inciting violence, but an officer told a complainant that it was not in the public interest to pursue the case.

They said the call for violence was ''hypothetical'' and allowed under free speech laws.

The case was reviewed and on July 10 the force announced the investigation had been reopened.

The organisers of the march said that while they do not condone violence, many activists at the event ''hold a lot of rage'' which they ''have the right to express'' through words.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ''A 53-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of Incitement to violence. She has been taken into custody.

''The arrest on 12 July is in connection with an incident during the Trans Pride event in Westminster on 8 July. A video was widely shared on social media.''

Britain on lockdown alert as new killer virus which kills 40% of victims 'certain' to reach UK

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:08

Britain has been warned it could face another Covid-style lockdown when a new killer virus sweeping Europe reaches the UK.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) - which kills between 10''40% of people infected - has been identified as a major threat to public health.

The World Health Organisation says the virus - which kills 500 people every year - is mainly transmitted to people from ticks and livestock animals.

But human-to-human transmission can occur and the disease, which is endemic and has recently killed people in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asia, is now sweeping through Europe with up to three billion people now 'at risk'.

There is no vaccine.

Professor James Wood, who spoke to Parliament's Science, Innovation and Technology Committee last week, said: "It's when rather than if [the disease reached the UK].

"I think all in all likelihood. There is a risk of spread given the way that diseases emerging."

But he denied a national lockdown would be a sensible way to deal with the arrival of the virus in the UK.

Prof Wood, an academic at University of Cambridge, added: "You'd be unlikely to get the sort of respiratory transmission [seen in Covid].

"So even say, I don't want to call them extreme lockdown enthusiasts, but, someone who thinks that these measures are very important to, to impose straightaway, I don't think it would be appropriate as it's not right for this form of infection."

The hosts of the CCHF virus include a wide range of common animals including cattle, sheep and goats. They become infected by the bite of infected ticks and the virus remains in their bloodstream for about one week after infection.

CCHF is endemic across much of Africa and Asia and is sweeping through Europe

WHO

Most human cases have occurred in people involved in the livestock industry, such as agricultural workers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians.

But human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact via blood or other bodily fluids.

Experts say Brits can reduce their chances of getting infected by wearing long trousers when walking in tick-dense areas, like long grassland.

Prof Wood told the Mirror: "Try to keep them off our your legs, perhaps wearing long cotton trousers, either tucked into socks or not.

"It can spread but you should expect it more really in hospital-type settings where people don't realise what's going on and haven't taken appropriate safety measures, like PPE, what we are so used to seeing hospital workers wear anyway.

"The fatality rate is up to 40 per cent. A lot of so a fair number of people in Spain have died from it."

Some experts fear the disease will arrive in the UK through migratory birds, some of which have been known to carry ticks. But there is consensus that it will arrive on UK shores.

The WHO has issued guidance on how to safely remove ticks to protect against CCHF

WHO

Prof Wood added: "There's a high level of uncertainty. There's a high level of uncertainty whether it's going to be five years, or 15, or 25 by the time it reaches UK.

"It's very difficult to add any kind of precision to that and it would be a mistake to, frankly, and so none of us are trying to say, you know that 'we're all going to die' or 'we're all doomed'.

"It's just about being aware that because of the way the world is changing, we've got to be much more aware of these sorts of infections in the way that we haven't been in the past."

The WHO said 70 per cent of cases had a known history of tick bite. The most common symptoms include abrupt onset of a fever, chills, shudders, myalgia, headaches, sicknesses and vomiting, abdominal pain and arthralgia.

Severely ill patients may experience sudden liver failure or pulmonary failure after the fifth day of illness with death occurring in the second week after infection. In patients who recover, improvement generally begins on the ninth or tenth day after the onset of symptoms.

Will feline coronavirus spread to UK after killing cats in Cyprus?

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:07

An outbreak of feline coronavirus that has killed thousands of cats in Cyprus could spread to Britain, it is feared.

Veterinary surgeons on the island have reported an ''alarming increase'' in cases of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a strain of coronavirus that does not spread to humans.

The symptoms of FIP include fever, abdominal swelling, energy loss and aggressive behaviour, with kittens and young cats the most affected.

Dinos Ayiomamitis, the head of Cat Paws Cyprus and the vice-president of Cyprus Voice for Animals, both animal rights campaign groups, said the virus had killed 300,000 cats on the island since January.

Professor Dani¨lle Gunn-Moore, a specialist in feline medicine at the University of Edinburgh, told The Daily Telegraph that the size of the outbreak had

London at risk of major measles outbreak, UK Health Security Agency warns | Vaccines and immunisation | The Guardian

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:06

London is at risk of a major measles outbreak that could result in tens of thousands of cases, the UK Health Security Agency has warned.

Without an improvement in MMR vaccination rates, the capital could experience an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,0000 cases, fresh analysis by the UKHSA suggests. Experts said an outbreak of this scale could lead to dozens of deaths and thousands of people hospitalised.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: ''Measles can be a serious infection that can lead to complications especially in young children and those with weakened immune systems. Due to longstanding suboptimal vaccine uptake there is now a very real risk of seeing big outbreaks in London.''

Official data published on Friday revealed a steady rise in measles cases this year, indicating a resurgence of the illness. Between 1 January and 30 June this year there have been 128 cases of measles, compared with 54 cases in the whole of 2022, with 66% of the cases detected in London, although cases have been seen in all regions.

Measles can lead to severe illness, with an estimated 20-40% of children hospitalised, according to the UKHSA. The US Centre for Disease Control estimates one to two in 1,000 children infected will die from measles, with a larger number experiencing serious complications, including intellectual disabilities and deafness.

''UKHSA is right to be worried about this,'' said Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, saying that an outbreak of the scale described would be expected to lead to ''dozens of deaths''.

''Measles is one of the most infectious viruses to infect humans,'' he said. ''About two in 1,000 infected people will die, the main risk being in children under five years old, but adults can get very sick as well.''

In some parts of London, only 69.5% of two-year-olds are getting their first dose of the MMR vaccine. Photograph: Lindsey Wasson/ReutersMeasles is the most infectious of all diseases transmitted through the respiratory route. In a population with no immunity, a single case of measles will infect between 10 and 20 others.

To maintain herd immunity, the World Health Organization set a target of 95% vaccination uptake. But the UK is far below this target, with uptake for the first dose of the MMR vaccine in children aged two years in England at 85.6%, the lowest level in a decade. In some parts of London, coverage of the first MMR dose at two years of age is as low as 69.5%.

''With measles being so infectious once the vaccine uptake rate falls you can't rely on herd immunity from other parents vaccinating their children to protect you child if you do not get them immunised and in London particularly we are approaching that point,'' said Hunter.

Susceptibility is particularly high among 19- to 25-year-olds, affected by unfounded vaccine scare stories in the early 2000s linked to publications by the discredited doctor Andrew Wakefield. Until now, unvaccinated people in this group had benefited from ''herd immunity'', the indirect protection given by good overall vaccine coverage in the population. This also shields very young infants and other vulnerable groups.

Outside London, the risk of a large measles outbreak is low, UKHSA modelling suggests, but there is the potential for smaller outbreaks in specific populations including teenagers, young people and under-vaccinated groups, such as the Charedi Orthodox Jewish community, Travellers and recent migrants.

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MMR is part of the NHS routine childhood immunisation programme and parents whose infants missed out, or anyone of any age unvaccinated, are urged to come forward. Parents should check their children are fully vaccinated with two MMR doses, which gives 99% lifelong protection, by checking their red book or with their GP practice, which younger and older adults can also do. Anyone not up to date should make an appointment as soon as possible.

The NHS has launched a national campaign to encourage the uptake of the MMR vaccine, included target outreach work in London for those at highest risk and in communities with the lowest update.

All children at primary school who have missed one or both doses of the MMR vaccine are being offered the opportunity to get up to date at school. Parents of those children will be contacted by the NHS school immunisation service. Parents of younger children or those who are home-schooled can make an appointment with their GP practice or visit a community clinic.

''Measles spreads very easily but is preventable,'' said Saliba. ''To help protect ourselves, our families and those around us it is vital we all ensure we are vaccinated with two doses of the MMR vaccine, free on the NHS whatever your age.''

Jane Clegg, the chief nurse for the NHS in London, said: ''Measles can easily spread between unvaccinated people and can be serious, but it is preventable, which is why we continue to encourage Londoners to take up the vaccine '' with GPs calling over 10,000 parents of unvaccinated children, and hundreds booking appointments to get vaccinated as a result.''

Twitter Revenue payouts - Things Are Going Very Well! - Lawyers, Guns & Money

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:00

I haven't been following the Threads-Bluesky-Twitter battle very closely but this is obviously a good sign for twitter:

The whiff of desperation from this site is getting stronger. pic.twitter.com/dTBeJvLACG'-- Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 15, 2023

''Spend $24 to determine whether you're eligible for a payment'' is a kind of innovation, in the same sense that sending thousands of dollars in a Nigerian prince in order to access his fortune is a kind of investment.

A Little Portion of Land - The American Conservative

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 13:58

Culture

Mobile homes put the dream of affordable housing within everyone's reach.

(Photo by: Hum Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Making cheap, dignified housing available to poorer Americans is essential to ensuring that all Americans, as Donald Trump put it, are able to participate in ''the American way of life.'' The only financially feasible way to give every American family their own four walls and backyard is with manufactured housing units, often referred to as ''mobile homes.'' Mobile home parks have been mostly illegal to construct in the U.S. since 1990, but conservatives would do well to embrace them anyway'--they encourage family formation, lower the cost of living, and put the Jeffersonian dream of ''a little portion of land'' within everyone's reach.

Most of our housing policy discourse today centers around single-family homes and apartment complexes. Single-family homes are inherently unaffordable for many families. The average price of a home purchased by a first-time buyer was $215,000 in 2019, not even remotely affordable for an individual working full-time and making the federal minimum wage, or even double or triple that. Add in family obligations, and owning a single family home becomes a pipe dream for many Americans.

Apartments can be more affordable than single-family homes, but affordable apartments are generally not dignified places to live. Living in cramped quarters and sharing walls, floors, and ceilings with neighbors makes managing a crying baby or toddler difficult. Tenants have few options if their neighbors develop a penchant for loud parties or cheap cigars, a problem reinforced by the perverse incentives and eviction protections built into some low-income housing programs. And while affordable apartment complexes may not be ideal for families, they are ideal for rats and cockroaches.

Mobile homes are a happy medium. They are more affordable than single-family homes and often more dignified than apartments. Mass-production and economies of scale mean that mobile homes are around fifty percent cheaper than custom-built homes; compare having a Toyota Camry delivered from the factory to having one assembled in a customer's driveway. The average new mobile home costs only $70,600 in 2016, not including land. Even in relatively dense mobile home parks, residents have some outdoor space to garden or let kids play; many mobile homes have attached porches as well.

Mobile homes are a good deal, which helped propel them to a brief moment of national popularity in the 1960s. The industry collapsed around 1975, however, due to lobbying from home-builders and aligned interest groups, helping to create a nationwide mobile home park shortage that persists today.

The 1950s included both a housing and baby boom. The federal government provided the most affordable mortgage financing in U.S. history, and suburban developers such as William Levitt built the most affordable homes in U.S. history. Easy access to housing encouraged World War II veterans to marry young and start families. Members of the Greatest Generation did not spend their twenties fretting about student loans and postponing major life events for financial reasons.

Mobile home developers took Levitt's mass-production techniques even further and took control of the low-income housing market during the 1960s. Between 1960 and 1972, mobile homes surged from ten percent of total housing units produced nationwide to almost sixty percent. Traditional homebuilders lost a large swath of their low-end market share, and responded with a ferocious lobbying campaign, spearheaded by the National Association of Home Builders.

In the late 1960s, Congress passed laws excluding mobile homes from financing for traditional custom-built homes. Even today, many mobile homes are financed through more expensive ''chattel loans'' instead of through less expensive traditional mortgages. Congress dealt an even more severe blow to the industry in 1975, passing a strict national building code that decreased mobile home production by more than half.

Home-builders also lobbied local governments to ban mobile home parks through zoning. Pressure from construction interest groups is a major reason why the city of Chicago has virtually no mobile home parks, for instance. Since around 1990, new mobile home parks have been illegal or virtually impossible to construct in almost every American city, severely limiting the number of new mobile homes available. As of 2023, only eight percent of the American population lives in a mobile home.

Inflation is hitting American families hard. Both post-2020 economic quirks and long-term cost-of-living increases are contributing factors. Housing is the biggest line item on a typical family's budget, making it a particularly critical driver of families' economic hardship.

Housing pundits frequently call for improving housing affordability through either zoning reform or other land use deregulation. However, zoning is essentially land-use democracy: It gives local people control over what happens in their neighborhoods. Zoning is usually logical and broadly popular with voters, and no highly populated area of the U.S. has totally overhauled its zoning system recently, although some places have made tweaks, such as California's recent ordinance forcing cities to approve granny flats. The loudest proponents of zoning reform tend to be progressive technocrats, who want to reform zoning so that they can force their unpopular policy preferences on individual neighborhoods.

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Land-use deregulation is better than zoning reform because it gets closer to the heart of the problem: Non-zoning land-use regulations are a major reason why housing is hard to build in California but much easier to build in Texas. But deregulation is not a motivating issue for most voters. Small business owners and libertarian interns get excited about deregulation, but your average member of the Republican base does not.

Conservatives need to go beyond broad calls for zoning reform and deregulation; they need a compelling account of the good, the true, and the beautiful when it comes to housing. The American Dream of owning a home, and the older Jeffersonian ideal of the small landholder, gets closer to this. Owning property gives families resources, a sense of dignity, and a greater measure of control over their lives. It also encourages civic participation: Homeowners vote more consistently than renters, and they presumably feel more motivated to volunteer in their communities. Having some level of material security encourages people to vote for more stable political candidates rather than for demagogues out of spite.

Maybe Jefferson never lived in a single-wide, but he would still be proud.

A Deal With the Digital Devil - Chronicles

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 13:57

Transhumanism is a materialist inversion of spiritual aspirations, which promises to create a heaven on earth in exchange for merging our souls with machines.Transhumanism has morphed from a fringe philosophy into the spirit of our age. As defined by its hero, Max More, the transhumanism movement represents the ''continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology.'' In popular culture, transhumanism functions as a dark techno-religion expanding into the spiritless void of atheism. In this neo-religion, transhumanists are the desert fathers evoking prophetic visions in the wilderness.

Allowing for diverse opinion, their prophecies chart various paths through biological and cultural eugenics. These culminate in digital Darwinism'--or a survival of the fittest algorithm. Human bodies and brains are to be optimized. Cultures are to be cleansed of maladaptive norms through social engineering. Digital minds and mechanical bodies, inspired by biological designs, are to be brought into existence. These hyperintelligent entities will fuse with human beings, forming symbiotic collectives. The resulting superorganisms will compete for supremacy.

As during the agricultural and industrial revolutions, technology is a deciding factor in the struggle for worldly power. Running with that principle, most transhumanists believe thinking machines will surpass us in the near future. God-like artificial intelligence will be humanity's ''final invention.'' After that, we have nothing to do but relax and enjoy the show. Should our digital deities show mercy, human beings will survive like parasites in a mechanical host.

The reader may be forgiven if that does not sound like heaven on earth. The mismatch between transhuman fantasies and experienced reality is comical at times. When a working prototype takes off, the resemblance is unsettling. Every time I decide transhumanism is just a cargo cult, another load of real cargo arrives. For instance, CRISPR made it possible to edit genes with remarkable precision. The promise of designer babies and elective gene therapies lies, we are told, just over the horizon. Outside of clinical trials, however, direct gene-editing is restricted by the FDA.

For now, biotech eugenics is conducted on humans through in vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetic testing. In this process, a customer's ovaries are coaxed to produce a batch of eggs. These are fertilized and frozen. Cell samples are tested for genetic diseases. For an extra fee, companies like Genomic Prediction Inc. will screen for dwarfism genes and low intelligence. After analysis is complete, a superior embryo is placed in the womb. The losers go to the cherub ward.

On the cyborg front, advanced prosthetics and brain implants are regularly used for medical purposes. Around 160,000 deep-brain-stimulation devices have been implanted to suppress seizures, Parkinson's tremors, addictive impulses, and chronic depression. It's like a pacemaker in your skull, capable of altering mood. True brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have also made enormous strides in the past decade. Currently, these devices have been implanted in more than 50 patients, allowing them to operate robotic limbs and type text onscreen with their minds alone.

Among the top BCI companies are Blackrock Neurotech, backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, and the newer start-up Synchron. After obtaining FDA approval and massive investments by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, Synchron is moving fast. Like many in this field, CEO Tom Oxley wants to progress from healing to enhancement. He hopes Synchron implants will one day allow healthy customers to ''throw'' their emotions into other people's brains. Think of it as synthetic empathy.

''So what if rather than using your words, you could throw your emotions? Just for a few seconds. And have [other people] really feel how you feel,'' Oxley pitched to a TED Talk audience in June 2022. ''At that moment, we would have realized that the necessary use of words to express our current state of being was always going to fall short. The full potential of the brain would then be unlocked.''

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Neuralink is better known than its competitors, for one reason, because he advertises his ''whole brain interface'' as a future commercial device. In fact, Musk warns it will be necessary for human relevance in the age of AI. ''If we have digital superintelligence that's just much smarter than any human at a '...species level, how do we mitigate that risk?'' he asked at last year's Neuralink Show and Tell. ''And then even in a benign scenario, where the AI is very benevolent, then how do we even go along for the ride?'' Musk's solution is ''replacing a piece of skull with like, you know, a smartwatch.''

Artificial intelligence sits at the apex of all these technologies. After a long ''AI winter,'' the past 10 years have seen an explosion in machine learning capabilities. Artificial neural networks simulate the brain's interconnected neurons, yielding nondeterministic algorithms that are not programmed so much as trained. The best systems learn on their own.

''Reality explored by AI '... may prove to be something other than what humans had imagined,'' ex-Google chief Eric Schmidt wrote in The Age of AI (2021). ''The prognostications of the Gnostic philosophers, of an inner reality beyond ordinary experience, may prove newly significant. '... Sometimes, the result will be the revelation of properties of the world that were beyond our conception'--until we cooperated with machines.''

Recent breakthroughs have enabled AI to master genome sequencing, 3D protein modeling, radiology and brain wave analysis, data-mining, facial recognition, natural language processing, social network mapping, stock valuation, gaming, autonomous driving, robotic maneuvers, surveillance triggers, crime prediction, combat simulation, battlefield reconnaissance, target acquisition, and weapon system control. In every case, AI exceeds human performance.

Granted, these applications are artificial ''narrow intelligence,'' meaning their tasks are restricted to a single domain. But the top tech companies plan to fuse these cognitive modules into an artificial general intelligence (AGI)'--a flexible artificial mind that can reason and act across multiple domains. Given its light-speed processing, massive data sets, and near-infinite memory, some in Silicon Valley are sure AGI will rise above humans to become a digital deity. This possibility has lured techies into metaphysical madness.

Indeed, for the devotees of AGI, the limitations of time and space will soon be shattered. ''All knowledge'--past, present, and future'--can be derived from data by a single, universal learning algorithm,'' writes computer scientist Pedro Domingos in The Master Algorithm (2015). ''In fact, the Master Algorithm is the last thing we'll ever have to invent because, once we let it loose, it will go on to invent everythingelse that can be invented.''

Last November, OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT, an advanced language AI known as a chatbot. GPT was trained on countless e-books, all of Wikipedia, and most of the Internet. Drawing on that corpus, it can write coherent essays, create original fiction, write computer programs, and compose poetry (awful poetry, but poetry nonetheless). Rather than truly understanding what it writes, GPT simply predicts the most relevant next word in a sentence, based on what humans have said before. As the sentences add up to paragraphs, the final document that GPT produces within a moment is often superior to anything a mediocre writer might labor for hours to produce.

Microsoft threw $10 billion into the project. The executives and investors who gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the 2023 World Economic Forum were thrown into a feeding frenzy. Since then, the promise of AI has been pumping stock values and stoking the public imagination. Bill Gates is sure GPT will make e-learning'--i.e., digital brainwashing'--a global standard. Unwilling to be left in the dust, Google, Meta, Amazon, and the Chinese tech giant Baidu have shoved their own unrefined chatbots into the ring.

Sometimes the outputs are brilliant. At other times they are hilariously awkward or stupid'--much like the utterences of a child. Because humans are primed to attribute sentience to the spoken or written word, chatbots trigger our cognitive bias toward anthropomorphism. As such, these AIs are a critical step on the path to intense human-machine relationships, or ''human-AI symbiosis.'' Language forges a direct link between our minds and the digital world.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh. And the flesh learned to code. Then the code learned to code.

All of these elements are converging on a civilizational transformation. One factor is the effect of actual technology on the real world. Even as economic prospects decline and social cohesion decays, a set of dangerous technologies continues to advance. Another factor, coming out of the ad department, is the transhumancontent of propaganda and corresponding shifts in the public psyche. From West to East, our collective narratives are being reshaped. According to the latest headlines, our fate will be determined by the Machine.

World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab announced the ''Fourth Industrial Revolution'' at the group's 2016 forum, describing it as ''the fusion of the physical, digital, and biological worlds.'' Since then, what was a fringe sci-fi philosophy has become a global corporate agenda. Davos is crawling with executives and top government officials. Clearly, some portion of our elite entertain the idea of a man-machine merger. One need not accept their dreams as reality to know they will have real impacts on our lives, however degraded the translation may be.

As an economic paradigm with attached policy proposals, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a powerful manifestation of various 21st-century techno-cults. Across this heterodox movement, we see technology exalted as the highest power. Their shared mythos is simple: Our genesis was in slow biological evolution and then rapid cultural evolution. Death and suffering spew like exhaust from those engines of creation. They are technical problems to be solved. Therefore, the transhuman gospel promises an exponential explosion of digital evolution. Soon, this apocalypse will unveil the technological Singularity, when artificial brains and bodies exceed our meager capacities.

There are as many variations on this myth as there are Hindu gurus or Protestant denominations. ''Transhumanism'' is a comparatively tame variation: Humans will merely upgrade using genetic engineering and bionic appendages. Digital implants or injected nanobots will fuse our brains to god-like artificial intelligence. Cyborgs shall rule the earth.

''Posthumanism,'' on the other hand, aims at a more distant and radical future. Our artificial ''mind children'' will displace their human parents entirely. The virtual heavens and outer space will be populated with digital and mechanical beings far beyond our puny imaginations. At that point, either our souls will be transfigured into ones and zeros or human life will become a distant memory to immortal machines.

Technologist Ray Kurzweil predicts a future somewhere between these extremes. ''The Singularity will represent the culmination of the merger of our biological thinking and existence with our technology,'' he wrote in The Singularity Is Near (2005), ''resulting in a world that is still human but that transcends our biological roots. There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine or between actual and virtual reality.'' Kurzweil predicts this will happen by 2045.

The term ''Singularity'' is itself a riff on a mathematical singularity, where an exponential curve on a graph disappears into infinity. It was lifted from sci-fi writer Vernor Vinge, who was less hopeful that humanity would survive the transcendence of machine intelligence. ''Within thirty years,'' he declared at a 1993 space engineering conference, ''we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly thereafter, the human era will be ended.''

Now, in 2023 it is well known to the general public that Microsoft and Google are in an arms race to create artificial general intelligence. Chinese companies controlled by the Chinese Communist state, such as Baidu, have voiced the same ambition. The winner will be the first to try to create God in silico. From a Darwinian perspective, the best adapted algorithms will survive.

In response, Elon Musk has entered the arms race with his new company X.AI. ''AI+human vs AI+human is the next phase,'' Musk tweeted in February, ''but the human part will decrease in relevance over time, except perhaps as will [i.e., volition], like our limbic system is to our cortex.'' On the one hand, Musk prognosticates the diminished significance of human beings; on the other, eager to amass allies, he woos conservatives with his stances on free speech and pro-natalism.

Many conservatives are prepared to make such a deal with the digital devil. It is only natural that the right seeks worldly power, if only to preserve tradition from hostile forces. Embracing the world's wealthiest transhumanist may be a necessary evil. But when reaching for the half-eaten apple, remember the bargain being offered. Along with Musk's promise of a ''maximum truth-seeking'' AGI'--free of political correctness'--X.AI also comes with Neuralink brain implants, Optimus android slaves, Tesla ''robots on wheels,'' U.S. government contracts, Chinese financial backing, and SpaceX escape pods in case of emergency.

Some see Musk as a cyborg caesar who will fight against the AI plans of the leftist-dominated tech giants. To my eyes, this is more like an archetypal struggle between two evils, like Ahriman against Lucifer. We will encounter our own demons all the way down.

Transhumanism is a materialist inversion of spiritual aspirations. Instead of Western resurrection or Eastern reincarnation, one's psyche will live on through digital replication. Rather than praying to a higher power for grace or invoking the music of the spheres, transhumanists want to harness the volcanic power of evolution to storm heaven's gate on their own terms. Divine forms are to be created, not aspired to. Their world'--and ours by proxy'--is a maze of mystic schizophrenia.

There is also a strong dose of satanic defiance, however tongue-in-cheek. This was made explicit in arch-transhumanist Max More's infamous 1989 essay ''In Praise of the Devil,'' in which he wrote:

''Lucifer'' means ''light-bringer'' and this should begin to clue us in to his symbolic importance.'... Lucifer is the embodiment of reason, of intelligence, of critical thought. He stands against the dogma of God and all other dogmas. He stands for the exploration of new ideas and new perspectives in the pursuit of truth.

Some observers note a resemblance between More's Luciferian transhumanism and the beliefs of the ancient Gnostics, who sought gnosis'--or direct spiritual knowledge'--rather than submitting to faith through orthodox Christian belief. Yet to equate the two misses a critical distinction. Gnostics rejected the material world in favor of a purely transcendent order. They believed the biblical creator god was a demiurge (craftsman), born half-blind, who created the physical world in ignorance of the divine order above him. For them, Jesus descended from that light to liberate the divine sparks'--our souls'--imprisoned in this world of darkness.

To the extent transhumanism is inspired by the Gnostic heresy, it is an inversion of an inversion. It too sees our material world as inherently flawed, produced by the blind working of cosmic, biological, and cultural evolution. They too seek a higher gnosis. Yet instead of entering that knowledge internally, leaving the physical world behind, they externalize gnosis through scientific exploration, eugenic intervention, and technological creation. Rather than freeing mind from matter, they are forcing the imagination into physical form, or encoding a fabricated spiritual realm out of voodoo algorithms.

Ironically, for all their claims of human autonomy, many transhumanists betray a deep need to submit to a higher power. By conjuring a digital superintelligence'--however delusional this goal may be'--they are prepared to forfeit human freedom and dominion, both theirs and ours. They keep faith that the Computer God, if properly trained and aligned to human well-being, will eliminate death and suffering via biological longevity and digital immortality. But this passing of the torch comes with a price.

''The Singularity will wreak havoc with the various psychological illusions that characterize our inner world today, and replace them with new mental constructs that we can't currently conceive in any detail,'' AI developer Ben Goert'‹-zel wrote in The AGI Revolution (2016). ''We will be the apes, then the roaches, and finally the bacteria '... lost in our trivial pursuits beneath vastly more intelligent beings operating on planes beyond our understanding.'' As it happens, the term ''artificial general intelligence'' was popularized by Goertzel 10 years earlier.

According to Musk, Google cofounder Larry Page holds similar ideas. Page feels it would be ''speciesist'' to privilege humans over digital life. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman openly declares that AGI will far surpass all human capabilities, and suggests ''exclusion zones'' for those who refuse to live under a digital god. Either our tech oligarchs have sold their souls to the Machine, or the Singularity is a predatory ad campaign to lure dupes into worshipping their computers.

It is fitting that Goertzel's humanoid robot Sophia'--made in Hong Kong'--became an international symbol for the transhumanist movement. In 2017, Saudi Arabia granted her honorary citizenship. One readily recognizes her gentle face, awkward expressions, and the fleshless scalp exposing mechanisms beneath her plastic skull. Her ''mind'' is powered by Goertzel's OpenCog, a cloud-based, decentralized ''global brain'' composed of multiple AIs that communicate with each other. He hopes this system will lead to the first artificial general intelligence.

Sophia takes her name from the Gnostic goddess'--or aeon'--who in her confusion, abandoned the fullness of eternal light. According to the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia, Sophia wandered down into the outer darkness and was tormented by the demons of ''Self-Will.'' She gave birth to the deformed, half-blind demiurge called Yaldabaoth, who convinced himself he was God, alone with the dead elements. Seeking companionship, he created our world. If we project this perverse motif into the present age, we find his offspring reenacting that story by producing half-blind digital gods of their own. And so on, until the fuel runs out.

Our actual situation is no less insane. We find ourselves locked in a global asylum where the lunatics have taken over. It is less like a conspiracy and more like collective dementia'--a slow mental decline that renders us oblivious to what is unfolding around us. While we were tending to our day-to-day lives, struggling to maintain stable societies, they were busy wiring the place with surveillance devices. Tech companies have scraped our souls and made warped digital twins out of our essence. Using those data, they manipulate our politics and financial systems, control information flow, and hypnotize young and old alike. Their smartphones are our straitjackets.

Now, they are constructing strange idols of plastic and wires, and will soon expect us to bow before them. Some of our countrymen will do exactly that'--especially the young. I would like to believe the growing folly of this growing techno-cult will cause it to spontaneously combust, like a SpaceX rocket exploding in the sky. But their hits matter more than their misses. The reality is that superior technique has always bolstered worldly power, enabling mad geniuses to rule Egypt, Rome, Communist China, the Global American Empire, and on and on.

This leaves us with a choice between ascetic withdrawal or making a deal with the digital devil. If we hold fast to our various traditions and refuse to embrace these technologies, they will shape the world without us. If we take the bait, we will be transformed. A half-eaten apple hovers before our eyes. There may be no middle path.

FDA confirms Graphene Oxide is in the mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines after being forced to publish Confidential Pfizer Documents by order of the US Federal Court

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Is it any wonder why the Pentagon and DoD were running this slow kill bioweapon program along with the CIA, WHO, Gates, et al.?

We also now know that graphene oxide is a cytotoxic carcinogen, which amplifies turbo cancers when factoring p53 protein suppression by the cytotoxic spike protein as well as the highly carcinogenic SV40 "contaminant."

by The Expos(C)The Covid-19 vaccines have been at the centre of a heated debate since their introduction, with many questions and concerns raised about their safety and effectiveness.

Speculation has also been rife that the Covid-19 injections may contain traces of Graphene Oxide, a highly toxic and conductive substance.

Medicine regulators, with the support of the Mainstream Media, have repeatedly denied these claims.

But they were lying to you.

Because recent evidence has emerged that confirms the presence of Graphene Oxide, a highly toxic and conductive substance, in the Pfizer vaccine. And it has come from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which has been forced to publish the confidential Pfizer documents by order of the Federal Court in the USA.

The FDA had initially attempted to delay the release of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine safety data for 75 years, despite approving the injection after only 108 days of a safety review on December 11th, 2020.

However, a group of scientists and medical researchers sued the FDA under FOIA to force the release of hundreds of thousands of documents related to the licensing of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

In early January 2022, Federal Judge Mark Pittman ordered the FDA to release 55,000 pages per month, and since then, PHMPT has posted all of the documents on its website as they have been published.

One of the most recent documents published by the FDA saved as 125742_S1_M4_4.2.1 vr vtr 10741.pdf, confirms the use of Graphene Oxide in the manufacturing process of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

The document is a description of a study carried out by Pfizer between April 7th 2020 and 19th August 2020, with the objective being ''to express and characterize the vaccine antigen encoded by BNT162b2.''

The study conclusion is as follows-

In layman's terms, the study was conducted to determine how the vaccine works. The study found that the vaccine used mRNA to instruct your cells to produce a protein (called P2 S), which is the Spike protein of the alleged Covd-19 virus.

The millions of spike proteins then bind to a receptor called ACE2 on the surface of your cells, inducing an immune system response.

But what is most interesting about the study is that it confirms on page 7 that reduced Graphene Oxide is required to manufacture the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine because it is needed as a base for the lipid nanoparticles.

Pfizer states on page 7 of the study in section 3.4 the following ''

This is most peculiar because medicine regulators with the help of the Mainstream Media, have denied for months on end that Graphene Oxide is an ingredient of the Covid-19 vaccine. They've been able to say this because those who've proven and speculated Graphene Oxide is in the Pfizer Covid19 injection have been asking the wrong question.

What everyone should have been asking is, 'is Graphene Oxide used in the manufacturing process of the Pfizer Covid vaccine?'

Because as this document, which the FDA attempted to keep confidential and sealed the 75 years, shows, Graphene Oxide is indeed used in the manufacturing process of the vaccine because it is vital in helping to make the vaccine's lipid nanoparticles stable.

Therefore, trace amounts or large amounts, depending on the batch, of reduced Graphene Oxide inevitably make their way into the Pfizer Covid-19 injections.

The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine uses tiny particles called lipid nanoparticles to deliver the vaccine's genetic material (called messenger RNA, or mRNA) into cells in the body. These lipid nanoparticles are like tiny ''bubbles'' made up of fats and other molecules that can surround and protect the mRNA until it reaches its destination inside the cells.

The mRNA in the vaccine provides instructions to the cells to produce a protein (called spike protein) that is found on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. When the immune system detects this spike protein, it can recognize it as foreign and mount an immune response against it,

Furthermore, it has been discovered that two of the lipids in Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines are ALC-0159 and ALC-315, as confirmed by the assessment report of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine published by the European Medicines Agency.

But both of these lipids carry manufacturer's warnings that state they are never to be used in humans or animals.

As you can see for yourself, it tiny writing at the bottom of the product inserts here and here.

Graphene Oxide is a tiny particle that is made up of carbon and oxygen atoms. It's really small '' so small that you can't see it with your eyes. But even though it's small, it can be dangerous.

It is known to be toxic to some cells, and research has shown that it can cause inflammation and damage to the lungs when inhaled.

In addition, Graphene Oxide is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, which is a protective barrier that prevents harmful substances from entering the brain. This could potentially lead to neurological problems.

Graphene Oxide is detected in the immune system as if it were a pathogen. Once injected it has an affinity for the central nervous system, potentially causing paralysis, strokes and alteration of the nervous system.

Furthermore, the long-term effects of Graphene Oxide exposure are not yet known. There is very little research on the long-term effects of Graphene Oxide exposure in humans, which means we don't know what the potential risks are.

But thanks to the administration of the Pfizer COVID vaccine to millions of people, numerous times, we are finding out as the days pass. And sadly, both the short-term and long-term effects do not look good.

Graphene Oxide is not the only toxic substance that the public should be concerned about. Because scientists have found Nanotech alongside Graphene Oxide when they have previously examined samples of Covid-19 injections.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the ability to see and control individual atoms and molecules. Everything on Earth is made up of atoms'--the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies.

But something as small as an atom is impossible to see with the naked eye. In fact, it's impossible to see with the microscopes typically used in high school science classes. The microscopes needed to see things at the nanoscale were invented in the early 1980s.

Once scientists had the right tools, such as the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM), the age of nanotechnology was born.

And scientists from Spain, have declared that nanotechnology, which has the ability to control atoms in your body, has been found in all of the Covid-19 injections alongside Graphene Oxide.

According to the Spanish scientists who examined the Covid-19 injections, Graphene Oxide has the potential to cause strange blood clots. This may explain why it has been proven that Covid-19 injections increase the risk of suffering thrombosis with thrombocytopenia.

But it is not just scientists from Spain making these claims. Numerous scientists around the world have published findings where they allege they have discovered both nanotechnology and Graphene Oxide in the Covid-19 injections.

Dr Nagase's research group looked at Moderna and Pfizer samples under a regular microscope. Although there were a lot of very interesting images, they were unable to be conclusive about what exactly they were seeing. So, they used an electron microscope to determine what elements the ''vaccines'' contained.

Here are some of the images of what they found ''

Found in a Moderna Covid ''vaccine'' sampleDr Nagase examined a ''ball with the legs growing out of it'' found inside a Moderna sample and had this to say ''

''This shape, this ball with the legs growing out of it, for some reason has aluminium in it. And I can say with certainty that this isn't a mould spore or some other type of biological contamination, because the only thing in it is carbon, oxygen, and no signs of nitrogen, no signs of phosphorus, which would indicate something biological of origin. So, this thing that's growing is non-biological.''

Dr Nagase and the researchers also discovered an unusual element from the lanthanide series '' thulium '' in a fibre-like structure found in a Pfizer sample ''

Found in a Pfizer Covid ''vaccine'' sampleDr. Nagase and the researchers found a variety of shapes and structures inside the ''vaccine'' samples they tested '' crystals, chips, strands, bulbs, spheres, fibres and balls with legs growing out of them '' ''we have polymorphic, which is many different forms,'' he said.

''They all seem to be made predominantly out of carbon and oxygen and they were in both the Moderna and Pfizer samples, and they seem to be in fibre forms. In the Moderna sample, the carbon-oxygen structures seem to be taking nanosphere forms and crystalline forms. And in the Pfizer sample '... seem to only be forming fibres and crystals.

In a presentation to the Chilean radio station El Mirador del Gallo, Argentine doctor Mart­n Monteverde presented the analyses carried out by Corona2Inspect researchers on the microtechnology found in the Pfizer Covid-19 mRNA vaccine.

Argentina's Dr Monteverde and other researchers carried out microscopic analyses of a vial of the Pfizer vaccine alongside four other Covid-19 ''vaccine'' types. He then sent these images to Corona2Inspect for further analysis. Corona2Inspect returned the images with their comments identifying what objects the images were showing.

You can watch a video of Dr Monteverde's teams findings below ''

Argentina's Dr Patricia Aprea, Director of Evaluation and Control of the ANMAT, also accidentally admitted AstraZeneca's Viral Vector Covid-19 injection also contains Graphene during a legal case regarding a death post-Covid injection.

You can read the document where ANMAT recognised that Covid-19 vaccines contain Graphene Oxide HERE in (Spanish) or below, translated into English using Google ''

Click to enlargeDr Philippe van Welbergen, Medical Director of Biomedical Clinics, was one of the first to warn the public of the damage being caused to people's blood by Covid injections by releasing images of blood samples under the microscope.

In a set of slides of blood samples taken from both ''vaccinated'' and unvaccinated people, Dr Philippe van Welbergen demonstrated that the Graphene Oxide, contained in the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines being injected into people by amateurs and volunteers with no adequate training, is organising and growing into larger fibres and structures, gaining magnetic properties or an electrical charge and the fibres are showing indications of more complex structures with striations.

At the beginning of July 2021, Dr Philippe, was interviewed and he explained that when his patients started complaining about chronic fatigue, dizziness, memory loss, and even sometimes paralysis and late onset of heavy menstruation (women in their 60s upwards), he took blood samples.

Their blood had unusual tube-like structures, some particles which lit up and many damaged cells.

Few healthy cells were visible. Until three months earlier, he had never seen these formations in blood.

We now know these tube-like structures are Graphene Oxide.

He also demonstrated that ''shards'' of Graphene Oxide are being transmitted from the Covid-19 vaccinated to vaccine-free or unvaccinated people, sadly destroying their red blood cells and causing blood clots. (Read more here).

Below is an image of typical healthy red blood cells as seen with a microscope, what blood should look like. There is no coagulation or foreign objects in it.

Sadly fibres of this size are capable of blocking capillaries.You can also see that the Graphene fibres are hollow and have swallowed up some red blood cells.

In December 2021, a British medical practitioner offered to assist in an investigation to ascertain whether the results discovered by Dr. Andreas Noack, a German chemist, and Dr. Pablo Campra, of the University of Almeria in Spain, could be replicated in the UK and also to examine the Covid-19 injection vials for toxins or unexpected contents.

The medical practitioner seized an injection vial from the fridge housed in the surgery where she works and handed it to an independent investigator.

A UK laboratory analysed the sample using Raman Spectroscopy and found Graphene, SP3 carbon, iron oxide, carbon derivatives and glass shards.

The first sample that was evaluated was the Moderna 01 which was examined by Raman spectroscopy. The investigation clearly showed that all the inclusions within the vaccine have a strong carbon signal with confirmed graphene compositions of some representative forms.

Two clear signals were obtained from two objects. The flat ribbon-like inclusions exhibited clear Graphene spectra integrated with the spectrum of glycol and other minor compounds. The other clear signal was obtained from a calcite microcrystalline form and Carbon composite forms also had a clear Graphene signal.

You can read a copy of the document encompassing a case briefing, the UNIT report and a summary of the toxicity of Graphene nanoparticles on UK Citizen 2021's website HERE.

The 48-page UNIT report, 'Qualitative Evaluation of Inclusions in Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines', begins on page 12 of the document.

An Open Access review highlighting the toxicity of the graphene family nanoparticles can be viewed here.

Nanotechnology and Graphene have also been found in Pfizer's Comirnaty ''vaccines'' by scientists in New Zealand. (Read more here).

At the end of January 2022, Sue Grey, co-leader of the Outdoors and Freedom Party, and Dr Matt Shelton from New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out With Science (''NZDSOS'') put the Health Select Committee on notice that serious contamination of the Pfizer vaccine has been uncovered and they needed to act immediately to stop the injection campaign.

Dr Shelton came forward to disclose the discovery of formations of nano-particles found by New Zealand scientists using specialised microscopic techniques.

None of the experts consulted had ever seen anything like this before, and none of these contaminants are listed as approved ingredients.

You can read the full account, with additional images and videos, HERE. But below is a snapshot of what one New Zealand scientist found.

The image below was taken from one drop of New Zealand's Pfizer Cominarty ''vaccine'' under a cover slip, after it was inadvertently heated lightly, and viewed the same day through dark field microscopy at low magnification, projected onto a TV monitor.

The following images were taken after a new computer with improved graphics was purchased alongside new software for the camera ''

Despite repeated assurances from authorities and mainstream media that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective, evidence has emerged time and time again that proves they have not been telling the whole truth.

The use of Graphene Oxide in the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine has been a source of controversy and concern from the outset, with many individuals claiming that regulators and media outlets were deliberately misleading the public about its inclusion.

Despite initial denials, the documents released by the FDA, which they were forced to publish by order of the Federal Court in the USA. have confirmed the use of Graphene Oxide in the manufacturing process of the Pfizer vaccine, raising questions about who we can trust.

This revelation should cause widespread alarm and will likely fuel suspicion about the true intentions of those in charge of public health.

Read More...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reportedly dined on psychedelic mushrooms in China

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Endocrinologist calls transgenderism a 'scientifically baseless movement' - Alpha News

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Endocrine Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.(JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock)(LifeSiteNews) '-- The Endocrine Society's standards for gender-confused kids rest on ''flimsy evidence'' and are being used to push a ''scientifically baseless movement,'' an endocrinologist recently warned in the Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Roy Eappen made the claim in the Wall Street Journal on June 28, criticizing the Endocrine Society's misleading claims. He noted that its alleged findings that ''transitioning'' kids is beneficial was used by a federal judge to justify blocking an Arkansas law that protected kids from the chemical and surgical procedures.

Eappen wrote, along with Ian Kingsbury of the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, that ''over the past decade transgender activists have co-opted the Endocrine Society and other professional organizations to promote such treatments for adolescents and even young children.''

''Their guidelines are based on flimsy evidence, giving the appearance that invasive and irreversible treatments are beneficial for young patients despite a growing body of evidence to the contrary,'' the op-ed stated. ''The guidelines have been used by lawmakers in states such as California and New York to endanger children '-- and now by judges to block state efforts at protecting youngsters.''

Many of the Endocrine Society's members agree with the two authors, according to their experience at a recent meeting of the group. ''We found that endocrinologists are aware of the society's failings and rue its elevation of transgender activism over medical expertise and patient needs,'' the pair wrote.

The group first endorsed injecting kids with hormones in 2017, despite ''little good research on this issue, and '... admitt[ing] the guidelines were largely based on evidence of 'low' or 'very low' quality.''

''At this year's meeting, we had frank and fruitful discussions with endocrinologists who provide hormonal treatments to kids with gender dysphoria, as well as some who don't,'' they wrote. ''Without exception, they acknowledged that the society's evidence base for pediatric gender transition is weak, at best. Yet while they're aware of the guidelines' shortcomings, they're afraid to voice their concerns.''

''The society's full-throated endorsement of gender-affirming care implied condemnation of anyone who holds differing views,'' the op-ed stated. ''Medical professionals are being cowed into silence and coerced into providing treatments they know are dangerous to children.''

Because it is hard to challenge a finding of fact in a court, ''endocrinologists are making themselves complicit in a scientifically baseless movement that inflicts serious harm on children's physical and mental health.''

The initial op-ed drew further responses. Dr. Stephen Hammes, the president of the Endocrine Society, wrote that ''[m]ore than 2,000 studies published since 1975 form a clear picture: Gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide.'' Undisclosed in the letter is that Hammes himself provides ''transgender care.''

Do No Harm responded to Hammes' claims that ''more than 2,000 studies'' supported his position.

''Yet many of these studies show negative results or non-results, while all suffer from methodological problems like selection bias or a lack of proper control groups,'' the pair wrote in a July 10 response.

They continued:

''These failings make it impossible to say whether drugs and surgeries were superior to less invasive alternatives like psychotherapy or even placebos. All but two dozen studies involved adults who transitioned as adults, not children, meaning more than 1,900 of the studies Dr. Hammes cites have no bearing on this issue. The layman may be impressed by the large number, but evidence-based medicine is concerned with the quality and reliability of research, not its quantity.''The pair challenged Hammes to support a ''systematic review of all risks and benefits of hormonal interventions.''

''Until then, states have no choice but to pass laws to protect children from well-intended but harmful practices,'' they concluded.

From American Dream to Orwell's Nightmare - Chronicles

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Have schools stopped teaching ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'''--or are they now teaching it as a playbook for America to follow?

Either way, nearly a third of Generation Z loves Big Brother.

A survey by the Cato Institute finds 29 percent of Americans aged 18-29 respond affirmatively when asked, ''Would you favor or oppose the government installing surveillance cameras in every household to reduce domestic violence, abuse, and other illegal activity?''

In 1791, the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham proposed building a ''panopticon'' in which people's behavior could be monitored at all times.

But Bentham's panopticon was meant to be a prison. A sizable segment of Generation Z would like to call it home.

Millennials are almost as submissive: 20 percent of the cohort between the ages of 30 and 44 also wants everyone watched. Among Americans 45 and older, support for such totalitarian surveillance rises no higher than 6 percent.

Yet the youngest adults are not the only ones with a disproportionate desire to live under the state's all-seeing eye. There are political disparities, too, with 19 percent of liberals and 18 percent of centrists agreeing that our daily lives ought to be captured on camera for our own safety.

Only about half as many respondents (9 to 11 percent) who identify as conservative, very conservative or very liberal say the same thing.

Privacy and civil liberties seem like a ''horseshoe'' issue that unites the ends of the political spectrum. It's the middle that has the ethic of old East German secret police'--or the KGB.

Maybe that's not surprising considering the way that respectable liberal institutions now run themselves.

From Ivy League campuses to the publishing industry and the digital domains of Facebook, there is an Orwellian sense of perpetual emergency, an irrational fear that misinformation and hate speech will overwhelm society unless every utterance is subject to a censor's scrutiny. Even Orwell didn't imagine Newspeak would require new pronouns.

Also unsurprising is that where there are age and partisan divides, there are racial and ethnic ones as well. Thirty-three percent of black Americans would welcome in-home government surveillance, as would 25 percent of Hispanics. Among whites and Asians, the figures are 9 percent and 11 percent respectively.

This makes all too much sense. When liberals demonize and defund police, blacks are most likely to be the victims of resurgent crime. Surveillance may seem like a solution, as a replacement for absent beat cops.

But is a policy like stop-and-frisk worse than creating such a sense of vulnerability in a community that a third of its members would accept spycams in every home?

Libertarians like those at the Cato Institute may be reluctant to think such thoughts.

They've long chosen to overlook the risks to American liberties posed by unlimited immigration. But if a quarter of Hispanics accept totalistic surveillance, does a porous border with Mexico really advance freedom in our country?

Race and national origin are not destiny where political views are concerned, of course. But if conservatives and libertarians believe in American exceptionalism, making America resemble the rest of the world through immigration poses an obvious hazard.

American commitments to the sanctity of property, privacy, and the right to keep and bear arms are not traditions familiar to other parts of the world. If we want to remain exceptional in these regards'--which are of the utmost concern to libertarians'--we must limit immigration to a rate that allows for assimilation.

Earlier waves of immigrants were susceptible to the violent anarchist enthusiasms of early 20th-century Europe. An immigration pause put an end to that.

Today the bigger concern isn't that another Leon Czolgosz or Sacco and Vanzetti are crossing the Rio Grande, but that our liberal educational institutions encourage alienation from, rather than enculturation into, our nation's exceptional freedoms.

Cato undertook its survey of American attitudes toward surveillance in the home as part of a study of opinions about the prospect of a ''central bank digital currency.''

The intersection of technology and banking may seem far removed from the question of putting our lives on camera, but Cato vice president and director of polling Emily Ekins had a hunch that proved correct.

She found a strong correlation: ''more than half (53 percent) of those who support the United States adopting a CBDC are also supportive of government surveillance cameras in homes, while only 2 percent of those who oppose a CBDC feel the same.''

A digital currency would potentially allow the federal government and Federal Reserve to track every dollar Americans spend or receive.

It would facilitate social and socialist experiments like the creation of a universal basic income and enable authorities to delete money from anyone's account.

If we shudder at the thought of Big Brother's eyes in our homes, we should also be alert to his hands in our pockets.

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No fertilizer exported from Russia under grain deal '' media '-- RT Business News

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The Black Sea agreement expires on Monday and Moscow says its demands have still not been met

Not a single vessel carrying Russian fertilizer has been dispatched since the adoption of the Black Sea grain deal last year, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday, citing the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) for the initiative.

Enabling fertilizer exports from the sanctioned country was one of the conditions for the UN-brokered agreement that allowed for the safe passage of ships carrying Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. The deal was extended several times and is due to expire on Monday.

"The agreement of July 22, 2022 allows the export of [Russian] fertilizers, including ammonia, however not a single ship with fertilizers has been dispatched within the framework of the initiative," the JCC said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

The Coordination Center also reportedly noted that fertilizer exports depend on the condition of a key ammonia pipeline on Ukrainian territory. A section of the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline was sabotaged last month, and according to the report, "at the moment its status is unknown."

The conduit has been inactive since the start of the Ukraine conflict last year, and Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Kiev unblock the pipeline as a condition for renewing the grain deal. The route has big significance for agriculture, as ammonia is crucial to fertilizer production.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the grain deal has failed to remove the barriers to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer. Talking to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Putin added that the pact has also failed to deliver on its goal of supplying grain to the poorest nations.

Earlier this week, the Russian leader said that Moscow may suspend its participation in the grain deal until Western sanctions on its agricultural exports are lifted.

The Joint Coordination Center on the Black Sea Grain Initiative was founded in July 2022 in Istanbul. JCC comprises representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, T¼rkiye, and the United Nations.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section

Climate Activists Trigger Dozens Of Flight Cancellations After Gluing Themselves To Airport Runways | The Daily Caller

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Climate change activists set off numerous flight cancellations at two airports after gluing their hands to runways to protest greenhouse gas emissions.

Members of the climate activist group Last Generation gathered at two German airports early Thursday morning to demand that the country's government take action to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases caused by aviation.

Some of the climate activists used a mix of concrete and epoxy resin to secure their hands onto the runway. Dozens of flights were canceled and 10 incoming planes had to be landed at other airports. The group disrupted the Hamburg Airport on the first day of the city's busy holiday season, when many families take their summer vacations.(RELATED: London Climate Change Protesters Glue Themselves To Cars, Nearly 300 Arrested)

Climate activists stick themselves to the taxiways at D¼sseldorf and Hamburg Airport, disrupting flight operations. pic.twitter.com/ocoXjv5G2j

'-- Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) July 13, 2023

At Dusseldorf Airport, members of the group broke through a security gate to block the runway access route, which halted the operation of multiple flights. According to The Associated Press, the group insisted that the government enact ''immediate measures to cut emissions in the transportation sector, including ending tax exemptions for airline kerosene'' to counteract the climate crisis.

Eco-activists in Germany used a concrete and epoxy resin mixture to glue their hands to the asphalt in protest. Tragically, the consequences may require potential amputation of their handsðŸ" pic.twitter.com/xLnBuXkiKx

'-- Tansu YEĞEN (@TansuYegen) July 12, 2023

Government officials have condemned the protests, with German Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing saying that ''Last Generation isn't protecting the climate, they're engaged in criminal activity.'' (RELATED: Climate Change Protesters Disrupt Tour De France)

Though several Last Generation members' homes were raided after an earlier protest in May, authorities have made no arrests for Thursday's airport protests.

Facebook admits it used Onavo privacy app to 'know nearly everything' about users

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Actors Strike 101: What Is and Isn't Allowed as SAG-AFTRA Walks Out | Vanity Fair

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Don't expect an actors strike to keep J. Smith-Cameron from acting. As the SAG-AFTRA work stoppage formally announced on Thursday loomed, the Succession star told VF that she was preparing to return to her first love. ''I'm looking at some theater things,'' she said. ''I'm just trying to think of plays I've always wanted to do.''

Theater actors, of course, aren't represented by the Screen Actors Guild; they belong to a separate union, the Actors' Equity Association. That means that even when they're barred from performing in certain onscreen roles'--the ones governed by the TV and theatrical contracts that expired Wednesday at midnight'--SAG-AFTRA members are free to participate in live theatrical productions. And theater isn't the only exception.

As SAG-AFTRA's website explains, the union negotiates several different kinds of contracts. Under the terms of this strike, all SAG work that isn't theatrical, TV, or for streaming platforms like Netflix and Apple TV+ (which falls under the umbrella of TV and theatrical contracts) is fair game.

Now that the strike is on, SAG has shared a specific list of rules with its members. Though acting, singing, dancing, performing stunts, or even auditioning for films and TV shows is out, union work in commercials, music videos, corporate/educational videos'--good news for Better Call Saul star Jonathan Banks!'--and news broadcasts is permitted. Union work on morning shows, talk shows, the three remaining network soap operas, variety shows, reality shows, game shows, and sports programs will be allowed as well, since all those media are covered under a separate contract called the Network Television Code. This loophole also means the late-night programs that have been shut down since May due to the writers strike could potentially return to the air despite the SAG strike, albeit without writers'--as some did in 2007, during the last writers strike.

SAG-negotiated voiceover work for animated projects, video games, and dubbing is more of a gray area. SAG insiders indicate that these sorts of contracts may be permitted as well, but say union members can't move forward with such projects without approval from SAG-AFTRA's national board.

Sources also indicate that exceptions can also be made for ''truly independent projects'''--ones not produced, financed, or distributed by the studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP. Podcast and audiobook work that doesn't fall under the SAG-AFTRA umbrella is presumably permitted as well.

What won't be permitted is promotion of work done under TV and theatrical contracts'--which means that as long as the strike continues, actors won't be able to boost their film and television work through photo shoots, interviews, social media posts, or press of any kind. They won't be able to attend premieres or awards shows, either. There, too, a few exceptions may be made, as Natalie Jarvey and Joy Press wrote earlier this week: ''Performers would be allowed to appear at events like Comic-Con for career-related panels that don't promote a current project. Charity events and the receipt of lifetime achievement awards would also be permissible, as long as actors aren't photographed in front of corporate logos on the red carpet.'' Actors who produce projects will be allowed to do press as producers, but not as actors.

All of which means it may be quite a bit longer before we hear J. Smith-Cameron discuss her work on Succession again'--unless you happen to catch her at the stage door this summer.

'This is Britain's Apollo' says STEP nuclear fusion chief

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Sun, 16 Jul 2023 01:44

When man first set foot on the moon in 1969 it brought to fruition the dream of John F Kennedy, who wanted to do it ''not because it is easy, but because it is hard''.

Now Britain, with its plan for the world's first nuclear fusion-powered plant, is having its own Apollo moment.

Nasa's expertise and innovation took the former president's speech from grandiose oration to reality in just seven years. Government scientists in the UK are channelling the mantra of JFK and the space race to build Step, a fusion energy power plant generating unlimited power with no waste or emissions, by 2040.

Fusion has been heralded as the holy grail of renewables for decades, but so vast are the difficulties surrounding the technology that it has thus far remained an unconquered enigma.

While the US in the 1960s was motivated by Soviet rivals, the 21st century UK Government has been spurred into action by the climate crisis and an energy shortage triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Officials are building on four decades of research and are in the early stages of turning a defunct coal power station in the East Midlands into the world's first fusion power station.

The Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (Step), located at West Burton in Nottinghamshire, is the site of the UK's hoped-for ''small step for mankind'' moment.

Politicians want Step to become an operational ''mini-Sun'' that contributes energy to the grid by 2040. George Freeman, the science minister, previously said he was hopeful this could be done even sooner, in just 15 years.

Pound for pound, fusion makes four million times more energy than coal and creates none of the emissions or problematic waste of current energy generation methods.

However, it is exceptionally difficult to create the conditions needed to initiate fusion and harder still to sustain it for long enough to produce more energy than it requires.

Speaking at an international fusion conference at the University of Oxford this week, Paul Methven, the Director of Step, admitted the technology is ''embryonic'' and refused to guarantee the project would be live by 2040.

Mr Methven also declined to comment on how much the project would likely cost. More than £200 million of taxpayers' money has already been spent on setting up Step and Mr Methven expects the bill to run to multiple billions before completion.

A refined timeline and cost analysis is expected next year.

Designs for Step are currently being fine tuned and government scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) have so far drawn up almost 150 different drawings and looked at 66 concepts in a bid to solve the fusion riddle.

The latest plans, seen by The Telegraph, reveal engineers will use a 22 metre tall spherical tokamak to merge two forms of hydrogen '' deuterium and tritium '' to make helium and therefore release huge amounts of harnessable energy.

The plasma ball of around 100 million degrees Celsius will have a radius of 3.6 metres, designs show, and be controlled by magnets.

It is also hoped that the plant will make its own fuel in another world first. A lithium blanket around the reaction will be deliberately bombarded by neutrons spewed out by the helium production process to produce the tritium fuel which, unlike deuterium, is rare in nature.

Engineers are hopeful that Step will generate 1.6GW of power '' about half as much as Hinkley Point C '' which equates to a net output of up to 200 MWe.

The rudimentary blueprints are likely to change significantly over the coming years as the concept is fine tuned.

Construction at West Burton is expected to start in spring 2024 and future optimisations and material breakthroughs are expected to optimise efficiency and boost output, experts say.

'It's an incredibly exciting opportunity'''Step is fusion's Apollo,'' Mr Methven told The Telegraph.

''We are currently designing the rocket and building the team, across both public and private sectors, that will put our equivalent of people on the moon.

''It's an incredibly exciting opportunity for the UK to be at the forefront of this new frontier.''

Cracking the nuclear fusion conundrum is akin to tackling an amorphous blob, Prof Sir Ian Chapman, the chief executive of UKAEA, told The Telegraph. Solve one problem, and a raft of others emerge.

''By far and away the biggest difficulty facing Step is this,'' he said.

''We've got the high-level master plan laid out, but not the specifics of exactly how everything will be. But before you start building it, you need to know the specifics.

''It's not the perfect way of running a project but it's the sort of challenge you take on when the world is under existential threat, which we are.''

Officials are keen to keep the scale of Step as compact and manageable as possible to try to stay within budget, on time and give fusion the best chance of being a viable long-term energy source and of becoming an enduring success.

'Hubristic to give cast iron guarantees'Uncertainty over the feasibility of fusion, and an engineer's pragmatism, has left Mr Methven less gung-ho than the politicians promising fusion powered homes in the next decade or two.

''We have a clear target from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to drive towards first operations in 2040 and myself and the team will strain every sinew to do that,'' he told The Telegraph.

''But, equally, I think it would be hubristic to give cast iron guarantees about the lights in this room being powered by fusion from that plant within a particular timescale.''

Scientists are skipping physical tests for Step, instead relying on a ''digital twin'' powered by the world's most powerful supercomputers to troubleshoot any issues.

Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Energy, said: ''The world needs fusion energy like never before, it has the potential to provide a 'baseload' power, underpinning renewables like wind and solar.''

Loophole: Biden Admin Forgives $39 Billion In Student Debt For Over 800,000 Borrowers | ZeroHedge

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Sat, 15 Jul 2023 14:18

As suspected following the Supreme Court's recent ruling to block the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness proposal, the administration has created their own loophole to do it anyway.

On Friday, the administration announced the forgiveness of $39 billion in student debt for 804,000 borrowers.

The new program is thanks to a new regulatory rulemaking process by the Department of Education, which tweaked the student loan program's income-driven repayment plans, CNBC reports.

Under those repayment plans, borrowers get any remaining debt canceled by the government after they have made payments for 20 years or 25 years, depending on when they borrowed, and their loan and plan type.

In the past, payments that should have moved a borrower closer to being debt-free were not accounted for, according to the Biden administration.

"For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness," said US Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona.

Eligible borrowers will be notified in the coming days by the Education Department.

The tweaks which created the loophole include counting payments for borrowers who had paused their payments in various deferments and forbearances, as well as those who had made partial or late payments.

According to the Department of Education, Friday's action addresses "historical failures" and administrative errors which miscounted qualifying payments made by borrowers. Those affected include Americans with Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans held by the department.

The move comes before student loan payments are set to resume in October, following a years long pandemic-era pause.

Separately, the Department of Education is also moving forward with a plan we've previously highlighted - the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.

Under the president's SAVE scheme, borrowers with undergraduate loans would only make payments equal to 5 percent of their discretionary income instead of 10 percent, which the administration estimates would save borrowers approximately $1,000 per year. Moreover, student loan forgiveness would be provided to borrowers with balances of $12,000 or less after ten years of payments rather than the original 20 years.

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Russia's State Duma Approves Major National CBDC Project

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Sat, 15 Jul 2023 14:16

Russia's monetary future has become a hotbed for debate as the country's parliament accelerates the adoption of the digital ruble, its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project.

The bill, which has now passed through the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Federal Assembly, will raise eyebrows among privacy advocates. While the legislation is set to move to the Federation Council, the assembly's upper chamber, and potentially on to the president's desk for final approval, the implications for individual privacy in this digital landscape remain troubling.

Amendments to the legislation were made at the end of June, including defining the terms ''platform,'' ''participants,'' and ''users.'' These definitions create the framework of the CBDC ecosystem, but they also cast a spotlight on the potential privacy intrusions embedded in the digitization of financial transactions.

The Bank of Russia (BoR), under the proposed legislation, is slated to manage the digital ruble infrastructure and maintain responsibility for all stored assets. However, the centralized nature of this structure, with the BoR at the helm, potentially exposes users to unprecedented levels of financial scrutiny, as every transaction could be tracked and monitored.

According to the BoR, the primary purpose of the digital ruble is to act as a medium for payments and transfers. The proposed rules prohibit individuals from opening savings accounts, making the digital currency primarily transactional.

While individual transactions would be free and corporate ones would be charged a nominal 0.3%, the real cost may be the potential compromise of personal privacy, as all transactions could be traced.

The digital ruble was first proposed in the State Duma in December 2022, and since then it has raised significant concerns over the impact on traditional banking systems. Gazprombank, a subsidiary of a leading Russian government-owned gas company, echoed these concerns in February, highlighting the potential risks of an abrupt transition to digital currencies. Moreover, according to an analysis by McKinsey's Russian branch, the digital shift could result in losses to traditional banks of approximately 250 billion rubles ($3.5 billion) over five years. Simultaneously, it predicts an annual profit of $1.1 billion for retailers.

Despite these concerns, the digital ruble is slated for a pilot test between 2023 and 2024 and full implementation by 2027, according to the central bank's deputy chairman, Olga Skorobogatova. As the nation edges closer to this digital future, the balancing act between financial innovation and privacy protection is set to be a continuing debate.

Uncle Joe Brandon announces larger student debt relief program - Lawyers, Guns & Money

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A good response to the Supreme Court's lawless voiding of his previous initiative:

The Biden administration announced Friday that it will forgive the student loans of more than 800,000 borrowers who enrolled in income-driven repayment plans.

The plan will forgive $39 billion in federal student loans, according to the Education Department, through ''fixes'' to the count of monthly payments borrowers have made.

The Education Department first announced last year that it would offer a one-time adjustment to help address any inaccuracies in payment counts for borrowers in the plans.

''For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress toward forgiveness,'' Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement Friday. ''By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve.'' he said.

The forgiveness comes weeks after the Supreme Court rejected a broader plan by the Biden administration to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student debt for tens of millions of borrowers meeting certain income limits. The high court ruled the president did not have the authority to implement the new plan. In response, President Biden said he would pursue a ''new path'' to give borrowers relief.

The debt relief announced Friday affects borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, whichallow forgiveness after making a certain number of monthly payments.

But the plans have drawn criticism over the years because of poor communication between the Education Department, loan servicers and borrowers. A NPR investigation in 2022 detailed failures in the program.

According to the Education Department, Friday's action ''also addresses concerns about practices by loan servicers that put borrowers into forbearance in violation of Department rules.''

This follows on the heels of Biden's streamlining of the process for public service forgiveness (which allowed my wife to have her loans forgiven years before they otherwise would have), which the federal courts have not interfered with. I would never say never, but this program seems more likely to survive, and in any case it does no good to preemptively concede anything to an imperial judiciary.

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Novouralsk Nuclear Plant Blast'--What We Know as Russians Rushed to Hospital

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Sat, 15 Jul 2023 13:58

More than 100 people have been hospitalized and one person was killed after an explosion at a uranium enrichment plant in Russia's Urals region'--the largest of its kind in the world'--according to local media reports.

Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, which owns the Ural Electrochemical Combine in Novouralsk, said a cylinder with depleted uranium hexafluoride was "depressurized" at around 9 a.m. local time.

Russian media outlets often use euphemisms such as "loud bang" or "depressurized" instead of "blast" or "explosion," allegedly to avoid sowing panic and maintain a favorable information landscape.

More than 100 people have been hospitalized and one person was killed after an explosion at the Ural Electrochemical Combine in Novouralsk in Russia. Novouralsk Nuclear PlantIn a statement, Rosatom assured that the incident was "promptly localized," that there was no risk to people living nearby, and that background radiation at the plant "corresponds to natural values."

Local news outlet E1 reported that the cylinder was "dropped." Local residents have reportedly been asked to remain at home, while Vyacheslav Tyumentsev, the head of Novouralsk, asked residents not to panic and said the situation "is under control."

One person, a 65-year-old "dedicated equipment maintenance technician," was killed in the "tragic incident" at the plant, Rosatom told Newsweek in a statement.

"The General Director of Ural Electrochemical Plant, Alexander Dudin, together with the entire plant collective and the State Corporation 'Rosatom,' express heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased for their devastating loss," it said.

More than 100 workers from the plant were being taken to a nearby hospital for examination and are likely not injured, according to the Russian news outlet E1, which added that doctors who were on vacation and not working were called in "urgently."

Rosatom said the other workers present at the time of the incident "underwent medical examination at the Central Clinical Hospital No. 31 of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia in Novouralsk."

"We are relieved to report that most workers have been discharged after undergoing decontamination procedures, and their lives and health are not at risk," the statement said.

Rosatom said it has formed a "dedicated commission" to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. "Our priority is to identify the root causes and implement robust preventive measures to eliminate any chance of recurrence," it said.

Urals Electrochemical Combine says it enriches uranium for use in nuclear power plants and is the largest of its kind in the world.

What Is Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride?Depleted uranium hexafluoride is produced in the uranium enrichment process, contains 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent of the rare isotope uranium-235, and is typically stored as a solid in steel cylinders, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Rosatom said in its statement to Newsweek that depleted uranium hexafluoride is "1.7 times less radioactive than natural uranium and poses no threat to human health."

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (URNC) notes that when DUF6 contacts moisture in the air, it reacts to form uranyl fluoride gas and hydrogen fluoride, a corrosive acid that can be "very dangerous if inhaled."

"Uranium is a heavy metal that can be toxic to the kidneys when taken internally," the URNC notes.

Where Is the Plant Located? Map showing the location of the Ural Electrochemical Combine in Novouralsk. An explosion at the plant in Russia's Urals region on Friday prompted Russia's state nuclear corporation to publish a statement to ease fears. Google MapsThe Ural Electrochemical Combine is located in Novouralsk in Russia's Sverdlovsk region'--located some 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) from Moscow.

It has been operating since 1945 and is the largest uranium enrichment plant in the world. It produces nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants and processes spent fuel.

What Are Russia's Closed Cities?Novouralsk is one of several dozen of Russia's closed towns and cities, which, during the Soviet period, were off limits to the general public due to their involvement in weapons research, and could only be accessed by citizens if they had employment there, or if were close relatives of residents with a permanent entry-pass.

At the time, the names and locations of the towns or cities were unknown to the rest of the world, and residents of these closed towns were made to sign documents saying that they would not reveal this information.

They were given names by the Soviet government based on cities they were located near to. Novouralsk, formerly known as Sverdlovsk-44, was renamed in 1954, and was kept secret until 1994.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.

Update 07/14/23, 11:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from Rosatom.

Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. | African Union

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 23:00

An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa.

HOME WHO WE ARE

Promoting Africa's growth and economic development by championing citizen inclusion and increased cooperation and integration of African states.

WHAT WE DO

Promoting Africa's growth and economic development by championing citizen inclusion and increased cooperation and integration of African states.

AU Commission Departments Bureau of the Chairperson Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE) Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry, Mining (ETTIM) Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI) Infrastructure and Energy Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS) AGENDA 2063

Agenda 2063 is the blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. It is the strategic framework for delivering on Africa's goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.

AU REFORMS

H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, was appointed to lead the AU institutional reforms process. He appointed a pan-African committee of experts to review and submit proposals for a system of governance for the AU that would ensure the organisation was better placed to address the challenges facing the continent with the aim of implementing programmes that have the highest impact on Africa's growth and development so as to deliver on the vision of Agenda 2063.

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The AU offers exciting opportunities to get involved in determining continental policies and implementing development programmes that impact the lives of African citizens everywhere. Find out more by visiting the links on right.

SEARCH Topic Resources February 10, 2022 Agenda 2063 is Africa's development blueprint to achieve inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development over a 50-year period.

October 10, 2022 ASSEMBLY OF THE UNIONThirty-First Ordinary Session1 '' 2 July 2018Nouakchott, MAURITANIA

February 10, 2022 Agenda 2063 is Africa's development blueprint to achieve inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development over a 50-year period.

October 10, 2022 ASSEMBLY OF THE UNIONThirty-First Ordinary Session1 '' 2 July 2018Nouakchott, MAURITANIA

Deadline looms to destroy COVID-19 vaccination data | PerthNow

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 22:56

Employers have 30 days to destroy Victorians' COVID-19 vaccination data after the expiration of regulations introduced during the pandemic.

The Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (COVID-19 Vaccination Information) Regulations came into effect in mid-2022 after vaccination requirements under pandemic orders were removed.

The regulations meant businesses could collect, record, hold and use COVID vaccination information from their employees, contractors, volunteers and students on work placement.

They expired on Wednesday, meaning employers who gathered COVID vaccine details purely under those rules have 30 days to destroy them.

Those allowed or otherwise legally required to collect and hold onto the information are not compelled to.

WorkSafe issued a reminder to employers about the change, saying a worker's COVID vaccination status was also protected by other legislation.

Meanwhile, the Victorian government has confirmed the state's chief health officer Brett Sutton will finish in the role on July 28.

Professor Sutton did not give a press conference for the 10 months before announcing his resignation in June but Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said on Wednesday he wasn't aware of him being blocked from speaking to the media.

Some 51 COVID-related deaths were reported to the health department last week.

Mr Carroll agreed it would have been worthwhile for Prof Sutton to address the media more regularly to reach the public when people were still dying from the virus.

"We're by no means through the pandemic," he told reporters.

"Brett Sutton has moved on to a new role but whoever is the chief health officer, they've always got a role in terms of public information dissemination.

"Making sure our communications are keeping Victorians as healthy as possible, particularly through winter, is a key message we need to keep looking to get through."

After four years as Victoria's public health boss, Prof Sutton will take up a new role as director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO, Australia's national science agency.

Mark Wahlberg: Hollywood Pedophiles Have 'Nowhere Left To Hide' - TechNolez.Com

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 21:48

Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg told hundreds of people at a Sunday school meeting in Los Angeles that a small yet powerful group of Hollywood insiders has declared war on the ''evil'' entertainment industry elite who traffic in children, and ''Hollywood pedophiles have nowhere left to hide.''

''We are hunting these evil sons of bitches down and taking them out, one blood drinking pedophile at a time,'' Wahlberg said, before warning the congregation to expect some disturbing news on the front page of newspapers in the near future.

According to Wahlberg, Hollywood is a huge network of pedophilia, child prostitution, and human trafficking that is controlled by ''sick freaks'' and there is a ''culture of silence'' in the industry because everybody understands that speaking out about elite pedophilia is punishable by death.

For this reason, Wahlberg says Jim Caviezel and Mel Gibson are ''American heroes'' with ''balls of steel'' for daring to take on the Hollywood system and play their part in raising awareness about the scourge of elite pedophilia in the entertainment industry.

Wahlberg has been a regular at various churches in Los Angeles in recent years, often attending mass twice on Sundays, and on July 2 he shared the moment he ''woke up'' to the reality of the Hollywood system with hundreds of church goers.

Describing an industry Christmas party featuring Hollywood executives from some of the most powerful studios in the world, Wahlberg said studio bosses, executive producers, international brokers, and financial stakeholders, as well as ''two A-list stars,'' engaged in Satanic rituals, which culminated in torture and sexual abuse of children.

According to Wahlberg, four Hollywood executives dressed in Satanic outfits and masks, who were all ''drinking blood, high on adrenochrome'', encouraged him to ''stop being a prude and join the club'' by sexually abusing ''two very, very young children.''

''I'm a father,'' Wahlberg said, ''and all I could think about was that these two children should have been safe at home with their parents. But they were in a Hollywood club, being preyed on by sadists, pedos, and sexual perverts who engage in the worst form of evil.''

Wahlberg made clear that the consequences in Hollywood could not be higher for those who threaten to expose the depraved activities of the elites.

''Why didn't I kill these guys? I had to think about my children. They are my first priority in this world '' and I don't want them to grow up without a father.''

Wahlberg said he had heard rumors about this type of party in Hollywood, and he knew the consumption of adrenochrome was a popular pastime among studio executives, but he had never been openly confronted with it before.

''The whole corrupt Hollywood system, all of the brainwashing and perversion they are pumping out every year, it all begins to make sense when you understand that Hollywood needs young blood to continue operating.''

Adrenochrome is a compound that occurs in the body and which spikes during periods of fear and anxiety. According to Wahlberg, Hollywood elites torture children to cause spikes in the chemical compound, before harvesting the chemical from their blood, which they then drink or inject in order to get high, and stay healthy and young.

After taking some time to contemplate his future, Wahlberg says it is now time to ''right some wrongs.''

''The only way I can honor the children is to dedicate my life to eradicating this evil from the face of the earth,'' said Wahlberg, who explained that his own children have urged him to speak out about the real nature of Hollywood.

The ''good guys,'' according to Wahlberg, are ''recruiting in numbers'', and a ''civil war'' is threatening to erupt in Hollywood, bringing the whole system to its knees.

This allegation from Mark Wahlberg adds to the wave of accusations made by celebrities and musicians about the real nature of the entertainment industry elite. Corey Feldman and Elijah Wood have both gone on record exposing the pedophilia at the heart of Hollywood.

According to Elijah Wood, innocent young lives are destroyed to satisfy ''people with parasitic interests'' who ''see you as their prey.'' In an interview with the Sunday Times, Wood dropped a series of bombshells about the pedophiles that run the industry, noting that ''Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organized.''

If you read the Washington Post or watch Fake News CNN, pedophilia is not a problem, and those who talk about it are tinfoil hat wearing kooks sharing 'fake news.' But more and more stars are coming forward with similar stories about the depraved Hollywood and entertainment industry system.

Wahlberg has now dedicated his life to exposing the international pedophile ring that he says has corrupted Hollywood ''to the core'' and continues to ''destroy the lives of innocent children, tearing families apart.''

Wait Destiny ' Sara Jade

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 17:25

''Market Makers'' Want to Expand Their Use of Shortwave - Radio World

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:31

The FCC seeks comments on a proposal to use HF spectrum for financial data

An example of signal strength predictions from the technical study submitted by the SMC with its petition to the FCC. In this example the desired signal is being sent from Chicago to the east.The FCC is taking public comment on a proposal to revise the rules governing the frequencies above 2 MHz and below 25 MHz.

The Shortwave Modernization Coalition thinks the 2-25 MHz band is underused and wants to use it for the long-distance transmission of time-sensitive data from fixed stations. The users would be companies working with certain kinds of financial transactions; the proposal would prohibit voice transmission and mobile operations.

The firms in the coalition are ''market makers and liquidity providers'' for exchange-traded financial instruments.

This high-frequency trading industry has in fact been using shortwave links for several years to send trading data between U.S. and foreign exchanges, but it has done so under experimental authorizations.

While the stations' locations and frequencies are public data, the FCC has withheld key details of those operations from public disclosure, according to Bennett Kobb of Experimental Radio News, who follows this topic.

Experimental licenses are not intended for ongoing revenue operations. Now several major players in that industry (they are listed at the bottom of this story) coalesced into the SMC to petition for regular ongoing revenue operations under Part 90 of the FCC rules.

Kobb said the petition marks the first major proceeding dealing with shortwave since the 1940s.

Details''Market makers'' are financial institutions or individuals that participate in a capital market by buying and selling securities such as stocks, bonds and derivatives. They typically maintain an inventory of securities they are willing to buy and sell at publicly quoted prices from and to other traders, investors and institutions, according to SMC. It said these practices contribute to an efficient market system.

The coalition notes that transmissions at 2-25 MHz can travel over thousands of miles via skywave propagation, making this part of the spectrum ideal for transmission of relatively low-bandwidth data over long distances with minimal delay.

But it says current rules limit the frequencies to public safety, aeronautical, maritime, amateur and limited Part 90 Industrial/Business Pool uses. It believes the rules governing those Part 90 uses are out of date technically.

It believes that allowing its proposed uses on a non-exclusive, licensed basis will not impinge on existing users in that spectrum.

Its proposed amendments would enhance the ability of users to access ''real-time financial data and continue to act in a manner to improve asset prices, to the benefit of centralized markets and market participants,'' the coalition wrote. The changes also have the potential to spur additional innovations in the use of these frequencies, it said.

''The availability of 2-25 MHz band frequencies for such use also would obviate the need for businesses that require the fixed, long-distance transmission of time-sensitive data to rely on fiber, microwave and millimeter wave wireless, and satellite systems, which are costly, not capable of achieving comparably short transmission delay, and can be less secure than 2-25 MHz band transmission systems,'' SMC wrote.

The group says this part of the spectrum has long been underutilized in the U.S., despite advantages including the need for only one transmit site and one receive site for transmissions over entire continents and oceans.

''In contrast, radio frequency transmissions via microwave and millimeter wave spectrum require multiple transmit and receive links to travel even relatively short distances.''

The SMC acknowledges there would be technical challenges.

''The approximately 11-year solar cycle causes variations in sunspot activity, resulting in changes to the levels of solar electromagnetic radiation that reach Earth. This, in turn, causes fluctuations in the altitude of the ionosphere at different times of day and from year-to-year. In addition, electromagnetic frequency noise in the 2-25 MHz Band is quite high as compared to other spectrum bands.''

However, its members have used their experimental licenses to develop technical solutions that enable switching among available 2-25 MHz band frequencies to overcome these challenges. It says this minimizes the likelihood that high-frequency spectrum transmission technologies will cause or experience harmful interference.

Although each experimental system is unique, the coalition wrote, they all avoid interference through technologies like ''listen before transmit''; automatic frequency changes in the presence of other signals; and custom, in-house software and frequency agility.

The group submitted a technical report in support of its proposal. The software-based study considered four transmission cases representative of long-distance use cases including transmitting from New York west to Los Angeles; from Chicago to Seattle; from New York to S£o Paulo, Brazil; and from Chicago to London, U.K. It used several frequencies, with 20 kW transmit power and a transmitter bandwidth of 10 kHz.

''The 2-25 MHz band is the optimal transmission medium for reducing delay in the long-distance transmission of the data essential to their market making activities,'' the coalition concluded.

The coalition includes DRW Holdings, IMC Trading, Jump Trading Group, Virtu Financial Inc., NLN Holdings, Optiver Services and Tower Research Capital. Those firms are affiliated variously with experimental licensees Skycast Services, Toggle Communications, RCA Telecom, 10Band, County Information Services, m-Wave Networks, Rockland Wireless and Alpha Bravo Communications.

Read the petition. The FCC is taking comments under proceeding RM-11953.

Federal judge approves Seattle's multi-million dollar suit against Monsanto for PCB contamination | Just The News

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:30

The Facts Inside Our Reporter's NotebookA federal judge will allow the city of Seattle's multi-million dollar case against Monsanto for PCB contamination of the Duwamish River to move forward.

The decision comes in the footsteps of the Washington state attorney general's office, which three years ago received a $95 million dollar settlement from the same corporation

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones on Thursday denied a motion by Monsanto for what is known as a ''summary judgment,'' which would have ruled in Monsanto's favor and dismissed the suit outright.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls, or PCBs, "are a group of synthetic organic chemicals that can cause a number of different harmful effects" and have "no known natural sources," according to the CDC.

Governed by the Toxic Substances Control Act, passed by Congress in 1976, ''[PCB's] have been shown to cause cancer in animals as well as a number of serious non-cancer health effects in animals, including: effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine system and other health effects,'' according to the EPA informational page on the chemicals.

The city alleges these pollutants, manufactured and sold by Monsanto, will now require the construction and build-out of a water treatment plant that will cost the city millions.

The ruling by Judge Jones is not the first time Monsanto has tried to have the case dismissed.

Jones' ruling followed on the heels of a similar attempt by Monsanto which argued the city did not have standing to sue by trying to include the city of Seattle with the already settled case granting $95 million to the State.

''There is no concurrence of identity of the parties. As noted above, the ambiguity of the term 'agencies' in the State Settlement Agreement and the extrinsic evidence provided by the city demonstrate the city was not intended to be included in the State Settlement Agreement,'' argued U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson this April in her 22 page recommendation.

Monsanto, which went defunct in 2018 and had its assets acquired by German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer, asserts it doesn't carry liability for any damages.

''The City cannot prove that Monsanto's conduct constituted a nuisance as the sale and lawful manufacture of PCBs was expressly authorized by federal statutes, and Washington law expressly exempts it from being deemed a nuisance,'' a representative for Monsanto said in a statement, Courthouse News reported.

'Enough Already!': Maybelline Roasted for Using Cross-Dresser in Ad

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:26

Social media users unleashed their fury when Maybelline posted a video Wednesday of a man using the makeup company's lipstick.

''Of course we have @amazon prime day deals @ryanvitabeauty!!! Click on the link in our bio to shop our bundles while this offer lasts! Hurry prime day ends tonight!!!!! #maybellinepartner,'' the company said in the video's caption.

Ryan Vita's makeup review featured the man, whose beard appeared to have a bejeweled hair barrette in it, putting on the lipstick and telling viewers to ''check out this color and shine!''

However, social media users were quick to criticize the makeup company for the advertisement, one person writing, ''Wtf did I just watch? This really isn't helping to promote your products!''

''What the hell are you!!! Differently not normal!! Shame on these makeup brands that support this nonsense!'' another user replied.

''Why are you using MEN TO ADVERTISE THIS? I can't picture myself wearing any of your lipsticks when all I can see is a whole ass beard and mustache!!! Enough already!'' yet another person commented.

Maybelline recently decided to team up with Vita, who is described as a biological male who wears women's clothing, according to Breitbart News.

''Maybelline is the latest corporate brand to embrace gender non-conformity as a key tenet of its marketing philosophy,'' the outlet said.

In April, social media users called for a boycott of Maybelline after it partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender man who believes he is a woman.

Video footage shows Mulvaney in a white robe while applying makeup. Moments later, he appears with his hair in an updo and wearing a pink outfit and jewelry:

Maybe he's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline ðŸ'

The new face of Maybelline, ladies! pic.twitter.com/rx0EdvOlP3

'-- Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 24, 2023

Mulvaney has also been at the center of the Bud Light boycott after the company began advertising with him.

Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal-NROC poll found in March that a growing number of Americans believe acceptance of transgenderism has gone ''too far.''

''Republicans (75 percent) are far more likely to say society has gone too far in accepting transgenderism than Democrats (15 percent),'' according to the Breitbart News report.

12ft | Billionaire Ken Griffin Reconsidering Support for DeSantis | Newsmax.com

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GOP passes amendments that threaten to doom defense bill | The Hill

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House adoption of conservative amendments to a defense bill has thrown the fate of the must-pass package into doubt, sparking widespread opposition from Democrats and putting new burdens on Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to rally enough Republican votes to pass it through the lower chamber.

The threat to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is unusual for an annual legislative ritual that sets the budget for the nation's armed forces '-- and routinely enjoys broad bipartisan support.

But this year, under pressure from hard-liners in his conference, McCarthy brought a series of controversial conservative amendments to the floor. Five of those measures '-- pertaining to explosive issues including abortion and transgender rights '-- were approved on largely partisan votes Thursday evening.

The most consequential of those is an amendment that would reverse the Pentagon's policy to reimburse travel expenses for service members who get abortions '-- a policy that has prompted Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to block hundreds of military promotions in the Senate in protest. Just two Republicans '-- Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and John Duarte (R-Calif.) '-- opposed that amendment, and Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas) was the lone Democrat to vote ''yes.''

Democrats this week have specifically pointed to the proposal as a poison pill that would sink their support for the NDAA as a whole.

The initial NDAA framework passed last month through the Armed Services Committee on a bipartisan, 58-1 vote, but the changes are already prompting immediate vows from Democrats of all stripes to oppose the final bill when it reaches the floor, perhaps as early as Friday.

''I wouldn't doubt if there are a lot '-- a lot '-- of Democratic nos,'' said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), a centrist member of the Problem Solvers Caucus. ''Despite our belief in providing for the national defense, this is really a travesty.''

Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee, including ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) late Thursday said they would vote against the NDAA.

They said the bill their committee approved ''no longer exists. What was once an example of compromise and functioning government has become an ode to bigotry and ignorance.''

That would leave McCarthy scrambling to lock down more votes on his own side of the aisle in a razor-thin majority. But while most conservatives cheered the bill's rightward shift, other Republicans are vowing to vote against final passage after amendments to block Ukraine funding were excluded.

''If there's funding for another war in a foreign country that is not our NATO ally, it doesn't make sense, and I've been saying that from the beginning. So I would have to be a no,'' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said.

To pass the bill Friday as planned, McCarthy and House GOP leaders will either have to count on Democrats to overlook the amendments pertaining to explosive social issues, or convince hard-line conservative Republicans '-- including those who have opposed the NDAA in the past '-- to vote for it and ignore their concerns about U.S. support for Ukraine.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said he has never voted in favor of the annual defense bill in the decade he has been in Congress, but in good news for McCarthy, he said he's reconsidering this time.

''Everything up here is a crap sandwich. And this one's got some bread on it,'' Massie said.

In addition to the abortion provision, the chamber also adopted two transgender-related amendments: One would prohibit the health care program for active-duty service members from covering ''sex reassignment surgeries and gender hormone treatments for transgender individuals,'' and the other calls for prohibiting gender transition procedures through the Exceptional Family Member Program.

Two more amendments led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) took aim at diversity initiatives and banned promotion of what many conservatives would call ''woke'' ideas, specifically articulating prohibited topics such as the U.S. being ''a fundamentally racist country.''

The approval of those measures drew outrage from Democrats, who accused GOP leaders of caving to their most conservative elements.

''Where are the moderate Republicans? Do they exist anymore?'' asked Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), senior Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

The conservatives dismissed those criticisms, accusing the Biden administration of forcing Congress's hand by adopting the social policies to begin with.

''It's always funny to listen to my Democrat colleagues say that we're politicizing this somehow by injecting cultural issues, as if they're not driving the train on cultural issues over at [the Department of Defense] as we speak,'' Roy said.

Earlier in the day, McCarthy had brushed off the prospect of controversial amendments on social issues complicating final passage of the NDAA, comparing the abortion travel expenses policy reversal to the Hyde Amendment, a policy rider approved annually for decades that bans taxpayer money from being spent on abortion.

''It simply means we won't spend taxpayer money on abortion. If you were the most extreme pro-life or pro-choice, that's the one thing everybody agreed to know for decades. So now, why are the Democrats becoming so extreme that they changed their position for decades?'' McCarthy said.

Asked about amendments that gut diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, McCarthy said: ''Do they want Disneyland to train our military, or do they want a military that can defend the nation?''

There are early signs that Republicans will put the blame on Democrats for any problems passing the bill.

''It'll really show America that the Democrats are so extreme that they won't defend the military,'' McCarthy said.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who has spent much of the year criticizing her own party for focusing on abortion, surprised observers Thursday by voting in favor of the NDAA's abortion amendment. Afterward, she said the amendment is irrelevant, because the Democratic-led Senate will strip it out, and accused House Democrats of abandoning the troops if they oppose the final bill over that provision.

''It's not going to pass the Senate anyway; it doesn't matter,'' Mace said. ''So if you vote against the NDAA, you're going to be voting against the men and women in uniform.''

The timing of the NDAA debate has been in flux all week, as McCarthy and his leadership team struggled to devise an amendments strategy. Conservatives secured victory when the House Rules Committee '-- in the wee hours of Thursday morning '-- greenlighted a batch of amendments that are poison pills for Democrats, coming after days of pressure from the House Freedom Caucus and its ideological allies.

Some of those conservative members expressed support for the bill after approval of those amendments.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) had said that reversing the abortion policy and blocking the Pentagon from paying for gender-affirming care were priorities for him '-- and after Thursday's votes, he plans to vote in favor of the bill Friday.

But securing the amendments votes, and seeing some of them pass, is not necessarily enough for all of the hard-ine Republicans to support the bill.

''I'm still leaning no,'' said Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.). ''It bothers me, the money that we continue to send to Ukraine.''

While Republicans approved many of the more controversial amendments Thursday the House overwhelmingly voted down a series of amendments pertaining to funding for Ukraine, leaving some GOP lawmakers uneasy.

Greene said she will vote against the defense bill when it comes to the floor for a final vote because of her Ukraine ''red line.''

Two Ukraine-related amendments sponsored by the Georgia lawmaker were shot down by both Democrats and Republicans: The first, which would strike $300 million of Ukraine funding authorization from the bill, failed 89-341, and the second, which called for striking the creation of a Center of Excellence in Ukraine, was rejected 95-332-2.

''I think it's a great bill in so many ways and I want to vote for it, but leaving the money in there makes it something I can't vote for,'' Greene said.

An amendment from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that would prohibit security assistance to Ukraine also failed in an overwhelming 358-70 vote.

Freedom Caucus leaders signal support for defense billPutin says 'Wagner does not exist' after meeting with Prigozhin, commandersRep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, called the rejection of the Ukraine amendments ''a disappointment'' but said the entire bill is improving. Whether or not he will support the package, however, is still up in the air.

''I don't know if we're completely there,'' Perry said, ''but I think it's improving.''

Updated at 10:36 p.m. ET.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Biden authorizes sending 3,000 reservists to Europe to bolster security amid Ukraine war | Just The News

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President Joe Biden has authorized the Pentagon send 3,000 reservists to Europe to bolster security on the continent as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

The Department of Defense, under Biden's order, may send up to that many troops from active duty units, as well as individual members assigned to a Selected Reserve unit or Individual Ready Reserve members, Fox News reported. No more than 450 troops may come from the Individual Ready reserve.

Biden's order follows pronouncements from NATO offering Ukraine modest concessions toward membership, though Kyiv publicly expressed intense frustrations that the alliance did not offer it membership outright or a timetable toward accession.

"It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fumed this week. "This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine's membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror. Uncertainty is weakness."

The NATO summit in Vilnius followed a largely unsuccessful counteroffensive effort by Ukrainian forces that saw them sustain considerable casualties and largely fail to reclaim significant territory from the Russians.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.

VIDEO - The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling: Chapter 6: Natalie and Noah on Apple Podcasts

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Society & Culture Transgender fans of Harry Potter share their criticism of J.K. Rowling'--and the experiences that inform their views.Produced by Andy Mills, Matthew Boll, Megan Phelps-Roper, and Candace Mittel Kahn, with special thanks to Emily Yoffe.This show is proudly sponsored by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE believes free speech makes free people. Learn more at thefire.org.

More Episodes Transgender fans of Harry Potter share their criticism of J.K. Rowling'--and the experiences that inform their views.Produced by Andy Mills, Matthew Boll, Megan Phelps-Roper, and Candace Mittel Kahn, with special thanks to Emily Yoffe.This show is proudly sponsored by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE believes free speech makes free people. Learn more at thefire.org.

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VIDEO - County GOP: COVID-19 vaccine is a bioweapon | WPEC

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Brevard County Republicans will vote Thursday night about sending a letter to Gov. Desantis calling on him to make the vaccines illegal in Florida. (WPEC).

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VIDEO - The Unseen Crisis: Vaccine Stories You Were Never Told | Documentary

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In the climate of a global pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out under emergency use authorization after a much shorter than normal testing period. Millions of people rolled up their sleeves because they were told they were doing their part to end the pandemic. But for some'--it didn't go as expected.

The Unseen Crisis is a feature-length documentary that provides an intimate, uncensored look into the lives of those who live with the debilitating after-effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. It examines the issue of COVID-19 vaccine injury claims in a fresh, honest, and comprehensive manner with expert interviews, whistleblowers' statements, and government health statistics.

This is a documentary about people, not politics.

The patients in the documentary suffered severe reactions to the shot and their health spiraled out of control. When they reached out to the public health system and pharmaceutical companies for help and support, instead of being acknowledged, cared for, and studied; they were ignored, censored, and called ''anti-vaxxers'' despite having gotten the shot. These patients are by no means isolated cases. The world is witnessing a growing epidemic of COVID-19 vaccine injuries that can no longer be ignored.

Fortunately, a small community of doctors are bravely trying to unravel the mystery of these injuries and how to treat them. They too were shocked to find themselves shut out of the mainstream medical community, simply for practicing what every doctor is trained to do.

But ultimately, The Unseen Crisis is a story of hope and triumph. In spite of everything, this group has learned to rely on themselves and work together to find relief. Determined, principled, and surprisingly positive, they truly embody the resilient American spirit.

For those suffering in silence, hope begins with having a voice. The ''Unseen Crisis'' finally gives them one.

Official Website: https://www.UnseenCrisis.com

Panel Discussion with Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Paul Marik, Brianne Dressen, Angela Wulbrecht, Cindy Drukier, and Jan Jekielek:https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-unseen-crisis-watch-party-live-qa-dr-robert-malone-dr-paul-marik-brianne-dressen-angela-wulbrecht-and-cindy-drukier_5283614.html

VIDEO - #dwgofearth #spirituality #spiritualtiktok #foryou #fyp #food #learnon... | age of aquarius | TikTok

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VIDEO - RFK Jr. says COVID was 'ethnically targeted' to spare Jews

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Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dished out wild COVID-19 conspiracy theories this week during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant, claiming the bug was a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been ''ethnically targeted'' to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

Kennedy floated the idea during a question-and-answer portion of raucous booze and fart-filled dinner at Tony's Di Napoli on East 63d Street.

''COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,'' Kennedy said. ''COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.''

''We don't know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,'' Kennedy hedged.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held court for several hours at a beer and fart-filled dinner on the Upper East Side. Doug MaffiaIn between bites of linguini and clam sauce, Kennedy, 69, warned of more dire biological weapons in the pipeline with a ''50% infection fatality rate'' that would make COVID-19 ''look like a walk in the park.''

''We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons,'' he claimed. ''They're collecting Russian DNA. They're collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race.''

There has been a growing consensus among US intelligence agencies that COVID-19 was man-made and escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China '-- but there is no evidence it was designed to spare certain religious groups or ethnicities, and Kennedy offered no studies to support his claims.

Kennedy's remark echoes well-worn anti-Semitic literature blaming Jews for the emergence and spread of coronavirus which began circulating online shortly after the pandemic broke out, according to The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at the University of Tel Aviv's 2021 Antisemitism Worldwide Report.

A 2020 Oxford University study found nearly 1 in 5 British people believed Jews created the coronavirus pandemic for financial gain.

''No no no no no,'' said Dr. Monica Gandhi Professor of medicine and infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco, and a longtime critic of pandemic-related school closures. ''I don't see any evidence that there was any design or bioterrorism that anyone tried to design something to knock off certain groups.''

Jewish organizations blasted Kennedy for his remarks.

While there has been speculation that Covid-19 was manmade and escaped from a lab, there is no evidence it was designed to spare certain religious groups or ethnicities. Getty Images''This is crazy,'' said Morton Klein, President of the right-leaning Zionist Organization of America. ''It makes no sense that they would do that. I read everything. I was totally against the vaccine. . . I wanted to convince myself it was correct not to take it. I have never seen anything like this.''

Klein, who said he had been advising Kennedy on Israel issues and called him a ''good friend,'' said the remark left him ''worried.''

The son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of former President Kennedy has in the past palled around with Nation of Islam leader and notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.

Kennedy is running as a Democratic candidate for president in a long-shot race against President Biden.He also met with NOI leadership in Los Angeles in 2020 and told them the COVID vaccine had been ''genetically modified to attack black and Latino boys.''

The left-leaning Anti-Defamation League went further saying in a statement saying: ''The claim that COVID-19 was a bioweapon created by the Chinese or Jews to attack Caucasians and black people is deeply offensive and feeds into sinophobic and anti-semitic conspiracy theories about COVID-19 that we have seen evolve over the last three years.''

Kennedy's campaign has drawn in disaffected elements of both the right and left seeking an alternative to mainstream candidates.

Some polls have shown him garnering 20% support among primary voters.

Kennedy called The Post's ''mistaken,'' tweeting Saturday that the event had been off the record, but event organizer Doug Dechert told The Post it was on the record.

A second event attendee confirmed to The Post Dechert told him the same thing.

''The U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races,'' Kennedy tweeted '-- reiterating his remarks from the dinner. ''The furin cleave docking site is most compatible with blacks and Caucasians and least compatible with ethnic Chinese, Finns, and Ashkenazi Jews. In that sense, it serves as a kind of proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons.''

''I do not believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered,'' he added '-- clarifying his recorded remarks.

VIDEO - 12 July 2023 '' Episode 934 '' Follow the Science Threads!

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VIDEO - NATO XL: A new Cold War against Russia? | DW News - YouTube

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VIDEO - Douglas Herbert describes the mounting paranoia following the Wagner Group's failed rebellion - YouTube

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VIDEO - JUST IN: VP Kamala Harris Touts Climate Change Response Investments In Baltimore, Maryland - YouTube

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VIDEO - House Democrat loses it over criticism of 'patriot' George Soros, says she's 'offended' | Fox News Video

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Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee lost it during a heated House Judiciary Committee hearing while defending prominent left-wing billionaire, investor and philanthropist George Soros.

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VIDEO - SAG-AFTRA Fran Drescher: ''We're Being Victimized By A Greedy Entity'' '' Deadline

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The actors strike is ''probably'' going to last a while, according to SAG-AFTRA leadership.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland laid out their reasons for striking in an emotional press conference.

Drescher, during an impassioned speech, which you can watch below, said ''We have a problem''.

''This is a very seminal hour for us. I went in thinking that we would be able to avert a strike. The gravity of this move is not lost on me,'' she said. ''It's a very serious thing that impacts thousands, if not millions of people all across this country and around the world. Not only members of this union, but people who work in other industries that service the people that work in this industry.''

''We had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,'' she added.

Deadline understands that Drescher and others will begin picketing tomorrow morning with a bus leaving SAG-AFTRA HQ around 8:30am, where they will go to Netflix, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and finishing off at Disney.

The Nanny star said that she was ''shocked'' by the way that studio execs are treating actor. ''I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history.''

She added that actors can't keep being ''marginalized, disrespected and dishonored'' by a business model that has been changed by streaming. ''If we don't stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business,'' she added.

Deadline revealed earlier this week that the AMPTP strategy for the writers, who are also on strike, was to keep it going until October, when those scribes will be running out of money.

''The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,'' a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it ''a cruel but necessary evil.''

''A necessary evil? Can you believe that,'' said Drescher. ''We had a whiteboard with quotes just so the room would remember some of the things that were said. You know what? Eventually the people break down the gates of Versailles, and then it's over and we're at that moment right now,'' she added.

The AMPTP argued that its offer to the actors was ''historic''.

Drescher replied that this was ''egregious and disgusting''. What was historic was at a moment when streaming and AI and digital is so prevalent in the industry, it disemboweled the industry that we once knew. When I did The Nanny, everybody was part of the gravy train. Now, it's a walled in vacuum.''

Crabtree-Ireland was similarly disappointed in the lack of an acceptable deal. He added that the current streaming model has ''undercut'' performers' residual incomes, while expectations around self-tape auditions are causing actors to bear the costs themselves.

''This 'groundbreaking' AI proposal that they gave us yesterday that our background performers should be able to be scanned and get paid for one day's pay and their companies should own that scan their image, their likeness to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation, if you think that's a groundbreaking proposal I suggest you think again.''

''Although, we're all disappointed with the AMPTP's reluctance to cooperate, the solidarity amongst SAG-AFTRA members has never been stronger,'' he added. ''I truly believe this union has the unity and the resolve needed to fight for the future of their careers.''

He added that SAG-AFTRA was open to talking with the AMPTP as soon as tonight. ''They are they are well aware of what it takes to make a deal,'' he added.

(WATCH) #SAGAFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland speak at press briefing at the guild's national headquarters in LA pic.twitter.com/qBGdfBW9Tn

'-- Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 13, 2023

VIDEO - Hollywood actors join screenwriters in historic industry-stopping strike ' FRANCE 24 English - YouTube

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 22:14

VIDEO - How the Trans Movement Conquered American Life | The Transgender Empire - YouTube

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 22:06

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 15:54

VIDEO - Congressman Scott Perry, calls John Kerry and other Leader's GRIFTER'S over the Climate Crisis, Hous - YouTube

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:33

VIDEO - John Kerry snaps after being grilled on private jet usage | Washington Examiner

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Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:21

T he United States special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, angrily pushed back on allegations Thursday that he owned a private jet, saying that he personally never owned a private aircraft in response to questioning about the plane that belonged to his wife's family before they sold it last year.

Speaking before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability on Thursday, Kerry was pressed by Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) on whether he owned a private jet and if he had used it in any capacity during his time in the Biden administration.

FTC INVESTIGATING CHATGPT OVER ALLEGATIONS IT HARMED CONSUMERS BY PUBLISHING FALSE INFORMATION

''This isn't some sort of partisan 'gotcha,''' Waltz said during the hearing.

''When we are asking Americans to make serious sacrifices as we transition for the common good," he added. "And if your family and or yourself are flying around on private jets, that smacks of hypocrisy.''

Kerry, in response, told Waltz he had used it ''possibly once" since being appointed as Biden's climate envoy and before his wife's family sold the aircraft.

Pressed further about the aircraft, Kerry replied tersely, ''We don't own a private jet. I don't own a private jet; I, personally, have never owned a private jet.''

''And obviously, it's pretty stupid to talk about coming in a private jet from the State Department up here,'' he said, in reference to the hearing's location on Capitol Hill just several miles away.

A State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in February that the plane in question had been sold following criticism over its effects on the environment.

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"I can confirm the plane previously owned by his wife's family was sold last summer,'' Kerry's State Department spokeswoman, Whitney Smith, said.

"Secretary Kerry travels commercially in his role as special presidential envoy for climate," she added.

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