1449: Where's Munchnuts?

Anecdotally, I’ve become aware of an increasing number of people recently hospitalised for Pancreatitis. These people are not suspected to suffer from the most common causes of the illness, gallstones or alcohol abuse.

I did some searching and found some interesting results, such as:

https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/Fulltext/2022/01140/Acute_pancreatitis_soon_after_COVID_19.24.aspx

https://www.authorea.com/users/421813/articles/527679-a-case-of-acute-necrotising-pancreatitis-following-the-second-dose-of-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-mrna-vaccine

There are many more results. Pancreatitis is often said to be “the worst pain you can have besides child birth”. Will the number of cases grow with more boosters?

This is no good, if I’m reading this correctly, WHO would no longer have to consult with the states in a health emergency. Also, language is changed to reflect a POTENTIAL or ACTUAL emergency and not just a real emergency

Link

About a month ago, the "model" that the local government cited declared that "cases" would be ZERO by 3 May. That came and went.

Whereas they were reporting 29,000 cases PER DAY, a month ago, the latest numbers (7 May 2022) are under 4,000 (positive cases), with only about 180 being "symptomatic".

Since January 2022, the government says that in Shanghai, 563 people have died with "Corona virus" - and ALL had comorbidities and were elderly.

We anticipate that grocery stores will open and that we will be able to venture out of the compound by next Friday (13 May).

Bill gates said GERM team would cost $1 billion a year to support staff of 3000. Interesting math on that per person....

Vic

Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the exercise by any court of the United States of its power to punish for contempt.

(Added Sept. 23, 1950, ch. 1024, title I, § 31(a), 64 Stat. 1018; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

Link

Here’s a video I took of The Who playing a concert in Dallas on 5/5 at the American Airlines Center. They’re playing Join Together & flash images of Zelenksky & the Ukrainian flag on the TVs. Not useful audio unfortunately, but really wild to see that messaging in the moment.

https://youtube.com/shorts/zOjB-MnTox4?feature=share

Thanks for all you do,

-James

If it's a chain - it's free reign

70's Steal this Book

Link

This is no good, if I’m reading this correctly, WHO would no longer have to consult with the states in a health emergency. Also, language is changed to reflect a POTENTIAL or ACTUAL emergency and not just a real emergency

Link

including perjury and planting child porn evidence, in NXIVM case. Keith Raniere could get a new trial.

Link

Dear Adam,

Listening to Thursdays episode and just thought I'd mention that it's highly known in plant based communities, doctors, etc, if you're going vegan the one thing that's highly important is b12 intake. My kids and myself take b12 every week. So, please don't be too concerned for us vegans, I would be confident to say we are all aware we need B12. In fact, they've done studies and found most meat eaters don't get enough b12 either. It wouldn't hurt you to take some once a week either. Your body has b12 stores and you pee out any extra you don't need so you can't overdose.

No, we won't be eating bugs anytime. ;)

Also, when they do averages on kids, please remember that "underweight" is skewed because the average weight of kids these days is higher due to all the overweight kids. If they were to take the average weight from the 50s I'm pretty certain there would be no "underweight" vegans.

Love the show,

Rebecca

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 May 2022 17:20

The Georgia Tech cyber security experts ensnared in the Alfa Bank hoax conducted a retrospective analysis of the Democratic National Committee hack, according to the Department of Defense. While the results of that analysis have yet to be made public, internal documents obtained by The Federalist reveal that Georgia Tech's computer scientists believed CrowdStrike's approach to investigating computer intrusions relied on the use of easily ''spoofed/impersonated'' signals of traffic.

In June 2016, about one month before WikiLeaks released a trove of internal communiques revealing top DNC officials plotted to destroy Bernie Sanders' presidential ambitions in favor of their preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, the DNC publicly confirmed that its server had been hacked. In the Washington Post article breaking the story, the DNC maintained that the private security firm it had hired to investigate the hack, CrowdStrike, had concluded two Russian military intelligence groups, branded Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, bore responsibility for the intrusions.

Given that Democrats and the media would later rely on CrowdStrike's conclusion that Putin's agents had hacked the DNC to support the Russia collusion hoax, those seeking to unravel Spygate paid particular attention to CrowdStrike's initial assessment. The declassification of CrowdStrike President Shawn Henry's December 2017 testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, that ''there was no 'concrete evidence' that the emails were stolen electronically,'' later raised more ''questions about whether Special Counsel Robert Mueller, intelligence officials and Democrats misled the public'' about the hack.

In his final report, Mueller concluded ''that Russian intelligence 'appears to have compressed and exfiltrated over 70 gigabytes of data' and agents 'appear to have stolen thousands of emails and attachments' from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and DNC servers, respectively.'' But CrowdStrike remained the only publicly known source to support Mueller's conclusion. Given the numerous illegal efforts to frame Donald Trump as colluding with Russia exposed by then, conservatives were unwilling to trust either Mueller or CrowdStrike.

Concerns over CrowdStrike's analysis reemerged after Special Counsel John Durham indicted former Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann for allegedly lying to FBI General Counsel James Baker. That indictment and other documents filed in the Sussmann criminal case revealed that cyber-security experts assisted tech executive Rodney Joffe in crafting deceptive data and whitepapers to create the false appearance of a secret communication network between Trump and the Russian-based Alfa Bank. Sussmann then fed this ''intel'' to the CIA and FBI.

After the election, Sussmann also provided the CIA with deceptively cherry-picked data to suggest a connection between Trump or his transition team and Russians, using cyber-tracking of a Russian Yota cell phone. To compile both the Alfa Bank and Yota phone hoaxes, according to the indictment, Joffe exploited proprietary information he had access to because of his positions in various tech companies. More troubling still was the revelation that Joffe used sensitive data from the Executive Office of the President in his attempt to frame Trump.

This backdrop provided powder to the news The Federalist broke that Durham's team had asked Georgia Tech cybersecurity expert Manos Antonakakis ''point blank'' whether the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DAPRA) ''should be instructing you to investigate the origins of a hacker (Guccifer_2.0) that hacked a political entity (DNC).''

Antonakakis, according to documents obtained by The Federalist, told lead prosecutor Andrew DeFilippis '-- in a seeming confirmation that DARPA had directed him to investigate the DNC hack or hacker '-- that that was ''a question for DARPA's director.''

Within days, however, DARPA denied any involvement ''in efforts to attribute the DNC hack.'' Jared Adams, then the spokesmen for the agency, told the Washington Examiner that ''Dr. Antonakakis worked on DARPA's Enhanced Attribution program, which did not involve analysis of the DNC hack.'' The Washington Examiner further reported that Adams maintained ''DARPA was not involved in efforts to attribute the Guccifer 2.0 persona, nor any involvement in efforts to attribute the origin of leaked emails provided to Wikileaks.''

But then another document dump by Georgia Tech revealed the university's cybersecurity experts had drafted four ''DARPA whitepapers.'' Those included one ''Whitepaper on DNC attack attribution'' and a second identified as the '''Mueller List''--list of domains and indicator related to APT-28.'' (APT-28 is the more formal name for the Russian intelligence group of hackers known colloquially as Fancy Bear; Mueller would later charge 12 Russian intelligence agents with allegedly working as Fancy Bear with crimes related to the DNC hack.)

An email from Georgia's attorney general's office further indicated involvement by the tech researchers in Mueller's investigation. The lawyer handling Durham's subpoena of Georgia Tech noting that one of the individuals involved had ''indicated that there was a 'fairly large file of Trump related materials' that had been assembled for production to the office of Special Counsel Robert Muller (sic) or the DOJ.'' The state's lawyer added that they were ''unable to locate such a file,'' and sought further assistance.

Following The Federalist's reporting on this latest inconsistency between DARPA's story and what the documents obtained through Right To Know requests showed, Republican Sens. Ron Johnson and Charles Grassley sent a letter to Stefanie Tompkins, the director of DARPA, demanding copies of the alleged ''whitepapers.''

In their joint letter, the senators stressed that ''the DNC hack occurred during the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, which was marked by claims of meddling by foreign actors. Some of those claims have since been confirmed to be disinformation efforts by operatives from the Democratic campaign.'' ''As details continue to emerge,'' the letter continued, ''the public is rightly concerned about the extent to which various federal agencies investigated, validated, dispelled, or relied on these claims. Indeed, the credibility of some agencies has been called into question, and the public deserves a full accounting of federal officials' involvement in these activities.''

When contacted by The Federalist concerning Johnson and Grassley's letter, DARPA's new spokeswoman, Tabatha Thompson, noted it had received the letter and ''is following proper procedures to respond to the inquiry.'' In response to questions concerning the whitepapers that appeared connected to the Mueller investigation and the DNC hack, Thompson told The Federalist that, ''consistent with our previous statements, the research neither contributed to the Mueller investigation nor the investigation into the DNC hack or Guccifer 2.0 attribution.''

Thompson, however, then noted that contractors often conduct ''retrospective analyses of publicly disclosed, real-world scenarios to verify and validate tools and capabilities in development on the EA program,'' and that in the course of such programs, the contractors may ''produced reports, sometimes referred to as white papers, explaining the retrospective analyses on those topics, relying on commercially available data to analyze attributions previously disclosed to the public.'' ''For example,'' DARPA's representative, added, enhanced attribution ''performers analyzed indicators from publicly released DoJ indictments, such as the Mueller indictment, as well as public attribution reports from other federal agencies.''

In response to multiple requests from The Federalist for comment, Mark Schamel, the lawyer for Antonakakis, refused to go on the record with an explanation or to state whether the Georgia Tech whitepaper confirmed or contradicted CrowdStrike's conclusion that Russians had hacked the DNC. He also refused to answer whether the whitepaper had been provided to Mueller's office.

Also unknown is whether Joffe provided Antonakakis the data used for the research and the whitepapers related to the DNC hack. That is a concern given Joffe's role in the Alfa Bank and Yota phone hoaxes and given that other documents from Georgia Tech state that Joffe assisted with two other attribution requests performed by Antonakakis over the summer of 2016.

Other documents recently obtained by The Federalist likewise raise concerns over the validity of CrowdStrike's analysis of the hack, namely an exchange between Antonakakis and the executive director of the university's Institute for Information Security and Privacy, Lee Wenke.

In an email thread from May of 2018, in response to Antonakakis' statement that ''you do attribution from studying the mistakes they do during an operation,'' Wenke wrote: ''Then are you in principle doing the same as crowdstrike, e.g., using 'signatures' of coding/texting styles? And didn't we all agree[] that those can be 'spoofed/impersonated'?''

The exchange continued with Antonakakis stating that he is ''not like'' CrowdStrike, and is ''not building signatures,'' to which Wenke replied: ''I was saying that if you are using signatures/signals of traffic and if those can be (easily) spoofed/impersonated, then in principle your approach would suffer the same weakness (spoof-able) as [CrowdStrike.]''

Antonakakis ended the exchange by acknowledging his point, but ''strongly'' disagreeing on the ''value that policy has in computer security.'' What remains unclear from this email thread, though, is whether Antonakakis' retroactive analysis of the DNC hack reached the same conclusion as CrowdStrike, namely that Russians had hacked the servers.

Frankly, given Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear's propensity to hack government networks, it is extremely likely the Russian intelligence services were behind the DNC hack. Evidence unrelated to Trump or attempts to destroy the former president indicate, for instance, that between 2012 and 2018, Russian intelligence officers ''targeted hundreds of energy companies around the world.''

Both U.S. and U.K. national security agencies likewise believe the Russia's military intelligence agency, GRU, has ''engaged in a global campaign to target 'hundreds' of predominantly American and European entities, including government and military organizations, energy companies, think tanks and media companies.''

But given what we know now about the Steele dossier and Alfa Bank and Yota cell phone hoaxes, as well as the FISA abuse by the Crossfire Hurricane team, taking the word of the intelligence community no longer suffices. It's now: Show me the evidence, who gave you the evidence, and that person's political affiliation.

That is far from the ideal situation for national security, but it is the intelligence agencies and those in the cybersecurity world who own that reality '-- as well as Hillary Clinton and the media.

Margot Cleveland is The Federalist's senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize'--the law school's highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 08 May 2022 17:19

","videoChecked":"other"}],["pt-fancy-links-card",{"id":"de40d8a3-2a7b-43a7-b5f0-903b733e104d","links":["https://www.thedailybeast.com/amber-heard-testifies-against-johnny-depp-in-virginia-defamation-saga"],"linksData":[{"slug":"amber-heard-testifies-against-johnny-depp-in-virginia-defamation-saga","long_headline":"Johnny Depp Searched Her Vagina for Cocaine and Threatened to Kill Her, Amber Heard Testifies"}]}],["pt-image",{"id":3410815,"url":"https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/v1651770131/Screen_Shot_2022-05-05_at_12.54.50_PM_f5pdcv.png","crops":{"1_1":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":884,"height":884},"16_9":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":1572,"height":884},"original":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":1832,"height":884}},"owner":null,"title":"","credit":"Fairfax County Circuit Court","rights":null,"alt_text":null,"public_id":"Screen_Shot_2022-05-05_at_12.54.50_PM_f5pdcv","display_type":"standard_width","mobiledoc_caption":null}],["pt-fancy-links-card",{"id":"fb78f5d6-5513-444b-84bc-b388ba4891eb","links":["https://www.thedailybeast.com/witnesses-paint-johnny-depp-as-victim-of-amber-heard-describe-millions-in-lost-fees-and-a-punch-to-the-face"],"linksData":[{"slug":"witnesses-paint-johnny-depp-as-victim-of-amber-heard-describe-millions-in-lost-fees-and-a-punch-to-the-face","long_headline":"Millions in Cash and a Punch to the Face: Witnesses Paint Johnny Depp as Victim"}]}]],"markups":[["a",["href","https://www.thedailybeast.com/amber-heard-testifies-against-johnny-depp-in-virginia-defamation-saga"]],["a",["href","https://www.thedailybeast.com/johnny-depps-amber-heard-defamation-case-concludes-with-revisiting-of-lost-pirates-millions"]],["em"],["a",["href","https://www.thedailybeast.com/witnesses-paint-johnny-depp-as-victim-of-amber-heard-describe-millions-in-lost-fees-and-a-punch-to-the-face"]],["a",["href","https://www.thedailybeast.com/johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial-in-virginia-hears-audio-of-actor-appearing-to-say-he-chopped-his-own-finger-off"]],["a",["href","https://deadline.com/2022/04/johnny-depp-amber-heard-defamation-trial-1235006397/"]],["a",["href","https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/johnny-depp-seen-passed-out-22323260"]],["a",["href","https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/johnny-depp-amber-heard-ice-cream-b2062679.html"]],["a",["href","https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ive-seen-how-institutions-protect-men-accused-of-abuse-heres-what-we-can-do/2018/12/18/71fd876a-02ed-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html"]]],"version":"0.3.0","sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Amber Heard"],[0,[],0," sobbed uncontrollably on the stand Thursday as she recounted a wild fight with her then-husband "],[0,[1],1,"Johnny Depp"],[0,[],0," in Australia in which he allegedly penetrated her vagina repeatedly with a liquor bottle, leaving her retching and bloodied."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The March 2015 trip for the filming of "],[0,[2],1,"Pirates of the Caribbean 5"],[0,[],0," was tumultuous from the start, Heard said during her second day of testimony in the trial over Johnny Depp's "],[0,[3],1,"$50 million defamation lawsuit"],[0,[],0,". One day, after he had been drinking, he started calling her names like ''slut'' and ''fat-ass'' and slammed her up against a wall in their rental house, she said."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Heard said she shoved him back, prompting him to say, ''Do you want to go, little girl?'' It sparked a massive brawl between the pair in which she alleges he threw her on a table, whacked her in the face repeatedly, threw bottles at her, punched a wall beside her head, and ripped her nightgown off."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''At some point, he had a broken bottle up against my face, neck area, by my jawline, and he told me he'd carve up my face,'' she testified."]]],[10,0],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Although she said she only had ''flashes'' of memory of the fight, she said, she recounted her feet slipping on floor tiles while she was naked and being slammed against walls and countertops. Depp has denied all allegations of abuse lobbed by Heard, and insisted that she, in fact, abused him'--and that he is a survivor of domestic violence."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''The next thing I remember, I was bent over backwards on the bar,'' Heard said Thursday. ''I thought he was punching me, I felt this pressure on my pubic bone.... I remember looking around the room. I remember looking at all the broken bottles, broken glass, and I remember just not wanting to move because I didn't know if it was broken or if the bottle he had inside of me was broken. I couldn't feel it, I didn't feel pain, I didn't feel anything... I just remember thinking, 'Please God, please I hope it's not broken.'''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"She said she remembered then being in a bathroom retching, losing control of her bladder, and bleeding from her vagina. After taking two sleeping pills, she said, she woke the next morning to hear Marilyn Manson music blaring, and the walls and furniture of the house smeared with mashed potato, dried blood, and paint. Depp was missing a finger, and he had ripped her nightgown into shreds and wrapped up pieces of raw steak in it, she said."]]],[10,1],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''I was heartbroken,'' she said. ''Eventually I realized I could be hurt because I was bleeding, but I convinced myself that the bottle wasn't broken; otherwise it would be a lot worse.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In previous testimony, "],[0,[4],1,"Depp claimed his finger was lopped off by a vodka bottle Heard threw"],[0,[],0," at him while at the house in Australia. 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I remember he threw a bottle at me, missed me, hit the chandelier,'' she said."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Then Depp allegedly punched her, breaking her nose, Heard claimed. ''We were struggling, he's bigger than me,'' she said. ''He hit me, I remember my nose being swollen, red. I made a remark to my friend of how bad.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Depp has denied the claim, "],[0,[5],1,"saying last week in court"],[0,[],0," that a tissue Heard showed him after the incident, with red stains on it, was not soaked through with blood, but red nail polish. "]]],[10,6],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Heard also testified Thursday that she began snapping pictures of Depp passed out during his increasingly frequent binges because it was the only way to get anyone to believe the superstar actor was abusing drugs and alcohol."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''I'd been in a relationship with Johnny for over a year, coming up on two years,'' the actress testified on Thursday morning. ''And I had already noticed that there was this pattern of behavior changes with him that would make my life significantly more complicated, or peaceful, difficult, or wonderful, depending on what... he was using. And I only could tell what he was using because I would have to look for clues.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Depp would ''pass out, and get sick and lose control of himself,'' Heard said on the stand. ''And then people would pick him up and clean him up and fix it. And he wouldn't either remember, or he would deny it, or he would accuse me of saying that this had happened when it didn't. And there was no one to back me up. [It was] just him, his employees, and everyone who had been taking care of him versus my word, and so I started to take pictures [to] say, 'Look, this is happening.'''"]]],[10,7],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Depp insisted previously that one of the pictures "],[0,[6],1,"simply showed him sleeping"],[0,[],0,". 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Depp claims the piece damaged his career and falsely painted him as an abuser, coming two years after Heard sought a restraining order against him."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Heard said on Thursday that Depp kicked her to the ground in front of others, but that no one said anything or tried to stop it. She also described Depp as wildly jealous, saying he held a special contempt for actor James Franco. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''He hated James Franco,'' said Heard. ''He was accusing me of having a thing with him in the past, since I had filmed "],[0,[2],1,"Pineapple Express"],[0,[],0," with him.''"]]],[10,9],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Heard also told the jury that she had become attached to Lily Rose and Jack, the two children Depp had with French model Vanessa Paradis, his ex-partner. She called them ''these beautiful, wildly intelligent little weirdos... I was falling in love with them.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In 2013, a then-14-year-old Lily Rose developed a ''crush'' on an unnamed ''famous musician over the age of 18,'' Heard said in court on Thursday. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''I didn't agree that this gentleman... spend the night at the house,'' Heard continued. ''And I felt protective over Lily Rose, and concerned, and naturally, they're not my children. And I understand that. So I understand why Johnny got so upset with me. But... she was so young, I just felt protective.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"After a fight, Depp always promised to change his ways, Heard testified."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In a 2014 text message to Heard, Depp said he had gone ''too far,'' and that he would put in ''heavy work'' with his therapist to fix things. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''I'm sorry for being less...'' he wrote. ''For your disappointment in me... For my behavior. I'm a fucking savage... Gotta lose that... Gonna lose that!!!''"]]],[10,10],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The "],[0,[2],1,"Aquaman"],[0,[],0," actress "],[0,[0],1,"started her testimony at the Fairfax County Circuit Court on Wednesday"],[0,[],0,", saying, ''I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is. This is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"She detailed the demise of their whirlwind relationship, saying that the first time Depp hit her, it ''changed my life.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''I was sitting on the couch having a normal conversation. He was drinking. I think he was using cocaine because there was a jar'--a jar'--of cocaine on the table. There's music playing... and I ask him about the tattoo he has on his arm.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The tattoo on Depp's upper right arm initially read ''Winona Forever,'' in honor of his then fianc(C)e Winona Ryder. However, when the pair split in 1993, he altered the tattoo to ''Wino Forever.''"]]],[10,11],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''To me, it looked like black marks, I didn't know what it said,'' Heard testified. ''I said, 'What does it say?' He said, 'It says Wino,' and I thought he was joking and I laughed. He slapped me across the face and I laughed."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"''I laughed because I didn't know what else to do. I thought this must be a joke. Because I didn't know what was going on.''"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"She went on to detail several incidences of alleged physical and verbal abuse, including Depp performing a forced ''cavity search'' of her vagina in search of his cocaine."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Heard will return to the stand on May 16 after the trial takes a one-week break."]]]]},"hero":{"image":{"id":"3410814","crops":{"1_1":{"x":101.05263157894737,"y":26.030176415970264,"width":426.2105263157895,"height":426.705199628598},"16_9":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":720,"height":405},"original":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":720,"height":454}},"title":"","credit":"Getty Images","mobiledoc_caption":{"atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[],"version":"0.3.0","sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Amber Heard breaks down on the stand as she recalls Johnny Depp allegedly penetrating her with an alcohol bottle. 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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:19

Technology | Inside Elon Musk's Big Plans for Twitter https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/technology/elon-musk-twitter-pitch-deck.htmlHere's what Mr. Musk is projecting for Twitter's finances over the next few years, according to a pitch deck he presented to investors.

Elon Musk has in recent days distributed a pitch deck to investors outlining his grand plans for Twitter. Credit... Joe Skipper/Reuters Elon Musk has never been accused of dreaming small. He has reinvented at least two industries with Tesla, his electronic vehicle company, and SpaceX, the rocket company '-- and now his ambitions are carrying over to his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

Mr. Musk, the world's richest man, has presented a pitch deck to investors in recent days outlining his grand '-- some might say incredible '-- plans for Twitter and its financial targets. The New York Times obtained the presentation. Here's a peek into what Mr. Musk sees for the social media service in the years ahead.

Quintuple revenue to $26.4 billion by 2028.In his pitch deck, Mr. Musk claimed he would increase Twitter's annual revenue to $26.4 billion by 2028, up from $5 billion last year.

Cut Twitter's reliance on advertising to less than 50 percent of revenue.Under Mr. Musk, advertising would fall to 45 percent of total revenue, down from around 90 percent in 2020. In 2028, advertising would generate $12 billion in revenue and subscriptions nearly $10 billion, according to the document. Other revenue would come from businesses such as data licensing.

Produce $15 million in revenue from a payments business.Twitter would bring in $15 million from a payments business in 2023, according to the document, which would grow to about $1.3 billion by 2028. The company's payments business today, which includes tipping and shopping, is negligible. There has been speculation that Mr. Musk may introduce payment abilities to Twitter given that he helped popularize PayPal, the digital payments service.

Increase average revenue per user by $5.39.With all of these changes, Mr. Musk anticipates he can lift Twitter's average revenue per user '-- a key metric for social media companies '-- to $30.22 in 2028 from $24.83 last year, according to the document.

Reach 931 million users by 2028.Mr. Musk anticipates Twitter's total number of users will grow from 217 million at the end of last year to nearly 600 million in 2025 and 931 million six years from now. Most of that growth will come from Twitter's ad-supported business, including Twitter Blue, for which users pay $3 a month to customize their experience on the app. According to the pitch deck, Mr. Musk expects 69 million users of Twitter Blue by 2025 and 159 million in 2028.

Have 104 million subscribers for a mysterious X by 2028.Included in Mr. Musk's total user estimates are what appear to be subscribers to a new product called X, which would have 104 million users in 2028, according to the document. The document did not detail what X Subscribers was, but Mr. Musk has hinted at introducing an ad-free experience on Twitter. The X Subscribers product shows up on the pitch deck in 2023, with nine million users expected in its first year.

Hire 3,600 employees '-- after shedding hundreds.By 2025, Mr. Musk anticipates Twitter will have 11,072 employees, according to the document. That would be up from around 7,500 today.

But in between, Mr. Musk expects the number to fluctuate, rising to 9,225 employees in 2022, then declining to 8,332 in 2023 before increasing again. Mr. Musk is likely to shed workers as part of his takeover, before bringing on new talent in engineering, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Stock-based compensation costs are also expected to rise to just over $3 billion by 2028, from $914 million in 2022.

Raise free cash flow to $9.4 billion.Twitter will add about $13 billion of debt as part of Mr. Musk's buyout plan. But he expects to pay that debt down as free cash flow '-- a measure of how much money a company has to service its debt '-- is set to grow to $3.2 billion in 2025 and $9.4 billion in 2028, according to the pitch deck. Free cash flow would rise even as operating expenses and costs also rose, according to the document.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:18

Tuesday, May 03, 2022 by: Arsenio ToledoTags: air travel, badhealth, badmedicine, Big Pharma, biological weapon, covid-19, Dangerous Medicine, heart disease, heart health, Joshua Yoder, pandemic, Peter McCullough, pharmaceutical fraud, pilots, public safety, spike protein, Steve Kirsch, vaccine damage, Vaccine dangers, vaccine injury, vaccinesThis article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the authorBypass censorship by sharing this link:

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(Natural News) Cardiologist and Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) researcher Dr. Peter McCullough estimates that as many as 30 percent of pilots in the United States may have underlying heart conditions caused by the vaccines.

Joshua Yoder, a pilot and co-founder of the U.S. Freedom Flyers, a health freedom advocacy organization formed to help transportation industry employees oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates, relayed McCullough's words during an interview. (Related: Pilots fear for safety of passengers as airlines continue to impose COVID-19 vaccine mandate '' Brighteon.TV.)

In the interview conducted by Vaccine Safety Research Foundation founder Steve Kirsch, Yoder said McCullough told him in a prior conversation that, if airlines conducted health screenings on their vaccinated pilots, 30 percent of them would be disqualified due to newly found cardiac issues caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.

McCullough has been consistent in advocating for an end to vaccinations Last year, he and several other critics of the experimental and dangerous COVID-19 vaccines gave the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) several recommendations based on known safety concerns with the vaccines.

These recommendations include medically flagging all vaccinated pilots and de-certifying and grounding pilots who fail cardiovascular health screening tests. These include EKGs, D-dimer tests, troponin tests, cardiac MRIs and any pilots ''who otherwise show symptoms indicative of possible blood-clotting issues or myocarditis.'' These symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath and decreased tolerance to exercise.In the written recommendations, McCullough and his colleagues contended that the FAA, by allowing vaccinated pilots to continue flying without the appropriate medical clearances, is ''putting both pilots and the general public at risk of death and/or serious injury.''

Forcing pilots to take COVID-19 vaccine is ''going to end in catastrophe''In his interview with Kirsch, Yoder noted that the most prominent health issues being reported by vaccinated pilots include chest pains, myocarditis and pericarditis. A day before the interview, Yoder said three vaccinated pilots called him to say that they were being forced to fly with chest pains. Another pilot was being treated for heart issues by a cardiologist.

''I'm afraid if we keep going down this path, at some point it's going to end in catastrophe,'' said Yoder, hinting at the possibility that one of these vaccinated pilots could experience heart complications mid-flight, endangering the lives of his passengers.

''If passengers actually knew what was going on at the airlines and the FAA, they would be livid, and everyone would be jumping on a class action suit against all of them.''

Multiple pilots like Yoder have already spoken out about experiencing health issues due to the mandated vaccinations.

One captain, Robert Snow, who works for American Airlines, nearly died when his heart stopped mere minutes after landing his plane. The cardiac arrest was caused by the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Another pilot, Greg Pierson, suffered a stroke after getting the COVID-19 vaccine under duress last year. Pierson said during an interview that if he had his stroke while piloting a plane, he could have caused a crash.

Another pilot, Cody Flint, who flies agricultural planes, was vaccinated in Feb. 2021. He suffered a mid-flight blackout a few days after getting vaccinated, and said that he was only able to safely land ''by the grace of God.''

Flint was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that gives him severe headaches and vertigo '' two problems he never had to deal with before he got vaccinated.

Learn more about COVID vaccine adverse effects at VaccineInjuryNews.com.

Watch this short episode of the ''Health Ranger Report'' as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about the sudden uptick in fully vaccinated and boosted individuals who are either dead or dying.

https://www.brighteon.com/embed/b3777783-fe44-4dd5-a8e2-153ae77a216c

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:Former commercial airline pilot says ''Squawk 7700'' emergency alerts have risen 12,400 percent in age of COVID vax, 5G rollout.

American Airlines pilot's heart stops just minutes after landing plane, vaccine side effects to blame.

California-based advocacy group says COVID vaccine mandate for pilots violates federal law, puts passengers at risk.

COVID-jabbed pilots are suffering cardiac arrest, but the media remains silent to avoid creating ''vaccine hesitancy.''

Air Force to WASTE millions in taxpayer money by discharging trained, experienced, pilots over COVID-19 vaccines.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:14

Pet dogs are being probed as a potential cause of a mysterious hepatitis outbreak striking children across the world.

Health chiefs claim a 'high' number of the sickened children, who are aged 10 and under, come from families which own dogs or have had 'dog exposures'.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), tasked with hunting down why dozens of children have developed the unusual type of liver disease, said the 'significance of this finding is being explored'.

Officials did not explain how dogs could potentially be to blame.

Experts said the link was a 'bit far-fetched' given how common dog ownership is in the UK.

Meanwhile, officials today revealed another 18 youngsters have been struck down with the illness, bringing the UK's total to 163 since January. Eleven have needed a liver transplant.

Nearly 300 cases have now been detected across the world, figures suggest. One death has been confirmed, while four are under investigation. But none of these are in the UK.

Scientists have been left puzzled over what is causing the illness '-- with the usual hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses excluded from laboratory test results.

Health chiefs believe the culprit may be an adenovirus. However, investigations are ongoing because they usually cause colds and stomach bugs.

Two strains of adenovirus are known to infect dogs, including one which causes infectious hepatitis. The other is one of the pathogens that triggers 'kennel cough'.

The World Health Organization said earlier this week that nearly 300 cases had been detected globally. One death has been confirmed while four are under investigation. But none of these are in the UK

Health chiefs claim a 'high' number of the sickened children, who are aged 10 and under, come from families which own dogs or have had 'dog exposures'. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), tasked with hunting down why dozens of children have developed the unusual type of liver disease, said the 'significance of this finding is being explored'

The UK had detected 163 confirmed and possible hepatitis cases among under-10s by May 3, which were not caused by the usual hepatitis A to E viruses. Of these, 118 cases are resident in England, 22 in Scotland, 13 in Wales and 10 in Northern Ireland

As of May 3, there were 118 cases confirmed in England, none of which are linked with each other. Some 40 cases in the country are waiting to be confirmed (grey bars). Nearly six in 10 cases are among children aged three to five

The report also revealed that adenovirus continues to be the most commonly detected virus amongst the youngsters with hepatitis. Blood tests from 126 of the affected children in the UK showed 91 were carrying it (72 per cent). And the UKHSA noted that some who tested negative only had throat and faecal tests rather than the gold-standard blood test

Q&A: What is the mysterious global hepatitis outbreak and what is behind it? What is hepatitis?

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver that is usually caused by a viral infection or liver damage from drinking alcohol.

Some cases resolve themselves, with no ongoing issues, but a fraction can be deadly, forcing patients to need liver transplants to survive.

Why are experts concerned?

Hepatitis is usually rare in children, but experts have already spotted more cases in the current outbreak than they would normally expect in a year.

Cases are of an 'unknown origin' and are also severe, according to the World Health Organization. It has caused up to two deaths and 18 liver transplants.

How widespread are cases?

The inflammatory liver condition has been spotted in around 300 children aged between one month and 16 years old.

UK

US*

Spain

Israel

Denmark

Ireland

The Netherlands

Italy

France

Norway

Romania

Belgium

Japan

Canada*

Austria

Germany

Poland

Cyprus

Slovenia

Maldives

Occupied Palestinian territory

163

27

22

12

Six

Fewer than five

Four

Nine

Two

Two

One

One

Three

Unspecified

Two

One

One

Two

One

One

One

*cases in Canada and Illinois, Wisconsin and New York are still yet to be confirmed

What are the top theories?

Co-infection

Experts say the cases may be linked to adenovirus, commonly associated with colds, but further research is ongoing.

This, in combination with Covid infections, could be causing the spike in cases.

The WHO reported adenovirus has been detected in at least 74 of the cases. At least 20 of the children tested positive for the coronavirus.

Weakened immunity

British experts tasked with investigating the spate of illnesses believe the endless cycle of lockdowns may have played a contributing role.

Restrictions may have weakened children's immunity because of reduced social mixing, leaving them at heightened risk of adenovirus.

This means even 'normal' adenovirus could be causing the severe outcomes, because children are not responding to it how they did in the past.

Adenovirus mutation

Other scientists said it may have been the adenovirus that has acquired 'unusual mutations'.

This would mean it could be more transmissible or better able to get around children's natural immunity.

New Covid variant

UKHSA officials included 'a new variant of SARS-CoV-2' in their working hypotheses.

Covid has caused liver inflammation in very rare cases during the pandemic, although these have been across all ages rather than isolated in children.

Environmental triggers

The UKHSA has noted environmental triggers are still being probed as possible causes of the illnesses.

These could include pollution or exposure to particular drugs or toxins.

Three quarters of the UK's 163 hepatitis-stricken children have tested positive for adenoviruses, analysis shows.

But the UKHSA admitted it was possible the others could also have had the virus because of the way the testing is carried out.

Some of the negative cases had only looked for adenovirus in respiratory and faecal samples, even though it is mainly detected in the blood.

Academics believe lockdowns may have weakened the immunity of children and left them more susceptible to the virus.

But the UKHSA also acknowledged that an 'exceptionally large' adenovirus wave could be why the condition is appearing more frequently than expected, or it may be even be down to a mutated form of adenovirus.

Hepatitis is usually rare in children, but experts have already spotted more cases in the UK since January than they would normally expect in a year.

Cases are of an 'unknown origin' and are also severe.

Another theory is that children may have been battling the adenovirus at the same time as Covid, or that the complication may be long Covid.

However, health officials have ruled out the Covid vaccine as a possible cause because the majority of the ill British children haven't been vaccinated due to their young age.

Top experts fear health chiefs won't understand what's behind the peculiar pattern '-- which has been sickened 200 children worldwide since March '-- for months.

Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging infections at the UKHSA, said the link with adenovirus is being 'rigorously' assessed.

She warned parents to stay on the lookout for hepatitis symptoms, while noting the likelihood of their child being affected is 'extremely low'.

Jaundice '-- the yellowing of the skin and whites of eyes '-- is the most common sign, followed by vomiting and pale stools.

UKHSA officials trawled through questionnaire responses from affected families and found 70 per cent '-- 64 of 92 respondents '-- owned a dog or had been exposed to a dog.

The health chiefs admitted the finding may be chance because pet dog ownership is 'common in the UK'.

Around half of UK adults own a pet, figures suggest.

But it is investigating if the dog link is of any significance.

Dr Chand said: 'It's important parents know the likelihood of their child developing hepatitis is extremely low.

'However, we continue to remind everyone to be alert to the signs of hepatitis '' particularly jaundice, look for a yellow tinge in the whites of the eyes '' and contact your doctor if you are concerned.

'Our investigations continue to suggest that there is an association with adenovirus and our studies are now testing this association rigorously.

'We are also investigating other contributors, including prior SARS-COV-2, and are working closely with the NHS and academic partners to understand the mechanism of liver injury in affected children.'

Health chiefs are also hopeful that hepatitis cases have peaked, noting that there has been 'some apparent reduction in confirmed cases in the past two weeks'.

However, the downturn may be due to reporting lags.

Scotland is continuing to log cases and there are a 'substantial' number of suspected cases in England that are being investigated, the UKHSA said.

The report also revealed adenovirus continues to be the most commonly detected virus amongst the youngsters with hepatitis.

Blood tests from 126 of the affected children in the UK showed 91 were carrying it (72 per cent).

And the UKHSA noted some who tested negative only had throat and faecal tests, rather than the gold-standard blood test.

'It is therefore not possible to definitively rule out adenovirus in these cases,' the agency said.

The UK update comes after the WHO this week said nearly 300 probable cases of hepatitis have been spotted in 20 countries.

Most of the cases have been detected in the UK (163) and US (27), which have some of the strongest surveillance systems.

The liver inflammation condition has also been spotted in Spain (22), Israel (12), Italy (9) and Denmark (6).

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 May 2022 17:14

The treasure troves of data tech companies have spent decades accumulating could put them right in the middle of efforts to prosecute people if the Supreme Court eliminates federal guarantees of abortion rights.

Why it matters: If Monday's leaked draft opinion becomes law, court orders could soon arrive at tech firm offices seeking info about individuals searching for emergency contraception, those seen near a suspected abortion clinic and more.

The big picture: Mass data collection and the potential for a surveillance state has been a growing, if largely abstract concern. But the seemingly imminent end to guaranteed legal access to abortion spotlights a specific risk such data can pose right now.

Tech companies generally say they will protect user data but comply with data demands required by local laws in countries where they operate. What they're saying: While tech companies were loath to talk on the record about how they might address such legal requests in post-Roe v. Wade abortion cases, lawyers and other executives at several companies are definitely having these discussions.

And privately, many tech employees said they were glad the topic was finally being discussed.Between the lines: Law enforcement and prosecutors have multiple ways to get many different kinds of data, including location data, search requests and purchase history.

Bulk vs. individual: Law enforcement requests could come in the form of seeking data for a specific person or seeking, say, all people who were near a particular clinic, or maybe all out-of-state residents near a particular clinic.

Tech companies have a track record of fighting bulk collection efforts more forcefully, for example, than do cellular providers, says Jennifer Granick, the ACLU's surveillance and cybersecurity counsel.Lawful order vs. buying data: Right now there are no rules requiring law enforcement to obtain a court order for data they can purchase, and there's a lot of very personal information being sold by data brokers.

A bill called the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act has been introduced in Congress to bar this practice. For now, though, plenty of data is on the market, including some specifically related to abortion.Medical data: In addition to non-medical information such as location, shopping and search data, medical records themselves could be targeted. And those records are far more digitized than they were in the pre-Roe era.

While HIPAA restricts how providers share medical information, it doesn't prevent them from sharing it with law enforcement. "I don't think people can rely on HIPAA as being a defense in these cases if there were a criminal prosecution," Granick said.Be smart: It's not just people who have abortions who may find themselves the subject of investigations.

Anyone who is pregnant and has a miscarriage, for example, might find prosecutors seeking their internet search or other data to determine whether a provider delivered illegal services. Likewise, as states have sought to criminalize gender-affirming health care, data requests could be used, for example, against parents researching health options for their kids.Internet platform operators aren't the only players here. Wireless carriers have detailed personalized location information on every user with a cell phone as well as tower-specific data, such as every customer who is near a specific location.

What companies can do: One key move for tech firms is to move from hoarding data to minimizing it, experts say.

Apple officials, for example, are breathing a bit of a sigh of relief, since they don't store or have access to much of the information at stake in these conflicts.Other companies might want to use the time between now and when a ruling becomes final to look at their own practices to see whether they gather and hold data that has more potential harm to their users than benefit.What individuals can do: Experts say it may be time to rethink period-tracking apps and to rely more on incognito mode in browsers, turning off location tracking and understanding your options for data deletion.

Google, for example, lets users quickly delete recent search activity and set other data to auto delete after a chosen period of time. The Digital Defense Fund has a detailed set of recommendations here.What's next: Advocates say these looming data fights highlight the urgent need for a national data protection law as well as rules prohibiting bulk data requests from law enforcement.

"Large tech companies surveillance-driven profit models lead to massive data collection that creates the perfect infrastructure for oppression," Fight for the Future's Evan Greer told Axios. "If people seeking or providing reproductive healthcare are criminalized, tech companies will be aiding and abetting government crackdowns on reproductive rights."

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:06

A man is consoled by his relative as he sees the body of his father, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), before his burial at a graveyard in New Delhi, India, April 16, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMay 5 (Reuters) - Almost three times as many people have died as a result of COVID-19 as the official data show, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, the most comprehensive look at the true global toll of the pandemic so far.

There were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the U.N. body said on Thursday. The official count of deaths directly attributable to COVID-19 and reported to WHO in that period, from January 2020 to the end of December 2021, is slightly more than 5.4 million.

The WHO's excess mortality figures reflect people who died of COVID-19 as well as those who died as an indirect result of the outbreak, including people who could not access healthcare for other conditions when systems were overwhelmed during huge waves of infection. It also accounts for deaths averted during the pandemic, for example because of the lower risk of traffic accidents during lockdowns.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBut the numbers are also far higher than the official tally because of deaths that were missed in countries without adequate reporting. Even pre-pandemic, around 6 in 10 deaths around the world were not registered, WHO said.

The WHO report said that almost half of the deaths that until now had not been counted were in India. The report suggests that 4.7 million people died there as a result of the pandemic, mainly during a huge surge in May and June 2021.

The Indian government, however, puts its death toll for the January 2020-December 2021 period far lower: about 480,000. WHO said it had not yet fully examined new data provided this week by India, which has pushed back against the WHO estimates and issued its own mortality figures for all causes of death in 2020 on Tuesday. read more WHO said it may add a disclaimer to the report highlighting the ongoing conversation with India.

The WHO panel, made up of international experts who have been working on the data for months, used a combination of national and local information, as well as statistical models, to estimate totals where the data is incomplete '' a methodology that India has criticised.

However, other independent assessments have also put the death toll in India far higher than the official government tally, including a report published in Science which suggested three million people may have died of COVID in the country. read more

Other models have also reached similar conclusions about the global death toll being far higher than the recorded statistics. For comparison, around 50 million people are thought to have died in the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, and 36 million have died of HIV since the epidemic began in the 1980s.

Samira Asma, WHO assistant director general for data, analytics and delivery for impact, who co-led the calculation process, said data was the "lifeblood of public health" needed to assess and learn from what happened during the pandemic, and called for more support for countries to improve reporting.

"Too much is unknown," she told reporters in a press briefing.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jennifer Rigby, Editing by William Maclean

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:05

(C) EPA US President Joe Biden

President Biden on Friday announced

another security assistance package for Ukraine totaling

$150 million he said would include artillery munitions, radars and other equipment. "Today, the United States is continuing our strong support for the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country against Russia's ongoing aggression." Biden warned the latest round of assistance

would nearly exhaust the military assistance that Congress has approved for the administration to deliver to Ukraine. Congress in March authorized $13.6 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The White House had previously said that the administration had about $250 million in military assistance left.

On Friday, Biden pressed Congress to quickly approve more assistance for Ukraine. The White House has asked for $33 billion in additional security, economic and humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine fight the Russian war and address the impacts of the conflict. The administration believes that amount of assistance is needed to sustain Ukraine over the next five months. "With today's announcement, my Administration has nearly exhausted funding that can be used to send security assistance through drawdown authorities for Ukraine. For Ukraine to succeed in this next phase of war its international partners, including the U.S., must continue to demonstrate our unity and our resolve to keep the weapons and ammunition flowing to Ukraine, without interruption. Congress should quickly provide the requested funding to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table." Congress is currently drafting legislation to meet the administration's request.

There is bipartisan support for providing more assistance to Ukraine, but the process of approving it may be complicated by a separate administration request for more COVID-19 pandemic assistance. While some in the administration would like to see the COVID-19 and Ukraine funding tied together and passed in one bill, Republicans have been skeptical of the need for additional pandemic funding.

The Biden administration has sent billions in assistance, including heavy weapons, to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24. Biden last announced an assistance package on April 21 that totaled $800 million.

Ukraine, bolstered by assistance from the U.S. and its allies, repelled Russia's effort to seize the capital of Kyiv and has dealt Moscow some embarrassing losses in the more than two months since the invasion began.

The new assistance package comes days before Victory Day, the May 9 holiday on which Moscow marks the country's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Typically, Russia celebrates the holiday with a massive military parade, but this year some have speculated that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use the day to formally declare war on Ukraine.

The White House has warned that Russia could try to annex more Ukrainian territory on May 9, which is next Monday.

Biden is scheduled to hold a call with other Group of Seven (G7) leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday.

Comment: Well now, more US taxpayer funding to Ukraine...

but don't stop there!!!White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has confirmed that President Joe Biden will sign the Lend-Lease Act of 2022 on Monday. The legislation will make it easier for Washington to ship more types of weapons to Ukraine.The authorisation will take place on May 9, or "Victory Day" - when the defeat of Nazi Germany is celebrated annually in Russia. The symbolism will almost certainly raise eyebrows in Moscow.

The "Lend-Lease Act," which was previously used to help the allies during WWII, was revived and backed by the US Congress last week and will allow the US to export unlimited weapons to Kiev.

While the bill was approved by Congress last week, it was put together back in January - more than a month before Moscow recognized the Donbass republics as independent and sent troops into Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly condemned the US and its NATO allies for delivering arms to Ukraine, insisting that the inflow of supplies will only prolong the conflict. The Kremlin has also said Western weapons are considered a legitimate target once they enter Ukrainian territory.

If Ukraine can't sustain itself, it has no business conducting a war. It had every chance and blew it.

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 May 2022 17:05

Iran is ready to switch to national currencies in bilateral trade with Indonesia as the two countries seek to expand their trade ties

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said in a Saturday meeting with Indonesia's Deputy Parliament Speaker Rachmad Gobel that Iran will also be ready to introduce barter trade with Indonesia to help expand economic ties with the Southeast Asian nation.

Safari said Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar, which is the country's only ocean port, can become a major platform to transfer Indonesian exports to countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus region.

Other Iranian government officials welcomed the idea of barter trade with Indonesia, with trade minister Reza Fatemi Amin saying Iran will seek to use barter along with other strategies like lower tariffs to help boost trade with the Muslim nation.

Indonesia's Gobel also met senior Iranian Oil Ministry officials, including CEO of National Iranian Oil Company Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr, on Saturday.

Details of the meeting were not immediately available but sources said that the Indonesian delegation had discussed the possibility for increased Iranian supply of energy products, including crude oil, to Indonesia in the meeting with Khojasteh Mehr.

Gobel's trip to Tehran also comes as Iranian agriculture ministry announced earlier this week that it has plans to ramp up cooking oil imports by 200,000 metric tons in the short term.

The announcement came amid a global shortage of cooking oil that has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and Indonesia's ban on exports of palm oil.

Iranian officials have promised they will increase the supply of raw oils, including palm oil, to local manufacturers of cooking oil in the very near future.

By PRESS TV

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 May 2022 16:48

Nicki Clyne : BREAKING: Former FBI forensic examiner and special agent uncovers evidence of "historic government criminal activit'... https://t.co/d7q4k03Q9R

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Sun May 08 14:05:18 +0000 2022

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Sun May 08 12:30:39 +0000 2022

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 May 2022 16:31

Prior to the app, bookings might often be done by phone. Since its introduction, 'we're seeing double the digital engagement with our brand from last year's high watermark,' the CEO says

Seaplane operator Tailwind Air LLC is pushing further into the air-taxi market with more short-hop flights between downtown New York City and Boston, with a new mobile app drawing more passengers, the company's chief executive said.

The Rye Brook, N.Y.-based startup, launched in 2014, this month plans to add direct flights from Boston's Fan Pier Marina to Provincetown on Cape Cod, Mass., promising a 35-minute trip dock to dock, said Chief Executive Alan Ram. The company has also added flights from Manhattan's SkyPort Marina...

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Seaplane operator Tailwind Air LLC is pushing further into the air-taxi market with more short-hop flights between downtown New York City and Boston, with a new mobile app drawing more passengers, the company's chief executive said.

The Rye Brook, N.Y.-based startup, launched in 2014, this month plans to add direct flights from Boston's Fan Pier Marina to Provincetown on Cape Cod, Mass., promising a 35-minute trip dock to dock, said Chief Executive Alan Ram. The company has also added flights from Manhattan's SkyPort Marina on the East River to Provincetown via Fan Pier, he said.

Each of the company's three Cessna Caravan EX amphibian seaplanes has eight seats. Passengers are allowed one bag weighing less than 20 pounds, which is then stowed under a facing seat or in the rear baggage compartment.

In addition to seaplanes, the company also operates 17 land aircraft under management, ranging from Gulfstream and Falcon jets to King Air and Pilatus turboprops. Its crew of 40 pilots includes 10 seaplane captains and co-pilots.

Tailwind currently offers direct flights to seasonal havens like the Hamptons on New York's Long Island, and Plymouth, Mass., among others. Last year, it began testing direct flights between New York City and Boston, and now offers commuter packages of 10 one-way tickets starting at $5,950, going up to $26,250 for a 50-ticket book.

Since March, the company offers three to four daily flights from New York and Boston to various destinations. Flights only run during the daytime from early spring to late fall, and are grounded in winter months.

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''You could leave your office on Wall Street and be in downtown Boston in less than two hours,'' Mr. Ram said. He refers to the service as an air taxi, in part because it bypasses the long lines, baggage-claim scrum and transit time to and from sprawling airports at the edge of town.

But software also plays a key role, Mr. Ram said. Late last year, he said, Tailwind launched a mobile app, developed in partnership with a third-party vendor, on which travelers can scan daily flight schedules and reserve one of eight seats onboard.

''We generally close flights 90 minutes or less before takeoff, and if there's an available seat you can hop on,'' Mr. Ram said. With no Transportation Security Administration or baggage checks, passengers need only arrive at the pier around 10 minutes before their flight, he added.

Before the app, bookings tended to be done manually, with many regular passengers calling in reservations instead of going through the company's website, Mr. Ram said.

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''Right now, we're seeing double the digital engagement with our brand from last year's high watermark,'' he said. He expects to add a fourth seaplane by the end of the year, and three more by the end of 2023, he said.

The company, which operates on a 50-50 mix of angel-investor funding and earnings, saw its revenue double last year, Mr. Ram said, declining to give specifics.

Like Tailwind itself, the air-taxi industry is in its infancy'--along with the fledgling efforts of the biggest players in aviation, which are adding electric and autonomous elements to it.

In January, Boeing Co. invested an additional $450 million in its air-taxi joint venture with Google co-founder Larry Page. The project looks to develop small, pilotless aircraft for short passenger trips in and around cities. Rival plane-makers Airbus SE and Embraer SA are also developing electric air taxis.

Last year, four startups designing ride-hailing aircraft known as eVTOLs'--it stands for electric vertical takeoff and landings'--went public through special-purpose acquisition companies. They include U.S. firms Joby Aviation Inc. and Archer Aviation Inc., Germany's Lilium N.V . and Britain's Vertical Aerospace Ltd. None is planning to start services before 2024.

Uber Technologies Inc., which floated its vision of flying taxis in 2016, two years ago sold its aerial ride-hailing division to California-based Joby, while taking an initial $75 million stake. Joby went public through a combination with Reinvent Technology Partners, a blank-check company backed by LinkedIn Founder

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Reid Hoffman.

On Wednesday, Mr. Hoffman said the company is on track to launch operations within the next two years. ''We're on plan,'' he said, adding that air taxis'--especially in the form of electric helicopters'--represent a chance to rethink the urban transportation space in a way that is cleaner and more efficient.

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Smaller-scale firms operate on models similar to that of Tailwind. On Blade Urban Air Mobility Inc., headquartered in New York, customers can also book trips on helicopters and jets through a smartphone app, taking passengers to destinations roughly 100 miles away or more. (For comparison, Boston to New York is around 190 miles.)

Unlike eVTOLs, Mr. Ram said, Tailwind's advantage is that its underlying infrastructure and technology are already in place'--and have been for more than a century.

''The idea of an air taxi being able to land on every building or on the corner creates challenges of airspace integration and customer acceptance,'' he said. ''We're concentrating it around existing infrastructure.''

Write to Angus Loten at angus.loten@wsj.com

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:22

Seth Wenig/AP

FILE - This Feb. 16, 2017 file photo shows newborn babies in the nursery of a postpartum recovery center in upstate New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Posted at 3:10 PM, May 06, 2022

and last updated 2022-05-06 15:10:10-04

Chances are in about four years, kindergarten classes will be filled with students named Liam and Olivia.

Those are the top two most popular names in 2021, according to the Social Security Administration.

Liam may already be a common name in classrooms, since it has been the most popular boy name for the past five years.

Noah and Emma were the second most popular names in 2021. Oliver and Charlotte rounded out the top three.

Fewer parents are naming their child Alexander. The name is no longer in the top 10 and has been replaced by Theodore.

The Social Security Administration began putting together the list of most popular names in 1997, with names dating back to 1880.

If you want to see how your name ranks, click here.

Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:21

The prices for gas and diesel fuel, over $6.00 a gallon, are displayed at a petrol station in Los Angeles, March 2, 2022.

Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Diesel prices are surging, contributing to inflationary headwinds due to the fuel's vital role in the American and global economy. Tankers, trains and trucks all run on diesel. The fuel is also used across industries including farming, manufacturing, metals and mining.

"Diesel is the fuel that powers the economy," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. Higher prices are "certainly going to translate into more expensive goods," he said, since these higher fuel costs will be passed along to consumers. "Especially at the grocery store, the hardware store, anywhere you shop."

In other words, the impacts will be felt across the economy.

Diesel's surgeThe jump in prices comes on the heels of growing demand as economies around the world get back to business. This, in turn, has pushed inventories to historic lows. Products like diesel, heating oil and jet fuel are known as "middle distillates," since they are made from the middle of the boiling range when oil is turned into products.

U.S. distillate inventory is now at the lowest level in more than decade. The move is even more extreme on the East Coast, where stockpiles are at the lowest since 1996. Diesel and jet fuel at New York harbor are now trading well above $200 per barrel, according to UBS.

Europe's move away from dependency on Russian energy is hastening the rapid price appreciation. The bloc currently imports around 700,000 barrels per day of diesel from Russia, according to Stephen Brennock at brokerage PVM.

"[T]he tightness in global supply will be exacerbated by the EU's proposal to ban Russian oil imports," he said. "The ban, if approved, will have an outsized impact on product markets and especially diesel'....There is now growing anxiety that Europe might run out of diesel."

Energy consultancy Rystad echoed this point, saying that the loss of Russian refined products is going to make diesel shortages in Europe "more acute."

Refiners can't just ramp up output to meet surging demand, and utilization rates are already above 90%. In the U.S., refining capacity has decreased in recent years. The largest refining complex on the East Coast '-- Philadelphia Energy Solutions '-- shut down following a fire in June 2019.

Several refiners are now being reconfigured to make biofuel, which has also reduced capacity.

Some refiners are also undergoing routine maintenance checks that were overdue following the pandemic. These facilities typically run flat out '' 24 hours a day, seven days a week '' and so at some point the machinery needs to be checked.

The East Coast relies heavily on other areas of the country for refined products, De Haan said. Now, Europe is competing for these same fuels as it turns away from Russia.

'Unmoored' pricesA common saying in commodity markets is "the cure for high prices is high prices." But that might not be the case this time around. According to UBS, distillate demand tends to be less elastic than gasoline prices.

In other words, while high prices at the pump might deter consumers, if a business needs to get goods from point A to point B, it's going to pay those higher prices.

Tom Kloza, head of global energy research at OPIS, said that in years past a barrel of diesel typically sold for $10 above the price of crude oil. Today, that differential '' known as the crack spread '' has surged to a record high above $70.

"It's become untethered, unmoored, a little bit unhinged. These are prices we're not used to seeing," he said, adding that there are large price differences across the U.S.

Kloza said diesel at New York harbor is now trading around $5 per gallon, while jet fuel prices at the harbor, which usually mirrors diesel prices, are around $6.72. That equates to roughly $282 per barrel.

"These are numbers that are not just off the charts. They're off the walls, out of the building, and maybe out of the solar system," he said.

Retail diesel prices are also surging. On Friday the national average for a gallon hit a record of $5.51, according to AAA, after hitting a new high every single day over the last week.

Higher diesel prices is translating to higher profit margins for refiners, who are now incentivized to make as much as they possibly can. At a certain point, this could lead to tightness in the gasoline market, pushing up the high prices consumers are already seeing at the pump.

In the meantime, consumers can expect prices for goods to keep on climbing.

"It's going to be a double whammy on consumers in the weeks and months ahead as these diesel prices trickle down to the cost of goods '-- another piece of inflation that's going to hit consumers," GasBuddy's De Haan said, adding that the full impact of the recent surge in prices has yet to be felt.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:00

At this point we have huge amounts of data from all around the world that are relevant to determining how effective the vaccines are against infection, hospitalization, death and transmission.

We do not, however, have any really good data.

Having really good data would mean knowing how many Covid infections, hospitalizations, deaths and transmissions occur in a group of vaccinated people and, in similar circumstances, in a similar group of unvaccinated people. The groups have to be similar in terms of age, sex, comorbidities, health-related behavior and so on. The circumstances have to be similar in terms of virus incidence, living situations, government restrictions, healthcare facilities and so on.

If we had such numbers we could straightforwardly calculate vaccine effectiveness, expressed in percentages, using this formula:

(attack rate in unvaccinated group minus attack rate in vaccinated group)

divided by

(attack rate in unvaccinated group)

times

100

But we don't have these numbers.

The data that we do have are flawed to varying degrees. This is because establishing what the causal effects of pharmaceutical interventions are is fraught with difficulties. In the processes of producing, collecting, handling, interpreting, and presenting the data necessary to determine how effective the vaccines are, there are countless steps that introduce potential sources of bias, inaccuracy, or even downright deception.

The best way to avoid most of these problems is through well designed, properly conducted, double blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs). There are many good reasons to be cautious if those data do not directly come from such trials. This is especially the case in an atmosphere in which there is tremendous pressure and incentive to make the vaccines look as good as possible

And sadly, we simply don't have RCTs that provide high quality data to tell us how effective these vaccines actually are against:

transmissionsymptomatic infection in the medium and long-termsevere Covid diseaseCovid mortalityall-cause mortalityThe absence of medium and long-term RCTs and of high quality active and passive adverse events surveillance systems also mean that we do not have good evidence about how safe these vaccines are, especially in the long-term.

The only RCT data we do have '-- from the RCTs conducted by the pharmaceutical companies that developed the vaccines '-- provide us with relatively short-term data on how effective the vaccines are at preventing symptomatic infection. The trials were not designed to demonstrate effectiveness against severe disease or death. The number of trial participants'-- especially elderly people and people with severe comorbidities who are most vulnerable to severe disease and death '-- was simply much too small.

Moreover, because the control groups were unblinded a few months into the trials when the participants were given the opportunity to take what now appeared to be a highly effective vaccine, there could also not be any meaningful medium and long-term safety and effectiveness data. Lastly, there have been credible accusations that for example the Pfizer trial was not actually properly conducted, nor reliably double-blinded even before the official unblinding took place.

Most of the other evidence we have about vaccine effectiveness comes from observational studies, cases/hospitalizations/deaths numbers released by public health institutions, experimental data showing various types of immune responses, and from the governments and media reporting on such data. All of these can be highly problematic, although of course some non-RCT data are higher quality than other data, and some institutions and media are more capable or honest in how they interpret and represent those data than others.

When comparing the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths that occur in vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, scientists, public health institutions and media will ideally:

present results as daily rates relative to population size instead of as absolute numbers and/or totals over a longer period: When comparisons are made over an extended period in which at least some people are getting vaccinated, the comparison should involve calculating for each person how many days of that period they were in the vaccinated category and how many in the unvaccinated category. For the two denominators of the relative to population rate calculations all vaccinated person-days should be combined in one group and all unvaccinated person-days in another group. For the numerator all cases (or hospitalizations or deaths) that occurred in people who were vaccinated at the time of getting infected should be combined in one group, and all cases that occurred in unvaccinated people combined in the other.use reliable numbers for total population sizes of the groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, and for the number of cases, hospitalizations or deaths that occurred in each group: Health insurance databases are ideal for this purpose as they offer complete and known population data sets that also have '-- or can be used in combination with other datasets that have '-- reliable data on the number of cases/hospitalizations/deaths in each group.continually adjust the population sizes of the group of vaccinated and unvaccinated: The population of vaccinated and unvaccinated people constantly changes as a result not just of people getting newly vaccinated, but also because people die or move in or out of an area. The denominators in the calculations should be continually adjusted to account for these changes.match people in one group to those people in the other group who are similar in terms of age, comorbidities and (absence of) confirmed prior infection: Vaccinated and unvaccinated populations may differ from each other in respects that are relevant for meaningful comparisons. If the elderly are overrepresented in the vaccinated populations, then this will bias the data against vaccination. To adjust for this a selection needs to be made so that the two groups being compared are similar.make adjustments for variability in incidence throughout a period: If, for example, in Canada the period under observation is January '-- August 2021 then there will be an overrepresentation of cases, hospitalizations and deaths among the unvaccinated because the unvaccinated were overrepresented in a period in which there was high virus incidence (January to April) simply by virtue of seasonality.not add people who are within two weeks of a dose to the group who has not yet had that dose: It can take up to two weeks before a dose will start to have a protective effect. This is why cases that occur in people within two weeks of e.g. their first dose are typically not included in the cases for the group of people who have been vaccinated with that first dose. Sometimes they are put in a category of their own ('vaccinated but not yet protected') and sometimes they are added to the cases in the 'unvaccinated' category. If they are added to the cases in the unvaccinated category and the population size of that group is not similarly adjusted, this will bias the data in favor of vaccine effectiveness. The distortive effect can be surprisingly large, as professor Norman Fenton explains in this short clip (full version, research paper, accessible explanation):account for the temporarily increased susceptibility to infection in the period directly following vaccination: The distortive effect just mentioned is significantly amplified as a result of the empirical fact that in those first two weeks after vaccination people are not just not yet protected but actually more likely to get infected (and hence subsequently being hospitalized or dying) than unvaccinated people are. So adding those people to the group of unvaccinated instead of to the vaccinated group or in a group of their own, further increases the case/hospitalization/death rate in the unvaccinated group and decreases it in the vaccinated group.account for the effect of reporting delays: as Norman Fenton explained in the clip above, a similar distortive effect can be achieved as a result of failure to account for reporting delays.adjust for differences in testing willingness and testing requirements: Vaccinated and unvaccinated people may be subject to different testing requirements in society, or they may differ in their willingness or readiness to get tested. All else being equal, if one group gets tested more often than the other, there will be more cases in that group. Studies should take this into account.account for differences in risk-seeking behavior between vaccinated and unvaccinated people: Getting vaccinated may embolden people to engage in riskier behavior than they did when they were still unvaccinated. Alternatively, unvaccinated people may be less concerned about the virus and on average engage in riskier behavior than unvaccinated people. These differences need to be taken into account.look not just at Covid hospitalizations and deaths but all-cause hospitalizations and deaths as well: If the vaccines reduce Covid hospitalizations and deaths but themselves cause adverse events that result in hospitalizations and deaths then this is important information when evaluating the effectiveness of the vaccines. Moreover, it is also at least a theoretical possibility that the vaccine reduces the likelihood of testing positive for Covid when experiencing Covid-like disease but not to the same extent the likelihood of Covid-like disease itself, or the hospitalizations or deaths that result from it. If all-cause hospitalization and death data are not taken into account, then the vaccines may appear more effective at preventing hospitalization or death than they in fact are.correctly interpret differences in all-cause hospitalizations and deaths: When observational studies match people in the vaccinated group with people in the unvaccinated group who are relevantly similar with regard to age, sex, comorbidities and other factors, and there are significant differences not just in Covid hospitalization and death rates but in all-cause hospitalization and death rates as well, this likely does not indicate that the Covid vaccine protects against all-cause hospitalization and death. Instead it suggests there are relevant behavioral differences that independently explain 1) the willingness to get vaccinated, 2) Covid infection, hospitalization and death, 3) all-cause hospitalization and death. One such possible explanation is how responsibly people behave with regard to their own healthcare, such as taking a vaccine that is promoted as safe and effective, avoiding situations that are high-risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission and seeking medical care if sick, and reliably taking the medication prescribed for an existing condition.distinguish between hospitalizations and deaths 'with Covid' and 'due to Covid': If, for example, the vaccines are effective at preventing severe Covid disease but not Covid infection then not distinguishing between on the one hand hospitalizations and deaths that were due to other causes but accompanied by a Covid infection, and on the other hand hospitalizations and deaths that were due to Covid, will appear to make the vaccines less effective against Covid hospitalization and death than they in fact are. Or if fully vaccinated people without Covid symptoms are not routinely tested upon hospital admission for non-Covid reasons while unvaccinated people are, then not distinguishing between hospitalizations for and hospitalizations with Covid will make the vaccine seem more effective at preventing hospitalization than they in fact are as incidental hospitalizations of unvaccinated people will be counted but incidental hospitalizations of fully vaccinated people will not be.This is by no means an exhaustive list of the criteria that studies that compare results in vaccinated and unvaccinated people should meet. But it is enough to give an impression of just how difficult it is in the absence of well designed and properly conducted double blind RCTs to make such comparisons in meaningful and accurate ways.

When it comes to vaccine effectiveness data biases creep in not just in how data are handled but in how data are generated and collected as well. For example, case rates may be influenced by differences in testing behaviors:

Demands from employers or family could mean that unvaccinated people are tested more frequently than unvaccinated people.Alternatively, unvaccinated people may be more opposed to the restrictions, and as a result less willing to get tested than vaccinated people.Similarly, vaccinated people may be less likely to seek medical attention because they assume that their vaccine protects them. Or people who are more anxious may be both more likely to get vaccinated and more likely to seek medical attention if they experience symptoms than unvaccinated people are.And when it comes to hospitalization and deaths data, hospitals and doctors may have different Covid testing and coding rules and practices for vaccinated and unvaccinated people:

Hospitals may routinely test unvaccinated people without Covid symptoms but not fully vaccinated people without symptoms, under the assumption that fully vaccinated people are much less likely to have and transmit Covid.To the extent that in their reporting hospitals distinguish between hospitalizations with and for, doctors may be more inclined to think a person's condition is not due to the Covid infection but the result of other factors simply because they assume the vaccine is protecting the patient against severe Covid disease.Similarly, when patients present to ER with Covid-like symptoms, hospitals may be more likely to admit them if they are unvaccinated than if they are vaccinated because they assume unvaccinated people are much more likely to become severely ill than vaccinated people are.For a variety of reasons hospitals may sometimes code patients for whom upon admission vaccination status cannot be determined as 'unvaccinated' rather than 'unknown', let alone as 'vaccinated'.When doctors determine the cause of death of a patient they may be more likely to put 'Covid' as that cause if the person was unvaccinated than if they were vaccinated because they assume the vaccine protected against severe Covid disease.These are just some of the ways in which slight biases and differential treatments can distort the raw data that will be used by researchers to compare differences in case, hospitalization and death rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

By no means are all these factors present everywhere and all of the time. Some hospitals and doctors will have stricter rules and practices in place that reduce the effect such biases could have than others do.

These decisions are also typically made on the margin: If a fully vaccinated person is hospitalized with obvious signs of severe Covid disease then doctors will be as unlikely to disregard the patient's positive Covid test as they would in the case of a similar Covid patient who is unvaccinated. But in less clear-cut, more ambiguous situations doctors might make different reporting and treatment decisions for unvaccinated and vaccinated people.

Such different decisions do not imply that the doctors and hospitals intend to bias the results to make vaccination seem more effective. Many of the examples mentioned involve reasonable decisions, based on reasonable assumptions, that healthcare professionals have to make in situations in which time, resources and information are scarce. But the net effect may be as distortive as when there was an intention to deceive.

It is however also not completely out of the realm of possibility that some doctors may subconsciously or consciously provide their vaccinated patients with better treatment than their unvaccinated patients, as a result of their personal antipathy or their sense that scarce resources are better spent on people who 'did their part'. An example is what this influential doctor wrote (and apparently felt comfortable enough to write) in a discussion of how Ontario hospitals should use the scarce resource of lifesaving monoclonal antibodies:

Such examples, one would hope, are rare.

The individual net effect of each or most of the biases just mentioned will be small but when several such biases are at play they can add up. Moreover, there may be a self-fulfilling prophecy effect. For example, the assumption that vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe disease can result in several biases that in turn make the vaccines seem more effective at preventing severe disease. Over time the realization that the vaccines are not as effective as previously thought may also result in changes in the protocols and practices that then in turn result in data that further confirm this. It is possible that part of the appearance of waning vaccine effectiveness in the data is in fact the result of protocols and practices being changed in response to indications that the vaccines are less effective than previously thought.

What the total effect of all these potential biases is '-- how it will all shake out '-- is impossible to determine. The best thing to do is simply avoid them. And the best way to do that is through well designed, properly conducted and double blind RCTs. Blinding the participants, for example, removes many of the potential biases that could result from vaccination causing changes in behavioral patterns such as risk-seeking or willingness to get tested. Making the distribution of the real vaccines random means that different personality types won't be overrepresented or underrepresented among either the vaccinated or unvaccinated, which would have resulted in different tendencies to get tested or seek medical attention. And double blinding removes the biases that might lead doctors and hospitals to make different reporting, coding and treatment decisions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Moreover, if a trial is well designed and properly conducted it will for example require each participant to get tested regularly and on a fixed schedule, not just if a patient experiences symptoms.

Alas, as mentioned before, we simply don't have vaccine efficacy data from well designed, properly conducted and double blind RCTs other than data from the (possibly not quite so well conducted and possibly not quite reliably double blinded) RCTs conducted by the pharmaceutical companies, or rather, the companies their hired to do that for them. And these only give us data about short-term efficacy against symptomatic infection.

So we don't have pristine data devoid of distortions that are caused by biases in the data collection. But we can in principle still avoid many of the above-mentioned pitfalls when it comes to the handling, representation and interpretation of the data. In practice, however, very few of the reports published in the media and/or by public health institutions take care to avoid these pitfalls.

This CBC report, for example, reaches spectacular conclusions about vaccine effectiveness, but while its methodology avoids some of the pitfalls mentioned above it fails to avoid several others, which I will leave as an exercise for the readers to identify in the article:

Even academic papers will typically fail in one or more respects. And even the ones that are careful to avoid as many as possible, will typically still have to rely on imprecise estimates for some of the numbers they need to do the calculations used for their comparisons.

For example, in populations with very high vaccination rates it is very difficult to accurately estimate the population of unvaccinated people. Typically that population is estimated by taking the total number of people in that population and subtracting the number of vaccinated people from it. Because public health institutions keep track of the number of vaccinations in that area the number of vaccinated people can typically be reliably estimated, although people moving in and out of the area complicates things somewhat. But to estimate the number of unvaccinated people you need reliable estimates of the total number of people in an area. And if vaccination rates are very high, then relatively small differences in these estimates of the total population will cause relatively large differences in estimates of the unvaccinated population, and hence in the rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the unvaccinated population.

To give an extreme example, in Ontario the vaccination rate of people 80 years and older is listed as 99.99%. The total population of that age group is 655,835. That implies there are only 66 unvaccinated people 80+ in the province. But suppose the total population in that age group is underestimated by a mere 1,000, or 0.15%. That means the unvaccinated population would be 1,066 instead of 66, or 16 times as high. So a small difference in the estimate of the total population means a huge difference in the unvaccinated population, and hence in the rate of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in that age group.

In conclusion, with all the data purporting to tell us something about how effective the vaccines are, we should keep in mind that those data are very much imperfect and should be treated with considerable caution. Even more so when the people involved in the generation, collection, processing and presentation of the data have a strong belief in the effectiveness of the vaccines, such that these assumptions can unintentionally introduce biases that distort the data. Let alone when they may have incentives to intentionally distort and misrepresent.

Even absent deliberate misrepresentation, in the current atmosphere reports that are relatively careless in adjusting for biases that result in a more favorable view of the vaccines will tend to face considerably less scrutiny than reports with a less favorable view.

The solution for all this lies in well designed, properly conducted and double blind randomized controlled trials. These are expensive. But governments have spent enormous amounts of money on their pandemic response in general and the vaccination program in particular. There is no possible justification for not spending a tiny fraction of that money on the only method that generates reliable and accurate data to inform this response.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 15:56

On August 23, 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pfizer's biological licensing application (BLA) for its covid-19 vaccine named COMIRNATY for people aged 16yrs and older. At the time, vaccine hesitancy was persistent and the acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said that granting full approval to the vaccine might ''instill additional confidence'' in people to get vaccinated.

But it backfired, fuelling speculation over why there was no COMIRNATY-labelled vaccine available. Now, eight months have passed, and Americans are still being administered with the Pfizer BioNTech-labelled vaccine, which is under emergency use authorization (EUA). The reasons why remain uncertain, and as I discovered, the explanations offered by various US authorities have only added to the confusion.

Searching for COMIRNATY in the USPfizer's information hotline says it has no specific information on when COMIRNATY will be available. The CDC's website states that COMIRNATY is ''not orderable.'' And a branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overseeing the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), indicated that it was simply because Pfizer did not have time to change the labels. A spokesperson from HHS said, ''Given the urgency of vaccinations to protect as many people as possible as quickly as possible, the company continued to ship its vaccine with the EUA label rather than taking valuable time to re-label the vials.''

But Pfizer says this is not the case. In a statement, Pfizer said its ''COMIRNATY-branded vaccine has been available to ship since late last year.'' So, what is the truth, and does it even matter what is written on the vaccine's label?

According to the FDA, the BioNTech-labelled vaccine under EUA can be used ''as if the doses were the licensed vaccine'' because both vaccines have the ''same formulation and can be used interchangeably without presenting any safety or effectiveness concerns.''

Pfizer said, ''in terms of its ingredients and how it is made, the FDA-approved vaccine is no different from the vaccine that has been administered, to date. The EUA and BLA products are manufactured using the same processes, but they may have been manufactured at different sites or using raw materials from different approved suppliers.''

Cody Meissner, professor of Paediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and FDA advisory committee member told me the vaccine's label is inconsequential. He said, ''The vaccine that people are getting, whether it says COMIRNATY on it or not, is the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. There's no question in my mind, as far as I know, that there's any difference whatsoever, I think it's just a semantic difference.''

The FDA now appears to have deprioritized the outstanding issue of vaccine labels. In a recently updated EUA guidance document for industry, the FDA deleted the item ''how these vaccines will be labelled'' from its list of matters it continues to consider.

Is there a legal distinction?According to the FDA, the two Pfizer covid-19 vaccines are legally distinct. An FDA spokesperson said, ''There are two formulations of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use for individuals 12 years of age and older, and these same formulations are also approved under the COMIRNATY license for individuals 16 years of age and older.''

Peter Meyers, emeritus professor at George Washington University Law School told me the only difference in American law between an EUA or licensed covid-19 vaccine is that ''the statute specifically says that the physician who gives you the vaccination must tell you, that for an emergency use vaccination, that it's optional, discretionary, it's not mandatory that you get it.''

This raises debate about whether Americans have been receiving EUA vaccines with informed consent, particularly in the wake of vaccine mandates. ''If the government or your employer wants to mandate it, they can do that, according to the most recent and authoritative decision from the Federal Office of Legal Counsel. It doesn't make any difference if it's an emergency use or permanent approval. It's only the person who gives you the vaccine, who must inform you [it's optional],'' said Meyers.

He said the EUA and BLA status of the vaccine also does not alter the liability protections afforded to the vaccine manufacturers for the covid-19 vaccines, with one exception '-- wilful misconduct.

''If the manufacturer does a large-scale test of the vaccine, finds out that it causes some very serious health problem, and then hides that from the federal government or the FDA, that would be wilful misconduct,'' said Meyers.

Brook Jackson, the whistle-blower who provided The BMJ with evidence of falsified data in Pfizer's pivotal mRNA trial has already filed a lawsuit for false claims against Pfizer (and its trial site operators) alleging they ''deliberately withheld crucial information from the United States that calls the safety and efficacy of their vaccine into question'' and ''concealed violations of both their clinical trial protocol and federal regulations, including falsification of clinical trial documents.''

Vaccine wasteAs of May 2, 2022, the CDC website shows approximately 728 million covid-19 vaccines have been delivered to various states and 576 million of them, have been administered to Americans, all EUA-labelled. Therefore, at least 152 million covid-19 vaccines are sitting in vaccine centres unused, discarded or expired.

Pfizer's vials have a shelf life of nine months at ''90 °C to ''60 °C, which suggests that much of the EUA product distributed to various US states would have expired given that the nation's supply of covid-19 vaccines a year ago, was reported to be 800 million doses.

The FDA can decide to extend the shelf life of the vaccine. According to its website, the agency has already issued several extensions of expiry dates on various covid vaccines in 2021. Had it not been for these extensions, presumably millions of vials would have gone to waste.

The CDC claims it keeps track of covid-19 vaccine wastage via its Vaccine Tracking System, but did not respond to questions on how much had been wasted. Also, the HHS could not provide data on the expiry dates or batch numbers of distributed vials, a task that it oversees.

Now, as the demand for covid-19 vaccines falls among Americans, it's reasonable to expect the wastage will increase. State health departments are tracking millions of wasted doses, including expired vials. One report found that nearly 1.5 million doses in Michigan, 1.45 million in North Carolina, 1 million in Illinois and almost 725,000 doses in Washington could not be used.

Despite persistent investigation, it is still not clear why FDA-approved COMIRNATY-labelled vials are not being distributed and administered to Americans. The organizations charged with manufacturing, approving, co-ordinating, and tracking the vaccines seem to be operating in silos.

Maryanne Demasi is an investigative medical reporter with a PhD in rheumatology, who writes for online media and top tiered medical journals. For over a decade, she produced TV documentaries for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and has worked as a speechwriter and political advisor for the South Australian Science Minister. Her work can be accessed on her website at maryannedemasi.com.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 15:44

Power-grid operators caution that electricity supplies aren't keeping up with demand amid transition to cleaner forms of energy

From California to Texas to Indiana, electric-grid operators are warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with demand, a gap that could lead to rolling blackouts during heat waves or other peak periods as soon as this year.

California's grid operator said Friday that it anticipates a shortfall in supplies this summer, especially if extreme heat, wildfires or delays in bringing new power sources online exacerbate the constraints. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which oversees a...

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From California to Texas to Indiana, electric-grid operators are warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with demand, a gap that could lead to rolling blackouts during heat waves or other peak periods as soon as this year.

California's grid operator said Friday that it anticipates a shortfall in supplies this summer, especially if extreme heat, wildfires or delays in bringing new power sources online exacerbate the constraints. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which oversees a large regional grid spanning much of the Midwest, said late last month that capacity shortages may force it to take emergency measures to meet summer demand and flagged the risk of outages. In Texas, where a number of power plants lately went offline for maintenance, the grid operator warned of tight conditions during a heat wave expected to last into the next week.

The risk of electricity shortages is rising throughout the U.S. as traditional power plants are being retired more quickly than they can be replaced by renewable energy and battery storage. Power grids are feeling the strain as the U.S. makes a historic transition from conventional power plants fueled by coal and natural gas to cleaner forms of energy such as wind and solar power, and aging nuclear plants are slated for retirement in many parts of the country.

The challenge is that wind and solar farms'--which are among the cheapest forms of power generation'--don't produce electricity at all times and need large batteries to store their output for later use. While a large amount of battery storage is under development, regional grid operators have lately warned that the pace may not be fast enough to offset the closures of traditional power plants that can work around the clock.

Speeding the build-out of renewable energy and batteries has become an especially difficult proposition amid supply-chain challenges and inflation. Most recently, a probe by the Commerce Department into whether Chinese solar manufacturers are circumventing trade tariffs on solar panels has halted imports of key components needed to build new solar farms and effectively brought the U.S. solar industry to a standstill.

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Faced with the prospect of having to call for blackouts when demand exceeds supply, many grid operators are now grappling with the same question: How to encourage the build-out of batteries and other new technologies while keeping traditional power plants from closing too quickly.

''Every market around the world is trying to deal with the same issue,'' said Brad Jones, interim chief executive of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's power grid. ''We're all trying to find ways to utilize as much of our renewable resources as possible'...and at the same time make sure that we have enough dispatchable generation to manage reliability.''

The risk of outages resulting from supply constraints comes amid other challenges straining the reliability of the grid. Large, sustained outages have occurred with greater frequency over the past two decades, in part because the grid has become more vulnerable to failure with age and an uptick in severe weather events exacerbated by climate change. A push to electrify home heating and cooking, and the expected growth of electric vehicles, may increase power demand in coming years, putting further pressure on the system.

California regulators on Friday said as much as 3,800 megawatts of new supplies may face delays through 2025. Such delays would pose a major challenge for the state, which is racing to procure a huge amount of renewable energy and storage to offset the closure of several gas-fired power plants, as well as a nuclear plant. Gov. Gavin Newsom

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recently said he would consider moving to keep that nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, online to reduce the risk of shortages.

''We need to make sure that we have sufficient new resources in place and operational before we let some of these retirements go,'' said Mark Rothleder, chief operating officer of the California Independent System Operator, which operates the state's power grid. ''Otherwise, we are putting ourselves potentially at risk of having insufficient capacity.''

The reliability question has stirred strong debate in Texas, where a freak winter storm last year caused power plants of all kinds to trip offline, forcing the grid operator to call for dayslong blackouts to keep supply in line with demand. Many problems played a part'--some power plants weren't prepared for subfreezing temperatures, while others couldn't operate for lack of fuel'--but the failures collectively exposed the vulnerability of the state's power market, and resulted in calls for change.

Texas is now debating what would be a major philosophical shift for its power market: paying power generators ahead of time for resources that might be needed, instead of just compensating them for actual power sold. That approach would largely benefit incumbent generators including NRG Energy Inc. and Vistra Corp. , which own numerous conventional power plants with the potential to profit from such contracts.

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The idea has prompted pushback from some battery and renewable-energy companies, including Eolian LP, which has proposed incentives for batteries, small gas turbines and other technologies capable of quickly ramping up to meet increases in electricity demand.

''The most important thing we heard after the freeze was we need to keep the lights on and make sure this grid is reliable,'' said Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. ''There's nothing worse than turning Texas off.''

The MISO, which recently warned of potential supply shortages resulting from higher-than-expected summer demand, has lately undertaken an effort to better value different types of resources based on their ability to support the grid at different times during the year and under various conditions. It is also working to improve the transfer of power across regions when needed.

MISO Chief Executive

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John Bear said those processes will help the grid operator as the energy transition progresses, but he foresees the risk of near-term shortages. The grid operator has more frequently resorted to emergency measures to shore up supplies in recent years.

''I am concerned about it,'' Mr. Bear said. ''As we move forward, we need to know that when you put a solar panel or a wind turbine up, it's not the same as a thermal resource,'' such as gas or coal.

Write to Katherine Blunt at Katherine.Blunt@wsj.com

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Sun, 08 May 2022 15:40

Some studies find higher rates of erectile dysfunction among men recovering from the illness. But other factors related to the pandemic, like heightened anxiety, may also be to blame.

A patient with long Covid is examined in a hospital in Israel. Some research indicates that the coronavirus may linger in cells in the male genital tract. Credit... Amir Cohen/Reuters For a respiratory disease, Covid-19 causes some peculiar symptoms. It can diminish the senses of smell and taste, leave patients with discolored ''Covid toes,'' or even cause a swollen, bumpy ''Covid tongue.''

Now scientists are examining a possible link to an altogether unexpected consequence of Covid: erectile dysfunction. A connection has been reported in hundreds of papers by scientists in Europe and North America, as well as in Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Thailand.

Estimates of the magnitude of the problem vary wildly. A paper by Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, director of reproductive urology at the University of Miami's Desai Sethi Urology Institute, and his colleagues found that the risk of erectile dysfunction increased by 20 percent after a bout with Covid. Other investigators have reported substantially higher increases in that risk.

When patients first started coming to Dr. Ramasamy's clinic complaining of erection problems, ''We dismissed it, thinking it was all psychological or stress induced,'' he said.

But over time, he and other physicians began to see a pattern, he said. ''Six months after the initial infection, patients had gotten better overall, but they continued to complain of these problems,'' including both erectile dysfunction and low sperm counts, Dr. Ramasamy, who has written several papers on the topic, said.

At the outset of the pandemic, Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, a professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, reported a strong link between erectile dysfunction and Covid. When he compared men who had been ill with Covid with those who had not, he found that those who had been infected were nearly six times as likely to report impotence as those who had avoided the coronavirus.

''Communicating that the disease can affect your sexual life is a tremendously powerful message,'' especially for men who still resist vaccination, Dr. Jannini said in an interview. ''The evidence is very strong.''

Research from imaging scans and biopsies indicates that the coronavirus can infect tissue within the male genital tract, where it may linger long after the initial infection. Scientists say it is too early to be certain that the link to erectile dysfunction is causal, since so many factors '-- psychological as well as physiological '-- play a role in producing and maintaining an erection. The pandemic has led to social isolation and a surge in anxiety and depression, all of which may play a role.

''Men's erections are more complicated than people think,'' Dr. Justin Dubin, who co-wrote a paper about the adverse impact of Covid on men's health, said.

''You need good blood flow, you need the nerves to be firing, and you need good hormone levels, specifically testosterone,'' he said. ''But you also need to be in a good state of mind, and you also need to be aroused. If any of these things go wrong, you may have an issue getting an erection.''

In that sense, the pandemic is the perfect confluence of converging factors for causing erectile dysfunction, Dr. Joseph Katz, a professor at Florida College of Dentistry, said. Dr. Katz stumbled on the issue of erectile dysfunction while investigating Covid's effects on oral health.

Some researchers speculate that erectile dysfunction may be linked to the well-documented loss of the ability to taste and smell experienced by Covid patients, because these senses play an important role in sexual arousal. ''It is through smells that the arousal mechanism in the brain is ignited,'' three Italian urologists wrote last year in a letter responding to Dr. Jannini's paper.

Image Vascular problems can manifest in the sexual organs first, because the vessels there are small. ''When I see a guy for erectile dysfunction, they don't just get a Viagra or Cialis prescription,'' Dr. T. Mike Hsieh of the University of California, San Diego, said. Credit... Everyday Images, via Alamy At the very least, men need healthy blood vessels and good blood flow in order to develop and sustain erections. The coronavirus may damage blood vessels and the lining of the vessels, called the endothelium, as it binds to the molecular receptors that are plentiful on endothelial cells.

The vessels may not constrict and stretch as needed to allow for blood flow to the penis. Injury to the blood vessels may also contribute to more serious complications of Covid, like heart attacks, strokes and abnormal clotting.

''Our entire vascular system is connected '-- it's not an isolated penis problem,'' Dr. T. Mike Hsieh, director of the men's health center at University of California, San Diego, said.

But vascular problems can manifest in the sexual organs first, because the vessels there are so small. (Dr. Jannini calls erectile dysfunction ''the canary in the coal mine'' for cardiovascular disease.) Erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease share risk factors '-- such as being severely overweight, having metabolic diseases like diabetes, smoking and older age '-- which also increase the odds of having severe Covid.

''The artery for the penis is one-tenth the size of a coronary artery, and when you have a narrower vessel, whether it's a plumbing problem or a vascular problem, it will show up there first, even before you see it in a larger artery,'' Dr. Hsieh said.

Erectile dysfunction can precede a heart attack by about five years, he said, and can be an early signal that there are other underlying risk factors.

''When I see a guy for erectile dysfunction, they don't just get a Viagra or Cialis prescription,'' Dr. Hsieh said. ''They get a referral to a primary care colleague or a cardiologist to make sure their cholesterol is in check, their diabetes is under control, to discuss weight management, lifestyle or dietary changes.''

Erectile dysfunction may point the way to better diagnosis of long Covid, Dr. Jannini said, or even deteriorating mental health.

''If you have a patient who survived Covid, and you want to know if he has long Covid or not, just ask him how it's going in bed,'' Dr. Jannini said. ''If he's having a normal sex life, the possibility of him having serious long Covid is very, very low.''

Left untreated, erectile dysfunction can lead to further complications. Cases of Peyronie's disease, a condition that causes curved, painful erections as a result of fibrous scar tissue built up in the penis, and orchitis, the inflammation of one or both of the testicles, have developed in men who have had Covid, according to published research.

Men who don't have normal erections for several months at a time may develop scar tissue and fibrosis, which makes erectile dysfunction harder to treat and may even lead to shortening of the penis.

Erectile dysfunction can resolve on its own, but Dr. Hsieh encouraged men with symptoms to see their physicians, and sooner rather than later.

''If you're having these problems, do not wait,'' he said. ''For the most part, we can get the guys' sex lives back.''

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Sun, 08 May 2022 14:44

Darkstar, the fictional secret hypersonic jet from the hotly anticipated new Top Gun: Maverick film, set to release May 27, might just be a whole lot more realistic than we previously thought. The chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation, James Taiclet, has confirmed that the company's legendary Skunk Works advanced projects division worked with the producers of the movie and helped create the fictional design.

The War Zone had reached out to Skunk Works directly regarding this collaboration. They would not comment directly but subsequently directed us to a post that Taiclet made on LinkedIn following the world premiere preview showing of the movie at the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Station North Island's Lowry Theater in San Diego, California, this week. Taiclet said that members of the Skunk Works team had ''partnered with Top Gun's producers to bring cutting-edge, future forward technology to the big screen'' before referencing ''critical work in hypersonic flight.''

That admission follows a previous Tweet by a Lockheed Martin executive, John Neilson, the Director of Communications for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, in which he pointed to rumors that the fictional jet could provide a ''sneaky peak at what might be the Lockheed Martin SR-72.''

That would, at least, explain the configuration of the fictional Darkstar, which is broadly reminiscent of renderings of the long-teased SR-72 hypersonic jet. The latter was the subject of no small amount of public discussion by Lockheed Martin between 2016 and 2017.

Billed as a potential spiritual successor to the legendary SR-71 Blackbird, the SR-72 concept proposes an unmanned reusable hypersonic military aircraft that would be capable of carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), as well as strike missions.

In 2016, Rob Weiss, then Executive Vice President of Skunk Works, had said that a hypersonic demonstrator aircraft could be ready for a first flight by 2018. "We estimate it will cost less than $1 billion to develop, build and fly a demonstrator aircraft the size of an F-22," Marillyn Hewson, then Lockheed Martin's CEO, had added while speaking at the same event.

SR-72 rendering from the Skunk Works.References to the SR-72 effort have also emerged more recently in relation to the U.S. Air Force's secretive Mayhem hypersonic air vehicle program, which you can read more about here.

The SR-72 has already been widely speculated to be the inspiration for Darkstar. Like conceptual artworks of the SR-72, the Darkstar jet that we've seen in previous trailers and in a Lady Gaga music video related to the film features an elongated, chined forward fuselage that extends back into a delta-like wing, mounted behind the fuselage's midpoint. One difference compared to the SR-72 concepts is the Darkstar's two inward-canted tail fins.

A closeup of the 'Darkstar' from the Lady Gaga music video seen below. (Youtube Screencap)In addition, the cockpit configuration of the fictional aircraft notably features zero forward visibility, something that we've also seen on the real X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft, or QueSST, which Skunk Works is building for NASA. Once again, the SR-72 would be unmanned, but a demonstrator of its high-speed technologies would be manned.

The music video below for Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand," which is featured in the film, provides a good look at the fictional Darkstar design beginning at around 1:08 in the runtime.

The name is also a tell. Darkstar is already part of the Skunk Works legacy. The name was assigned to the short-lived RQ-3 Darkstar low-observable reconnaissance drone. That program was canceled in the late 1990s with its technologies migrating 'into the black' and influencing a number of programs. A similar concept eventually became operational in the guise of the RQ-170 Sentinel.

Separately, we also have now learned of indications that some kind of physical mock-up of Darkstar was produced for the movie, as well as the CGI versions that we've already seen.

In a Twitter post, Alex Hollings, the editor of the Sandboxx blog, recounts that producer Jerry Bruckheimer told him that the Darkstar ''was actually designed with Skunk Works engineers.'' The text is accompanied by a photo of a CGI Darkstar in a hangar, alongside Maverick's iconic Kawasaki Ninja.

More sensationally, Hollings also writes that Bruckheimer claims the U.S. Navy told him ''China reoriented a spy satellite to get pics of [Darkstar], thinking it was a real experimental aircraft.''

The claim that a Darkstar mock-up alerted Chinese intelligence agencies, prompting them to task their spy satellites to get a better look at it, seems a bit more fanciful, although it's possible. We don't really know what kind of mockup was used, although most of the imagery we have seen of Darkstar appears to be largely CGI rendered. Further, how the Navy knew the exact circumstances of Chinese surveillance of a major military installation, which happens daily as it is, seems a bit puzzling, although redirecting a high-resolution satellite to an area of interest could have been a circumstantial indication of this. The Navy then sharing such info with Bruckheimer also seems odd, but anything is possible. Hopefully, we can clear this up with the Navy and report more in the near future.

Nevertheless, it's not unheard of for movie props of this kind to be sometimes almost too realistic.

Looking back in history, the cockpit mock-up of the B-52 strategic bomber used in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is widely reported to have led to consternation in the Air Force on account of its accuracy. Production designer Ken Adam, himself a former combat pilot, later recalled: ''At some stage, we invited some American Air Force personnel to visit the set, and they went white because it was so accurate.''

There were similar concerns with early renderings of the Stealth Hawk helicopters used in Zero Dark Thirty.

Regardless, having Lockheed Martin involved in creating a fictional hypersonic aircraft concept shouldn't be entirely surprising, if only from a public relations point of view. After all, despite the cloak of secrecy surrounding Skunk Works designs, the SR-72 concept has, in the past, been the subject of unusually public pitching by Lockheed and has fueled much speculation.

Maybe our best full look at Darkstar yet is made available by the Matchbox toy that was released far in advance of the movie's premiere due to COVID-19. It definitely has the classic look of high-speed aircraft concepts that have been floated over the years.

Matchbox toy of Darkstar released in conjunction with the forthcoming movie. Brett TingleyAdmissions from Lockheed Martin that the company did indeed play a part in injecting realism into Top Gun 2 will no doubt help fuel anticipation about the new '-- and much-delayed '-- sequel. At the same time, the PR benefit will also surely be felt by Lockheed Martin as well as the U.S. Navy, the latter being a prime beneficiary of the original Top Gun movie. The F-35C is also featured in the film and Tom Cruise visited Lockheed Martin's F-35 factory in Dallas-Fort Worth during the early stages of the movie's production. But when it comes to defense contractors, Boeing stands the most to gain from the powerful Top Gun PR machine, with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet clearly playing the starring role.

The big question that we have is if there is something else going on here? The Skunk Works was very hard to pin down regarding its involvement in Darkstar and there are rumors floating around that this aircraft maybe a little less fictional than we are made to believe, at least at this very moment.

We will stay on the story, but for now, enjoy a long-awaited quenching of your "need for speed."

Topgun: Maverick officially hits theaters on May 27th.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com

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Sun, 08 May 2022 14:41

Eighteen-year-old Lucy* started shoplifting around a year ago, when she wanted a necklace that she couldn't afford. ''I just ripped the packaging off and stuck it in my pocket. I hadn't really planned it out or anything,'' she explains.

Lucy's honesty might come as a shock, but she regularly informs 30,000 people about her stealing habit via @ferretsborrowing, a TikTok account she runs. What started out as a way to share a glittery PowerPoint she made for a friend on how to shoplift is now part of what is known as ''Borrowing TikTok''.

The ''borrowing'' community is made up of anonymous accounts, primarily run by teens with voice changer effects, who bond over their love of five-finger discounts, share hauls and how-to videos. It's essentially The Bling Ring meets Anonymous.

''I mostly get questions about what's easiest to borrow, where's easiest to borrow from, how to avoid cameras and security, taking off security tags,'' explains Lucy. ''Mostly things beginners want to know so they don't get arrested.''

This isn't the first online community of shoplifters. In 2014, a Tumblr user ''outed'' a relatively smaller group of accounts that were also detailing their hauls and tips. But according to those involved, Borrowing TikTok is about more than just teaching people how to steal stuff. It's pointedly rooted in politics.

Sixteen-year-old Destiny, who's behind the 25,000-follower strong @borrowingguid3, first heard of capitalism around the age of 13, and remembers thinking about how unfair it is that big corporations control trade instead of local businesses. Back then, the teenager didn't recognise this as Socialism 101, but now knows that she dislikes capitalism and believes she can do something about it '' even if shoplifting is illegal.

The borrowing community is mainly US-based '' Lucy and Destiny are both Americans '' with teens from wealthier countries like the UK and Australia joining in. They exclusively steal from large chain stores, an act they encourage with the community catchphrase: ''If it's a chain, it's free reign.''

''We have so many companies that don't care about their customers, only making money,'' says Destiny. ''If we can punish the corporation, we feel we have done our best.''

They evaluate a company's politics when deciding whether to steal from them. If they're unsure of the answer regarding their favourite shop, they'll probably find it on the #borrowingtips tag, which has more than 95 million views. ''We wanna really make them hurt more than companies that aren't as problematic,'' says Lucy.

The community's evil-by-association style logic makes Victoria's Secret just as much a target for their chief marketing officer's transphobic comments in 2018, as a chain store whose right-wing founder donates to anti-LGBTQ groups.

This is where cracks begins to show in their ideology: an outwardly regressive senior member of staff doesn't mean the company in question mistreats their staff. Is an entire company homophobic, sexist or racist? It can be difficult to call, but these teens are confident in calling it.

A screengrab from @borrowingtipsandtricks. Photo: @borrowingtipsandtricks

Although Lucy tells me that the anti-capitalism aspect is just an added benefit for her, it's the whole point for some. Destiny tells me that she ''borrowed'' pet supplies from a chain pet store thought to mistreat animals and donated them to a local shelter just the other week.

Most of the items stolen by Gen Z are relatively cheap, usually no more than £20. Rachel Shteir, author of The Theft: A Cultural History of Shoplifting, writes that razor blades are one of the most commonly stolen items as people resent having to pay such high prices for what is essentially just a piece of metal and plastic.

Terrence Shulman, an ex-shoplifter who runs a treatment centre in Michigan for shoplifting addiction, says that he understands the premise of stealing to get back at the system, but explains that stores generally bump up the prices of all items to account for shoplifting losses.

''I'm not saying that the corporations don't deserve some kind of accountability,'' he says, ''but what really scares me is a lot of these people are going to end up actually making the prices higher.''

The mindset growing on TikTok reflects real generational change. A 2020 YouGov report revealed that stealing from large businesses is viewed as more acceptable, and that two in five young people say ''deliberate shoplifting is acceptable under certain circumstances''.

For sociology lecturer Dan Mercea, what stands out about the TikTok community is their offline activity, in contrast to most online-only clicktivism. ''These guys are taking their ideas and then putting them into practice in their everyday lives, and then re-coming back onto social media and sharing what they've done in their environment,'' he says. ''There's this organic growth that's actually fed by this.''

In other words, they're growing a self-perpetuating movement that believes it is tackling the system '' albeit illegally '' both virtually and IRL. But what about if it becomes more than just shoplifting the odd trinket from high street retailers?

Shulman, who has first-hand experience of how easy it is to fast track from ethical shoplifter to full-blown kleptomaniac, warns there is a risk you can get addicted to shoplifting. ''It might start off as a thrill, it might start off as you're very driven to make a point or get back at the system,'' he says, ''but before you know it because addictions can spread like wildfire, all of a sudden you are stealing from a small store.''

Although Destiny's ''chain stores only'' ethos is still very much alive, she admits to me that she feels she is addicted to the rush of shoplifting and now has the urge to do it a few times a week.

Regardless of differences within the community, these teens are certain of one thing: TikTok lets them be seen as more than just thoughtless shoplifters. Taking pairs of earrings off multi-packs in Topshop was a real coming of age moment for me, although admittedly it was just because I only liked the silver ones in the pack rather than an attempt to piss off Phillip Green. In 2020, teens can get those kicks, all while spreading an anti-capitalist message to a whole generation, one For You page at a time.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 14:28

Health officials are investigating whether dogs are behind a rise in cases of hepatitis in children, it has emerged.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday that the number of sudden onset hepatitis cases has jumped by 18 since last week to 163, including 11 children who have had liver transplants after their organs were badly damaged.

Unexplained hepatitis '' or liver inflammation '' is rare in children, and the cases have sparked alarm across the globe.

Health officials said that adenovirus, a usually mild viral infection that causes the common cold, remained the main theory. But the report added that ''relatively high numbers'' of affected children '' 70 per cent of 93 survey respondents '' either came from families with dogs, or had some other ''exposure'' to the pets before falling ill.

''The significance of this finding is being explored,'' officials wrote.

But they noted that having a dog was ''common in the UK'' and there was ''limited data on background rates of pet ownership in families of young children'', making it difficult to assess the importance of the data.

The Telegraph understands that health officials are not convinced that the link is strong, but felt that it was too soon to discard any potential hypothesis given the results of the survey.

'No sensible link between pets and hepatitis'Prof Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute, added that he could not think of ''any sensible explanation'' for a link between exposure to dogs and hepatitis in children.

''Dogs carry their own adenoviruses, including CAV-1, a dog liver pathogen, but there's no prior evidence at all for CAV-1 being able to infect humans,'' he told The Telegraph.

Dr Meaghan Kall, an epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said on Twitter that the theory seemed ''far-fetched''.

The report comes after the World Health Organisation said that roughly 300 cases had now been reported in at least 20 countries.

While most are in Europe, small numbers have been identified in the Americas, western Pacific and southeast Asia '' including three deaths this week in Indonesia, bringing total fatalities to four.

Currently, the leading theory is that the cases are linked to an adenovirus, with 72 per cent of children who were tested for the pathogen in the UK returning a positive result.

Lockdowns could be a factorBut the UKHSA said it was likely that other factors may be amplifying the infection.

One theory is that Covid-19 lockdowns may have weakened children's immunity, because they were less exposed to common pathogens while in isolation, or that the virus is acting in tandem with another infection.

This could include Sars-Cov-2. So far, 14 per cent of children affected across Britain have recently tested positive for Covid, and scientists have not ruled out the possibility that the hepatitis cases are a consequence of an infection.

Another possibility is that there is an ''exceptionally large wave of normal adenovirus infections'', meaning very rare complications are presenting more frequently, or that this is a new adenovirus variant.

Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging infections at UKHSA, on Friday urged parents to look out for symptoms of hepatitis. The most common symptom '' found in more than 70 per cent of children '' is jaundice, while vomiting and pale stools were also prevalent.

''It's important that parents know the likelihood of their child developing hepatitis is extremely low,'' she said. ''However, we continue to remind everyone to be alert to the signs of hepatitis '' particularly jaundice, look for a yellow tinge in the whites of the eyes '' and contact your doctor if you are concerned.''

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security

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Sun, 08 May 2022 13:31

The mainstream media is failing.

Chuck Todd's Meet the Press Daily is being taken off of MSNBC and will now only be on NBC News Now, the network's streaming service.

Deadline reported:

Meet the Press Daily with Chuck Todd will move from MSNBC to the network streaming service NBC News Now.

TRENDING: EXCLUSIVE: WHO Propaganda Outlet from France Attacks Gateway Pundit Reporting and Dr. Li Who Claims COVID Was Created in a Lab and Released Intentionally by China

Starting on June 6, his daily show will stream as Meet the Press Now, marking the latest effort to expand the offerings on the free platform.

Todd's Meet the Press Daily, also known as MTP Daily, had aired at 1 PM ET each day, and will move to 4 PM ET on NBC News Now. Chris Jansing will take over the 1 PM hour starting on May 26 with MSNBC Reports.

The show's ratings have been trailing competitors. It averaged only 681,000 viewers in April.

This was far behind Fox News and even lower than CNN.

President Donald Trump previously called for Chuck Todd to be fired after he was caught deceptively editing a clip of Attorney General William Barr.

The Gateway Pundit reported:

President Trump called for NBC to fire Meet the Press host Chuck Todd Sunday night after Todd used a deceptively edited video clip of Attorney General William Barr to smear Barr about his decision to drop the Justice Department case against former Trump National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (U.S. Army Ret.). Trump copied FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on his tweet.

'...

Todd used a deceptively edited video clip from Barr's interview Friday with CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge about the Flynn case. Barr was asked how history would judge his decision to drop the charge of lying to the FBI that Flynn had pled guilty to. Barr mused that history is written by the winners but expressed his belief ''a fair history would say that it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law. It helped, it upheld the standards of the Department of Justice and it undid what was an injustice.''

Todd aired a video clip of Barr's answer that cut off the part where he spoke about the rule of law. Todd set up the hit job by saying to panelist Peggy Noonan, ''Uh, you brought up Bill Barr, Peggy Noonan. I want you to listen to this Bill Barr answer to a question, 'what will history say about this?'. Wait til you hear this answer. Take a listen.''

How long until Chuck Todd's show is on cable access TV?

For the antidote to media bias, check out ProTrumpNews.com!

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Sun, 08 May 2022 13:26

Rumble says it's been defending itself against an "unprecedented" level of cyberattacks as it prepares to launch Dinesh D'Souza's new documentary on election fraud.

A tweet from Rumble's official account reads, "MAJOR UPDATE: Within the last 24 hours Rumble has been under an unprecedented attack. Our engineers are working around the clock to mitigate these attacks and prepare for a smooth rollout of our 1st movie launch '2000 Mules' tomorrow."

"As the situation evolves we will update here," the tweet continues.

The documentary "2000 Mules" is expected to ruffle more than a few feathers. It tackles the ultra-controversial subject of the November 2020 presidential elections and claims to provide rock-solid evidence of ballot stuffing and fraudulent electoral practices in several key states.

D'Souza has said the movie will bring to light "a coordinated ring of illegal vote harvesting in all the key states where the election was decided."

Rumble went online on Dec. 2 2021, as an alternative, free-speech platform that allows users to monetize content without worrying about censorship. It's popular with conservative commentators.

Join and support independent free thinkers!

We're independent and can't be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 12:40

Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the exercise by any court of the United States of its power to punish for contempt.

(Added Sept. 23, 1950, ch. 1024, title I, §'¯31(a),

64 Stat. 1018; amended

Pub. L. 103''322, title XXXIII, §'¯330016(1)(K),

Sept. 13, 1994

,

108 Stat. 2147.)

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Source: The Volokh Conspiracy

Sat, 07 May 2022 21:12

You can read the full opinion in Rowan v. Greene (Ga. Ofc. State Admin. Hearings); here's an excerpt:

Challengers allege that Rep. Greene "does not meet the federal constitutional requirements for a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and is therefore ineligible to be a candidate for such office." They assert that Rep. Greene "voluntarily aided and engaged in an insurrection to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power, disqualifying her from serving as a Member of Congress under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment '...." '... This section of the 14th Amendment provides:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability'....

To prove that the Disqualification Clause bars Rep. Greene's candidacy, Challengers must show that:

after Greene took an oath to defend the Constitutionshe engagedin insurrection against the Constitution.The parties have stipulated that the first time Rep. Greene took an oath to defend the Constitution was January 3, 2021, when she was sworn in as a member of Congress. Therefore, only conduct by Rep. Greene occurring after taking that oath on January 3, 2021, is relevant in determining whether the Disqualification Clause applies. Similarly, statements made by Rep. Greene and actions taken by her prior to her taking of the oath on January 3, 2021, are only relevant, and can only be considered, to the extent they explain her conduct occurring after the taking of the oath'....

There appear to be two judicial opinions that have considered the meaning of the word "engage" as used in the Disqualification Clause. See United States v. Powell, 65 N.C. 709 (1871) (defining "engage" as "a voluntary effort to assist the Insurrection '... and to bring it to a successful [from insurrectionists' perspective] termination"); Worthy v. Barrett, 63 N.C. 199, 203 (1869) (defining "engage" as "[v]oluntarily aiding the rebellion by personal service or by contributions, other than charitable, of anything that was useful or necessary").

It appears that it is not necessary that an individual personally commit an act of violence to have "engaged" in insurrection. See Powell, 65 N.C. at 709 (defendant paid to avoid serving in Confederate Army); Worthy, 63 N.C. at 203 (defendant simply served as county sheriff). Nor does "engagement" require previous conviction of a criminal offense. See, e.g., Powell, 65 N.C. at 709 (defendant not charged with any prior crime); Worthy, 63 N.C. at 203 (defendant not charged with any crime); In re Tate, 63 N.C. 308 (1869) (defendant not charged with any crime); Gerard N. Magliocca, Amnesty and Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, 36 CONST. COMMENT. 87, 98''99 (2021) (in special congressional action in 1868 to enforce Section Three and remove Georgia legislators, none of the legislators had been charged criminally).

Rep. Greene points to the use of word "engage" in a similarly-worded 1867 statute with more severe consequences (disenfranchisement) than the Disqualification Clause. The then Attorney General construed that statute to require "some direct overt act, done with the intent to further the rebellion." The authority does not indicate that a prior criminal conviction is necessary to trigger the Disqualification Clause.

On balance, therefore, it appears that "engage" includes overt actions and, in certain limited contexts, words used in furtherance of the insurrections and associated actions. "Merely disloyal sentiments or expressions" do not appear be sufficient. But marching orders or instructions to capture a particular objective, or to disrupt or obstruct a particular government proceeding, would appear to constitute "engagement" under the Worthy-Powell standard. To the extent (if any) that an "overt act" may be needed, see id., it would appear that in certain circumstances words can constitute an "overt act," just as words may constitute an "overt act" under the Treason Clause, e.g., Chandler v. United States, 171 F.2d 921, 938 (1st Cir. 1948) (enumerating examples, such as conveying military intelligence to the enemy), or for purposes of conspiracy law, e.g., United States v. Donner, 497 F.2d 184, 192 (7th Cir. 1974) (even "constitutionally protected speech may nevertheless be an overt act in a conspiracy charge").

Challengers argue that Rep. Greene's speeches, texts, tweets, and appearances evidence a long-term plan to foment an insurrection on January 6 in order to prevent Congress from completing its Constitutional duties in certifying the election of President Biden. Under Challengers' view of the evidence, Rep. Greene was planning and furthering insurrection long before she took office. This plan, they contend, began as soon as it was clear that President Trump would lose the 2020 election. Under Challengers' view of the evidence, the January 6 Invasion was "Plan B," to be triggered when efforts to object to the Electoral College votes and to persuade Vice President Pence to refuse the certification of President Biden failed.

The difficulty with Challengers' theory is the lack of evidence. Whatever the exact parameters of the meaning of "engage" as used in the 14th Amendment, and assuming for these purposes that the Invasion was an insurrection, Challengers have produced insufficient evidence to show that Rep. Greene "engaged" in that insurrection after she took the oath of office on January 3, 2021. In short, even assuming, arguendo, that the Invasion was an insurrection, Challengers presented no persuasive evidence Rep. Greene took any action'--direct physical efforts, contribution of personal services or capital, issuance of directives or marching orders, transmissions of intelligence, or even statements of encouragement'--in furtherance thereof on or after January 3, 2021.

There is no evidence to show that Rep. Greene participated in the Invasion itself. To the contrary, the evidence shows that she was inside the Capitol building at the time, and unaware of the Invasion until proceedings were suspended at approximately 2:29 p.m. on January 6, 2021.

Further, there is no evidence showing that after January 3, 2021, Rep. Greene communicated with or issued directives to persons who engaged in the Invasion. Challengers point to Rep. Greene's apparent prior contact with certain persons, such as Anthony Aguero. They point to postings from various persons, such as Ali Alexander. But the evidence does not show that Rep. Greene was in contact with, directed, or assisted these individuals, or indeed anyone, in the planning or execution of the Invasion. Rep. Greene denies any such contact or involvement and that denial stands unchallenged by other testimony or documentary evidence.

Challengers make a valiant effort to support inferences that Rep. Greene was an insurrectionist, but the evidence is lacking, and the Court is not persuaded. The evidence shows that prior to January 3, 2021, Rep. Greene engaged in months of heated political rhetoric clothed with strong 1st Amendment protections. NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. (1982); see also Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). The evidence does not show Rep. Greene engaged in months of planning and plotting to bring about the Invasion and defeat the orderly transfer of power provided for in our Constitution. Her public statements and heated rhetoric may well have contributed to the environment that ultimately led to the Invasion. But expressing constitutionally-protected political views, no matter how aberrant they may be, prior to being sworn in as a Representative is not engaging in insurrection under the 14th Amendment.

Challengers point to Rep. Greene's statement during the Newsmax Interview on January 5, 2021, as a literal call to arms to storm the Capitol. {In this interview '..., Rep. Greene discussed her plans to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election by supporting challenges to the certification of Electoral College votes. When asked, "What is your plan tomorrow? What are you prepared for?" Rep. Greene answered, "Well, you know, I'll echo the words of many of my colleagues as we were just meeting together in our GOP conference meeting this morning. This is our 1776moment."}

The Court finds this to be the only conduct that could even possibly be interpreted as triggering the Disqualification Clause. If this statement was in fact a coded message from Rep. Greene to her co-conspirators to go forward with a previously planned incursion into the Capitol, it might constitute an overt act and one that occurred after she took her oath as Representative.

Based on the evidence, the Court is unpersuaded that Rep. Greene's ambiguous statement that "[t]his is our 1776 moment" was a coded call to violent insurrection on January 6, 2021. Heated political rhetoric? Yes. Encouragement to supporters of efforts to prevent certification of the election of President Biden? Yes. Encouragement to attend the Save America Rally or other rallies and to demonstrate against the certification of the election results? Yes. A call to arms for consummation of a pre-planned violent revolution? No. It is impossible for the Court to conclude from this vague, ambiguous statement that Rep. Greene was complicit in a months-long enterprise to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power without making an enormous unsubstantiated leap'....

The parties and the Court agree that the actions of the participants in the Invasion were despicable. The parties strongly disagree, however, as to whether the Invasion constituted an "insurrection" within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. They proffer competing definitions of the meaning of the term "insurrection" as used in the 14th Amendment and whether the events of the Invasion meet those definitions.

The events that occurred on January 6, 2021, are truly tragic. Multiple lives were lost, including those of law enforcement officers who died defending the Capitol. Many sustained injuries, some of them permanent and life-changing. The citadel of democracy, the U.S. Capitol, was violently breached in the most serious incursion in 200 years. Members of Congress, including Rep. Greene, were forced to take shelter for several hours to avoid the wrath of the invaders. Congress was unable to perform its obligations under the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. It is among the saddest and most tragic days in the history of our American Republic. The well documented images of the events of the day are painful in the extreme.

Whether the Invasion of January 6 amounted to an insurrection is an issue of tremendous importance to all Americans and one that may yet be addressed. However, it is not a question for this Court to answer at this time. Because the Court finds Rep. Greene did not "engage" in the Invasion, either as a direct participant or in its planning and execution, after taking her oath on January 3, 2021, it is not necessary to address the question of whether the events of January 6 constituted an "insurrection" within the meaning of the 14th Amendment.

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Sat, 07 May 2022 12:34

Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.

As a commercial pilot, Bob Snow had long looked forward to seeing his daughter follow in his footsteps by helping her learn to fly an airplane.

However, having received the COVID-19 vaccine ''under duress,'' this dream is no longer a possibility for Snow.

''I will probably never fly again,'' Snow said in a video he made about his story. ''I was hoping to teach my daughter to fly. She wants to be a pilot. That will probably never happen, all courtesy of the vaccine.''

Snow is one of a growing number of pilots coming forward to share stories of injuries they experienced after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Some of these accounts are ''hair-raising and deeply disturbing,'' according to Maureen Steele, a paralegal and head of media relations for the John Pierce Law Firm.

The firm represents U.S. Freedom Flyers (USFF), an organization opposing vaccine and mask mandates for pilots and airline staff, in a series of legal actions against the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and several airlines.

Josh Yoder, a pilot with a major commercial airline, Army combat veteran and former flight medic, is a co-founder of USFF.

In a recent interview with The Defender, Yoder said the FAA has been aware of cases of pilots suffering vaccine injuries since at least December 2021, when the California-based Advocates for Citizens' Rights hand-delivered an open letter to the FAA, major airlines and their insurers.

Yoder said USFF ''has received hundreds of phone calls from airline employees who are experiencing adverse reactions post COVID-19 vaccination,'' describing the stories as ''heartbreaking.''

According to Yoder, the warnings contained in the letter, including testimony by ''world-renowned experts,'' were ''completely ignored,'' adding that ''we are now beginning to see the consequences.''

This is leading an increasing number of pilots to ''come forward to expose the truth regarding these toxic injections,'' Yoder said.

The Defender recently reported on a series of reports that have been submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, involving pilots who sustained severe injuries and side effects following the COVID-19 vaccine.

Congressional testimony from Cody Flint, an agricultural pilot who has logged more than 10,000 flight hours, was included in this letter.

''The FAA has created a powder keg and lit the fuse,'' Flint said in an interview with The Defender.

''We are now seeing pilots experiencing blood clots, myocarditis, pericarditis, dizziness and confusion at rates never seen before. Pilots are losing their careers and having to call in sick or go on medical leave from medical issues developing almost immediately after vaccination.''

Vaccine-injured pilots share stories with The DefenderSeveral pilots, including Bob Snow, shared their stories with The Defender in a recent series of interviews.

Snow, a captain with a major U.S. airline, told The Defender he received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Nov. 4, 2021, ''as a result of an unambivalent company mandate to receive the vaccine or be terminated.''

According to Snow, he ''began experiencing issues a little over two months'' after receiving the vaccine. Due to a history of gastroenteritis, he underwent an endoscopy and an abdominal CT scan.

The results of the endoscopy were normal and Snow was awaiting the results of the CT scan when he suffered cardiac arrest on April 9, immediately after landing at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport.

As Snow described it:

''I was very lucky to have collapsed when and where I did, as the aircraft was shut down at the gate post-flight and care was immediately provided.

''There was absolutely no warning preceding my collapse in the cockpit. It was literally as if someone 'pulled the plug.'''

After receiving CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) shocks to be revived, Snow spent almost a week in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with having sustained sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

Medical studies indicate survival rates for out-of-hospital SCA cases are estimated at 10.8% to 11.4%.

Snow said:

''Needless to say, that's not an encouraging number and I feel very, very lucky to have survived.

''Had this happened in a hotel, in flight, at home or almost anywhere else, I do not believe I would be here right now.''

Snow said prior to this incident, he had ''no history of prior significant cardiac issues,'' based on two EKGs (electrocardiograms) per year for each of the previous 10 years '-- none of which, according to Snow, ''provided any indication of incipient issues that might lead to cardiac arrest.''

''I have no known family history to indicate a predisposition to developing significant cardiac issues at this point in my life,'' Snow added.

Snow has been recuperating at home since April 15, while awaiting more tests that will provide a prognosis for his long-term survival.

However, it is likely that he will never fly again in any capacity.

Snow said, ''[f]or now, it appears my flying career '-- indeed, likely all flying as a pilot '-- has come to a rapid and unexpected conclusion as SCA is a red flag to FAA medical certification.''

This, according to Snow, has resulted ''in a significant loss of income and lifestyle,'' adding that he has a college student and high school student at home and a non-working spouse who relied on his livelihood.

'Last thing I remember is . . . praying I would make it'Like Snow, Cody Flint had no prior medical history to indicate he was at risk.

''I have been extremely healthy my whole life with no underlying conditions,'' said Flint, adding:

''As a pilot that held a second-class medical [certification], I was required to get a yearly FAA flight physical to show I was healthy enough to safely operate an airplane.

''I have renewed my medical every year since I was 17. The last FAA medical I received was on January 19, 2021. The medical showed I was perfectly healthy just 10 days before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.''

Flint got his first (and only) dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 1, 2021. He told The Defender:

''Within 30 minutes, I developed a severe burning headache at the base of my skull and blurred vision. After a few hours, the pain was constant, but didn't seem to be getting worse. I thought the pain would go away, eventually. It did not.''

Two days later began his seasonal job as an agricultural pilot, which typically runs from February to October of each year, Flint said.

He said:

''Approximately one hour into my flight, I felt my condition starting to rapidly decline and I was developing severe tunnel vision. I pulled my airplane up to turn around to head home and immediately felt an extreme burst of pressure in my skull and ears.''

Flint initially considered landing on a nearby highway, unsure he'd make it back to the airstrip, but chose not to so as not to put the public in danger.

Instead, according to Flint:

''The last thing I remember is seeing our airstrip from a few miles out and praying I would make it.

''Later, my coworkers told me I landed and immediately stopped my plane. They described me as being unresponsive, shaking and slumped over in my seat '... I do not remember landing or being pulled from the plane.''

Flint said various doctors, including his longtime hometown doctor, refused to consider that his recent COVID-19 vaccination caused his symptoms. Instead, he was prescribed Meclizine for vertigo and Xanax for panic attacks.

According to Flint, doctors told him he would be ''completely better within two days.'' But two days later, Flint ''could barely walk without falling over.''

Seeking a second opinion, Flint visited the Ear & Balance Institute in Louisiana, where he was diagnosed with left and right perilymphatic fistulas (a lesion in the inner ear), and highly elevated intracranial pressure due to swelling in his brainstem.

As Flint described it, ''[m]y intracranial pressure had risen so high that it caused both of my inner ears to 'blow out.''' Doctors told him this is usually caused by major head trauma.

''Obviously, I did not have head trauma,'' said Flint. ''What I did have, though, was an unapproved and experimental 'vaccine' just two days prior to suffering this bodily damage.''

''My doctors [at the Ear & Balance Institute] clearly stated my health issues were a direct result of a severe adverse reaction to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine,'' he added.

Flint says he now cannot receive renewed medical certification from the FAA due to the injuries he sustained, the physical condition he is currently in and ''the fact that I will be on the FAA-unapproved medicine Diamox for the foreseeable future.''

Like Snow, Flint believes ''it is '... highly unlikely that I'll ever be able to fly again,'' adding, ''On most days, I am too dizzy to even safely drive a vehicle.''

Greg Pierson, like Snow and Flint, shared a similar story. A commercial pilot with a major U.S. airline that is also a federal contractor, he was mandated to get vaccinated.

Pierson told The Defender:

''I felt extremely pressured to consider getting vaccinated, even though I am adamant against any mandates that violate personal freedom choices.

''I did research and consulted several medical professionals regarding the associated risks.

''I have never had a flu shot in my lifetime, so this was not something I wanted to do. I reluctantly received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on August 26, 2021.''

For Pierson, the onset of symptoms was almost immediate, beginning ''approximately 14 hours'' after receiving the vaccine, when he experienced ''an extremely erratic and highly elevated heart rate.''

Pierson visited a local emergency room, where he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. His condition was stabilized and he was soon discharged, though he remained on medication to help his heart return to a normal rhythm.

While Pierson says he has not experienced any further episodes, he nevertheless still has not been cleared to return to the cockpit.

Subscribe to The Defender - It's Free!''I successfully passed all the required protocols to re-obtain my certification that will allow me to return to work,'' he said, adding the FAA has had his records and test results since Feb. 16, but he still hasn't received a determination.

''I have been on disability since this occurrence, and combined with the leave, the personal and financial impacts have been significant,'' Pierson said.

Pierson also described a similar experience to that of Flint, regarding the attitudes of some medical professionals regarding the possibility that his condition was brought on by the COVID-19 vaccine.

''When I brought the subject up to the ER cardiologist, that it was obvious what triggered my onset, she simply stated 's*it happens,''' Pierson said.

Widow describes husband's last daysSnow, Flint and Pierson are fortunate in that they have managed to survive, even if their flying careers are in jeopardy.

But other pilots have not been so lucky.

American Airlines pilot Wilburn Wolfe suffered a major seizure following his COVID-19 vaccination, which cost him his life. Fortunately, Wolfe was not on duty when his seizure hit.

Claudia Wolfe, his widow, shared her late husband's story with The Defender.

Wolfe, a former Marine just a few years from retirement, ''was definitely against getting this vaccine but was put in the position to take it or lose his job as a captain,'' Claudia Wolfe said.

He received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Nov. 9, 2021.

Claudia Wolfe told The Defender:

''[The] first 10 days were without any event '... [on] day 11, it started with a migraine-like headache which got better that afternoon after taking a couple of aspirin.

''Unfortunately, the migraine came back and he was hoping that it's nothing else but a migraine.

''On November 22, 13 days after the COVID vaccine, he had a seizure. When paramedics arrived and my husband came out of the seizure, he was paralyzed on his right side, arm and leg, and was taken to the emergency room.''

At the emergency room, a CT scan showed he was experiencing brain bleeding, and he was admitted into intensive care. There, according to Claudia Wolfe, ''he continued to have convulsions on his right hand '... shortly after he was admitted, he had another seizure and doctors decided to sedate him and put him on a ventilator.''

''That was the last time I talked to my husband, before the seizure in the ICU,'' Claudia Wolfe said.

Wolfe never regained consciousness and died on Nov. 26, 2021 '-- only 17 days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Even if he had survived, he likely would not have been able to work as a pilot again.

As Claudia Wolfe explained:

''Doctors told me that he couldn't work as a pilot anymore because he would have to be on seizure medication.

''But as the bleeding continued to spread I was told that he probably would not recognize me or his family and he probably would need a 24-hour facility to help him.

''This man was so strong and never needed a doctor, he was never sick enough to need one, and [he] just had a physical a couple months prior for his job as a pilot.''

Pilots describe culture of fear and reluctance to come forwardPilots who spoke to The Defender described a culture of intimidation that has led to many of their colleagues fearing professional or personal consequences if they speak publicly about injuries following COVID-19 vaccination.

According to Yoder, ''Many pilots and other airline employees capitulated to the tactics of threats, harassment and intimidation perpetrated by the very companies they serve.''

Yoder described airlines, as well as aviation industry unions, as ''state actors'' illegally ''working in lockstep with the U.S. government'' to ''enforce unconstitutional mandates via a culture of fear.''

Snow told The Defender several of his colleagues shared stories of vaccine injuries with him:

''Since my SCA I have heard from several other airline personnel regarding potential vaccine injuries up to and including cardiac issues (chest pain and myocarditis).

''Many crewmembers are very reluctant to divulge potential significant health issues for fear of losing their FAA medical certification and, potentially, their careers.''

According to Snow, such fear exists ''due to both concern for one's career and also the fear of being portrayed as a vaccine skeptic.''

''There seems to be genuine reluctance on the part of corporations, businesses, government and the medical community in general to acknowledge the potential for COVID vaccine injury,'' Snow said.

Claudia Wolfe also shared her experience, stating that following her husband's death, she learned ''of others that died after the COVID vaccine,'' adding that ''not many talk about it or believe this vaccine can harm or kill you.''

Pierson also expressed concerns, telling The Defender, ''Some things I have stated publicly could have consequences in this regard.''

This culture of intimidation appears to extend beyond just accusations of being a ''vaccine skeptic.''

Steele described incidents of airline employees' non-work and online activities seemingly being monitored by their employers, who are then using this as a justification to question or harass those employees.

''I believe the airlines have people on staff that must be trolling the social media of employees and when they find a conservative, or someone they believe to be, they attack,'' Steele said.

Steele said female employees appear to be particular targets of the airlines, as they ''appear to be isolated and intimidated for hours on end.''

Flint connected incidents such as those described above to political interests, telling The Defender the FAA approved COVID-19 vaccines for pilots just two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for such vaccines, on Dec. 10, 2020.

''I thought to myself, how could the FAA analyze the data and determine it was safe for pilots in just two days, when it took the FDA months to go over the trial data?'' Flint said.

Flint said that was an especially jarring development, in light of the increased risk that pilots and cabin crew face:

''I was also extremely curious to know how the FAA is so certain that this vaccine will be safe for pilots when it's obvious that Pfizer did not do a trial solely on pilots to find out if it would cause some of the serious health problems that immediately started to show up once the mass vaccination campaign [began].''

In the process, Flint stated, the FAA violated its own regulations.

Under the Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners: Pharmaceuticals (Therapeutic Medications) Do Not Issue '' Do Not Fly, the FAA has a long-standing rule that states:

''FAA requires at least one year of post-marketing experience with a new drug before consideration for aeromedical certification purposes. This observation allows time for uncommon, but aeromedically significant, adverse reactions to manifest themselves.''

Flint said it ''became painfully obvious'' the FAA issued this guidance based not on science or safety, but political reasons.

''Why did the FAA abandon its own rules by encouraging pilots to take a brand-new experimental drug?'' Flint asked. ''This action by the FAA was totally unprecedented and extremely dangerous.''

Providing an example of such danger, Flint said, ''it is now widely reported that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can cause blood clots,'' adding that several peer-reviewed studies going back more than a decade ''show pilots are approximately 60% more likely to experience blood clots due to the 'nature of the job.'''

Supporting this assertion, on May 5, the FDA announced that it would restrict who could receive doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, due to the risk of blood clots.

Pierson also believes politics are at play in the medical community, telling The Defender even his longtime doctor told the FAA, in paperwork aimed at restoring Pierson's suspended medical certification, that ''it is impossible for the vaccine to have caused'' his condition, though ''he could not provide any explanation for an alternative hypothesis'' '-- a stance Pierson characterized as ''medical malpractice.''

Such politics are also found in professional organizations within the aviation industry, according to Pierson, who described his experience with one such entity:

''I approached the medical division of ALPA, the Air Line Pilots Association, to which I am a member, and presented them with data to substantiate my concerns.

''It was initially seemingly a concerned, open dialogue, which quickly was dismissed at the highest levels.''

Legal actions to follow against the FAA, federal agencies, airlinesThe USFF, according to Yoder, is currently pursuing several legal actions related to the vaccine injuries that pilots and air staff are increasingly reporting.

He told The Defender:

''The U.S. Freedom Flyers have always taken a strong stance against the threats of government and corporate totalitarianism.

''We are filing massive, individual plaintiff lawsuits against the FAA, DOT [U.S. Department of Transportation] and commercial airlines to hold them accountable for the criminal and civil atrocities they've committed against our members.

''We will not rest until justice is served and constitutional American freedom is restored.''

Steele added:

''We are teeing up lawsuits for all the major airlines, with thousands of potential plaintiffs on our plaintiff lists.

''We also are going to be holding the FAA and the [U.S. Department of Transportation] accountable for their part in this atrocity.''

Steele said USFF ''will be seeking retribution and restitution for these crimes against humanity,'' mirroring remarks made by Pierson, who described the actions taken in the name of the pandemic as ''nothing short of the highest crimes against humanity ever.''

According to Steele, unions are, in part, responsible for the injuries being sustained by pilots and other employees, as a result of their acceptance of vaccine mandates.

''Unfortunately the unions '-- from all industries '-- have let their members down,'' Steele told The Defender. ''They simply are rolling over and are in bed with the state and the corporations.''

Flint, in turn, assigned a significant amount of blame to the federal agencies:

''The FAA has failed at its duties in the most spectacular fashion, causing pilots to lose their lives, livelihoods and careers.

''The federal government, including the FAA, has not helped one single person injured by the COVID-19 vaccine.

''They [the federal agencies] have not publicly acknowledged there is a problem. They haven't even so much as adjusted their 'guidance' to prevent this from happening in the future.''

Are passengers at risk from pilot vaccine mandates?When Snow suffered cardiac arrest, it occurred only a few minutes after he had landed a commercial airliner, full of passengers, at one of the most heavily trafficked airports in the U.S.

This begs the question: Are passengers '-- and the public at large '-- at risk due to potential adverse effects that may impact vaccinated pilots during flight?

According to Pierson, there is indeed a risk of a ''catastrophic'' incident:

''I became an outspoken critic of the vaccines after my injury, and due to becoming much more knowledgeable of all the potential health and safety risks from the vaccines.

''It became very clear to me that the implications of having an immediate, severe adverse reaction could be catastrophic if actively piloting an aircraft.''

Flint believes such a disaster may be an inevitability.

''It is only a matter of time before a pilot has a medically significant event from an adverse reaction to this [COVID-19] vaccine and crashes an airliner, killing a few hundred American citizens in the process.''

He added:

''When will the FAA finally do the right thing by trying to adhere to its own mission statement, which is 'to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world'?

''How many more pilots have to die or be severely injured before the FAA acknowledges the horrible and dangerous problem it has created?''

In addition to the risk of a disaster involving casualties among passengers and the general public, the difficulties that pilots are experiencing as a result of vaccine-related adverse reactions are creating other disruptions for the airline industry and the flying public, such as flight cancellations and delays.

Yoder described this as a ''ripple effect'':

''Vaccine mandates are having a ripple effect in the aviation industry that will continue for years to come.

''Pilot shortages were a concern pre-mandate, [and] have now been amplified due to early retirements and medical disqualification due to certain adverse vaccine reactions which prohibit pilots from maintaining medical certification.''

Pilots, advocates describe importance of speaking outThe pilots, legal professionals and advocates who spoke to The Defender all expressed their hope that by speaking out and sharing their stories and experiences, they will make a difference.

Snow said:

''I hope to shine the spotlight on the potential for significant safety issues that exist within the airlines, commercial vehicles/transportation, and other safety-sensitive work that might be affected by [the] sudden onset of health issues that could be attributed to the COVID vaccines.

''It is in our collective best interest that real research and data analysis be undertaken to address this potentially dangerous situation.

''Why is there such a reluctance to investigate these EUA COVID vaccines which are still being aggressively marketed to, if not outright forced upon, the global public?''

Snow went on to discuss the history of unsafe drugs and therapies that had initially received FDA approval and the importance of ''clinical and scientific studies to evaluate the possibility of injuries and deaths'' instead of ''parroting the marketing mantra 'safe and effective.'''

Flint described the FAA's handling of the issue as ''one of the most glaring instances of incompetence and corruption I have ever witnessed,'' adding that ''the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has taken nearly everything from myself and my family '... my health and my career have been taken from me.''

He added that due to his inability to fly, he is facing mounting debt and unpaid taxes, with an income ''20% of what it was before vaccination.''

Steele, who also organized the People's Convoy, expressed her view that ''[t]he only way to push back on the government and corporate overstep is demanding accountability '... to hold these policymakers unequivocally accountable.''

She specifically referenced the importance of pursuing legal claims, telling The Defender:

''The only way to ensure it never happens again is to hit them in the pocketbook '... In doing so, the awarded damages will also assist the victims of these policies that have been so grievously harmed.''

Yoder described the resistance he has observed to such private and government mandates, saying that ''Americans have rallied in defiance to the totalitarian dictators dubbed 'government,''' adding that ''American patriots will never succumb to totalitarianism.''

Steele drew upon her experience with the People's Convoy to share her own observation of wide public opposition to such mandates, while expressing a message of hope:

''My greatest takeaway and the most refreshing finding on the Convoy was that patriotism is alive and well in our great country.

''The American people have had it with the nonsense with the overstepping, with the 'PC police,' the degrading of morality in our country. They are simply over it and looking for actionable items that they can do.

''They want to see accountability. They want to see our country restored '... It is important for people to know they are absolutely not alone. In fact, we are the majority.''

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Fri, 06 May 2022 18:57

Use a Lightning Address to receive value for value payments in Bitcoin from your audience

Use existing platforms

Receive payments directly

Non-intrusive and frictionless for your audience

Simple integration; no coding skills needed

Your own WebsiteHow to receive contributions on your website

1

Add this in the HTML header section of your website: <meta name="lightning" content="lnurlp:you@lightning.address"/>

2

Make sure to have an og:image meta tag: <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.your.blog/YOUR_IMAGE" />

3

Verify if you enhanced your website successfully with the Alby browser extension

TwitterHow to receive contributions on Twitter

1

Add this in the description of your Twitter profile: 'šyou@lightning.address

2

Verify if you enhanced your Twitter profile successfully with the Alby browser extension

YouTubeHow to receive contributions on YouTube

1

Add this in the description of a video in your YouTube channel: 'šyou@lightning.address

2

Verify if you enhanced your YouTube video successfully with the Alby browser extension

Bitcoin TVHow to receive contributions on BitcoinTV

1

Add this in the description of a video in your BitcoinTV channel: 'šyou@lightning.address

2

Verify if you enhanced your BitcoinTV video successfully with the Alby browser extension

Alby is a browser extension for the Bitcoin Lightning Network. You can connect your own Lightning wallet or use Alby's wallet and start transacting in Bitcoin with ease.

Do you have feedback or need help?Alby is open-source and currently in alpha stage. Our goal is to create the best online experience to consume and reward content and services online. We love to hear from you. File a Github issue, use the Feedback board for feature requests or join the Telegram channel.

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Value 4 Value: Impacting creators and consumersEstablished in September of 2020, The Podcast Index is an alternative podcast directory that offers open, free access to creators, listeners, and podcast app developers. The inspiration of the brand is to be an alternative podcast directory to Apple, which is centralized and is monopolizing podcast distribution. Podcast Index has a vision of preserving podcasting as a platform for free speech. Podcast Index is doing this with Podcasting 2.0, which gives podcasters an opportunity to collectively build an open, stable infrastructure and puts the value directly in the hands of content creators and not in middlemen.

The ObjectiveThe goal for Podcast Index was to provide its users with a platform of value exchange. By leveraging Bitcoin and the Lightning Network they were able to create a ''Value 4 Value'' platform that allows podcasters to monetize and for listeners to transfer value to content creators directly. Manging this infrastructure while delivering reliability, consistency, and scalability was complex and costly to do locally. The Podcast Index wanted to offload the educational need and learning curve of running a node so that they could optimize for micropayments.

With a Value 4 Value model, the pricing framework is open-ended. The user pays what they like. Adam Curry shared, ''Users opt-in. You do not pay to play, users play to pay. It has a different value for everyone. This is when you see what Value 4 Value is worth, and the results have always been amazing.''

I can sleep at night knowing the node is going to be up. I have several at home, something is always going wrong. I love the Voltage architecture and access.

Adam Curry, ''The Podfather''The ChallengeWhile creating this Value 4 Value model, the team working at Podcast Index encountered a problem. They knew Bitcoin and the Lightning Network were the perfect solutions for their platform, however, they knew nothing about running nodes on the Network. Podcasts are listened to all over the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. That means that Podcast Index needed a solution that is always online, can scale with their platform, and knew a lot about Lightning.

Podcast Index strived to:

Save time '' Managing a node is hard work and takes a lot of time.Ensure Reliability '' They needed something professional and can stand up to the test.Reduce Friction '' There is a substantial amount of domain knowledge in Lightning. What are channels, how do you do backups, updates, and more.The SolutionVoltage put together a tailored solution that meets Podcast Index's needs. It was imperative to have an effortless setup with consistent and reliable payments by the second. By leveraging our professional node infrastructure product they were able to quickly bring their infrastructure up to speed and keep functionality aligned with consumer demand.

Expedited Execution '' Time from idea to production is the quickest in the market. Robust Deployment '' Podcast Index gets the most value without doing any work.Effortless configuration '' updates, backups, networking, and more.Reliable payments '' When payments must happen every second, there is no room for error.When working with Voltage, it's as if you have a dedicated Lightning Network team on your side.The ResultsWith scalable and reliable infrastructure that requires little effort, the Podcast Index team was able to focus on the products and features that their consumers demand. Best of all, there was no need to hire a support team member, node manager, or engineer.

Podcast Index releases a 'first of its kind' platform quickly.Podcast Index effortlessly scaled to over 1 million sats per day.Podcast Index didn't have to hire anyone new to manage a node.Podcast Index can continue to scale without worry.Reach out below and learn how Voltage can serve your business or project and meet your scalability, reliability, and growth needs.

Discuss with our team how Lightning infrastructure can support your business. Quote from Adam We save tremendous time and money. My time is worth $1800 an hour. Dave Jones $3600 an hour. This is all in our spare time taking away from other things. This decision to podcast 2.0 is a low time preference thing. The less time having to manage nodes the better. Adam Curry

Podcaster, announcer, Internet entrepreneur and media personality

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:15

Maze : The Minister of Truth clears something up for us.It's not conservatives being silenced on social media. Liberals'... https://t.co/mtsnQ2Msym

Fri May 06 16:53:23 +0000 2022

Douglas Collins : @mazemoore You lie sweetheart. You lie big time.

Sun May 08 17:04:20 +0000 2022

Ron : @mazemoore Sounds like a liar to me.

Sun May 08 16:47:37 +0000 2022

Part-of-the-ship-part-of-the-crew : @mazemoore The only minorities being silenced are the ones taking the red pill!

Sun May 08 16:45:06 +0000 2022

Silent F*cking Majority : @mazemoore She has unstable eyes.

Sun May 08 16:40:40 +0000 2022

ChatCloud : @mazemoore Are we SURE she's not a bot?

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Mark Kodra : @mazemoore God, you are either or drunk or high.

Sun May 08 16:12:40 +0000 2022

Joshua G. Buchanan : @mazemoore No reasonable person will ever believe your propaganda.

Sun May 08 15:56:32 +0000 2022

I±igo Montoya : @mazemoore ðŸ¤...ðŸ>>''‚¸ðŸ¤...ðŸ>>''‚¸ You canceled Trump's Twitter account because of his mean tweets '... and Antifa's is ok?

Sun May 08 15:31:59 +0000 2022

Michael : @mazemoore I call that bullsh[t

Sun May 08 15:25:52 +0000 2022

Lotr Botr : @mazemoore She needs to stop blinking that damn much, gave me a fucking headache

Sun May 08 15:25:18 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:11

Weather radar SevereAccount

Video & Photos Health & Activities TV & Weather Weather Products Privacy

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:09

Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 : BREAKING: Nina Jankovicz said in 2020 that the executive branch shouldn't have the power to determine what is fake'... https://t.co/bLWguIty5r

Fri Apr 29 16:41:52 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 17:02

Aaron Ginn : Bill Gates admits that shutting down schools was a bad call; it didn't stop case growth and the education deficit w'... https://t.co/u2M4IgV7jk

Sat May 07 19:36:33 +0000 2022

Phyllis Joy Lewis : @aginnt https://t.co/XFVeEOO1qO Make no mistake, follow the money. 2017 CEPI, listen to Bill...big pharma! Look who'... https://t.co/x5KreE8eOc

Sun May 08 16:58:31 +0000 2022

Slava J : @aginnt So all the censored experts were right?

Sun May 08 16:50:49 +0000 2022

Coco : @aginnt ðŸ¤-- https://t.co/TijNtPMDok

Sun May 08 16:45:49 +0000 2022

Options Unleashed : @aginnt That was obvious to everyone.

Sun May 08 16:42:07 +0000 2022

Phyllis Joy Lewis : @aginnt https://t.co/HDasaX1Etp closures of schools pushed for by SAGE aka Wellcome - CEPI, on the basis of 'prote'... https://t.co/K71tO0r4L6

Sun May 08 16:41:36 +0000 2022

Leo Domingues : @aginnt Shutting down schools was immoral.

Sun May 08 16:41:07 +0000 2022

barbetter : @aginnt Oh P

Sun May 08 16:40:04 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:59

Ryan Grim : ''We're not just at war to support the Ukrainians. We're fundamentally at war, although somewhat through a proxy, wi'... https://t.co/VPZA3mx9IO

Sat May 07 21:10:42 +0000 2022

J : @ryangrim When was that vote??ðŸ

Sun May 08 16:47:43 +0000 2022

Jill : @ryangrim Russia attacked our institutions in 2016. Are we supposed to just keep ignoring that?

Sun May 08 16:43:20 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:53

It boasts two helipads, a swimming pool and a movie theatre but the 140-metre luxury yacht the Sheherazade will not be setting sail any time soon.

The floating palace was impounded impounded by Italian authorities, under EU sanctions imposed against Russia in response to the war in Ukraine.

Anti-corruption activists have claimed that the boat, which is valued at '‚¬650 million, belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, citing as evidence a crew list which contains the names of people who work for the organisation that looks after the president's security.

But the Italian ministry of finance said only that it had found "significant economic and business links'' between the ship's owner and ''eminent people in the Russian government".

Authorities intervened on Friday after being alerted that the yacht was getting ready to set sail from the Tuscan port of Carrara.

It had been berthed for several months for maintenance work at a shipyard at the Marina di Carrara, within the western seaside town of Massa.

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:51

Irish rock star Bono praised Ukraine's fight for "freedom" during a performance at a central Kiev metro station on Sunday, where the U2 frontman also delivered his own "peace" prayer.

From the platform of a Kiev metro station, the 61-year-old rock icon sang the U2 classics "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Desire" and "With or without you".

"People in Ukraine are not only fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom," Bono said during a break.

The band's Twitter account said Bono and bandmate 'The Edge' were invited to Kyiv by President Zelenskyy to perform "as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people."

The singer also referred to past conflicts in the band's native Ireland and its troubles with a more powerful neighbour.

"We pray that you will soon be able to enjoy some of that peace," Bono said.

The surprise appearance by Bono -- a longtime humanitarian activist who frequently lends his voice to a variety of causes, including the fight against poverty and AIDS -- came as air raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital and fighting raged in the country's east.

At one point, Bono invited Taras Topolia, the lead singer of the Ukrainian band Antytila -- and also a soldier -- to sing with him, and called on the world to support the war-torn country with a rendition of "Stand by me".

Antytila have collaborated on a new single called '2Step' with English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

Watch this Euronews video about Antytila, and their involvement with the war effort in Ukraine:

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The batches were isolated and the substance didn't come into contact with any production equipment, the police said.

By Bryce Baschuk, Bloomberg 6 May 2022 13:46

Employees at a Nespresso factory in a Swiss town discovered more than 500 kilograms of cocaine in bags of coffee beans from Brazil.

Nespresso said employees immediately informed the police on Monday after discovering a suspicious substance at its production site in Romont. The cocaine is more than 80% pure and its market value is estimated at more than 50 million francs ($50.6 million), the police said.

The batches were isolated and the substance didn't come into contact with any production equipment, the police said. The public prosecutor of the canton of Fribourg has opened an investigation.

Nespresso said all its products are safe to consume and it has strict quality controls for incoming shipments of green coffee. The company, a unit of Swiss food giant Nestle SA, said it can't provide more details as the police investigation is underway.

(C) 2022 Bloomberg

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:04

Aaron Ginn : Something I was cancelled for now Gates now openly says. ''COVID has a low fatality rate and impacts the elderly l'... https://t.co/j7mh4GBGco

Thu May 05 03:26:37 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 16:02

Jason Joy 🕵¸''¸ (GETTR: @JasonJoy) : @TheMarieOakes 'š ¸Bill Gates - More Covid Variants to Come & We Should 'Absolutely' Accept Restrictions on Liberty f'... https://t.co/YDUCwQgeEv

Thu May 05 22:32:07 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 14:55

🇺🇸 Habitual Line Stepper 🇺🇸 : @TechHelp @adamcurry @USMiniTru @ArmyVet2x Ewwww

Sun May 08 14:22:16 +0000 2022

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Sun, 08 May 2022 14:53

Greg Price : The View's Sunny Hostin: A "black Republican is an oxymoron'... I don't understand black Republicans and I don't under'... https://t.co/HlocrH44Ph

Fri May 06 15:24:12 +0000 2022

carson W. mcclinton : @greg_price11 Well , she almost got it right , just leave the oxy part off !

Sun May 08 14:52:19 +0000 2022

Brian Harnois : @greg_price11 Idiots that's it

Sun May 08 14:42:55 +0000 2022

Teddy Davis : @greg_price11 I am really disappointed that she made such an ignorant statement. I hate people stating to anyone wh'... https://t.co/2QtTCQbWg1

Sun May 08 14:28:09 +0000 2022

Try Using Your Brain : @greg_price11 Racism is alive and well with the liberal left

Sun May 08 14:19:41 +0000 2022

Dyan : @greg_price11 Your ignorance amazes me!

Sun May 08 14:00:51 +0000 2022

AP : @greg_price11 @sunny proved her ignorance in one simple statement. Anyone who says she is smart is just as ignoran'... https://t.co/HkgHtptQct

Sun May 08 13:53:56 +0000 2022

Troy Hernandez : @greg_price11 I don't understand why there's even a show called The View!

Sun May 08 13:48:56 +0000 2022

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Sun May 08 13:43:47 +0000 2022

jango : @greg_price11 That's the problem in a nutshell'.... you're party doesn't understand different political views - it has lost its way.

Sun May 08 13:41:14 +0000 2022