1574: X-Ray Specs

Don’t have any solid information yet, but sounds like a strike authorization vote is loomin for the pink contract IATSE touring technicians. These are the people who travel with the productions as employees of the show. This would cover most touring Live disney and Broadway league shows. They’re already cookin up the super cringe memes. I’ll pass along anything I hear but it’s in my professional opinion a fear of missing out along with SAG and the writers guild. Kinda glad I’m out of that world. Thanks Pfizer!

ITM $55.10.

Your discussion about movie extras and their names, images, and likenesses, reminded me that in 2005 I was on an episode of Cold Case Files on A&E. The producer gave me a release to sign which gave them

“the worldwide right, in perpetuity, to use [my] image, likeness, voice, and performance for any purpose and in any format or media, currently known or yet to be invented, including but not limited to 3D representations, holographic projections, and amusement park rides and attractions.”

I wasn’t paid. A&E is owned by Disney.

They said this was a common “Stooge Clause” so-called because there was some ambiguity about a studio having the right to show the Three Stooges Shorts on TV, or something, so to be safe they get permission for everything that might come up.

I’ve never seen the Cold Case Files ride at Disneyland, but I bet it is awesome.

Here’s my imdb for verification: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3528150/

Jason Petri

The adrenochrome theory has roots in centuries-old antisemitic tropes, namely blood libel, the myth that Jews use the blood of Christian and non-Jewish children in rituals, which has historically been used as justification to imprison and torture Jews and was an element of Nazi propaganda.

Adrenochrome entered modern popular culture with Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and its 1998 film adaptation, both of which contain a scene depicting adrenochrome as a psychedelic extracted from humans.

Some conspiracy theorists spread the false claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin destroyed adrenochrome plants in Ukraine and intercepted shipments of adrenochrome heading toward the United States amid the Russia-Ukraine war. The falsehoods were posted on Real Raw News, which claims to be a satirical outlet, though PolitiFact, which debunked its claims about Putin, noted the author regularly defends his stories as truth. And the false claims were spread quickly on social media.

Link

Obviously a fictionalized movie, but this movie is based on a book written in 1972 and Hunter S. Thompson said he did adrenochrome back then.

https://youtu.be/m6kFCNsnQpQ

Aldous Huxley also discussed it in his 1954 "The Doors of Perception" essay, as well:

https://www.mescaline.com/huxley.htm

Adam, I worked for Angel Funding all last year, which is the crowdfunding organization that raises money for Angel Studios projects.

I'm telling you now that those guys are not good at marketing, and there is no way that Angel Studios planned any gorilla marketing.

Now I will say they are pretty good with certain projects doing the crowdfunding. The chosen, and this movie, are good examples (it has to have some pretty explicit Christian undertones to be successful on the website). We've had a lot of projects that have not done as well as anticipated. Particularly, a movie called pharma, which was a biopic about Francis Kelly, and the FDA, did very poorly last year.

One of the things that made Sound of Freedom so successful with crowdfunding, was this was a P&A fundraise, meaning the product was already complete, and they were just raising money on the marketing and advertising (through debt equity). So, I would say it was a good investment for those that pitched in. But I think a lot of that was accident, because most of the marketing that angel funding does, comes through Harmon Brothers, who own a marketing firm, and the studio, and the crowdfunding portal, and they are not very good at the marketing side of things.

As always thank you for all of your contributions to technology and your ardent defense of personal freedom. I promise to pray for you, I ask that you pray for me, and hopefully God will have mercy on us all.

Food Is Medicine

Article for an overview

https://www.verywellhealth.com/food-is-medicine-produce-prescription-6747473

Eat Well program that handles finances for food Rx

https://www.eatwellrx.org/

Non-profit that manages Eat Well, also provides tax assistance and other "justice aligned" services

https://reinvestmentpartners.org/

Organic Certification

Ancient blog from USDA explaining how to get organic certified

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/10/10/organic-101-five-steps-organic-certification

With friendship and love,

Tjunta

Adam,

Wake Turbulence isn't caused by turbine engines. It's caused by wingtip vortices. Some aircraft (like the boeing 757) have very strong wingtip vortices others are just so large and heavy that they create large wake.

Picture boats going through the water. Heavy boats make bigger waves than smaller boats. Airplanes do the same thing through the air.

https://pilotinstitute.com/wingtip-vortices/

Cheers!

Your friendly Tampa Airbus Pilot

Jason

The call was made on Monday by actor George Clooney and author John Prendergast, who also served on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. They said there was an “unprecedented opportunity to counter” Russia’s influence in Africa by going after Wagner.

In a column they wrote for The Economist magazine, Clooney and Prendergast described the private military company as one of Moscow’s “most successful foreign-policy initiatives during the past decade” and an “atrocity.”

Wagner has been offering security services to some governments in Africa. The celebrities claimed the group was “protecting the regime [in the Central African Republic] in exchange for mineral concessions” and a way to “hijack a government.” They promoted a report on Wagner’s activities released by their NGO, The Sentry, which alleged that the group “seeks to disable multinational predatory networks.”

Link

Die Welt is quoting Petr Pavel, the Czech president and a retired army general, that Ukraine has about six months to finish the job. This is not because of the winter weather, but intruding political events: elections in the US, and in both Russia and Ukraine. The territorial gains Ukraine will have made by then will form the basis of a negotiated armistice with Russia afterwards. Die Welt noted that this was one of the few unscripted comments from the Nato summit at Vilnius.

We also noted a dispatch from the historian Timothy Garton-Ash from Kiev, who wrote about the frustration of his Ukrainian friends after the strong rebuff Ukraine had received from Nato. The following passage got our attention.

"Listening closely to Biden and senior officials from his administration, I'm increasingly persuaded that the underlying US strategy is to use the prospect of Israel-style security commitments, and eventual NATO membership, to incentivise Ukraine to make a peace agreement (with concomitant loss of territory). If that's what happens, the sense of anger and betrayal inside Ukraine will be strong."

We think that this assessment, both in terms of what the US and Germany want to happen, and in terms of the reaction in Ukraine and eastern Europe, makes sense.

It is consistent with what we have been hearing from Germany. Olaf Scholz is studiously avoiding any reference to Ukraine recapturing all of the occupied territories. He only speaks of territories, meaning some but not necessarily all. The US and Germany want to wait and see how far Ukraine gets with its counter-offensive, and then put pressure on them to cut a deal.

The acute gap between rhetoric and action is reflected in the Ukraine support tracker by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. It noted that

"the difference between pledged and actually delivered arms can be very high. Among the major suppliers, the USA and Germany in particular have pledged significantly more than they have delivered."

Die Welt noted that Ukraine's counter-offensive has stalled because the Ukrainians urgently need fighter aircraft and cruise missiles to make inroads into Russian held territory.

Joe Biden already declared that Vladimir Putin had lost the war. Comments such as these are telling us that the US president has already shifted focus from the military situation on the ground to selling a dirty deal. We have to be careful that this is not turning into another Vietnam or Afghanistan-style disaster.

https://www.eurointelligence.com/

PLEASE DO NOT REVEAL MY NAME

Dear Adam and John,

I work for 3M. 3M is just one of many manufactures of PFAS and is soon to exit the business for political reasons. Listening to you, Adam, and John’see’ talk about PFAS has made me want to reach out share some common sense about PFAS.

One of the reasons PFAS materials are so ubiquitous is the products are made using Fluorine. The chemistry and physics are fascinating. The Fluorine atom has such an affinity for electrons that it results in molecules that are ultra stable because the Fluorine will never want to give up the electron. Fluorine hugs those electrons like a father trying to prevent his daughter from growing up.

That stability is key to why PFAS are useful. PFAS aren’t affected by common heat, chemicals and are outdoor/UV durable. That is a trifecta of desirable polymer properties for any one trying to make useful products.

Because PFAS are durable means it doesn’t react with much. If PFAS is un-reactive how can it cause problems? If it doesn’t react with the world then it is innocuous. If is lasts for ever it only does so because it doesn’t react with the world. Yes, they last for along time but that is because they are un-reactive. How can an un-reactive material cause problems? 3M has done extensive work to show this - I work with those pinhead scientist and can say they are the best in the world. Our internal work is so far above board that it makes nerds like me roll our eyes in the respectful acknowledgement of approval.

Happy to provide the references.

Aspiring Knight - Future Sir XXXXX (not a D-bag)

Again, please please don’t share my real name

Not usually one to email so frequently but y'all have been talking about somethings I happen to know about.

I'm a police officer in a large city in The South that has a population of about 200,000. I've spent the last 4 years in a drug unit where it was my job to chase after users and mid-level dealers along with the gang members who were active in the trade.

The term baggy is quite common and it is most commonly used when talking about small user quantity drugs regardless of the type e.g., meth, heroin/fentanyl, marijuana, and cocaine but only the powder type. Crack cocaine is generally found in "rocks" or a "cookie" if it's a larger quantity that was just removed from the pot or pan that it was cooked in. It literally resembles a flat round cookie of crack cocaine.

When we would buy drugs during undercover operations, we would buy an ounce, aka a "zip", a "half" for 1/2 ounce, a "quarter" for 1/4 ounce, and an "8 ball" for 1/8 of an ounce. Even though we were buying in ounces, the seller and buyer would verify in grams using a small digital scale. Even though technically an ounce is 28.35 grams, 28g was accepted as an ounce, 14g for a half, 7g for a quarter, and 3.5g for an 8 ball. For larger buys, we'd use "kilo" which is just under 35 ounces or 35 zips.

There are a couple of types of baggies that I have seen. Corner bags are the corners of the typical sandwich bag that has a fold over flap. The drugs are collected in the corner of those bags then twisted or tied off for sale. The other type of baggies are the small ziploc style bags that you might find small jewelry or coins in. These bags sometimes have designs on them e.g., the ace of spades, figures, hearts, etc.

Finally in regard to evidence such as a "baggy" of cocaine found at the White House. It is quite possible that the Secret Service was unable to get fingerprints. Depending on the type of bag there may have been no usable latents to lift. It's not like you see on CSI. If they swabbed the bag for touch DNA then the prints would have been destroyed anyway. I'm certainly not a crime scene investigator. It is my understanding from working alongside them, and them processing a ton of my evidence, that you have to either choose to seek DNA and swab the evidence or try to lift prints. If the sample is small such as this baggy then they would only be able to do one since collecting one type of evidence would ruin the chances of getting the other.

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia.

Related to Dime Bag: Nickel Bag

A regional term for a ten-dollar quantity of crack cocaine, heroin or marijuana

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

Link

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 16:23

Vaccination VACCINA'TION, noun The act, art or practice of inoculating persons with the cow-pox.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:46

ToplineThe adrenochrome conspiracy, a bizarre theory with antisemitic roots, posits that Satan-worshipping global and Hollywood elites run a massive child trafficking ring to drain their blood and harvest the chemical adrenochrome to stay young, and has been embraced by subscribers of the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy movements, including key people affiliated with the recent hit movie The Sound of Freedom.

Protester holds a "no more adrenochrome" sign at a St. Paul, Minnesota Save Our Children rally. ... [+] (Photo by: Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Key FactsThe baseless adrenochrome theory has been debunked numerous times by media outlets and scientific communities, who have noted the chemical, produced by oxidizing adrenaline, has no rejuvenating effects.

The theory is promoted by followers of QAnon, the conspiracy movement that promotes the false idea that Satanic Hollywood stars and political elites run the world and have organized a child sex trafficking ring.

QAnon adherents have alleged top Democrats like the Clintons and Obamas, celebrities like Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey, and billionaires like George Soros, are among the elites behind the conspiracy.

The adrenochrome theory has developed on social media over the past decade but spiked in 2020, primarily because of the Covid-19 lockdown in which celebrities posted pictures and videos of themselves from home, not looking glammed up as usual, leading conspiracy theorists to allege these celebrities were suffering from ''adrenochrome withdrawals.''

The adrenochrome theory has roots in centuries-old antisemitic tropes, namely blood libel, the myth that Jews use the blood of Christian and non-Jewish children in rituals, which has historically been used as justification to imprison and torture Jews and was an element of Nazi propaganda.

Early scientific studies on adrenochrome date back to 1950s research conducted by Canadian psychiatrists Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond, who hypothesized schizophrenia may be caused by an adrenochrome buildup, but their claims that niacin and vitamin C could treat schizophrenia patients by preventing adrenochrome oxidization were not supported by later studies conducted by others.

Key BackgroundAdrenochrome entered modern popular culture with Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and its 1998 film adaptation, both of which contain a scene depicting adrenochrome as a psychedelic extracted from humans. A clip of the adrenochrome extraction scene has garnered more than 3 million views on YouTube, with some comments linking the scene to the adrenochrome conspiracy theory. Like other modern conspiracy theories, the adrenochrome blood harvesting theory has proliferated on social media. Some of the earliest known posts about the adrenochrome theory date back to 2013 on 4chan, the controversial social platform that also served as the birthplace of the QAnon movement. Some posts and videos shared on 4chan claiming to serve as evidence of the adrenochrome theory were explicitly antisemitic, invoking the blood harvesting as a Jewish ritual. As the Pizzagate conspiracy theory'--which falsely alleged the Clintons and other Democrats used a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., as a location for child sex trafficking'--picked up steam in 2015 and 2016, and the QAnon movement emerged in 2017, these theories adopted the adrenochrome theory on 4chan, Wired reported. Adrenochrome theories continue to run rampant on social media, including a bizarre claim that the children's film, Monsters, Inc., in which the monsters extract screams from children for energy, is an allegory for adrenochrome harvesting. Some social platforms have taken measures to curb the spread of the theory: Reddit banned the r/adrenochrome subreddit in 2020, and Amazon has removed some books about the adrenochrome theory, the Daily Beast reported. Searches of ''adrenchrome'' on Twitter, however, still yield plenty of results promoting the conspiracy.

News PegInternet searches for adrenochrome are trending upwards as of the first week of July, reaching the highest level of interest on Google since August 2020, according to Google Trends. Some recent notable proponents of the adrenochrome theory include former government agent Tim Ballard and actor Jim Caviezel, both of whom are linked to the box office hit, The Sound of Freedom. Though Angel Studios, the film's distributor, denies any connection to conspiracy theories or politics, both Ballard and Caviezel have defended the adrenochrome harvesting theory in recent interviews. Ballard, the founder of anti-child sex trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad who is portrayed by Caviezel in the film, claimed in an interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson last week the adrenochrome harvesting theory is real and taking place in parts of Africa. Caviezel, who has spoken at several QAnon events, defended the adrenochrome theory on the right-wing podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, on July 11, stating the compound is extracted after ''torturing little children.''

Crucial Quote''Adrenochrome, which has no rejuvenating effects, and very questionable psychedelic properties, would have long faded into obscurity had it not been rejuvenated by the QAnon twaddle,'' McGill University's Office for Science and Society director Joe Schwarcz wrote, adding that claims that live humans must be used for adrenochrome extraction are false as the compound can be synthesized by researchers for research purposes.

Surprising FactSome conspiracy theorists spread the false claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin destroyed adrenochrome plants in Ukraine and intercepted shipments of adrenochrome heading toward the United States amid the Russia-Ukraine war. The falsehoods were posted on Real Raw News, which claims to be a satirical outlet, though PolitiFact, which debunked its claims about Putin, noted the author regularly defends his stories as truth. And the false claims were spread quickly on social media.

Further ReadingThe Dark Virality of a Hollywood Blood-Harvesting Conspiracy (Wired)

How QAnon Became Obsessed With 'Adrenochrome,' an Imaginary Drug Hollywood Is 'Harvesting' from Kids (The Daily Beast)

QAnon's Adrenochrome Quackery (McGill University)

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:06

Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is suing several pharmacies they claim have violated their trademark by selling generic semaglutide

Ozempic. Rybelsis. Wegovy. They're three of the most popular semaglutide drugs on the market, but there's one company behind them: Novo Nordisk. But in addition to the drug brand being a major player in the pharmaceutical world, Novo Nordisk is also the force behind a significant legal push to prevent semaglutide knockoffs in the U.S. They created a fan base desperate for their medication. Now, they have to get people to only buy it from them.

First released in 2018, semaglutide is a medication that mimics the GLP-1 hormone, regulating the body's sugar levels, and decreasing the appetite. While the drug was developed and originally approved for diabetes patients, its side-effect of appetite suppression quickly made it a desirable option for weight loss. By early 2023, the Ozempic craze was born '-- with the drug becoming an award show punch line, constant tabloid rumor, and difficult to get even for actual diabetes patients. But as prices rise and demand far outpaces production, patients have taken to telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies, who provide drugs mixed and tailored by a pharmacist but not manufactured by name-brand companies. Now, the company is asking the courts to step in to prevent copycats. Novo Nordisk says they want their patients safe. Their patients have said they just want their drugs.

According to five lawsuits reviewed by Rolling Stone, representatives for Novo Nordisk claim that alternative health organizations (like med spas and compounding pharmacies) are illegally selling what they call semaglutide, which constitutes a trademark infringement. According to both the company and the FDA, Novo Nordisk is the only U.S. company with FDA-approved semaglutide. Since there is no approved generic version, Novo Nordisk is arguing that anyone who sells semaglutide is in violation of state regulations against untested medications. They are also claiming that using the namebrands Ozempic or Wegovy in marketing material violates copyright law. In the three most recent complaints filed in July, Novo Nordisk claims Florida businesses WellHealth Rx, TruLife Pharmacy, Brooksville Rx, and Tennessee's DCA Pharmacy all illegally offer their patients a product they say is semaglutide '-- and are allegedly putting patients at risk. (Defendants WellHealth Rx, TruLife Pharmacy, Brooksville Rx, and DCA Pharmacy did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.) Novo Nordisk is requesting a stop to all alleged false advertisement, trademark infringement, and compounded semaglutide products from these businesses. Editor's picks

''Federal and state law require approval for new drugs for good reason. Drug approval is evidence-based, and it is essential to ensure the quality, safety, and effectiveness of new drugs,'' the legal complaints read. ''When companies circumvent the drug-approval process, safety and efficacy are, at best, unknown. The danger is not merely theoretical, as manufacturing and distribution of unapproved new drugs of unknown quality has endangered or adversely impacted public health.''

In a press release shared with Rolling Stone, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said the company is focused on legal action to keep patients safe, as they believe generic attempts at semaglutide have ''created a high risk of consumer confusion and deception as well as potential safety concerns.''

''Compounded products do not have the same safety, quality and effectiveness assurances as our FDA-approved drugs and may expose patients to health risks,'' the release says. ''Novo Nordisk cannot validate the safety or effectiveness of products claiming to contain semaglutide that are not one of our own branded products.''

In June, the FDA also warned they'd received reports of patients taking the compounded version of Ozempic with ''adverse effects'' '-- but did not give any additional or specific information about the kind or intensity of side effects people had. The FDA also noted people could be using doses of semaglutide that are derived from a salt '-- which hasn't been tested '-- rather than its pure form. Related

But even a federal warning about potential reactions hasn't done much to deter people desperately seeking the medication. In fact, in a June report, several patients told Rolling Stone that as long as prices remain high, they'll continue to use workarounds to get their Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsis.

Compounding pharmacies have long served as a necessary part of the U.S, pharmacy system. Compounding combines, mixes, or alters two or more ingredients to create a custom-tailored medication. It's most commonly used for patients who might have an allergy to an ingredient in a name-brand product or need it in a different form, like a liquid instead of a pill. Rather than skip the medication altogether, a compound pharmacy will make them their needed medication, sans the allergen or offending distribution method. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved but the agency does acknowledge that they ''can serve an important patient need,'' as long as patients avoid unnecessary use. And the FDA also allows compounded medications when a drug has been on the FDA shortage list. Semaglutide has remained on the FDA shortage list since 2022.

''Shortage drug compounding is allowed to assure that patients can continue to access medications that in their physician's judgment are necessary for them,'' Scott Bruner, the Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, a compounding advocacy group, said in an emailed statement to Rolling Stone.

So in patients' eyes, if it's safe for life-threatening allergies, why not weight loss?

''I read the FDA statement, but it was very blank. Tell me why I shouldn't use it,'' compound user May West previously told Rolling Stone. ''Tell me someone got cancer and died from taking this. Otherwise, what are my other options?''

These aren't Novo Nordisk's first lawsuits regarding Ozempic. The company has been filing complaints surrounding trademark and copyright infringements since its semaglutide products were first released '-- and has said it will continue to do so if it means keeping patients safe. But there's also a financial component. Trademarks cost money, and when someone buys a generic version of semaglutide, that money doesn't go to Novo Nordisk. Trending

''Testing new drugs and obtaining the legally required regulatory approval to sell them are time-consuming and very costly. Ignoring drug-approval requirements provides Defendant an unfair competitive advantage over pharmaceutical manufacturers like Novo Nordisk,'' the three most recent complaints read. ''Worse, it puts patients at risk by exposing them to drugs that have not been shown to be safe or effective.''

But even if these legal actions are successful, they won't impact the thousands of other compound pharmacies operating across the country, each with their standards set by their specific state of residence. And throughout Ozempic's rise, patients have made it clear that if they have to choose between the drug they love and the company that made it possible, the drug always wins.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 13:52

Affiliations

Affiliation 1 Burnsides Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA. PMID: 7582857 Item in Clipboard

Q Zhou et al. Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol . 1995 Jul .

Affiliation 1 Burnsides Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA. PMID: 7582857 Item in Clipboard

Abstract The effects of adrenochrome and epinephrine were investigated in cultured human umbilical arterial endothelial cells. The cells were exposed to either adrenochrome or epinephrine at levels of 50 and 200 microM, respectively, up to 24 hrs. At 3, 5, 7 and 24 hrs of the designed harvesting time, [3H]thymidine incorporation, protein content, [3H]cholesterol uptake, prostacyclin production and lipid peroxidation were measured. We found that adrenochrome at a level of 200 microM inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation, decreased protein content, stimulated [3H]cholesterol uptake, and decreased prostacyclin production after 3, 5, 24 and 5 hrs of exposure, respectively, compared with control. It took 24 hrs however for epinephrine at a level of 200 microM to inhibit [3H]thymidine incorporation and prostacyclin production. When the concentration was reduced to 50 microM, only adrenochrome inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation after 24 hrs of treatment. Both adrenochrome and epinephrine had no effect on lipid peroxidation. We suggest that atherogenic changes found in severe hypertension may be due to abnormal high concentration of epinephrine, especially oxidized epinephrine, on endothelial cell functions, such as DNA synthesis, cholesterol uptake and prostacyclin production.

Similar articles Aluminum effects on growth of brain microvessel endothelial cells in primary culture. Audus KL, Holthaus SR, van Bree JM, Shinogle JA. Audus KL, et al. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1988 Apr;60(1):71-85. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1988. PMID: 3381012

Effects of homocysteine and related compounds on prostacyclin production by cultured human vascular endothelial cells. Wang J, Dudman NP, Wilcken DE. Wang J, et al. Thromb Haemost. 1993 Dec 20;70(6):1047-52. Thromb Haemost. 1993. PMID: 8165599

Drugs influencing the vascular production of prostacyclin. Boeynaems JM. Boeynaems JM. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 1988;34(3):197-204. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 1988. PMID: 3065785 Review. No abstract available.

Cited by Neuroprotective Properties of Quinone Reductase 2 Inhibitor M-11, a 2-Mercaptobenzimidazole Derivative. Voronin MV, Kadnikov IA, Zainullina LF, Logvinov IO, Verbovaya ER, Antipova TA, Vakhitova YV, Seredenin SB. Voronin MV, et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Dec 2;22(23):13061. doi: 10.3390/ijms222313061. Int J Mol Sci. 2021. PMID: 34884863 Free PMC article.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 13:05

JULY 14: SAG-AFTRA soon will be signing ''interim agreements'' with truly independent producers that will allow many of them to start or continue production during the strike '-- as long as they are not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and agree to be bound retroactively to whatever contract terms eventually are achieved with the AMPTP when the strike is settled.

UPDATE, JULY 15 : One of the first such deals has been revealed.

''What does the SAG-AFTRA strike mean for your production?'' the guild asks on its FAQ page for independent producers. See some of the questions and answers below.

Question: ''What if I am an independent producer who's not part of the AMPTP?'‹'‹''

Answer: ''For independently produced content that comes within the scope of a strike order, the producer may qualify for an 'Interim Agreement' that would allow such productions to continue working during a strike.''

All work and services under the TV/Theatrical Agreements and related contracts is struck work. These include the guild's Ultra Low Budget Project Agreement, the Moderate Low Budget Project Agreement, the Low Budget Theatrical Agreement, and the Special New Media Agreements.

But truly independent, non-AMPTP productions that want to shoot under those agreements may be eligible for an interim agreement that will allow them to keep filming.

The guild also notes that no interim agreement is necessary for productions filming under several of the guild's lowest budget agreements because they are not being struck. They include the Short Project Agreement, the Micro Budget Agreement, the Student Film Agreement, and the Independent New Media Agreement.

The guild says that ''the terms of the 'Interim Agreement' will be posted once approved pursuant to SAG-AFTRA governance procedures.''

The FAQ continues:

Question: ''My production would like to use the Interim Agreement. What is the next step?''

Answer: ''If you would like to apply for an Interim Agreement, please contact your assigned business representative. If you have questions about the Interim Agreement, please email sagaftrastrike@sagaftra.org''

Question: ''As a producer, what if I sign to the Interim Agreement terms and a deal with the AMPTP differs from the Interim Agreement?''

Answer: ''SAG-AFTRA intends for the 'Interim Agreement' to largely be conformed to the AMPTP agreement on a going-forward basis once the membership ratifies successor agreements with the AMPTP.''

On Day 1 of the actors' strike, meanwhile, there are still a lot of SAG-AFTRA members working, and the guild encourages them to keep doing so. That's because they're working, or seeking work, under one or more of the guild's many contracts that aren't subject to the walkout.

Soap opera actors, for instance, can still work because they're covered by what's called the Network Television Code, which is separate and apart from than the one that's being struck '' the TV/Theatrical/Streaming contract. Working on variety shows, talk shows and game shows is also allowed for the same reason.

To help members traverse its labyrinth of struck and not-struck contracts, the guild has put out electronic flyers showing members which contracts they can and cannot work under.

WHAT YOU CAN WORK ON (see the PDF here)

The guild's flyer says that ''Many of our members can and should keep working under various other contracts. Here's a quick look at some of the contracts members can work under during the TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike:

' Commercials: Television, Radio & Digital Media (includes the Influencer Agreement and the Cameo for Business Agreement)

' Television programs covered by the Network TV Code (soap operas, variety shows, talk shows and game shows)

' Sound Recordings

' Music Videos

' Interactive/Video Game Agreement

' Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast (formerly ''Industrial'') Programs

' Station Contracts & Broadcast News

' Television & New Media Animation

' Dubbing

' Audiobooks

' Short Project Agreement (SPA)

' Micro Budget Project Agreement (Micro)

' Student Film Agreement

' Independent New Media Agreement (deferrable)

' Independent Podcast Agreement & Micro-Monetized Podcast Agreement (includes scripted performance and hosting)

' SAG-AFTRA-approved Interim Agreements (These are for independent productions that would normally be covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts, and which have qualified for such an agreement with SAG-AFTRA)

And certain separately negotiated basic cable agreements

WHAT YOU CAN WORK ON: NETWORK CODE (see the PDF here)

The Network Television Code, officially titled the National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, is its own contract ''and remains unstruck,'' the flyer notes. ''That means members can work on Network Television Code productions.''

This includes the following Non-dramatic programs:

Variety Shows Talk Shows Game Shows Reality/Competition Shows Special EventsAward ShowsDocumentaries (other than those produced for theatrical exhibition)Daytime Serials, more commonly known as soap operas.''Performers engaged to work under the Network Television Code should continue to honor their contracts,'' the guild says on the flyer.

WHAT YOU CAN'T WORK ON (see the PDF here)

''Our power in a strike comes from the unity of our members '' and ALL our members standing strong together and withholding work from struck employers,'' the flyer says. ''As a member, you need to know what work is off limits until we get a fair deal. Any work covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts is prohibited.

This includes the following agreements:

Producer-SAG-AFTRA Codified Basic AgreementSAG-AFTRA Television Agreement (includes new media)Special New Media AgreementsLow Budget Theatrical Agreement (LBA)Moderate Low Budget Project Agreement (MPA)Ultra Low Budget Project Agreement (UPA)SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement for High Budget Original or Derivative ProgramsON-CAMERA WORK

ActingSinging Dancing Stunts PuppeteeringOFF-CAMERA WORK

Voice Acting Narrating SingingADRLoopingIT ALSO INCLUDES

Background Acting Stand-Ins Auditions (including self-tape) Rehearsals Publicity (conventions, interviews, tours or promotion via social media of any struck work or struck companies)All this is ''off limits until we get a fair deal,'' the guild says.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:59

As we've reported, country singer Jason Aldean's song ''Try That in a Small Town'' has risen to the top of the charts and has caused liberal heads to explode, with many of them crying racism and claiming the tune is pro-lynching.

Despite the Left's outrage, the song, as of this writing, is #1 on the iTunes ''Top Songs'' chart. Ha!

Read:

Jason Aldean's Rocking Country Song 'Try That in a Small Town' Makes Liberal Heads Explode, He Claps Back

Jason Aldean's New Anti-BLM Song Hits No. 1, Highlights America's Building Spite for the Left

Jason Aldean and the Conflict of Rural vs. Urban

Country Music Television (CMT) doesn't care about the song's popularity, though, and has decided to pull the song from its rotation. Meaning, they're censoring it.

Radio host Clay Travis called the move ''pathetic'':

CMT canceled @Jason_Aldean's new video. Pathetic. I teed off with @JesseBWatters tonight. The city of Nashville, my hometown, should embrace all songs, @taylorswift13 or @Jason_Aldean. Enjoy: pic.twitter.com/KLBFT50B5G

'-- Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 19, 2023

The song features blazing guitars, while the video shows Aldean's band playing against a montage of news footage regarding the George Floyd-BLM protests.

Aldean vehemently denies the tune is racist or a call to lynching, tweeting Tuesday:

In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn't a single video clip that isn't real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.

Read his full statement here.

One reason the song is so popular, in my opinion, is that it exposes the hypocrisy of our leaders during the summer 2020 riots, where they told us to stay inside to stay safe from COVID'--unless, of course, you were rioting and destroying property; then you could go whatever you want.

Since then, we've seen a two-and-a-half-year liberal meltdown over the Jan. 6 ''insurrection,'' with hundreds of participants jailed, while it seems virtually no one has faced legal consequences for the summer 2020 outbursts.

The truth is, the 2020 riots went on far longer than the Jan. 6, 2021, capitol attack, there were more deaths and injuries, and they caused at least $2 billion in damage. So yeah, people are still upset.

One thing that the outrage mob is latching onto is the location of the video, in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which is the site of the awful 1927 lynching of Henry Choate. However, TackleBox, the production company behind the video, said that the location is a ''popular filming location outside of Nashville'' and that Aldean did not choose it.

The song has definitely stirred up the culture wars, and celebrities, politicians, and just about everyone else is sharing their opinions. (NSFW language ahead.) Here's comedienne Roseanne Barr duking it out with singer Sheryl Crow:

@Jason_Aldean's Next song should be about virtue signaling white women freaking out over a country song while blasting gangster rap in their luxury SUV's as they drop their kids off at schools where furry children shit in litter boxes. https://t.co/DWzG9AunID

'-- Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) July 19, 2023

Aldean's wife Brittany chimed in with support for her husband on Instagram:

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said what a lot of us were thinking, namely that the Left seems to always have their priorities mixed up:

The Left is now more concerned about @Jason_Aldean's song calling out looters and criminals than they are about stopping looters and criminals. That tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of Democrats and woke companies like CMT that cave to the liberal mob. https://t.co/ctYP7FRxrv

'-- Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) July 19, 2023

CMT is not Big Tech, Big Corporate, or the federal government'--but it is Big Media. The truth is, don't they all seem to be one behemoth at this point, telling us what to look at and what to think?

Although this story doesn't involve transgenderism, CMT is learning, as Bud Light and Target did, that people are sick of being told to deny reality and march in lockstep with the progressive narrative. We're going to listen to that song whether they like it or not.

In fact, crank it up right now:

Jason Aldean just released an absolutely epic music video for the song "Try That In a Small Town" that rips into the left-wing riots, soft on crime governance in cities, gun control, and other leftist degradation. pic.twitter.com/dUYzGbnvc6

'-- Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 17, 2023

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:58

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American Airlines flight attendants to vote on strike authorization Flight attendants with the airline will begin voting on a potential strike later this month as thousands of workers fight for better wages.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents more than 26,000 attendants, said earlier this week that the vote will last from July 28 to Aug. 29.

''Flight Attendants are ready for an agreement that respects our contributions to the success of this carrier,'' Julie Hedrick, president of the union, said in a statement.

''Our contract became amendable in 2019, and American's Flight Attendants have not received cost-of-living increases or any other quality-of-life improvements, even as they played an essential part in keeping American in the skies both during and after the pandemic,'' she added.

Hedrick said Tuesday that a ''strike authorization vote is even being put before our membership should concern American Airlines and those who invest in and fly our airline.''

If both sides fail to reach an agreement, the union warned a strike for ''the world's largest carrier'' could come shortly after.

Among the changes attendants are seeking in a new contract include a 35-percent, one-time wage increase, a 6-percent annual raise and increased benefits.

Earlier this year, American Airlines pilots authorized a strike, as their union negotiates a new contract with the airline.

''It's time for American Airlines management to show Flight Attendants the respect they are due through appropriate pay and improved working conditions. We are ready for American Airlines to bring these negotiations to a close,'' Hedrick said.

The Hill's Nick Robertson has the details here.

The Hill on Wednesday hosted its latest small business event, bringing together the Small Business Administration, lawmakers, members of the financial services industry and small business owners to talk about an innovative new small business credit initiative. Watch the recap here.

Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:

President Biden on Wednesday met with United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain to discuss contract negotiations with automakers, while the union is currently withholding its endorsement of Biden's reelection bid.

With a record 10.5 million small business applications filed in the past two years, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said Wednesday that the Small Business Administration (SBA) needs to rethink how it defines a small business.

Federal authorities confirmed Tuesday that they are investigating the death of a 16-year-old boy at a poultry plant in Mississippi.

Only 34 percent of Americans approve of President Biden's handling of inflation, despite the recent rollout of ''Bidenomics'' to tout the president's economic agenda, a poll found.

Businesses rely on UPS to serve their customers and keep their operations running smoothly. For individuals, it's products critical to their lives. You could say UPS is delivering what matters for nearly every American. Learn more.

Upcoming news themes and events we're watching:

The National Association of Realtors will release existing-home sales data for June at 10 a.m. ET.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference next Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Branch out with more stories from the day:

United Airlines said Wednesday it earned more than $1 billion in the second quarter despite canceling 3,800 flights in the last two weeks of June, when it struggled to recover from storms that crippled its key operation in the New York City area.

Business and economic news we've flagged from other outlets:

Homeowners don't want to sell, so the market for brand-new homes is booming (WSJ)Netflix subscriptions jump 8%, revenue climbs as password sharing crackdown takes hold (CNBC)Hollywood's absolutely bizarre accounting tactics are under renewed scrutiny (CNN)

UPS moves $3.8 billion of essential products every day. That includes everything from books to backpacks to class supplies. As students and teachers prepare for another great school year, UPS is delivering what matters. Learn more.

Top stories on The Hill right now:

A new indictment of former President Trump in connection to his actions surrounding Jan. 6 could pose a real problem for his 2024 White House campaign as he faces potential criminal charges for the third time this year, some Republicans say. Read more

The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday will hear from two IRS whistleblowers who allege the government's investigation into President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was mishandled. Read more

Opinions related to business and economic issues submitted to The Hill:

You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!

Tags american airlinesflight attendants strikeGreg LandsmanJoe BidenunionsWagesCopyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:56

President Biden's new income-driven repayment plan for student loans will cost $475 billion over 10 years, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, tens of billions of dollars more than an earlier plan that the Supreme Court struck down last month.

The Penn model estimates taxpayers will face $200 billion in costs due to payment reductions in the president's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, as a little more than half of the $1.64 trillion in outstanding loans will be covered.

Another $275 billion in taxpayer costs will be attributable to payment reductions under the plan for $1.03 trillion in new student loans into the next decade.

According to the model's estimate range, the cost of the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan could be as low as $390.9 billion or soar as high as $558.8 billion.

President Biden's new income-driven repayment plan for student loans will cost $475 billion over 10 years, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. Getty Images According to the model's estimate range, the cost of the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan could be as low as $390.9 billion or soar as high as $558.8 billion. Getty Images for We, The 45 Million'''‹'‹Due to the increased generosity of the newly proposed IDR plan, future student borrowers have the incentive to increase their federal student loan borrowing,'' Penn Wharton junior economist Penlei Chen wrote.

The president's SAVE plan is expected to go into effect July 1, 2024, and would cut monthly income-based student loan payments in half, eliminate monthly payments for minimum-wage earners and forgive all outstanding debt after 10 years of payments for student borrowers who took $12,000 or less.

Most community college students would not have to pay back any debt under the plan, according to the Biden administration.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called the income-driven repayment rule ''irresponsible'' and ''unfair.'' Getty ImagesThe nonpartisan Urban Institute also found less than a quarter of bachelor's degree recipients would be forced to pay back their loans in full.

''Make no mistake, Biden's newest student loan scheme only transfers the burden from those who willingly took out loans to Americans who never attended college or who already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,'' Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement, calling the income-driven repayment rule ''irresponsible'' and ''unfair.''

The senator's office noted that households making more than $250,000 per year could feasibly receive some federal assistance if filing taxes separately. They also pointed to a Congressional Budget Office estimate in March that lowballed Biden's loan plan, pegging the taxpayer cost at $276 billion.

The nonpartisan Urban Institute also found less than a quarter of bachelor's degree recipients would be forced to pay back their loans in full. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced Friday that his department would unilaterally cancel $39 billion in federal student loans for 804,000 student borrowers. Getty ImagesEducation Secretary Miguel Cardona also announced Friday that his department would unilaterally cancel $39 billion in federal student loans for 804,000 student borrowers who had been paying loans for 20 or 25 years, depending on when they started the process.

The Supreme Court overturned Biden's plan to forgive up to $430 billion in loans for as many as 43 million borrowers, ruling 6-3 on June 30 that it was unconstitutional to write off the debt without congressional approval.

That plan had relied on a 2003 law designed to forgive loans for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, arguing that financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic constituted a similar national emergency.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2023 03:56

It's legacy media hysteria time again: news outlets from The Washington Post to The Atlantic hyperventilate about what they spin as the latest scandale. Presidential candidate RFK Jr made comments at a dinner about ethnically targeted bioweapons. Mainstream media commentators claim that these comments are in themselves anti-Semitic.

Some articles are going back in time, cherry-picking remarks RFK Jr has made in the past about the Holocaust, and about other aspects of historic totalitarianism, to strengthen the case for imprinting the ''Anti-Semite'' label forever on Mr Kennedy's candidacy and campaign. With the (now AI-driven) global smear campaign in full mode, we see the way that bad press today quickly becomes circular and self-referential.

Look at who is most upset! It is the Democratic political establishment '-- which is directly threatened by RFK Jr's potential success '-- that is beside itself.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison called RFK Jr's remarks ''deeply troubling.''

A group of Democrats ask the White House to disinvite Kennedy from appearing on Capitol Hill. Kyle Herrig, Executive Director of the [Democrats'] Congressional Integrity Project, wrote a letter to Congressman Jim Jordan, calling Kennedy ''a total whack job whose views and conspiracy theories would be completely ignored but for his last name.'' Herrig asked Mr Kennedy to be disinvited from a planned appearance at the White House due to ''video evidence of his horrific antisemitic and xenophobic views which are simply beyond the pale.''

Who else is beside itself? The White House, and its spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre! It is this White House's current inhabitant, of course, whom this candidate seeks to unseat .

These are the folks who most fear and dread this outsider's surprisingly dynamic challenge to their planned stitch-up '-- (a Michele Obama/Gavin Newsom ticket is my guess) '-- of the 2024 Presidential election.

There is another branch of folks who are upset at RFK Jr. Who? Oh! That would be Big Pharma/Big Public Health.

AP (which has a Memorandum of Understanding with the CCP's main propaganda outlet, Xinhua, to ''Enhance Cooperation'' ) spun the candidate's warnings about ethnically targeted bioweapons as lunacy, and trotted out Dr Michael Mina to confirm:

''He [Kennedy] asserted without evidence that there are bioweapons being developed to target certain ethnicities, and called for the Post 's article to be retracted.

Researchers and doctors pushed back on the assertion, including Michael Mina, a medical doctor and immunologist.

''Beyond the absurdity, biological know-how simply isn't there to make a virus that targets only certain ethnicities,'' Mina wrote on Twitter .''

Dr Mina is not an independent immunologist. He was a voice on social media promoting antigen tests throughout the pandemic (widespread testing with unreliable methods later proved to be one of the ways that the numbers related to the pandemic were inflated. PCR tests are grossly inaccurate and antigen tests too are not always accurate ). Dr Mina called for weekly testing , worldwide.

He is also on the faculty at the ''Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics'' at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. This entity exists to communicate about public health threats. It boasts of partnering with government agencies, and it devotes a section of its website to COVID-19 op-eds published by its faculty.

Another surprise! These op eds universally support and elaborate ''the narrative'' of an eternal, lucrative COVID Inc. They warn about the faulty information sources of ''anti-vaxxers'' , they blame ''COVID minimizers'' for the fact that the population did not yet achieve herd immunity, and they glorify Pfizer's ''hyper-pursuit'' of a vaccine . (We know now how scientifically shoddy and how damaging to public health was this ''hyper-pursuit''). Dr Mina wrote an op ed in The New York Times urging executive action to bypass FDA approval for rapid antigen testing. Yet another surprise! Dr Mina may get a second paycheck from COVID Inc '-- ''He advises Detect, Inc., a diagnostics company working on a rapid molecular test for Covid-19 ['...].'' And perhaps a third: he is ''Chief Science Officer'' at eMed Digital Healthcare.

So: the two entities that initiated the attacks on RFK Jr, and that provided the media with the early grist in the form of howls of DNC outrage and sober ''assessments'' by fully compromised medical voices, are the two entities who stand to lose the most from a President Kennedy: Big Democrats, and Big Pharma/Big Public Health/Big Medical Data.

Now to Mr Kennedy's assertions themselves. AP is supposed to do actual research before declaring a subject without merit. A simple Google search reveals scores of articles about ethnically targeted bioweapons, in publications ranging from Newsweek to peer-reviewed journals. The National Review warns as recently as April 2023 about ''The Coming Threat of a Genetically Engineered ' Ethnic Bioweapon .''' Eurasia Review alerted readers to ''Bioweapons Targeting Specific Ethnicities: A Threat, and Nanotechnology's Promise for Defense. '' This essay is enlightening about one possible reason for the furore over Kennedy's remarks. Look carefully:

''Bioweapons are defined as infectious agents or toxins that can be used to kill or incapacitate people, animals, or plants. These weapons can be engineered to target specific genetic traits or ethnicities by modifying the infectious agents' genome or by altering the toxic properties of the bioweapon. Bioweapons are known to be used as a tool for ethnic cleansing or genocide, as they can selectively target specific populations.

One example of such a weapon is the so-called ''ethnic bomb'' that was reportedly developed by the former South African government during the apartheid era. This weapon was designed to target specific ethnic groups by exploiting genetic differences in the way the body metabolizes certain chemicals. The weapon was never deployed, but its existence highlights the potential for bioweapons to be used in this way.

Another example of a bioweapon that could target specific ethnic groups is the use of CRISPR gene editing technology. This technology allows for precise editing of genes and could be used to target specific genes that are unique to certain ethnic groups. This would allow for the creation of a bioweapon that is more lethal to one group than another [Italics mine].''

So '-- please process this. CRISPR '-- the new gene-editing technology with which establishment gatekeepers are so infatuated, and which is the darling of Bill Gates and the entire globalist gene-editing establishment '-- can be used as a precursor of ethnic targeting.

Articles are abundant that confirm that ethnically targeting bioweapons are seen as a pressing threat by those who actually know about national security issues. If the AP reporter had done a quick search, 14,900 scholarly articles on ethnically targeted bioweapons would have appeared, including in Foreign Affairs : ''The New Killer Pathogens: Countering the Coming Bioweapons Threat''. Sasha Latypova, on her Substack ''Due Diligence and Art'', in an essay titled ''Ethnically Targeted Bioweapons?'' has done a thorough job presenting the many iterations of this form of bioweapons threat .

So while the details may be open to debate, the general subject that RFK Jr cited, regarding ethnically targeted bioweapons, is verified and real.

We at the WarRoom/DailyClout Pfizer Documents Volunteers Reports found possible evidence of geographic targeting, with 36,000 of 42,000 plus adverse events from the Pfizer injection, being within the United States; the next largest tranche of adverse events is in Western Europe, in order of political importance: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain. And all the rest of the 52 countries of the world combined, in which this injection was rolled out, yielded only 7000 adverse events. I have confirmed from previous research that China is in charge of the IP of the Pfizer injection, and is deploying manufacturing plants in the West. I am not a medical doctor; I am a political commentator.

But any one who thinks about geopolitics will look at this distribution of adverse events and ask the cause of it.

****

Let me now reflect on the furore while putting on the hat of having been a former political consultant to two Presidential campaigns.

Disclosure: I know RFK Jr slightly, and I like and respect him. We are nonpartisan at DailyClout, so I can't endorse any candidate.

That said, there is a reason his campaign is attaining sufficient momentum to scare the Democratic establishment criminal syndicate.

He is a candidate whose blessings are his curses, and vice versa.

Many people welcome him to the national political discussion because of his blistering honesty. A man who will call out Dr Anthony Fauci in a book of hundreds of pages, with thousands of footnotes; who will state in public that he believes that the CIA killed his uncle; who will approach radioactive no-go areas such as the impact of thimerisol on children's health '-- brings to the stage a level of honesty (and of moral courage) that is compelling to watch.

That said, speaking as a former advisor to Presidential candidates and campaigns, this very honesty, moral courage and seriousness of purpose, if completely unmediated, can, frankly, turn into a minefield on the campaign trail.

No one who has not lived through a Presidential campaign, can imagine the white heat of the constant national scrutiny of every word; the fatigue generated by 12 hour days of events, with flights every other day; and above all, the paranoia that is engendered by the fact that spies, infiltrators and provocateurs are constant threats and presences. People whom the candidate thinks are friends, give damaging interviews to the press; personal secrets surface; the inner circle is often reluctant to present bad news in an unvarnished way, thus distorting the candidate's sense of the political landscape; family members are attacked and react emotionally; and so on. Literally no one who has not experienced this for him or herself, can imagine the psychological and physical pressures of a Presidential campaign trail.

The exhaustion, upheaval and isolation can lead a candidate to '-- well, talk too much or too spontaneously, or to go into messy areas that can be taken out of context by the campaign's enemies.

Both President Clinton and Vice President Gore had this tendency to freelance, and their advisors would tear their hair out when it surfaced. President Clinton liked to depart from his speech text with long, looping verbal riffs. Mostly that was fine, but sometimes it blew up in his face. The Vice President liked to detour into long excursions into highly technical subjects that fascinated him, but that did not always edify the press or his immediate audiences.

In such a context, any candidate requires a team that can and will enforce what is called ''message discipline.'' Any successful Presidential campaign needs a core set of talking points, a cleared set of soundbites, and speeches that are bulletproof. It also helps to have dozens of trained surrogates who repeat the campaign's message, so that it does not all rest on the energies and efforts of the exhausted candidate.

Any Presidential candidate also needs someone '-- ideally from the press office '-- seated near him or her at all times who will jump in, signal quietly, or redirect, when a comment risks being taken out of context. No human being can police him or herself at all times, especially under the grueling conditions of a campaign.

What I am saying here is something that a candidate as honest and brave as RFK Jr may be reluctant to hear '-- but if he is really going to achieve his best shot at being President, I do believe this is important to consider.

RFK Jr is cursed and blessed with a passion for actual truth. So he speaks actual truth. This passion for truth, which I hope I share, is something that makes us both nostalgic and sad when we talk about the demise of truth in the liberal American ideal.

The sad fact though about a Presidential campaign, which is an absolutely grueling psychotic marathon, is that not everything that is true , or even true and very important, is wise always to present in that particular moment. The observation at the private dinner probably falls into that category. There are some truths that will be spun as lies from the start: they give rise to reactions described in Winston Churchill's quote, ''A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.''

Mr Kennedy is not the first candidate to learn that not everything that is actually true, and important, will play well. Mrs Gore had to discover that even though her commitment to raising awareness about depression was noble, and even though depression is a very real and important disease, it was not a discussion that was ultimately helping her husband's campaign. She productively moved on to health and wellness. Mrs Clinton was correct in identifying her expertise as a potential bonus to the discussion about health care; but she was wrong in thinking that Americans would like having unelected individuals affecting national policy.

All of this risks sounding as if I am urging candidates to be fake, or to dissemble, or to trim their words, and I am not. Inauthenticity is offputting to voters'-- they can smell it '-- as well as being morally repellent.

I am saying rather that a good press team will enforce message discipline and will distill the candidate's real passions and true motivations into talking points, speeches and sound bites that will never betray him or her, and that will spare his or her energies for the really important fights.

The second form of curse/ blessing that belongs to RFK Jr is that he actually understands the governance of this nation. It is the legacy of his family business and heritage. His uncle of course served as President and his father was that President's Attorney General, as well as being that President's closest advisor. Other members of Mr Kennedy's family have served the nation in various ways at high levels.

This means that, likely due to the context of family memory and discussion, no doubt also due to his own reading about his heritage and about geopolitics, RFK Jr is not naive about what it actually means to be President, or what it means to be America in a dangerous world.

That means that he sees real geopolitical threats in advance and is not, to speak frankly, an idiot about national security, as most commentators in legacy media tend to be.

So he will inevitably see ethnically targeted bioweapons '-- or bioweapons as a whole - as the looming national security threat that they are, rather than as a ''wacky'' issue that is unmentionable at fancy dinners.

Very few people have had exposure to those making decisions about national security at the highest levels; so at times RFK Jr is likely to see a threat or express a concern that few others will see or understand.

Again: blessing/curse. You want that eagle's eye view of global security threats in a President; but this rare perspective, as well as this passion to speak the truth, can create difficult, isolating challenges for a campaigner.

*****

Now let us address the string of allegations that are being hurled at RFK Jr related to other alleged instances of anti-Semitism.

In the past, in multiple appearances, RFK Jr has compared current medical totalitarianism to Nazi practices. For this, he has been aggressively assailed.

I am embarrassed to say that the charges of anti-Semitism related to his having done so, have come from institutions central to preserving memories of the Holocaust; institutions ranging from The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League have come forward to condemn him. For his 2022 remarks, in a speech, about Anne Frank, in which he pointed out that in the Nazi era one might hide from tyranny whereas now there is no escape possible, the US Holocaust Museum itself came forward to condemn him '-- a surprising turn of events, when a museum, which is supposed to be nonpartisan and apolitical, steps into a political fray. The museum gave Politico this quote:

''Making reckless comparisons to the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews, for a political agenda is outrageous and deeply offensive. Those who carelessly invoke Anne Frank, the star badge, and the Nuremberg Trials exploit history and the consequences of hate,'' the museum said Monday in a statement posted to Twitter.''

Do I think his Anne Frank remarks were perfectly worded? No indeed (hello again, mythical press officer who should be reading the candidate's speech first).

Do I understand what he is saying? Yes I do.

I will go further. This Jewess here '-- who, as I often note, is the granddaughter of a woman who lost nine siblings to the Holocaust '-- abhors the fact that Jewish organizations are piling on and accusing RFK Jr of anti-Semitism for making comparisons of current medical tyranny to the Nazi era. I abhor this gross oversimplification and over-reaction, because RFK Jr is literally correct to draw these comparisons. I draw them myself.

Remember ''Never forget''?

Anyone who has read the history of the rise of the National Socialists to power, knows that the weaponization of German society began with the coopting by the Nazis of physicians, and of doctors' professional organizations. The full account of this brilliant and damaging innovation, which long preceded the 1933 formal ascendancy to power of the Nazis, let alone the 1939-1945 genocide programs, is in the important books, The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide by Robert Jay Lifton, and Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis , by Robert N Proctor.

From where did the fully-formed murderous protocols and techniques of 2020-2023 come? They were not invented from whole cloth in the US or in the other nations in which they were launched. They were invented by the National Socialists in the 1930s.

In the early 1930s, as today, the Nazi state enlisted doctors, nurses and midwives to do the bidding of the State. In the early 1930s, as today, doctors were advanced if they joined the Nazi Party, and professional medical organizations were coopted by the Party; doctors lost licenses to practice or lost professional opportunities, if they refused to align.

As today, the National Socialists quickly divided society into two tiers, in which Aryans had rights, access to jobs, and access to state benefits and to universities, while non-Aryans were identified in multiple ways as second class citizens. The second class citizens lost the right to enter public buildings, to shop in commercial establishments, to keep their jobs, to study or teach in universities, and so on.

Does that sound familiar?

By 1939, the Nazi regime compelled nurses, doctors and midwives to identify mentally impaired infants and children. This was a program called ''Aktion T4''. The parents of these children were being urged by ''public health authorities'' to bring these children to ''pediatric clinics''. After that they were euthanized ''by lethal overdoses of medication or starvation.'' Of course the program expanded to include other ages.

Does this sound familiar?

We heard stories of medical murder ''by lethal overdoses of medication or starvation'' during the pandemic, by the score.

Indeed, does the following recent account, sound historically familiar?

''In early spring of 2021, the family of Grace Schara, a 19-year-old young woman with Down's Syndrome , brought their daughter to an emergency room at the direction of an urgent care clinic due to wavering blood oxygen levels from COVID-19. According to her father Scott Schara, this was a grave mistake. Schara claims the hospital, St. Elizabeth's in Appleton, Wisconsin, became an adversary, not an ally, in treating Grace. The relationship broke down when the Schara's were not convinced Grace needed to be put on a ventilator, a treatment encouraged by the federal government with financial incentives. Within a matter of days, Grace was dead. Her family discovered the physician put a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order in place and infused a combination of powerful anesthesia drugs into her system. As a result, they've filed a lawsuit claiming the hospital engaged in euthanasia. ''

It was physicians and nurses tasked with being the ''tip of the spear'' of Nazi ideology, which saw non-Aryans or the impaired as ''infectious'' and ''diseased''; and it was ''public health'' as the overarching ideology, that first established the Nazi ideals of pure and impure humans, of those who were privileged and those who were and who should be expendable.

And doctors complied.

Nazi totalitarianism, as anyone who is not historically illiterate knows - and RFK Jr knows history - started with and was predicated upon, medical or ''public health'' totalitarianism.

Which is all to say: RFK Jr is right to call our attention to direct echoes of our current dystopia with the early days of the Nazi regime. He is right to warn us, by using examples from this so-relevent history, where this all always goes.

It is madness to claim that no one should mention the Holocaust in relation to current redeployments of Nazi-type protocols and policies. We as Jews have always been told to be vigilant, to remember the Holocaust, to learn its lessons.

How can we deny that duty of vigilance, and of recognizing historical patterns, to leaders and colleagues who happen not to be Jewish?

I say it dishonors the memory of victims of the Holocaust to condemn anyone who seeks to learn from what happened to them, and who seeks, by learning from history, to prevent such atrocities from unfolding again.

This Jewess says: RFK Jr is not an anti-Semite for doing so. He is honoring the victims of the Nazis, and trying to draw our attention to that era's lessons, to save us from similar horrors.

*****

I hope for the sake of this country that we turn our gazes away from sideshows and smear campaigns, that we ignore personal invective, and that we not credit baseless character assassinations.

I hope for the sake of this country that we as voters demand that our media and our national debate stay focused on the actual platforms of all of the candidates; and that we direct our collective attention to the abundance of crises that we really do face, and hear out possible solutions '-- not as addicts of clickbait, but as sober, discerning citizens, with an important choice to make.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American political organization

No Labels is an American political organization whose stated mission is to support centrism and bipartisanship.[2] In 2010, No Labels was founded as a 501(c)(4) with Nancy Jacobson as its board president.[3][4] In 2023, she also was appointed as CEO.

Focus [ edit ] House of Representatives [ edit ] In 2017, the group helped to start the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of approximately 60 congressional members.

For the 2019''2020 House term, the Problem Solvers Caucus reached an agreement with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi on House rule changes [5] that some praised as practical and necessary,[6] while others claimed it might give House Republicans[6] and/or corporate interests[7] more power for that term.[8]

In 2021, the Problem Solvers Caucus released a "Building Bridges" blueprint for a bipartisan infrastructure deal. It was the first deal to be endorsed by Republicans and Democrats during that budget cycle.[9]

Efforts to block tax increases on the wealthiest Americans and corporations, especially in 2021 and 2022, have been attributed to No Labels by The Intercept[10] and Jacobin.[11]

2024 presidential ticket [ edit ] No Labels says it is close to raising the $70 million that it thinks will enable it to put a third-party "unity ticket" for the 2024 presidential election on the ballot in every state.[12] Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and former Republican Governors Larry Hogan and Jon Huntsman have been mentioned as potential No Labels candidates.[13][14]

The effort has been criticized by Democrats, centrists and Republicans who fear it could give former president Donald Trump a second term.[15][16][17][18] Center-left members of No Labels' Problem Solvers Caucus are reportedly "in open revolt"[19][20] while co-founder William Galston resigned in protest.[21][22] A bi-partisan group of former lawmakers, citing the threat to democracy they see from Trump, launched a Super PAC called Citizens to Save Our Republic to focus on stopping No Labels' presidential ticket.[23][24] FiveThirtyEight's review of polling on July 13, 2023, finds that a bi-partisan ticket like the one proposed by No Labels would likely benefit Trump.[25]

Funding [ edit ] Early donors to No Labels include billionaire Andrew Tisch, co-chairman of Loews Corporation; Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread; Dave Morin, a former Facebook executive, and supporters of Michael Bloomberg.[26]

A 2018 Chicago Sun-Times investigation first linked these five super PACs to No Labels: United for Progress, Inc.; Citizens for a Strong America, Inc.; United Together; Govern or Go Home; and Forward, Not Back.[27][28][29] Later in the year, OpenSecrets built on that work and linked two additional super PACs to No Labels, Patriotic Americans PAC and Progress Tomorrow, Inc.[30] According to the FEC website, all seven of these super PACs were closed in 2020.[31][32][33][34][35][36][37]

According to The Daily Beast, by the end of the 2018 cycle, the No Labels Super PACs received more than $11 million from 53 donors, most of whom came from the financial industry.[38]

Along with nearly two dozen new donors, The New Republic reported in 2023 that No Labels has received major funding that included Harlan Crow, a leading donor to Republican and conservative causes who became embroiled in controversy related to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.[39]

Critics of the organization have suggested that, in practice, No Labels works to advance the financial interests of the wealthy.[38][40][41] This has been echoed in critiques that the group caters to the special interests that drive partisanship (instead of promoting bipartisanship)[7] with Frank Rich opining, "what America needs is not another political organization with a toothless agenda and less-than-transparent finances".[42]

Leadership [ edit ] Nancy Jacobson has been the board president since the founding of the organization and in 2023 began serving as CEO as well. In December 2020, No Labels announced Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R), as a national co-chair (prominent spokesperson[43]) to serve alongside the No Labels founding co-chair Joe Lieberman.[44] In January 2023, Benjamin Chavis joined Hogan as national co-chair.[45]

Nancy Jacobson (board president and CEO), Jerald S. Howe Jr. (board treasurer), and Margie Fox have been on the board since the founding of the group in 2010. Andrew Tisch and Kenneth A. Gross joined in 2012. Andrew M. Bursky joined in 2015. Dennis C. Blair and Charles R. Black Jr. joined in 2019.[1] Previous board members include: Ted Buerger (2010), Joshua Bekenstein (2010), Mark Nunnelly (2010), Mark McKinnon (2010''2012), Nate Garvis (2010''2013), Holly Page (2010''2013), and Lisa Borders (2014''2017).[1]

Work environment [ edit ] Based on 14 interviews with former employees in December 2022, Politico described a "toxic" culture within No Labels. The article cited a "cutthroat culture, one where staffers are routinely fired or pushed out, have little trust in management, and believe the workplace environment can be difficult for minority and female colleagues".[46] In response to the criticism, several senior officials for the group described to Politico the complaints as coming from "aggrieved ex-workers" who could not "adapt" to a demanding office culture.[46]

Politico reported that in addition to requiring non-disclosure agreements, Nancy Jacobson has been accused by former employees of asking staff members to obscure where they work on LinkedIn, allegedly, in order to make it more difficult for journalists to ascertain (and interview) No Labels employees.[46]

See also [ edit ] Forward PartyPolitical moderateReagan DemocratReform PartySpoiler candidateThird partyReferences [ edit ] ^ a b c Suozzo, Andrea; Schwencke, Ken; Tigas, Mike; Wei, Sisi; Glassford, Alec; Roberts, Brandon. "No Labels, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ Broadwater, Luke (December 15, 2020). "No Labels, Planning Centrist Push in New Congress, Taps Larry Hogan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020 . Retrieved December 18, 2020 . ^ Clift, Eleanor (April 11, 2015). "The Only Bipartisan Game in Town" . Retrieved February 2, 2019 . ...the non-profit group that was founded in 2010 to advocate for that elusive middle way. ^ "A No Labels solution to Washington gridlock?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019 . Retrieved February 2, 2019 . ^ McPherson, Lindsey (November 28, 2018). "Problem Solvers to Back Pelosi for Speaker After Reaching Agreement on Rules Changes". Roll Call. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018 . Retrieved December 4, 2018 . ^ a b "The Democratic House wants to reform democracy. It's not a panacea '-- but it's a start". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019 . Retrieved January 9, 2019 . ^ a b Pocan, Mark (December 4, 2018). "Congressman: I Was Duped By 'No Labels' ". Huffington Post . Retrieved June 1, 2023 . ^ Fang, Lee (November 29, 2018). "Billionaire Republican Donors Helped Elect Rising Centrist Democrats". The Intercept . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ McPherson, Lindsey (June 9, 2021). "Bipartisan House caucus offers alternative infrastructure plan after Senate GOP talks collapse". Roll Call . Retrieved April 4, 2023 . ^ Sirota, Sara (October 25, 2021). "Josh Gottheimer's Obstructionist Crew Raised Millions During Showdown With Nancy Pelosi". The Intercept . Retrieved June 2, 2023 . ^ Perez, Andrew (May 2023). "Last Year's Biden-Endorsed Gubernatorial Nominee in South Carolina Just Joined the No Labels Group". Jacobin . Retrieved June 1, 2023 . ^ Hillyard, Vaughn; Koretski, Katherine; Gallo, Dan (July 17, 2023). "Joe Manchin and Jon Huntsman flirt with third-party 2024 ticket in New Hampshire". NBC News . Retrieved July 18, 2023 . ^ Axelrod, Tal (March 7, 2023). "Larry Hogan won't close the door on third-party presidential bid in 2024". ABC News. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023 . Retrieved March 8, 2023 . ^ Robins-Early, Nick (July 17, 2023). "Manchin appearance with third-party group fuels speculation over 2024 run". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved July 18, 2023 . ^ Meyerson, Harold (April 12, 2023). "No Labels' Real Label: Vanity Candidates 'R' Us". The American Prospect . Retrieved May 7, 2023 . ^ Giles, Ben (April 26, 2023). "No Labels is getting on state ballots, drawing a lawsuit and concerns about a spoiler". National Public Radio. ^ Chait, Jonathan (April 3, 2023). "The Terrifying Threat That No Labels Will Reelect Trump". Intelligencer . Retrieved May 16, 2023 . ^ Scherer, Michael (April 2, 2023). "No Labels group raises alarms with third-party presidential preparations". The Washington Post . Retrieved April 3, 2023 . ^ Weisman, Jonathan (May 19, 2023). " 'No Labels' Eyes a Third-Party Run in 2024. Democrats Are Alarmed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved May 24, 2023 . ^ Lippman, Daniel (May 26, 2023). "House Dems in No Labels-allied caucus are livid with No Labels". Politico . Retrieved May 30, 2023 . ^ Collins, Michael (May 13, 2023). "A Trump-Biden rematch? Pass, says this group searching for a third-party option in 2024". USA Today . Retrieved May 16, 2023 . ^ Galston, William A. (May 2, 2023). "Opinion | No Labels May Re-Elect Donald Trump". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved May 6, 2023 . ^ Krieg, Gregory; Zeleny, Jeff; Simon, Jeff (July 18, 2023). "Manchin refuses to rule out third party presidential campaign, says 'if I get in a race, I'm going to win' ". CNN Politics . Retrieved July 18, 2023 . ^ Strauss, Daniel (July 17, 2023). "Wagons Circle Around No Labels as Big-Name Group Forms Super PAC". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583 . Retrieved July 18, 2023 . ^ Skelley, Geoffrey (July 13, 2023). "Why A Third-Party Candidate Might Help Trump '-- And Spoil The Election For Biden". FiveThirtyEight . Retrieved July 19, 2023 . ^ Langley, Monica (November 24, 2010). "Aiming for the Political Middle" . The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010 . Retrieved October 27, 2021 . ^ Sweet, Lynn (March 12, 2018). "Bipartisan 'No Labels' group's super PAC network revealed: mega Chicago donors". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018 . Retrieved December 7, 2018 . ^ Fang, Lee (November 29, 2018). "Billionaire Republican Donors Helped Elect Rising Centrist Democrats". The Intercept. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018 . Retrieved December 1, 2018 . ^ Stein, Sam (December 3, 2018). "How No Labels Went From Preaching Unity to Practicing the Dark Arts". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020 . Retrieved December 22, 2020 . ^ "Super PAC behind spending in Minnesota and Florida primaries linked to nonpartisan No Labels group". OpenSecrets News. August 2, 2018 . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "UNITED TOGETHER - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "FORWARD NOT BACK - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "CITIZENS FOR A STRONG AMERICA INC - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "UNITED FOR PROGRESS, INC. - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "PROGRESS TOMORROW, INC. - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "GOVERN OR GO HOME - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ "PATRIOTIC AMERICANS PAC - committee overview". FEC.gov . Retrieved May 9, 2023 . ^ a b Stein, Sam; Markay, Lachlan (December 3, 2018). "How No Labels Went from Preaching Unity to Practicing the Dark Arts". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021 . Retrieved October 27, 2021 . ^ Strauss, Daniel (April 19, 2023). "No Labels Took More Than $100,000 From Clarence Thomas Buddy Harlan Crow". The New Republic. ^ Grim, Ryan (September 23, 2021). "Dark-Money Group to Donors: Reconciliation Bill Can Still be Killed". The Intercept. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022 . Retrieved October 26, 2021 . ^ Fang, Lee (August 26, 2021). "No Labels Offered Conservative Democrats Hundreds of Thousands to Spurn Nancy Pelosi Fundraiser". The Intercept. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022 . Retrieved October 26, 2021 . ^ Rich, Frank (December 19, 2010). "The Bipartisanship Racket". The New York Times . Retrieved October 27, 2021 . ^ "No Labels, Marking 10th Anniversary, Welcomes Maryland Governor Larry Hogan as National Co-Chair". web.archive.org. January 28, 2021 . Retrieved June 3, 2023 . ^ Booker, Brakkton (December 15, 2020). "Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Named Co-Chair Of Bipartisan Group No Labels". National Public Radio . Retrieved April 3, 2023 . ^ "Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Named National Co-Chair of No Labels". The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint. January 23, 2023 . Retrieved April 3, 2023 . ^ a b c Lippman, Daniel (December 7, 2022). "Inside the turmoil roiling No Labels' unity ticket presidential campaign". Politico. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023 . Retrieved December 7, 2022 . External links [ edit ] Official website

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 20:08

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General / RFK Jr.'s vanity ratfuck is being mostly funded by Republicans

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Here's one of the least surprising developments of the campaign season:

Mark Dickson, a Californian who amassed a fortune treating aluminum for the aerospace industry, has donated more than $450,000 to federal candidates since 2015. The total includes $400,000 to Trump Victory, the joint fundraising committee that allows individuals to contribute large amounts to support Donald Trump. That money was then distributed to Trump's presidential campaign, the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties, and others working on behalf of Trump.

Keith Sheldon, a retired car dealership executive from Argyle, Texas, also has consistently backed Trump. In 2016, Sheldon donated $5,400, then the individual maximum, to Trump's presidential campaign and affiliated committees. In 2020, Sheldon donated the new individual maximum, $5,600, to Trump's reelection campaign. In 2022, Sheldon donated $2,900 to one of Trump's favorites, Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R-GA). Over the years, Sheldon, a registered Republican, donated several thousand dollars to GOP candidates for the House of Representatives.

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, neither Dickson nor Sheldon has ever donated a dime to a Democrat. Until now. This year, both donated $6,600 '-- the current legal maximum '-- to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a Democratic candidate for president.

Dickson and Sheldon's sudden interest in a Democratic primary candidate is unexpected. But, for Kennedy's campaign, it is not uncommon. According to a Popular Information analysis of Kennedy's first FEC filing, the lion's share of Kennedy's biggest donors have previously only donated to Republicans.

Through June 30, Kennedy's campaign has collected the maximum, $6,600, from 96 individuals. Of that group, 37 individuals have previously only donated to Republican candidates for federal office. Only 19 have a history of consistently supporting Democratic candidates. The remainder either have no giving history (30), have donated to members of both parties (8), or supported Libertarian or alternative candidates (2).

The good news here is that the more Democratic primary voters find out about the anti-vaxx failson who's gone tankie, the less they're going to like him. As someone said in comments the other day, libertarian VC bros like the idea of ratfucking the Democratic primary, but the fact that they want to do it with someone they really like defeats its own purpose.

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 20:03

Pajama- and lingerie-wearing customers used to appear mostly at the lowest-end Walmarts and convenience stores. But this summer, it's looking like the People of Walmart crowd has dramatically increased.

They're at Target, at Sam's Club, in the malls. They're at Trader Joe's, hip little trans-friendly burger shops, and the farmer's market. To anyone hitting the beach this summer, have you noticed there, too, what seems like a dramatic increase in whole naked butt cheeks and antisocial narcissists blaring their music?

For Gen Z and others who didn't catch the site years ago, the blog People of Walmart posts humorous pictures of people whose life choices clearly began going south many years before they ended up making a spectacle of themselves in public. The joke was that people would actually go out not just nearly naked '-- they do that everywhere now '-- but in the most unappealing states of near-nakedness, as well as otherwise visibly portraying inner disarray.

The People of Walmart vibe means shockingly overweight, slippers and pajamas 24/7, months of uncombed hair, congealing tattoos, clothes that can only be described as dumpster-fire skank or ''nothing smaller than a bedsheet will cover me,'' a muddy rainbow of hair shades, or combinations of the above plus other sartorial horrors.

Here are some examples from the blog. Trigger warning.

Of course, highly unattractive near-nakedness is the tip of a growing anti-beauty iceberg. Again, trigger warning: These yucky images may make you laugh too hard to continue reading this article.

Can't spice it up in the bedroom if you can't first spice it up in public'....Wait a second. I'm getting news in right now. Turns out that is absolutely false. Sorry. pic.twitter.com/5JfzjzS90X

'-- People of Walmart (@PeopleofWalmart) January 14, 2020 One understands people down on their luck deserve some pity and discretion. Also, having been pregnant six times, I can certainly understand the rare need to visit Walmart or the drug store in a sickly state of mind and body.

But a state of constant hot messiness seems to be expanding well beyond the Walmarts that serve the Third World ''refugees'' federal and state governments have resettled into our communities against Americans' consent. In my town, at least, it looks like public slovenliness and disarray have become more of a norm than a subculture.

Today, the average person is far fatter (and I'm not talking pleasantly plump). There are many more visible disfigurements such as piercings and tattoos. More people are dressing androgynously and even overtly cross-dressing, which is just plain ugly. To put it succinctly, suddenly lots of people don't look very good. At all.

This is notable because there is indeed a correlation between one's outward appearance and our inner state. I'm not talking about the things people can't control, like being born with Grandpa's large nose or a broader body frame than most women.

I'm talking about the things people can control, like wearing clothing that fits, not being dangerously overweight, washing regularly, deciding to stop eating corn syrup, and refusing to deface one's body. All people have better and worse versions of themselves, and lately it seems a shockingly large number of people are descending into the latter.

Antisocial PoliciesWhat could have happened in the last three years to produce such strikingly visible expressions of inner chaos and duress? It's like there was a mass repression of human rights that stole people's habits, routines, reasons to get up and get dressed in the morning, and connections to their communities.

As with many other issues, it seems that here lockdowns accelerated a preexisting trend. Even before lockdowns, obesity rates were at an all-time high. Nearly half of Americans were taking at least one prescription drug, and a quarter were taking three or more. Unprecedented numbers of people were being diagnosed with autism, autoimmune disorders, and allergies.

Family chaos as measured by broken or never-formed marriages was at historical highs. So was the number of American adults taking medication for mental illnesses. In fact, in 2020, nearly one-quarter of all Americans '-- including some babies '-- were taking psychiatric medications. In the late-aughts, the latest data available, American women were trending dramatically less happy than in the 1970s.

Of course, many factors go into making much higher proportions of Americans a hot, sad mess. But it's obvious lockdowns accelerated, and likely amplified, terrible preexisting trends. It will take years to quantify the damage, but just go outside and look around. It's visible in Americans' bodies, in their clothing, in their behavior, and in their faces.

Deliberate UglinessWhat's also different about this saturated ugliness is not only the lack of even a little embarrassment that might motivate change, but also the aggressive cultural messaging promoting it. Rather than being alarmed into productive action by so many Americans' evident disarray, despair, and dishevelment, our culture controllers instead legitimize inner and outer chaos.

We've seen the pro-obesity campaigns. I can't find new clothing now without being embarrassed for the models showing the options to me. Again, nobody minds realistically dappled skin or non-Barbie-shaped thighs. In fact, I support that and find such images encouraging.

But advertising and movies are now going far beyond showing realistic imperfections or the diversity of beauty to pushing truly repulsive images. We're not being encouraged to find beauty in reality, but to believe that what's ugly is in fact beautiful.

They're Doing It on PurposeThis is not an accident, it's cultural warfare. As Chris Rufo explained earlier this year, leftist academics have created an entire thoughtworld celebrating grotesqueness for ideological ends. They openly aim ''to displace the old society with what might be called a 'queer-normative society,' a 'fat-normative society,' a 'mental-illness-normative society.''' The ultimate goal is an ''anti-normative society.''

The goal is to achieve an inversion and the hegemony of a non-normative ideal, which you see valorized in the academic literature on all these different axes '-- gender, sexuality, body type, or psychological health.

'...We might categorize this new ideal as a ''gender-neutral, non-binary, obese, mentally disturbed, 'they/them' pronoun user, operating as a radically autonomous individual that is totally disconnected from any of the traditional bonds, relationships, and constraints.''

I'm not saying the People of Walmart are activists aiming to bring about a non-normative society. While they certainly bear responsibility for their life choices just like the rest of us, they've also been victimized by our cultural leaders, who share significant blame for the obvious decay of our society.

Elites are leaders. They point their culture in certain directions. A pro-norms elite would celebrate beauty, health, and virtues that tend to result in a beautiful and healthy culture, such as self-discipline, sacrifice, restraint, patience, and courage.

Our elite instead celebrate self-indulgence, laziness, and degeneracy. They obliterate aspirational ideals and attack mental health-protecting, commitment-based associations such as marriage, the natural family, and church. They even attack reality itself, such as the existence of men and women, standards of beauty, life choices that promote health, and the obviously horrific outcomes of free-for-all sex.

So it's no wonder that people subjected to decades of systematic dehumanization and de-naturalization would reflect their social architecture. Destroying norms damages people, and it damages the most vulnerable people the most. That's why you can find so many of these sad and confused folks at Walmart.

Increasingly, though, it's not just Walmart. It's everywhere. The ''let them eat cake'' ruling class doing this to America doesn't deserve to be in charge of anything, ever.

Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children. Her latest ebook is "

101 Strategies For Living Well Amid Inflation." Her bestselling ebook is "

Classic Books for Young Children." An 18-year education and politics reporter, Joy has testified before nearly two dozen legislatures on education policy and appeared on major media from Fox News to Ben Shapiro to Dennis Prager. Joy is a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs who identifies as native American and gender natural. Her several books include "

The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids," from Encounter Books.

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 20:01

In an era marked by unprecedented cybersecurity threats, the Biden administration's new cybersecurity strategy has drawn criticism, primarily due to its lack of comprehensive measures addressing digital identity (ID). However, amidst the uproar, skeptics are urging caution, viewing the issue through the lens of privacy protection.

Despite the outcry from industry insiders, who are closely linked with federal cybersecurity policies, some voices argue that a careful approach is necessary when dealing with digital ID. Their primary concern revolves around the potential infringement on individual privacy that an extensive digital ID system might entail. Many suggest that digital IDs shouldn't be implemented at all.

While proponents argue that the new strategy should have incorporated digital ID from the beginning, privacy advocates see a silver lining in this omission. They argue that an ill-conceived, rushed approach to digital ID might risk violating individuals' privacy rights and could be exploited for nefarious purposes.

Jeremy Grant, former National Institute of Standards and Technology member and leader of the Better Identity Coalition, and Jordan Burris, head of public-sector strategy at ID verification provider Socure, have both expressed their disbelief at the plan's digital ID oversight.

On the other hand, the administration has begun the implementation of several identity verification measures, which are attracting similar concerns. The Labor Department's announcement of $377 million in grants for states to modernize unemployment-insurance programs, aimed at boosting state's capacity to verify identities, has sparked debate. Critics worry about potential misuse and the erosion of privacy rights that might come with such an initiative.

The same concerns surround the improvements being made to Login.gov, a single sign-on application for interacting with the government securely. The question here remains, at what cost does this security come, and is personal privacy being adequately safeguarded?

A physical ID verification process for those seeking unemployment insurance benefits has also been introduced. Piloted in Arkansas, the process uses resources from the US Postal Service and the General Services Administration. Although positioned as an alternative to online processes, it still raises eyebrows about whether it truly respects privacy norms.

The need for a robust digital ID system cannot be disputed, given our increasingly digital society. However, as the criticism of the government's cybersecurity plan shows, it's not just about having a system in place. It's equally crucial to ensure the system respects privacy rights and provides comprehensive protection against cyber threats. In this context, the absence of an all-encompassing digital ID strategy in the cybersecurity plan might be seen not only as an oversight, but also as an opportunity to reconsider the privacy implications of such a system.

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 20:01

Internet drug sales have skyrocketed in recent years, allowing powerful narcotics to be peddled to American teenagers and adolescents. It's a trend that's led to an epidemic of overdoses and left countless young people dead. Now, a bill scheduled for a congressional vote seeks to tackle the problem, but it comes with a major catch. Critics worry that the legislative effort to crack down on the drug trade could convert large parts of the internet into a federal spying apparatus.

Threads Needs These Five Missing Features to Be a Twitter Killer

The Cooper Davis Act was introduced by Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in March and has been under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee for weeks. Named after a 16-year-old Kansas boy who died of a fentanyl overdose two years ago, the bipartisan bill, which the committee is scheduled to vote on Thursday, has spurred intense debate. Proponents say it could help address a spiraling public health crisis, while critics see it as a gateway to broad and indiscriminate internet surveillance.

Gizmodo spoke with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation'--two organizations involved in the policy discussions surrounding the bill. Both groups expressed concern over the impact the proposed law could have on internet privacy. ''There are some very real problems with this bill'--both in how it's written and how it's conceptualized,'' said India McKinney, an analyst with the EFF.

Critics argue that, at its worst, the bill would effectively ''deputize'' internet platforms as informants for the DEA, creating an unwieldy surveillance apparatus that may have unintended consequences down the line.

The Problem: The Amazon-ification of Drug DealingThe Cooper Davis Act seeks to solve a very real problem, which is the the ease with which drugs can now be purchased online. Back in the day, buying drugs used to be a slog. First, you had to know a guy'--typically not a super pleasant or well-groomed one . Then, you had to meet up at said guy's apartment or a street corner, where your plug would dole out the goods. It was an entire ordeal, filled with paranoia and inconvenience. But these days, buying drugs is a lot simpler. In fact, to hear federal officials tell it , buying narcotics is currently about as easy as DoorDashing a burrito. That's because drug sales on social media platforms have exploded , creating a streamlined drug-buying experience that puts an entire black market at young people's fingertips.

The negative impacts of this trend are obvious: reporting shows that powerful opioids are being pushed into the hands of young people through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Young people will seek out prescription medications'--stuff like Xanax, Oxycontin, and Vicodin'--only to be sold counterfeit pills that have secretly been laced with fentanyl or meth (this is done because of the narcotics' cheapness and addictiveness). Teenagers looking to score will then be delivered fatally powerful drugs, which end up killing them .

What the Cooper Davis Act would doIn an attempt to solve this dizzying drug crisis, the Cooper Davis Act has proposed a radical strategy: according to the most recent version of the bill text, which was shared with Gizmodo by the ACLU, the law would require ''electronic communication service providers and remote computing services'' to report to the U.S. Attorney General any evidence they discover of ''the unlawful sale and distribution of counterfeit substances and certain controlled substances.'' What this means is that large tech companies'--everything from social media giants like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat to cloud computing or email providers'--would be legally required to report certain types of drug activity (basically anything having to do with fentanyl, meth, and counterfeit prescription medications) to the federal government if the company became aware of the drugs being bought or sold on their platforms.

That might theoretically sound like a good idea but the big question is: how, exactly, are platforms supposed to figure out who is a drug dealer and who isn't? That part isn't made clear by the legislation. What is clear is that, under the new law, platforms would be required to surrender large quantities of user data to the government if they suspected a particular user of wrongdoing. That data would be packaged into a report and sent to the DEA and would include...

...the [user's] electronic mail address, Internet Protocol address, uniform resource locator, payment information (excluding personally identifiable information), screen names or monikers for the account used or any other accounts associated with the individual, or any other identifying information, including self-reported identifying information...

Additionally, platforms would also have the discretion to share even more data with the government if they felt like'--including private communications like DMs and emails. Meanwhile, companies that failed to report evidence of drug offenses could face steep fines. A first failure to report drug activity could result in fines of up to $190,000 per violation, while each additional offense after that could see fines of up to $380,000 per violation.

Why the Cooper Davis Act seems like a bad ideaCritics see a number of dangers inherent in the Cooper Davis Act, but the biggest is that it could effectively subvert Americans' already limited Fourth Amendment protections when it comes to the internet. ''Right now, federal law protects user data and limits the ways that platforms and other entities can share it with law enforcement,'' Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel with the ACLU, tells me. But Cooper Davis ''would explicitly create an exception to those protections,'' he said.

In theory, the Fourth Amendment is supposed to prohibit warrantless search and seizure of private property, meaning cops can't bust down your door and dig through your stuff without a court order. This principle works pretty well in the real world but gets decidedly murky when it comes to the web. Because so much of Americans' ''personal'' data is now stored by proprietary online platforms, it's hard to say that this data is actually owned by the user. Instead, it's really owned by the company , which means that if the company wants to share ''your'' data with the government, it's usually well within its rights to do so.

Still, companies aren't necessarily looking to do that on a regular basis and web users' privacy is partially protected from government searches of corporate data by the Stored Communications Act , a 1986 law that stipulates police must secure a warrant or a subpoena before they can rifle through someone's digital accounts. But the SCA already suffers from a number of loopholes and critics point out that the Cooper Davis Act would carve out yet another exception when it comes to drug-related activity. The SCA is specifically supposed to protect web users' private communications, forcing cops to retrieve a warrant before they search them. However, Venzke says that, under the most recent version of the Cooper Davis bill, internet service providers are given the power to ''hand over messages, emails, private posts,'' and other personal communications to law enforcement ''with no notice to the user, no judicial oversight, and no warrant.''

This bill would do more than whittle away Americans' online rights, however. In essence, it would deputize large parts of the internet as an unofficial wing of the federal government'--offloading some of the investigative work from police agencies onto the shoulders of major tech firms. Instead of the DEA having to find a narcotics suspect and then secure a court order for that person's digital records, tech companies would be responsible for finding the suspect for the DEA and would then be obligated to send the government a ton of information about that web user, all without any sort of involvement of the court system.

The Cooper Davis Act might have unintended consequencesThe premise of Cooper Davis is disturbing enough, but even more alarming are the law's lack of technical details. The bill plops a hefty responsibility onto web companies (identifying and reporting criminal suspects) but does almost nothing to elucidate how they should go about doing that.

Companies looking for a roadmap would likely end up turning to another federal policy known as 2258A . Venzke says that the Cooper Davis Act is actually modeled off of 2258A and that it uses similar policy and language. This longstanding law requires web companies to report child sexual abuse material to the federal government if the companies become aware of it on their platforms. Under this regulation, web platforms are obligated to report suspected child abuse material to the CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a federally funded nonprofit established by Congress to combat child abuse. NCMEC, in turn, forwards the reports it receives to relevant law enforcement agencies for further investigation.

Over the years, companies like Facebook, Apple, and Google have addressed 2258A's reporting requirements by developing a sophisticated surveillance system designed to detect abuse material when it's uploaded to their sites; the system leverages a database of cryptographic hashes, each of which represents a known child abuse image or video. Companies then scan user accounts for matches to these hashes and, when they get a positive hit, they forward the user's relevant data to NCMEC.

However, when it comes to online drug activity, things are decidedly more complicated. Unlike the problem of CSAM'--in which a database of known prohibited material can be compiled and scanned against'--it's far from clear how companies would reliably identify and report suspected drug activity. Online drug transactions are largely carried out under the cover of coded language, using oblique terms and signals. How are companies supposed to sift through all that without driving themselves (and their users) insane?

''If platforms are actively monitoring for fentanyl [sales], they're going to have to look for a lot more than images and videos,'' said Venzke. ''They're going to have to dig through speech, they're going to have to look at emojis, they're going to have to try to infer user intent.'' Since the bill does little to stipulate how reporting will be conducted, it will be up to the companies to figure out how to do all this. This could easily lead platforms to build their own internal surveillance systems, the likes of which are designed to monitor how platform users interact in an effort to ferret out drug activity. In this scenario, the likelihood that platforms would end up reporting a lot of ''false positives'' to the government (i.e., people suspected of drug activity who, in reality, have done nothing wrong) would be high, Venzke says.

''Content moderation of this sort, at scale, is really, really, really hard,'' McKinney agreed. ''As good as AI is, context matters. A word should not be enough to trigger extra surveillance.''

Overall, critics feel the law could be a disaster for internet privacy.

''The point of the Constitution, the point of the Fourth Amendment...is that the government is supposed to be constrained as to what they're allowed to access about our private thoughts,'' said McKinney. ''Obviously the government doesn't like being constrained. They want to be able to see everything.''

Venzke, meanwhile, said he and his colleagues were ''holding their breath'' until the vote goes through. ''The Senate Judiciary has been proactive in addressing folks' safety online, but unfortunately they've done it by undermining free speech and privacy online, which is not the right approach...We're hoping folks will stand up for our privacy rights and that the bill will be pulled from consideration.''

Gizmodo reached out to the offices of Senator Marshall for comment but did not hear back. We will update this story if we do.

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:58

In March, Beppe Grillo, a comedian previously best-known for founding the anti-establishment Italian political Five Star Movement, appeared onstage in Rome to announce a sudden change of career'--he had now decided to found his own religion, too.

''Why can't I create a Church?'' he asked his sell-out crowd, which included the nation's former prime minister Giuseppe Conte. The audience thought they were merely attending the star's latest stand-up set. Instead, they were present at the public launch of Christianity 2.0.

Grillo's new ''Church of Elsewhere'' was to be headed up by an ''Elevato,'' or ''Elevated One,'' namely Signor Grillo, who evidently saw himself (or Himself) very much in the Jesus Christ role. Ecce homo, he appeared onstage wearing a modern-day digital Crown of Thorns, consisting of intertwined USB cables of the kind usually used to link laptops up to printers, scanners, or modems. In 2023, proclaimed the Elevato, God ''needs updating,'' just like a computer running an old and now barely functional operating system.

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Grillo's new ''Church of Elsewhere'' was to be headed up by an ''Elevato,'' or ''Elevated One,'' namely Signor Grillo, who evidently saw himself (or Himself) very much in the Jesus Christ role. Tweet This The 74-year-old jester was previously a noted agnostic, leading some to suspect this was all just another joke; but Grillo insists otherwise. He has since instructed lawyers to determine how his new church might successfully qualify for public funding as an official, State-recognized religion.

A Is for Apostasy

Five Star was the world's first successfully elected ''open source'' political party, governing on an anti-corruption platform as part of a coalition government from 2018, until things turned sour and its electoral popularity waned. Its initial triumph, however, was built upon its unique structure, in which members came together to debate, create, and vote on policy platforms in open online forums, rather than behind closed doors, as was traditional.

Grillo's Church of Elsewhere is intended to function similarly, being a cult ''of questions and not answers.'' The Italian word for elsewhere is altrove, and the religion's holy logo is a capital letter ''A'' resembling a TV broadcasting antenna, radiating waves outward into starry space, asking deep and meaningful questions of the universe itself'--questions seemingly to be posed by supporters online.

Grillo's church was founded by the Elevato himself in his garden at noon on the Winter Solstice of 2022. It has an ''apostolic'' mission, he says, being governed by a Ministry of Elsewhere consisting of an unspecified number of Altrovatar, or ''Elsewhere-Adepts/Sages,'' who will ''preside over the laws, the apostolate and the administration of the Church'...on planet Earth.'' These Altrovatar are ''appointed and deposed'' by the Elevato, but they, in turn, appoint the Elevato themselves too, a circular form of governance echoing Five Star's previous open-source model of online democracy.

The church has three main symbols: the ''A,'' radiating out perpetual questions; the Crown of USBs, symbolizing the infinite web of online connections between the Elsewhere ummah; and a fish, declaring the movement's alleged continuity with the original Christianity from which it purportedly sprang. But if this really is a new, mutant form of online Christianity, then why is it needed? What went wrong with the old one? Like Windows 98 in a world of Windows 11 version 22H2, according to Grillo it simply grew obsolete and stopped working.

God Is Dead

For Grillo, the old Christian God

is no more, that's the problem. All the great [artistic and civilizational] masterpieces would not exist without God, the engine of the world, and now that He is gone, there is nothing left. We have replaced it with capitalism, with money. We need an entity'...

Otherwise, our society itself will simply crash and fizzle out into a permanent blank dead-screen mode, at one with Nineveh, Tyre, and poor old MS-DOS.

Christianity's alleged mistake, said Grillo, had been in claiming hubristically to provide humanity with definite answers to the mysteries of existence, which its priests proved ultimately unable to provide. Rather than relying on flawed individual humans making ex cathedra pronouncements like the pope did, mankind should instead crowd-source its philosophical answers by posing them to the entire world online: ''we should not look for answers, but questions; the answers will come by themselves.''

This same basic strategy did not end too well for Five Star themselves, it must be said. Nonetheless, the idea explains the naming of Grillo's Church: that answers to life's mysteries always lie elsewhere, meaning the wise seeker of truth values only the journey in search of it, not the ultimate arrival at journey's end, which will never in fact arrive. Thus, Grillo appears to have hit upon a contemporary electronic form of pop-Buddhism, not a new digital Christianity at all.

The Soul: A User's Manual

Members receive two essential holy items: an 80-page Bible, or user's manual, and a spiritual ''driving license'' (ironic, as Grillo himself was famously banned from taking up any actual public office due to an old manslaughter conviction for causing death whilst driving). In a reversal of the usual driving license points system, devotees first have to gain a minimum soul-points score by taking part in certain prescribed rituals, or exorcisms of the ego, such as The Breaking of the Mirror, a glass-shattering renouncement of personal vanity which must have been personally difficult for the habitual attention-seeker Grillo himself to perform.

Subsequent misbehavior will then result in sinners losing soul-points, and eventually their license may be withdrawn until they can make amends. Bizarrely, it seems an Altrovatar can perform an ego-exorcism upon a non-member without their specific permission, meaning anyone could potentially become an involuntary convert without even knowing.

Another form of exorcism, ironic for an online cult, involves adherents being banned from using their phones for a week. Holding up his own smartphone onstage, Grillo explained, ''This is a confessional, a rosary. Every 'like' is an 'amen.' The Church is Facebook. You confess to the world, reveal your entire self, and the world takes it and sells it.'' Technology has replaced God, Grillo seems to say. His only viable solution is to use technology to create a new one.

Possibly, Beppe Grillo recognizes these contradictions perfectly well and is only performing satire of our unholy new digital age here after all. Live onstage, the stand-up Elevato also claimed the miraculous power to transform water into chinotto, or fizzy Italian orange juice, but ''not into wine, everyone is capable of that.''

In our brave new era of online solipsism, it seems every man has now become his own little self-worshipping virtual godlet. Ecce homo indeed.

[Photo: Beppe Grillo (Credit: Getty Images)]

Steven Tucker is a UK-based writer whose work has appeared online and in print worldwide. His next book, Hitler's & Stalin's Misuse of Science, examining the similarities between the ideologically corrupted sciences of the Soviets and Nazis and the equally ideologically corrupted woke sciences of today, will be published later in 2023. He formerly taught in an English Catholic high school.

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:57

A I tools like ChatGPT launched less than a year ago, but they're already taking over the workplace. They can generate quick, clean (if uninspiring) copy in seconds; plan your weekly schedule; and take meeting minutes without you even having to listen to what is being said. I recently learnt that a colleague of mine was taking advantage of just this, using a bot to transcribe the contents of our weekly Zoom calls.

On the surface, this all seems relatively innocuous: Tasks such as note-taking are, after all, menial ones, and use up time that could be spent on more creative pursuits. Yet, the long-term consequences of outsourcing them to the external prostheses of AI'--to the point where our own cognitive faculties are made virtually redundant'--could prove more sinister. When it comes to technologies that obviate the need to manually remember and recollect information, we risk neglecting a tradition that was once considered essential to culture: namely, the art of memory.

''The art of memory'' is the name of a book by the historian Frances Yates that explores the tradition of mnemonics in Western philosophy and how, for centuries, the practice of remembering information was seen to serve a crucial intellectual'--and ultimately spiritual'--purpose. Within both Platonic and Christian thought (and their convergence in the European Renaissance), memorization was valued as a means of building an internal repository of terms, patterns, and concepts'--all of which, it was believed, were a necessary precursor to divine knowledge. Fascinatingly, this tradition also warned of what can happen when we substitute inhuman technologies for human memory, making it all the more pertinent to the rise of AI.

The theory behind the mnemonic techniques described by Yates in her book'--which, she tells us, would aid the memorization of everything from poems to the order of the planets'--goes back to Plato, for whom memory played a vital role in guiding the soul to wisdom. In Plato's theory of knowledge, ascending to truth entails moving up the scale (that is, the ''divided line'' he presents in the Republic) from visible things to invisible ideas. Memory, being the faculty that allows us to internalize sense impressions and form abstract associations between them, is what makes this transition possible.

In the Theaetetus, Plato likens memory to a ''block of wax'' onto which the objects we perceive are impressed. The stronger our wax, the more distinct the imprints, which can subsequently be ''quickly assigned to their several stamps'--the 'real things' as they are called.'' In other words, those with strong memories are able to arrive at the knowledge of true forms. Those whose wax is soft, on the other hand, are forgetful; not only in the literal sense of struggling to retain impressions, but also in the spiritual sense of failing to realize the true nature of things. The pursuit of wisdom, then, requires us to strengthen our wax, and it was this that the mnemonic exercises described by Yates sought to achieve.

The art of memory, however, was not only Platonic: It was also deeply Christian. The imperfect knowledge of mankind, according to one interpretation of Scripture, is a consequence of Original Sin, with our ability to perceive truth having been corrupted by the Fall. Forgetfulness is an aspect of postlapsarian nature, which must be overcome for us to grow closer to God. In such a view, memory'--since it enables us to regain our knowledge of creation and ultimately the Creator'--has a redemptive quality, being for this reason praised by St. Augustine in the Confessions as a vessel of grace. In Christianity as in Platonism, then, the improvement of memory serves the spiritual purpose of redeeming us from our fallen state of forgetfulness.

It follows that anything that weakens or disables human memory ought to be avoided, for this only worsens our ignorance. The earliest innovation of this kind, famously denounced by Plato, was writing. In the Phaedrus, Plato recounts an ancient Egyptian myth in which Theuth, the deity said to have invented mathematics, presents Thamus, the king, with this new art that he believes will improve people's memory and wisdom. However, Thamus declares that it will in fact have the opposite effect, saying: ''If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external remarks . . . it is not true wisdom you offer your disciples, only semblance.''

For Plato, writing removes the need for us to absorb information into our souls and so inhibits our ability to realize higher truths. Knowledge, no longer integrated into our own being, becomes exteriorized to a non-living entity, therefore removing the human mediation that turns information into genuine wisdom. Any technology that remembers or indeed thinks on our behalf, Plato warns, stifles our ascent to truth.

What is the relevance of this to AI? By its very artificial nature, AI replicates'--and intensifies'--the dangers of writing. Like writing, it outsources information to inhuman prostheses, removing the need to remember things from within ourselves, be it a shopping list or the minutes from last week's team meeting. What's more, it means we no longer have to internalize their impressions in the first place: In the case of transcription bots, we do not even need to log information into our minds to begin with, let alone recollect it. As a result, AI terminally weakens that faculty upon which our acquisition of knowledge depends. The more that memory is made redundant, the softer our wax becomes, leaving us not only intellectually lazy but incapable of relating our experiences to ''real,'' immaterial ideas.

This is arguably not the intention of those driving the AI revolution. Indeed, many of them would, like Theuth, claim that automation encourages wisdom because it liberates us from the menial tasks that distract us from creative and intellectual pursuits. But, as Plato and the purveyors of the memory arts described by Yates knew well, even mystical knowledge must begin in the waxen imprints of memory, being realized through the organic human processes that lead us to true wisdom. That AI undermines the importance of this basic faculty ought to concern us, for it will only implant forgetfulness in our souls and worsen our fallen state.

Esm(C) Partridge is a writer and consultant working between faith and politics. She is also studying for an MPhil in the Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge.

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Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:51

It's a long commercial for a legacy corporate brand and a pretty-in-pink "f-ck you" to the patriarchy. It is Barbie '-- hear it roar

It's tough to sell a decades-old doll and actively make you question why you'd still buy a toy that comes with so much baggage. (Metaphorically speaking, of course '-- literal baggage sold separately.) The makers of Barbie know this. They know that you know that it's an attempt by Mattel to turn their flagship blonde bombshell into a bona fide intellectual property, coming to a multiplex near you courtesy of Warner Bros. And they're also well aware that the announcement that Greta Gerwig would be co-writing and directing this movie about everyone's favorite tiny, leggy bearer of impossible beauty standards suddenly transformed it from ''dual corporate cash-in'' to ''dual corporate cash-in with a very high probability of wit, irony, and someone quoting Betty Friedan and/or Rebecca Walker.''

Overnight, the enthusiasm from fans, film critics, and fans of film critics was overwhelming; it doubled once photos of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, a.k.a. Barbie and Ken, rollerblading in matching radioactive-pink outfits leaked online. This would not be a crass attempt to shill toys. Well, OK, it still would be, because it's a movie about Barbie. But the Lady Bird director wasn't going to just toe the party line. She would have her own agenda here, smuggled under the cover of pastel-colored brand nostalgia. The fourth-wave-feminism call is coming from inside the Malibu Dreamhouse!

There was an inherent promise, in other words, that we would not simply get a two-hour mindless commercial. Barbie definitely makes good on that promise, which still doesn't quite prepare you for what feels like the most subversive blockbuster of the 21st century to date. This is a saga of self-realization, filtered through both the spirit of free play and the sense that it's not all fun and games in the real world '-- a doll's story that continually drifts into the territory of A Doll's House. Barbie is still a magnet for controversy about what the feminine ideal is, as well as a Proustian madeleine for multiple generations whose childhoods were shaped by dressing her up as a vision of what a grown woman might be. Gerwig wants to honor those memories while exploring those mixed messages. She also wants to make something in which the words ''Proustian madeleine'' are uttered with complete sincerity by said object. It's a tall order for an 11.5-inch icon.Editor's picks

Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Robbie, Gosling, and Kinglsey Ben-Adir (from left) in Barbie Warner Bros. PicturesEvery morning, Barbie (Robbie) wakes up in her beautiful, open-faced mansion, waves to the legion of other Barbies in their beautiful, open-faced Barbieland mansions, and greets the day with a smile. Early afternoons are reserved for listening to President Barbie (Issa Rae) make executive decisions, or watching a Barbie journalist win a Barbie Pulitzer, or cheering a Barbie Supreme Court that lays down the law for the good of all Barbiekind. Late afternoons are for going to the beach, where Ken (Gosling) endlessly competes for Barbie's affections against Ken (Simu Liu) and Ken (Kingsley Ben-Adir), among other Kens. Nighttime is for extravagantly choreographed disco-dance parties, DJ-ed by none other than Barbie (Hari Nef), and '-- much to Ken's dismay '-- all-girl sleepovers. Eventually, the cardboard backdrop will rotate from moon to sun, and it's time for yet another day in utopia.

Except, in the middle of one of their regular super-cool and totally awesome sing-alongs, Barbie blurts out, ''You guys ever think about dying?'' No one, least of all the shiny, happy person who said it, has any idea where that random bummer came from. The next morning, Barbie's imaginary shower is cold. Her imaginary milk has curdled. The collective perkiness of her friends and neighbors only seems to highlight her inexplicably bad mood. Her stiletto-ready arches suddenly fall flat. And then, she comes face to face with what can only be described as the Thanos of the Barbie Cinematic Universe: cellulite.

And thus, Alpha Barbie seeks counsel from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), that reclusive doll who lives up in the cubist castle on the hill and hasn't been the same since her owner ''played with her too hard.'' You must venture from Barbieland into the real world, she tells her, via a boat, a camper, a rocket ship and a snow mobile, clad in outfits to match each mode of transportation. Once you arrive in the equally plastic city of Los Angeles, she must find the young girl who plays with you. Hoping to impress his true love, Ken tags along for the ride. Related

Once in our world, Barbie will encounter sexual harassment, gender inequity, the benefits of crying, the CEO of Mattel (Will Ferrell) and the mother (America Ferrara) and daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) who've introduced such morbid thoughts into her brain. Ken will discover horses, Hummer SUVs, and toxic masculinity. She returns with her new human friends to Barbieland in a state of dazed enlightenment. He comes back as a full-blown Kencel, spreading a gospel of full-frontal dude-ity.

Gerwig is a triple-threat talent who's never lost touch with her inner child, which is why her coming-of-age masterpiece Lady Bird (2017) feels so immediate in its teen-angst drama and her singular adaptation of Little Women (2019) is as much an emo fan letter to Jo March as it is a Masterpiece Theater-level period piece. You can feel her reconnecting with the kid who once spent afternoons dressing up dolls, as well as the tween who dismissed such things as childish, and the twentysomething who began to see Barbies as something potentially problematic. There's a sort of summit between those younger selves, mediated by an older and wiser Greta, that happening onscreen beneath all that visual sparkle and dazzle. (And trust us when we say that cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and the entire production design team have outdone themselves when it comes to creating the visual equivalent of a Barbie play set come to life.) Not to mention a balance between kitsch, meta-commentary, and genuine appreciation that Gerwig is attempting to strike here. There are enough references to remind folks of a long history of Barbie culture and side characters '-- big up Michael Cera's Allan, the resident beta male of the Barbieverse! '-- and several remember this? tidbits regarding Mattel's more cringeworthy decisions. (Lookin' at you, Growing Up Skipper.)

That probably would have been enough for the studio and the toy company footing the bill; throw in some film-nerd catnip like that ingenious 2001: A Space Odyssey parody preamble, and make sure Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling nail the what-me-worry sunniness and wear the various eras' couture, and boom! The sound of money piling in will drown out the haters. Instead, Barbie adds levels of intelligence and interrogation into not just the script, co-written by Noah Baumbach, but the narrative itself. Rather than turn away from the baggage, the movie unpacks it. What was it about these dolls we loved, and what is it about them that now causes such divisive emotional reactions? Let's not just drop Barbie and Ken into the real world circa 2023 '-- let's have them question what it means to be plastic role models that run up against modern attitudes about womanhood and Neanderthal notions of manhood. You'll still get your mondo Barbiemania, but you're going to have deal with some pop-cultural potholes left in its wake. This is a movie that wants to have its Dreamhouse and burn it down to the ground, too.Trending

Thankfully, Robbie and Gosling are onboard for all of it, whether it's a wink at the audience, rocking an old-school musical number, or mounting a righteous ''fuck you'' to the patriarchy swaddled prettily in pink. Both get the assignment(s), and understand the layers. Which helps when there are enough movies crammed into this one epic tale of Doll-Doll Revolution to almost qualify as its own trilogy. Most of the various mix-and-match elements work: the high-concept comedy (minus Will Ferrell's scenes, which surprisingly fall flat), the mother-daughter drama, the hero's journey, and the droll digs at Matchbox 20's ''Push.'' Sometimes, its reach exceeds its grasp. When the subtext occasionally becomes text '-- there's a speech about the impossible paradoxes of being a woman that America Ferrera sells with sound and fury, and still comes off like an op-ed '-- it's hard to not feel like you should be receiving college credits for watching even as you nod along. You can already hear the trolls dragging their knuckles toward their keyboards, ready to post their shut-up-and-dribble takes and accuse the film of co-opting Barbie in the name of corrupting minds.

Critical thinking isn't mind corruption, of course. Nor is pointing out that you can love something and recognize that it's flawed or has become inflammatory over time, then striving to fix it. It's definitely not a bad thing to turn a potential franchise, whether built on a line of dolls or not, into something that refuses to dumb itself down or pander to the lowest common denominator. And the victory that is Gerwig, Robbie, and Gosling '-- along with a supporting cast and crew that revel in the idea of joining a benefic Barbie party '-- slipping in heady notions about sexualization, capitalism, social devolution, human rights and self-empowerment, under the guise of a lucrative, brand-extending trip down memory lane? That's enough to make you giddy. We weren't kidding about the ''subversive'' part above; ditto the ''blockbuster.'' A big movie can still have big ideas in 2023. Even a Barbie movie. Especially a Barbie movie.

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Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:44

Authored by Lee Fang via leefang.com,

The biennial Pentagon budget reauthorization usually presents ample opportunities for wasteful spending, as lawmakers slip provisions into routine legislation that compels the government to purchase unnecessary and overpriced military equipment.

But this year, lawmakers have also quietly pushed changes to the National Defense Authorization Act that aim to silence military personnel and purge the internet of certain information.

One particularly alarming provision comes from Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, which prohibits the Department of Defense from engaging with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a civil rights group advocating for the separation of church and state.

MRFF represents service members of all religions and denominations, helping them report instances of inappropriate proselytizing and the presence of religious symbols in official military affairs. The organization has previously succeeded in having crusader imagery removed from a Marine squadron and a Bible taken down from display at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyoming.

''It is unprecedented in American history that Congress has ever tried to basically extinguish or assassinate a civil rights organization,'' said Mikey Weinstein, an attorney, and former Air Force officer who founded the group in 2005.

Under this provision, not only is Defense Department staff prohibited from communicating with MRFF or Weinstein, but the military is also barred from taking any action in response to "any claim, objection, or protest made by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation without the authority of the Secretary of Defense."

In an interview, Weinstein raised concerns about the impact on a current case involving a Jewish cadet or midshipman at a major military academy, questioning where they would turn for assistance. He emphasized that filing a grievance or simply contacting MRFF by phone could potentially result in a court-martial.

Weinstein believes that Turner holds a grudge against MRFF ever since the organization petitioned for the removal of a Bible from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, which is located in Turner's Ohio district. The amendment was added to the NDAA without any debate and received unanimous consent from the committee, indicating support from House Democrats as well.

The bill passed the House last Friday and now moves to the Senate, where lawmakers aim to exploit this must-pass legislation to advance another broad restriction on speech.

Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, and Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, are preparing to introduce an amendment to the NDAA that would grant lawmakers extraordinary powers to censor a wide range of information on the internet.

This amendment allows lawmakers, their families, certain at-risk congressional staff, and even individuals living with lawmakers to demand the sweeping removal of specific "covered information." The Klobuchar-Cruz amendment defines "covered information" as personal details such as home addresses, secondary residences, personal email accounts, and cell phone numbers, as well as other personal information and sensitive travel information.

The amendment also grants the authority to erase private data collected by smartphones, apps, and other digital devices, citing concerns about the potential use of such information to target lawmakers' precise locations. While there are legitimate concerns regarding data brokers selling personal information, this law would bestow new privacy rights upon lawmakers that ordinary Americans, who may also face personal security risks, do not possess.

This amendment raises immediate issues related to press freedom. Journalists frequently report on instances of corruption involving money, jobs, and favors bestowed upon lawmakers' family members by special interest groups. In 2014, I was one of the first reporters to discuss Hunter Biden's unusual connections to Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy firm, which is now under congressional review over corruption concerns. Investigating such stories sometimes requires accessing private information during the news-gathering process.

Influence peddling is often shrouded in favors related to home residencies. In the decades preceding the 2008 housing crisis, the mortgage lender Countrywide dished out special low-interest home loans to senior lawmakers and federal housing officials, to bribe their way into lenient lending standards. Researching home loans could be difficult or impossible had this amendment been in place.

This amendment builds upon a law passed last year that grants significant new powers to federal judges and their families to censor private information on the internet. Both the new judicial law and the Klobuchar-Cruz measure include an exemption for journalistic inquiries. However, realistically, the exemptions are ornamental. The law would likely censor a broad range of information relevant to the media.

Platforms like Google will likely engage in broad censorship rather than adjudicate whether the information meets the media exemption. As the Freedom of the Press Foundation noted at the time, "disinterested online platforms have no stake in determining the newsworthiness of a post, and will comply with judicial demands rather than pay lawyers to fight about it."

The legislation responds to genuine security concerns faced by lawmakers. After all, a left-wing activist targeted GOP lawmakers, firing gunshots that injured Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., in 2017 in a rampage at a congressional baseball game. Last year, an armed man was arrested for threatening to kill Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., outside her home.

However, security concerns almost always serve as a pretext for encroaching upon free speech rights. Becoming an elected member of Congress entails a trade-off, offering incredible privileges and power in exchange for diminished privacy and increased public scrutiny. Lawmakers concerned about their safety have already enacted a special $2.1 billion security program to protect their offices and expand the U.S. Capitol Police force following the January 6 riot.

Critics have accused MRFF of being too confrontational, and some conservatives have gone as far as labeling the organization as "anti-Christian." Weinstein, who is Jewish, has dispelled these arguments and repeatedly emphasized that he represents no specific faith agenda and has even compelled a commander to remove atheist bumper stickers from their car. The majority of his clients, he says, are Christian service members. In the past, he has received death threats in response to his work.

Weinstein is a pugnacious and, at times, ornery figure, eager to fight for his clients and his organization's mission with little regard for pleasantries. During the interview, Weinstein lashed out at ''fundamentalist Christian nationalists'' and let loose a stream of expletives about his detractors on Capitol Hill.

But freedom for Weinstein to communicate freely with the military, and for service members to rely on his civil rights organization to maintain a secular military, is at the heart of an open society, just as an open internet free from censorship is crucial even in the face of security threats for lawmakers.

There is a chance that the MRFF provision is stripped out as the House and Senate versions of the bill are merged, and the fate of the Klobuchar-Cruz amendment is still up in the air. If that fails, MRFF is assembling a legal team to challenge the provision.

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Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:40

A United Nations panel has warned that brain chip technology being pioneered by Elon Musk could be abused for 'neurosurveillance' violating 'mental privacy,' or 'even to implement forms of forced re-education,' threatening human rights worldwide.

The UN's agency for science and culture (UNESCO) said neurotechnology like Musk's Neuralink, if left unregulated, will lead to 'new possibilities of monitoring and manipulating the human mind through neuroimaging' and 'personality-altering' tech.

UNESCO is now strategizing on a worldwide 'ethical framework' to protect humanity from the potential abuses of the technology '-- which they fear will be accelerated by advances in AI.

'We are on a path to a world in which algorithms will enable us to decode people's mental processes,' said UNESCO's assistant director-general for social and human sciences, Gabriela Ramos.

The implications are 'far-reaching and potentially harmful,' Ramos said, given breakthroughs in neurotechnology that could 'directly manipulate the brain mechanisms' in humans, 'underlying their intentions, emotions and decisions.'

The committee's warnings come less than two months after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Elon Musk's brain-chip implant company Neuralink federal approval to conduct trials on humans.

UNESCO's assistant director-general for social and human sciences, Gabriela Ramos, told a 1000-participant bioethics conference last Thursday that the convergence of neurotech and AI 'decode people's mental processes and directly manipulate the brain'

Above, Emily Cross, a professor of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the public research university ETH Zurich presented the UN bioethics committee's key findings of the risks, promises, legal and ethical issues surrounding the new advances in neurotechnology

Neurotechnology like Musk's Neuralink implants will connect the brain to computing power via thread-like electrodes sewn into to certain areas of the brain.

Neuralink's electrodes will communicate with a chip to read signals produced by special cells in the brain called neurons, which transmit messages to other cells in the body, like our muscles and nerves.

Because neuron signals become directly translated into motor controls, Neuralink could allow humans to could control external technologies, such as computers or smartphones, or lost bodily functions or muscle movements, with their mind.

'It's like replacing a piece of the skull with a smartwatch,' Musk has said.

But those communications pathways, as the UNESCO panel warned, cut both ways.

This May, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin revealed they were able to train an AI to effectively read people's minds, converting brain data from test subjects taken via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) into written words.

UNESCO economist Mariagrazia Squicciarini, who specializes in artificial intelligence issues, noted that the capacity for machine learning algorithms to rapidly pull patterns out of complex data, like fMRI brain scans, will accelerate brain chips' access to the human mind.

'It's like putting neurotech on steroids,' Squicciarini said.

UNESCO convened a 1000-participant conference of its International Bioethics Committee (IBC) in Paris last Thursday and released recommendations Tuesday.

'The spectacular development of neurotechnology as well as new biotechnologies, nanotechnologies and ICTs makes machines more and more humanoid,' the IBC said in their report, 'and people are becoming more connected to machines and AI.'

The IBC weighed numerous dystopian scenarios seemingly out of science fiction last week in their effort to get ahead of rapidly advancing threats to human 'neurorights' which have yet to even be codified under international law.

'It is necessary to anticipate the effects of implementing neurotechnology,' the UN panel noted. 'There is a direct connection between freedom of thought, the rule of law and democracy.'

Among the IBC's myriad of recommendations in its 91-page report, the committee called for wider transparency on neurotech research from industry and academia; as well as the drafting of 'neurorights' for inclusion into international human rights law.

The IBC report described the new tech in stark terms as a challenge to 'some basic aspects of human dignity, such as privacy of mental life or individual agency.'

But UNESCO's assistant director-general for social and human sciences, Gabriela Ramos, put the converging power of neurotechnology and AI into even starker terms.

Neuralink co-founder Elon Musk has likened the surgical procedure to 'replacing a piece of the skull with a smartwatch,' as the device connects to the brain, but rests on the scalp. Above, images from a primate experiment made public at a November2022 Neuralink Show and Tell

While Elon Musk (pictured) has voiced plans for Neuralink that have focused on the device's potential health benefits '-- helping to curing a range of conditions from obesity and autism, to depression and schizophrenia '-- US federal regulators have focused on its capacity for harm

Reuters reported last December that the United States Department of Agriculture's Inspector General has been investigating potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Neuralink, which governs how researchers are permitted to treat certain types of animals during tests

While Elon Musk's plans for Neuralink have focused on the device's potential health benefits '-- helping to cure a range of conditions from obesity and autism to depression and schizophrenia '-- US federal regulators have focused instead on its capacity for harm.

As reported by Reuters last December, the United States Department of Agriculture's Inspector General has been investigating, at the request of a federal prosecutor, potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Neuralink.

The federal law governs how researchers are permitted to treat certain types of animals, within medical studies and other kinds of scientific experiments.

Neuralink has been the subject of congressional scrutiny as well, with US lawmakers urging regulators this past May to investigate whether the panel that oversees animal testing at Neuralink has contributed to botched and rushed experiments.

Neuralink's recent FDA approval came after Musk has previously boasted that his medical device company would begin human trials for a human brain implant on at least four occasions since 2019.

Over the course of those four years, the FDA had rejected several Neuralink applications for human experimentation approval, most recently in early 2022 , according to seven current and former employees who spoke to Reuters.

Musk has emphasized Neuralink's potential to treat severe conditions such as paralysis and blindness, and occasionally more trivial applications, such as web browsing or telepathy.

But UNESCO's IBC drew specific attention to the threat posed by 'dual use' AI brain chip technologies, which could easily be reprogrammed or retooled for less than benevolent applications on the human mind.

Amandeep Singh Gill, the Envoy on Technology for the United Nation's Secretary-General, told UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee on Thursday that industry must be 'brought into this discussion early' to reduce the potential for abuse of neurotech 'into the future'

'The dual-use argument, which was generally brought up by bio-conservatives to emphasize risks,' the committee noted in their report, 'is now being used by bio-progressives to justify some development methods.'

'Measures must be in place to protect against neurotechnologies being open to dual use,' according to the IBC, so the medically beneficial neurotech from becoming twisted by hackers, corporate profiteers or even authoritarian regimes.

'Neurotechnology has the potential for tremendous benefits in health, education and social relationships, but also holds the potential to deepen social inequities, to harm individuals' privacy and to provide methods of manipulating individuals,' they said.

Most of the UNESCO conference's speakers voiced strong support for the creation of an actionable framework on neurotech similar to UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence .

As Gabriela Ramos, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, put it, 'Groundbreaking developments in neurotechnology offer unprecedented potential. But we should remain aware of its negative impact if it is employed for malicious purposes.'

'We must act now,' she said, 'to ensure it is not misused and does not threaten our societies and democracies.'

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Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:17

By multiple early indications, the United States has entered yet another surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, with wastewater levels, emergency room visits for COVID-19 and test positivity rates all on the rise across much of the country.

Between June 24 and July 12, the Biobot wastewater tracker showed a 46 percent increase nationally, concentrated in the South and on the coasts. According to one infectious disease modeler, these wastewater levels translate to roughly 280,000 Americans presently being infected with COVID-19 each day and rising.

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The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that there were 10.7 percent more emergency department visits for COVID-19 nationally last week compared to the previous week, with Alaska, Florida and Hawaii reporting the highest rates of growth. CDC data also show that test positivity rates nationally were up by 0.7 percent last week, with Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington logging rates above 7 percent.

If these data continue along current trends, this will be the first surge in the US since the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Biden administration ended their COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declarations in early May.

These premature and unscientific decisions prompted numerous world governments to stop virtually all surveillance of the pandemic. In the US, the CDC abruptly ended all COVID-19 case reporting, while the Biden administration disbanded the White House COVID Response Team and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky resigned from her post.

As a result of the ending of COVID-19 case reporting, it is impossible to correlate early warning signs like wastewater data and emergency room admissions with national or local statistics on the number of COVID-19 cases. These simply do not exist, because the means to track them have been systematically dismantled.

In response to this total abrogation of public health, every corporate media outlet in the world largely stopped covering the pandemic altogether, a sinister form of silent propaganda meant to provide cover for the ongoing crimes of the capitalist ruling elites.

On Monday, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt broke this silence with a dishonest and evidently mistimed editorial that cherry-picked a single data point in just four countries to falsely proclaim that ''the pandemic really is over.''

Leonhardt is the Times' pandemic minimizer-in-chief. Through his widely read newsletter The Morning, which was launched in May 2020 to serve as a daily pandemic update, he has repeatedly declared the pandemic over prematurely, discouraged masking and other mitigation measures, downplayed the severity of COVID-19 in children and immunocompromised people, erased the experience of millions suffering from Long COVID, and sought to elevate individualism as the guiding principle of public health policy.

Leonhardt's pragmatic, shortsighted and unscientific views epitomize and guide those of the Times' largely affluent middle-class subscribers, and have helped craft and justify every criminal pandemic policy of the Biden administration over the past two-and-a-half years. Earlier in the pandemic, Biden himself stated that he was one of Leonhardt's readers.

Titled, ''A Positive Covid Milestone,'' Monday's newsletter cites data indicating that excess deaths in the United States, India, Britain and Brazil are currently at pre-pandemic levels. From this single data point, Leonhardt draws the sweeping and false conclusions that ''[t]he pandemic is finally over,'' COVID-19 is no longer ''a dire threat to large numbers of people'' and ''the virus has turned into an ordinary illness.''

Leonhardt, who is widely loathed by principled epidemiologists and scientists who have sought to educate the public throughout the pandemic, was lambasted on Twitter for his latest piece of drivel. One of the most widely shared rebuttals of Leonhardt came from health law scholar and bioethicist Blake Murdoch of the University of Alberta.

''False,'' Murdoch wrote. ''If the pandemic was truly over, excess deaths would run significantly below historical averages for quite a while, reflecting all the people who didn't die because they already died prematurely of covid. Many people are still dying.''

In addition to drawing sweeping conclusions from this single data point, the fundamental fallacy of Leonhardt's argument is its nationalist perspective. By definition, a pandemic is a global phenomenon whose development is not determined by any single country.

When examined at the global level, the data point that Leonhardt cites'--excess deaths'--clearly remains highly elevated, with The Economist estimating that nearly 9,000 people continue to die each day globally above pre-pandemic figures. In total, there are now 24.1 million excess deaths, with nearly one million added to the death toll every three months.

Further, the pandemic cannot be measured solely by excess deaths. In this respect, Leonhardt's cherry-picking of this data point underscores the dishonesty of his writing. The words ''variant,'' ''viral evolution,'' ''Long COVID,'' ''cases,'' ''testing'' and ''wastewater'' are all omitted from his article, because each of these facets of the pandemic shows that it is ongoing and remains a threat to masses of people globally.

Alongside the evident surge in the US, Japan is now in the grips of its ninth wave of the pandemic, centered on the poorest island, Okinawa. Hospitals are once again strained to capacity, with one healthcare worker telling the Okinawa Times, ''The situation is not so much a medical crisis as a collapse of the system.''

This follows China's massive second wave of the pandemic in recent months after the disastrous lifting of its Zero-COVID elimination strategy last winter.

For those suffering from Long COVID'--now estimated at roughly 20 million Americans and potentially hundreds of millions more people globally'--the pandemic is an ongoing nightmare. As he has done throughout the pandemic, Leonhardt ignores and covers up this hidden iceberg of masses consigned to a fate of perpetual disability with no end in sight.

Mehring Books

COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic

A compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis, available in epub and print formats.

Finally, contrary to the self-deluded view of the Times and the Biden administration that ''the pandemic really is over'' and ''the virus has turned into an ordinary illness,'' principled scientists remain deeply concerned about the ongoing dangers of viral evolution.

Speaking at last month's American Society for Virology conference, noted evolutionary biologist Trevor Bedford stressed that SARS-CoV-2 is ''evolving just as fast as it was in 2021, evolving about two-and-a-half times faster than influenza H3N2'... and is not really showing signs of slowing down.''

In one of the sharpest warnings against the flippant outlook epitomized by Leonhardt, last month biologist Arijit Chakravarty told the World Socialist Web Site, ''Not only is the pandemic very much not over, but by creating the impression that the pandemic is over in the face of rampant viral spread and continuing rapid viral evolution, we are essentially sticking our chin out and asking the virus to do its worst.''

Chakravarty, whose research team has continuously been proven correct in its pandemic projections, stated emphatically:

I can't predict the outcome of the next wave. I can't predict the outcome of the next five waves. But, at the rate that we are going, a prediction can be made with a high degree of certainty that something bad will happen sooner than later along these lines. Keep this pandemic running for another five years, and you'll face a debacle on a scale that you haven't yet seen. That's a given.

Throughout the pandemic, the New York Times has provided essential ideological justification for the American ruling class's homicidal profits-over-lives policies and the destruction of public health. This began with Thomas Friedman's infamous declaration that ''the cure cannot be worse than the disease,'' picked up by Trump as his ''herd immunity'' mantra. The baton was soon passed to Leonhardt, whose latest column is one of dozens filled with misinformation.

At the same time, the Times, the Washington Post and numerous other outlets gave credence to the Wuhan Lab Lie concocted by the fascist Steve Bannon in January 2020. This conspiracy theory, designed to deflect anger towards China for the US ruling elite's policies that have killed well over 1.1 million Americans, was most recently given an antisemitic spin by Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy, Jr., which the Times and other media outlets have downplayed.

The International Committee of the Fourth International, which publishes the WSWS, is the only political party in the world that has continuously exposed every facet of pandemic propaganda and fought to unite the working class internationally to put an end to the pandemic. As the only genuine socialist movement, we stand for scientific truth, public health and the interests of the working class.

It is paramount that the international working class study the experiences of the pandemic, understand the ongoing dangers, and mobilize its collective strength to build a new society based on the principles of social equality and economic planning.

Join the fight to end the COVID-19 pandemic

Someone from the Socialist Equality Party or the WSWS in your region will contact you promptly.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:05

Most of my threads are related to history and the cabal. This is a rare thread because I'm diving into the present day and making connections to nefarious characters using my knowledge of the occult. I have frequently mentioned that I would eventually make a switch in my research from the past to the present and this thread represents that. I will still work do research into the past but right now my focus is 100% onto the questionable connections to Tim Ballard.

Tim Ballard admits John Paul DeJoria and Carlos Slim were large investors for his film, Sound of Freedom.

Time to follow the money. Carlos Slim and Frank Giustra donated $100 Million each to Clinton Foundation in 2007 - Link

Carlos Slim is very close to the Rothschilds - Link

''Three years after Sir Evelyn de Rothschild sold his stake in the family banking firm for £134million, his glamorous wife, Lynn Forester, has formed an ­intriguing business relationship with the richest man in the world, I can reveal.

Last week, racehorse owning Sir Evelyn, 78, former chairman of N.M. Rothschild, and his U.S.-born lawyer wife Lynn, 55, were opening the doors of their ­magnificent London home to the man who has become richer than Microsoft boss Bill Gates '-- ­Mexican magnate Carlos Slim.''

In 2015, Hunter Biden made business deals with Carlos Slim, which was around the same time his Ukraine deals happened.

Who remembers this video of a mexican lady complaining outside a building and saying she saw the people inside eating human flesh'.....

Well she was talking about Carlos Slim Domit, one of Carlos Slim's sons.

Cartels like the Knights Templar, the Zetas, and the Michoascan Family have all practiced cannibalism - sometimes to terrorize rivals, to initiate recruits, or even as part of death-cult like rituals meant to weed out spies

Cannibalism sends a strong signal that says: ''We are victorious and we can do what we want and act with impunity,'' Voeten said. ''It is a calculated strategy of intimidating enemies into submission.'' - Link

Donald Trump made a speech in 2016, where he mentioned Carlos Slim was the largest shareholder of the New York Times and was the reason behind the MSM attacks on him:

The other person who funded the Sound of Freedom, besides Carlos Slim, was John Paul Dejoria.

John Paul signed Bill Gates and Warren Buffet's ''The Giving Pledge'':

Dejoria also worked with Nelson Mandela and the organization Food4Africa in South Africa, the Nelson Madela Foundation and 46664. Notice the symbolism for the number of the beast '666'.

Mandela was a globalist communist puppet. His wife's bodyguard accused her of sadistic child torture. Nelson Mandela was part of the Knights of Malta, a division of the Knights Templar - Link

The degree of Knights of Malta is conferred in the United States as ''an appendant Order'' in a Commandery of Knights Templar.

There is a ritual attached to the degree, but very few are in possession of it, and it is generally communicated after the candidate has been created a Knights Templar'...

Dejoria also supported the 46664 Foundation in South Africa. Other celebrity supporters include:

Brad Pitt

Will Smith

Nelson Mandela

Richard Branson

There are so many 🌠at Mandela's ''46664 ARCTIC'' AIDS benefit concert on June 11, 2005 in Tromso, Norway.

The ðŸŒon the Nelson Mandela Foundation logo is extra swirly. ðŸµ'ðŸ'

Mandela South Africa AIDS Bill Gates Sr. Planned Parenthood

John Paul Dejoria (of Paul Mitchell Hair & Patron tequila) - buddy ol' pals with Eduardo Verstegui, actor in Sound of Freedom & Mel Gibson through:

Baby2Baby

Center for Child Protection

Dream Foundation

Austin Children's Shelter

Michaeline Dejoria, the daughter of John Paul Dejoria who was a financer of the Sound of Freedom, is on the Board of Directors of the Baby2Baby Foundation.

The foundation is a favorite for A-list celebrities, who are considered Angels:

Kim Kardashian

Chrissy Teigan

Kamala Harris

Jessica Alba

Katy Perry

Blake Lively

Drew Barrymoore

Venessa Bryant

Jennifer Garner

and many more - Link

John Paul Dejoria owns a private railcar called 'The Patron's Tequila Express. The train can go anywhere along Amtrak's 21,000 miles.

The interior of the train has a cabal vibe to it:

Carlos Slim and John Paul Dejoria are both sponsors of F1 (Formula 1) Car Racing - Link

Carlos Slim is Red Bull team sponsor. His subsidery Claro is on the right wing of the F1 Vehicle. He also sponsors Sergio Perez, one of the drivers for Red Bull, who considers Carlos Slim a father figure.

John Paul Dejoria was a major investor of the Austin Circuit. He tried to get his subsidary, ROKiT Group to be a sponsor for Team Williams but the team terminated the deal in 2023.

John Paul Dejoria founded Patron Tequila in 1989.

The Patr"n's Hacienda Distillery is a mansion where the Tequila is created. It looks like a Cartel Hub rather than a Distillery plant.

The Cartel that own this area in Mexico are known as the Knights Templar.

Mexican drug cartels use tequila to launder their money

"In 2006, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (USDT) identified four tequila companies in Jalisco that were laundering money for Mexican drug cartels. Today, Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has found that this money laundering tradition continues to be a choice of preference by money launderers" - Link

Here are some Celebrities who own Tequila Companies:

George Clooney - Casamigos

Lebron James - Lbos 1707

Michael Jordan - Cincoro

Mark Wahlberg - Flecha Azul

Eva Longoria - Casa del Sol

The Rock - Teremana

Kendall Jenner - 818 Blanco

Elon Musk - Tesla Tequila

Sean Combs - DeLeon Blanco

Meet Vicente Fox. He was the President of Mexico from 2000-2007.

The OUR website used to have a page that said:

"That desire led to Verastegui introducing Ballard to Vincente Fox."

I was able to see the quote for a search engine.

The link below is where the quote came from but now it shows 404 error and the wayback machine doesn't bring up the page - Link

Here's an interview with Vicente Fox from 2016 hating on Trump for trying to build his wall:

Vicente Fox was best friends with Bill Clinton when he was President of Mexico and was a staunch Hilary Clinton supporter.

Eduardo Verstegui, who introduced Vicente Fox to Tim Ballard, just announced he's running for the President of Mexico - Link

Looks like he will be using those Vicente Fox connections....

Eduardo Verstegu also played the character Paul Hutchinson in the Sound of Freedom:

Eduardo Verastegui endorsed John McCain in 2008 - Link

Mexico has the largest body of LDS Church members (Mormons) outside of the United States. Membership grew nearly 30% between 2011 and 2021. In the 2010 Mexican census, 314,932 individuals self-identified most closely to the LDS Church.

The colonists came to Mexico due to federal attempts to curb and prosecute polygamy in the United States. Plural marriage, as polygamous relationships were called by church members, was an important tenet of the church'--although it was never practiced by a majority of the membership.

Members of the Romney family have roots in these colonies, including both Marion G. Romney and George W. Romney having been born there.

The Harmon Brothers are the Founders of Angel Studios and the creators of The Chosen / Sound of Freedom. They also own an advertsing company called 'Harmon Brothers'

Here is one of their Ads, which has the Devil teaching their class not to see the Chosen:

The creators of Angel Studios, the Harmon Brothers, are mormon and the Mormon Church are the investors for The Chosen.

The Chosen is pushing quotes from Book of Mormon into the series.

Mormons believe God was a physical man, had sex with Mary and then she had Jesus. They also believe Jesus had 3 wives and that Joseph Smith is a descendant of Jesus.

Angel Studios is selling an interesting stone on their website called Larimar - Link

Larimar can only be found in the Dominican Republic, which is RIGHT NEXT to Haiti.

Also, Modern day Witches and Pagans consider Larimar part of the 5th Chakra and can be used to help open their third eye - Link

David Amito, who plays John the Baptist in The Chosen, created a Satanic film called Antrum in 2018.

In 2020, he boasted that the film trends better than the Chosen on Easter:

He also made Krampus cookies for Christmas. Krampus is an the evil origins of Santa Claus where a monster steals children from their homes.

Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus from the Chosen, has an effatuation with skulls - Link

In one of the pictures, he's wearing a shirt that has the phrase 'Memento Mori', which is a Latin phrase that when translated means 'remember that you must die.'

Within Freemasonry, the skull and crossbones are typical on third-degree tracing boards within many Masonic jurisdictions.

It is a prominent feature within the Knights Templar and Kadosh Degrees of the York and Scottish Rites - Link

The lead actor of The Chosen, who plays Jesus, is Jonathan Roumie.

In a AMA podcast he admitted that his was a Knights Templar:

Carlos Slim is part of the Maronite Catholic Church. If you look at the symbolism of the church, it's covered with Knights Templar crosses.

The Papal Cross is also known as the Salem Cross and the Maronite Cross.

The Maronites assisted the crusaders and affirmed their affiliation with the Holy See of Rome in 1182.

Salem Cross

Maronite Cross

Jerusalem Cross

Papal Cross

These crosses all represent Baphomet and have been tied to the Knights Templar since the Crusades.

It is only worn by High degrees of Knights Templar / Masons / Occultists like:

Aleister Crowley

Albert Pike

Tim Ballard, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Executive Producer of Sound of Freedom Paul Hutchinson are all part of the Knights Templar Secret Society. All three of them have also worked extensively with Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) - link

Gregg Phillips using the Templar Code of Honor on TS:

Look at necklace at Jim Caviezel's necklace:

That symbol is known as the Jerusalem cross , which are displayed on the Knights Templar uniform as well as on the banners of the Order - Source

The Mormons love to twist occult symbols, are pro Freemason and Ballard is a Mormon.

Ballard is in this video that mentions the demonic upside down pentagram is a sign of the light.

Joseph Smith was into the Seal of Solomon, magic, the occult, etc.

Those symbols directly match with the Demonic Seals, known as King Solomon's Seals, which are part of Kabbalah, Occultism, Magic and Evil.

Satanic Ritual Abuse Allegations that connect OUR, the Ballard Family, the Romney Family, etc.

I would HIGHLY recommend watching all of Lynn Packer's YouTube video because he's been exposing Tim Ballard for years.

This video makes a good point. The increase of ridiculous LGTBQ news has always seemed forced and agenda driven:

I've always had a thought it would bring together the major denominations of the Christian Churches. It seems the Catholic and Mormon church have been quietly partnering up over this already.

Only worthy Mormons get to wear underwear called the Temple Garment that includes the masonic Square and Compass.

The means that the Mormon Church believe Occult symbols = Good, they wear magical pajamas that include Masonic symbolism and Joseph Smith comes from a long line of Freemasons.

Glenn Beck and Tim Ballard are pushing a strange agenda focusing on putting Israel on a Pedastal:

Also in the video that try and tie American's Christian roots, which is a lie, to Israel's glory.

The Treaty of Tripoli is the clearest declaration that the original founders of the United States of America did not believe that they were setting forth a Christian nation. They specifically said so in this treaty:

''THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS NOT IN ANY SENSE FOUNDED ON THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION''

- Treaty of Tripoli, Article II June 7, 1797

I dive deep into this in my ORIGINS OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR - PART 3 . George Washinton, all the Founding Fathers and entire Senate all voted in the Treaty of Tripoli, meaning they weren't Christian.

Melvin J. Ballard - Ballard was ordained an apostle and became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on January 7, 1919. Ballard served in the Quorum until his death in 1939.

M. Russel Ballard - He has been a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since 1985. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Ballard is accepted by church members as a prophet, seer, and revelator . Currently, he is the third most senior apostle in the church.

The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-day Saints Acting President M. Russell Ballard'' who is suspected of secretly helping kickstart O.U.R. financially- promotes his son's and son-in-law's business venture out of the LDS Church's Administrative Building office.

Link

This is Tim's younger brother Craig Ballard

Interned for Susan Collins, Senate Homeland Security

Assistant to members of Scottish Parliament, Taiwan and Scotland

Marriott International, Hong Kong and Beijing

Children in India

Boyscouts of America

LDS Church

Tim's sister Emily Ballard/Evans

OUR, CCO

Warner bros records international marketing

Children in India (again!)

Entertainment Industry Foundation

Q mentions Ballard in Post 1881.

At the top of the post, it say to 'Read Very Carefully'. Here is the article that Q wanted everyone to read - link .

Is this Q saying to consider Ballard and O.U.R. as the Hunters that are becoming the hunted?

Ballard began his career with the CIA in 2001 and most likely worked for ICE until 2013 at the Southern Border as they are considered Special Agents for Homeland Security:

"As a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) special agent on the southern border who fought sex trafficking for over a decade, I can say with certainty that the issue of the border wall should be not about power and partisan politics." - link

Specifically the Child Exploitation Unit - link

ICE also had a presence in Haiti during the Earthquake in 2010 - Video

ICE was responsible for halting removals to Haiti, which allowed for more humanitarian efforts to be applied there in 2010. - Source

Humantarian efforts = Foundations i.e. - Clinton Foundation

Tim Ballard wore a Freemason tie to his meeting in Argentina. Attorney General Juan Bautista Mahiques, in charge of the City Public Prosecutor's Office, and Timothy Ballard, president of the Operation Underground Railroad organization, signed an agreement to promote institutional collaboration through the development of mutual cooperation and inter-institutional assistance actions. - Link

Check out the Board of Directors of this Foundaion .

Notable Senior Board of Advisors:

Henry Kissinger

Dianne Feinstein

Notable Board of Directors:

TIM BALLARD

Susan Sarandon

Keifer Sutherland

Notable Board of Consultants:

Robert Shapiro

Notable Celebrity Ambassadors:

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Tom Cruise

Timothy Ballard is a registered Sex Offender - Link

This guys is freaking out because it's an exact match between a Sex Offender and the current Tim Ballard when he uses his Photoshop Program:

If you go look at the official story, many Baptist churches in Arkansas wrote lengthy articles about the 'teacher', Tim Ballard and included the photo on the right - Link

The two people look completely different so what's the real story? Government cover up?

Tim Ballard is represented by WME, one of the largest talent agencies in the world. WME is a Subsidary of Endeavor.

Does this mean Ballard is a certified ACTOR. It looks like it - Link

WMA is just another CAA, which has ties to the CIA and other government organizations.

WMA and Endeavor's Notable Clients

Quentin Tarantino

Mel Gibson

TIM BALLARD

Queen Latifah

John Trovolta

Larry and Andy Wachowski

JJ Abrams

Maria Baritiromo

Eminem

50 Cent

Britney Spears

Kanye West

Ricky Gervais

James Franco

Ellen Page

Mark Wahlberg

Kathy Griffin

Kim Kardashian

..... and many more - Link

He is the founder of the Child Liberation Foundation, used to work with Tim Ballard and is portrayed in the movie, the Sound of Freedom - Link

On his foundation's website is a hotline number to the Clinton Foundation.

Paul Hutchinson Co-Founded Bridge Investment Group, a large real estate investment firm based in Salt Lake City, UT.

Achievements are sus:

Knighted Sir Paul Hutchinson by the Knight's of Templar in 2016

Executive Producer in the movie "The Sound of Freedom" featuring Jim Caviezel, Eduardo Verastegui, Manny Perez, Jose Zunig and Javier Godino

Board Member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation

Board Member of the FBI Citizens Academy

Finance Chair for Sean Reyes Utah Attorney general

Honored by Hollywood F.A.M.E. with the International Humanitarian Award

Winner of the Global Race Award from Harvard Law School

Link

In his Instagram he gets emotional when talking about small children:

His also hosts Y Chromosome parties with celebrities - Link

Why was Glenn Beck in a movie produced by James Alefantis?

Glenn Beck and Ted Cruz publicly worship George Washinton's Masonic Compass, which is in possession of Glenn Beck:

Here's the Ben Carson and Tim Ballard Connection - Link

As part of Goya Cares' $2 million pledge to combat child trafficking, Goya announces the Goya Cares coalition partners including:

American Cornerstone Institute , founded by Dr. Ben Carson

Freedom Humanitarian Project , founded by Eduardo Verstegui, actor and producer of the film Sound of Freedom

Operation Underground Railroad , founded by Tim Ballard

So Jimmy cavizel watched child porn and snuff films to get into a character for a movie that opened number 1 at box office and has led to zero arrests. He has 3 adopted kids from China and a very very bizarre wife.:

Gibson traveled to Mexico City to ask Carlos Slim and Slim Jr. to invest in his film company:

Gibson needed financing for his movie Get The Gringo, which was filmed largely in Mexico - Link

Mel Gibson partnered with Sean Penn when he went to Haiti in 2010 - Source

Mel Gibson partnered with convicted Pedophile, Peter Nygard, through Stem Cell Research:

Gibson also partnered with Dan Blizerian for Stem Cell Research. Jeffrey Epstein was also known to be very much into Stem Cell Research.

Mel Gibson receiving his Honorary Doctorate at LOYOLA "Jesuit" Marymount University in LA back in May 2003.

He is also good friends with Jesuit Priest William J Fulco, who translated the Passion of the Christ into Aramaic.

Rosalind Ross, Mel Gibson's girlfriend, is part of the Advisory Board of Ambition, which has some interesting symbolism on their website .

The 'O' in 'Ambition' looks like the freemason compass or even the Antifa logo.

Their partners include three companies that use a goat's head and the 3 pillars.

Ballard's good buddy, Tony Robbins got accused for Sexual assualt - Link

Also, in April 2012, Robbins began cohosting Oprah's Lifeclass on the OWN Network:

Oprah was a good friend with convicted pedophile, John of God, who was also a self help guru from Brazil:

He has Bill Clinton on speed dial and used to hang out with the Dalai Lama:

Also his whole career has been a scam by hypnotizing his audience to give him a ton of money.

Wahlberg. Red Cross. Humanitarian relief. Here are some of the charities he's work in and what for:

Kutcher's Child Trafficking Foundation Thorn used to work with the McCain Institue - Link

OUR and Tim Ballard promoted Thorn on Facebook in 2018 - Link

Ashton Kutcher is most likely a Freemason.

He called Kabbalah ''One of the Essential Ingredients'' in His Marriage to Demi Moore - Link

One way the Clinton Foundation received funds to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010 was through 'Hope for Haiti Now'.

Funds were distributed to the following organizations with humanitarian operations in Haiti:

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

United Nations

Oxfam America

Partners In Health

Red Cross

UNICEF

Y(C)le Haiti Foundation

Here are some notable Celebrities that participated in the charity telethon:

Mel Gibson

Russel Brand

Rose McGowan

Mark Wahlberg

Tom Hanks

The Rock

and many more - Link

We have a Gregg Phillips and Tim Ballard connection through ex-Clinton bodyguard: Craig Sawyer.

In Sawyer's film ContraLand, it includes Ballard and OUR.

Craig Sawyer worked as a bodyguard for True the Vote and Gregg Phillips. The thing about Sawyer though is he used to be a bodyguard for Hilary Clinton, John McCain, Donald Rumsfield and Sean Penn - Link Gregg Phillips went to Haiti, worked with the Red Cross, CDC, got funding from Bush and Clinton foundations, worked in Ukraine and has ties with Zelensky. He's very similar to Tim Ballard when it comes to there obsession with Child Trafficking.

Tim Ballard and OUR have a good relationship with the corrupt NFL, ESPN and Mike Tomlin

Ballard, Tomlin and ESPN went to Haiti to film a clip that was showed on Monday Night Football:

During that trip, Ballard and Tomlin wore T-Shirts that included the Foundation, Association Fanm Kore Fanm, which was founded by Dr. Sabine Martelly 2005.

Dr. Sabine Martelly was the ex-Secretary of States for Youth and Civic Action of Haiti, ambassodor of the Cultural Office of the Vatican and Represents Haiti at the United Nations during Internation Women's Day - Link

So what's the end goal of this organization that has put so much focus on 'Saving the Children'. Their nefarious connection tells me their might be an alternative motive to what they are all saying. This thread is to just make everyone aware of what might be happening right in front of our eyes. In Georgia and other state, they have been pushing an agenda to microchip children so parents can also track them:

Freemasons

Collecting children's data

GA CHIP

SaveTheChildren

ScareTheParents

ImplantTheChips

My message to everyone is to not be scared but to come together and dig to find the truth of what's actually happening behind the scenes. Hopefully we will be able to find the it.

Here's my first Rumble video going through all of this information - Video

Link to Article

Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 18:58

The outgoing UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace explained on Tuesday why his bid to head NATO was blocked by Washington, claiming US President Joe Biden probably wanted a former prime minister or president as secretary general, but the 31 member states could not agree on who that should be.

''I think the Americans probably wanted a head of state,'' Wallace said, appearing at a conference about the future of Britain organized by the Tony Blair Institute. ''If I have a theory, I think they thought, '31 members, what they really want is an ex-prime minister or president','' he added.

He revealed that Biden had spoken to now-former Dutch PM Mark Rutte about the job on at least two occasions, but Rutte ''made it very clear'' he was not interested. Earlier this month, Rutte resigned and left politics after nearly 13 years in power, when his coalition collapsed over migration policy.

Once Rutte was out of the picture, Wallace put his name forward, and received plenty of support from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but not from the Americans.

''Why do you not support your closest ally when they put forward a candidate? I think it's a fair question,'' Wallace had told the Times in an interview published on Saturday, announcing his resignation from the cabinet.

Speaking at the Blair Institute event, Wallace described the process of choosing a NATO head as less transparent than Tory party politicking.

''31 NATO members, with no process, no balance, no one ever declares actually that they want to be a candidate'... So who knows how it worked? There were obviously competing views,'' he said.

Some members said it was time for a female secretary general, but ruled out anyone from a country that wasn't meeting the military spending target of 2% of GDP. ''So suddenly you get down to Eastern European women '' the brilliant PM of Estonia '' and of course they are too hawkish for potentially the Germans or the French,'' Wallace explained.

''NATO stands strong,'' Biden had said on July 11, when the summit began. By the end, the bloc could not agree on a replacement for Jens Stoltenberg and extended his term yet again, to 2024.

''I did say at one stage we should all just get used to the secretary general from Iceland,'' Wallace quipped, to laughter from the audience. ''Poor old Jens is doing a three-year job over 10 years.''

Stoltenberg became the head of NATO in 2014, after losing power in Norway. In an unprecedented move, the US-led military bloc extended his term by four years in 2018, and then by another year in 2022, with the intent of finally replacing him at last week's summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Iceland has no standing army and joined NATO due to its strategic position in the North Atlantic. Though its president is male, both the prime minister and foreign minister '' who stands in for the nonexistent defense minister '' are currently women.

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Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 18:50

CEO of Apple Tim Cook arrives at the Sun Valley Lodge for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 11, 2023.

Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Apple stock popped briefly Wednesday after a Bloomberg News report said the company was developing its own artificial intelligence large language model internally. It's up about 1% for the day in midday trading.

The move signals Apple is taking recent advances in AI technology seriously and is considering integrating them into future products. The company rarely uses the term "artificial intelligence," instead opting for the more academic "machine learning."

For the past year, technologists and investors have been enamored of large language models, an AI technology that can turn out text or code that looks like a human wrote it.

Apple has an internal foundation for AI called Ajax and a small team of engineers have built a chatbot that some call "Apple GPT," according to the Bloomberg News report. Access to the chatbot is limited within Apple. Some Apple staffers believe the company is aiming for a significant AI announcement next year, according to the report.

Aside from LLMs, Apple uses a lot of machine learning in its products, from Siri speech recognition to the ability of the Photos app to detect faces and pets.

To some degree, Apple is late to jump aboard the LLM trend. Microsoft has integrated OpenAI's ChatGPT into its software, Google has integrated its Bard into its search engine, Amazon will offer LLMs through AWS and Meta open-sourced a big LLM project this week.

On Tuesday, Qualcomm , which makes the processors for phones that compete with Apple's iPhone, said it would work with Meta so its LLMs would work directly on Android devices, instead of on far-away servers in the cloud.

Apple representatives didn't respond to CNBC's request for comment.

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Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 18:38

Two American celebrity activists have urged Western nations to use their experience of Al-Qaeda to tackle the Russian group

The US and its allies should seize the opportunity to sanction and prosecute the Wagner private military company in the wake of the aborted mutiny by its chief, Evgeny Prigozhin, according to two American celebrity activists.

The call was made on Monday by actor George Clooney and author John Prendergast, who also served on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. They said there was an ''unprecedented opportunity to counter'' Russia's influence in Africa by going after Wagner.

In a column they wrote for The Economist magazine, Clooney and Prendergast described the private military company as one of Moscow's ''most successful foreign-policy initiatives during the past decade'' and an ''atrocity.''

Wagner has been offering security services to some governments in Africa. The celebrities claimed the group was ''protecting the regime [in the Central African Republic] in exchange for mineral concessions'' and a way to ''hijack a government.'' They promoted a report on Wagner's activities released by their NGO, The Sentry, which alleged that the group ''seeks to disable multinational predatory networks.''

Evgeny Prigozhin led a brief mutiny in Russia last month, moving some of the group's forces from Ukraine towards Russian cities. The maneuver was aborted after a deal was struck with the government, which offered him exemption from prosecution in exchange for going into de facto exile.

Clooney and Prendergast believe that the Wagner Group's presence in Africa, which they described as a ''virus,'' will continue. However, the transition period can be used by Western nations to ''take action against both the operation and its originator.''

''They should create an ad hoc coalition aimed at dismantling the group's business empire, building on lessons from similar efforts focused on Islamic State and Al-Qaeda,'' they suggested.

Islamic State emerged in the mid-2010s amid chaos in Iraq and Syria. Iraq had been occupied by a US-led coalition a decade earlier. Syria was hit by Western-supported anti-government protests in 2011, which quickly escalated into a civil war. Some of Washington's closest regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, reportedly supplied arms to anti-Damascus groups, as did the CIA.

Al-Qaeda stemmed from the US-backed campaign to support anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan in the 1980s. While Washington considers it a terrorist organization, in 2012 Jake Sullivan infamously celebrated the fact that it was ''on our side'' in Syria, according to leaked US diplomatic cables. The incumbent national security adviser to US President Joe Biden was serving in Hillary Clinton's Department of State at the time.

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Archived Version

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 18:32

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Psychiatric and somatic symptoms experienced within a specific culture

In medicine and medical anthropology, a culture-bound syndrome, culture-specific syndrome, or folk illness is a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that are considered to be a recognizable disease only within a specific society or culture. There are no objective biochemical or structural alterations of body organs or functions, and the disease is not recognized in other cultures. The term culture-bound syndrome was included in the fourth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) which also includes a list of the most common culture-bound conditions (DSM-IV: Appendix I). Counterpart within the framework of ICD-10 (Chapter V) are the culture-specific disorders defined in Annex 2 of the Diagnostic criteria for research.[1]

More broadly, an endemic that can be attributed to certain behavior patterns within a specific culture by suggestion may be referred to as a potential behavioral epidemic. As in the cases of drug use, or alcohol and smoking abuses, transmission can be determined by communal reinforcement and person-to-person interactions. On etiological grounds, it can be difficult to distinguish the causal contribution of culture upon disease from other environmental factors such as toxicity.[2]

Identification [ edit ] A culture-specific syndrome is characterized by:[citation needed ]

categorization as a disease in the culture (i.e., not a voluntary behaviour or false claim)widespread familiarity in the culturecomplete lack of familiarity or misunderstanding of the condition to people in other culturesno objectively demonstrable biochemical or tissue abnormalities (signs)the condition is usually recognized and treated by the folk medicine of the cultureSome culture-specific syndromes involve somatic symptoms (pain or disturbed function of a body part), while others are purely behavioral. Some culture-bound syndromes appear with similar features in several cultures, but with locally specific traits, such as penis panics.

A culture-specific syndrome is not the same as a geographically localized disease with specific, identifiable, causal tissue abnormalities, such as kuru or sleeping sickness, or genetic conditions limited to certain populations. It is possible that a condition originally assumed to be a culture-bound behavioral syndrome is found to have a biological cause; from a medical perspective it would then be redefined into another nosological category.

Medical perspectives [ edit ] The American Psychiatric Association states the following:[3]

The term culture-bound syndrome denotes recurrent, locality-specific patterns of aberrant behavior and troubling experience that may or may not be linked to a particular DSM-IV diagnostic category. Many of these patterns are indigenously considered to be "illnesses," or at least afflictions, and most have local names. Although presentations conforming to the major DSM-IV categories can be found throughout the world, the particular symptoms, course, and social response are very often influenced by local cultural factors. In contrast, culture-bound syndromes are generally limited to specific societies or culture areas and are localized, folk, diagnostic categories that frame coherent meanings for certain repetitive, patterned, and troubling sets of experiences and observations.

The term culture-bound syndrome is controversial since it reflects the different opinions of anthropologists and psychiatrists.[4] Anthropologists have a tendency to emphasize the relativistic and culture-specific dimensions of the syndromes, while physicians tend to emphasize the universal and neuropsychological dimensions.[5][6] Guarnaccia & Rogler (1999) have argued in favor of investigating culture-bound syndromes on their own terms, and believe that the syndromes have enough cultural integrity to be treated as independent objects of research.[7]

Guarnaccia and Rogler demonstrate the issues that occur when diagnosing cultural bound disorders using the DSM-IV. One of the key problems that arise is the "subsumption of culture bound syndromes into psychiatric categories",[7] which ultimately creates a medical hegemony and places the western perspective above that of other cultural and epistemological explanations of disease. The urgency for further investigation or reconsideration of the DSM-IV's authoritative power is emphasized, as the DSM becomes an international document for research and medical systems abroad. Guarnaccia and Rogler provide two research questions that must be considered, "firstly, how much do we know about the culture-bound syndromes for us to be able to fit them into standard classification; and secondly, whether such a standard and exhaustive classification in fact exists".[7]

It is suggested that the problematic nature of the DSM becomes evident when viewed as definitively conclusive. Questions are raised to whether culture-bound syndromes can be treated as discrete entities, or whether their symptoms are generalized and perceived as an amalgamation of previously diagnosed illnesses. If this is the case, then the DSM may be what Bruno Latour would define as "particular universalism". In that the Western medical system views itself to have a privileged insight into the true intelligence of nature, in contrast to the model provided by other cultural perspectives.[8]

Some studies suggest that culture-bound syndromes represent an acceptable way within a specific culture (and cultural context) among certain vulnerable individuals (i.e. an ataque de nervios at a funeral in Puerto Rico) to express distress in the wake of a traumatic experience.[9] A similar manifestation of distress when displaced into a North American medical culture may lead to a very different, even adverse outcome for a given individual and his or her family.[10] The history and etymology of some syndromes such as brain-fog syndrome, have also been reattributed to 19th century Victorian Britain rather than West Africa.[11]

In 2013, the DSM 5 dropped the term culture-bound syndrome, preferring the new name "cultural concepts of distress".[12]

Cultural collusion between medical perspectives [ edit ] Within the traditional Hmong culture, epilepsy (qaug dab peg) directly translates to "the spirit catches you and you fall down" which is said to be an evil spirit called a dab that captures your soul and makes you ill. In this culture, individuals with seizures are seen to be blessed with a gift; an access point into the spiritual realm which no one else has been given.[13] In westernised society, epilepsy is considered a serious long-term brain condition, that can have a major impairment on an individual's life. The way the illness is dealt with in Hmong culture is vastly different due to the high-status epilepsy has amongst the culture, compared to individuals who have the condition in westernised societies. Individuals with epilepsy within the Hmong culture are a source of pride for their family.[14]

Another culture bound illness is neurasthenia which is a vaguely described medical ailment in Chinese culture that presents as lassitude, weariness, headaches, and irritability and is mostly linked to emotional disturbance. A report done in 1942 showed that 87% of patients diagnosed by Chinese psychiatrists as having neurasthenia could be reclassified as having major depression according to the DSM-3 criteria.[15] Another study conducted in Hong Kong showed that most patients selectively presented their symptoms according to what they perceived as appropriate and tended to only focus on somatic suffering, rather than the emotional problems they were facing.[16][17]

Globalisation [ edit ] Globalisation is a process whereby information, cultures, jobs, goods, and services are spread across national borders.[18] This has had a powerful impact on the 21st century in many ways including through enriching cultural awareness across the globe. Greater level of cultural integration is occurring due to rapid industrialisation and globalisation, with cultures absorbing more influences from each other. As cultural awareness begins to increase between countries, there is a consideration into whether cultural bound syndromes will slowly lose their geographically bound nature and become commonly known syndromes that will then become internationally recognised. Anthropologist and psychiatrist Roland Littlewood makes the observation that these diseases are likely to vanish in an increasingly homogenous global culture in the face of globalisation (and industrialisation).[19] Depression for example, was once only accepted in western societies, however it is now recognised as a mental disorder in all parts of the world. In contrast to Eastern civilizations such as Taiwan, depression is still much more common in Western cultures like the United States. This could indicate that globalisation may have an impact on allowing disorders to be spread across borders, however these disorders may remain predominant in certain cultures.

DSM-IV-TR list [ edit ] The fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies the below syndromes as culture-bound syndromes:[20]

NameGeographical localization/populationsRunning amokBrunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Timor-LesteAtaque de nerviosLatinos in the United States and Latin AmericaBilis, c"leraBouff(C)e d(C)liranteFrance and French-speaking countriesBrain fog syndromeWest African studentsDhat syndromeIndiaFalling-out, blacking outSouthern United States and CaribbeanGhost sicknessNative American (Navajo, Muscogee/Creek)HwabyeongKoreanKoroChinese, Malaysian and Indonesian populations in Southeast Asia; Assam; occasionally in the WestLatahMalaysia and Indonesia, as well as the Philippines (as mali-mali, particularly among Tagalogs)LocuraLatinos in the United States and Latin AmericaMal de peleaPuerto RicoEvil eyeMediterranean; Hispanic populations and EthiopiaPibloktoArctic and subarctic Inuit populationsZou huo ru mo (Qigong psychotic reaction)Han ChineseRootworkSouthern United States, Caribbean nationsSangue dormidoCape VerdeShenjing shuairuoHan ChineseShenkui, shen-k'ueiHan ChineseShinbyeongKoreansSpellAfrican American, White populations in the Southern United States and EthiopiaSustoLatinos in the United States; Mexico, Central America and South AmericaTaijin kyofushoJapaneseZārEthiopia, Somalia, Egypt, Sudan, Iran, and other North African and Middle Eastern societiesDSM-5 list [ edit ] The fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies the below syndromes as cultural concepts of distress, a closely related concept:[21]

ICD-10 list [ edit ] The 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) classifies the below syndromes as culture-specific disorders:[1]

NameGeographical localization/populationsAmokSoutheast Asian AustronesiansDhat syndrome (dhātu), shen-k'uei, jiryanIndia; TaiwanKoro, suk yeong, jinjin bemarSoutheast Asia, India, ChinaLatahMalaysia and IndonesiaAtaque de nerviosMexico, Central and South AmericaPa-leng (frigophobia)Taiwan; Southeast AsiaPibloktoq (Arctic hysteria)Inuit living within the Arctic CircleSusto, espantoMexico, Central and South AmericaTaijin kyofusho, shinkeishitsu (anthropophobia)JapanUfufuyane, sakaKenya; southern Africa (among Bantu, Zulu, and affiliated groups)Uqamairineq [ru] Inuit living within the Arctic CircleFear of WindigoIndigenous people of north-east AmericaOther examples [ edit ] Though "the ethnocentric bias of Euro-American psychiatrists has led to the idea that culture-bound syndromes are confined to non-Western cultures",[22]within the contiguous United States, the consumption of kaolin, a type of clay, has been proposed as a culture-bound syndrome observed in African Americans in the rural south, particularly in areas in which the mining of kaolin is common.[23]

In South Africa, among the Xhosa people, the syndrome of amafufunyana is commonly used to describe those believed to be possessed by demons or other malevolent spirits. Traditional healers in the culture usually perform exorcisms in order to drive off these spirits. Upon investigating the phenomenon, researchers found that many of the people claimed to be affected by the syndrome exhibited the traits and characteristics of schizophrenia.[24]

Some researchers have suggested that both premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and the more severe premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which have currently unknown physical mechanisms,[25][26][27] are Western culture-bound syndromes.[28][29] However, this is controversial.[28]

Tarantism is an expression of mass psychogenic illness documented in Southern Italy since the 11th century.[30]

Morgellons is a rare self-diagnosed skin condition reported primarily in white populations in the United States.[31] It has been described by a journalist as "a socially transmitted disease over the Internet".[32]

Vegetative-vascular dystonia can be considered an example of somatic condition formally recognised by local medical communities in former Soviet Union countries, but not in Western classification systems. Its umbrella term nature as neurological condition also results in diagnosing neurotic patients as neurological ones,[33][34] in effect substituting possible psychiatric stigma with culture-bound syndrome disguised as a neurological condition.

Refugee children in Sweden have been known to fall into coma-like states on learning their families will be deported. The condition, known in Swedish as uppgivenhetssyndrom , or resignation syndrome, is believed to only exist among the refugee population in Sweden, where it has been prevalent since the early part of the 21st century. In a 130-page report on the condition commissioned by the government and published in 2006, a team of psychologists, political scientists, and sociologists hypothesized that it was a culture-bound syndrome.[35]

A startle disorder similar to latah, called imu [ja] (sometimes spelled imu:), is found among Ainu people, both Sakhalin Ainu and Hokkaido Ainu.[36][37]

A condition similar to piblokto, called menerik [ru] (sometimes meryachenie), is found among Yakuts, Yukaghirs, and Evenks living in Siberia.[38]

The trance-like violent behavior of the Viking age berserkers '' behavior that disappeared with the arrival of Christianity '' has been described as a culture-bound syndrome.[39]

See also [ edit ] Psychology portal References [ edit ] ^ a b Diagnostic criteria for research, p. 213''225 (WHO 1993) ^ Porta, Miquel, ed. (2008). "Behavioral epidemic". A Dictionary of Epidemiology (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-19-157844-1 . Retrieved 25 August 2013 . ^ American Psychiatric Association (2000), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text revision, American Psychiatric Pub, p. 898, ISBN 978-0-89042-025-6 ^ Perry, S. (2012, 13 January). The controversy over 'culture-bound' mental illnesses. Retrieved 27 January 2013 from MinnPost. ^ Prince, Raymond H (June 2000). "Transcultural Psychiatry: Personal Experiences and Canadian Perspectives". The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 45 (5): 431''437. doi:10.1177/070674370004500502 . ISSN 0706-7437. PMID 10900522. S2CID 2159608. ^ Jilek, W.G. (2001), "Psychiatric Disorders: Culture-specific", International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, Elsevier, pp. 12272''12277, doi:10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/03679-2, ISBN 9780080430768 ^ a b c Guarnaccia, Peter J.; Rogler, Lloyd H. (September 1999). "Research on Culture-Bound Syndromes: New Directions". American Journal of Psychiatry. 156 (9): 1322''1327. doi:10.1176/ajp.156.9.1322 . PMID 10484940. ^ Latour, Bruno (1991). We Have Never Been Modern (PDF) . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 105. ^ Schechter, Daniel S.; Marshall, Randall; Salmn, Ester; Goetz, Deborah; Davies, Sharon; Liebowitz, Michael R. (July 2000). "Ataque de nervios and history of childhood trauma". Journal of Traumatic Stress. 13 (3): 529''534. doi:10.1023/a:1007797611148. ISSN 0894-9867. PMID 10948492. S2CID 33348909. ^ Schechter, Daniel S.; Kaminer, Tammy; Grienenberger, John F.; Amat, Jose (2003). "Fits and Starts: A Mother-Infant Case-Study Involving Intergenerational Violent Trauma and Pseudoseizures Across Three Generations". Infant Mental Health Journal. 24 (5): 510''528. doi:10.1002/imhj.10070. ISSN 0163-9641. PMC 2078527 . PMID 18007961. ^ Ayonrinde, Oyedeji A. (26 June 2020). " 'Brain fag': a syndrome associated with 'overstudy' and mental exhaustion in 19th century Britain". International Review of Psychiatry. 32 (5''6): 520''535. doi:10.1080/09540261.2020.1775428 . ISSN 0954-0261. PMID 32589474. S2CID 220121013. ^ American Psychiatric Association (22 May 2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596. hdl:2027.42/138395. ISBN 978-0-89042-555-8. ^ "When Epilepsy Goes By Another Name". Epilepsy Foundation . Retrieved 27 August 2022 . ^ Khalil, Nadia; McMillan, Stephanie; Benbadis, Selim R.; Robertson, Derrick (February 2021). "Fish soup for the falling sickness: Tracing epilepsy through Hmong and Western beliefs". Epilepsy & Behavior. 115: 107725. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107725. PMID 33434883. S2CID 231201804. ^ Kleinman, Arthur (1 June 1982). "Neurasthenia and depression: A study of somatization and culture in China". Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. 6 (2): 117''190. doi:10.1007/BF00051427. ISSN 1574-076X. PMID 7116909. S2CID 23591895. ^ Cheung, Fanny M.; Lau, Bernard W. K. (1 May 1982). "Situational variations of help-seeking behavior among Chinese patients". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 23 (3): 252''262. doi:10.1016/0010-440X(82)90073-6. ISSN 0010-440X. PMID 7083852. ^ Cheung, Fanny M. (1985), "An Overview of Psychopathology in Hong Kong with Special Reference to Somatic Presentation", Chinese Culture and Mental Health, Elsevier, pp. 287''304, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-701630-6.50028-9, ISBN 978-0-12-701630-6 , retrieved 27 August 2022 ^ Scholte, Jan Aart (14 September 2007). "Defining Globalisation". The World Economy: 070916231942004''''. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.01019.x. ISSN 0378-5920. S2CID 219969085. ^ Littlewood, Roland (4 October 2008). "Illness in an anthropological context". The Lancet. 372 (9645): 1211''1212. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61503-2. ISSN 0140-6736. ^ American Psychiatric Association (2000), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text revision, American Psychiatric Pub, pp. 898''901, ISBN 978-0-89042-025-6 ^ American Psychiatric Association (2013), Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th ed., pp. 833''837, ISBN 978-0-89042-554-1 ^ Prince, R.; Thebaud, E. F. (3 September 2016). "Is Anorexia Nervosa a Culture-Bound Syndrome?". Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review. 20 (4): 299''302. doi:10.1177/136346158302000419. S2CID 144358885. ^ Grigsby RK, Thyer BA, Waller RJ, Johnston GA Jr. (February 1992). "Chalk Eating in Middle Georgia: A Culture-Bound Syndrome of Pica?" South Med J. (2): 190''192. ^ Niehaus DJ, Oosthuizen P, Lochner C, Emsley RA, Jordaan E, Mbanga NI, Keyter N, Laurent C, Deleuze JF, Stein DJ (March''April 2004). "A culture-bound syndrome 'amafufunyana' and a culture-specific event 'ukuthwasa': differentiated by a family history of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders". Psychopathology. Karger Publishers. 37 (2): 59''63. doi:10.1159/000077579. PMID 15057028. S2CID 23545601. ^ Hunter, Melissa H.; Mazyck, Pamela J.; Dickerson, Lori M. (15 April 2003). "Premenstrual Syndrome". American Family Physician. 67 (8): 1743''1752. ISSN 0002-838X. PMID 12725453. ^ Richardson, J. T. (September 1995). "The premenstrual syndrome: a brief history". Social Science & Medicine. 41 (6): 761''767. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00042-6. ISSN 0277-9536. PMID 8571146. ^ Rapkin, Andrea J.; Akopians, Alin L. (June 2012). "Pathophysiology of premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder". Menopause International. 18 (2): 52''59. doi:10.1258/mi.2012.012014. ISSN 1754-0461. PMID 22611222. S2CID 25219334. ^ a b Alia Offman, Peggy J. Kleinplatz (2004). "Does PMDD Belong in the DSM? Challenging the Medicalization of Women's Bodies". Archived 2011-06-28 at the Wayback Machine Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. 13. ^ Johnson, T. M. (September 1987). "Premenstrual syndrome as a western culture-specific disorder". Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. 11 (3): 337''356. doi:10.1007/BF00048518. ISSN 0165-005X. PMID 3677777. S2CID 30238189. ^ Russell JF (October 1979). "Tarantism". Med Hist. 23 (4): 404''25. doi:10.1017/s0025727300052054. PMC 1082580 . PMID 390267. ^ Savely, Virginia R; Stricker, Raphael B (13 May 2010). "Morgellons disease: Analysis of a population with clinically confirmed microscopic subcutaneous fibers of unknown etiology". Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology. 3: 67''78. doi:10.2147/ccid.s9520. ISSN 1178-7015. PMC 3047951 . PMID 21437061. ^ "Pathogens & People: Internet helps spread delusion that Morgellons a disease". Hometown Annapolis. 9 July 2011. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011 . Retrieved 8 August 2020 . ^ Mikhaylov B (2010). "P02-34 -Statistical issues of the psychiatric care in Ukraine". European Psychiatry. 25: 652. doi:10.1016/S0924-9338(10)70647-7. S2CID 70674537 . Retrieved 2 October 2016 . ^ Kudinova, O.; Mykhaylov, B. (2014). "EPA-1025 - Integrative psychotherapy model of anxiety disorders". European Psychiatry. 29 (1): 1''10. doi:10.1016/S0924-9338(14)78319-1. ISSN 0924-9338. PMID 24119631. S2CID 145677211. [permanent dead link ] ^ Rachel Aviv (3 April 2017). "The Trauma of Facing Deportation". The New Yorker . Retrieved 1 July 2017 . ^ Tseng, Wen-Shing (6 June 2001). Handbook of Cultural Psychiatry. Academic Press. p. 250. ISBN 9780127016320. ^ Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko (8 May 2014). Illness and Healing among the Sakhalin Ainu. Cambridge University Press. p. 198. ISBN 9781107634787. ^ Sidorov, P. I.; Davydov, A. N. (1992). "Ethnopsychiatric research in the national minorities of Northern Russia and Siberia". Bekhterev Review of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology. Washington. ISBN 0-88048-667-8. ISSN 1064-6930. ^ H¸yersten, Jon Geir (16 December 2004). "The berserks'--what was wrong with them?". Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening: Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin, NY Raekke. 124 (24): 3247''3250. ISSN 0807-7096. PMID 15608781. Further reading [ edit ] Kleinman, Arthur (1991). Rethinking psychiatry: from cultural category to personal experience. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-917441-8 . Retrieved 8 January 2011 . Landy, David, ed. (1977). Culture, Disease, and Healing: Studies in Medical Anthropology . New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-02-367390-0. Launer, John (November 2003). "Folk illness and medical models". QJM. 96 (11): 875''876. doi:10.1093/qjmed/hcg136 . PMID 14566046. Simons, Rondald C; Hughes, Charles C, eds. (1985). The Culture-Bound Syndromes: Folk Illnesses and Anthropological Interest. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Co. ISBN 978-90-277-1858-7 . Retrieved 9 September 2010 . Paperback ISBN 90-277-1859-8Rebhun, L.A. (2004). "Culture-Bound Syndromes". In Ember, Carol R.; Melvin Ember (eds.). Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's Cultures. New York: Klower Academic/Plenum Publishers. pp. 319''327. ISBN 978-0-306-47754-6 . Retrieved 9 September 2010 . (Note: Different preview pages result in the full chapter being viewable from the title link).Kirmayer, L. J. (2001). "Cultural variations in the clinical presentation of depression and anxiety: implications for diagnosis and treatment". Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 62: 22''30. PMID 11434415. Bures, Frank (2016). The Geography of Madness: Penis Thieves, Voodoo Death, and the Search for the Meaning of the World's Strangest Syndromes Hardcover. Melville House. ISBN 978-1612193724. External links [ edit ] Psychiatric Times '' Introduction to Culture-Bound Syndromes (registration required) Skeptical Inquirer '' Culture-bound syndromes as fakery

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Archived Version

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 18:31

This piece was adapted and translated into English, because i understand now, that the massive desertion of the political elite is not something beholden to the Netherlands.In England and Belgium we also see flocks of politicians, leaving the horror bus, just in time.

Do we ever get something for free in life, without a fight, a battle or even throwing a punch? Without the spilling of bathtubs of blood, rivers of sweat or buckets of tears?

Do hijackers ever voluntarily leave the cockpit if their demands are not met? Did Adolf Hitler give up Berlin, purely because the Endsieg had become an impossible pipe dream?

Doesn't the leadership of a cult, such as the World Economic Forum, usually become ever more dangerous, precisely when their victory is in jeopardy and their ''jeux'' seem to be ''faits''?

May i remind you of Jim Jones' People's Temple in British Guiana, the bitter end of the Branch Davidians in Waco, The Sun Temple of Di Mambro and Jouret, and the crew of Marshall Applewhite's spaceship?

Cults usually end in ashes and the stench of bodies.

How rare is it that people who have been seeking power for all of their miserable lives, suddenly surrender that power voluntarily?

Why wouldn't the self proclaimed Nephilim, the new ''human Gods and creators'', the WEF Nol Hararo¯des, drag us down with them, in their inevitable fall, now the wax melts away between their manicured fingers, because they chose to fly towards the sun?

Are the scepters of dictators and tyrants, as a rule, not only wrung from of their icy hands?

Doesn't this sudden and ongoing massive self-capitulation of the Dutch, British and Belgian ruling elites proceed much too smoothly?

These privileged passengers, usually so stoic and untouchable, seem to be in a remarkable hurry to leave their comfortable seats in the front of Rutte's and Sunak's busses, no aren't they?

Aren't the untouchables who are now en masse pressing the red exit button, usually cemented to their plushy seats?

Isn't it much more realistic to assume that the drivers of these horror busses have hidden cluster bombs In the bagage compartment, that can no longer be defused.

Wouldn't so many first class passengers, rather prefer to see these bombs go off, from a safe distance?

In the Netherlands'...

Didn't the biggest pension heist ever, get pushed through the senate, just in time?

Hasn't the Nature Restoration Law, which is going to ruin even more farmers and businesses, not recently been passed?

Wasn't the Dutch treasury not completely plundered?

Aren't countless billions of our tax euro's being washed blood red in the sacrificial slaughter of innocent Ukrainian and Russian citizens and soldiers?

Aren't our borders not definitely opened to thousands and thousands of military aged men pouring in?

Hasn't the law on public health not recently been adapted, giving the W.H.O. unlimited and overriding power in our country?

Wasn't the CBDC and Digital identity being pushed down our throats just in time?

Isn't the Digital Services Act going to silence us digitally in August?

Are they not pushing forward with the ban on ''Ongehoord Nederland'', the only mainstream dissident voice in Dutch media?

These are all ''bomblets'' that are about to explode in their hands, ready to shred our country to pieces.

What is this strange parallel exodus of the political elites in England Belgium and The Netherlands all about?

This blatant massive Fahnenflucht?

Isn't it evident that the ruling class decided to get out of the bus at the last stop before the terminus, so they can run for cover, staggering away on their lacquered shoes and red Louboutin heels, now that the fuse of the cluster bomb is still long.

Wouldn't it be logical for them to rather be at a safe distance from the millions of dozing passengers in the back of the bus, who are not allowed to get off, when the inevitable explosion comes and the shards of our countries rip through the clouds.

Didn't Rutte, the Dutch bus driver, the one with the eternal grin and the empty eyes, force this stopover, so the members of the ruling elite, who wanted to wash their hands in innocence or shied away from hardcore dictatorship, could pull the emergency brake and get off, to take an express train to well-deserved jobs in New York, Brussels, Bariloche or Davos?

Leaving us poor souls behind.

The innocent people, who are still silently sitting in the back of the bus leaning against the fogged up windows, dozing in their plastic chairs.

How many of us still drink The Kool Aid? Consume their daily newspaper, staring at their IPhones? Comfortably numb. Ignorant and disinterested, on a road to nowhere, without the faintest idea of the gaping ravine the bus is being steered into?

And what about the driver himself?

Will Rutte, as promised, crawl out from behind his large steering wheel, and retire?

Or was that just another boo boo?

The grimace on his face never lies, for whoever dares to read it. That grin does not portend a farewell, but the imminent closing of the bus doors and an acceleration towards a sinister unknown.

And anyone who dares to peer out of the window, sees flocks of birds chirping wildly and the beasts of the field running to the hills.

And as the bus hurtles at an insane pace towards its very last stop, the sea retreats beyond the horizon.

If you wish to support my work, and updates from the Netherlands, you can do so right here!

Vind je mijn werk goed, mooi of zelfs belangrijk? Deel deze post dan zoveel mogelijk! Ook kun je mijn werk ondersteunen met een donatie!

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Archived Version

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 18:04

OPINION:

The green movement's climate-change scheme is based upon the false notion that carbon dioxide and other gases cause global warming. They do not.

We don't have to guess about this. We have empirical and scientific proof.

I owned a Weights and Measures gas-physics test-and-repair facility and conducted tests. We learned gas physics from engineers at factories that manufacture gas-physics instruments.

Nearly everything the public has heard about climate change for the past 30 years has been from the professorial world, which is theoretical. And how often have their predictions come true?

Because their world is theoretical, they use peer review for approval. There is no such thing as peer review in the private sector. Something either works or it doesn't. Everything is tested. Engineers who design gas-physics instruments must be correct.

If they aren't, their instruments would fail and buildings might burn.

There is no curriculum for gas physics in academia. Engineering and physics classes merely touch upon the subject with 100-year-old (and misleading) postulates such as continuity of energy and thermodynamics.

Professors use these to leap to the conclusion that energy cannot be destroyed, or at least migrates somewhere.

Temperature is an indication of the speed at which atoms and molecules are moving. Academia has forgotten or skipped over this first tenet of gas physics, presumably to chase the $22 billion per year in funding to study global warming.

When mercury in a thermometer is exposed to heat, the mercury atoms accelerate. They collide, increasing friction and temperature. This causes the mercury to expand, and the added force pushes it up the thermometer. When the sun goes down, the atoms slow, the friction and force lessen, and the mercury falls. The mercury atoms do not migrate elsewhere; they simply slow down.

This happens because we live in a gravitational field. Kinetic energy (motion) is destroyed by gravity, another tenet of gas physics that has been ignored. Any migration of energy ends abruptly like the spark from a flame or sand under a rolling baseball. Atoms and molecules are densely packed in our atmosphere.

Think of them as vehicles stopped at a light. A car rear-ends the last car. The last car cannot travel very far because it hits the next car.

Do gases retain some trace amount of temperature from day to day?

To answer this, we charted actual atmosphere temperature drops. High and low temperatures were recorded from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website. It provides a high for the day, and a low the next morning.

The temperature drops were for locations throughout the country. A typical drop in summer was from 80 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit. The size of the drops varied.

However, the average drop for 15 samples or more was notably consistent at 22 degrees. Temperature drops were recorded throughout winter down to highs in the 20s. Similarly, temperature drops in winter also averaged 22 degrees.

This proves that temperatures drop at a steady rate when the sun is down. The resulting temperature-drop chart indicates that, if the sun never came up, the Earth would be a frozen ball of ice in less than 48 hours (dropping 22 degrees every 12 hours). That proves that temperature is not trapped or retained from day to day (global warming). Any prolonged warming is caused by the sun.

It further proves that no gas '-- not carbon dioxide, methane, or even humid atmospheric air '-- retains temperature from day to day.

Make no mistake. This is a true scientific test because it observes actual measurements of the atmosphere. Any high school class can repeat these observations over a school year.

Let's consider carbon dioxide, which the green lobby has miscast as a cause of warming without proof. Real science demands empirical and scientific proof.

For instance, the empirical proof that an elephant weighs more than a mouse is observation. The scientific proof is to put both on a scale and weigh them. Atmospheric scientists agree that from 1950 to 1985, our atmosphere cooled very slightly. It did the same from 1997 to 2015. During both periods, carbon dioxide levels rose dramatically.

That is empirical proof that carbon dioxide does not cause warming. It is 55 years of proof. It is the elephant in the room.

We need to stop thinking, ''It has to cause at least some warming.'' No, it doesn't. Obviously, it doesn't.

The question we should be asking is, ''Why doesn't carbon dioxide cause warming?'' That leads to the proper scientific approach: Measure it.

The scientific proof is easily grasped. We tested carbon dioxide's ability to trap or retain heat. It cools 22 F in 3 minutes and 45 seconds. It cannot possibly retain heat and certainly not do so from day to day.

To naysayers, how about proving your theory? Try to get carbon dioxide to retain temperature from day to day. Or better yet, perform our test for yourself.

We used precision instruments. However, this is a simple, repeatable test that anyone can perform with hardware-store instruments.

' A condensed version of James T. Moodey's paper ''Three Proofs Carbon Dioxide Causes No Warming in the Atmosphere '-- No Gas Causes Warming'' is in his book ''The Ladder Out of Poverty.'' The book also has a chapter about the extensive economic damage caused by our country's first cap-and-trade rule to reduce natural gas in the Los Angeles basin. He explains how we lost most of our manufacturing to China because of that rule.

Copyright (C) 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

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Archived Version

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:49

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Archived Version

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:12

An outbreak of syphilis has been declared in Houston after cases in women more than doubled since 2019.

Official data showed a 128 percent rise in cases detected in the group in America's fourth-largest city, up from 295 cases in 2019 to 674 last year.

For congenital syphilis or infections in unborn infants, cases have risen nine-fold in the city since 2016 to about 150 per year.

Health officials are concerned because the disease can cause damage to the internal organs of developing babies, leading to their death or leaving them with serious disabilities.

Dr Foye Ikyaator, the medical director for Life Savers Emergency Room in Houston, warned many Texans not to believe that the sexually transmitted disease (STI) had largely been eradicated.

Syphilis is often known as 'the great pretender' as the disease has overlapping symptoms with several other STDs, which can lead to health professionals overlooking symptoms entirely. Here are five warning signs of the disease to look out for

She told FOX26: 'We've gotten to the point where we think it's eradicated. I talk to people all the time who say, "Is that still going on?". Well, yeah, it is.'

In its alert, the Houston Department of Health said cases of the disease in unborn children '-- congenital syphilis '-- had risen nine-fold since 2016.

There were 16 cases reported in 2016, they said, but by the year 2021, the latest available, the figure had hit 151 cases.

Overall, infections are up 57 percent in three years from 1,845 cases in 2019 to 2,905 in 2022.

Marlene Ward, the deputy assistant director for the department, said: 'It is crucial for pregnant women to seek prenatal care and syphilis testing to protect themselves from an infection that could result in the deaths of their babies.

'A pregnant woman needs to get tested for syphilis three times during pregnancy.'

In response to the declaration, the Department will waive all clinical fees for STI testing at its health centers across the city of 2.3million people. They are also rolling out more mobile STI/HIV testing clinics to help people get checked for the disease.

Nationwide, syphilis cases are also on the rise having ticked up 32 percent from 2020 to 2021 alone according to the latest data available.

Some 174,000 Americans are now diagnosed with the disease every year, including nearly 3,000 unborn children. South Dakota had the highest rate of syphilis cases nationwide in 2021, while at the time Texas ranked 25th.

It is not clear what is driving the trend, but experts say it may be linked to dropping condom use and the rise of online dating that can encourage more sexual encounters and riskier riskier sexual behavior.

The disease can be easily treated with antibiotics, with pregnant women tested for it three times during their pregnancy.

But if left untreated the disease can damage the internal organs in babies, leading to their death or leaving them with disabilities.

Below are the five warning signs of the infection to watch out for:

Multiple sores Syphilis '-- most commonly spread through sex '-- is caused by a bacteria called Treponema pallidum.

The earliest warning sign is a concave sore, known as a chancre, in the mouth or genitals.

Many infected people only develop one sore, which is usually firm and painless.

Chancres typically occur three weeks after being exposed to the bacteria, at the spot where the bacteria entered the body.

Jeffrey Klausner, former director of STD Prevention and Control Services at the San Francisco Department of Health, told The Washington Post that 'people may not be very aware' of the tell-tale syphilis symptom.

Chancres can last six weeks and may disappear without treatment, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear.

Rash on the palms of your hands If syphilis is left untreated, the disease can enter a second stage of infection.

Symptoms of secondary syphilis will begin a few weeks after the disappearance of the sore. This usually consists of a rash.

Syphilis can lead to a rash, which often appears on the palm of your hands but could persist anywhere on the body, including the soles of your feet. It is usually non-itchy and could disappear without treatment

NHS describes the rash as 'a non-itchy skin rash appearing anywhere on the body, but commonly on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet'.

The rash may be faint and hard to notice, and may even resemble rashes caused by other diseases, such as psoriasis and eczema, which means even doctors could overlook the signs.

Klausner said doctors can sometimes misdiagnose syphilis as a viral infection, which he said is because: 'There are fewer and fewer syphilis experts.'

Swollen glands In the primary stage of infection, syphilis can also lead to 'enlarged lymph nodes in the area of the sore,' according to Penn Medicine.

The swollen glands can persist in the second stage, as the bacteria continues to grow.

Swollen glands are a sign the body is fighting an infection. They usually get better by themselves within two weeks, the NHS says.

Common areas where you might notice swollen lymph nodes include your neck, under your chin, in your armpits and in your groin.

Swollen glands can persist in the primary and secondary phases of infection as the bacteria continues to grow

Hair loss While a less common symptom of syphilis, the disease can lead to hair loss.

The NHS says it can look like 'patchy hair loss on the head, beard and eyebrows'.

According to a 2013 study published in the National Institutes of Health, the frequency of hair loss in secondary syphilis only ranges from 2.9 to 7 percent.

This most common type of hair loss is a 'moth-eaten' pattern and is a non-scarring alopecia that can affect other areas of the scalp.

However, the hair loss is not lasting and, according to the study: 'The alopecia usually resolves within three months of appropriate treatment for syphilis.'

Hair loss is a less common symptom of syphilis and is usually not a lasting side effect =, when treated the hair may return

Flu-like symptoms Another warning sign to look out for is flu-like symptoms, which can persist in the second stage of infection.

While these symptoms usually go away without treatment, if an infected person is never treated for syphilis, they could enter a third stage of the disease.

The 'latent stage' '-- when there are no visible signs or symptoms '-- can last years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Tertiary syphilis can then occur up to 30 years after a person gets infected.

It can be fatal and may affect multiple organ systems, including the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones and joints.

In the second stage of infection, flu-like symptoms may persist while this may go away without treatment if a person is never treated they could enter a third stage of infection and experience life-altering side effects

What are the other signs of syphilis? At any stage of the infection, the disease can invade the nervous system (neurosyphilis), the visual system (ocular syphilis) and auditory and/ or vestibular system (ostosyphilis).

According to the CDCP, signs of neurosyphilis include:

severe headache;trouble with muscle movements;muscle weakness or paralysis (not able to move certain parts of the body);numbness; andchanges in mental status (trouble focusing, confusion, personality change) and/or dementia (problems with memory, thinking, and/or making decisions). Signs of ocular syphilis can include:

eye pain or redness;floating spots in the field of vision (''floaters'');sensitivity to light; andchanges in vision (blurry vision or even blindness). Signs and symptoms of ostosyphilis may include:

hearing loss;ringing, buzzing, roaring, or hissing in the ears (''tinnitus'');balance difficulties; anddizziness or vertigo. What is syphilis? How is it diagnosed? Can it be treated?Syphilis is a bacterial infection that is usually caught by having sex with an infected person.

It spreads through close contact with an infected sore, which usually happens during vaginal, oral or anal sex.

Infected pregnant women can pass the STI to their unborn babies, which can lead to miscarriages or stillbirths.

Syphilis can also be spread by sharing needles with an infected person.

Symptoms are not always obvious and may eventually disappear.

These could include:

Small, painless sores or ulcers on the penis, vagina, anus or around the mouthBlotchy red rashes on the palms or soles of the feetSmall skin growths on women's vulvas or the anusWhite patches in the mouthFatigue, headaches, joint pain, fever and swollen lymph nodesIf untreated, syphilis can spread to the brain or elsewhere in the body and cause disabilities or death.

Treatment is usually an antibiotic injection into the buttocks or a course of tablets.

People can reduce their risk by using condoms during sex, a dental dam (plastic square) during oral sex and avoiding sharing sex toys.

Source: NHS Choices

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:07

Woodstock, 1969. Image: CBC Posted By: Dr. William Makis via GlobalResearch July 14, 2023

This story needs serious investigation to determine the cause of this phenomenon. By comparison, the 1969 Woodstock event attracted some 400,000 people to a three-day marathon of music activity and partying. Only two people died: one from a drug overdose and the other was run over in his sleeping bag with a tractor collecting trash. Deaths from heart attack at Woodstock? ZERO. 'ƒ TN Editor

Ed Sheeran took to the stage at the city's Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, July 8, to entertain the biggest Pittsburgh crowd he's ever played in front of, with an estimated 51,000 fans piling in to see the Englishman.

Things took a turn among some gig-goers, though, who fell ill during the performance. Emergency services were called to more than 37 incidents, and 17 people were taken to hospital, including a stadium worker and a medic.

Two people went into cardiac arrest, including a venue worker as well as a paramedic.

Oct. 29, 2022 '' Seoul, South Korea '' Halloween party results in 159 deaths from simultaneous cardiac arrests (click here)(click here)(click here).

Read full story here'...

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:04

By Dave DeCamp

The House on Friday passed its version 2024 National Defense Authorization in a vote of 219-210, which largely fell along partisan lines due to amendments added by Republicans relating to social policies in the military.

The Republican amendments covered abortion, transgender surgery, and diversity initiatives. Only four Democrats voted in favor of the bill, and four Republicans voted against it. The four Republicans who opposed the NDAA are Reps. Thomas Massie (KY), Eli Crane (AZ), Andy Biggs (AZ), and Ken Buck (CO).

The Senate still needs to pass its version of the NDAA, then the two chambers will negotiate the final version that will go to President Biden's desk. The Republican amendments packed into the House version will set up a fight between the two chambers as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats will reject them.

The 2024 NDAA is for a record $886 billion, the same amount President Biden requested. The debt ceiling deal reached between House Republicans in the White House did not limit military spending and put no caps on emergency supplemental funds, which is how the US has been spending on the war in Ukraine.

As the House was debating the NDAA, several amendments introduced by Republicans looking to rein in US support for Ukraine were voted down. One amendment sponsored by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) would have required the Biden administration to develop a strategy for the war in Ukraine. It was rejected in a vote of 129-301, with only Republicans supporting it.

One amendment introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene would have cut $300 million in military aid for Ukraine that's packed into the NDAA, but it failed in a vote of 89-341. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) put forward an amendment to cut off all military assistance for Ukraine, which failed in a vote of 70-358. Only Republicans supported the two amendments.

Greene sponsored another amendment that would have prohibited the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, although US cluster bombs have already arrived in the country. The effort failed in a vote of 147-276. It received support from 98 Republicans and 49 Democrats.

Source: Antiwar

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave. View all posts by Dave DeCamp

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:04

By B.N. Frank

Broadband connections can be achieved via safer and more secure methods than tens of thousands more satellites being launched which are contributing to already dangerous levels of space junk as well as making it increasingly difficult for astronomers to conduct research (see 1, 2). In regard to Starlink satellites, there always seems to be issues with them. Earlier this year the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed that SpaceX be fined for not properly reporting launch data of its Starlink satellites (some of which have burned and fallen to the ground). Last year it was revealed that speed from Starlink satellites was slowing down everywhere. Of course, some may not consider those issues to be nearly as problematic as them having to maneuver every 10 minutes to avoid collision!

From Newser:

SpaceX Satellites Forced to Swerve Every 10 MinutesThat's an average, based on 25K avoidance maneuvers reported in 6 months

By Steve Huff, Newser Staff

Space is unimaginably vast, so you'd think there would be more than enough room for whatever you want to put into orbit. SpaceX and Starlink engineers would likely tell you it's not that simple. An FCC report filed by the Elon Musk-led satellite internet provider on June 30 indicated the 4,000-plus Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit completed more than 25,000 collision avoidance maneuvers in the period between December 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. Gizmodo explains what triggers such a movement, with SpaceX having explained that it would move its Starlink satellites if the chance of hitting space debris or another satellite exceeded 1 in 100,000.

As Space.com reports, the numbers contained in the FCC report work out to be an average 137 course adjustments a day, or one about every 10 minutes. And the problem isn't going to improve over time. Astronautics professor Hugh Lewis says we're seeing exponential growth in these maneuvers. ''Every six months, the number of maneuvers that are being made doubles,'' and ''if you project that out, you'll have 50,000 within the next six-month period, then 100,000 within the next, then 200,000, and so on.''

This means Starlink satellites will need to be increasingly more nimble, with Lewis projecting that within five years, ''Starlink satellites will have to maneuver nearly a million times in a half-year to minimize the risk of orbital collisions.'' Add to that SpaceX's goal of ultimately launching a total of 42,000 satellites, per Gizmodo, and suddenly near-Earth orbit is a very crowded place to be. (Starlink's internet satellites aren't the only ones challenged by this overcrowding.)

Activist Post reports regularly about broadband, space vehicles, and unsafe technologies. For more information, visit our archives.

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:46

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ToplineThe adrenochrome conspiracy, a bizarre theory with antisemitic roots, posits that Satan-worshipping global and Hollywood elites run a massive child trafficking ring to drain their blood and harvest the chemical adrenochrome to stay young, and has been embraced by subscribers of the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy movements, including key people affiliated with the recent hit movie The Sound of Freedom.

Protester holds a "no more adrenochrome" sign at a St. Paul, Minnesota Save Our Children rally. ... [+] (Photo by: Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Key FactsThe baseless adrenochrome theory has been debunked numerous times by media outlets and scientific communities, who have noted the chemical, produced by oxidizing adrenaline, has no rejuvenating effects.

The theory is promoted by followers of QAnon, the conspiracy movement that promotes the false idea that Satanic Hollywood stars and political elites run the world and have organized a child sex trafficking ring.

QAnon adherents have alleged top Democrats like the Clintons and Obamas, celebrities like Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey, and billionaires like George Soros, are among the elites behind the conspiracy.

The adrenochrome theory has developed on social media over the past decade but spiked in 2020, primarily because of the Covid-19 lockdown in which celebrities posted pictures and videos of themselves from home, not looking glammed up as usual, leading conspiracy theorists to allege these celebrities were suffering from ''adrenochrome withdrawals.''

The adrenochrome theory has roots in centuries-old antisemitic tropes, namely blood libel, the myth that Jews use the blood of Christian and non-Jewish children in rituals, which has historically been used as justification to imprison and torture Jews and was an element of Nazi propaganda.

Early scientific studies on adrenochrome date back to 1950s research conducted by Canadian psychiatrists Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond, who hypothesized schizophrenia may be caused by an adrenochrome buildup, but their claims that niacin and vitamin C could treat schizophrenia patients by preventing adrenochrome oxidization were not supported by later studies conducted by others.

Key BackgroundAdrenochrome entered modern popular culture with Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and its 1998 film adaptation, both of which contain a scene depicting adrenochrome as a psychedelic extracted from humans. A clip of the adrenochrome extraction scene has garnered more than 3 million views on YouTube, with some comments linking the scene to the adrenochrome conspiracy theory. Like other modern conspiracy theories, the adrenochrome blood harvesting theory has proliferated on social media. Some of the earliest known posts about the adrenochrome theory date back to 2013 on 4chan, the controversial social platform that also served as the birthplace of the QAnon movement. Some posts and videos shared on 4chan claiming to serve as evidence of the adrenochrome theory were explicitly antisemitic, invoking the blood harvesting as a Jewish ritual. As the Pizzagate conspiracy theory'--which falsely alleged the Clintons and other Democrats used a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., as a location for child sex trafficking'--picked up steam in 2015 and 2016, and the QAnon movement emerged in 2017, these theories adopted the adrenochrome theory on 4chan, Wired reported. Adrenochrome theories continue to run rampant on social media, including a bizarre claim that the children's film, Monsters, Inc., in which the monsters extract screams from children for energy, is an allegory for adrenochrome harvesting. Some social platforms have taken measures to curb the spread of the theory: Reddit banned the r/adrenochrome subreddit in 2020, and Amazon has removed some books about the adrenochrome theory, the Daily Beast reported. Searches of ''adrenchrome'' on Twitter, however, still yield plenty of results promoting the conspiracy.

News PegInternet searches for adrenochrome are trending upwards as of the first week of July, reaching the highest level of interest on Google since August 2020, according to Google Trends. Some recent notable proponents of the adrenochrome theory include former government agent Tim Ballard and actor Jim Caviezel, both of whom are linked to the box office hit, The Sound of Freedom. Though Angel Studios, the film's distributor, denies any connection to conspiracy theories or politics, both Ballard and Caviezel have defended the adrenochrome harvesting theory in recent interviews. Ballard, the founder of anti-child sex trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad who is portrayed by Caviezel in the film, claimed in an interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson last week the adrenochrome harvesting theory is real and taking place in parts of Africa. Caviezel, who has spoken at several QAnon events, defended the adrenochrome theory on the right-wing podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, on July 11, stating the compound is extracted after ''torturing little children.''

Crucial Quote''Adrenochrome, which has no rejuvenating effects, and very questionable psychedelic properties, would have long faded into obscurity had it not been rejuvenated by the QAnon twaddle,'' McGill University's Office for Science and Society director Joe Schwarcz wrote, adding that claims that live humans must be used for adrenochrome extraction are false as the compound can be synthesized by researchers for research purposes.

Surprising FactSome conspiracy theorists spread the false claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin destroyed adrenochrome plants in Ukraine and intercepted shipments of adrenochrome heading toward the United States amid the Russia-Ukraine war. The falsehoods were posted on Real Raw News, which claims to be a satirical outlet, though PolitiFact, which debunked its claims about Putin, noted the author regularly defends his stories as truth. And the false claims were spread quickly on social media.

Further ReadingThe Dark Virality of a Hollywood Blood-Harvesting Conspiracy (Wired)

How QAnon Became Obsessed With 'Adrenochrome,' an Imaginary Drug Hollywood Is 'Harvesting' from Kids (The Daily Beast)

QAnon's Adrenochrome Quackery (McGill University)

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:44

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Several members of the Kennedy family have distanced themselves from anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr's claim that the virus which causes Covid-19 was somehow engineered to target white and Black people while sparing Asians and Jews of Eastern European descent as an example of antisemitism that puts Americans at risk.

During a press event in New York City on 11 July, Mr Kennedy baselessly stated that ''there is an argument to be made'' that the disease is ''ethnically targeted'' and claimed that the Sars-CoV-2 virus was ''targeted to attack Cucasians and Black people'' even as ''those who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese''.

Mr Kennedy later falsely claimed that he had made the remarks at an off-the-record event and attacked the New York Post who had reported on his offensive comments, accusing him of trying to ''to discredit [him] as a crank '-- and by association, to discredit revelations of genuine corruption and collusion.''

His comments were widely condemned by numerous Jewish groups including the Anti-Defamation League, which called them ''deeply offensive'' pointed out that they ''feed into sinophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories''.

Joe Kennedy III, a special economic envoy to Northern Ireland and a former congressman, tweeted: ''My uncle's comments were hurtful and wrong. I unequivocally condemn what he said.''

Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, issued a statement calling her brother's comments ''deplorable''. She said: ''I STRONGLY condemn my brother's deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting.''

She added: ''His statements do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stand for, with our 50+-year track record of protecting rights and standing against racism and all forms of discrimination.''

Joe Kennedy II wrote in a statement: ''Bobby's comments are morally and factually wrong. They play on antisemitic myths and stoke mistrust of the Chinese. His remarks in no way reflect the words and actions of our father, Robert F. Kennedy.''

Speaking at the White House daily press briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond to Mr Kennedy directly, citing his status as a 2024 presidential candidate.

But Ms Jean-Pierre said the anti-vaccine activist's comments were insensitive to the ''countless'' American families with empty seats at the dinner table because they've lost people to the virus since it began spreading across the globe in March 2020.

Robert F Kennedy is running as a Democratic candidate for the 2024 election

(EPA)

Continuing, Ms Jean-Pierre said the claims Mr Kennedy made on a tape which was published by The New York Post were ''false'' as well as ''vile,'' and said they ''put our fellow Americans in danger''.

''if you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things, it's an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans and so it is important that we ... speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly,'' she said.

''This President and this whole administration is going to stand against ... those false claims against ... Asian Americans, against Jewish Americans,'' she said. ''We're going to continue to speak out and we believe ... it's important to protect the dignity of our fellow Americans''.

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:35

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Robert F Kennedy Jr has defended his remarks suggesting Covid-19 was 'ethnically targeted'

By Sam Cabral

BBC News, Washington

Robert F Kennedy Jr is running for US president as a Democrat, but the unusual backing he is receiving from right-wingers and his history of amplifying conspiracy theories has raised suspicions about his motivations.

Over the weekend, Mr Kennedy doubled down on remarks suggesting Covid-19 may have been "ethnically targeted" to "attack" Caucasians and black people but spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

Arguing he had "never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered", the candidate alleged he was being smeared and cited a study published by the National Institutes of Health looking at how human genetic factors contribute to Covid transmission.

But an author of the study told the BBC's US partner, CBS News, that its findings had "never supported" Mr Kennedy's claims.

"This type of misinterpretation will hurt academic research to help us end the pandemic," the author said in an emailed statement.

It is the latest debunked claim from a lawyer once celebrated as a champion of the environment, who has dedicated his energy in the past two decades to anti-vaccine activism and who last year referred to pandemic health measures as "fascism" not seen "even in Hitler's Germany".

Yet Mr Kennedy, 69, has seen support as high as 21% in national opinion polls since his April launch and is polling even now in the mid-to-high teens despite holding few campaign events.

That suggests some degree of disaffection among Democratic voters with President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election at 80 years old and with an approval rating of 41%.

It may also have something to do with the challenger's famous last name. He is the nephew of former President John F Kennedy and the third child of former Attorney General Robert F Kennedy.

Democratic strategist Kevin Walling told the BBC that Mr Kennedy's poll numbers are "a combination of nostalgia for the Kennedy family and brand, as well as a lack of awareness about [his] views".

He argued the support is peeling away "as more and more Democrats learn about his views on a whole host of issues".

The Biden camp has largely ignored their long-shot rival, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday said Mr Kennedy's comments on ethnic targeting were "vile and they put our fellow Americans in danger".

Other members of the Democratic Party also distanced themselves from the remarks, describing them as antisemitic and anti-Asian.

Members of the Kennedy family have for years rebuked Mr Kennedy's public statements.

"I strongly condemn my brother's deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting," his sister Kerry wrote on Monday.

Further compounding misgivings about the rebel Kennedy is that he is unusually close with the Trump wing of the Republican Party.

In recent years, he has appeared at events pushing false claims about the 2020 election and downplaying the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Mr Kennedy is lavished with coverage in right-wing media

CBS reported in April that former Trump advisor Steve Bannon had encouraged Mr Kennedy to run "for months, believing he could be both a useful chaos agent in the 2024 race and a big name who could help stoke anti-vaccine sentiment around the country".

Donald Trump himself praised Mr Kennedy last month, as "a very smart guy and a good guy", while Roger Stone, a prominent Trump ally, has repeatedly promoted the idea that they run on the same ticket.

The Kennedy campaign has also received extensive friendly coverage on Fox News and other right-wing media outlets.

According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Saturday, donors who typically give to Republicans count among its top contributors so far.

"Only 20% of his donors identify as Democratic donors, while nearly 40% have a track record of giving more to [Republican] candidates and causes," said Mr Walling, citing analysis of the FEC filing by the left-leaning Popular Information newsletter.

"It's clear Republicans are supporting Kennedy in order to try and hurt President Biden in advance of the general election."

Mr Kennedy's fundraising numbers over the past three months - $6.3m (£4.8m) - outpace several of the president's would-be Republican challengers, but is dwarfed by Mr Biden's $72m haul over the same period.

"At the end of the day, he's not going to deny Biden the [Democratic] nomination nor is he going to be a significant threat," said Mark Longabaugh, another Democratic strategist.

"It's just a gadfly candidacy making a lot of noise and I guess he settled on a strategy of figuring out the most outrageous things he can say to continue to get attention."

He said the most chaos Mr Kennedy's candidacy may cause will likely be in New Hampshire.

The northeastern state has long played host to the first primary contest of the presidential election season - until Democrats rearranged the calendar earlier this year at Mr Biden's direction.

But New Hampshire Democrats have threatened to hold their first-in-the-nation primary anyway, even if Mr Biden sits it out, which could provide an opening for Mr Kennedy to get on the board.

Some older voters in the New England region once dominated by the Kennedys may still be enamoured with the dynasty, Mr Longabaugh said, but voters will ultimately be turned off by Mr Kennedy's views and the support he receives from Republicans.

"It's unfortunate," he said. "There was a time, 20 to 25 years ago, when Kennedy was a very admirable person."

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:22

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:21

Dr. John F. Clauser, joint recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, has criticized the climate emergency narrative calling it ''a dangerous corruption of science that threatens the world's economy and the well-being of billions of people.''

Along with two others, Dr Clauser, an experimental and theoretical physicist, was the 2022 recipient of the Nobel Prize for work done in the 1970s that showed ''quantum entanglement'' allowed particles such as photons, effectively, to interact at great distances, seemingly to require communication exceeding the speed of light.

He has criticized the awarding of the 2021 Nobel Prize for work in the development of computer models predicting global warming, according to a coalition of scientists and commentators who argue that an informed discussion about CO2 would recognise its importance in sustaining plant life.

In a statement issued by the CO2 coalition, Nobel Laureate John Clauser Elected to CO2 Coalition Board of Directors '' CO2 Coalition Dr. Clauser said that ''there is no climate crisis and that increasing CO2 concentrations will benefit the world''

He criticized the prevalent climate models as being unreliable and not accounting for the dramatic temperature-stabilizing feedback of clouds, which he says is more than fifty times as powerful as the radiative forcing effect of CO2.

Dr. Clauser notes that bright white c louds are clearly the most conspicuous feature in satellite photos of the earth.

These clouds are mostly produced by the evaporation of seawater by sunlight. They cover variably one third to two thirds of the earth's surface.

M ost of the energy incident on the earth is in the form of visible sunlight. Clouds reflect sunlight energy back into space before it can reach the earth's surface to heat it.

According to the Nobel Laureate, this creation of a reflective cloud cover provides a natural thermostat that regulates the earth's temperature with a powerful negative feedback effect.

He asserts that this temperature regulating effect is more than fifty times as strong as the warming effect of CO2.

Dr Clauser's statement said that the '' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and National Academy of Sciences repeatedly concede that the effects of clouds do indeed represent the greatest uncertainty in their climate predictions.''

He further adds that ''The IPCC's detailed analysis of clouds (AR5) and their effect on climate totally misunderstands the effects of clouds, and totally ignores this dominating energy transport process.''

According to Dr. Clauser, ''The popular narrative about climate change reflects a dangerous corruption of science that threatens the world's economy and the well-being of billions of people.

''Misguided climate science has metastasized into massive shock-journalistic pseudoscience. In turn, the pseudoscience has become a scapegoat for a wide variety of other unrelated ills. It has been promoted and extended by similarly misguided business marketing agents, politicians, journalists, government agencies, and environmentalists.''

''In my opinion, there is no real climate crisis. There is, however, a very real problem with providing a decent standard of living to the world's expanding population, especially given an associated energy crisis. The latter is being unnecessarily exacerbated by what, in my opinion, is incorrect climate science,'' he said.

However, the 2023 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls for countries to ramp up their pledges to lower greenhouse gas emissions enough to reduce global emissions by 60 percent by 2035.

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:16

B oris Johnson's mystery phone has been the subject of a frenzied battle for control at the highest levels of power, with competing claims about who should have access, how the device should be switched on, and what might actually be on it.

The old iPhone '' known as ''Phone 1'' in Whitehall '' has been at the centre of a major row between the former PM, Rishi Sunak's government, and the Covid public inquiry looking at how Britain handled the pandemic.

In a farcical turn of events, the final deadline for Mr Johnson's material to be handed over was missed earlier this week because the former Tory leader had forgotten his passcode.

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 15:58

Over 2,000 farmers turned out to a rally in Bandon on Thursday night as frustrations and fears grow over the potential cut to the nitrates derogation stocking rate.

On foot and in tractors and trucks, attendees came from across industry and gathered in the West Cork town as they voiced their concerns about how a decrease from a maximum stocking rate of 250kg of nitrogen per hectare on dairy farms to 220kg can impact on farm incomes, livelihoods, and rural communities.

Pictured is Peter Fleming, Barryroe Co-op. Picture: Denis BoyleHowever, it was not just dairy farmers who turned out on Thursday night, with other sectors in agriculture fearing the knock-on effects the cut will have for them.

Interim review

This rally came following the Environmental Protection Agency's recent report showing that nitrates "remain too high in rivers, groundwater, and estuaries in the south-east, south-west and midlands and eastern regions".

While negotiations are continuing, the EPA's report has gone to the European Commission.

The report is part of the interim water quality review process of the Nitrates Action Programme. The review was required by the commission as part of granting Ireland's nitrates derogation.

The report outlines the regions that could be required to reduce their organic nitrogen stocking rate to 220kg in 2024 under the derogation, as a result of the effect of agriculture on water quality in these areas.

This would likely see a reduction in herd numbers, and add pressure on the land market.

'Deep sense of frustration'

Organised by Cork branches of the Irish Farmers' Association, Cork Central chairman Conor O'Leary said that he has been getting a ''deep sense of frustration'' from farmers who want to take action against these restrictions being imposed on them.

''Frustration that they've done everything asked of them and yet here we are '' and this is a regulation facing us that would reduce our capacity to repay,'' Mr O'Leary told the Irish Examiner .

''The level of investment by co-ops, investment by farmers, it's massive.''

Michael Manning, Cathal Cronin, Adam Straob, Kevin McCarthy, Katie Twohig and Ella Manning at the rally. Picture: Denis BoyleTeagasc has previously warned that nitrate banding and a reduction in the derogation to 220kg has the potential to reduce farm profitability by 29% in the most extreme scenarios.

Mr O'Leary said that farmers have "undertaken another waft of measures'' to improve water quality recently, but ''we're not being allowed time for those to take account".

"Our big ask is that the measures we're employing are given time to take effect, and that there are other measures we can undertake other than the reduction to 220kg," he said.

The reduction will mean either of two things '' a farmer will have to reduce the number of stock they have, or they'll have to find more ground to put that stock across.

''The threat of it has led to turmoil in the land rental market, where farmers are taking ground or looking for ground they don't really need.

"It's putting a competitive nature to the land market that the likes of tillage farmers and beef farmers can't compete with. If some farmers have to get bigger to stay the size they are, it means that we'll have fewer farmers at the end of the day."

Young farmer Mason O'Driscoll from Rossmore, Clonakilty. Picture: Denis BoyleRural economy

IFA poultry chairman Nigel Sweetnam had been urging farmers from all sectors to attend the rally.

He said the event was also heavily supported by co-ops, agri-merchants, and more.

''This isn't just a dairy problem, this is a problem for the whole rural economy,'' Mr Sweetnam said.

''If you take cows and production out of the economy, it will have knock-on effects.''

Supporting the protest were Nigel Sweetnam, IFA national poultry chairman, and senator Tim Lombard. Picture: Andy GibsonHe said that the main focus of the rally was to ''unite people, and show them that we can make a difference''.

''People are not going to take it,'' Mr Sweetnam added.

''This is to protect rural Ireland, and stand up for all farmers who feel they have been vilified. It's time for it to stop and for them to stand up.

''Together we are stronger.''

Flexibility sought

The Department of Agriculture has gone to the European Commission ''about the benefits of a science-based targeted approach that could deliver more for water quality'' than a cut to the nitrates derogation, but the commission is ''set on pulling down that maximum stocking rate'', according to a senior inspector in the department.

Picture: Denis BoyleDAFM's Ted Massey said recently that the department has been seeking ''flexibility'' around the interim review, and ''to try and bring this back to a science-based approach that will deliver for water quality''.

''We're fully accepting we have to do more but it's to identify the best way to achieve that without those perverse consequences in terms of demand for land but also to protect farm income,'' Mr Massey said.

''There's a smarter way to do this '-- should we not be doing it that way?''

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Since taking the gavel in January, the Committee on Oversight and Accountability has accelerated its investigation of the Biden family's domestic and international business practices to determine whether the Biden family has been targeted by foreign actors, President Biden is compromised, and our national security is threatened.

Below is a timeline that details key dates in our investigation.

The main points of interest are:A) RomaniaB) China- CEFCC) China- Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. (BHR)D) Kazakhstan

2009

2013

China '' BHRHunter Biden, business associate, and Chinese investors agree to create Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. (BHR), an investment fund controlled by the Bank of China, to focus on mergers and acquisitions, and investment in and reforms of state-owned enterprise.

China '' BHRVice President Biden travels with Hunter Biden on Air Force 2 to China and meets CEO of BHR, Jonathan Li. Shortly thereafter, BHR's business license was approved and Hunter Biden was a board member.

2014

KazakhstanKenes Rakishev, a Kazakhstani businessman, meets with Hunter Biden at a hotel in Washington, D.C.

UkraineBurisma, a Ukrainian energy company, appoints Biden business associate to their board of directors.

KazakhstanKenes Rakishev's Singaporean company wires $142,300 through his Latvian company to a Rosemont entity.

UkraineVice President Biden travels to Ukraine and gives an anti-corruption speech.

KazakhstanThe Rosemont entity wires $142,300 to a car dealership in New Jersey for a new sports car for Hunter Biden.

RomaniaVice President Biden visits Romania and delivers a speech to the Romanian Prime Minister, judges, prosecutors, and leaders of the Romanian Parliament.

China '' BHRBHR invests $1.7 billion in CCP-linked petroleum and chemical company.

China '' BHRHunter Biden and business associate invest $484,920 into BHR.

KazakhstanKenes Rakishev's Kazakhstani oil company and Burisma join with a CCP-linked company and announce a transnational financial arrangement.

2015

UkraineHunter Biden organizes a business dinner at Caf(C) Milano in Washington, D.C. where he has his father to stop by the dinner to meet a high level Burisma official, Vadym Pozharskyi.

China '' BHRBHR joins with a CCP-linked entity to acquire US-based Henniges Automotive in a deal reportedly worth $600 million.

RomaniaVice President Biden welcomes Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House. A readout of the meeting states, the ''Vice President welcomed President Iohannis' focus on anti-corruption efforts and rule of law as a means to strengthen national security and promote greater investment and economic growth.'' President Iohannis said the Vice President ''voiced satisfaction over Romania's progress with the fight against corruption.''

UkraineVadym Pozharskyi suggests high level U.S. level officials come to Ukraine and talk with Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and President Petro Poroshenko about Mykola Zlochevsky's investigations. Prosecutor General Shokin was investigating Burisma and Burisma's owner, Zlochevsky for fraud. Prosecutor General Shokin is the Ukranian government official Vice President Biden demanded Poroshenko fire.

RomaniaRomanian businessman, Gabriel Popoviciu, begins making deposits into Robinson Walker, LLC's bank account. Robinson Walker, LLC is an entity owned by a Biden associate, Rob Walker. Popoviciu's company sent Robinson Walker the first wire for $179,836.86. From November 2015 to May 2017, Popoviciu's company paid Robinson Walker, LLC over $3 million. Biden family accounts received approximately $1.038 million from the Robinson Walker, LLC account after Popoviciu's deposits. Sixteen of the seventeen payments from Popoviciu's company to Robinson Walker, LLC were made while Joe Biden was Vice President.

UkraineAmos Hochstein, a high level U.S. government offical working in the Obama-Biden Administration, meets with Hunter Biden and discusses Burisma.

RomaniaRob Walker's account wires Hunter Biden $59,900.

UkraineAmos Hochstein meets with Vice President Biden in the West Wing.

UkraineAmos Hochstein calls Hunter Biden.

RomaniaHunter Biden travels to Romania to meet with the U.S. Ambassador to Romania.

UkraineVadym Pozharskyi emails Hunter Biden confirmation that the Vice President will be traveling to Ukraine.

China '' CEFCHunter Biden and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming begin communicating regarding a possible U.S. partnership.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Hunter Biden $59,725.

UkraineVice President Biden arrives in Ukraine, where he demands Prosecutor General Shokin be fired if Ukraine wants $1 billion in International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans.

UkraineVice President Biden departs Ukraine and gets a commitment from President Poroshenko that Prosecutor General Shokin will be fired.

UkraineVice President Biden hosts a holiday party at the Vice Presidential residence, which Amos Hochstein and Hunter Biden both attend.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Hunter Biden $60,091.24.

2016

UkraineVice President Biden meets with President Poroshenko in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum where Biden reinforced the linkage between the loan guarantee and the necessary reforms.

UkraineMykola Zlochevsky gives Hunter Biden unspecified, extravagant birthday gifts.

UkraineVice President Biden and President Poroshenko conduct a call.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Hunter Biden's Owasco P.C. $61,126.24.

UkrainePresident Poroshenko asks Prosecutor General Shokin to resign.

UkraineVice President Biden calls President Poroshenko to thank him for calling on Prosecutor General Shokin to resign.

UkrainePresident Poroshenko says he recieved Prosecutor General Shokin's letter of resignation.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Owasco P.C. $61,816.05.

RomaniaHunter Biden meets again with U.S. Ambassador to Romania.

UkraineUkranian Parliament approves President Poroshenko's firing of Prosecutor General Shokin.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Owasco P.C. $123,830.80.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Owasco P.C. $53,419.74.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Owasco P.C. $116,860.93.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Hunter Biden $20,000.00.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Owasco P.C. $32,092.81.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Hunter Biden $20,000.00.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Owasco P.C. $41,638.12.

China '' BHRBHR agrees to purchase Lundin Mining Corp's minority stake in African cobalt/copper mine Tenke Fungurume Mining S.A. for $1.14 billion.

RomaniaRobinson Walker, LLC wires Hunter Biden $122,179.

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Electric wheelchairs have taken over the streets of Guangzhou, China, but not due to a rise in any disabilities.

Young people in the city of 15 million have turned to wheelchairs to get past new regulations limiting the use of electric bikes, the Straits Times reported.

The unusual mode of recreational transportation ''saves effort and is flexible, and you can 'drive' directly to your destination without having to find a parking space,'' one unidentified wheelchair user told Hong Kong news outlet HK01.

Other people interviewed by the outlet said they don't have to worry about facing fines when using the electric wheelchairs, and lawyers told the outlet it is not illegal because the wheelchairs are technically ''not a means of transportation'' compared to motorized vehicles.

The newly imposed restrictions on e-bikes include speed limits and the requirement that riders dismount and walk the bikes across traffic crossings, according to the Straits Times.

The fad has faced some backlash from citizens who took to social media to criticize the young people who went viral for using the mode of transportation.

''Electric wheelchairs are still a bit less safe on the road,'' read one comment on the messaging app Weibo, per the Straits Times.

Citing data from an e-commerce website, the Times reported a 60% increase in sales for electric wheelchairs.

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 15:16

Permissive parenting is a type of parenting style characterized by low demands with high responsiveness.

Permissive parents tend to be very loving, yet provide few guidelines and rules. These parents do not expect mature behavior from their children and often seem more like a friend than parental figure.

These parents tend to be the polar opposite of the so-called "helicopter parents." Instead of hovering over their children's every move, permissive parents are incredibly lax and rarely make or enforce any type of rules or structure. Their motto is often simply that "kids will be kids." While they are usually warm and loving, they make little or no attempt to control or discipline their kids.

Because there are few rules, expectations, and demands, children raised by permissive parents tend to struggle with self-regulation and self-control.

Early Research on Permissive Parenting Based on her research with preschool-age children, developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind described three major parenting styles. In later years, researchers would continue to investigate the different styles of parenting and even added a fourth style. Permissive parenting is one of the original parenting styles described by Baumrind.

Permissive parenting is sometimes known as indulgent parenting. Parents who exhibit this style make relatively few demands on their children. Because these parents have low expectations for self-control and maturity, discipline is a rarity.

According to Baumrind, permissive parents "are more responsive than they are demanding. They are nontraditional and lenient, do not require mature behavior, allow considerable self-regulation, and avoid confrontation."

Characteristics of Permissive Parenting Permissive parents:

Are usually very nurturing and loving towards their kidsAsk their children's opinions on major decisionsEmphasize their children's freedom rather than responsibilityHave few rules or standards of behavior, any rules they do have are inconsistentMay use bribery such as toys, gifts, and food as a means to get a child to behaveOften seem more like a friend, rather than a parentProvide little in the way of a schedule or structureRarely enforce any type of consequences The Effects of Permissive Parenting Researchers have found that the overly relaxed approach to parenting exhibited by permissive parents can lead to a number of negative outcomes. Children raised by permissive parents tend to lack self-discipline, possess poor social skills, may be self-involved and demanding, and may feel insecure due to the lack of boundaries and guidance.

Research has also suggested that kids raised by permissive parents:

Display low achievement in many areas: Because their parents have little to no expectations of them, these kids have nothing to strive toward. Studies have linked permissive parenting to lower academic achievement. Make poor decisions: Since their parents to not set or enforce any type of rules or guidelines, these kids struggle to learn good problem-solving and decision-making skills.May be more prone to delinquency and substance use: Some studies suggest that children raised by permissive parents are more likely to engage in misconduct and alcohol or substance use. Show more aggression and less emotional understanding: Because they do not learn to deal with their emotions effectively, particularly in situations where they do not get what they want, children with permissive parents may struggle when faced with stressful or emotionally difficult situations. Unable to manage their time or habits: Because of the lack of structure and rules in the home, these kids never learn limits. This might lead to watching too much television, playing too many computer games, and eating too much. These children never learn to limit their screen time or eating habits, which can lead to unhealthy habits and obesity. Because permissive parenting involves a lack of demands and expectations, children raised by parents with this style tend to grow up without a strong sense of self-discipline. They may be more unruly in school due to the lack of boundaries in the home and may be less academically motivated than many of their peers.

Since these parents have few requirements for mature behavior, children may lack skills in social settings. While they may be good at interpersonal communication, they lack other important skills such as sharing.

Positive Effects of Permissive Parenting While research has shown that permissive parenting has numerous downsides, there are some positive aspects.

Parental warmth: Parents with this parenting style tend to be responsive, affectionate, and warm. Protective effects: Some studies have shown that permissive parenting has the same protective effects against risky behavior including substance use that authoritative parenting has. Self-esteem: Research has also found that kids raised by permissive parents have good self-esteem.One study found that while authoritative parenting resulted in better outcomes for several measures, permissive parenting produced optimum outcomes in terms of self-esteem and social well-being.

Some researchers suggest that cultural factors play an important role in the effects of parenting styles. Much of the research concluding that authoritative parenting is the best approach was conducted in Western cultures, while other studies indicate that other styles, such as permissive parenting, might be just as effective in other cultures.

RecapWhile studies suggest that permissive parenting has a number of downsides, other research has shown that this style may have some benefits. Cultural factors may also influence the impact of each type of parenting style.

How to Change Permissive Parenting If you tend to be a pushover or struggle to enforce rules, consider looking for ways that you can develop some more authoritative parenting habits. This can be difficult at times, because it often means becoming stricter, enforcing rules, and being able to cope with your child being upset.

Some strategies you might consider:

Develop a list of basic household rules. In order for your kids to know how they are supposed to behave, they need to clearly understand what your expectations are.Follow through. This can be the greatest struggle for parents who tend to be permissive, but it is important. Try to be firm and consistent, but still loving. Help your kids understand why such rules are important by providing adequate feedback and explanations, but still make sure that consequences are in place.Make sure your kids understand the penalty of breaking the rules. Guidelines are useless unless there is some sort of consequence for failing to follow them. Time-outs and losing privileges are logical consequences for breaking the household rules.Reward good behavior. Try to catch your children being good and allow special privileges when they display these actions.Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts

A Word From Verywell Permissive parenting can lead to a number of problems, so it pays to consciously try to utilize a more authoritative approach if you recognize these signs of permissiveness in your own parenting.

If you tend to be more of a permissive parent, think of ways that you can help your children understand your expectations and guidelines and be consistent about your enforcement of these rules. By providing your kids with the right balance of structure and support, you can ensure that they grow up with the skills they need to succeed in life.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our

editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Power TG. Parenting dimensions and styles: a brief history and recommendations for future research. Childhood Obesity. 2013;9(s1):S-14-S-21. doi:10.1089/chi.2013.0034

Baumrind D. Authoritative parenting revisited: History and current status. In: Larzelere RE, Morris AS, Harrist AW, eds. Authoritative Parenting: Synthesizing Nurturance and Discipline for Optimal Child Development. American Psychological Association; 2013:11-34. doi:10.1037/13948-002

Dalimonte-Merckling D, Williams JM. Parenting styles and their effects. In: Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development. Elsevier; 2020:470-480. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.23611-0

Masud S, Mufarrih SH, Qureshi NQ, Khan F, Khan S, Khan MN. Academic performance in adolescent students: the role of parenting styles and socio-demographic factors '' a cross sectional study from peshawar, pakistan. Front Psychol. 2019;10:2497. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02497

Berge J, Sundell K, –jehagen A, H¥kansson A. Role of parenting styles in adolescent substance use: results from a Swedish longitudinal cohort study. BMJ Open. 2016;6(1):e008979. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008979

Ehrenreich SE, Beron KJ, Brinkley DY, Underwood MK. Family predictors of continuity and change in social and physical aggression from ages 9 to 18: family predictors of aggression trajectories. Aggr Behav. 2014;40(5):421-439. doi:10.1002/ab.21535

Howe AS, Heath A-LM, Lawrence J, et al. Parenting style and family type, but not child temperament, are associated with television viewing time in children at two years of age. Reed P, ed. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(12):e0188558. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188558

Calafat A, Garc­a F, Juan M, Beco±a E, Fernndez-Hermida JR. Which parenting style is more protective against adolescent substance use? Evidence within the European context. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014;138:185-92. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.705

Garcia F, Serra E, Garcia OF, Martinez I, Cruise E. A third emerging stage for the current digital society? Optimal parenting styles in Spain, the United States, Germany, and Brazil. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(13):2333. doi:10.3390/ijerph16132333

Garc­a F, Gracia E. Is always authoritative the optimum parenting style? Evidence from Spanish families. Adolescence. 2009;44(173):101-31. PMID: 19435170.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Wheat is a versatile grain that can be grown in a variety of climates and dates back to 10,000 B.C.. The price of the US Dollar is one of the main driving factors of wheat prices as well as supply-demand imbalances. Wheat is traded on several exchanges such as the CME Group, Mercado a Termino de Buenos Aires (MAT), Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE), London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), Marche a Terme International de France (MATIF), Budapest Commodity Exchange (BCE), the Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT), the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGE), and the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange (WCE). (read more)

China, India, Russia, and the US are among the top wheat producers. Highly nutritious and long-lasting, wheat has become a staple in diets across the globe whether it be in bread, pasta, cereal or pastries. It is also used in the production of beer, whiskey, and cooking oil. Wheat is not only a food source but has other applications as well. Gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains, can be used to create medical capsules and to coat some paper products.

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In the Bahamas in early 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried was allegedly conducting a brazen, multi-billion dollar scheme. He virtue-signaled for liberal causes, was put on the cover of magazines, and'--until things got really bad'--seemed to stay off the authorities' radar.

Around 800 miles east at the same time, a conservative activist named Peter Schiff was running his own bank in Puerto Rico. Schiff is a financier and prominent economist who regularly speaks publicly about how he thinks the government should be run: with fewer taxes and less regulation. The U.S. government teamed up with four other countries to undertake the ''world's largest tax evasion probe'' against Schiff. Despite ''a very significant investment by all the countries involved,'' they found nothing.

Then they destroyed him anyway. Authorities leaked the existence of the investigation to the media, then cited the resulting negative publicity to take the bank from him, costing him more than $10 million.

The IRS' top criminal enforcement official flew to Puerto Rico to hold a press conference where he gave the impression that the IRS was shutting down Schiff's bank for facilitating tax evasion and money laundering'--even though, if you were paying close enough attention, that was not the case.

Schiff's Euro Pacific Bank (EPB) was actually being closed by a Puerto Rican oversight board that claimed that it was ''critically insolvent.'' In other words, the board claimed the bank might not be able to return its customers' money if there was a run on accounts'--which is what happened in the case of Bankman-Fried. But Schiff's bank catered to ultra-conservative clients who prioritized keeping their money over earning interest. The bank didn't lend out its deposits, and profits came mostly from charging fees for transactions. EPB kept its depositors' money on hand, making it perhaps the most run-proof bank in the world.

The Puerto Rican regulator later acknowledged EPB had more than enough cash to cover all of its deposits. Nonetheless, Puerto Rico put it into receivership to ''liquidate.'' It said Schiff couldn't be permitted to own it because of ''negative press'': articles based on law enforcement officials leaking the existence of the investigation which ultimately found nothing. A year later, the receiver has not returned any of the deposits, amounting to more than $65 million, to the bank's thousands of customers.

Schiff had a track record of being right on economic issues. He warned early on that cryptocurrency was'--as Bankman-Fried demonstrated'--bad news. NPR heralded him for predicting the economic collapse of 2008.

He also had a fear that the government couldn't always be trusted to behave ethically. And with every twist in the saga, he was seemingly more correct about that, too.

***

Euro Pacific Bank's former headquarters in Puerto Rico. Screenshot from 60 Minutes Australia

In 2018, Schiff did something apt to cause panic inside the IRS: He went on the Joe Rogan Experience, the largest podcast in the country, and encouraged people to move to Puerto Rico. It's a U.S. territory with great weather and beautiful women, he said. And'--perhaps most importantly'--the U.S. tax code exempts its residents from the federal income tax.

''I live in Puerto Rico. And thanks to my appearance on your show, a lot of other people now live there, too,'' he said in a subsequent appearance. ''I've just got to tell you how many people I run into and they say, 'Peter, you know, I moved here because of you.' Really, how'd you hear about it? 'Oh, Joe Rogan.''' Each one of those transplants was availing themselves of a provision set up by the U.S. itself, but they also represented dollars to which the IRS was no longer entitled.

The same year, the governments of the U.S., Australia, Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands teamed up to create the ''Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement,'' or the J5, mirroring the ''Five Eyes'' program of the intelligence community. J5 was born out of embarrassment over a scandal known as the Panama Papers, in which hacked emails from a law firm in that Latin American country illustrated how wealthy westerners, including then-British Prime Minister David Cameron, had benefited from stashing money in offshore locations.

Though a massive web of crypto tax evasion was rocking the global financial sector during the same time period, J5 appeared to do little for two years. Instead, in 2020, it took its first major action: setting its sights on Schiff in what it called an ''unprecedented'' ''global day of action'' that showed that ''the J5 are closing in.''

But this seemed like less the result of expert sleuthing than the kind of lead that might turn up from a Google search for people who don't like taxes. Schiff uses a megaphone to voice his criticism of the tax code. His father was a famous tax protester who died in prison for refusing to pay. Schiff routinely does media appearances where he takes a libertarian's view of measures like the PATRIOT Act, a component of which involves the government more closely tracking people's bank accounts.

Schiff incorporated Euro Pacific Bank (EPB) in Puerto Rico in 2017. He said it was based there because that's where he lived, and that it catered to small businesses who did business in multiple countries and needed currency exchanged, as well as people who were attracted to the fact that it was marketed as a ''100% reserve'' bank, where all the money would be safely stored and not put into risky loans.

Though it was an off-shore bank holding money for people from other countries (it was not permitted to have Puerto Rican customers under its license, and had no other U.S. customers), Schiff said it had extreme compliance measures to ensure that people weren't using the bank for illicit purposes. It refused to do business with people whose money was made in arenas Schiff viewed as shady, such as cryptocurrency or gambling, and rejected 75% of applicants because they did not satisfy the bank's compliance officers, he said.

''We were doing it by the books. Even though I disagree with the laws, I'm not gonna break them. I'm not an idiot. If I was going to break the laws, I'd keep quiet about it,'' Schiff told The Daily Wire.

He said authorities couldn't seem to differentiate between an economist's philosophical and political beliefs that taxes should be minimal and a willingness to commit crime. And so a prominent Fox News guest became the subject of a sprawling criminal probe.

''I think they targeted me because of who I am,'' he said.

In January 2020, two IRS agents visited Schiff's home on the island holding a summons from a grand jury based in Sacramento, California. The letter said ''we request that you not disclose the fact that you have been served with the subpoena'' because it could ''seriously hamper the investigation.''

U.S. officials are also barred from disclosing information about grand jury proceedings, part of a process designed to protect people who may not wind up being charged, much less convicted, of anything. But journalists soon knew of the secret document. Reports surfaced citing authorities who revealed a massive investigation into a bank that, in one television program's words, posed a ''grave organized crime threat to the nation that must be confronted at any cost.''

Just as five national governments worked together on the probe, four news outlets did, too. They included The New York Times and three Australian outlets: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Australia's 60 Minutes, a television program with the same name and style as the U.S. show. The media pieces, which ran in coordinated fashion in October 2020, amounted to breathless cheerleading for a government task force that, so far, hadn't seemed to show any results.

The head of Australia's criminal tax enforcement, Will Day, sat for an interview with Australia's 60 Minutes, whose segment had the feel of serving up Schiff's head on a platter as part of an over-the-top marketing piece for Day and the J5, which it called ''a secret alliance of tax cops.'' 60 Minutes Australia closed by saying, ''It may be months before we find out how many other Australians are stashing their dirty money in Euro Pacific Bank, but Will Day says the investigation is a potent reminder to anyone thinking about dodging tax'... [he's] coming for them.''

60 Minutes Australia's case that ''the money trail shows us the secret tactics used by super-wealthy Australians to dodge tax and leads to the man at the center of it all, the face of the bank, Peter Schiff'' was seemingly based on only two things: Schiff's politics and the J5's word. Schiff is known ''thanks to his controversial views about the economy and taxes,'' it said. And his bank ''is at the center of the biggest tax evasion investigation in the world.''

When Schiff, who sat for an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, denied that his bank did anything wrong, the journalist told him ''but you do know the IRS visited you this year, surely that was an indicator?'' The journalist revealed that he knew of the government subpoena, and after Schiff replied that the government ordered him not to discuss it, the program played dramatic music and said ''Schiff is really lost for answers.''

While luring U.S. citizens to Puerto Rico might have rankled the IRS, Australian officials may have had their own motive to want publicity. The month before, a major bill that would grant the government new powers for a ''Financial Accountability Regime'' had been introduced in Parliament. It had failed the prior year, and it needed a groundswell of public concern about financial fraudsters to pass. 60 Minutes said its segment ''highlights a major flaw in Australia's anti-money laundering regime'' and that ''the government must pass new laws.''

A reasonable person might rightfully be suspicious of a small bank that holds the money of individuals from other countries in a low-tax jurisdiction. It seems like a classic location where tax evasion and money laundering could occur. Yet, despite five governments and four news outlets investigating, the stories didn't provide a single example of a customer using the bank for tax evasion or money laundering, much less the bank's complicity.

Of the names of customers that 60 Minutes invoked, there was no indication they used the bank for wrongdoing'--though the media didn't present it that way.

''According to official sources, this man, Darby Angel, started an account with Euro Pacific Bank'... he's also a convicted drug trafficker,'' the program said. In reality, Angel had a drug conviction 18 years earlier. The criminal record was so old that it was sealed by the Australian government and wouldn't come up in any background check. On top of that, he never used his EPB account at all, and EPB had closed it years prior, according to an independent audit conducted by DLA Piper at EPB's request.

Another EPB customer was Simon Anquetil, an executive of a payroll company who had no criminal record when he opened an account in 2015, but years later was charged with and pleaded guilty to major tax crimes in Australia. DLA Piper said those crimes had nothing to do with the bank. In 2016, EPB rejected an application from the company that committed the fraud and blocked five wire transfers associated with it; in February 2017, before he was charged, it disbursed money from his account to the Australian government; and in March 2020, it closed his account, the independent report found. A third customer name was a person who in 2013 was arrested but never charged with a crime.

Even so, after the media publicized the J5 investigation, the damage was done. In the months afterward, half of Euro Pacific's customers fled, as did key business partners who cited ''reputational risk.'' Even Schiff's personal bank account was shut down.

The day after the media pieces ran, Puerto Rico's Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) began an audit. The next year, it issued a ''consent order'' saying that the bank did not have enough capital, and gave it 30 days to come up with a plan. Though Schiff disagreed that ratios of extra cash designed for banks that loaned out their money made sense for a 100% reserve bank, he said he would have happily put some more in. But he became convinced that the publicity stemming from the leaked criminal probe meant that the bank had a shadow over it as long as he was in charge, and he resigned himself to selling it.

On November 10, 2021, Schiff met with OCIF's commissioner, a young lawyer named Natalia Zequeira, alongside executives from a precious metals trading firm called Qenta, and laid out a deal to sell the bank to Qenta for about $5 million in gold and cash, plus Schiff getting a 4% stake in Qenta. A plan sent by Euro Pacific to OCIF said that Qenta was a key part of its capital plan. Schiff said Zequiera was supportive of the sale and that he asked if he should put in extra money in the meantime to address the capital issue, but that Zequira said there was no need since the sale would result in an infusion of capital. The only thing Euro Pacific Bank needed to do, she said, was wait for OCIF to approve the sale.

Seven months later, on the morning of June 30, 2022, Schiff received an email from New York Times reporter Matt Goldstein asking for comment because ''the J5 has said it is holding a press conference today to announce an action stemming from its Project Atlantis investigation which will include the suspending of operation for a Puerto Rico bank. It's believed that this action is being taken against Euro Pacific Bank.'' Schiff forwarded it to the bank's lawyer, who said that was impossible.

One hour before the 2 p.m. press conference, OCIF sent EPB a letter, saying it was critically insolvent and was being turned over to a ''receiver,'' a Puerto Rican attorney. It also blocked the sale to Qenta, saying OCIF had just learned that the deal would include a stock component which would give Schiff a 4% share, which was a problem ''in light of a number of negative press articles at the international level about the sole shareholder of Euro Pacific.''

The press conference seemed like a full-court press by the IRS to give the impression that its signature effort, Operation Atlantis, was a success instead of an embarrassing failure. IRS Chief of Criminal Investigations Jim Lee''a top official at the agency overseeing thousands of agents''flew to Puerto Rico and took the podium. His Australian and British counterparts joined virtually.

''In January of 2020, each of the J5 countries participated in a global coordinated day of action to put a stop to the suspected facilitation of offshore tax evasion and money laundering by a suspected bank in Puerto Rico,'' Lee said. ''This day of action included intelligence gathering, information gathering, search warrants, interviews, production orders, and subpoenas being issued around the globe. The operation from the J5 was dubbed Operation Atlantis, and the bank was Euro Pacific Bank.''

''This action really touches on a massive undertaking by many partners to secure the financial system, shut down fraudulent entities,'' he added.

But it soon became clear that the shutdown actually had nothing to do with crimes. ''Was EUP helping its clients commit money laundering and tax evasion?'' a reporter asked.

''That is a conclusion that has not been made,'' Zequeira said. ''The action is not based on claims of money laundering or other financial crimes.''

A reporter asked Lee to address the question, seemingly wondering what he was doing there. Lee acknowledged that OCIF ''independently made the decision'' and ''we did not work this investigation together in a traditional sense.'' He then immediately implied otherwise, saying ''The fact that I'm standing here today along with two of my international chiefs on the screen, standing next to the OCIF Commissioner here, should suggest that our partnership and collaboration is incredibly strong. The fact that we are partnering and collaborating internationally makes the world a much smaller place for people to use banks to help shield or facilitate tax or other financial crime.''

A reporter asked: ''Is Peter Schiff being investigated?''

Despite previously saying that Euro Pacific was being investigated, Lee said, ''I'm not at liberty to disclose who's being investigated.''

The innuendo had its intended effect. Headlines read: ''Peter Schiff's Bank Closed Over Alleged Tax Evasion.'' ''IRS helps shut down bank for tax evasion, money laundering.'' ''Puerto Rico bank suspended in tax evasion probe.''

IRS Chief Jim Lee looks to OCIF Commissioner Natalia Zequeira at the June 2022 press conference.

***

If the bank wasn't being shuttered for breaking the law, why was it being closed? Zequeira said at the press conference that it was because ''OCIF determined today that the institution is critically insolvent.''

But the liquidation plan signed by Zequeira a few weeks later on August 8, 2022, acknowledged that ''As reviewed by the Trustee, as of June 30, 2022'... the Net Cash Available, including proprietary precious metals to be monetized, is $68,109,302 USD. As of the same date, clients deposits totaled the amount of $66,747,758. Therefore, as of June 30, 2022, Euro Pacific had an excess cash position to cover all deposits.'' In other words, Schiff's bank was solvent''far more so than the typical bank.

The letter also said that Euro Pacific had been operating without a license. But documents show that it submitted an application for renewal and paid the fee in January 2022. Schiff said despite the bank being in constant contact with OCIF, no one from OCIF ever told it that it had denied the application'--even as it was preparing for Qenta to purchase the bank, which would include its license.

Though OCIF said it blocked Schiff from selling to Qenta because Schiff would own 4% of the company, documents reviewed by The Daily Wire show that both companies prominently disclosed the stake at the top of a plan submitted to the agency, and that Zequiera replied that her agency had ''no comments'' on the plan. If she had flagged it as an issue, the deal could have simply been restructured.

Zequiera did not respond to questions from The Daily Wire and denied a public records request for emails between her and the IRS.

Lee said at the press conference that there were more than 100 open civil and criminal investigations related to EUP customers around the world. In the year since, only two arrests'--unnamed men arrested in England'--have been publicly reported.

Prior to the press conference, Schiff had filed a defamation suit in Australian federal court against 60 Minutes Australia, and in September 2022, he won. The media outlet, in its defense, leaned heavily on Schiff's political opinions as evidence that he was a criminal. But Judge Ian McNeil Jackman'--the brother of actor Hugh Jackman'--wrote that ''Whether Mr Schiff has expressed political views antipathetic to taxation does not support an assertion that he in fact endorses, permits and condones the illegal avoidance of tax in practice.''

''The particulars do not identify a single instance in which a customer of the Bank actually used his or her EuroPacific account to engage in tax evasion or tax fraud, let alone to Mr Schiff's knowledge,'' he wrote in April 2023, as the suit proceeded to the damages phase. In its defense, 60 Minutes asserted that one unknown person had been arrested in the Netherlands on unknown charges.

After blocking Schiff from selling the bank to Qenta, the trustee allowed Qenta to buy EPB's assets out of receivership for pennies on the dollar. But the trustee, Wigberto Lugo Mender, has repeatedly postponed the return of customers' money'--more than $65 million''even while collecting fees that eat into the bank's reserves. Lugo Mender did not return a request for comment.

One of the attorneys who represented Schiff before OCIF was Lanny Davis, the Democrat powerhouse who previously represented Bill Clinton.

''Leaking grand jury subpoenas is a criminal violation,'' he said. ''I know that from the Kenneth Starr and Bill Clinton days. If you whisper in the ear of a reporter, 'Hey, there's a grand jury subpoena,' that's a crime.''

He said that authorities leaking the existence of an investigation, coming up empty, then citing publicity based on their leaks to punish the subject is a ''circular, self-fulfilling prophecy.'' The Puerto Rico regulator ''allowed innuendo without facts to imply guilt by the bank and Mr. Schiff personally, when no such guilt was even close to being proven. Indeed, events have strongly suggested innocence,'' he told The Daily Wire.

Davis said Lee, the IRS chief, should be investigated by Congress, the inspector general, and the Department of Justice.

''The IRS agent should at the very least be suspended pending a complete investigation and maybe fired,'' Davis said.

Investigators ''have no role whatsoever in the public arena under federal regulations and due process rules,'' he added. ''If they choose to speak out publicly, they better have authority from the IRS Commissioner himself and the attorney general. If they do not, they're liable for wrongdoing and potential damages to the individual or company whose rights they have violated.''

Malcolm Segal, a California lawyer who represented the bank in its dealings with the California grand jury, said prosecutors refused to explain why the Sacramento U.S. Attorney's office had any authority over a Puerto Rico-based bank that had no customers or vendors in Sacramento.

''That in itself is somewhat unusual in federal law enforcement,'' he said. ''The grand jury, like the court, is expected to have some basis for venue.''

He said the subpoena requested all bank records of all customers, along with all compliance records, and it wasn't surprising to him that the bank was not ultimately charged because ''having reviewed all of the records supplied to the IRS and the U.S. Attorney during a period of over a year, I didn't see a single instance where the bank wasn't in full compliance,'' he told The Daily Wire.

But he was troubled by the fact that IRS and foreign agents appeared at a Puerto Rico press conference to take credit for closing a bank despite their investigation finding nothing.

''I was a federal and state prosecutor for 13 years and I don't think I've ever seen anything like that,'' he said.

''The regulator is permitted to say why they closed the bank, but no one else who participated from law enforcement could have, within the requirements of [the Rules of Criminal Procedure rule] 6E, disclosed the existence of an investigation which utilized a grand jury,'' he said. ''Anyone who intentionally discloses may be considered to have obstructed justice.''

The IRS declined to respond to questions from The Daily Wire including how much Operation Atlantis cost and what bank customers, if any, were ultimately charged or convicted of crimes. It also did not say whether any investigation was undertaken into who leaked the investigation to the media, or why Lee traveled to Puerto Rico and discussed the crimes authorities ''believed'' EPB to have committed despite having no evidence to charge him.

Three months after the press conference, the bank's president Mark Anderson, who ran the bank for Schiff, died of a heart attack at the age of 64.

To this day, the J5 prominently advertises its ''globally coordinated day of action'' into the bank ''whose products and services are believed to be facilitating money laundering and tax evasion for customers across the globe'' as a ''success.'' In fact, it is the only example of an enforcement action on its list of ''Tax Enforcement Successes.''

Schiff's brother, Andrew, said that tax authorities wanted revenge for their father, but did no favors for their cause by bungling an investigation that they endlessly hyped up.

''You either come with an indictment or you shut your mouth,'' he said. ''Because otherwise the government can destroy anyone they want.''

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 12:40

With nearly twice as many job openings nationwide as there are workers available to fill them, companies are setting up shop where the workers are.

Each year, as part of our overall assessment of state business climates, CNBC's America's Top States for Business study considers how welcoming each state is to workers and their families.

Life, Health and Inclusion is one of the study's ten categories of competitiveness. And this year, with the nationwide worker shortage so severe, the category is taking on increased importance in our methodology.

We consider multiple quality of life factors, including crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. We also look at the quality and availability of childcare, which is one of the most important factors in getting parents back into the workforce.

Casting the widest possible net for workers means not turning anyone away. So we consider inclusiveness in state laws by measuring protections against discrimination, as well as voting rights. And with surveys showing a substantial percentage of women considering abortion restrictions when making a choice of where to live in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights are part of this year's equation as well.

As North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, told CNBC after being named the No. 1 State for 2023, he is worried about gains that southern states have made to become economic powerhouses in recent decades. "You still see people going to Florida and Texas, but you begin to see deterioration over time. Site selectors will tell you these issues matter when it comes time for businesses to make tough decisions."

Some states are putting out the welcome mat to attract the biggest, happiest, and most diverse workforce '-- America's Best States to Live and Work In. These are not those states. By the numbers, these are America's worst states to live and work in for 2023.

10. FloridaFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis reacts after signing HB 7, the Individual Freedom bill, also dubbed the "Stop Woke Act," at Mater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah Gardens, Florida, on April 22, 2022.

Daniel A. Varela | Miami Herald | Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hopes to ride his "War on Woke" to the White House, but it is not winning his state points for quality of life. Supporters of the state's "Stop WOKE Act", which DeSantis signed into law in 2022, say it protects employees from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that DeSantis says are toxic. But many companies consider DEI an economic imperative, and courts have struck down parts of the law. The recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in higher education, however, is expected to lead to new legal challenges related to DEI programs in the corporate world.

Florida is also one of the most difficult states to vote in, according to researchers at Northern Illinois University. DeSantis argues that none of this is stopping huge numbers of people from moving to Florida, and he has a point. The state leads the nation in just about every measure of migration. But rated strictly on Life, Health and Inclusion, the Sunshine State can be a dreary place.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 129 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: D)

Strengths: Air Quality, Childcare, Worker Protections

Weaknesses: Inclusiveness, Reproductive Rights

9. ArkansasLittle Rock Police Department detectives and crime scene personnel collect evidence at the in Little Rock, Arkansas following a shooting.

Benjamin Krain | | Getty Images

Few states have suffered as badly from the scourge of illegal drugs as Arkansas, which has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country, according to FBI statistics. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders blamed the crime problem on lax penalties, as well as prison overcrowding that is forcing the state's prison system to release some violent offenders before they complete their entire sentences. In April, she signed legislation to stiffen penalties, curtail early releases, and fund new prison space. But crime is just one of the Natural State's problems. Another is health care, with, for example, just 42 dentists for every 100,000 residents, according to the United Health Foundation.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 118 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: D-)

Strengths: Childcare, Air Quality

Weaknesses: Crime, Inclusiveness, Reproductive Rights, Health Care

8. TennesseeThe Pride Parade at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 15, 2023 in Manchester, Tennessee.

Douglas Mason | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Tennessee has enthusiastically passed laws targeting LGBTQ+ rights, even if it has meant crossing the bounds of constitutionality '-- like a ban on drag shows where children are present, which a federal judge struck down in June. Or another law struck down by a federal judge in 2021 that would have required businesses to post a warning sign on restrooms where transgender people are allowed. But plenty of other laws have survived, like a transgender youth sports ban, and laws that provide religious exemptions allowing health care and child welfare professionals to deny service to transgender people.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 115 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: D-)

Strengths: Childcare, Air Quality

Weaknesses: Inclusiveness, Crime, Voting Rights

7. IndianaMatt Carr | Stone | Getty Images

With fewer than 10 licensed childcare facilities per 100,000 residents, the Hoosier State is making it hard for some families to fully participate in the workforce. It is the second-worst figure in the nation (behind Louisiana), according to the advocacy group Child Care Aware. Protections against discrimination under state law are limited as well.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 113 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: D-)

Strength: Crime Rate

Weaknesses: Childcare, Inclusiveness

6. MissouriGiuliana Cangelosi, 11, left, and her mother Nichole Cangelosi share a moment together while attending a protest opposing the Supreme Court's ruling overturning federal protections for abortion rights Friday, June 24, 2022., in Mill Creek Park at Country Club Plaza. (Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Emily Curiel | Kansas City Star | Getty Images

The Show Me State is showing abortion opponents the way. In 2019, the state became the first to enact a so-called "trigger law," which went into effect moments after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The law, one of the strictest in the nation, bans all abortions except in the case of a medical emergency, which the abortion provider must prove. Also, Missouri's violent crime rate is among the nation's highest.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 98 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: F)

Strength: Air Quality

Weaknesses: Voting Rights, Reproductive Rights, Crime

4. (tie) AlabamaVoters stand in a long line that leads out the door to vote at Beulah Baptist Church polling station in Montgomery, Alabama.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

Alabama is one of America's unhealthiest states, with the fourth-highest rate of premature deaths. It is also one of the most difficult states to vote in, with no in-person early voting and restrictions on voting by mail, according to the Center for Election Innovation and Research. Worker protections are limited, as are protections against discrimination.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 86 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: F)

Strength: Air Quality

Weaknesses: Voting Rights, Worker Protections, Inclusiveness, Health

4. (tie) South CarolinaSenior woman checking blood sugar levels with a diabetes home test kit. Black middle class America family.

Willie B. Thomas | Digitalvision | Getty Images

South Carolina is an unhealthy state, both at home and on the job. The state has the nation's fifth-highest rate of occupational deaths, and it finishes in the top ten for frequent physical and mental distress overall. Legal protections for workers are limited, and the state's violent crime rate also finishes in the top ten.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 86 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: F)

Strength: Air Quality

Weaknesses: Health, Worker Protections, Inclusiveness, Crime, Voting Rights

3. LouisianaFilm image.

Scott Zdon | Moment | Getty Images

With just 76 licensed childcare facilities in a state of 4.6 million people, no state does worse than Louisiana in this increasingly important quality of life metric. State lawmakers have begun trying to remedy that, approving $44 million in new funding in the final hours of the 2023 legislative session, quickly signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards. Louisiana won't solve its childcare problem overnight, but the new funding is a down payment on an improvement in the Pelican State's poor quality of life.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 76 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: F)

Strengths: No metrics in the top 25

Weaknesses: Child Care, Crime, Reproductive Rights

2. OklahomaDr. Franz Theard consults a woman seeking abortion from Oklahoma in his clinic, Womens Reproductive Clinic, a provider of abortions in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on May 7, 2022. Paul Ratje/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Paul Ratje | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Overall health in Oklahoma is not okay, with one of the nation's highest rates of drug abuse, and the second-highest rate of people without health insurance. The Sooner State's 1910 abortion ban remains among the strictest in the nation, even after its state supreme court struck down some parts of it, like the provision that required a medical emergency to justify an abortion. The law makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, unless the procedure is necessary to preserve the mother's life.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 75 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: F)

Strength: Air Quality

Weaknesses: Reproductive Rights, Health, Voting Rights

1. TexasA Pride flag is seen held up in a crowd during preparation for a Queer March to the Texas State Capitol on April 15, 2023 in Austin, Texas. People from across Texas rallied together in protest against a slew of anti-LGBTQIA+ and drag bills being proposed among legislators.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

How could 200,000 college educated workers moving to Texas each year possibly be wrong? It depends on how you look at it. With the nation's highest percentage of people without health insurance and the second lowest number of primary care physicians per capita, all those new Texans are arriving to find a dismal health care system. Texas has the nation's thirteenth-highest violent crime rate, and it ranks thirty seventh for licensed childcare facilities per capita.

The Lone Star State keeps hacking away at inclusiveness, with laws targeting the LGBTQ+ population, voting rights, and the nation's strictest abortion ban. Yes, there are enormous economic opportunities in Texas, and it is attracting people from far and wide. But this state also has some Texas-sized issues when it comes to life, health and inclusion. And it is one of the reasons that the state fell out of the overall top five for the first time in the 16-year history of CNBC's rankings.

2023 Life, Health & Inclusion Score: 53 out of 350 points (Top States Grade: F)

Strengths: No metrics in the top 25

Weaknesses: Reproductive Rights, Health, Voting Rights, Worker Protections, Inclusiveness

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Archived Version

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 01:16

Following the release of the "Sound of Freedom," Jim Caviezel's anti-child-trafficking film, a chorus of mainstream hit-pieces came out denouncing it as a "QAnon" conspiracy flick.

But one author of a recent SoF hit-piece in Bloomberg isn't just against the movie, he's a pedo-defending freelancer who used to work for an organization working to normalize pedophilia.

Is 'Sound of Freedom' a QAnon dog whistle, or is it just another thriller? @nberlat saw the movie and has an answer. https://t.co/qmk1Sa7DNg via @opinion

'-- Bloomberg (@business) July 15, 2023Meet Noah Berlatsky: he's just your average liberal mainstream media news contributor. Ironically, Berlatsky's latest criticism of the drama focusing on the grave yet glossed over issue of child trafficking lambasted the movie with vitriolic scorn for perpetuating dangerous tropes, whilst he himself turned to the truly tired trope of accusing the movie of packaging together various QAnon conspiracy theories and being a movie made for alt-right boomers. There's just one problem...Berlatsky has a sordid history of advocating for the normalization of pedophilia.

In 2021, Berlatsky was named the communications director at Prostasia, a non-profit organization which has dedicates itself to a self-avowed mission of protecting children from sexual abuse. While that on its face sounds antithetical to advocating for the normalization of pedophilia, a deeper look into Prostasia's published content shows it merely masquerades under the guise of acting in the interest of protecting children from sexual abuse in order to promote a much more perverse ulterior motive.

The person who wrote this Bloomberg opinion piece is leftist activist Noah Berlatsky @nberlat. He was the spokesperson for M.A.P. (minor-attracted person) advocacy group, Prostasia. He previously tweeted that pedophiles are a stigmatized group designated as deviants for hateful'... pic.twitter.com/iT2pqLhku0

'-- Andy Ng´ ðŸ"¸'ðŸŒ (@MrAndyNgo) July 17, 2023@business wtf?

'-- The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) July 17, 2023In a 2018 piece addressing the FOSTA bill which was eventually signed into law as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Trafficking Act, Prostasia laments the legislation's stigmatization of pedophiles. Prostasia's criticism of FOSTA is rife with the use of terms like "minor attracted persons" and the deluded idea of the virtuous pedophile, i.e., one who is sexually attracted to children but fights their urges to refrain from abuses them in a measure of self-restraint that the sex positive non-profit champions as some sort of moral paragon. If there's any doubt about Prostasia's pro-pedophilia stance, the organization literally facilitates a safe space for pedophiles, which it has dubbed its MAP Support Club Partnership.

Aside from his work with Prostasia since 2021, Berlatsky has a long history with promoting the idea that children can consent to sex with adults. In 2016, he published a piece titled Child Sex Workers' Biggest Threat: The Police with The New Republic. In the article, Berlatsky takes aim at the 2012 film Eden which is another drama centered around exposing the grim realities of child sex abuse. Throughout the piece, Berlatsky refers to youth in the sex trade in a lexicon that alienates them from the idea that they are victims of human trafficking with the suggestion that minors should be free to work in the sex trade. Though Berlatsky does make some salient points about how statutes enforced by different states treat victims of child trafficking as criminals, the vernacular in which the piece is written in emanates the tone of Prostasia's own written content in which it attempts to normalize sex between minors and adults.

If there was any doubt about where Berlatsky's sentiment truly lies, all one has to do is look at his social media history in which he speaks out against the stigmatization of pedophiles. A noted supporter of "trans-kids", Berlatsky's history of perverted tweets also takes aim at the relationship between parents and their children, a cornerstone of the transgender movement which seeks to obscure its brainwashing children into gender dysphoria with a cacophony of language designed by groomers. Of course, Berlatsky has made his Twitter private since the revelation of these pro-pedophilia tweets came to light. However, that action proved to be too little and come too late.

Despite Berlatsky's opposition to the structure of the nuclear family, the author is married with children. However, his family would be described as anything but traditional. In a February 2023 piece for Yahoo News titled My Wife Is Bisexual And Nonbinary, And My Daughter Is Transgender. My Queer Family Helped Me Better Understand Myself And My Masculinity, Berlatsky paints a picture of the kind of life his radical ideology has molded his family into. Throughout the piece. Berlatsky chronicles his daughter's descent into ostensible gender dysphoria beginning in middle school when she came out to him and his wife as bisexual -- a coincidental parallel shared with his wife. By high school, she was convinced she was a transgender lesbian. Berlatsky attributes his wife's sexual orientation and nonbinary gender identity as pillars of support for their handling of their daughter's struggle with her gender identity. His narrative subjugates a traditional heterosexual male by demeaning himself for being that very thing throughout the piece while using his wife and daughter to exalt the superiority of the LGBTQ+ as the vanguard tasked with cultivating the modern family as means of advancing the pervasive agenda he shares with the likes of his cohorts at Prostasia.

pic.twitter.com/OlZq7aMbnU

'-- Andy Ng´ ðŸ"¸'ðŸŒ (@MrAndyNgo) August 29, 2021Noah Berlatsky, the communications director for an organization accused of working to normalize pedophilia, is tweeting about me. He says this is a fascist smear. pic.twitter.com/RIQUjTNW6P

'-- Andy Ng´ ðŸ"¸'ðŸŒ (@MrAndyNgo) August 30, 2021A cursory examination of establishment media parasites the likes of Noah Berlatsky shows that the organized hostility against The Sound of Freedom isn't simply the tactic of the mainstream taking aim at a low-budget independent studio film that challenges Hollywood productions pining to be this summer's blockbuster. Instead, the criticism serves as a vehicle for advocates of the normalization of pedophilia to undermine any attempt to expose the cruel realities of the agenda they are promoting. By associating themselves with perverts like Berlatsky, NBC News, The Atlantic, WaPo, The Verge, Yahoo News, Insider, Bloomberg, and the other mainstream media outlets that have hosted his work show whose side they are on when it comes to protecting children, making the echoes of their criticisms of those speaking out against child trafficking ring hollow.

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 22:45

Every time one of his classmates gets a smartphone, Jhett Rogers thinks to himself: There goes another one.

''It kind of feels like I've lost a friend. Whenever I'm with them, they're zoned out and always on their phone.''

But Rogers, a middle schooler in Salt Lake City, says he still can't shake the desire to join the club. Six months ago, the only other holdout in his 30-strong group of friends got an iPhone.

''It kind of made me feel left out and jealous,'' he says. ''But later I don't want one because I know what happens.''

He says kids in the hallways now bump into each other, with everyone staring down at their phones. Teachers have started giving up on his school's no-phone policy, knowing students hide their devices up their hoodie sleeves and pull them out as soon as no one's looking. At lunch hour, he says, everyone eats alone, scrolling TikTok while they chew.

At 13, Jhett is part of a small, but growing, minority group of holdouts. By age 12, seven out of ten American kids own a smartphone. They also spend about eight hours online a day, inhaling TikTok trends, toggling between texts, and turning their daily lives into Snapchat and Instagram content. Most will have seen pornography by age 12, with three in four teenage boys saying they watch adult content at least once a week.

Meanwhile, a growing body of research shows that smartphones are at least partly to blame for skyrocketing rates of teenage anxiety and depression. As author Jonathan Haidt, reporting on a recent worldwide study on smartphone use among nearly 28,000 youths, put it: ''The younger the age of getting the first smartphone, the worse the mental health the young adult reports today.''

For years, the risks have been clear as day among Silicon Valley's brightest minds, including Bill Gates and Google's Sundar Pichai, who famously kept smartphones away from their own kids, and Steve Jobs, who limited his children's screen time altogether. But it has taken the Covid-19 pandemic for ordinary Americans to come to the same conclusion: that their kids had become dependent on their phones, and their school work suffered as a result. This year, an increasing number of school districts'--in Ohio, Maryland, Colorado, and other states'--have banned the devices in class. And in July, the state of Florida will enforce a new phone fatwa, barring their use during instructional time at all public schools.

In 2018, Lance Black, a Utah father of six, became a founder and investor in Gabb Wireless'--a company making internet-free smartphones. The devices, which start at $150, are aimed at kids 5 to 15 and loaded only with the essentials: features for texting, calling, and a GPS tracker for parents. (Call them dumbphones.)

''It has a touchscreen, and you can call and text, so kids aren't embarrassed to pull it out,'' Black tells me, adding that it runs on an Android-based operating system.

Since Gabb launched in 2019, Black said the company has raised about $42 million in funding. While he won't reveal specific sales, he said every year has significantly outpaced the previous year, adding, ''We have hundreds of thousands of customers across the United States.''

One customer is Jhett's father W. Pratt Rogers, who bought a Gabb phone for his son last year.

Rogers said he hopes Jhett's dumbphone will take him all the way through high school. While he admits it's hard denying his son a privilege all his friends enjoy, and he admits the situation is ''an arms race,'' he says it's imperative that parents resist putting the internet in their kids' pockets for as long as possible.

''How you help them learn to be present, in a task or with a relationship, is one of the top challenges of our generation,'' says Rogers, a 40-year-old mining professor at the University of Utah. ''Part of that is going to be saying no.''

Brittany Nicholson says of her 12-year-old daughter, Riley, ''I feel really strongly that she'll have a better experience in life without a smartphone.'' (Veasey Conway for The Free Press)Brooke Shannon said no to phones years before it grew into a movement.

In 2017, she was driving past a middle school in her neighborhood when she saw a sea of kids, all staring into their palms.

''It just made me sad,'' she told me. ''This was going to be life for my kids'--either they're going to be one of the only kids with their heads up, or they're going to have a phone in their hands staring down with the rest of these kids.''

That inspired her to launch the nonprofit Wait Until 8th, in which parents pledge to keep smartphones away from their kids until eighth grade, or 13 to 14 years old'--the longest she felt like she could get parents to hold off in a community that already had teched-up first- and second-graders. Shannon designed the pledge to go ''active'' once ten parents in a single grade sign on.

''Then you can share with your kid like, 'Yes, you're waiting, but so are Johnny and Sam and Alison, or whoever it is,''‰'' says Shannon, a 41-year-old raising three daughters in Austin. ''There's strength in linking arms with other parents.''

But she admits she faced objections when she first started collecting signatures at her children's school six years ago.

''Some people were like, 'Oh no, that's not for us'--I'm totally fine with them having a phone. I did this for my older kid when they were in fifth grade or sixth grade, and it's fine.''‰'' The majority, she says, just give kids phones because they don't have enough time'--or the will'--to push back.

Even so, her Wait Until 8th pledge has ''spread like wildfire'' to all 50 states in the last six years, with about 45,000 parents now having signed on, she says. Sign-ups slowed during the pandemic, Shannon says, when ''nobody really wanted to hear about screen time.''

''But since the pandemic is behind us, there's definitely been an uptick and more interest in the pledge,'' she says.

That includes Phil Funk, an Indianapolis father of four young kids, who says he's persuaded ''45 percent'' of the parents in his children's Catholic school to sign the pledge since he started a campaign last fall. But though he's had ''tremendous success'' with parents of kids in grades K''5, he's struggling with people who have kids in middle school, when the ''vast majority'' of students already have phones.

''This is one of the most difficult parenting questions that we're going to face,'' says Funk, who received his first cell phone in college'--''and that was a flip phone and there was no internet access.''

''We have to prepare them for the world as it is today,'' he admits. But ''we want to do it in a controlled way.''

Tim Carney, a Virginia father of six, is waging his own campaign at his children's schools but says his demands are ''more radical'' than the Wait Until 8th pledge. That's because he wants his kids'--and their peers'--to wait until they're 18 before joining the world of smartphones.

''Social media can change the way you see yourself so that you're always imagining a second self looking at you,'' the 44-year-old writer says. ''You know, like 'How would this moment come across? How can I tweet this out? How can I write about this?''‰''

Studies show some teens check their phones ''almost constantly,'' a fact that alarms Carney.

''I'm not afraid of my kids being exposed to screens,'' he says. ''I don't want their understanding of themselves to be changed by having social media accounts, or by constantly being attached to a smartphone.''

Riley Nicholson, of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, enjoys a phone-free moment. (Veasey Conway for The Free Press)But Riley Nicholson, a 12-year-old on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, says she's already comparing herself to her peers'--not because she has a phone, but because there's only one other kid in her entire seventh-grade class without one.

''Everyone else is always talking about texting each other and stuff and I'm just like, 'um. . . ''‰'' Nicholson says.

Her mother, Brittany Nicholson, 40, worries about her daughter feeling ''left out'' but also believes ''really strongly that she'll have a better experience in life without a smartphone.'' The third-grade teacher says she's waiting as long as she can before buying the devices for her daughter and two sons, ages 7 and 8.

''I want her to experience life through her own experiences, not comparing herself to what other people are doing on their phones. Or to do things just to take a picture of it so that she can show it off on social media,'' the mother says.

Many parents told me they don't want their kids to develop the same dysfunctional relationship with technology that they have.

Erika Ahern, a 42-year-old website editor living in Connecticut, says she often checks her phone late at night if she doesn't make an effort to put it away first thing after work. She wants to raise her six homeschooled kids to choose ''real life'' over their screens.

''Kids should be able to run outside this time of year and see things growing and see spring happening and to be totally entranced and enchanted by the world,'' she says.

''My biggest fear is that they grew up to be slaves to an addiction,'' adds Ahern. ''I think it's like, 'Are you the master of technology or is it the master of you?''‰''

''It kind of made me feel left out and jealous,'' says Jhett Rogers of not owning of smartphone. ''But later I don't want one because I know what happens.'' (Spenser Heaps for The Free Press)Nicholas Kardaras specializes in treating young adults aged 17 to 25 with screen addictions at the Omega Recovery treatment center in Austin, Texas. Kardaras says the first hurdle is often convincing patients they're actually addicted.

''They don't realize that they have a problem even though they're on their device for 18 hours a day and flunking out of school because most addicts don't see their addiction as a problem when they're in the middle of it,'' he tells me.

Kardaras says his patients are often convinced they're dealing with other issues, like Tourette syndrome or borderline personality disorder, which they're introduced to through ''psychiatrically unwell influencers'' on social media.

He said he knows these patients are actually suffering from ''social contagion'' instead, because the treatment'--forbidding access to cell phones and the internet for a short period of time'--is usually the cure, which ''shouldn't really happen with genuine borderline personality disorder or genuine gender dysphoria.''

Paradoxically, Kardaras says that almost all of his young patients were raised by ''helicopter parents,'' many of whom did their best to keep their kids away from smartphones or heavily monitored their internet use.

''A lot of the young people I've worked with will say, 'I don't feel a sense of control in my life,''‰'' he says. ''They feel like they're being smothered and being told what to do all the time. But if they take out their phone, and maybe go on a gaming platform, then they feel like they're conquering fantasy worlds. They feel a sense of empowerment and control.''

Kardaras, who authored a book on tech addiction, endorses the Wait Until 8th pledge, saying 13 is the sweet spot when children are old enough to ''handle'' some of the internet's toxicity. He says his two identical twin boys had to hit that age before they were given smartphones.

''If I kept them Amish until 18, they would go crazy at 19,'' he says.

Saying no to phones might get easier for parents now that lawmakers are passing new rules and regulations. Last fall, California's governor Gavin Newsom enacted a law mandating ''robust privacy protections'' for social media users under 18, which will be the strictest of its kind in the U.S. when it goes into effect next year. Some New York State lawmakers want tech companies to provide a 911-style helpline whenever a child's data is compromised. Over in Utah, and now Arkansas, social media companies must receive parental consent before minors can join their platforms. On a national level, a bipartisan group of senators are trying to pass legislation requiring digital platforms to ''prevent and mitigate'' mental health disorders and ''addiction-like behaviors.''

Meanwhile, Big Tech continues to roll out features they say make their products ''safe'' for kids, with Snapchat introducing its first parental controls this past year and TikTok planning to establish similar measures.

Parental controls are sometimes the last resort for parents who have already given their children smartphones. One couple in Inwood, an enclave of Upper Manhattan, is still reeling from the decision to give their daughter Helena, now 13, a device for Christmas two years ago.

''It's all been downhill from there,'' according to Helena's mother, Milly Hernandez, a 43-year-old operations manager.

Now, she said, Helena hardly touches her violin.

''I've tried to take the nice approach,'' Hernandez says. ''I say, 'Oh, can you please put it away' or 'You've had the phone for too long, darling,' or 'Your poor eyes' or 'Your brain needs rest.''‰''

She leans in, as though confessing to a priest: ''I think I'm going to go batshit.''

This spring, Hernandez and her husband Troy Gordon, a 41-year-old accountant, plan to install controls on Helena's iPhone that will expand or limit her use based on how much time she's devoting to other, more creative activities like music and artwork.

''In about three months from now, if we've gone ahead and done that, I think she will turn around and say, 'You know what, I am much happier,''‰'' her father, Gordon, says. ''I think it will all end well.''

Then he pauses: ''Maybe I'm deluded.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that the recent worldwide study on smartphone use polled nearly one million youths, when it actually polled 28,000. Sapien Labs, which conducted the research, runs an ongoing global survey of mental health with nearly a million participants so far. '--TFP

Olivia Reingold is a Free Press reporter. Read her last piece about teenagers competing at the national Hebrew Bible competition.

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Archived Version

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 22:07

Metabolic disease involving abnormal deposited amyloid proteins

Medical condition

Amyloidosis Classic facial features of AL amyloidosis with bleeding under the skin (bruising) around the eyes[1]SpecialtyHematology, endocrinology, rheumatology, cardiologySymptomsFeeling tired, weight loss, swelling of the legs, shortness of breath, bleeding, feeling light headed with standing[2]Usual onset55''65 years old[2]CausesGenetic or acquired[3]Diagnostic methodTissue biopsy[2]TreatmentSupportive care, directed at the underlying cause, dialysis, organ transplantation[3]PrognosisImproved with treatment[3]Frequency3''13 per million per year (AL amyloidosis)[2]Deaths1 per 1,000 people (developed world)[3]Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue.[4] There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis.[5] These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weight loss, shortness of breath, palpitations, and feeling faint with standing.[5] In AL amyloidosis, specific indicators can include enlargement of the tongue and periorbital purpura.[5] In wild-type ATTR amyloidosis, non-cardiac symptoms include: bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, lumbar spinal stenosis, biceps tendon rupture, small fiber neuropathy, and autonomic dysfunction.[5]

There are about 36 different types of amyloidosis, each due to a specific protein misfolding.[6] Within these 36 proteins, 19 are grouped into localized forms, 14 are grouped as systemic forms, and 3 proteins can identify as either.[6] These proteins can become irregular due to genetic effects, as well as through acquired environmental factors.[6] The four most common types of systemic amyloidosis are light chain (AL), inflammation (AA), dialysis-related (Aβ2M), and hereditary and old age (ATTR and Wild-type transthyretin amyloid[7]).[2]

Diagnosis may be suspected when protein is found in the urine, organ enlargement is present, or problems are found with multiple peripheral nerves and it is unclear why.[2] Diagnosis is confirmed by tissue biopsy.[2] Due to the variable presentation, a diagnosis can often take some time to reach.[3]

Treatment is geared towards decreasing the amount of the involved protein.[2] This may sometimes be achieved by determining and treating the underlying cause.[2] AL amyloidosis occurs in about 3''13 per million people per year and AA amyloidosis in about 2 per million people per year.[2] The usual age of onset of these two types is 55 to 60 years old.[2] Without treatment, life expectancy is between six months and four years.[2] In the developed world about 1 per 1,000 people die annually from systemic amyloidosis.[3] Amyloidosis has been described since at least 1639.[2]

Signs and symptoms [ edit ] Skin features of amyloidosis cutis dyschromica. Hyperpigmented and hypopigmented macules on (A) lower legs, (B) back and waist, (C) waist. (D) Individual blisters on upper arm.The presentation of amyloidosis is broad and depends on the site of amyloid accumulation. The kidney and heart are the most common organs involved.

Kidneys [ edit ] Amyloid deposition in the kidney often involve the glomerular capillaries and mesangial regions, affecting the organ's ability to filter and excrete waste and retain plasma protein.[8] This can lead to high levels of protein in the urine (proteinuria) and nephrotic syndrome.[8] Several types of amyloidosis, including the AL and AA types, are associated with nephrotic syndrome.[9] Approximately 20% and 40''60% of people with AL and AA amyloidosis respectively progress to end-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis.[9]

Heart [ edit ] Amyloid deposition in the heart can cause both diastolic and systolic heart failure. EKG changes may be present, showing low voltage and conduction abnormalities like atrioventricular block or sinus node dysfunction.[medical citation needed ] On echocardiography, the heart shows a restrictive filling pattern, with normal to mildly reduced systolic function.[10] AA amyloidosis usually spares the heart.[11] Cardiac amyloidosis can present with symptoms of heart failure including shortness of breath, fatigue, and edema.[12] As cardiac amyloidosis progresses, the amyloid deposition can affect the heart's ability to pump and fill blood as well as its ability to maintain normal rhythm, which leads to worsening heart function and decline in people's quality of life.[12]

Nervous system [ edit ] People with amyloidosis do not get central nervous system involvement but can develop sensory and autonomic neuropathies.[medical citation needed ] Sensory neuropathy develops in a symmetrical pattern and progresses in a distal to proximal manner. Autonomic neuropathy can present as orthostatic hypotension but may manifest more gradually with nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms like constipation, nausea, or early satiety.[10]

Neuropathic presentation can depend on the etiology of amyloidosis.[13] People with amyloidosis may experience dysfunction in various organ systems depending on the location and extent of nervous system involvement.[8] For example, peripheral neuropathy can cause erectile dysfunction, incontinence and constipation, pupillary dysfunction, and sensory loss depending on the distribution of amyloidosis along different peripheral nerves.[13] Amyloidosis of the central nervous system can have more severe and systemic presentations that may include life-threatening arrhythmias, cardiac failure, malnutrition, infection, or death.[13]

Gastrointestinal and accessory organs [ edit ] Accumulation of amyloid proteins in the gastrointestinal system may be caused by a wide range of amyloid disorders and have different presentations depending on the degree of organ involvement.[14] Potential symptoms include weight loss, diarrhea, abdominal pain, heartburn (gastrointestinal reflux), and GI bleeding.[14] Amyloidosis may also affect accessory digestive organs including the liver, and may present with jaundice, fatty stool, anorexia, fluid buildup in the abdomen, and spleen enlargement.[14]

Accumulation of amyloid proteins in the liver can lead to elevations in serum aminotransferases and alkaline phosphatase, two biomarkers of liver injury, which is seen in about one third of people.[11] Liver enlargement is common. In contrast, spleen enlargement is rare, occurring in 5% of people.[10] Splenic dysfunction, leading to the presence of Howell-Jolly bodies on blood smear, occurs in 24% of people with amyloidosis.[10] Malabsorption is seen in 8.5% of AL amyloidosis and 2.4% of AA amyloidosis. One suggested mechanism for the observed malabsorption is that amyloid deposits in the tips of intestinal villi (fingerlike projections that increase the intestinal area available for absorption of food), begin to erode the functionality of the villi, presenting a sprue-like picture.[11]

Glands [ edit ] Both the thyroid and adrenal glands can be infiltrated. It is estimated that 10''20% of people with amyloidosis have hypothyroidism. Adrenal infiltration may be harder to appreciate given that its symptoms of orthostatic hypotension and low blood sodium concentration may be attributed to autonomic neuropathy and heart failure.[10]

"Amyloid deposits occur in the pancreas of people who also have diabetes mellitus, although it is not known if this is functionally important. The major component of pancreatic amyloid is a 37-amino acid residue peptide known as islet amyloid polypeptide or 'amylin.' This is stored with insulin in secretory granules in [beta] cells and is co secreted with insulin." (Rang and Dale's Pharmacology, 2015.)[citation needed ]

Musculoskeletal system [ edit ] Amyloid proteins deposit most commonly inside the knee, followed by hands, wrists, elbow, hip, and ankle, causing joint pain.[15] In males with advanced age (>80 years), there is significant risk of wild-type transthyretin amyloid deposition in synovial tissue of knee joint, but predominantly in old age deposition of wild type transthyretin is seen in cardiac ventricles. ATTR deposits have been found in ligamentum flavum of patients that underwent surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis.[16]

In beta 2-microglobulin amyloidosis, males have high risk of getting carpal tunnel syndrome.[17] Aβ2MG amyloidosis (Hemodialysis associated amyloidosis) tends to deposit in synovial tissue, causing chronic inflammation of the synovial tissue in knee, hip, shoulder and interphalangeal joints.[17] Amyloid light chains deposition in shoulder joint causes enlarged shoulders, also known as "shoulder pad sign".[17] Amyloid light chain depositions can also cause bilateral symmetric polyarthritis.[17]

The deposition of amyloid proteins in the bone marrow without causing plasma cell dyscrasias is called amyloidoma. It is commonly found in cervical, lumbar, and sacral vertebrae. Those affected may be presented with bone pain due to bone lysis, lumbar paraparesis, and a variety of neurological symptoms. Vertebral fractures are also common.[17]

Eyes [ edit ] A rare development is amyloid purpura, a susceptibility to bleeding with bruising around the eyes, termed "raccoon-eyes". Amyloid purpura is caused by amyloid deposition in the blood vessels and reduced activity of thrombin and factor X, two clotting proteins that lose their function after binding with amyloid.[10]

Oral cavity [ edit ] Amyloid deposits in tissue can cause enlargement of structures. Twenty percent of people with AL amyloidosis have an enlarged tongue, that can lead to obstructive sleep apnea, difficulty swallowing, and altered taste.[11] Tongue enlargement does not occur in ATTR or AA amyloidosis.[10] Deposition of amyloid in the throat can cause hoarseness.[10]

Pathogenesis [ edit ] Amyloidoses can be considered protein misfolding diseases.[18][19] The vast majority of proteins that have been found to form amyloid deposits are secreted proteins, so the misfolding and formation of amyloid occurs outside cells, in the extracellular space.[18] Of the 37 proteins so far identified as being vulnerable to amyloid formation, only four are cytosolic.[18] Most amyloid-forming proteins are relatively small, but otherwise there is currently no evidence of structural or functional similarities among proteins known to form disease-associated amyloids.[18] One third of amyloid disease is hereditary, in which case there is normally an early age of onset.[18] Half of amyloid-related diseases are sporadic and have a late age of onset '' in these cases, the protein aggregation may be associated with aging-related decline in protein regulation. Some medical treatments are associated with amyloid disease, but this is rare.[18]

Amyloid-forming proteins aggregate into distinctive fibrillar forms with a beta-sheet structure.[18][19] The beta-sheet form of amyloid is proteolysis-resistant, meaning it can not be degraded or broken down.[5] As a result, amyloid deposits into the body's extracellular space.[5] The process of forming amyloid fibrils is thought to have intermediate oligomeric forms. Both the oligomers and amyloid fibrils can be toxic to cells and can interfere with proper organ function.[20] The relative significance of different aggregation species may depend on the protein involved and the organ system affected.[19]

Diagnosis [ edit ] Diagnosis of amyloidosis generally requires tissue biopsy.[2] The biopsy is assessed for evidence of characteristic amyloid deposits. The tissue is treated with various stains. The most useful stain in the diagnosis of amyloid is Congo red, which, combined with polarized light, makes the amyloid proteins appear apple-green on microscopy. Also, thioflavin T stain may be used.[21] A number of imaging techniques such as a DPD scan or SAP scan are also in use.[22]

A sample of tissue can be biopsied or obtained directly from the affected internal organ, but the first-line site of biopsy is subcutaneous abdominal fat, known as a "fat pad biopsy", due to its ease of acquisition.[23][24] An abdominal fat biopsy is not completely sensitive and may result in false negatives, which means a negative result does not exclude the diagnosis of amyloidosis.[23][24] However, direct biopsy of the affected organ may still be unnecessary as other less invasive methods of biopsy can also be used, including rectal mucosa, salivary gland, lip, or bone marrow biopsy which can achieve a diagnosis in up to 85% of people.[23]

In the amyloid deposition of the joints, there will be a decreased signal in both T1 and T2 weighted MRI images.[15] In amyloidoma, there will be low T1 signal with gadolinium injection and low T2 signal.[17]

The type of the amyloid protein can be determined in various ways: the detection of abnormal proteins in the bloodstream (on protein electrophoresis or light chain determination); binding of particular antibodies to the amyloid found in the tissue (immunohistochemistry); or extraction of the protein and identification of its individual amino acids.[21] Immunohistochemistry can identify AA amyloidosis the majority of the time, but can miss many cases of AL amyloidosis.[11] Laser microdissection with mass spectrometry is the most reliable method of identifying the different forms of amyloidosis.[25]

AL was previously considered the most common form of amyloidosis, and a diagnosis often begins with a search for plasma cell dyscrasia, memory B cells producing aberrant immunoglobulins or portions of immunoglobulins. Immunofixation electrophoresis of urine or serum is positive in 90% of people with AL amyloidosis.[10] Immunofixation electrophoresis is more sensitive than regular electrophoresis but may not be available in all centers. Alternatively immunohistochemical staining of a bone marrow biopsy looking for dominant plasma cells can be sought in people with a high clinical suspicion for AL amyloidosis but negative electrophoresis.[10]

ATTR is now considered to be the most common form of amyloidosis. It may be either age related in wild-type ATTR (ATTRv) or familial transthyretin-associated amyloidosis, is suspected in people with family history of idiopathic neuropathies or heart failure who lack evidence of plasma cell dyscrasias. ATTR can be identified using isoelectric focusing which separates mutated forms of transthyretin. Findings can be corroborated by genetic testing to look for specific known mutations in transthyretin that predispose to amyloidosis.[10]

AA is suspected on clinical grounds in individuals with longstanding infections or inflammatory diseases. AA can be identified by immunohistochemistry staining.[10]

Small bowel duodenum with amyloid deposition Congo red 10X

Amyloidosis, dystrophic calcification

Small bowel duodenum with amyloid deposition 20X

Amyloidosis, Node, Congo Red

Amyloidosis, blood vessels, H&E

Amyloidosis, lymph node, H&E

Amyloidosis, lymph node, polarizer

Cardiac amyloidosis. H&E stain.

Micrograph showing amyloid deposition (red fluffy material) in the heart (cardiac amyloidosis). Congo red stain.

Classification [ edit ] Historical classification systems were based on clinical factors. Until the early 1970s, the idea of a single amyloid substance predominated. Various descriptive classification systems were proposed based on the organ distribution of amyloid deposits and clinical findings. Most classification systems included primary (i.e., idiopathic) amyloidosis, in which no associated clinical condition was identified, and secondary amyloidosis (i.e., secondary to chronic inflammatory conditions). Some classification systems included myeloma-associated, familial, and localized amyloidosis.

The modern era of amyloidosis classification began in the late 1960s with the development of methods to make amyloid fibrils soluble. These methods permitted scientists to study the chemical properties of amyloids.[medical citation needed ] Descriptive terms such as primary amyloidosis, secondary amyloidosis, and others (e.g., senile amyloidosis), which are not based on cause, provide little useful information and are no longer recommended.

The modern classification of amyloid disease tends to use an abbreviation of the protein that makes the majority of deposits, prefixed with the letter A. For example, amyloidosis caused by transthyretin is termed "ATTR".[medical citation needed ] Deposition patterns vary between people but are almost always composed of just one amyloidogenic protein. Deposition can be systemic (affecting many different organ systems) or organ-specific. Many amyloidoses are inherited, due to mutations in the precursor protein.[medical citation needed ]

Other forms are due to different diseases causing overabundant or abnormal protein production '' such as with overproduction of immunoglobulin light chains (termed AL amyloidosis), or with continuous overproduction of acute phase proteins in chronic inflammation (which can lead to AA amyloidosis).[medical citation needed ]

About 60 amyloid proteins have been identified so far.[26] Of those, at least 36 have been associated with a human disease.[27]

All amyloid fibril proteins start with the letter "A" followed by the protein suffix (and any applicable specification). See below for a list of amyloid fibril proteins which have been found in humans:[28]

Fibril proteinPrecursor proteinTarget OrgansSystemic and/or localizedAcquired or hereditaryALImmunoglobulin light chainAll organs, usually except CNSS, LA, HAHImmunoglobulin heavy chainAll organs except CNSS, LAAA(Apo) serum amyloid AAll organs except CNSSAATTRTransthyretin, wild typeTransthyretin, variants

Heart mainly in males, lung, ligaments, tenosynoviumPNS, ANS, heart, eye, leptomeninges

SS

AH

Aβ2Mβ2-microglobulin, wild typeβ2-microglobulin, variants

Musculoskeletal systemANS

SS

AH

AApoAIApolipoprotein A I, variantsHeart, liver, kidney, PNS, testis, larynx (Cterminal variants), skin (C terminal variants)

SHAApoAIIApolipoprotein A II, variantsKidneySHAApoAIVApolipoprotein A IV, wild typeKidney medulla and systemicSAAApoCIIApolipoprotein C II, variantsKidneySHAApoCIIIApolipoprotein C III, variantsKidneySHAGelGelsolin, variantsKidney, PNS, corneaSHALysLysozyme, variantsKidneySHALECT2Leukocyte chemotactic factor-2Kidney, primarilySAAFibFibrinogen a, variantsKidney, primarilySHACysCystatin C, variantsCNS, PNS, skinSHABriABriPP, variantsCNSSHADanbADanPP, variantsCNSLHAβAβ protein precursor, wild typeAβ protein precursor, variant

CNSCNS

LL

AH

AαSynα-SynucleinCNSLAATauTauCNSLAAPrPPrion protein, wild typePrion protein variants

Prion protein variant

CJD, fatal insomniaCJD, GSS syndrome, fatal insomnia

PNS

LL

S

AH

H

ACal(Pro)calcitoninC-cell thyroid tumoursKidney

LS

AA

AIAPPIslet amyloid polypeptidecIslets of Langerhans, insulinomasLAAANFAtrial natriuretic factorCardiac atriaLAAProProlactinPituitary prolactinomas, aging pituitaryLAAInsInsulinIatrogenic, local injectionLAASPCdLung surfactant proteinLungLAACorCorneodesmosinCornified epithelia, hair folliclesLAAMedLactadherinSenile aortic, mediaLAAKerKerato-epithelinCornea, hereditaryLAALacLactoferrinCorneaLAAOAAPOdontogenic ameloblast-associated proteinOdontogenic tumoursLAASem1Semenogelin 1Vesicula seminalisLAAEnfEnfurvitideIatrogenicLAACatKeCathepsin KTumour associatedLAAEFEMP1eEGF-containing fibulin-like extracellularmatrix protein 1 (EFEMP1)

Portal veins, Aging associatedLAAlternative [ edit ] An older clinical method of classification refers to amyloidoses as systemic or localised:

Systemic amyloidoses affect more than one body organ or system. Examples are AL, AA and Aβ2m.[29]Localised amyloidoses affect only one body organ or tissue type. Examples are Aβ, IAPP, Atrial natriuretic factor (in isolated atrial amyloidosis), and Calcitonin (in medullary carcinoma of the thyroid)[29]Another classification is primary or secondary.[medical citation needed ]

Primary amyloidoses arise from a disease with disordered immune cell function, such as multiple myeloma or other immunocyte dyscrasias.Secondary (reactive) amyloidoses occur as a complication of some other chronic inflammatory or tissue-destroying disease. Examples are reactive systemic amyloidosis and secondary cutaneous amyloidosis.[29]Additionally, based on the tissues in which it is deposited, it is divided into mesenchymal (organs derived from mesoderm) or parenchymal (organs derived from ectoderm or endoderm).[medical citation needed ]

Treatment [ edit ] Treatment depends on the type of amyloidosis that is present. Treatment with high dose melphalan, a chemotherapy agent, followed by stem cell transplantation has shown promise in early studies and is recommended for stage I and II AL amyloidosis.[25] However, only 20''25% of people are eligible for stem cell transplant. Chemotherapy treatment including cyclophosphamide-bortezomib-dexamethasone is currently the recommended treatment option for people with AL Amyloidosis not eligible for transplant.[5]

In AA, symptoms may improve if the underlying condition is treated. In people who have inflammation caused by AA amyloidosis, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitors such as infliximab and etanercept are used for an average duration of 20 months. If TNF-alpha inhibitors are not effective, Interleukin-1 inhibitors (e.g. anakinra, canakinumab, rilonacept) and interleukin-6 inhibitors (e.g. tocilizumab) may be considered.[30]

Management of ATTR amyloidosis will depend on its classification as wild type or variant.[5] Both may be treated with tafamidis, a low toxicity oral agent that prevents destabilization of correctly folded protein.[5] Studies showed tafamidis reduced mortality and hospitalization due to heart failure.[5] Previously, for variant ATTR amyloidosis, liver transplant was the only effective treatment.[5] New therapies include diflunisal, inotersen, and patisiran.

Diflunisal binds to misfolded mutant TTR protein to prevent its buildup, like how tafamidis works. Low-certainty evidence indicates that it mitigates worsening of peripheral neuropathy and disability from disease progression.[31]

Inotersen blocks gene expression of both wild-type and mutant TTR, reducing amyloid precursor. Moderate-certainty evidence suggests that it mitigates worsening of peripheral neuropathy. Long-term efficacy and safety of inotersen use in people with mutant TTR-related amyloidosis is still be evaluated in a phase-III clinical trial as of 2021. Both diflunisal and inotersen may also mitigate declines in quality-of-life, though the evidence for this effect is unclear.[31] For people with cardiac ATTR the effect of inotersen use is inconclusive and requires further investigation.[32] In 2018, inotersen was approved by the European Medicines Agency to treat polyneuropathy in adults with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis.[33] It has since been approved for use in Canada, the European Union and in the USA.[34]

Patisiran functions similarly to inotersen. Moderate-certainty evidence suggests that patisiran mitigates worsening of peripheral neuropathy and disability from disease progression. Additionally, low-certainty evidence suggests that patisiran mitigates decreases in quality-of-life and slightly reduces the rate of adverse events versus placebo. There is no evidence of an effect on mortality rate.[31] A review of early data from use of patisiran in people with variant cardiac ATTR suggests that it may reduce mortality and hospitalization, however this is still being investigated and requires further investigation.[32] In 2018, patisiran was not recommended by NICE in the UK for hereditary transthyretin-related amyloidosis.[35] As of July 2019 further review however is occurring.[36] It was approved for this use in the United States, however.[37]

The roles of inotersen and patisiran in cardiac ATTR amyloidosis are still being investigated.[5]

In 2021, in a clinical trial using the CRISPR gene-editing technique, several participants had an "80% to 96% drop in TTR levels, on par or better than the average of 81%" who were given patisiran.[38]

Vutrisiran was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2022, for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis in adults.[39]

Support groups [ edit ] People affected by amyloidosis are supported by organizations, including the Amyloidosis Research Consortium, Amyloidosis Foundation, Amyloidosis Support Groups, and Australian Amyloidosis Network.[40][41]

Prognosis [ edit ] Prognosis varies with the type of amyloidosis and the affected organ system. Prognosis for untreated AL cardiac amyloidosis is poor, with a median survival of six months.[42] More specifically, AL amyloidosis can be classified as stage I, II or III based on cardiac biomarkers like Nt-proBNP and cardiac troponin.[43] Survival diminishes with increasing stage, but recent advancements in treatments have improved median survival rates for stages I, II, and III, to 91.2, 60, and 7 months respectively.[43]

Outcomes in a person with AA amyloidosis depend on the underlying disease, organ(s) affected, and correlate with the concentration of serum amyloid A protein.[5]

People with ATTR, mutant ATTR and wild-type ATTR have a better prognosis when compared to people with AL and may survive for over a decade.[10][44] Survival time is not associated with gender or age, however, some measures of reduced heart function are associated with a shorter survival time.[44]

Senile systemic amyloidosis was determined to be the primary cause of death for 70% of people over 110 who have been autopsied.[45][46]

Epidemiology [ edit ] Amyloidosis has a combined estimated prevalence of 30 per 100,000 persons with the three most common forms being AL, ATTR, and AA.[47] The median age at diagnosis is 64.[11]

AL has the highest incidence at approximately 12 cases per million persons per year and an estimated prevalence of 30,000 to 45,000 cases in the US and European Union.[47][5]

AA amyloidoses is the most common form in developing countries and can complicate longstanding infections with tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, and bronchiectasis. AA amyloidosis is caused by an increase in extracellular deposition of serum amyloid A (SAA) protein. SAA protein levels can rise in both direct and indirect manners, through infection, inflammation, and malignancies.[48] The most common causes of AA amyloidosis in the West are rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and familial Mediterranean fever.[10]

People undergoing long-term hemodialysis (14''15 years) can develop amyloidosis from accumulation of light chains of the HLA 1 complex which is normally filtered out by the kidneys.[11]

Wild-type transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is found in a quarter of elderly at postmortem.[49] ATTR is found in 13''19% of people experiencing heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, making it a very common form of systemic amyloidosis.[50]

Research [ edit ] Treatments for ATTR-related neuropathy include TTR-specific oligonucleotides in the form of small interfering RNA (patisiran) or antisense inotersen,[51] the former having recently received FDA approval.[52] Research into treatments for ATTR amyloidosis have compared liver transplantation, oral drugs that stabilize the misfolding protein (including tafamidis and diflunisal), and newer therapeutic agents still being investigated (including patisiran).[53] Based on available research, liver transplant remains the most effective treatment option for advanced ATTR amyloidosis, protein stabilizing drugs may slow disease progression but were insufficient to justify delay of liver transplant, and newer agents such as patisiran require additional studies.[53]

See also [ edit ] Peptide synthesisProteinopathyReferences [ edit ] ^ Hawkins P (29 April 2015). "AL amyloidosis". Wikilite.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015 . Retrieved 19 December 2015 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Hazenberg BP (May 2013). "Amyloidosis: a clinical overview". Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. 39 (2): 323''345. doi:10.1016/j.rdc.2013.02.012. PMID 23597967. S2CID 215069282. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022 . Retrieved 1 December 2021 . ^ a b c d e f Pepys MB (2006). "Amyloidosis". Annual Review of Medicine. 57: 223''241. doi:10.1146/annurev.med.57.121304.131243. PMID 16409147. ^ "AL amyloidosis". rarediseases.info.nih.gov. Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD). Archived from the original on 24 April 2017 . Retrieved 22 April 2017 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gertz MA, Dispenzieri A (July 2020). "Systemic Amyloidosis Recognition, Prognosis, and Therapy: A Systematic Review". JAMA. 324 (1): 79''89. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5493. PMID 32633805. S2CID 220385853. ^ a b c Picken MM (2020). "The Pathology of Amyloidosis in Classification: A Review". Acta Haematologica. 143 (4): 322''334. doi:10.1159/000506696 . PMID 32392555. S2CID 218600304. ^ Ando Y, Coelho T, Berk JL, Cruz MW, Ericzon BG, Ikeda S, et al. (February 2013). "Guideline of transthyretin-related hereditary amyloidosis for clinicians". Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 8: 31. doi:10.1186/1750-1172-8-31 . PMC 3584981 . PMID 23425518. ^ a b c "Amyloidosis & Kidney Disease". National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021 . Retrieved 19 November 2021 . ^ a b Lewis JB, Neilson EG (2018). "Glomerular Diseases". In Jameson J, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Loscalzo J (eds.). Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (20 ed.). McGraw Hill. 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PMID 23896486. ^ a b c Merlini G, Dispenzieri A, Sanchorawala V, Sch¶nland SO, Palladini G, Hawkins PN, Gertz MA (October 2018). "Systemic immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis". Nature Reviews. Disease Primers. 4 (1): 38. doi:10.1038/s41572-018-0034-3. PMID 30361521. S2CID 53023121. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022 . Retrieved 25 December 2020 . ^ a b Wechalekar AD, Gillmore JD, Hawkins PN (June 2016). "Systemic amyloidosis". Lancet. 387 (10038): 2641''2654. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01274-X. PMID 26719234. S2CID 4762107. ^ a b Rosenzweig M, Landau H (November 2011). "Light chain (AL) amyloidosis: update on diagnosis and management". Journal of Hematology & Oncology. 4 (1): 47. doi:10.1186/1756-8722-4-47. PMC 3228694 . PMID 22100031. ^ ^ ^ Benson MD, Buxbaum JN, Eisenberg DS, Merlini G, Saraiva MJ, Sekijima Y, et al. (December 2020). "Amyloid nomenclature 2020: update and recommendations by the International Society of Amyloidosis (ISA) nomenclature committee". Amyloid. 27 (4): 217''222. doi:10.1080/13506129.2020.1835263 . PMID 33100054. S2CID 225073269. ^ a b c Table 5-12 in: Mitchell RS, Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N (2007). Robbins Basic Pathology. Philadelphia: Saunders. ISBN 978-1-4160-2973-1. 8th edition. ^ ter Haar NM, Oswald M, Jeyaratnam J, Anton J, Barron KS, Brogan PA, et al. (September 2015). "Recommendations for the management of autoinflammatory diseases". Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 74 (9): 1636''1644. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-207546. hdl:2445/108897 . PMID 26109736. S2CID 18876892. ^ a b c Magrinelli F, Fabrizi GM, Santoro L, Manganelli F, Zanette G, Cavallaro T, Tamburin S, et al. (Cochrane Neuromuscular Group) (April 2020). "Pharmacological treatment for familial amyloid polyneuropathy". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 4 (4): CD012395. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012395.pub2. PMC 7170468 . PMID 32311072. ^ a b Marques N, Azevedo O, Almeida AR, Bento D, Cruz I, Correia E, et al. (October 2020). "Specific Therapy for Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Systematic Literature Review and Evidence-Based Recommendations". Journal of the American Heart Association. 9 (19): e016614. doi:10.1161/JAHA.120.016614. PMC 7792401 . PMID 32969287. ^ "Tegsedi". Europeans Medicines Agency. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020 . Retrieved 12 March 2021 . ^ Mathew V, Wang AK (6 May 2019). "Inotersen: new promise for the treatment of hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis". Drug Design, Development and Therapy. 13: 1515''1525. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S162913. PMC 6507904 . PMID 31118583. ^ "Patisiran for treating hereditary transthyretinrelated amyloidosis". Archived from the original on 4 July 2019 . Retrieved 20 July 2019 . ^ "Patisiran for treating hereditary transthyretin-related amyloidosis [ID1279] | Guidance | NICE". National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). Archived from the original on 20 July 2019 . Retrieved 20 July 2019 . ^ Hoy SM (October 2018). "Patisiran: First Global Approval". Drugs. 78 (15): 1625''1631. doi:10.1007/s40265-018-0983-6. PMID 30251172. S2CID 52813638. ^ Gillmore JD, Gane E, Taubel J, Kao J, Fontana M, Maitland ML, et al. (August 2021). "CRISPR-Cas9 In Vivo Gene Editing for Transthyretin Amyloidosis". The New England Journal of Medicine. 385 (6): 493''502. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2107454 . PMID 34215024. S2CID 235722446. ^ "Alnylam Announces FDA Approval of Amvuttra (vutrisiran), an RNAi Therapeutic for the Treatment of the Polyneuropathy of Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloidosis in Adults". Alnylam. 13 June 2022. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022 . Retrieved 14 June 2022 '' via Business Wire. ^ "Amyloidosis - NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders)". NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders). Archived from the original on 16 March 2016 . Retrieved 15 March 2016 . ^ "Amyloidosis primary cutaneous '' Disease '' Organizations '' Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) '' NCATS Program". rarediseases.info.nih.gov. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016 . Retrieved 15 March 2016 . ^ Merlini G (December 2017). "AL amyloidosis: from molecular mechanisms to targeted therapies". Hematology. American Society of Hematology. Education Program. 2017 (1): 1''12. doi:10.1182/asheducation-2017.1.1. PMC 6142527 . PMID 29222231. ^ a b Falk RH, Alexander KM, Liao R, Dorbala S (September 2016). "AL (Light-Chain) Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Review of Diagnosis and Therapy". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 68 (12): 1323''1341. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2016.06.053 . PMID 27634125. ^ a b Xin Y, Hu W, Chen X, Hu J, Sun Y, Zhao Y (November 2019). "Prognostic impact of light-chain and transthyretin-related categories in cardiac amyloidosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis". Hellenic Journal of Cardiology. 60 (6): 375''383. doi:10.1016/j.hjc.2019.01.015 . PMID 30742933. S2CID 73419672. ^ Coles LS, Young RD (May 2012). "Supercentenarians and transthyretin amyloidosis: the next frontier of human life extension". Preventive Medicine. 54 (Suppl): S9-11. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.03.003. PMID 22579241. ^ "Searching for the Secrets of the Super Old". Science. 26 September 2008. pp. 1764''1765. Archived from the original on 9 March 2013 . Retrieved 22 February 2013 . ^ a b Lin HM, Gao X, Cooke CE, Berg D, Labotka R, Faller DV, et al. (June 2017). "Disease burden of systemic light-chain amyloidosis: a systematic literature review". Current Medical Research and Opinion. 33 (6): 1017''1031. doi:10.1080/03007995.2017.1297930. PMID 28277869. S2CID 205541963. ^ Brunger AF, Nienhuis HL, Bijzet J, Hazenberg BP (March 2020). "Causes of AA amyloidosis: a systematic review". Amyloid. 27 (1): 1''12. doi:10.1080/13506129.2019.1693359 . PMID 31766892. S2CID 208299494. ^ Tanskanen, Maarit; Peuralinna, Terhi; Polvikoski, Tuomo; Notkola, Irma'Leena; Sulkava, Raimo; Hardy, John; Singleton, Andrew; Kiuru'Enari, Sari; Paetau, Anders; Tienari, Pentti J.; Myllykangas, Liisa (1 January 2008). "Senile systemic amyloidosis affects 25% of the very aged and associates with genetic variation in alpha2'macroglobulin and tau: A population'based autopsy study". Annals of Medicine. 40 (3): 232''239. doi:10.1080/07853890701842988. ISSN 0785-3890. PMID 18382889. S2CID 23446885. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022 . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ Hasib Sidiqi M, Gertz MA (May 2021). "Immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis diagnosis and treatment algorithm 2021". Blood Cancer Journal. 11 (5): 90. doi:10.1038/s41408-021-00483-7. PMC 8124067 . PMID 33993188. ^ Buxbaum JN (July 2018). "Oligonucleotide Drugs for Transthyretin Amyloidosis". The New England Journal of Medicine. 379 (1): 82''85. doi:10.1056/nejme1805499. PMID 29972750. S2CID 49658028. ^ Office of the Commissioner. "Press Announcements - FDA approves first-of-its kind targeted RNA-based therapy to treat a rare disease". www.fda.gov. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018 . Retrieved 11 August 2018 . ^ a b Crist"bal Guti(C)rrez H, Pelayo-Negro AL, G"mez G"mez D, Mart­n Vega M, Valero Dom­nguez M (July 2020). "Overview of treatments used in transthyretin-related hereditary amyloidosis: a systematic review". European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy. 27 (4): 194''201. doi:10.1136/ejhpharm-2018-001823. PMC 7335620 . PMID 32587078. External links [ edit ] Amyloidosis at Curlie

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 21:18

The Davis County Attorney's Office has closed its investigation of Operation Underground Railroad and will not pursue any potential charges related to the organization, according to a declination statement obtained by the Deseret News.

The end of the investigation, dated March 28, 2023, in the document, marks roughly 21'2 years since Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings first publicly confirmed that he was looking into the Utah-based nonprofit which says it works with local law enforcement to combat child sex trafficking.

Tim Ballard, the founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, says the investigation harmed the organization's reputation.

The reviewed charges by Rawlings' office included communications fraud, witness tampering and retaliation against a witness, victim or informant, according to a declination statement which Rawlings confirmed was authentic.

The determination to close the investigation came after Rawlings' office received and reviewed financial audits of Operation Underground Railroad and information supplied by law enforcement agencies including the Utah Attorney General's Office, the document says.

Rawlings' office also took into account details provided by Operation Underground Railroad about the organization's domestic and international initiatives and ''the current prosecutorial priorities of the Davis County Attorney's Office'' in making the decision, according to the document.

''In sum, the Davis County Attorney's Office does not believe that the decision to pursue charges against O.U.R. or any individuals associated with O.U.R. is prudent,'' the declination reads.

Rawlings' investigation of Operation Underground Railroad was first made public in a Fox 13 news story published in October 2020.

The statement provided to Fox 13 by the Davis County Attorney's Office did not specify the complaints being investigated. However, the Fox 13 article noted that a month before, Rawlings uploaded posts to Instagram warning his followers about anyone taking credit for the work of law enforcement officers. The posts did not name Operation Underground Railroad.

A few months after the Fox 13 story was published, Operation Underground Railroad began to face national media scrutiny, with the digital news outlet Vice World News reporting that ''several people familiar with the investigation'' had said potential charges could revolve around whether Operation Underground Railroad and its founder had misled donors and the public about the nature of its work and rescue operations. At the time, an attorney for Operation Underground Railroad told Vice ''O.U.R. will cooperate fully with any official inquiry into its operations.''

Ballard's bio states that prior to starting Operation Underground Railroad in 2013, he was an agent at the Department of Homeland Security for 12 years, where he investigated crimes against children. According to the organization's website, Operation Underground Railroad ''exist(s) to rescue children from sex trafficking and sexual exploitation'' and to ''provide critical resources to law enforcement and preventative efforts that benefit at-risk children worldwide.''

''The Davis County investigation into our organization lasted nearly three years and '--unfortunately '-- was made public when it never should have been,'' Ballard said in a statement to the Deseret News. Operation Underground Railroad's reputation, he said, ''was dragged through the mud.''

In its first year, the nonprofit brought in nearly $1 million in donations, according to ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. By 2015, that figure had multiplied to nearly $6 million and by 2019 had soared to $22 million. And in 2020, the most recent year nonprofit tax filings are made available by the IRS, the total revenue received by Operation Underground Railroad according to ProPublica was over $47 million.

Operation Underground Railroad has received attention from conservative media personalities, including Glenn Beck. Ballard also appeared alongside former President Donald Trump to argue for the building of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ballard claims the nonprofit has operated with integrity. ''We feel the conclusion of this investigation, as well as an extensive, independent third party audit, helped to reinforce that point,'' Ballard said.

Correction: A previous version of this story referred to Tim Ballard as the former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. He is the current CEO.

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 20:15

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:54

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 15:17

Transgenderism has emerged as one of the most influential ideologies of our time. It is shaping people's behaviour and thought in pursuit of a specific political objective '' the erosion of the significance of biological sex. And it is undermining long-held cultural assumptions about what it means to be a man or a woman.

Above all, it is an intolerant, coercive force '' and it has been thoroughly embraced by political and cultural elites in both the UK and the US.

In the UK recently we have seen Labour Party leader Keir Starmer criticise one of his MPs for daring to say that 'only women have a cervix'. And we have also seen Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer condemn a gay- and lesbian-rights group for criticising trans ideas, calling it a 'hate group'.

Even members of the Conservative Party are now exponents of the trans ideology. Indeed, the prime minister's wife, Carrie Johnson, used her sole appearance at the Conservative Party conference to urge her fellow Tories to fight for the rights of trans people '' a thinly veiled rebuke to those in the party who are concerned about gender self-identification. It is clear that transgenderism is the new orthodoxy among members of the political class.

For our cultural elites, transgenderism vies with environmentalism as the cause of the 21st century. As sociologist Michael Biggs notes, the 'transgender movement has transformed cultural norms and social institutions at breathtaking speed'.

The ease and alacrity with which trans identity has been promoted, and conventional distinctions between men and women have been eroded, have surprised even trans activists. An American law professor sympathetic to transgenderism wrote of the 'stunning speed' with which 'non-binary gender identities have gone from obscurity to prominence in American public life', citing as proof the growing acceptance of 'gender-neutral pronouns such as ''they, them, and theirs''', 'all-gender' restrooms, and the 'increasing number of US jurisdictions'... recognising a third-gender category' (1).

The UK and parts of northern Europe have proven no less hospitable to transgenderism '' they, too, have welcomed the dramatic conceptual revision of the relationship between men and women. Gender self-identification has now seemingly trumped long-standing conventions. A biological male can now identify as a female in order to gain access to women's toilets, refuges or prisons. Even hitherto girls-only institutions, such as the Girl Guides, are now open to boys who identify as female. In the National Health Service, transgender patients can choose to be treated in either male or female wards.

Little wonder that in many areas of life now, the boundary between man and woman appears increasingly illegitimate. To the extent it still exists at all, it is presented as artificial, even oppressive. And those who choose to transgress it are celebrated by the media as brave and inspirational role models.

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 15:14

I want to thank one of my readers, Paul S., for flagging this remarkable and hilarious Newsweek article, written by Bill Arkin, that is a classic example of the CIA throwing Ukraine under the bus and eschewing blame for the military disaster looming on the horizon. I will start by quoting the conclusion of the piece:

In response, the senior U.S. defense intelligence official stressed the delicate balance the Agency must maintain in its many roles, saying: ''I hesitate to say that the CIA has failed.'' But the official said sabotage attacks and cross border fighting created a whole new complication and continuing Ukrainian sabotage ''could have disastrous consequences.''

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

Ok. I will say it. The CIA has failed and it is blaming Ukraine. Arkin's piece would not be possible without a flood of leaks about the broad range of CIA activities in and around Ukraine. The CIA officers ponying up the secrets are keen to get the word out that they are doing a really fantastic, swell, marvelous job. The problem is the damn Ukrainians and these CIA officers, while claiming to have robust means to collect intelligence, admit that Zelensky and his crowd are giving the United States the mushroom treatment '-- keeping them in the dark and covered with shit.

The article starts with the tired, false meme that Russia is in trouble:

''Putin's back is really against the wall'' a senior defense intelligence official tells Newsweek, warning that while the CIA fully grasps how much Russia is stuck in Ukraine, it is very much in the dark with regard to what Putin might do about it. With talk of Russian nuclear weapons possibly being deployed to Belarus, and in light of Prigozhin's public exposure of the terrible costs of fighting, something that Moscow has suppressed, the official says that it is a particularly delicate moment. ''What is happening off the battlefield is now most important,'' says the official, who was granted anonymity in order to speak candidly. ''Both sides pledge to limit their actions, but it falls to the United States to enforce those pledges. This all hinges on the quality of our intelligence.

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

Oh? The United States' role in Ukraine is to function as a soccer referee? Really? How exactly is the CIA acting as the enforcer of pledges? By providing ''quality'' intelligence. Except, what you learn as you wade through Arkin's piece, the CIA keeps being surprised by Ukrainian attacks in Russia. You can't have it both ways Bill. Mr. Arkin wants you to believe that the CIA in Ukraine and the surrounding countries is the Leonard Bernstein of spies '-- masterfully conducting an orchestra of competing countries. I ask again, REALLY?

All of the credible experts and officials Newsweek spoke to agreed that the CIA has been successful in discreetly playing its part in dealing with Kyiv and Moscow, in moving mountains of information and materiel and in dealing with a diverse set of other countries, some of whom are quietly helping while also trying to stay out of Russia's crosshairs. And they didn't dispute that on the CIA's main task'--knowing what's going on in the minds of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine'--the Agency has had to struggle.

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

There we have it. The central mission of the CIA '-- i.e., to get the inside skinny on what Putin and Zelensky are thinking and planning '-- is a ''struggle.'' But hey, morale at the CIA, now under the leadership of Dementia Joe and Billy Burns, is FABULOUS!

For the CIA, its major role in the war in Ukraine has provided a boost in morale after the sour relationship between former President Donald Trump and his spy chiefs. The second official says that while some in the Agency want to speak more openly about its renewed significance, that is not likely to happen.

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

You want evidence of dysfunction and inadequacy? Some CIA officials are begging to talk openly about their importance with respect to Ukraine. If you are carrying out a covert operation that is a smashing success you do not have to brag about it. As the old saying goes, ''the proof is in the pudding.'' In the case of Ukraine the pudding is inedible.

The next couple of paragraphs strongly suggests that William Burns (or one of his horse handlers) is a key source in this story by Arkin. Did you know that Burns is a ''global trouble shooter?'' When it comes to shooting, Burns is a poor marksman.

At the beginning of his administration, Biden tapped director William Burns as his global trouble shooter'--a clandestine operator able to communicate with foreign leaders outside normal channels, someone who could occupy important geopolitical space between overt and covert, and an official who could organize work in the arena that exists between what is strictly military and what is strictly civilian.

As former Ambassador to Russia, Burns has been particularly influential with regard to Ukraine. The CIA had been monitoring Russia's buildup and in November 2021, three months before the invasion, Biden dispatched Burns to Moscow to warn the Kremlin of the consequences of any attack.

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

Yep, let's ignore context. According to the Arkin fable, Russia was building up for an invasion of Ukraine for no good reason. In fact, Arkin makes no attempt to explain how U.S. and NATO actions, such as the deployment of two Aegis missile batteries in Poland and Romania, was viewed as a very serious threat by Moscow because those weapons can carry nuclear warheads. So the influential Mr. Burns warned Putin about what the U.S. would do if Russia invaded Ukraine and Russia ignored him. I don't think Arkin understands the meaning of the word, ''influential.''

Arkin then proceeds to let a variety of cats '-- domestic and feral '-- out of the bag. Poland is the center for U.S. military and intelligence operations to fight the proxy war with Russia:

Poland officially became the center of NATO's response, first in handling hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the battle, and then as the logistical hub for arms flowing back into Ukraine. The country also became the center of the overt military response. A forward headquarters for the Army V Corps (5th Corps) has been established in Poland. Additional supplies and ammunition for U.S. use are stored in Poland. A permanent Army garrison has been activated, the first ever to be located on NATO's eastern flank, and today there are now about 10,000 American troops in Poland.

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

Can you imagine the reaction in the United States if Russia established a forward military headquarters in Mexico with 10,000 troops? Yet Biden and his team of dullards do this in Poland without any regard for Russia's reaction to a military build-up on its Western border.

The last part of the article reflects the desperation of the spooks talking to Arkin. The Ukrainians are responsible for all of the nefarious terrorist attacks inside Russia. The CIA folks are getting their story out that they don't know nothing about no terrorist attacks on Russia. It is all the fault of Zelensky and his crazy generals. The following paragraph illustrates the central contradiction of Arkin's attempt to exonerate the CIA '-- we were told early on in his piece that the CIA was doing a terrific job of gathering intelligence except it totally failed to gathering any advance warning about Ukraine's terrorist attacks on the Kerch Bridge and Engels Airbase. Which is it Bill?

Trending: Crowd Roars After Tucker Carlson Gloats Over Savaging Mike Pence and Ending His Political Career (VIDEO)

The Kerch bridge attack was followed by an even longer-range strike on the Engels Russian bomber base, almost 700 miles from Kyiv. The CIA did not know about any of these attacks beforehand, according to a senior U.S. official, but rumors started to circulate that the Agency was, through some mysterious third party, directing others to strike Russia. The Agency delivered a strong and unusual on-the-record denial.

https://www.newsweek.com/2023/07/21/exclusive-cias-blind-spot-about-ukraine-war-1810355.html

I'm guessing that the CIA guys and gals talking to Arkin are a different crowd from those talking to Sy Hersh. Let me make this simple '-- if Ukraine, thanks to CIA help, was kicking the stuffing out of the Russians and the CIA was confident of an impending Ukrainian victory, then this piece would never have been written. This smacks of major ''ass covering'' and blame shifting. CIA people only do these types of leaks when they learn that reservations are being made for seats on the helicopters that will be landing on the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Kiev when evacuation day comes. We did it before in Saigon and Kabul. By God, we can do it again.

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Mon, 17 Jul 2023 14:50

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2013 French film

The CongressFrench promotional poster

Directed byAri FolmanScreenplay byAri FolmanBased onThe Futurological Congressby Stanisław LemProduced byDiana ElbaumDavid GrumbachEitan MansuriJeremiah SamuelsStarringRobin WrightCinematographyMichal EnglertEdited byNili FellerMusic byMax RichterProductioncompany

Pandora Filmproduktion

Distributed byARP S(C)lection (France)[1]Cin(C)art (Belgium/Luxembourg)[2]Pandora Film Verleih (Germany)[3]Gutek Film (Poland)[4]Release dates

15 May 2013 ( 2013-05-15 ) (Cannes)3 July 2013 ( 2013-07-03 ) (France)Running time

123 minutes[5]CountriesFranceIsraelBelgiumPolandLuxembourgGermanyLanguageEnglishBudget'‚¬8 million[6]Box office$356,172[7]The Congress is a 2013 live-action/animated science-fiction drama film written and directed by Ari Folman, based on Stanisław Lem's 1971 Polish science-fiction novel The Futurological Congress. It stars Robin Wright as a fictionalized version of herself who agrees to have a film studio use a digital clone of her in any film they want. The Congress then flashes forward twenty years later to her travels in the studio's animated utopia world, where anyone can become an avatar of themselves, but are required to use hallucinogenic drugs to enter a mutable illusory state. The Congress premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2013.[8] Independent film distributor Drafthouse Films announced, along with Films We Like In Toronto, their co-acquisition of the North American rights to the film and a US theatrical and VOD/digital release planned for 2014.[9]

Plot [ edit ] Robin Wright is an aging actress with a reputation for being fickle and unreliable that prevents her from getting a lot of roles. Her son, Aaron, suffers from Usher syndrome, which is slowly destroying his sight and hearing. With the help of Dr. Barker, Robin barely manages to stave off the worst effects of her son's decline, although his condition is sliding into its terminal stage.

Robin's longtime agent Al takes her to meet Jeff Green, the CEO of Miramount Studios, a film studio that offers to buy her likeness and digitize her into a computer-animated version of herself. Realizing she may be unable to find future work with the emergence of this new technology, Robin agrees to do it for a hefty sum of money. She is also forced to promise never to act again. After her body is digitally scanned, the studio is able to make films starring her, using only computer-generated characters. Robin's virtual persona becomes the star of a popular film franchise, Rebel Robot Robin.

Twenty years later, Robin travels to Abrahama City, where she will speak at the "Futurological Congress", Miramount's entertainment conference. Abrahama City is an animated, surreal utopia that is created from figments of people's imaginations, where anyone can become an animated avatar of themselves, but are required to use hallucinogenic drugs to enter a mutable illusory state. While discussing her new contract with Jeff, Robin learns that the studio has developed a new technology that will allow anyone to devour her or possibly transform themselves into her with the hallucinogen. Robin agrees to the deal, but has a crisis of conscience, believing that no one should be turned into a product.

At the Congress, Robin publicly voices her contrary views, upsetting everyone there. Shortly afterwards, the Congress is interrupted by a group of rebels ideologically opposed to the technology industry. They seemingly assassinate the head of the Congress. During the attack, Robin is rescued by Dylan Truliner, who was Miramount's lead animator for her films. They escape, but she is soon captured by "Miramount Police" where Robin is seemingly executed by Jeff as a punishment for rebelling against Miramount and the Congress. Robin is shown on a hospital bed while doctors discuss her case. One doctor reveals that Robin's execution her hallucinating that her rescuers were from Miramax. The doctors decide that Robin has become so intoxicated by the hallucinogen that she must be frozen until a treatment for her condition can be found.

Twenty years further on, Robin is revived while still hallucinating an animated world. She reunites with Dylan, who tells her that the hallucinogenic technology is now widespread. People can take on whatever form they wish through it and as a result many negative aspects of humanity no longer exist. Dylan and Robin fall in love and take a journey through a colorful imaginary world. However, Robin is still desperate to return to the real world and be with her son, Aaron. The only way to do that is using a suicide capsule that Dylan was given by Miramount, as his reward for twenty years of service. He gives it to Robin.

Re-entering the real world, Robin finds herself in a dystopian environment where the inhabitants are severely dysfunctional. Those who are still able to cope in the real world hover over ruined cities in large airships. Most people have left for an existence in the animated world. Aaron did it only six months earlier, when his condition left him virtually blind and deaf. Because Aaron likely created a new identity for himself in the animated world, there is no way for anyone to find him. While Robin can return to an animated existence, she cannot go back to the one she left behind, including Dylan, as that world was not real, but created by her consciousness.

On one of the ships, Dr. Barker gives Robin an inhalation ampoule that will allow her to return to the animated world. Taking it, Robin sees her son's entire life flash before her eyes. In the end, she discovers Aaron in the middle of an animated desert.

Cast [ edit ] Robin Wright as Robin Wright, a fictionalized version of herselfPaul Giamatti as Dr. BarkerJon Hamm as Dylan Truliner (voice)[10]Danny Huston as Jeff GreenHarvey Keitel as AlKodi Smit-McPhee as Aaron WrightSami Gayle as Sarah WrightMichael Stahl-David as SteveAugust Wittgenstein as TravisJ¶rg Vincent Malotki as Man in Zeppelin Relation to The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem [ edit ] While some elements of the film were added by Ari Folman, others were based on the science-fiction novel The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem. Similarly to Lem's Ijon Tichy, the actress is split between delusional and real mental states. In an early interview about the film, Folman said,[11]

"There is certainly nothing based on Lem in the first part of the movie. The second part is definitely different, but I used Lem's The Futurological Congress more as a source of inspiration, rather than the basis of the screenplay."

Later, at the official website of the film in an interview, Folman says that the idea to put Lem's work to film came to him during his film school. He describes how he reconsidered Lem's allegory of communist dictatorship into a more current setting, namely, the dictatorship in the entertainment industry, and expresses his belief that he preserved the spirit of the book despite going far away from it.[12]

Production [ edit ] The animation was created by Bridgit Folman Films Gang, based in Israel, who worked on the script for 19 years.[13] Folman supervised six animation studios worldwide ("studio 352" in Luxemburg, "walking the dog" in Belgium, "bitteschoen" in Berlin, "studio Rakete" in Hamburg, "Studio Orange" in Poland, and "Snipple" in the Philippines). As in Waltz with Bashir, Folman worked with David Polonsky as the artistic director and Yoni Goodman as the animation director. Principal live-action filming was done in the United States and Germany from February to March 2011.[10][14] Folman began working on the film in 2008,[15] securing additional financing in 2011 from French bank Coficine-Natixis.[16] The film was completed and released in 2013.[8]

Music [ edit ] Max Richter, who had previously worked with Folman in Waltz with Bashir, created the soundtrack of The Congress.[17] Many of the songs are composed by Richter himself, but the soundtrack also includes the Andante movement from Franz Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2, Fr(C)d(C)ric Chopin's Nocturne Op.27-1 in C# minor, "Forever Young" from Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will". These last two songs were covered by Robin Wright.[18]

Milan Entertainment, Inc. launched the soundtrack (in digital format) on July 2, 2013.[19]

TitleDuration1.Beginning and Ending4:542.Andante con moto from Trio in E-flat major, D.9294:173.Winterreise2:094.On the Road to Abrahama 14:145.In Her Reflection1:186.On the Road to Abrahama 21:157.All Your Joys, All Your Pain4:528.In the Cosmic Lobby2:199.Out of the Dark5:0310.The Rebel Attack3:1411.Still Dreaming, Still Travelling1:3012.Forever Young4:0313.Nocturne Op.27-1 in C# minor1:1514.In the Garden of Cosmic Speculation3:5515.Badass Agent Robin1:0316.She Finds the Child3:3917.If It Be Your Will4:1018.Baby Escapo (Bonus Track)5:2219.Charly's Song (Bonus Track)3:04Reception [ edit ] The Congress received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 73% approval rating, based on reviews from 109 critics, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The website's critical consensus states: "The Congress rises on the strength of Robin Wright's powerful performance, with enough ambitious storytelling and technical thrills to overcome its somewhat messy structure."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a 63/100 rating based on reviews from 31 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews".[21]

Keith Uhlich of The A.V. Club named The Congress the sixth-best film of 2014, tying it with the re-release of Level Five.[22]

In 2013, The Congress won the Best Animated Feature Film Award at the 26th European Film Awards.[23]

Scout Tafoya gave the movie 3½ stars in a 2014 review at RogerEbert.com, saying: "'The Congress' is a roll call of the orgiastic pleasures and bountiful comforts that art provides, and, a reminder of what waits for us when we leave the theater."[24]

Awards [ edit ] The movie won the 26th European Film Awards for the best animated feature film in 2013, as well as the Directors' Fortnight in the Cannes Film Festival. That same year, it won the Sitges Film Festival's Critics Award, too. In 2013, it was also nominated for Best Animation Film in the Gijon Film Festival.[25]

Legacy [ edit ] The film found renewed relevance during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. SAG-AFTRA organizers claimed that the film studios had put forward an artificial intelligence proposal that would permit them to scan actors' bodies in exchange for a day's compensation and retain the rights to their image in perpetuity.[26][27][28][29][30]

References [ edit ] ^ "ARP S(C)lection launches the Congress in 111 cinemas". ^ "The Congress". ^ "The Congress | PANDORA FILM Verleih". ^ "Kongres (2013) Ari Folman". ^ "THE CONGRESS (15)". StudioCanal. British Board of Film Classification. 23 April 2014 . Retrieved 15 August 2014 . ^ "The Congress". IMDb. ^ "The Congress". ^ a b Richford, Rhonda (19 April 2013). "Cannes: Ari Folman's 'The Congress' to Open Directors' Fortnight". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved 14 May 2013 . ^ Husney, Evan (6 May 2013). "Drafthouse Films Journeys to 'The Congress' ". Drafthouse Films . Retrieved 7 May 2013 . ^ a b Heron, Ambrose (17 May 2011). "First footage from Ari Folman's The Congress". FILMdetail . Retrieved 25 December 2011 . ^ Ari Folman on the Genius of Stanislaw Lem '' interview (March 2011) ^ "The Congress, a Film by Ari Folman" (retrieved 27 August 2014) ^ Egan, Toussaint (27 June 2023). "The Congress' live action, animation, and AI combo makes it the most 2023 movie". Polygon . Retrieved 14 July 2023 . ^ "The Congress". 'Robin Wright' '' a fan site. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012 . Retrieved 25 December 2011 . ^ Fischer, Russ (23 December 2011). " 'The Congress,' From 'Waltz With Bashir' Director, Will Be Roughly 60% Live-Action, 40% Animated". /Film . Retrieved 25 December 2011 . ^ Hopewell, John (7 September 2011). "Ari Folman's 'The Congress' rounds up coin". Variety. Reed Business Information . Retrieved 25 December 2011 . ^ "Max Richter Scoring 'The Congress' ". 7 May 2011 . Retrieved 11 June 2014 . ^ "Robin Wright sings "FOREVER YOUNG" in "The Congress" ". July 2013 . Retrieved 11 June 2014 . ^ " 'The Congress' Soundtrack Details". 20 June 2013 . Retrieved 11 June 2014 . ^ "The Congress (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster . Retrieved 20 November 2022 . ^ "The Congress Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive . Retrieved 15 August 2014 . ^ "2014 Favorites With Keith Uhlich (Part 1)". The Cinephiliacs. 4 January 2015 . Retrieved 30 June 2020 . ^ "Winners 2013". European Film Awards. European Film Academy . Retrieved 9 December 2013 . ^ Tafoya, Scout (29 August 2014). "Reviews: The Congress". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved 20 December 2022 . ^ The Congress (2013) , retrieved 27 November 2018 ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (2 December 2014). "The Celebrity Body Scanning Technology of Ari Folman's 'The Congress' Proves All Too Ominously Real". IndieWire . Retrieved 14 July 2023 . ^ "Striking actors say studios 'AI proposal' would have them sell their digital likeness for only one day's pay". Engadget . Retrieved 14 July 2023 . They proposed that our background actors should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation. ^ "A.I. Filmmaking Is A Terrible Idea, And One Underseen Movie Shows Us Why". /Film. 8 May 2023 . Retrieved 14 July 2023 . ^ Welk, Brian (11 July 2023). "The 3 Biggest A.I. Questions That Should Have Actors Worried". IndieWire . Retrieved 14 July 2023 . ^ Egan, Toussaint (27 June 2023). "The Congress' live action, animation, and AI combo makes it the most 2023 movie". Polygon . Retrieved 14 July 2023 . External links [ edit ] The Congress at IMDbThe Congress at Box Office MojoThe Congress at Rotten TomatoesThe Congress at Metacritic The Congress, review on Culture.pl

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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine pushed back against laws and bills targeting sex reassignment treatments for kids.

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''I'm here today because I published a series of news stories three years ago, in October of 2020, about Hunter Biden's now infamous laptop, also known as the Laptop From Hell, which is seen as some of the most scandalous reporting of the last decade,'' stated Emma-Jo Morris.

''What was more scandalous than the reporting itself, though, was the fact that it exposed the unholy alliance between the intelligence community, social media platforms, and legacy media outlets.''

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''I don't believe there's a single person who signed this letter who believes I'm anti-Semitic,'' Kennedy asserted.

''All the things that I'm accused of right now by you and in this letter are distortions. They're misrepresentations. I didn't say those things. They're fragments of what I said. But I denounce anybody who uses the words that I have said to imply something that is negative about people who are Jewish. I never said those things.''

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Take measures against shedding and the harms of spike protein with The Wellness Company's spike support formula: https://bit.ly/Spike-Support

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Play At least 16 people were injured.As many as 50,000 pallets of medicine may have been damaged at a Pfizer factory.A portion of Interstate 95 was shut down.Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

More than a dozen people were injured, homes were destroyed and a massive pharmaceutical facility sustained major damage Wednesday when a tornado hit northeastern North Carolina.

The tornado may have wiped out massive amounts of medicine at a factory run by Pfizer, N'‹ash County Sheriff Keith Stone said in an update on Facebook.

''I've got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility," Stone said.

''We have significant damage here in the county.''

(F'‹ORECAST: Severe Threat Continues Over Large Area Today And Tonight)

N'‹ash County includes the city of Rocky Mount and the community of Dortches, about 50 miles northeast of Raleigh.

The Pfizer facility has more than 1.4 million square feet of manufacturing space and sits on 250 acres. The company says it is one of the largest plants of its kind in the world. According to a Pfizer website, the plant produces anesthesia and other drugs as well as nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medications used in U.S. hospitals.

Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health, told the Associated Press the damage ''will likely lead to long-term shortages while Pfizer works to either move production to other sites or rebuilds.''

The National Weather Service said the twister was "the first EF-3 tornado ever observed in central North Carolina in the month of July!"

Nash County reported that 13 people were injured and 89 structures were damaged due to the tornado, according to WRAL. Two of the injured were taken to UNC Health Nash Hospital for further evaluation.

I'‹n neighboring Edgecombe County, the Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post, "There are a number of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed. We have had reports of 2 life threatening and 1 non-life threatening injury related to the storm and no deaths and for that, we are grateful."

The Pfizer plant is damaged after severe weather passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Rocky Mount, N.C.

(WTVD via AP)

Stone urged people to stay off roads and avoid downed trees and power lines.

''It's just a dangerous situation," he said.

V'‹ideo from WTVD-TV showed heavy damage to the Pfizer building.

P'‹hotos posted to social media by WRAL-TV showed at least one home completely destroyed.

T'‹he storm produced two reports of tornadoes in the area.

Homes are damaged after severe weather passed the area on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 in Rocky Mount, N.C.

(WTVD via AP)

A'‹ portion of Interstate 95 was shut down due to fallen trees, and about 2,200 power outages were being reported in the affected area.

M'‹ORE ON WEATHER.COM

-Tornado Watch Vs. Warning: What's The Difference?

-5 Reasons Spring Is The Most Volatile Weather Season

-Which States Get Hit by the Biggest Tornado Outbreaks? Here's the Surprising Answer

-'‹What To Do During A Severe Storm If You Live In A Home Without A Basement Or In A Mobile Home

J'‹immy He contributed to this report.

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George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said a House Democrat ''tripped the wire'' on President Joe Biden during a hearing Wednesday.

The legal expert argued that an exchange between Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and one of the witnesses, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower Gary Shapley, undermined the president's denial that he ever spoke to his son Hunter about the younger Biden's business dealings.

Goldman pointed to a moment in Shapley's prior testimony in which he quoted Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker informing the FBI that Hunter Biden told his father at a lunch meeting with executives at the Chinese energy firm CEFC, ''I may be trying to start a company or try to do something with these guys.''

''Now, let me ask you something,'' Goldman said. ''That doesn't sound much like Joe Biden was involved in whatever Hunter Biden was doing with the CEFC, if Hunter Biden is telling him that he's trying to do business with them, does it?''

Goldman: So you not only have no direct evidence connecting Joe Biden to any of Hunter Biden's business deal. You actually had proof that he wasn't involved. That is the proof that you had. pic.twitter.com/GYyYhlQDDb

'-- Acyn (@Acyn) July 19, 2023

In response, Shapley said, ''No but it does show that he told his father that he was trying to do business and he was talking to his father about the business.''

At that moment, Goldman threw his hands into the air and said, ''Okay, well that is true. Hunter Biden does try to do business. That's correct.''

On Twitter, Turley said Goldman ''just tripped the wire on Joe Biden,'' adding, ''In trying to grill the whistleblowers to show that there is no evidence that Joe Biden was involved, he elicited an answer that the witnesses established that Joe Biden did discuss business deals of Hunter with the Chinese.''

''Goldman was trying to show that the witnesses did not mention a substantive role of Joe Biden, Shapley immediately noted that it did mean that he came to discuss one of the Hunter's deals. The President continues to deny that fact,'' he added.

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''Goldman prompted a sworn statement from the investigator that Biden did indeed discuss his son's business deals,'' Turley said. ''In doing so, Goldman may have delivered one of the most damaging moments in the hearing for the Bidens.''

After Shapley made his point about Joe Biden talking to his son about business, Goldman went on to state that the IRS agent had ''no direct evidence'' connecting Joe Biden to Hunter Biden's business deals before moving on with his questioning.

Turley, in ending his Twitter thread, said if Goldman had continued his line of inquiry about the Biden business deals for a few more minutes, it would have ''sealed the case'' for the appointment of a special counsel.

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IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler, a whistleblower who testified before Congress on Wednesday, said in an interview this week that numerous roadblocks were put in front of him during his investigation into President Joe Biden's son, Hunter.

CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge asked Ziegler, ''Did you uncover evidence that President Biden financially benefited from his son's deals?''

''I don't feel comfortable answering that question,'' Ziegler responded. ''Any time we potentially wanted to go down the road of asking questions related to the president, it was, 'That's gonna take too much approvals, we can't ask those questions.' And I mean, it created an environment that was very hard to deal with.''

Ziegler said that the response he would get when he tried to press the issue was, ''Let's put that on the back burner.''

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler tells @CBS_Herridge anytime IRS investigators potentially wanted to ask questions related to President Biden, they were told "That's gonna take too much approvals. We can't ask those questions."pic.twitter.com/aitPxKpyUb

'-- Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) July 19, 2023

Ziegler said that the only question that matters at the end of the day is, ''Are we treating everyone the same? Are we treating all taxpayers the same?''

''And in this case, no, I don't think so,'' he said.

''It's a matter of are we treating everyone the same? Are we treating all taxpayers the same?" Hunter Biden whistleblower Joseph Ziegler tells @CBS_Herridge in an exclusive interview. "And in this case, no. I don't think so." pic.twitter.com/OpjKuRDrug

'-- Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) July 19, 2023

Ziegler said that he wanted to interview Hunter Biden's adult children because ''a lot of the business deductions, expenses, [were] related to the adult children.''

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When asked whether he got approval to ask, he said, ''We never received the approvals to talk to those people'' because he was told by the Assistant U.S. Attorney that doing so was going to get them ''into hot water.''

''Is that in the IRS handbook, avoiding hot water?'' Herridge asked.

''No, but I mean, I was asking to do these certain things and roadblock after roadblock was put up in front of me,'' he said.

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler tells @CBS_Herridge that he wanted to interview Hunter Biden's adult children, but was told by an Assistant U.S. Attorney that doing so would "get us into hot water."pic.twitter.com/IOGH5tf5zL

'-- Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) July 19, 2023

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A horrifying video of an Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) surgeon shows the man talking candidly about how he mutilates children while bragging that it is a growth industry.

''80 percent of my practice is gender-affirming surgery. So I do facial, chest surgery and genital surgery, but the majority of my practice and sort of where my passion lies is really genital surgery. I do a lot of vaginoplasty and phalloplasty,'' said Blair Peters, a self-described queer surgeon who leads the OHSU gender clinic.

''[Gender affirming surgeries] are expanding'... a lot of adolescents presenting for surgical intervention,'' he said. ''But also a lot of people who are in their 70s are sometimes coming in for genital surgery and then everything in between.''

Peters claimed that ''adolescents for sure present some unique challenges'' before falsely and demonically stating that there is ''great evidence'' showing that chemically castrating children with puberty blockers results in a ''whole variety of benefits.''

''But the one thing that is very new is genital surgery in someone who is under one's pubertal suppression,'' he said, adding that it is especially a problem for men or boys ''transitioning'' into womanhood because they often have micropenises due to stunted growth caused by the chemical castration, which results in not enough penile tissue to adequately perform the surgery.

''As a specialty those of us that do a fairly high volume of genital gender-affirming surgery, you know, we've maybe done a couple, a handful of pubertally-suppressed adolescents as a field and nobody's published on it yet'... OHSU is just putting our first series together as we're kind of learning and figuring out what works, but it's really changing things because you don't have enough tissue to line the vaginal canal so you either have to take a skin graft, take skin from elsewhere or use an artificial product,'' he said.

His comments can be seen here:

What do you think of this Oregon surgeon discussing the gender affirming surgeries (GAS) he performs on children?

According to him, 80% of his practice is GAS & his ''passion lies in genital surgery''

''[Gender affirming surgeries] are expanding'... a lot of adolescents presenting'... pic.twitter.com/KJTwgn7zYA

'-- Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) July 16, 2023

One horror story of a man who was drugged as a child with puberty blockers, chemically castrated, and then put under the knife resulted in their excruciatingly painful death from an E-coli infection after part of their bowel was butchered in an attempt to craft their fake vagina because of the aforementioned lack-of-tissue problem described by ''Dr.'' Peters.

Josef Mengele had nothing on these monsters. If society allows these sort of atrocities to occur unabated, then the West deserves the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah. Only Christian Nationalism can save us now.

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Additional theaters coming soon

Don't worry, theaters are continually being added as demand increases. Help spread the word about the theatrical release to your church, friends, and family!

PG-13 for thematic materials and brief depictions of violence.

Our goal is to have this shown in as many theaters as possible. By spreading the word about this film and purchasing tickets, you can help increase the chances of The Essential Church premiering in more theaters across the nation.

You can help us tremendously by letting friends know about a showing in their area, buying tickets at a theater near you, and by spreading the word about the theatrical release to your church, friends, family, and on social media.

Please continue to pray that this film would reach and encourage many people.

When governments use Covid emergency act edicts to restrict the gathering and worship of the Church, three pastors facing the risk of imprisonment, unlimited fines, and their own Churches splitting apart take a courageous stand and re-open in the face of a world that has chosen to comply.

The Essential Church is a feature-length documentary that explores the struggle between Church and government throughout history. This story takes us to multiple countries and uncovers those who have sacrificed their lives for what they believe in.

Journey with us as we rediscover why the Church is essential and how we prove that our stand remains true from a scientific, legal, and most importantly Biblical perspective.

Out of an abundance of caution and in deference to government officials, Grace Church decides to temporarily stop meeting for in-person services.

Nationwide unrest during the George Floyd riots. Members begin returning to attend Grace Church worship services of their own volition.

After careful deliberation, the elders of Grace Church agree that the church can no longer abstain from assembling. They publish the official statement, ''Christ, Not Caesar, Is the Head of the Church,'' which asserts the God-given authority of the church to hold worship services, regardless of the opinions or directives of the government.

''Christ is the one true head of His Church, and we intend to honor that vital truth in all our gatherings. For that preeminent reason, we cannot accept and will not bow to the intrusive restrictions government officials now want to impose on our congregation.'' Read Statement

Though protests and riots are allowed to go unimpeded, Los Angeles County ignores the Constitution's protection of the free exercise of religion and seeks to prevent Grace Church from meeting at all. Grace Church sues Governor Newsom, Los Angeles County, and the city of Los Angeles: Los Angeles County countersues Grace Church.

Things take a bleak turn when a judge issues an order prohibiting Grace Church from holding in-person, indoor services.

Grace Community Church continues to meet, and holds a packed morning service defying the court order.

Judge rules that he will not hold Grace Church in contempt for violating state health order without further ruling on the constitutionality of the order.

Judge sets trial date for January 15, 2021, to consider the constitutionality of the restrictions placed on Grace Church.

The Supreme Court lifts California's unconstitutional ban on indoor church services.

A final settlement agreement is approved, thus signifying the end of the legal battle between GCC and the county.

Between May 27-June 1, our lawyers secure two significant legal victories for other clients in California against Governor Newsom. The state agrees to never again impose discriminatory restrictions on houses of worship in California and to pay $2.15 million in legal fees.

The past two years were a refining season for the Church in its conviction to gather, and we are grateful that in this time God has continued to build and unify His church. In light of this monumental victory, Grace Productions has been working on a documentary celebrating God's faithfulness to our church over the past few years.

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A person familiar with the ad confirmed former President Donald Trump's voice was AI generated. | Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC uses an Artificial Intelligence version of Donald Trump's voice in a new television ad attacking the former president.

The ad, from Never Back Down, charges Trump with attacking Iowa governor Kim Reynolds as part of a larger pattern of disrespect he has shown to the first caucus state.

But the audio that the spot uses is not actually from Trump. A person familiar with the ad confirmed Trump's voice was AI generated. Its content appears to be based off of a post that Trump made on his social media site Truth Social last week. The person said it will run statewide in Iowa tomorrow and that the ad buy was at least $1 million '-- a massive sum though one doable for the well-heeled super PAC. It will also be running via text message and on digital platforms.

Political ads have used impersonation before, and the Trump-generated voice in the Never Back Down ad does not sound entirely natural. Still, the spot highlights what could be the next frontier of campaign advertising: The use of AI-generated content to produce increasingly difficult to identify, so-called deepfakes.

''The blatant use of AI to fabricate President Trump's voice is a desperate attempt by Always Back Down and Jeff Roe to deceive the American public because they know DeSanctimonious' campaign is on life support,'' said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, referring to a top official with the pro-DeSantis super PAC. ''After losing big donors and slashing their staff, they have now outsourced their work to AI just like they would like to outsource American jobs to China.''

Never Back Down had previously used AI to superimpose a fighter jet into a pro-DeSantis ad.

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Disney CEO Bob Iger opened the door to selling the company's linear TV assets as the business struggles during the media industry's transition to streaming and digital offerings.

Iger appeared Thursday on CNBC, the morning after the company announced it would extend his contract by two years through 2026. He returned to the helm of the company in November after Disney's board ousted Bob Chapek with a two-year contract through 2024 and plans to find a next successor.

"After coming back, I realized the company is facing a lot of challenges, some of them self-inflicted," Iger told David Faber at Allen & Co.'s annual conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, noting he's accomplished a lot of work in seven months but there's more to be done.

At the top of the list is assessing the traditional TV business, Iger said. Disney owns a portfolio of TV networks, from broadcast station ABC to cable TV channels like ESPN.

Disney is going to be "expansive" in its thinking about the traditional TV business, leaving the door open to a possible sale of the networks. "They may not be core to Disney," Iger said, adding the creativity that has come from those networks has been key for Disney.

On Thursday, ABC News President Kim Godwin to employees expressed support for Iger's contract extension, according to a person familiar with the matter. Godwin encouraged ABC staffers to focus on their work and audience, the person added.

An ABC News spokesperson declined to comment.

Cable TV channel ESPN is in a different bucket, however. On that front, Iger said Disney is open to finding a strategic partner, which could take the form of a joint venture or offloading an ownership stake.

Iger said when he had left the company he had predicted the future of traditional TV and had been "very pessimistic," and has found since his return that he was right in his thinking, adding it's worse than he expected.

When Iger last spoke with Faber in February, soon after announcing a major restructuring at the company, he said that he felt "a sense of obligation" to return to Disney and that his preference was to stay for his two-year contract.

"We've gotten a lot done very quickly, significant cost reductions and significant realignment of the company," Iger said. "But dealing head on with some of our biggest challenges."

The appearance in February came shortly after Disney announced a sweeping restructuring that included thousands of layoffs and billions of dollars cut in spending.

The reorganization warded off a potential proxy fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Disney reorganized into three segments: Disney Entertainment, which includes most of its streaming and media operations; an ESPN division; and a parks, experiences and product unit.

These were some of Iger's most significant actions in the months after his return. Disney revealed it would cut $5.5 billion in costs, consisting of $3 billion from content, excluding sports, and the remaining amount from noncontent costs. The company earmarked 7,000 layoffs.

In addition to looking for his next successor, Iger has been tasked with bringing Disney's streaming business to profitability. In the last year, media executives across all companies have focused on how to make streaming profitable, particularly after behemoth Netflix lost subscribers early last year and since instituted an ad-supported tier and a crackdown on password sharing to drive revenue.

While the company posted revenue and profit in line with Wall Street estimates last quarter, it saw a loss of 4 million subscribers at its flagship streamer Disney+.

Those subscriber losses were offset by price increases, which Iger said in May weren't to blame for the lower numbers. Instead, he said it showed room for further increases when it comes to streaming, and pushing customers toward the ad-supported tier, with the aim of reaching profitability.

In an effort to bulk up Disney+ and attract more subscribers to its cheaper, ad-supported tier '' which it launched last year '' the company announced last quarter it would add Hulu content to Disney+.

Disney has been weighing whether it should buy all of Hulu, as it owns 66% and Comcast owns the rest. It's likely Comcast will sell its Hulu stake to Disney at the beginning of 2024, CNBC previously reported.

Iger said Thursday that since he returned to Disney, he ultimately concluded the company is "better off having Hulu."

He added the combined Hulu and Disney+ offering would be available by the end of the calendar year, and the upcoming negotiations with Comcast over valuation wouldn't prevent that.

"The combination of those apps is designed to obviously help the [streaming] business become profitable," Iger said.

Disney is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings after the market closes Aug. 9.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which includes CNBC.

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