March 28, 2024

The Power Hour

Knowledge is Power

Today's News: June 25, 2019

World News
Iran says ‘ugly’ sanctions mark end of diplomacy
NBC – Fresh sanctions levied by the United States drew an intense reaction from Iran on Tuesday, with a senior official saying they spell the “permanent closure” of diplomacy between the two countries.
Iran said it would take new steps to reduce its commitments under its nuclear deal with world powers on July 7, according to Fars, Iran’s semiofficial news agency.
Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran’s national security council, said European signatories to the nuclear deal had not done enough to save it, during an interview with Fars. The landmark 2015 deal requires Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
The U.S. withdrew from the deal last year and Trump announced additional sanctions on Monday against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his associates. The measures deny Khamenei and senior Iranian military figures access to financial resources and block their access to any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani mocked President Donald Trump, calling the measures “outrageous and idiotic” and saying the White House is suffering from a “mental illness.”
Trump fired back later Tuesday, warning that any attack by Iran “will be met with great and overwhelming force.”
NATO calls on Russia to destroy new missile, warns of response
Reuters – NATO urged Russia on Tuesday to destroy a new missile before an August deadline and save a treaty that keeps land-based nuclear warheads out of Europe or face a more determined alliance response in the region.
NATO defence ministers will discuss on Wednesday their next steps if Moscow keeps the missile system that the United States says would allow short-notice nuclear attacks on Europe and break the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
“We call on Russia to take the responsible path, but we have seen no indication that Russia intends to do so,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference. “We will need to respond,” Stoltenberg said.
He declined to go into more details. But diplomats said defence ministers will consider more flights over Europe by U.S. warplanes capable of carrying nuclear warheads, more military training and the repositioning U.S. sea-based missiles.
US moves forward with economic-centered Mideast plan
Christian Science Monitor – The U.S. is leading a two-day economic workshop it hopes will lay the groundwork for a Middle East peace plan. But without discussion of political disputes, or the presence of Palestinian or Israeli delegates, Arab nations are keeping their distance.
Iran Barred from Closed UN Security Council Session Pertaining the US Threats against Iran
Global Research – On Monday at the Trump regime’s request, Security Council members met in closed session on the mid-June Gulf of Oman and earlier hostile incidents last month.
Iran was barred from attending to stress it had nothing to do with what happened. No credible evidence suggests it. More on this below.
The US is again up to its dirty tricks in the Middle East and elsewhere — manufacturing consent for war based on Big Lies and deception.
We’ve seen it all before numerous times against one nonbelligerent country after another threatening no one.
This time Iran is in the eye of the storm because of its sovereign independence, opposition to US imperial wars, support for Palestinian rights, and other geopolitical policies conflicting with Washington’s aim to rule the world unchallenged.
Brexit: Johnson says Britain will leave EU on 31 October ‘do or die’
The Guardian – Boris Johnson has restated his commitment to leave the European Union on 31 October “do or die”, and challenged his opponent, Jeremy Hunt, to make the same pledge.
The Conservative leadership frontrunner told TalkRadio that tweaks to the withdrawal agreement agreed by Theresa May would not be enough and he wanted a completely new deal with Brussels by 31 October or the UK would leave with no deal.
“I mean more than a change,” he said. “It’s got to be, you know, we need a new withdrawal agreement – if we’re going to go out on the basis of a withdrawal agreement.”
He later stressed that message in a letter to Hunt, asking him: “Will you join me in a commitment to leaving on October 31 come what may?” Hunt replied saying he would make clear his position again if his rival agreed to take part in a head-to-head debate on Sky News on Tuesday night, which Johnson has refused to do.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Synagogue Prepares To House Immigrants Amid Possible Raids
CBS Sacramento – Immigration officials were expected to begin a mass roundup on Sunday of 2,000 migrants in 10 cities across the U.S. — including San Francisco and Los Angeles, but those roundups have since been delayed. But despite a two-week delay of Ice Raids ordered by President Trump, faith and immigration leaders are mobilizing and getting undocumented communities ready, including in Sacramento.
“It’s reinvigorated our community to be ahead and ready to react and ready to provide safe refuge to people that need it,” said Alan Steinberg, former President at Congregation B’Nai Israel.
While Sacramento has not officially been named in the 10 cities being targeted, the news has certainly spiked fears in the local undocumented community.
737 Max Pilot Sues BOEING For Severe Emotional Stress
CBS Chicago – An anonymous pilot is suing Boeing, alleging the company “demonstrated reckless indifference and conscious disregard for the flying public” in its development of the 737 Max. The suit also accuses the Federal Aviation Administration of joining Boeing “in an unprecedented cover-up of the known design flaws of the Max, which predictably resulted in the crashes of two Max aircraft and subsequent grounding of all Max aircraft worldwide.”
The FAA is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but aviation attorney Joseph Wheeler, one of the lawyers representing the unnamed plaintiff, told CNN he has begun the administrative procedure that “is a necessary procedural precondition to filing suit against the FAA.”
Both Boeing spokesman Peter Pedraza and an FAA spokesman declined to comment on the matter. The lawsuit was filed on Friday in Cook County, Illinois, which is home to Boeing’s Chicago headquarters.
‘Dark patterns’ steering internet users into making bad decisions
LA Times – Even if you’ve never heard the phrase “dark patterns,” you’re almost certainly familiar with them. They’re the sneaky ways online companies trick you into agreeing to stuff you’d normally never assent to.
Classic example: You encounter a prompt asking if you want to sign up for some program or service, and the box is already checked. If you don’t uncheck it — that is, if you do nothing — you’re enrolled.
A bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress that would prohibit websites and online platforms (hi, Facebook!) from employing such deliberately deceptive tactics, and would empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on sites that keep trying to fool people.
The Deceptive Experiences to Online User Reduction Act (a.k.a. the DETOUR Act) is the brainchild of Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). They’re hoping the legislation will be included as part of sweeping privacy regulations now under consideration in the Senate Commerce Committee.
Warner and Fischer will be hosting tech and privacy experts on Tuesday for a Capitol Hill seminar on the various ways consumers can be hoodwinked online.
“For years, social media platforms have been relying on all sorts of tricks and tools to convince users to hand over their personal data without really understanding what exactly it is that they’re handing over,” Warner told me.
He said website developers aren’t stupid. They closely study behavioral psychology to understand how internet users can be most easily misled.
“Our bill is pretty simple,” Warner said. “We just want consumers to be able to make more informed choices about how and when to share their personal information.”
2020 Dems tout plans to move without Congress
Washington Examiner  – f a Democrat is elected president in 2020, there is a good chance he or she will face a Republican-controlled Senate that will block the boldest policy proposals, such as Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax or Bernie Sanders’ plan to create a single-payer “Medicare for all” healthcare system, from taking shape.
But Democratic presidential hopefuls have plenty of ideas on how to achieve their policy goals without congressional approval.
“There’s a lot that a president of the United States — oh, I love saying this — can do by herself,” Warren said at a campaign stop in Newton, Iowa, in May, when explaining what she will do to address climate change. The Massachusetts senator said she would ban drilling on federal lands on her first day in office as president.
Candidates in the crowded Democratic presidential field broadly support reversing many measures taken by the Trump administration, such as ending zero-tolerance immigration enforcement that led to the separation of migrant families, reentering the Paris climate agreement, and reversing the ban preventing transgender people from serving in the military.
Presidents have long been criticized for disregarding the separation of powers across government branches.
Trump Accuser Backed Hillary, Obama
Newsmax – Writer E. Jean Carroll, who has accused President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her more than two decades ago, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and donated to Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, according to The Washington Post.
The Post interviewed Carroll and noted she is a registered Democrat, who contributed $500 to Obama’s re-election effort, cast her vote in favor of Clinton and donated $1,000 this cycle to Emily’s List, which backs female candidates for office, who support abortion rights.
“I’m barely political,” Carroll insisted during a Monday interview on CNN’s “New Day.” “I can’t name you the candidates who are running right now.”
But regarding Trump, she added: “I just can’t believe that he’s in the White House and it makes me sick.”
Carroll has claimed that the alleged assault took place more than 20 years ago in a dressing room of a New York City department store. She described the alleged incident in an excerpt published Friday by New York Magazine from her upcoming book.
Trump has denied the allegations, saying he has never met Carroll.
Google pulls videos accusing it of election manipulation from YouTube… which it owns
RT – Google’s video platform YouTube is apparently no place for content that accuses the tech giant of political bias and election meddling. An expose based on a sting operation was taken down by the company a day after its release.
The online behemoth found itself in the crosshairs of Project Veritas, a conservative action group that purports to expose pro-liberal biases at various American organizations through sting operations and by publishing leaked material. Its report on Monday claimed that Google deliberately tweaks its search algorithms to promote liberal agendas that it favors, and that this is intended to help “prevent the next Trump situation” in the upcoming elections.
YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing platform, which is owned by Google, soon took down the videos that were uploaded by Project Veritas, its head James O’Keefe reported. The footage was removed “due to a privacy claim by a third party,” a message now tells anyone trying to view it.
Economy & Business
CBO projects ‘unprecedented’ debt of 144% of GDP by 2049
The Hill – Federal debt held by the public is on track to hit “unprecedented” levels, rising from the current 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 144 percent by 2049 if current laws are maintained, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
But the report found that if Congress works to wipe out scheduled spending and tax changes currently in law, which include sharp spending drops set to go into effect in 2020 and the expiration of income tax cuts scheduled for 2026, debt would rise to 219 percent of GDP.
The CBO says that such debt increases could pose “substantial risks.”
“The prospect of such large deficits over many years, and the high and rising debt that would result, poses substantial risks for the nation and presents policymakers with significant challenges,” said CBO Director Phillip L. Swagel.
In the CBO’s central projection of 144 percent of GDP, the government would spend more on interest payments than the entire discretionary budget, which includes defense and all domestic programs, by 2046.
That projection is a point lower than last year, largely because of lower interest rate projections and a drop in emergency spending between 2018 and 2019.
HOME SALES SLUMP
AP – Sales of new U.S. homes slumped 7.8% in May, as sales plunged in the pricier Northeastern and Western markets.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that new homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 in May, down from 679,000 in April. During the first five months of the year, purchases of new homes have fallen 3.7% compared to the same period in 2018.
Lower mortgage rates and a healthy job market have yet to unleash more home-buying. Sales of new homes plummeted 35.9% in the West and 17.6% in the Northeast. New-home sales rose 4.9% in the South and 6.3% in the Midwest, which are generally more affordable markets.
Big Tech, Big Banks Push for “Cashless Society”
Activist Post – The War on Cash isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s an open agenda. It’s being driven by an alignment of interests among bankers, central bankers, politicians, and Silicon Valley moguls who stand to benefit from an all-digital economy.
Last week, Facebook – in partnership with major banks, payment processors, and e-commerce companies – launched a digital currency called Libra. Unlike decentralized, free-floating cryptocurrencies, Libra will be tied to national fiat currencies, integrated into the financial system, and centrally managed.
Critics warn Libra is akin to a “spy coin.” It’s certainly not for anyone who wants to go off the financial grid.
Many of the companies involved in Libra (including Facebook itself) routinely ban users on the basis of their political views. Big Tech has booted scores of individuals and groups off social platforms for engaging in “far right” speech. If Libra one day becomes the predominant online payment method, then political dissidents could effectively be banned from all e-commerce.
You can still obtain some degree of anonymity in the offline world by using paper cash. But that will become impossible in the cashless future envisioned by bankers.
Last week, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan touted new developments in digital payment systems while speaking at a Fortune conference. He said, “We want a cashless society…we have more to gain than anybody from a pure operating costs.”
Home Depot Founders Sound the Alarm over Bernie Sanders — ‘He Is the Enemy of Every Entrepreneur’
Breitbart – Monday on Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Home Depot founders Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone took aim at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a self-proclaimed socialist seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
During their criticism of the Vermont U.S. Senator, Marcus told host Neil Cavuto that Sanders was the “enemy of every entrepreneur.”
Energy & Environment
‘Hell’ heatwave sweeping Europe
Extra – The weather in Europe is about to get very intense and Irish temperatures are set to soar.
Forecasts across Europe have indicated that temperatures could reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius or more across parts of the continent including Spain, Portugal and France.
Spanish weather forecaster Silvia Laplana described the incoming heatwave as ‘El infierno’ which translates to ‘hell’ in English.
Weather Patterns All Over Planet Going Nuts
Michale Snyder – We have never seen global weather patterns go as crazy as they have so far in 2019.  Record high temperatures are being shattered all over the planet, but meanwhile some parts of the U.S. were just buried by massive amounts of snow.  The sixth largest city in India is literally running out of water due to extremely dry conditions, but in middle America it just won’t stop raining.  In fact, the Midwest is getting hammered by more severe storms as I write this article.  Meanwhile, Australia is being forced to import enormous amounts of wheat due to the extraordinary drought that nation is currently experiencing.  Everywhere you look around the globe we see bizarre weather extremes. Worldwide weather patterns are shifting dramatically, and many believe that what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning.
Health
Study links common drugs to dementia
CNN – Scientists have long found a possible link between anticholinergic drugs and an increased risk of dementia.
A study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday suggests that the link is strongest for certain classes of anticholinergic drugs — particularly antidepressants, bladder antimuscarinics, antipsychotics and antiepileptic drugs.
Researchers wrote in the study that “there was nearly a 50% increased odds of dementia” associated with a total anticholinergic exposure of more than 1,095 daily doses within a 10-year period, which is equivalent to an older adult taking a strong anticholinergic medication daily for at least three years, compared with no exposure.
“The study is important because it strengthens a growing body of evidence showing that strong anticholinergic drugs have long term associations with dementia risk,” said Carol Coupland, professor of medical statistics in primary care at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom and first author of the study.
“It also highlights which types of anticholinergic drugs have the strongest associations. This is important information for physicians to know when considering whether to prescribe these drugs,” she said, adding “this is an observational study so no firm conclusions can be drawn about whether these anticholinergic drugs cause dementia.”
She said that people taking these medications are advised not to stop them without consulting with their doctor first, as that could be harmful.
Suicide risk from antidepressants
Daily Mail – Taking antidepressants raises the risk of suicide, a study suggests.
Experts last night warned that patients should be told of the dangers before they start taking the pills.
The research found depressed people on the drugs were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as similar patients who were not taking them.
Study leader Dr Michael Hengartner, of Zurich University in Switzerland, said: ‘We can be confident that these drugs are producing an excess rate of suicides, beyond the depression itself.
‘There is no doubt that this must be a response to the pharmacological effect of the drugs themselves.’
Although the increased risk appears stark, in real terms the researchers calculated only 77 extra suicides per 100,000 patients taking the pills.
Men’s fertility irreversibly damaged by age 18 thanks to Western diet
Telegraph – Male fertility is being irreversibly damaged by a diet of western junk food by the time men reach 18, a study has found.
A groundbreaking investigation has established that teenagers who favour high-fat and processed foods like pizzas, chips and snacks are killing off sperm-producing cells that can never be replaced.
It showed that a diet dominated by fish, chicken, vegetables and fruit is best is for protecting those cells and ensuring healthy levels of sperm.
Sperm counts have been declining in recent decades and various studies have pointed to poor diet as a significant cause.
Phenolic Compounds and Enzymatic Activity in Raw Honey Positively Affect Oxidative Stress and Bone Density
Health Impact News – Much of the research available to us today regarding modern-day diseases points to oxidative stress and inflammation. One of the easiest ways to combat this modern-day problem affecting our health is to replace refined sugars in your diet with honey. Let’s take a look at how making this one simple change in our diet, to using honey instead of refined sugar, can have tremendous health benefits.
Chronic diseases run rampant through the American population with approximately 133 million people having at least one condition.
Projections suggest this trend is only growing, and many believe the future will see numbers affecting upwards of 157 million. More than 80 million people deal with more than one chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, etc., making chronic disease the leading cause of disability and death in the United States.
According to the Center for Disease Control up to 40 percent of deaths from these diseases is preventable.
Research has consistently shown the relationship between oxidative stress and chronic disease, oxidative stress being an excess of free radicals to antioxidants in the body. With modern lifestyles filled with conveniences in the form of highly denatured foods, it is little wonder that so many of us lack the exogenous antioxidants, which at one time, were present in abundance in our foods.
Phenolic compounds in plant foods can help to neutralize the rampage of electron-stealing molecules doing oxidative damage to our cells and tissues.
Interestingly, raw honey is just such a food, with its phenolic compounds derived from the plants where the nectar originated, making raw honey a complex combination of bioavailable nutrients and compounds that can positively affect oxidation.
Raw honey’s sweet contribution to your health is complicated and not all the mechanisms are understood yet, but research continues to reveal its positive influence on our physiology, a fact we might have been introduced to in our formative years.
Toxic ingredients and food additives can increase your blood pressure: Avoid these foods if you have hypertension
NaturalNews – If you’ve got high blood pressure, conventional wisdom says to watch your salt intake. This advice has many people reducing the salt they add to dishes while cooking and eating. However, a few sprinkles of salt at the table aren’t going to make much difference if the dish you’re eating is unfriendly to hypertension in the first place. Many processed foods are so full of additives and other toxic ingredients that they’re a recipe for a huge blood pressure spike. Here’s a look at five foods to avoid if you’ve got hypertension.
Lunch meat
Canned soups.
Red meat
Chinese food
Bacon

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