Today’s News 24th March 2024

• China Behind Super Highway That Targets US With Mass Migration, Economic Warfare
  China Behind Super Highway That Targets US With Mass Migration, Economic Warfare

  Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The grind of heavy machinery breaks the silence of the Darién jungle, where the Pan American Highway ends at Yaviza in Panama.

  

  Construction workers have cleared towering trees to make way for a steel and concrete bridge mighty enough to withstand flooding from the Chucunaque River.

  An onsite worker for the construction company Cusa told The Epoch Times the construction project will cut 4 miles into the Darién jungle at a cost of $42 million and includes a second bridge crossing the Tuira River.

  That would leave some 55 miles to finish the Pan American Highway, also known as Highway 1, through the mountainous rainforest to connect it to Turbo, Colombia.

  If it’s ever completed, the Pan American Highway will stretch about 18,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina, opening up a land corridor the length of the Americas.

  It has gone unfinished for decades due to American and Panamanian concerns over the environment, crime, and disease—and more recently mass migration. The dangerous, rugged terrain acts as a natural barrier to travel from South to Central America.

  The bridge and road expansion will end near the town of Bocas de Cupe, in the Darién Gap. However, bridging the rivers has been considered one of the major obstacles blocking completion of the highway.

  The new project has worried some who fear completing the road into the Darién Gap will be a win for China and a loss for America.

  Michael Yon, a former war correspondent, has been covering mass migration through Panama for several years and has used social media to bring attention to the bridge’s construction and its implications.

  China would benefit through an alternate trade route around the Panama Canal, which is essential to global trade. But for the United States, it could open the floodgates to migrants from South America, he told the Epoch Times.

  Meanwhile, U.S. leaders have grown increasingly wary of the military implications tied to Chinese infrastructure projects being built in America’s backyard as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), particularly around the Panama Canal.

  In 2018, Panama signed on to China’s ambitious BRI project, dubbed a modern Silk Road, after publicly recognizing Taiwan as part of China, much to the surprise and concern of the United States.

  

  

  The CCP aims to utilize the BRI “to amass power and influence at the expense of the world’s democracies,” U.S. Southern Command Commander Army Gen. Laura Richardson warned in March.

  She and other commanders in recent years have been sounding the alarm about China’s incursion into the Western Hemisphere.

  China “seeks to supplant the United States as the world’s leading economic and military power,” Gen. Richardson noted in a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee.

  Closing the Gap

  Last year alone, a record 500,000 migrants traveled through the Darién Gap on their way to the U.S. southern border, documents show.

  Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, believes China’s economic development in the region threatens America’s influence and security.

  “If China displaces the U.S. in the Western hemisphere as the dominant economic power, then we lose our leverage,” Mr. Howell, formerly an attorney with the Department of Homeland Security, told The Epoch Times.

  China is encircling the United States with infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Howell said.

  “It’s like a boa constrictor that’s tightening and tightening around the United States,” he said.

  In the 2019 book, “China’s Belt and Road and Panama: A Strategic and Prospective Scenario between the Americas and China,” author Eddie Tapiero touts the rise of China’s BRI in utopian terms.

  Mr. Tapiero, a Panamanian professor and international economist who wrote his book after a BRI meeting in China, called the initiative a catalyst for “global public good,” envisioning a world where “borders no longer exist, nor do countries.”

  

  The book includes a BRI scenario with a map titled “Globalized Belt and Road,” showing Panama and its canal connected to Colombia by rail through the Darién Gap.

  On the Colombian side of the Darién Gap, Chinese companies are working to build highways and ports.

  Roadwork near the Pan American Highway in Turbo is part of the “Autopistas al Mar 2” highway project.

  The project will connect Colombia’s second-largest city of Medellín to ports in Urabá, including Turbo, where the Pan American Highway ends.

  China’s state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), along with four local companies won the 2015 bid to build the Autopistas al Mar 2, according to the nonprofit Colombia Reports website.

  The project was delayed until late 2019, when the Chinese-led consortium obtained the necessary loans from the China Development Bank.

  Mr. Tapiero sees Panama, bookended by Colombia and Costa Rica, as a central hub in Latin America for the BRI. He suggests the United States could “reduce geopolitical uncertainty” if it, too, joins the BRI.

  His globalized BRI map also showed rail routes slicing through the United States, to significant markets on America’s east and west coasts.

  Infrastructure “connectivity” through air, land, and sea is a central theme of the book, which is playing out in Panama.

  The bridges into the Darién are part of a contract for the rehabilitation, improvement, and maintenance of the East Pan-American Highway.

  

  

  It was awarded to Intervial Chile, S.A. under a public-private partnership with the government of Panama, according to government documents.

  The investment for the project stands at more than $262 million as part of Panama’s Performance Standards Maintenance Program, which aims to promote agricultural, commercial, and tourist development.

  Funding for the project is through the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of World Bank Group. China has ties with both banking establishments. In 2009, China pledged $1.5 billion to IFC to boost global trade and more recently has intensified collaboration with IFC on climate friendly bonds.

  Global Choke Points

  A highway through the Darién Gap stands to diminish the importance of the Panama Canal, which the United States still protects under a neutrality treaty.

  The canal was returned to Panama in 1999 under a treaty brokered in the 1970s with President Jimmy Carter.

  The Darién Gap by land is similar to the Panama Canal by sea as a choke point, which holds military and economic value.

  China’s attempt to minimize or control the canal’s strategic importance to the United States could be significant should a conflict break out over Taiwan in terms of China’s ability to shut down sea lanes, said Andrés Martínez-Fernández, the Heritage Foundation’s senior policy analyst for Latin America.

  “That’s a very concerning issue in particular,” he told The Epoch Times.

  Mr. Martinez-Fernandez noted that Chinese companies have been busy building infrastructure on either end of the U.S.–built Panama Canal.

  The canal has become a point of tension between China and the United States, which has retained the right to enforce operational neutrality on the Panama Canal.

  The Panama Canal Authority controls the administration and maintenance of the waterway’s resources and security, independent of the Panamanian government.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 23:20

• Philadelphia Sets 11PM Curfew For All Businesses In Drug-Riddled Kensington Section Of City
  Philadelphia Sets 11PM Curfew For All Businesses In Drug-Riddled Kensington Section Of City

  Slowly, but steadily, Philadelphia’s drug-ridden Kensington section is all but shutting down. The area, best known for its zombie-like appearance, is now forcing 24 hour businesses like gas stations and convenience stores to shut down between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

  Because what better way to address the drug problem than to shut down law-abiding businesses in the area? Once again, government is thinking ‘outside the box’ with your tax dollars. 

  The proposal was put forward by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada of the 7th District, representing Kensington, during a Council Stated Meeting on Thursday and is aimed at curbing crime, mitigating litter issues, and moderating nocturnal activities in the community.

  

  Approximately 90 businesses will be affected, a new report from NBC Philadelphia said. Establishments holding a liquor license within the specified zone will be exempt from these new rules, allowed to keep their operations open until 2 a.m., which is the current law for bars and restaurants with liquor licenses. 

  The bill was conceived in February and was developed with feedback from local residents, businesses, and non-profit organizations, driven by concerns related to the opioid crisis, as noted by city representatives.

  The proposed regulations are set to affect the vicinity enclosed by East Lehigh Avenue, Kensington Avenue, D Street, E Tioga Street, and Frankford Avenue, encompassing businesses along the blocks bordering this area.

  Kensington-based nonprofit IMPACT Services Roberto Rodriguez commented to NBC Philadelphia: “The businesses in the Kensington Corridor are in support of this initiative. They are thankful that Councilmember Lozada has included them in the conversation and considered their opinions. During the meeting that she held at our office with them, it was clear that they are supportive of this and future public safety measures.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 22:45

• Dangerous Levels Of Toxins Found In General Mills ‘LOADED’ Cereal: Report
  Dangerous Levels Of Toxins Found In General Mills ‘LOADED’ Cereal: Report

  Authored by Megan Redshaw via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A new report is raising concerns over General Mills’ new cereal line after testing revealed that Trix LOADED cereal is literally loaded with high levels of heavy metals and agrochemicals.

  

  General Mills, Inc. on Feb. 1 launched “LOADED,” a new cereal line with “puffed-up larger-than-life squares” of General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix, and Cocoa Puffs cereals filled with artificially flavored vanilla creme. Trix LOADED boasts 17 grams of whole grain per serving and 12 vitamins and minerals. Yet testing by Moms Across America (MAA), an organization dedicated to educating and empowering others to create healthy communities, found the artificially flavored creme-filled breakfast food also contains measurable levels of aluminum, cadmium, arsenic, lead, glyphosate, and pesticides shown to be harmful to humans.

  In a statement to The Epoch Times, MAA director Zen Honeycutt said her organization tested two samples of General Mills’ Trix LOADED cereal because they were alarmed that the company, which had previously seemed very committed to supporting regenerative organic agriculture, launched a cereal “loaded with creme, food dyes, and highly-processed foods.”

  Pesticides Found in General Mills’ Trix LOADED Cereal

  In test results obtained by MAA, scientists found residues from eight different pesticides in both samples of Trix LOADED cereal.

  The following six pesticide residues were found in trace amounts:

  • Imazalil-1
  • Metconazole-1
  • Pyraclostrobin-1
  • Pyrimethanil-1
  • Pyriproxyfen-1
  • Tebuconazole-1

  Two pesticides, piperonyl butoxide-1 (PBO) and fluopyram-1, were detected in higher amounts. Fluopyram-1 is a broad-spectrum fungicide that can cause liver problems, endocrine disruption, and thyroid cancer.

  Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is a man-made pesticide synergist that enhances the potency of certain pesticides designed to kill insects. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies PBO as a “possible human carcinogen” as studies in rats show PBO can induce thyroid and liver cancers, as well as noncancerous tumors.

  More recent animal model studies suggest PBO exposure can cause neurodevelopmental abnormalities in utero and liver cancer. A 2021 study published in Reproductive Toxicology found PBO may cause male infertility and reproductive toxicity.

  According to the National Pesticide Information Center, PBO is found in over 2,500 pesticide products, including foggers and mosquito control programs. Yet PBO is exempt from the EPA’s maximum residue limits, which determine the amount of pesticides allowed to remain in food. This means PBO pesticide residue is freely permitted in cereals consumed daily by children and adolescents across the United States.

  Heavy Metals Exceeded EPA Allowable Levels

  According to test results obtained by The Epoch Times, scientists also detected measurable levels of aluminum, cadmium, lead, and arsenic in both samples of Trix LOADED cereal that in some cases far exceeded the EPA allowable levels in drinking water. The United States does not consistently regulate heavy metals in food or assess the long-term cumulative effects of heavy metal exposure in children, but it does regulate the amount of heavy metal contaminants allowed in water.

  For example, the EPA sets the allowable level of arsenic in drinking water at 10 parts per billion (ppb). Trix LOADED cereal samples contained 21.5 and 23 ppb of lead—more than double the EPA’s allowable level. The samples contained cadmium levels 400 percent higher than the EPA’s allowable level.

  The EPA allows 0.05 to 0.2 mg/L of aluminum in drinking water, equivalent to 50 to 200 ppb. Cereal samples 1 and 2 contained 2,930 ppb and 3,500 ppb of aluminum, respectively. These were 1,365 percent and 1,650 percent higher than the agency’s allowable level of aluminum in drinking water.

  In 2008, the European Food Safety Authority established a “tolerable weekly intake” of 1 mg of aluminum per kg of body weight per week, based on combined evidence from animal studies that assessed dietary administration of aluminum compounds.

  Using European Union standards, if a child eats a 40-gram serving of Trix LOADED cereal daily, the weekly consumption of aluminum would be 0.98 mg/week based on one sample and 0.82 mg/week based on the other. This is roughly equal to the EU’s limit without considering other sources of aluminum exposure, such as flour, baking soda, medications, processed foods, and aluminum pots and pans.

  Trix LOADED Exposes Children to Toxic Glyphosate

  Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world, was found in both samples of Trix LOADED cereal at 15.83 ppb and 17.47 ppb. It is a key inactive ingredient in weedkiller products such as Roundup.

  The EPA has not classified glyphosate as a human carcinogen, but the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as “probably” carcinogenic to humans.

  Studies have confirmed a link between glyphosate and numerous health conditions, including cancers and nervous system disorders. Additionally, Monsanto, now Bayer, agreed to pay roughly $11 billion to settle claims filed by individuals who say Roundup caused their non-Hodgkin lymphoma or other related cancers. As of March, there are 4,253 cancer lawsuits, out of the 4,800 claims originally filed, still pending in the California Roundup multi-district litigation.

  In research published by the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, scientists found that childhood exposure to glyphosate is linked to liver inflammation and metabolic disorders in adulthood that could lead to liver cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases later in life. Researchers found high levels of glyphosate residue in the urine of children and adolescents and reported that diet was a key source of exposure—as levels were higher in those who consumed more cereals and carbohydrates.

  Glyphosate is routinely used on genetically modified crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, legumes, and produce.

  Moms Across America Contacts General Mills

  In an email to General Mills provided to The Epoch Times, MAA called on the company to source suppliers who use safe, nontoxic ingredients, despite the lack of laws and regulations that would otherwise require them to do so.

  MAA requested General Mills do the following:

  • Require that suppliers of ingredients avoid using glyphosate or other agrochemicals as a drying agent or preharvest weedkiller.
  • Transition away from using glyphosate as a weedkiller within one to two years.
  • Perform quality testing on fertilizers for heavy metal contaminants and direct the safest possible fertilizer to be used.
  • Support and promote regenerative organic farming practices.

  “We hope consumers will learn the truth about the contents of ‘loaded cereal’ and make choices to support their family’s health,” Ms. Honeycutt told The Epoch Times. “We also hope they [consumers] will alert their elected officials that these types of foods, with high heavy metals and agrochemicals, have no place in the American food supply.”

  Ms. Honeycutt said she believes consumers should know the truth about what’s in their cereal so that they can make choices to support their family’s health, and hopes policymakers will “exercise the political will needed to clean up the food supply.”

  The Epoch Times reached out to General Mills for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 22:10

• House Speaker Confirms He'll Invite Netanyahu To Address Congress
  House Speaker Confirms He’ll Invite Netanyahu To Address Congress

  Late this week House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that he will go through with inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington in order to address a joint session of Congress, and to emphasize solidarity with Israel amid its ongoing war against Hamas.

  Johnson’s Thursday statement suggests the invitation has already been extended: “I would love to have him come in and address a joint session of Congress. We’ll certainly extend that invitation,” he said to NBC News. “We’re just trying to work out schedules on all this.”

  

  Johnson has in turn recently been asked by Israeli officials to speak at Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

  Even though all of this has come in direct response to Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s scathing anti-Netanyahu speech issued earlier this month, Schumer now says he welcomes the idea of Netanyahu addressing Congress.

  Schumer had said Israel risks becoming a “pariah” under Netanyahu’s failed policies, and highlighted the soaring Palestinian civilian death toll in the war against Hamas. He even called for new elections in Israel.

  “Israel has no stronger ally than the United States, and our relationship transcends any one president or any one Prime Minister,” Schumer has responded in a statement. “I will always welcome the opportunity for the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way.”

  It must be remembered, however, the Netanyahu once addressed Congress – all the way back in 2002 – where he helped the Bush administration deceive the American public concerning Saddam Hussein and WMDs.

  He had testified during that appearance over two decades ago, “There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking, is working, is advancing towards to the development of nuclear weapons.”

  Netanyahu had also dubiously said, “If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region.”

  That alone should disqualify him from ever being welcomed to speak to Congress and the American people again. But apparently both sides of the aisle are welcoming Johnson’s plan.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 21:35

• Biden's Border Blowup
  Biden’s Border Blowup

  Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Some 8 to 10 million illegal aliens from all over the world, as expected, have flooded across the border since President Joe Biden took office.

  

  A demagogic candidate Biden, remember, in 2019 invited those massing at the southern border to “surge” into the United States without specifying that they first needed legal sanction: “We immediately surge to the border all those seeking asylum.”

  In contrast, we know legal immigration is America’s great strength, but it has always depended on a few key prerequisites.

  Immigration must be legal and measured.

  Why? Because only the host nation can adjudicate how many immigrants it can successfully accept and assimilate. It has no desire to encourage Balkanized tribalism so common in nations abroad torn apart by ethnic conflict.

  America must have some knowledge of the background of immigrants, especially whether they have criminal records, belong to gangs, are importing drugs, carry infectious diseases, or can be self-supporting.

  By contrast, if the first thing immigrants do is illegally cross the American border, and the second is to reside illegally in America, and the third is to obtain fraudulent identification to mask that illegality, then they will establish long patterns of illegal behavior and disrespect for their hosts.

  In addition, immigration should be diverse so that large ethnic groups do not form permanent tribal sects in the fashion of the Balkans, the Middle East, or Latin America.

  Ideally, the host should prefer immigrants who have some knowledge of the language and customs of the United States. And they should have some ability to be self-supporting so as not to burden American taxpayers or overtax and deprive social services from poorer U.S. citizens.

  As for the host?

  America must be confident enough in and knowledgeable enough about its values, customs, and traditions to demand immigrants integrate rapidly into the body politic of the United States.

  Both the host and immigrants must agree on the basic facts of immigration.

  Immigrants, not the host, have chosen to leave their native land to risk a new life and identity in America.

  Therefore, the relationship is, by nature, asymmetrical. The host has a perfect right, indeed a responsibility, to impose its own values upon newcomers—not vice versa.

  Otherwise, if immigrants do not absorb their newly adopted culture, why would they have left and, in some sense, rejected their homeland in the first place?

  To replicate in the United States the very conditions and environment that they so eagerly fled from back home?

  So the host must remind immigrants that they chose a completely different paradigm from their native country. And therefore, they must be helped to embrace an entirely new national identity.

  Unfortunately, in the last four years, the Biden administration has violated every historical canon critical to ensuring legal immigration enriches the United States.

  They have encouraged 8–10 million of the world’s poorest to flood the border and to enter and reside in America without legal sanction.

  Most have no prior experience with American traditions, and few speak English.

  Host Americans have no idea whether hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of the millions entering illegally have committed crimes in their native countries, or have any record of employment, or are sick, or are here to foment gangs and to import lethal, foreign-made drugs that kill some 100,000 Americans a year.

  Worse, we, the hosts, no longer believe in the melting pot that once made America the world’s only successful multiracial democracy, united by the laws of the Constitution and the unique values that emanate from it.

  The combination of mass illegal immigration, without audit, into a country beset with $35 trillion in national debt, an existing 50 million residents not born in the United States, and without confidence in rapid assimilation certainly explains the disaster of illegal immigration that now manifests daily.

  President Biden may think nullifying federal immigration law is a smart political trick that, in the past, may have flipped southwestern states from red to blue or warped the census to give blue states more congressional districts.

  Or he may assume that with 70 percent of the electorate now voting through poorly audited mail-in balloting, there is no real way to prevent foreign nationals from voting for those who neutered the law to let them in.

  But in truth, President Biden is unfortunately undermining support for all immigration, legal or otherwise. He is guaranteeing that more imported drugs and gang members will kill more Americans.

  Ironically, President Biden is also alienating from the Democratic Party its once loyal black and Latino voters. They, not the party elite, must deal concretely with the consequences of Biden’s callous and cynical, ideologically driven policies.

  Perhaps the left will only cease destroying immigration law when it realizes that for each illegal alien it invites in, it will lose one or more once loyal Democratic voters.

  Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 21:00

• Bezos's Ex Donates $640 Million – With Most Going To Far-Left Groups Boosting Migrant Criminals, Trans Athletes
  Bezos’s Ex Donates $640 Million – With Most Going To Far-Left Groups Boosting Migrant Criminals, Trans Athletes

  Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, the third-wealthiest woman in the US, has awarded $640 million in new charitable donations – with most of it going to far-left nonprofits pushing left-wing causes, including assisting migrants who commit crimes and promoting transgender biological males who compete against women, the NY Post reports.

  

  Scott will provide 67 migrant-advocacy organizations a combined $122 million for legal aid and other assistance, according to an analysis of 361 awards she announced Tuesday through her foundation Yield Giving.

  The big winners include the Florida Immigrant Coalition, which vehemently opposes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on migrants who commit crimes; and the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, which is fighting that state’s efforts to increase illegal-migrant enforcement. Both scored $2 million awards. -NY Post

  Scott also awarded $117 million to prisoner-advocacy groups, $72 million to 43 groups which promote “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” and supporting transgender boys who routinely ruin athletics for biological females (feminists MIA).

  “Bezos’ wife is using the profits he made through capitalism to [fund] the rope that will hang capitalism,” said Heritage Foundation senior fellow, Mike Gonzalez, adding “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them,” to quote Lenin.

  “These things that she’s donating money to – whether it’s transgender ideas, helping illegals, prisoner rights, climate change – they’re all trying to transform our system away from capitalism,” Gonzalez continued.

  Scott, who was married to Jeff Bezos for nearly 25 years and has four children with him, parted ways with the Amazon.com founder with $38.3 billion in Amazon stock. In Dec. 2022 she launched a database of her charitable gifts under the name Yield Giving.

  She then began soliciting applications from community-led nonprofits in need of financial assistants – which were required to have budgets ranging between $1 and $5 million, and missions “to advance the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means,” according to the website.

  According to the Post, the $640 awarded by Yield Giving during this first round of donations is more than double what Scott had initially pledged – with 361 of the 6,530 charities which applied receiving awards of either $1 million or $2 million.

  Megan Peterson, executive director of Gender Justice, cheered Scott’s $2 million “gift” to her nonprofit, saying in a statement it “could not come at a more crucial time” with “a conservative legal movement threatening our fundamental rights here in Minnesota, North Dakota, and across the United States.”

  “Building and sustaining a world free of gender barriers requires community organization, education, and changing the ways we talk and think about gender,” added Peterson, whose group recently won lawsuits regarding access to emergency contraception and the rights of trans youth to play sports that are not their biological gender. -NY Post

  At least $16 million out of $72 million handed out to LGBTQ causes were nonprofits promoting transgender athletes in female sports – including the ACLU of Alabama.

  “Democrats running cities across America do this every day with our money, and that’s the real battle we need to keep fighting,” said NY Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Brooklyn), who said that Scott’s spending on leftist causes is “unfortunate – but it’s her personal money.“

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 20:25

• Japanese Preprint Calls For mRNA VaccinesTo Be Suspended Over Blood Bank Contamination Concerns
  Japanese Preprint Calls For mRNA VaccinesTo Be Suspended Over Blood Bank Contamination Concerns

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

  Receiving blood transfusion from COVID-19-vaccinated individuals could pose a medical risk to unvaccinated recipients since numerous adverse events are being reported among vaccinated people worldwide, according to a recent study from Japan.

  

  The preprint review, published on March 15, examined whether receiving blood from COVID-19-vaccinated individuals is safe or poses a health risk. Many nations have reported that mRNA vaccine usage has resulted in “post-vaccination thrombosis and subsequent cardiovascular damage, as well as a wide variety of diseases involving all organs and systems, including the nervous system,” it said.

  Repeated vaccinations can make people more vulnerable to COVID-19, it said. If the blood contains spike proteins, it becomes necessary to remove these proteins prior to administration, and there is no such technology currently available, the authors wrote.

  Contrary to earlier expectations, genes and proteins from genetic vaccines have been found to persist in the blood of vaccine recipients for “prolonged periods of time.”

  In addition, “a variety of adverse events resulting from genetic vaccines are now being reported worldwide.” This includes a wide range of diseases related to blood and blood vessels.

  Some studies have reported that the spike protein in the mRNA vaccines is neurotoxic and capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, the review stated. “Thus, there is no longer any doubt that the spike protein used as an antigen in genetic vaccines is itself toxic.”

  Moreover, people who have taken multiple shots of mRNA vaccines can have several exposures to the same antigen within a small time frame, which may lead to them being “imprinted with a preferential immune response to that antigen.”

  This has resulted in COVID-19 vaccine recipients becoming “more susceptible to contracting COVID-19.”

  Given such concerns, medical professionals should be aware of the “various risks associated with blood transfusions using blood products derived from people who have suffered from long COVID and from genetic vaccine recipients, including those who have received mRNA vaccines.”

  The impact of such genetic vaccines on blood products as well as the actual damage caused by them are currently unknown, the authors wrote.

  “In order to avoid these risks and prevent further expansion of blood contamination and complication of the situation, we strongly request that the vaccination campaign using genetic vaccines be suspended and that a harm–benefit assessment be carried out as early as possible.”

  Repeated vaccination of genetic vaccines can also end up causing “alterations in immune function” among recipients. This raises the risk of serious illnesses due to opportunistic infections or pathogenic viruses, which would not have been an issue if the immune system were normal, the review said.

  “Therefore, from the perspective of traditional containment of infectious diseases, greater caution is required in the collection of blood from genetic vaccine recipients and the subsequent handling of blood products, as well as during solid organ transplantation and even surgical procedures in order to avoid the risk of accidental blood-borne infection,” it stated.

  The review was funded by members of the Japanese Society for Vaccine-related Complications and the Volunteer Medical Association. Authors did not declare any conflict of interest.

  Dangers With Blood Transfusions

  The review pointed out that the genetic vaccination status of blood donors is not collected by organizations even though the use of such blood may pose risks to patients. As such, authors recommended that when blood products are derived from such people, “it is necessary to confirm the presence or absence of spike protein or modified mRNA as in other tests for pathogens.”

  “If the blood product is found to contain the spike protein or a modified gene derived from the genetic vaccine, it is essential to remove them,” it stated. “However, there is currently no reliable way to do so.”

  Since “there is no way to reliably remove the pathogenic protein or mRNA, we suggest that all such blood products be discarded until a definitive solution is found.”

  The authors pointed out that cases of encephalitis among people who received blood from dengue vaccine recipients were reported as recently as last year. This suggests that the present system of tracking and managing blood products “is not adequate.”

  Since genetic vaccines were implemented on a global scale for a massive population, “it is expected that the situation will already be complicated” compared to previous drug disasters.

  As such, there is an “urgent need” for legislation and international treaties related to the management of blood products, the authors wrote.

  The issue of blood transfusion from COVID-19 vaccine recipients has been highly controversial. In 2022, a court in New Zealand ruled against the parents of a sick infant son after they refused blood transfusions from vaccinated people.

  The parents had asked the health system to allow blood transfusion from unvaccinated individuals, with donors who were already prepared to contribute. In its ruling, the court stripped the parents of medical custody of their son.

  In Canada, doctors have also reported the trend of people’s resistance to vaccinated blood transfusions. Speaking to CBC in 2022, Dr. Dave Sidhu, the southern Alberta medical lead for transfusion and transplant medicine, said that parents of sick children were requesting unvaccinated blood.

  “We’re seeing it about once or twice a month, at this stage. And the worry is of course that these requests might increase,” he said at the time.

  In Wyoming, Rep. Sarah Penn (R-Wyo.) has sponsored a bill mandating that blood donated by people who have taken COVID-19 shots be labeled. Doing so will allow recipients who do not wish to accept such blood to reject them.

  In an interview with Cowboy State Daily, Ms. Penn said, “For various reasons, many people have purposefully strived to keep the mRNA therapies out of their bodies, even to the point that some lost their livelihoods … Their concerns are warranted.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 19:50

• FBI Tells Passengers On Blown-Out-Door-Plug Flight They May Be 'Victim Of A Crime'
  FBI Tells Passengers On Blown-Out-Door-Plug Flight They May Be ‘Victim Of A Crime’

  In the latest bad news for Boeing, the FBI has started notifying passengers on the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines flight that experienced a terrifying blowout of a door-plug that they may be a “victim of a crime.” 

  “As a victim specialist with the Seattle division, I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” read the FBI letters to travelers on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. “This case is currently under investigation by the FBI. A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking, and for several reasons, we cannot tell you about its progress at this time.” 

  Passenger releases footage from January 7, 2024 on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in Portland, Oregon where a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft experienced rapid decompression after the plane door ‘fell off’ pic.twitter.com/1yrly2JDZc

  — TRACKER DEEP (@tracker_deep) March 19, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  In early March, it was reported that the Justice Department had opened an investigation of Boeing over the incident, which involved a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft used for an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California. Soon after takeoff, a door plug — a panel used to fill an area that in some configurations might hold a functioning door — blew out of the side of the aircraft. Fortunately, the seats adjacent to the hole weren’t occupied, and there were no serious injuries. 

  In a preliminary report on its own inquiry, the National Transportation Safety Board said the door plug was missing four bolts that are used to secure it to the fuselage. They also said they’d determined the bolts weren’t installed when the plane left a Boeing assembly plant in late 2023. 

  Diagram of a Boeing 737-9 mid-cabin door plug and components (Source: Boeing) pic.twitter.com/7qPF5MGAOX

  — NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 8, 2024

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  The DOJ investigation is ominous enough on its own, but it could also have a serious follow-on effect: 

  If the Justice Department brings any criminal charge against Boeing in the Alaska Airlines case, that would give prosecutors the grounds to tear up the earlier agreement and charge Boeing for its role in the crashes of a Lion Air flight in 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in 2019. Those crashes resulted in the deaths of 346 passengers and crew. — Bloomberg

  In that earlier combined case, Boeing agreed to pay more than $2.5 million, with most of that going to customers. In exchange, the DOJ agreed not to charge Boeing for withholding information from the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to obtaining FAA approval for the MAX model. 

  On March 19, FAA chief Michael Whitaker said his visit to Boeing facilities left him with the impression that the firm’s “priorities have been on production, and not on safety and quality.” In February, the FAA published a report in which it noted 27 failings of safety procedures and culture at Boeing.  

  The door-plug blowout was just the first of a string of worrying incidents involving Boeing jets in 2024, the rest of which have no doubt left United Airlines with a bad case of buyer’s remorse…

  • “Plane Was Nosediving”: United Airlines Boeing 737 Engine Erupts In Flames Over Texas
  • United’s Boeing 737 Max Jet Veers Off Runway In Houston, Marking Third Incident In Week
  • Tire Separates From Boeing 777, Crushes Cars In San Francisco Parking Lot
  • Boeing 737 With 139 Passengers Loses External Panel Mid-Air

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 19:15

• Michigan Man Sues To See Election Records After His Freedom Of Information Requests Were Denied
  Michigan Man Sues To See Election Records After His Freedom Of Information Requests Were Denied

  Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times,

  Michigan’s Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is being sued for working with local officials to stonewall a citizen’s efforts to access public election records from the Nov. 8, 2022 general and the May 2, 2023 primary elections.

  

  Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (right) and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (left) wait to speak at a United Auto Workers rally after the Detroit Labor Day Parade in Detroit, Mich., on Sept. 4, 2023. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

  Ms. Benson has a record of resisting transparency dating back to the 2020 presidential contest, after which she ordered local clerks to delete all electronic poll book (EPB) data from that election. In Nov. 2022, just days after the midterms, she ordered local clerks to deny public information requests to examine certain election data stored on their EPBs.

  EPB files are an original public record and a component of the electronic voting system audit trail.

  “When she (Ms. Benson) realized that some public officials were properly releasing this information under FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), she ordered them to delete the data,” claims Macomb County resident Michael Butz in a brief he filed in Macomb County Circuit Court on March 11, 2024.

  Mr. Butz asked the court to deny “any interjection of responsibility” into this case by the secretary of state (SOS) and to deny the defendant municipal clerks’ rejection of his FOIA requests.

  The memos and emails supporting Mr. Butz’s claims concerning Ms. Benson are attached to the brief.

  Mr. Butz told The Epoch Times he is still awaiting the defendants’ response to his filing.

  “Jocelyn Benson and her Michigan Bureau of Elections directors are violating Michigan and United States Codes and statutes with their unlawful election processes, procedures, and instruction manuals…In fact, the Michigan Court of Appeals recently agreed,“ Mr. Butz said. “These are ongoing acts of malfeasance against the people of Michigan.”

  The Michigan Secretary of State’s Office said it does not comment or answer questions about ongoing or pending litigation.

  The case was filed against municipal election officials from several Macomb County localities for allegedly violating Mr. Butz’s right under FOIA to inspect and copy public election information.

  Though Ms. Benson is not a named defendant in the Butz lawsuit, she successfully petitioned the court to designate her as a defendant-intervener.

  The brief alleges that Ms. Benson interfered with the clerks’ responses to Mr. Butz’s initial FOIA requests by directing local officials as to what data should or should not be provided to him.

  Not Up to the SOS to Decide, Man Argues

  According to Plaintiff Butz, the responsibility for the decision to reject a FOIA request lies with the local clerks, who are mandated by statute to disclose public information and are liable for any violations of the act.

  Michael Butz, an IT professional and election integrity activist from Macomb Co., Mich. on May 30, 2023. (Steven Kovac/Epoch Times)

  The plaintiff cited legal precedent showing that Ms. Benson’s regulations, directives, guidance, opinions, memos, emails, and statements “cannot serve as the basis for FOIA denials,” because they are not statutes, and therefore, “the only basis for denial of a FOIA request must be based on the express language of the statute’s exemptions.”

  According to the brief, “Benson is simply not authorized by law to prohibit public officials from fulfilling their constitutional and statutory duties of disclosing public information under FOIA.

  “Defendants cannot, therefore, say, as they have, that they are ‘waiting’ on the research and guidance from the SOS…to tell them what to withhold, what exemption applies, or what exemption might be asserted.”

  Federal law requires all election records to be retained and preserved for 22 months, and Michigan law requires they be kept for 24 months. The retention time for used ballots in state and local elections is 30 days, if the ballots are not subject to recount or an ongoing investigation or court order or SOS order.

  “The public records derived from the EPB must, by law, be retained in their entirety and be accessible to the public,” the brief said.

  By following Ms. Benson’s order to delete the EPB data, local officials may have violated federal and state laws.

  Mr. Butz told The Epoch Times, “ The Nuremburg Trial excuse ‘I was just following orders’ does not cut it.”

  Michigan law states, “It is the public policy of this state that all persons…are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees…The people shall be informed so that they may fully participate in the democratic process.”

  Discrepancies Found 

  The Butz brief states that in the jurisdictions that complied with his FOIA request, the data obtained indicated a 12 percent variation between the local records of who voted and the state’s records.

  When the discrepancies were questioned by clerks and citizens, “SOS Benson unilaterally, and without legal authority encrypted” the EPB data in order to “conceal” it from the public, and so that clerks cannot access it to reconcile it, the brief alleged.

  According to the brief, as of the 2022 elections, all files on the USB Drive for the EPB flash drive were fully encrypted.

  Mr. Butz wrote his latest FOIA requests in such a way so as to eliminate the local governments’ justifications for rejection—the privacy of registrants, proprietary and copyright concerns of the software vendors, and cybersecurity worries of the State Board of Elections. He specifically stated in his requests that he was not asking for any of these things and would be satisfied if they were redacted.

  According to the brief, “Lawful redaction of the appropriate items is expected, but BOE (state Bureau of Elections) is not allowed to define what is acceptable FOIA material in opposition to statute.”

  Mr. Butz’s requests were denied in total, so he sued.

  All Non-Exempt Information Must Be Provided 

  “The blind obedience of local clerks to the unlawful directives of the BOE is the actual reason that the FOIA requests presented by Michael Butz were denied,” according to the brief.

  Michigan law states that, if exempt information is combined with non-exempt information, the public official cannot use the excuse that redaction or separation is not possible, but “shall separate the exempt and nonexempt material,” the brief said.

  According to the plaintiff, Ms. Benson and the BOE suggest citizens requesting EPB data settle for a copy of the Voter List Report (VLR), generated on election night, in place of the EPB History file. The problem is the VLR does not contain all the information that is available on the History file, such as same-day voting data and internet connectivity, according to Mr. Butz, who is a career computer expert.

  The brief also noted that, due to several statewide voter registration services conducted by the SOS, such as the driver registration program, the statutory requirement that voter registration information be entered and filed in the public records of the relevant local official is precluded by the state’s digital practice. This means that the local clerk, who is responsible and liable for the accuracy of the names and addresses of the registrants, is effectively cut out of the process and that there is “no paper trail,” the brief contended.

  Mr. Butz told The Epoch Times that he would not settle for anything short of full disclosure of the information sought in his lawful FOIA request.

  A status conference for the case is scheduled for May 28.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 18:40

• Where Water Stress Will Be Highest by 2050
  Where Water Stress Will Be Highest by 2050

  Water is not only the basis of life for animals and plants, but is also likely to become a contested resource in parts of the world in the coming decades. According to UN figures, global water stress, i.e. the proportion of water withdrawn for use in industry, agriculture or private households in relation to available water, was manageable at 18.2% in 2020. In 2022, however, 2.4 billion people were living in areas that are exposed to extreme water stress in some cases.

  It is not possible to determine exactly how high this will be by 2050 due to numerous factors such as the global population or economic and political developments in emerging and transition countries. This is why scientists are currently working with scenarios instead of more precise estimates. However, it is certain that the demand for water will increase steadily and that many countries are already consuming more than they have available.

  As Statista’s Martin Armstrong shows in the infographic below, based on projections by the World Resources Institute (WRI) , 51 of the 164 countries and territories analyzed are expected to suffer from high to extremely high water stress by 2050, which corresponds to 31 percent of the population.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  According to WRI, the scenario used corresponds to a “business as usual” future with temperature increases of between 2.8 and 4.6 degrees Celsius by 2100 and a world that remains unequal. In addition to the entire Arabian Peninsula, Iran and India, most North African countries such as Algeria, Egypt and Libya are among the countries that are expected to consume at least 80 percent of the available water by 2050.

  However, the phenomenon of water scarcity is not limited to emerging countries. Southern European countries such as Portugal, Spain and Italy are also reportedly already under high water stress, and the situation in Spain is set to worsen significantly by 2050. For France and Poland, the WRI experts assume medium to high water stress, which corresponds to a consumption rate of 20 to 40 percent of available resources.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 18:05

• CIA Secrecy On JFK Points To Criminal Culpability
  CIA Secrecy On JFK Points To Criminal Culpability

  Authored by Jacob Hornberger via The Future of Freedom Foundation,

  More than 30 years ago, Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Enacted in the wake of Oliver Stone’s movie JFK, which posited that the Kennedy assassination was a regime-change operation on the part of the U.S. national-security establishment, the law mandated that all the assassination-related records of the Pentagon, the CIA, the Secret Service, the FBI, and other federal agencies be released to the public. Having succeeded in keeping their assassination-related records secret for almost 30 years, they didn’t like that at all.

  

  Today — more than 60 years after the assassination — the CIA continues to keep thousands of its assassination-related records secret. Its justification? You guessed it: “national security,” the two most powerful and meaningless words in the American political lexicon. CIA officials maintain, with straight faces, that if those still-secret assassination-related records were released, the United States would fall into the ocean, be taken over by communists, or have its “national security” endangered in some other silly way.

  How in the world can “national security” be threatened by the release of records that are more than 60 years old, regardless of what definition is placed on that nebulous term? Indeed, how can any American really believe this nonsense? They obviously take Americans for dupes.

  It is a virtual certainty that those still-secret records contain circumstantial evidence that further confirms criminal culpability on the part of the CIA and the Pentagon in the assassination of President Kennedy. After all, the CIA knows that that is precisely what most everyone is thinking with respect to the continued secrecy of those records. Why would the CIA want to leave people thinking that? One reason: Because it’s better to have people thinking that those records contain incriminating evidence rather than knowing that they do.

  What could the CIA be hiding with those still-secret records? The answer necessarily has to be speculative in nature, but my hunch is that some of the still-secret information deals with Mexico City, where the accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was supposed to have met with Cuban and Soviet officials.

  In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, it is obvious that everything went wrong with the Mexico City part of the assassination plot. For example, there were audiotapes that supposedly contained Oswald’s voice and then suddenly there were no such audiotapes. There was a photograph of Oswald except that it was a photograph of someone else.

  Why was Mexico City an important part of the assassination plot? As I detail in my newest book on the assassination, An Encounter with Evil: The Abraham Zapruder Story, an essential part of the assassination plot was to frame a communist. This was the height of the Cold War, when most everyone hated and feared the Reds. By framing a communist, the national-security establishment could rest assured that Americans would be reluctant to come to Oswald’s defense or believe anything he said.

  Mexico City played an important role in this endeavor. Oswald was ordered to travel to Mexico City, where he was to meet with both Cuban and Soviet officials. In that way, the plotters could definitely tie the future assassin to the Soviet and Cuban communists.

  Why would Oswald obey such orders? Because he was an operative for U.S. intelligence. Intelligence operatives follow orders, especially when they’re told that they are part of an intelligence operation.

  In fact, in one of its first meetings, Earl Warren, the head of the Warren Commission, told the commission that there was highly discomforting evidence that Oswald was, in fact, an intelligence operative. Once the CIA and the FBI, which, of course, would never lie about such a thing, assured the commission that such wasn’t the case, Warren ordered that the meeting be kept top-secret and never revealed to the American people.

  When he was serving in the army, Oswald became fluent in the Russian language. That is not an easy thing to do. It takes language experts, which the U.S. government has. That’s the only way Oswald could have learned to speak fluent Russian while he was in the army.

  There is also New Orleans, where Oswald had moved from Dallas prior to his trip to Mexico City. In New Orleans, Oswald spent a lot of effort building up his “pro-communist” persona, especially with the help of an anti-Castro group called the DRE.

  Immediately after the assassination, the DRE sent out a press release informing the nation that Oswald was a communist. There is one big important thing about the DRE that the nation did not know and would not know for several decades. It was a CIA-funded and CIA-supervised group. Thus, it was actually the CIA that wanted the nation to know that the president had been killed by a Red.

  As JFK researcher Jefferson Morley, who first discovered the CIA’s connection to the DRE, has also discovered, the CIA was secretly monitoring Oswald in the months leading up to the assassination, including secretly reading his mail. Why would the CIA be doing that? Because if one is going to frame a person in a very complex murder plot, one has to be certain that the person being framed doesn’t figure out what is going on.

  Will the CIA succeed in keeping its assassination-related records secret forever? Given the overwhelming power that the national-security branch has within the federal governmental structure, it’s a virtual certainty that it will succeed. But what difference does it make? The evidence that was released by the JFK Records Act already proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the Kennedy assassination was a national-security state regime-change operation, especially with respect to the fraudulent autopsy that the military conducted on JFK’s body and the fraudulent copy of the Zapruder film that the CIA produced. (See my books The Kennedy Autopsy and An Encounter with Evil: The Abraham Zapruder Story.) The CIA’s still-secret assassination-related records would only add more circumstantial evidence to what we already know.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 17:30

• Slow Joe: Biden Campaign Tests 'Broke Don' Name-Calling Strategy – As Trump Net Worth Jumps By $3.5 Billion
  Slow Joe: Biden Campaign Tests ‘Broke Don’ Name-Calling Strategy – As Trump Net Worth Jumps By $3.5 Billion

  The Biden campaign couldn’t have picked a worse time to copy Donald Trump’s name-calling strategy.

  

  In an effort to highlight Trump’s lagging fundraising figures in the 2024 race, as well as a $454 million judgement in his NY civil fraud case, the Biden team has dubbed the former president “Broke Don”  (a slap in the face to millions of hard working Americans who are now actually broke thanks to ‘Bidenomics,’ we might add).

  On Wednesday, public election filings showed that Trump’s 2024 campaign brought in $10.9 million last month, while his joint fundraising committee raised nearly $11 million, bringing total cash on hand to around $42 million.

  Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, raised around $53 million in February, giving him $155 million in cash on hand entering this month.

  Except, Trump’s worth just jumped by roughly $3.5 billion after shareholders in Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) on Friday approved a merger with Trump’s media startup, Truth Social.

  

  What’s more, Trump said on Friday via Truth Social that “through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash,” which would give him enough cash to post bond in his NY civil case in order to appeal the decision.

  Absolute fail

  And while Americans are getting absolutely crushed under an enormous debt load, Biden mocked them while making a joke at Trump’s expense.

  During a fundraiser last week, Biden told crowds that “a defeated man” came up to him and said, “I’m being crushed by debt.”

  “I had to say, ‘I’m sorry Donald, I can’t help you,” Biden joked.

  Even Democratic strategists are cringing at the “Broke Don” strategy.

  “The Biden team’s instinct to earn free media, try to get under his skin, and go on offense is the right one. But mimicking Trump has been done before and has never really worked,” one anonymous strategist told The Hill.

  “You can’t out-Trump Trump because he’s the original version. I would say they need to be more creative in producing their own original and unique strategy to bring him down a peg that shocks and awes,” the strategist added.

  Stay classy, Joe.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 16:55

• Bitcoin Demand In Argentina Surges To Two Year Highs
  Bitcoin Demand In Argentina Surges To Two Year Highs

  Authored by Ciaran Lyons via CoinTelegraph.com,

  Bitcoin remains in demand among Argentines as the ARS has lost fourfold value against the US dollar in the last year, dropping from 0.0049 USD per ARS in March 2023 to 0.0012 USD at present.

  

  Argentines’ efforts to preserve their savings amid the ongoing decline of their national currency, the Argentine peso (ARS), has resulted in the nation recently hitting its highest demand for Bitcoin in 20 months, according to a recent report.

  On March 20, Bloomberg reported data sourced from cryptocurrency exchange Lemon Cash revealing nearly 35,000 customers in Argentina purchased Bitcoin in the week ending March 10, which is double the weekly average compared to 2023.

  

  Bitcoin purchases in Argentina Jan 2023 – March 2024. Source: Bloomberg

  A major factor for the increase in demand is the ongoing decline of the nation’s currency. 

  Over the past twelve months, the ARS value against the US dollar has plummeted, dropping from 0.0049 USD per ARS in March 2023 to 0.0012 USD at the time of publication.

  However, it was noted that Lemon wasn’t the only platform seeing a surge in demand. Other major exchanges in Argentina, such as Ripio and Belo, reported similar trends.

  According to the CEO of the digital wallet Belo, Manuel Beaudroi, stablecoin purchases in Argentina declined from 70% to 60% as Bitcoin’s recent price surge attracted more interest.

  “The user decides to buy Bitcoin when they see the news that the currency is going up, while stablecoin is more pragmatic and many times used for transactional purposes, as a vehicle to make payments abroad.”

  He also claimed that Belo has seen volume in Bitcoin and Ether increase “tenfold so far in 2024 compared to the same period last year.” 

  However, a recent report suggests that interest in stablecoins might still exist, as Argentines are possibly choosing not to use the well-known exchanges within the country for purchasing them.

  On Feb. 12 Cointelegraph reported that Argentines are using black market exchanges, known locally as “crypto caves,” to buy USD stablecoins in an effort to escape strict currency controls and the rising inflation of the ARS.

  Meanwhile, the use of digital currency for specific transactions is slowly gaining traction within the country.

  In December 2023, Diana Mondino, the minister of foreign affairs, international trade and worship, claimed that a decree aimed at economic reform and deregulation would allow the use of Bitcoin and other cryptos in the country under certain conditions.

  Following the ruling, a local landlord and a tenant in Rosario, the third most populated city in Argentina, sealed a rental agreement where the latter would pay monthly rent in Bitcoin.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 16:20

• 'Will Send Netanyahu To Allah': Erdogan's Words Spark Outrage In Israel
  ‘Will Send Netanyahu To Allah’: Erdogan’s Words Spark Outrage In Israel

  Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has from the start of the Israel-Hamas war been among the most aggressive and fiercest critics of Israel and especially its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  While Erdogan has long denounced Israel’s operation in Gaza, on Thursday he unleashed his harshest rhetoric yet, which came close to perhaps being a direct threat against Netanyahu’s life. In an election rally the Turkish president vowed to “send [Netanyahu] to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable and curse him.”

  

  The threatening and inflammatory words were widely picked up in Israeli press reports, causing outrage. He additionally described that “Netanyahu and his administration, with their crimes against humanity in Gaza, are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, like today’s Nazis.”

  Another media outlet which covers regional events translated Erdogan’s words as follows:

  In a fresh attack on the Israeli prime minister over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Erdogan told the crowd gathered at an election rally in central Anatolia on Thursday, “I’m leaving the person called Netanyahu in the Lord’s hands.” He then added, “May the Lord damn him.”

  Thus depending on how the remarks are translated, the statement leaves itself open to interpretation possibly as a direct threat against the Israeli leader.

  A livid Israeli government immediately summoned the Turkish ambassador, demanding answers. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said that Turkey’s charges d’affaires Mehmet Sekerci was summoned in order to “convey a clear message to Erdogan.”

  “There is no God who will listen to those who support the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by your barbaric Hamas friends,” Katz stated. “Be quiet and shame on you!”

  Erdogan has consistently called Hamas “not a terrorist organization” but “a group of mujahideen defending their lands” – in reference to those who engage in ‘jihad’.

  From Tel Aviv’s perspective, Erdogan’s ratcheting rhetoric in denouncing Israeli actions will likely been seen as unforgiveable, even after this current crisis is over. Turkey and Israel have long clashed over the Palestinian issue, and these tensions have now exploded back into full force. Ties between the two countries are at a historical low point.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 15:45

• Lego Lineups: Company Warns California P.D. To Stop Using Lego Heads To Hide Criminal's Faces
  Lego Lineups: Company Warns California P.D. To Stop Using Lego Heads To Hide Criminal’s Faces

  Authored by Milt Harris via PJMedia.com,

  Murrieta is a city in Southern California with just over 100,000 residents. Even though it isn’t a huge city, the Neighborhood Scout, a website that tracks local statistics for potential homebuyers or renters, reported this about the municipality on its website:

  The crime rate in Murrieta is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 15 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Murrieta is 1 in 65. Based on FBI crime data, Murrieta is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to California, Murrieta has a crime rate that is higher than 40% of the state’s cities and towns of all sizes.

  It’s common for the public to be interested in the details of an arrest, including the crime committed and the appearance of the suspect. However, in California, there is a law that prioritizes the rights of the suspect over the public’s right to know by requiring that the faces of certain suspects be concealed. In Murietta, this law has been taken to an extreme level, where police hide suspects’ faces with Lego heads.

  In an Instagram post, the police department explained the new law this way:

  On January 1st, a new law went into effect that restricts the how and when law enforcement agencies in California share suspect photos & mugshots. The new law, Assembly Bill 994 & Penal Code 13665, now prohibits law enforcement from sharing suspect photos for nonviolent crimes, unless specified circumstances exist. Additionally, the new law requires agencies to remove suspect mugshots from social media after 14 days, unless special circumstances exist.

  The Murrieta Police Department prides itself in its transparency with the community but also honors everyone’s rights & protections as afforded by law, even suspects. In order to share what is happening in Murrieta, we chose to cover the faces of suspects to protect their identity while still aligning with the new law.

  Using something so ridiculous minimizes the severity of crimes and turns serious events into cartoons. People may understand the need to comply with the law, but this approach is inappropriate.

  Judge for yourself:

   

   

   

   

  View this post on Instagram

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  A post shared by Murrieta Police Department (@murrietapd)

  //www.instagram.com/embed.js

   

   

   

   

  View this post on Instagram

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  A post shared by Murrieta Police Department (@murrietapd)

  //www.instagram.com/embed.js

   

   

   

   

  View this post on Instagram

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  A post shared by Murrieta Police Department (@murrietapd)

  //www.instagram.com/embed.js

  The bill: 

  Requires a police department or sheriff’s office to remove a booking photo shared on the department’s social media page within 14 days unless specific circumstances exist and requires a police department or sheriff’s office sharing a booking photo on social media to use the name and pronouns given by the subject of that photo.

  Those specific circumstances are described as: 

  A police department or sheriff’s office has determined that the suspect is a fugitive or an imminent threat to an individual or to public safety and releasing or disseminating the suspect’s image will assist in locating or apprehending the suspect or reducing or eliminating the threat, or if a judge orders the release or dissemination of the suspect’s image based on a finding that the release or dissemination is in furtherance of a legitimate law enforcement interest.

  Advertisement

  Going forward, the left will undoubtedly continue to be soft on crime. However, the Murietta police will no longer use Lego heads to further diminish the seriousness of any criminal’s actions. Lego has instructed the department to stop digitally adding Lego heads onto photos of suspects. Murrieta Police Department Lt. Jeremy Durrant told Fox News Digital in a statement that: 

  The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content which of course we understand and will comply with. We are currently exploring other methods to continue publishing our content in a way that is engaging and interesting to our followers.

  Durrant’s choice of words to describe the way his department reports criminal activities is revealing. While the reports are supposed to be truthful and informative, Durrant uses them as a chance to downplay the severity of the crimes and make them seem less serious. He uses terms like “engaging” and “interesting” to describe police reports, which is an insult to the intelligence of the people of Murietta.

  Thankfully, Lego stepped in and eliminated the visual aspect of this farce. I guess the simple blurring out of the faces wasn’t entertaining enough for the people that Durrant refers to as the department’s “followers.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 15:10

• Bidenomics? US Drops Out Of Top 20 'Happiest Nations' In The World For The First Time
  Bidenomics? US Drops Out Of Top 20 ‘Happiest Nations’ In The World For The First Time

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  For the first time in the history of the report, the US dropped out of the top twenty happiest nations. The youth poll (30 and under) is a disaster for the US, Germany, Canada, France, Japan, and China.

  

  Please consider the World Happiness Report for 2024.

  Key Happiness Details

  • Overall Rankings: The top 10 countries have remained much the same since before COVID. Finland is still top, with Denmark now very close, and all five Nordic countries in the top 10. But in the next 10, there is more change, with the transition countries of Eastern Europe rising in happiness (especially Czechia, Lithuania and Slovenia). Partly for this reason the United States and Germany have fallen to 23 and 24 in the rankings.

  • Happiness Trends by Age Group: In North America, happiness has fallen so sharply for the young that they are now less happy than the old. By contrast, in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the young are much happier than the old.

  • Global Trends: In most countries life satisfaction drops gradually from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. Globally, young people aged 15-24 still report higher life satisfaction than older adults. But the picture varied by region. Youth wellbeing fell in North America, Western Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia. In the rest of the world it rose.

  • Negativity: Negative emotions are more frequent than in 2006-2010 everywhere except East Asia and both parts of Europe.

  • Millennials and Zoomers: Age and generation both matter for happiness. As between generations, those born before 1965 (Boomers and their predecessors) have life evaluations about one-quarter of a point higher than those born after 1980 (Millennials and Gen Z). Within each generation, life evaluations rise with age for those in the older generations and fall with age for the younger ones, with little age effect for those in between.

  Happiness Age 30 and Below

  

  Clearly this was taken before the Hamas attack in Israel.

  Q: Where’s the US?
  A: #62

  Australia is #19, Germany is #47, France #48, Canada #58, Japan #73, China #79.

  Happiness Age 60 and Above

  

  The US, Canada, and Australia are in the top ten list of happiness age 60 and older.

  Serious Economic Implications

  Unhappy 30-year-olds don’t have kids because they don’t see a future.

  In the US, those age 30 and younger believe they will be worse off than their parents. I think they are correct in that assessment.

  The economy is allegedly booming, but only the asset holders have benefitted.

  Gen Z, the Most Pessimistic Generation in History

  Young adults are more skeptical of government and pessimistic about the future than any living generation before them. This is with reason, and it’s likely to decide the election.

  

  Economic Reality

  Gen Z may be the first generation in US history that is not better off than their parents.

  Many have given up on the idea they will ever be able to afford a home.

  The economy is allegedly booming (I disagree). Regardless, stress over debt is high with younger millennials and zoomers.

  This has been a constant theme of mine for many months.

  Credit Card and Auto Delinquencies Soar

  Credit card debt surged to a record high in the fourth quarter. Even more troubling is a steep climb in 90 day or longer delinquencies.

  

  Record High Credit Card Debt

  Credit card debt rose to a new record high of $1.13 trillion, up $50 billion in the quarter. Even more troubling is the surge in serious delinquencies, defined as 90 days or more past due.

  For nearly all age groups, serious delinquencies are the highest since 2011.

  Auto Loan Delinquencies

  

  Serious delinquencies on auto loans have jumped from under 3 percent in mid-2021 to to 5 percent at the end of 2023 for age group 18-29.Age group 30-39 is also troubling. Serious delinquencies for age groups 18-29 and 30-39 are at the highest levels since 2010.

  For further discussion please see Credit Card and Auto Delinquencies Soar, Especially Age Group 18 to 39

  Generational Homeownership Rates

  

  Home ownership rates courtesy of Apartment List

  The above chart is from the Apartment List’s 2023 Millennial Homeownership Report

  Those struggling with rent are more likely to be Millennials and Zoomers than Generation X, Baby Boomers, or members of the Silent Generation.

  The same age groups struggling with credit card and auto delinquencies.

  On Average Everything is Great

  Average it up, and things look pretty good. This is why we have seen countless stories attempting to explain why people should be happy.

  Krugman Blames Partisanship

  With the recent rise in consumer sentiment, time to revisit this excellent Briefing Book paper. On reflection, I’d do it a bit differently; same basic conclusion, but I think partisan asymmetry explains even more of the remaining low numbers 1/ https://t.co/4lqm7X4472

  — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) February 17, 2024

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  OK, there is a fair amount of partisanship in the polls.

  However, Biden isn’t struggling from partisanship alone. If that was the reason, Biden would not be polling so miserably with Democrats in general, blacks, and younger voters.

  This allegedly booming economy left behind the renters and everyone under the age of 40 struggling to make ends meet.

  Many Are Addicted to “Buy Now, Pay Later” Plans

  Buy Now Pay Later, BNPL, plans are increasingly popular. It’s another sign of consumer credit stress.

  

  For discussion, please see Many Are Addicted to “Buy Now, Pay Later” Plans, It’s a Big Trap

  The study did not break things down by home owners vs renters, but I strongly suspect most of the BNPL use is by renters.

  What About Jobs?

  Another seemingly strong jobs headline falls apart on closer scrutiny. The massive divergence between jobs and employment continued into February.

  

  Nonfarm payrolls and employment levels from the BLS, chart by Mish.

  Payrolls vs Employment Gains Since March 2023

  • Nonfarm Payrolls: 2,602,000

  • Employment Level: +144,000

  • Full Time Employment: -284,000

  For more details of the weakening labor markets, please see Jobs Up 275,000 Employment Down 184,000

  CPI Hot Again

  

  CPI Data from the BLS, chart by Mish.

  For discussion of the CPI inflation data for February, please see CPI Hot Again, Rent Up at Least 0.4 Percent for 30 Straight Months

  Also note the Producer Price Index (PPI) Much Hotter Than Expected in February

  Major Economic Cracks

  There are economic cracks in spending, cracks in employment, and cracks in delinquencies.

  But there are no cracks in the CPI. It’s coming down much slower than expected. And the PPI appears to have bottomed.

  Add it up: Inflation + Recession = Stagflation.

  Election Impact

  In 2020, younger voters turned out in the biggest wave in history. And they voted for Biden.

  Younger voters are not as likely to vote in 2024, and they are less likely to vote for Biden.

  The Journal noted nearly one-third of voters under 30 have an unfavorable view of both Biden and Trump, a higher number than all older voters. Sixty-three percent of young voters think neither party adequately represents them.

  Young voters in 2020 were energized to vote against Trump. Now they have thrown in the towel.

  And Biden telling everyone how great the economy is only rubs salt in the wound.

  Conclusions

  Two completely different polls show millennials and zoomers are unhappy. And they are unhappy for the reasons I stated.

  Many have concluded they will never be able to afford a house or have kids. Those who have concluded that are likely correct.

  For more discussion, please see Gen Z, the Most Pessimistic Generation in History, May Decide the Election

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 14:00

• FAA Turning Over Newark's Air Traffic Control Duties To Philadelphia To "Address Staffing Issues"
  FAA Turning Over Newark’s Air Traffic Control Duties To Philadelphia To “Address Staffing Issues”

  As air traffic is on the verge of breaking records heading into the summer, Newark, New Jersey’s airspace is being turned over to Philadelphia.

  The move, prompted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, seeks to “address staffing issues and congested traffic in the New York City area”, according to a new Reuters report.

  We hope it’s more of the latter than the former – because with all these Boeings in the air every day, it isn’t necessarily a great time to be understaffed. And we’re only half joking. 

  The FAA is predicted a record summer travel season, the report says, and airlines are also predicting record travel for the spring. The FAA says the change will “meet continued traffic demand in the busy Northeast Corridor.”

  The FAA, grappling with air traffic control staffing shortages, announced its collaboration with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association through a memorandum out last week. Air traffic control responsibilities for Newark will be transferred from the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control to the Philadelphia Tower/TRACON by the end of June.

  

  Reuters notes that New York TRACON is recognized as one of the busiest control facilities in the United States, managing some of the country’s most complex airspace. The FAA had previously disclosed plans in 2023 to reassign about 100 square miles of airspace from Newark’s N90 to Philadelphia to alleviate staffing constraints.

  United Airlines, which operates a major hub at Newark, frequently encounters delays due to air traffic congestion and personnel shortages. The airline scaled back its flight operations last summer in response to operational disruptions, with CEO Scott Kirby publicly criticizing the FAA’s performance.

  He highlighted that the number of flights scheduled at Newark exceeded the airport’s physical capacity to manage them. Consequently, the FAA prolonged the reduction of minimum flight requirements at airports around New York City through October, addressing these staffing shortfalls.

  Airlines are typically required to utilize their allocated takeoff and landing slots at busy airports for a minimum of 80% of the time, under risk of losing them. The FAA’s waiver permits airlines to maintain their slots despite not operating some flights.

  A report from a government watchdog in June highlighted severe staffing challenges at crucial air traffic control facilities, which pose risks to aviation operations. It noted that staffing at N90 was only at 54%. With controllers at various locations working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks to mitigate shortages, the agency falls approximately 3,000 controllers short of its staffing objectives.

  In response, President Joe Biden has proposed funding this month to recruit an additional 2,000 controllers over the next year.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 13:25

• Spending Deal Bans Flying Pride Flag Over US Diplomatic Buildings
  Spending Deal Bans Flying Pride Flag Over US Diplomatic Buildings

  Authored by Caden Pearsen via The Epoch Times,

  The government spending bill that House lawmakers passed on Friday included an effective ban on pride flags flying over diplomatic buildings but dropped nearly all of the 45 GOP-included provisions targeting LGBT concerns.

  Specifically, the bill states that appropriated funds can only be used to fly certain official flags over U.S. diplomatic facilities, effectively banning the LGBT pride flag.

  According to the bill’s text, (pdf) “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State other than” the listed flags, which did not include the pride flag.

  

  The permitted flags include the U.S. flag, foreign service flag, POW/MIA flag, hostage and wrongful detainee flag; the flag of a state, insular area, or the District of Columbia at domestic locations; the flag of an Indian tribal government; the official branded flag of a U.S. agency; or the sovereign flag of other countries.

  Two-thirds of House lawmakers passed a $1.2 trillion bill on Friday to fully fund 70 percent of the government without the support of most Republicans, just ahead of a deadline.

  The legislation is now in the Senate for consideration ahead of a midnight deadline, after which the government shutdown will begin if lawmakers there do not clear it.

  House Republicans “failed” to keep more than 45 provisions aimed at limiting funding for transgender procedures, certain drag shows, and executive orders related to diversity, equity, and inclusion issued by President Joe Biden, according to the Congressional Equality Caucus.

  The only two measures that Democrats in the caucus described as “anti-equality” that made it through were the measure banning pride flags and cuts to funding for LGBT community funding projects.

  “Unfortunately, Republicans fought to maintain a rider that restricts Pride flag displays at State Department buildings, and the final funding bills did not include some LGBTQI+ community funding projects,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), chair of the caucus, said in a statement.

  ‘Business as Usual In the Swamp’

  Staunchly conservative Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus had pleaded with their colleagues to reject the spending deal in the days leading up to the vote, arguing that it funds the very Biden administration policies they’ve been fighting against.

  “This is business as usual in the swamp,“ said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on the House floor before the vote. He went on to warn his GOP colleagues that should they campaign against ”open borders,” they’ll be laughed at.

  “Because today, if you vote for this abomination of a bill, you will be voting to fund it,” he added.

  Republicans in both chambers lamented the lack of inclusion of stronger border security measures in the spending deal and expressed criticism of its passage in the House shortly after.

  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who called the bill’s passage with the speaker’s support “a betrayal,” moved to oust Mr. Johnson from the speaker’s office for his role in the deal.

  She filed a motion to vacate the speaker on Friday as House members voted on the package.

  “The ‘Republican-controlled’ House just passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill that doesn’t secure our border but funds full-term abortion and trans ideology on our youth. I filed a Motion to Vacate because the House needs a Speaker who’s able to win for Republicans and our constituents,” she said.

  Before the vote, Ms. Greene spoke on the House floor and said no House Republican can in “good conscience can vote for this bill,” calling it a “complete departure” from the conservative party’s principles.

  The bill was unveiled on Thursday and fast-tracked to approval in a process that required a two-thirds majority vote for passage, as well as the House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) waiving a rule that requires 72 hours for members to review the legislation before it can be moved.

  The bill would fund the departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

  Shortly before midnight on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that voting on the deal would soon begin after resolving an impasse.

  However, the deadline was missed, and the government entered a partial, albeit short-lived, shutdown.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 12:50

• "Drone Attacks" Hit Another Russian Refinery As Swing Producer's Refining Capacity Drops  
  “Drone Attacks” Hit Another Russian Refinery As Swing Producer’s Refining Capacity Drops  

  Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries continued in the overnight hours, with two separate attacks. The latest wave of drone attacks on the Russian refinery system has forced the swing producer’s daily average oil refining rate to drop to a ten-month low.

  Bloomberg reports a suicide drone caused a fire at the Kuibyshev refinery in Russia’s Samara region. The fire was extinguished at the refinery, which has an annual capacity of 7 million tons of oil. There was no word on damage or how much output was affected. 

  The Russian Kuibyshev Oil Refinery in Samara continued to burn into this morning, several hours after a successful overnight Ukrainian drone attack.

  The fire was reportedly only controlled by 10 AM local. pic.twitter.com/JZN89XtFhk

  — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 23, 2024

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  Meanwhile, Rosneft Kuibyshev refinery in Samara has been hit. Hey, Financial Times, are you keeping up with refineries bingo card? pic.twitter.com/qzKHJQa8eJ

  — Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) March 23, 2024

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  A second drone attack was reported at the nearby Novokuibyshevsk refinery. However, local governor Dmitry Azarov said defense personnel repelled the drone without causing any damage. 

  “There were drone attacks on oil refineries in the region. At the Kuibyshev refinery, there was a fire at the primary oil refining column,” Azarov said, as quoted by Interfax news service. 

  The latest attacks come as new data sourced from Bloomberg shows Russia’s average daily oil refining rate was around 5.03 million barrels between March 14 and 20, down more than 400,000 barrels a day from the average for the first 13 days of the month—or a ten-month low. 

  

  A new phase of the war is underway as Ukraine’s replacement for artillery is cheap suicide drones targeting the Russian oil export machine deep within the country. 

  So far, drones have targeted 13 major refineries and two smaller plants, reducing processing capacity by about 480,000 and 900,000 barrels a day. 

  

  According to a person familiar with the data, Rosneft PJSC accounted for half of Russia’s lost processing capacity in the last week after drones damaged two major facilities. 

  Russia’s reduced refining rates indicate that authorities will focus on boosting domestic supplies, resulting in lower crude product exports worldwide. 

  “The latest attacks targeted primary refining processing units resulting in Russian waterborne product exports decreasing by an average 1 million b/d over the last two weeks,” Wood Mackenzie Emma Howsham wrote in a note. 

  Howsham noted the disruption so far is “still unlikely to move the needle or impact sentiment around the softening global diesel/gasoil market.” 

  Meanwhile, Washington officials warned senior officials at Ukraine’s state security service and military intelligence directorate that repeated drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure could drive up global oil prices. 

  Of course, the Biden administration would be concerned about these attacks because the last thing the White House needs is soaring energy prices reigniting consumer and/or producer prices. Also, higher crude prices would complicate the Federal Reserve’s planned pivot. 

  In the Middle East, there are increasing fears that Iran could be on the cusp of weaponizing crude as Houthis could launch a drone and missile attack on processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia (read: “The Weaponization Of Crude Could Trigger The Next Financial Shock”). 

  

  Successful attacks on these refineries would be enough to push Brent into triple-digit territory. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 03/23/2024 – 12:15

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