Jan 12

Today’s News 12th January 2025

  • Technocracy, Fear-Mongers, & The Conspiracy
    Technocracy, Fear-Mongers, & The Conspiracy

    Authored by Bert Olivier via The Brownstone Institute,

    The term, ‘conspiracy theory’ became part of common parlance during the ‘Covid era,’ but although all of us know what it refers to – and who are supposed to be the ‘conspiracy theorists’ in question, namely those people who saw through the ‘pandemic’ scam and everything it entailed – the precise nature of the ‘conspiracy’ is probably less clear. When I ask individuals what they understand by it, they usually answer in more or less vague terms. So what is it? 

    In his book, HAARP: The Ultimate Weapon of the Conspiracy (2003) – followed in 2006 by Weather Warfare – Jerry Smith indicates the importance he attributes to the concept by capitalising it throughout. Smith relates it to what he regards as a weapon for warfare; to wit, the ‘High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP),’ and uncovers what the powers behind this project would have preferred to remain undisclosed, for obvious reasons, once one is apprised of the reasons for its establishment by the ‘Conspiracy.’ Here I do not wish to delve into the specifics of HAARP, but merely focus on Smith’s illuminating insights as far as the ‘Conspiracy’ is concerned. His answer to the question about its ‘what?’ is scattered throughout the first of the two books mentioned earlier. Here are some excerpts (Smith, 2003, p. 22-24):  

    Some people believe that there is one over-arching conspiracy, a cadre of incredibly powerful people who want to rule the world. Most of us dismiss such people as paranoid kooks. Still, there is no denying that for over a hundred years a movement has been developing among the world’s top intellectuals, industrialists and ‘global villagers’ to end war and solve societal problems (like overpopulation, trade imbalances and environmental degradation) through the creation of a single world government. Whether this globalist movement is a diabolic ‘conspiracy’ of the evil few or a broad ‘consensus’ of the well-intentioned many, in fact matters little. It is as real as AIDS and potentially just as deadly, at least to our individual freedom, if not our very lives…

    To grasp why Smith employs the term ‘deadly’ with regard to the Conspiracy, one has to read the book, but here it is sufficient to point out that, if nations were to surrender their own sovereign right to deal with overpopulation, environmental problems, and so on, as they see fit – even if this were to be done in cooperation with international agencies – a ‘one solution for all’ system would mean that policies would be imposed on them which are not suitable, or acceptable, for their own needs.

    The idea of a ‘League of Nations’ that was floated after World War I was but one embodiment of this movement. Today’s United Nations (UN) was built on the League of Nations concept. The UN was created primarily to end war—by ending nations. The logic is that if there are no nations, then there can be no wars between nations. This was clearly stated in the United Nations’ ‘World Constitution’ with these words: ‘The age of nations must end. The governments of the nations have decided to order their separate sovereignties into one government to which they will surrender their arms.’

    While 18th-century thinker Immanuel Kant, would have applauded the aim of terminating wars between nations, he would certainly have been less enamoured of the idea that sovereign nations would have to relinquish their sovereignty in favour of a wholesale assimilation into an encompassing world government. His reasons were clearly stated in the second of the ‘Definitive Articles’ formulated in his essay on ‘Perpetual Peace:’ ‘The law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states.’ For Kant this is essential for lasting peace, insofar as such a federation, where states would be subject to federal laws, is comparable to a state with a republican constitution, which is governed according to laws that are external to the (often disorderly) will(s) of citizens themselves. 

    Unless such a federation of nations (as opposed to a ‘state’ of nations, where all member states would comprise only one ‘nation of states’) were to be established, the rights of every member state would not be guaranteed, parallel to the way citizens’ rights are guaranteed in a republican state. In other words, every member state, together with its citizens, would be at the mercy of what the overall ‘world government’ decides. Particularly the words (in the excerpt, above), ‘to order their separate sovereignties into one government to which they will surrender their arms,’ sound outright ominous.

    The New World Order (NWO) is but one name given to this push to create a true world government. Many supporters of the NWO espouse a philosophy called technocracy, which is rule by experts, scientists or technicians. It is not democratic in any sense by which Americans understand the term. One very famous advocate of the New World Order is Zbigniew Brzezinski. He was a National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter and other presidents. He called his version of technocracy ‘technetronics.’ In his book, ‘Between Two Ages,’ Brzezinski wrote: ‘The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values.’

    This ‘technetronic’ union of nations would call for the desovereignization of all existing countries. This new ordering would reduce the United States of America to a mere regional government—perhaps the ‘United States of North America.’ The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is widely seen as one stepping stone to the NWO. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was quoted by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate in 1993 as saying: ‘NAFTA represents the single most creative step towards a New World Order.’ The Common Market in Europe and the European Union (EU) are similarly seen as bridges to an eventual United States of Europe, which in turn would be just another region of the United Nations’ global state (or ‘global plantation’ as some detractors have called it).

    It is an understatement to claim that technocracy is ‘not democratic in any sense by which Americans [or anyone else; B.O.] understand the term.’ Strictly speaking, technocracy would go further than merely using technical means to govern people, such as surveillance equipment, water cannons, or armoured cars for crowd control, or tasers to neutralise resistance; in the true sense of the word technocracy, technical devices, such as AI-robots, would be the means of governance. 

    Even this does not go far enough, because it suggests that some other agents, presumably human, would be the true power behind the robots, whereas technocracy in the extreme or ‘pure’ sense would entail the autonomous power to rule of the robots themselves, such as the machines in James Cameron’s Terminator films, or the Cylons in Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. I need not point out that the valorisation of AI by members of the globalist cabal puts them squarely in the company of those who would welcome technocracy; in what capacity it is difficult to say. Would they go as far as to surrender human oversight and control to the machines? Sometimes Noah Juval Harari – Klaus Schwab’s advisor – seems to suggest that they would. 

    Seen in this light, it makes complete sense that Brzezinski is quoted as saying that the ‘technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society,’ which ‘would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values.’ This is possibly the most important reason for ordinary people to resist the Conspiracy as characterised by Smith. Why? His use of the term ‘unrestrained’ to qualify ‘traditional values’ is symptomatic of an implicit belief that voluntary restraint on the part of people living in society is somehow undesirable, in contrast with which ‘restraint through being controlled’ by others – the so-called elites – is desirable. Keeping in mind that these ‘elites,’ minus any traditional values that function as guardrails within which civilisation develops, could foist just about any whim on people, who would presumably be ‘controlled’ in such a manner that they would have no say in the matter. 

    Does that sound familiar? Isn’t that precisely what one witnessed during the Covid era, and could justifiably expect to occur again if another event, not ‘restrained by traditional values,’ should be (ab)used to implement the same kind of controls as before? That this is no idle speculation is evident from a recent warning, issued by the high priest of the supposed ‘elites,’ Klaus Schwab himself, that climate change will be the ‘next big virus,’ accompanied by ‘restrictions worse than Covid.’ From the article one may gather that Smith’s depiction of the ‘Conspiracy’ – although in a different context – rings true where Schwab and the WEF are concerned: they prioritise control of ordinary mortals above everything else. Hence the usual pattern of disruption followed by severe measures of restriction. 

    Moreover, again as the article in question avers, Schwab habitually uses ‘veiled threats’ and ‘apocalyptic rhetoric to emphasize the need for global coordination, often promoting the centralization of power under elite institutions including the World Economic Forum.’ Unsurprisingly, the ‘crises’ that the ‘elites’ – that is, the Conspiracy – conjure up, are utilised as openings for them to strengthen and consolidate their control over the rest of us, predictably employing ‘fear-based programming, while reshaping society according to their vision.’  

    Another instance of the same old saw is encountered in the recent report of a WEF doctor – yes, they never stop, do they? – warning that avian flu, an outbreak of which is perceived as being imminent, has been estimated as capable of killing ‘52% of the population,’ simultaneously calling on the Biden administration to commence ‘a mass vaccination ‘campaign before President Donald Trump is sworn in next month.’ The most interesting thing here is the estimate, by the WHO, according to the doctor concerned, that ‘the mortality rate is 52%,’ reflecting a precision that boggles the mind, considering that the strain of bird flu regarded as being dangerous to humans has, as far as I can ascertain, not ever killed the number of people that allowed such a judgment to be made. 

    This does not mean that avian flu does not hold a significant threat for human beings, as I have argued before, but it is imperative to distinguish between deliberate fear-mongering and the real McCoy, lest one fall for precisely the kind of ruse they need to get lethal needles into arms.

    As may be gathered from the above – Smith’s observations about the ‘Conspiracy’ as well as the instances I have adduced to validate these – it is not at all far-fetched to claim that there are persuasive indications of the growth of organisations hellbent on the construction of a one-world government. Calling these, collectively speaking, the ‘Conspiracy’ – while perhaps sounding paranoid – makes sense to the degree that (as some of Smith’s observations show) such a projected government would not be willing to share democratic power with ordinary citizens; on the contrary, it would rule in a totalitarian fashion. This has already been abundantly demonstrated by events over the last five years, as well as ongoing occurrences of the kind I have referred to. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 23:20

  • Mainstream Media Ignoring Ethno-Religious Genocide Under Syria's New Rulers
    Mainstream Media Ignoring Ethno-Religious Genocide Under Syria’s New Rulers

    Mainstream Western media previously wrote several puff pieces on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its US-designated terror leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani in the wake of Assad’s ouster, but now that same media is completely ignoring the atrocities taking place under Jolani’s watch.

    Various armed allied groups of HTS are rampaging through the central and northern countryside, attacking Christians and Alawites, in a developing ethno-religious genocide. It has only been one month since Assad was overthrown.

    Via AFP/Al-Akhbar

    Initially HTS and other factions, which includes foreign groups such as Chechens and Uyghurs, rounded up individuals and tortured or executed them under the guise that they were former “Assad regime agents”.

    Now, according to regional reports, the jihadists are dropping even this pretense and are simply taking over Alawite villages. Serious problems and threats are also being reported in the historic ‘Valley of the Christians’ (or Wadi al-Nasara, which lies in Western Syria in Homs governate).

    Various locations have seen jihadists seeking to impose public segregation of the sexes, Islamic head-coverings, and blanket bans on alcohol… 

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    Below is a machine translated report from Lebanon’s major Al-Akhbar newspaper on some of the latest [emphasis ZH]…

    * * *

    Today, the villages of Hama’s northern and eastern countryside are witnessing liquidation operations based on identity. Local forces are not even using the excuse of saying that they are going after “regime remnants” or people who are “against the revolution” before ordering the killing.

    They are terrorizing the residents of the Alawite sect, and pressuring them to evacuate their homes, especially in some eastern villages affiliated with Salamiyah.

    This is changing the demographic face of this countryside and will continue so long as chaos continues and the new Syrian administration does not intervene to stop it. In the villages of Al-Zaghba, Mabatan, Maryoud, Al-Fanat and Ma’an in the eastern countryside, there are thefts and looting of property, while armed factions burn houses to ensure that residents do not return.

    A resident of Al-Zaghba village confirmed to Al-Akhbar that “the militants present in the village prevent the return of the homeowners, and if the purpose of returning is to check on the house or bring some items and necessities from it, then the residents enter at their own risk.”

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    The same scenario was repeated in the village of Maryoud, most of whose residents have been displaced. “The militants killed a civilian man from the village who returned to check on his house during the past two days. When we contacted the Commission to find out the affiliation of these killers, it responded that the area was outside the control of its factions.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 22:45

  • FDA Mandates Nerve Damage Warnings For 2 RSV Vaccines
    FDA Mandates Nerve Damage Warnings For 2 RSV Vaccines

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine manufacturers to include a potentially paralytic side effect warning related to nerve damage on product labels.

    A man wearing facemask and shield walks past the Pfizer headquarters in New York, on March 11, 2021. Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

    The manufacturers, GSK and Pfizer, manufacturing Arexvy and Abrysvo vaccines respectively, must now include a warning stating a risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) following vaccination, according to a Jan. 7 statement from the agency.

    GBS is a rare disorder in which the immune system ends up damaging nerve cells, which leads to weakness in the muscles and potential near-total paralysis, depending on severity.

    RSV is a common respiratory virus that infects the throat, nose, and lungs, and typically spreads during fall and winter seasons. Infected people can experience symptoms similar to that of a common cold such as a runny nose, congestion, sneezing, and coughing.

    The FDA said the following statement is to be included in the Warnings and Precautions section of the two vaccines: “The results of a postmarketing observational study suggest an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome during the 42 days following vaccination with Abrysvo” or with “Arexvy” for that vaccine.

    Arexvy is used by people aged 50 and older to deal with lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV, while Abrysvo has been approved for use in adults aged 18 and above.

    Abrysvo is also used by pregnant women who are at 32 through 36 weeks of gestational age to protect infants from birth through six months of age.

    The labeling requirement follows an observational study conducted by the FDA.

    In the study, the agency found there was an “increased risk of GBS during the 42 days following vaccination, with an estimated 9 excess cases of GBS per million doses of Abrysvo, and an estimated 7 excess cases of GBS per million doses of Arexvy administered to individuals 65 years of age and older.”

    However, despite these results, the FDA determined that “the benefits of vaccination with Abrysvo and Arexvy continue to outweigh their risks.”

    According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early symptoms of GBS can include feelings of weakness and tingling.

    “People with GBS usually first feel these symptoms in both legs. Then, they might feel these symptoms in their arms and upper body,” it said. “Symptoms can progress over hours, days, or weeks.” The weakness keeps increasing until people are unable to use certain muscles.

    “People with GBS need to be hospitalized,” the agency said. “Most people start to recover 2–3 weeks after symptoms start. Recovery may take as little as a few weeks or as long as a few years. Most people recover fully, but some have permanent nerve damage. Some people have died from GBS.”

    The Epoch Times reached out to GSK and Pfizer for comment.

    RSV Vaccine Usage and Risks

    The RSV vaccine label update comes as the overall respiratory illness activity in the United States is deemed to be at a “high” level, with RSV activity being “very high in many areas of the country, particularly in young children,” according to the CDC.

    “Emergency department visits and hospitalizations are highest in children and hospitalizations are elevated among older adults in some areas.”

    The agency recommends all babies be protected from RSV by either vaccinating mothers or by giving an antibody to the infant.

    Even if the mother is not at high risk for severe RSV, the vaccination is important since the pregnant woman will “pass the protection” to her baby, the CDC said. “It takes two weeks to develop protection (antibodies) and for protection to pass on to your baby.”

    This protection lasts for the first six months of the infant’s life “while they are at highest risk of severe RSV.”

    Pregnant women who have already taken an RSV vaccine during a previous pregnancy are not recommended to take it again. Instead, the baby should get nirsevimab, an antibody.

    CDC recommends antibodies to “all babies younger than eight months of age born to mothers who did not receive a maternal RSV vaccine (Pfizer’s Abrysvo) during pregnancy.”

    For older adults, the CDC advises vaccination for 60 to 74-year-olds who are at increased risk of severe RSV and for all individuals aged 75 and above.

    However, the agency warns that vaccination could result in certain adverse events. “Side effects such as pain, redness, and swelling where the shot is given, fatigue, fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle or joint pain may occur after you get an RSV vaccine.”

    “These side effects are usually mild. Patients who have experienced these symptoms when getting other vaccines might be more likely to experience them after getting an RSV vaccine,” it said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 22:10

  • These Were The Most On-Time Airlines In 2024
    These Were The Most On-Time Airlines In 2024

    International air traffic increased steadily in 2024, with global demand growing 7.1% year-on-year as the aviation industry continues to recover post-pandemic.

    Amid this steady increase in passenger volume, punctuality has become more important than ever, distinguishing top-performing airlines from the rest.

    This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the 10 airlines with the highest percentage of on-time arrivals in 2024 and their total number of flights. Data comes from Cirium.

    Which Airline was the Most Punctual in 2024?

    Below, we show the top 10 airlines by on-time arrival rate in 2024, along with their total flights last year.

    Aeroméxico tops the list with the highest on-time arrival rate at 86.7%, closely followed by Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier, Saudia, at 86.4%.

    Notably, two of Saudia’s most popular routes–Riyadh to Jeddah and Dubai to Riyadh–were among the top revenue-generating routes of 2023, according to OAG data.

    Delta Air Lines, one of the largest global carriers, maintains a strong on-time performance of 83.5%, despite operating over 1.7 million flights—one of the highest totals in Cirium’s rankings. The Atlanta-based airline also ranked as America’s most reliable airline in the first quarter of 2024.

    United Airlines, the largest airline in the world based on revenue passenger miles and another U.S. giant, achieved an 80.9% on-time arrival rate.

    However, United was the only U.S. airline that saw a drop in its American Customer Satisfaction Index rating last year, due to various safety incidents.

    To learn more about the international aviation industry, check out this graphic that visualizes the busiest international airports in the world.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 21:35

  • Lawmakers Propose Amendment To Congressional Term Limits
    Lawmakers Propose Amendment To Congressional Term Limits

    Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) have introduced joint resolutions in the Senate and House respectively, calling for congressional term limits.

    The U.S. Capitol building grounds before the arrival of former President Jimmy Carter’s casket in Washington on Jan. 7, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

    “With the evident abuse of power that has taken place in Congress, the notion of term limits is basic common sense,” Norman said in an emailed statement.

    The amendment would limit House members to three terms of two years, and Senate members to two terms of six years.

    However, terms that began before the amendment’s ratification are not counted towards the total number. This has relevance for Cruz, who began a third term in the Senate this year.

    “The Founding Fathers envisioned a government of citizen legislators who would serve for a few years and return home, not a government run by a small group of special interests and lifelong, permanently entrenched politicians who prey upon the brokenness of Washington to govern in a manner that is totally unaccountable to the American people,” Cruz said.

    The action currently has support in both chambers of Congress—11 senators and 29 members of the House—but it is no small feat to amend the U.S. Constitution.

    The amendment will require support from two-thirds of the House and of the Senate and agreement by three-fourths of states to be ratified.

    Cruz and Norman have repeatedly introduced term limits during their time in Congress.

    Cruz’s 2023 version of the bill did not make it out of committee.

    Norman’s House version was also voted down 17–19 in the House Judiciary Committee that same year.

    The vote was not entirely along party lines.

    Four Republicans—Reps. Harriet Hageman (Wyo.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), and Scott Fitzgerald (Wis.)—sided with Democrats to kill the bill.

    At that time, Hageman told Fox News that she felt forcing term limits denied voters a choice.

    “We already have term limits, although we call them elections, and in the House, we have them every two years,” she said.

    “You only have to look at the seat that I currently hold for the people of Wyoming to see that if voters are dissatisfied, they can always change horses.”

    She also said that long-term member experience may prove important during political battles with the other side of the aisle.

    The record for longest term in Congress goes to Michigan Democrat John Dingell, who served 59 years in the House of Representatives. Current Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have also held onto their seats for decades. Grassley was elected in 1980 and McConnell in 1985.

    McConnell stepped down as leader of the Senate Republicans at the end of 2024 and has not yet publicly ruled out a 2026 run.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 21:00

  • How Widespread Is Distrust Of Mainstream Media?
    How Widespread Is Distrust Of Mainstream Media?

    Distrust of the news is particularly widespread in the United States and France.

    As Statista’s Anna Fleck details below, according to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights, one in five respondents in each country said that they do not trust mainstream media.

    This is the highest share of the 21 countries polled.

    Spanish respondents were similarly skeptical, with 19 percent of respondents answering the same.

    As the chart shows, the Swiss are more convinced of their country’s journalistic integrity, with only 13 percent of respondents stating they distrusted Swiss mainstream media.

    Infographic: How Widespread Is Distrust of Mainstream Media? | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    Under one in ten respondents said they distrusted the news in China.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 20:25

  • Palisades Fire Crisis Intensifies Ahead Of Windstorm Event Early Next Week
    Palisades Fire Crisis Intensifies Ahead Of Windstorm Event Early Next Week

    Update (2005ET):

     LA Times provided the latest on all four fires raging across the LA County area:

    Palisades Fire:

    Burned 22,660 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 11% contained. Many parts of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino are under evacuation orders or warnings. More than 12,000 structures remain threatened. Officials estimate that more than 5,300 structures, including many homes, have been damaged or destroyed.

    Eaton Fire:

    Burned 13,956 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Additional evacuation orders were mandated Thursday afternoon when fire climbed toward Mt. Wilson. Other mandatory evacuations were lifted as city officials notified residents in Glenoaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon that it was safe to return to their homes. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 15 % contained, on Friday, it was only at 3%. Officials say 7,000 structures have been damaged in the fire.

    Kenneth Fire:

    Burned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 80% contained, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the fire.

    Hurst Fire:

    Burned 779 acres in the area around Sylmar. Evacuation orders have been lifted. As of 8 a.m. Saturday, the fire was 76% contained, according to Cal Fire.

    Here are the latest LA Times headlines regarding the inferno: 

    • All-out aerial assault works to save homes in Brentwood, Encino as Palisades fire approaches

    • LA County Supervisor invites Trump to see fire damage

    • UCLA students on high alert, but not under evacuation orders

    • 1,680 National Guard troops now helping in fire zone

    • LADWP said 20% of fire hydrants sustained a loss of pressure

    • After faulty cell alerts during fire emergency, LA County overhauls its system

    • High winds, low humidity expected to fuel fires through Wednesday: ‘Not looking good’

    • Death toll from LA firestorms rises to 13

    Accuweather reported, “Santa Ana winds will pick up Saturday night into Sunday morning in Southern California, but a possibly strong wind event is coming early next week as wildfires continue.” 

    He’s not wrong. That’s why local elections matter. We suspect a political shift is on the horizon.

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    Good point. 

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    Apocalypse.

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    Via Daily Mail:

    Two men are said to have been caught on camera dumping gasoline and setting it alight immediately before the devastating Palisades fire broke out, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

    A resident of the ritzy celeb-packed area reported the video to a senior firefighter once the flames had started consuming the area.

    About that ‘climate change’ narrative pushed by far-left corporate media. 

    AI…

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    *   *   * 

    The Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Kenneth Fire, Hurst Fire, and Lidia Fire have scorched over 27,000 acres, destroyed 12,000 structures, claimed at least 11 lives, and evacuated more than 150,000 people. Containment for the two largest fires, the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, remains in the mid-to-high single digits. Evacuation orders were issued overnight for Mandeville Canyon as the Palisades Fire advanced toward the Interstate 405 freeway. 

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    Firefighters continued battling the Palisades, Eaton, and other fires. A red flag warning via the National Weather Service was still in effect in the early morning hours. 

    LA Times provides the latest on all five fires raging across the LA County area:

    Palisades Fire:

    Burned 21,317 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of 5 a.m. Friday morning, the fire was 8% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. On Friday night, officials upgraded an evacuation warning to a mandatory order from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. New evacuation warnings were issued for areas to the east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.

    Eaton Fire:

    Burned 14,117 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Additional evacuation orders were mandated Thursday afternoon when fire climbed toward Mt. Wilson. Other mandatory evacuations were lifted as city officials notified residents in Glenoaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon that it was safe to return to their homes. Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X on Friday morning that the fire was 3% contained as of 7:30 a.m.

    Kenneth fire:

    Burned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of 6 a.m. Friday morning, the fire was 50% contained, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the fire.

    Hurst Fire:

    Burned 771 acres in the area around Sylmar. Evacuation orders have been lifted. As of 8 p.m. Thursday night, the fire was 70% contained, according to Cal Fire.

    Lidia Fire:

    Burned 394 acres in Acton and is 98% contained, according to Cal Fire.

    Fire Map (LA Times)

    The latest concern has been a large flare-up in the Palisades area that prompted new evacuation orders from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. This area includes Brentwood and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley. 

    LA Times warned: “The Palisades fire can now be seen across Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, an unsettling development as officials worried about the fire expanding into neighborhoods in Encino and Brentwood and possibly jumping the 405 freeway into Bel Air.” 

    Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, told the media outlet that the latest round of evacuation orders sent panic through the community. 

    “I don’t think that people here really saw that it was coming,” Sautter said, adding, “We didn’t think that it was something that would really affect us — until it did.”

    Here are the latest LA Times headlines regarding the inferno: 

    • Glow of Palisades fire seen across LA’s San Fernando Valley; swaths of Encino, Brentwood told to evacuate

    • Latest Palisades fire evacuation order sends shock wave through Encino

    • LA County declares health emergency due to smoke and ash

    • State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded

    • Newsom orders investigation into dry fire hydrants that hampered firefighting in LA.

    • Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones

    • ‘We don’t know half of it.’ LA firestorm death toll expected to rise as searchers go door to door

    Latest Zero Hedge headlines:

    Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass find themselves in the hot seat as their own liberal voter base turns against them, blaming the radical politicians for the spread of fire due to their massive mismanagement of budgets. 

    A Fox News report found that Newsom slashed funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million last year. He signed the budget covering the 2024-25 fiscal year in June. 

    Even the left-leaning USA Today reported that new budget documents showed the mayor reduced the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget from $837 million in fiscal year 2024 to $819 million in fiscal year 2025. 

    In December, LAFD sent a report to the mayor and city council warning that ” these budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations.” 

    The destruction caused by the wildfires is about twice the size of Manhattan, and growing, and in our view, will be a political disaster for both Newsom and Bass. 

    Elon Musk wrote on X the huge loss of mansions across LA has primarily been a failure of Newsom and Bass…

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    On Friday evening, Newsom was trying to salvage his dumpster fire political career by inviting President-elect Donald Trump to California. 

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    Newsom also noted on X, “I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.” 

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    Newsom is getting angry. 

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    Community Noted.

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    It’s not surprising at all that liberal Californians, including Hollywood elites, voted in Mayor Bass, a Marxist!

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    Local elections matter—what were you all thinking?

    Also, all of this proves that you can not rely on gov’t…. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 20:05

  • The Left's Ignoble Motives
    The Left’s Ignoble Motives

    Authored by Thaddeus McCotter via American Greatness,

    Having read his January 7th piece in American Greatness, “We Can Handle the Truth,” clearly Christopher Roach did a splendid job of employing a cinematic reference to tie together the U.S. and U.K. establishments’ mutual fear of telling their public the truth about terrorism and other criminal acts when the perpetrators are from a preferred intersectional group.

    Specifically, Mr. Roach deftly stated the case how the refusal by the authorities and the corporate media in the United States to call the murders in New Orleans a terrorist attack constitutes a refusal akin to that exhibited by the United Kingdom regarding the Pakistani rape gangs. Per Mr. Roach:

    There has been an even more aggressive media blackout in response to the horrifying rape gangs in the United Kingdom. For years, not only the media, but police, politicians, social workers, and other authorities downplayed the reality of these attacks, blamed victims, and did little to stop the rape of young, native British females by Pakistani immigrant gangs.

    Regarding such obfuscations and denials by the two nations’ leftist elites, Mr. Roach noted the role allegedly played by their fear of being accused of “racism”: “[I]n the modern West, whether in the United States or the United Kingdom, authorities are more afraid of being accused of racism than stopping terrorism and child rape.”

    To bolster this point, Mr. Roach cites British writer Tom Holland, a clear front-runner for the 2025 Walter Duranty Fake News Award:

    The true nightmare of #Rotherham is that the motives of those who turned a blind eye, however monstrous the consequences, were indeed noble.

    “It wasn’t the indifference that was noble, but the concern not to demonise a minority. Caring for the weak. The Christian thing . . . I think they genuinely didn’t want to give succour to racism against a minority—which was a noble principle.

    Yet, as is so often the case in dealing with the left, reality dictates otherwise. The left has ignoble motives—ones rooted in preserving and imposing their power over others and over their own deluded sense of superiority.

    As a rational matter, it is far more plausible to believe that the left is politically more concerned with keeping core minority voting blocs intact. Often, their paranoia and patronizing racism involve pushing policies that are detrimental to society, including minorities. Not surprisingly, such policies are unpopular to a great number of voters (such as the increasing number of Hispanic and other American minorities who oppose open borders, illegal immigration, and the politicians behind them).

    Consequently, when a member(s) of one of the left’s core minority voting blocs commits a terrorist and/or other criminal act, the governing elite will downplay it, often by obfuscating the perpetrator and their motives and/or covering it with a cloak of muted statements—except, of course, when they are blaming victims and attacking those who demand a more honest and effective response.

    Such despicable political tactics are aimed at insulating the governing elite’s solicitous, patronizing, and injurious policies purportedly offered to benefit said group from becoming publicly exposed, debated, and even more disfavored. For, if they are brought to light in the public square, it will doubtless cost them the votes and, ergo, elections. Thus, the governing elites do this not to protect the minority group from “racism.” The governing elites do this to protect themselves from voters. As Mr. Roach trenchantly avers: “This self-serving justification obscures that officials engaged in narrative control are often more concerned with avoiding embarrassment and accountability than any broader social goal.”

    Still, for the leftist political elites in both countries, there exists an even more powerful irrational motive for twisting reality to suit their aims. The left must perpetuate their self-delusion of moral and intellectual superiority at all costs—including if it requires obfuscating and minimizing the protection of children who are being raped or pedestrians who are being run down. For the left, there seems to be no price too high to pay for their inflated self-esteem—especially when they’re not the ones paying the tab. Indeed, such evasion of accountability is the genesis of the leftist governing elites’ myth of the “noble lie,” one that has attempted to sanitize recent weaponized deceits ranging from rape gangs to Russia-gate, ad nauseam.

    Ultimately, the left is not content with avoiding accountability for the consequences of their harmful policies and injurious ideological follies. They seek to be seen as the virtuous victims of those people demanding accountability. It is but a small step for them to take, considering how little regard the leftist governing elite in both nations have for the great mass of their populations.

    Unconscionably, both nations’ leftist governing elites fear the response of their own populations more than the terrorist and/or criminal actors. By projecting its own paranoiac contempt upon the rest of society, the left is perpetuating its self-deceit of superiority by victim-blaming and shaming.

    And that victim is you.

    In turn, this raises the question above all else that the leftist governing elites fear answering honestly: “Do you believe an oppressed minority is justified in committing a violent act against the racist, misogynistic, imperialist, inequitable, oppressive majority?” If you think the question far outré, remember what is being asked of people who knowingly refused to employ every means at their disposal—starting with the full truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—to stop children from being raped or people from being murdered.

    After all, this is not what Mr. Holland offered but an irrational, ludicrous justification for an almost unimaginable ideological and moral failure, one along the lines that Walter Duranty scrawled when excusing Stalin’s crimes: “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.” The toxic imbecility is staggering, and the verdict is damning. As Mr. Roach concludes:

    The leadership class has no respect for the West, its history, or its people. This is evidenced by their consistent desire to hide the truth and subject our most vulnerable citizens to horrific violence, lest we all “get the wrong idea.” They have forfeited their authority to rule because of their repeated refusal to treat us with candor and protect our most vulnerable citizens.

    Contrary to their prejudices, we can handle the truth.

    It is the leftist governing elites that cannot.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 19:50

  • The Rise Of News 'Influencers' And Where They Can Be Found
    The Rise Of News ‘Influencers’ And Where They Can Be Found

    The 2024 presidential campaign that resulted in the re-election of Donald Trump was unique in many ways. One thing it demonstrated is the increased power that individual voices, first and foremost on social media, have in comparison to the actual “fourth power”, the news media.

    And it’s not just mega influencers like Elon Musk or Joe Rogan, people with tens of millions of followers on social media, who shape the political views of many, especially young people these days, but also thousands of smaller-scale news influencers.

    These are people with large social media followings, who regularly post about politics and current events but are, more often than not, unaffiliated with an actual news organization. As trust in news organization has eroded in recent years, news influencers have become more popular for those seeking independent voices outside the often-maligned “mainstream media”.

    As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the chart below, according to a Pew Research Center report commissioned by the Pew-Knight Initiative, 21 percent of U.S. adults regularly get news from news influencers, with young adults significantly more likely to do so than older ones.

    Infographic: The Rise of News Influencers and Where They Can Be Found | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    37 percent of 18 to 29- year-olds regularly get news from influencers versus just 15 percent of 50 to 64-year-olds and 7 percent of those aged 65 and above. While it would be easy to assume that people mostly seek out news influencers who’s views closely align with their own, that doesn’t necessarily appear to be the case. According to Pew’s findings, 61 percent of those wo regularly get opinions from news influencers say that they see opinions they agree and disagree with about equally. 30 percent see mostly opinions they agree with, while very few (2 percent) mostly see opinions from influencers they disagree with.

    So why do people lean on news influencers to get informed? According to Pew, 65 percent of news influencer followers said that they helped them better understand current events and civic issues. More than 70 percent said that news influencers offered news that are extremely/very different (23 percent) or somewhat different (48 percent) from the news they get elsewhere.

    And one final aspect is likely trust: while the news media has lost trust in recent years, influencers have it in abundance, often built through years of social media “relationships” with their followers. What they often lack compared to traditional news outlets is an actual journalistic background, meaning that the trust they enjoy from their followers may not always be backed up by their actual understanding of often complex matters.

    As Statista’s chart shows, X (formerly Twitter) is the most popular platform among news influencers, with 85 percent of the 500 sampled influencers active on the platform acquired by Elon Musk in 2022. Instagram, YouTube and Facebook are also very commonly used, while TikTok is surprisingly far down the list with only 27 percent of the sampled influencers active on the platform.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 19:15

  • Thacker Crushes Krugman, Trounces Tufecki As NYT Keeps Peddling Lies
    Thacker Crushes Krugman, Trounces Tufecki As NYT Keeps Peddling Lies

    Authored by former Congressional investigator Paul Thacker,

    I walked you through a couple examples of fact-challenged essays in the New York Times opinion page last month, but Wow! Two more incidents jumped to my attention soon after. I’m gonna march through these as well, to further impress upon readers of the need to be skeptical about what you read, especially if it’s in the New York Times.

    The first example is columnist Paul Krugman, the Princeton professor of economics who spent an entire year dismissing inflation, even though inflation was so terrible it likely explains why Trump won the presidential election. The second exemplar of Times silliness is columnist Zeynep Tufekci who fabricated science to support “masks work” dogma throughout the pandemic, and is now spitting out alternative facts about Trump’s pick to run the National Institutes of Health.

    Krugman won a Nobel Prize in 2008, but his fame rests on his decades-long tenure as celebrated truth teller columnist for the Times. However, truths told by Krugman are not always true. For the past year, running up into the election, Krugman has spun a fairy tale about the U.S. economy, professing in column after column that inflation is low. Krugman told these lies likely because these fibs bolstered the Democratic Party while they were locked in a tight race with Trump.

    Krugman has long shown a partisan streak, once making the delusional claim that Trump was under the control of Putin.

    But it seems politics has so deranged Krugman’s thinking that this Nobel Prize winner in economics will even write stupid things about economics.

    Before diving into Krugman’s economic nonsense, take a look this chart from the Congressional Budget Office which notes that inflation reached incredibly high levels during the Biden administration. Then ask yourself, “How could Krugman ignore these numbers?”

    Well, he did.

    Krugman started off 2024 proclaiming that “inflation isn’t nearly as bad as it feels” and continued to dismiss economic numbers right up through the election.

    Nonetheless, when media reported the actual inflation numbers, Krugman dismissed them as “partisan media” on May 3rd.

    He deployed the “partisan” claim again, four days later on May 7 because why not? Whenever the fact don’t fit, just mumble “partisan.”

    By June Krugman had become so delusional about inflation that he floated the silly argument that high inflation was a “false alarm” and the real concern was recession. “So it’s time to stop obsessing about inflation, which increasingly looks like yesterday’s problem,” Krugman wrote, “and start worrying about the possibility of a recession as the economy’s strength finally begins to erode under the strain of high interest rates.”

    When Trump pledged to “end inflation” last July, Krugman then spun up a fantasy tale in one of his columns:

    So Americans do know that inflation — the rate at which prices are rising — is way down. What is true is that we had a burst of inflation in 2021-22, which has left the level of prices considerably higher than it was a few years ago. A dollar doesn’t buy as much as it used to. On the other hand, American workers are taking home more dollars: Recent years have seen a surge in wages as well as in prices.

    Krugman followed up this baloney by cherry picking federal numbers to find one inflation report that fit his politics which he lauded as beautiful.

    “We’ve beaten inflation,” Krugman told Yahoo Finance in early August. “I mean when you take out sort of lagged effects of housing, most measures are pretty much at the Fed’s 2% target or at most a fraction of a percentage point above it.”

    Krugman’s crusade to dismiss inflation and high prices harming average Americans continued a few days later in this column praising Biden and alleging Kamala Harris was more trusted than Trump on the economy.

    But days before the election Krugman pivoted to warn that victory over inflation could be “squandered” if Donald Trump wins the presidency. This sudden twist, from downplaying inflation numbers during the Biden administration to projecting alarm over imaginary Trump inflation, pretty much reveals that campaign politics were driving Krugman’s columns.

    And then came the election, and guess what? The New York Times admitted that voters chose Trump because of inflation and high prices under Biden. But after confessing this, the Times ignored over a year of bullshit columns by Krugman denying that very inflation, and then allowed Krugman to double down on complaints about Trump.

    I’m serious, this is exactly what the New York Times did. Read it for yourself.

    In fact, Biden inflation was so bad, explained Johns Hopkins political economist David A. Steinberg, that high costs killed Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and helped propel Trump into the White House.

    As is clear to anyone not blinded by political zealotry, inflation was really bad during the Biden administration. So bad that people voted for a Republican, despite a year-long campaign by Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman to deny economic reality in the pages of America’s most powerful newspaper.

    Why the editors at the Times let Krugman get away with publishing this nonsense, I have no clue, but it’s rather obvious that accuracy is not important at the Times. Let’s take a look at the second example of lies splattered across the pages of the Times: columnist Zeynep Tufekci.

    Readers might remember Tufekci from her defamatory attack on the Cochrane mask review and lead author Tom Jefferson. After Cochrane published their latest mask review that found little evidence mask work to stop viruses in 2023, Tufekci went on the attack, alleging the evidence falls in the opposite direction: masks work.

    Granted, Tufekci’s advanced degrees are in film studies, not public health or medicine. But hey, New York Times. Who needs actual science when you can dash out an essay?

    Tufekci’s “masks work” column was not only rife with false scientific conclusions, she even lied about what people she interviewed told her. In one example, Tufekci claimed Michael Brown, one of Cochrane’s editors, did not support the Cochrane mask review when he had told her the complete opposite.

    “I didn’t agree with her,” Michael Brown told me of his interactions with Tufekci, “the way she then spun it: masks work.”

    It’s not that Tufekci doesn’t understand science; she doesn’t understand journalism ethics nor how to read and write accurately. And Tufekci pulled the same gambit in a November essay defaming Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s nominee to run the NIH.

    In her column disparaging Bhattacharya, Tufekci made several false assertions, alleging for example that Bhattacharya had estimated COVID would only kill 20,000 to 40,000 Americans (he had actually written that up to 2 million might die). Tufekci also falsely asserted that a study by Bhattacharya grossly overestimated the number of Americans who had been sickened by the virus and recovered. (In fact, this study was published in a top journal and was replicated by other studies).

    Tufekci’s article was so riddled with mistakes that several scientists with real degrees in science sent a letter to the New York Times pointing out the errors and demanding that the Times abide by basic rules of journalism and issue a correction.

    But instead of correcting the errors the New York Times doubled down on their false assertions, making clear to readers that they have a political agenda to attack science and researchers they don’t like.

    But wait. It gets worse.

    After scientists sent the Times the letter noting Tufekci’s numerous errors, Tufekci hopped on X to attack Bhattacharya once again. In several posts, Tufekci argued that the real problem was not her blatant scientific mistakes, nor her defamatory attack on Bhattacharya.

    The real problem is that Bhattacharya is not “humble” and is part of a “personality cult.”

    This is what passes for journalism at the New York Times. I ask myself every day why I continue paying for a subscription to this mess of a paper. What do you think?

    Subscribe to The Disinformation Chronicle here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 18:40

  • Trump "Wants America To Win": Zuckerberg Warns Of "Emasculated" Society
    Trump “Wants America To Win”: Zuckerberg Warns Of “Emasculated” Society

    Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Tim,es,

    Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on actor and martial artist Joe Rogan’s podcast on Jan. 10, sparking interest days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

    The episode on “The Joe Rogan Experience” was aired just days after the tech founder announced his company was changing its moderation policy, replacing fact checkers with a less censorious system modeled on X’s Community Notes. He has also elevated Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White, a Trump and Rogan ally, to Meta’s board of directors.

    During the nearly three-hour episode, Zuckerberg and Rogan talked Trump, online censorship, the recent election, television versus. podcasts, and the emasculation of society.

    Trump ‘Wants America to Win’: Zuckerberg

    Zuckerberg praised Trump on Rogan’s program, drawing a contrast between his prospective leadership and how the Biden administration handled the tech industry.

    “I think he just wants America to win,” Zuckerberg said of Trump.

    He also voiced regret for complying with requests to censor content on ideological grounds, particularly content related to COVID-19 while the Biden administration was pushing for COVID-19 vaccine uptake. He traced the rise of ideological censorship online to Trump’s election in 2016, which came alongside Brexit, and to the 2020 pandemic.

    “We did generally defer to the government on some of these policies that in retrospect I probably wouldn’t, knowing what I know now,” he said.

    “These people from the Biden administration would call up our team and like scream at them and curse,” Zuckerberg said.

    The Facebook founder said that the United States should do more to defend its tech companies in other countries, citing legal actions by the European Union (EU) against Meta and other tech giants. He said the U.S. government had set the stage for other governments to intervene through its own approach to Meta and other firms.

    The Election Made a Mark

    Zuckerberg told Rogan that the 2024 election had affected Meta’s approach to content moderation.

    “The good thing about doing it after the election is you get to take this cultural pulse,” he said. “We try to have policies that reflect mainstream discourse.”

    Yet, he pushed back against claims that there was a particular significance to the timing, which coincides with other moves from Zuckerberg seemingly aimed at gaining support from the incoming administration—for example, Meta’s donation of $1 million to the Trump inaugural fund.

    “I try not to change our content rules right in the middle of an election either. There’s not like a good time to do this,” Zuckerberg said.

    Zuckerberg Talks Tradeoffs in Content Moderation

    The Meta CEO spoke about his company’s decision to shut down its fact-checking program in favor of an X-style system in which users generate notes and vote them up or down.

    He also drew attention to a related change—namely, the move to require more confidence from the company’s artificial intelligence-based systems before harmful content is removed.

    A Jan. 7 announcement from Meta suggested the current approach is producing too many false positives, leading to “the vast majority of the censorship on our platforms.”

    It stated that the systems will concentrate on “illegal and high-severity violations, like terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud, and scams” rather than the political content that was often flagged in the past.

    On Rogan’s program, Zuckerberg said that there was a tradeoff between precision and comprehensiveness. A more aggressive system for spotting drug-related content, for example, might catch more of that material while sweeping up many innocent posts in its dragnet. On the other hand, a more precise system might catch less of that targeted content while censoring fewer innocent posts.

    “We will maybe take down a smaller amount of the harmful content, but it will also mean that we’ll dramatically reduce the amount of people whose accounts were taken off for a mistake—which is just a terrible experience,” Zuckerberg said.

    ‘I Hated Doing TV’: Zuckerberg

    Zuckerberg discussed his early media appearances after founding Facebook in 2004 while a student at Harvard University. Like Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard.

    “I hated doing TV,” he told Rogan. “I’d get super nervous.”

    He recalled that, as a college-aged techie, he was “good at coding” but “real bad at kind of like talking to people.”

    Zuckerberg said that the media outlets that hosted him would reduce his appearances to unflattering sound bites. He suggested that online podcasts succeed because they operate without those constraints.

    “On the Internet, there’s no reason to cut it to a four-minute sound bite,” he said.

    Rogan agreed.

    “Conversations are like a dance,” he said. “You kind of have to find the rhythm that you’re going to talk with, and then you have to actually be interested in what you’re talking about.”

    Zuckerberg Warns of ‘Neutered or Emasculated’ Society

    Zuckerberg also discussed his martial arts training. The Meta CEO practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

    “It definitely takes the edge off things. After a couple of hours doing that in the morning, it’s just like, yeah, it’s like nothing else that day is going to stress you out that much,” he said.

    Zuckerberg reflected on society as a whole, saying much of it has become “neutered or emasculated.”

    He said martial arts allows him to express himself in a way that isn’t possible as the CEO of a large company, comparing the visuals of him fighting favorably to the brief sound bites he can provide through TV interviews.

    “When people see me competing in this sport, they say, ‘Oh, no, that’s the real Mark,’” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 17:30

  • Small-Town America "Fights Back" In Court Against Globalists Who Flooded Their Town With Haitians
    Small-Town America “Fights Back” In Court Against Globalists Who Flooded Their Town With Haitians

    A resident of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, who was among the first to draw national attention to the massive influx of Haitian migrants into his small town, is now locked in a legal battle with a local food packaging plant that employs primarily migrants from the third world. Eyes on Charleroi first appeared when President-elect Donald Trump highlighted the town’s staggering 2,000% surge in its migrant population before the presidential elections. The resident is also planning a class-action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of residents, demanding accountability from those responsible for the migrant invasion. 

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    Local media outlet Pennsylvania Record reports the lawyer of Andrew Armbruster, a resident of Charleroi, filed Pennsylvania’s new anti-SLAPP law, a measure that gives defendants, in some instances, the opportunity to evade litigation. This is regarding a defamation lawsuit filed against Armbruster by the Charleroi business Fourth Street Foods

    “SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation, and anti-SLAPP laws give defendants a First Amendment argument,” Pennsylvania Record’s John O’Brien wrote.

    The motion stated that Fourth Street Foods owner David Barbe filed the lawsuit against Armbruster primarily to suppress protected public expression.

    “Armbruster’s rights to speak to public issues, community members, and prevailing wages without ever being accused of mentioning ‘Dave Barbe’ are an incredible encroachment on everyone in Charleroi’s right to free expression on public matters,” the motion said. 

    The motion continued, “Not only are they chilled from speaking about Mr. Barbe, by this lawsuit they are chilled from mentioning the hiring practices of a local employer.”

    Readers might recall in September. We had the first boots on the ground in the small town outside Pittsburgh – down the street from Nemacolin, investigating staffing companies that were feeding Haitians like cattle into local factories.

    Wow. 

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    Libs of TikTok covered our on-the-ground reporting.

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    And this.

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    Pennsylvania Record noted, “After Barbe sued Armbruster, Armbruster reiterated his claims in the Charleroi Rambler and said he was organizing a class action lawsuit on behalf of the citizens and workers of the town.” 

    Armbruster posted on Facebook: 

    I have taken it upon myself to say enough and to fight back.  I am organizing a Class Action Lawsuit against Fourth Street Foods and its ownership on behalf of the citizens and workers of Charleroi.  I wrote a draft of the lawsuit and printed petitions for residents to register as claimants.  I have collected several hundred participants in a few short days, and the reception to the lawsuit has been exceedingly positive. My goal is to make Americans aware that we don’t have to accept being Displaced & Replaced by the open border policy of the current federal administration.  We can and will FIGHT BACK! DM me for additional details or to join the Class Action Lawsuit.

    Charleroi residents are furious… 

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    Armbruster’s planned class-action lawsuit could be one of the first instances in which small towns across America fight back in the court system against those responsible for globalist open-border policies that flooded their towns with migrants and led to the ‘Great Job Replacement‘ of blue-collar workers. 

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    For the politicians and companies that still can’t read the room after the presidential election: “America First.” Let’s remind you that a majority of Americans gave Trump a mandate to prioritize taxpaying citizens first—not third-world migrants.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 16:55

  • House Passes Bill To Protect Israeli PM Netanyahu From ICC Prosecution
    House Passes Bill To Protect Israeli PM Netanyahu From ICC Prosecution

    Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute, 

    One of the first acts of the Republican-led 119th Congress was to pass a bill that would sanction officials attempting to arrest or investigate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed in Gaza.

    The “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act” passed on Thursday in a 243 to 140 vote, with 45 Democrats joining the majority of Republicans. Rep. Thomas Massie was the only member of the GOP caucus not to vote in favor of the bill.

    Via EPA

    “The US House did only one thing today. We passed a bill to protect Israeli PM Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court. I voted present,” Massie explained on X. “The ICC has no authority over the United States, but we should not get involved in disputes between other countries. Focus on [the US]!”

    The legislation was co-sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Florida Republican Brian Mast, who is a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces. The two lawmakers prioritized the bill as a show of support for Tel Aviv, and AIPAC has called on lawmakers to vote in favor of the measure.

    If signed into law, the bill would impose sanctions on the ICC over “any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” The sanctions include prohibiting US property transactions and blocking and revoking visas.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SC) said he plans to bring the bill to a floor vote in the upper chamber. A number of Senate Democrats have also voiced support for the legislation, though Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said some in her party were “looking at whether there’s an opportunity to offer an alternative” to the bill.

    The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after ample evidence emerged that the IDF was conducting a war of extermination against the Palestinians in Gaza.

    The Israeli onslaught in Gaza has been aided by Washington, with the Joe Biden administration providing Israel with $22 billion in military aid during the first year of the genocide. Last week, Biden approved a final arms sale to Tel Aviv that includes many of the missiles, bombs, and artillery shells that have been used to devastate Gaza.

    Still, many Republicans in Washington have criticized Biden for not giving Israel enough support.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 16:20

  • Trump To Sign Around 100 Executive Orders Upon Taking Office
    Trump To Sign Around 100 Executive Orders Upon Taking Office

    President-elect Donald Trump will sign around 100 executive orders as soon as he takes office, according to Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).

    President-elect Donald Trump speaks to the media as Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) look on at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 8, 2025. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

    Mullin did not go into details, however Trump has previously said he would sign a variety of border and immigration-related EOs following his second inauguration, including a national emergency over illegal immigration – and rolling back ‘climate agenda’ regulations surrounding drilling for oil and natural gas.

    “I will sign Day One orders to end all Biden restrictions on energy production, terminate his insane electric vehicle mandate, cancel his natural gas export ban, reopen ANWR in Alaska—the biggest site, potentially anywhere in the world—and declare a national energy emergency,” Trump said in December.

    According to Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, “The American people can bank on President Trump using his executive power on day one to deliver on the promises he made to them on the campaign trail.“

    Bloomberg reports that Trump will put a hiring freeze on the government, and mandate that federal employees return to the office for in-person work, a position pushed by billionaire Elon Musk as part of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

    In recent weeks, the Trump team has been working behind-the-scenes to make sure its initial months are as productive as possible. While chief of staff Susie Wiles has said she views the first 100 days as an artificial metric, she and the entire Trump team see the first two years — before midterm elections could imperil Republican majorities in the House and Senate — as the best opportunity for the term-limited incoming president to achieve his sweeping goals. –Bloomberg

    That said, as Mullin noted further in an appearance on Fox & Friends, EOs can easily be undone by future administrations.

    “As he said, it’s not permanent,” said Mullin. “I would like reconciliation so we can start making this stuff into legislation, so we can move forward.”

    “The president was very clear, he wants results,” Mullin continued. “He said he can wait if we can do one big, beautiful bill. He’d like to have one big, beautiful, beautiful bill. But if the House were to get bogged down, maybe we have to divide it up in two.”

    As the Epoch Times notes, the senator was making reference to comments made by Trump this week after he met with Republicans in Washington.
    “I think there’s a lot of talk about two [bills], and there’s a lot of talk about one (bill), but it doesn’t matter,” Trump told reporters.

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    “The end result is the same,” he said, adding that his meeting with GOP lawmakers showed the party is ”unified.”

    Mullin added that Republicans need to “deliver for the American people on securing the border, on energy independence, on getting the regulations rolled back and making sure that we have taxes that are permanent, so we don’t have a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people right now.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 15:45

  • Why More Americans Are Turning To Holistic Health Care
    Why More Americans Are Turning To Holistic Health Care

    Authored by Maggie Miller via RealClearHealth,

    A significant shift is underway in American healthcare as more people embrace alternative therapies that focus on identifying and addressing the root causes of health issues. This transition, often referred to as “root cause medicine,” represents a departure from traditional reactive medical practices toward a preventative and holistic approach. A movement that is expected to expand in 2025.

    According to a JAMA study, 37% of adults sought alternative treatments such as acupuncture, yoga, and specialized diagnostic testing —a sharp rise from just 19% two decades ago. This movement is also gaining traction among patients of all ages, particularly those over 55, as they seek to age gracefully and optimize their long-term health. Another study published in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine shows that more Americans 55 and up are seeking a holistic or alternative medicine route and many times are not telling their doctor.

    Doctor Mitchell Ghen, a Florida-based holistic health doctor, has noticed this shift over the past few decades but believes that those numbers are not representative of the number of people using alternative medicine. He said, “I am a little bit surprised it’s 1/3 that’s doing it I would’ve thought it would be closer to 50%. Over time, people have that recognition that something’s not right, you can’t fix something unless you address the underlying issue and the underlying biochemistry that’s awry in the first place.”

    A Growing Awareness

    Experts attribute the shift to increased awareness of holistic health. “There’s a lot more knowledge now about mental health, physical health, and gut health,” Adam El- Hosseiny, COO of Access Medical Labs explains. “People want to age healthfully, not just treat symptoms when they arise. They’re choosing preventative care over reactive solutions.”

    Social media has played a pivotal role in exposing people to alternative options. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok feature influencers and healthcare professionals sharing insights into how diet, mindfulness, and personalized diagnostics can help address chronic issues. However, as Dr. Mitch, a practitioner with over 40 years of experience, noted, the trend also reflects growing dissatisfaction with conventional medicine. “Patients are tired of rushed appointments and being prescribed medications without understanding the underlying issue,” he said. “Many are seeking answers that traditional medicine doesn’t always provide.”

    The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated interest in holistic health, as many Americans became hyper-aware of their physical and mental well-being. With lingering health issues like long COVID and increased stress levels, patients began to demand deeper insights into their health. The pandemic served as a wake-up call, prompting people to prioritize preventative care and explore alternative therapies that could enhance their immune systems, energy levels, and overall resilience.

    Addressing Gaps in Traditional Care

    Traditional medicine often relies on an “if-then” model: if you have a symptom, then you’re prescribed a medication. While effective for acute conditions, this approach falls short. “Nutrients, vitamins, and minerals drive the body’s energy cycle. Medications aren’t part of that cycle—they treat symptoms but rarely fix the root problem,” Dr. Mitch said.

    This narrow focus leaves patients searching for more comprehensive solutions. “Unless you dive deeply into an individual’s biochemistry, it’s nearly impossible to fully understand what’s going on,” Dr. Mitch explained. For example, he pointed out that fatigue and brain fog—common complaints among patients—are often overlooked in routine checkups. Standard bloodwork might not flag deficiencies or hormonal imbalances that could explain these symptoms.

    Moreover, the structure of conventional healthcare often limits doctors to short, transactional appointments. “Most doctors have only 10 to 15 minutes per patient,” Dr. Mitch said. “That’s not enough time to ask the right questions, let alone uncover deeper issues.” This time constraint often leads to a cycle of trial-and-error treatments, leaving patients frustrated and seeking alternative solutions.

    The Holistic Approach

    Facilities like Access Medical Labs offer a new perspective, combining advanced diagnostics with a focus on whole-body health. Their testing panels go beyond standard bloodwork, analyzing everything from hormones and food sensitivities to heavy metals and thyroid function. These tests aim to uncover the root causes of common complaints such as fatigue, brain fog, and digestive issues.

     “People are shocked when they discover foods they eat daily are causing fatigue or bloating. Eliminating those foods often leads to improved energy and mental clarity,” El-Hosseiny said. Comprehensive testing also extends to evaluating environmental allergens, nutrient levels, and even autonomic nervous system functionality, providing a detailed map of a patient’s health.

    A Preventative Paradigm

    Root cause medicine also emphasizes preventative care. For individuals over 55, this means conducting a comprehensive health evaluation akin to inspecting every part of an antique car. “You wouldn’t just check the engine—you’d inspect the entire vehicle to ensure it runs optimally,” El- Hosseiny explained. “You can’t reverse your chronological age, but you can age optimally. People want to look good longer, feel good longer, and ultimately achieve longevity.”

    Holistic health advocates stress that their approach isn’t meant to replace traditional medicine but to complement it. By broadening the lens and addressing blind spots in conventional care, root cause medicine empowers patients to take control of their health and longevity. “This isn’t about dismissing traditional care,” Dr. Mitch clarified. “It’s about enhancing it and taking healthcare to the next level.”

    Technology Driving the Shift

    Advanced laboratory technology has also played a crucial role in making root cause medicine more accessible and efficient. Some laboratories, like Access Medical Labs, use automation to ensure faster turnaround times and minimize human error. “Our automation not only speeds up testing—delivering results in 24 hours compared to the industry’s 7 to 10 day average—but also improves accuracy by reducing the chance of mistakes,” shared El- Hosseiny.

    These advancements have made comprehensive testing less invasive and more patient-friendly. Access Medical Labs requires 50% less blood than traditional methods, a convenience appreciated by both patients and physicians. El-Hosseiny shared, “If people are going to get a needle in their arm, they want it done as quickly and painlessly as possible.” Access Medical Labs has had to expand its infrastructure to keep up with demand in testing.

    The Future of Healthcare

    As holistic practices become more mainstream, the healthcare system needs to become more integrated— combining the strengths of traditional medicine with the preventative and personalized focus of root cause care. “People are waking up to the idea that health isn’t just about treating symptoms,” Dr. Mitch said. “It’s about understanding the body as a whole, addressing the underlying issues, and living a better, longer life.”

    Maggie Miller is a Real Clear contributor. Maggie is a former news anchor and reporter in New York and Alabama. She is a graduate of the University of Florida.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 15:10

  • Ukraine Captures Injured North Korean Soldiers In Russia, Zelensky Shares Photos
    Ukraine Captures Injured North Korean Soldiers In Russia, Zelensky Shares Photos

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced Saturday that his military has captured two North Korean soldiers fighting on the Russian side in the Kursk region, which is believed to be a first such instance.

    He said that after the foreign troops’ capture, the men were taken to Kyiv be interrogated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), also known as SBU – and receive treatment as they are wounded.

    “This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine,” Zelensky said on X.

    Zelensky further said he authorized the SBU to give reporters access to the two POWs because the “world needs to know the truth about what is happening.”

    Ukraine, the Pentagon, and South Korean intelligence all estimated that North Korea has sent at least 10,000 of its troops to assist Russia. Zelensky has said this makes clear there is an ‘axis’ of countries fighting against Ukraine.

    So far it is believed these foreign units have remained in Russia’s Kursk region to help push back Ukraine’s cross-border offensive there, which has held territory since early August.

    It was in early November that Ukraine’s military reported the first direct clashes on the field of battle with North Korean troops.

    “Ukrainian officials said on Monday that their forces had fired at North Korean soldiers in combat for the first time since their deployment by Russia to its western Kursk region,” FT wrote during the first week of November.

    The publication had characterized that instance as “the first direct intervention by a foreign army since Russia’s full-scale invasion” as well as constituting an expansion of “what was already the largest land war in Europe since the second world war.”

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    The Kremlin has pointed to the legitimacy of the defense pact inked between Presidents Putin and Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang this past summer. This came after Kim visited Russia’s far east, and reportedly inspected aerial and space centers. 

    Currently there are reports that Moscow plans to help North Korea with advanced space and satellite technology, something being closely monitored by Western intelligence services.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 14:35

  • Richmond And Los Angeles Have Been Mugged By Reality
    Richmond And Los Angeles Have Been Mugged By Reality

    Authored by Rob Smith via RealClearMarkets,

    Windsor Farms is a beautiful residential neighborhood in Richmond. My great uncle developed it 100 years ago. The streets are laid out in the style of an English village and there are many stately Georgian homes with beautiful gardens.

    During the George Floyd “Summer of Love” antifa and Black Lives Matter marched through Windsor Farms, no doubt to protest against “nice stuff,” preferring everyone to live in graffiti ridden squalor as a measurement of social justice fairness.  I wrote at the time that if any of these Georgian mansions were given to any of these neo-Marxist protestors, within 6 months all the windows in the house would be busted out, there would be broken glass and 3-foot-high grass in the front yard, and the mechanical systems would all be trashed.  The same is true with a city. Give these types of people the keys to any city and in short order, the city, just like the free house, will be destroyed. They are incapable of taking care of anything.

    Here in Richmond, we just went through nearly 3 days with no municipal water. Now, we have to go through 2-3 days of not being allowed to drink the water coming from our taps.  Several hundred thousand people in a major metropolitan area with hospitals, manufacturing plants, universities, nursing homes, and millions of square feet of office space had no water. It’s third world. Our race hustling, low IQ Marxist mayor hired a DEI candidate to run the Department of Utilities, the first time ever a non-engineer held that post. Her major initiative was hiring other DEI candidates to work for Public Utilities. Incompetent boobs, hire other incompetent boobs and before you know it, there are more boobs than the runway at the Bada-Bing.

    Los Angeles is burning down. The government incompetence there is extraordinary. LA has its own DEI problems. Its fire chief was hired because she is an outspoken lesbian. Her initiative has been to hire more women and LGBTQ firefighters. Yep, I want a 99 lb mentally ill woman who thinks she’s man pulling me out of a burning fire! Who wouldn’t?

    I’ve been known to be unabashedly blunt, but of course always right. DEI is the process of hiring simple minded knaves at the expense of competent and qualified artisans. Worse, it instills a sense of unearned entitlement in those who “Didn’t Earn It.” It is a cancer metastasizing through the ranks of work forces given grave responsibilities, and it spreads to the point where no one in an organization has the work ethic or skill to change a light bulb. 

    As bad as DEI is, what’s worse is the political class that initiates DEI policies. There should never ever be any reason to vote anybody into office that has not had a career in real world practicalities. Community activists, academics, government apparatchiks, non-profit do-gooders, clinicians, blah, blah, they generally know nothing other than the au courant platitudes of the bougie Bolshevik chattering class. In Richmond, 8 of our 9 council members are women, and the one man is a soy boy. Have any of these folks ever crawled under a house to fix a leaky pipe, changed the oil in a car, operated earth moving equipment or walked a police officer’s beat at 2 am in the morning? Have any of them started a business from the ground up and hired and fired dozens of employees? No. Yesterday, I ran into my friend Frank. He runs a small independent HVAC company. Frank understands how things work. Cities need guys like Frank to run them as opposed to purple haired social justice Sallyboys. 

    When I was fresh out of law school, my real estate mentor hired me to build a subdivision. I had to learn to read plans, to know how sanitary and  storm sewer systems worked, where the run off went, how it was tested,  where the water came from, fire hydrants, water pressure, gas pipe lines, underground power, soil compaction, emergency contingencies and a host of other real world matters that I likely never would have learned had I become a practicing lawyer or an academic. I’m not special, there are thousands of local people who know everything about these real-world issues. Yet, no one on our city council knows anything about such matters because they are political activists, academics or lifelong government hacks. They are talkers and not doers. Just about anybody I know who runs a business could have taken a tour of Richmond’s water treatment plant and immediately noticed the lack of emergency redundancies and the peril the city was in, but soft hands politicians can’t because they’ve never done anything in the practical world. There are no Franks.

    If It’s even possible to be more brain dead than the politicians running Richmond, the prize goes to California. Every advanced civilization from the ancient Minoans ( 2,000 BC) to modern times knows that to have an adequate water supply, communities need to impound water. I learned how to do this developing real estate. Every civil engineer and earth moving operator recognizes that to have a plentiful water supply, water must be captured and held in storage. But the political leadership in California doesn’t have a clue. California has plentiful and abundant water resources, but what does it do? It lets its water run off into the Pacific Ocean instead of impounding it. Now Los Angeles is burning to the ground. Fire hydrants have no water.  There are more than enough resources to make millions of acres of barren land fertile and to give communities all the water they need to fight forest fires and keep land from drying out. But the deranged, brainwashed, wacko politicians refuse. It’s better to have half of LA destroyed than to “harm the environment” by using California’s natural resources to make its environment better. No Frank would ever think like this in a million years.

    If politicians were more like Frank they might know something about forestry. My family owned timberland as did many others I knew growing up. California owns a million acres of forest land, and they do the exact opposite of what all private owners do to be protect the value of their land. Any tobacco spitting, shotgun toting good ole boy knows what these government flunkies don’t.  One has to cut fire roads through timberland. Good stewardship requires “thinning” of underbrush. Brush needs to be cleared under electrical lines and limbs need to be cut back from power lines. If not, you get forest fires.

    How in the world does the City of Richmond not know that crucial infrastructure needs a budgeted sinking fund for maintenance and that a water treatment plant needs multiple redundancies that need efficacy checks on a weekly basis? How is it that California does not know that it needs to impound water and manage its forest land? The astounding incompetence is mind blowing. Isn’t it high time to judge woke politicians not by their words, but by what they do? As Forrest Gump famously said, stupid is as stupid does.

    Frank doesn’t have a PHD in Gender Studies. He’s never participated in a pro-Palestinian rally. He doesn’t even drive an EV, but he’s a hell of a lot more capable of running a city than the flunkies running Richmond and California.

    Robert C. Smith is Managing Partner of Chartwell Capital Advisors, a senior fellow at the Parkview Institute, and likes to opine on the Rob Is Right Podcast and Webpage.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 14:00

  • Bird Flu Cases Detected Across Delmarva Poultry Industry
    Bird Flu Cases Detected Across Delmarva Poultry Industry

    On Friday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture revealed that a highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) case was detected at a commercial broiler chicken operation in Caroline County. 

    Caroline County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, just south of Washington, DC, is situated in the Delmarva poultry industry, one of the largest chicken operations in the US. It’s a multi-billion dollar chicken industry that covers commercial broilers in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.

    “This marks the first case of H5N1 at a Maryland commercial poultry operation since 2023 and the third commercial operation in the Delmarva region in the last 30 days when two Kent County, DE returned positive results,” Maryland Department of Agriculture wrote in a press release. 

    On X, the Maryland Farm Bureau posted a biosecurity warning to the Delmarva poultry industry, showing areas where HPAI has already been confirmed. 

    The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website, featuring the “Wild Bird Avian Influenza Surveillance” platform, shows that bird flu has become a nationwide headache for commercial broiler operations over the past few years.

    The virus seriously threatens poultry operations across the Delmarva area and may force farms to begin culling flocks, devastating farmers’ livelihoods and the industry.

    Consumers are already seeing the negative effects of farms culling flocks as the nation’s egg production has fallen, sending egg prices through the roof. 

    What a mess. This underscores just how fragile the nation’s food supply chain really is. People need to get back to basics and secure their local food sources, whether tapping local farms or, building a chicken coop, buying a cow, or planting a garden. Better to be safe than deal with out-of-control grocery bills, or worse, no food on store shelves, like folks are finding out with eggs. 

    Also, the bird flu virus appears to have mutated in the first severe human case. The World Health Organization stated last week that the risk from H5N1 avian influenza remains low.

    Meanwhile, in the new documentary “Thank You, Dr. Fauci” …

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    … bird flu will likely be the next pandemic.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 13:25

  • We Were Censored By Meta; We're Taking Them To The Supreme Court
    We Were Censored By Meta; We’re Taking Them To The Supreme Court

    Authored by Mary Holland via RealClearPolitics,

    The headline from Politico’s “Playbook” would have been unthinkable eight years ago: “Meta sends Trump a friend request.”

    After all, Meta’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is a political lightning rod in conservative political circles, especially after the $300 million worth of “Zuckerbucks” spent during the 2020 election to elect like-minded politicians.

    Yet lately, Zuckerberg has been singing a much different tune. He referred to President-elect Trump as “badass,” visited him at Mar-a-Lago, and donated one million dollars to his inaugural fund. This week, Meta made news by adding Dana White, a longtime Trump ally and head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), to its board of directors.

    Then came the real bombshell: Meta ended its so-called “independent fact-checking program,” ostensibly lifting restrictions on speech across Facebook, as well as their other platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. In doing so, Zuckerberg admitted the current content moderation practices – in place since criticism of his platform during the 2016 presidential election – have “gone too far” and stressed a commitment to “restoring free expression.”

    Make no mistake: Meta’s “independent fact-checkers” are neither independent nor fact-based. Their elimination is a positive step and should be encouraged. The announcement came less than 24 hours after the organization I lead – the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense – asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear our censorship lawsuit against Meta.

    But if Meta is serious about supporting “free expression,” they have a lot of work to do – and it requires more than moving workers from California to Texas, as Zuckerberg also pledged to do.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, Meta not only censored our posts – many having to do with topics that the so-called medical “experts” like Dr. Anthony Fauci were dead wrong about – but outright kicked us off the platform without warning. Meta first took action against CHD in May 2019, from takedowns and restrictions to an outright ban in August 2022 that is still in effect. What were our offenses? Simply publishing data on the risks of COVID vaccines, Remdesivir, and ventilation, as well as having the temerity to raise the benefits of natural immunity and alternative treatment with ivermectin and other protocols.

    An unfettered discussion of all these issues would have saved lives. We knew that many of the government’s promises – on items like the pandemic’s origin and the best way to treat symptoms and prevent its spread – were not grounded in “science” as they claimed but political imperatives from the Biden administration.

    In 2020, we took them to court, starting in the San Francisco federal court. We suffered some legal setbacks along the way, and this week ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Meta will not change its ways without a fight. They not only kicked us off the platform but censored our supporters and erased our past posts. Meta shut down the “free expression” they claim to be championing.

    Yes, Meta was coerced by the Biden administration, but there’s more to the story. Zuckerberg’s WhatsApp messages showed that he conspired with the government and chose to censor because he had “bigger fish to fry” than protecting free speech. He knew then that censorship violated the rights of free expression, and he knew then that it wouldn’t help the administration bring COVID under control, but he did it anyway.

    The pandemic may be over, but speech about COVID is not. If the Supreme Court takes our case, it can guarantee accountability for Meta’s role in this man-made disaster – and prevent another in the future.  

    Meta, like the other mega-platforms, must be held accountable when they knowingly conform their content-moderation process and decisions or cede active, meaningful control to the government’s preference to suppress constitutionally protected speech.

    This time it was CHD’s health and medical freedom issues. But who will be next?

    Ultimately, this debate is not about any one group or individual but all of us. How many people suffered or lost their lives because they didn’t have access to information that could have helped them make better-informed decisions about their health? The American public is better served with more information rather than less, especially when it is grounded on data-based scientific information. People are smart enough to make up their own minds.

    Last November, voters sent an unmistakable message that they want a break from the status quo. Kudos to Mark Zuckerberg for recognizing the prevailing winds and saying the right things. But the free speech fight won’t be over until those who were kicked off his platforms are reinstated.

    Mary Holland, J.D. is CEO of the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with the mission of ending childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposure.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 01/11/2025 – 12:50

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