1488: Torture Telephone

Dear Adam Curry,

There is NO way, that EVERYONE at TikTok does NOT know which employees are members of the CCP.

Since August 2017, I have worked at four bilingual schools in China. They were either public schools, or joint ventures (public-private partnerships).

Each school had an office, specifically designated for a representative of the CCP - who was also a school employee (often having the title of assistant principal).

In my first school, we had an intern, recent college graduate, who one day, was smiling from ear to ear, telling everyone how she was notified that was being allowed to join the CCP. That is, she was SELECTED to join.

Being in the CCP is a coveted status, and well-publicized. It is not a secret.

As far as I can tell, every company in China has a CCP liaison, if not top-level manager who is in the CCP.

Best

JCJ

I work a lot with the DOT airline passenger stats. I had heard from "boots on the ground" in places like El Paso, McAllen, Brownsville, and Harlingen that airlines are making a windfall from NGOs buying tickets for migrants. Because they don't have names until the last minute and airlines require a name they buy close in at high fares which drew the attention of airline buddies there. This was just anecdotal until now, BUT I decided to look at the DOT statistics published on their website to see how much of a traffic imbalance these airports have, meaning more passengers leaving than coming in.

In the airline business that is highly unusual over the course of a year to have more passengers in than our or out than in. Typically it is within a fraction of a %. As we say what goes up must come down. Almost everybody that flies out, flies back. And those that mix driving usually balance out. Well, it turns out the imbalance of outbound passengers is spiking at these airports with 250,000 net more outbound than inbound in the last 12 months (domestic, non-government airplanes) and growing rapidly. I've only sent this to you, see if you can get some attention to it as I think it proves that NGOs or government or whoever have been using air flights to spread migrants around the country to much greater extents since 2019.

Founder and Chair Leslie Dach served in the Obama Administration as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and as the Department’s global Ebola coordinator. He was a member of the management committee at Walmart Inc, where he led the development of initiatives in sustainability, food and nutrition, women’s economic empowerment, and the Walmart Foundation. Dach was also the global vice chairman of Edelman, the global communications firm, and served in senior roles in six U.S. presidential campaigns.

Executive Director Brad Woodhouse is a longtime Democratic strategist, having previously served as President of some of the nation’s leading progressive groups including Correct the Record, American Bridge 21st Century, and Americans United for Change. Woodhouse took on these roles after a five-year (2008 to 2013) run as a senior strategist for the Obama campaign and Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:20

Author of the newspaper comic strip "Dilbert"

Scott Adams has revealed that his work has been removed from nearly 80 markets.

Speaking with

Fox News, Adams revealed that "Dilbert," a comic that he has written and illustrated since 1989, is no longer being printed by Lee Enterprises, which owns nearly 100 papers across the country.

"It was part of a larger overhaul, I believe, of comics, but why they decided what was in and what was out, that's not known to anybody except them, I guess," Adams told

Fox News.

The comic series, which makes fun of office culture and themes within the workplace, appears in thousands of newspapers across 57 countries, and is published in 19 languages.

The popular comic strip has spawned books and calendars based off the series, with more than 20 million being sold.

Adams told

Fox News that "Dilbert" wasn't the only comic strip that faced the chopping block, with other strips being canceled by the outlet, though the decisions as to which ones they were getting rid of were made individually.

In recent strips, Adams has poked fun as

Environmental, Social, and Governance [ESG] issues, and introduced a new character named "Dave," who is black but identifies as white.

Describing the character, Adams said that Dave is named after his brother, and is a prankster that like to mess with his boss, who is happy to have met his diversity quota in hiring Dave.

"All of the wokeness and anything that permeated from ESG'... so that stuff made its way into the business world, and then it became proper content for Dilbert," Adams said. "The problem is that people see that even though it's a workplace-related joke, but it's more about how they implement it."

Adams told

Fox News that some newspapers had received complaints regrading the contents of "Dilbert," but said that he wasn't sure whether those complaints had anything to do with the comic being removed. He has said though that the cancellation has dealt a "substantial" financial blow to him.

In a comic that was published on Tuesday, the supervisor is seen explaining how to increase the company's ESG rating to Dave.

"Dave, I need to boost our company's ESG rating, so I'm promoting you to be our CTO. I know you identify as White, so that won't help our ESG scores, but would it be too much trouble to identify as gay?" The supervisor asks.

"Depends on how hard you want me to see it," Dave responds.

"Just wear better shirts," the supervisor replies.

"What I do is I talk about how the employees handle the situation. It's not about the goal of it. But that's enough to make people think that I must be taking sides politically," he said.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:04

American political scientist

Robert Anthony Pape Jr. (born April 24, 1960) is an American political scientist who studies national and international security affairs, with a focus on air power, American and international political violence, social media propaganda, and terrorism. He is currently a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and founder and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (CPOST).[1]

Career [ edit ] Pape graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1982 from the University of Pittsburgh,[2] where he was a Harry S. Truman Scholar majoring in political science. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1988 in the same field. He taught international relations at Dartmouth College from 1994 to 1999 and at the United States Air Force's School of Advanced Airpower Studies from 1991 to 1994. Since 1999, he has taught at the University of Chicago, where he is now tenured.[2] Pape has been the director of the graduate studies department of political science as well as the chair of the Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Pape served as an adviser to Democrat Barack Obama. During the same campaign, he was also briefly an advisor on Iraq to Republican Ron Paul.[3]

CPOST [ edit ] After presenting preliminary data on his research into suicide terrorism in the American Political Science Review in 2003, Pape founded the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (originally, Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism), which he directs. The project is funded by the Carnegie Corporation, the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the University of Chicago, and the Argonne National Laboratory.[4] In December 2009, Security Studies published an issue on terrorism featuring content exclusively from CPOST.[citation needed ]

Research [ edit ] Bombing to Win [ edit ] Pape published his first full-length book in 1996, Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War, which assesses the efficacy of different airpower strategies.[5] It questions the conventional wisdom that coercive air power (i.e. bombing, etc.) is both effective and relatively cheap. Rather than motivating citizens of a bombed nation to rise up against their government, coercive air power often backfires, resulting in a citizenry that more resilient and loyal. Pape also argues that air power and land power should be integrated and used together in a "hammer and anvil" fashion.

A 1999 RAND Corporation report funded by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) "explored the role of air power as a coercive instrument", contesting Pape's argument.[6] They concluded that, "Although the United States and the USAF have scored some notable successes, the record is mixed."[7] Horowitz and Reiter applied "multivariate probit analysis [to] all instances of air power coercion from 1917 to 1999", and which matched Pape's qualitative assessment that attacking military targets has improved the chances of success, but "higher levels of civilian vulnerability have no effect on the chances of coercion success".[8]

Economic sanctions [ edit ] In 1997 and 1998, Pape published two articles examining the efficacy of economic sanctions. Pape contests the validity of international economic sanctions in achieving policy goals, judging that only 5% can legitimately be considered successes, as opposed to 34% claimed in the work of other scholars. One of these scholars, Kimberly Ann Elliot, responded to Pape's initial piece, suggesting that Pape had mischaracterized the data, and that his views on economic sanctions and Elliot's views on economic sanctions were "not terribly different." Pape's response, in the same issue of 'International Security', insisted that he had not mischaracterized the data, and that his view of economic sanctions is meaningfully different from the picture put forth by Elliot and others. Pape also published several articles analyzing the Arab Spring in 2013.

Terrorism [ edit ] Pape's Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (2005) challenges claims that suicide terrorism is irrational. Pape argues instead that there is a strategic logic to suicide terrorism: suicide terrorism is an effective way to attain significant concessions from modern liberal democracies on issues that are not a vital interest to those democracies. Pape argues that there is "little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any one of the world's religions... Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist attacks have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland".[9] Pape also presents evidence that the majority of suicide terrorists do not come from impoverished or uneducated backgrounds, but rather have middle class origins and a significant level of education.

In a criticism of Pape's link between occupation and suicide terrorism, an article titled "Design, Inference, and the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism" (published in The American Political Science Review), authors Scott Ashworth, Joshua D. Clinton, Adam Meirowitz, and Kristopher W. Ramsay from Princeton charged Pape with "sampling on the dependent variable" by limiting research only to cases in which suicide terror was used.[10] Similar criticisms were made by Michael C. Horowitz, who concludes the presence of a occupying power is not a statistically significant indicator of likelihood to incite suicide terrorism.[11] In response, Pape argues that his research design is sufficient because it collected the universe of known cases of suicide terrorism.[12] In a rejoinder, Ashworth et al. discuss how even large samples of the dependent variable cannot be used to explain variation in outcomes, why suicide terrorism in some places but not others, if the sample does not vary.[13] Assaf Moghadam has also criticized Pape's conclusions.[14]

Pape's Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It is co-authored with James K. Feldman, was published in 2010. Cutting the Fuse evaluates more than 2100 suicide attacks (6 times the number evaluated in Dying to Win) in an attempt to identify key factors that explain the ebb and flow of suicide terrorist campaigns. The book recommends that nations to avoid stationing troops where they will be perceived as occupiers threatening local culture and institutions or coercing the government of an occupied state to do things that would be perceived as benefiting the occupiers at the expense of the local population. When occupation is necessary, minimize the threat to local culture by helping local officials to do things they might otherwise want to do but didn't previously have the ability and by treating collateral damage with great sensitivity.[15] Pape also edited the special issue, ''What's New about Research on Terrorism,'' Security Studies (18.4), a leading peer-reviewed journal in international relations.[16]

In 2015, Pape and neuroscientist Jean Decety received a $3.4 million grant from the Department of Defense's Minerva Research Initiative to study the social and neurological construction of martyrdom.[17] In May 2019, Pape participated in the Christchurch Call, a plan launched by New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron to end the promotion of extremist content online.[18] Pape also presented his research on ISIS propaganda videos to organizations such as the FBI, BOP, SSCI, NCTC, NSC, and SOCOM. In February 2020, Pape and CPOST received a $1.5 million grant to study Arabic-language propaganda.

Other [ edit ] Pape began studying the causes and viable solutions to political violence in the 1990s, focusing on the 1992-1995 Bosnian War[19][20] and the 1999 War in Kosovo.[21] His work on suicide terrorism (2003, 2005, 2010) explained that it is mainly a form of political violence, while his work on humanitarian intervention (2012) centered on appropriate international responses to political violence related to the Arab Spring in Libya and Syria. In 2017, Pape published an analysis of political violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan.[22] In January 2018, Pape testified before the House Subcommittee on National Security on the military defeat of ISIS.[23]

In August 2019, Pape briefed the National Security Council on an "over-the-horizon" counter-terrorism strategy to end the War in Afghanistan.[24] In November 2019, Pape and the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) co-hosted a colloquium at the University of Chicago discussing ways to improve responses to future terrorist attacks and advance academic research on the impact of militant political violence and terrorism.[25]

In 2020, Pape published the results of his analysis of the impact of the deployment of US Department of Homeland Security agents on political violence in Portland[26] and conducted research studies of the demographic profile of right wing extremists in the US from 2015-2020.[27] In 2021, Pape published the first systematic study of the demographic profile and political geography of individuals arrested for assaulting the US Capitol on January 6, 2021,[28][29] which received significant attention in the media in the U.S.[30] and internationally.[31]

Selected publications [ edit ] Author [ edit ] Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War. Cornell University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8014-3134-4 (hardcover). ISBN 0-8014-8311-5 (paperback). Debated in Security Studies 7.2 (Winter 1997/98) p. 93-214 and 7.3 (Spring 1998) p. 182-228.Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. New York: Random House, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-6317-5 (hardcover). London: Gibson Square 2006 (updated). ISBN 1-903933-78-1 (hardcover).with James K. Feldman, Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It. University of Chicago Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-226-64560-5Academic articles [ edit ] "Introducing the new CPOST dataset on suicide attacks", Journal of Peace Research, forthcoming (2021)."EEG Distinguishes Heroic Narratives in ISIS Online Video Propaganda," Scientific Reports 10, 19593 (2020)."A Multilevel Social Neuroscience Perspective on Radicalization and Terrorism," Social Neuroscience 13.5 (2018)."Days of Action or Restraint? How the Islamic Calendar Impacts Violence," American Political Science Review 111.3 (2017)."The American face of ISIS: Analysis of ISIS''related terrorism in the US March 2014''August 2016" Australian Strategic Policy Institute (2017).''Solving the Problem of Missing Perpetrator Information,'' Journal of Conflict Resolution with Vincent Bauer and Keven Ruby (2015).''Reconsidering the Cases of Humanitarian Intervention,'' International Security 38.2 (Fall 2013).The True Worth of Air Power,'' Foreign Affairs 83.2 (March/April, 2004)."The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," American Political Science Review 97.3 (August 2003)."Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work," International Security 22.2 (Fall 1997).''Coercive Air Power in the Vietnam War,'' International Security, 15.2 (Fall 1990).Notes [ edit ] ^ "UChicago CPOST". cpost.uchicago.edu . Retrieved 2017-02-08 . ^ a b "Robert Pape". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. ^ "Mr. Zbig". The American Conservative . Retrieved 2021-02-15 . ^ "A Scholarly Look at Terror Sees Bootprints In the Sand" by Caryle Murphy Washington Post, July 10, 2005; D01 ^ " 'Bombing to Win' at 25". War on the Rocks. 2021-06-15 . Retrieved 2021-12-18 . ^ Byman, Daniel, Matthew Waxman, and Eric V. Larson, Air Power as a Coercive Instrument. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1999. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1061.html. ^ Byman, Waxman, and Larson (1999, p. iii, 5/195) ^ Horowitz, Michael; Reiter, Dan (2001), "When does aerial bombing work? Quantitative empirical tests, 1917-1999", Journal of Conflict Resolution, 45 (2): 147''173, doi:10.1177/0022002701045002001, S2CID 145070150 ^ Pape, Robert, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (New York: Random House, 2005), p. 4. ^ Ashworth, Scott, Joshua D. Clinton, Adam Meirowitz, and Kristopher W. Ramsay. "Design, Inference, and the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism." The American Political Science Review 102, no. 2 (2008): 269-73. Accessed February 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/27644515. ^ Horowitz, Michael C. (20 January 2010). "Nonstate Actors and the Diffusion of Innovations: The Case of Suicide Terrorism". International Organization. 64 (1): 33''64. doi:10.1017/S0020818309990233. S2CID 43231147. ^ American Political Science Review , Volume 102, Issue 02, May 2008, pp 275-277. ^ Design, Inference, and the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism: A Rejoinder, Draft Manuscript, https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/rejoinder3.pdf ^ Moghadam, Assaf (2006). "Suicide Terrorism, Occupation, and the Globalization of Martyrdom: A Critique ofDying to Win". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 29 (8): 707''729. doi:10.1080/10576100600561907. S2CID 143286352. ^ Robert Pape and James K. Feldman, Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It. University of Chicago Press, 2010. pp. 330-33. ^ "Security Studies". Taylor & Francis . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ "Robert Pape receives a $3.4 million grant from the Minerva Research Initiative | Political Science | The University of Chicago". political-science.uchicago.edu . Retrieved 2021-01-26 . ^ "New Zealand seeks global support for tougher measures on online violence". ABC Radio National. 2019-05-15 . Retrieved 2021-01-26 . ^ Pape, Robert (June 14, 1993). "The Answer" (PDF) . New Republic. Vol. 208. pp. 22''28. ^ Pape, Robert A. (1997-12-01). "Partition: An exit strategy for Bosnia". Survival. 39 (4): 25''28. doi:10.1080/00396339708442941. ISSN 0039-6338. ^ Pape, Robert A. (2009-01-28). "The True Worth of Air Power". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120 . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ Reese, Michael J.; Ruby, Keven G.; Pape, Robert A. (August 2017). "Days of Action or Restraint? How the Islamic Calendar Impacts Violence". American Political Science Review. 111 (3): 439''459. doi:10.1017/S0003055417000193. ISSN 0003-0554. S2CID 149070616. ^ U. S. Government Printing Office, Federal Digital System: http://www gpo gov/fdsys (2018-01-01). "Serial No. 115-60: Battlefield Successes and Challenges--Recent Efforts to Win the War Against ISIS, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on National Security of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, Second Session, January 17, 2018". Homeland Security Digital Library . Retrieved 2021-01-26 . ^ Pape, Robert. "How to Partner With the Taliban". Foreign Policy . Retrieved 2021-01-26 . ^ "News | UChicago CPOST". cpost.uchicago.edu . Retrieved 2021-01-26 . ^ Pape, Robert. "Commentary: Troops in Chicago? Here's why that would only exacerbate the chaos". chicagotribune.com . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ "UChicago CPOST". cpost.uchicago.edu . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ Ruby, Robert A. Pape, Keven (2021-02-02). "The Capitol Rioters Aren't Like Other Extremists". The Atlantic . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ Tolliver, Sandy (2021-02-04). "The face of American insurrection: Right-wing groups are evolving into a violent movement". TheHill . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ "Examining Domestic Extremist Threats To Americans And U.S. Government". NPR.org . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . ^ "Capitol riots: Five takeaways from the arrests". BBC News. 2021-02-08 . Retrieved 2021-02-09 . References [ edit ] Byman, Daniel L.; Waxman, Matthew C.; Larson, Eric (1999), Air Power as a Coercive Instrument (PDF) , Project AIR FORCE, RAND Corporation , retrieved July 29, 2013 External links [ edit ] Pape participates in a panel on Suicide Bombing at the Pritzker Military Museum & LibraryAppearances on C-SPANChicago Project on Security and Threats website

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:03

Brad Woodhouse is an American Democratic Party activist who currently serves as the president of Protect Our Care, a group seeking to protect the Affordable Care Act.[1] He also serves as co-chair of the Health Care Voter campaign.[2] He is the former president of the now-defunct liberal/progressive advocacy group Americans United for Change. He has also served as the president of Democratic super PACs American Bridge 21st Century and Correct the Record.[3][4][5] He is the former communications director of the United States Democratic National Committee.[6][7]

Career [ edit ] Woodhouse gained widespread notice as a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the early 2000s,[8][9][10] and was casually named by a The Washington Post columnist as possibly "the most prolific e-mailer in politics."[11] In 2005, Woodhouse left the DSCC to become communications director for Americans United to Protect Social Security. The group successfully fought President George W. Bush's efforts to establish private savings accounts as part of Social Security reform.[11] With the Bush reform plan defeated, Woodhouse organized and became president of Americans United For Change.[12] Woodhouse's group belongs to a coalition of progressive organizations called Change America Now,[12] many of which are located in the same building in Washington at 1825 K Street, N.W. The leaders of those organizations frequently meet with aides to Democratic congressional leadership, to discuss strategy and upcoming votes.[12]

In 2008, Woodhouse was given a senior position with the Democratic National Committee to help coordinate communications strategy for the upcoming general election. In 2009, Woodhouse formally became the Democratic National Committee's communications director. In 2013, Woodhouse left the Democratic National Committee to return as president of Americans United for Change.[13] In 2014, Woodhouse became the president of American Bridge 21st Century.[14] In 2015, Woodhouse became the President of Correct the Record, a super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid.[15]

2009 Nobel Peace Prize controversy [ edit ] In October 2009, President Barack Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, an event widely reported as "surprising" to even the President and his advisers. Conservatives and others in the media ridiculed the selection process and the President. Criticisms ranged from claims that Obama was undeserving, to the fact that he had been nominated only twelve days after his inauguration, to claims that the Nobel Peace Prize is anti-American.[16] In an October 9, 2009 public statement, RNC Chairman Michael Steele issued a public statement which rhetorically asked what Obama achievement the Nobel Prize recognized.

Woodhouse, as Communications Director of the Democratic National Committee, responded:

The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists - the Taliban and Hamas this morning - in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize -- an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride '-- unless of course you are the Republican Party. The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore '' it's an embarrassing label to claim.[17]

The Republican National Committee (RNC) responded:

Like most Americans, the DNC can't think of one achievement that the president has accomplished, so they resort to their predictable response and standard playbook of demonizing those who disagree with them. ...Now, when challenged to answer the question of what the president has accomplished, Democrats are lashing out calling Republicans terrorists. That type of political rhetoric is shameful.[18]

Personal life [ edit ] Woodhouse's brother is Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party. They were featured in the 2014 documentary Woodhouse Divided by filmmaker Bryan Miller. The brothers made a joint appearance, along with their mother, on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to promote the film.[19][20]

References [ edit ] ^ Shear, Michael (September 5, 2017). "Democratic Group Plans Attacks on G.O.P. Efforts to Undermine Obama Health Care Law". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 July 2018 . ^ "Health Care Voter Announces Six New Campaign Co-Chairs, Ramps Up Ahead of 2018 Elections". Patriot Not Partisan. January 22, 2018. ^ Graves, Lucia (July 31, 2015). "Meet the Man Who's Making Super PACs Extra Super". The Atlantic . Retrieved 18 July 2018 . ^ Stevens, Madeleine (March 5, 2014). "Americans United for Change". FactCheck.org . Retrieved 18 July 2018 . ^ "Americans United for Change (AUFC)". Capital Research Center . Retrieved 18 July 2018 . ^ See, e.g., KENTUCKY: Does Anyone Else Wonder If Brad Woodhouse Secretly Ruins Every Dem Interest Group In The Country?, The Hotline, National Journal, August 22, 2007 (subscription required) ^ Scheiber, Noam (July 1, 2018). "Supreme Court Labor Decision Wasn't Just a Loss for Unions". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 July 2018 . ^ Peter Savodnik, Black leaders push support for Majette, The Hill, October 7, 2004 ^ Louis Romano, Okla. Senate Candidate Is Accused of Fraud, Washington Post, September 15, 2004 ^ Tim Grieve, Bunning losing ground fast, Salon.com, October 13, 2004 ^ a b Dana Milbank, Never Too Soon to Build the War Chest: Taken to the Woodhouse, Washington Post, May 8, 2005 ^ a b c Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, 'The Other K Street' , Washington Post, May 7, 2007 ^ Katie Glueck, "DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse leaving", Politico, June 25, 2013 ^ Alexandra Jaffe, "Americans United head to lead Dem super PAC", The Hill, January 25, 2014 ^ "Meet the Man Who's Making Super PACs Extra Super". National Journal . Retrieved 2020-10-07 . ^ "Right Wingers Pitch Fits Over Nobel Peace Prize" by Eric Kleefeld Talking Points Memo, October 9, 2009 ^ "OPED: Obama Should Decline the Nobel Peace Prize" by Doug Heye, U.S. News & World Report, October 9, 2009 ^ CNN PoliticalTicker, October 9, 2009 ^ Ohlheiser, Abby (December 16, 2014). "Hero mom calls into C-SPAN to berate her arguing pundit sons". The Washington Post. ^ Pinckard, Cliff (December 16, 2014). " 'Oh God, it's mom': Woman scolds political-pundit sons with call to C-SPAN (video)". Cleveland.com.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:01

American businessman

Leslie Dach is an American businessman and former government executive.

Early life and education [ edit ] Leslie Dach attended Yale University where he was roommates with Christopher Buckley.[1]

Career [ edit ] Dach became involved in the Democratic Party during the 1988 United States presidential election and served as an aide in the administration of Bill Clinton.[2][3] He later went to work for Edelman, a corporate public relations consultancy. In 2006 Dach accepted the position of Executive Vice-President of Governmental Relations and Corporate Affairs at Wal-Mart with a compensation package reported to be worth $3 million in stock options, on top of his annual salary.[2] During the administration of Barack Obama he served as a senior counselor at the Department of Health and Human Services for almost two years. There, he worked on promotion of Obamacare.[4]

The month following his departure from government, Dach was appointed to the board of directors of Sunrun.[5]

References [ edit ] ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey (April 2, 2007). "Selling Wal-Mart". The New Yorker . Retrieved May 26, 2016 . ^ a b Frazier, Mya (October 4, 2006). "Wal-Mart's $3 Million Man: Leslie Dach". Advertising Age . Retrieved May 26, 2016 . ^ Clifford, Stephanie (March 8, 2013). "Man Who Helped Image of Wal-Mart Steps Down". The New York Times . Retrieved May 26, 2016 . ^ Diamond, Dan (April 12, 2016). "How to think about Medicare's new primary care plan". Politico . Retrieved May 26, 2016 . ^ "Sunrun Appoints Former Walmart Executive Leslie Dach to Board of Directors". May 5, 2016 . Retrieved May 26, 2016 .

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 14:40

Draft guidance also recommended screening for depression but didn't move to endorse screening for suicide risk

Sept. 20, 2022 11:00 am ETAdults under the age of 65 should be screened for anxiety disorders and all adults should be checked for depression, a government-backed panel said, as many Americans report symptoms of these mental-health conditions following the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The draft guidance released Tuesday marks the first time that the United States Preventive Services Task Force has made a recommendation on screening adults for anxiety disorders. The move comes months after the task force issued similar draft guidance for children...

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

Adults under the age of 65 should be screened for anxiety disorders and all adults should be checked for depression, a government-backed panel said, as many Americans report symptoms of these mental-health conditions following the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The draft guidance released Tuesday marks the first time that the United States Preventive Services Task Force has made a recommendation on screening adults for anxiety disorders. The move comes months after the task force issued similar draft guidance for children and adolescents.

''This is a really important step forward,'' said Arthur C. Evans, chief executive at the American Psychological Association. ''Screening for mental-health conditions is critical to our ability to help people at the earliest possible moment.''

The task force said that there wasn't enough evidence on whether or not screening all adults without signs or symptoms ultimately helps prevent suicide. The group didn't recommend for or against screening for suicide risk, but called for more research in the area.

The task force, a panel of 16 independent volunteer experts, issues guidance on preventive-care measures. Health insurers are often required to cover services recommended by the task force under a provision in the Affordable Care Act.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

More than 30% of adults reported having symptoms of an anxiety disorder or depressive disorder this summer, according to estimates from the federal Household Pulse Survey. The percentage of U.S. adults who received mental-health treatment within the past 12 months increased to 22% in 2021, up from 19% in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mental-health screening often occurs in doctor's offices, where patients fill out questionnaires during routine checkups or other appointments. The goal is to spot at-risk people who might not be showing obvious signs, so that the person can get the correct diagnosis and potentially get connected to care before they reach a crisis point.

The surveys ask patients about how often they feel depressed or hopeless, have trouble with sleep fatigue or appetite, have thoughts of harming themselves, or how often they are unable to control their worrying, on a scale ranging from not at all to nearly every day.

Delving into the results together can help some patients open up who otherwise might not be as forthcoming about their mental health, said Riza Conroy, a primary-care physician at Ohio State University.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

''It helps me get a better idea about whether their insomnia is really pure insomnia or if it is part of depressive symptoms,'' Dr. Conroy said.

But widespread screening can also yield false-positive results, potentially leading to overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment that comes with side effects, as well as unease and stigma, the task force and other mental-health experts said. In the U.K., the UK National Screening Committee didn't recommend depression screening after a 2020 review, in part due to the potential for false positives.

''You end up with a score that you feel you have to act on,'' said Stephanie Collier, a psychiatrist at McLean Hospital and a consulting psychiatrist for the Population Health Management Team at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts, who wasn't involved with the new guidance.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

To inform the new recommendations, task-force members reviewed evidence from some 173 studies that looked at screening-test accuracy and the effectiveness of available interventions for depression, anxiety disorders and suicide risk. A few studies looked at the direct impacts of the screening itself on health outcomes.

The task force concluded that screening all adults for depression, including those who are pregnant or postpartum as well as older adults, has a moderate net benefit, echoing its previous 2016 recommendations. The task force also recommended screening adults under 65, including pregnant and postpartum people, for anxiety but said that there wasn't enough evidence to make the same recommendation for older adults.

Some anxiety-disorder screening questionnaires emphasize issues with sleep, pain and fatigue, which also often increase with age, said Lori Pbert, task-force member and professor in the department of population and quantitative health sciences at UMass Chan Medical School.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

''You could be flagging a lot of older adults for having an anxiety disorder when they don't,'' Dr. Pbert said.

Dr. Pbert said that there also wasn't enough evidence to make a recommendation for or against suicide screening. The adult suicide rate in the U.S. peaked in 2018 but has increased some 30% overall over the past two decades.

''It's on the top of mind for many of us,'' Dr. Pbert said.

In April, the task force received some pushback for its lack of recommendation for suicide screening among adolescents. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention sent a letter to the task force in May, asking them to re-examine the body of evidence.

''It could present a threat to forward progress in preventing suicide at a time when it's clearly showing up as a national health crisis,'' said Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

In the absence of evidence, healthcare providers should use their clinical judgment for each individual patient to determine whether or not to screen for suicide, said Gbenga Ogedegbe, a task-force member and professor of medicine and population health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

The recommendations are drafts that will be open for comment on the task-force website through Oct. 17, after which the task force will issue its completed guidance.

Write to Brianna Abbott at brianna.abbott@wsj.com

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 14:39

After a six-year hiatus, the Clinton Global Initiative returned to New York City this week, bringing together leaders from the worlds of nonprofit, government and business, with a few celebrities sprinkled in for good measure. It has been an eventful few years since they last gathered in 2016.

''The challenges we face are steep, but they pretty much have been steep for a long time now,'' former President Bill Clinton said in his opening remarks at the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. ''And CGI is always and has always been about what we can do and not what we can't do.''

The Clinton Global Initiative began in 2005 and quickly became something akin to a Davos-on-the-Hudson event, but one with a greater focus on philanthropy, nonprofits and corporate do-gooding. The way it differed from most conferences is that it required participants to make commitments, sometimes in dollars, other times in targets '-- such as for creating jobs or delivering clean water.

Up to the hiatus in 2016, attendees announced more than 3,700 commitments, which by the organization's own tally had helped more than 435 million people in over 180 countries.

In many ways the early days were the high-water mark of the philanthrocapitalism era, when trust in the wealthy and celebrities to save the world ran high. In turn, many significant organizations modeled themselves after the Clintons' endeavor.

Then in 2016, in the heat of the general election campaign fight between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump, with reporters asking a lot of questions about the foundation and its donors, Mr. Clinton announced that the 2016 meeting would be the final version of the initiative.

Now, as world leaders gathered in New York for the first fully in-person United Nations General Assembly in three years, the goal is to recapture that old Clinton magic, and to see if there is still room in a field of thought-leading, pledge-making symposia crowding the city this week.

Advisers to Mr. Clinton said that in the years since, he had longed to restart the event. ''He would tell me regularly when we were just talking before a board meeting, 'I was just out last night and someone was saying when are you going to start CGI again?''' said Robert Harrison, former chief executive of the Clinton Global Initiative, from 2007 to 2016, and a board member of the Clinton Foundation.

''A year ago, 10 months ago, we looked at each other and said, 'Let's try,''' Mr. Harrison recalled.

The Clintons' return to the world stage was heralded in March with a letter from Mr. Clinton that doubled as a call to arms. With the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the challenges to democracy at home and abroad, the world needed CGI back, according to Mr. Clinton.

Judging from the names at the event, many old friends and allies answered the call, including the philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Melinda French Gates, Secretary Xavier Becerra of the Department of Health and Human Services, state governors, corporate chief executives, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the director-general of the World Health Organization.

This year the initiative tallied 144 commitments, which will result in more than 1.6 million jobs and the reduction of 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Commitments ranged from a program to build soccer fields in underserved communities to one making bricks out of volcanic ash. Nine members committed to providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Mr. Clinton interviewed President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine via videoconference on Tuesday, with Mr. Zelensky in his trademark form-fitting T-shirt.

Milling in the halls at the event, Terry McAuliffe, the former Virginia governor and longtime denizen of Clinton world, brushed past, smartphone pressed to his face. Petra Nemcova, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model who survived the deadly 2004 tsunami in Thailand and now works in philanthropy, chatted with a Ukrainian official by the coffee urns, where the milk was all plant-based '-- soy, oat, almond '-- in a nod to Mr. Clinton's veganism as well as the climate impact of cows. The meals were all plant-based, too.

The mood between sessions was like that at a college reunion, with people embracing after years apart and speaking warmly and with nostalgia '-- convivial but not, perhaps, the most forward looking.

''Why did they leave in the first place?'' said Paloma Raggo, a philanthropy expert and professor at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University in Ottawa. ''It wasn't the right political climate for them to be at the forefront of things.''

The Clintons shut down the initiative because of scrutiny during the campaign. And they kept it on ice for six years for a variety of reasons. First there was the recovery from Mrs. Clinton's defeat in the presidential election. Then the #MeToo movement brought a harsh spotlight on past Clinton ties to Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. Later, people close to Bill and Hillary say, Covid protocols kept them away from large crowds.

Still, to critical observers, the timing does not seem clear. ''Is it because now there are issues that make it necessary, them coming here, or is it because at this point the political consequences or bad juju has dissolved a bit and they reappeared?'' Ms. Raggo asked.

Some former advisers say the Clinton Global Initiative's moment has passed and the event should not be revived. Memberships, which cost $15,000 and $20,000 in past years, were just $5,000 for this year's event, according to Mr. Harrison, the former chief executive. In addition to Mr. Clinton's desire to return to the spotlight, some see the former first daughter as a motivating force.

Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Clinton this month debuted a documentary series on AppleTV+ called ''Gutsy,'' in which mother and daughter talk to famous women and activists. Mrs. Clinton, who has also written or co-written four books, two with Chelsea, since the 2016 election, took the stage Monday afternoon to a standing ovation.

''I don't know about you, but when people ask me how I am these days, I often say: 'Well, personally I'm great. I'm just worried about everything,''' Mrs. Clinton told the crowd.

Shortly thereafter, on the same stage, Ms. French Gates announced a $50 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund scholarships at a health sciences university in Rwanda in the name of Dr. Paul Farmer, who died unexpectedly in February.

''Someone else has stepped up who also appreciates, respects and understands the value of this work,'' Mrs. Clinton then said. ''One of Paul's friend's here in our CGI community has just told us about making a gift of $10 million more dollars.''

The foundation started in 1997 as the charitable vehicle to pay for the design and construction of Mr. Clinton's presidential library. It had its share of controversy pretty quickly, with the Marc Rich pardon and donations an issue as he left the White House. In 2002, the Clintons started the Clinton H.I.V./AIDS Initiative, with the goal of saving the lives of millions of people around the world living with the disease. Today it continues as the Clinton Health Access Initiative, though it spun off from the foundation in 2010.

When the Clinton Global Initiative debuted in 2005, George W. Bush was president. Hillary Clinton was a New York senator and a likely presidential contender herself. Bill Clinton was a recent two-term president. Chelsea seemed poised to follow in her parents' footsteps.

The first version of the Clinton Global Initiative, in 2005, was timed to the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. The currency of the initiative was the ''commitment.'' Attendees were encouraged to make commitments that were then tallied at $2.5 billion in pledges from 300 people, to a variety of causes including global poverty, conflict resolution and climate change.

The September traffic jam of motorcades zipping between events during the United Nations General Assembly were the moment to extract these pledges.

''I think CGI was the rocket fuel on all of this,'' said John Prendergast, co-founder of the Sentry, who has appeared on several panels with heads of state there over the years. ''He has this real nose for pulling these various communities together,'' he said of Mr. Clinton.

Now there are numerous other events competing for attention and attendance, including the Concordia Summit and the Gates Foundation's Goalkeepers event.

Donna Shalala, the former health and human services secretary and former president of the Clinton Foundation, said in an interview that they had ended the Clinton Global Initiative to avoid any potential conflict of interest with Mrs. Clinton's campaign.

''It was painful,'' she said. ''Let me assure you the president loves CGI and the rest of us did. And the foundation was defined by CGI, it's what everyone knew us for.''

When the election ended and Mrs. Clinton lost, it was not a simple matter of cranking up the annual meeting again.

''This is not just hitting pause on a song; it's like shutting down a nuclear reactor, you don't just keep flipping the switch on and off,'' said Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to Mrs. Clinton. ''Once you turn it off, there's an energy and a ramp-up that's involved and time consuming.''

Even after a dormant period for the initiative, the foundation's signature event, tax filings show that the foundation had net assets of over $300 million as of the 2020 tax year, the most recent available.

For nonprofits, CGI can be a powerful place to raise funds and make connections.

Gary White, the chief executive and a co-founder of Water.org, said he had met some of his most important donors at CGI, including the PepsiCo Foundation, the Mastercard Foundation and the Ikea Foundation.

''Where the rubber meets the road is at CGI, where they are there to make commitments not just as a side show,'' Mr. White said.

He also met the actor Matt Damon at CGI, in 2008, when his organization was called Water Partners. Mr. Damon had his own group, known as H2O Africa. The next year they announced that they had merged their groups. This year, they made a commitment to deliver clean water and sanitation to 100 million people in need, a goal the group says it is nearly halfway to meeting.

Mr. Clinton's opening remarks at the conference came out a little quiet, a hint raspier than usual, a tiny bit slow.

He made a reference to ''someone who had no dog in the hunt,'' and then quipped, ''You must forgive me if I sometimes slip off into my colloquial past.'' The audience laughed, relief palpable, as the old charm emerged.

Toward the end of his first panel, Mr. Clinton told the participants, ''I wish I could keep you here the rest of the day.''

After that panel, Mr. Clinton leaned down from the stage to grasp hands, smile, pose for photographs and talk to the crowd. He beamed, campaign-trail muscle memory seeming to kick in. As the Secret Service tried to move him along, one had the distinct impression that the former president never wanted to leave the stage.

The post Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Return to Center Stage. Their Own. appeared first on New York Times.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 14:10

Whales flee from the loud military sonar used by navies to hunt submarines, new research has proven for the first time. The studies provide a missing link in the puzzle that has connected naval exercises around the world to unusual mass strandings of whales and dolphins.

Beaked whales, the most common casualty of the strandings, were shown to be highly sensitive to sonar. But the research also revealed unexpectedly that blue whales, the largest animals on Earth and whose population has plummeted by 95% in the last century, also abandoned feeding and swam rapidly away from sonar noise.

The strong response observed in the beaked whales occurred at noise levels well below those allowed for US navy exercises. "This result has to be taken into consideration by regulators and those planning naval exercises," said Stacy DeRuiter, at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who led one of the teams.

"For whales and dolphins, listening is as important as seeing is for humans '' they communicate, locate food, and navigate using sound," said Sarah Dolman, at charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation. "Noise pollution threatens vulnerable populations, driving them away from areas important to their survival, and at worst injuring or even causing the deaths of some whales and dolphins." Dolman said there were no accepted international standards regarding noise pollution and there was an urgent need to re-evaluate the environmental impacts of military activities.

The US Navy part-funded the new studies but said the findings only showed behavioural responses to sonar, not actual harm. Nonetheless, Kenneth Hess, a US Navy spokesman, said permit conditions for naval exercises were reviewed annually and added: "We will evaluate the effectiveness of our marine mammal protective measures in light of new research findings."

Unusual mass strandings, where multiple species of whale and dolphin beach at several locations at once, have soared since the introduction of military sonar in the 1950s and can be fatal. The strandings occur every year and major recent events saw up to 15 animals beached in the Canary Islands, the Bahamas and Greece. In May, the naval activity was found to be the most probable cause of the deaths of at least 26 short-beaked common dolphins in Falmouth Bay, Cornwall in June 2008.

Beaked whales are the most common species affected by unusual mass strandings, perhaps because their shy nature makes them more easily scared by noises that they may interpret as killer whale sounds. Researchers used suction cups to attach digital devices to Cuvier's beaked whales off the coast of Southern California to measure the noise they were exposed to and their response.

When a simulated military sonar signal was sounded at 200dB and between 3km and 10km away, the whales initially stopped feeding and swimming. They then swam rapidly away from the noise and some performed unusually deep and long dives. "The missing piece of the puzzle was how whales changed their behaviour and how that led to mass strandings," said DeRuiter. She added that they also stopped feeding for 6-7 hours, which is unusual. "If they miss out on food, they will be less healthy," she said, noting that where populations have been measured, numbers of Cuvier's beaked whales are declining.

A second study, also off Southern California, estimated that a blue whale spooked by the sonar missed out on over a tonne of krill, about a day's worth of food. "Blue whales rely on large aggregations of dense krill to sustain their extreme body size, so they continuously dive and feed throughout the day when high-density prey patches are present," said Jeremy Goldbogen, at Cascadia Research, a non-profit US research organisation in Olympia, Washington. "Because of this, we suggest that sonar-induced disruption of feeding could have significant and previously undocumented impacts on individual baleen whale fitness and the health of their populations."

A spokesman for the UK's Royal Navy said: "The Royal Navy already limits its use of sonar around whales. We are committed to taking all reasonable and practical measures to protect the environment and mitigate effects on marine mammals. This new research will be taken into account in the regular review of MoD active sonar mitigation procedures."

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 14:10

By Tiffanie TurnbullBBC News, Sydney

Image source, Huon Aquaculture Image caption, Tasmanian officials said half of the whales still appeared to be alive

More than 200 whales have been found stranded on a remote beach on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia.

Half of the pod, thought to be pilot whales, are believed to be still alive. Rescuers are being sent to the area.

It's unclear what caused the whales to beach on a sandflat at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, the same remote location where Australia's worst stranding occurred two years ago.

It comes a day after a separate mass stranding in northern Tasmania.

The incident on Tuesday saw 14 young sperm whales found dead on King Island, in the Bass Strait.

Experts were planning a rescue of the 230 whales discovered on Wednesday but the operation would be "complex" due to the location, Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources and Environment said in a statement.

"It appears about half of the animals are alive."

Macquarie Harbour is a large, shallow inlet in a rural area. More of the whales are expected to die overnight.

Locals have been covering the stranded whales with blankets and pouring buckets of water over them to try to keep them alive.

Image source, Department of Natural Resources and Environment

Image caption, An aerial view of the whales stranded on Tasmania's west coast

The state's environment department said marine conservation experts were travelling to the scene and would try to refloat those whales still healthy enough to survive.

Pilot whales are highly social mammals and are well known for stranding in groups because they travel in large, close-knit communities which rely on constant communication.

In September 2020, a huge rescue operation was launched when almost 500 pilot whales became stranded in the same harbour.

More than 380 of the pilot whales died, but about 100 survived thanks to rescuers.

Wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta told the BBC the similarities between the stranding and the last one - same species, same location, same time of year - are "unusual" and concerning.

The whales may have "misnavigated", followed a sick or disoriented leader, or been startled into shallower waters, she said.

Climate change could have an impact too - changes in the environment, water temperature, or prey habitats could throw the whales off.

But the reasons behind whale strandings remain a "mystery", she says, as does why Tasmania sees so many of them.

There's lots of marine life in the area - more animals could mean more incidents - and there are also a lot of currents intersecting with the land.

But the "giant island" itself could just be a navigational hazard for animals that use echolocation, she says.

"You're going from essentially open waters and then there's land all of a sudden."

You may also be interested in:

Media caption, How to rescue a stranded whale

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 14:06

NEW YORK '-- Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases - including a 26% rise in new syphilis infections reported last year - are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.

''It is imperative that we '... work to rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD) prevention in the U.S.,'' said Dr. Leandro Mena of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a speech Monday at a medical conference on sexually transmitted diseases.

Infections rates for some STDs, including gonorrhea and syphilis, have been rising for years. Last year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. HIV cases are also on the rise, up 16% last year.

And an international outbreak of monkeypox, which is being spread mainly between men who have sex with other men, has further highlighted the nation's worsening problem with diseases spread mostly through sex.

David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, called the situation ''out of control.''

Officials are working on new approaches to the problem, such as home-test kits for some STDs that will make it easier for people to learn they are infected and to take steps to prevent spreading it to others, Mena said.

Another expert said a core part of any effort must work to increase the use of condoms.

''It's pretty simple. More sexually transmitted infections occur when people are having more unprotected sex,'' said Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Syphilis is a bacterial disease that surfaces as genital sores but can ultimately lead to severe symptoms and death if left untreated.

New syphilis infections plummeted in the U.S. starting in the 1940s when antibiotics became widely available. They fell to their lowest ever by 1998, when fewer than 7,000 new cases were reported nationwide. The CDC was so encouraged by the progress it launched a plan to eliminate syphilis in the U.S.

But by 2002 cases began rising again, largely among gay and bisexual men, and they kept going. In late 2013, CDC ended its elimination campaign in the face of limited funding and escalating cases, which that year surpassed 17,000.

By 2020 cases had reached nearly 41,700 and they spiked even further last year, to more than 52,000.

The rate of cases has been rising, too, hitting about 16 per 100,000 people last year. That's the highest in three decades.

Rates are highest in men who have sex with men, and among Black and Hispanic Americans and Native Americans. While the rate for women is lower than it is for men, officials noted that it's has been rising more dramatically - up about 50% last year.

That ties to another problem - the rise in congenital syphilis, in which infected moms pass the virus on to their babies, potentially leading to death of the child or health problems like deafness and blindness. Annual congenital syphilis cases numbered only about 300 a decade ago; they surged to nearly 2,700 last year. Of last year's tally, 211 were stillbirths or infant deaths, Mena said.

The increases in syphilis and other STDs may have several causes, experts say. Testing and prevention efforts have been hobbled by years of inadequate funding, and spread may have gotten worse - especially during the pandemic - as a result of delayed diagnosis and treatment. Drug and alcohol use may have contributed to risky sexual behavior. Condom use has been declining.

And there may have been a surge in sexual activity as people emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns. ''People are feeling liberated,'' Saag said.

The arrival of monkeypox added a large additional burden. CDC recently sent a letter to state and local health departments saying that their HIV and STD resources could be used to fight the monkeypox outbreak. But some experts say the government needs to provide more funding for STD work, not divert it.

Harvey's group and some other public health organizations are pushing a proposal for more federal funding, including at least $500 million for STD clinics.

Mena, who last year became director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention, called for reducing stigma, broadening screening and treatment services, and supporting the development and accessibility of at-home testing. ''I envision one day where getting tested (for STDs) can be as simple and as affordable as doing a home pregnancy test,'' he said.

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Copyright (C) 2022 The Washington Times, LLC.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:56

Published September 20, 2022 4:22PM

Updated 4:25PM

articleA baby's right foot with hospital bracelet and baby blanket. (Getty Images.)

An infant less than two months old in Florida contracted monkeypox likely from a household exposure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a news release Monday.

Health officials said the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) was notified of a suspected case of monkeypox after the child was admitted to a Florida hospital in August with a rash and cellulitis.

The CDC believes the baby likely was exposed to the virus at home, being that the child did not attend a daycare, had no travel history or acute infections three weeks prior to when the rash appeared and had no known immunocompromising conditions.

The baby was taken care of by four people within a home '' one of which (caregiver B) reported activities that placed him at high risk for monkeypox exposure during the two months prior to the infant's illness. An investigation identified three other household family members with household exposures to both the infant and caregiver B.

"One day before the infant became symptomatic, caregiver B moved to another state and sought medical care for his symptoms," the CDC stated. He received a positive monkeypox test result two days after the baby tested positive. "The infant had daily close contact with caregiver B in the home for 6 weeks before rash onset."

Likely transmission included shared bed linens and skin-to-skin contact through holding and daily care activities.

Health officials said the baby is the youngest patient with confirmed monkeypox infection in Florida as of Monday. A total of 27 confirmed cases of monkeypox in children between the ages of 0 and 15 years old have been reported in the United States during the 2022 outbreak to date.

WHAT IS MONKEYPOX?Officials said it's a viral infection transmitted during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing cuddling or sex. The illness typically lasts for two to four weeks.

WHAT ARE MONKEYPOX SYMPTOMS? If a person begins to have the following symptoms, they are asked to call their healthcare provider and ask about testing:

High fever Intense headache Swollen lymph nodes Muscle aches Chills Rash Those with symptoms should avoid contact with others, stay at home, wear a mask and cover sores to protect others.

WHO CAN GET MONKEYPOX?Anyone can get the infection, but the health department said men who have sex with men remain at the highest risk.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:54

The autumnal equinox'--also called the September equinox or fall equinox'--arrives on Thursday, September 22. This date marks the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Read about the signs of fall and the ways we mark the equinox.

Autumn has caught us in our summer wear.''Philip Larkin, British poet (1922''86)

When Is the Autumnal Equinox?The fall equinox arrives on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 9:04 P.M. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere. The equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide.

Autumnal Equinox DatesYearAutumnal Equinox (Northern Hemisphere)Autumnal Equinox (Southern Hemisphere)2022Thursday, September 22Sunday, March 202023Saturday, September 23Monday, March 202024Sunday, September 22Tuesday, March 192025Monday, September 22Thursday, March 20Note: Dates listed above are based on Eastern Time ( UTC -5). Due to time zones, the date of the equinox may differ by +/- one calendar day in your location.

What Is the Autumnal Equinox?The autumnal equinox is an astronomical event that marks the start of autumn (or ''fall''). In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs in September; in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs in March.

What Is an Equinox?During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the ''celestial equator'''--an imaginary extension of Earth's equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun's center passes through this line.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun crosses the equator going from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere, it's the reverse.

After the autumnal equinox, days become shorter than nights as the Sun continues to rise later and nightfall arrives earlier. This ends with the winter solstice, after which days start to grow longer once again.

The word ''equinox'' comes from Latin aequus, meaning ''equal,'' and nox, ''night.'' On the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in length. (See more about this below.)

The Harvest Moon & the EquinoxOne of our favorite pieces of trivia surrounding the autumnal equinox involves its relationship with the full Moon. Curiously, the full Moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox is always called the ''Harvest Moon!'' Why is that?

Surprise, surprise: it has to do with farming! Around the fall equinox, the full Moon rises around sunset for several nights in a row, which traditionally provided farmers with just enough extra light for them to finish their harvests before the killing frosts of fall set in. Normally, the Moon rises about an hour later each night, but around the time of the fall equinox, the angle of the Moon's orbit and the tilt of the Earth line up just right and cause the Moon to rise only about 20 to 30 minutes later each night for several nights in a row!

An Astronomical Moon NameThe Harvest Moon is one of only two Moon names that are astronomical terms and aren't tied to one specific month. Because it's always the full Moon nearest to the equinox that's called the ''Harvest Moon,'' either September or October's full Moon can take on the name. (The other astronomical Moon name is the Hunter's Moon, which is the full Moon that directly follows the Harvest Moon. It can occur in either October or November.)

This year, the Harvest Moon happened on Saturday, September 10. Read more about September's Harvest Moon here or read about the upcoming Hunter's Moon.

Fall WeatherIt is the summer's great last heat,It is the fall's first chill: They meet.''Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt

Another definition of fall is ''nights of below-freezing temperatures combined with days of temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21°C)''. From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop.

'†' Find 12 months of long-range weather predictions in the latest edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac!

Fall FoliageNote that fall foliage isn't due to current weather conditions. This is a common misconception. Leaves change color because of the amount of daylight and photosynthesis. Learn more about autumn leaves.

Fall Equinox FAQ sQ: Are Day and Night Perfectly Equal on the Equinox?A: Some say that during an equinox, day and night is equal. Well, not exactly. It depends on where you live.

On the equinox, the center of the Sun is indeed above the horizon for 12 hours. However, ''sunrise'' is said to begin when the upper edge of the Sun's disk becomes visible above the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises) and ends when the entire Sun has set. In this case, daylight is still a bit longer than nighttime.

Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth's atmosphere refracts the Sun's rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon. Yes, you can see the Sun before the edge actually reaches the horizon! This causes daylight to be longer than 12 hours as well.

However, they are very close to equal (the total lengths may differ by only a few minutes).

Did you know our rise/set tool now provides day length? In Dublin, New Hampshire, USA '--home of The Old Farmer's Almanac'--our day length on the equinox is 12:08 hours.

See our Sunrise/set calculator for day length in YOUR area.

Q: Is the Autumnal Equinox Really the First Day of Fall?A: Based on the astronomical definition of seasons, yes, the autumnal equinox does mark the first day of fall. Astronomical seasons are based on the Sun's position in the sky. According to the meteorological definition of seasons, which is based on temperature cycles and the Gregorian calendar, the first day of fall is usually considered to be September 1 in the Northern Hemisphere (March 1 in the Southern Hemisphere).

Q: Can You Balance An Egg On the Equinox?A: There's an old-wives' tale that you can stand an egg on its end of the equinox. Well, yes, it's true (and fun to try). But it's possible not only on the equinox. See more about equinox facts from Almanac astronomer, Bob Berman.

Signs of FallWhat are your local signs of fall? In many regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the landscape silently explodes with vibrant colors of red, yellow, and orange. The leaves begin to drop off the trees, providing endless hours of jumping into leaf piles for kids and raking them back up for parents!

Trees snapping and cracking in the autumn indicate dry weather.

Fall also brings some wonderful holidays, including Halloween and Thanksgiving, which carry us through the season until temperatures begin to drop, nights begin to get longer, and all the woodland critters start storing up for the long haul of winter.

And don't forget about the end of Daylight Saving Time, when we ''fall'' back, setting our clocks back one hour and regaining an hour of precious sleep!

Plants and trees are slowing down, as sunlight decreases, to get ready for the colder season ahead. In the garden, asters and chrysanthemums bloom beautifully as orange pumpkins and corn mazes abound.

Football season is warming up and so is sweater weather.

Also notice the arc of the Sun across the sky each day as it starts shifting south. Birds and butterflies migrate along with the path of our Sun!

Of course, you can you can easily notice the later dawns and earlier sunsets. See our sunrise/set tool for your area!

Aster flowersAncient Autumn Traditions The fall equinox has been a day of celebration for cultures since ancient days. People tracked the transitions of the Earth's journeys around the Sun.

At Machu Picchu in Peru, an ancient stone monument called Intihuatana'--which means ''Hitching Post of the Sun'''--serves as a solar clock to mark the dates of the equinoxes and solstices. In Mexico, the Mayans built a giant pyramid called Chichen Itza. On the equinoxes, it looks as if a snake made of light slithers down the pyramid's steps.In England, Stonehenge was also built with the equinoxes and solstices in mind.See Five Ancient Sites Aligned With the Equinoxes and Solstices.

Enjoy Autumn!Wishing a colorful, cool, cozy autumn to all our Almanac readers. Tell us your favorite things about the fall season below!

To learn more about all four seasons and see when they begin, see First Day of Seasons.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:50

09/21/2022 Rotterdam The Netherlands

New plant brings additional liquid hydrogen capacity to Europe

Media Contacts:Astrid Dendievel | +32(476) 042860 Nicola Long | +44 1932 249532 Investor Contact:Simon Moore | +1 610 481 7461 Air Products (NYSE: APD) today announced plans to start construction of a second hydrogen liquefaction plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This new source is in addition to the company's existing liquid hydrogen plant in Botlek, the Netherlands. Once operational in 2025, the plant will double Europe's total current liquid hydrogen capacity.

Liquid hydrogen produced at the plant will be used to supply increased demands from high tech industries as well as the mobility market. It will contribute to the decarbonisation of heavy-duty vehicles on Europe's path to climate neutrality by 2050.

Air Products is committed to contribute to the role of hydrogen in the energy transition. This project is an important milestone and a great addition to Air Products' hydrogen capabilities in Europe.

About Air ProductsAir Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world's largest industrial gas projects, including: gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals; carbon capture projects; and world-scale carbon-free hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition.

The Company had fiscal 2021 sales of $10.3 billion from operations in over 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of nearly $55 billion. More than 20,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains ''forward-looking statements'' within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:43

California will begin offering the option of human composting after death thanks to a bill recently signed into law that aims to tackle climate change.

Human composting, also known as natural organic reduction (NOR), would be an option for residents who don't want to be buried or cremated upon their death - starting in 2027.

The process involves placing the body inside a long, reusable steel container along with wood chips and flowers to aerate it - allowing microbes and bacteria to do break down the remains.

Approximately one month later, the remains will fully decompose and be turned into soil.

Advocates for the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, have said that NOR is a more climate-friendly option.

California will begin offering the option of human composting after death thanks to a bill recently signed into law

Human composting, also known as natural organic reduction (NOR), would be an option for residents who don't want to be buried or cremated upon their death - starting in 2027

Cremation in the U.S. alone emits about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to National Geographic.

The bill bans the combining of various peoples' remains unless they are related.

But it does not make it illegal to sell the soil that results from the process or use it to grow food for human consumption.

'AB 351 will provide an additional option for California residents that is more environmentally-friendly and gives them another choice for burial,' Democratic Assembly member Cristina Garcia, the author of the bill, said in a statement.

Advocates for the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week, have said that NOR is a more climate-friendly option. Cremation in the U.S. alone emits about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to National Geographic

'With climate change and sea-level rise as very real threats to our environment, this is an alternative method of final disposition that won't contribute emissions into our atmosphere.

'I look forward to continuing my legacy to fight for clean air by using my reduced remains to plant a tree,' she wrote, noting that she herself may choose the method when she passes away.

Micah Truman, founder and CEO of Return Home, a funeral home in the Seattle area that specializes in human composting, said there's been growing demand for the practice in recent years.

'With cremation, instead of sitting with our person and saying goodbye, we are very divorced from the process,' he told The Guardian.

Advocates for the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, have said NOR is a more climate-friendly option

Truman said when a body is composted by his facility, the resulting soil is returned to the family to do with it as they wish - some customers have planted trees or flowers, while others have spread it into the ocean.

The Catholic Church in the state is against the process.

'NOR uses essentially the same process as a home gardening composting system,' the executive director of the California Catholic Conference, Kathleen Domingo, said in a statement to SFGATE.

She added that the process was developed for livestock, not humans.

'These methods of disposal were used to lessen the possibility of disease being transmitted by the dead carcass,' Domingo said.

'Using these same methods for the ''transformation'' of human remains can create an unfortunate spiritual, emotional and psychological distancing from the deceased.'

Washington, Colorado and Oregon have all legalized the process of composting human remains. However, Colorado does not allow the soil to be sold or used to grow food for human consumption.

Under a bill recently passed by New York's state legislature, only cemeteries would be allowed to apply for a license to offer human composting - which the New York State Funeral Directors Association objects to.

'Funeral directors have always essentially prided themselves as being very responsive, fully responsive, to what a person deserves for their own funeral and burial - however they would like it,' Randy McCullough, deputy executive director of the organization, told NY1 News.

'And we still want to do that with this process. We're not opposed at all to the introduction of these alternative disposition processes, per se.'

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:31

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

This wasn't supposed to happen. For months, I have been writing article after article about the rapidly growing global food crisis, but even though drought is devastating so many other crops all over the planet I thought that there would be plenty of rice in 2023. Unfortunately, I was wrong. As you will see below, some of the biggest rice producers in the entire world are being hit really hard, and rice production is going to be way below expectations this year. Of course rice is one of the primary staples that poor nations depend upon, and so this is a really big deal. If there is a serious shortage of rice in 2023, that is going to have enormous implications for all of us.

An announcement that India just made should be front page news all over the globe right now.

India usually accounts for over 40 percent of all worldwide rice shipments, but now they have placed severe restrictions on all future exports this year'...

India banned exports of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on exports of various grades of rice on Thursday as the world's biggest exporter of the grain tries to augment supplies and calm local prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting.

India exports rice to more than 150 countries, and any reduction in its shipments would increase upward pressure on food prices, which are already rising because of drought, heat-waves and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Did you catch that last sentence?

150 different nations depend on rice from India.

So where are they going to get their rice?

Normally, India exports more rice than the next four largest exporters combined'...

India's rice exports touched a record 21.5 million tons in 2021, more than the combined shipments of the world's next four biggest exporters of the grain: Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan and the United States.

Europe certainly isn't going to make up the difference.

Italy is the biggest rice producer in the European Union, and it is being projected that rice production in that nation will be down about 30 percent this year due to the endless drought that Europe is currently experiencing'...

The unfavorable weather has already taken a serious toll on the rice industry. Estimates say farmers are expecting to lose around 30 percent of their yields this year, and the industry has already hemorrhaged around $3 billion as a result of the drought. Many of the most stricken fields are in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, which together produce around 90 percent of Italy's rice.

Rice production is going to be way down in the United States as well.

California usually produces about 20 percent of all U.S. rice, but this year a severe lack of water for agricultural purposes is making things exceedingly difficult for rice growers in the state'...

Rice farmers in Colusa County, 60 miles north of Sacramento, received 18% of the federal water shipments to which they are entitled, far less than normal and too little for many to grow the crop at all.

''Even in a drought, rice farmers have been able to get a fairly high percentage of the water they had rights to,'' said Tim Johnson, chief executive of the California Rice Commission. ''Now they are experiencing drought at a level they've never seen before.''

What we are witnessing is truly unprecedented.

I know that this may be hard to believe, but it is being reported that ''about 300,000 out of the 550,000 acres committed to rice growing in California will go without harvest'' in 2022. The following comes from Zero Hedge'...

New satellite imagery shows a large swath of California's rice fields has been left barren without harvest as fears of a 'mini dust bowl' emerge due to diminishing water supplies.

Kurt Richter, a third-generation rice farmer in Colusa, the rice capital of California, told San Francisco Chronicle that fields upon fields of the grain have already transformed into a ''wasteland.''

A report via the US Department of Agriculture shows about 300,000 out of the 550,000 acres committed to rice growing in California will go without harvest. This could potentially drive up sushi prices nationwide because most of the rice produced in the state is for just that.

Of course many other crops are being hit extremely hard as well.

California normally produces approximately a third of our vegetables and about two-thirds of our fruits and nuts, and the lack of production this year is already starting to show up on our store shelves'...

High temperatures in the Western U.S. are hitting the produce industry, damaging crops, shrinking shipments, and leaving fewer leafy greens and fruits on supermarket shelves.

A California grower said some of his lettuce leaves are turning brown and melting in the fields because of crop diseases intensified by the high temperatures. In Pennsylvania, a retailer said its stores went a week without having strawberries to sell. A New York distributor has substituted honeydew melons for watermelons, which have become scarce.

Supermarkets say they are giving less shelf space to products with weather-induced discolorations, bruises or burns. Stores are cutting prices on poor-quality items to avoid getting stuck with them, and increasingly receiving products from Canada, Florida, New Jersey and Ohio instead of California, long the go-to source for U.S. grocers.

This crisis is only going to get worse in the months ahead.

I have been encouraging my readers to get prepared for a very long time, and I hope that you have taken that advice.

All over the planet, agricultural production is going to be way below original projections this year. For example, just check out what is happening to olive oil production in Spain'...

In July, temperatures broke records to top 40 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. By early August, sweltering heat and a lack of rainfall had pushed almost two-thirds of land in the European Union into drought conditions, according to the European Drought Observatory.

Olive oil producers have been hit hard. Kyle Holland, a pricing analyst for oilseeds and grains at Mintec, a commodities data company, expects a ''dramatic reduction'' of between 33% and 38% in Spain's olive oil harvest that begins in October.

Spain is the world's biggest producer of olive oil, accounting for more than two-fifths of global supply last year, according to the International Olive Council. Greece, Italy and Portugal are also major producers.

For a lot more data points on the rapidly growing global food crisis, please see my previous article entitled ''A List Of 33 Things We Know About The Coming Food Shortages''.

None of us have ever faced anything like this.

The food that will not be harvested in the months ahead will not be on our store shelves in 2023.

Food prices are going to rise to absolutely ridiculous levels, and the head of the UN is already warning of ''multiple famines'' next year.

This is not a drill. Food shortages really are coming, and our world will be changing in wild and unpredictable ways.

* * *

It is finally here! Michael's new book entitled ''7 Year Apocalypse'' is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:25

div{width:13vw;height:13vw;border-radius:4px;margin-right:4px;background:#f2f2f2;}.sk5{display:flex;flex-direction:row;justify-content:space-between;}.sk5>div{width:30.4vw;height:8vw;border-radius:4px;background:#f2f2f2;}.sk6{width:24vw}.sk-m12{margin-top:1.6vw;}.sk-m36{margin-top:4.8vw;}]]>

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:21

The 'Proven by the war in Ukraine' stamp will help producers sell their arms, Kiev's deputy defense minister says

US defense companies should send their new weapons to Ukraine so they can be tested in actual combat against Russian forces, Kiev's deputy defense minister, Vladimir Gavrilov, has said.

Gavrilov made the suggestion during a speech before hundreds of American defense industry representatives and military acquisitions personnel at the Future Force Capabilities Conference and Exhibition in Austin, Texas on Wednesday.

''If you have some ideas, or some pilot projects to be tested before mass manufacturing, you can send it to us and we will explain how to do it. And in the end you will get the stamp, proved by the war in Ukraine. You will sell it easy,'' he said, as cited by the Military Times.

According to the deputy defense minister, startup companies, including those involved in anti-drone and anti-jamming equipment, have already brought new technologies to the Ukrainian battlefield.

''And they come back with a product that is competitive in the market now because it was tested in a combat zone,'' Gavrilov said, without revealing the companies that have worked with Ukraine in this capacity.

His comments were made on the day Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization, which he said is necessary because Russia has been fighting ''the entire Western military machine'' in Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu later stated that around 300,000 reservists are planned to be called up.

In view of this shift in Russia's tactics, Kiev will require more counter-drone and electronic warfare technologies, armored vehicles, and long-range anti-tank and precision fire weapons, Gavrilov said.

Ukraine is now almost entirely dependent on weapons supplied by the US, UK, EU, and other nations, according to Shoigu, as most of the Soviet-made hardware it had before the fighting began in late February has been destroyed by Russian forces.

Moscow has long criticized the West for delivering weapons to Kiev, saying it only prolongs the fighting and increases the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. ''The US, in fact, is teetering on the brink of turning into a party to the conflict'' due to its polices, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Wednesday.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:17

Photo: Fly_and_Dive (Shutterstock)

They say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. That seems especially true in France where tax authorities have begun deploying artificial intelligence to snuff out thousands of undeclared swimming pools reportedly worth around $10 million in uncollected tax revenue. The country could soon expand its all-seeing pool AI to detect all sorts of undeclared home additions. Sorry gray market home improvement aficionados, it seems the jig is up.

French authorities said their new system managed to identify 20,356 undeclared pools spread out across the country during a limited test last year, according to a report spotted by The Guardian. The tax authorities reportedly partnered up with Google and tech firm Capgemini to create a system able to identify pools across the country through aerial images. Those pool images are then cross-referenced against a land registry database held by French tax authorities detailing the number of declared pools.

French homeowners are required to declare swimming pools since they can impact an individual's property taxes. Those taxes would normally tick up after a homeowner installs a pool or makes a similar property modification'...but only if the tax office knows. France reportedly has over three million private swimming pools making it the second largest market outside of the U.S, according to French news publication The Connexion. Pool construction in the country jumped up 30% in 2021.

Last year's test reportedly only encompassed nine tax departments. Now, after raking in millions in uncollected tax revenues, French officials say they want to expand the program nationwide. They're not stopping with pools either. According to The Guardian, officials want to expand the AI system to potentially detect verandas and permanent pergolas as well.

''We are particularly targeting house extensions like verandas, but we have to be sure that the software can find buildings with a large footprint and not the dog kennel or the children's playhouse,'' Antoine Magnant, France's Deputy Director General of Public Finances reportedly said.

G/O Media may get a commission

Invisible liners that make you feel great. This doctor-directed treatment costs thousands less than braces, and is done entirely from the comfort of your own home. The process starts with teeth impressions, and after that, doctors formulate the best plan of action for your smile.

That extended roll out may take some time to perfect. As of April, the system reportedly had a 30% margin of error leading it to incorrectly identify solar panels as swimming pools. The system reportedly struggles to determine whether or not a rectangular shape spotted on aerial footage is an undeclared addition or something else entirely.

France, under Emmanuel Macron's presidency, has dumped more than '‚¬1.5 billion into AI projects in an effort to play catch up with the U.S. and China and turn the country into a ''start-up nation.''

''There's no chance of controlling any effects (of these technologies) or having a say on any adverse effects if we've missed the start of the war,'' Macron said in 2018 according to Reuters.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:11

Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Australian politician Andrew Bragg wants to prepare the country for the widespread use of China's central bank digital currency, the digital yuan, according to a draft digital assets bill introduced on Monday.

In his draft bill, Bragg '' who is a senator for the Australian state of New South Wales and a member of the opposition '' proposes strict reporting requirements for banks that could potentially make the digital yuan available for use in Australia.

China is currently running cross-border trials of a digital version of its sovereign currency. Lawmakers in major economies around the world are cautious of the implications of a widely used digital yuan. Earlier this year, nine Republican senators in the U.S. proposed a bill aimed at setting up rules and guidelines concerning the digital yuan.

Bragg's draft "Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2022" identifies seven Chinese banks, including the Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China, that have branches in Australia and can potentially facilitate the use of a digital yuan in the country. The bill establishes disclosure requirements for those designated banks including reporting the number of Australian businesses that have accepted payments using digital yuan facilitated by the bank, and the total amount of digital yuan held in digital wallets by Australian customers of the designated banks. Individuals or entities that violate the reporting requirements will face fines, according to the proposed rules.

Australia needs to be prepared for the widespread use of a digital yuan in the Pacific, or even within Australia, because it would give the "Chinese state enormous power, economic and strategic power that it doesn't have today," Bragg said during an interview on RN Breakfast on Monday.

Bragg also wants to set up licensing frameworks for crypto exchanges, custody services as well as issuers of stablecoins '' which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of other assets like the U.S. dollar or gold '' through his proposed bill.

Such a bill was needed due to "inaction" from an "indolent" government that believes cryptocurrency is a ''scam'' and is "only responsive to vested interests," Bragg said in a press release. The new government is also "starting its work from scratch" after disregarding the "enormous progress" made by the previous Coalition Government on crypto regulation, according to Bragg.

Bragg has previously chaired a Senate committee on how to improve cryptocurrency regulation.

Australia's new labor government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has introduced token mapping to identify characteristics of all crypto tokens how and how they are managed, and its central bank has started a pilot test to explore potential use cases for Australia's own CBDC.

Private member bills have a slim chance of getting through parliamentary procedure, but Bragg told RN Breakfast he is an "optimist" and that he would talk to his colleagues in the Senate "to see if they are open to supporting" his proposed rules.

The draft bill is open for community feedback until Oct. 31, 2022.

Sign up for State of Crypto, our weekly newsletter examining the intersection of cryptocurrency and government

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Amitoj Singh

Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Amitoj Singh

Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:07

Sure, we know that most conventionally produced meat isn't the healthiest food. For instance, numerous studies linked the consumption of meat '' loaded with toxic chemicals and synthetic antibiotics '' to cancer and heart disease. Even ''leaner'' meats seem to be healthy only when eaten in moderation, because of the toxicity already mentioned.

Moreover, the meat industry is pretty rough on the planet, contributing to ozone depletion, antibiotic resistance, and animal cruelty. Supposedly to fix some of those issues, innovators have pushed gene-edited burgers for years now. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has heard their requests and has just approved the first gene-edited cattle.

Gene-Edited Meat: Is It a Good Thing?These cows have shorter, slicker coats. The thinking? Those coats will help them withstand heat better. That will lead to less stress and higher meat production '' but is that a good thing?

Like the fake meat revolution, gene-edited meat products aren't necessarily a beneficial replacement for the natural version. On the contrary, the processed substitution strips out vital nutrients that help you successfully digest foods that were meant to be eaten whole.

What else? They're often grown in conditions that harm the environment, such as those that use pesticides. In addition, they lack the synergistic health qualities that natural, heritage, whole foods bring to the table.

If that's not enough, nothing is saying gene-edited cattle will be grown in more human conditions once their DNA is tweaked. The very point of the modification seems to be packing cows ''comfortably'' into close quarters.

Synthetic Foods: Not All They're Cracked up to BeThe new green light has also missed several critical steps in a safe approval process. These include:

Streamlining the approval process and skipping normal review factorsFailing to conduct long-term safety and toxicity studiesNot adequately safeguarding our genetic stock for the futureGene-Editing Leads to Unintentional ConsequencesThis decision also ignores information showing that changing DNA in one area is not necessarily contained to that area. Instead, it may lead to long-term changes in cattle DNA. Brazil, for instance, was working toward herds of genetically dehorned cows. They used the same CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology approved by the FDA to adjust their cows' genes. Then they discovered unintended DNA errors cropping up.

Also, as COVID-19 has shown us, when one organism's DNA changes, it can significantly impact another organism '' i.e., human health. We can't afford simply to ignore this.

Here Is a Better Way to MeatLike meat? Want to have less of an impact on the environment? There's a better way. For one thing, study after study conducted by luminaries such as the Rodale Institute has shown that organic food can feed the world. The argument that we need conventional and genetically engineered foods to address the planet's food crisis is overblown, if not outright false.

For another, there is plenty of environment-friendly meat to be had. We don't need to purchase meat loaded with toxins, pathogens, parasites, and antibiotics. We can say no to Big Meat by refusing to buy fast food and avoiding synthetic and/or conventional meats at the grocery store and deli.

Instead, patronize Earth-friendly, human, regenerative farms '' which offer 100% grass fed beef products, from locally sourced smaller farms. These raise meat healthy for humans, honor our genetic heritage, protect breeding stock for the future, and tread lightly on the planet.

It's not too late to vote with our dollars. So say yes to better beef today.

Republished from NaturalHealth365

Sources for this article include:ChildrensHealthDefense.orgWired.comRodaleInstitute.org

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:07

Welcome to this week's ''Just for Variety.''

Somewhere over the rainbow, indeed! Kenya Barris tells me that LGBTQ representation will be featured in his ''Wizard of Oz'' remake. ''The original was an allegory and a reflection of the way the world was at the time with things like the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl,'' says Barris, who will write and direct the reimagining for Warner Bros. ''Now we're going to turn a mirror on where we're at right now and take disparate characters from the LGBTQ community, from different cultural communities and socioeconomic communities, and tell a story that reflects the world. I think this is the best time to do that.''

He understands a ''Wizard of Oz'' remake comes with tremendous pressure. ''I'm nervous,'' Barris tells me. ''Hopefully, my movie can last as long as the original does.'' He adds with a laugh: ''Hopefully my movie comes out.''

Another ''Wizard of Oz'' remake is also in the works at New Line Cinema with Nicole Kassell (''Watchmen'') directing.

'...

Amazon Prime Video

Ismael Cruz C"rdova is thinking about his next step after his breakout role as an elf in Amazon Prime's ''The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.'' The actor tells me he wants to play Marvel superhero Hector Ayala/White Tiger. ''I love the story that is set in the '70s in East New York,'' C"rdova tells me. ''It's a stand-alone'... It's badass. He redeems himself. It's got everything.''

And C"rdova already has the stunt work down. He says he trained for about eight months for a three-minute action sequence in the third ''Rings of Power'' episode: ''There's a bunch of martial arts and all of the wire work '-- everything you see on-screen is me.''

'...

Kelly Rowland wasn't aware that Beyonc(C) would be dropping her name in ''Break My Soul (The Queens Remix).'' ''I had heard the record, but I did not know that was happening, but how fun!'' she says. Rowland is also working on new music. ''It's coming,'' she teases.

'...

Did you see my scoop yesterday about David Alan Grier being cast as a fan-favorite character in ABC's upcoming ''Beauty and the Beast'' television special? Read my exclusive here.'...

Jerrod Carmichael at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards held at Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Gilbert Flores for Variety

I had the chance to chat with Jerrod Carmichael at the Emmys, where he opened up about becoming a role model for LGBTQ youth after he came out as gay in April in his HBO Max special ''Rothaniel.'' ''It gives me a sense of purpose,'' the funnyman said. ''I do have a responsibility that I hadn't ever felt before.'' He said before publicly revealing his truth: ''I let the fear blindside me. I was so afraid of all the consequences that the thought of it being something beautiful didn't really ever cross my mind.''

''I thought I would die before doing that,'' he added, quipping, ''There are a couple of countries I can't go to no more, but other than that it's nice.''

'...

Amazon Freevee

Laverne Cox will star as a trans woman who returns home to Alabama after 17 years and reunites with her estranged father (George Wallace) in Norman Lear's upcoming Amazon Freevee sitcom ''Clean Slate.'' ''This is the first scripted project I'm producing. This is a dream realized,'' Cox says. ''It's not only about trans issues. The show is set in the South. We need trans writers. We need Black writers. We need writers who grew up in the Southern church. There are a lot of experiences we need for this writers' room.''

Wallace says of his character: ''Every time I call her a 'him,' I have to put a dollar in a jar, but eventually we become friends and we move in together. When America sees this, they're going to learn and they're going to love it.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 12:47

I've been involved in the campaign against homophobia for forty years, and I've never seen anything like this. For the first time, a tribunal is taking place in which one charity is attempting to strip another of its legal status. Mermaids, which advocates for ''gender variant and transgender youth'', has brought a case against LGB Alliance, the only UK-based organisation that focuses exclusively on same-sex attracted people.

Mermaids claims that LGB Alliance was not, in fact, established to support lesbians, gay men and bisexuals '-- but rather to discredit and disband Mermaids itself. The LGB Alliance, allegedly, ''does not have charitable purposes''. If Mermaids wins this case, the consequences will be devastating for lesbians and gays. Any future charity set up to advocate specifically on our behalf will be wide open to legal challenge.

LGB Alliance was founded in 2019, in response to Stonewall's refusal to engage with concern, voiced by lesbians and gay men, about trans orthodoxy. We are concerned that ''same-sex attraction'' has been recast as nothing more than a dog whistle for transphobia '-- an argument made by Mermaids in court. We are concerned, too, that lesbians are being labelled bigots for not wanting to have sex with people who have penises. And we are concerned, most of all, by the wholesale acceptance of this orthodoxy by organisations, such as Stonewall, which are supposed to protect same-sex attracted people. Mermaids's case is being supported by Gendered Intelligence and the LGBT Consortium, groups that promote the notion that ''gender identity'' should carry as much, if not more, weight in law as biological sex. Together, they are arguing that LGB alliance is ''denigrating trans people'' and does not ''serve the public interest''.

But what does ''denigrating trans people'' actually mean? Before gender ideology captured the liberal masses, and allowed misogynistic men to scream ''TERF'' at any passing feminist, it was a phrase that might usefully be used to describe the discriminatory and cruel treatment of people living as the opposite sex. But in 2022, ''denigration'' can apparently mean campaigning for women-only services such as rape crisis centres and changing rooms.

And how is advocating for lesbians and gays not a positive public service? As someone who came out in the Seventies, facing hellish bigotry and a lack of any legal protections, I desperately needed the support of a community that respected same-sex attraction. The Gay Liberation Front was, for me, a lifeline. It was set up in 1970 by Bev Jackson, who found herself compelled to come out of retirement to start the LGB Alliance. Her cofounder is another veteran of the movement, Kate Harris, who was a Stonewall Ambassador until breaking ties with the charity after it shifted away from lesbian and gay issues to trans orthodoxy.

''When Kate and I met in 2019, we discovered that we'd both been trying, independently, to engage with Stonewall about our concerns,'' Jackson tells me. ''We met a brick wall. The mantra was 'no debate'. We were also told the change from 'sex' to 'gender' did not cause any conflict.'' Jackson tells me that, in her view, ''something has gone very wrong with this movement''.

Between them, Jackson and Harris have spent a century campaigning for the rights of same-sex attracted people. They have set an example by living as out and proud lesbians. And yet, every day, they are attacked on social media. Journalist Owen Jones, for instance, has branded them ''monstrous, unhinged, horrible fanatics'', adding that LGB Alliance is a ''ludicrously titled organisation'', simply because it chose not to add the T to the LGB.

Why is it considered ''ludicrous'' to focus on the needs of a specific minority? The LGB Alliance mission statement seems perfectly reasonable: it will stand up for the rights of same-sex attracted people; it will uphold the definition of homosexuality as same-sex attraction; it will accept the biological reality of sex. How have we got to a stage where this is seen, by trans activists and their allies, as hate-filled bigotry?

The scenes I've witnessed in court since 9th September have suggested that what is ludicrous about this case is not the position taken by LGB Alliance, but rather Mermaids's arguments that gender identity trumps biological sex. Paul Roberts is Chief Executive of the LGBT Consortium, representing more than 500 LGBTQ+ groups. A disciple of gender orthodoxy, he said during cross-examination that he believes ''anyone who identifies as a man is a man'', adding that he believed if a biological woman identifies as a trans man, that person should be able to access male-only services. When Roberts was asked if, given his view that people are attracted to gender identity rather than sex, a lesbian couple in which one is butch and one femme are actually a heterosexual couple, he responded: ''I don't believe there are many lesbian couples like that.'' Many of the lesbian spectators in court, myself included, couldn't help but laugh out loud at that.

John Nicolson MP, Deputy Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBT+ Rights, also submitted evidence in support of Mermaids's position. He pompously declared that he knows what a lesbian is, because he is a gay man. ''You are a lesbian because you declare yourself one,'' he proclaimed. Male-bodied trans women are, in other words, entitled to use this label.

When Michael Gibbon KC, counsel for Mermaids, was cross-examining Harris, he asked her to reflect on whether some people would understand ''lesbian'' to refer to something other than a natal female who is attracted to other natal females. Or, as he put it, would Harris consider whether some people would have a different understanding of ''lesbian'' from the understanding her organisation is based on?

Harris broke down into tears, asking: ''That a lesbian can be a man with a penis?'' After composing herself, she responded: ''I'm going to speak for millions of lesbians around the world, who are lesbians because we love other women '... We will not be erased and we will not have any man with a penis tell us he's a lesbian because he feels he is.''

The phenomenon of men claiming to be lesbians is nothing new. In 1973, at the West Coast Lesbian Conference in Los Angeles, there was a row over a scheduled performance by Beth Elliott, a folk singer who was referred to as transsexual (the terminology which was applied before gender ideology prevailed). Robin Morgan, the keynote speaker at that event, said: ''I will not call a male 'she'. Thirty-two years of suffering in this androcentric society and of surviving, have earned me the title 'woman'.'' Today, almost 50 years after Morgan spoke truth to power, the situation is far worse than any of us in the lesbian rights movement could have imagined.

The fact that one of Mermaids's key criticisms of LGB Alliance is that they even use the phrase ''same-sex attraction'', which Mermaids claim is ''weaponised'' against trans people, tells us all we need to know. We are no longer allowed to use the language we have developed to describe ourselves because eliminating perceived slights towards trans people must always come first.

''Sometimes one person's demands clash with another's rights,'' Bev Jackson tells me. ''That is what happens when someone with a penis claims to be a lesbian, and lesbians object. We have the right to define ourselves and not to be redefined by others. Basically, the whole concept of 'gender identity' erases homosexuality and is homophobic at its core.''

If it is ruled that LGB Alliance was founded with the purpose to undermine Mermaids, it will mean that same-sex attracted people have no right to campaign for their specific needs: a terrifying prospect. But win or lose, the case brought by Mermaids has revealed the organisation's ideology for what it is: deeply homophobic and relentlessly misogynistic. This offensive contortion of ''LGBT rights'' will, it seems, backfire, by inspiring people to support LGB Alliance and rescue our once-proud movement from the jaws of gender fanatics.

''We are one small organisation facing a global movement to eliminate the sex-based rights of LGB people,'' says Jackson. ''We have experienced an ongoing torrent of abuse, but also an outpouring of love and gratitude. We will not be silenced or discouraged: we will prevail.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 19:15

And we're off! It's the hopeful start to a new week in post-pandemic, pre-election America today, and I trust all you C&Cers had a wonderful weekend. Today's roundup includes: Biden apparently pivots on the border wall; a HUGE story about the democrats getting caught with their chocolate-stained hands in the disinformation cookie jar; Biden announces the pandemic is OVER; New York doesn't get the memo; and Taiwan is hit with a serious earthquake.

🪖 Operation multiplier tips: Here's a page with step-by-step instructions for getting a free Google Voice phone number that you can use on donation sites instead of your real cell phone number: https://www.lifewire.com/get-a-google-phone-number-5211558

That way, solicitations texts will go to your Google voice number and not to your actual cell phone.

ðŸ--¥ The Intercept ran a timely article yesterday headlined, ''Border Wall Construction Resumes Under President Joe Biden.'' Hahahaha, oh they're killing me this morning! The sub-headline explained, ''The Biden administration laid out its plans to rev up work on completing Donald Trump's signature project.''

You may recall that Biden halted the Trump's border wall right after he took office in January 2021, mumbling something about ''what border crisis?'' Now, although there's no official announcement, and corporate media is completely silent about the massive policy shift, but it seems as though an unofficial policy to continue the construction is now suddenly and unexpectedly in force.

The Intercept reported that last week, ''U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that work on the border wall that began under Trump is revving back up under Biden,'' explaining that ''[s]tarting next month, contractors will return to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona to resume work on the wall, senior CBP officials said in a public webinar.''

Gosh. What could have caused this sudden shift in Biden's thinking? I have two ideas. First, according to a weekend story in Just the News headlined, ''Two More Texas Counties Declare Invasion At Southern Border, Bringing Total To 29.''

So far, Governor Abbott has stopped short of declaring a statewide invasion '-- no state has. But with literally hundreds of thousands of untracked, unvetted, illegal foreign nationals streaming across Texas' border every month, one wonders WHAT the governor thinks an ''invasion'' is?

There must be some other, highly-technical definition of the word out there that I'm not aware of.

Last week, Texas neared 30 Texas border counties declaring their own local states of invasion. But then, more significantly because it blew up on corporate media, Governor DeSantis shipped a handful of migrants to the sunny shores of Martha's Vineyard, and THEN we find out the Biden administration want to start building the wall again.

Could it have something to do with headlines like this?

Pivoting! It's no way to run a government, of course. Biden is acting more like a paranoid, secretive dictator than the leader of a transparent democratic government. All this shifting and pivoting whenever the mood strikes him, stopping and starting construction of a Congressionally-approved border wall, without even a public announcement, seems pretty anti-democratic, actually.

ðŸ--¥ The Democrats have gotten their sticky little hands stuck in the fake news cookie jar, this time. A TikTok video went viral this weekend, which simultaneously illustrated the underhanded tactics of the left, rogue deep state government actors, massive funding, and the shady NGOs carrying out its demonic agenda '-- as well as the how desperate it's getting.

The viral video was posted by a popular TikTok ''Harvard trial attorney'' Preston Moore (@trialbypreston). He wasn't happy. Not at all.

First of all, as I can assure you, since I'm also a lawyer who posts on social media, serious lawyers are always careful to tell what they believe is the truth, especially online, because their reputation has to be solid in front of judges and juries. A reputation for lying kind of hurts if you're a trial lawyer. Not to overlook ethics, of course.

Second, on his TikTok channel, Preston has been consistently critical of the former president. He has repeatedly posted about his opinion that the FBI has enough evidence to indict President Trump for concealing national defense information, for example.

I'm sure that's why they thought it was safe to contact him. They forgot some people care about ethics and telling the truth.

In his latest video, Preston says he got an unsolicited email invitation from ''Jane'' at the ''Good Info Foundation,'' offering a ''paid collaboration'' where he could earn $400 for making certain posts to his TikTok and Instagram accounts.

Curious, he responded that he was interested, and then got a link to a private web page providing instructions for what needed to be in the paid post. The Good Info Foundation (or, the ''GIF'') wanted him to talk about January 6th, but from a certain, er, point of view:

Preston thought all this seemed kind of sketchy. Then he noticed under the heading, ''Key Messaging (in your own words!),'' the Good Info Foundation's private web page advised him to make this remarkable claim:

Preston followed up, emailing back and asking Jane to explain what evidence backed up the claim that the Trump campaign paid ''literally millions of dollars to make'' the January 6th siege happen. And guess what? Jane didn't provide any evidence. She backed off and said, ''you don't have to say that if you don't want to.''

Here's Preston, in his own words:

ðŸ--¥ So, who or what is this Good Info Foundation anyway? The GIF's list of board members and officers is a rogue's gallery of Deep State operatives. For example, the GIF's board chairman is Richard Stengel, a former State Department official (and then 'MSNBC contributor'). Alert independent investigators quickly dug up this video clip featuring Stengel speaking in 2020:

In the clip,* Stengel explains when he worked at the U.S. State Department, his job was literally called the ''Chief Propagandist.'' I am not making that up. And then I nearly spit out my coffee when he says this:

''I'm not against propaganda. Every country does it. And they have to do it to their own population. And I don't think it's that awful.''

Um. They HAVE TO DO IT THEIR OWN POPULATION. They ''have to.'' That used to be illegal! Oh well, at least he admitted it. But, just spitballing here, maybe it's time for a new Church Committee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee

Apparently Richard's ''Good Info'' '-- a non-profit public interest organization '-- is now paying TikTok influencers $400 bucks PER POST to propagandize Americans about January 6th and falsely claim that Trump paid millions to ''make it happen.''

I don't think ''good information'' means what they think it means. You usually don't have to pay like-minded influencers to talk about ''good'' information.

Another ''advisor'' listed on the GIF's website is Dan Pfieffer, who used to be Obama's White House Communications Director. The website identifies a woman named Tara McGowan as the ''founder'' of GIF. InfluenceWatch describes McGowan as ''a Democratic political operative,'' and says this about her:

InfluenceWatch didn't list Good Information, Inc., which runs the Good Info Project, but it did mention this interesting little nugget:

$65 million! That's a whole lot for one single project. Pretty ambitious. Having tried my hand at some public-interest fund-raising, I know how much work it takes.

ðŸ--¥ So wouldn't you like to know where all the millions to pay for top-tier deep-staters and buy off social media influencers are coming from? Oh wait, someone already tracked it down:

George Soros, what a shock! I knew you'd be surprised.

ðŸ--¥ Now let's go back and think about some of the talking points, because they evidence an interesting new narrative pivot.

First of all, the GIF advised Preston to call it a ''criminal conspiracy,'' and NOT an ''attempted coup,'' ''treason,'' or even an ''insurrection.'' Those other words must not be polling well, or maybe they just aren't a great predicate for an indictment. Instead the GIF clearly prefers the term ''criminal conspiracy.''

Second, they echoed the White House's recent talking points, advising Preston to say that ''MAGA Republicans'' were to blame, and NOT ''Trump and his allies.'' It's just one data point, but it sure looks like coordination with Team Biden.

Finally, the Good Info Foundation clearly wants its paid influencers to link ''anger'' at the ''criminal conspiracy'' with voting against Republican candidates. In other words, they are trying to influence the elections.

So what does all this suggest? It suggests that the democrats are ramping up to argue there is some kind of ongoing criminal conspiracy directly fueled by President Trump, with the enthusiastic support of ''MAGA Republicans.''

Haha, I think there IS a criminal conspiracy all right. Except it's a criminal conspiracy to influence the elections, through fake news and disinformation, directly fueled by lunatics like George Soros, with the enthusiastic support of deep state actors.

ðŸ--¥ Still, there's a lot of good news here. First of all, if they're backing down from the term ''insurrection,'' that must mean the old narrative bit the dust somehow. So they're testing a new narrative, maybe based on the FBI raid.

Second, if they have to pay influencers $400 PER POST, they're obviously not seeing a lot of volunteerism. The more expensive it is to pay for this message, the less it must make sense to ordinary democrats. In other words, media influencers '-- especially liberal and anti-Trump ones '-- should be happy to report talking points that were true or popular.

But not only did that effort fail with this Harvard trial lawyer, he went public with it, understandably upset that someone was trying to buy him off to publish fake news. It's a setback.

And, they over-reached this time, pitching their little scheme to someone that they didn't know FOR SURE would keep it quiet. So they are either running short of regulars or they are making a huge pre-election push.

It is worth reflecting, though, that they wouldn't be doing this at all if it hadn't already worked with a lot of other social media influencers.

The bottom line is, social media is so influential now as an alternate source of news that they are having to spend tons of money trying to push their disinformation online. Which means people must be paying a whole lot less attention to corporate media.

ðŸ--¥ Finally, here are the issues that the ''Good Info Foundation'' appears to highlight as ''disinformation'' on its website. I thought you might find them interesting too:

'-- Vaccine skepticism

'-- January 6th

'-- 5G concerns

'-- Election skepticism

I didn't used to be too interested in the whole 5G thing, but this gives me pause. I might have to look into it now. And, the website also features scary pictures of Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson.

So.

ðŸ--¥ Moving on, CNN ran a chipper story late yesterday headlined, ''Biden: 'The Pandemic Is Over'.''

On his Sunday morning appearance on 60 Minutes, Biden tried to straddle the line and make all sides happy right before the elections, saying, ''The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with Covid. We're still doing a lot of work on it. It's '-- but the pandemic is over.''

Well then, I guess that's settled. Of course, the federal state of emergency continues, but let's not nitpick. Science!

ðŸ'‰ New York hasn't got the memo, apparently. The New York Post ran a story this weekend headlined, ''850 More Unvaxxed NYC Teachers, Aides Fired For Not Complying With Mandate.''

It turns out that about 1,300 DOE employees took a deal last year that gave them a year's unpaid leave, in exchange for an agreement to be jabbed by September 5th of this year, or be ''deemed to have voluntarily resigned.'' The year has finally come around.

Of the 1,300 courageous deferrers, some 450 finally gave in and took the shot, but the rest held out. All of them are now terminated, including 225 teachers and 135 paraprofessionals.

Actually, given what we now know about the shots, 450 is more than I would've guessed. Anyway, if you are an unjabbed, newly-''resigned,'' experienced NYC paraprofessional considering moving to Florida, give my office a call. I understand we're also hiring teachers down here.

ðŸ--¥ A strong earthquake hit Taiwan over the weekend, reported as anywhere from 6.4 to 7.2 on the Richter scale. Images included everything from shaking buildings to avalanches to toppled buildings.

According to the Hill's report, there was only one reported fatality as of yesterday afternoon.

I'm very, very happy there weren't many casualties. But if Taiwan has another earthquake, or a more serious one, then China could just walk in under the banner of humanitarian aid.

It's a good thing the Chinese don't have secret earthquake technology.

Have a magnificent Monday! I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Share

C&C is moving the needle and changing minds. If you can, I could use your help getting the truth out and spreading optimism and hope: https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/-learn-how-to-get-involved-

Twitter: @jchilders98 Truth Social: @jchilders98 MeWe: mewe.com/i/coffee_and_covid. C&C Swag! www.shopcoffeeandcovid.com Emailed Daily Newsletter: https://www.coffeeandcovid.com

Link to Article

Archived Version

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 18:30

More than 140 homeless people in Denver will be given up to $1,000 per month for up to one year as part of a basic income program, according to an announcement from the city in.

''Just as important as housing and shelter is a regular source of income for those experiencing homelessness,'' Mayor Michael B. Hancock, a Democrat, said of the program. ''This direct cash assistance will help more than 140 women and families currently in shelters move into stable housing, and provide support, so they can stay housed while opening space in our shelters to serve more people.''

Homeless people who are eligible have to be using the city's shelter program, the city said.

According to the news release, the cash will be given monthly to ''140 women, transgender and gender non-confirming individuals, and families in shelters.'' The release did not mention homeless men.

A release issued by the city said that the $2 million to fund the program was sourced from the American Rescue Plan Act, which was backed by President Joe Biden and Democrats. The plan, which totals nearly $2 trillion, was signed into law in March 2021.

''The program will be evaluated by University of Denver's Center for Housing and Homelessness Research using a randomized control trial, which will measure housing outcomes, utilization of shelter and other homeless services, improvements in psychological health and substance use for those who opt-in,'' said the news release.

Other CitiesLate last month, the City of Los Angeles initiated a similar program and will give 1,000 residents $1,000 per month. It doesn't apply to homeless people, and the recipients were chosen randomly out of more than 180,000 people who applied.

''Given the huge number of L.A. County residents who applied, it's abundantly clear that a guaranteed basic income is an idea whose time has come,'' Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said. ''I'm confident that we will see what other pilots have already shown: that a guaranteed basic income, by giving people a bit of financial breathing room, allows them to stabilize their lives and that of their family.''

But a report issued in 2019 from a union group found that around the world, universal basic income programs don't work well in the real world.

''Making cash payments to individuals to increase their purchasing power in a free-market economy is not a viable route to solving problems caused or exacerbated by neoliberal market economics,'' the report said, adding that at the time, there was no evidence such programs achieved longstanding well-being anywhere it has been tried.

Follow

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 12:49

The U.S. military just told it's own soldiers to use food stamps to keep their families fed during this ongoing period of high inflation, caused by the Biden regime's own flawed economic analysis, coupled with the establishment's COVID-19 lockdowns, and the war in Ukraine.

Which is why the full list of the $15bn+ in aid being sent to Ukraine by the U.S. government is likely to hit harder in the solar plexus.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, there has been a whopping $15.8 billion ''in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, including more than $15.1 billion since the beginning of Russia's unprovoked and brutal invasion on February 24.''

Here's a list of all your taxpayer-funded equipment that has been dumped into the most corrupt country in Europe :

Over 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;

StingersOver 8,500 Javelin anti-armor systems;

JavelinsOver 32,000 other anti-armor systems;

Over 700 Switchblade Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;

126 155mm Howitzers and up to 806,000 155mm artillery rounds

Howitzers2,000 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;

20 105mm Howitzers and 180,000 105mm artillery rounds;

126 Tactical Vehicles to tow 155mm Howitzers;

22 Tactical Vehicles to recover equipment;

16 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and ammunition;

HiMars20 120mm mortar systems and 85,000 rounds of 120mm mortar rounds;

1,500 Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;

Four Command Post vehicles;

Eight National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) and munitions

NASAMSHigh-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);

20 Mi-17 helicopters;

Mi-17s, actually bought from a Russian state-owned arms dealerHundreds of Armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);

HMMWVsFour trucks and eight trailers to transport heavy equipment;

200 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers;

M113.40 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles with mine rollers

Mine clearing equipment and systems;

Over 10,000 grenade launchers and small arms;

Over 60,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;

Over 75,000 sets of body armor and helmets;

Approximately 700 Phoenix Ghost Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;

Phoenix ''kamikaze'' drones.Laser-guided rocket systems;

Puma Unmanned Aerial Systems;

15 Scan Eagle Unmanned Aerial Systems

The Scan EagleUnmanned Coastal Defense Vessels;

Over 50 counter-artillery radars;

Four counter-mortar radars;

Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems;

Ten air surveillance radars;

Two harpoon coastal defense systems;

18 coastal and riverine patrol boats;

M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel munitions;

C-4 explosives, demolition munitions, and demolition equipment for obstacle clearing;

Tactical secure communications systems;

Thousands of night vision devices, thermal imagery systems, optics, and laser rangefinders;

Commercial satellite imagery services;

Explosive ordnance disposal protective gear;

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear protective equipment;

100 armored medical treatment vehicles;

Medical supplies to include first aid kits, bandages, monitors, and other equipment;

Electronic jamming equipment;

Field equipment, cold weather gear, and spare parts;

Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

That's'... a lot of stuff. And just like in Afghanistan, there's no mention of what happens to all this stuff after the war is over, assuming any of it still exists.

The likelihood is, just like America's last forever war, it'll end up in the hands of unsavory characters.

Considering the recent bans on political opposition in Ukraine , as well as the forced national consolidation of media, you might say it already has.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 02:33

The surge threatens to exacerbate a slowdown in global growth and amplify inflation headaches for global central banks

Updated Sept. 18, 2022 2:31 pm ETThe U.S. dollar is experiencing a once-in-a-generation rally, a surge that threatens to exacerbate a slowdown in growth and amplify inflation headaches for global central banks.

The dollar's role as the primary currency used in global trade and finance means its fluctuations have widespread impacts. The currency's strength is being felt in the fuel and food shortages in Sri Lanka, in Europe's record inflation and in Japan's exploding trade deficit.

This...

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

The U.S. dollar is experiencing a once-in-a-generation rally, a surge that threatens to exacerbate a slowdown in growth and amplify inflation headaches for global central banks.

The dollar's role as the primary currency used in global trade and finance means its fluctuations have widespread impacts. The currency's strength is being felt in the fuel and food shortages in Sri Lanka, in Europe's record inflation and in Japan's exploding trade deficit.

This week, investors are closely watching the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting for clues about the dollar's trajectory. The U.S. central bank is expected Wednesday to raise interest rates by at least 0.75 percentage point as it fights inflation'--likely fueling further gains in the greenback.

In a worrying sign, attempts from policy makers in China, Japan and Europe to defend their currencies are largely failing in the face of the dollar's unrelenting rise.

Last week, the dollar steamrolled through a key level against the Chinese yuan, with one dollar buying more than 7 yuan for the first time since 2020. Japanese officials, who had previously stood aside as the yen lost one-fifth of its value this year, began to fret publicly that markets were going too far.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of its biggest trading partners, has risen more than 14% in 2022, on track for its best year since the index's launch in 1985. The euro, Japanese yen and British pound have fallen to multidecade lows against the greenback. Emerging-market currencies have been battered: The Egyptian pound has fallen 18%, the Hungarian forint is down 20% and the South African rand has lost 9.4%.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

The dollar's rise this year is being fueled by the Fed's aggressive interest-rate increases, which have encouraged global investors to pull money out of other markets to invest in higher-yielding U.S. assets. Recent economic data suggest that U.S. inflation remains stubbornly high, strengthening the case for more Fed rate increases and an even stronger dollar.

Dismal economic prospects for the rest of the world are also boosting the greenback. Europe is on the front lines of an economic war with Russia. China is facing its biggest slowdown in years as a multidecade property boom unravels.

For the U.S., a stronger dollar means cheaper imports, a tailwind for efforts to contain inflation, and record relative purchasing power for Americans. But the rest of the world is straining under the dollar's rise.

''I think it's early days yet,'' said Raghuram Rajan, a finance professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. When he served as governor of the Reserve Bank of India last decade, he complained loudly about how Fed policy and a strong dollar hit the rest of the world. ''We're going to be in a high-rates regime for some time. The fragilities will build up.''

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

On Thursday, the World Bank warned that the global economy was heading toward recession and ''a string of financial crises in emerging market and developing economies that would do them lasting harm.''

The stark message adds to concerns that financial pressures are widening for emerging markets outside of well-known weak links such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan that have already sought help from the International Monetary Fund. Serbia became the latest to open talks with the IMF last week.

''Many countries have not been through a cycle of much higher interest rates since the 1990s. There's a lot of debt out there augmented by the borrowing in the pandemic,'' said Mr. Rajan. Stress in emerging markets will widen, he added. ''It's not going to be contained.''

A stronger dollar makes the debts that emerging-market governments and companies have taken out in U.S. dollars more expensive to pay back. Emerging-market governments have $83 billion in U.S. dollar debt coming due by the end of next year, according to data from the Institute of International Finance that covers 32 countries.

''You have to look at this through a budgetary lens,'' said Daniel Munevar, an economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. ''You enter into 2022 and all of a sudden your currency goes down 30%. You're going to probably be forced to cut back expenditure on healthcare, on education to meet those [debt] payments.''

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

The currency's rise has compounded pain in smaller nations by making crucial food and fuel imports priced in the U.S. dollar more expensive. Many have tapped into stockpiles of dollars and other foreign currencies to help finance imports and stabilize their currencies. And while commodity prices have retreated from their highs in recent months, that has done little to ease pressure on developing countries.

''If you get more dollar appreciation, it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back,'' said Gabriel Sterne, head of emerging-markets research at Oxford Economics. ''You're already getting frontier markets on the tipping point toward crisis, the last thing they need is a strong dollar.''

Emerging-market central banks have taken drastic steps to rein in depreciation in their currencies and bonds. Argentina raised interest rates Thursday to 75% as it seeks to curb spiraling inflation and defend the peso, which has lost nearly 30% against the dollar this year. Ghana also surprised investors last month by lifting rates to 22%'--but its currency continues to decline.

It isn't just developing economies struggling to cope with weaker currencies. In Europe, the euro's weakness is amplifying a historic increase in inflation brought on by the war in Ukraine and a resulting surge in gas and electricity prices.

At the European Central Bank's meeting on Sept. 8, President Christine Lagarde expressed concerns about the euro's 12% slide this year, saying it has ''added to the buildup of inflationary pressures.'' The ECB is signaling a more aggressive policy stance, with investors now projecting rates to rise to 2.5%. But that has done little to help the currency's value.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

The ECB is powerless against the dollar's strength, said Frederik Ducrozet, head of macroeconomic research at Pictet Wealth Management. ''Whether the ECB turns more hawkish, whether there's some improvement on the economic outlook, whatever happens, it's generally offset by further dollar strength,'' he said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged that the appreciation of the dollar could pose challenges for emerging economies, particularly ones with large dollar-denominated debts. But she said in July that she wasn't worried about a self-reinforcing cycle that could slow economic growth globally.

The dollar's strength has rippled across Wall Street, weighing on the profits U.S. companies make abroad and keeping a lid on investments tied to commodities such as gold and oil.

''The strong dollar has created a headwind for about every major asset class,'' said Russ Koesterich, co-head of Global Asset Allocation at BlackRock . ''It's another aspect of tighter financial conditions and that affects everything.''

Investors and economists are raising the prospect of global action to help weaken the dollar'--though they caution the chance of such a step remains small. In 1985, the U.S., France, West Germany, the U.K. and Japan launched a joint effort, known as the Plaza Accord, to drive down the dollar's value amid concerns it was weighing on the global economy.

''There could be some justification for a coordinated intervention to weaken the dollar,'' said Paresh Upadhyaya, director of currency strategy at asset-management firm Amundi US. ''Outside the U.S., a strong dollar is now becoming a massive negative headwind for central banks.''

China's central bank has attempted to shore up the yuan by releasing more dollar liquidity into the market. It has cut the amount of reserves banks need to hold against their foreign-exchange deposits and has consistently set the daily fixing'--a benchmark point for the currency'--stronger than market expectations.

Chinese regulators' heightened sensitivity to the yuan's decline may stem from their worries that a weak yuan has the power to further dampen consumer confidence, said Tommy Xie, head of Greater China research and strategy at OCBC Bank.

''A depreciating yuan can create a vicious cycle,'' said Mr. Xie.

In Japan, policy makers fear the yen's fall to a 24-year low against the dollar is hurting businesses. Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said this month that the yen's steep depreciation ''will likely make companies' business strategy unstable.''

The yen's weakness helped drive Japan to its biggest single-month trade deficit on record for August'--¥2.82 trillion, equivalent to about $20 billion'--as the value of imports increased 50% due to higher energy prices and the currency's decline.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that Japan needed to come up with ways to leverage the positive effects of the yen's depreciation. One solution: inviting in more tourists.

''It is important to reinforce efforts to boost our nation's earning power,'' he said.

'--Julia-Ambra Verlaine contributed to this article.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at chelsey.dulaney@wsj.com, Megumi Fujikawa at megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com and Rebecca Feng at rebecca.feng@wsj.com

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:22

Marty Bent : The world's governments, the IMF and the World Bank are some of the most insidious and destructive forces on the pl'... https://t.co/KfNOXOwcKa

Wed Sep 21 00:59:09 +0000 2022

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:06

BitChute is a peer-to-peer content sharing platform. Creators are allowed to post content they produce to the platform, so long as they comply with our

policies. The content posted to the platform is not reflective or representative of the views of Bit Chute Limited, its staff or owners. (C) 2017-2022 Bit Chute Limited, Box 813, Andover House, George Yard, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 1PB. United Kingdom. Company number 10637289.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:03

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:47

The Dirty Truth (Josh) : .@RepMarshall grills @CDCDirector Walensky over fentanyl deaths. https://t.co/Mpv0XuLyIF

Tue Sep 20 13:13:47 +0000 2022

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:42

Embed Code <video width="500" height="281" poster="https://www.dhs.gov/medialibrary-assets/assets/videos/thumbs/-1632408183.73.png" preload="metadata" data-able-player="data-able-player" playsinline="playsinline" controls="controls" > <source type="video/mp4" original content_type="video/mp4" url="https://www.dhs.gov/medialibrary-assets/assets/videos/21_0915_opa_secmayorkas_seesayday.mp4" src="https://www.dhs.gov/medialibrary-assets/assets/videos/21_0915_opa_secmayorkas_seesayday.mp4" /> <track type="text/vtt" kind="captions" close_caption_url="https://www.dhs.gov/medialibrary-assets/assets/videos/captions/21_0915_opa_secmayorkas_seesayday.vtt" srclang="en" label="English" src="https://www.dhs.gov/medialibrary-assets/assets/videos/captions/21_0915_opa_secmayorkas_seesayday.vtt" /> </video><p style="font:sans-serif; font-size:11px; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.dhs.gov/medialibrary/assets/videos/27876">View in Media Library</a> </p>

Download Links Video Details Video Details - Running Time: 00:01:10

Video Usage Guidelines Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas discusses the importance of the, "If You See Something, Say Something®" Campaign and how to participate in #SeeSayDay. ( DHS Video by If You See Something, Say Something/Released ) Date: Sep 23, 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:40

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:37

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:30

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:24

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs / Published September 20, 2022

Space Force News

'); $slider .carouFredSel({ auto: false, responsive: true, swipe: { onTouch: true, onMouse: false }, prev: { button: $wrap.find('.pager-left'), key: 13 }, next: { button: $wrap.find('.pager-right'), key: 13 }, scroll: { fx: "crossfade", items: 1, onBefore: function (data) { $(data.items.old[0]).removeClass('current'); }, onAfter: function (data) { $slider.find('video').each(function () { $(this)[0].player.pause(); }); $(data.items.visible[0]).addClass('current'); } }, onCreate: function (data) { $(data.items[0]).addClass('current'); } }); }; //init $('.slider').each(function () { var $slider = $(this); var $slides = $slider.find('.slide'); var $images = $slides.find('img'); var $videos = $slides.find('.dvidsPlayer'); //prevent FOUC while prepping everything handleImages($images, $videos, function () { initFred($slider); }); }); })(jQuery);

ARLINGTON, Va -- ARLINGTON, Va. - Every branch of the armed forces has an official song, from "The Army Goes Rolling Along" to "The Marines' Hymn." Each song is part of the services' foundation and represents its values, traditions and culture.

''Semper Supra" was named after the USSF motto, which is Latin for "Always Above." It was created to capture the esprit de corps of both current and future Guardians, and intends to bring together service members by giving them a sense of pride.

Two former service members collaborated to create the song, a process that took years of research and revisions to make sure the song was ready for release.

"The song was a long work in progress because I wanted it to encompass all the capabilities that the Space Force offers and its vision," said James Teachenor, a singer/songwriter who created the lyrics and melody; was the visionary composer and driving force of the song's creation.

Teachenor, a prior member of the U.S. Air Force band at the Air Force Academy, worked with Chief of Space Operations Gen. John "Jay" Raymond to begin the songwriting process when the Space Force was formed in 2019.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to establish a Space Force song that will be part of our culture and heritage for years to come," Raymond said. "Our traditions are part of the fabric that weave us all together as we execute our missions side-by-side; I will be proud to sing 'Semper Supra' alongside my fellow Guardians."

After creating a foundation for the song, Teachenor's project was sent to various military bands that could create a musical arrangement to give finishing touches and complete the song's sound; 12 musical submissions of the song were under review. Teachenor then collaborated with chief musician Sean Nelson, U.S. Coast Guard Band trombonist and staff arranger.

"I received the melody and words from James, and he wanted me to help add the harmony and to orchestrate it," said Nelson. "At first, it started with singing and the piano. I became familiar with the other branches' songs, but I wanted this one to have its own modern spin to reflect what the Space Force is - modern, new and very advanced."

Once Nelson added more than 30 instrument parts, the song's arrangement was played and recorded by the USCG band, then submitted to the Space Force for review. After many months of development, revisions and variations in coordination with the USCG band, the Space Force picked the final version of

"Semper Supra," to capture what it means to be a Guardian.

A recording of "Semper Supra" and behind-the-music video can be seen

hereThe lyrics can be seen below.

SEMPER SUPRAThe Official U.S. Space Force Song

We're the mighty watchful eye,

Guardians beyond the blue,

The invisible front line,

Warfighters brave and true.

Boldly reaching into space,

There's no limit to our sky.

Standing guard both night and day,

We're the Space Force from on high.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:21

Consumers' Research : 🚨 Rep. @RashidaTlaib asked all major bank CEOs to submit to her ESG agenda and stop funding fossil fuels. Their r'... https://t.co/npfmA92sNa

Wed Sep 21 21:11:46 +0000 2022

Head Lie : @ConsumersFirst @BossBlunts1 @RashidaTlaib This women is starting a full scaled war against its own country. We should support her.

Thu Sep 22 16:20:58 +0000 2022

Tony N. : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib What a capitol B!

Thu Sep 22 16:19:06 +0000 2022

Josie Pegs Richard ROBILLARD : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib Rashida is a diaster squad of loser Pelosi🤥

Thu Sep 22 16:18:34 +0000 2022

Connie Jo Knowles : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib YAY! Jamie Dimon!!! We need more to stand for America!

Thu Sep 22 16:17:07 +0000 2022

Blank name : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib @RashidaTlaib another m0ron in office. Jfc you have to really try to be this stup1d.

Thu Sep 22 16:16:50 +0000 2022

BowTiedMountainGoat : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib Look! A bank executive who understands the laws of thermodynamics!

Thu Sep 22 16:15:00 +0000 2022

Dave : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib Tlaib telling Americans to boycott Chase because he does not support her radical left'... https://t.co/oieIGo1AVV

Thu Sep 22 16:14:58 +0000 2022

Chris Collins : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib Did she mispronounce Celsius?

Thu Sep 22 16:14:06 +0000 2022

Name cannot be blank! : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib WTF bring up student loans as a come back? https://t.co/EHNw7Ypk5k

Thu Sep 22 16:13:03 +0000 2022

Amy Geddon : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib Child

Thu Sep 22 16:08:58 +0000 2022

B : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib He is 100% correct!

Thu Sep 22 16:08:55 +0000 2022

YouCanAskMe2020 🇺🇸 : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib I'd like to see how the rest responded now. Where can I find the full video?

Thu Sep 22 16:07:27 +0000 2022

Josie Pegs Richard ROBILLARD : @ConsumersFirst @RashidaTlaib '...And the road to hell for Rashida/Dems! ESG is a🤥🤥🤥👹👺ðŸƒðŸž

Thu Sep 22 16:06:53 +0000 2022

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:16

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:04

Congressman Cliff Bentz : I would like to see the dictionary that the Biden administration is using for their definition of ''secure.'' https://t.co/jpn3PdWXWk

Wed Sep 21 23:00:28 +0000 2022

S Khanna : @RepBentz @JudiciaryGOP I would like to see the dictionary that radical right wing corrupt RepubliCONS are using fo'... https://t.co/4kMj7wVWKM

Thu Sep 22 15:46:25 +0000 2022

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 15:53

September 21, 2022 2022-09-21T10:02:55-04:00 https://ximage.c-spanvideo.org/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwaWN0dXJlcy5jLXNwYW52aWRlby5vcmciLCJrZXkiOiJGaWxlc1wvMzAzXC8wMTJcLzE2NjM3Njk1MzNfMDEyLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciIsImhlaWdodCI6NTA2fX19 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and others hold a news conference on the Inflation Reduction Act.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and others hold a news conference on the Inflation Reduction Act.

Report Video IssueGo to Live Event"; // $('div#video-embed').html(cookieMsg); // return; // } // });

Related Video January 19, 2010 House Speaker News ConferenceHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders spoke to reporters following a leadership meeting.

June 25, 2009 House Speaker News ConferenceHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave her weekly legislative briefing to the press. She spoke about a number of issues'...

June 18, 2009 House Speaker News ConferenceSpeaker Pelosi spoke to reporters and answered questions about a number of issues including the House legislative'...

May 6, 2009 House Speaker News ConferenceHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave her weekly legislative briefing to the press. She spoke in support of President Obama's'...

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 15:52

Catherine Engelbrecht, seen here in 2015, founded the controversial nonprofit True the Vote. A new lawsuit alleges that Engelbrecht and True the Vote defamed a small company that makes software for election workers. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Catherine Engelbrecht, seen here in 2015, founded the controversial nonprofit True the Vote. A new lawsuit alleges that Engelbrecht and True the Vote defamed a small company that makes software for election workers.

Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Konnech, a small Michigan company that makes election logistics software, says a "smear campaign" whipped up by the controversial group True the Vote has led to death threats and forced the company's CEO to leave home in fear for his and his family's lives. The company believes a driving force behind the threats is xenophobia; Konnech's CEO immigrated to the U.S. from China in the 1980s and became an American citizen in 1997.

In the past, the executive of a relatively unknown company might have chosen to ignore such claims to try to deprive them of attention.

But in the wake of the conspiracy-fueled Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and in the era of QAnon and Pizzagate '-- bizarre and baseless theories that have contributed to very real violence '-- that strategy may no longer be tenable. The experience of the election technology company Dominion Voting Systems, which became the target of widespread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, also underscored how wild claims could significantly damage a company's business.

Just a few weeks after accusations against the company first surfaced, Konnech turned to the federal courts and filed a lawsuit. Konnech was "not going to take any chances and felt very strongly that it needed to act and act quickly," said Jon Goldberg, a company spokesperson.

Konnech, which makes scheduling software for poll workers, joined a growing number of election officials and companies that have used defamation law to try to fight back against election-related conspiracies.

Dominion Voting Systems, as well as another election technology company, Smartmatic, have filed multiple lawsuits against media outlets and prominent Trump-world figures that spread allegedly defamatory claims about them in the 2020 election. Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, the latter of whom testified in front of the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, have also filed lawsuits alleging that they were defamed by election conspiracy theories and subjected to "vitriol, threats, and harassment." A Pennsylvania postal service employee also took legal action, and alleged that he was falsely accused of manipulating vote-by-mail ballots in the 2020 election. Conspiracy theories about the 2020 election have continued to spread, but there's some indication that these lawsuits have pushed such claims farther from the mainstream of conservative media and toward the fringes, with some on the self-publishing digital newsletter platform Substack.

Konnech's lawsuit targets True the Vote, which has made a name for itself with dubious claims of widespread voter fraud, including the film "2,000 Mules," and has been increasingly linked to QAnon. Konnech claims in its lawsuit that True the Vote and its leaders, Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, have falsely accused Konnech of orchestrating "a red Chinese communist op run against the United States" and improperly accessed Konnech's data.

"I will state clearly and unequivocally: neither Eugene Yu nor Konnech are in any way associated with the Chinese Communist Party," said Goldberg.

In an unusual move, a federal judge agreed to issue a temporary restraining order against True the Vote, which requires the group to turn over "all property and data obtained from Konnech's protected computers," and blocks True the Vote from "using, disclosing, or exploiting the property and data downloaded from Konnech's protected computers."

Additionally, Goldberg, the company's spokesperson, told NPR that the company "has been and is working closely with law enforcement at multiple levels regarding True the Vote's claims."

The company also added an "election misinformation advisory" to its website to try to combat "false and malicious claims" from True the Vote.

True the Vote has denied any wrongdoing. "Everything we have ever said about any of this is true," said Engelbrecht in a livestream the day the lawsuit was filed. "The allegations made by Konnech are meritless. True the Vote looks forward to a public conversation about Konnech's attempts to silence examination of its activities through litigation."

A representative of True the Vote also provided NPR with a letter sent to Konnech's attorney, which claims that Konnech has made unspecified "inaccuracies and misrepresentations" to the court, and asserts that an unnamed "third party" first obtained Konnech's data '-- not True the Vote.

How the threat of legal action affected "2,000 Mules"Engelbrecht and Phillips previously executive produced and provided the research for the widely debunked election conspiracy theory film, "2,000 Mules." And there's some indication that the threat of defamation lawsuits may have slowed the spread of claims from the film.

The right-wing provocateur Dinesh D'Souza, who directed "2,000 Mules," said that he decided not to include "ballot trafficking" allegations against specific, named organizations in the film due to legal concerns. Fox News has largely avoided covering the "2,000 Mules," which D'Souza suggested is related to Fox's fear of litigation.

Last month, the publisher of an upcoming book version of "2,000 Mules" also abruptly recalled copies from bookstores. NPR obtained the recalled version of the book, which, unlike the film, makes allegations against specific nonprofit groups, and accuses them of "organized crime."

After one of those groups said the book's contents were completely false and potentially "libelous," True the Vote distanced itself from the book.

Meanwhile, the group has pivoted away from the "2,000 Mules" and toward Konnech.

True the Vote weaves a spy novelesque storyAt an event in August dubbed "The Pit," Engelbrecht and Phillips unveiled what they called the "Tiger Project," which focused on Konnech. In interviews with far-right podcasters, Phillips has spun a cloak-and-dagger story that he compared to a James Bond movie, in which he helped uncover a supposed Chinese plot to infiltrate American elections.

In Phillips' telling, he first heard about the company from "my guys" '-- unnamed "colleagues and friends" who invited him to their room in the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas one late night in January 2021.

"I get there and they're putting towels, rolled up towels, under the doors and you know, and all my guys are armed," Phillips said on the podcast "1819 News."

Phillips said his colleagues showed him personal information for 1.8 million American poll workers, including "name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, banking information," which supposedly was held on a server in China.

Konnech maintains that this claim is entirely false, and that all of its data on American customers is stored solely in the U.S.

After seeing this presentation, Phillips claims that he and Engelbrecht brought Konnech's data to the FBI, which he claims then worked with them for more than a year on a supposed "counterintelligence" operation looking into Konnech. At one point, Phillips said he had a "secret squirrels" meeting with the FBI in Milwaukee to share information. Eventually, however, the FBI "completely betrayed us," Phillips said, and told True the Vote that they were themselves under scrutiny from law enforcement.

True the Vote has not publicly provided evidence to support the claim of a "counterintelligence" operation along those lines, nor has NPR found any corroboration. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.

True the Vote's appeal to QAnonKonnech argues that this wild story is a work of fiction.

"Konnech is extremely confident in the multiple levels of security it employs to protect its customers' data," said Goldberg, who noted that Konnech does not even possess information on 1.8 million poll workers. The real number is under 250,000, the company says. But rather than ignore True the Vote's claims that they saw Konnech's secure data, Goldberg said, Konnech essentially decided to take True the Vote's claims at face value. In their lawsuit, Konnech alleges that True the Vote admitted to violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accessing the company's data.

At least so far, the claims against Konnech have not received widespread attention in more established conservative media. This case still demonstrates how allegations can spread through fringe online networks.

Phillips has specifically encouraged followers of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory '-- so-called "anons" '-- to research and post about Konnech.

"These people are the most amazing patriots that I've ever come in contact with," Phillips said of QAnon followers. Phillips also appeared on an online show hosted by QAnon influencers, where he reiterated his praise of the "anons." The left-leaning media watchdog group Media Matters documented additional ties between True the Vote and QAnon. In a sign of how QAnon has moved closer to the mainstream of the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly posted messages from the group's followers online, and featured a QAnon-linked song at a rally over the weekend.

A digital newsletter hosted by the online platform Substack has amplified the idea that Konnech represents "Chinese infiltration" of U.S. election systems. A spokesperson for Substack declined NPR's request for comment.

Former Trump adviser turned podcaster Steve Bannon further promoted that Substack newsletter about Konnech in a post on the social media network Gettr. A spokesperson for Bannon also declined to comment.

The misinformation about Konnech has helped feed online harassment and threats against Konnech's CEO and his family, Goldberg said.

"Might want to book flights back to Wuhan before we hang you until dead!" reads one email to the CEO cited in the company's lawsuit.

Another aspect of Konnech's decision to go to court, Goldberg said, involved the importance of maintaining faith in U.S. elections.

"They are facing a group that, through its own actions and by spreading falsehoods and misinformation, [is] essentially targeting the election process," said Goldberg.

That sentiment appeared to be echoed in the restraining order handed down in Konnech's defamation case.

Federal Judge Kenneth Hoyt wrote in his order that the evidence presented by Konnech showed that a restraining order "would in fact benefit the public's expectation of integrity in the U.S. election process."

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 15:42

Tommy boomboom : Pediatric Charge nurse of 13 years was fired for asking "why aren't we reporting to VAERS?" Regarding the influx of'... https://t.co/3nm05tmhCK

Mon Sep 19 19:42:41 +0000 2022

Sherrill Bergeron : @tommyBoomboom All for money. Brave and a good nurse. I hope she sues the hospital and wins.

Thu Sep 22 14:58:03 +0000 2022

ally james : @tommyBoomboom Unbelievable, don't understand this when there's a chronic shortage of nurses.

Thu Sep 22 10:55:14 +0000 2022

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:47

NEWS & UPDATES Stay up-to-date with the latest news from Protect Our Care

News Watch the Full Event Here. Washington DC '-- Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), U.S. Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT-AL), Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), and Susie'...

News ***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 21 AT 10:00 AM ET*** Millions Will Benefit from Lower Health Care Costs and Better Care Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act Washington DC '--'...

News As the Inflation Reduction Act theme weeks come to a close, Protect Our Care is highlighting how the legislation will help patients with serious diseases like Parkinson's Disease. The Inflation'...

More News & Updates