World News
Global Vaccine Passport Will Be Required for Travel
Mercola – Forced vaccination is part and parcel of the plan to “reset” the global economic system, forever altering life as we know it. Now, global vaccine passports are being introduced, and it’s only a matter of time before vaccination status will be a prerequisite for travel.
CommonPass is a digital “health passport” framework initiated by The Commons Project, the World Economic Forum and The Rockefeller Foundation.
When you get your test result or vaccine, that data is uploaded to an app on your cellphone. The app generates a barcode that is then scanned at the airport, at hotel check-in and wherever else vaccine status verification is deemed necessary.
The CommonPass digital clearance system is currently being tested by United Airlines on flights between London and Newark, and Cathay Pacific on flights between Hong Kong and Singapore.
In an April 2020 white paper, The Rockefeller Foundation laid out a strategic framework clearly intended to become part of a permanent surveillance and social control structure that severely limits personal liberty and freedom of choice.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Pennsylvania certifies election results for Biden despite Trump legal challenges
Fox – The Pennsylvania State Department certified the results of the presidential election in favor of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday.
“Today @PAStateDept certified the results of the November 3 election in Pennsylvania for president and vice president of the United States,” Wolf tweeted. “As required by federal law, I’ve signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
“Again, I want to thank the election officials who have administered a fair and free election during an incredibly challenging time in our commonwealth and country’s history,” he continued. “Our election workers have been under constant attack and they have performed admirably and and honorably.”
The certification comes as President Trump’s campaign is appealing a federal judge’s dismissal of his campaign’s effort to block the certification of votes in Pennsylvania.
Trump Administration Approves Start of Formal Transition to Biden
New York Times – President Trump’s government on Monday authorized President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to begin a formal transition process after Michigan certified Mr. Biden as its winner, a strong sign that the president’s last-ditch bid to overturn the results of the election was coming to an end.
Mr. Trump did not concede, and vowed to persist with efforts to change the vote, which have so far proved fruitless. But the president said on Twitter on Monday night that he accepted the decision by Emily W. Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, to allow a transition to proceed.
In his tweet, Mr. Trump said that he had told his officials to begin “initial protocols” involving the handoff to Mr. Biden “in the best interest of our country,” even though he had spent weeks trying to subvert a free and fair election with false claims of fraud. Hours later, he tried to play down the significance of Ms. Murphy’s action, tweeting that it was simply “preliminarily work with the Dems” that would not stop efforts to change the election results.
Still, Ms. Murphy’s designation of Mr. Biden as the apparent victor provides the incoming administration with federal funds and resources and clears the way for the president-elect’s advisers to coordinate with Trump administration officials.
Congressman seeks to have Giuliani disbarred
Washington Post – In the three weeks since Election Day, Rudolph W. Giuliani has waged a prodigiously unsuccessful legal fight on behalf of President Trump’s campaign to overturn the election results. His bizarre news conferences and literal meltdown became fodder for late-night talk show hosts, while his even more bizarre legal arguments have prompted federal judges to unleash withering rebukes.
Giuliani and the rest of the efforts of the Trump campaign’s legal team won’t shift the election results in the president’s favor, but legal ethicists such as Scott Cummings of the UCLA School of Law do not view the former New York mayor as harmless.
“People are emailing me saying this is comical, and I’d say it would be comical if it weren’t so dangerous,” Cummings told The Washington Post on Monday in reference to Giuliani’s actions on Trump’s behalf. “We’re living through this moment where actions that should have consequences don’t seem to — at least not in a way we would have predicted in the past — and that erodes trust in the system.”
NBC – President Donald Trump is threatening to veto legislation to fund the military as one of his final acts in office unless a widely supported, bipartisan provision to rename military bases honoring Confederate military leaders is removed, according to White House, defense and congressional sources.
Since the Nov. 3 election, Trump has privately told Republican lawmakers that he won’t back down from his position during the campaign that he would veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act if it includes an amendment to rename the bases.
A senior administration official confirmed Trump’s conversations with Republicans and his veto threat. “He’s said that,” the official said.
Trump’s stance has put in doubt legislation that had been agreed to by Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate. It has sent members of Trump’s party scrambling to find a path for the defense bill, which outlines military policy and funding, and put them on a collision course with Democrats.
Biden DHS pick Mayorkas intervened to help Democrat-connected foreign investors: IG
Fox – The EB-5 visa program, administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), allows foreigners who invest significant money in U.S. business ventures that create jobs for Americans to apply for a green card–or legal permanent residence–in the U.S. Certain family members of the investors may also apply for green cards.
In three EB-5 cases, each involving high-profile Democrats, Mayorkas intervened “outside the normal adjudicatory process” and “in ways that benefited the stakeholders,” the report found.
In one case, Mayorkas “pressured staff” to expedite the review of a Las Vegas hotel and casino investment at the request of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, according to the report.
In another, Mayorkas executed an “unprecedented” intervention to help GTA, a company chaired by former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, the report found.
Economy & Business
Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates as second-richest person in the world
The Guardian – Elon Musk has toppled Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person, only a week after the Tesla co-founder overtook Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to become the third-richest.
Driven by a further surge in Tesla’s share price, the 49-year-old entrepreneur’s net worth rose by $7.2bn (£5.4bn) to $127.9bn. It has soared by more than $100bn this year – outranking everyone else on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which lists the world’s 500 richest people. In January, Musk was in 35th place.
The maverick chief executive of the electric car company is now ranked immediately behind the Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos.
Rich Americans Increasingly Looking for Second Passport.
Bloomberg – Alphabet Inc.’s former chief executive officer applied to become a citizen of Cyprus, according to an announcement last month in a Cypriot newspaper that was first reported by the website Recode. Schmidt, 65, joins a growing club of individuals participating in government programs enabling foreigners to acquire passports.
In previous years, U.S. citizens rarely sought to buy so-called golden passports. The business mainly thrived targeting people from countries with fewer travel freedoms than the U.S., such as China, Nigeria or Pakistan.
But that’s changing. People close to the industry say they’ve been inundated with inquiries from citizens of the world’s richest country.
Science & Technology
Mysterious metal monolith discovered in rural Utah
NBC – A mysterious metal monolith was discovered in Utah after public safety officers spotted the object while conducting a routine wildlife mission.
A helicopter crew with the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau was assisting Wildlife Resources on Wednesday to count bighorn sheep in southeastern Utah, the department said.
Pilot Bret Hutchings said one of the officers spotted the object in a remote area of red rock — something that appeared to be a scene right out of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“He was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!’ And I was like, ‘What.’ And he’s like, ‘There’s this thing back there — we’ve got to go look at it!'” Hutchings told CNN affiliate KSL. “We just happened to fly directly over the top of it.”
Hutchings said the origins of the silver metal monolith still remained a mystery, but it appeared to be a “new wave” art installation that stood “between 10 and 12 feet high.”
Bizarre ‘super planet’ discovered for first time with radio observations
Fox – Researchers have discovered a bizarre “super-planet” for the first time using radio observations, according to a new study.
Known as BDR J1750+3809 or Elegast, the “super-planet” is actually a brown dwarf, a celestial object that is too cold and small to be a star. The discovery was made by researchers at the University of Hawaii, working in conjunction with tools from NASA and the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in Europe.
“This work opens a whole new method to finding the coldest objects floating in the sun’s vicinity, which would otherwise be too faint to discover with the methods used for the past 25 years,” the study’s co-author, Michael Liu, said in a statement.
Brown dwarfs are generally harder to find using methods that astronomers normally use to find other stars. However, the light they emit at radio wavelengths was vital in the discovery of Elegast, the researchers added.
Since they lack the mass to trigger hydrogen fusion, they can’t be considered stars. Given their gaseous atmospheres, brown dwarfs resemble Jupiter and Saturn, the gas giants in our solar system, more than they resemble stars themselves.
“We asked ourselves, ‘Why point our radio telescope at cataloged brown dwarfs?'” the study’s lead author, Harish Vedantham, added. “Let’s just make a large image of the sky and discover these objects directly in the radio.”
With the discovery of BDR J1750+3809, the researchers hope that more brown dwarfs — the closest things to exoplanets — could be discovered with radio telescopes.
Health
CNBC – The CDC must be transparent about the side effects people may experience after getting their first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, doctors urged during a meeting Monday with CDC advisors.
Dr. Sandra Fryhofer said that both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines require two doses and she worries whether her patients will come back for a second dose because of potentially unpleasant side effects after the first shot.
Both companies acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills and headache.
Passion Fruit Boosts Heart Health and Immunity
Newsmax – Passion fruit is an exotic purple fruit with a multitude of health benefits. For one thing, the edible flesh and seeds — do not eat the rind — contain powerful antioxidants and other nutrients to boost the immune system and cardiovascular health.
According to Medical News Today, passion fruit is also a great source of fiber that keeps the gut healthy and prevents constipation and bowel disorders with only 17 calories per fruit.
The American Medical Association adds that fiber helps lower overall cholesterol levels, and therefore improves heart health.
Here are some more health benefits of passion fruit:
Passion fruit has a low glycemic index, which makes it an excellent choice for people with diabetes. In addition, research has indicated that eating passion fruit seeds improves insulin sensitivity and can reduce the risk of many diseases, including diabetes.
Passion fruit is rich in vitamin C that helps the body absorb more iron from foods. This helps fight off infections, according to Medical News Today.
Anxiety Might Hasten Alzheimer’s
Newxmax – Older adults with memory problems may progress to Alzheimer’s more quickly if they are also suffering from anxiety symptoms, a preliminary study suggests.
It’s common for people with Alzheimer’s disease to have mood symptoms, including anxiety and depression. And some research has suggested those symptoms can, in older people, act as early indicators of the dementia process.
The new study focused on 339 patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment — persistent problems with memory and thinking skills that can progress to full-blown dementia.
But progression is not guaranteed, and people vary in how quickly their mental functioning declines.
There’s no way to predict how things will go for any one person, said Dr. Maria Vittoria Spampinato, senior author on the study.
But researchers are trying to figure out whether certain factors are linked to the speed of progression. The new findings suggest anxiety might be one, according to Spampinato, a professor of radiology at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Her team found that patients with more anxiety symptoms at the outset were more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease over the next several years, compared to those with few symptoms.
Does that mean anxiety speeds up the dementia process? Not necessarily, according to Mary Sano, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Instead, anxiety is likely another symptom of the underlying brain disease, said Sano, who was not involved in the study.
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