1661: Hard Landing

Adam,

Testing wash off wastewater from dairies is not solely testing the feces from the cows, but also from all the pigeons, grackles, sparrows, and all manner of assorted birds that feed and roost in the dairy lots and barns.

A PhD buddy of mine was hired by a municipality to trace fecal coliform pollution in a low flow river that ran through the downtown. They were hoping to identify the feed lot or leaky septic tanks upstream as the source of the pollution and levy fines. What he found was that the source was avian, not bovine or human, and it was thus the birds roosting under the numerous bridges crossing the river…and the project was canceled.

TYFYC,

Renegade 6

from a NO AGENDA pharmacist, Louisville KY

you may have covered this already but in case you didn't know...

A traditional (grown in eggs) bird flu (H5N1) vaccine has been developed and approved since 2007. Maybe it was altruism, or public health concerns, or—most likely—just a marketing snafu, but at the time Sanofi and [GlaxoSmithKline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlaxoSmithKline "GlaxoSmithKline") (two best-selling vaccine manufacturers in the USA) did not market an alone standing H5N1 shot. They opted to include the strain in the annual flu shot instead. In 2012 the trivalent vaccine (includes 3 most common Asian flu strains from the previous winter) became the quadrivalent vaccine (3 most common strains plus H5N1). By 2015 most big pharmacy chains including mine stopped ordering the trivalent shot. If you have had a flu shot in the USA in the past 10 years you have had the H5N1 vaccine; therefore there doesn't seem to be money in the H5N1 plandemic.... UNLESS!

pure speculation:

i think Merck is working on a bovine H5N1 vaccine (they have a lot of other bovine vaccinations, and as of today no bovine H5N1 vaccine exists)

i think they will take a page out of the Pfizer playbook and get emergency use authorization

i think they will make it mandatory for every single cow

i think tax dollars will pay for it

i think it will earn them 100$ per dose

i think it will be annual

PS: if you take a high-cyle PCR test within 30-60 days of the flu shot you would appear positive for H5N1

LORD ROTHSCHILD rose to call the attention of His Majesty's Government to 644the urgent need for compulsory pasteurization of milk in as many parts of the United Kingdom as is practicable; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, in spite of your Lordships' well-known indulgence towards beginners, I imagine there are few who do not feel considerable apprehension on the occasion of their maiden speech in this Chamber. I feel this particularly because there are so many noble Lords who are better qualified to speak on the Motion in my name than I am. Nevertheless, I am fortified to a certain extent by the fact that the Motion has the backing of a number of learned institutions such as the British Medical Association, the Society of Medical Officers of Health, the Joint Tuberculosis Council, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians.

§It will not be necessary for me to say much about the benefits of pasteurized milk or, as it is known in these days, heat treated milk. Your Lordships are aware that a large number of people die each year through drinking milk contaminated with the bovine tuberculosis germ. I will not weary your Lordships with statistics, but will merely mention that if all the members of this House were killed twice a year—and I think your Lordships will agree that this would be a matter of some gravity—the number of deaths would be of the same order as that caused in the United Kingdom by drinking raw milk contaminated with the germ of tuberculosis. I need not remind your Lordships that the number of casualties from this germ far exceeds the number of deaths; but no precise figures are available to me on this point, though the number of casualties has been estimated at about five times the number of deaths. If we put the number of deaths per year at 1,600, the number of casualties will be between 7,000 and 8,000. These casualties, which require months of hospital treatment, are a source of misery and anxiety to their families and grave expense to the State.

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Dear Adam,

In the morning! Just wanted to offer a short BOTG report, although I'm a bit late to the party. In episode 1658, you talked about Nestle adding sugar to their products in Africa. I'm a Catholic priest whose congregation has missions in Africa, so I asked my brother priest who's Gabonese what we thought and he said that, in his opinion at least, it was nothing surprising because people where he's from are used to eating the sweet and abundant fruit that grows all over the place with no effort (bananas, passion fruit, coconuts, pineapples, etc). He also said that in general Africans don't like anything that is bland, or with little taste, and they usually prefer things that are very sweet or salty. Your take on the matter seems certainly likely as well, but I thought my confrère's opinion could shed some light.

Just some food for thought 😉

God bless !

David

Beijing offloaded a total of $53.3 billion of Treasuries and agency bonds combined in the first quarter, according to calculations based on the latest data from the US Department of the Treasury. Belgium, often seen as a custodian of China’s holdings, disposed of $22 billion of Treasuries during the period.

Link

A memo National Review obtained, from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, details Collins’ closed-door testimony earlier this year. It reveals that Collins had not seen evidence on March 22, 2020, to support the widely obeyed federal policy when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) instituted six-foot social distancing rules.

“Do you recall science or evidence that supported the six-foot distance?” Collins was asked.

“I do not,” Collins said. “I did not see evidence, but I’m not sure I would have been shown evidence at that point.”

“Have you seen any evidence since then supporting six feet?”

“No,” Collins responded.

So Collins admits the federal government lacked any scientific basis for this massive social policy it pushed on Americans, including by colluding with Big Tech to shut down public debate about Covid-19 responses. Such debate could have revealed that many Covid policies weren’t backed by good research. Instead, numerous federal officials pressed Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to shut down skepticism and contrary information it falsely labeled “misinformation” and “disinformation,” including articles from The Federalist.

Link

You mentioned something similar in one of your recent shows.

I just bought a farm in the southern Appalachian foothills (would be a great place for a meet up). Seeing a lot of similar stuff “get paid to keep your farm wild forest”, “be a carbon farmer”, etc. All involve them giving you little money and testing your land/water.

Idk if you’re aware of him or if he’s still around but, Iceage Farmer called this way back. Claims it would be the start of farm land seizure due to “environmental concerns”.

Thanks,

Rich

Link

Adam,

Thought you might enjoy a note on this two page brochure from the Washington Department of Health at the bottom of this email.

“Having higher levels of PFAS in your blood could: Affect your immune system and make some vaccinations less effective.”

😂 I can’t wait for PFAS to be the next excuse on why Covid vaccines didn’t work.

Now that EPA has lowered the drinking water standards for PFAS from 70

parts per trillion to 7ppt. Nearly half of all water systems in the US

are above the new threshold.

One part per trillion is equivalent to one drop of water in 20 Olympic

sized swimming pools, or 1 second of time in 31,700 years.

The Spook of Spokane

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Archived Version

Sun, 19 May 2024 14:28

The aircraft with Ebrahim Raisi on board suffered a ''hard landing,'' according to some media

A helicopter on which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was a passenger encountered a ''hard landing'' on Sunday, according to unconfirmed reports by Iranian state television and other media outlets.

The Interior Minister of Iran Ahmad Vahidi has reportedly confirmed that the helicopter with Raisi on board had made a hard landing in the city of Jolfa in the northwestern Iranian province of East Azarbaijan.

Several other senior officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Governor of East Azarbaijan Malek Rahmati, were traveling with the president, reports claim.

About an hour after the incident, rescue teams reportedly managed to reach the area and began a search operation that is currently ongoing.

Foggy weather and the impassibility of the area has made the search operations difficult, IRNA writes.

Shortly after the first reports about the incident, news outlet Mehr reported that the president was fine and was traveling by car as part of a motorcade to Tabriz, the provincial capital. However, it later deleted this update.

There were three helicopters in Raisi's convoy, Tasnim writes, amid conflicting reports. Two of the aircraft, which were carrying some ministers and officials, reached their destination safely. The agency claims that some of the officials who were with the president at the time of the incident were able to contact what Tasnim described as a ''center,'' which may indicate that the incident had not resulted in serious injury.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

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Sun, 19 May 2024 12:00

Over a dozen Jewish billionaires working secretly in concert with the Israeli government were part of a private WhatsApp group chat which conspired to push New York City Mayor Eric Adams to crackdown on pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, according to bombshell leaked chatlogs obtained by the Washington Post. The Post's shocking report reveals how many of the most prominent Jewish billionaires and multimillionaires in America worked together in secret to advance Israeli interests on multiple fronts, suppress Americans' free speech rights, reward politicians who do their bidding with donations and hide their connections with the Israeli government. From Washington Post, "Business titans privately urged NYC mayor to use police on Columbia protesters, chats show" (Archive):A group of billionaires and business titans working to shape U.S. public opinion of the war in Gaza privately pressed New York City's mayor last month to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, according to communications obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the group.Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call on April 26 with Mayor Eric Adams (D), about a week after the mayor first sent New York police to Columbia's campus, a log of chat messages shows. During the call, some attendees discussed making political donations to Adams, as well as how the chat group's members could pressure Columbia's president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus to handle protesters, according to chat messages summarizing the conversation.One member of the WhatsApp chat group told The Post he donated $2,100, the maximum legal limit, to Adams that month. Some members also offered to pay for private investigators to assist New York police in handling the protests, the chat log shows '-- an offer a member of the group reported in the chat that Adams accepted. The New York Police Department is not using and has not used private investigators to help manage protests, a spokeswoman for City Hall said.The messages describing the call with Adams were among thousands logged in a WhatsApp chat among some of the nation's most prominent business leaders and financiers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and brother of Jared Kushner, former president Donald Trump's son-in-law.People with direct access to the chat log's contents supplied them to The Post. They shared the information on the condition of anonymity because the chat's contents were meant to stay private. Members of the group verified the chat's existence and their comments.The chat was initiated by a staffer for billionaire and real estate magnate Barry Sternlicht '-- who never joined directly, instead communicating through the staffer, according to chat messages and a person close to Sternlicht. In an Oct. 12 message, one of the first sent in the group, the staffer posting on behalf of Sternlicht told the others the goal of the group was to "change the narrative" in favor of Israel, partly by conveying "the atrocities committed by Hamas ... to all Americans."[...] The chat group formed shortly after the Oct. 7 attack, and its activism has stretched beyond New York, touching the highest levels of the Israeli government, the U.S. business world and elite universities. Titled "Israel Current Events," the chat eventually expanded to about 100 members, the chat log shows. More than a dozen members of the group appear on Forbes's annual list of billionaires; others work in real estate, finance and communications.Overall, the messages offer a window into how some prominent individuals have wielded their money and power in an effort to shape American views of the Gaza war, as well as the actions of academic, business and political leaders '-- including New York's mayor."He's open to any ideas we have," chat member Sitt, founder of the retail chain Ashley Stewart and the global real estate company Thor Equities, wrote April 27, the day after the group's Zoom call with Adams. "As you saw he's ok if we hire private investigators to then have his police force intel team work with them."[...] Four days after chat members held the video call with Adams, student protesters occupied a campus building and Columbia's president invited police back to campus to clear the building. Officers removed and arrested dozens of protesters, pushing, striking and dragging students in the process, The Post reported. One officer accidentally fired his gun.Months before the protests at Columbia this spring, some chat members attended private briefings with former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett; Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet; and Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, according to chat records.Members of the group also worked with the Israeli government to screen a roughly 40-minute film showing footage compiled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) '-- titled "Bearing Witness to the October 7 Massacre" '-- to audiences in New York City. The film portrays killings committed by Hamas. A chat member asked for help from other members to show the film at universities; it was later screened at Harvard, a showing chat member Ackman helped facilitate, attended and promoted publicly.[...] On Oct. 12, a staffer for Sternlicht relayed a message from his boss outlining the group's mission: While Israel worked to "win the physical war," the chat group's members would "help win the war" of U.S. public opinion by funding an information campaign against Hamas. The campaign was referred to in the chat as "Facts for Peace."[...] the staffer for Sternlicht wrote in one of the first chat messages that his boss was proud of his Jewish heritage and wanted to support Israel [...] The staffer wrote that Sternlicht understood if other members felt similarly and promised that all contributions to the media campaign would remain anonymous. "I'm sensitive to concerns about being less effective if it appears that this is a Jewish initiative," the staffer wrote, speaking for Sternlicht.From the start of the chat, members sought guidance and information from officials in the Israeli government.Some of the WhatsApp chat members said in the chat they attended private briefings about the Gaza war with Israeli war cabinet member Gantz, former prime minister Bennett and Herzog, the ambassador. The chat log shows Zoom invites for these meetings."Most appreciative for the behind the scenes briefing by Naftali Bennett," Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, wrote to the group on Oct. 16. "Quite extraordinary!"Bennett did not respond to a request for comment. Gantz could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington said the briefing Herzog gave chat members was "one of dozens" the ambassador delivered that month, adding that "communities here in the U.S. understandably wanted to learn more about what was happening on the ground in Israel."A spokesperson for Schultz confirmed in a statement that he attended the briefing with Bennett, but said Schultz "did not participate in, or contribute financially to, any of the group's work." Schultz was neither involved in discussions about Adams and the Columbia protests nor screenings of the film, according to a spokesman.In late October, the chat records show, chat members appear to have suggested to Israeli officials that they should hold a private New York City screening for media members of "Bearing Witness," the IDF film featuring graphic footage recorded by Hamas gunmen on body cameras and cellphones as they attacked Israel. Sitt wrote in a message to the group Oct. 27 that Israeli officials wanted to thank them "for coming up with the concept of the press event in NYC."The next month, the group showed the film in New York, records show. Sitt wrote on Nov. 10 that the Israeli government "arranged for us" to screen the film in Gotham Hall on Nov. 17, adding in a later message the showing "will be listed as a IDF event not affiliated to Facts for Peace to keep them separate."Read their full report. This may be the most important piece of journalism the Post has done in decades. The Post was immediately accused of "antisemitism" by the Jewish Insider for publishing the report: Unsurprising to see this Israeli reporter -- who was in the IDF reserves until last year and just won the top WH Press Award -- spreading anti-semitism accusations against the WashPost for its *true reporting* about various influence campaigns from pro-Israel billionaires. https://t.co/pdtXBZtW4W

'-- Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 17, 2024 A group of business people raised tens of millions of dollars to ''fund an information campaign against Hamas'' and ''win the war of US public opinion,'' while lobbying high level officials, and we are told that the Washington Post is antisemitic for reporting on it bc many but not'... https://t.co/cCRdAdEGgy pic.twitter.com/K3dUOTuTrX

'-- Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) May 17, 2024 If our government wasn't completely captured this report would kickstart multiple criminal investigations. If a group of Chinese billionaires were conspiring in secret to take away Americans' right to protest to advance China's interests and rewarding politicians who do their bidding with donations, Attorney General Merrick Garland would already be issuing arrest warrants! Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram.

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Archived Version

Sun, 19 May 2024 11:51

A Judge has ruled that a detransitioner's lawsuit against healthcare providers that she says pushed her towards transitioning despite having a history of underlying mental health problems can move forward.

Judge Robert Ervin of the North Carolina Superior Court signed an order on May 7 partially denying the defendants' motion to dismiss the case.

"[T]he Court has determined as a matter of law that the allegations of Plaintiff's Complaint, treated as true, are sufficient to state a claim upon which relief may be granted," Ervin wrote, according to Fox News.

Prisha Mosley, an Independent Women's Forum (IWF) ambassador and detransitioner, filed the lawsuit in July 2023 against eight defendants, including a physician, a plastic surgeon, and two licensed counselors.

Mosley alleged that they persuaded her to undergo sex change treatments at 17 years of age, and that she was misled into taking testosterone injections and having a double mastectomy, "turning her into a lifelong medical patient," IWF wrote.

She sued the doctors and health facilities on counts of fraud, medical malpractice, negligent infliction of emotional distress, unfair and deceptive trade practices, facilitating fraud, breach of fiduciary duty rising to the level of constructive fraud, and civil conspiracy.

While Ervin granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the charges of medical malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent infliction and unfair and deceptive trade practices, he allowed the charges of fraud and civil conspiracy to stand.

"These individuals whom Prisha trusted to care for her lied to and misled her into these treatments and procedures for the purpose of making money off of her and bolstering their credentials in the emerging field of so-called 'gender-affirming care," the lawsuit states.

Josh Payne, lead attorney with Campbell Miller Payne which represents detransitioners nationwide, said, "This is the first substantive ruling we are aware of in which a Court has held that a detransitioner's case against her health care professionals is legally viable. We are honored to represent Prisha as she pursues justice for herself and her family and tries to prevent what happened to her from happening to others."

"I am grateful that the Court has recognized my case has merit," Mosley said. "The legal process can be daunting. I am encouraged by the Court's ruling in my favor, and I am determined to see the case through to a final victory. Young people struggling with their mental health, like I was, deserve better. They need compassionate support. They do not deserve to be lied to and misled into life-altering medical procedures that only cause harm."

In an op-ed written by Mosley, she said that she has "struggled with my mental health" since childhood, with her teen years being "particularly difficult."

"Tragically, at age 14, I suffered from a sexual assault. At age 15, I was hospitalized for depression. By age 16, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and an eating disorder. I engaged in self-harm by cutting myself, which became so serious that I was taken to the emergency room," Mosley wrote.

She said starting at the age of 16 and continuing into young adulthood, "doctors and counselors set me on a path of medicalized 'gender transition.' They told me that changing my body to look like a boy's body would cure my mental health problems. They told me that injecting large amounts of testosterone into my female body would be good for me. They also encouraged me to undergo surgery to remove my healthy breasts."

She said she trusted that the healthcare providers were going to take care of her and believed that they were "treating me properly."

"Years later, I realized that I had been lied to and misled in the worst possible way. Years of taking testosterone prevented my body from developing as it should have. It caused significant vaginal atrophy and the inability to have intercourse."

Mosley said her voice has been permanently changed by the treatment and can no longer sing. She also experiences "severe pain in my shoulders, neck, and genital area."

"I do not know if I will be able to conceive and give birth to a child" she said, adding that as a result of the breast removal surgery, she would no longer be able to breastfeed any future children.

Despite her well-founded concerns, Mosley announced in February that she was expecting a baby boy.

"The other news is that I am apparently not infertile. After several years of no periods, no ovulation, and no pregnancy, things have changed," Mosley announced on Twitter.

She said that she became pregnant as she began taking birth control, adding that the "running theory is that the hormones kick started my system."

"I didn't announce it for quite a while because I was scared. I am still struggling with issues that affect my pregnancy, including continuing hormonal imbalance and pelvic and vaginal atrophy. I've been told by my doctor that I can't even try to deliver vaginally and have to just schedule a c-section... That's scary and upsetting. I didn't expect to be facing another surgery so suddenly, after all of the medical trauma," Mosley wrote. "The baby is healthy, though. He's a boy. He's perfect to me."

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Sun, 19 May 2024 11:49

Video credit Katie TeagueGet Paid Up to $1,000 per Acre to Improve Your Farm Health

Chris Kummer, Heartland Chia, Photo contributed by Heartland ChiaBuilding Soil, Building Equity (BSBE):Farmer Incentive ProgramWe've launched an innovative program to build soil health and expand conservation farming across Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Southern Ohio, and Northern Georgia with our USDA Climate Smart Commodities grant-funded Building Soil, Building Equity program.

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Archived Version

Sat, 18 May 2024 18:33

Bambie Thug was flying the flag for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 final on Saturday night. Performing their track Doomsday Blue during the ceremony in Sweden, they battled for votes against 24 other acts on the show.

In what has been quite a controversy-filled year for the contest, with boycott threats and an act being disqualified ahead of the final, the results saw Ireland finish in sixth place with 278 points.

Taking the top spot this year was Nemo for Switzerland with their track The Code. Finishing as runner-up was Croatia and it was very close, while in third place was France.

As Ireland celebrates Bambie Thug earning the country their best result in years, we take a look at Bambie Thug like you've never seen them before.

READ MORE: Eurovision results in full: Where did Ireland finish? Leaderboard of final as winner confirmed

Ever since the non-binary Cork artist won RTE's Eurosong, fans have been fascinated with the gothic queen and who they were before the white painted face and elaborate costumes.

Bambie dreamed of being a ballerina before they broke their arm in college. A blessing in disguise it would seem, as Bambie decided to study musical theatre in London where they found their unique sound and style.

But before their musical talents were discovered, a ginger haired Bambie enjoyed partying with friends and dressing up as a princess as a child.

In one picture, we can reveal Bambie dressed as a princess with a tiara on their head when they were a youngster.

Bambie Thug as a child growing up in Macroom in Cork (Image: Facebook: Bambie Ray Robinson)Another image shows a ginger-haired Bambie dressed as a ballerina holding a guitar for a photoshoot while another shows a makeup free naturally stunning Bambie posing with a pal.

A make up free Bambie Thug (Image: Facebook: Bambie Ray Robinson)Bambie Thug's real name is Bambie Ray Robinson. They were born in 1994 and grew up in Macroom, Co Cork. Bambie's mother is Irish, and their father is Swedish. Bambie has three sisters.

Bambie Ray Robinson (Image: Facebook: Bambie Ray Robinson)Bambie was diagnosed with ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In their spare time, the singer used to sometimes work as a party princess at events for children with special needs.

Bambie Thug dressed as a ballerina holding a guitar (Image: Facebook: Bambie Ray Robinson)Their mother, who Bambie describes as "my biggest champion" stayed at home with them while their father crafted metal parts and "didn't have a note in his head". Bambie said they always wanted the spotlight growing up.

"Growing up in a small place, the furthest I would go was to say I was different. I definitely wanted the spotlight. I wanted to assert myself, but the closest I got was wearing brown clothes with pink tights.

"I don't think it was until I moved away, and I came out that I really took agency over myself. I moved to London when I was 20 and that's when I really felt I became myself. But learning to stand strong within yourself in the face of everyone else is a constant learning. This year my resolution was to back myself completely and be my own strongest cheerleader.

"This creative world is amazing but, at the same time, it's also tough. You have to have a thick skin."

Bambie with friends, incuding her Eurovison dancer Max, on a night out (Image: Facebook: Bambie Ray Robinson)Despite Bambie's popularity online, the singer has also seen plenty of messages of hate because of their image. They urged the public to "remember I am a human too".

"I have gone through so much trauma and still show up with love after every obstacle and hard time," they said. "I have always been a phoenix and your words and warped views cannot hurt me."

They said they send "the most love" to those who hate them and criticised naysayers' anger. "If my expression of art moves you to hate and anger then you are who I send the most love to. If you don't want to be part of the Haus Of Thug you are not obligated to come on this journey with me," they said.

Bambie has used the term "ouija-pop" to describe their music.

In a 2023 interview, they stated "my stuff is hyperpunk avant electro-pop. We call it grit pop or rot but recently I've been coining the term 'Ouija pop'."

They stated that they coined the term due to a reluctance of being "put in a box", instead combining numerous genres, with Bambie "never having anything in mind" whenever making music.

One of their major influences musically is a reluctance to be stuck to a style or genre; in an interview with NME, Bambie claimed that they could do "everything" creatively, stating their belief that the heavy metal music community had expanded to include more genres and be more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.

However, they also stated that the heavy metal community was "under attack", with Robinson considering themselves a "rebel".

Bambie Thug performing at Eurovision Song Contest in the Malmo Arena, Malmo, Sweden (Image: Andres Poveda)Bambie has pushed for an emphasis on trying to be "good role models" with music, stating a belief that many within the industry "glamourise" drug addiction.

They stated in an interview with Gay Times that: "We need to parade healthy behaviour. It's important if we are going to be breaking [through] so that younger kids and teens listening to our music, and looking up to us, aren't fed this negative behaviour."

In interviews, Bambie said that their favourite artists are Dolly Parton, Britney Spears, Nina Simone, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and Led Zeppelin.

Bambie had a big hit with Tsunami in 2022 and has reached more than 700,000 listeners.

Bambie's debut song Birthday premiered in 2021, shortly followed by their first EP Psilocyber including three singles.

Since then, they released another two EPs: High Romancy in 2021 and Cathexis in 2023.

The self-described Nightcore Barbie could be seen at the packed-out Download Festival in June 2023, and The Great Escape in Brighton in May 2023.

Irish singer-songwriter Bambie Ray Robinson, aka Bambie Thug representing Ireland with the song "Doomsday blue" performs during the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contes (Image: AFP via Getty Images)They also performed live at BBC Maida Vale Studios on Christmas Eve in 2022.

Bambie is a prolific songwriter whose songs written for other artists of varying genres have amassed 50 million streams. These artists include Cassyette, KID BRUNSWICK, and FabiCH.

Their instrumentals were also included in some of the UK's biggest nu-gen hits like Dear Goth or Petrichor, and HBO's Sex And The City reboot Just Like That.

"Bambie Thug is your witchy king antidote to the world," Bambie told Mike James Rock Show on YouTube.

"I make Ouija pop music, it's a fusion of everything," they said.

DIY Magazine has described them as "Lady Gaga's final boss form", whereas Metal Hammer Magazine said that "Bambie Thug is an artist in every sense".

Bambie has described themselves in their personal life as "not a very angry person", instead bottling up anger for their musical performances.

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Sat, 18 May 2024 18:13

Dr. Wei-Hsung Lin prescribed ivermectin to five patients.

A doctor in Washington state has been fined for prescribing ivermectin against COVID-19. He must also take continuing education classes, according to newly filed documents.

Dr. Wei-Hsung Lin must pay $5,000, according to an order signed by the Washington Medical Commission on May 2.

Ivermectin is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating several conditions, including parasitic worms. Prescribing medicine for unapproved usage is common in the United States, but administration officials

have warned against prescribing and using ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment. Regulators have pointed to

a database of clinical trials, some of which found ivermectin did not confer a benefit against COVID-19 and some of which found ivermectin was beneficial against the illness.

Dr. Lin, who also signed

the order, admitted to prescribing ivermectin to five people without detailing how the prescriptions were off-label, the risks involved, and alternative treatments.

One patient, a 71-year-old female, tested positive for COVID-19 at the emergency room on June 23, 2021. She saw Dr. Lin in a telemedicine visit the following day. He prescribed her 12 milligrams of ivermectin daily for five days after stating that a ''substantial body of literature'' showed ivermectin was ''effective as a one-day therapy or five-day therapy.''

The woman went back to the hospital after taking ivermectin for four days but not seeing improvement. She was ultimately discharged and recovered.

Related Stories

In another case, Dr. Lin prescribed ivermectin to a 69-year-old male for COVID-19. Dr. Lin prescribed extra ivermectin because the man's wife also had COVID-19. Neither the husband nor wife ended up taking the ivermectin because they went online and ''observed the warnings about ivermectin for COVID-19 as well as the possible negative effects for those with heart conditions,'' the order states.

Dr. Lin's treatment was ''below standard of care'' in part because he did not discuss alternative treatments, according to the document. No alternatives are listed in the document. In 2021, remdesivir was the primary government-approved treatment for some COVID-19 patients.

Authorities also faulted Dr. Lin for not discussing COVID-19 vaccines with his patients.

According to the order, Dr. Lin's actions constituted unprofessional conduct, defined in state law as ''any act involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, or corruption relating to the practice of the person's profession, whether the act constitutes a crime or not.''

The order prohibits Dr. Lin from prescribing ivermectin off-label to patients in Washington state and from prescribing any medication or providing care for patients without first establishing a doctor-patient relationship.

It also requires him to review the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UpToDate websites for current COVID-19 guidelines, take continuing medical education classes on preventing, treating, and managing COVID-19 and establishing a doctor-patient relationship, and write two papers of at least 1,000 words describing what he learned from the websites and classes.

The commission or its designee is also going to make annual compliance visits, including reviewing a random selection of records, and says Dr. Lin must appear within 12 months, and subsequently on an annual basis, at a date and location determined by the commission as part of compliance oversight.

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, said that the conditions are ''extremely onerous'' and require work that would ''enormously increase the burden of practice and probably drive most physicians out of practice altogether.''

''Ivermectin is an extremely safe drug'--much safer than most drugs physicians prescribe without all the 'informed consent' discussions demanded here,'' Dr. Orient told The Epoch Times in an email. ''As to informing patients of alternatives, the reasons patients were calling this doctor was likely that no alternatives were available. It was 'isolate and go to ER if you get worse.'''

She recommended doctors avoid Washington state if they're able.

The Washington Medical Commission did not return an inquiry.

Dr. Lin is employed by the Kadlec Regional Medical Center clinic in Richland.

''After being made aware of an alleged violation by one of our providers, we fully cooperated with the Washington State Department of Health throughout their investigation. While Kadlec does not recommend or allow ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19, we respect the rights of patients and physicians to discuss and explore all available treatment options, based on patients' unique health and medical situations,'' a spokesperson for Kadlec told The Epoch Times in an email. ''We remain dedicated to providing high-quality care for all patients we serve, and we are pleased this matter has been resolved.''

If Dr. Lin had contested the allegations, the commission would have heard arguments and then ruled, potentially suspending his license. The commission has already ruled against several doctors who prescribed ivermectin for COVID-19, most recently forbidding pathologist Dr. Ryan Cole from practicing medicine in the state for five years.

''Dr. Lin was willing to fight this all the way but when we looked the risk-reward matrix we felt'--and he felt'--it was in his best interest to go ahead and settle,'' Pete Serrano, an attorney with the Silent Majority Foundation representing Dr. Lin, told The Epoch Times.

''He was ready to kind of close the chapter and move on with his life,'' Mr. Serrano added later.

Dr. Lin was initially facing a $25,000 fine and harsher repercussions but negotiations on the settlement ended up reducing some of the penalties.

Dr. Lin can petition to terminate the order in three years.

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Archived Version

Sat, 18 May 2024 18:12

May 17, 2024 - 4:30pmA month after the publication of her report into youth gender services in the UK, Dr Hilary Cass has been doing the rounds in the American media. This week, she gave an interview to the New York Times on her research, which found ''remarkably weak'' evidence for paediatric gender transitions.

Speaking to the NYT, she said that ''the real problem is that the evidence is very weak compared to many other areas of paediatric practice'', adding, ''I can't think of any other situation where we give life-altering treatments and don't have enough understanding about what's happening to those young people in adulthood.''

The Cass Report cast serious doubts on the model in use in many Western countries, including the US, in which clinicians automatically affirm children's trasngender identities and recommend cross-sex medical interventions for minors. While the UK was quick to restrict puberty blockers and other interventions in light of the report, the American medical establishment has doubled down on supporting gender transitions for young people.

The Endocrine Society, which supports puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, told the NYT this week that the Cass Report ''does not contain any new research'' that would contradict those guidelines.

Stephen Hammes, the organisation's president, also defended its position in the Wall Street Journal last year. ''More than 2,000 studies published since 1975 form a clear picture: Gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide,'' he wrote.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, one of the most vocal champions within the US medical establishment of child gender transitions, declined to comment on the Cass Report for the NYT story and instead reiterated its opposition to legal restrictions on the practice. The AAP's 2018 statement in support of child gender transitions calls for minors to have access to ''comprehensive, gender-affirming, and developmentally appropriate health care'', for doctors to advocate for laws expanding access to such treatments, and for children's medical charts to reflect their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

The American Medical Association, which supports cross-sex treatments for minors and resolved last year to intensify its lobbying efforts in support of youth access to gender transitions, has not yet made a public statement on the Cass Report.

Meanwhile, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) said Cass's review was ''rooted in the false premise that non-medical alternatives to care will result in less adolescent distress for most adolescents''.

While many Western countries are restricting transgender treatments for children, there's no end in sight in the US, where the debate has taken on distinctly partisan contours. Red states have attempted to ban the procedures, while the Biden administration has promoted childhood gender transitions throughout the federal government.

Politicians and media outlets have often sought advice on transgender issues from these medical organisations, whose guidelines are formed by a small number of vocal activists with views which do not necessarily reflect those of the majority of members. The AAP's guidance on child gender transitions, for example, was written by a single doctor. Cass described the relationship between these groups as an ''echo chamber'' in an interview with NPR this month, saying there was a circularity to their guidance.

The groups have thousands of members, most of whom do not specialise in gender and are not deeply involved in the organisation, meaning the members who themselves work in gender clinics are often the ones writing these guidelines.

''What some organisations are doing is doubling down on saying the evidence is good. And I think that's where you're misleading the public,'' Cass told the NYT. ''You need to be honest about the strength of the evidence and say what you're going to do to improve it.'' She added, citing the AAP: ''I wonder whether, if they weren't feeling under such political duress, they would be able to be more nuanced, to say that multiple truths exist in this space.''

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Archived Version

Sat, 18 May 2024 18:11

Washington, D.C.-, May 16, 2024

For Immediate ReleaseContact: massie.press@mail.house.govContact #: 202-225-3465WASHINGTON, D.C.- Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) announces the introduction of H.R. 8421, the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act. Rep. Massie's legislation abolishes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve banks. It also repeals the Federal Reserve Act, the 1913 law that created the Federal Reserve System."Americans are suffering under crippling inflation, and the Federal Reserve is to blame," said Rep. Massie. "During COVID, the Federal Reserve created trillions of dollars out of thin air and loaned it to the Treasury Department to enable unprecedented deficit spending. By monetizing the debt, the Federal Reserve devalued the dollar and enabled free money policies that caused the high inflation we see today."

"Monetizing debt is a closely coordinated effort between the White House, Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Congress, Big Banks, and Wall Street," Rep. Massie continued. "Through this process, retirees see their savings evaporate due to the actions of a central bank pursuing inflationary policies that benefit the wealthy and connected. If we really want to reduce inflation, the most effective policy is to end the Federal Reserve."

The text of Rep. Massie's H.R. 8421 is available at this link.

Original cosponsors of Rep. Massie's legislation include Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI).

The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act was first introduced by former Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) in 1999 and hasn't been reintroduced since 2013.

In addition to introducing this legislation to "End the Fed," Rep. Massie has also introduced H.R. 24, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2023 to audit the Federal Reserve. H.R. 24 was originally introduced by former Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) in 2009.

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Archived Version

Sat, 18 May 2024 17:44

CNN '--

The French government has declared a state of emergency in its South Pacific island territory of New Caledonia after deadly violence erupted for a third day Wednesday, with armed clashes between protesters, militias and police, and buildings and cars set on fire in the capital.

At least four people have died in the unrest, which is considered the worst since the 1980s. In the capital Noumea, authorities have imposed a curfew and closed the main airport '-- usually a busy tourist hub '-- to commercial traffic. They have also banned public gatherings, carrying weapons and selling alcohol.

The violence is the latest outburst of political tensions that have simmered for years and pitted the island's largely pro-independence indigenous Kanak communities '-- who have long chafed against rule by Paris '' against French inhabitants opposed to breaking ties with their motherland.

Protests began Monday involving mostly young people, in response to the tabling of a vote 10,000 miles (17,000 kilometers) away in the French parliament proposing changes to New Caledonia's constitution that would give greater voting rights to French residents living on the islands. On Tuesday, legislators voted overwhelmingly in favor of the change.

''The last two days we've seen violence of a scale we haven't seen for 30 years in New Caledonia,'' Denise Fisher, a former Australian Consul-General in New Caledonia, told CNN. ''It is kind of marking the end of 30 years of peace.''

''The Kanak people are objecting to [the vote in France] not just because it's been decided in Paris without them but also they feel that they want it to be part of a negotiation '... which would include another self determination vote and a range of other things.''

The proposed changes to the constitution would add thousands of extra voters to New Caledonia's electoral rolls, which have not been updated since the late 1990s. Pro-independence groups say the changes are an attempt by France to consolidate its rule over the archipelago.

France's interior ministry told CNN that 1,800 police officers and gendarmes are already present in New Caledonia and 500 additional police will arrive in the coming hours.

The state of emergency will allow authorities to impose restrictions on movement and carry out house arrests and searches. A spokesperson for the French government said the measures were needed to ''deal with the serious breaches of public order which are occurring.''

Lying in the South Pacific with Australia, Fiji and Vanuatu for neighbors, New Caledonia is a semiautonomous French territory '-- one of a dozen scattered throughout the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for calm, issuing a letter Wednesday to New Caledonian political leaders urging them to ''unambiguously condemn all this violence'' and inviting both pro- and anti-independence leaders to meet him ''face to face'' in Paris.

Macron's administration has pushed for a pivot to the Indo-Pacific, stressing that France is a Pacific power, as China and the United States beef up their presence amid a battle for influence in the strategically important region. New Caledonia is at the center of that plan.

''The stakes are high for France,'' Fisher added. ''France has identified an entire Indo-Pacific vision for itself.''

''The legitimacy of France's participation this way, having an influence in this way, is in question when you have scenes like this.''

Three people - two men and a woman, all indigenous Kanaks - have been shot dead in the violent protests and looting, according to Charles Wea, spokesperson for Louis Mapou, President of the Government of New Caledonia. A French police officer who was injured by gunfire in the riots also died, French interior minister G(C)rald Darmanin said.

Demonstrators have also set fire to buildings and cars in Noumea, defying a curfew that has been extended to Thursday.

Thick plumes of black smoke covered the capital on Wednesday morning, social media video showed. Images showed burned-out cars, fires in the street, and shops vandalized and looted.

''Some are equipped with hunting rifles with buckshot as ammunition. Others were equipped with larger rifles, firing bullets,'' the French High commissioner to New Caledonia Louis Le Franc said.

More than 140 people have been arrested, while at least 60 security personnel have been injured in the clashes between local nationalist groups and the French authorities, according to Le Franc.

One Noumea resident told CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand of panic buying reminiscent of Covid-19. ''A lot of fire, violence'...but it's better I stay safe at home. There are a lot of police and army. I want the government to put the action for the peace,'' the person told RNZ, asking to remain anonymous.

Colonial France took control of New Caledonia in 1853. White settlement followed and the indigenous Kanak people were longtime victims of harsh segregation policies. Many indigenous inhabitants continue to live with high rates of poverty and high unemployment to this day.

Deadly violence exploded in the 1980s eventually paving the way towards the Noumea Accord in 1998, a promise by France to give greater political autonomy to the Kanak community.

Multiple referendums were held in recent years - in 2018, 2020 and 2021 - as part of the agreement offering voters in New Caledonia the option to secede from France. Each referendum was voted down, but the process was marred by boycotts from pro-independence groups and by Covid-19.

Voter roles have been frozen since the Noumea Accord, the issue that France's parliament was seeking to address in the vote that sparked this week's violence.

French lawmakers in Paris voted 351 '' 153 in favor of changing the constitution to ''unfreeze'' the territory's electoral rolls, enfranchising French residents who have been in New Caledonia for 10 years.

The lists were frozen by the French government to appease pro-independence Kanak nationalists who believe new arrivals to the former colony, including from France, dilute popular support for independence.

Both houses of France's parliament need to approve the constitutional change passed by the National Assembly.

On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the government would not call a meeting of the parliament to vote on the motion before talks with Kanak leaders, including major independence alliance the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS).

''I invite New Caledonia's political leaders to seize this opportunity and come to Paris for talks in the coming weeks. The important thing is conciliation. Dialogue is important. It is about finding a common, political and global solution,'' Attal said on the floor of the National Assembly.

FLNKS issued its own statement Wednesday both condemning the vote at the National Assembly and calling for an end to the violence.

''FLNKS appeals to the youth involved in these demonstrations for appeasement and to ensure the safety of the population and property,'' the statement read.

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Archived Version

Sat, 18 May 2024 01:54

Charles Knight starts his day listening to classical music that's programmed to pipe through his Sonos speakers at 6:45 a.m.

But after Sonos updated its app last week, Knight could no longer set or change his wake-up music alarm. Timers to turn off music were also missing.

''Something as basic as an alarm is part of the feature set that users have had for 15 years,'' said Knight, who has spent thousands of dollars on six Sonos speakers for his bedroom, home office and kitchen. ''It was just really badly thought out from start to finish.''

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Archived Version

Sat, 18 May 2024 01:47

On Monday, OpenAI announced exciting new product news: ChatGPT can now talk like a human.

It has a cheery, slightly ingratiating feminine voice that sounds impressively non-robotic, and a bit familiar if you've seen a certain 2013 Spike Jonze film. ''Her,'' tweeted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, referencing the movie in which a man falls in love with an AI assistant voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

But the product release of ChatGPT 4o was quickly overshadowed by much bigger news out of OpenAI: the resignation of the company's co-founder and chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, who also led its superalignment team, as well as that of his co-team leader Jan Leike (who we put on the Future Perfect 50 list last year).

The resignations didn't come as a total surprise. Sutskever had been involved in the boardroom revolt that led to Altman's temporary firing last year, before the CEO quickly returned to his perch. Sutskever publicly regretted his actions and backed Altman's return, but he's been mostly absent from the company since, even as other members of OpenAI's policy, alignment, and safety teams have departed.

But what has really stirred speculation was the radio silence from former employees. Sutskever posted a pretty typical resignation message, saying ''I'm confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial'...I am excited for what comes next.''

Leike ... didn't. His resignation message was simply: ''I resigned.'' After several days of fervent speculation, he expanded on this on Friday morning, explaining that he was worried OpenAI had shifted away from a safety-focused culture.

Questions arose immediately: Were they forced out? Is this delayed fallout of Altman's brief firing last fall? Are they resigning in protest of some secret and dangerous new OpenAI project? Speculation filled the void because no one who had once worked at OpenAI was talking.

It turns out there's a very clear reason for that. I have seen the extremely restrictive off-boarding agreement that contains nondisclosure and non-disparagement provisions former OpenAI employees are subject to. It forbids them, for the rest of their lives, from criticizing their former employer. Even acknowledging that the NDA exists is a violation of it.

If a departing employee declines to sign the document, or if they violate it, they can lose all vested equity they earned during their time at the company, which is likely worth millions of dollars. One former employee, Daniel Kokotajlo, who posted that he quit OpenAI ''due to losing confidence that it would behave responsibly around the time of AGI,'' has confirmed publicly that he had to surrender what would have likely turned out to be a huge sum of money in order to quit without signing the document.

While nondisclosure agreements aren't unusual in highly competitive Silicon Valley, putting an employee's already-vested equity at risk for declining or violating one is. For workers at startups like OpenAI, equity is a vital form of compensation, one that can dwarf the salary they make. Threatening that potentially life-changing money is a very effective way to keep former employees quiet. (OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.)

All of this is highly ironic for a company that initially advertised itself as OpenAI '-- that is, as committed in its mission statements to building powerful systems in a transparent and accountable manner.

OpenAI long ago abandoned the idea of open-sourcing its models, citing safety concerns. But now it has shed the most senior and respected members of its safety team, which should inspire some skepticism about whether safety is really the reason why OpenAI has become so closed.

The tech company to end all tech companiesOpenAI has spent a long time occupying an unusual position in tech and policy circles. Their releases, from DALL-E to ChatGPT, are often very cool, but by themselves they would hardly attract the near-religious fervor with which the company is often discussed.

What sets OpenAI apart is the ambition of its mission: ''to ensure that artificial general intelligence '-- AI systems that are generally smarter than humans '-- benefits all of humanity.'' Many of its employees believe that this aim is within reach; that with perhaps one more decade (or even less) '-- and a few trillion dollars '-- the company will succeed at developing AI systems that make most human labor obsolete.

Which, as the company itself has long said, is as risky as it is exciting.

''Superintelligence will be the most impactful technology humanity has ever invented, and could help us solve many of the world's most important problems,'' a recruitment page for Leike and Sutskever's team at OpenAI states. ''But the vast power of superintelligence could also be very dangerous, and could lead to the disempowerment of humanity or even human extinction. While superintelligence seems far off now, we believe it could arrive this decade.''

Naturally, if artificial superintelligence in our lifetimes is possible (and experts are divided), it would have enormous implications for humanity. OpenAI has historically positioned itself as a responsible actor trying to transcend mere commercial incentives and bring AGI about for the benefit of all. And they've said they are willing to do that even if that requires slowing down development, missing out on profit opportunities, or allowing external oversight.

''We don't think that AGI should be just a Silicon Valley thing,'' OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman told me in 2019, in the much calmer pre-ChatGPT days. ''We're talking about world-altering technology. And so how do you get the right representation and governance in there? This is actually a really important focus for us and something we really want broad input on.''

OpenAI's unique corporate structure '-- a capped-profit company ultimately controlled by a nonprofit '-- was supposed to increase accountability. ''No one person should be trusted here. I don't have super-voting shares. I don't want them,'' Altman assured Bloomberg's Emily Chang in 2023. ''The board can fire me. I think that's important.'' (As the board found out last November, it could fire Altman, but it couldn't make the move stick. After his firing, Altman made a deal to effectively take the company to Microsoft, before being ultimately reinstated with most of the board resigning.)

But there was no stronger sign of OpenAI's commitment to its mission than the prominent roles of people like Sutskever and Leike, technologists with a long history of commitment to safety and an apparently genuine willingness to ask OpenAI to change course if needed. When I said to Brockman in that 2019 interview, ''You guys are saying, 'We're going to build a general artificial intelligence,''' Sutskever cut in. ''We're going to do everything that can be done in that direction while also making sure that we do it in a way that's safe,'' he told me.

Their departure doesn't herald a change in OpenAI's mission of building artificial general intelligence '-- that remains the goal. But it almost certainly heralds a change in OpenAI's interest in safety work; the company hasn't announced who, if anyone, will lead the superalignment team.

And it makes it clear that OpenAI's concern with external oversight and transparency couldn't have run all that deep. If you want external oversight and opportunities for the rest of the world to play a role in what you're doing, making former employees sign extremely restrictive NDAs doesn't exactly follow.

Changing the world behind closed doorsThis contradiction is at the heart of what makes OpenAI profoundly frustrating for those of us who care deeply about ensuring that AI really does go well and benefits humanity. Is OpenAI a buzzy, if midsize tech company that makes a chatty personal assistant, or a trillion-dollar effort to create an AI god?

The company's leadership says they want to transform the world, that they want to be accountable when they do so, and that they welcome the world's input into how to do it justly and wisely.

But when there's real money at stake '-- and there are astounding sums of real money at stake in the race to dominate AI '-- it becomes clear that they probably never intended for the world to get all that much input. Their process ensures former employees '-- those who know the most about what's happening inside OpenAI '-- can't tell the rest of the world what's going on.

The website may have high-minded ideals, but their termination agreements are full of hard-nosed legalese. It's hard to exercise accountability over a company whose former employees are restricted to saying ''I resigned.''

ChatGPT's new cute voice may be charming, but I'm not feeling especially enamored.

A version of this story originally appeared in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here!

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Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 21:33

Federal authorities on Friday pledged nearly $200 million in an attempt to control the spread of bird flu on dairy farms. Some of that money would go directly to farms to help them reduce the spread of the virus, cover veterinary costs and compensate farmers who've lost milk because of sick cows.

The money is also intended to encourage testing of both dairy cows and the people who work closely with them '-- a key step, experts said, in understanding the true scope of bird flu, also known as H5N1, across the U.S.

''Incentives work very well to get a better understanding of epidemiology,'' said Katelyn Jetelina, who tracks illnesses for a website called ''Your Local Epidemiologist.''

Right now, there is no requirement for dairy cows to be tested unless they're being moved across state lines, according to a recent federal order. Otherwise, the decision is left to farmers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that since that federal order went into effect at the end of April, the National Animal Health Laboratory Network reported 905 tests for bird flu among cattle. Among those, 112 were positive.

(During a press briefing Friday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said only around 80 cows had been tested since the order went into effect. A USDA spokesperson later clarified that since the order went into effect, an additional 80 tests have been conducted daily.)

As of Friday, 42 herds in nine states '-- Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio and Texas '-- had been affected by the outbreak.

''Those 42 family farm operations are suffering, and we want to make sure we're there to provide help and assistance,'' Vilsack said.

The USDA will offer $98 million to affected farms over the next four months, which could equate to as much as $28,000 per farm, Vilsack said.

Jetelina called the program ''a fantastic step'' but ''way overdue.'' The outbreak among dairy cattle was first announced at the end of March.

''The incentive program is a huge leap forward,'' especially for smaller farms, said Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. It's likely not enough, however, for larger farms that could lose upward of $3 million with a bird flu outbreak, he said.

''This is not going to get fixed tomorrow,'' he said. But incentives ''like this lay the groundwork for it to be better, and it also gives us precedent if and when we deal with the next large outbreak.''

The Department of Health and Human Services will put in an additional $101 million to ramp up monitoring of people who have been exposed to sick animals, contact tracing and genetic testing of the virus to watch for mutations.

Part of those funds will also go toward wastewater surveillance of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to start posting that data publicly as early as Monday, a CDC spokesperson told NBC News.

A separate monitoring system called WastewaterSCAN, which tracks 191 sites in 41 states, is showing high levels of influenza A in the Midwest and Northeast. That's unusual for mid-May, well past the typical flu season. The bird flu is a type of influenza A virus.

Those findings prompted the WastewaterSCAN researchers to look more closely at wastewater sites in Texas, where it's believed the bird flu outbreak began.

Further testing indicated that, at the sites in Texas, ''what we were seeing was most likely attributable to an H5 influenza virus,'' said Marlene Wolfe, an assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University and program director for WastewaterSCAN.

While wastewater testing can detect influenza A, it can't distinguish whether the virus came from a human or an animal, according to the CDC.

The findings, coupled with recent announcements that fragments of the bird flu virus had been detected in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk, indicate that bird flu may be spreading undetected. Further testing confirmed that the milk, along with other pasteurized dairy products including sour cream and cottage cheese, were safe to eat or drink.

Just one person, a dairy worker in Texas, has tested positive for the virus during the current outbreak. His illness was mild, and his only symptom was pinkeye.

But experts have suggested that other cases could be going undetected. Friday's incentives announcement included a $75 payment to any farm worker who agrees to give blood and nasal swab samples to the CDC.

Meanwhile, experts said the risk of bird flu spreading among the general public remains low.

''Stay aware, but only let it take up a small part of your brain,'' Jetelina said. ''There is a good probability that this will fizzle away.''

Erika Edwards Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and "TODAY."

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Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 21:30

HL Deb 10 April 1946 vol 140 cc643-75 643 § 2.41 p.m.

§ LORD ROTHSCHILD rose to call the attention of His Majesty's Government to 644 the urgent need for compulsory pasteurization of milk in as many parts of the United Kingdom as is practicable; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, in spite of your Lordships' well-known indulgence towards beginners, I imagine there are few who do not feel considerable apprehension on the occasion of their maiden speech in this Chamber. I feel this particularly because there are so many noble Lords who are better qualified to speak on the Motion in my name than I am. Nevertheless, I am fortified to a certain extent by the fact that the Motion has the backing of a number of learned institutions such as the British Medical Association, the Society of Medical Officers of Health, the Joint Tuberculosis Council, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians.

§ It will not be necessary for me to say much about the benefits of pasteurized milk or, as it is known in these days, heat treated milk. Your Lordships are aware that a large number of people die each year through drinking milk contaminated with the bovine tuberculosis germ. I will not weary your Lordships with statistics, but will merely mention that if all the members of this House were killed twice a year'--and I think your Lordships will agree that this would be a matter of some gravity'--the number of deaths would be of the same order as that caused in the United Kingdom by drinking raw milk contaminated with the germ of tuberculosis. I need not remind your Lordships that the number of casualties from this germ far exceeds the number of deaths; but no precise figures are available to me on this point, though the number of casualties has been estimated at about five times the number of deaths. If we put the number of deaths per year at 1,600, the number of casualties will be between 7,000 and 8,000. These casualties, which require months of hospital treatment, are a source of misery and anxiety to their families and grave expense to the State.

§ Of course tuberculosis is not the only disease caused by drinking raw milk contaminated with germs. Undulant fever claims an unknown number of victims each year'--un-known because it is a difficult disease to diagnose'--while outbreaks of typhoid and paratyphoid fever, dysentry, food poisoning, scarlet fever, and diphtheria 645 are known to be caused from time to time by the drinking of raw milk. During the war, well authenticated milk-borne examples of each of these diseases were reported in the medical Press. Possibly the noble Lord who replies for the Government may be able to tell your Lordships if there have been any outbreaks of disease caused by drinking contaminated raw milk in the United Kingdom during 1946.

§ It would appear obvious from the few words I have said that considerable benefits would accrue to the population of this country by removing a perfectly clear cut source of disease and death from the population's milk; and on the assumption that this side of the case is not in dispute, I will turn to the other side which concerns the arguments put forward by the opponents of pasteurization. May I say at the start that I neither can nor shall attempt to deal with the economic aspects of this matter? Your Lordships are well aware that one of the criticisms of any scheme involving the compulsory pasteurization of milk in the United Kingdom is that it will have an adverse effect on the small producer-retailers. Your Lordships may have something to say about the relative merits of killing off numbers of the population each year and maintaining the economic interests of a relatively small section of the community, though the words "as far as is practicable" in my Motion indicate that I appreciate the difficulties of extending any scheme of heat treatment to special or rural parts of the country. If I may, I shall return to the question of the producer-retailer later.

§ The first objection with which I shall deal is that pasteurized milk tastes nasty, metallic, or at any rate different from raw milk. When I say to your Lordships that this is untrue, you will treat my statement with the same scepticism as the original statement that pasteurized milk tastes nasty. Your Lordships will require scientific or legal evidence one way or another. Such evidence could be obtained by submitting samples of raw and heat treated milk to some cross section of the community and seeing whether the members of this cross section could distinguish between the two types of milk more often than someone guessing or drawing the answer blindfold out of a hat. Your Lordships would decide one way or another on evidence of this type and not 646 on unsubstantiated statements of mine or anybody else. These experiments have in fact been done and Show without a shadow of doubt that an overwhelming number of persons are totally unable to distinguish between raw and heat treated milk. Of course if the milk is not pasteurized properly and, for example, is boiled, it is quite easy to tell the difference, but we must, I think, assume in the argument that the Government would not institute an incompetent scheme of heat treatment.

§ So much for the non-existent difference in taste. Another objection often raised is that pasteurization takes what is called "the life" out of milk. This phrase is a difficult one to deal with because it is so vague. In so far as heat treatment takes the life out of the noxious bacteria which are so often present in our milk, it is of course true, but I doubt whether those who put forward these statements mean them in this sense. It is more likely that they infer that some essential nutrient substances are removed from the milk by the process of pasteurization. It is true that minor changes are brought about in the composition of the milk, but numerous investigations on rats, calves, and human beings, carried out in medical, veterinary, and agricultural institutions in this country and in Scotland, have shown conclusively that such changes have no appreciable effect on the nutritive value of the milk. According to the Director of the National Institute for Research in Dairying, which your Lordships are aware is the most important Institute of its type in the United Kingdom, the difference in composition between raw and heat treated milk has been found in fact to be less than that between samples of raw milk taken from different herds.

§ Though milk is one of nature's best foodstuffs, it is by no means a perfect one, and no one can live exclusively on milk without additional minerals and vitamins. Consequently the fact that a certain amount of these substances is removed by heat treatment is of much less significance than the opponents of heat treatment would have us believe. The opponents of pasteurization'--and many people who have fallen victims to their propaganda'--sometimes say that pasteurization will remove the incentive to clean milk. Such criticisms display a 647 lack of understanding of the difference between clean and safe milk, and also impute a somewhat alarming degree of ignorance to the Government in imagining that if compulsory pasteurization were introduced, the Government would remove the existing regulations about the cleanliness of milk. The regulations about the cleanliness of milk are directed towards preventing milk being contaminated with dust, blood, water, cow dung, and milk-souring bacteria, all of which at one time were an almost natural constituent of milk in this country. Heat treatment, on the other hand, is intended to destroy disease-producing germs. Though it may render milk safe for human consumption, heat treatment cannot render dirty milk clean. Both clean milk and heat treated milk are desirable for different reasons.

§ The opponents of pasteurization also say that it destroys the need for the T.T. and attested herd schemes. Here again there is a lack of understanding of the objectives of the schemes. The T.T. and attested schemes are directed towards improving the health of our cattle as well as towards producing germ-free milk. The heat treatment of milk is directed primarily towards improving the health of our population and reducing the unnecessary number of deaths each year. Quite recently in this country an outbreak of dysentery occurred and was traced without a shadow of doubt to milk from a tuberculin-tested herd. There is nothing extraordinary in this as T.T. milk is always exposed to the possibility of contamination after the milk has left the cow, and we shall never be able to prevent farmhands, and others concerned with the milk, from unwittingly being carriers of disease But suppose we accept the risks that caused this recent outbreak of dysentery; even then, it will take many years for a high percentage of our cattle to become attested or to produce T.T. milk. Experience in the United States, where a costly slaughter policy has been combined with a T.T. herd scheme, makes it clear that it would take a minimum of twenty-five years for an important percentage of our cattle to come into this class, and I doubt if we shall be prepared, or even able, to slaughter cattle on the scale that has been done in the United States. Twenty-five years means many unnecessary 648 deaths and very many unnecessary casualties. Your Lordships may agree with me that anyone who says that the T.T. and attested schemes can achieve what we need in a comparatively short space of time must produce good evidence for such a statement if it is to carry conviction.

§ I now come to the criticism which the opponents of pasteurization put forward with a success which only real nonsense seems able to engender. These gentlemen say: "If we take all the noxious germs out of milk, we shall be preventing the population from acquiring a natural immunity to disease." Your Lordships may agree with me that the cost of this immunity, even if it existed, is somewhat high, and one that might not appeal to the mothers of children who have died from bovine tuberculosis. But apart from this, why do we not drink water contaminated with germs of enteric fever or any of the other diseases that are sometime carried by water? Are we not incurring a very grave risk in accepting the dicta of Ministries of Health of every political shade, of local authorities, of the medical profession, of scientists, or even of the ordinary man? This frightful risk in which most of us are involved by drinking pure water, is one which we appear to sustain with comparative equanimity and impunity. I wonder why a different view is taken by some people because we substitute the word "milk" for the word "water." The truth is, my Lords, that this argument, though on occasions it appeals to those who have not thought much about it, is one that is sufficiently illogical, if not vicious, to be rejected out of hand.

§ There are three objections to pasteurization which are more serious than those to which I have already referred. The first concerns the possibility that the institution of compulsory heat treatment would not only put small producer-retailers out of business, but would reduce the nation's milk supply. Of course if the Government were to pass some totalitarian Bill making it illegal to sell any form of milk anywhere in the United Kingdom which was not pasteurized, this would be the case. But my Motion is not worded in this way, and nobody in his senses would attempt such a measure. I submit to your Lordships that the compulsory institution of heat treatment in towns, shall we say with a population of 649 more than 20,000, would have no effect whatsoever on small producer-retailers; and, so far from reducing the nation's milk supply, it might well cause an increase. During the war literally thousands of gallons of raw milk were poured down the drain as unfit for human consumption, and it was this fact which caused the noble Lord, Lord Woolton, to institute the heat treatment of milk as an urgent measure, thereby saving the nation thousands of gallons. I do not know whether any raw milk is poured down the drains nowadays, but if by any chance it is perhaps a similar saving would occur if the Motion in my name were adopted.

§ May I repeat that the institution of compulsory pasteurization in towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants need have no effect on the little man and the producer-retailer? It is no answer that about 70 per cent. of the nation's milk is already pasteurized. This is not a matter for satisfaction at all when we remember the number of deaths and casualties each year from the other 30 per cent. A further serious objection that might be raised is that heat treatment equipment would have to be bought in the United States and would therefore cost dollars, which we either do not have or cannot spare for this purpose. The Dairy Engineers' Association, of which most of the firms who make heat treatment plant are members, inform me that not one screw for this equipment would have to be bought in the United States.

§ Finally, I must I think mention an objection to pasteurization which I put into the serious category though some of your Lordships may feel it hardly merits this treatment. I refer to that type of person who knows from personal experience and observation that the earth is flat and not round, and who say such things as: "What nature produces is good enough for me, so better not tamper with it; it might be dangerous; I like my milk raw." Your Lordships will be well aware that the idea of not tampering with nature is apt to get one into difficulties from time to time. When one is dying of pneumonia one must not tamper with the course of nature by administering penicillin. One must not tamper with nature during an acute attack of appendicitis by having an operation. Or even if one were to be so unwise as to allow an operation to take place, one must not tamper with 650 nature by administering an an...sthetic. If anyone were fortunate enough to get hold of a steak in the future, one must not tamper with nature by cooking it. As a whole we tolerate the peculiar activities of cranks and eccentrics with a certain affectionate amusement, but when they affect the lives and health of the people of our country, I think we should give up this tolerance and at the same time explain to the uninformed why.

§ When one ponders over the various methods we have of killing off our dwindling population, one cannot help returning to the melancholy spectacle of road deaths, and one cannot help being thankful that committees constantly sit and discussions constantly go on to devise methods of solving this tragedy. But in the case which I submit to your Lordships there is no need for committees and little need for lengthy deliberation. The committees have sat; tie deliberations have taken place, and In fact schemes have already been set out'--I referred to the one of the noble Lord, Lord Woolton, during the war'--for introducing cornpulsory pasteurization. The exigencies of the war were doubtless responsible for the shelving of the noble Lord's scheme. The exigencies of the peace make the institution of compulsory pasteurization an urgent necessity. Any Government which does not implement such a scheme, or at the very least accept the principle for large towns must, in my respectful submission, incur a large share of responsibility for the death and disease which result each year from the people of this country continuing this ill-advised and unnecessary practice of drinking unpasteurized milk. I beg to move for Papers.

§ 3.0 p.m.

§ EARL DE LA WARR My Lords, it is the custom of your Lordships' House when a noble Lord ha; delivered his maiden speech to congratulate him. I think that the best way of making it clear that in doing this now I am taking no formal step is to say that I know I shall be speaking on your Lordships' behalf in saving that even if the speech which has just been delivered were not the noble Lord's maiden effort, we would still all wish to thank him and to congratulate him on a really useful, knowledgeable and'--if His Majesty's Government are able to give a satisfactory reply to it'--important speech on a really vital subject. 651 Not having the noble Lord's scientific training, I must confess that all my prejudices are thoroughly against pasteurization. It must be better to produce clean milk rather than to kill germs in dirty milk. None of us wish so to increase the capital cost of distributing milk'--this is a point to which the noble Lord has referred, and referred, if I may say so, very helpfully and sympathetically'--as not only to wipe out many thousands of small men, who might have to cease distributing milk, but also (because the two things are intimately wrapped up), to drive many out of production. In these days of shortage, this is indeed the very last moment to take the slightest risk of doing anything like that.

Another point to which the noble Lord has referred is this. We must be careful to do nothing that will in any way tend to make the industry feel that it is now less necessary to clean up the herds and to clean up the farms. Having said that, we have got to be realists. It is for the producers in any market to supply what the consumer wants. The wool trade may be deeply and sincerely convinced that the woollen stocking is a much better covering for the female leg than the silk stocking, but that conviction, I think, must to-day remain in the sphere of pious hope. There is no doubt whatever, as the noble Lord has said, that the over-whelming view of the medical and scientific professions'--or at least of the vast majority, anyway, of those engaged in them'--is in favour of pasteurization, at any rate of our urban supplies of milk that have to be bulked. The doctors may not know everything about health yet'--they would be the last to claim that they do'--but clearly they know a great deal more than does the layman. Therefore, speaking from the agriculturist's point of view, I repeat that it is for us as producers to supply the nation with the milk that the medical profession say will be best for the national health. At any rate, if we are honest with ourselves, we have no alternative.

What is the present position? Certainly, it is not as desperate as is sometimes suggested. No one, for a moment, denies the gravity of the figures that have been put before us by Lord Rothschild, nor indeed shall I attempt to dispute them. But I do not think we should forget that 652 really immense progress has been made in this matter during the last few years. So far as I can ascertain, the present position is this. About eighty per cent. of our total milk supply is served to the public by the distributive trade. Of that milk, supplied in that manner, no less a proportion than ninety per cent. is pasteurized to-day. I think that you would find it very difficult to get any milk now in London that, in fact, is not pasteurized. That figure which I have just given, ninety per cent. of the eighty per cent., roughly agrees, I think, with the noble Lord's figure, which was, if I remember rightly, seventy per cent. of the total milk supplies. On these figures it is clear that to apply compulsion to the bulk of that particular part of the trade would cause no difficulty at all. The noble Lord has suggested compulsion in the large urban areas. I think he mentioned places of 20,000 population and upward. Certainly I would be prepared to agree with him there if that is the population limit upon which he draws his line, but I would except all milk, even in those areas, that is up to an accredited standard of cleanliness. I feel rather strongly that if a member of the public would prefer to be supplied with fresh milk of an accredited standard of cleanliness, then he or she ought to be allowed to purchase that milk even in a large urban area.

We now come to the twenty per cent. of the total supply which is delivered by the producer-retailer. Of this, only a very small quantity is pasteurized. I think the noble Lord would agree that probably some of it is pasteurized, but a certain proportion of it is of certified or finer grade'--that is T.T. or accredited. Of the total milk supply of the country to-day, twelve per cent. is of T.T. standard, and twenty-five per cent. is accredited. I hope your Lordships will forgive me for putting these figures before you, but I think it is rather important to try to get an accurate picture of the sort of problem with which we have to deal. I think that we can do so, perhaps, from what I have said. The position, though serious, is not quite as desperate as some people say. The only really difficult problem with which we are faced is that connected with the producer-retailer. There are about fifty thousand of these in this country, handling about twenty per cent. of our milk supply. They are usually small 653 men and they are usually serving small or urban communities, or rural communities outside the range of the large distributor, and areas which without these men would frequently have great difficulty in obtaining any milk at all. The producer-retailers, therefore, are performing a useful service which in many cases nobody else would be prepared to perform.

The question we have to decide really is, first, at what pace can we tackle this problem of cleaning up the milk supply delivered by this section of the trade, and, second, in what direction do we desire to travel? On the question of pace there is no doubt that if we try to go too fast we shall merely drive these men out of business, and we shall be deprived of quite a large quantity of milk which we need today. On the question of direction I venture to say that whereas pasteurization is quite inevitable for the large urban areas, by far the better manner of dealing with the problem of the producer-retailer is to tackle the problem of cleaning up the herds and cleaning up the farms. Not only is the capital cost of pasteurization far too heavy to be borne by this section of the trade, but where the bulk of the milk is taken from the producer to the consumer, where the milk is produced in a clean manner it can maintain its cleanliness. Therefore in the case of the producer-retailer, provided that the milk is clean, I can see no very great reason for pasteurization at all.

Here, my Lords, I venture to make a very definite proposal, or perhaps I should say set of proposals, to His Majesty's Government and to the Milk Marketing Board. Let us make a start, here and now, with compulsory pasteurization in large urban areas of 20,000 population or over. Then let us steadily extend it elsewhere to those producers and distributors who are not prepared, or not able, to offer to the public milk of an agreed and designated standard. Give them a reasonable period to reach that standard, but have a definite time limit. I would suggest that we should have something like a ten-year scheme, divided up into different stages; that by the end of the first two years all producer-retailers should have attained the present accredited standard; that by the end of the first five years they should have to attain a standard very considerably above the accredited standard; and 654 that by the end of ten years they should have to attain the full tuberculin-tested and attested-herd standard. And here I would like to interpose a remark. In doing this do let us see in future that milk of a designated standard is kept separate from other milk. A great deal of effort is required, on the part of the producers, and a great deal of public money is being expended at the present moment, in encouraging the production of clean milk which is mixed with all the rest the moment it leaves the farm.

Above all, do let us get going at once. One thing we do not want to do is to continue drifting along as we are at the present moment and then suddenly be driven into some panicky and drastic: steps. Let us here and now make up our minds as to the right long-term policy to pursue, and take our time in pursuing it, but with a definite time limit set for the end. During this ten-year period we should intensify the whole campaign for the cleaning up of herds. Firstly, the veterinary professions, the advisory and education services of the Ministry and of the committees, milk recorders, and anybody else concerned with the milk trade, should be mobilized to this end. Sir Thomas Baxter, Chairman of the Milk Marketing Board, has already given a great lead to the industry on the subject and it is for those who have any connexion whatsoever with the problem to take up that lead. Secondly, clean landlords should be asked to join in the campaign, and to do so boll by personal propaganda among their tenants and by giving preference in electricity schemes, water schemes, and the improvement of farm buildings, to tenants who are prepared to come into the clean milk campaign. I should like to see a very strong appeal going out from the Government to the landlords to this effect. Of course the effectiveness of this appeal would depend a great deal on whether His Majesty's Government are prepared to ensure that labour and materials for the work to be done in cleaning up the farm buildings should be made available.

Thirdly, there is no question that the existing performance premium for producing tuberculin-tested milk is a paying proposition for the prod Jeer. Unfortunately, the small man without capital still feels he is unable to face the initial risk and expense. It seems to me that the time has come now when the Government 655 should consider whether they should not rather make their grant at the point where the actual loss occurs. Now the actual loss occurs usually when a farmer going into the scheme finds that a large proportion of his cows do not pass the test and have to be disposed of at a loss. We have to ask ourselves here whether we are going to change the financial basis of the scheme; would the new basis of granting assistance mean a prohibitive cost? I have tried to examine the figures, and my answer very definitely is "No," that in the long run it might actually be less than under the present system.

There are about 3,000,000 cows in this country at the moment, I think. Now if one-third'--and I think we would agree that that is rather a high proportion'--are ultimately affected, that means 1,000,000 cows for which, at some time or other in the next ten years, some form of compensation would have to be paid. Of course the amount of compensation would be determined by the policy of the Government towards slaughter, but as barely I per cent. of milk from tubercular cows are infected by tubercle bacteria I do not think anybody would urge the policy of slaughter at the present moment. At approximately £15 to £20 per cow, that means a sum of £15,000,000 to £20,000,000 would be required'--rather less than the total of £4,000,000 a year or slightly over which we are paying out in premiums at the present moment. I do not recommend the immediate dropping of the premiums, but undoubtedly they will have to be considered in the future. If this were done it would make possible the scheme put forward the other day by the Chairman of the Milk Marketing Board for the establishment of free areas for the production of clean and healthy stock, for the replenishment of herds that are going into the attested-herd scheme. I think your Lordships would agree that that is an absolutely vital step to take if we are going to do anything with regard to cleaning up the herds.

I have said a good deal on the question of cleaning up the herds during the debate on pasteurization. I have done so deliberately because it seems to me the two subjects are so vitally and intimately connected. I would say to His Majesty's Government that I do hope 656 that they will base their policy on the principle of a general drive dealing with the whole subject, far wider in scope than pasteurization. Let us clean up the herds. The noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, has a Motion on the Paper to-day dealing with veterinary education. That is all relevant. Let us push on to the greatest extent possible with the increase of veterinary education, to make sure that present methods of vaccination against abortion are pressed home. The problem of mastitis is not by any means entirely solved. But we are, I think, very hopeful. Both sulphanilamide and penicillin are going to make very useful contributions in the near future. Let us see that materials and labour for building and for bringing electricity and water to the farms are all made available. In the meanwhile, bring in compulsory pasteurization, as the noble Lord suggests, for the larger urban areas, but bearing in mind all the time'--and this is what I would venture to impress on your Lordships as strongly as I can'--that, even in the large towns, pasteurization, desirable in itself, is no substitute for clean milk, while, in the smaller and rural communities, it may never be necessary if only we make sufficiently rapid progress in cleaning up the herds and cleaning up the farms.

§ 3.22 p.m.

§ VISCOUNT BLEDISLOE My Lords, I may perhaps remind your Lordships that it is exactly twelve months ago to a day that we had a very important debate in this House on the subject of milk, on its purity and on its availability. Many distinguished scientists took part in that debate, including the President of the Royal College of Physicians, Lord Moran, and I think we all came to the conclusion that our milk production and our milk supplies were not matters on which this country had any reason to boast. I venture to hope that, as we have chosen an exact twelve-monthly period since we last debated this subject, we might almost in future select the second Wednesday in April as a suitable day for reviewing in this House the milk position and the effect of undesirable or impure milk upon the health of the population. I should like warmly to endorse the tribute which has been paid to Lord Rothschild for bringing this matter before the House to-day, all the more so because it enables some of us, who 657 occupy what I may call a middle position in this matter, to put our views before the House in the hope that the adoption of them may lead to a much better and safer milk supply, without too seriously upsetting the process of production, which is all too small in this country on its various farms.

The noble Lord opposite, if he will allow me to say so, I think unduly stressed some of the supposed objections to the pasteurization of milk, one of them being taste, another being its effect upon nutritive value, and the third being the removal of vitamins. Whatever may have been said in days gone by with regard to taste, I do not think any reasonable person nowadays, with any knowledge of the facts, would suggest that properly pasteurized milk is either nasty, metallic, or otherwise unattractive to drink, if the pasteurization takes place as it ought to take place, between 135 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for a matter of half an hour, with a subsequent cooling for at least five minutes to below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. There should be no difference in the flavour of the milk as a result of the pasteurizing process. The same may be said with regard to the effect upon nutritive value. After all, there are several highly civilized countries in the world where the bulk of the milk is pasteurized, and has been pasteurized for many years past, and it has never been suggested'--at least I have never heard it suggested seriously'--that the process has appreciably reduced its nutritive value.

With regard to the removal of vitamins, there is only- one vitamin, which is perhaps all too scarce in milk, which can ill be spared, and is by neglect in the treatment of milk very often entirely removed. That is vitamin C. I do not know if your Lordships are aware of this fact, that, if you keep a jug of milk in the sunshine for half an hour, the whole of the vitamin C in the milk disappears. It is therefore most desirable, if you want to retain that vitamin, which is particularly valuable to infants and young children, that milk should not be exposed to sunlight after it has been drawn from the cow.

I want to say quite frankly that I welcome, indeed I am prepared to endorse, this Motion of the noble Lord opposite in favour of pasteurization, using his words, "as far as is practicable," and so long as he does not act as a deterrent to 658 securing bovine health improvement. The main advantage of improving the health of our dairy cattle is to increase the yield. That is an even greater advantage than improving the quality of the milk. We have to increase the yield of milk, which is materially reduced in this country today by bovine disease, by tuberculosis, by mastitis in particular and by contagious abortion. It is perfectly true to say that it has frightened a good many people, and we cannot deny it, that 40 per cent. of the whole of our cattle in this country react to the tuberculin test. But we have to bear in mind at the same time, that only one half per cent. of our dairy cattle yield tubercular milk, and, if we were to take the drastic steps in the matter of slaughter which are taken in the United States, where there is something less than one half per cent. of the cattle affected with tuberculosis, of course the availability of milk in this country would be reduced. Milk would not be so available in this country and, as a result, there would be an adverse effect on the health of the population, and especially that of the children.

I am also uttering this warning because there is a great deal of popular misconception on the danger to human health of milk which contains bovine tubercular germs. It is my experience from time to time to receive drafts of articles and books on various agricultural subjects with the request that I shall provide a foreword or preface. I received one only a week ago, and the proposed title of the book was, Your Enemy the Cow. That book, so far as I was able to read it, contained a good deal of information, although rather exaggerated, similar to that which the noble Lord, Lord Rothschild, has submitted to your Lordships to-day. But to my mind (and I told the author quite candidly what I thought, the whole book is damned by its title. In a country like this, where the milk yield of our cattle is something less than the miserable amount of 500 gallons during a lactation period'--500 gallons a year'--as against 750 to 800 gallons in countries like Denmark, Finland, Holland and others; and remembering that the actual consumption of milk a day in this country is an average of one half-pint, whereas in most civilized European countries it is at least 5o per cent. more, and in many countries double, for any one with any 659 knowledge (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing in this connexion), to frighten the public with a book entitled Your Enemy the Cow is, to my mind, almost a matter for public prosecution.

The question of pasteurization has been a matter of controversy in this country for at least a generation, and curiously enough has had very litle relation to scientific facts. It has been influenced almost wholly by a fear that progress in particular directions would be obstructed. It has been opposed in the past by leading stock-owners, first as calculated to check the improvement in the health of dairy cattle by rendering even bad milk potable and safe; and secondly because, by giving the distributors better-keeping milk, it would make the producers victims of price-bargaining. The distributors, on the other hand, favoured pasteurization as a means of prolonging very considerably the period for keeping milk in a drinkable and relatively wholesome condition. The medical profession, with little knowledge of farming conditions, demanded pasteurization as the most certain method of ensuring for the public a safe milk supply. Up to a few years ago the veterinary profession supported the opinion of the stock-owners, because of its conviction that there was a great need for a considerable improvement in the health of bovines, especially dairy cattle, and that pasteurization would tend to check it.

These interested parties formed themselves into two groups who hotly contested the issue without appreciating the fact, now generally recognized, that pasteurization, as my noble friend Earl De La Warr has pointed out, is not an alternative to the improvement of animal health, but is complementary to it. May I just remind some of those who are opposed to pasteurization that they probably quite unconsciously carry out the process of pasteurization every time they drink a cup of tea and every time they eat a milk pudding, the temperature in each case having been raised above that which is necessary to effect pasteurization. There are some stock-owners who still oppose pasteurization, but there is no doubt that this opposition would entirely disappear if only the Government would boldly give a definite and firm assurance that they would henceforward actively promote improvement in the health of dairy cattle as well as insist on the pasteurization of milk so far as 660 that is practicable. So long as the public are led to believe that even tainted milk can be rendered innocuous by pasteurization, the process of reducing the inordinate morbidity of our cattle will be a very slow one. It may confidently be expected that in the not distant future the consumer, the producer, the distributor and the medical and veterinary professions will agree that, although efficient pasteurization may make an unsafe, bad milk innocuous to human health, it does not and cannot convert a bad milk into one of high quality.

It is the duty of the public authorities, commencing with the Government, to see that the public are given every opportunity to procure, at a reasonable cost, safe, good milk'--that is, a milk which is produced from cattle free from such diseases as tuberculosis, contagious abortion, and mastitis, and that the animals from which it is drawn are kept under good, hygienic conditions, so that masses of bacteria and dirt do not gain access to it. Indeed, if compulsory pasteurization of all dairy cattle not specially designated "T.T." (or otherwise) were introduced with the knowledge that the Government had started upon a definite policy of bovine health improvement, there is not the smallest doubt that the demand for milk would expand enormously, to the benefit both of national nutrition and of the producer.

Surely the immediate problem is whether it is practicable, even if it is desirable, to introduce complete compulsory pasteurization. Apart from the special problem of the producer-retailer with which my noble friend in front of me has, in my judgment, convincingly dealt, it is common knowledge that there is at present a shortage of both reliable pasteurization plant and of trained technical staff to ensure that pasteurization is carried out efficiently; and if it is not carried out efficiently, it may aggravate the present position rather than improve it. There would therefore seem to be strong justification for allowing the best milk produced on our British farms to be delivered raw to the consumer, at any rate for the present. The usual recommendation of our leading experts is that milk from attested and certified herds should be allowed to be retailed to the public without being subjected to heat before sale. The only drawbacks to this practice are that although the cattle of these herds are free from tuberculosis'--and T.B. is, after all, the dominant risk'--they may not 661 necessarily be free from contagious abortion, and that therefore this milk may contain germs which will induce undulant fever in human beings. It would seem desirable ultimately, if not immediately, to insist that milk should be sold raw and unheated only if it comes from herds free from both T.B. and contagious abortion.

There are, of course, still further risks involved in the consumption of raw milt: arising from certain types of mastitis which occasionally cause sore throats, but arising more particularly from infection entering the milk after it has left the cow. This danger is increased considerably when the milk is bulked. I hope the time is coming when the Government will insist that good milk from healthy animals shall not be bulked with that of milk taken from cows which are diseased in one way or another. During distribution there are a number of individuals involved, any of whom might introduce a germ liable to cause illness, but this risk is minimized if milk is bottled on the farm. That is done, of course, in several countries with which I am well acquainted but it would present obvious practical difficulties in this country at the present time.

It is therefore clear that we should have a definite assurance from the Government that they are now at long last genuinely and actively about to embark on a long-term policy for the improvement of our dairy herds, and that they realize that although there are reasons, wholly unconnected with the farm, why all milk should be pasteurized, the soundest practical measure would be compulsory pasteurization of all milk except that coming from tubercular-free herds and, so far as practicable, from herds free from contagious abortion. May I say in passing that the Royal Agricultural Society of England, of which I have the honour to be the President this year, has during the last month embarked upon an inter-county pure milk competition? The conditions are now being drawn up in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture, who are wholly in sympathy with the scheme. The trophy will be awarded to that county in England or Wales which has during the previous twelve months done most in the matter of increasing its herds of attested cattle. Certain counties, which I will not mention before the award is decided upon for this year, have made a most remarkable increase during the last three 662 years in the number of attested herds and herds that have passed the tuberculin test.

Then there is the question of a supply of veterinarians. I know that the noble Lord opposite who represents the War Office will presently reply to the Motion which stands in my name on the Paper. That Motion will be dealt with later, but I should like to say that during the last week an assurance has been given in another place on behalf of the Government that the recommendations contained in the report of the Loveday Committee on Veterinary Education will be implemented by the Government. The only weak point, if I may say so, about the answer made on behalf of the Government in another place is that there is no immediate prospect of bringing before Parliament the necessary legislation to implement that Report. All I would venture to say in that connexion is that from the point of view of public health the matter appears to be so important that I hope time will be found to pass into law rapidly a measure which would enable a larger number of young men in this country to be properly trained, through the medium of the universities, for what ought to be regarded as one of the honourable and learned professions in this country. To strengthen the veterinary profession would be a most profitable Government investment in the matter of national nutrition and national health.

Nutrition and health depend largely upon an adequate and safe milk supply; milk is the AI priority human food. This in turn depends upon far greater freedom from bovine diseases, and such freedom is conditioned by a sufficiency of skilled veterinarians. Veterinary practice should be made a worth-while profession, comparable in status and emoluments with that of the medical profession. If there were more skilled veterinarians there would ultimately be need of fewer medical practitioners.

§ 3.45 p.m.

§ LORD AMMON My Lords, I have had the fortune, or misfortune, within the last few days to rind myself involved in disputes between experts. The last dispute concerned the constituent parts of bread and the only answer was able to give on that occasion so far as I personally was concerned was the one which seemed to me to be the most effective, namely, that I did not like the new bread. But 663 that answer would, I feel, hardly be appropriate to the present circumstances because I have to agree, as it is agreed on all sides, that clean milk is a necessity. However, there seems to be some difference of opinion as to how we are to achieve that object and which method is the most effective. May I say to the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, that the question he raises with regard to veterinary surgeons will be answered by my noble friend Lord Nathan?

I would like from this side of the House to congratulate the noble Lord who opened this debate on his manner of delivery, the text of his speech and its conciseness. Those are three qualities which will, I know, commend him to this House. As to his rather horrifying statement about the fatalities caused and the disease created by the use of contaminated milk, there are no reliable statistics which can be called in aid just now, although it is not disputed for a moment that there is a great need for every precaution to be taken and for a good deal more care and consideration to be given to that matter. In that connexion perhaps I may point out that this Government are aware and their predecessors were not unaware of the importance of this subject. In the White Paper it was indicated quite clearly that they were fully conscious of the necessity of grappling with it as soon as it was possible to do so having regard to the labour and material that might be available to them. No Government can ignore the danger of infected milk. The Government are fully conscious of their responsibility in this connexion. That responsibility is increased by the fact that this Government and preceding Governments encouraged schools to supply milk to school children and is increased also by the deprivation of choice of retailer by the rationalized retail delivery scheme.

That brings certainly a very large measure of responsibility which they accept. I would beg to draw your Lordships' attention to the Government's plan to ensure improved quality as set out in the White Paper issued in July, 1943, which was further reinforced by Defence Regulation 55G which prohibited the retail supply of milk in specified areas unless it conformed to a certain standard. For instance, that regulation prohibited the supply of milk by retail in areas to be specified in Orders to be issued by the 664 Minister unless it is either ( a ) tuberculin-tested milk, or ( b ) accredited milk derived from a single herd, or ( c ) heat treated milk, pasteurized milk, or sterilized milk. That is a plain indication, I think, that the Government are fully aware of the urgency and importance of the problem.

The solution of the problem is not quite so easy as it looks when set out in the White Paper, because there are a good many interests, a good deal of prejudice and other things which have got to be overcome in this connexion. Therefore, the preceding Government called in aid the dairyman's war-time associations, which are to be found in practically every town. They asked them to help set up schemes by which the proposals in the White Paper might be made effective. There are 621 rationalized areas in England and Wales and sixty in Scotland, and schemes have so far been received from less than one-third of them. I regret that it has not been possible to specify any areas but this is due to a variety of causes. It will be appreciated that the schemes submitted are paper schemes and in most cases they can only be put into effect after new plant and buildings have been provided.

The point was raised by the noble Viscount and also by the noble Lord who initiated the debate as to the availability of machinery and plant to deal with it. It has not been possible to secure new plant in adequate quantities to meet the requirements of the schemes owing to the limited capacity of the dairy engineering industry. The principal manufacturers have been overwhelmed with orders not only for plant for new users but also for plant for replacement purposes, because much of the existing plant is worn out through heavy usage during the war. The manufacturers of dairy plant are eager to help, and some of them are arranging to increase their capacity to enable earlier deliveries of plant to be made and to cope with the expanding demand. The other difficulties should be overcome in a fairly reasonable period of time, and a desirable increase in heat-treatment facilities secured. In that connexion, I am in a position to say that some of the American manufacturers are already establishing manufacturing plants in this country in order that they might assist in this matter. To a certain extent we are catching up a little in fields where the labour 665 conditions are able to meet the present supply, and even to a small extent to export some small quantity overseas. That I think will be accepted anyway as a beginning towards a better state of affairs.

While it is a matter for regret that more schemes have not been submitted, we have to take clear account of the local difficulties and prejudices. They must be considered, but they will not be allowed to stand in the way of a progressive policy, and a more active policy will undoubtedly be pursued as and when opportunity, labour and plant can be afforded. Everything will be done to facilitate the supply as soon as possible. May I be permitted for greater accuracy to quote from the information which has been supplied to me to answer some of the points raised? With regard to the specification of areas, although no areas have been specified, it should not be assumed that there has not been improvement in the position generally. With a view to encouraging the heat treatment of the maximum quantity of milk, the Ministry of Food has, from November r, 1944, been paying an allowance to milk distributors in England and Wales of one farthing per gallon on all milk subjected by them to heat treatment. This allowance has been increased to rid. per gallon as from April r, 1946. I hope that will give some satisfaction in some quarters. It would be fair to say that heat treatment is already the general rule, and not the exception. Of the total annual liquid consumption in England and Wales amounting to about 1,075,000,000 gallons approximately 725,000,000 gallons are already heat-treated. Of the 350,000,000 gallons not heat-treated about 190,000,000 gallons are sold by producer-retailers and it is estimated that of this quantity 18,000,000 gallons is milk of T.T. standard. Our fears, therefore, are in a good many ways considerably reduced from those alarming reports which I gather have been circulating in various quarters.

It would be perhaps as well if I say just a word on the point which was raised by the noble Earl, Lord De La Warr, on the matter of grading of dairy herds. Apart from the policy of heat-treatment the Government have for some years been engaged on a long-term programme for grading dairy herds with a view to improving the general quality of the 666 animals and reducing tuberculosis and other diseases in the herds. Despite the difficulties of the war years, steady progress has been made, and it is hoped to improve the rate of improvement in the future. I think not the least important side is the milk feeding of children in our schools, as in this connexion the future health of the community is involved, and that concerns very directly the problem with which we are at the moment engaged. It is of imps stance and interest to notice the progress being made in that matter. Much progress has also been made in securing that milk of an approved class is supplied to schools under the milk-in-schools scheme.

With a view to ascertaining the classes of milk being supplied to grant-aided schools, a census was carried out in England and Wales in the autumn of 1943 in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. A similar census was carried out by the Ministry of Food among the private schools participating in the milk-in-schools scheme. The complete census covers over 32,000 schools of which some 30,000 were being supplied with liquid milk. Of the latter, 67 per cent. were being provided with heat-treated milk, 64 per cent. with T.T. milk and the remainder with accredited or non-designated raw milk. Of the gallonage of milk supplied 82.2 per cent. was heat-treated milk and 4.2 per cent. T.T. milk. In Scotland it has been the practice to arrange where it is practicable for T.T. milk to be supplied to the schools. I think, having regard to the limitations imposed by war-time difficulties and particularly after-war difficulties, I have proved to your Lordships that the Government are not unmindful of the gravity of this and are doing everything they possibly can to deal with it. In some senses they have already anticipated some of the points which have been raised.

Both the noble Earl, Lord De La Warr, and Lord Rothschild raised the question of dealing with areas of, I think, 20,000 or more inhabitants. The White Paper lays down a figure of 10,000, so I would say that there is not likely to be any difficulty, in view of those figures, in arriving at an agreement so far as my two noble friends and the Government are concerned. One would quite agree with the noble Earl that the two problems he raised, one as to accredited herds and the other as to heat treatment, are interlocked. 667 It is accepted, in that sense, that they will both be taken into consideration in dealing with this matter. I think that I have already answered the two specific questions which have been put to me. In case I have not, I will venture to refer to them again. There has been no epidemic or outbreak of disease in 1946 which has been definitely traced to drinking raw milk. I have already said a word with regard to the supply of plant. Actually we are able to meet our own needs for the present, and the Americans are coming here to help in that direction.

Before I close I should like to say a few words on the heat treatment of milk in general. It is not possible to give any exact figures of the total amount of death and illness caused by milk-borne diseases, but it cannot be doubted that milk is a vehicle for conveying not only tuberculosis but also human infectious diseases, and that apart from deaths, much ill-health and disability are caused by it. It is also beyond question that an efficient system of heat treatment destroys any disease germs which may be present in milk. At the same time, the Health Departments are satisfied that the food value of the milk is not thereby prejudiced. Experiments carried out over a series of years, both on animals and on human beings, have established beyond any reasonable doubt that while heat treatment undoubtedly causes certain small changes in milk, those changes have no significant effect on its value as a food. The Government are satisfied that the extension of the heat treatment of milk is essential, and I assure your Lordships that everything possible will be done to secure the fulfilment of a safe milk policy. With that statement, and in view of the wording of Lord Rothschild's Motion: "To call the attention of His Majesty's Government to the urgent need for compulsory pasteurization of milk in as many parts of the United Kingdom as is practicable," I am prepared to say that the Government will accept the Motion.

§ 4.4 p.m.

§ LORD LLEWELLIN My Lords, as one of those who for some little time had, perhaps, the main responsibility for milk distribution and for the cleanliness of the milk supplies of the country, perhaps I may be allowed to say a few words this afternoon. I found when I went to the Ministry of Food that two most innocu- 668 ous articles of diet, bread and milk, were those that seemed to generate the most heat. The noble Lord who has just spoken for the Government mentioned his reaction to the new bread. He also said'--and this is the only point in his remarks with which I disagree'--that there were disputes between us to-day. For my part, I have found a very large measure of agreement in your Lordships' House this afternoon. One thing I do particularly want to say is that I hope that nothing that is said in this House to-day will make anybody take less milk. I was a little alarmed at a quotation which the noble Lord read out, because although it is very regrettable that some people do die from bovine tuberculosis, the number, whatever it may be, is only a tiny fraction of the total number of people who drink milk. If we begin to get the idea into the heads of the population, at these times of food shortage, that milk is a frightful carrier of germs, then the nation will suffer far more from ill-nutrition than we should do in consequence of a few people (regrettable though that is) contracting this complaint.

I believe that one of the best things done during the course of the war at the Ministry of Food was to insist that we must get more milk in this country, and to press the agricultural departments'--both the Ministry of Agriculture here and the Department of Agriculture for Scotland'--to increase the milk supply. I have always been one of the strongest advocates of the milk-in-schools scheme. I believe it is a most valuable thing for every child of school age to have this glass of milk every day. I do sincerely trust that no alarm or despondency will be communicated to the population and that no idea will grow up that milk is a dreadfully dangerous substance'--for indeed it is not. We are, of course, all agreed that we ought to get the best milk that we possibly can, milk free from germs and clean as well. I look upon pasteurization as the worse of two methods. The noble Lord who introduced this Motion, for which we are all obliged, did so in a well-thought-out and, if I may say so, entertaining speech, and he drew some analogy with water. I am going to draw an analogy with water supplies, too. If you find that the village water supply is contaminated the wise thing to do is to go to the source of the supply and try to clear it up, so as to 669 have pure water from the source. If you cannot do that, then it is necessary to go round to every house and say to the people: "You have got to boil your water before you drink it." That is almost exactly the same thing as the pasteurization of milk.

There is not the slightest doubt that if all our dairy herds in this country were T.T., if all our dairies were clean, and all the milk were bottled cleanly on the farms, there should be and would be no pressure to pasteurize a single drop of milk. So the first thing I want to say is that every encouragement should be given to ensure that the dairy-farmers have really clean beasts'--tuberculin-tested cows. After all, it is to the advantage of the farmer to have good, healthy cows. These produce not only better milk but more milk than unhealthy beasts. It pays the farmer to have a good herd of healthy cows, and I hope that none of this talk about pasteurization will in any way hamper the work of cleaning up our dairies and our herds. I believe that is the first essential. It is only if and when you fail in that that you have to have recourse to the other remedy, and so, as we have, unfortunately, failed, so far, to complete the cleaning-up process, we have pasteurization of milk to-day. We recognize that a good deal of our milk is not safe without it.

We tried to give encouragement by allowing an extra price of 4d. a gallon for tuberculin-tested milk. I think one of the saddest things is the mixing of first-class pure milk with an inferior article. You find it going on to-day. I found it when, as Minister of Food, I went to one of the stations of the Milk Marketing Board. I there saw some beautiful T.T. milk being bulked in for pasteurization with some other milk that really looked dreadful. When you have a farmer and his cowman, and, it may be, his land girls being very careful to keep themselves, the dairies and the cows clean, and then you bulk the clean milk which they produce in this fashion, I think it is a most dreadful thing to do. Now this happened in Aberdeen. When I saw this being done, I asked the reason, and the reply I got was: "No one here will pay the extra 4d. a gallon," although I do not know whether that was the true reason or not.

I am glad that the Government are continuing the policy which was set out 670 in the White Paper of 1943. I was not Minister of Food at that time but it was followed when I was Minister. I do not think the noble Lord who initiated this debate meant that he would pasteurize the tuberculin-tested milk as well. He nods his head against it, and I believe it would be quite wrong to do that. But where you cannot get clean milk pasteurization is no doubt very necessary in a very large number of cases. I hope we shall go on giving the maximum encouragement to the clean herd and shall not by pasteurization let our intentions be diverted from that which is the major problem. I hope nothing which is said will discourage anybody from drinking as much milk as they can.

§ 4.11 p.m.

LORD MIDDLETON My Lords, the merits or demerits of pasteurization seem to excite a certain amount of controversy, but I feel very strongly with the noble Lord who has just sat down and the noble Earl, Lord De La Warr, that we should aim at cleaning up our herds and the conditions under which milk is produced. I feel strongly that pasteurization and similar processes are merely palliatives until we can reach the ideal conditions, when we have eliminated cattle diseases as hydrophobia was stamped out in the 'nineties, and when milk is all produced in hygienic conditions. That is the only target we should aim at. Other countries, notably the United States and Finland, are far ahead of us and it is time we endeavoured to catch up and establish a lead in an industry to which our country is particularly suited. The niggardliness of successive Governments in their encouragement of the veterinary profession and veterinary research has been quite appalling and no Party can escape blame. The noble Viscount, the Leader of the House, if I may have his attention for one moment, spoke very feelingly on this subject in the debate on April II last year, and one hopes that now he is in a position of greater authority he will bring all his influence to bear on the Government Departments concerned'--not forgetting the Treasury. I have not had much opportunity of studying the Budget that was handed out yesterday but perhaps the noble Viscount will be able to tell us of any provisions that there may be for the encouragement of research.

671 It is not too much to say that in this matter no less than the health of the nation is at stake. The merits of pasteurization have been shouted from the house tops. It is a fact that many genuinely believe that this parboiled milk has enormous merits and no defects; and there is no doubt that vested interests are very powerful. No one can deny that pasteurization does destroy dangerous organisms, and for that reason it has great value. But it is a pity to gloze over the defects. There is no doubt that the process discolours milk and then imparts a taste which is noticeable to any but a chain cigarette smoker. It is nauseating to domestic animals and goes putrid after a time, instead of going sour, and in this state is useless for any purpose. It has other defects which I will go into later.

I was a little surprised when in the debate of a year ago the noble Lord, Lord Moran, indicated that the controversy in respect of pasteurized milk was moribund. Perhaps to-day's debate indicates the contrary. In the same debate the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, speaking for the Ministry of Health, used these words: The Ministry of Health are satisfied, after most careful inquiry, that heat treatment properly carried out destroys germs without materially affecting the nutritive quality of the milk. Everything depends on that word "materially." It seems to me astonishing that eminent and responsible scientists can conduct experiments, conduct research and publish results of considerable importance which are promptly pigeonedholed and forgotten.

The noble Lord, Lord Rothschild, mentioned experiments at Reading University, and I would remind your Lordships of experiments by Messrs. Mattick and Golding into the nutritive properties of pasteurized milk, the results of which were published in the Lancet in 1931. I will not weary your Lordships with details, but it was conclusively proved that a diet of pasteurized milk reduced the fertility of rats by 52 per cent. Further research was described in the Lancet in 1936 when exactly the same results were confirmed. This fact seems to have escaped the notice of prominent members of the medical profession and the Ministry of Health. I do not know all the reasons why pasteurized milk should have pro- 672 duced such results, but, in spite of what Lord Rothschild said, it is true to say that Dame Nature does exact retribution if her laws are violated. And it is a fact which is being brought home to any who have had experience of artificial insemination for cattle. In regard to the experiments which I have mentioned I do not suggest that all results achieved from experiments on animals necessarily apply to human beings, but it is not unreasonable to assume that a diet so deleterious to animals may not be without its disadvantages to the human race. I do not want to labour the point but since thermal action does destroy good qualities as well as bad, in milk, and certainly destroys vitamin C, I do suggest that if Governments and local authorities are to enforce pasteurization they should at the same time make known how to compensate for the depreciated value of milk, by fruit juice, if obtainable, or by other means.

I would like to turn to a possible alternative which I hope the Government will consider. The noble Viscount the Leader of the House will recollect that when he was a member of the Medical Research Committee a report was rendered to him and his colleagues in 1920 in regard to the treatment of milk by electricity. The Report shows the result of some years of work by Professor Martin Beattie, Professor of Bacteriology, and Dr. Lewis, lecturer in the same subject, both of Liverpool University. I gather that the Committee, influenced to some extent by the views of the late Sir Oliver Lodge, supported the practical results but were not convinced that electricity acted on the bactericidal side otherwise than as a thermal agent. But that is not the end of the story. There was further research under the same heading and the results were published in 1925. These proved conclusively that electricity played the major part in the slaughter of the tubercle bacillus and did so at a temperature considerably below that considered requisite for pasteurization. Furthermore, this process did not discolour milk or give it any unpleasant taste.

I suggest that research is required into the nutritive qualities of milk that has been treated by electricity, and I do urge the Government to institute research on these lines. If the results are satisfactory then the method could easily be developed on every dairy farm where 673 electricity is available. The equipment is not costly and, unlike the pasteurization process, milk can be treated electrically in comparatively small quantities. The elimination of cost of transport to factories means cheaper milk to the consumer. There are advantages in treating milk otherwise than in great bulk. Some-times things do go wrong. Milk can be infected after pasteurization. One of the worst outbreaks of typhoid there has ever been, when there were five thousand cases and 414 deaths, originated from a typhoid carrier handling pasteurized milk in a factory. Such a danger is lessened, I suggest, if smaller quantities are handled by one concern. It is quite true that at present there are many farms which have not got electricity. One hopes that before long electricity will be developed throughout the country.

If I may briefly summarize, I would urge the Government first of all to treat the veterinary profession very generously; secondly, to inquire further into the nutritive properties of pasteurized milk; and, thirdly, to institute research into the nutritive value of milk electrically treated and the possibility of the development of that process if results are satisfactory.

§ 4.21 p.m.

§ VISCOUNT ADDISON My Lords, I only rise to make two observations. The noble Lord who has just spoken need have no apprehension that, so far as trained men are available,. which is the limiting factor in all these matters, the Government will be backward in encouraging research in whatever direction it may be required. This country is exceedingly short of the kind of people who are competent to carry that out, in all directions. I do not wish to controvert the general case which has been put up and supported on all sides this afternoon. The question now is accepted as proved. I rise particularly to reinforce the points which the noble Lord, Lord Llewellin, made, which I think were of first-rate importance. We should be very careful to recognize that in any of our discussions we should not say or do anything which will prejudice the increased consumption of milk, which is very badly needed by a large section of the population. I do not think for a moment that there need be any apprehension that we shall do so. As a matter of fact, it has been pointed out that no less than 674 70 per cent. of the milk consumed by the population is already treated. Therefore there need be no apprehension on that account. The extension of the scheme suggested by my noble friend is, I think, accepted as necessary by men of all Parties.

I wanted to support the other point made by the noble Lord opposite. We recognize to the full the importance of what he and others have urged, and are pressing on as vigorously as we possibly can with the improvement of our herds. That is of course a governing essential. I quite agree with him when he says that the scope for improvement is immense. Anyone who was intimately connected with the war agricultural executive committees during the war was painfully made aware of what is needed, and at the same time aware of the immense possibility of improvement. I believe myself that the county executive committees, which are continuing the good work of improving our herds begun during the war, are meeting wish a very ready response from the farmers. The improvement to which we can confidently look forward will be, I am sure, very great. A number of noble Lords have spoken of the need for the improvement of conditions on many of our [arms. Vast numbers of our farms have a most inadequate water supply. Multitudes of them have none at all. Many of them have no electricity. I am myself rather painfully aware, particularly with regard to smaller farms in some parts of the country, that it is not an easy matter to find a well-equipped and properly constructed cowshed. We have got an immense expenditure in front of us in effecting improvements in our farm buildings, which are an essential concomitant of the improvement of our herds thereby making it easier to produce clean milk. I have only risen to reinforce those two points which I was very glad the noble Lord, Lord Llewellin, made.

I think my noble friend Lord Ammon is going to deal with a technical point in connexion with the Motion.

§ 4.25 p.m.

§ LORD AMMON My Lords, I am willing to meet everybody in accepting the Resolution which the noble Viscount has submitted, but there is a technical difficulty. I think I had better read this. While His Majesty's Government are, as 675 I have already indicated, quite prepared to accept the principle embodied in my noble friend's Motion, I am in some difficulty in doing so, as the noble Lord asks for Papers, and there are really no fresh Papers which His Majesty's Government can lay. May I suggest to him, therefore, and to the House generally, that he should rest content with the assurance I have given to him in the House of the Government's support for the cause which he ha: urged so eloquently this afternoon, and withdraw his Motion for Papers?

§ LORD ROTHSCHILD My Lords, I am very grateful to the Government for accepting the principle of my Motion and to the other noble Lords who have contributed to this very interesting debate. May I express the hope that the pressure of legislation will not prevent the implementation of the principle of my Motion in the not too distant future? I beg leave to withdraw my Motion.

§ Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.

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Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 21:28

Footage has revealed how thieves in California are stealing copper-filled cables from Tesla charging stations.

Viral video shared on TikTok by Joshua Beckler shows the aftermath of a recent theft at a Tesla Supercharger station in Vallejo, California.

The nine stations are seen without any of the cables attached to them as Beckler shows the core of the heavy duty cable, which is clearly rich in copper, whose value has soared in recent years.

The incident happened sometime over the weekend before it was reported to Vallejo police on Sunday morning.

Current scrap prices for copper have it averaging at $3 per pound, with Forbes reporting that the metal is 'a catalyst for a new era of global economic growth'.

Viral video shared on TikTok by Joshua Beckler shows the aftermath of a recent theft at a Tesla Supercharger station in Vallejo, California

The nine stations can be seen without any of the cables attached to them as Beckler shows the core of the heavy duty cable, which is clearly rich in copper

Beckler who first spotted the theft told NBC: 'It most likely happened in the night, and we [him and his wife] found it early morning.

'I went to go to the gym with the wife. I went to park the Tesla to charge it while we were inside and I found that the majority of the Tesla cables had been cut right before we walked in.

'They left five charging stations. I'm pretty sure after they racked up, I don't know what the quantity was, but almost 20 cables with the nozzles.

'Those are extremely heavy, so I'm imagining that's all they could haul at one given time.'

While John Brown also told the outlet: 'I think this is the second time, or third that these have been cut, so they need to put some gates up or something. I don't know what they can do, but this is pretty inconvenient.'

Come late Monday afternoon, Tesla workers had all of the stations back up and running.

ABC7 spoke to several drivers before the repairs were made, with Rhodalyn Gida telling the outlet: 'It's crazy! Stupid! I don't know why they'd do that.'

Joshua Beckler, seen here, had been going to the gym with his wife when he spotted the cables had been stolen

Come late Monday afternoon, Tesla workers had all of the stations back up and running

Current scrap prices for copper have it averaging at $3 per pound

A Tesla Supercharger charging station on the edge of a car park in Littleton, Massachusetts, USA, 14 May 2024

Police in Vallejo said they are currently looking into the theft, with no arrests yet being made in connection.

Just last week, thieves also made off with the cables from a supercharger station in Houston.

Click2Houston reported that 18 out of the 19 charging stations at the facility in Montrose had their cables stolen.

KPRC 2 reported that thieves went on a spree, targeting five locations all within the space of a week.

It comes after Tesla was forced to cut prices across foreign markets just days after it said it would make 10 percent of their global workforce redundant.

Prices of cars in the US, Germany and China were slashed, and prices of bespoke Tesla software were also cut in the US.

CEO Elon Musk also reported the first fall in global vehicle deliveries for the first time in four years.

Musk's memo said that as Tesla prepares for its next phase of growth, 'it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.'

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Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 21:26

A herd of 170 bison reintroduced to Romania's Țarcu mountains could help store CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 43,000 US cars from the road for a year, research has found, demonstrating how the animals can help mitigate some effects of the climate crisis.

European bison disappeared from Romania more than 200 years ago, but Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania reintroduced the species to the southern Carpathian mountains in 2014. Since then, more than 100 bison have been given new homes in the Țarcu mountains, growing to more than 170 animals today, one of the largest free-roaming populations in Europe. The landscape holds the potential for 350-450 bison.

The latest research, which has not been peer-reviewed, used a new model developed by scientists at the Yale School of the Environment and funded by the Global Rewilding Alliance, with the bison paper funded by WWF Netherlands. The model, which has been published and peer reviewed in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, calculates the additional amount of atmospheric CO2 that wildlife species help to capture and store in soils through their interactions within ecosystems.

The European bison herd grazing in an area of nearly 50 sq km of grasslands within the wider Țarcu mountains was found to potentially capture an additional 54,000 tonnes of carbon a year. That is nearly 9.8 times more carbon than without the bison '' although the report authors noted the 9.8 figure could be up to 55% higher or lower, so making the median estimate uncertain. This corresponds to the yearly CO2 released by a median of 43,000 average US petrol cars, or 84,000 using the higher figure, or a median of 123,000 average European cars, due to their higher energy efficiency, the researchers said.

Prof Oswald Schmitz of the Yale School of the Environment in Connecticut in the US, who was the lead author of the report, said: ''Bison influence grassland and forest ecosystems by grazing grasslands evenly, recycling nutrients to fertilise the soil and all of its life, dispersing seeds to enrich the ecosystem, and compacting the soil to prevent stored carbon from being released.

Bison grazing recycles nutrients to fertilise the soil, dispersing seeds, and compacting the soil to prevent stored carbon dioxide from being released. Photograph: Daniel Mirlea/WWF Romania''These creatures evolved for millions of years with grassland and forest ecosystems, and their removal, especially where grasslands have been ploughed up, has led to the release of vast amounts of carbon. Restoring these ecosystems can bring back balance, and 'rewilded' bison are some of the climate heroes that can help achieve this.''

Alexander Lees, a reader in biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University, who was not involved with the study, said it ''makes a convincing case for European bison reintroduction as a nature-based climate solution '' one with major biodiversity conservation co-benefits''.

Lees said more in-the-field research would help validate the models and assist understanding of how long it would take for bison benefits to accrue, adding: ''This study reinforces an emerging consensus that large mammals have very important roles in the carbon cycle. Rewilding efforts, including, where appropriate, reintroductions, represent key tools in tackling the intertwined biodiversity and climate crises.''

A keystone species, bison play an important role in ecosystems '' their grazing and browsing helps maintain a biodiverse landscape of forests, scrub, grasslands and microhabitats. In the Țarcu mountains, their return has also inspired nature-based tourism and businesses around rewilding. Schmitz noted that the Carpathian grasslands have specific soil and climate conditions, so the effect of the European bison could not necessarily be extrapolated internationally '' American prairies, for example, have much lower productivity.

Bison might be just one of several large mammals that have an important role to play in the carbon cycle. Photograph: Alexander Turner/The Guardian''This research opens up a whole new raft of options for climate policymakers around the world,'' said Magnus Sylv(C)n, the director of science policy practice at Global Rewilding Alliance. ''Until now, nature protection and restoration has largely been treated as another challenge and cost that we need to face alongside the climate emergency. This research shows we can address both challenges: we can bring back nature through rewilding and this will draw down vast amounts of carbon, helping to stabilise the global climate.''

The report on Romania's European bison is ''the first of its kind'', said Sylv(C)n, adding that the model provided ''a very powerful tool at hand to give directions to wildlife reintroductions''.

Schmitz said the team had looked at nine species in detail, including tropical forest elephants, musk oxen and sea otters, and had begun to investigate others. He added: ''Many of them show similar promise to these bison, often doubling an ecosystem's capacity to draw down and store carbon, and sometimes much more. This really is a policy option with massive potential.''

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Fri, 17 May 2024 21:09

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Fri, 17 May 2024 21:07

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published its preliminary report into the catastrophic incident involving the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel Dali and the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024.

The collapse effectively closed the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic, before salvage crews were able to open temporary channels allowing for limited navigation in and out of Baltimore Harbor.

According to the report, which does not include any analysis or conclusions, the Dali lost electrical power and propulsion as it approached the bridge, causing it to strike the bridge and resulting in a portion of the bridge collapsing. Critically, the ship also lost electrical power twice the day before the accident.

Seven road maintenance crew members and one inspector were present on the bridge during the incident. Tragically, six crew members lost their lives, one survived with severe injuries, while the inspector escaped unscathed. A crew member aboard the Dali also sustained minor injuries.

The U.S. Coast Guard has classified the accident as a major marine casualty, with the NTSB leading the safety investigation.

The preliminary report chronologically traces the events leading up to the accident, as well as efforts to stop the ship and alert authorities ashore to the danger.

At about 0005, a senior pilot and an apprentice boarded the Dali, which was about to depart from Seagirt Marine Terminal to Colombo, Sri Lanka, carrying 4,680 containers. The captain reported the ship was in good working order during the master/pilot exchange.

The sequence of events quickly took a turn for the worse as the Dali experienced two electrical blackouts during its approach to the bridge.

he Dali's route on March 26, between the first blackout, and the Dali striking pier no. 17 of the Key Bridge. The location and approximate size of two of the bridge's ''dolphins,'' sheet pile and concrete structures protecting the bridge's piers, are labeled in the lower right.The first blackout occurred at about 0125 as the ship was approximately 0.6 miles from the Key Bridge, when electrical breakers that fed most of the vessel's equipment and lighting unexpectedly tripped. This resulted in an automatic shutdown of the main propulsion diesel engine and the halting of all three steering pumps, leaving the vessel traveling at a speed over ground of 9.0 knots without any means of steering or propulsion.

While the Dali's crew managed to restore electrical power briefly, a second blackout occurred when the ship was only 0.2 miles from the bridge, causing a complete loss of electrical power on the vessel. Despite attempts to restore power and drop anchor, the crew was unable to regain control over the vessel's propulsion.

The sequence also provided details of the pilots' efforts to alert others of the dangers in the minutes after the first blackout.

The pilots called for tug assist at 0126:39, with the Eric McAllister responding immediately (although it did not reach the Dali before it struck the bridge).At 0127:01, senior pilot ordered an anchor drop after the ship, Dali, lost power. The pilots' dispatcher informed the MDTA Police duty officer and the Coast Guard about the situation.One of the pilots issued a warning to all waterborne traffic via very high frequency marine radio at 0127:25.At 0127:53, the MDTA duty officer ordered the closure of the bridge to all traffic, leaving only the maintenance crew and the inspector on the bridge.The Dali struck pier no. 17 of the Key Bridge at 0129:10 while traveling at approximately 6.5 knots, leading to the collapse of six spans of the bridge.

Prior to the Accident

The NTSB report also provided a background on the Dali and key events prior to the accident.

The ship arrived in the U.S. from Sri Lanka on March 19, 2024, and made port calls in Newark, New Jersey (March 19-21), and Norfolk, Virginia (March 22-23), before mooring at the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore Harbor early on March 23.

In-Port Blackouts

The day before the accident, the Dali had experienced two in-port blackouts, prompting the crew to switch the main electrical bus configuration, which was in use when the ship departed.

The NTSB said the first in-port blackout was caused by the mechanical blocking of the online generator's exhaust gas stack after a crew member mistakenly closed the an engine damper while working on the ship's scrubber system. The crew manually restored power and switched the bus configuration to use different breakers (HR1 and LR1) and transformers. The second blackout in port was related to insufficient fuel pressure for the online generator. The NTSB said the first blackout after the ship's departure was due to unexpected tripping of the breakers HR1 and LR1.

The NTSB is now investigating the electrical configuration and its potential impacts on the accident voyage.

Fuel Testing

As for fuel testing, the Dali switched to low-sulfur marine gas oil (LSMGO) five days before the accident. Post-accident fuel samples taken from the LSMGO in use and from all fuel tanks complied with international standards and regulations, ruling out fuel quality as a contributing factor to the accident.

The release of the preliminary report comes a day after salvage crews used small charges to make precision cuts in the bridge truss sitting on top of the Dali's bow, which will allow for a refloating attempt to take place sometime this week.

Officials anticipate opening the 50-foot-deep federal channel by next month.

The FBI opened a criminal probe into the collapse in April.

The NTSB's preliminary report can be found here.

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Fri, 17 May 2024 21:01

Tue May 14, 2024 - 8:09 pm EDTWed May 15, 2024 - 10:05 am EDT

U.S. citizens: Demand Congress investigate soaring excess death rates

( LifeSiteNews ) '-- The most senior medical oncologist in Japan recently slammed the COVID-19 mRNA shots as ''the work of evil'' that has caused ''essentially murder.''

In an interview published April 19, Dr. Masanori Fukushima, who spearheaded the first cancer outpatient clinic at Kyoto University and launched the first course in pharmacoepidemiology there, listed a slew of problems with the COVID mRNA jabs, evidencing what he called an evil ''abuse of science.''

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He pointed out that ''turbo cancers,'' a kind ''previously unseen by doctors'' that progress extremely quickly and are typically in stage four by the time they are diagnosed, have started to appear after the jab rollouts. These ''turbo cancers'' are emerging along with excess mortality due to cancer in general, which Fukushima says cannot be explained only by lost opportunities for screenings or treatment during the COVID outbreak.

As a tragic example of the fatal danger of the COVID shots, the oncologist shared the story of a 28-year-old man who was found dead by his wife when she tried to wake him in the morning, five days after he received his second Pfizer shot.

''The doctor who did the autopsy said that when he tried to remove the heart, it was soft and had disintegrated,'' Fukushima said. ''And even just one case like this shows how dangerous this vaccine can be.''

He pointed out that these severe harms, including death, have been afflicting people '' post-jab '' who have a history of good health.

''It's serious. It's essentially murder. In the end, I want to state clearly that this is my view,'' the doctor said.

He lamented that the media, including newspapers, generally have not reported on these harms, and that in fact those who question the safety of the COVID shots '' just as with the flu shots '' have been characterized as anti-science ''heretics.'' He described the attitude of those who shut down the voices COVID ''vaccine'' critics, however, as far from scientific, an d ''more akin to faith, hysteria or even cult behavior.''

''I am now deeply concerned not only about a serious crisis in medicine but in science and democracy,'' Fukushima said.

He highlighted the fact that countries that most aggressively pushed the COVID shot, such as Israel, saw the highest rates of death and infection, as shown by studies comparing Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arranged a special deal with Pfizer to use Israelis as lab rats in a national injection program with the Pfizer Covid ''vaccine.''

''Israel led in early and widespread vaccination but also had the highest death and infection rates. The less aggressively vaccinated areas saw less harm,'' said Fukushima, noting that ''Israel was quick to halt the vaccine.''

There were problems, moreover, with the very technology used to administer the mRNA '' the lipid nanoparticles '' that the doctor said result in ''off-target effects'' on various organs, including the ovaries, brain, liver, and bone marrow.

Worse, the spike proteins produced by the mRNA have been detected in the human body more than a year after the administration of the COVID shot, noted the oncologist, indicating ''a severe problem.''

The doctor took aim at the World Health Organization (WHO) for ''hastily'' pushing the COVID shots without proper investigation, and moreover for trying to enforce a one-size-fits-all approach in countries with widely varying ''medical circumstances, habits, and systems,'' calling it ''somewhat absurd.''

He argued that it is ''crucial'' that the WHO take responsibility for the harms of the COVID shots, which he called ''an abuse, a misuse of science and an evil practice of science, to be frank.''

Fukushima pointed out that the WHO is ''aware'' of harms from the so-called vaccines because they are compensating for these damages in certain countries, and yet they are not properly addressing the COVID shot-induced death and injury through an investigation and report.

''Imagine finding your spouse dead in the morning. It's no joke. A vaccine that causes such outcomes, even a single death, is unacceptable,'' said Fukushima, adding that in Japan alone, the government has documented 2,134 deaths reported due to the COVID shot, which is likely a low estimate.

''There are tens of thousands of people who must see a doctor because of vaccine-related issues,'' he continued, asserting that a big chunk of them '' 30 percent '' are ''suffering from ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) or chronic fatigue syndrome.''

This is just the beginning, according to Fukushima, because the rates of all sorts of diseases have been spiking since the COVID shot rollout, including ''autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and infections.''

''It's as if we've opened Pandora's box'... We must take these damages seriously and address them earnestly. Any efforts to dismiss these damages as if they didn't happen are frankly the work of evil. This is a quintessential example of the evil practice of science,'' Fukushima said.

He called on scientific and medical institutions, led by the WHO, to directly confront these outcomes through research efforts in order to ''shine the light of science'' on the shots.

''We should never again use such vaccines,'' he said. ''This is a shame for humanity. It's a disgrace that we did this.''

U.S. citizens: Demand Congress investigate soaring excess death rates

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Fri, 17 May 2024 21:00

Lahiru Jayakody holds a 3D-printed cookie made from proteins garnered from biomass and plastic that has been processed by yeast. (Photos by Russell Bailey)

May 15, 2024

SIU researchers mitigate two problems by transforming waste plastic into food by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. '' In the 1970s, it was Tang, the orange-like drink of astronauts, that found its way into the Earth-bound consumer market. Sometime during the next few years, it could be µBites '' created by a team of researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale '' that splashes down on dinner tables and helps solve an ecological problem.

While Tang boasted ''flavor crystals'' that provided a full day of vitamin C when mixed with water, µBites (which means ''microbites'') emerges from waste biomass and plastic, processed into a slurry that specialized yeast, in turn, converts to proteins. The proteins can be 3D-printed into palatable items such as cookies or other foods.

Lahiru Jayakody, assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the Fermentation Science Institute at SIU, is leading the team of researchers using a $25,000 grant from NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge. The grant challenged teams around the nation to conceive novel food technologies to solve the problems of feeding astronauts on long voyages '' and it has implications here on Earth.

''µBites is a transformative technology for treating world hunger and plastic pollution, creating a sustainable world for future generations,'' Jayakody said.

The SIU team's progress is summarized in an article published online today (May 15) in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology.

Addressing global issues

Jayakody said µBites could address critical worldwide challenges, including food scarcity, plastic waste accumulation and reducing the need for more carbon sources. Lack of access to farmland due to economic and political constraints, along with soil contamination, disease outbreaks, conflicts, wars and violence all impact food production and supplies.

''Food insecurity is a global and severe problem that affects millions of people,'' Jayakody said. ''And it will increase as climate change becomes more severe.''

The µBites food-generating system is efficient in water usage and requires minimal space for operation. Its modular design allows it to vary the product's nutrient composition to fit the specific needs of various populations with cultural and culinary diversity, while its simplicity requires minimal human involvement.

''µBites can provide food in extreme environments and resource-scarce regions,'' Jayakody said. ''For example, it could be installed on naval ships, especially submarines or put in remote locations such as the Arctic and Antarctic, where it would provide a reliable food source when weather conditions prevent resupply runs by plane or boat.''

Key process

The system also presents a method for dealing with environmental problems, such as the accumulation of plastic waste. µBites depolymerizes plastics without creating toxic chemicals or carbon streams, using biological processes to transform it into a protein source with very low or zero greenhouse gas emissions.

It does this by feeding the waste to hungry yeast strains and then further processing the product. But in order to turn all that biomass and plastic into something palatable to yeast, the team uses an additional process previously invented by another SIU scientist.

Ken Anderson, director of SIU's Advanced Energy Research Center, came up with the oxidative hydrothermal dissolution (OHD) technology a decade back as part of his work as a geology professor. OHD uses water, heat, pressure and oxygen to break down and transform biomass and plastic into water-soluble carbon molecules.

After grinding biomass and plastics into a uniform slurry, it is then sent into an OHD reactor for processing. The step makes the substance accessible to the hungry microbes, like yeast, that perform the next step in µBites.

Final preparation involves shaping the consumable into a desired consistency, ranging from semi solid to liquid. It can be further mixed with dried spices or supplements to achieve the final, highly customizable result. (View a 2-minute video illustrating the process.)

Cookies, anyone?

Jayakody and the team recently demonstrated the workability of their idea by creating cookies made from the µBites process and using 3D printing technology. Once the team members had successfully tested the finished product for safety and nutritional parameters, they conducted a taste test with humans '' formally called a sensory analysis '' at SIU's Fermentation Science Institute, which routinely conducts such trials on fermented beverages and foods. Marta Albiol Tapia, assistant professor of practice at FSI, an expert in consumer analysis, designed and conducted the test.

The results showed an overall positive acceptability of the product, Jayakody said, scoring a 6.5 of 9 on the Hedonic scale, the most widely used measure of food acceptability. The ''aroma'' of the produced cookies scored the highest, with a mean of 7.33 and over 5 for color, shape and texture.

''To our knowledge, this is the first-ever, demonstrably safe-to-eat cookie with a Hedonic scale score greater than 6.5 from repurposed waste biomass and plastic,'' Jayakody said.

Challenges remain

Along with Jayakody and Anderson, the SIU research team also includes FSI Director Matt McCarroll, Scott D. Hamilton-Brehm, associate professor of microbiology, Poopalasingam Sivakumar, associate professor of physics, and Gayan L. Aruma Baduge, associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering. Researchers from other universities also are working on the project.

One of the main challenges remaining, Jayakody said, is getting consumers to accept waste-derived alternative food, such as that created by µBites, as well as enacting policies aimed at transitioning people to novel, sustainable diets. The team also includes Kaustav Majumder, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Iwona M. Jasiuk, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Rina R. Tannenbaum, Stony Brook University.

The team is seeking to accelerate its development funding from federal agencies and industrial partners to build a fully integrated and automated µBites system. The researchers also hope to develop methods that will expand the product's nutrient content to include essential vitamins, flavor and aroma compounds.

''We also want to conduct public awareness and educational programs on µBites technology, since social changes are needed for consumer acceptance of this new product,'' he said.

View a short video of Jayakody explaining the project.

A team of researchers at SIU working on novel food technologies includes, from left, Scott D. Hamilton-Brehm, Poopalasingam Sivakumar, Lahiru Jayakody, Matt McCarroll, Ken Anderson and Gayan L. Aruma Baduge. (Photos by Russell Bailey) Media contact: Tim Crosby, public information coordinator, 618-534-3045Upcoming EventsThe Wildflower Art Show5/17/2024

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All day event - Morris Library's First Floor Rotunda: The Wildflower Art ShowVisit Morris Library's First Floor RotundaMay 10 - August 10Featuring these local artists: Jan York, Jen Wharton, Julie O. Murphy, Beth Martell, Shannon Green, Cathy Daesch, Kathy Wides, Lisa Lennox, Laura Marjorie Miller, Jonny Gray, Jeannie Ravenscraft, and Rhonda BranumThe real wonder of wildflowers is that they adapt so effortlessly to the different conditions they find themselves in. If ever there was a flower that epitomizes the idiom "bloom where you are planted," it's the wildflower. We could all take a cue from these wild, free and yet still rooted plants. They are resilient, untamed, beautiful, surprising, colorful, and unpredictable. There's a lot to love about them.

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The Wildflower Art ShowDate: 5/18/2024

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All day event - Morris Library's First Floor Rotunda: The Wildflower Art ShowVisit Morris Library's First Floor RotundaMay 10 - August 10Featuring these local artists: Jan York, Jen Wharton, Julie O. Murphy, Beth Martell, Shannon Green, Cathy Daesch, Kathy Wides, Lisa Lennox, Laura Marjorie Miller, Jonny Gray, Jeannie Ravenscraft, and Rhonda BranumThe real wonder of wildflowers is that they adapt so effortlessly to the different conditions they find themselves in. If ever there was a flower that epitomizes the idiom "bloom where you are planted," it's the wildflower. We could all take a cue from these wild, free and yet still rooted plants. They are resilient, untamed, beautiful, surprising, colorful, and unpredictable. There's a lot to love about them.

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Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 18:55

jack dorsey on his exit from bluesky, how twitter lost its way, jack's strategy for ending censorship forever, new background on the elon saga, and the death of social media as we know it

Bluesky was launched to become the open source protocol layer for social media platforms, but the team ended up ''literally repeating all the mistakes we made'' at TwitterJack's challenges at Twitter: a hostile board with an activist member, the ''core, critical sin'' of basing Twitter's model on brand advertising, and his plan for never having to ban an account after Trump Taking Twitter private was the only way the much less censorious version of the platform would surviveThere's ''absolutely no way'' social media companies remain censorship resistant without moving to open protocols. ''We need to change the foundation everything is built on''Jack's prediction for the price of Bitcoin in 2030 --

There is perhaps no leader in technology more misunderstood than Jack Dorsey, the enigmatic founder and (twice) former CEO of Twitter, now X. Through Covid, and America's first real era of broad, highly-politicized social media thought policing, he became the face of censorship for large swaths of the country. But from his second appearance before Congress, where he made enemies of both the left and right in one of the more inspiring displays of disrespect for would-be tyrants I've ever seen, and in light of his committed, years-long focus on anti-authoritarian technologies, that simple story of free speech villainy never made sense.Jack recently deleted his account on Bluesky, once pitched '-- by him '-- as social media's decentralized solution to censorship, and left the company's board. I reached out and asked him why, which is where our call began. In a rare, far-reaching interview, what follows is a missing chapter of internet history that sheds light not only on Bluesky, but Twitter, X, and the past five years of censorship and backlash. Because of vulnerabilities designed into the technology, social media, in its current, centralized form, can't survive the global war on speech. The future will be decentralized, or it won't be free.-Solana

.

Mike Solana: You didn't just leave Bluesky's board, you deleted your profile. That feels pretty meaningful. Right off the bat, the most obvious question: why did you leave?

Jack Dorsey: Well, can we back up for some context for why we started it?

Yes, would love to.

We were doing something similar to what we did at Square at the time, which was fund a bunch of open source developers to work on the Bitcoin protocol, because it directly benefited everything Square was doing in terms of money movement.

I wanted to do something similar with Twitter, because it was the only way to get out of a lot of the issues we were seeing around the decisions we had to make on accounts, and the pressures we had as a public company based entirely on a brand advertising model. The only way to do it was to remove the protocol layer from Twitter and make it something we didn't control.

So what if we created a team that was independent to us, that built a protocol that Twitter could use, and then build on top of? Then we wouldn't have the same liabilities, because the protocol would be an open standard, like HTTP or SMTP. Twitter would become the interface, and we could build a valuable business by competing to be the best view on top of this massive corpus of conversation that's happening in real time.

So it took us about two years to interview people [who would build the protocol]. We actually looked at Nostr '-- I think the team even talked with fiatjaf [Nostr's creator] '-- early on, but for whatever reason decided to pass. I wasn't really privy to a lot of that conversation, or more likely, I wasn't paying enough attention.

We eventually landed on Jay [Graber]. She seemed great, and we decided to fund her. Around that time, I was also planning my exit [from Twitter], and Parag [Agarwal] was going to take over. And when Elon made the offer to buy the company, I think she had this general fear of '-- what do we do? Like, is there any way that the funding could be taken back? We gave them $14 million to work on the protocol.

At this point, did Twitter have a controlling share of the project?

No, [Twitter] had an advisory seat. But there was no informed structure.

It was, we're going to set this money aside, and whoever we hire can determine how best to build this protocol. In Square's case '-- Square Crypto, which became Spiral '-- Steve [Lee] decided he wanted to stay within the company, but he and his team would make all the decisions around what they work on.

In Jay's case, she decided she wanted to set up a completely different entity, a B Corp. That accelerated even more when Elon made the acquisition offer, and it very quickly turned into more of a survival thing, where she felt she needed to build a company, and build a model around it, get VCs into it, get a board, issue stock, and all these things. That was the first time I felt like, whoa, this isn't going in a direction I'm really happy with, or that wasn't the intention. This was supposed to be an open source protocol that Twitter could eventually utilize.

And then, as you know, Elon backed off [on the acquisition], and that disaster happened [laughs], until he finally bought it, which was the worst timeline ever. But throughout all that, it became more and more evident that Bluesky had a lot of great ideas. And they're ideas I believe in. I think the internet needs a decentralized protocol for social media. I think Elon needs it. I think X needs it. I think it removes liability for the company, to separate those layers.

But what happened is, people started seeing Bluesky as something to run to, away from Twitter. It's the thing that's not Twitter, and therefore it's great. And Bluesky saw this exodus of people from Twitter show up, and it was a very, very common crowd.

This tool was designed such that it had, you know, it was a base level protocol. It had a reference app on top. It was designed to be controlled by the people. I think the greatest idea '-- which we need '-- is an algorithm store, where you choose how you see all the conversations. But little by little, they started asking Jay and the team for moderation tools, and to kick people off. And unfortunately they followed through with it.

That was the second moment I thought, uh, nope. This is literally repeating all the mistakes we made as a company. This is not a protocol that's truly decentralized. It's another app. It's another app that's just kind of following in Twitter's footsteps, but for a different part of the population.

Everything we wanted around decentralization, everything we wanted in terms of an open source protocol, suddenly became a company with VCs and a board. That's not what I wanted, that's not what I intended to help create.

Around the same time, I found Nostr. We don't know who the leader is, it's like this anonymous Brazilian. It has no board, no company behind it, no funding. It's a truly open protocol. The development environment is moving fast. And I gave a bunch of money to them.

Day by day, I learned that this was actually the path. It emerged from something that was not Twitter-driven, it was a reaction to Twitter's failures, and I thought that was right as well. That's what I should help, and that's what I should support.

So I just decided to delete my account on Bluesky, and really focus on Nostr, and funding that to the best of my ability. I asked to get off the board as well, because I just don't think a protocol needs a board or wants a board. And if it has a board, that's not the thing that I wanted to help build or wanted to help fund.

At that point, was there any resistance to you leaving, or was there just agreement you wanted different things?

I think there was a general agreement that we wanted different things, and I think we had only met as a board once. It was super early on, so it wasn't a very active board. There wasn't a lot of attachment, at least from my perspective.

All that said, I really respect Jay. She was under a lot of pressure to survive and do the things that she did. But directionally, I just don't align with it. And I'd love to see more effort placed on open protocols akin to Nostr, which hits every single attribute that I was searching for when we originally kicked this idea off. If you go back to my thread, and Mike Masnick's Protocols, Not Platforms article, it hits every single one of those things, whereas Bluesky ultimately just went another direction.

Yeah, once I had access, Bluesky really just confused me. It didn't present as an underlying technology people, maybe even Twitter, would be building on top of. I mean it looked, felt, and functioned like just another version of Twitter.

It was the anti-Twitter. People were literally running from Twitter to Bluesky, and that is not a way to build something successful.

Of course, the architecture that you believe '-- and I agree '-- is kind of naturally vulnerable to censorship is still in place at X, and while Elon does appear committed to openness and freedom of speech, the great hope of decentralized technology is we don't have to trust anyone. So given that it hasn't changed, why are you back on Twitter?

Well, I never left. I just haven't been posting as much.

But you seemed to defend it, you described it as ''freedom technology.''

Well, I put that post on both Nostr and Twitter. And the reference of, "you're on one," it refers to different things based on where you read it.

Twitter is still a corporation. X is still a corporation. It has to make a conscious choice about the rights it grants to users, based on its policies. The fortunate thing is it's no longer a public company with a profit incentive based on an advertising model that can be wildly swayed by the whims of advertisers moving their budget elsewhere if they don't like what you're doing. So Elon made a choice, and I think it's the right choice. I think he bought it at the wrong time in the market, obviously, but the choice was, I'm just going to suffer that cost to maintain these policies that I want. And that means the advertisers have left, predominantly, and the business model is going to struggle.

You have to build up a lot more than advertising to make that model work. You have to build subscriptions, which Elon is doing. You have to build commerce. You have to base more of your model on these internet primitives that can monetize better than advertising if you're going to have policies like [Elon's].

It's provable now, because you can see the decline from where the business was. Twitter was a $5 billion a year business. I don't know what it is now, but it's obviously nowhere near that, right? These are choices that can be made, but it doesn't mean that it's going to be the same level of business for quite some time, until you figure out a completely different model around it.

You know, for many Americans '-- despite all of your work clearly to the contrary, in my opinion, despite Bluesky, despite Nostr, despite everything you've said publicly, and in your appearances before Congress '-- you're still the face of censorship, because you presided over Twitter during a truly censorious regime. Given your perspective here, how did that happen? Had you lost power at the company? Was it something with your board, or was it just the advertisers? Was there just no way to do anything else at Twitter at that time?

I think the core, critical sin was choosing the advertising model to begin with. Brand advertising is not like direct advertisement, which is more programmatic. It requires something like a Disney to essentially give you a favor, because the only players that matter to them are Google and Facebook. Snapchat, Twitter, everything else did not matter. And these are ads that are essentially throwaway for them. But we made that choice in order to go public.

We needed a model. Facebook's model was really good. So we came up with an ad program and ran with it. And I came back to the company a year after IPO, and we were seeing a decline in growth, and that manifested in a decline in ad revenue. So our first focus was to rework the product so we were growing again, and then second was to get off this dependency on advertisement.

And when you're entirely dependent on that, if a brand like P&G or Unilever doesn't like what's happening on the platform, and they threaten to pull the budget, which accounts for like 20% of your revenue? You have no choice, and... you have no choice. If you take a stance, and they pull the budget, and the stock market sees that, the stock price goes from like 70 bucks to 30. Then you have employees leave because they can get greater value elsewhere, and that's the whole conundrum that you're stuck in.

And you're at risk of a hostile takeover, right?

Yeah, and we had an activist come in, by the way. And he sat on our board for a year and a half. We didn't have dual-class voting shares, we had no defense whatsoever. So my only path out that I could see was: we have to be on a protocol that we can't remove content from. We have to move away from this dependency on brand advertisement. We were moving into commerce, direct response, and payments. You can see all those experiments were going on before the company was sold. And we must move to a position where our policies are actually matching the fact that from a technology standpoint, we can't take the same actions that we did in the past, pure and simple.

As a public company, that's very hard to do, because every move you make is scrutinized and it reflects in your stock price. So a big part of it was our model. A big part of it was the company was much bigger than it should have been. I was extremely challenged by my board. The board has always been a problem at that company, and I was happy to see it end. But there was only one way for it to end, which is going private. And I think that's the greatest act.

It seems like you set the wheels of the entire Elon saga in motion, starting with Elon joining the board. Was your sense that it would end up with Elon taking the company private?

I had tried to get Elon on the board for some time. He obviously loves Twitter, and I've always loved how he used it, because he used it in a very pure form. And he would be extremely expressive on it. So I tried to get him on the board twice before, but the board ultimately said no both times. Which also was one of the reasons I left, the second time that that happened.

When our activist came in, I offered to step down as CEO and the board wanted to go in a different direction. I didn't want to be on a board with an activist. I didn't want to run a company like that. It's just a Wall Street mess. It's not creative, it's diminishing. But the board said no. So at that point, I'm like, okay, I have to plan an exit. It's not going to be right now, but it has to be over the next two years, because I just don't want to live this way.

Elon was aware of the board [denying him a seat] for some time, but he came to his own conclusions about approaching the company and buying it. I don't know why he bought a significant share in the company, that led the board to ask him to join. But he did.

I did have conversations with him for some time, like, this company would be better off as a private company because making the changes it needs to make to live up to its potential, as a true internet company, and protocol and service and business on top, can't be done as a public company. You just can't do that work in public.

Had you taken it private, what would you have liked to do, both for the product and business? I know you're talking about the protocol, but I'm still wondering how that solves the business piece.

Oh, we'd create other revenue lines. We'd focus more on commerce. We'd focus more on payments. We'd focus on everything they're trying to do right now. All this we were doing before the company was sold. But I would do it faster, because as a private company, you can just shut down the advertising business, and only work on commerce. Only work on payments. Only work on small advertisements, more akin to classifieds, which I think is a phenomenal business for something like Twitter, where you have more direct response, but at a very, very localized level.

X has fewer than half the employees it used to, and it seems like product development has accelerated. What did you make of reducing the headcount? A lot more is being launched. Not all of it's perfect, but it does seem like more is happening.

Well, I think that's more true now than ever with all the AI tools we have, so the timing is correct. And just to keep in mind, it was a brand advertising business, and a brand advertising business needs a huge sales staff. Over 50 to 60% of Twitter employees were in sales. These are people talking to large brands all the time, and coming up with ideas which get built into the product. So there's a lot of say on the sales side of what ships and what doesn't, and the risk appetite we're willing to take.

Sales would have a say on product? Like features, other things on the platform?

Oh yeah. When I came in, a lot of it was being driven by sales and sales leaders.

Wow.

Again, it all goes down to incentives, right? What are the incentives? The incentives were profit and making numbers for the quarter. So they were doing all the right things for the situation they were in. But the problem was the situation they were in. Which was being a public company entirely dependent on this one business model.

Was Parag also determined to remove Twitter from that model?

Yeah, he was.

And that was sad to me. I really think Parag and Elon could have gotten along. He's an incredible engineer. It was really heartbreaking to see. He was on the path of everything we were doing. We were on the path to making sure we never had another permanent ban. That was the mandate that we gave the team. It was like, we're gonna remove that tool from you. How are you satisfying what you believe is right without that tool? And, you know, the protocol was a big part of that.

It's such a crazy thing '-- it seems like the core leadership team at Twitter, around you, was just totally opposed to elements throughout the company, from the sales team to the board. It's almost as if the company were fundamentally in conflict with itself.

Um, I think there was alignment. We were slow at things, that's definitely true. We definitely had too many people. And we went through two rounds of layoffs before the take-private. So yeah, I think there was alignment. It was just really slow to get there.

And it was also pretty reactive to what was happening in the world. I would even say overly reactive. All my tweets about the Donald Trump suspension '-- I said very clearly, this is right for Twitter, the business, but it was absolutely wrong for the world and the internet.

Keep in mind Mike, that's that time when, like, AWS removed Parler, and Apple took it off the app store, and it felt like this giant collusion to remove them. But [the Trump ban] was right for the business, because if we didn't act on it, we probably would have lost all our advertisers, which would affect the business and stock price. But it was wrong for the world and the internet, given the fact that we could do it in the first place. No one should be able to do that.

You said that before Congress, during your second appearance. You said something like "you shouldn't have this power, I shouldn't have this power, no one should have this power." You were thinking about Bluesky at that point, but it's sad because it just didn't happen the way that you'd hoped.

It is sad, but it created something different in contrast to Twitter, which is Nostr, and that is something I believe in. I know it's early, and Nostr is weird and hard to use, but if you truly believe in censorship resistance and free speech, you have to use the technologies that actually enable that, and defend your rights. I find it interesting to watch people who say they believe in these things, but aren't invested in learning about Bitcoin or something like Nostr. Because those are technologies no company or government can compromise in any way. But corporations can be compromised. And they have been.

According to the Twitter Files, at least what I saw, it looked like there were open lines of communication between people on your team and the government. Was the reaction to this overblown, in your opinion, or do you think the government relationship there was inherently problematic?

I think it was problematic, and I also don't think the people who got called out in the Twitter Files get enough credit for pushing back on government requests. The U.S. is certainly one of them. Twitter has a track record of fighting the U.S. on free speech causes, especially around transparency reports. Opening the lens even broader to other governments, we had even more fights. Tons of fights with India, Turkey, Russia, Nigeria. These are all governments that threatened arrest of our employees, raided our employees' homes, offices, asking for phone numbers and personal information for accounts that were critical of the governments. I think that was one part that's overlooked and not appreciated.

The other part is, with the Twitter Files, I wanted Twitter to be the most transparent company in the world, and I would have appreciated if... like, just release all the emails to the public. Just release all the information, instead of getting this little lens through these very specific people. All of whom I respect a lot. But there's a lot of context that is missing when you only look through this particular lens. And these are journalists, again, I respect. I have a lot of respect for Matt [Taibbi]. But if you really want to live up to that transparency, just let the people decide. Of course, you'll have people like Matt who can query this, and write a story in their way, and that will be meaningful. But to be able to see the full context, and everything that's happening, is also important and useful.

How did Twitter survive, with pressure from foreign governments like that? You managed to avoid country-wide bans for the most part, right?

Yeah. Elon has taken a different tack. Our principle was around free speech on the internet as a general rule, and that we would fight governments on that. His is free speech as determined by local law, and that means if India says you have to take these accounts down, you have to take those accounts down, because they're against the law.

I think both approaches are reasonable. One is very hard because you're fighting governments all the time, and the other one forces you into a lot of sticky situations where you have to be more transparent that the government is asking you to take this down, and we can't say why. And maybe, you have more public campaigns against the government, and the people electing different choices there.

I find it fascinating to watch how these things play out. Again, I think it points to the need for a protocol where you don't have to make these decisions at all, right? Because you don't control the protocol. There's no one single point of failure you can chokehold and bring before Congress and yell at. It's like Bitcoin, it doesn't have one leader or one central chokehold element. And I think that's critical for what it's intended to do.

Yeah, you'd get to a point where the only way foreign governments could actually pursue such draconian policies would be by removing access to the internet.

Yes. Our path was, India would say, "We're going to turn Twitter off." And they have a history of doing stuff like this. They did it with TikTok. And the other path '-- Elon's current path '-- you just have to take the accounts down.

There is a middle of the road, which I think X still does, which is a per-country takedown. You can take the content down within the country, but it's still available to the rest of the world. But if someone in that country has a VPN, they can still see it. And I think governments are wise to this now, so today they're asking to take content down in every single market. Again, you're the central point of decision and failure, ultimately, because you've given an entity the ability to make requests of you. Whether that be an advertiser or a government, it's ultimately the same thing.

But that per-country takedown functionality started way back in 2009. There's a blog post on it called "The Tweets Must Flow." That functionality still exists today, and I think it's still being used. But what you saw with Australia recently, is the prime minister asked Twitter and Elon to take some content down everywhere, instead of just within the Australian market. I think you'll see more and more of that stuff.

That really is crazy, because what is the difference at that point between, say, the Australian government demanding Twitter take down some Australian account globally, and the Australian government demanding Twitter take down some other account, from somewhere else in the world, critical of the Australian government? An American, for example? And then, in either case, a foreign government will be determining what we can see in America.

Exactly. You have a surface area where they can attack, and they're going to attack it. They're going to use it. Or they're going to manipulate it. That's why you just gotta play a different game. And that's why the protocol is for me.

Bluesky wasn't going to be the protocol layer, in my view. It put too much emphasis on the app. And Twitter still has this problem. It has a centralized surface area. We need different options if we truly believe in censorship resistance. We need to change the foundation everything is built on.

It sounds like your belief is, over time, due to this attack area there's almost no way all of these companies don't get taken down by the global effort to control speech?

Correct. Absolutely. There's absolutely no way. You'll have phases, but that doesn't exist forever. Elon will fight in the way he fights, and I appreciate that, but he could certainly be compromised. Or something could happen to him, and then what happens to the whole platform? There are no guarantees because you're not building on top of a technology that guarantees the right. It has to guarantee the right, it can't just be granted to you.

From X to Nostr, maybe even Facebook to a degree, it seems we have a much freer social media landscape this election year than we had during the last election. Could that tip the outcome one direction or another?

I don't know. I think... you know, all of these are new tools, right? And we're still kind of getting used to what the internet enables. I think it's less of a question about how free is the speech on these platforms, or how free is the policy, but more like, how will all these AI models and LLMs '-- and people using them to manipulate '-- impact the election? That seems like the unpredictable variable here, and that's the one I would probably pay more attention to. I don't think [AI] is necessarily a bad thing. But it's a much bigger unknown than loosening policies around speech, to me.

On deepfakes, do you think that it's as concerning as people make it out to be? How would you handle it if you were still running a content platform?

I hate to sound like a broken record, but one of the beauties of Nostr is you have these public-private key pairs, so it confirms identity. I think a confirmed identity that you own, that is not given to you by a government or corporation, that you truly own, is the way through this, because you can verify authenticity.

No one knows my secret key on Nostr. They know my public key, we know the math equations to match the two, but I can digitally sign my messages so people can know that these things are coming from me.

Now, videos created by third parties are another thing, another problem space I don't have an answer to, but I think it has to start with your own identity, and who owns your identity. Right now, all the companies own our identities. To me, that's super scary because again, can they be compromised? Can a government hold them to account? And the answer is absolutely yes, and you're seeing how that has played out over the years, and certainly in the present, and that will continue into the future.

We've talked a lot about deleting people, but the idea of a government actually just'... taking a person over is really crazy. If you could essentially seize an individual's identity, and use it to manipulate the public, or for whatever? That's just '--

Yep, it's crazy. That's crazy.

My last two questions are short and not as serious. First, why did you unfollow so many people on X?

I've always wanted to do that. I've always wanted to start fresh, because I believe the algorithm can be good enough that you don't really need the follow action. I think the follow action eventually goes away, and the algorithm is just based on your behavior, and it just becomes signal.

After I unfollowed everyone, I'm seeing the exact same content I saw before. Like, I see all your posts, I see all the people I used to follow. It's all there, and in fact it's a little bit better right now '-- what I'm clicking on and engaging with at the moment is a much stronger signal than my follow graph, and I think the algorithm is taking note of that, and my feed feels much more attuned to me.

I'm impressed with the iterations of the algorithm that they're doing. I think it's generally really good work. My only ask is to open it up even more and let people choose what algorithm they want to use, even write their own algorithms to filter all the conversations. To me, that would give users ultimate agency, and ultimate freedom. Because this whole 'freedom of speech, not reach,' is yet another tool of censorship in the end, because the algorithm is determining reach. If you truly believe in the freedom of speech, you gotta go to the heart of where it's now being decided. And that's not the policy, it's the actual algorithm itself.

Awesome, last question. What will be the price of Bitcoin in 2030?

[Laughs] I don't know. Over... at least a million. I do think it hits that number and goes beyond. But I think the price is only interesting... The most amazing thing about Bitcoin, apart from the founding story, is anyone who works on it, or gets paid in it, or buys it for themselves '-- everyone who puts any effort in to make it better '-- is making the entire ecosystem better, which makes the price go up. It's a fascinating ecosystem and movement, more than anything else. It taught me a lot.

--

This interview has been slightly condensed and edited for clarity.

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The Temple believes in reason, empathy and the pursuit of knowledge, its website FAQ helpfully explains. And it doesn't worship Satan. ''Satan is a symbol of the Eternal Rebel in opposition to arbitrary authority,'' it states. But it's not just a joke, supporters say. And opponents seem to agree.

One man was charged in January with a hate crime for vandalizing the temple's altar at the Iowa State Capitol. Another was arrested and accused of throwing a pipe bomb at the group's headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, leaving a note that urged the group to ''REPENT'' and ''TURN FROM SIN.'' And a third was arrested this month and accused of plotting to blow up the headquarters.

''It definitely started with a kind of humorous or satirical element to it, but this is a movement with hundreds of people that's been going for 10 years now '-- they're quite serious about it,'' said Joseph Laycock, a religious studies professor at Texas State University who wrote a book-length study about the group. ''They're willing to put up with death threats. They're willing to wear bulletproof vests because Neo-Nazis have threatened to kill them if they give a public speech. People don't normally take those kinds of risks for a joke.''

Interest in joining the Satanic Temple shot up in recent years, Greaves said, and the number of congregations more than doubled since 2021. That coincides with a decrease in the number of self-identified Christians in the U.S. and a growing movement among right-wing activists to insert conservative Christian doctrines into public policy and schools.

''The real fear of Christian nationalism is driving people into the arms of groups like the Satanic Temple,'' Laycock said. ''And then the fact that there are now Satanists taking to the streets of America is causing the Christian nationalists to double down, too, and making them even more determined to cling to power for as long as they can.''

The laws in Florida and Texas require school boards to vote on whether to appoint chaplains in their districts. Similar bills have been proposed in 13 other states this year. The proposals, which vary slightly, would have chaplains of various denominations serve in similar capacities as school counselors, in some cases with on-campus offices or salaries paid for by the districts.

''They are able to help the child work through their issues, work through their feelings, and also encourage them to work with their parents, in accordance with their family's underlying religious foundations,'' said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative advocacy group that testified in favor of the Texas bill.

Proponents of chaplains in schools have gone on the offensive, vowing that the Satanic Temple won't infiltrate their schools. ''There will be no Satanists in Oklahoma Schools. Period,'' Ryan Walters, the state's right-wing superintendent of public instruction, recently tweeted. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared at a bill signing for the new law last month that the Temple wouldn't qualify to provide chaplains. ''That is not a religion,'' he said.

But legal experts warn that conservatives disregard the Satanic Temple at their own peril, because the group's strategy of stepping into spaces intended for other religions is often effective. In 2016, the Temple began running After School Satan Clubs, seeking to start them in schools that already had Christian-based groups on campus. A federal court sided with the Temple in a legal challenge last year, and there are currently seven clubs nationwide, where children make arts and crafts, learn about animals and do science experiments.

''The Constitution is unambiguous about this,'' Greaves said. ''You just cannot take a religious identity and cut it out from a public accommodation. It's against the law, the school districts will lose, they'll have to pay the attorneys fees, and frankly, they shouldn't be pulling their budget into this culture war grandstanding B.S.''

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Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 21:12

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Archived Version

Fri, 17 May 2024 03:42

No joke: EVERYONE is coming after Harrison Butker for a commencement speech he gave at Benedictine College, a private school 60 miles up the Missouri River from Kansas City.

Apparently, that person was fired, but the rest of the establishment wants this man destroyed.

The actual NFL - the same NFL that allowed people to kneel for the national anthem for years on end - SLAMMED Butker for expressing millennia-old biblical beliefs that the majority of Americans have held since the founding of the nation.

I'm not joking, the actual NFL released a statement condemning the speech.

Commenting on Butker's speech for the first time May 15, the NFL said that his views differ from those of the organization.

'Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,' Jonathan Beane, the NFL's senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, tells PEOPLE in a written statement. 'His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.'

Again, years of woke grandstanding. The "black" national anthem at the Super Bowl. Silence. But a man says things that are taught in the Bible and all of a sudden there needs to be a media firestorm??

So what did Butker say that was so damnable? We wrote about it earlier this week, but let's move a bit slower to understand why so many powerful people want to destroy Butker's life.

The first controversial topic: Women as mothers.Yes, this is controversial to the Left in 2024. Here's what Butker said about women in his speech. On purpose, I've used a version of the speech edited by a leftist.

I want to speak directly to you briefly, because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you're going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world '...

I'm on this stage today and able to be the man that I am, because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.

A woman taking care of her family and her home while her husband works hard to provide for them is seen as slavery to the Left!

Next, Butker took a shot at President Biden and his stance on abortion:

Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder. Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally.

He's been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.

Sorry lefties, but Catholics believe in not killing babies, as hard as that is to comprehend.

Not controversial at all.And lefties had an absolute fit over this line:

Not the deadly sin sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true, God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify Him.

Yeah, speaking truth is gonna get you in trouble these days, Harrison.

Last, and probably most controversial, is Butker's stance on men:

To the gentlemen here today, part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same rate of absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates as well.

Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don't necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better.

Men being strong men will always be offensive to the Left. They hate the idea to its core.Shame of the NFL. Their version of inclusion is not for Catholics, apparently.

Liberals will compare Butker's speech to Colin Kaepernick's kneeling during the national anthem, but he did that while on the clock, not during his own time speaking at a private university.

They'll mock conservatives who told LeBron James to "shut up and dribble" when he started talking politics during interviews; but, again, this was while LeBron was on the job. It's not the same as giving a speech at a private university.

So Harrison Butker has every right to have given this speech at a Catholic university '-- and given it from a Catholic perspective.

He's a Catholic. The school is Catholic.Leave this man alone, lefties, and get back to your Pride Month preparations. We give you guys a whole month to spew your sin.

And to the NFL: Stop listening to the woke cult. If you want to know where the money is, since that's apparently all you care about, pay attention. 👇

P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇

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