Today’s News 29th May 2024

• Is Russia Preparing To Strategically Partner With The Taliban?
  Is Russia Preparing To Strategically Partner With The Taliban?

  Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

  The Taliban remain international outcasts due to their refusal to implement a truly ethno-politically inclusive government per their prior promises as well as their treatment of women.

  Although no tangible progress has been made on either of those two very sensitive issues, economic and security interests pushed regional stakeholders to enter into de facto relations with this group for pragmatic reasons.

  Out of all those that have done so, Russia is far ahead of them all as proven by these latest developments:

  * 16 May 2024: “Afghan Taliban no longer Russia’s enemy — Russian diplomat”

  * 17 May 2024: “Afghanistan to expand range of goods exported to Russia — deputy PM Overchuk”

  * 24 May 2024: “Taliban can stabilize Afghanistan if left to its own devices — FSB director”

  * 27 May 2024: “Russia invites Taliban to St. Petersburg International Economic Forum — Foreign Ministry”

  * 27 May 2024: “Russian ministries propose to Putin to remove Taliban from terrorist list — envoy”

  As can be seen, Russia’s previous threat perception of the Taliban has disappeared, and it now considers the group to be a regional security provider with respect to containing ISIS-K. Moreover, Afghanistan’s location enables it to facilitate Russian trade with Pakistan, both commercial and energy. These interests have combined to inspire Russia to more openly embrace this group, which comes ahead of next month’s investment forum and October’s BRICS Summit. Here are some detailed background briefings:

  * 27 September 2021: “Comparing The Contours of Russia’s Ummah Pivot in Syria & Afghanistan”

  * 19 August 2022: “The Taliban Envisions Russia Playing A Big Role In The Group’s Geo-Economic Balancing Act”

  * 6 March 2023: “The Top Five Takeaways From The Russian Ambassador To Afghanistan’s Latest Interview”

  * 16 June 2023: “Russia’s Afghan Point Man Hinted At The Possibility Of Military-Technical Ties With The Taliban”

  * 19 May 2024: “Analyzing The Strategic Importance Of Russia’s Reportedly Planned Afghan Oil Hub”

  Basically, Russia sees Afghanistan as an indispensable part of its larger geostrategic reorientation to Muslim-majority countries, while the Taliban believes that Russia can help their country preemptively avert potentially disproportionate dependence on China and especially Pakistan. They also have shared economic interests with respect to facilitating trade between Russia-Central Asia and South Asia via Afghanistan from which that transit country can profit accordingly to help rebuild its economy.

  Something big is obviously in the works between them judging by the timing of Russia’s deliberations on removing the Taliban from its terrorist list just before next week’s St. Petersburg International Investment Forum. In all likelihood, not only does Russia expect to make progress on its reportedly planned Afghan oil hub, but there might even be an update about President Putin’s envisaged delivery of Russian pipeline gas to Pakistan through Afghanistan that he mentioned only once in September 2022.

  

  This doesn’t mean that a deal will be clinched on either since that involves Pakistan finally agreeing to conclude their long-running talks on a strategic energy one, which it’s thus far been reluctant to do under American pressure since April 2022’s post-modern coup. Nevertheless, even a Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and Taliban-led but by-then presumably terrorist-delisted Afghanistan on this and/or a parallel railway would be significant since it could help move Russian-Pakistani talks along.

  Therein lies the larger goal being advanced through the latest developments in Russian-Afghan relations, namely the comprehensive expansion of Russian-Pakistani relations, which is considered the last piece of Russia’s Ummah Pivot and Greater Eurasian Partnership concepts to be completed. That South Asian state of nearly one-quarter billion people is seen as a promising market for Russian commercial and energy exports as well as an overland gateway to India with whom Russia has decades-long strategic ties.

  From the Kremlin’s perspective, the successful cultivation of Russian-Pakistani relations could enable Moscow to exert positive influence over Islamabad for politically resolving the Kashmir Conflict, most likely by simply formalizing the Line of Contact as the international border. That could then maximally unlock Eurasia’s geo-economic potential by creating a cross-continental corridor, but all of this is only in the best-case scenario, which is far from assured.

  For instance, Pakistan might still refuse to budge with regards to reaching a strategic energy deal with Russia due to the previously mentioned American pressure, or it might agree to this but still remain at serious odds with India. Another factor is India’s reaction to the comprehensive expansion of Russian-Pakistani relations, especially if this results in Russia inviting Pakistan to participate in October’s “Outreach”/“BRICS-Plus” Summit, the potential political risks of which were detailed here.

  In any case, it’s clear that the driving force for removing the Taliban’s terrorist designation and inviting it to next month’s investment forum is the desire to make tangible progress on reaching a strategic energy deal with Pakistan, which would complete its Ummah Pivot and Greater Eurasian Partnership. Hopefully these interconnected processes will proceed smoothly and not unfold in ways that inadvertently risk offending India. It’s a difficult task, but Russia’s diplomats are more than qualified to handle it.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/29/2024 – 02:00

• Polling Reveals What Americans Regard As The Greatest Foreign Security Threats
  Polling Reveals What Americans Regard As The Greatest Foreign Security Threats

  By the Gatestone Institute

  A national poll, commissioned by Gatestone Foundation Trustee Lawrence Kadish of Old Westbury, Long Island, reveals that China has emerged as the nation considered the biggest national security threat to the United States. An overwhelming majority of Americans questioned believed that China will seek to dominate the remaining 21^st Century at the expense of the United States.

  

  Vladimir Putin’s Russia ranks second as America’s biggest threat to our national security, with a little more than half of Americans questioned concerned that Putin is capable of launching a nuclear strike on the United States. The result underscores the poll’s finding that a significant majority of Americans are concerned that we have entered a second chapter of the Cold War between the two countries that has considerable consequences for our nation’s future.

  Nor do many Americans believe that Putin will stop with his invasion of Ukraine. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed believe Putin will target Western Europe next, and many are fearful he could unleash nuclear weapons to achieve victory.

  Turning to the Middle East, more than half of Americans surveyed believe Iran would launch nuclear missiles against Israel if given the opportunity and that the United States should take unspecified measures to prevent it.

  Responding to the question of whether North Korea could fire nuclear-tipped missiles against the United States, again, the majority of those Americans questioned said yes.

  The survey also reveals a startling loss of patriotism among those questioned, and a significant amount of anger by Americans who acknowledged their fears regarding the range of adversaries who now feel free to confront our nation.

  The survey was conducted by the national polling company McLaughlin & Associates, and the data had a margin of error of 3.1%. Its CEO, John McLaughlin, observed:

  “To the best of our knowledge, these questions have not been posed before to a statistically valid sample size of Americans and they reveal a nation that recognizes the external threats but is anxious about our current ability or willingness to respond to them.

  It is clearly a time of uncertainty, anxiety and not a little bit of anger.“

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 23:40

• Americans Are By Far The World's Biggest Tourism Spenders
  Americans Are By Far The World’s Biggest Tourism Spenders

  China is yet to fully recover from its pandemic-induced travel slump, with projections forecasting outbound tourism to be back on track by the end of 2025. According to the latest available data from the UN World Tourism Organization, the Asian nation lost its position as the world’s leading tourism spender in 2022, after having held the position since 2013.

  Although China still saw an increase of some $5 billion in outbound tourism spending between 2021 and 2022, it was not enough to match the surge in spending from the United States in that time period, which more than doubled from $75 billion to $162 billion.

  This spate of increased travel includes the phenomenon of “revenge tourism”, a term coined on social media following the lifting of Covid restrictions as people started to go on trips that they previously were unable to take.

  Even with the growth, however, both China and the United States were still some way off their pre-pandemic figures in 2022. China’s peak had hit $277.3 billion in 2018, while the U.S. reached a height of $184.8 billion in 2019.

  As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, Germany, one of the most populous and richest nations in Europe, continued to rank in the top three big spenders, while the United Kingdom has climbed into fourth position.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  India, meanwhile, has retained seventh position and also saw a huge increase in tourist spending from $17.8 billion to $31.8 billion. Data for the United Arab Emirates was not published for 2022.

  According to the latest update of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism reached 97 percent of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024.

  This was partly thanks to the opening of Asian markets, including visa facilitation, with China having introduced visa-free travel for citizens from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia for a year staring November 2023.

  North America saw the strongest performance of the subregions in Q1 of 2024, per the report, with a 23 percent increase of international arrivals in comparison to the same period from before the pandemic, followed by Central America with an increase of 15 percent, the Caribbean and Western Europe, each with 7 percent, respectively.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 23:20

• Signs Of America's Declining Power & The Emerging Multipolar World
  Signs Of America’s Declining Power & The Emerging Multipolar World

  Authored by Christopher Roach via American Greatness,

  If we want our country to be safe and powerful, we should start on the firm foundations of respect for peace, human life, and other nations’ sovereignty.

  

  During Bush’s years as president, Democrats frequently criticized his foreign policy, complaining that he acted like a cowboy, pursuing wars unilaterally without the imprimatur of the “international community.” Internationalism was a particular obsession of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who lambasted the Bush administration for snubbing the United Nations and upsetting France with its Iraq policy.

  Obama was mostly a darling of foreign leaders, as he ceded American power and prestige in a bid to right what he considered the historic wrongs of colonialism and western chauvinism. This was evident in his obsession with completing the Iran deal, participating in the Kyoto accords, assisting NATO attacks on Libya and Syria, and in the general tone of public diplomacy during the Arab Spring.

  That said, America made quite a few interventions in the Obama years, especially in the second term, and we largely called the shots.

  A Fake “International Community”

  For all the talk of the international community, it was mostly a fig leaf for American unilateralism no matter which party was in charge. This practice extended from the Clinton presidency through Obama’s. When the United Nations would not approve something, we went to NATO. And when NATO wouldn’t get involved, we acted unilaterally, as in the early attacks on Syria or the targeted killing policy employed against al Qaeda

  This is another way of saying that the United States acted as the sole superpower since the end of the Cold War, and this prevailed regardless of the party in power. There were some arguments on the margins, but every administration embraced this prerogative to impose the American vision of a “rules-based international order.” Even Trump, who ran on an America First platform, supported American unilateralism in Syria and expanded the provision of lethal aid to Ukraine.

  In practice, the UN, NATO, and other institutions were there either to supply resources and allow the appearance of multilateralism or they were safely ignored. The United States had little fear of the International Criminal Court or the myriad other international institutions because it funded most of them, and they were effectively powerless in the face of American opposition.

  The recent weakening of the United States relative to the rest of the world means that reality will begin to match the rhetoric of international institutions and begin constraining every nation, including us.

  Evidence of Declining Power and Influence

  Three recent examples exemplify the rapid change of our standing in the world.

  First, after two decades of effort cultivating good will and cooperation in the war against terror and building a $100 million airbase, the United States is being kicked out of Niger. This follows Niger’s earlier expulsion of American ally France.

  Simultaneously, Russia is rapidly and efficiently becoming a major player in Africa. Niger, one may remember, was where the “yellowcake” scandal took place during the George W. Bush administration and also the site of the massacre of an American special forces unit in 2017.

  Like so much of our foreign policy, little of our official activity in Niger was known to the public and much was apparently unknown even to key decisionmakers in the government. But whether good policy or bad, it is rare for countries to kick the U.S. to the curb. The last time something like this happened that comes to mind is from 1992, when we were sent packing from Subic Bay in the Philippines.

  Niger’s unceremonial expulsion of American forces suggests little interest in maintaining close ties to the United States and reduced fear of consequences. Even if the United States is overextended and overly involved in much of the world, it would still be nice to have the option to be involved (or not) on our own terms.

  The second example is the International Criminal Court’s recent issuance of arrest warrants for Israel’s hawkish prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to answer for war crimes. Even at the height of public criticism of the Iraq War or the 2008 Gaza Campaign, no one would have dared to insult the United States and its proxies in this manner.

  It is true that Israel has gone to war without much of a strategy, and its tactics have resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths. And, after moving most of the citizens of Gaza to the southern end of the small territory, it is now moving them into the opposite direction in order to attack the Rafah refugee camp, in spite of warnings from the ICC.

  Of course, every war has disagreements about the right amount of force, and belligerents usually have a more generous standard for themselves than neutral third parties. Even so, these indictments are happening now after the United States engaged in substantial levels of destruction in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere over the preceding 20 years.

  What this really means is that the United States cannot control the ostensibly neutral institutions of internationalism. When it was the sole superpower, these institutions were just accoutrements to American power, unable to stop us and, in some ways, blessing American activity through their own silence.

  International tribunals would go after people like Slobodan Milsoovic and other gadflies of American power, while they would not dare go after an American leader or one of our allies. These practices understandably fueled allegations of hypocrisy. But, in the latest remarkable turn of events, the ICC feels sufficiently empowered to go after the prime minister of America’s “greatest ally.”

  The final example of our country’s loosening grip on power comes from the nation of Georgia. Since its “Rose Revolution” in 2003 and the ill-fated 2008 attack on its separatist province of Ossetia, which led to Russian retaliation, Georgia has clamored for closer ties to NATO and the United States. After Georgia’s defeat, the United States accepted the Russian victory as a fait accompli. While remaining an American ally, Georgia’s prospects of NATO membership were essentially eliminated.

  But the United States did respond with military aid, training cadres, and a proliferation of NGOs. The latter are supposedly exemplars of Georgian civil society, but they are largely funded by the United States and often serve to further our foreign policy goals. Fearful of the increasingly negative outcome of the Ukraine War, Georgia’s newly elected leadership is seeking a rapprochement with Russia, and one of their priorities (and Russia’s) is a law requiring NGOs with extensive foreign funding to disclose their affiliations. It sounds very similar to the Logan Act here at home.

  The United States responded to this proposed law with extreme measures. In addition to public protests, it has instituted a travel ban on the elected leaders of the populist Georgian Dream Party, which proposed the NGO legislation. Additional sanctions are being proposed in Congress to coerce Georgia into rejecting the registration bill, which is expected to pass on Wednesday.

  The preferred mechanisms of American foreign policy in much of the world have consisted of deniable influence operations, support for preferred political parties, and, through means known and unknown, the fomentation of violent political “color revolutions” to install friendly “democratic” regimes, such as those that took place in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere.

  Our hectoring of Georgia is really unseemly. Actual democracy means, at its core, majority rule. Georgia elected a government that reflected the will of its people. And its people are turning away from their recent foreign and domestic policies. They apparently do not want an army of foreign-funded NGOs to spread propaganda and influence their politics without some disclosure of their foreign funding sources.

  This seems reasonable enough to me, but no country has gone this far in the former Soviet space except Russia itself in 2012. Notably, since the passage of this law, Russia has proven immune from the kinds of intrigue that took down Ukraine’s Yanukovich regime in 2014.

  If We Adapt, Our Country Can Flourish in a Multipolar World

  These three disparate developments—the forced expulsion of the American military from Niger, the ICC indictment of Netanyahu, and Georgia’s flouting of U.S. pressure—are all harbingers of a true multipolar world. While this means the sole superpower era for the United States is over, it’s not so clear this era did much to serve the interests of the American people or peace and justice more generally.

  Did the Georgian defeat at Russia’s hands help the United States? How about the decapitation of the Libyan Regime leading to an explosion of terrorism, the death of an ambassador, and infinity African immigration into Europe?

  A multipolar world is one where sovereignty and independence are paramount. This is a substantial departure from the current regime of a single superpower meddling in other nations’ internal affairs at will or the Cold War’s implicit mandate that nations be in the orbit of one side or the other.

  In other words, power must now be shared. Realism and justice must be the watchwords. On the realism side of the ledger, American strategy must navigate a multipolar world by setting priorities, abandoning vanity projects, reducing the scope of its ambitions, and tailoring the force structure to achieve objectives commensurate with our existing military and industrial capability, along with the likelihood of sustained public support.

  Justice, too, should always be at the heart of our policy. We should not be merely strong but also committed to using our strength morally and responsibly. This is not only principled; it is also practical because it avoids conflict. If we want our country to be safe and powerful, we should start on the firm foundations of respect for peace, human life, and other nations’ sovereignty. To do this, we will have to abandon our self-serving policy of applying unprincipled exceptions to the rules we apply to others.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 23:00

• This Natural And Safe Solution Can Effectively Kill Viruses And Germs
  This Natural And Safe Solution Can Effectively Kill Viruses And Germs

  Authored by Yuhong Dong, M.D., Ph.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A low-cost, easily made natural solution can produce an antiviral and antibacterial effect that kills a wide range of microorganisms in minutes.

  This potent weapon is hypochlorous acid.

  

  Application Is Based on pH

  While hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is naturally produced by our white blood cells and is a key part of our innate immune system, it can also be made from electrolyzed saline water, a process invented over a century ago in Russia.

  Electrolyzed water (EW), also called electrolyzed saline or electrolyzed oxidizing water, can be categorized into different types based on its pH value, each with unique applications.

  Among the various types of EW, neutral electrolyzed salt water (NEW) and slightly acid-electrolyzed water (SAEW) are particularly interesting due to their neutral or near-neutral pH levels. These types of EW are relatively safe to use on our skin, nasal and oral mucosa, and wound tissues. They are widely used across the food, agriculture, and medical industries for disinfecting and cleaning purposes. This includes treating drinking water, wastewater, food, utensils, and hard surfaces.

  Hypochlorous acid is the key active ingredient of NEW and SAEW, and pH plays a critical role. A pH greater than 7 will produce more hypochlorite (OCl⁻) in the solution, whereas a strongly acidic pH, will produce toxic chlorine (Cl₂). The concentration of hypochlorous acid is most dominant when the pH is close to neutral or slightly acidic.

  Ming-Yih Chang, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biomechatronics at Yilan University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times in an email, “Many factors impact the precise amount of HOCl. For example, according to a critical review in 2008, the relative distribution of the main aqueous chlorine species is produced per the graph below where the temperature and the chloride concentration are provided.”

  

  Different From Bleach

  Hypochlorite (OCl⁻), a key ingredient of liquid bleach, is similar to hypochlorous acid—both can kill viruses and germs. However, they are different chemicals with different properties and applications.

  OCl⁻ is an ion commonly associated with sodium and calcium salts. When the pH is greater than 8, it’s often labeled as liquid bleach. As a strong oxidizer, it can cause corrosion, resulting in skin burns or eye damage, and can be harmful when inhaled.

  HOCl is a weak, nonirritating acid that is much safer than hypochlorite. When prepared correctly, it can be used safely and widely for many clinical applications in multiple industries. As a disinfectant, HOCl is 80 to 200 times more effective than bleach, yet is nontoxic to humans.

  Effective Against COVID-19

  HOCl gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now recommends HOCl as a safe and effective disinfectant against COVID-19.

  A randomized controlled trial, still in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, was conducted in Mexico City among 170 frontline medical staff to investigate the effectiveness of a type of neutral electrolyzed water in reducing COVID-19 risk. All trial subjects wore adequate professional protection equipment, as required by standard COVID-19 safety protocols. Participants were divided equally into a control group and a prophylactic group.

  The prophylactic group participants followed a protocol using a NEW solution in the form of a nasal spray and mouth rinse three times a day for four weeks. This group had a significantly decreased incidence of COVID-19 infections with only 1.2 percent infected compared to 18.8 percent in the control group.

  Of particular note is that no individual using NEW reported any side effects, as the solution is nonirritating.

  Skin irritation is a particular problem resulting from alcohol-based hand sanitizers used daily in medical offices. These can cause hand dermatitis and damage the skin barrier, compromising the first line of defense. The World Health Organization recognizes that a major challenge to hand hygiene in health care is the need for safer care.

  Curious scientists have conducted tests on HOCl to determine its potential benefits for COVID-19 patients.

  A clinical trial was conducted with 214 ambulatory COVID-19 patients from multiple hospitals. The study involved 104 patients who were given only usual medical care. The remaining 110 patients were given both usual medical care and NEW via nebulization and/or intravenous administration.

  The NEW was provided four times a day for 10 days with successive dose increases using a diluted version of electrolyzed saline with a neutral pH (6.0 to 7.5).

  In addition, when COVID‑19 symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea occurred, 30 milliliters of oral electrolyzed saline was added four times a day for as long as the gastrointestinal symptoms lasted, and for two more days after the symptoms disappeared.

  Overall, the NEW treatment decreased the risk of hospitalization by 89 percent and the risk of death by 96 percent. 

  Patient symptoms improved rapidly after 24 hours, including fatigue, headache, sore throat, eye pain, myalgia, fever, and oxygen saturation. Inflammatory markers were also reduced.

  On the fifth day, the group who received the NEW treatment had an 18-fold greater chance of achieving an acceptable symptom state than the group who received only usual medical care.

  

  The dose-dependent response to the NEW treatment suggests a causal relationship.

  The pH of the NEW solution used in the study ranged from 6.0 to 7.5, and the concentration of active chlorine and oxygen species used in these experiments was no more than 20 parts per million (ppm).

  Antiviral Function

  HOCl has demonstrated the ability to quickly inactivate several viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and norovirus.

  The effective chloride concentration in the HBV and HIV studies was 4.2 ppm, and SARS-CoV-2 ranged from 66 to 109 ppm.

  HOCl is naturally produced by our immune cells to fight infections. Our neutrophils and white blood cells release a mixture of chemicals, including HOCl, to kill germs and viruses.

  Neutrally-charged HOCl easily penetrates the cell walls of pathogens to kill them from the inside out. However, bleach is negatively charged, making it rather difficult to penetrate viruses or germs. This is one major advantage of HOCl compared to bleach.

  Huiwen Ji, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Princeton University and is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Utah, explained the disinfecting mechanism of HOCl.

  “When saline water is electrolyzed, external electric energy is transferred to the chloride ion in the solution. As a result, the chloride anions are oxidized to HOCl with chlorine now in a relatively unstable +1 oxidation state.”

  “Thus, HOCl is an oxidizing agent that tends to grab electrons from other molecules. This process can break the chemical bonds in the target molecules,” she said.

  When the structure of these biomolecules is destroyed, their proteins can no longer function. Without adequately functioning proteins, viruses and germs cannot survive throughout their life cycles.

  HOCl can also break the DNA or RNA of viruses and germs, rendering them harmless and unable to replicate.

  

  When exposed to viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the timing of using an HOCl nasal spray is critical to mitigating the risk of infection.

  In December 2022, scientists from Stanford University identified the nasal cavity as the main entry point for the COVID-19 virus and specified the time window for prevention.

  The surface of our nasal mucosa is covered by a tightly-linked thin layer of epithelial cells that forms a complete barrier. On top of the cells is a thick and elastic three-dimensional chain-link fence composed of mucin, a sticky molecule that can trap all the debris of viruses and germs. Additionally, hundreds of spaghetti-like appendages, known as cilia, move slowly like a river to clear away all the harmful substances from the mucus layer.

  Researchers found that the virus takes at least 24 hours to penetrate the surface mucus layer before it can enter deeply into the cells. Accordingly, using an HOCl nasal spray as quickly as possible within this 24-hour window could effectively disinfect the nasal passages and potentially prevent the virus from establishing an infection.

  Broad Use

  HOCl has been extensively used in multiple fields, including the health care industry.

  A study in the Journal of Microbiology found that HOCl significantly reduced bacteria on toothbrushes. The concentration of HOCl was estimated to be 1 ppm to 30 ppm.

  HOCl is often used to treat blepharitis (eyelid inflammation) by reducing the bacterial load on the surface of the periocular skin. Twenty minutes after applying a saline hygiene solution containing HOCl at 100 ppm, a greater than 99 percent reduction in the staphylococcal load was achieved.

  HOCl is an effective agent for use in wound care. In a comparative study in patients with open wounds, hypochlorous acid used in a commercial solution significantly lowered the bacterial count by 10,000 to 1 million times without a rebound effect in the comparative saline group. Postoperative closure failure occurred in more than 80 percent of patients in the saline group versus 25 percent of those in the HOCl group. One of the main reasons for the failure of postoperative closure is infection.

  Microorganisms can grow on the surfaces of biomaterials, such as dentures or dialysis equipment. These surface-bound microorganisms, known as biofilms, have unique characteristics with respect to gene expression and growth rate.

  HOCl is effective for cleaning biofilm-contaminated dental implant surfaces. Compared to two other disinfecting substances—sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine—HOCl at 180 ppm reduced the lipopolysaccharide, a harmful substance produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis, a pathogenic bacterium associated with periodontal disease. The use of HOCl in the mouth did not result in any adverse effects.

  Fogging with HOCl can disinfect large spaces such as medical and dental offices.

  Recent research on mice found that applying a topical application of HOCl on the skin can prevent the development of tumors and inflammation that are caused by UV rays. This discovery suggests that HOCl may have the potential to prevent skin cancer in humans caused by sun exposure.

  HOCl has also been used to disinfect drinking water and recreational fresh water.

  Spraying with HOCl at 100 to 200 ppm decreased the avian influenza virus (bird flu) to an undetectable level within five seconds, suggesting that HOCl can be used in a spray to inactivate the virus at the farm level. An emerging issue in the United States is the highly pathogenic bird flu threat. HOCl spray offers a viable solution to help control the spread of this disease.

  Make It Yourself

  Everyone can make HOCl at home. You’ll need a 1-liter hypochlorous acid solution generator, which you can easily find online for around $100.

  Depending on the type of device used, the concentration of HOCl generated will typically be between 50 to 200 ppm, a commonly used concentration for daily use applications.

  Ms. Ji said, “Prepare a 0.9% NaCl solution and dilute it between a few and dozens of times, then put it into an electrolyzer. White vinegar containing acetic acid (CH3COOH) may be added to adjust the pH value to facilitate the formation of HOCl.”

  According to Ms. Ji, “You must adhere to the guidelines provided by the instrument manufacturer because each machine operates with its unique formula and parameter. Typically, the process is straightforward and involves pressing a button and waiting a few minutes for the reaction to produce a desired amount of HOCl.”

  For example, one particular protocol says to add 1 gram of non-iodized salt, 1 liter of water, and one teaspoon of white vinegar to the 1-liter hypochlorous acid generator, press the button and wait 8 minutes. The 1 liter of HOCl will be ready for immediate use.

  Vinegar is essential to adjusting the pH to the proper value to produce the right amount of HOCl.

  Parts per million (ppm) indicates the concentration of a substance in a solution. This is calculated by dividing the substance’s mass or volume by the solution’s total mass or volume and then multiplying the result by 1 million.

  Using ppm is a more convenient unit of measure for describing the concentration of tiny substances in a solution. You can convert one ppm to a percentage by dividing it by 10,000. For instance, 100 ppm of HOCl is equivalent to 0.01 percent of HOCl. If you need help with the calculation, you can use this useful tool.

  When choosing a device to produce electrolyzed water, Mr. Chang says, “There are many more influencing factors, such as the quality of the electrode. Better ones include platinum, iridium, and rhodium. The electricity’s duration and current size can also impact the outcome.”

  At a concentration of 200 ppm, HOCl was shown to effectively decontaminate inert surfaces carrying the norovirus and other enteric viruses in one minute. At 20 ppm, it was still effective in disinfecting viruses within 10 minutes.

  One study has shown that 200 ppm of available chlorine can inactivate 25 different viruses in just 10 minutes. Low concentrations, like 25 ppm, can quickly kill mycoplasma and vegetative bacteria.

  Safety and Limitations

  Following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acute four-hour inhalation toxicity protocol, rats inhaled a mist containing 52 ppm of HOCl for four hours. Researchers observed no adverse effects in behavior or appearance.

  HOCl is generally considered safe due to the low chloride concentration in the HOCl solution. The commonly used concentrations for health care or life care are between 50 and 200 ppm for skin disinfection, 50 to 100 ppm for mouthwash, and 50 to 200 ppm for surface cleaning, with higher concentrations for wound care and food contact surfaces.

  Remember, these concentrations are approximate guidelines and can vary depending on the specific application and manufacturer’s recommendations. Always follow instructions carefully, and when in doubt, consult with a health care professional or relevant authority for specific advice.

  The long-term potential toxicity of a low chloride concentration is still uncertain, and further studies assessing chronic exposure to HOCl are needed.

  Regarding the safety of HOCl, Ms. Ji advised, “When used within the suggested concentration range, HOCl proves to be relatively safe for household applications. Once reacted with bacteria and viruses, HOCl reverts to a highly stable chloride form, akin to other electrolyte salts in the human body. But remember that using HOCl at concentrations higher than recommended by the manufacturer can be very corrosive and mixing it with other household detergents may lead to hazardous side reactions.”

  “When used at home, please always follow the precise instructions and do not exceed the recommended usage,” she added.

  According to Mr. Chang, “One side effect is that [HOCl] may corrode metals, such as those in cow and pig houses, after application of the HOCl solution sprays at 200pm for a long time. But 200 pm does not harm the skin. Furthermore, a low concentration of several dozen ppm is enough for general household use.”

  HOCl is less stable when exposed to UV radiation, sunlight, air, or higher temperatures (greater than 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit). Therefore, HOCl solutions should be tightly sealed and stored in a cool, dark place.

  It’s important to avoid mixing HOCl with other detergents or solutions. When the pH value changes, HOCl may change to Cl₂ or OCl⁻, which is either toxic or can cause irritation.

  Direct exposure to chloride (in the form of Cl₂ or OCl⁻) at low concentrations of one to 10 ppm, can cause skin and eye irritation, and inhaling it can irritate the respiratory tract.

  The shelf life of HOCl is relatively short; it is effective for up to two weeks when stored properly.

  Low Cost, Yet Highly Effective

  How can a simple solution generated by salty water have such powerful and wide-ranging antiviral and antibacterial effects?

  HOCl is highly effective, yet inexpensive and easily obtained from nature, much like sunlight, air, and water, which all profoundly impact our lives.

  Because it is both environmentally friendly and relatively safe, HOCl is an excellent choice for many applications. Additionally, its affordability makes it accessible for large-scale applications.

  The medical industry has implemented many decontamination methods, which are often expensive, ineffective, and can leave chemical residues, posing a risk to human health.

  There are many natural remedies on Earth to cure or prevent diseases that people may not be fully aware of.

  Ivermectin, derived from a microorganism in soil, has remarkable antiparasitic, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties and has helped many patients effectively treat COVID-19.

  Another example is interferon, which our bodies produce to stop viral replication. The pharmaceutical industry has developed interferon to treat hepatitis B and C and COVID-19.

  Nature is a bountiful source of healing for humans, generously providing numerous benefits at no cost. It is an endless source of undiscovered benefits, waiting to be explored by those willing to embrace its wonders. With its abundant resources, nature offers us infinite possibilities to improve our health and well-being.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 22:40

• Blackrock Surpasses Grayscale As World's Largest Bitcoin ETF
  Blackrock Surpasses Grayscale As World’s Largest Bitcoin ETF

  A month and a half after we first observed that the world’s largest bitcoin fund, Grayscale’s GBTC, had lost more than half of its assets since the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January in what was the year’s first, and far less memorable “halving” event…

  The other “halving”: GBTC bitcoin holdings are down exactly 50% since the launch of bitcoin ETFs pic.twitter.com/bApRBq6WkW

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 15, 2024

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  … and just over a week after Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenschein unexpectedly resigned amid persistent, relentless outflows (courtesy of GBTC’s 1.5% in fees), the flipping has officially taken place.

  With today’s ETF flows now in the books, the inevitable has finally happened, and after GBTC saw $105.2 million, or about 1530 bitcoin, withdrawn in its biggest one-day outflow in more than two weeks, while BlackRock’s IBIT added $101.9 million, the latter has now surpassed the former, and Blackrock’s IBIT has dethroned GBTC as the world’s largest ETF with $19.795 billion in bitcoin, equivalent to roughly 288,670 bitcoin, vs $19.758 billion for GBTC.

  

  And so having taken over the crown as the world’s largest bitcoin ETF, Larry Fink can focus on the one asset he is truly after in his pursuit of financial tokenization – ether – which just got spot ETF approval late last week, and which Blackrock will very soon dominate as the 2nd largest cryptocurrency sets off in its trek to hit $14,000 some time in 2025 with Larry Fink’s blessing.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 22:18

• Healthcare Company Semler Soars After Adopting Bitcoin As Primary Treasury Asset
  Healthcare Company Semler Soars After Adopting Bitcoin As Primary Treasury Asset

  Healthcare company Semler Scientific (SMLR), known for pursuing remedies to chronic diseases, announced a major shift in its treasury strategy. The company’s board of directors adopted Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, alongside a substantial purchase of 581 Bitcoins for an aggregate amount of $40 million.

  JUST IN: Healthcare product manufacturer Semler Scientific purchases 581 #Bitcoin for $40 million 👀 pic.twitter.com/zYsVgN19gL

  — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 28, 2024

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  “Our bitcoin treasury strategy and purchase of bitcoin underscore our belief that bitcoin is a reliable store of value and a compelling investment,” stated Semler Scientific Chairman Eric Semler. “Bitcoin is now a major asset class with more than $1 trillion of market value. We believe it has unique characteristics as a scarce and finite asset that can serve as a reasonable inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability. We also believe its digital, architectural resilience makes it preferable to gold, which has a market value of approximately 10 times that of bitcoin. Given the gap in value between gold and bitcoin, we believe that bitcoin has the potential to generate outsize returns as it gains increasing acceptance as digital gold.”

  As Bitcoin Magazine notes, despite this strategic financial move, the tiny Semler Scientific, whose market cap is just $200 million, said it remains committed to its core mission in healthcare of delivering innovative technologies as solutions to transform the healthcare management of chronic diseases and offer providers the opportunity to reduce costs and improve long-term patient outcomes. The company will also continue to focus on its flagship product, QuantaFlo, a point-of-care test for peripheral arterial disease, while seeking expanded FDA clearance for other cardiovascular conditions.

  “Furthermore, we are energized by the growing global acceptance and ‘institutionalization’ of bitcoin — reflected most recently by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s January 2024 approval of 11 bitcoin exchange-traded funds,” Mr. Semler continued. “These funds have reported more than $13 billion of net inflows, with investments from nearly 1,000 institutions, including global banks, pensions, endowments and registered investment advisors. It is estimated that more than 10% of all bitcoins are now held by institutions.”

  Semler Scientific’s board and senior management shared that they have carefully considered various uses of excess cash and concluded that holding Bitcoin is the best strategy.

  The market greeted the news of the company’s shift from dollars to bitcoin with excitement, and sent SMLR surging 24% higher, which the cynics would argue was the whole point of the exercise. Well, the gamble worked…

  

  … and while not many have followed in the footsteps of bitcoin OG Microstrategy, which was one of the original companies to transition from a dollar to bitcoin reserve, the euphoric reception of Semler’s news virtually guarantees that in the coming months we will see dozens more small and micro caps ditch the dollar and embrace crypto, if only in hopes of a quick boost to the stock price. Still demand is demand, and this all bodes quite favorably for bitcoin demand for the foreseeable future.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 22:00

• Trump’s Bronx Rally Drives Stake In 'Identity Politics'
  Trump’s Bronx Rally Drives Stake In ‘Identity Politics’

  Authored by Roger L. Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Wouldn’t it be fascinating, actually tremendously heartening, if the man who was supposedly our most divisive politician was the man who ultimately brought our broken country together—former President Donald J. Trump?

  

  America is often, justifiably, criticized for having been built to some degree by slavery. It was not alone in that, and it still exists in some places, but America fought its most painful war to abolish the practice. Years later, it enacted the Civil Rights Act, enshrining equality in our laws. Racism was diminishing.

  Yet some people have what I called in one of my books a “nostalgia for racism.” They can’t live without it for reasons that range from comfort with old assumptions to the most cynical personal gain.

  Consequently, for as long as I have been alive, which is the entire post-World War II era, it has been assumed that minorities voted Democratic, whether to their advantage or not.

  So I was gladdened to see, watching on television, the throng of racially mixed Americans gathered in one of my childhood haunts from Yankee Stadium to the Zoo to Van Cortlandt Park—the borough of The Bronx.

  No less than one of the most reactionary forces in our culture—identity politics—was under attack in the massive show of support from that mixed-race crowd given former President Trump at his surprisingly large rally in Crotona Park in the southern part of the borough.

  I used the term reactionary above quite deliberately because it was and probably still is the most supreme insult one could give anyone leaning left. It signified they were behind the times, retrograde.

  And much of the left has been that since they reversed the color-blind, character-based idealism of Dr. Martin Luther King in favor of the reactionary (that word again) dictums of critical race theory and so-called anti-racism that are themselves racist to the core. The latter two assert the primacy of race over character, something that is senseless to anyone who honestly observes actual human behavior in even slightly moral terms.

  Those dicta have worked to preserve or even extend racism, rather than destroy it, for reasons of power and profit. In order for society to progress, for the American Idea or, if you prefer, the American Dream, to be preserved or obtained, identity politics must be eliminated.

  I don’t mean people should lose their identities, small “i.” Mexican-Americans should still celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Irish-Americans St. Patrick’s Day, and so forth, but that should not be their complete Identities (capital I deliberate).

  They are citizens of a country whose founding documents proclaim we are all “created equal” no matter race, religion, ethnicity, and all the rest. Often this was and still is hard to fulfill, but that makes it all the more worthy as a goal.

  During President Trump’s Bronx speech, he did the opposite of what has become conventional and offered to join New York Democratic Party officials, the state governor and city mayor, in an effort to Make New York Great Again (MNYGA).

  This was, in part, good politics, reaching across the aisle in a radically divided country, something the former president has been loath to do, but it seems he is doing now. He should keep it up.

  Yes, his Bronx rally had obvious electoral motives, trying to flip New York or at least make enough in-roads to force his opposition to devote more time and money to a state they normally win without effort. But as I am trying to indicate, more than electoral politics is involved. It is the soul of our nation.

  Soul of the nation sounds a bit like pompous rhetoric, I admit, but I submit we should concentrate on that as this election goes forward. I know of very few of our fellow citizens who have not suffered on the most personal levels from the degree to which our society is riven. Families and friendships have broken apart across the country.

  President Trump was less given to the politics of insult, humorous and/or deserved though it may be, in his Bronx speech than he normally is, concentrating instead more on bringing us together. The country needs healing more than it has in well over a century. In fact, it needs it desperately.

  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
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 21:40

• Mossad Chief Stalked, Threatened ICC Prosecutor Over War Crimes Probe: Report
  Mossad Chief Stalked, Threatened ICC Prosecutor Over War Crimes Probe: Report

  A new bombshell investigation undertaken jointly by the Guardian and +972 mag has revealed that the head of Mossad conducted surveillance on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to her opening a formal investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes.

  Then ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had opened the formal inquiry in 2021 to examine years of allegations of human rights abuse and war crimes against Palestinians committed by Israel’s military. The joint investigation found that then Mossad director Yossi Cohen used tactics to monitor her that amounted to “stalking”. 

  

  Bensouda at one point was reportedly directly threatened, with one eyewitness account saying that Cohen told Bensouda, “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”

  It appeared to be a spy op ordered from the highest levels, in order to protect the Israeli government’s international reputation and standing, as well as to oversee damage control. According to The Guardian report:

  Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said the Mossad’s objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israel’s demands.

  A third source familiar with the operation said Cohen was acting as Netanyahu’s “unofficial messenger”.

  But the threats and tactics didn’t work, given that Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, pushed through an ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister and his defense chief which came this month based on the investigation Bensouda set in motion.

  According to a particularly damning section in The Guardian report:

  One individual briefed on Cohen’s activities said he had used “despicable tactics” against Bensouda as part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort to intimidate and influence her. They likened his behavior to “stalking”.

  The Mossad also took a keen interest in Bensouda’s family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor.

  

  This was part of what many are calling a decade-long covert “war” waged from the shadows by Israeli intelligence agencies against the Hague-based ICC.

  Going back years, this created some degree of paranoia within the ICC prosecution division. There were fears that Israeli intelligence employed assets there or were able to secretly influence decision-making. The Guardian details further: 

  According to two sources, there were even suspicions among senior ICC officials that Israel had cultivated sources within the court’s prosecution division, known as the office of the prosecutor. Another later recalled that although the Mossad “didn’t leave its signature”, it was an assumption the agency was behind some of the activity officials had been made aware of.

  Only a small group of senior figures at the ICC, however, were informed that the director of the Mossad had personally approached the chief prosecutor.

  Early this month, current ICC chief prosecutor Khan issued a strong statement condemning “all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials.”

  Absolutely incredible article, revealing that the head of Mossad personally threatened the physical safety of the ICC prosecutor and her family: “You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”https://t.co/xustHwsQdh

  — Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 28, 2024

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  In light of the new Guardian and +972 mag reports, this latest warning is being widely viewed as in part referencing the past history of Mossad’s stalking tactics. Pressure on a political level had also intensified against the Hague court in the weeks leading up to and after its announcing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

  Journalist and ex-Green Beret Jack Murphy commented on the revelations by saying of the lead-up to Oct.7: “Well, now we know what Israeli intelligence was busy doing instead of monitoring Hamas.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 21:20

• US 'Looking Closely' At Vaccinating Workers Exposed To Bird Flu: Official
  US ‘Looking Closely’ At Vaccinating Workers Exposed To Bird Flu: Official

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Officials in the United States, Canada, and Europe are considering the vaccination of workers and others against the highly pathogenic avian influenza.

  

  The U.S. government is “looking closely” at the possibility of vaccinating farm workers and others in close contact with the virus, according to Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

  Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said she has been in discussions with U.S. and Canadian officials about using vaccines to protect workers after the influenza, or bird flu, jumped from birds to cattle.

  The first cases of H5N1, a strain of the flu, in cattle were detected earlier this year, although some scientists say available evidence points to the cases cropping up in late 2023.

  Discussions about using vaccines to try to prevent a pandemic are ongoing at the government level and among scientists in several places, including the UK, said Wendy Barclay, chair in influenza virology at University College London, who also researches avian flu for the UK Health Security Agency.

  The UK government did not comment but said it is monitoring the situation in the United States.

  In the European Union, the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority is working on a joint procurement of CSL Seqirus’s vaccine to “potentially prevent a pandemic” sparked by individuals exposed to infected birds and animals, spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said.

  A spokeswoman for CSL, which has contracts for pandemic influenza vaccines with 30 governments, said the company has been in talks with several governments about procuring vaccines since 2022.

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a CSL influenza A vaccine in 2020, based largely on immunogenicity and safety results from a small clinical trial of 319 people.

  Dr. Peter McCullough, an epidemiologist based in Texas, said on the social media platform X that without larger trials, it’s not possible to know whether the vaccine is safe or effective in humans.

  The formulation for the CSL shot has been updated to more closely match the bird flu, which is an influenza A virus.

  U.S. officials said recently that they’re planning to produce 4.8 million doses of the updated CSL vaccine. European health officials also said they were in talks to acquire CSL’s shot.

  Canadian health officials said they have met with GSK, maker of Canada’s seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a prepandemic bird flu vaccine.

  The United States is in talks with Pfizer and Moderna, which make messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, about potential pandemic vaccines.

  University of Pennsylvania researchers said in a May 23 paper that their experimental mRNA bird flu vaccine performed well in preclinical testing in ferrets.

  Since the bird flu cases in cattle were first detected, cases have been confirmed in 63 herds across nine states, including Colorado, Michigan, and South Dakota, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

  Human cases

  Two cases in humans—one in Michigan and one in Texas—have also been confirmed. Both have since recovered. Analysis of virus samples from the patients showed high similarities to the virus spreading in cows.

  Richard Webby, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital virologist who studies flu in animals and birds for the World Health Organization, said the situation in dairy cattle merits vaccine use.

  “If we look at the exposure levels that some of these farmers are getting, it’s high,” Mr. Webby said.

  The decision on how and when to use the vaccine will hinge on evidence of increased transmission, severity of disease, cases in people with no link to a dairy farm, and mutations in the virus, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said.

  The agency says on its website that the government is developing bird flu vaccines “in case they are needed.”

  Human exposure to the virus in poultry and dairy operations could increase the risk that the virus will mutate and gain the ability to spread easily in people. Vaccines that perform poorly can also increase that risk.

  So far, only one change has been detected in the human cases, the CDC said on May 24.

  “These data indicate viruses detected in both cows and the two human cases maintain primarily avian genetic characteristics and lack changes that would make them better adapted to infect or transmit between humans,” the agency stated.

  For now, CDC officials say the best way to avoid bird flu is to stay away from infected animals, fluids, and feces.

  Workers who must come into contact with animals are advised to wear protective equipment and monitor themselves for symptoms, which include fatigue.

  People who do become sick can take influenza antivirals, which are more effective when received shortly after symptoms develop.

  Health officials also recommend cooking eggs and poultry to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, cooking beef to appropriate temperatures, and only consuming pasteurized milk.

  Testing of beef found a surrogate virus was still present in burgers cooked rare, according to the Department of Agriculture. High levels of bird flu virus have been detected in raw milk. Some pasteurized samples tested positive, but further testing showed no viable virus, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

  Reuters contributed to this report. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 21:00

• Putin Threatens West's 'Dense Populations' In 'Small Land Masses' In Response To NATO Escalation
  Putin Threatens West’s ‘Dense Populations’ In ‘Small Land Masses’ In Response To NATO Escalation

  More and more European officials and NATO countries are on board with allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. Among the latest to speak openly about this are NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and the government of Sweden, which is the NATO alliance’s newest member state.

  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday issued one of his more dire warnings yet, putting Europe on notice by commenting on their possessing small land areas and dense populations. The veiled threat is very ominous especially in light of the fact that Russia just wrapped up tactical nuclear drills near Ukraine…

  More threats from Putin just now amid recent calls by European politicians to allow Kyiv to use Western weaponry to strike targets inside Russia

  He says they should “remember that, as a rule, they are states with a small territory but dense population” pic.twitter.com/vCH7gAM2WY

  — Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 28, 2024

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  Putin told reporters gathered in Tashkent during an official visit to the central Asian country of Uzbekistan, which is a former Soviet Republic, “Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences.”

  He also hinted at the prospect of nuclear war in posing: “If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?”

  “It’s hard to say – do they want a global conflict?” Putin questioned, warning that Ukraine hitting Russian territory with externally supplied long-range weapons would make the West directly involved in the conflict.

  He also appeared to reference a new agreement between Kiev and Paris which will see French military trainers be deployed to Ukrainian soil. Putin remarked that this puts the situation a big step closer to major direct confrontation between Russia and France – and ultimately the NATO alliance. That’s when he warned the following…

  They… “should be aware of what they are playing with” as they had small land areas and dense populations.

  “This is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory. This is a serious thing, and we are of course watching it very closely,” Putin said.

  Week after week, officials in the West find new ways to escalate (also in light of Russian forces making rapid gains in Kharkiv), and given that Zelensky has said it’s ‘impossible’ to sit down at the negotiating table with Moscow so long as Putin is in power, there appears to be no off-ramp whatsoever.

  

  Indeed we might add to Putin’s remarks that everyone is playing with fire… and this has been the case for a long time now. There are very few European leaders willing to openly resist this intensifying push to escalate at this point.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 20:40

• Rancher: Record High Beef Prices May Be 'New Norm'
  Rancher: Record High Beef Prices May Be ‘New Norm’

  Authored by Matthew Lysiak via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Beef prices skyrocketed to a new record high this Memorial Day weekend as industry experts warn costs could continue to rise even higher if current regulatory and economic conditions remain unchanged.

  

  Recently released data shows that “all fresh beef retail value,” a composite value based on choice beef, other beef, and hamburger retail prices, shot up to $794.90 in April, according to the Economic Research Council, the highest price on record.

  Further, the price of uncooked ground beef, beef roasts, beef steaks, and veal have all continued to rise in price—between .03 and 1.5 percent—from March’s record high numbers, according to this month’s Consumer Price Index.

  American rancher Shad Sullivan told The Epoch Times that the sharp rise in prices can be attributed to a “withering assault” from regulators and government authorities who have played an outsized role in the unprecedented increase.

  “We are seeing prices at an all-time high, and it is getting close to that point when the consumer is going to say, I can’t do this anymore; it’s just too costly,” said Mr. Sullivan.

  “They (officials and regulators) are trying to push these high prices as a new norm where meat is only a treat for the wealthy. That is where they are pushing us, and that is where we are going.”

  Further, smaller farms are being increasingly shuttered under the weight of regulatory burden as standards recently imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency have resulted in compliance costs soaring to as high as $3 million for a single beef processing plant, according to Mr. Sullivan.

  “How is the small guy supposed to compete?”

  Justin Tupper, president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association, told The Epoch Times that American ranchers aren’t the ones seeing the profit from high price increases, which he attributes to several factors, including regulations and the ongoing monetary inflation that is a consequence of an increase in the money supply.

  “We are cost takers, not cost makers, and everything we do costs more,” said Mr. Tupper.

  The beef cattle supply has already dropped to its lowest point in decades, further contributing to the rise in the price of beef and renewing concerns over the long-term health of the nation’s farming community. A series of severe droughts, coupled with government policies that continue to favor large, industrial food processors, has reduced the nation’s supply of beef cattle to a level not seen since the early 1950s, according to Mr. Tupper.

  Further exacerbating the shortage, increasing acres of cattle farms are being purchased by larger companies that, after acquiring them, often use them for alternative purposes, further decimating the supply of available beef.

  Currently, the nation’s most prolific farmland owner is Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and an anti-meat activist. By 2023, Mr. Gates claimed he owned about 270,000 acres spread across 18 states.

  Mr. Gates, an investor in Upside Foods, one of the two synthetic meat producers approved by the USDA, has been vocal about his belief that meat alternatives are needed to save the world from upcoming catastrophic climate events caused by greenhouse gasses.

  In a 2021 interview with Technology Review, Mr. Gates said that all well-off nations need to switch to be completely weaned off of living, breathing cows.

  “All rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef. You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time,” Mr. Gates told the interviewer.

  “Eventually that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the people or use regulation to totally shift demand. So for meat in the middle-income-and-above countries, I do think it’s possible,” he added.

  However, beef cattle production constitutes a small fraction of the gasses that many environmentalists claim have had a negative impact on the planet. Just 10 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from beef cattle production, while energy production and transportation produce a combined 54 percent of emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  

  However, despite the record-high prices, Mr. Tupper said that while there will always be a market for beef, he still has concerns about the future.

  “Beef is still the safest, best food on the planet, and that isn’t changing any time soon. It’s always going to be something people need,” he added. “Still, every generation gets further away from agriculture, and that’s a real problem,” said Mr. Tupper.

  According to Mr. Sullivan, if Americans don’t stand up and fight now for their small farmer, eventually, everyone will be priced out of nutrient-rich red meat.

  “Anti-meat ideology is an anti-life ideology,” said Mr. Sullivan. “If you don’t have a nation of red meat-eating men, you have a weak nation.”

  “Where there is beef, there is freedom, and it will always be that way,” he added.

  Travis
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 20:20

• F-35 Stealth Jet Crashes Near Albuquerque Airport
  F-35 Stealth Jet Crashes Near Albuquerque Airport

  A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II crashed near Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), New Mexico, on Tuesday afternoon. 

  “I just witnessed a major, horrific aircraft crash with an explosion and dust rising into the air while I’m on my flight on the runway. I will report on it soon, waiting for more details but the person behind me said it was possible it was a helicopter or some type of single engine aircraft but it was hard to tell,” X user RawAlerts wrote in a post. 

  I just witnessed a major, horrific aircraft crash with an explosion and dust rising into the air while I’m on my flight on the runway. I will report on it soon, waiting for more details but the person behind me said it was possible it was a helicopter or some type of single… pic.twitter.com/NA8pQVdV6W

  — R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 28, 2024

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  Two Defense Department officials told CBS News that the F-35 had just taken off from ABQ and was en route to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California when it crashed around 1400 local time. 

  #BREAKING A F-35 fighter jet just crashed during takeoff at Albuquerque International, New Mexico.

  Pilot reportedly ejected. pic.twitter.com/eAFSmgWJ00

  — Clash Report (@clashreport) May 28, 2024

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  The F-35 had just taken off from Runway 21 at ABQ.

  F-35 mishap at Albuquerque? Audio via @liveatc https://t.co/8E9eu1HHhn pic.twitter.com/wnYAHt4OwR

  — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) May 28, 2024

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  Here’s ABQ’s Runway 21 via ForeFlight. 

  

  The latest NOTAMs at ABQ describe multiple runways as ‘out of service’. 

  

  CBS News says the pilot ejected but was in serious condition. 

  A pilot was seriously injured when a military aircraft crashed Tuesday afternoon near New Mexico’s Albuquerque International Sunport, authorities said.

  The plane was a developmental model of the F-35 fighter jet, which was being delivered by Lockheed Martin, two Defense Department officials told CBS News. It had just taken off from Albuquerque and was en route to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, the officials said.

  *Developing… 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 20:00

• Professor Accuses UCLA Of "Torturing" Pro-Palestinian Protesters
  Professor Accuses UCLA Of “Torturing” Pro-Palestinian Protesters

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  UCLA Professor Hannah Appel has accused the school of human rights violations amounting to “torture” in the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. The reason is the denial of water and food from being brought into a building being unlawfully occupied by protesters, even though the students were free to leave at any time.

  

  Appel teaches in the anthropology department in the areas of “transnational capitalism and finance,” “the economic imagination,” and “anti-capitalist and abolitionist social movements.”

  She is also a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA.The Daily Bruin reports that a brief sit-in protest was held at the campus’s Dodd Hall. The students were soon cleared from the building. In the interim, Appel made her accusation of torture tactics. 

  In a video posted on X, Appel is seen declaring “even if this is unlawful which, of course, I don’t think it is […] you cannot deny people to send in water in an effort to get them to do something against their will.”

  While the students were free to leave at any time, Appel objected that “you cannot use a mechanism of torture” to force people to leave.

  A faculty member at UCLA complains that student affairs is torturing protestors, who are free to leave their illegal encampment at any time, by not allowing them food and water.

  She wants this to get out on social media. I’m happy to help.@camhigby pic.twitter.com/YLOwZsaADP

  — Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) May 23, 2024

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  In another video Appel objects that she and other faculty were not allowed to bring food and water to the encampment demonstrators.Notably, Appel repeats a threat from faculty at various schools that they may withhold their grades in protest to pressure schools to drop any charges or allegations against protesters: 

  “When the university sees that folks are withholding grades, they get scared. They’re scared because we’re flexing our collective power, and optimally, that fear drives them to the bargaining table, and then we win.”

  UCLA faculty member complains that police won’t allow protestors into encampment, but refuses to answer questions about protestors using physical force to prevent people they don’t like from entering encampment. pic.twitter.com/dJKsm8kJMR

  — Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) May 23, 2024

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  Such threats have already worked as universities have caved to demands at schools like Northwestern or dropped charges against students. Yet, these professors are using the grades of students to coerce universities.

  It is grossly unfair to students who were not involved in the protests or may oppose these protests. They have right to their grades and these professors have a contractual obligation to supply them. They should not be a tool for faculty protests.

  Professors were free to join these students in occupying university buildings so long as they were willing to bear the consequences for their actions. To withhold grades to achieve political ends should be treated as a serious violation of faculty rules of conduct.

  As for the torture allegation, Appel is dead wrong. There was no denial of food or water. The students had access to both outside of the building. Unlawful occupation of a building does not create an obligation on the part of the university to support the occupiers.

  To call this a human rights violation is to belittle the deprivations of true victims of torture and other abuses.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 19:40

• Co-Founder Of China's SenseTime Says AI Development Gap With US Is Closing 
  Co-Founder Of China’s SenseTime Says AI Development Gap With US Is Closing 

  The idea that China will collapse after decades of supergrowth, despite its current challenges with a real estate crisis and a demographic winter, is ridiculous, as the most significant risk to America’s big tech empire is the potential failure of US sanctions containing Chinese tech companies. 

  Chinese tech giant Huawei is a great example of the ‘Made in China’ theme ramping up, despite being blacklisted by the US. The company has produced two smartphones, the Mate 60 series and Pura 70 Pro, using advanced domestic chips. These phones have challenged Apple’s iPhone dominance in the world’s largest handset market. 

  On Tuesday, at the UBS Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong, SenseTime Group co-founder Xu Bing told Bloomberg’s David Ingles that artificial intelligence chipmakers in China are quickly closing the technological gap versus international players. 

  

  The US Gov’t has repeatedly sanctioned SenseTime due to allegations that its facial recognition technology is used in surveillance programs monitoring Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities. These sanctions are primarily aimed at curbing the country’s advances in AI. 

  “There’s a shortage of resources here in Asia in general,” Bing told Bloomberg’s Ingles, adding, “It’s like a 10 times gap of the compute resources that we have here compared to the US leaders. But I think Asian markets never lack talent and never lack data.”

  Bing pointed out that domestic chip manufacturing is catching up quickly with global competition. He said SenseTime is working with local semiconductor companies to accelerate compute capabilities. 

  He did not mention specific companies, but Huawei has emerged in recent quarters as China’s saving grace in chip technology development. As we’ve pointed out, the company has easily navigated US sanctions, advancing its own advanced smartphone processor for its latest handsets. 

  Bing wasn’t entirely clear how far China lags behind the US in AI development. Bloomberg cites some estimates as 1-3 years. He noted that China’s lag in computing power won’t be permanent. 

  “Compute is a commodity,” he said, adding, “In the long run, compute won’t be a gap.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 19:20

• Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty To Spying For The Chinese Regime
  Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty To Spying For The Chinese Regime

  Authored by Aaron Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  A former CIA officer pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to spy for the Chinese regime over a decade in a federal court in Honolulu, the Department of Justice announced on May 24.

  

  Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in 2020 and charged with conspiracy to transfer top-secret information to the Chinese regime’s intelligence officials.

  Mr. Ma, who worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989, conspired with his blood relative, also a former CIA officer, to provide classified U.S. national defense information to the Chinese regime.

  During his tenure at the CIA, Mr. Ma held a top-secret clearance and signed multiple non-disclosure agreements, acknowledging his duty to protect U.S. government secrets. After leaving the agency, Ma lived and worked in Shanghai, China, before relocating to Hawaii in 2001.

  Notably, his blood relative had access to CIA top secret information, including “the identities of covert CIA officers,” according to a court document.

  The document says the two former CIA officers conspired with Chinese intelligence officials to share classified national defense information over a decade.

  Prosecutors said the espionage scheme began with three days of meetings in Hong Kong hotel rooms in 2001, where Mr. Ma and his relative met officers of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the regime’s top intelligence agency. During these meetings, the two former CIA officers provided highly classified information on the CIA’s personnel, internal structure, operations, and communication methods. Part of these meetings was videotaped, showing Mr. Ma receiving and counting $50,000 in cash for the secrets they divulged.

  The plea deal showed that Mr. Ma sought employment with the FBI, aiming to regain access to classified information for Chinese intelligence. In 2003, he applied for a job as a contract linguist with the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office.

  Knowing his ties to Chinese intelligence, the FBI hired Mr. Ma as part of an investigative plan to monitor his activities. From August 2004 to October 2012, he worked as a contract linguist, reviewing and translating Chinese language documents at an off-site location.

  Prosecutors said over the next six years, Mr. Ma regularly copied, photographed, and stole classified documents. He took the stolen documents and images with him on frequent trips to China and handed them over to the Chinese handlers. He often returned from these China trips with substantial cash payments and expensive gifts, including new golf clubs.

  According to prosecutors, Mr. Ma admitted that he convinced his CIA relative to reveal the identities of at least two individuals in photographs that were given to him by Chinese spies. Mr. Ma confessed that he was aware that the Chinese regime could use this information to harm the United States, but he deliberately did it anyway.

  Court documents showed that in 2019, Mr. Ma met with an FBI undercover agent whom he believed to be a Chinese intelligence officer. During these meetings, Mr. Ma confirmed he worked for Chinese intelligence and accepted $2,000 in cash as a “small token” of appreciation for his work for the Chinese regime. He also offered to resume working for Chinese intelligence.

  In a final meeting with the FBI undercover agent in Aug. 2020 before his arrest, Mr. Ma again accepted more money for his past spying efforts and expressed his willingness to support the Chinese regime, saying he wanted “the motherland” to succeed.

  The plea agreement requires Mr. Ma to cooperate with U.S. authorities, including submitting to debriefings by government agencies. If accepted by the court, he will face a 10-year prison sentence.

  Espionage Attempts

  The case is one of many espionage attempts by the Chinese regime targeting U.S. military and intelligence personnel. In 2019, former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee received a 19-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide classified information to Chinese intelligence following his departure from the agency in 2010.

  Earlier this year, a former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced to 27 months in prison for providing the Chinese communist regime with sensitive U.S. military information in exchange for bribes. In 2021, a former U.S. Navy sailor was also sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $20,000 for conspiring with her husband to send sensitive military equipment to China illegally.

  These cases highlight the Chinese regime’s intelligence efforts in the United States. In 202o, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency investigated one new Chinese counterintelligence case every 10 hours. Mr. Wray also noted that the bureau had over 2,000 China-related counterintelligence investigations at the time.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 19:00

• Sugar Traders In Denial As Ozempic Craze Ramps Up 
  Sugar Traders In Denial As Ozempic Craze Ramps Up 

  The junk-food industrial complex is on notice after pumping American consumers with sugars and carbs for decades, sparking an obesity crisis that has weighed on the nation’s healthcare system. Remarkably, big pharma’s response to the obesity crisis is an injectable drug, while the federal government is nowhere to be found in promoting healthy diets and exercise to the masses.

  

  The ongoing trading theme: “Ozempic is coming for your industry,” has been a hit with Wall Street traders. Just look at the massive outperformance of Goldman’s GLP-1 ‘Winners’ basket versus the ‘At-risk’ Pair basket… 

  

  At a recent NYC dinner with over 800 sugar traders, Sally Lyons Wyatt, an executive at consumer researcher Circana, warned, ‘Ozempic is coming for your industry.’ 

  “Does it have the ability to be huge in the future?” Wyatt asked during her speech at the New York Sugar Dinner earlier this month. She added, “It does.”

  Bloomberg pointed out Wyatt’s warnings went unnoticed as the bet on supplying obese Americans with sugary drinks and snacks is still in play. 

  However, the bet on sugar and junk food could sour in the coming years as more GLP-1 medications—originally designed to treat diabetes —hit the marketplace or ramp up production.  

  

  Morgan Stanley analysts, including Pamela Kaufman, recently told clients that GLP-1s could reduce sweet demand, such as baked goods, confectionery, and soda consumption, by as much as 5% by 2035. 

  Meanwhile, Carlos Murilo Barros de Mello, the head of sugar in the Americas at brokerage Hedgepoint Global Markets, admits the industry has not spent much time estimating consumption shifts due to GLP-1s suppressing food cravings, indicating the moves are “minuscule” relative to production swings. 

  “The impact hasn’t been felt yet because it’s still quite far down the line,” said Kona Haque, head of research at ED&F Man, adding, “And don’t forget, this is still very much an advanced-economy, affluent-society syndrome where people are trying to tackle obesity.”

  Haque noted that sugar demand is still increasing in emerging markets, where the GLP-1s will likely not be available for years because of costs. 

  According to the International Sugar Organization, demand has slowed over the years, now at 1.2%, versus the 10-year average of 1.6%. 

  

  While the GLP-1 craze will take years and must go global to spook sugar traders, the one thing these folks fear is if the US Department of Agriculture actually banned purchases of unhealthy junk food and sweetened beverages, including soda, from purchased items by recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP (read: Five Simple Policies To Reset America’s “Rigged” Health System).

  *   *   * 

  As a side note, obese rapper Lizzo responds to South Park by roasting her in the show “The End of Obesity.” 

  Lizzo reacts to South Park roasting her: pic.twitter.com/0VH7rkjLTD

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 26, 2024

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  This is pretty accurate. 

  South Park perfectly captures the US Healthcare System pic.twitter.com/Pn0WnVUs4F

  — Dr Danish (@operationdanish) May 26, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 18:40

• Illinois School District Set To Produce Next $8 Million Superintendent Pensioner
  Illinois School District Set To Produce Next $8 Million Superintendent Pensioner

  By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints

  New Trier Township HS District 203’s Superintendent Paul Sally is set to retire next year and he can count on lifetime pension benefits of nearly $8 million. When he does retire, he’ll join the ranks of the Teachers Retirement System’s top pensioners.

  We’ve written for years that Illinois’ pension systems are out-of-whack with what taxpayers can afford. It’s a two-class system where those in government get guaranteed lifetime pensions and other protected benefits while those in the private sector, who get no such guarantees and protections, are forced to pay for them. 

  But it’s the superintendent pensions that help bring attention to just how problematic public pensions are. Sally has done nothing wrong, of course. He’s simply benefitting from the system that’s been put in place by lawmakers. The true blame falls on the politicians who created the pension system, those who continuously sweetened benefits over the decades, and today’s lawmakers who refuse reforms.

  With no reforms expected in the near term, all we can do is highlight the results of Illinois’ two-class system.

  Paul Sally’s exact pension will be unknown until he officially retires, but based on FOIA data and his current pensionable salary of nearly $350,000, Wirepoints estimates his starting pension will be around $255,000 a year. If Sally lives to 82 – his approximate life expectancy according to Social Security actuarial tables – he’ll end up collecting about $8 million in total benefits. By then, his pension will have grown to $476,000 per year – thanks to the automatic 3% compounded cost-of-living increase he’ll automatically get each year. 

  

  And if he lives past 82, Sally can expect to collect over $8, $9, or even $10 million in total benefits.

  Sally is already one of the highest paid superintendents in the state. His pensionable earnings are currently the state’s 9th-highest at $346,609.

  

  Now, to be fair to New Trier, Paul Sally’s high salary is only a burden to the residents of the New Trier school district. 94% of the district’s operating costs are funded directly by the property taxes of New Trier residents.

  But that’s not the case when it comes to pension costs. Teacher pensions are paid for by state income taxes, so when Paul Sally gets a multimillion lifetime pension, all Illinois taxpayers have to chip in, from Carbondale to Rockford and from Quincy to Danville.

  Sally’s big pension isn’t just a one-off. There are many superintendents across the state retiring in their 50’s and collecting six-figure sums each year. The state’s top TRS pensioners, meanwhile, can all expect to collect more than $9 million in benefits.

  

  Some of the “retired” superintendents on the list above have gone on to work other big-paying jobs out of state, all the while drawing an Illinois pension. Yet others figure out how to double dip right here in Illinois, working interim superintendent jobs while still getting their full pensions. 

  The sad reality is that superintendent pensions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Illinois’ pension problems. There are more than 1 million government workers and retirees who benefit from pensions, and the costs are simply too much to bear for ordinary Illinoisans. 

  For those looking to do a deep dive into just how extreme Illinois’ pension situation is, go to:

  • Wirepoints’ Pension Solutions
  • Illinois state pensions: Overpromised, not underfunded
  • New 2023 data: Inflation can’t save Illinois from its worst-in-nation pension crisis
  • Illinoisans burdened with $207 billion in official state & local pension debts, $41,000 per household
  • Johnson’s next headache. Chicago’s pension funds are running out of money
  • Pension reform, Illinois style: Legislation to ‘fix’ the Tier 2 problem

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 18:20

• Rafah Mass Casualty Strike Does Not Cross Biden's 'Red Line'
  Rafah Mass Casualty Strike Does Not Cross Biden’s ‘Red Line’

  Update(1813ET): Who could have seen this coming?

  The White House on Tuesday indicated an Israeli strike that killed dozens of Palestinians in Rafah did not cross a “red line” that would lead to a change in U.S. policy.

  Multiple administration officials in press briefings Tuesday described the images out of Rafah as “heartbreaking,” “tragic” and “horrific.” But there was no sign of an impending policy change as a result, because it was an airstrike and not a major ground operation. —The Hill

  Does anyone believe this administration after for months talking out of both sides of its mouth? On the one hand it seeks to present itself as ‘tough’ on Israel, withholding a single ammo/weapons shipment (in a largely symbolic move), but on the other can’t bring itself to condemn a strike which resulted in an outright civilian massacre which included women and children being incinerated as they slept in a refugee tent encampment.

  And we are told that the Israelis will ‘investigate’ themselves…

  “We still don’t believe that a major ground operation in Rafah is warranted. We still don’t want to see the Israelis, as we say, smash into Rafah with large units over large pieces of territory. We still believe that, and we haven’t seen that at this point,” White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

  Reporter: We’re seeing tanks in Rafah, we’ve seen strikes kill civilians including children, for an American seeing their tax $ go to this, can you explain how this isn’t a major military operation?

  Kirby: I am not the IDF spokesman and this is not Tel Aviv

  Could have fooled me pic.twitter.com/XzNprPQ0GQ

  — Assal Rad (@AssalRad) May 28, 2024

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  “As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to,” he added in reference to the attack which killed 45 Palestinians. “It just happened. The Israelis are going to investigate it. We’re going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And we’ll see where it goes from there.” Sure…

  * * *

  Israeli tanks have reached the heart of Rafah overnight amid continual heavy bombardment and shelling. Local eyewitnesses say they’ve reached a roundabout in the center of the city which forms a key landmark.

  Images and footages to emerge Tuesday have confirmed the advance of tank columns and IDF infantry deep into Rafah, which has sent thousands more displaced Palestinians fleeing from the Western half of the city, where the most intense fighting is happening. 

  Additionally BBC has observed of IDF tanks that overnight “they also seized control of the highest hilltop along the Gaza-Egypt border after reported gun battles with Hamas-led fighters.”

  

  Airstrikes have continued to increase in intensity on the Western outskirts, especially on the al-Faluja area which lies west of Jabalia camp.

  Following the Sunday bombing of a refugee tent camp in a designated safe zone which reportedly killed 45 people, there are emerging reports of another catastrophic air raid:

  The air raid targeted al-Mawasi in western Rafah, an area where tents have been set up to house displaced Palestinians. It is also a designated humanitarian area to which Israeli authorities told Palestinians to flee.

  “Among them are 13 females were killed. Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent [area] where most of the people were women and children,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah.

  Pressure out of Europe in particular is growing, amid ongoing EU discussions over possible sanctions against Israel and after last week’s ICJ (World Court) call for immediate ceasefire, but so far the Netanyahu government is defiantly pushing forward its anti-Hamas operation.

  Hamas has issued a statement meanwhile, as tanks plunge deeper into Rafah, calling on the UN Security Council to take “practical and immediate measures” to halt the invasion of Rafah city.

  The statement said that the southernmost major city in Gaza “is being subjected to indiscriminate barbaric Zionist bombing, affecting homes and tents of displaced people in various parts of the city.”

  “The UN Security Council is required to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities in the face of the criminal Zionist entity’s disregard for the decision of the International Court of Justice, which ordered an immediate halt to the aggression against the city,” the Hamas statement added.

  Exclusive footage from Al Jazeera shows Israeli occupation tanks advancing further into the west of Rafah city.

  The Israeli occupation intends to fully occupy the Philadelphi Axis with Egypt, effectively encircling the Strip and implementing disastrous restrictions. pic.twitter.com/6rgaIOJ8XK

  — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 28, 2024

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  This comes a day after the White House appeared to justify Sunday’s Israeli attack on the refugee encampment. A Biden national security spokesperson told CNN on Monday, “The devastating images following the IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking.”

  “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” the statement said. Axios has since reported:

  The Biden administration is still assessing whether an Israeli strike that killed at least 45 displaced Palestinians at a tent camp in Rafah on Sunday is a violation of President Biden’s “red line,” two U.S. officials told Axios.

  So far the administration has stalled some ammo shipments, even while approving more massive defense aid packages and funding for Israel, in a largely symbolic move meant more for deflecting criticisms from Progressive Democrats.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 05/28/2024 – 18:13

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