World News
Australian health execs, politicians float travel bans, tax penalties for COVID vaccine refusers
LifeSite News – Australia’s second most senior medical officer has said that denying those who refuse a coronavirus vaccine the ability to go into restaurants, travel internationally, and catch public transport will be discussed by the government.
Speaking at a government press conference yesterday, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Coatsworth confirmed that existing policies which require Australians to “meet immunization requirements” in order for families to qualify for particular tax benefits or assistance with child care fees are likely to be utilized to encourage people to take a coronavirus vaccine.
“I suspect the majority of Australians will get vaccinated and then there will be a strong public view that those who choose not to get vaccinated, need to, there needs to be some sort of incentive stick perhaps, through the current programs including No Jab No Pay, to make that happen,” Coatsworth said.
Looking at specific things like not being able to go into restaurants, not being able to travel internationally, not being able to catch public transport, or more broadly, having what in the olden days would have been a yellow FIFA vaccination certificate, these are clearly policy decisions that need to, will be, discussed. But there’s no current mechanism to enforce that sort of thing at the moment,” the medic continued.
Coatsworth was speaking following comments by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the previous 24 hours. Morrison first said that a coronavirus vaccine will be made “as mandatory as you can possibly make it” before quickly walking back the comments somewhat and saying that the vaccine “is not going to be compulsory” and that “we can’t hold someone down and make them take it.”
Following Coatsworth’s press conference, Australian health minister Greg Hunt also confirmed the likelihood of denying family tax benefits and child care assistance to those who do not take the coronavirus vaccine. Hunt also refused to rule out placing restrictions on individuals.
Speaking on television this morning, Hunt was asked whether the government would link taking the vaccine to welfare payments, school attendance, travel, and admittance to sporting events or restaurants.
“Our first goal is to encourage as many Australians as possible, and I’m confident that with a vaccine that can save lives and protect lives, that can give people hope, that can give people their freedoms back, all of the things that we value and have helped us as a nation, prosper as a community – I’m confident that a very, very large numbers of Australians will take it up,” the health minister replied. “But we reserve the right, subject to medical advice, to take steps that might assist.”
It is estimated that the threat to families of losing their tax benefits through the “no jab, no pay” policy, which Morrison helped to establish, led to an additional 174,000 Australian children being immunized between September 2018 and September 2019.
>> PETITION: No to government and corporate penalties for refusing COVID-19 vaccine! Sign the petition here.
Coronavirus lockdowns used to justify Australia’s big four banks shutting down branches and remove ATMs
NaturalNews – The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in Australia has caused the closure of thousands of ATMs and hundreds of bank branches in the country.
At least 2,150 terminals have been removed in the recent June quarter alone. This has brought the number of ATM terminals across the country to just 25,720 – their lowest level in 12 years – according to the Australian Payments Network.
According to Tony Richards, head of payments policy at the Reserve Bank of Australia, most of the ATM closures were in metropolitan areas, in locations such as shopping centers.
In addition, Australia’s “Big Four” banks – ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac – have also shut down a combined 175 branches over the past 12 months. Of these, ANZ has the highest with 68 branches closed, followed by Commonwealth with 44. Meanwhile, Westpac and NAB have shut down 36 and 27 branches, respectively.
The widespread closures have divided public opinion and, more importantly, left 2.5 million elderly Australians who don’t do online banking with no way to access their money.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Pelosi Rejects House Dem Unemployment Extension: Not Good ‘Strategically’ to Give GOP an ‘Out’
Breitbart – On Thursday’s “PBS NewsHour,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reacted to the proposal that some House Democrats have expressed support for to extend enhanced unemployment benefits, by stating that while she supports the unemployment benefit stabilization that the proposal does, “I don’t think, strategically, it’s where we should go right now.” Because Republicans “would like to pass something like that” and then not pass legislation on other matters and “could take that into the Senate, put poison pills all over it.”
Pelosi said, “I fully, from a policy standpoint, have always supported the stabilization. That means that, if you say, when unemployment reaches a certain point, that you would automatically have unemployment benefits. That’s a very positive initiative. I’ve encouraged that. I have welcomed that suggestion.”
She continued, “I don’t think, strategically, it’s where we should go right now. Because the Republicans would like to pass something like that and say, forget about it. Forget about state and local, forget about our investments in stopping the virus, forget about other initiatives, about feeding the food-insecure children in our country, vote-by-mail initiatives, and the rest. So, I — again, I think that’s something we should pass. I don’t think the timing is for us to do it right now. Because, imagine, the Republicans could take that into the Senate, put poison pills all over it. And it’s hard to vote against extending unemployment benefits.”
Pelosi also stated that she doesn’t think giving Republicans an “out” is the best way to resolve the impasse.
Utah Students and Staff Who Reject Masks Can Receive Misdemeanor Charge
Breitbart – The office of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) confirmed late Wednesday students and employees of the state’s K-12 schools who refuse to wear masks in the buildings may be faced with a misdemeanor charge.
“It’s enforced on a district and superintendent level,” said spokesperson Anna Lehnardt, reported the Salt Lake Tribune. “But we’re not thinking, ‘Let’s slap a bunch of kids with misdemeanors.’”
Herbert issued a mask mandate for public schools in July. If schools choose not to bring charges against students or staff who refuse to wear them, administrators can place the offenders on remote learning status instead.
Lehnardt said the purpose of the directive is to keep teachers safe.
The Tribune further reported:
If a criminal prosecution is sought, though, a school employee or a student — including those in kindergarten — could face a class B misdemeanor. That is the standard for any violation of a public health order, Lehnardt added. And it can be punished with a sentence of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. That is the same level of charge, for example, as a first offense for driving drunk.
On Thursday, Herbert issued a new emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic, after the Utah legislature refused to extend emergency restrictions.
“We’re not out of the woods yet on this pandemic,” Herbert said at a news conference. “People are still dying. The infection rates are still too high and growing.”
He added the continued emergency status was needed, in part, to ensure Utah could receive federal emergency relief funds, if necessary.
Mother of 6 claims they were kicked off JetBlue flight in Orlando when her 2-year-old wouldn’t wear mask
Fox – A New York mother with six children says she was asked to deplane from a JetBlue flight in Orlando because she couldn’t get her 2-year-old daughter to put on a face mask.
“It was humiliating,” Chaya Bruck, of Brooklyn, told FOX 35 News.
“It’s not something we can excuse,” the flight attendant is heard telling Bruck.
“Should I tie her hands? What should I do?” Bruck asks.
“We have to deplane,” the flight attendant answers.
Bruck posted the video of the encounter on Facebook.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon arrested, charged with fraud
LifeSite News – Today the U.S. president’s former chief strategist was charged by prosecutors in New York for fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Bannon was taken into police custody.
The charges, which have also been laid against three other men, concern a crowdfunding campaign called “We Build the Wall.” The indictment alleges that Bannon and his fellow campaigners misled donors when they assured them that organizer Brian Kolfage would not be taking money from the campaign as a salary. Bannon allegedly had stated that We Build the Wall was “a volunteer organization.”
The campaign raised over $25 million.
The grand jury charges that Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea “collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from We Build the Wall, which they each used in a manner inconsistent with the organization’s public representations.”
“I Have A Right To Make Sure That My Home Is Secure”: Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Defends Ban On Protesters On Her Block
ZeroHedge – n the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, protests erupted across dozens of cities in California with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets, and despite the raging coronavirus pandemic they were cheered on loudly by the state’s liberal elite with some of the most prominent Hollywood actors taking daily turns to voice their support for the protesters while condemning anyone who did not side with the BLM movement, even when so frequently it devolved into violent rioting and looting of innocent bystanders. All of that abruptly ended, however, when BLM invaded Beverly Hills chanting “eat the rich.” That’s when the police quickly showed up and immediately cleared out all the protesters.
But while such NIMBY hypocrisy has long been a fixture of the ultra-liberal Golden State, nothing compares to what just happened in Chicago whose Mayor Lori Lightfoot – best known for encouraging local BLM protests, going so far as saying that black lives are “more important than downtown corporations” after the unprecedented looting that took place last week – defended the Chicago Police Department’s ban on protesters being able to demonstrate on the block where she lives, telling reporters Thursday that she and her family at times require heightened security because of threats she receives daily.
Yes, Mayor Lori is all about BLM protests… as long as they are literally not in her back yard.
Lightfoot refused to elaborate on the specific threats according to the Chicago Tribune, but said she receives them daily against herself, her wife and her home. Lightfoot also told reporters that comparisons to how the Police Department has protected previous mayors’ homes, such as Rahm Emanuel’s Ravenswood residence, are unfair because “this is a different time like no other.”
Portland officials seem to actually want their city to burn down
NaturalNews – As Portland is once again subjected to a series of attacks against innocent lives and property, the city’s elected officials – who are responsible for taking care of Portland residents – sound like they actually want their city to be destroyed.
Since the engineered riots, which began in late May, the city has been subjected to attacks from organized groups of Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters. This time, however, they directed their senseless rage at the seat of the county government.
On Wednesday, August 19, a violent mob of Antifa and BLM rioters broke into the Multnomah Building in southeast Portland – the headquarters of the county government and where the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners regularly meets.
Officials temper language to appease rioters
Once the mob made their way into the building, several people sprayed lighter fluid inside and started a fire. According to Multnomah County Commission Chair Deborah Kafoury, most of the damage was centered around the Office of Community Involvement, a department that is “dedicated to engaging community members who have been marginalized by the traditional political process.”
The Multnomah Building, according to Kafoury, is “the heart” of the county. “[The building is] where people in our community come to get married, get their passports and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity.” (Related: Democrats still defending rioters as “mostly peaceful” after man is dragged out of his car and beaten nearly to death.)
Kafoury did not hesitate to mourn the damage done to the Multnomah Building, especially to the damaged lobby where the first same-sex marriage in Oregon took place back in 2014. However, her statement was missing any actual condemnation of Antifa and Black Lives Matter, the main groups that are responsible for the destruction in the building. Instead, Kafoury seemed to place the blame on American society as a whole and on some perceived historical injustice perpetrated by the county.
“I acknowledge that there is grave injustice in our world and there is a violent and tragic history of oppression in our County. I am committed to transformational change … In such a difficult, uncertain time, our community needs all of us to work together,” said Kafoury in her statement.
At the beginning of her statement, Kafoury also said that the Multnomah County Building was attacked by only “a small group,” a claim that has been debunked by journalists who witnessed the event and said that there were at least “several hundred Antifa rioters” who were involved in the break-in and arson attacks.
Furthermore, Kafoury’s own statement paled in comparison to the one released by Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese, who did not mince words when he talked about how there is no place for violence in a civilized society.
“The unprovoked actions by those who engaged in criminal behavior is reprehensible,” said Reese. “It is simply violence and serves no legitimate purpose. It does nothing to solve the issues our community faces.”
Reese went further by backing his words with actions. He said that the investigations unit of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office has been busy reviewing video and other evidence in order to identify and possibly press charges against the suspects behind the arson attack.
The depths the Democratic Party will go in order to take power knows no bounds. Learn more by listening to this episode of the Health Ranger Report, in which Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, will be replaced soon due to his deteriorating mental faculties and inability to face off against President Donald Trump.
Schools revamp curricula in response to Black Lives Matter..
Reuters – John Marshall keeps a picture of Breonna Taylor in his office at the headquarters of Kentucky’s largest school district, a visual reminder, he says, of the need for curriculum changes that better honor and focus on Black stories.
Taylor, a Black emergency medical technician, spent her senior year of high school at Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools, where Marshall, the district’s chief diversity officer, has been leading a system-wide revamp of teaching materials and practices.
Taylor was shot dead by police officers in March. Her death and that of George Floyd, killed by Minneapolis police in May, and others have set off a national reckoning over race and race relations.
No criminal charges have been filed against the officers involved in Taylor’s death, infuriating many in the school district, where a majority of the nearly 100,000 students are students of color.
For educators in Jefferson County and across the United States, the deaths have jump-started demands for teaching materials and practices that help Black students better understand their history and place in the country.
After a summer of teacher workshops focused on updating curricula, millions of students will return to U.S. classrooms in coming weeks – virtually or in person – that focus more on Black history and experiences, according to interviews with teachers, officials, publishers and others.
“We’re not just talking about a couple of lesson changes,” said Marshall. “We’re getting to the quintessential work of trying to put race, equity and inclusion inside of our curriculum.”
A June survey by the EdWeek Research Center, which is affiliated with the prominent trade publication Education Week, found that 81% of U.S. teachers support the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We can’t control what happens with the police, but we can control what happens in our school systems,” said Michael McFarland, head of the National Alliance of Black School Educators and a superintendent of the Crowley Independent School District in Texas.
Some of the changes don’t necessarily involve new material, but rather teaching the same material from a new perspective.
In the Jefferson County schools, for instance, teachers discussing the Space Race of the 1960s plan now to focus on the Black women mathematicians whose computations underpin modern rocket science.
In Houston, teachers at YES Prep public charter schools will dissect James Baldwin’s iconic book of essays “The Fire Next Time” less as a history of racial struggle and more as a guide for Black students to overcome injustice.
These and other recommendations came after school districts spent summer months updating educational materials because most public school textbooks are only updated by publishers on a fixed schedule.
How and what U.S. students learn about American history depends on the school. The country’s public K-12 education system is run by more than 98,000 local and state school board members, who nearly always have the final say on which textbooks are bought for classrooms.
In 2014, the Texas State Board of Education came under fire https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-textbooks/texas-to-consider-mexican-american-textbook-critics-decry-as-racist-idUSKCN11F1G5 for approving a Mexican-American studies textbook that critics decried as riddled with mistakes and demeaning stereotypes. Other school boards either bought different textbooks or didn’t offer the same course.
Energy & Environment
NHC forecast predicts 2 hurricanes
ABC – Two tropical systems are on a path toward the Gulf of Mexico and could possibly make landfall around the same time in the U.S. early next week.
The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center depicts two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday.
Health
Medical Experts Want Psycho-active Drugs in the Water Supply to Make Coronavirus Defectors “Co-operative”
Health Impact News – The article’s author is Parker Crutchfield, an Associate Professor of Medical Ethics, Humanities and Law at Western Michigan University, and his argument can be broken down into four key points:
- Wearing masks and social distancing are good for public health
- People who refuse to follow these rules are “defectors” who need to be “morally enhanced”
- This moral enhancement can be achieved with medication to make people more “empathetic” and “co-operative”
- This medication should be compulsory and/or administered secretly via the water supply.
I swear I’m not exaggerating. Not even a little bit. To absorb the full horror I suggest you read it for yourself (and then read the comment section as well, it will make you feel better) but, if you’re not so inclined, here are some choice quotes:
“…like receiving a vaccine to beef up your immune system, people could take a substance to boost their cooperative, pro-social behavior.”
“Moral enhancement is the use of substances to make you more moral. The psychoactive substances act on your ability to reason about what the right thing to do is, or your ability to be empathetic or altruistic or cooperative.”
“These substances interact directly with the psychological underpinnings of moral behavior […] Then, perhaps, the people who choose to go maskless or flout social distancing guidelines would better understand that everyone, including them, is better off when they contribute, and rationalize that the best thing to do is cooperate.”
“Another challenge is that the defectors who need moral enhancement are also the least likely to sign up for it […] a solution would be to make moral enhancement compulsory or administer it secretly, perhaps via the water supply.”
This isn’t just a panicked response to an unforeseen emergency, Crutchfield’s area of bioethics research focuses on “questions like how to induce those who are noncooperative to get on board with doing what’s best for the public good”, and a look through his articles reveals that this is an agenda which pre-dates our current “pandemic”.
There’s The epistemology of moral bioenhancement from 2016 and then Compulsory moral bioenhancement should be covert from just last year.
This isn’t just about masks, if it were implemented it would be a lot more far-reaching. From masks to vaccines to anything else, beyond even the “pandemic”. The author admits as much himself [our emphasis]:
But a strategy like this one could be a way out of this pandemic, a future outbreak or the suffering associated with climate change.
Happy Pills in our water to make us proper cooperative citizens? “Covert moral enhancement” to produce “superior post-persons”?
That is literally “Soma” from Huxley’s Brave New World. It can’t be satirized or exaggerated. It is the very zenith of dystopian horror. And it is being seriously suggested by research scientists in apparently respectable publications.
This may be just one article in a comparatively small (and murkily funded) magazine, but that’s how it starts.
Of course, it also further feeds into the stream of propaganda which seeks to dehumanise those who express dissent.
We’ve already been told that “defectors” are more likely to be narcissistsor psychopaths, and seen them subject to police brutality with total impunity.
New Zealand are setting up “quarantine centres” where you will have to stay “indefinitely” if you refuse a to be tested.
And now it’s being seriously posited that those who refuse to comply should be subject to covert medication to render them more malleable to the “public good”.
It’s not hard to see where this is going. Show this article to everyone you know. People have to be told what their world is being turned into, while we still have the brainpower to stop it.
Read the full article at Off-Guardian.org.
Health benefits of cinnamon: What’s the difference between Ceylon and cassia cinnamon?
NaturalNews – Cinnamon is used as an ingredient for many kinds of products, from lattes to pastries like cinnamon rolls. But did you know that not all types of cinnamon offer the same health benefits? Several studies have looked into the potential benefits of two kinds of cinnamon: Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon.
Ceylon cinnamon is sold in gourmet stores and is a milder form of the spice. It’s also said that this type of cinnamon offers more benefits compared to cassia cinnamon, or “supermarket” cinnamon.
Cassia cinnamon is more common and can be easily found in grocery stores and supermarkets. It has also been more widely studied compared to Ceylon cinnamon. However, experts advise that Ceylon cinnamon is safer in very high doses compared to the cassia variety.
Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon
Cinnamon comes from the bark of evergreen trees. The ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is a small tree native to Sri Lanka.
Ceylon cinnamon is lighter in color compared to cassia cinnamon and the former is more commonly used in Europe and Mexico. Ceylon cinnamon has a sweet, floral aroma.
Ceylon cinnamon sticks are made by rolling several layers of delicate bark from the interior of a cinnamon tree, which is responsible for the light-brown color of the final product. Ceylon cinnamon has “lighter, brighter citrus tones.”
Meanwhile, cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) often comes from Indonesia, China and other countries. Ana Sortun, the executive chef of Oleana restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., explains that cassia cinnamon tastes “stronger and hotter.”
A closer look at the potential health benefits of cinnamon
Studies suggest that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar in patients with diabetes, relieve arthritis and also improve cholesterol.
Data from a recent meta-analysis in the journal Annals of Family Medicine has revealed that cinnamon can help reduce blood sugar and cholesterol in humans. However, data on cinnamon and its potential use in relieving arthritis are currently limited to animal data.
For the analysis, researchers reviewed 10 studies and a total of 543 patients. Doses of cinnamon used in the studies ranged from 120 milligrams a day to six grams.
According to Angela Ginn, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, research has shown that consuming a sprinkle of cassia cinnamon per day offers blood-sugar benefits. Most studies reviewed in the meta-analysis used cassia cinnamon and researchers have yet to determine if Ceylon cinnamon is also linked to the same benefits.
Data from the meta-analysis revealed that cinnamon helped reduce blood glucose levels in participants with diabetes. The spice was also linked to reduced cholesterol levels
>> Power Mall Product of Interest: Strauss Heartdrops – CINNAMON
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