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Johnny Ventura: Dominican merengue legend dies aged

by the El Reportero‘s news services

Ventura, whose career spanned six decades, shot to fame after forming a merengue and salsa orchestra called the “combo show”.

The band was considered one of the most significant groups in the musical history of the Caribbean nation.

Merengue, which draws on African and Spanish influences, is both a genre of music and a partner dance style.

Luis Abinader, president of the Dominican Republic, declared three days of mourning after Ventura’s death.

Mr Abinader also said that the singer – known affectionately as “El Caballo Mayor”, or Big Horse – would posthumously receive military honors.

“The death of Johnny Ventura is an irreparable loss, we were ahead of” El Caballo.

Johnny was a great artist with unique authenticity, a man of integrity in every sense of the word, he was a gentleman, kind and caring, a great example of integrity for all of us, “wrote trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on his Facebook page.

“His music about him, his songs and especially his image will remain for the rest of our lives in the memory of all of us who were lucky enough to know him and enjoy his art and his friendship.

“It is a very sad day for music and for everyone in your beloved Quisqueya La Bella.

Rest in peace, my sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans around the world. We are going to miss you to the drum. May God receive him in his Holy Glory. ”

According to a report from the hospital that treated him, Ventura collapsed while having lunch in the northern city of Santiago de los Caballeros, the BBC reported.

He did not respond to resuscitation efforts, the Unión Medica Clinic added.

The artist made more than 100 albums in his long musical career and received six Latin Grammy Awards.

He later he pursued a career in politics, becoming the mayor of the capital, Santo Domingo.

Ventura, who was born Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano on March 8, 1940, was married for more than 50 years and had seven children.

The Dominican Ministry of Culture tweeted: “We join in the grief that overwhelms [Ventura’s] family in these difficult times. His legacy will live on forever in his songs and in Dominican culture.”

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PRONOUNS PUKED: California court strikes down law that punishes the “misgendering” of LGBT

by Ramon Tomey

 

A California appeals court ruled that a state law punishing care home workers for “misgendering” their elderly wards was unconstitutional. The California Third District Court of Appeal’s July 16 decision sided with First Amendment speech protections – with all three judges in the panel ruling unanimously. Because of the July 16 ruling, care home staff no longer needed to worry about being penalized for using pronouns that were inconsistent with elderly residents’ claimed gender identity.

The court’s decision pertained to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, which was signed into law by former California Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017. It banned long-term care facilities from discriminating based on people’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or HIV status. The California Legislature added it to the state’s Health and Safety Code in the same year.

Democratic State Sen. Scott Wiener said in 2017 that he wrote the bill due to reports of elderly LGBT people being mistreated. He added that LGBT seniors face special challenges that were not covered by existing nursing home laws.

“We have a number of advocacy organizations that are very excited about the bill that helped us get it passed. [They] are definitely putting the word out that people living in long-term care facilities have these protections and should be aware of them,” Wiener said.

However, an informal group of state taxpayers calling themselves Taking Offense challenged the law. They challenged a provision in the California Health and Safety Code that banned staff members from “willfully and repeatedly referring to a facility resident by other than [their] preferred name or pronoun when clearly informed.”

According to Taking Offense, the said provision violated care home staffers’ right to free speech, free exercise and religion and freedoms of thought and belief. The group added that the said provision is vague and overbroad. (Related: Federal appeals court rules in favor of professor who refused to use preferred pronouns of transgender student.)

Penalizing people who misgender is a “restriction of speech”

In its 46-page decision, the court said “it recognized the [California] Legislature’s legitimate and laudable goal of rooting out discrimination against LGBT residents of long-term care facilities. However, it agreed with the argument of Taking Offense that “the pronoun provision is a content-based restriction of speech that does not survive strict scrutiny.”

The decision elaborated: “The pronoun provision – whether enforced through criminal or civil penalties – is over-inclusive in that it restricts more speech than is necessary to achieve the government’s compelling interest in eliminating discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of sex.” Furthermore, it added that the law “criminalizes even occasional, isolated, off-hand instances of willful misgendering … without requiring that such occasional instances … amount to harassing or discriminatory conduct.”

The Epoch Times reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta for comment about the ruling. However, it did not receive a reply by press time.

Many have disputed the concept of gender identity as it went against the long-established truth of male and female being the only two genders. However, social media platforms have contributed to the promotion of the concept. Facebook permitted users to select from a list of 58 genders to display on their profiles. Meanwhile, Twitter banned users for “dead-naming” transgender people or calling them by their names prior to their gender transition. (Related: Social Justice Warriors want students to wear name tags that describe their “preferred gender pronoun.”)

Other areas have also implemented laws similar to that of California. New York City passed such a law in 2016 that banned gender discrimination. According to a New York Post report from May 2016, violators could face fines of up to $250,000 for simply failing to use a person’s preferred pronouns.

The guidelines issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said employers and landlords must use individuals’ preferred pronouns. It explained that some transgender individuals prefer to use other pronouns other than the traditional ones used to refer to males and females. Examples of these other pronouns included the third person singular “ze” and the third person plural “hir.”

Former CHR Spokesman Seth Hoy said that time: “The commission issued this guidance … so that employers and individuals understand what the law says and to ensure that every transgender individual in New York City is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.” However, later guidance clarified that people accidentally misgendering a transgender person’s preferred pronoun would not be penalized.

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In US, Iguala case closed after gang leaders negotiate deal with prosecutors

One former gang leader is likely to be released in exchange for his collaboration on the case

 

by the El Reportero‘s wire services

 

The United States is set to close its investigation into crimes allegedly related to the disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, in 2014.

A leader of the Guerreros Unidos crime gang – which allegedly killed the Ayotzinapa rural teacher’s college students – has confessed to transporting drugs from Iguala to Chicago and reached an agreement with the United States government to provide information to the U.S. about the illegal smuggling.

Pablo Vega, who has been in prison in the United States for the past seven years, pleaded guilty in April to transporting drugs to the U.S. in passenger buses, according to the newspaper Milenio, which reviewed official U.S. documents. The details of the agreement he reached with U.S. authorities is classified but it appears likely he will be released from prison as a result of his agreement to collaborate.

José Rodríguez, an associate of Vega who was also a member of the Guerreros Unidos, is currently in negotiations with U.S. authorities and pending an agreement will officially plead guilty to trafficking charges on September 1, Milenio said.

Once that occurs the Ayotzinapa-Iguala case will be officially closed in the United States.

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) determined several years ago that the Guerreros Unidos had transported heroin to the United States on passenger buses. The gang transported the heroin in hidden panels on the buses that ran from its territory in Iguala to Aurora, a suburb of Chicago, the DEA established.

By intercepting dozens of messages Vega received on his Blackberry phone, the DEA also concluded that Guerreros Unidos members in the United States were aware of the abduction of the 43 students on September 26, 2014.

The students were on a bus they had commandeered to travel to a protest in Mexico City when they were intercepted and came under attack by Iguala municipal police. Independent experts who investigated the students’ disappearance said that one hypothesis is that the bus on which they were traveling was carrying drugs and would have left for the United States had it not been commandeered. It was allegedly one of five buses carrying drugs that was scheduled to depart for the U.S. on the day the students disappeared.

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They study making vaccination mandatory in Puerto Rico

This Tuesday there will be a new meeting between the Scientific Coalition and the Government to make recommendations on the management of the pandemic and vaccination

 

by The American newsroom Puerto Rico

 

07.19.21 – The Secretary of State and current interim governor, Omar Marrero assured this Monday that the Government contemplates applying “all alternatives” to make vaccination in Puerto Rico against COVID-19 effective, including making inoculation mandatory or apply restrictions again to deal with the virus.

In a press conference related to health and the pandemic, he assured that forcing people to get vaccinated would require legal terms that have not been analyzed, but that are not ruled out.

“Before being considered, the legal analysis would have to be made, under the applicable legal system, even constitutional if that could not be an interference,” said Marrero.

“All the options, all the possible options that could exist to ensure that we are going to triumph with the battle against COVID-19 are under consideration,” he emphasized.

Regarding the approaches they have in case the vaccination in Puerto Rico does not proceed as it should, restrictions will be applied again in commercial premises, according to the interim governor.

“The strategy continues to be vaccination. That is why we ask all the people who have not been vaccinated to get vaccinated so we will be waiting for the report from the Coalition. We will look at the recommendations of the Department of Health, “he said.

This Tuesday there will be a new meeting between the Scientific Coalition and the Government to make recommendations on the management of the pandemic and vaccination in Puerto Rico, especially after this Monday the Department of Health also reported that the rate of positivity of COVID cases -19 increased to 4.4 percent.

Bukele will double army troops to fight against gangs in El Salvador

San Salvador (AFP)

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced on Monday that he will double the army’s strength from 20,202 to 40,000 so that together with the police, they embark on a new phase of a plan to defeat violent gangs.

“The Armed Forces will have 40,000 elements, added to what the PNC (National Civil Police) will have, there will be one person providing security for each gang member. So we are going to win this war against gangs with courageous measures,” Bukele said.

The announcement was made during the swearing-in of 1,046 new military personnel in a barracks in the southeast of San Salvador.

The new contingent joins the 9,825 soldiers who accompany the Police in public security tasks within the framework of the Territorial Control Plan that, since June 2019, seeks to contain the gangs.

The Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs, among others, have some 70,000 members, more than 16,000 of them incarcerated, and they operate committing homicides, extortion, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.

“In front of these 857 men and 189 women, I want to launch phase four of the Territorial Control Plan, which will begin to be implemented today and will take 5 years, it is called Incursion,” said the president.

After celebrating the reduction in homicides by 60 percent so far this year, Bukele assured that, by doubling the army, it will “guarantee to have enough human capital to be able to defeat the gangs in their territories.”

The president ordered Defense Minister Francisco Merino to begin preparing new soldiers to “defend the homeland from our greatest internal enemy, the gangs.”

With a territory of 20,742 km2 and 6.7 million inhabitants, El Salvador closed 2020 with 1,322 homicides, which meant an average of 20 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Most of these crimes are attributed to gangs.

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Nonprofit Sues HHS to Immediately Stop Emergency Use Authorization of COVID-19 Vaccines

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, speaks following a tour of an emergency intake site to care for the arrival of unaccompanied migrant children at the Long Beach Convention center on May 13, 2021 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

by Li Hai

 

America’s Frontline Doctors—a nonprofit organization—filed a motion on July 19 seeking immediate injunctive relief to stop the emergency use authorization (EUA) of COVID-19 vaccines for three groups of Americans: anyone under 18 years old, anyone recovered from COVID-19, and those who haven’t received informed consent as defined by federal law.

The motion was filed against Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other defendants in a federal district court in the Northern District of Alabama.

“The emergency declaration and its multiple renewals are illegal,” the complaint (pdf) alleges.

According to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, when the Secretary of HHS declares that an emergency use is appropriate, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) may then authorize unapproved use or EUA of the vaccines.

On Feb. 4, 2020, then-Secretary of HHS Alex Azar declared a public health emergency, saying that existing circumstances justify the emergency use authorization.

The complaint alleges that the legal requirements to issue and maintain COVID-19 vaccine EUAs are not met.

Firstly, there is no underlying emergency and no “serious or life-threatening disease or condition,” the complaint notes.

According to defendants’ death data, the CCP virus has an overall survivability rate of 99.8 percent globally, “on a par with the seasonal flu.”

However, the defendants’ data is deliberately inflated, the complaint alleges, saying that HHS has changed the rules applicable to persons responsible for writing death certificates and requires them to make cause of death determinations primarily attributable to COVID-19. From last March, death certificates indicated “COVID-19 [as] being the underlying cause more often than not.”

The way in which COVID-19 is diagnosed—using magnified values from PCR tests, which were also authorized for emergency use—guarantees “an unacceptably high number of false-positive results,” the complaint continued.

Secondly, COVID-19 vaccines are not effective in diagnosing, treating, or preventing a disease or condition, which fails another requirement for issuing and maintaining EUAs.

The complaint cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): a total of 10,262 CCP virus breakthrough infections (detection of SARS-COV-2, 14 or more days after receiving required dosages) of those fully vaccinated were reported between Jan. 1 and April 30.

“It is important to note that the vaccines were only shown to reduce symptoms—not block transmission,” the complaint added.

Thirdly, the benefits do not outweigh the known and potential risks of each vaccine. Those risks are especially increased in reproductive health, potential death, neurological damage, more virulent strains, and others.

Lastly, there are adequate, approved, and available alternatives to the vaccines, such as Ivermectin, Budesonide, Hydroxychloroquine, and others.

Not Adequately Informed

The plaintiffs also allege that healthcare professionals and vaccine candidates are not being adequately informed, as the federal law requires.

“No one ever provided me with any information regarding possible adverse reactions, nor did they provide me with any information regarding alternative treatments. I did not understand this was gene therapy rather than a traditional vaccine. Again, I also did not understand that the vaccines were not ‘approved’ by the FDA,” plaintiff Angelia Deselle said in a declaration included in the lawsuit.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was established to provide information regarding adverse events potentially caused by vaccines. The complaint pointed out that VAERS is not accurate and the federal government is failing to provide data from other sources such as the military, Medicare, and Medicaid.

According to the complaint, a patient cannot give informed consent without an understanding of the risks.

Under 18 Age Group and Those Recovered From COVID-19

“CDC data indicates that children under 18 have a 99.998 percent COVID-19 recovery rate with no treatment,” the complaint says. “Injecting this under-18 subpopulation with the Vaccines threatens them with immediate, potentially life-threatening harm.”

Last month, the CDC said more than 1,200 cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults were reported following the administration of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s two-shot vaccines.

“There is no public interest in subjecting children to experimental vaccination programs, to protect them from a disease that does not threaten them,” said Dr. Angelina Farella, a pediatrician who has actively practiced for over 25 years, in a declaration. Farella is an expert for America’s Frontline Doctors.

The complaint asserts that Americans who have recovered from COVID-19 should not get vaccinated.

It cited a recent Cleveland Clinic study that demonstrates natural immunity through prior infection is stronger than any benefit conferred by a COVID vaccine. Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that for those with preexisting COVID-19 immunity, 89 percent of them reported adverse side-effects after receiving the first vaccine injection.

“COVID recovered patients are at extremely high risk to a vaccine,” plaintiffs’ expert Dr. Richard Urso said in a declaration. “They have all the requisite components of immune memory. Vaccination may activate a hyperimmune response leading to a significant tissue injury and possibly death.”

Whistleblower Testimony: 45,000 Deaths Following Vaccinations

Jane Doe, a computer programmer with expertise in the healthcare data analytics field, filed a sworn statement indicating the actual number of deaths following the COVID-19 vaccination is about 45,000.

“It is my professional estimate that VAERS database, while extremely useful, is under-reported by a conservative factor of at least 5. On July 9, 2021, there were 9,048 deaths reported in VAERS,” Jane Doe said in her declaration (pdf).

“I queried data from CMS medical claims with regard to vaccines and patient deaths, and have assessed that the deaths occurring within 3 days of vaccination are higher than those reported in VAERS by a factor of at least 5. This would indicate the true number of vaccine-related deaths was at least 45,000.”

Jane Doe noted that the swine flu vaccine was taken off the market because of 53 deaths reported following the vaccination.

“The evidence makes it irrefutable that Plaintiffs and others in the public will suffer irreparable injury … if this motion is denied,” the plaintiffs asserted. “Finally, the evidence tilts the balance of hardships and public interest … decisively in favor of Plaintiffs.”

In an email to The Epoch Times, the HHS declined to comment on the lawsuit, “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation.”

President Joe Biden praised the vaccines as safe and effective.

“You know, some people have questions about how quickly the vaccines were developed. They say they’ve been developed so quickly, they can’t be that good. Well, here’s what you need to know: Vaccines were developed over a decade of research in similar viruses, and they’ve gone through strict FDA clinical trials,” Biden said last month.

“The bottom line is this—I promise you: They are safe. They are safe. And even more importantly, they’re extremely effective.”

The Biden administration announced earlier this month that it would start door-to-door outreach in targeted communities to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates.

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MEDA receives grant from JPMorgan Chase to support rural communities in CA

The goal is to ensure that they have better access to affordable housing and jobs

 

by Araceli Martínez

Sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

 

The Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) received a $250,000 philanthropic investment from JPMorgan Chase to launch a multi-year effort that will expand the capacity of rural nonprofits and help Latino communities throughout California. This is part of JPMorgan Chase’s $30 billion commitment to help advance racial equity and drive an inclusive recovery.

“The purpose of this initiative is to expand the capacity of organizations to develop affordable housing in rural California communities,” said Luis Granados, chief executive officer of MEDA during an interview with El Reportero.

MEDA receives grant from JPMorgan Chase to support rural communities in CA

The first step, he explained, has been to carry out research that shows which organizations and communities they are going to support. “The second thing we will do, once the organizations are identified, is give them the capital to develop their affordable housing loan capacity.”

He pointed out that they hope to select between three or four organizations. “Of all the rural California counties we’ve seen, the list has been narrowed to five, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Riverside, Ventura, Fresno and Kern.”

In the first phase they will focus on three or four counties, which will be determined through a set of criteria. In fact, he said they started the research project in February, and they hope to deliver the capital to the selected organizations in the fall.

Granados mentioned that this is the first time they have carried out this type of project in rural areas, but during the pandemic, last year they worked with people from Watsonville to help them strengthen their loan capacity and build affordable housing and raise their communities.

“Some of the solutions we need to see is the connection between essential jobs, housing, and the lack of proper health care. Many people work in the fields and when they leave, they arrive at their homes where they live in overcrowded conditions. These workers have been the most affected by the pandemic”.

The MEDA executive stressed that they seek to ensure that they develop the capacity of non-profit organizations in rural communities so that people in those areas have better access to affordable housing and jobs, supporting small businesses.

“I think that if we succeed, it will be a great thing and we can have an impact on the quality of life of the communities.”

Founded in 1973, MEDA, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization, is on a mission to advance a national equity movement by building Latino prosperity, community ownership and civic power.

Mercedeh Mortazavi, Vice President of Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase, said that even before the pandemic, Latino communities in rural California faced many barriers to accessing economic opportunity.

“By investing in strengthening nonprofits that serve Latinos, we can help increase access to economic opportunity through community development infrastructure and drive an inclusive recovery,” she noted.

The powerful individual and collective stories of strength, endurance and perseverance of Latinos do not always translate into the well-being of their communities. California has long faced significant barriers to success, including housing insecurity, challenges in obtaining legal status, and rampant inequality.

According to an Insight Center report published before Covid-19, 52 percent or 1.6 million of California’s Latino households had trouble paying for basic expenses like food, housing and electricity, up from 49 percent in 2014.

CalMatters reported on Oct. 10, 2019 that the median income for Latino households in 2016 was $56,200 compared to $ 78,000 statewide and $96,400 for white households.

According to an Aug. 7, 2020 report from the California Public Policy Institute, these existing inequalities were further aggravated with the onset of the pandemic last March. The economic challenges are disproportionate: Households with annual incomes of less than $40,000 are twice as likely to report job loss as those earning $80,000 or more, and Latinos have suffered at nearly twice the rate of white residents in the state.

Furthermore, the health consequences for Latinos have been dire. The Fresno Bee newspaper published on Dec. 13, 2020 that the capacity of intensive care units fell to 0 percent in the San Joaquin Valley region that comprises 12 counties, an area that is 41 percent Latino.

“There is an urgent need to address the issues of Latino communities in rural California,” said MEDA’s Granados. “In the past, MEDA has held discussions with California nonprofit leaders and elected officials that revealed that they often have a strong social services infrastructure that can include health, education, and early learning services to improve the quality of life for women. Latino and immigrant families.

However, he pointed out that very few have community development infrastructure to implement affordable housing development and community facilities, participate in business loans, or provide high-quality financial advice, all of which are critical to our pandemic recovery.

According to MEDA, community capacity-building efforts will help Latino-serving nonprofits increase the financial capability of underserved families, business owners and community institutions, helping address their specific needs and achieve long-term economic sustainability.

– MEDA was also the first recipient of JPMorgan Chase AdvancingCities in the Bay Area.

Visit JPMorganChase.com/Pathforward to learn more about their efforts to advance racial equity, which include affordable housing, minority-owned businesses, financial health, workforce diversity and more.

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Cannes recognizes 2 films that relate the terror of violence in Mexico

La Civil and Prayers for the Stolen were recognized by the Cannes Film Festival

by Mexico News Daily

Two Mexican films recounting tales of violence have been awarded prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.

La Civil and Prayers for the Stolen (Noche de Fuego) were recognized in the Un Certain Regard (from another angle) category where 20 films with unusual styles and non-traditional stories are presented.

Prayers for the Stolen tells the story of three girls in the Guerrero Sierra who live amid a backdrop of gunshots and narcos, while they battle to maintain their innocence.

The 110-minute film was awarded a special mention by the jury and Salvadoran-Mexican director Tatiana Huezo dedicated the prize to Latin American women who are “teaching [their daughters] that they can be free.”

La Civil tells the true story of Míriam Rodríguez, a mother in Tamaulipas who searched for her daughter after she was kidnapped by a cartel. The 140-minute film, directed by Romanian filmmaker Teodora Mihai, received an eight-minute standing ovation after its screening. It was awarded the Courage Prize by the Cannes jury.

Rodríguez was able to collate sufficient evidence to bring her daughter’s murderers to justice, only for them to escape from prison in Ciudad Victoria along with 29 other inmates. She led a collective of families searching for their disappeared children before being murdered herself on Mother’s Day 2017.

Director Mihai dedicated the award to families who are searching for their loved ones. “It seemed like a topic that needed to be given a platform,” she said.

The film stars Mexican actors Arcelia Ramírez, who plays the mother, Cielo, and Álvaro Guerrero who plays the father. Following the screening, the actors spoke of the importance of publicizing the issue of violence in Mexico, and expressed hope that it could effect change.

“It is very important to be here and that this issue is seen around the world, that it is talked about, that it continues to be made visible,” said Ramírez.

“It is a subject that moves me and touches me deeply. There is so much to do … I hope this helps in some small way,” Álvaro said.

According to the National Search Commission almost 90,000 people have disappeared since 2006. Identifying bodies — usually discovered in unmarked clandestine graves.

With reports from El País

 

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Healthy eating: Follow the MIND diet to prevent cognitive decline and boost heart health

by Joanne Washburn

Two diets have taken the realm of health and wellness by storm: the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet.

The Mediterranean diet is the clear winner when it comes to cardiovascular health. Meanwhile, the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is the best choice for people with high blood pressure. Both diets have also exhibited some ability to protect the brain from cognitive decline.

But there’s a new diet based on the Mediterranean and DASH diets that can help prevent cognitive decline and support heart health in the process. This diet is known as the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet.

The aptly named MIND diet emphasizes eating certain foods that can help slow cognitive decline, as shown by recent studies. It was first described in an article published in 2015. It’s thought that the MIND diet is more effective at slowing cognitive decline than either the Mediterranean or DASH diets alone.

The MIND diet also names groups of foods to avoid based on their adverse effects on the brain.

Read on to learn more about the MIND diet and its benefits.

Two diets combined

The Mediterranean, DASH and MIND diets share certain similarities. But the MIND diet stands out because of three main things. First, the MIND diet emphasizes eating green leafy vegetables, such as kale and spinach.

Green leafy vegetables have been shown to be particularly beneficial for brain health because they are excellent sources of folate, vitamin E and carotenoids. Folate plays an important role in forming brain chemicals and regulating mood. Vitamin E and carotenoids, on the other hand, protect the brain from oxidative stress.

Previous studies suggest that eating at least one serving a day of green leafy vegetables (1/2 cup if cooked) may help slow brain aging.

The second thing that makes the MIND diet stand out is its emphasis on berries. According to previous studies, people who ate the most berries had the slowest rates of cognitive decline. That’s why the MIND diet recommends eating two or more servings of berries per week.

Finally, the MIND diet also emphasizes the consumption of nuts and fatty fish, both of which are full of omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats are thought to fight inflammation and maintain brain structure in aging brains.

Top health benefits of the MIND diet

The MIND diet hasn’t been around very long, but existing studies on the subject have shown promising results. Here are some of the science-backed benefits of the MIND diet:

  1. It helps lower inflammation.Fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain various nutrients and plant compounds with anti-inflammatory properties, such as vitamin C, zinc and flavonoids. Omega-3 fatty acids in nuts and fatty fish also help reduce inflammation.
  2. It helps prevent cognitive decline.Antioxidants in foods included in the MIND diet protect your brain from oxidative stress, which contributes to cognitive decline. In fact, a 2015 study showed that people who followed the MIND diet the closest experienced a slower decline in their brain function compared to people who followed the diet the least.
  3. It provides antioxidants.Most of the foods on the MIND diet are rich in antioxidants, such as berries, green leafy vegetables and nuts.
  4. It supports healthy heart function.The omega-3 fatty acids in nuts and fish keep your heart healthy by protecting it from inflammation. They also prevent fatty deposits from clogging your arteries.
  5. It supports healthy digestion. Many of the components of the MIND diet contain insoluble fiber. This type of fiber keeps food moving through your digestive system and promotes normal bowel movement.
  6. It helps control blood sugar levels. Fruits, vegetables and legumes are rich in soluble fiber. This type of fiber helps control your blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of sugar in your gut.
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Why the debt ceiling matters to deplorables

by Bob Fitzwilson

With the extension of the U.S. debt ceiling looming, ones head can spin listening to explanations as to why it is important to do the extension or not. At some level, most people understand the concept of too much debt and living beyond ones means. The difficulty is that these conversations quickly become mired “in the weeds” with the jargon of economists and Wall Street types. The listeners and readers quickly lose interest. The numbers are huge, but isn’t the deficit about other people?

The answer is no.

It is about us, collectively. But the impact will be felt disproportionately by each person, and each family.

Let’s start with the foundation. Our financial system is underpinned entirely by debt.

If you take a dollar out of your wallet, you will see that it says “Federal Reserve Note”. That means that someday, someone might repay the underlying debt that is behind the issuance of the dollar. It was not always that way. Not too long ago, dollars could be converted into physical silver at banks. Countries could convert their dollars into physical gold.

As the U.S. approaches $30 trillion in debt, the prospects of the debt being repaid are rapidly fading in the rear-view mirror. The financial system is rigged against the average person. It is many interwoven cons, some of which have European roots going back 250 years, metastasizing into a gigantic wealth harvesting machine victimizing the ordinary citizen in favor of the operators of the “machine”.

So what does that dollar mean to you? The piece of paper represents an unfinished transaction. You don’t need to understand the intricacies of the “cons”. You just need to take actions that are founded on this concept.

When two people enter into an exchange of goods and services, it would be rare for both people to concurrently desire exactly what is being traded and in identical quantities. If I am selling potatoes and the other person is selling oranges, we need some medium of exchange to effect the transactions. That medium of exchange is the dollar (or other “fiat” currencies).

One person can exchange that dollar for what they desire now, and the other can do something similar. Conversely, they might put the dollar away in some form of savings (under the mattress, savings account, etc.). The holder of the dollars relies upon such phrases as “the full faith and credit”. It is assumed that the currency can be used to complete the unfinished transaction by immediately purchasing other goods and services or deferring the completion to a later date such as retirement. In both cases, the core belief is that the amount of goods and services obtained now or later will be roughly the same.

We know that not to be the case. Ever since the invention of paper money, the real value of the paper goes to zero. If you think that can’t happen in the U.S., since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the decline in the real value of the dollar is approaching 100 percent.

That has always been the case whenever paper money has been employed.

Dozens of cultures and governments have tried it. The scheme always starts out positively…”trust me”, “full faith and credit”…that sort of blather. It always fails. Humans can’t be trusted to not abuse the system. The amount of real goods and services to loot is always too tempting. There are no examples of fiat currency schemes surviving. None.

Since the dollar is an unfinished transaction, it represents a future claim on goods and services. The problem with runaway deficits and accumulated debt is that we create excessive claims either digitally or with a printing press. If you hold a dollar and 100 more are created, you now have 101 claims against a fixed amount of real assets and services instead of one. Therefore, savers have been savaged by the policies of central banks.  Not only was income on these accumulated claims dramatically reduced, but the number of claims has also risen dramatically.

They call that loss of purchasing power. The U.S. has $30 trillion of debt on the books, but another $200 trillion in unfunded promises. Other large countries are in similar straights. All of those claims will be looking to be converted into something real. Unfortunately, the supply of goods and services cannot grow to meet such numbers. What happens is that owners of goods and services will be asking for more claims (dollars), and that is inflation. Slow at first, exponential at the end as the con is exposed.

So, what can the average person do? You need to hold currency to effect everyday transactions, but you need to convert any excess into something real. Complete the unfinished transactions before others do so. Each person has to decide what forms the conversions take, but it is imperative to do so to minimize the loss of purchasing power.

Is it inevitable? Not really. We could be the first nation in history to claw our way back toward sound financials. It will involve a lot of pain and sacrifice. Not raising the debt ceiling is the key to starting that journey. If not, all fiat currencies will collapse as has happened in the past wiping out unprotected accumulated savings.

 

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The scamdemic was so last year . . . here’s what’s coming next

by James Corbett
corbettreport.com

It’s invisible but deadly. It infects the air we breathe. We are all part of the problem.

SARS-COV-2? Oh, please. That’s so 2020. I’m talking about the next invisible bogeyman, the one that will see the transformations started by the scamdemic through to their [completely il]logical conclusion: the complete control of the movements, interactions and economic activity of every individual on the planet.

Yes, in case you missed the memo, the steps are already being taken to sweep the fear porn excesses of the scamdemic era under the rug, with the mockingbird MSM dinosaurs dutifully reporting that “Covid Counting Enters New Era” and that states are “scaling back” their COVID-19 reporting.

Of course this is not the end of the biosecurity paradigm. The “new scariants” of the invisible bogeyman will be around for a while yet and, as Mr. Scamdemic himself, Bill Gates, announced before he was so unceremoniously thrown under the bus by his globalist pals, Pandemic II is just around the corner. No, the biosecurity paradigm will be with us for a good while yet, I’m afraid.

But having said that, there is another hobgoblin that will soon eclipse the deadly COVID monster in the imagination of the populace. One that’s been around for decades, waiting for its chance to terrify the public into a Great Reset as we plunge into the New World Order. And that monster is … carbon dioxide.

BOO! Are you scared yet?

Yes, the good old anthropogenic climate change fairy tale is set to make a comeback with a vengeance in the 2020s. As I warned last September, The Pandemic is a Test Run for the systems of control that will scare the public into complying with all sorts of draconian limitations on their activities in the name of saving the earth from climate change.

The connection was made explicit in one influential article from last year: “Avoiding A Climate Lockdown” by Mariana Mazzucato. In the article, Mazzucato argues that the pandemic was actually a consequence of “environmental degradation”—presumably because the bat soup theory of SARS-COV-2’s origins were still fashionable at the time—and that the same types of controls that were instituted to deal with the one invisible nemesis will be good for dealing with the other. Specifically:

Under a “climate lockdown,” governments would limit private-vehicle use, ban consumption of red meat, and impose extreme energy-saving measures, while fossil-fuel companies would have to stop drilling. To avoid such a scenario, we must overhaul our economic structures and do capitalism differently.

If only those were the ravings of some deluded Greta wannabe in an obscure environmental publication with no relation to power. Unfortunately, these ravings were published by Project Syndicate, which just happens to be funded by (prepare yourself) Goerge Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Google News Initiative among others.

If further proof were needed that those who have already demonstrated their ability to help bring the entire global economy to a standstill at the drop of a hat are planning on flexing this muscle to keep us safe from carbon dioxide in the near future, we could note:

and seemingly thousands of similar calls from all the usual gaggle of globalists and their dutiful dupes at think tanks and research institutions and their paid-off presstitutes in the dinosaur media.

So far, the fear porn campaign seems to be having its intended effect. A recent survey suggests that “for the first time European citizens consider climate change as the single most serious problem facing the world – despite the Covid-19 pandemic.” Now, like all polls, this one should be trusted precisely as far as you can throw it, but the fact that this is what the good folks in EUreaucracy want you to believe that everyone believes is telling in and of itself. This is clearly part of the agenda to transition us smoothly from the COVID scare story to the climate scare story.

As usual, though, perhaps the clearest way to gain a handle on where this round of climate scaremongering is heading is to follow the money. And make no mistake, there is no shortage of money to be followed in this story. When you hear “New Green Deal” you should be thinking “green” as in greenbacks.

Old hands at The Corbett Report will already know:

and myriad other aspects of the 100 trillion dollar carbon swindle that is taking place in plain sight right now.

But the climate lockdowns are where this has all been trending, and the fundamental alterations to the economy itself are going to be based on the climate change scare story.

Now, let’s add to that story some of the latest financial moves along this path to total technocratic control over the earth, its people and its resources. These moves may have fallen off your radar as they have largely taken place under cover of the scamdemic.

First, there is the growing pressure that is being placed on financial regulators around the world to “address climate as a systemic risk.” These calls have already resulted in:

  • the UN’s creation of its aforementioned “Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance” position;
  • European Central Bank chief (and convicted criminal) Christine Lagarde’s promise (threat?) to “paint the ECB green” by setting climate mitigation as one of the banks’ priorities;
  • Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s pledge to assess the risk posed by climate change] and increase reporting requirements for financial disclosures accordingly;
  • and similar pronouncements from banking regulators around the world.

But don’t let the “we’re looking into it” type pronouncements lull you into a false sense of security. These are not vague threats to take some unspecified action at some far off time. The attempt to bring the global economy under the control of the climate banking mafia is already well underway.

How so? Well, here’s Mark Carney in his own words describing how net-zero climate solutions are “the greatest commercial opportunity of our time”:

Companies, and those who invest in them and lend to them, and who are part of the solution, will be rewarded. Those who are lagging behind and are still part of the problem will be punished.

But how will they be punished? Why, by being shut off from their access to private finance, of course! (And if “private” finance won’t play along with the globalists’ game, they’ll be shut off, too!)

Private finance is judging which companies are part of the solution, but private finance, too, is increasingly being judged. Banks, pension funds and asset managers have to show where they are in the transition to net zero.

It’s the offer you can’t refuse straight from the don of the globalist banking/climate mafia. Who could say no?

Oh, and here’s the best part. In order to enforce this new global climate fascism, small companies are now going to be saddled with an entirely new, unbelievably burdensome reporting regime that will require them to confess not only their own climate sins, but those of their suppliers and contractors and even the end users of their products:

If I’m running a company committed to net zero, what does that mean? It’s not just disclosing and managing the emissions in producing my product. It’s also the emissions involved in the energy I use, and the emissions all the way through my value chain, in other words, the emissions of my suppliers, many of whom are small businesses, as well as the emissions from people using a product. That company becomes responsible for disclosing all of those, and it has an incentive to manage all of those down. So it has an incentive to work with small businesses or choose those working towards lower emissions.

Once again, these are not idle threats. These things are already happening. I’m not even looking for this story in particular but there has been a steady drumbeat of stories here in Japan showing exactly how this type of pressure is already being applied to attempt to make businesses comply with the diktats of the global climate mafia. Observe these headlines from just the past few weeks:

Japanese insurers struggle to pinpoint climate change cost estimates

MUFJ board beats back climate resolution as activists falter in Japan

BOJ to launch new scheme for fighting climate change

I have little doubt that if you look for such stories in your own place of residence you will find them spilling forth from your newsfeeds as well.

This article was cut to fit space. Find the complete article in https://elreporterosf.com/category/editorial-en/

But perhaps the biggest cookie crumb along this trail is “Net zero: a fiduciary approach” from our good friends at Blackrock. You know, Blackrock? The world’s largest asset manager with $9 trillion under its control? The “private” company that the Fed turned to to run its scamdemic bond buying spree (and which it subsequently used to bail out its own corporate ETFs)? The same investment firm that is buying up houses in the US at a blistering pace (because you don’t need to own a house anymore, silly!). Yes, that Blackrock.

Well, it turns out they’re fully on board with the climate change agenda. (Surprise, surprise!)

Yes, their new report informs us “that climate transition creates a historic investment opportunity.” Like Carney’s reflections cited above, the Blackrock report also stresses the importance of “measurement and transparency” for the goal of reaching a net zero carbon economy, promoting a “temperature alignment” metric for the company’s carbon disclosures that would measure “the global temperature change consistent with a portfolio’s holdings.” The standard, they admit, is being developed in conjuction with the shadowy Financial Stability Board‘s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which, oh by the way, is a thing.

Hmmm . . . lemme think here. A scheme in which every bit of energy that goes into the production of an item is accounted for and registered in real time, and in which these energy expenditure becomes the basis for the economic system? Where have I heard that before?

Ohhhhh, that’s right, that’s the literal definition of technocracy from the Technocratic Study Course, which posits that a technocratic system of distribution requires that the continental technocratic government of the future:

“Register on a continuous 24-hour time period basis the total net conversion of energy, which would determine (a) the availability of energy for Continental plant construction and maintenance, (b) the amount of physical wealth available in the form of consumable goods and services for consumption by the total population during the balanced load period;”

and that it:

“Provide a continuous 24-hour inventory of all production and consumption.”

Yes, they want complete and total insight over all human activity. And why do they want this insight? For control, of course. They aren’t even shy about this fact. The Technocratic Study Course outright tells us in its section on “The Human Animal” that:

Since it is human beings and their habits with which we are now obliged to deal, it is well that before proceeding further we inquire somewhat more deeply than heretofore into the nature of this human animal

before concluding that:

Human social habits and institutions tend to remain stable or else to undergo change extremely slowly, except in the case of a rapid change of the external environment, especially when this latter affects the basic biological necessities. When human beings are fed, clothed, and housed in a manner compatible with good health, are not obliged to do an uncomfortable amount of work, and are permitted normal social intercourse with their fellows, social habits and customs tend to become crystallize about this particular mode of procedure. Let any change of environment develop in such a manner that the biological necessities can no longer be met by activities according to the old habits, and these latter will be rapidly abandoned.

None of this will be surprising to those who have at all studied the Problem-Reaction-Solution formula by which would-be social engineers use false flags and other manipulations to shock the public into change along pre-determined paths. Heck, it should even be familiar to those normies who still trust Naomi “Conspiracy Smoothie” Klein to tell them the hard truths about The Shock Doctrine.

But this is where we start to see what this agenda is about. In case you somehow stumbled onto this editorial from the normiesphere, I’ll lay it out for you. This is not about “saving the planet” and it never was. The people who are constructing this total climate lockdown nightmare future society are laughing at you from their carbon tax-exempted private jets.

They are out to control you. To decide where and when you can leave your house and what transportation you can use when you do so. What you can buy and what you can’t buy. How you spend your time, where you live and who you can breed with (when you are allowed to breed). And the best way they can do this is by creating imaginary manbearpigs with which they can scare the public into submission.

Are you getting the picture yet?

The biosecurity paradigm is still here but it’s just a taste of the control grid that is about to be implemented.

COVID? Hospital occupancy rates? Masks? Ivermectin? Pfff. That’s so 2020. The oligarchy has moved on. Are you prepared for what’s coming next?

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