Today’s News 2nd May 2024

• Fighting Monsters
  Fighting Monsters

  Authored by CJ Hopkins via off-guardian.org,

  

  So, I gave a little speech about art, and war. The Internationale Agentur für Freiheit, a Berlin art and cultural association, asked me to do that to open their exhibition, Make Art Not War. I couldn’t turn them down.

  As my readers may have noticed, I haven’t had very much to say about “The War on Hamas,” or “The War on Gaza,” or “The Liquidation of Gaza,” or whatever you want to call it. (It doesn’t look like much of a “war” to me, but then, nothing really has for quite a while.)

  I wrote about it in October and November of last year. And I said a few things about it in my speech. But, mostly, I’ve been trying to keep my mouth shut. I don’t have much to contribute to the … well, I can’t really call it a discussion, or debate, or an argument. It feels like people screaming slogans into each other’s faces, accusing each other of this and that, and calling each other names, and so on. Which … I get why people are inclined to do that. I’m not. But I get why other folks are. So, I think it’s best if I just shut my pie hole (as much as possible) and let folks do that.

  It isn’t going to change what’s happening. GloboCap (or whatever you call the system we’re all living under) has been occupying, destabilizing, and restructuring the Middle East for decades. It’s not going to stop. It is going to continue. As the restructuring of the West is going to continue.

  GloboCap doesn’t have anything else to do.

  Anyway, before I ramble on any further, here’s the English version of the speech I gave at the exhibition. Many thanks to those of you who attended … and apologies again for my German. I’ll get the hang of it one of these days.

  Fighting Monsters

  The name of this exhibition is “Make Art not War.” So I’m going to say a few things about art, and war. You’re not going to like all of them. Or at least I hope not. If you did, I wouldn’t be a very good artist, but I might be a pretty good propagandist.

  I grew up in the 1960s and 70s. In the USA. The war was on television. In Vietnam. Cambodia. Cuba. The Middle East. Then in El Salvador. Nicaragua. Iran. Libya. Yugoslavia. Afghanistan. Iraq. The list goes on and on. I am almost 63 years old. All my life we’ve been at war. Not just Americans. All of us. People. Someone always at war with someone. And all my life there have been other people calling for peace. Protesting the war. Whatever war it was at the time.

  If you read a little history, as I like to do sometimes, you will learn that someone has been at war with someone over something since the dawn of civilization. Certainly Western civilization. The history of Western art and literature begins with war. Genocidal war. The Illiad is a poem about a genocidal war. Rape. Mass murder. The slaughter of children. Most of Shakespeare’s plays are about war, or are set during a war, or have something to do with someone killing someone over something.

  Some of that history happened right here. There are bunkers below us where people sheltered during the bombing raids in the Second World War. Legend has it the Stasi operated listening stations right here in these rooms. When I first arrived in Berlin, twenty years ago, I lived in a sublet on this street. This was my neighborhood, the Bötzowviertel. There were still bullet holes in the facades of buildings. People died here. Civilians. Children. Women were raped here. Families were dragged out of their homes and sent to the death camps here. This is Berlin. You know the history. I don’t need to recite all the details.

  What’s my point? Well, my point is … that is war. Indiscriminate killing. Rape. Mass atrocities. That’s what war is. That is what it has always been. And we’ve been doing it to each other since the dawn of civilization. It is not going to stop. We are not going to stop it. Art is certainly not going to stop it. We are, whether we like it or not, a violent species, human beings. It isn’t all we are, but it is part of what we are. We are also lovers, teachers, healers, artists, and other beautiful things. But sometimes we are vicious killers. Monsters. Genocidal monsters.

  A crazy old German philosopher once warned us, “beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.” He was joking, of course. There are no monsters. Or, rather, there are only monsters, on every side of every war. In a war, there are no good guys and bad guys. There is just our side and the other side. Our atrocities and their atrocities. And whoever wins gets to write the history.

  That’s it. The rest is propaganda. Their propaganda and our propaganda. Of course, our propaganda is not propaganda. Our propaganda is just the truth. Because we’re not monsters. They are the monsters.

  This is Day 202 of Israel’s war on Hamas, or its liquidation of Gaza, depending on your perspective. I haven’t said too much about it publicly. I said a few things about it when it began. That didn’t go well. No one was listening. The propaganda from both sides was already deafening. I described the Hamas attack as mass murder. My pro-Palestinian readers didn’t like that. I described Israel as a typical mass-murdering nation-state, no different than the United States of America, Germany, France, Spain, The Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the British empire, the Ottoman empire, the Holy Roman Empire, or any other mass-murdering nation-state or empire. My pro-Israeli readers didn’t like that. Neither side wanted to hear about history. The history of asymmetric warfare, or terrorism, depending on your perspective. The history of nation-states and empires. They wanted to hear a story about monsters. About the monsters on the other side.

  I told you you weren’t going to like everything I said, right?

  OK, let me say a few things about art now. If you didn’t like what I said about war, maybe you’ll like what I say about art. I can’t speak for other artists, but I’ll tell you why I think I became an artist, and what I have been trying to do as an artist.

  I haven’t been trying to stop any wars. Or to pacify the human species. I don’t know how to do either of those things. And I am not a fan of propaganda. I confess, I have engaged in it from time to time, but mostly what I’ve been trying to do is deprogram minds, starting with my own.

  We are all, by the time we realize we exist, the products of programming, ideological conditioning. I believe it is the job of artists to undo that, or at least to marginally interfere with it. That’s what art, and artists, did for me. They introduced me to my mind. My programmed mind. They forced me to think, and to see, and listen. They taught me to question, to pay attention. They dared me to deprogram my mind, and provided me with the tools to do it. OK, sure, some mind-altering drugs also helped, but it was artists that introduced me to those drugs. Then they introduced me to the monster I’ve been fighting.

  I have been fighting this monster, in my art, in my mind, and out in the world for as long I remember. You have to fight it everywhere at once. To fight it in your mind, you have to fight it out in the world. And to fight it out in the world, you have to fight it in your mind.

  Let me tell you about the monster.

  The monster is legion. It goes by many names. It wears many faces. They change over time. William S. Burroughs called it “The Control Machine.” Some people call it the corporatocracy. I call it global capitalism. The monster doesn’t care what we call it. It doesn’t care who we are, what our politics are, or which side of what war we think we are on. It doesn’t care what we believe, which religion we profess. It couldn’t care less how we “identify.”

  All it cares about is power. All it cares about is control.

  It is everywhere, and nowhere. It has no country. No nationality. It doesn’t exist. It is everything, and nothing. It is the non-existent empire occupying the entire planet. It has no external enemies because there is no outside, not anymore. So there is no real war. There are only insurrections, carried out by rebels, traitors, terrorists.

  The monster, our non-existent empire, is the first global empire in human history. It is not a group of evil people. It is maintained by people, but they are all interchangeable. It has no headquarters. There is no emperor. There isn’t any “Bastille” to storm. It is a logos. A system. An operating system.

  It has no politics, no ideology. Its official ideology is “reality.” Thus it has no political opposition. Who would argue against or oppose “reality”? Lunatics. Extremists. The terminally deranged. And thus there are no dissidents, no opposing political parties. There are only apostates, heretics, blasphemers, sowers of discord, “reality” deniers.

  It manufactures “reality.” Whatever “reality” it needs. The War on Terror. The War on Populism. The War on the Virus. The War on the Weather. The War on Hate. The War on Whatever. It doesn’t matter. It is all the same war. The same “Clear-and-Hold” op. The same counterinsurgency. It has been for about 30 years.

  If things seem crazy, if you’re wondering what’s happening, that is what’s happening. That is all that is happening. That is all that has been happening since the end of the Cold War.

  The empire is eliminating internal resistance, any and all forms of internal resistance. The monster is monsterizing everything and everyone. Transforming societies into markets. It doesn’t have anything else to do. It is erasing values. It is dissolving borders. It is “sensitivity-editing” culture. Synchronizing everything and everyone in conformity to its only value … money. Rendering everything a commodity.

  It is the apotheosis of liberal democracy, the part where the monster does away with democracy, with the simulation of democracy, and proclaims itself “democracy.” It is global-capitalist Gleichschaltung.

  That’s the monster I have been fighting.

  Which makes me a terrorist. A conspiracy theorist. A Russian propagandist. A Covid denier. A right-wing extremist. An anti-vaxxer. An anti-Semite. A transphobic racist. An enemy of “democracy.” A Hamas supporter. A Donald Trump supporter. An AfD supporter. Whatever the official enemy happens to be today.

  It makes me a criminal. A thought criminal. An art criminal.

  Which I literally am. The German authorities are prosecuting me for disseminating art. For tweeting art. Pictures. Words. They banned one of my books. So maybe I’m marginally interfering with their ideological conditioning, with their programming, with their New Normal Gleichschaltung op.

  If so, good, because, if I can quote another German, “art is not a mirror held up to reality, it is a hammer to shape reality with.”

  And I’ll go a little further than Brecht. Every work of art we make shapes reality one way or another, whether we intend it to or not. It either feeds the monster or it fucks with the monster. The monster out there, and the monster in here, inside us, all of us … because it’s all the same monster.

  Thank you, all of you who are fucking with the monster. That is all. Let’s keep it up.

  CJ Hopkins is an award-winning American playwright, novelist and political satirist based in Berlin. His plays are published by Bloomsbury Publishing and Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. His dystopian novel, Zone 23, is published by Snoggsworthy, Swaine & Cormorant. Volumes I and II of his Consent Factory Essays are published by Consent Factory Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amalgamated Content, Inc. He can be reached at cjhopkins.com or consentfactory.org.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 05/02/2024 – 02:00

• China Humiliated Blinken But Blinken Kept Begging
  China Humiliated Blinken But Blinken Kept Begging

  Authored by Gordon Chang via The Gatestone Institute,

  It is not clear whether a Chinese official was at the Beijing airport to bid farewell to Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he ended his three-day visit to China on Friday, but the send-off was in any event low-key and Chinese leader Xi Jinping slighted America’s top diplomat at the end of his troubled stay.

  Also, China, literally and figuratively, did not roll out the red carpet for his arrival in Shanghai on Wednesday. Only a low-level official was on hand to greet Blinken as he stepped off the plane.

  “The Chinese government flouted international protocols at the airport on the secretary of state’s arrival in Shanghai and departure from Beijing,” Charles Burton of the Prague-based Sinopsis think tank told Gatestone.

  “It was petty.”

  “This was more than a slight,” Burton, a former Canadian diplomat who served in Beijing, said.

  “Aside from a calculated insult to the dignity of the United States, the move indicates Xi Jinping is making clear that the accepted norms of diplomacy will not be respected by China anymore.”

  

  Blinken was in China to discuss the growing list of disagreements between Washington and Beijing. Not surprisingly, he did not accomplish anything there other than register America’s complaints on matters such as Beijing’s support for the Russian war effort in Ukraine and unfair treatment of U.S. companies. On every major issue, the U.S. and China take different sides, and the Chinese have clearly dug in. Blinken was reduced to begging.

  As a result, America is resorting to the dialogue-is-progress narrative. “I think it’s important to underscore the value—in fact, the necessity—of direct engagement, of sustained engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences which are real, seeking to work through them, as also looking for ways to build cooperation where we can,” Blinken said to Chen Jining, Communist Party secretary of Shanghai, ahead of his talks in the Chinese capital.

  After the end of fruitless sessions in Beijing—Blinken met with, among others, President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi—all the secretary of state could do is highlight new dialogue issues.

  “I’m pleased to announce that earlier today, we agreed to hold the first U.S.-PRC talks on artificial intelligence to be held in the coming weeks,” he said at a press availability on April 26, as he wrapped up his trip to China.

  “We’ll share our respective views on the risks and safety concerns around advanced AI and how best to manage them.”

  Blinken’s comments repeated those of President Joe Biden after his November 15 meeting with Xi Jinping in Woodside, California. In substance, therefore, Blinken in Beijing continued talking about talking.

  There is no question that AI is an important topic, especially when it comes to the control of nuclear weapons. Yet this does not mean the U.S. should seek an agreement with China on that topic.

  “The latest shambolic display by the Biden administration comes in the form of Secretary of State Antony Blinken groveling before China’s Ruler-for-Life Xi Jinping for a new set of protocols for governing the development of artificial intelligence between America and China, the two nations contributing the most to both the advancement of AI and its weaponization,” Brandon Weichert, a national security analyst at The National Interest, told Gatestone.

  “Although creating such protocols may sound like a good idea, it seems like a bad idea for Washington to unilaterally agree to limit its own activities.”

  “Unilaterally”? Burton and Weichert point out that China never honors agreements, so any deal with Beijing is akin to a unilateral promise.

  “China is deeply committed to the weaponization of AI and would be counting its lucky communist star if the Americans basically deterred themselves with such a protocol,” Weichert, also author of Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, added.

  He suggests the United States spend its time getting the world to restrict tech trade with China “rather than pleading with Xi Jinping for mercy.”

  On the AI front, the Biden administration to its credit has been restricting sales of chips and chip-making equipment and has been coercing cooperation from others, most notably the Netherlands, the home of equipment-maker ASML.

  Nonetheless, Biden needs to do more: China has been able to buy chips on the black market. For instance, Reuters reported this month that ten Chinese entities were able, despite U.S. rules, to acquire Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips through resellers.

  The risk now is that the Biden administration will trade away its restrictions for meaningless promises from China’s Communists.

  Biden is willing to sign agreements with China’s regime because he believes it is merely a “competitor,” refusing to label it an adversary and certainly not using the term that the Chinese Communist Party reserves for America: enemy. He and his predecessors have not wanted to acknowledge that the Party, as it openly proclaims, seeks the destruction of the United States.

  Enemy? In May 2019, People’s Daily, the Party’s self-described “mouthpiece” and therefore the most authoritative publication in China, carried a landmark piece declaring a “people’s war” on America.

  This phrase has special meaning. “A people’s war is a total war, and its strategy and tactics require the overall mobilization of political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, military, and other power resources, the integrated use of multiple forms of struggle and combat methods,” declared a column carried in April 2023 by PLA Daily, an official news website of the People’s Liberation Army.

  Therefore, Biden’s measures, like those of presidents before him, have been inadequate.

  America still suffers from an inability to appreciate the hostility and maliciousness of the Communist Party. Blinken left China talking about how it was in America’s interest for China to prosper. China’s regime, however, fueled with American investment and trade, has been waging “unrestricted warfare” against the United States for decades. Beijing’s unrestricted warfare has included the killing tens of thousands of Americans each year with fentanyl, the equivalent of one plane crash every day and more American deaths than in the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq wars combined.

  Now, Xi thinks he has the upper hand. From the moment Blinken touched down in Shanghai to the moment he left, China’s ruler went out of his way to humiliate the secretary of state. The secretary of state, however, exhibited inexhaustible patience for humiliation.

  Unfortunately, acceptance of rough treatment has consequences, because the meekness leads the Chinese to think they can do what they want, making them even more arrogant and aggressive. Biden has yet to figure that out.

  Xi met Blinken on Friday, but China’s leader let the cameras record his disdain for his visitor. Seconds before the secretary of state walked half-way across the room to shake hands, Xi asked an aide, “When will he leave?”

  “Not soon enough,” Blinken should have replied.

  The secretary of state should never have gone to China in the first place.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 23:45

• Visualizing The Size Of The Global Senior Population
  Visualizing The Size Of The Global Senior Population

  The growth of the senior population is a consequence of the demographic transition towards longer and healthier lives. Population aging, however, can pose economic and social challenges.

  Here, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu maps the size of the world’s population aged 65+ for 1980, 2021, and 2050 (projected). The data is from the World Social Report 2023 by the United Nations.

  

  Global Aging

  Currently, population aging is most advanced in Europe, Northern America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts Eastern and Southeastern Asia.

  According to the UN, in most countries in these regions, the proportion of older persons exceeds 10%, and in some cases, 20% of the total population.

  

  Most parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) are still in an early stage of this transition, while most countries in Central and Southern Asia, Western Asia and Northern Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean are at an intermediate stage.

  The size of the world’s senior population isn’t just growing in absolute numbers; it’s also growing as a share of the overall total. For example, in 2021, 1 in 10 people worldwide were over 65. By 2050, this is likely to be around 1 in 6.

  While the shift towards older populations is largely irreversible, some critical measures are necessary to guarantee this transition. These include financial support for the senior population through pension plans, budgeting healthcare and long-term care costs, and implementing measures to adapt and innovate in labor markets to include seniors.

  The Global Senior Population in 2100

  What will the global senior population look like in the future? For more on that, look at this chart which highlights aging projections by country based on data and projections from the United Nations.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 23:25

• Japan's Warning For America
  Japan’s Warning For America

  Authored by Michael Wilkerson via The Epoch Times,

  Last week, Japan saw its currency, the yen, rapidly depreciate against the U.S. dollar and other world currencies to near record low levels. This drew the attention of financial markets and other observers, and—in some quarters—led to panic. There was concern that Japan, a formerly great nation now increasingly viewed as the “sick man of Asia,” was on the brink of a currency and financial markets crisis.

  

  It wasn’t so long ago that Japan was the envy of the world. Japan’s postwar recovery and subsequent economic miracle produced by the 1980s the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. Numerous Japanese multinational corporations were admired by the business world as a result of their growth, efficiency, and managerial discipline. The state and big business were closely aligned in what appeared an unstoppable formula. Flush with cash and confidence, Japanese companies and investors were aggressively expansionist, acquiring market share, trophy properties, resources, and businesses in the United States and elsewhere. Much like concerns about China today, fears then abounded that Japan would overtake the United States as the global economic leader.

  These fears were unfounded. “Japan Inc.” was a house built on a faulty foundation. Overly accommodative easy money, along with high leverage throughout the financial and corporate sectors, facilitated a massive stock market and real estate bubble, which eventually burst in 1990. The crash led to a depression from which Japan has never recovered, even after three decades. The question is, why not? Herein lies a lesson for the United States.

  Repeated government bailouts of failing financial and industrial companies have perpetuated Japan’s crisis. Japan’s leaders and policies have repeatedly blocked the process of creative destruction, which—if allowed to run its course and cleanse the system—would have been a massive stimulus to entrepreneurship and economic vitality. However, rather than allow capitalism to work, the Japanese system doomed the country to a generation of stagnation.

  As a result, Japan has endured three “lost decades” of weak economic growth, diminished purchasing power, lower and lower standards of living, loss of prestige and influence in the global community, and an aging population that the island nation’s resources are straining to support.

  Japan now has the world’s highest government debt-to-GDP ratio, at 264 percent. Japan’s banks are walking zombies, unable to grow or lend because they have never restructured their balance sheets to clean up massive piles of debt left over from excesses of previous decades. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) holds government bonds and other assets equal to 127 percent of Japan’s GDP, the highest ratio of any central bank in the world. This portfolio resulted in over $70 billion in unrealized losses for the BOJ in six months of 2023 alone.

  The Japanese yen has devalued against the U.S. dollar by more than 30 percent in just three years since 2021. Since the global financial crisis 2008–09, the yen has lost 75 percent of its value against gold. Because of Japan’s high reliance on imports, this loss of purchasing power has translated directly into a substantially lower standard of living for the Japanese people. In theory, Japan could support the yen by raising interest rates, but this is a political, monetary, and fiscal impossibility.

  Decades of easy money policies are a central culprit and cause of this slow-moving trainwreck.

  The Bank of Japan only began raising interest rates this March, some three years after the United States and the European Union brought their own easy money policies to an end. This was the first time the BOJ has raised rates since 2007, a move that pulled the official rate out of negative territory. Nonetheless, with inflation now approaching 2 percent, a short-term policy rate of zero to 0.1 percent means that real rates remain around negative 2 percent. This serves as an additional tax on Japanese households and an intended stimulus to spend today rather than save for tomorrow.

  Money essentially is free in Japan, but no one can afford to borrow it, even if the banks can manage to lend it. The BOJ and the entire banking system stand in the penumbra of insolvency. Only Japan’s decade-long zero interest-rate policy has allowed Japan’s decrepit financial system to continue to stand following the 2008 financial crisis and the effects of COVID economic shutdowns. Japan cannot afford to raise interest rates to support its currency more than nominally above the zero bound without substantially raising debt service costs and exploding losses. This would bring the entire rickety system to the ground.

  A growing economy might help ease the burden, but Japan’s economy is moribund. This is not surprising, as meaningful growth is impossible under mountains of debt. GDP shrank by 0.8 percent in the third quarter and eked out 0.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter. While the country thus barely escaped technical recession (two consecutive quarters of GDP decline), Japan hasn’t posted GDP growth above 2 percent in more than 20 years, save for two rebound quarters after the global shocks of the financial crisis and COVID.

  Japan represents a slow-moving demographic disaster. Japan has the oldest median population of any major country in the world and the lowest fertility rate at 1.37. Japan’s fertility rate has been below the minimum population replacement rate (2.1) for 40 years, meaning that the country is both aging and losing economic productivity, and it is probably too late to reverse it.

  This all represents a grave warning to the United States.

  The U.S. government is chasing Japan for the ignoble title of most indebted nation. Overly indebted nations cannot grow. With federal government debt to GDP of 129 percent, a ratio which is increasing rapidly, the United States is now the fourth most indebted country in the world. Debt is growing more quickly now because the federal government refuses to wean itself off of deficit spending, including an additional $1.7 trillion in 2023, which must be funded by new debt, as must over $1 trillion in interest expense. This debt—and the cost to service it—acts as a drag on our economy. Deficit spending and the borrowing required to support it crowds out private market investment and financings.

  Rather than let more insolvent banks and unprofitable firms fail, U.S. monetary policy since at least the 2008 financial crisis has propped up bad business models—and the asset values of otherwise worthless investments—by subsidizing the cost of capital well below the natural rate of interest. In a nation that has been the standard bearer and exporter of capitalism for more than two centuries, socialistic government policies are preventing capitalism from working at home. This will eventually catch up with our financial markets and economy, just as it did for Japan.

  It is not just shortsighted monetary and financial policy that threatens U.S. competitiveness.

  If Americans’ worsening attitudes toward the importance of marriage and children do not reverse course dramatically, the United States will face the same demographic fate as Japan. The fertility rate in the United States has been in decline since at least 2008, and reached a record low of 1.62 in 2023. This is well below the replacement rate, and thus unsustainable.

  Progressives point to declining fertility rates and aging populations to justify mass illegal immigration, but this is a red herring. Bringing tens of millions of unskilled, uneducated, and culturally unassimilated migrants into the nation is not a benefit but rather an untenable burden on social infrastructure, an enervating drain on economic productivity, and an unbearable tax on legal citizens.

  At least Japan got that part right.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 23:05

• South Koreans & Lithuanians Have The Highest Rate Of Suicide In the World
  South Koreans & Lithuanians Have The Highest Rate Of Suicide In the World

  May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States.

  According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, participants use the month to focus efforts on “eradicating stigma, extending support, fostering public education and advocating for policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and families affected by mental illness.”

  The topic of suicide is an important part of this conversation. As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the following chart, it is a truly global issue, even though estimated rates vary around the world. For example, according to OECD data, out of every 100,000 men in the United States an average of 23 committed suicide in 2021, while for women the average was close to six per 100,000. In several countries these figures are even higher, such as in South Korea, Lithuania and Hungary.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  While there are significant differences between countries, one pattern is clear to see: the rates of men taking their own lives are higher than women in each of the 15 countries selected here.

  South Korea and Lithuania had the highest rates of suicide among men in 2022 (out of the countries reporting data), at 34.9 and 33.1 cases per 100,000 population, respectively.

  For women, South Korea and Japan had the highest rates of the selected countries, with 14.9 and 9.8.

  If you or somebody you know are in need of help, you can find a list of suicide crisis lines and website for countries around the world here.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 22:45

• CDC Found Evidence COVID-19 Vaccines Caused Deaths
  CDC Found Evidence COVID-19 Vaccines Caused Deaths

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

  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials found evidence that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines caused multiple deaths before claiming that there was no evidence linking the vaccines to any deaths, The Epoch Times has learned.

  

  CDC employees worked to track down information on reported post-vaccination deaths and learned that myocarditis—or heart inflammation, a confirmed side effect of the vaccines—was listed on death certificates and in autopsies for some of the deaths, according to an internal file obtained by The Epoch Times.

  Myocarditis was also described as being caused by vaccination in a subset of the deaths.

  In other cases, the CDC workers found that deaths met the agency’s definition for myocarditis, that the patients started showing symptoms within 42 days of a vaccine dose, and that the deceased displayed no virus-related symptoms. Officials say that after 42 days, a possible link between the vaccine and symptoms becomes tenuous, and they list post-vaccination deaths as unrelated if they can find any possible alternative causes.

  In cases with those three features, it’s “absolutely” safe to say that the vaccines caused the deaths, Dr. Clare Craig, a British pathologist and co-chair of the Health Advisory and Recovery Team Group, told The Epoch Times in an email.

  Despite the findings, most of which were made by the end of 2021, the CDC claimed that it had seen no signs linking the Moderna and Pfizer messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to any deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

  CDC officials in a letter to The Epoch Times dated June 13, 2023, said that there were no deaths reported to the VAERS for which the agency determined “the available evidence” indicated Moderna or Pfizer vaccination “caused or contributed to the deaths.”

  The agency also said that evidence from seven deaths from thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome following the Johnson & Johnson vaccination suggested that the vaccine led to people dying.

  “That’s a scandal, where you have information like this and you continue to put out this dishonest line that there’s only seven deaths and they’re all unrelated to the mRNA vaccines,” Dr. Andrew Bostom, a heart expert based in the United States, told The Epoch Times.

  The CDC is “concealing these deaths,” he said.

  A CDC spokeswoman, presented with the file and dozens of questions about it, said that “determining a person’s cause of death is done by the certifying official, physician, medical examiner, or coroner, who completes the death certificate.”

  The spokeswoman declined to explain why the CDC doesn’t consider autopsies or death certificates as evidence of causality, the criteria that would establish vaccine-caused deaths, or whether the numbers have been updated since 2023. She also declined to answer questions about specific deaths outlined in the file, citing “privacy and confidentiality.”

  People who die in the United States with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 are counted as COVID-19 deaths. That count has included a number of deaths from unrelated causes. The CDC also in 2023 advised death certifiers to include COVID-19 on certificates even if the deaths happened years after COVID-19 infection.

  “They are taking the exact opposite approach to COVID deaths! Every death after a test was a COVID death. No death after a vaccine is a vaccine death!” Dr. Craig said. She questioned what it would take for the CDC to admit that the vaccines have caused some myocarditis-related deaths.

  

  More People Died

  The file, acquired by The Epoch Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, has never before been reported. The file was obtained after U.S. authorities rejected another Freedom of Information Act request for the autopsies themselves. The file outlines the agency’s investigation into reports submitted to VAERS of suspected cases of myocarditis or a related condition, pericarditis, following COVID-19 vaccination.

  CDC employees, starting in April 2021, contacted health care providers and other agencies to obtain medical records, death certificates, and autopsies as they sought to confirm whether each report was legitimate.

  The file shows the CDC examined 3,780 reports through April 13, 2023, a small number of which were duplicates. Among the reported cases, 101 resulted in death.

  In one instance, a 37-year-old man started suffering symptoms that can be caused by myocarditis, such as shortness of breath, shortly after receiving a Moderna COVID-19 shot. The man collapsed three days after vaccination and was soon pronounced dead.

  Dr. Darinka Mileusnic, the medical examiner who examined the man, said in an autopsy report that the patient died of “post vaccination systemic inflammation response” which caused, among other problems, acute myocarditis, according to the CDC file.

  The CDC worker who was assigned to look into the death wrote that it was “evident of a sudden death post second dose of Moderna vaccine.”

  “One of the factor[s] to death [sic] is acute myocarditis. There are other findings related to VAE [vaccine adverse event] and non vaccine related. Thus, it can’t be distinguished that only vaccine may have caused the death,” the CDC employee wrote.

  Dr. Mileusnic declined a request for comment through her employer, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center in Tennessee. The center said it would only provide an autopsy report if the decedent’s name and date of death were provided. The CDC file did not include names.

  

  After another man, 24, died on Oct. 27, 2021, about two months after receiving a second Pfizer injection, his health care provider diagnosed him with myocarditis. An autopsy listed “complications of COVID-19 vaccine-related myocarditis” as the cause of death, according to the file.

  A post-mortem test for COVID-19 returned negative, there were no viral organisms found in post-mortem testing of the heart, and there were no other signs of viruses causing the myocarditis, the notes show.

  Another vaccine recipient, a 77-year-old man, was found dead at home on Nov. 14, 2021. The autopsy confirmed the man had pericarditis and listed the cause of death as “complications from the COV-19 booster,” according to the file.

  The CDC worker who looked at that case said it met the CDC’s definition of pericarditis based on the autopsy and death certificate but noted there were comorbidities such as coronary artery disease that were listed as contributing to the death. The patient also received shots against influenza and shingles about two months before death, so “it is difficult to say that COV-19 vaccine alone caused pericarditis,” the worker wrote.

  A voicemail left for the man’s doctor was not returned.

  Among other deaths in the CDC file are:

  • A male, whose age was redacted, suffered sudden cardiac death in April 2021 following a Johnson & Johnson vaccination. He was diagnosed with myocarditis, which was confirmed by the medical examiner. A CDC worker stated that the case did not technically meet the agency’s case definition, but they would “consider probable subclinical myocarditis, given the histopathological findings.”
  • A 21-year-old woman who died in 2021 after seizures and cardiac arrhythmias following Pfizer vaccination was found on autopsy to have lymphocytic myocarditis. The CDC listed her case as confirmed myocarditis with no evidence of viral causes.
  • A 45-year-old man was found dead in his bed in 2021 after Moderna vaccination but testing for myocarditis and pericarditis was not performed.
  • A 55-year-old woman who was “found unresponsive in [a] field” in 2021 after Johnson & Johnson vaccination was confirmed on autopsy to have myocarditis and to have suffered a cardiac arrest. The death met the CDC’s case definition but concurrent upper respiratory infection “makes viral myocarditis a potential alternative cause,” a CDC worker stated. The medical examiner declined to comment.

  

  Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson did not return requests for comment.

  Lot numbers for the vaccines injected into people who died were among the information in the file redacted by the CDC. Some vaccine lots have caused significantly more problems than others, according to CDC data obtained by the nonprofit Informed Consent Action Network.

  Deaths in other countries from vaccine-induced myocarditis have been reported in journals, including deaths among young people. More deaths from vaccines in cases that didn’t include myocarditis have been confirmed by international authorities. Death certificates obtained by The Epoch Times from several U.S. states have also listed the COVID-19 vaccines as causing or contributing to dozens of deaths.

  

  Overruling

  The file and a tranche of emails also obtained by The Epoch Times shows the agency started intervening shortly after the vaccines were introduced in post-vaccination cases that led to death and sometimes overruled the certifier.

  Take the case of a 23-year-old man who left home on April 13, 2021, to go for a jog and was found dead on the side of the road. His death occurred four days after receiving Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 22:25

• Colombian Government Severs Relations With Israel
  Colombian Government Severs Relations With Israel

  It’s been no secret that the fiercest and most sustained criticism of Israel’s military operation in Gaza has come from Global South countries. Many of these have also supported South Africa’s taking Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on allegations of genocide.

  But now the next big step is taking place: governments are formally severing ties with Israel and expelling diplomats. On Wednesday Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that his country will cut relations with Israel over what he called its “genocidal” war against Palestinians. He said this will be formally initiated starting Thursday.

  

  “Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed… for having a genocidal president,”  Petro told a May Day rally in Bogota.

  “If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we will not let it die,” he said at one point in the speech. Petro is Colombia’s first ever leftist president, and he proclaimed that “democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics.”

  However, Bloomberg has noted that his motives could partly be to distract from the ongoing economic crisis in the country:

  Petro is looking to counter large anti-government rallies that took place on April 21 and said his administration will send a package of bills to congress meant to boost economic growth.

  The package will include measures that force the financial sector to provide cheap financing to productive sectors, Petro said.

  “It will consist of bills that generate forced investment in the Colombian private financial system aimed at credits for small, medium, and large industries, agriculture, and tourism in Colombia, to reactivate the country,” he said.

  President Petro has for months been a fiery vocal critic of Israel, having first threatened to sever relations with Israel back in March. Already Bolivia had cut ties with Israel by the end of October as the Gaza offensive entered full swing.

  NOW – Socialist president of Colombia: “Tomorrow diplomatic relations will be broken with Israel due to having a genocidal president.”pic.twitter.com/FbkVBnaHIn

  — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 1, 2024

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

  At that time Foreign Minister Israel Katz had condemned the Colombian leader’s call to cut ties, writing on X that his support for “the Hamas murderers who carried out terrible acts of slaughter and sexual crimes against babies, women and adults is a disgrace to the Colombian people.”

  “Israel will continue to defend its citizens and will not give in to any pressure or threats,” Katz had declared at the time. Israel has already halted security exports to Colombia as of last year following the worsening rift with Bogota in the wake of Oct.7.

  Tel Aviv fears that such dramatic actions by Global South and non-aligned governments could spread, damaging trade in some corners of the globe and its standing on the world stage. A similar domino-effect momentum also happened in the late 20th century with apartheid-era South Africa.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 22:05

• 'Unacceptable': Trump Campaign Slams Commission's Refusal To Hold Earlier Debates
  ‘Unacceptable’: Trump Campaign Slams Commission’s Refusal To Hold Earlier Debates

  Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Trump campaign on Tuesday issued a rebuke of the Commission on Presidential Debates’ refusal to move up its debate schedule until after millions of Americans have already cast their ballots, calling it “unacceptable” and a “grave disservice” to the electorate.

  

  In a statement, former President Donald Trump’s campaign representatives Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles intensified criticism of the body that sponsors all general election presidential debates. Previously, they had requested debates to be held “much earlier” than the commission’s planned first debate in mid-September.

  The Trump campaign repeated its argument that voters deserve to hear from both candidates before they begin casting their votes.

  “The Presidential Debate Commission’s schedule does not begin until after millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots. This is unacceptable, and by refusing to move up the debates, they are doing a grave disservice to the American public who deserve to hear from both candidates before voting begins,” the statement read.

  The statement comes after the nonprofit commission told Fox News that it would stick with its debate schedule, which was released last November. Four debates are planned: three presidential and one vice presidential.

  The first presidential debate takes place on Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos; the second takes place on Oct. 1 at Virginia State University in Petersburg; and the third takes place on Oct. 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

  The commission said that it “is proceeding with production and broadcast plans at its four debate sites as also announced on November 20, 2023.”

  The Trump campaign had pressed the commission to provide debates sooner and with greater frequency, particularly now that both 2024 contenders have secured the necessary delegates to become their respective parties’ presumptive nominees.

  In a letter penned to the commission earlier this year, the Trump campaign wrote: “The Commission must move up the timetable of its proposed 2024 debates to ensure more Americans have a full chance to see the candidates before they start voting, and we would argue for adding more debates in addition to those on the currently proposed schedule.”

  The Trump campaign’s push for earlier debates comes as President Trump applies pressure on President Joe Biden to engage in head-to-head debates.

  The Biden campaign has largely avoided addressing debates directly with President Trump, but last week, President Biden said that he’s “happy” to debate President Trump.

  “I am, somewhere, I don’t know when,” President Biden said when asked about debating his Republican opponent during an interview with radio personality Howard Stern. “I’m happy to debate him.”

  Following these remarks, President Trump took to Truth Social to press the president for a debate.

  

  “Crooked Joe Biden just announced that he’s willing to debate! Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE, an old expression used by Fighters,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.

  In March, following his State of the Union address, President Biden said that a debate with President Trump “would depend upon his behavior.” The Biden administration has also cited concerns over finding a fair moderator.

  Last week, following President Biden’s remarks agreeing to debate, President Trump suggested any location, including the White House, as a venue.

  President Trump, according to the campaign’s Tuesday statement, remains committed to debating President Joe Biden “anytime, anywhere, anyplace.”

  His campaign suggested on Tuesday that he could circumvent the body that’s sponsored all general election presidential debates for decades.

  “We are committed to making this happen with or without the Presidential Debate Commission. We extend an invitation to every television network in America that wishes to host a debate, and we once again call on Joe Biden’s team to work with us to set one up as soon as possible. The American people deserve it,” Mr. LaCivita and Ms. Wiles added.

  The commission’s schedule includes a vice presidential debate on Sept. 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

  The Epoch Times contacted the Commission on Presidential Debates for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 21:45

• "It Was Brutal": 2nd Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dies
  “It Was Brutal”: 2nd Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dies

  A whistleblower at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems died Tuesday morning following a struggle with a ‘sudden, fast-spreading infection,’ the Seattle Times reports.

  

  45-year-old Joshua Dean, a former mechanical engineer and quality auditor from Wichita, Kansas, alleged that Spirit leadership ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, including ‘mechanics improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the MAX.’ When he brought this up with management, he said that nothing was done about it. So he filed a safety complaint with the FAA – and said that Spirit had used him as a scapegoat while they lied to the agency about the defects.

  “After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA, and the public” regarding the bulkhead defects, said Dean in his complaint.

  In November, the FAA suggested to Dean in a letter that his claims had merit, writing “The investigation determined that your allegations were appropriately addressed under an FAA-approved safety program,” adding “However, due to the privacy provisions of those programs, specific details cannot be released.”

  Dean also gave a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit.

  The shareholder lawsuit alleging that Spirit management withheld information on the quality flaws and harmed stockholders was filed in December. Supporting the suit, Dean provided a deposition detailing his allegations.

  After a panel blew off a Boeing 737 MAX plane in January, bringing new attention to the quality lapses at Spirit, one of Dean’s former Spirit colleagues confirmed some of Dean’s allegations. -Seattle Times

  He had been in good health, and ‘was noted for having a healthy lifestyle,’ according to the report.

  He had been in critical condition for two weeks, according to his aunt Carol Parsons, who said he became ill and went to the hospital due to breathing difficulties. He was intubated, after which he developed pneumonia and then MRSA, a serious bacterial infection.

  His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, Parsons said. There he was put on an ECMO machine, which circulates and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, taking over heart and lung function when a patient’s organs don’t work on their own. -Seattle Times

  Doctors had considered amputating both hands and both feet.

  “It was brutal what he went through,” said Parsons. “Heartbreaking.”

  Dean was fired in April 2023, after which he filed a complaint with the Department of Labor, alleging he had been terminated in retaliation for blowing the whistle.

  

  He was represented by the South Carolina law firm that represented Boeing whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett, who was found dead in an ‘apparent suicide’ in March in Charleston.

  

  Barnett was in the middle of giving depositions suggesting that Boeing retaliated against him over complaints related to quality issues when he was found dead from a gunshot wound.

  The Charleston County Coroner’s Office reported Barnett’s death appeared to be “from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Almost two months later, the police investigation into his death is still ongoing. -Seattle Times

  “Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up,” said Brian Knowles, one of Dean’s lawyers. “It’s a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with John’s family and Josh’s family.”

  In March, Boeing was rumored to be in talks to buy Spirit, as both companies have come under increasing pressure from airline customers and federal regulators to shore up quality issues following a January 5th incident in which a door plug blew out mid-flight on a 737 MAX 9.

  Alaska Airlines flight #AS1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, experienced a rapid decompression after the loss of a large panel that included an emergency exit door on the left side of the plane.
  The flight made a safe return to Portland (PDX).pic.twitter.com/KH4gs0X4o6

  — Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) January 6, 2024

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

  Four days later, United Airlines found “loose bolts” on 737 MAX doors following an emergency inspection.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 21:25

• Google Workers Sacked Over Israel Protests File Federal Labor Complaint
  Google Workers Sacked Over Israel Protests File Federal Labor Complaint

  Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

  Dozens of Google workers who were fired for protesting the tech giant’s cloud deal with the Israeli government filed a complaint on Monday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over their termination.

  The complaint, obtained by The Washington Post, alleges that Google violated the workers’ rights by “terminating and/or placing them on administrative leave in response to their protected concerted activity, namely, participation (or perceived participation) in a peaceful, non-disruptive protest that was directly and explicitly connected to their terms and conditions of work.”

  

  The workers are seeking reinstatement of their jobs and back pay, alleging that Google had “unlawfully retaliated” against them for engaging in “peaceful” protest, Jane Chung, a spokesperson for No Tech for Apartheid, was quoted as saying by the New York Post.

  No Tech for Apartheid, the group organizing the protests, claimed that Google fired over 20 workers on April 23, including non-participating bystanders.

  This adds to the 30 workers fired last week for their involvement in sit-in protests at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California, bringing the total number of terminated workers to over 50 people.

  Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

  The protests targeted a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus that provides artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli government.

  The fired workers contend that the system is being lethally deployed in the Gaza war.

  “Google’s aims are clear: the corporation is attempting to quash dissent, silence its workers, and reassert its power over them,” the group said in an April 23 press release.

  “In its attempts to do so, Google has decided to unceremoniously, and without due process, upend the livelihoods of over 50 of its own workers,” it added.

  The activist group has vowed to continue organizing until their demands are met: for Google to “drop Project Nimbus and stop powering Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza now.”

  Project Nimbus was signed in 2021. It involves joint cloud computing and AI services provided by Google and Amazon to the Israeli government. Google has said that the program is not being utilized for military or intelligence purposes.

  Google has said that it fired the workers after gathering details from coworkers who were “physically disrupted” and it identified employees who used masks and didn’t carry their staff badges to hide their identities. Google didn’t specify how many were fired.

  In a blog post on April 18, Google CEO Sundar Pichai hinted that workers will be on a short leash as the company intensifies its efforts to improve its AI technology at a pivotal moment in the industry and, potentially, humanity. He did not openly refer to a specific incident.

  “But ultimately we are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear: this is a business, and not a place to act in a way that disrupts coworkers or makes them feel unsafe, to attempt to use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics,” Mr Pichai wrote.

  “We have a duty to be an objective and trusted provider of information that serves all of our users globally,” he added.

  It’s not the first time Google workers have protested against some of the company’s ventures and its approach to AI development.

  A previous protest by employees in 2018 resulted in Google’s termination of a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense called “Project Maven.” The contract was largely focused on assisting armed forces with military video analysis.

  Despite this, Google has remained largely unaffected by the internal uproar.

  From a financial perspective, the company continues to flourish through revenue obtained through its main sources, primarily digital advertising and a dominant search engine.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 21:05

• The Countries Where The Most People Buy Organic
  The Countries Where The Most People Buy Organic

  According to the Statista Market Insights, more than 15 percent of food sales in Denmark are of organic products, making the country the biggest market for organic food in relative terms.

  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz shows in the chart below, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland are the only other countries achieving a share above 10 percent, showing that in a global context, food marketed as organic is still a somewhat of a niche despite all the hype surrounding it.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Taking into consideration only foods marketed as organic (and not those which are not sold as such, for example in countries with less formalized food markets), the global share of organic products in total food revenue was just 1.9 percent.

  With Germany in rank 7, a strong preference for organic food in German-speaking countries is visible. Interestingly, Benelux and Scandinavian countries are not consistingly achieving rates above 5 percent. Statista analysts also took a look at the development of the market and concluded that it is only growing slowly in most places as price remains a (perceived) hurdle for many consumers.

  Also taking into account country size, the United States still had the largest market for organic food out of any country despite a lower share of organic food at 7.2 percent of all food sales in 2023.

  This is the equivalent of around $70 billion of the $975 billion U.S. food market (excluding out-of-home).

  In comparison, all of Europe generated food revenues almost $2 trillion but lower organic uptake in Eastern and Southern Europe led to a share of 3.9 percent organic food sales overall – the equivalent to an organic food market only slightly bigger than that of the U.S. at $77.6 billion.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 20:45

• California's Perpetual Drought Is Manmade And Intentional
  California’s Perpetual Drought Is Manmade And Intentional

  Authored by Roger Canfield via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) last week released its next five-year plan for the State Water Project—Update 2023. After years of meetings, California’s premier water agency has decided to focus on “three intersecting themes: addressing climate urgency, strengthening watershed resilience, and achieving equity in water management.”

  

  Water supplies for California’s 40 million people and the planet’s most productive agriculture have third- to fifth-level priority.

  There is nothing new here, except to publicly admit to betraying the public trust. Really?

  Over several decades, the public has been deceived into voting for water bonds that have little new water in them—phony promises to build new water storage and aqueducts. About 12 percent of bond funds are spent on new water storage. The rest of the bond funds have been squandered on scores of local and special-interest environmental projects, e.g., tearing down four Klamath-area dams—killing fish to save them—and opposing substantial new water projects, e.g., raising Shasta Dam and building Auburn Dam.

  Further, by California law, water must be equitably distributed, pumped “equally”—half to human beings (if you count agriculture) and half to fish (the water-short Pacific Ocean, 187 quadrillion gallons). During the big rains of 2024, about 90 percent of the water was flushed to the Pacific through the gills of perhaps a half dozen delta smelt.

  Farmers call it a manmade drought.

  The politicos halted humans “taking” water, “diverting” it, from fish. Under the U.S. Constitution, the taking of private property requires just compensation—not mass confiscation. Water rights are a complex species of property.

  “Our findings show that atmospheric river activity exceeds what has occurred since instrumental record keeping began,” said Clarke Knight, a U.S. Geological Survey research geographer.

  Still, DWR scheduled 2024 meetings of the Drought Resilience Interagency & Partners (DRIP) Collaborative for April, July, and October.

  The DRIP fantasy continues despite a deluge of 2024 water from two winters of giant “rivers in the sky” dumping excesses of water and creating massive floods and landslides.

  Recent massive atmospheric rivers, Ark events, are small compared to ancient monster storms that occurred long before human beings had any impact whatsoever on climate, let alone weather.

  Despite plentiful rainfall, DWR continued to limit pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Central Valley agriculture to 30–40 percent to protect native fish. Nonnative bass are likely the greatest dangers to native fish. DWR insisted that its ability to move water south has been “impacted by the presence of threatened and endangered fish species.”

  Those water districts’ contractors, paying the full cost of State Water Project (SWP) water, thought otherwise.

  Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors, stated: “While we are glad to see this modest allocation, it is still far below the amount of water we need. There is a lot of water in the system, California reservoirs are full, and runoff from snowpack melt is still to come. Even in a good water year, moving water effectively and efficiently under the current regime is difficult.”

  California’s drought fixation is entirely manmade. In the past, in wet years, the waters of the Sacramento River, greater than the mighty Colorado, turned the Central Valley into an inland sea.

  For over a century, California visionaries followed the lead of the Mesopotamians, Assyrians, Romans, and Nabataeans as well as the Aztecs before them. C.R. Rockwood, William Mulholland, Michael O’Shaughnessy, Gov. Pat Brown, and Gov. Ronald Reagan built dams and aqueducts to store and distribute water and to provide flood protection and hydroelectricity “too cheap to meter.”

  As I have said before, California wastes tens of billions of dollars’ worth (at a conservative $100–$200 an acre-foot) of precious fresh water to save handfuls of delta smelt and “restore” salmon runs where salmon never ran before.

  As I’ve also mentioned before, tyrannical water police order city folk, who use only 8 percent of California’s water, to drink recycled toilet water and to live on 55 gallons a day. The serfs may bathe every other Saturday whether they need it or not. California demands that its residents take a water conservation pledge: And to the utopia for which it stands. Neighbors turn neighbors in for “wasting” water, not to mention life, liberty, and property.

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

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 20:25

• 'Intel Insidious' – Here's All The 'Grants' Given By Biden's US CHIPS Act
  ‘Intel Insidious’ – Here’s All The ‘Grants’ Given By Biden’s US CHIPS Act

  This visualization shows which companies are receiving grants from the U.S. CHIPS Act, as of April 25, 2024. The CHIPS Act is a federal statute signed into law by President Joe Biden that authorizes $280 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors.

  The grant amounts visualized in this graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu, are intended to accelerate the production of semiconductor fabrication plants (fabs) across the United States.

  

  Data and Company Highlights

  The figures we used to create this graphic were collected from a variety of public news sources. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) also maintains a tracker for CHIPS Act recipients, though at the time of writing it does not have the latest details for Micron.

  

  BAE Systems was not included in the graphic due to size limitations

  Intel’s Massive Plans

  Intel is receiving the largest share of the pie, with $8.5 billion in grants (plus an additional $11 billion in government loans). This grant accounts for 22% of the CHIPS Act’s total subsidies for chip production.

  From Intel’s side, the company is expected to invest $100 billion to construct new fabs in Arizona and Ohio, while modernizing and/or expanding existing fabs in Oregon and New Mexico. Intel could also claim another $25 billion in credits through the U.S. Treasury Department’s Investment Tax Credit.

  TSMC Expands its U.S. Presence

  TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry company, is receiving a hefty $6.6 billion to construct a new chip plant with three fabs in Arizona. The Taiwanese chipmaker is expected to invest $65 billion into the project.

  The plant’s first fab will be up and running in the first half of 2025, leveraging 4 nm (nanometer) technology. According to TrendForce, the other fabs will produce chips on more advanced 3 nm and 2 nm processes.

  The Latest Grant Goes to Micron

  Micron, the only U.S.-based manufacturer of memory chips, is set to receive $6.1 billion in grants to support its plans of investing $50 billion through 2030. This investment will be used to construct new fabs in Idaho and New York.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 20:05

• A Low Sodium Diet May Be Stressing You Out
  A Low Sodium Diet May Be Stressing You Out

  Authored by Jennifer Sweenie via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  There is a link between salt intake and stress, and it’s probably not what you think. While we are well aware of the purported dangers associated with a high-sodium diet, many of us are not aware that too little sodium comes with its own set of issues. When it comes to stress, salt plays an important role in helping flush cortisol from the body.

  

  A study published in Clinical Endocrinology in 2020 showed that an increase in salt consumption leads to a rise in cortisol levels in your urine and lower cortisol levels in your bloodstream. What does this potentially mean? Restricting your sodium intake may lead to higher levels of circulating cortisol.

  Salt is often vilified, and many physicians instruct their patients to adopt a low-sodium diet for health reasons. However, not consuming enough of it may interfere with the removal of cortisol from our bloodstream. Sodium helps flush the stress hormone from the body, and avoiding it may ultimately lead to chronically elevated blood cortisol levels. If left untreated, high cortisol levels can lead to a variety of bothersome symptoms and potentially serious complications. Most people are experiencing some symptoms of elevated or dysregulated cortisol from life stressors, and abstaining from salt may be exacerbating the situation.

  What Is Cortisol?

  Cortisol is an essential steroid hormone the adrenal gland produces in response to stress. It is often referred to as the stress hormone because the body releases it in higher amounts during the fight-or-flight response to a stressor. Cortisol helps release stored glucose from our cells so we have the energy to run away from a perceived threat.

  The stress hormone has many vital functions, including regulating blood sugar levels, managing metabolism, controlling inflammation, and assisting with your sleep and wake cycle. It is an important hormone, however, high cortisol levels over a prolonged period of time can negatively affect health—including weight gain, high blood pressure, and weakened immune function.

  The Difference Between Salt and Sodium

  People often use the words salt and sodium interchangeably, but there is a marked difference between the two. Sodium is a mineral found in many foods and is essential for our bodies to function properly. Salt is a combination of sodium and chloride. It is a chemical compound comprised of 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride, hence its moniker. Ultimately, sodium is one of two elements that salt is made from.

  Sodium is an essential mineral that helps regulate the body’s fluid balance and maintain normal nerve and muscle function. It is also involved in the absorption and transportation of nutrients throughout the body. Essential means your body cannot make it, and you must get adequate amounts from the food you eat. What is our primary source of sodium? Salt.

  The Salt and Cortisol Connection

  The findings of the 2020 study are not new. A separate study published earlier in the same year found that, “On a high-salt, as compared with a low-salt, diet, urinary aldosterone excretion decreased, whereas urinary cortisol and cortisone excretion increased.” In 2013, a study published in Cell Metabolism determined that “[A] high-salt diet increases cortisol excretion in humans.”

  A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2003 stated, “In healthy subjects, dietary salt loading increases and sodium restriction decreases urinary free cortisol excretion” and “​​changes in cortisol metabolite excretion after salt loading were accompanied by a decrease in plasma cortisol concentration.”

  Prior to that, a 1998 study concluded, “This study supports the notion that sodium restriction decreases urinary cortisol excretion.”

  Although more research is needed to fully understand the relationship between salt intake and cortisol excretion, the 2020 study raises a few points. Increased dietary sodium intake may cause false positives in urinary-free cortisol excretion tests, and low-sodium diets may make cortisol blood tests inaccurate. Additionally, a low-sodium diet may raise cortisol, and incorporating high-quality sources of sodium into your diet comes with benefits in terms of cortisol regulation.

  The Type of Salt Matters

  When it comes to salt consumption, the type of salt matters. Table salt is the most commonly used salt. It is heavily processed and stripped of many of its natural minerals. Chemicals are often added to keep it from caking in humidity.

  Table salt is also usually fortified with iodine. Iodine can be beneficial for thyroid health. However, some experts argue that the processing of table salt can make it more difficult for the body to process and use and may lead to potential health issues. Sometimes dextrose, a form of sugar, is added to table salt.

  Sea salt is a more natural form of salt harvested from evaporated seawater. It retains many natural trace minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and calcium. It is not refined or processed. Himalayan pink sea salt is a popular type of salt mined from ancient salt beds in the Himalayan Mountains. It is known for its pink hue and is rich in minerals.

  Kosher salt is pure sodium chloride and contains no trace minerals, iodine, or unhealthy additives.

  Foods That Can Help Lower Cortisol

  In addition to high-quality salt, the best foods for lowering cortisol are those that are anti-inflammatory. Any foods that lower inflammation will, in turn, lower cortisol levels. Several foods can help reduce cortisol levels in the body, including:

  • Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate contains flavonoids and studies have shown it can reduce cortisol levels.
  • Berries: Berries are rich in antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation and lower cortisol levels.
  • Fatty fish: Fatty fish such as salmon and tuna contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that omega-3s can reduce cortisol levels.
  • Nuts: Nuts are a great source of magnesium, which can help lower cortisol levels.
  • Leafy greens: Leafy greens such as spinach and kale are also rich in magnesium and antioxidants and can help reduce inflammation and lower cortisol levels.
  • Fermented foods: Fermented foods, including kimchi and sauerkraut, contain probiotics. Probiotics have been shown to help reduce cortisol levels.
  • Herbal teas: Research supports that herbal teas, such as chamomile and lavender, have calming properties that can help reduce cortisol levels.
  • Ashwagandha: A plant that has been used for centuries in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, ashwagandha is believed to reduce cortisol levels in the body. It has treated a variety of conditions, including stress, anxiety, fatigue, and depression.

  Some studies suggest that ashwagandha also has anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. However, ashwagandha can be unsafe for some people and should be discussed with a physician.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 19:45

• Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Rosneft Refinery In Russia
  Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Rosneft Refinery In Russia

  By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

  Just as Russia had started to bring back some refinery capacity damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks earlier this year, a new wave of drone attacks hit a major refinery owned by Rosneft, for a second time.

  Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow caught fire after the overnight drone attack, an anonymous Ukrainian military source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

  The refinery in the region of Ryazan, whose main city of the same name is some 120 miles southeast of Moscow, was first attacked by drones in the middle of March. The first attack also led to a fire.

  Drones attacked the Ryazan oil refinery, and a fire started there

  According to local residents, the attack on the plant took place around 3 am. In social networks report that at first a strong rumble of drones was heard, and then there were two explosions. According to… pic.twitter.com/RczhoYPhFo

  — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 1, 2024

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  This year, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on oil refineries in Russia, which have reduced Russian refining capacity, and, reportedly, have the White House concerned about rising international prices.

  The United States has repeatedly urged Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries due to Washington’s assessment that the strikes could lead to Russian retaliation and push up global oil prices, the Financial Times reported in March, citing sources familiar with the exchange.

  As of mid-April, Russia had brought back online some oil refining units, reducing the capacity taken offline by Ukrainian drone hits to around 10%, from 14% at the end of March.

  The refining capacity in Russia that was offline due to drone attacks was estimated by Reuters in mid-April at around 660,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared to 907,000 bpd offline at the end of March.

  Russia said in early April it can repair all damaged units within two months.

  🔥💥 In addition to the Ryazan Refinery, 2 UAVs also attacked the Voronezhnefteprodukt Refinery, — ASTRA

  ❗1 UAV fell on the territory of “Voronezhnefteprodukt” in the village of Staraya Pokrovka. The other seemed to have been shot down in the suburbs of Voronezh. pic.twitter.com/B5gGZGGYAp

  — MAKS 23 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) May 1, 2024

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  Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said that all damaged refineries in the country would be restarted by the beginning of June.

  “Repairs are underway at the refineries. We plan to re-launch a number of refineries after repairs in April-May, possibly before the beginning of June,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Shulginov as saying.

  “All facilities that were damaged will be re-commissioned,” the minister added.  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 19:43

• US Imposes Sanctions On Chinese Companies Vital To Russia's Defense Industry
  US Imposes Sanctions On Chinese Companies Vital To Russia’s Defense Industry

  The Biden administration and US Treasury on Wednesday unveiled nearly 300 new anti-Russia sanctions which especially target third party entities which are said to help Moscow in sanctions-busting activities.

  “The almost 300 targets being sanctioned by both Treasury and the Department of State include sanctions on dozens of actors that have enabled Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad,” the Treasury Department said in a press release.

  So-called dual-use items out of China are a key focus of the action, which is being hailed as one of “the most wide-ranging actions against Chinese companies so far in Washington’s sanctions aimed at Russia.” 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong were named.

  

  Companies in Turkey, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Slovakia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also targeted.

  “Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia’s war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

  It also marks the furthest reaching action that seeks to specifically degrade Russia’s military-industrial base, as well as its biological and chemical weapons programs. For example, companies involved in manufacturing precursor materials for Russia to make explosives are listed.

  Last week during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China he warned about Beijing’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” Blinken had claimed provocatively, while also asserting China is the “top supplier” of Russia’s defense industrial base – albeit not in terms of lethal aid (but instead “dual use” technologies).

  This support to Russia’s defense industry additionally constitutes a “medium to long-term threat that many Europeans feel viscerally that Russia poses to them,” Blinken had asserted.

  Meanwhile, as Ukraine forces continue getting pushed back from frontline positions by the better-armed Russian force, hawkish threats out of Congress are getting more frantic…

  🤡We must be prepared to strike back at Putin on Russian soil – Congressman Scott

  “Supporting Ukraine means defeating Vladimir Putin in Russia. We must be prepared to hit him back on Russian territory. And when I see the Biden administration, which does not want to comply with… pic.twitter.com/B3UlXzV5ak

  — Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) April 30, 2024

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  He warned last week that the Biden administration stood ready to introduce more sanctions against China if dual-use goods and technologies continue to be sent to Russia, including things previously identified by Washington as problematic: semiconductors, machine tools, chemical precursors, ball bearings, and optical systems. Based on Wednesday’s Treasury action it is clear that the sanctions were already being prepared even as Blinken was on the three-day trip, which including a meeting with President Xi.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 19:25

• Study Finds Elevated Risk Of Eye Inflammatory Disorder Following COVID-19 Vaccination
  Study Finds Elevated Risk Of Eye Inflammatory Disorder Following COVID-19 Vaccination

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

  People with a history of uveitis may experience a recurrence of the eye inflammatory disorder following COVID-19 vaccination, especially in the early postvaccination period.

  

  A recently published study in JAMA Ophthalmology found that about 17 percent of nearly 474,000 vaccinated individuals with a history of uveitis experienced a recurrence within one year after vaccination.

  Uveitis is inflammation inside the eye that occurs when the immune system is fighting an infection or attacks healthy tissue in the eyes. It can cause symptoms including pain, redness, and vision loss while damaging the uvea and other parts of the eye.

  Researchers collected data on all individuals diagnosed with uveitis in South Korea between January 2015 and February 2021 to determine the risk of recurrence after COVID-19 vaccination. Data was retrieved from the Korean National Health Insurance Service and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency databases. The incidence of uveitis was assessed from Feb. 26, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2022. The cases were classified according to the onset at three months, six months, and one year, the type of uveitis (anterior or nonanterior), and vaccine type.

  Individuals included in the study received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Johnson & Johnson and did not test positive for SARS-CoV-2 during the study period.

  Study Findings

  Of the 473,934 individuals included in the study, the cumulative incidence of postvaccination uveitis was 8.6 percent at three months, 12.5 percent at six months, and 16.8 percent at one year—primarily of the anterior type, which affects the iris at the front of the eye. Moreover, the risk of uveitis reoccurrence was highest in the first 30 days after vaccination, peaked between the first and second vaccine doses, and decreased with subsequent vaccinations.

  According to the researchers, the first dose of the vaccine may activate inflammatory pathways leading to initial inflammation in people who are prone to autoimmune reactions or have a history of uveitis. However, there’s a declining risk with repeated vaccination that may be due to the immune system’s adaptation to the vaccine antigen, although further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

  Additionally, the risk of experiencing the condition increased among recipients of all four vaccine types, especially among those who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. These patients were more likely to experience uveitis recurrence during the early-onset period. Likewise, those who received Moderna were at a higher risk of experiencing uveitis after the first vaccination and during the early-onset period.

  Notably, there were variations in the types of uveitis observed in the periods before and after vaccination. Among patients with infectious uveitis prior to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, nearly 54 percent had noninfectious uveitis after being vaccinated, whereas most of the individuals with noninfectious uveitis before vaccination had a recurrence of the same type after vaccination.

  Most patients with uveitis were 60 to 79 years old, followed by those aged 40 to 59. Among those with comorbidities, high blood pressure, diabetes, and rheumatic diseases were the most common.

  “Although uveitis following vaccination is rare, our findings support an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination, particularly in the early postvaccination period,” the authors wrote. “These results emphasize the importance of vigilance and monitoring for uveitis in the context of vaccinations, including COVID-19 vaccinations, particularly in individuals with a history of uveitis.”

  Other Studies of Vaccine-Associated Uveitis

  Other studies have found an association between uveitis and COVID-19 vaccination, including a February 2023 study published in Ophthalmology. The study provided insights into a possible temporal association between reported vaccine-associated events and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

  Moreover, ocular adverse events have been reported following COVID-19 vaccination in addition to uveitis, including facial nerve palsy, retinal vascular occlusion, acute macular neuroretinopathy, thrombosis, and new-onset Graves’ disease.

  In a June 2022 paper published in Vaccines, researchers analyzed ocular adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to provide clinicians and researchers with a broader picture of ocular side effects of COVID-19 vaccinations.

  VAERS is a voluntary reporting system comanaged by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is designed to detect vaccine safety signals, although it is estimated to represent less than 1 percent of actual adverse events.

  During the analysis period of December 2020 to December 2021, VAERS received 55,313 reports for ocular adverse events, 6,688 of which met the inclusion criteria. Of those reports, 2,229 were related to eyelid swelling, ocular hyperemia, and conjunctivitis, 1,785 were reports of blurred vision, and 1,322 were reports of visual impairment.

  Females accounted for 74 percent of the reports, and eye conditions affected primarily individuals between the ages of 40 and 59 who had received either the Johnson & Johnson shot or Moderna’s vaccine.

  Of the patients who reported ocular-related complications, 50 percent received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, 38 percent received Moderna, and 12 percent received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

  Although the study’s authors said they could not determine whether the vaccines were associated with an increased risk of adverse events, their data suggests a “possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and ocular adverse events.”

  “Physicians are cautioned not only to be aware of this potential problem, but to check any underlying patient conditions, and to carefully document in VAERS within a few weeks of vaccination,” they wrote.

  According to current VAERS data, 734 cases of uveitis, 539 cases of eye inflammation, 2,781 cases of retina disorders, 11,641 cases of facial nerve disorders, and 3,909 reports of eyelid swelling, ocular hyperaemia, and conjunctivitis were reported following COVID-19 vaccination between Dec. 14, 2020, and March 29.

  Potential associations between uveitis and other vaccinations have been reported, including influenza, human papillomavirus, and varicella zoster virus vaccines. However, these studies did not necessarily establish a causal link.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 19:05

• FOMC Leaves Rates Unch, Says (Bigger Than Expected) QT Taper To Start In June
  FOMC Leaves Rates Unch, Says (Bigger Than Expected) QT Taper To Start In June

  Tl;dr: The Fed just told the market that ‘yields are too damn high‘.

  *  *  *

  Since the last FOMC meeting, on March 20th, gold has been the biggest outperformer (interesting along with dollar strength), while stocks, bonds, and crude (and crypto) have all been sold (with bonds and oil equally ugly)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  And since March 20th, US macro data has serially disappointed…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  More problematically, since the last FOMC meeting, inflation data has dramatically surprised to the upside and growth data to the downside – screaming stagflation in the face of the Fed…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Rate-cut expectations (for 2024 and 2025) have plunged significantly since the last FOMC (that is now just one 25bps rate-cut priced in for 2024)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Expectations are fully priced for a nothing-burger today on rates…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  … with a slight hawkish bias in the language-changes in the statement (and the possibility of QT-taper signaling). But it will be Powell’s press conference that everyone will be focused on.

  So what did The Fed say?

  Rates unchanged…

  • *FED HOLDS BENCHMARK RATE IN 5.25%-5.5% TARGET RANGE

  Key statement changes

  Fed adds following sentence:

  “In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent inflation objective.”

  Fed also replaces

  “The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance“

  with

  “The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals have moved toward better balance over the past year.

  And the QT Taper is here – and its bigger than expected (-$35BN/mth vs -$30BN expected):

  Beginning in June, the Committee will slow the pace of decline of its securities holdings by reducing the monthly redemption cap on Treasury securities from $60 billion to $25 billion.

  The Committee will maintain the monthly redemption cap on agency debt and agency mortgage‑backed securities at $35 billion and will reinvest any principal payments in excess of this cap into Treasury securities

  This means $105BN less gross issuance needed in Q3, with The Fed implicitly saying ‘yields are too high’.

  Just as we said…

  The big question for today: how much will Fed taper QT by?

  If Taper goes to $30BN (from $60BN/month), that means less funding needed in Q3 (most likely from Bills), and means less pressure on issuance. Yields should slide

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 1, 2024

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  Read the full redline below:

  

  What happens next (on average)?

  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 18:55

• House Approves 'Antisemitism Awareness Act' Aimed At Cracking Down On Campus Protests
  House Approves ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act’ Aimed At Cracking Down On Campus Protests

  Late in the afternoon Wednesday the House approved a bill which seeks to crack down on antisemitism on college and university campuses following days of protests and unrest driven by pro-Palestinian activists.

  The Antisemitism Awareness Act has been approved in a 320-91 vote and will now head to the Senate. But the central question is: how and by what measure will federal authorities crack down on speech deemed “antisemitic”?

  Will criticism of the government of Israel be deemed antisemitic? Will highlighting alleged war crimes or human rights abuses by the IDF be considered so? Will involvement in the BDS movement be deemed anti-Jewish? Will slogans such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” be illegal according to federal law? Will criticizing the US $3+ billion in annual foreign aid be considered anti-Jewish? 

  And what of the many Jewish protesters who are engaged in speech condemning the nation-state of Israel? 

  

  Already, active participation in causes boycotting Israel is ‘illegal’ in a number of US states (typically taking the form of prohibiting state agencies from engaging with companies involved in BDS).

  According to an explanation of the definition of antisemitism outlined by the new House-passed bill: 

  The bill would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing antidiscrimination laws.

  The group defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and says “Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

  The organization provides a number of examples for what qualifies as antisemitism, including calling for the harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion, and accusing Jewish individuals as inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

  By this measure, even theoretical historical discussions or interpretation could be considered illegal (such has long been the case in some European countries).

  The legislation itself never says what the definition is. All it says is that the definition is whatever this other group says it is. Which is batshit bonkers already because it grants the force of law to whatever the IHRA happens to decree on the subject. But it gets worse.

  — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 1, 2024

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  Like with any attempt to legislate limits related to the 1st Amendment, this is certainly going to prove very slippery — especially if it gets signed into law and then comes the question of actual enforcement on the ground.

  A tiny minority of Republicans are voicing fierce opposition to the bill…

  Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.

  Read the bill text and… pic.twitter.com/Y0eeOiVfnw

  — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 1, 2024

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  Currently and historically, pro-Israel hawks who advocate for sending billions in American taxpayer dollars to Israel each year tend to accuse any and all opponents of such policies of being antisemitic. Some independent journalists say they’ve struggled to find blatant examples of people being targeted in antisemitic attacks on campuses for the sole reason of being Jewish. 

  

  So if the federal government gets involved in these polemical and semantic games, where will it end? 

  The vast majority of Republicans just voted for a bill to criminalize criticisms of the Israeli government. If the bill passes you will be guilty of hate speech if you “apply double standards” to the government of Israel or accuse it of genocide. This is honestly one of the most… https://t.co/5SPRT0I0jk pic.twitter.com/2k6n9A3hiY

  — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 1, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 05/01/2024 – 18:45

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