Privacy – Whither Goest Thou?

Biometric ID for IRS FOIA Requests Trigger Privacy and Access Concerns

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has come under fire for its decision to route Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests through a biometric identification system provided by ID.me. This arrangement requires users who wish to file requests online to undergo a digital identity verification process, which includes facial recognition technology.

Concerns have been raised about this method of identity verification, notably the privacy implications of handling sensitive biometric data. Although the IRS states that biometric data is deleted promptly—within 24 hours in cases of self-service and 30 days following video chat verifications—skeptics, including privacy advocates and some lawmakers, remain wary, particularly as they don’t believe people should have to subject themselves to such measures in the first place.

Criticism has particularly focused on the appropriateness of employing such technology for FOIA requests. Alex Howard, the director of the Digital Democracy Project, expressed significant reservations. He stated in an email to FedScoop, “While modernizing authentication systems for online portals is not inherently problematic, adding such a layer to exercising the right to request records under the FOIA is overreach at best and a violation of our fundamental human pure right to access information at worst, given the potential challenges doing so poses.”

Although it is still possible to submit FOIA requests through traditional methods like postal mail, fax, or in-person visits, and through the more neutral FOIA.gov, the IRS’s online system defaults to using ID.me, citing speed and efficiency.

An IRS spokesperson defended this method by highlighting that ID.me adheres to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for credential authentication. They explained, “The sole purpose of ID.me is to act as a Credential Service Provider that authenticates a user interested in using the IRS FOIA Portal to submit a FOIA request and receive responsive documents. The data collected by ID.me has nothing to do with the processing of a FOIA request.”

Despite these assurances, the integration of ID.me’s system into the FOIA request process continues to stir controversy as the push for online digital ID verification is a growing and troubling trend for online access.

from:    https://reclaimthenet.org/biometric-id-for-irs-foia-requests-trigger-privacy-and-access-concerns

Coming Soon – Bird Flu -The New Pandemic

DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!!!
Bureaucrats slaughter millions of chickens amid “bird flu” fakedemic
07/22/2024 // Ethan Huff // 3.1K Views

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is spreading fear by declaring an “emergency disaster” in response to reports about the alleged spread of highly pathogenic bird flu in northeastern Weld County.Polis “verbally” declared the disaster after “an avian flu outbreak in a commercial poultry facility in Weld County,” reads an official statement from Polis’ office on July 8. The statement does not name the facility that was allegedly impacted by H5N1.

The emergency disaster declaration allows Polis and his regime to use emergency powers to “take all necessary and appropriate state actions to assist with response, recovery, and mitigation efforts.”

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) confirmed that 1.78 million chickens were “impacted” by the bird flu strain, which of course means that the food fowl were slaughtered to keep everyone “safe.”

On July 3, CDA announced that a dairy worker in northeastern Colorado supposedly became infected with H5N1 after having “direct exposure” to cattle supposedly sick with the virus. The worker’s only symptom was mild conjunctivitis, also known as “pink eye.”

“He has recovered,” the agency said in a follow-up statement about the worker. “This case is an employee at a dairy farm in northeast Colorado who had direct exposure to dairy cattle infected with avian flu. To protect patient privacy, additional details are not being provided.”

(Related: Did you know that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave $9.5 million to UW-Madison to make H5N1 bird flu transmissible from animals to humans?)

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

Bird flu: the new COVID

Early on, it seemed as though the powers that be (TPTB) were going to try to hawk up monkeypox, also known as mpox, as the new Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) “pandemic.” Since monkeypox is primarily an LGBT disease, it seems they switched to H5N1 instead.

H5N1 has “not adapted to spread from person to person,” the establishment still claims. However, H5N1 can supposedly now transfer from animals to humans, which is why (or so they say) government bureaucrats are slaughtering food animals like chickens with haste.

“Right now, the most important thing to know is that people who have regular exposure to infected animals are at increased risk of infection and should take precautions when they have contact with sick animals,” said Colorado state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy.

Already, we are hearing calls for people exposed to animals, i.e., farm workers, to slap on a mask, wear eye protection and gloves, and live in fear that they might catch a bird flu virus from their flocks and herds.

Over the past month, Colorado reported that about two dozen commercial dairy herds were impacted by H5N1, this after no cases being reported all throughout 2023. In 2022, eight commercial poultry flocks are said to have been impacted by H5N1.

So far in 2024, three dairy workers in multiple states, including Texas and Michigan, are said to have become infected with bird flu, this after one became infected in Colorado back in 2022. Two of the cases resulted in pink eye while one saw a cough, eye discomfort and a “watery discharge.”

Michigan, like Colorado, is trying to scare its residents about bird flu. Another prominent dairy state, Michigan has allegedly seen 26 herds affected by H5N1. Authorities there are urging farms not to share equipment and to also take other mitigatory measures, i.e., masking, to keep farm workers “safe.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is using the opportunity to tout the allege merits of milk pasteurization, which the federal agency says is “effective at inactivating [the virus].”

“In each of the total of nine repeated (pasteurization) experiments, the virus was completely inactivated,” the agency added.

Looks like another manufactured “outbreak” that will soon turn into another “pandemic” to oppress the world. Find out more at Outbreak.news.

from:    https://www.naturalnews.com/2024-07-22-bureaucrats-slaughter-millions-chickens-bird-flu-fakedemic.html

Travelers’ Message July 15, 2024

Know that we are seeing much in the way of cosmic turmoil on all levels.  There will be some surprises in your politics, and there will be upheavals —- things unexpected.  No one will be able to predict the outcome because in these cases, the strings are being pulled by others that those who think they are in control.  This is very much a wait and see time because the upheavals on your planet are merely indicative of upheavals on the larger cosmic level. 

There have been many disturbances cosmologically that are raining down throughout the galaxies.  Yes, this is not just limited to your planet, but to a larger system and systemic world.  It is as those all the gears on the clocks throughout the universe are being programmed to a new frequency, a new mode of ticking away . And there will be much made of things happening that cannot be understood and much made of trivial explanations by the media who are trying to use what they do not understand to keep the narrative that they have (had) shaped (for them) going.  Unfortunately, those who are their narrative creators are in a state of flux for they no longer understand what is going on.

What does this mean for you there on this planet?  It means the coming forth of many conflicting narratives.  Moreover the stories will change almost on a daily basis.  There will be upheavals in those cities who have taken in the foreigners.  Know that that was a very bad policy for it had the makings of revolution.  Be grateful that it has only gone so far.  The plan was to bring in more and more until the revolution was inevitable and the outcome was set.  Now their proposed outcome cannot be predicted for the time is too early.  This will end up with many of those self proclaimed leaders falling down and coming apart.  They will be spinning tales that are baseless, and the fact that these things are baseless will be coming forth more and more until they will find themselves dealing with a kind of incongruity that even they can no longer believe.

They are only secure in their power as long as those around them kowtow, and they are only secure so long as their dictums are put forth by the media.  Ah, the media, it is dying a painful death and revolution is in the air —- on every level.  Revolution in itself does not have to be bloody, but revolution in itself must bring about change.  There are up front revolutions and revolutions behind the surface, and these are the revolutions that have been fomenting for quite some time now.

There comes a time when things are too much, when the plate is tipped too far, and people realize that in order to keep things (even), it is necessary to change position and no longer allow themselves to be blinded by the lies of those in power. 

These days are pivotal and there is much in the air.  You will see changes happening, not because they have been designed, but because they have to.  They have to because the force and energy of the cosmos is shifting, and with those shifts, old ways fall apart.

Smart Device Obsession

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • The internet has enabled connections across the globe to be easier and cheaper, but at a psychological and physical cost that may increase your stress and anxiety
  • Large software companies, such as Google and Apple, enjoy greater profits the longer you stay on your devices and so engineer programs to offer positive feedback, encouraging your engagement and even dependence
  • Research identified physical symptoms associated with separation from your digital devices that may be driven by rising levels of cortisol and anxiety; consider using EFT to reduce your anxiety levels and your dependence

Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published June 14, 2017.

The internet has made connecting with new business partners, discovering health information and finding long lost friends, easier and cheaper. However, while digital connections have distinct advantages, digital dependence does not. You’ve likely seen — or have been part of — a family outing where one by one, everyone pulls out their phone to check notifications, text messages or email.

It happens in restaurants, on busy streets and commuter trains. The desire to be rewarded by your phone may have even been so great that you endangered your life by attempting to read a text or send one while driving. Toddlers get their own devices to keep them busy and 10-year-old children are carrying their own phones.1 Where once children talked on the phone, set up face-to-face time and engaged with real people in real situations, they now spend hours keeping a “streak” alive.

Dependence on digital communication presents several physical and emotional health challenges. Mitochondrial damage, exposure to electromagnetic radiation and failing social skills are just the tip of an iceberg that may have deeper roots than anticipated. Research has identified immediate physical symptoms that occur when your digital devices are just out of reach.

Digital Dependence Affecting More Than Teens

Cellphone ownership has reached 97% in America, up from 68% measured in 2015. Of those owners, 90% use a smartphone.2 The people who own the smartphones are distributed equally across gender, age and ethnicity, with the lowest number of people owning smartphones being over the age of 65.

Dependence or addiction to a digital device hooked to the internet affected 6% of the world population in 2014.3 This number may not appear to be significant on the surface, but consider that 6% of the world population was over 420 million people.4 Comparatively speaking, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 3.5% to 7% of the world population between 15 and 64 years had used an illicit drug in the past year.5

The percentage of those addicted to the internet may actually be higher as only 39% of the world in 2014 had access to the internet,6 driving the real percentage of those addicted to 15%. Symptoms of addiction are similar to other types of addiction, but are more socially acceptable. The authors of the study found an internet addiction (IA) is:7

“… [G]enerally regarded as a disorder of concern because the neural abnormalities (e.g., atrophies in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and cognitive dysfunctions (e.g., impaired working memory) associated with IA mimic those related to substance and behavioral addiction. Moreover, IA is often comorbid with mental disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.”

Reach Out Recovery identifies conditions that may trigger internet addiction or compulsions, including anxiety, depression, other addictions, social isolation and stress.8 Internet activity may stimulate your brain’s reward system, much like drugs and alcohol, providing a constant source of information and entertainment. While each person’s internet use is different, the results may be the same. Long-term effects may include:

Irritation when someone interrupts your interaction online Difficulty completing tasks
Increasing isolation Experiencing euphoria while online
Inability to stop despite the consequences Increasing stress

Physical Effects of Internet Withdrawal

The physical and mental effects of addiction, coupled with the physical effects of withdrawal, may increase your risks for long-term health conditions. In a study involving 144 people between the ages of 18 and 33, researchers discovered both heart rate and blood pressure are affected in those who report spending extended periods of time online.9

Past research has associated cold turkey withdrawal of the internet from heavy users will produce anxiety type symptoms, similar to those experienced by people addicted to drugs or alcohol.10 The current study also linked physiological changes, including an average of a 3% to 4% increase in blood pressure and heart rate of the participants.11 Some participants experienced up to an 8% increase.

This was the first controlled demonstration of physiological changes triggered by internet use.12 The increases noted during the study were not enough to be immediately life-threatening; however, these types of changes are associated with anxiety and a reduction in the function of the immune system.

The changes in anxiety levels may also be a physiological trigger for users to re-engage with their digital devices in order to reduce the physical response and anxiety level. Dr. Lisa Osborne, co-author of the study from Swansea University, commented:13

“A problem with experiencing physiological changes like increased heart rate is that they can be misinterpreted as something more physically threatening, especially by those with high levels of anxiety, which can lead to more anxiety, and more need to reduce it.”

In other words, especially in people who may experience anxiety more frequently, the physical symptoms of internet withdrawal may increase their anxiety and lead to behaviors to reduce it — namely, going back to using the internet.

Putting Down Your Phone May Raise Your Anxiety Level

Forty percent of the participants in this study admitted they had some level of an internet-related problem and acknowledged they spent too much time online. Participants reportedly spent an average of five hours each day on the internet and 20% spent over six hours a day. By far the most common reasons for engaging online were social media and shopping.

Previous studies from this same group of researchers have demonstrated study participants would experience short-term increases in anxiety levels when their digital devices were removed.14 When those devices were removed for longer periods of time, they reported increases in loneliness and depression, with some researchers finding changes to the actual structures in the brain.

Research psychologist Larry Rosen, Ph.D., and his colleagues at California State University looked at the effect technology has had on our anxiety levels. They have found the typical person checks their phone every 15 minutes, whether or not they heard a notification from the device. In his words you may be thinking:15

“Gee, I haven’t [checked] in [on] Facebook in a while. I haven’t checked on this Twitter feed for a while. I wonder if somebody commented on my Instagram post.”

These thoughts generate increased secretion of cortisol, which begins to increase your anxiety levels. Eventually, you notice the rising anxiety and seek a way to reduce the experience. Checking in to your social network on your phone may be one of the ways you’ve found to reduce your anxiety.

The authors of the study from Swansea University speculate that internet use is driven by more than short-term excitement or the joy of using technology. Instead, it may produce negative physiological and psychological changes, such as anxiety that may drive you back to the device that is causing the problem in the first place.16

Multiple studies from around the world have demonstrated overuse of the internet and digital devices leads to physical and psychological symptoms of addiction17 and family dysfunction.18 Poor health, unhappiness and depression were found in men and women who report overuse of the internet, but depressed girls demonstrate a higher rate of internet addiction than boys.19 Overall, those with an addiction to the internet have lower impulsivity control.20

Google Would Like You to Keep on Using

It should come as no surprise that companies that make money when more people spend more time and money on the internet are consciously trying to manipulate your behavior. Former Google product manager Tristan Harris revealed how digital giants are engineering smartphone apps and social media feedback to get you checking and double-checking online.21

However, while internet use is more socially acceptable, digital companies aren’t the only businesses using neurological and psychological strategies to increase their profit margins.22 Behavior patterns are often etched into neural pathways,23 and when those behaviors are also linked to hormone secretion and physiological responses, they become even more powerful.

In fact, Harris describes the reward process of using a smartphone as “playing the slot machine.”24 And, Google has discovered a way to embed that reward system as you use the apps on your phone. This process is so important to digital corporations that Apple turned down a smartphone app for their store that would help people to reduce their use of the internet and their smartphones.

The goal of any corporation is to increase your use of their product and the potential you will spend more money with them. In the case of smartphone devices, these companies are contributing to programing your actions, and how you think and feel. This is how companies satisfy their advertisers, who are paying for the privilege of your eyes on their ads.

Have You Been ‘Brain Hacked?’

Some programmers call this process “brain hacking,” as they incorporate more information from neuropsychology into the development of digital interfaces that increase your interaction with the program. For instance, getting likes on Facebook and Instagram, the “streaks” on Snapchat or cute emojis on text messaging, are all designed to increase your engagement and desire to return.

The continual scroll on Facebook keeps you engaged on the page longer, with a greater chance you’ll click an advertisement on the page. Keeping a “streak” alive on Snapchat keeps you coming back to the app, especially when you have multiple streaks going with multiple people.

Harris describes it as a race to the bottom of the brainstem where fear and anxiety live, two of the most powerful motivators known to advertisers. Both advertisers and computer software developers are using these techniques to write code that will engage your attention.25

More Physical Effects From Your Digital Devices

Unfortunately, your engagement is not the only physiological or psychological change these techniques trigger in your brain and your body. This short video highlights several changes you may experience after hours of digital use. However, there are also permanent changes that occur to the structure of your brain after watching a flickering screen for hours.

One of the functional changes you may have noticed is a reduced ability to think deeply about one subject.26 The focus of gathering information online often results in you flitting from one website to another as the topic of your research changes, as portrayed in the video above. Another way of saying this is a constant state of distraction, disruption and interruption from notifications and website engagement.

Nicholas Carr, author of the book, “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” finds in the years after publication, with rising use of digital devices, millennials are experiencing even greater problems with forgetfulness than seniors.27 This is the “dark side” of neurological plasticity that allows your brain to adapt to changes in your environment. This type of plasticity is one way your brain recovers after a stroke has permanently damaged one area.

The truth is, as your brain is plastic, most everything you do and practice will change your brain.28 Using the internet may damage your ability to remember facts, but it also appears to improve your ability to research information. However, a few positive changes may not outweigh the negative aspects of long-term internet overuse. For instance, brain scans indicate those who use the internet consistently have a reduced amount of gray matter.29,30

A loss of white matter,31,32 reduced cortical thickness33,34 and impaired cognitive functioning35 are other brain structure and functional changes that have been demonstrated from long-term internet use. It is impossible to ignore that these devices are changing your brain structure, and the experience is also increasing your exposure to microwave radiation and large amounts of blue light at night, thereby impacting your body’s ability to produce melatonin.

In 2011, the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer declared cellphones a Group 2b “possible human carcinogen”36 related to the microwave radiation emitted from the phone. Even cellphone manufacturers place warnings on their products to keep them at least 1 inch from your body.37

Yet another challenge to using digital devices is the blue light emitted from the screens, which reduce your melatonin and signal your body to wake up. You may be able to reduce this effect by wearing blue-blocking sunglasses after sundown, and turning off your digital devices at the same time.

Meditation May Reduce Your Withdrawal Symptoms

Consider setting a goal to reduce your screen time and digital communication. In the video above, Julie Schiffman demonstrates the use of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to reduce stress and anxiety.

These are strategies you may easily use in public or private to assist your efforts to reduce your screen time — whether on your phone, computer or on your tablet. Remember, the physiological, structural and psychological changes occur no matter what type of device you’re using.

from:    https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/07/02/digital-dependence.aspx?ui=f460707c057231d228aac22d51b97f2a8dcffa7b857ec065e5a5bfbcfab498ac&sd=20211017&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art3HL&cid=20240702&foDate=true&mid=DM1595456&rid=62577783

Money, Vaccines, Chickens, and Cows – Oh, and You

(Superlong, but if you are interested, the full text is here before it is deleted from Mercola’s site in 48 hours.

PS:  It seems Mercola has a new “”guru”, so sometimes his stuff gets a bit questionable.  This, however, seems OK:)

Bird Flu — Another Attempt to Control the Food System and Make a Profit

Analysis by Ashley Armstrong

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • Fearmongering around bird flu mirrors COVID-19 responses, with calls for testing, social distancing, and vaccination in the agricultural sector. New RFID tagging requirements for dairy cows represent potential government overreach, aimed at increased animal tracking and control
  • Development of mRNA vaccines for bird flu in both humans and animals raises concerns about potential mandatory vaccinations and their impact on the food supply
  • FDA warnings against raw milk consumption lack evidence of foodborne transmission of bird flu to humans and may serve to protect industrial dairy interests. The centralization of the food system has led to a 72% decrease in small farms over the last 90 years, emphasizing the need to support small-scale farmers directly
  • The H5N1 virus may have origins in gain-of-function research, potentially emerging from a lab rather than occurring naturally in wild birds
  • Mass culling of poultry in response to outbreaks has led to over 92 million chickens being slaughtered since 2022, often using inhumane methods

Let the fearmongering begin (again)! Propaganda efforts are making people believe humans can die from the bird flu and that we must “do our part” in preventing the next global pandemic. Wear masks, social distance, sanitize everything, get tested, get vaccinated … It’s kind of like “COVID-19,” but now in dairy cows!

microscope

Image from imgflip.com

Similar to “wear masks, stay home, practice social distancing and sanitize everything,” the United States Department of Agriculture is now encouraging farmers to regularly test animals, test the milk weekly, register livestock, step up the use of personal protective equipment, limit traffic onto their farms, and increase cleaning and disinfection practices.

“The most important step we can take today is biosecurity. I am calling on producers to use our resources to enhance their biosecurity measures and states and producers to opt in to our support programs and herd monitoring programs, which are designed to limit the spread of this disease in dairy cattle.” — Secretary of the USDA Tom Vilsack.

good biosecurity

Image from www.desmoinesregister.com. Article written by the secretary of the USDA (Tom Vilsack), spreading the message that it is up to the farmers to comply to biosecurity methods to stop the spread.

Similar to “toilet paper shortages,” now there are limitations on number of egg cartons purchased at some stores in Australia as bird flu spreads rapidly across large poultry farms. (Are meat and dairy products next?)

buying limit on eggs

Figure: Coles is one of the two largest supermarket chains in Australia.

Similar to summer event cancellations in 2020 and 2021, state fairs and livestock events are requiring testing1 and some are even being canceled this summer due to the bird flu.2

shiawassee country fair cancellation

What’s next?

  • Lock downs of cows and chickens inside barns to reduce the spread?
  • Mandatory avian influenza testing?
  • Mandatory mRNA vaccination of all livestock to “solve the problem?”
  • Force farm employees to wear personal protective equipment (PPE)?
bird flu spread from poultry to cattle to humans

Image from ncnewsline.com

This is all a little déjà vu, isn’t it? Can you believe they are trying this again? And all of this may be obvious to you, but when you tune into any mainstream media account right now, people ARE buying it! And there is a massive amount of fearmongering and discussions on “why we should be concerned,” “what to do to prevent a spread.”

For example, Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN produced an “Are We Prepared for Bird Flu” fearmongering special.3 The CDC is now predicting that the next pandemic will be from the bird flu.

“Once the virus gains the ability to attach to the human receptor and then go human to human, that’s when you’re going to have the pandemic … I think it’s just a matter of time.” — Dr. Redfield, former CDC director.

News agencies from across the country are saying the exact same thing. So, is that really “news?” Or has it become propaganda again? Reporting what they want us to hear to spread fear. So in this article, let’s discuss how this bird flu “pandemic” is an attempt to obtain complete control of the food system.

“Who controls the food supply controls the people.” — Henry Kissinger

I will also touch on what YOU can do to help stop spread the fearmongering — helping others better understand why these types of events are occurring can hopefully help prevent people from falling for this. (AGAIN!)

What Is ‘Bird Flu’

According to According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “H5N1 is one of several influenza viruses that causes a highly infectious respiratory disease in birds called avian influenza (or ‘bird flu’).” The “bird flu” is not new — it is something agriculture has dealt with for a long time. The CDC actually outlines the history of Avian Influenza from 1880 — 2024 here.

Dr. Mercola wrote about this in 2006 in his book “The Great Bird Flu Hoax:” “The U.S. government is now practically screaming that a new avian super-flu will likely kill millions of Americans. The mainstream media is entirely onboard, as are drug companies and other corporations poised to benefit immensely off the paranoia. But there is NO coming bird flu pandemic.

It’s an elaborate scheme contrived by the government and big business for reasons that boil down to power and money.” Are they really trying this again?

GOF Origins?

While I do not think humans should be concerned, there is no denying that H5N1 can cause problems for birds. Many people say that H5N1 comes from wild birds — but is Nature really something we should be fearing or trying to separate ourselves from? Where did the strain come from and why is it so problematic? Are there other origins?

Gain-of-function (GOF) research seeks to alter the functional characteristics of a virus to “help” public health experts better understand how viruses can spread and better plan for future pandemics.

In 2010, there was controversial GOF research on avian flu viruses where strains of the H5N1 bird flu viruses were intentionally made to be transmissible via respiratory droplets among ferrets. These studies were funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Dr. Anthony Fauci. Bill Gates has also funded gain-of-function research on H5N1.4

In 2011, the scientists reported that they were successful in modifying the avian H5N1 virus so that it was transmissible between mammals, making the entire situation riskier for humans.5

After being put on pause for a period of time, federal funding for these controversial research projects quietly resumed in 2019.6 And GOF critics have repeatedly discussed the human risks if the virus escaped (or released) from a lab.

Did the current H5N1 strain come from a lab? Were migrating birds infected, which then traveled across the world and country infecting a number of poultry and livestock facilities around the world? There are individuals investigating potential lab origins of HPAI through gain of function research.7

“Genetic analysis indicates that genotype B3.13 emerged in 2024 and exhibits genetic links to genotype B1.2, which was identified to have originated in Georgia in January 2022 after the start of serial passage research with H5Nx clade 2.3.4.4 in mallard ducks at the USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) in Athens, Georgia in April 2021.”

bird flu existential choice

Us humans will NEVER win the war against Mother Nature, as She will ALWAYS outsmart us. Image from www.theatlantic.com

Unfortunately, there is now troubling censorship that was recently instated to better control the narrative. Robert Malone reported that in June of this year, amendments to the WHO IHR (International Health Regulations) were illegally approved and prepared behind closed doors.8

“Although the ‘Article 55’ rules and regulations for amending the IHR explicitly require that ‘the text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to all States Parties by the Director-General at least four months before the Health Assembly at which it is proposed for consideration,’ the requirement of four months for review was disregarded in a rush to produce some tangible deliverable from the Assembly …

The IHR amendments retain troubling language regarding censorship. These provisions have been buried in Annex 1,A.2.c., which requires State Parties to ‘develop, strengthen and maintain core capacities … in relation to … surveillance … and risk communication, including addressing misinformation and disinformation.'”9

Now Cows and Humans Get Bird Flu

But the bird flu now involves more than just birds … this year marks the first “bird to cow” and “cow to human” transmission.

A multi-state outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in dairy cows was first reported on March 25, 2024. And according to the CDC, there are now 12 states with outbreaks in dairy cows with a total of 126 dairy herds affected.10

According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, however, most sick cows recover within a few days.

The first reported human case in the US was a dairy farmer in Texas who developed pinkeye earlier this year. “Swab testing” was used to determine this dairy farmer had the same strain of bird flu, H5N1, that is supposedly circulating in dairy cows.

Altogether, there have been four human cases in the U.S., and none involved person-to-person spread — all were infected after exposure to animals presumed to have bird flu. With the goal of spreading fear, the World Health Organization reported that the first human has died from the avian influenza in Mexico on April 24th.

A few important details they do not include in headlines is that this individual had many pre-existing conditions, had no exposure to poultry or other animals, and was bedridden for three weeks prior to the onset of avian flu symptoms.

This accusation by WHO that this man died from the bird flu was denied by the Mexican Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer.11 Jorge Alcocer said the 59-year-old man died from other causes, mainly kidney and respiratory failure, NOT the bird flu.

“I can point out that the statement made by the World Health Organization is pretty bad, since it speaks of a fatal case (of bird flu), which was not the case.” — Jorge Alcocer

While the individual who died may have tested positive for H5N2, the current “fear” in the U.S. is the spread of the H5N1 strain in dairy cows. In 2008, scientists documented how testing positive for H5N2 may just be a result of seasonal flu vaccines or antiviral medications.

“A history of seasonal influenza vaccination might be associated with H5N2-neutralizing antibody positivity.12 These results suggest that the administration of Tamiflu (an antiviral) may affect the results of HI tests for H5N2 virus.”13

Again, doesn’t all of this sound so familiar? Pre-existing conditions, false positive faulty testing, fear, misinformation …

False Testing

Just like with COVID, government agencies are relying on PCR tests as they ramp up testing for bird flu. But PCR tests are extremely inaccurate and lead to significant levels of false positives.14

PCR testing works by replicating tiny fragments of DNA or RNA until they become large enough to identify. The fragments are replicated in cycles, and each cycle doubles the amount of genetic material in the sample. The number of cycles required to create an identifiable sample is the “cycle threshold” (CT). A high CT means many cycles were required to “detect” a virus.

“A persistent sticking point with the PCR test is that it picks up dead viral debris, and by excessively magnifying those particles with CTs in the 40s, noninfectious individuals are labeled as infectious and told to self-isolate.

In short, media and public health officials have conflated ‘cases’ — positive tests — with the actual illness.” — Dr. Mercola, written about PCR testing with COVID. But now we this can be applied to the current bird flu situation.

In December 2020, even the WHO warned that using a high CT would lead to false-positive results. Moreover, Kary Mullis, who won the Nobel Prize for inventing the PCR test, has said it is inappropriate to use the test as a diagnostic tool to detect a viral infection.15

Yet the government is mass producing and encouraging PCR testing with no reporting on CTs. A big part of the CDCs new $93 million plan to reduce the impact of bird flu involves testing.16 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not respond to “The Defender’s” inquiry about which CTs are used to test animals for bird flu.17

False positives can help them spread fear, encourage vaccinations, and mandate the mass killing of cattle herds of chicken flocks.

Proposed Solutions

Former CDC Director Tom Frieden, outlined how he thinks the US should respond:18

1)Rapid response — Test, isolate, cull livestock

2)Trust the government and comply, with this type of messaging — “It’s up to our farmers to comply and report testing”

3)Coordination amongst state and federal agencies to monitor more farms

The USDA requires that infected farms depopulate (kill) their flocks to better contain the virus and stop the spread. “The virus, however, is fatal to birds, and state and federal officials require all poultry in infected flocks to be killed to prevent its spread.”19 These mass killings (or “depopulations”) are paid for with public dollars through a USDA Program.20

On June 25, the Feds have paid Michigan farms $81 million to recoup the loss of having to cull millions of birds.21 More than $73 million of that $81 million was provided to the state’s largest egg producer, Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch. Nearly 6.5 million chickens (more than 40% of the state’s egg layers) were depopulated in early 2024.

flocks infected by bird flu

Image from www.mlive.com

Roughly $1 billion has been paid out nationwide since the highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N1, started spreading in January 2022. Nationwide, large corporate egg producers have received some of the biggest payments to cover the cost of culling their flocks. For example, Jennie-O was provided $105 million, Tyson Foods was provided $29 million, and Cal-Main Foods $22 million.22

More than 92 million chickens have been slaughtered since the recent outbreak began in 2022. And in June of this year, 4.2 million birds were killed at a farm in Sioux County, Iowa. (Why were there 4.2 million chickens at a single farm?)

Corporations are compensated for the mass killings despite the utilization of inhumane depopulation methods that are not approved by animal welfare organizations. More than 80% of the mass culling here in the US use VSD+ (ventilation shut down plus), which is a cheaper option and is banned in other countries. Air is closed off to the barns and heat is pumped in until the temps rise above 104 °F, essentially cooking the birds alive.

In a mass killing of 5 million birds in March 2022 at Remembrandt Foods, some employees reported that it took about a month to pull the dead poultry from the cages and dump them into carts before piling the birds into nearby fields and buried in huge pits.

egg factory farm

Image from www.vox.com

Is the massacre of millions of birds really the best way to handle this situation? (It isn’t working, as “avian flu” outbreaks continue to pop up!) What if flocks are massacred due to a single false positive test? What about the concept of “natural immunity?”

The “cull the whole flock with one positive test” approach of approach will just lead to a reduction in the nation’s food supply (or even food shortages) and will lead to even more centralization and regulation in the food supply that is getting worse each year.

Dairy Cow Tracking

The USDA used the H5N1 fearmongering to push a ruling through on April 26th of this year that RFID ear tags are now required for dairy cattle for an “efficient animal disease traceability system.”

Or … is it a way to monitor, track and control the total number of and movement of dairy cows? A way to keep records of mRNA vaccinations, pharmaceuticals and other protocols to maintain in control?

RFID (radio-frequency identification) tagging involves small devices that use radio frequencies to transfer data, mainly to track and identify objects, animals and people.

R-CALF USA is speaking out against this new ruling: “[T]he beneficiaries of this rule are not cattle producers or consumers. Instead, this rule is intended to benefit multinational beef packers and multinational ear tag manufacturers who will profit at the expense of cattle producers and consumers.

In fact, because the rule is cost-prohibitive for independent cattle producers, the agency is using millions of taxpayer dollars to give millions of their unnecessary EID ear tags away … We will fight against the implementation of this disastrous rule that infringes on the freedoms and liberties of our nation’s independent cattle farmers and ranchers. This is government overreach at its worst.” — R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard.

Vaccines

The CDC still says, “the human health risk assessment remains low,” yet there is extensive vaccine development.

Finland is now the first country to roll out the experimental bird flu vaccine and purchased vaccines for 10,000 people in mid-June,23 from manufacturer CSL Seqirus. This first round is intended for those “most at risk,” including farm workers and veterinarians. This purchase is part of the 40 million vaccine deal the EU has secured with CSL Seqirus.

This “Zoonotic Influenza vaccine Seqirus” (a two-dose vaccine, given 3 weeks apart) was authorized by European regulators based on immunogenicity studies showing that it elicited immune responses that scientists THINK would be protective against avian influenza.24 (How is “we think so” enough?)

The flu vaccine is traditionally made with eggs, and this has scientists worried. “A majority of the approved vaccines are created by incubating doses in chicken eggs, but the [bird flu’s] rate of fatality among poultry poses an issue for these vaccines.”25 So, many manufacturers are shifting towards more mRNA vaccine development.

“The bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cows is prompting development of new, next-generation mRNA vaccines — akin to COVID-19 shots — that are being tested in both animals and people.”26

The University of Pennsylvania is developing an mRNA vaccines for the bird flu using the same techniques that produced the COVID vaccines. According to a May 28th report from the Global Center for Health Security, “[a]n experimental mRNA vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu is highly effective in preventing severe illness and death in lab animals, researchers report.”27

Moderna and Pfizer are also competing for federal contracts to build a national stockpile of mRNA vaccines targeted toward the new bird flu.28

24 different companies are working towards the development of a bird flu vaccine for cows.29 Mandatory chicken and dairy cow mRNA vaccinations would then mean we are exposed to mRNA vaccines through our food.

We definitely do not need more vaccines, as more and more studies are coming out documenting that health complications skyrocketed shortly after the Covid vaccinations were released in 2020.30,31,32 From Dr. Joseph Sansone:

“Dr. Francis Boyle, the Harvard educated law professor that drafted the 1989 Biological Weapons and Antiterrorism Act, which passed both houses of Congress unanimously, provided an affidavit stating that Covid 19 injections and mRNA nanoparticle injections violate the law he wrote.

Dr. Boyle asserted that ‘COVID 19 injections,’ ‘COVID 19 nanoparticle injections,’ and ‘mRNA nanoparticle injections’ are biological weapons and weapons of mass destruction and violate Biological Weapons 18 USC § 175; Weapons and Firearms § 790.166 Fla. Stat. (2023).”33

War on Raw Milk

There also seems to be a war on raw milk amidst all this fearmongering. The FDA is now encouraging states to discourage and stop sales of raw milk to prevent human bird flu spread.34 If you tune into various news reports from across the country, the message is similar:

“Eggs and pasteurized milk and dairy products from the store are safe to consume. But the FDA warns against the consumption of raw milk.”

The suggestion to avoid raw milk is listed twice on the list of CDC recommendations:

  • People should avoid exposures to sick or dead animals, including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds, and other wild or domesticated animals (including cows), if possible.
  • People should also avoid exposures to animal poop, bedding (litter), unpasteurized (“raw”) milk, or materials that have been touched by, or close to, birds or other animals with suspected or confirmed A(H5N1) virus, if possible.
  • People should not drink raw milk. Pasteurization kills A(H5N1) viruses, and pasteurized milk is safe to drink.
  • People who have job-related contact with infected or potentially infected birds or other animals should be aware of the risk of exposure to avian influenza viruses and should take proper precautions. People should wear appropriate and recommended personal protective equipment when exposed to an infected or potentially infected animal(s). CDC has recommendations for worker protection and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

There is no evidence supporting foodborne transmission of HPAI to humans. In fact, the FDA and USDA concluded in 2010 that “HPAIV is not considered to be a foodborne pathogen.”35 HPAI in humans is linked to transmission via animal contact, not by foods.36

The only demonstrated transmission is direct contact with animals — not a single human has developed bird flu from milk.

“Recent risk communications from CDC, FDA, and USDA regarding transmission of influenza A sub-type H5N1 (highly pathogenic avian influenza virus or HPAI) to humans via raw milk include no supporting evidence of viral transmission from raw milk to humans in the peer-reviewed literature …

An extensive body of scientific evidence from the peer-reviewed literature introduced herein does not support the assumption by these US government agencies that HPAI transmits to humans via milkborne or foodborne routes and causes disease. Nor does the scientific evidence support the recommendation that consumers should avoid raw milk and raw milk products.”37

And something that the FDA really doesn’t want you to know is that there is no guarantee that pasteurization truly kills the virus.

When explaining why raw milk is not safe, many government agencies use this study with mice, saying heat treatment to the milk significantly reduces the HPAI virus titers. But the conclusion of the study is very, very important “bench-top experiments do not recapitulate commercial pasteurization processes.”

Enter this study that the FDA and mainstream media isn’t talking about which demonstrates that standard pasteurization protocols in the US for milk isn’t enough to actually inactivate the virus since this virus seems to handle heat surprisingly well.

And on top of that, raw milk has a number of antiviral properties and pasteurized milk does not contain.38

The “pasteurized milk at the store is safe, and raw milk is very unsafe and is filled with bird flu” messaging encourages consumers to continue supporting these MEGA CAFO dairy farmers, and discourages consumers from supporting smaller dairy farms raising cows in synchronicity with Mother Nature.

So no, avoiding raw milk won’t stop human spread. But it will encourage more of a centralized food system.

The FDA’s messaging to avoid consumption of raw milk and raw milk products do not appear to be based on scientific evidence, but instead seem to be stemming from the desire to protect the centralized dairy industry.

FDA and USDA will never do anything to compromise the dairy industry, as the dairy industry spends millions of dollars on lobbying each year to keep control.

Confinement Operations Aren’t Working

With the repeated “outbreaks” occurring in poultry flocks year after year, isn’t it obvious that the current industrial agriculture system IS NOT working?

Why aren’t government agencies discussing how diseases easily spread when animals are stuffed in buildings, overcrowded and locked in confinement? Can you imagine if you were stuffed into a home with thousands of people — wouldn’t it be hard not to get sick?

In CAFOs, animals are often regularly on antibiotics due to the close living conditions. Can a body with a wiped-out gut microbiome handle any amount of disease?

Mega confinement barns, extreme biosecurity, separation from nature, vaccinations and antibiotics — it doesn’t work! But it does help them maintain food control and is a profitable business model for big ag, big pharma, and big food companies.

The development of a vaccine and culling birds is much more profitable path for addressing bird flu relative to the natural immunity path.

What You Can Do

The solution is clear — stop supporting their system. Buy from farmers. Remember, the messaging and fearmongering around the bird flu is intentional, with the goal of developing even more food control. Everything through their centralized food system is “safe” — so you can trust the food at grocery stores is safe from HPAI. (So they say …)

Instead, the messaging should be “know where your food comes from, know your farmer and know how the animals are raised.” This discussion on food sourcing and knowing your food comes from is not profitable for industrial ag because they get $0 from that sale, so it isn’t brought up.

The centralization of the food system and shift in farming styles has been somewhat successful in benefiting the big corporations and maintaining food control, while hurting farmers. The size of farms has increased, while the number of farms has shrunk (opposite of what we want for low toxin, nutrient-dense food production.)

In fact, the number of small farms has decreased by over 72% in the last 90 years — in 1935 there were 6.8 million farms, and in 2023 there were 1.89 million farms.

“It is very hard as a farmer to be profitable in the conventional system, so more and more farms are going out of business. And many farms that are in business require an off the farm job to pay the bills.”

We are losing small scale farmers more and more each year, and they need your support to stay in business!

Moral of the story — whenever you can, buy directly from farmers, Cooperatives, or buyers’ clubs — these type of food systems support small-scale, toxin free farming. The prices may be more expensive, but farmers are paid a fair wage and produce higher quality food products.

Plus, with these type of transactions, the big agriculture companies get $0 of this sale, funneling less money into their system. And on top of that, remain grounded and maintain common sense as we head into the next round of bird flu fearmongering.

About the Author

Ashley Armstrong is the cofounder of Angel Acres Egg Co., which specializes in low-PUFA (polyunsaturated fat) eggs that are shipped to all 50 states (join waitlist here), and Nourish Cooperative, which ships low-PUFA pork, beef, cheese, A2 dairy and traditional sourdough to all 50 states. Waitlists will reopen shortly.

from:    https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/07/02/bird-flu.aspx?ui=f460707c057231d228aac22d51b97f2a8dcffa7b857ec065e5a5bfbcfab498ac&sd=20211017&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20240702&foDate=true&mid=DM1595456&rid=62577783

Interpreting Ambiguous Laws Reconsidered

Good News: Supreme Court Overturns ‘Chevron Deference’ In Massive Blow To ‘Administrative State’

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled 6-3 to upend the 40-year administrative law precedent that gave agencies across the federal government leeway to interpret ambiguous laws through rulemaking. Many conservatives blamed this law for the dramatic overgrowth of government and for excessive power given to unelected regulators. Now, judges will substitute their own best interpretation of the law, instead of deferring to the agencies – effectively making it easier to overturn regulations that govern wide-ranging aspects of American life. This includes rules governing climate change, energy policies, toxic chemicals, drugs and medicine, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and much more.

.The Supreme Court has ruled to overturn the so-called ‘Chevron Deference’ dealing a huge blow to the so-called ‘administrative state’ that have enjoyed

In an 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority upended the 40-year administrative law precedent that gave agencies across the federal government leeway to interpret ambiguous laws through rulemaking.

Conservatives and Republican policymakers have long been critical of the doctrine, saying it has contributed to the dramatic growth of government and gives unelected regulators far too much power to make policy by going beyond what Congress intended when it approved various laws. The authority of regulatory agencies has been increasingly questioned by the Supreme Court in recent years.

Those on the other side say the Chevron doctrine empowers an activist federal government to serve the public interest in an increasingly complicated world without having to seek specific congressional authorization for everything that needs to be done.

As The Hill report, judges previously had to defer to agencies in cases where the law is ambiguous.

Now, judges will substitute their own best interpretation of the law, instead of deferring to the agencies – effectively making it easier to overturn regulations that govern wide-ranging aspects of American life.

This includes rules governing toxic chemicals, drugs and medicine, climate change, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and more.

The move hands a major victory to conservative and anti-regulatory interests that have looked to eliminate the precedent as part of a broader attack on the growing size of the “administrative state.”

The Biden administration defended the precedent before the high court.

As Mark Joseph Stern writes on X:

“Today’s ruling is a massive blow to the ‘administrative state’, the collection of federal agencies that enforce laws involving the environment, food and drug safety, workers’ rights, education, civil liberties, energy policy—the list is nearly endless.”

“The Supreme Court’s reversal of Chevron constitutes a major transfer of power from the executive branch to the judiciary, stripping federal agencies of significant discretion to interpret and enforce ambiguous regulations.

Chief Justice Roberts, writing the opinion of the court, argued Chevron “defies the command of” the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs federal administrative agencies.

He said it “requires a court to ignore, not follow, ‘the reading the court would have reached had it exercised its independent judgment as required by the APA.’”

Further, he said it “is misguided” because “agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do.”

The liberals on the court are not happy:

“In dissent, Justice Kagan says the conservative supermajority “disdains restraint, and grasps for power,” making “a laughingstock” of stare decisis and producing “large-scale disruption” throughout the entire government. She is both furious and terrified.”

As Stern concludes:

“Hard to overstate the impact of this seismic shift.”

Simply put, a massive win for the constitution…

Read full article here…

From an account on X by LudwigNeverMises:

https://x.com/ludwignvermises/status/1807062441135608138

Maybe now people will understand why I’ve been criticizing RFK for complaining about Sackett vs EPA, the case that set up the overturning of Chevron.

“Kennedy was complaining loudly about a 2023 Supreme Court decision blocking the EPA from extending enforcement of the Clean Water Act to marshlands.

This was the biggest constitutionally based pushback on a regulatory agency in over a century and RFK called it horrible.”

The Chevron doctrine required courts to defer to an agency’s “reasonable” interpretation of an ambiguous statute, effectively giving regulators full lawmaking ability.

In the Sackett case, the Supreme Court made a historic ruling challenging the EPA’s interpretation that the Clean Water Act included marshlands as being “not reasonable” thereby removing the agencies authority to regulate the Sackett’s property.

This opened up the rest of the regulatory agencies “reasonable” interpretations up to question, leading to the reversal of the Chevron decision which gave them broad power to interpret law.

The Chevron doctrine in 1984 was merely codifying agency overreach which had already been happening for a century.

But its overturning makes that agency overreach explicitly unlawful, which undermines the entire unaccountable regulatory bureaucracy. And makes it the most significant case against the administrative state since it began to take root during the progressive era, over a century ago.

from:    https://needtoknow.news/2024/07/good-news-supreme-court-overturns-chevron-deference-in-massive-blow-to-administrative-state/

Well, We Know Who Wants Dominion…

WE ARE 100% INDEPENDENT AND READER-FUNDED. FOR A GUARANTEED AD-FREE EXPERIENCE AND TO SUPPORT REAL NEWS, PLEASE SIGN UP HERE, TODAY.

Dominion Machines Under Scrutiny After ‘Hundreds’ of Discrepancies Detected in Primary.

Dominion Voting Systems’ electronic voting machines contract with the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is under threat after contentious primaries produced upset results. According to election officials, some machines reported zero votes for certain candidates or reversed count totals. Counts reported by machines were also sometimes lower than paper counts.

“The concern is that we obviously have elections in November, and we must provide the [island] not only with the assurance that the machine produces a correct result but also that the result it produces is the same one that is reported,” said Jessika Padilla, interim president of Puerto Rico’s elections commission. She attributed the issues to problems in the machines’ software.

The Vice President of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, José Varela, is attempting to summon Padilla to a public hearing on Thursday to address the issues, warning, “We cannot allow the public’s confidence in the voting process to continue to be undermined as we approach the general elections.” Dominion’s current contract with Puerto Rico expires at the end of the month.

America First conservatives raised concerns about Dominion machines’ reliability and security following Joe Biden’s contested victory in the 2020 election. The corporation responded by suing multiple people alleging issues with its systems, as well as news networks covering the allegations.

Last June, the Halderman Report exposed a range of “critical vulnerabilities” in Dominion machines. However, states, including Georgia, have left them in place, with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger telling the PhD computer scientists pressing for the issues to be addressed “tough noogies.”

from:    https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/06/12/dominion-machines-under-scrutiny-after-hundreds-of-discrepancies-detected-in-primary/

Signs of the TImes – Part 1

Right now the veils are thinner than they have been in many years, decades, perhaps even centuries.  Things are going to be seen that have not be seen before.  Actions will happen both on an individual stage and on a much larger one that seemingly have no precedence, that come out of nowhere and just happen, yet there is no feeling of resolution.  These are all steps, even blocks in the creation of a new paradigm.

 

Calling for Justice for the People

Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell is launching a new public safety nonprofit aimed at assisting the victims of violent crime and lobbying against a soft-on-crime push from progressives that he says has made the problem worse for years.

The Caldwell Institute for Public Safety has multiple missions aimed at combating the American crime crisis – support for victims, activism against progressive candidates who support soft-on-crime policies, and lobbying for public safety laws.

Caldwell said he enlisted a team of experts to help meet his goals. He brought in Dr. Drew Pinsky as well as a cousin who is a Ph.D. clinician to put together a mental health manual for victims’ families, he said.

CHICAGO SHOOTING DEATH OF FOX NEWS ANALYST GIANNO CALDWELL’S BROTHER REACHES YEAR WITHOUT ARREST

Fox News contributor Gianno Caldwell and his brother, Christian

Gianno Caldwell and his brother, Christian, in their last photo taken together. (Fox News Digital)

He also brought in Joel Fitzgerald, a longtime police chief whose son, also a police officer, was murdered in Philadelphia. Former Chicago prosecutor Dan Kirk worked with Fitzgerald to create a guidebook on how families can work with police and prosecutors.

And he put together instructions for families who want to pitch their stories to the press.

WATCH: Gianno Caldwell announces Caldwell Institute for Public Safety – Graphic content warning

“I can imagine what it feels like for the family that just lost their 7-year-old baby boy in Chicago this past week, or on June 24th, 2022, when my brother was murdered, little baby Cecilia, who was six months old, murdered. If you look at the numbers from 2021 to January 2022, over 276 children 16 and under had been shot and the city of Chicago. That’s one year’s time.

— Gianno Caldwell

“The other side of it, though, is going after these radical, progressive, soft-on-crime prosecutors, mayors and city council members, in some cases,” he told Fox News Digital. “I want to ensure that those who’ve radically reshaped our criminal justice system, funded by George Soros and others, that they are held to account.”

Part of that is helping traditional prosecutors campaign against progressives with backing from deep-pocketed benefactors like the billionaire Soros, he said. Another part is pushing legislators to take action against crime.

Those prosecutors include Kim Foxx, of Caldwell’s hometown in Cook County, Illinois, George Gascon in Los Angeles and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia, among others who have benefited from progressive donors.

“We’ll be doing lobbying for legislation that makes the community safer and lobbying against the legislation that endangers the lives, systematically, of the residents of particular communities,” he said.

GIanno Caldwell appears in a still taken from video announcing his new Caldwell Institute for Public Safety

Gianno Caldwell appears in a still image taken from the video announcing his new Caldwell Institute for Public Safety. His brother’s unsolved murder in Chicago prompted him to launch the nonprofit, he said. (Caldwell Institute for Public Safety)

‘AMERICA’S MOST WANTED’ HOST JOHN WALSH, FOX NEWS’ GIANNO CALDWELL SHARE PSA

“Donations are extraordinarily important,” he said. “This is a 501(c)(4), and we’re going to need the help and support of all of America to ensure that we can carry out this mission. I’m going up against a mega-billionaire who spent hundreds of millions of dollars in many races over the course of the years.”

It took years of Soros-like activism to bring society to this point, he said, and it could take years to right the ship.

“I recognize that this is a long fight that I have to take on, and I have to take on because I’ve been personally impacted, and I know the tragedy and the pain that comes with losing a loved one,” he added.

Gianno Caldwell and his younger brother Christian

Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell is still looking for answers after his 18-year-old brother, Christian, was fatally shot in Chicago. (Gianno Caldwell)

Two years ago Monday, Caldwell’s 18-year-old brother Christian died in a Chicago shooting.

$15K REWARD OFFERED IN CHICAGO SHOOTING OF FOX ANALYST GIANNO CALDWELL’S BROTHER

To date, no suspects have been arrested. Caldwell said he’s been in touch with investigators on a monthly basis and recently learned from the FBI’s Chicago office that there is a “warm lead.”

Chicago police said the case remains under investigation and that they had no other updates. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He hopes the institute will benefit other victims’ families as they navigate the trauma of losing a loved one to violent crime.

“My brother Christian, he wasn’t just my little brother, he was like my son,” Caldwell said. “He never had a dad around. So I was the one that took care of him. I was the one who took him to places, bought him school clothes, and those kinds of things.”

His brother was 18 and looking forward to starting college, he said. Then he became a victim of violent crime that crushes families from all backgrounds.

“This isn’t something that just impacts Black folks – it impacts White people, Hispanic people, Asian people, all Americans, all stripes, all income levels and all jurisdictions,” he said. “We need to know as Americans this issue impacts all of us, therefore, we all must fight this together.”

Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting that left Christian dead and two other victims injured on the 11400 block of South Vincennes Avenue.

Christian did not know the other victims, a 31-year-old man and 25-year-old woman.

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and Peter Petroff contributed to this report.

from:    https://www.foxnews.com/us/gianno-caldwell-calls-out-soros-backed-soft-on-crime-politicians-launches-institute-public-safety

Whither Goest Thou, Petro-dollar? And What Now?

Saudi Arabia Ends 80-Year-Old PetroDollar U.S. Agreement: Joins China-Led Central Bank Digital Currency Coalition

by Brian ShilhavyEditor, Health Impact News

This past Sunday (June 9, 2024) Saudi Arabia made the historical move to not renew an 80-year-old agreement with the United States that established the U.S. Dollar as the world currency to purchase Saudi oil, in what should have been headline news, but seems to have been blacklisted in U.S. financial news publications, even in alternative financial news publications such as ZeroHedge News.

Here is the coverage of this historic event from the The Business Standard, a Bangladeshi daily newspaper.

Saudi Arabia’s petro-dollar exit: A global finance paradigm shift

The crucial decision to not renew the contract enables Saudi Arabia to sell oil and other goods in multiple currencies, including the Chinese RMB, Euros, Yen, and Yuan, instead of exclusively in US dollars. 

Significant financial upheaval is potentially ahead of the financial world as Saudi Arabia has decided not to renew its 80-year petro-dollar deal with the United States.

The deal, which expired on Sunday 9 June, was a cornerstone of the United States global economic dominance.

Originally signed on 8 June 1974, the deal established two joint commissions, one based on economic cooperation and the other on Saudi Arabia’s military needs.

At the time, it was said that it heralded an era of close cooperation between the two countries, says Katja Hamilton of BizCommunity.

This latest development signifies a major shift away from the petrodollar system established in 1972, when the US decoupled its currency from gold, and is anticipated to hasten the global shift away from the US dollar. (Source.)

While I could find no major U.S. English publication covering this as headline news, there was plenty of discussion on Twitter/X.

One U.S. investor, Andrei Jikh, who has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube, published a video on just what the end of the petrodollar means, and that video has accumulated almost 1 million views over the past couple of days.

The video is just over 15 minutes long, but the facts regarding the end of the petrodollar is only covered in the first 12 minutes.

Everything after that is this investor’s views, including his view that people should continue investing in the U.S. Stock market and also invest in Bitcoin, certainly a view that myself and many others would not agree with.

But his summary of the history and significance of the Petrodollar is excellent, and well worth the 12 minutes to watch.

 

The petrodollar agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States included more than just the agreement to require the purchase of oil with U.S. dollars, as it also included a promise from the U.S. to protect Saudi Arabia militarily, and also contained provisions for establishing the State of Israel in 1948, something that President Roosevelt actually opposed, but was adopted by his successor, President Truman.

The Quincy Pact

Saudi Arabia reportedly did not renew “its 50-year petrodollar agreement with the United States”, an agreement that expired on Sunday, June 9, 2024.

While it is permissible to doubt the existence of a half-century-long agreement, it was indeed in 1974 that the petrodollar emerged. Three short years after the end of the Bretton Woods agreements.

From a historical perspective, the origins of the petrodollar date back even to 1945.

On his way back from the Yalta conference, President Roosevelt made a stop unbeknownst to the British along the Suez Canal. It was aboard his cruiser USS Quincy that he met King Abdulaziz Al Saud.

It will later be said that this meeting birthed the “Quincy Pact.”

This diplomatic anchorage went so well that Roosevelt offered his wheelchair to the Saudi king, who was also disabled.

Despite this goodwill, the king refused to allow Jewish settlement in Palestine.

However, the American president ensured the essential by sidelining British Petroleum in favor of American oil companies.

This tacit agreement prevented the creation of a Jewish state, but Roosevelt would die two months later. His successor, Harry Truman, would be a strong supporter of the founding of Israel.

He would recognize the Hebrew state 11 minutes after the Israelis declared themselves a nation, against the advice of his Secretary of State.

Henry Kissinger’s Masterstroke

It was in 1974 that the second historic meeting between the Saudis and the American government took place. Henry Kissinger had been Secretary of State for a year.

His mission? To impose the dollar on the ingrates of the old continent who dared to demand gold.

His strategy began with an intervention in favor of Israel in the Yom Kippur War.

[For more context, note that Henry Kissinger is Jewish. He fled Nazi Germany at the age of 15 and would return in uniform five years later to fight in France and Germany.]

In retaliation, Arab countries ceased their oil exports, primarily to European nations. The United States, for its part, was self-sufficient. By 1974, the price of a barrel had quadrupled, going from $3 to $12.

This oil embargo was all the easier to implement as the United States had been pushing for years for the emancipation of Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Libya from European companies (British Petroleum, Royal Dutch-Shell, and the French Petroleum Company, ex-Total).

Kissinger wanted the price of the barrel to explode to weaken the old continent. He knew well that the American army would have the last word if things escalated, allowing him to impose himself at the heart of international relations.

International discord would reach its peak when President Gerald Ford recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Hebrew state.

Petrodollar

In response, Saudi Arabia continued to raise the price of the barrel, without knowing that it was playing into the hands of Henry Kissinger, who would ultimately threaten to use force to remedy what he called “the strangulation of the industrialized world”. The London Sunday Times revealed in February 1975 the existence of the “Dhahran Option Four” plan, which planned to invade Saudi Arabia to take possession of its oil wells.

King Faisal would hear these drums of war very clearly. At the end of 1974, he finally gave in to Henry Kissinger’s demands, who promised him the unlimited sale of arms, a backpedal on the Jerusalem issue, and a return of Israel to its 1948 borders (plus a myriad of technologies).

In exchange, Saudi Arabia had to:

1. Sell its oil exclusively in dollars.
2. Invest its dollar surpluses in American debt (It was anyway impossible for a kingdom of 10 million inhabitants to spend the thousands of billions of petrodollars).

All OPEC countries would agree in 1975 to denominate their oil in dollars. Here are the broad lines of the genesis of the petrodollar. King Faisal would be assassinated on March 25, 1975, on the day of the Mawlid, the anniversary of the birth of the prophet Muhammad. Subsequently, Israel would never return to its 1948 borders. (Source.)

I was amazed that this news of the petrodollar agreement ending Sunday was barely mentioned, if mentioned at all, in the corporate news in the U.S.

for the rest of the article, go to:    https://healthimpactnews.com/2024/saudi-arabia-ends-80-year-old-petrodollar-u-s-agreement-joins-china-led-central-bank-digital-currency-coalition/