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Won’t Someone Save Us From The COVID-19 Inquiry? – by Iain Davis – https://iaindavis.substack.com/p/wont-someone-save-us-from-the-covid – “As Scotty once said ‘I can’t take it Captain!’… If I have to read, see or hear one more legacy media report about the monumental farce that is the UK’s COVID-19 inquiry, I fear my brain will batter my soul to death. Why on Earth is anyone taking it seriously?.. I’m starting to think millions of Brits have been hypnotised. Independent inquiry? Are you on acid?.. Believing that the COVID-19 inquiry will reveal anything even remotely “real” is like trusting the outcome of internal police investigations into deaths in police custody. It is like asking Crippin to review food safety standards or requesting Tony Blair investigate war crimes. It is beyond ridiculous… Of course it isn’t an actual “inquiry!” It is a state cover-up and propaganda operation. As I recently discussed with Rick Munn on TNT radio, there is nothing of any value that will ever come out of it… For a start, there is no such thing as an “independent” inquiry established under the the UK Inquiries Act (2005). That Act put paid to any vague hope of independent inquiries in the UK. It is a government cover-up and propaganda operation, run by the government for the government’s benefit… Under the 2005 Act the UK government establishes the inquiry, it sets the terms of reference for the inquiry and can change them whenever it likes; the government appoints the chair of the inquiry and the chair appoints the inquiry panel (counsel), as long as the government agrees; f the current crop don’t toe the line, the government can dismiss and re-appoint a new chair and/or the panel whenever it chooses; the government can determine which witnesses are called, it can withhold funding for areas of “investigation” it doesn’t like the look of; the government can shut down the inquiry if it is starting to look a bit tasty and the government has carte blanche to approve, amend and redact the final inquiry report prior to publication anyway… The word “independent” is itself propaganda when it comes to the so-called “independent” UK COVID-19 inquiry. There is no such thing as an “independent” inquiry convened under the Inquiries Act. It precludes the possibility. That’s why it was enacted… Look who the government “appointed” chair of the inquiry? Hallett is seemingly one of the UK state’s go-to cover up expert. It was Hallett who acted as the coroner for the 7/7 inquests, which were a staggering exercise in obfuscation. The Hallett led inquests, allegedly into the worst loss of life to purported terrorism in UK history, seemingly excluding more evidence than it actually examined… Despite pronouncement of guilt having nothing to do with a coroners inquest, Hallett decided she would pronounce the guilt of the four alleged bombers regardless. While none of them were declared dead at the scenes, she immediately ruled out any possible investigation of their deaths because reasons… So far, Perry Mason doesn’t have much to worry about if the standard of questioning at the alleged “COVID-19 inquiry” is anything to go by. When the former chief advisor to the prime minister, Dominic Cummings was “questioned” at the “inquiry”—I can’t even call it an inquiry anymore, its going to be “cover-up” from now on—there were apparently six shocking things that the “cover-up” supposedly discovered from him. – 1) Boris Johnson doesn’t care about old people; 2) The Tories don’t care about other vulnerable people either; 3) Cabinet ministers were trying to stab each other in the back and Cummings was right in the thick of it; 4) Johnson thought Cummings was a big-head; 5) Cummings ignored the “lockdown rules” and couldn’t care less; 6) Cummings is a mysoginist… Tens of thousands of people died prematurely, and are still dying in their thousands every month, because of so-called policy decisions of Cummings and his cohort of useless plumbs—or so we are told. The cover-up apparently discovered that they are a bunch of petty, self-serving kakistocrats… Go figure! This is like “discovering” water is wet… Yet in May 2021, at the Parliamentary joint Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee hearing, Cummings testified to the following [go to 14:02:35]: In March [2020] I started getting calls from various people saying these new mRNA vaccines could well smash the conventional wisdom. [. . .] People like Bill Gates and that kind of network were saying. [. . .] Essentially what happened is, [. . .] there is a network of people, Bill Gates type people, who were saying completely rethink the paradigm of how you do this.. What Bill Gates and people like that were saying to me and others in number 10 was you need to think of this much more like the classic programs of the past. [. . .] the Manhattan Project in WWII, the Apollo program.. But what Bill Gates and people were saying [. . .] was, the actual expected return on this is so high that even if does turn out to be all wasted billions it’s still a good gamble [. . .] and that is what we did… To be clear: the COVID-19 cover up panel had a man in-front of them, testifying under oath, who was not only a key figure in orchestrating the UK government’s policy response to a supposed global pandemic but had previously admitted that the government’s efforts were massively influenced by a gang of oligarchs and “that kind of network.”.. So, you would imagine that the UK cover-up might be at least mildly intrigued to know a bit more about this… Nope! Not interested… Off you trot Dominic… Which brings us to the cover-up show piece: Boris Johnson’s cringe-worthy testimony. While stomach-churning, it revealed the true purpose of the UK government’s “independent” COVID-19 cover-up… Once again, the whole episode of his alleged “grilling” was a charade that didn’t ask him, or seek to understand, anything of any particular interest. The former PM was pitched a succession of soft-ball questions about a string of irrelevant issues… For example, he was quizzed about so-called “PartyGate.” Hugo Keith KC, counsel to the inquiry—effectively selected by the government to ask the government questions—suggested that the Johnson did not care about the rules. Johnson was free to pontificate on how the parties were misrepresented by the media and how he “really” did care about the rules… At no stage did any “counsel” at the cover-up ask anyone, like Cummings or Johnson, whey they weren’t bothered about a supposedly lethal pandemic disease. It is as if the fact that they were evidently not in the least bit concerned about either contracting or transmitting a disease, which they all claimed to be lethal, was an line of inquiry worth exploring… I don’t know about you, but if I was interrogating these alleged “decision makers,” I would definitely want to know why they didn’t believe COVID-19 was a threat, either to themselves or their families. Especially seeing as these were the very people closest to the so-called “best scientific advice.”.. ‘Why didn’t you believe the pandemic was real’ seems like a blindingly obvious question to have asked. But we’re talking about the UK government’s official COVID-19 cover-up, so it wasn’t… The only thing that is potentially of any interest about the cover-up is Module 5 which is due to consider procurement. Given the extensive evidence of widespread government corruption, you never know, something worthwhile might come out of it, but I doubt it. There will probably be a couple of patsies hung out to dry. Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, whose extramarital affair and party-going exploits during lockdown demonstrated that he couldn’t be arsed to pretend there was a pandemic either, looks like a firm favourite… Ultimately, what the UK government’s subservient cover-up is really about is reinforcing the official narrative about, what was in reality, a pseudopandemic . It is propaganda attempting to justify the destruction wrought by the government’s own policies by claiming they were all necessary to “keep us safe.”.. We already know where it’s heading. It is written in the cover-up’s terms of reference… It aims to “produce a factual narrative,” to identify “lessons to be learned” and, most crucially, “inform preparations for future pandemics.” Despite thousands of years of human history suggesting that pandemics come along every century or so, that’s not true anymore. Now they come in clusters apparently. So this cover-up will be used to impose more biosecurity state restrictions on us when the next one is organised… The chances of the cover-up ever seriously tackling key questions like why the government were allowing a network of international oligarchs to lead on policy decisions, or why no one in charge thought there was a real pandemic, or why they implemented a lockdown and social distancing regime that had absolutely no epidemiological basis at all, are nil… So far the questioning during the cover-up has practically asserted, without any offered rationale whatsoever, that the main identified “lesson to be learned” is that the government didn’t lockdown hard or soon enough. Even some of the legacy media have started to wonder if the question about whether or not we should have locked down at all will ever be asked… Perhaps it will, but I think we all know what the answer will be in the final report. We should have locked down more, we should have suffered more restrictions, we should have shut more businesses, reduced hospital bed numbers even further, killed more people, made death registration even more opaque and adopted even tighter economic and behavioural controls. It is, after all, the UK government’s cover-up… I guess my hope that I can somehow avoid any more of this drivel is a forlorn one. This thing could rumble on for years. What a monumental waste of time and taxpayers’ money?”
Washington Lawmaker Wants To Toss People In Jail For Using Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Because They “Contribute To Climate Change” – Democrat lawmakers in Washington State want to jail residents for using gas-powered landscaping tools such as leaf blowers and edgers. – by Tyler Durden – https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/washington-state-democrat-wants-toss-people-jail-using-gas-powered-leaf-blowers-contribute – “State Rep. Amy Walen (D-Kirkland) has pre-filed legislation which would radically alter the state’s Clean Air Act, according to Jason Rantz of MyNorthwest, who reports that HB 1868 would ban “gasoline-powered and diesel-powered landscaping and other outdoor power equipment” for “contributing to climate change.”.. As Rantz further explains, the bill contains a laundry list of unintended health consequences tied to the tools as well, including a claim that they cause asthma… The bill gets to the ban by empowering the Department of Ecology to “adopt rules to prohibit engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new outdoor power equipment” by either January 1, 2026 or sooner, if the state determines it’s feasible to do so earlier. Washingtonians are expected to upgrade their equipment to zero-emission alternatives. Government work, however, is partly exempt… To make the transition more palatable, the zero-emission alternatives would not be subject to a sales tax. But it would still be prohibitively expensive for many small businesses.-MyNorthwest – If a resident violates the law, they could face up to a year in jail and/or a hefty fine… Of course, as Rantz further notes, the new law wouldn’t apply to government agencies or contractors working for the government under emergency circumstances… We’ll give the last word to Rantz, who suggests that the legislation will harm minorities the most;.. What happened to equity? – Though Democrats argue their legislation should be viewed through an equity lens, this ban has a disproportionate impact on Latino and black business owners. Nationwide data stated 22.8% of landscaping companies are owned by Hispanics and 14.7% are owned by blacks… The cost to transition to zero-emission alternatives is burdensome, too, even with financial assistance provided in the bill. For some businesses, it could still be prohibitively expensive. This financial burden could disproportionately affect minority-owned businesses, potentially leading to a reduction in diversity within the industry, if Democrat talking points are to be believed… This ban is also anti-business, of course. Not only will it take landscapers significantly more time to do the same amount of work, thanks to inefficient battery-powered tools, it can be very expensive. Writing in the Orange County Register, Brooke Staggs notes the strain this can put on small businesses: ‘Commercial-grade electric-powered gear can cost anywhere from 15% to 300% more upfront, before factoring in the cost of batteries, chargers and potential electrical upgrades needed to keep them running all day.’.. Larger companies can more easily absorb the cost of transitioning to electric equipment, but the smaller businesses, which represent the majority of the industry, will struggle. It’s also worth considering the current limitations of electric landscaping equipment, such as battery life and power, which can’t meet the demands of larger or more intensive landscaping projects. Even with tax credits, will they last long enough to cover the constant need to upgrade to better and more efficient technology?”When the Occupier Plays the Victim: The Mysteries of October 7 as the Trigger for the Gaza Massacre (w/Videos – “Israel Killed Its Own Citizens on 10/7” & “Incredible Speech on Gaza”) – by Prof. Anthony J. Hall –
https://www.globalresearch.ca/mysteries-october-7-trigger-gaza-massacre/5843631 – “An Open Letter to Israelis from Israelis: We Deserve the Truth About October 7 – Make no mistake, what Israel is doing in Gaza now will haunt Israelis for decades. Now is the time to make sure all Israelis understand this. And this understanding should start with full disclosure about the events of October 7, 2023…… The question of who killed some Israeli civilians haunts us. It emerges from several reports that some were killed by the Israeli military. Whether they were caught in the crossfire, or deliberately shot at with tanks or helicopters in order to eliminate Hamas fighters or prevent Hamas from taking more captives, we deserve an answer… We demand answers because a genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza in the name of Israeli victims, even though bereaved families are strongly opposed to this vengeful atrocity. We demand answers and so should you. See this… Genocide: Nakba 2023 – It is becoming increasingly clear that the events on and around the Israel-Gaza border on 10/7, October 7, 2023, were designed to create the pretext for “finishing off” the Nakba initiated in 1948. The “Nakba” describes from the Arabic perspective the catastrophic project to kill and uproot indigenous Palestinians in order to make way for the ascent of a replacement population composed primarily of European Jews claiming divine sanction for their genocidal project… This lethal project has pushed on the Palestinians an unbroken trajectory of genocide since 1948 when UN General Assembly of the United Nations instituted a new Convention to prohibit and punish the previously unnamed crime of Genocide. Many scholars and public official have emphasized that the current Zionist assault unleashed on Gaza and the West Bank accurately fulfills the UN’s legal definition of genocide. By majority vote in 1948, the UN General Assembly declared, ‘In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: A) Killing members of the group; B) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; C) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; D) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;’.. Thus the 75 years of the Genocide Convention, as well as, for that matter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, corresponds with the 75 years of the genocidal Nakba now culminating in Operation Swords of Iron. This current high-tech assault on a mostly unarmed civilian population is being speciously presented as if it constitutes a spontaneous response to the supposedly surprise events of 10/7… Day by day the claim is coming to appear increasingly ludicrous that this very dramatic sequence of cause and effect was conjured up instantly out of the clear blue sky. The events of 10/7, it seems, emerged from much elaborate planning and preparation most likely involving the crossing of many lines of demarcation among a broad array of intertwined interests, institutions, and influential individuals… The evidence is growing that an elaborate conspiracy, rather than a random convergence of instantaneous events, lies behind the current military campaign. This Swords of Iron campaign kicked into high gear during the 75th year of a sustained effort to depopulate the indigenous Palestinian population throughout the expanding region controlled by Israel… This depopulation campaign is being led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a politician who since 1979 has built a formidable career in government by advancing his favoured agendas through cunning manipulation of expertly engineered deceptions concerning Islamic terrorism. Everything about his current conduct in Office announces that Netanyahu’s current schtick as the would-be slayer of Hamas has finally cast the widely distrusted politicians in an especially weird role in the theatre of the absurd… The decision to initiate the Swords of Iron military operation, the world was told, was to lash back at Hamas fighters for succeeding in a surprise prison break followed by what was initially described as a savage and vengeful killing spree of Israelis. On October 7 Hamas fighters famously broke through the heavily-monitored and defended walls of the Israeli-policed Gaza enclosure. After moving through all the sophisticated devices, miraculously left open and unguarded by the Occupation Forces, the Hamas escapees then proceeded on courses of action whose nature is currently the subject of much contention… To the government and most of its harnessed media collaborators, the Hamas fighters engaged in an orgy of unbridled atrocities slashing, killing and raping Israelis, including 40 beheaded babies that, we now know, never were. The other view is that the Hamas fighters, also known as the Qassem Brigades, engaged, possibly with some few exceptions, in a disciplined operation aimed primarily at taking Israeli captives, but especially military personnel… Once Israelis were captured, the main imperative of the Hamas operation was to keep the hostages alive and well as they were transported back to Gaza to become bargaining chips in negotiations. The early stages of this objective have already been transacted in the exchange of hostages that took place during the ceasefire of late November… Another area of contention concerns revelations about the large numbers of Israeli citizens that were killed by members of the IDF equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry including missiles launched from US-Israeli Apache Helicopters. As explained by Max Blumenthal and others, the imperative of the IDF was to eliminate whole groups of people including Israeli citizens and soldiers to prevent soldiers from becoming captives of Hamas… The mounting disclosures from whistle blowers, concerned insiders, and credible researchers are already sufficient to reveal that the government rationale for the Israeli military response to the events of October 7, cannot stand up to close scrutiny. No honest and credible court could accept the position of the Israel government that the events of October 7 came out of the blue as a total surprise. No honest and credible court could accept the all-purpose explanation currently on offer that the events of 10/7 transpired as they did because of “intelligence failures.”.. No credible court could overlook that many people had various forms of prior knowledge concerning what would take place on October 7, 10/7. As in 9/11, this prior knowledge was reflected in much short selling of certain vulnerable stocks on the stock market. Similar to 9/11, there is clear evidence of prior knowledge as reflected in the content of intelligence reports originating inside and outside Israel… Especially volatile are the strident allegations and denials that journalists had prior knowledge so that they could be in the right place at the right time to capture photographs, videos and eye-witness stories on 10/7. Rather than ignore or downplay these stories, government officials have implicated themselves and their colleagues by basically making threats that media officials with prior knowledge of 10/7 will face dire consequences if they do not shut up and join the cover-up. This fix is already in, so it seems. See this and this… Israeli citizens are feeling the need to petition the government for full disclosure on the events of 10/7. In an open letter from Israelis to other Israelis, some of them wrote, ‘Make no mistake, what Israel is doing in Gaza now will haunt Israelis for decades. Now is the time to make sure all Israelis understand this. And this understanding should start with full disclosure about the events of October 7, 2023.’.. It is possible that at the heart of the matter concerning how 10/7 came to happen, there was some kind of secret interactions between factions of Hamas with Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s intimate and “symbiotic relations” with the the Israeli-funded Hamas has been frequently observed by many including Israeli historian, Adam Raz. Raz has commented that “in the last 10 years, Netanyahu worked to block any attempt at demolishing Hamas in Gaza.” See this and this… The Genocidal State of Israel – Netanyahu needs this so-called ‘war” for a number of reasons including his ongoing struggle to stay out of jail for corruption charges. He has many enemies that Netanyahu can only fend off by staying in the Office of Israeli Prime Minister. Netanyahu is currently representing an extremist constituency that shares and even exceeds his longstanding obsession with de-Palestinianizing both the land as well as the legal and cultural identity of Israel… The Palestinians as a Symbol of Dignity and Hope for Oppressed People Worldwide – Hamas has never renounced its embrace of armed struggle as a legitimate means of self-defence. Indeed, since Hamas represents the occupied people where the Israeli government represents the occupying group, the former’s right of self-defence trumps that of the latter in international law… In upholding this principle against great odds, Hamas and its allies are injecting added vitality into a growing global movement seeking long overdue justice for the abused Palestinians. Lara Elborno, a Palestinian lawyer living in “forced exile” in Paris, is emerging as a compelling voice for many principles. These include the inherent nature of the right of return for her fellow “forcibly displaced” Palestinians. In her person and with her words, Elborno makes a compelling case that the intergenerational resistance of the Palestinian people has become “a symbol of the dignity and hope for all oppressed people worldwide.” – (Note: Much more in original article)Eagle Pass, Texas “Completely Overrun” With Illegals As Encounters Hit New Records – by Tyler Durden –
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/eagle-pass-texas-completely-overrun-illegals-encounters-hit-new-records – “The Biden administration’s southern border crisis worsens by the day. New figures from Fox News field reporter Bill Melugin show US Customs and Border Protection encounters on the border in the last 24 hours have smashed a new record high. ‘Per CBP sources, there were more than 12,600 migrants encountered at the southern border in the last 24 hours, the highest single day total ever recorded,’ Melugin wrote in a post on ‘free speech’ platform X… He continued: ‘The true number is *significantly* higher because there are thousands still waiting to be processed in Eagle Pass and they do not count in the numbers until they are put into the computers. The official numbers yesterday include over 11,000 Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants and more than 1,600 migrants encountered at CBP ports of entry. This breaks the record of 12,000 encounters that was set just two weeks ago.’
Melugin posted images showing Eagle Pass, Texas, ‘is completely overrun with mass illegal crossings.’.. A video posted by the journo shows a staging area near the border with thousands of illegal migrants… ‘This admin is allowing the border patrol to be pushed to a breaking point..CBP sources on the ground..say this is an unmitigated disaster,’ US Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. wrote on X… New shocking stats and a video of Eagle Pass being overrun came right after CBP halted freight train activity on two railway bridges connecting Texas and Mexico… If it weren’t for Elon Musk’s X, leftist corporate media outlets and the Biden administration would have covered up the worsening border crisis via a mass censorship campaign. This is why Democrats are freaking out because they no longer have control of the news cycle narrative.”
Israel ‘is planning a new ground war against Hezbollah after Gaza campaign’ with officials warning October 7 massacre would be ‘nothing compared’ to a terror attack from the north – by Elena Salvoni –https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12876149/Israel-new-ground-war-Hezbollah-Gaza-Lebanon.html – “Israel is planning to invade Lebanon to push Hezbollah back from its northern border, according to reports, amid a barrage of rocket attacks since the war in Gaza broke out and fears that the terror group is ‘worse than Hamas‘… After weeks of exchanging cross-border fire, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are said to be keen to launch a ground offensive into southern Lebanon which would aim to push the terror group north past the Litani River… Military and government officials in Israel have said they are determined to prevent a repeat of the October 7 invasion from Gaza, with warnings that the scale of a Hezbollah raid could be even more deadly than the massacre of 1,200 people… ‘What happened in the south is nothing compared to what they could do here,’ a senior Israeli officer told The Times. ‘Israeli doctrine is to take the war to the other side.’ – It comes as Israel’s war in Gaza rumbles on, with fresh attacks throughout the night across the besieged Strip including a strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the north which killed 90 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson said… Fears have been mounting that Israel’s war on Hamas, which has seen more than 18,800 Palestinians killed in ‘indiscriminate’ strikes on Gaza, according to the health ministry, could spiral into a regional conflict… Funded by Iran, Hezbollah has been building its military strength over years, stockpiling a huge arsenal of some 100,000 rockets which could ‘overwhelm’ Israel’s Iron Dome defence system… The border tensions have ramped up over the last 70 days, reviving memories of Hezbollah’s devastating 2006 war with Israel that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, largely soldiers… The conflict ended thanks to a UN ceasefire resolution which agreed that all armed forces, except for UN peacekeepers and the official Lebanese army, would be moved north of the Litani River… But instead, over the years that followed, Hezbollah remained in the south and built up its fortifications near the borders, claiming that it was protecting against the Israeli threat… Israelis and Lebanese civilians have been killed in constant strikes, with resident living in border communities evacuated en masse in recent weeks… The two sides have continued to exchange threats, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah repeatedly boasted that his group’s weapons could reach deep into Israeli territory… Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, warned that Hezbollah was ‘dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war that would have devastating consequences.’ – Benny Gantz, former Israeli Prime Minister who is serving in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, warned: ‘If the world doesn’t get Hezbollah away from the border, Israel will do it,’ – Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have traded fire along the border nearly every day since the war began, and other Iran-backed militant groups have attacked U.S. targets in Syria and Iraq… Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have attacked ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones, portraying it as a blockade of Israel… Nearly 300 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the start of the war, and this has been the deadliest year for Palestinians there since 2005… Most have been killed during Israeli military raids, which often ignite gunbattles, or during violent demonstrations… U.S. defense leaders are hoping to prevent the risk of wider regional conflict, both through a sustained high level of U.S. military presence and by urging Israel to scale back operations… President Joe Biden has warned that Israel is losing international support because of its ‘indiscriminate bombing.’ – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that his country would continue major combat operations against Hamas for several more months.”THE GREAT TAKING – “If You Want To Survive What’s Coming, You Need To See This” (37 minutes) | by Mike Maloney with Alan Hibbard – “This video is a condensed compilation of information from David Rogers Webb’s book, “The Great Taking.” This is dipping toes into the deep waters that Webb plumbs in detail. So it’s an introduction to what are most likely the most important sets of hidden facts we collectively need to understand to negotiate the future ahead in the next few years.
A next step could be seeing the recently released video scripted and narrated by David Webb, with the same title as his book. It’s up on several channels on Bitchute, one of them is: https://www.bitchute.com/video/CU839PCiSTZ7/ – (1hr, 12minutes)… “What is ‘The Great Taking’? Mike Maloney and Alan Hibbard analyze this intriguing book, which offers a sobering account of the potential consequences of the next financial crisis. The authors point to the overleveraged derivatives market underpinned by securities dependent on a strong working class. If the working class falters, it could create a cascading crisis leading to bank failures and a consolidation of assets by surviving big banks. This threatens the “you’ll own nothing and be happy” dystopian scenario. The book also explores the stagnant velocity of money in the U.S. economy, suggesting major underlying issues have been worsening for decades. Overall, it presents a stark warning about the fragility of the system and how ordinary people stand to lose assets with little legal recourse in the next crash.”
CONTROVERSY: Legal shockwaves: Lawsuit alleges Verizon cell tower caused life-threatening cardiac events
From: “Arthur Firstenberg” <info@cellphonetaskforce.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2023
Subject: Re: Legal shockwaves: Lawsuit alleges Verizon cell tower caused life-threatening cardiac events – “It is not a good lawsuit. I have read it carefully. It is not based on sound law or good science. And if it succeeds it will set a horrible precedent. It is asking the court to mandate 5G and set exposure levels that are legally binding, below which no one will be able to claim harm. This suit should not go forward.” – Firstenberg’s statement is in direct contradiction to the article below:
Legal shockwaves: Lawsuit alleges Verizon cell tower caused life-threatening cardiac events -by Patrick Tims – https://www.naturalhealth365.com/legal-shockwaves-lawsuit-alleges-verizon-cell-tower-caused-life-threatening-cardiac-events.html – “Not too long ago, the mainstream media often portrayed those expressing concerns about 5G wireless technology as on the outskirts of public opinion. However, a recent lawsuit alleges that Verizon’s cellular signal towers may have detrimental effects on the human body… The plaintiff in the case asserts a direct connection between exposure to these towers and severe, life-threatening heart problems. This legal action marks a shift in the conversation about the safety of 5G technology, prompting a reevaluation of potential health implications associated with wireless infrastructure… The lawsuit that might change the telecom industry is now on the court docket… Children’s Health Defense (CHD) has funded a lawsuit recently filed in the United States District Court for the District of Idaho Southern Division, taking aim at Verizon in what might set an important legal precedent. The lawsuit alleges that plaintiff Henry Allen referred to as “Hank”, suffered negative health outcomes after Verizon cell towers were placed by his home. Hank, a resident of Idaho, is sensitive to electromagnetic waves that are invisible to the human eye… The complaint highlights how cell towers by his home emit radiofrequency radiation, allegedly causing more than a dozen episodes of atrial fibrillation. The complaint also states elevated levels of radiofrequency radiation released by the tower cause a plethora of additional health problems, including: ● Excessive fatigue; ● Memory loss; ● Poor sleep ; ● Reduced vision; ● Symptoms similar to those that occur when one is stricken with the flu… With help from CHD, Hank is suing Verizon along with other defendants involved in the tower’s operation. As an example, the lawsuit also names Horizon Tower LLC as a defendant, as the company owns and operates the Verizon tower in question. Moreover, the lawsuit also lists Dish Wireless and AT&T as defendants, as they own and operate the tower’s equipment… Inquisitive legal minds who’ve taken a deep dive into the lawsuit complaint note that the atrial fibrillation episodes began several years ago. Hank has allegedly been suffering from such heart issues dating all the way back to the spring of 2021, when the Verizon tower was originally activated… EMS is a legitimate health problem that everyone should be aware of… Critical thinkers are justified in questioning whether EMS is real. Also referred to as electromagnetic hypersensitivity and microwave syndrome, EMS is recognized as a medical condition at the federal level… Moreover, EMS is listed as a protected condition in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is estimated that nearly one-third of those living in the United States suffer from mild electromagnetic hypersensitivity… Your proximity to cell towers might be the cause of your health problems… If the lawsuit against Verizon is successful, it will establish an important legal precedent that might prevent the installation of cell towers near residential areas. Telecom companies would be forced to modify towers to prevent RF radiation transmission, relocate towers, or possibly install towers at a specific elevation to prevent harm to those in their vicinity… It is time to start asking uncomfortable questions about cell tower safety. Though it seems logical to position such towers in and near urban centers where people use wireless devices, such positioning appears to be a net negative considering the alleged poor health outcomes of nearby residents… It is also fair to ask whether cell towers should be positioned near houses, apartments, schools, and commercial zones. Though your agency as a citizen is limited in comparison with that of corporations that have similar rights to human beings, you can do a couple of things to minimize exposure to RF radiation… Consider adding EMF protection paint to your home’s exterior and interior walls. Such paint blocks waves from moving into your living space… Add protective fabric that guards against radiation. Such specialized fabric, typically sold as curtains, safeguards everyone inside your living space. Of course, if you’re concerned about EMF pollution, consider having all your computers and electronic devices hard wired and limit your time on wireless devices… There are also unique films for EMF protection that can be added to windows to prevent RF radiation from moving inside. Add the film to your home’s windows, and you’ll sleep soundly knowing you’ve done your part to protect yourself and your loved ones against cell tower RF radiation… Sources for this article include: Childrenshealthdefense.org, Researchgate.net, Childrenshealthdefense.org, NPR.org“The Benefits of Technocracy in China (?) – by Liu Yongmou – https://issues.org/perspective-the-benefits-of-technocracy-in-china/ – “Since the Reform and Opening initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, any casual observer of China’s leaders might note how many of them were educated as engineers. Indeed, at the highest level, former presidents Jiang Zemin (1993–2003) and Hu Jintao (2003–2013) as well as Xi Jinping (2013–present) all studied engineering, although Xi subsequently did academic work in management and law. And an engineering influence exists not only at the very top. A high proportion of government officials at city, provincial, and national levels have had some form of technical education. For example, of the 20 government ministries that form the State Council, more than half are headed by persons who have engineering degrees or engineering work experience. As a result, foreign analysts have suggested for some time that China functions as a kind of technocracy—a nation run by people who are in power because of their technical expertise—and have often criticized it as such. This assessment reflects a common Western view that technocratic governance is inherently anti-democratic and even dehumanizing… But what does technocracy mean today, especially in China? Given China’s remarkable emergence in recent decades as a vibrant player on the world economic and political stage, might technocracy in the Chinese context have some positive characteristics? – To understand technocracy in China, one must first have a sense of historical context and above all an understanding of the cultural impact of a series of devastating military humiliations—the Opium Wars of the 1840s and 1860s, in which, in the name of free trade, China was forced to allow the importation of opium and the Summer Palace was sacked; an 1895 war in which Russia captured the Liaodong Peninsula and Japan took Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and eventually Korea; and the 1899 Boxer Uprising against Christian missionaries, to which Great Britain, France, the United States, Japan, and Russia all responded by looting and raping in Tianjin, Beijing, and elsewhere. In reaction to these defeats, Chinese intellectuals turned the Qing Dynasty thinker Wei Yuan’s injunction “to learn from the West to defeat the West” into a social movement motto. Early Republic of China attempts to learn from the West actually involved the conscious importation of technocratic ideas by the Nanjing government. A number of Chinese who studied in the United States during the 1920s returned home influenced by American technocratic ideals of such figures as Thorsten Veblen and Howard Scott. One example is Luo Longji, who studied at Columbia University from 1922–1923 and returned to China to publish a number of articles arguing for what he called “expert politics,” his term for technocracy. Luo subsequently founded the China Democratic League, which remains one of the eight non-Communist political parties represented in the National People’s Congress… Initially, however, all attempts to learn from the West had to struggle against internal political disorder (the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and a resulting long-term civil war) and renewed invasion by Japan (from 1931 to 1945, through which China endured the brunt of the World War II Pacific Theater). When Mao Zedong and the Communists won the civil war and on October 1, 1949, declared the People’s Republic, political consolidation and technical development vied with each other for priority.
For the next quarter century, until Mao’s death in 1976, the purity of redness often trumped technical engineering competence. The disaster of the Great Leap Forward (1958–1961) was caused by ignoring technological expertise, especially about agriculture, and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) closed many universities in the name of learning from the peasants. The Reform and Opening that began two years after Mao’s death naturally became an opportunity to rehabilitate expertise, both engineering and economic. In policies influenced by the successful development pathways pursued by technocratic regimes in Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, the new paramount leader, Deng, moved engineers into critical government positions. Hu Yaobang, as Party Chairman (1981–1982) and General Secretary of the Communist Party (1982–1987), further proposed that all leading government personnel be trained technical specialists. The technocratic practice of scientific management, which Vladimir Lenin had declared as exploitative under capitalism but beneficial under socialism, offered a bridge between engineering and economics… The varieties of technocracy Before discussing what technocracy has come to mean in China today, I want to first step back to briefly explore how the term has come to be understood in the Western intellectual tradition. In one of the few empirical studies of technocracy, political scientist Robert Putnam defines technocrats as persons “who exercise power by virtue of their technical knowledge” and describes the “technocratic mentality” in terms of five key characteristics.” – (Much more in original article)“Armageddon Lobby”: How Christian Zionists Influence U.S. Policy – by Leonid Savin – https://thealtworld.com/leonid_savin/armageddon-lobby-how-christian-zionists-influence-u-s-policy – “Despite the fact that not only hospitals and mosques but also Christian churches were destroyed during the bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces, many people who call themselves Christians and who are not ethnic Jews actively support Israel’s actions. Where did this phenomenon come from?.. The fact is that Zionism as a Jewish political movement emerged in the late 19th century, but similar ideas appeared much earlier. And, paradoxically, they were born in a Christian environment… The Birth of Puritan Zionism – One of the first supporters of the immigration of European Jews to Palestine were the Puritans. This Protestant sect emerged in the late 16th century and became quite influential in England and later in the American colonies. They showed considerable interest in the role of the Jews in eschatology, or end-time theology… For example, John Owen, a seventeenth-century theologian, member of Parliament, and administrator at Oxford, taught that the physical return of Jews to Palestine was necessary for the fulfillment of end times prophecy. And in 1621, Sir Henry Finch wrote a sermon calling for the support of the Jewish people and their return to their biblical homeland… One of the most influential strands of Christian Zionism has been dispensationalism, a system of interpretation that uses information from the Bible to divide history into different periods of administrations or dispensations and views the biblical term “Israel” as referring to the ethnic Jewish nation established in Palestine… Dispensationalism was originally developed by Anglo-Irish preacher John Nelson Darby in the nineteenth century. Darby believed that the God-ordained destinies of Israel and the Christian church were completely separate, with the latter to be physically “raptured”—raised to meet Jesus—before the period of upheaval predicted in the Apocalypse, called the Great Tribulation… According to Darby, the Great Tribulation will begin after the construction of the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. During the Great Tribulation, according to this teaching, 144,000 Jews will convert to Christianity, and this will reveal to them the true intentions of the Antichrist. Thus, they will become the epicenter for the conversion of all unbelievers who have not been raptured to the Christian faith… It is these 144,000 converted Jews who will meet Antichrist in the final battle known as Armageddon and defeat the Antichrist. After this battle, the seven years of tribulation will end and Jesus will return to imprison Satan and establish a thousand-year Messianic Kingdom on earth… Despite its absurdity and lack of any reference in the Bible, the concept of physically moving Christians to heaven on the eve of Armageddon has been enthusiastically embraced by some churches in England and especially in the United States… Darby’s approach to Christian eschatology coincides with similar developments in Jewish eschatology, namely, the ideas of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer and the creation of a new branch of Jewish messianism. Its representatives believed that Jews should actively work to hasten the coming of their messiah by immigrating to Israel and building the Third Temple on the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located… (Comment: It is well known by historian and archaologists alike that the “Temple Mount” in Jerusalem was not the site of the “Second Temple” in Jerusalem. At the time of the destruction of the Temple by the forces of Flavius Titus, the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque was occupied by Fort Antonia, the Roman Garrison of Jerusalem. This is ignored by the Zionists who desire to destroy these Islamic Holy Sites in order to bring in Zionist World Government in Jerusalem.) Darby himself traveled throughout North America and several other countries to popularize his ideas, meeting with several influential pastors throughout the English-speaking world. Among them was James Brooks, Cyrus Scofield’s future mentor, who later disseminated the concept; and his interpretation was published widely in the United States and is known as the Scofield Bible… Another figure influenced by Darby’s doctrine was the American preacher Charles Taze Russell, whose church later gave rise to several different sects, including the Jehovah’s Witnesses (an organization banned in Russia). Decades before the founding of modern political Zionism, Russell began preaching—not only to Christians but also to Jews in the United States and elsewhere—the need for mass Jewish immigration to Palestine… Russell wrote a letter in 1891 to Edmond de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family, as well as Maurice von Hirsch, a wealthy German financier of Jewish descent, about his plan to settle Palestine. He described his plan as follows: ‘My proposal is that wealthy Jews buy from Turkey at a fair value all her property rights in these lands: that is, all public lands (lands not belonging to private owners), provided that Syria and Palestine are formed as free states.’.. The book, The Jewish State, by Theodor Herzl, considered the founder of Zionism, was published only in 1896… American preacher William E. Blackstone, greatly influenced by Darby and other dispensationalists of the era, also spent decades advocating Jewish immigration to Palestine as a means of fulfilling biblical prophecy. His efforts culminated in the Blackstone Memorial Petition, which called on then-United States President Benjamin Harrison and his Secretary of State James Blaine to take action ‘in favor of the return of Palestine to the Jews.’.. Signers of the petition included bankers J. D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan, future President of the United States William McKinley, Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed, Chief Justice Melville Fuller, the mayors of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and Chicago, the editors of the Boston Globe, New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, as well as members of Congress, influential businessmen, and clergy… Although some rabbis were included among the signers, most American Jewish communities opposed the content of the petition. In other words, the primary goal of Zionism, even before it became a movement, was widely supported by the American Christian elite… Modern Rise – Yet for the first half of the twentieth century, Christian Zionism was not very widespread or influential in the United States… However, then preacher Billy Graham enters the arena and had close relationships with several presidents, including Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon. Finally, dispensationalism entered the mainstream of American political discourse with evangelical preacher Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority organization in 1979… Another prominent dispensationalist of great political and literary influence was Hal Lindsey. Ronald Reagan was so moved by his books that he invited Lindsey to speak at a National Security Council meeting on nuclear war plans and made him an influential adviser to several members of Congress and Pentagon officials… To this day, the Republican Party still leans heavily on Christian Zionists for both cash and votes. They have a profound influence on party ideology… Christian Zionists in the United States now have many names. Some call them the “Armageddon Lobby,” others call them the “Christian AIPAC” (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)… Christian Zionists themselves number about 20 million in the United States, and they sponsor the migration of Jews to Israel from Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine and other countries. That is, in fact, there are more of them than ethnic Jews around the world, although not all Jews support Zionism… During the administration of George W. Bush Jr. and especially on the eve of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the administration was also heavily influenced by Christian Zionists in the form of neoconservatives. During a 60 Minutes interview in October 2002, Jerry Falwell even stated, ‘I think we can now count on President Bush to do the right thing for Israel every time.’.. Falwell was referring to President Bush’s actions in April 2002 when he turned a blind eye to Israeli actions in the West Bank during Operation Protective Wall. Falwell met with President Bush several times during his first term, specifically to discuss United States support for Israel. According to him, the president’s views on Israel were in line with his own… Christian Zionists also helped oust Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, who suggested that it was done for Israel’s benefit by the Jewish lobby. And the Apostolic Congress and the group Americans for a Secure Israel effectively derailed Bush’s plan to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians by flooding the White House with petitions… There is also an organization in the U.S. called United Christians for Israel, which was founded in 2006 by Pastor John Hagee and has more than seven million members. Its members include former CIA head and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Vice President Mike Pence and well-known hawk John Bolton. All of them were quite active during Donald Trump’s presidency… During a speech in Kansas in 2015, Pompeo openly stated that he believes in the “rapture of Christians,” and in an interview said that as a Christian he believes that ‘God chose Trump to help save the Jews from the threat of Iran.’.. It was Christian Zionists who lobbied Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and its sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas and Trump supporter led a prayer for peace in Jerusalem during the relocation of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv on May 14, 2018. He called it ‘a momentous event in the life of your nation and in the history of our world.’.. Another entity from the U.S. called, ‘Proclaiming Justice for the Nations,’ also lobbies for Israel’s interests. At the end of October 2023, they began calling for the resignation of the UN Secretary General for his criticism of Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians… As we can see, the issue of support for Israel has a longer and more complex history than even that state’s creation in 1948… Whereas many Jews deny even the very statehood of Israel, calling it a violation of Talmudic commandments (e.g., the Hasidic Naturei Karta movement), there are ardent supporters of Israel among the followers of Christian denominations, including justifications for any of its government’s actions, including repression of Palestinians… And, of course, American Protestants, who link Israel’s fate to their eschatological worldview, play a huge role in this. And among them are influential political figures who make decisions on U.S. foreign policy.”Now scientists say BREATHING is bad for the environment: Gases we exhale contribute to 0.1% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions – Two greenhouse gases – both more potent than CO2 – are in human breath – One is methane which is famously also emitted from livestock such as cows – by Jonathan Chadwick – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12859057/Now-scientists-say-BREATHING-bad-environment-Gases-exhale-contribute-0-1-UKs-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html – “Whether it’s eating less meat or cycling instead of driving, humans can do many things to help prevent climate change… Unfortunately, breathing less isn’t one of them… That might be a problem, as a new study claims the gases in air exhaled from human lungs is fueling global warming… Methane and nitrous oxide in the air we exhale makes up to 0.1 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say… And that’s not even accounting for the gas we release from burps and farts, or emissions that come from our skin without us noticing… The new study was led by Dr Nicholas Cowan, an atmospheric physicist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh… ‘Exhaled human breath can contain small, elevated concentrations of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), both of which contribute to global warming,’ Dr Cowan and colleagues say… ‘We would urge caution in the assumption that emissions from humans are negligible.’ As most of us remember from science classes at school, humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide… When we inhale, air enters the lungs, and oxygen from that air moves to the blood, while carbon dioxide (CO2), a waste gas, moves from the blood to the lungs and is breathed out… With plants, it is the other way round; plants use CO2 to create oxygen as a by-product (the process known as photosynthesis)… Every person breathes out CO2 when they exhale, but in their new study, the researchers focused on methane and nitrous oxide… These two are both powerful greenhouse gases, but because they’re breathed out in much smaller quantities, their contribution to global warming may have been overlooked… What’s more, plants essentially soak up all the CO2 that’s emitted in human breath, so ‘CO2 contribution in human breath to climate change is essentially zero,’ Dr Cowan told MailOnline… The same cannot be said for methane and nitrous oxide, as plants don’t use these gases in photosynthesis… For the study, the researchers investigated emissions of methane and nitrous oxide in human breath from 104 adult volunteers from the UK population… Participants were required to take in a deep breath and hold it for five seconds, then exhale into a sealable plastic bag… A total of 328 breath samples were collected and every participant had details recorded such as age, sex and dietary preference… After analysing the samples, researchers found nitrous oxide was emitted by every participant, but methane was found in the breath of only 31 per cent of participants… Researchers say those who do not exhale methane in their breath are still likely to ‘release the gas in flatus’ – in other words, by farting… Interestingly, people with methane in their exhaled breath were more likely to be female and above the age of 30, but researchers aren’t sure why… Concentrations of the two gases in the overall samples let the researchers estimate the proportion of the UK’s emissions are from our breath – 0.05 per cent for methane and 0.1 per cent for nitrous oxide… Dr Cowan stresses that each of these percentages relate specifically to these respective gases, not all of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions as a whole… Researchers didn’t manage to find any link between gases in the breath and diets – although meat eaters are known to fuel the climate crisis in other ways. The experts stress that their study only looked at greenhouse gases in breath, and so it does not provide an overall estimate of a person’s emissions footprint… According to the authors, emissions of methane and nitrous oxide are ‘generally ignored in most environmental monitoring’ as they’re considered negligible… However, further study of human emissions of these gases – not just from our breath – could reveal more about ‘the impacts of an ageing population and shifting diets,’ the team say… Inside the human body, methane gas is produced by microorganisms called methanogens, which colonise our digestive tract… The methane crosses into the blood and is carried to the lungs where it can be exhaled in breath… Meanwhile, bacteria in the gut and oral cavity turns nitrates in food and water to nitrous oxide, which also escapes in human breath… The study has been published in the journal PLOS One.”Jim Rickards’ Five Forecasts For 2024 – https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rickards-five-forecasts-2024 – “I have five forecasts for 2024 to help keep you ahead of the curve in positioning your investment portfolio… My overall forecast is that 2024 will be more tumultuous and shocking than 2023. That may seem hard to credit… With two major wars going on, an indicted former president and a demented current president, how can 2024 be more challenging than 2023?.. An Election of Dire Consequences – It’s a cliche to write that the next presidential election will be the “most important in our lifetimes.” Yet in 2024 that cliche will actually be true… The divide between the two parties is probably greater than at any time in U.S. political history since the Civil War. The choice could not be more stark and the stakes could not be higher… That’s why this election is so important… First off, I don’t think that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee for president – Biden’s problem is not just his age, but the fact that he actually is mentally and physically impaired. He’s simply not fit to be president, and everyone knows it even if Democratic operatives and media sycophants don’t want to mention it. But who will replace Biden?.. The most likely replacements are Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer and Jennifer Granholm. All four were or are state governors. They’re all about the same ideologically; take your pick. Forget Kamala Harris; she’s simply too much of a liability… The Republican Side – On the Republican side, there’s not a lot to say. Trump will be the nominee; no one can recall a non-incumbent with such a large lead in the polls… He’s leading the pack by 55 points or more and is now even running ahead of Joe Biden in recent polls… Meanwhile, Trump’s facing over 90 felony charges in four separate indictments in two state courts and two federal courts. Criminal indictments only increase Trump’s popularity because they are clearly motivated by politics… A criminal conviction (likely in my view) will further solidify Trump’s base because of the blatant jury shopping, targeted prosecutions and absence of due process that Trump has had to endure… The biggest curveball is that Trump may actually be behind bars on Election Day. That’s OK, there is no legal or other prohibition on electing an incarcerated convicted felon as president. Third-world, yes. Illegal, no… This brings us to the third-party situation. There are many third-party candidates who will likely divide the Democrats. These include RFK Jr., Cornel West and Jill Stein. I wouldn’t rule out Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia, who’s announced he won’t seek reelection. If he runs for president, he’s likely to go on the No Labels party line… I believe these third-party candidates will divide the Democratic vote, which I also believe will favor Trump. So that’s my first forecast — Trump will win back the presidency in 2024.… U.S., China and a Global Recession – Chinese economic growth is now in the low single digits (about 4% per year). That’s down from the double-digit growth of the 1994–2008 period… China has had two failed “reopenings” (one after COVID in 2022, and one as the result of “stimulus” in 2023) and seems headed for a third. China gets a small boost from loose fiscal and monetary policy that rapidly fades because there is no real stimulus possible when a country is as heavily indebted as China… The U.S. faces its own economic headwinds. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to 5.50% from zero in 20 months and reduced its balance sheet by over $1 trillion in the same period, an even tighter monetary policy than the one engineered by Paul Volcker from 1979–1981… Fiscal policy is also tightening since the COVID handouts and student loan grace periods are over. Fiscal policy will get even tighter now that Republican deficit hawks have the upper hand in the House of Representatives… The data showing the U.S. is heading to a recession is abundant. In fact, the U.S. may already be in recession. The indicators include inverted yield curves, rising commercial real estate defaults, declining industrial production, declining job creation and falling bank loans… That leads me to my next forecast: China, the U.S. and Japan will all fall into recession in the coming months. The EU is already in recession. A rare global recession will be the result in 2024.… Ukraine – Russia is winning the war decisively. The West and Ukraine have shown no willingness to negotiate and there’s no reason for the Russians to negotiate because they’re winning… With that in mind, it seems likely that Joe Biden will double-down on his losing bet… The Russians don’t expect the war to be over until 2025. That gives Biden time to deliver F-16 fighter jets and more money and to help Ukraine with its flying drones and sea-drones that can attack Russian vessels and the Kerch Bridge… Russia will certainly match that kind of escalation by shooting down the F-16s, increasing its cruise missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure so that the country will lack electricity and heat this winter… My forecast is that Russia will not de-escalate because they’re winning. Biden will not de-escalate because he’s senile, is surrounded by warmongers and has no reverse gear... I do not expect escalation to the point of nuclear weapons, but the probability of that outcome is uncomfortably high and should not be dismissed… Next is part two of this forecast… Israel and Gaza – The Israeli-Hamas War has its own risks of escalation. As of now, fighting is mostly limited to northern Gaza adjacent to the Israeli border. Yet Israel faces an enemy 10 times more powerful than Hamas in the form of Hezbollah, which is located in Lebanon on Israel’s northern border, and which is heavily subsidized by Iran in terms of money, weapons and intelligence… Hezbollah has launched some missile attacks from Lebanon on Israel’s northern border, but those have not been extensive. In addition to Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels in Yemen are firing missiles into Israel… The Houthis are a direct Iranian proxy intended to threaten Saudi Arabia, but are equally capable of threatening Israel. If Hezbollah and Houthi attacks on Israel escalate, Israel will not limit their response to those two groups. They are likely to launch attacks on Iran itself, going to the root of the problem. At that point, Iran may fire missiles at Israel and close the Straits of Hormuz… For now, the tensions have been reduced slightly. But if the escalation scenarios play out even in part, expect oil prices to go to $150 per barrel or higher. That will put the U.S. and Western Europe in a recession worse than 2008 and the earlier oil shock of 1974… Don’t rule it out… Banking Crisis Stage 2 – In less than two months from early March to early May 2023, we saw the failures of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Credit Suisse and First Republic… In response, the FDIC stepped in with the mother of all bailouts. Going forward, the issue is: Once you’ve guaranteed every deposit and agreed to finance every bond at par value, what’s left in your bag of tricks? What can you do in the next crisis that you haven’t already done — except nationalize the banks?.. Investors are relaxed because they believe the banking crisis is over. That’s a huge mistake. History shows that major financial crises unfold in stages and have a quiet period between the initial stage and the critical stage… My next forecast is that a bigger and more acute Stage 2 of the banking crisis is coming after the quiet period that has prevailed since June. This new crisis will be focused on about 20 banks with $200–900 billion in assets — the so-called midsized regional banks that are not too big to fail… Crises of this sort can feed on themselves and cause losses that go far beyond the particular banks that may be most vulnerable. A new global financial crisis could be the result… Markets – All of the above predictions involve turmoil either in domestic U.S. politics, international macroeconomics, ongoing wars or a potential financial meltdown starting in the banking system. With that as background, my market predictions are fairly straightforward: ● 2024 will be a difficult year for stocks. The market could decline at least 30% on a recession alone, and as much as 50% if either the Ukraine or Israeli war escalates, or a global financial crisis emerges… ● The major sectors that will outperform even in a falling market are energy, defense, agriculture and mining… ● 2024 should be an excellent year for U.S. government securities. All maturities will produce decent yields and capital gains as interest rates decline going into a recession… ● Basic commodities such as copper, iron ore, coal, non-precious metals and agricultural produce will generally decline as the recession unfolds. Gold and silver should perform well based on declining interest rates and a flight to quality… ● Energy will be volatile. It will tend to go down based on economic weakness, but occasionally rally on geopolitical fears… ● The investment choices are clear. It will be a bad year for stocks, a good year for Treasury securities and a down year for commodities, except for energy and gold. The winners will be Treasuries, gold, oil and King Dollar… Put on your crash helmets for a wild ride in the coming year.”Data Mining, Artificial Intelligence, and Angels of Death – by Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD – https://aapsonline.org/data-mining-artificial-intelligence-and-angels-of-death/ – “Google is universally well known as a search and advertising company. Now Google is tapping into the $3.5 trillion healthcare market. To compete with the Apple Watch, Google acquired FitBit, the wearable exercise, heart rate, and sleep tracking device. Data is king…Voluntarily worn fitness tracking devices are one thing, but Google has entered the realm of the brave new world.A government inquiry has brought to light Google’s “Nightingale Project” that collected private medical data from Ascension Health’s 2,600 sites of care across 20 states and D.C., unbeknownst to the patients. Dozens of Google employees had access to the data which included lab results, physician diagnoses, hospitalization records, and health histories, complete with patient names and dates of birth. Google claims that the project complies with the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act (HIPAA) because it is a qualified business associate of Ascension Health. And unlike the ads for socks that appear on your computer a nanosecond after you purchased some tennis shoes, Google promises that the data won’t be combined with consumer data. Fat chance… Amazon, which already knows our every thought, was not satisfied with merely creating software that can read medical records. Now they’ve created Transcribe Medical, a system that transcribes confidential patient-doctor conversations and uploads them directly into the electronic health record. Doctors would relinquish all control over “private” patient records. Google also has been working on its own automatic speech recognition “digital scribe” to upload multiple speaker conversations… Not only is there a problem with inaccuracies that could lead to a patient receiving the wrong treatment, but we all know the ubiquitous problem of hacking—even in the Department of Defense and the federal Office of Personnel Management… Disturbingly, certain circles oohed and aahed over the revelation that Google, using electronic health records (EHR), created an artificial intelligence program that could predict death better than doctors. Fortunately for humanity, many others found the thought of leaving doctors out of the equation horrifying. The cheerleaders crowed that it would decrease work for the doctors; they wouldn’t have to waste their time going through those pesky medical records to arrive at a conclusion. Using an artificial neural network to predict the death of a human being is a far cry from having a computer interpret an inanimate x-ray who is not a daughter, mother, sister, wife, or grandmother… If you put it all together, it adds up to a death panel of one. Google’s software would decide that there is not a high likelihood of walking out of the hospital, no treatment would be given. We are becoming witness to the devolution of humanity… Moreover, the government is incentivizing workforce development in palliative care through the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act. Perhaps this is why the hospice team seems to greet the patient at the hospital door. Of note, once a person has signed on to the Medicare hospice program, Medicare will not pay for any curative treatment or medications. Medicare will not pay for an emergency room visit unless the hospice team arranged it or someone decides it is not related to the hospice diagnosis… The number of hospice agencies participating in the Medicare program nearly doubled between 2000 and 2016, for a total of some 4,382 providers. In 2000, about 30 percent of hospice agencies were for-profit, compared to about 67 percent in 2016. In that same period, Medicare payments grew from $3 billion to $16.8 billion… Hospice care is lucrative. The minimum Medicare payment is $196 per day regardless of the quantity or quality of services provided on that day. A July 2019 report from the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services found that more than 80 percent of end-of-life facilities in the United States had at least one deficiency, and nearly 20 percent were poor performers with serious problems that jeopardized patient health and safety. It seems the compassionate medical service to care for suffering patients has turned into a heartless cash cow… Is this what we want for our loved ones and eventually, ourselves? Medicare for All promises every type of medical care under the sun, including long-term care. Long-term care is expensive and if done properly, labor intensive. What better way to save money than to promote a computer program that convinces doctors that the patient is going to die no matter what they do. So the hospital tells the family that treatment or home care will drain their finances. For what? I’ll tell you for what. My parents died at home only after they were tired of doctors and ready to go. They strolled into heaven. They were not shoved in with a giant government backhoe.”
