March 28, 2024

The Power Hour

Knowledge is Power

Today's News: October 10, 2019

World News

China demonstrators protest at Wizards, 76ers games vs. Guangzhou
ESPN – Effects of the NBA’s strained relationship with China are being felt in NBA arenas in a pair of games in the United States featuring the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.
After the playing of the Chinese national anthem before Guangzhou’s game against the Wizards on Wednesday in Washington, one fan shouted, “Freedom of expression! Freedom of speech! Free Hong Kong!” He then left his seat after he was approached by security.
Other fans shouted for a free Hong Kong from the second level during the second quarter. They then left their seats on their own, according to the Washington Post.
Houston Rockets Nike merchandise disappears from China stores
Reuters – Houston Rockets sneakers and other merchandise were pulled from several Nike (NKE.N) stores in major Chinese cities amid the furor surrounding a tweet from the team’s general manager in support of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
Managers at five Nike stores in Beijing and Shanghai told Reuters during visits on Thursday they had been told in recent days via a memo from management that all Rockets merchandise had to be removed. Reuters was unable to view the memo.
Although Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has since apologized for his tweet last week, National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver further angered authorities when he said the league backed Morey’s right to exercise his freedom of expression.
President Donald Trump critical of Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich for response to China controversy
ESPN – President Donald Trump, in his first public comments about the NBA’s relationship with China, criticized Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for their response to questions about the controversy.
Trump weighed in on the topic Wednesday afternoon, saying NBA officials have to “work out their own situation” with China, while he was critical of Kerr and Popovich, saying they were “pandering to China.”
Kerr, who has been publicly critical of Trump and vocal on several social issues in the United States, said Monday that he had no comment when asked about the fallout from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet last week that showed support for protesters in Hong Kong.
Trump focused on Kerr two days later, saying the three-time championship-winning coach “was like a little boy, he was so scared to be even answering the question.”
“He couldn’t answer the question — he was shaking, ‘Oh, oh, oh, I don’t know. I don’t know,'” Trump said. “He didn’t know how to answer the question, and yet he’ll talk about the United States very badly.”
Popovich also avoided directly discussing the protests in Hong Kong, though he did praise NBA commissioner Adam Silver for his stance supporting free speech.
“I watched Popovich — sort of the same thing, but he didn’t look quite as scared actually,” Trump said. “But they talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don’t want to say anything bad. I thought it was pretty sad, actually. It’ll be very interesting.”
Warriors star Stephen Curry, who was made aware of Trump’s comments about Kerr by team officials, including general manager Bob Myers, told reporters Wednesday that he got to “welcome Steve to the club.”
Curry was singled out in tweets by Trump in 2017 after he had said he would vote no if the team were invited to the White House.
“We’ve obviously been really outspoken since I can remember, in terms of our organization and all that,” Curry said. “But from the league and China and just our presence there and building a business, it’s an interesting situation because there’s so much history involved in it.
“I don’t know that history well enough to kind of speak on it or to form an opinion yet, so that’s kind of where I’m at with the situation. … I’m staying tuned like everybody else.”
Kerr had finished his post-practice news conference just a couple minutes before reporters saw Trump’s comments. He is not expected to address the media again until before Thursday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, unless the Warriors make an exception.
Turkey says ground forces advancing in Syria
AP – Turkish ground forces seized at least one village from Kurdish fighters in northern Syria as they pressed ahead with their assault for a second day Thursday, pounding towns and villages along the border with airstrikes and artillery.
Residents of border areas within Syria scrambled in panic as they tried to escape on foot and in cars, pickup trucks and motorcycle rickshaws piled with mattresses and belongings, and the U.N. refugee agency said tens of thousands of people were on the move. It was wrenchingly familiar for many who only a few years ago had fled the militants of the Islamic State group.
Erdogan threatens to send 3.6 million refugees to Europe
Reuters – President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Ankara will send the 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey to Europe if European countries label the country’s military incursion in Syria as an occupation.
“We will open the gates and send 3.6 million refugees your way,” Erdogan said in speech to lawmakers from his AK Party.
University Bans White Students From Attending Anti-Racism Meeting
Infowars – The University of Sheffield Student’s Union in the UK has banned white people from attending a meeting about anti-racism.
Yes, really.
The SU announced that it would hold focus groups on “how we can create an anti-racist Students’ Union” as part of an effort to shift from a “non-racist to an actively anti-racist” stance.
However, no white people are allowed to take part.
“Please note that these sessions are only open to black and minority ethnic (BME) students,” states the announcement.
Banning people from a meeting about racism because of their skin color is…what’s the word? Oh yeah, racist.
The controversy follows a similar farce at the University of Edinburgh where white people were banned from asking questions at an event called Resisting Whiteness.
“We will not be giving the microphone to white people during the Q&As, not because we don’t think white people have anything to offer to the discussion but because we want to amplify the voices of people of colour,” stated promotional material for the event.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Trump: The ‘Military Industrial Complex’ Has Got ‘Tremendous Power,’ ‘Make A Lot Of Money’ Off War
Information Liberation – President Trump addressed Washington’s backlash against his decision to pull US troops out of northern Syria at a press conference on Wednesday by saying the “Military Industrial Complex” has “tremendous power” and “make a lot of money” off war.
“If we go on the theory that some of the folks in Washington go by — who all do well with the Military-Industrial Complex — I mean, take a look at Dwight Eisenhower he had it figured right many years ago, it’s got tremendous power.”
“They like fighting,” Trump said, “they make a lot of money when they fight.”
“But it was time to bring our soldiers back home,” Trump said before going on to describe the heartbreak of speaking with the families of fallen soldiers and writing letters to them to inform them their children have died.
Paul: Neocons “Want To Keep Starting Endless Wars In Conflicts That Go Back Hundreds Of Years”
“Trump is the first president in my lifetime to understand what is our national interest and what is not.”
Infowars – Senator Rand Paul once again slammed warmongering neocons Wednesday, expressing disbelief that Republicans are in favor of ‘endless wars’ and delivering high praise for President Trump’s attempts to stop them.
Paul tore apart Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Liz Cheney, again labeling them the “neocon War Caucus” as they continue their attacks on Trump following Turkey’s assault on Kurdish forces in Syria.
The Senator noted that though they want a war, the neocons are not sure who they want it with
He added that the conflicts they want to continue date back centuries, and that their positions make zero sense.
Paul also noted that Trump is the first President for many years to realise that endless military involvement weakens the country
2 of Rudy Giuliani’s associates who helped him dig up dirt on Joe Biden have been charged with campaign finance violations
Business Insider – Two associates of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani who allegedly helped him dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden have been arrested and charged with violating campaign finance laws, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The two men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are Soviet-born and were under investigation by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. They are expected to appear in federal court in Virginia later today, the report said.
Pence aiming to release records of his own Ukraine calls
AP – Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he is working with the White House counsel’s office to release transcripts of his own calls with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Pence said records of his two phone conversations would help exonerate President Donald Trump of any wrongdoing.
Pence was asked about releasing his transcripts and told reporters, “I’d have no objection to that.” He spoke after an event in Waukee, Iowa, where he addressed supporters about the president’s trade policy.
Pence said he “never discussed the issue of the Bidens” with Zelenskiy. And he again defended the president, insisting that a “plain reading” of the rough transcript of Trump’s call with the Ukranian leader shows “there was no quid pro quo.”

Economy & Business

Central Bankers Plan For Master Reset Into ‘Green Economy’
As the Bank of England leads the world’s central banks into a ‘Green New Deal’, it proposes Green Bonds as a way to finance Sustainable Development, aka Technocracy, and plunder the world’s wealth once and for all. ⁃ TN Editor
Technocracy News – While officially announced on September 22nd at the opening of the UN Climate Summit in NY, a Central Banker’s Climate Compact was unveiled under the leadership of Bank of England Governor Mark Carney that had already been in the works for over 18 months representing over 130 of the world’s largest and corrupt banks calling for a radical decarbonisation of the world economy by 2/3 according to commitments laid out in the 2015 Paris Climate accord.
Bank of England head and Chair of the Bank of International Settlement’s Financial Stability Board (2011-2018) Mark Carney announced at this venue that “climate disclosures must become comprehensive, climate risk management must be transformed and sustainable investing must go mainstream”. Carney then took on a more threatening tone by saying “the firms that anticipate these developments will be rewarded handsomely. Those that don’t will cease to exist”.
Now Mark Carney has been hailed by the environmental lobby as the leading “eco-warrior” of central bankers and those doing the hailing seem to rarely take notice of the blatant fact that the person who sits atop the technocratic power structure that has given rise to the world’s greatest economic and environmental injustices for decades is also the person designing how this dysfunctional world is supposed to be restructured.

Energy & Environment

Almost 2 million Californians could be without power through Thursday in shutdown to reduce wildfire risk
USA Today – Nearly 2 million Californians could be left in the dark at least through Thursday as the state’s largest utility implements a preemptive power shutdown in an aggressive effort to curb wildfire risks amid high winds and hot, dry conditions.
Pacific Gas and Electric spokesman Mark Mesesan said Wednesday that it may take days to restore electricity to some customers because power lines and equipment must be checked before being reenergized. The strong winds, some as high as 70 mph, are expected to abate by Thursday afternoon.
Residents in areas where power was going out lined up at gas stations and streamed into stores in pursuit of generators, flashlights, batteries and nonperishable food. The outage also prompted schools and universities to cancel classes and some businesses to close.
Record power shutoffs in California are set to become the new normal
The Guardian – Amid fierce winds and dry conditions, the utility company that services more than a third of California will cut power to an unprecedented swath of the state as a preventive measure against wildfires.
And with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) at fault for two of the deadliest wildfires in California’s history in just the past two years, major power shutoffs are set to become a new normal for a state gripped by the climate crisis.
Starting early Wednesday, PG&Ewill shut off power to portions of 34 of the state’s 58 counties, affecting almost 800,000 homes and businesses. The preventive shutoff will not be the first the utility has undertaken this year, but it will be the largest, with parts of Silicon Valley and the coast affected.
“I wish we weren’t in a situation where, in maybe one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world, we are turning power off to large swaths of the population every few weeks,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy program at Stanford University. “But it is better than what we’ve been through, and I very much hope that we get through this fire season without a repeat of 2017 or 2018.”
PG&E declared bankruptcy in January, in part because of potential liabilities from its role in some of the 2017 northern California fires and the 2018 Camp fire that killed a total of 129 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
How PG&E’s historic blackouts will put California’s medical emergency planning to the test
Business Insider – Health care providers and officials around Northern California said that PG&E’s electrical grid shutdown, expected to trigger blackouts in 34 of 58 counties on Wednesday, will test on a grand scale whether residents and medical care facilities have done enough to planning for medical emergencies.
“Placer County is expected to be impacted by the public safety power shutoff event,” said Michael Romero, a program manager with that county’s Health & Human Services Department. “More than 50,000 meters, which could be up to 150,000 residents, could be impacted. Obviously, we’re very concerned with the impact.”
Romero urged residents to formulate a plan for to ensure their health needs would be met. That ranges from keeping food and water on hand to ensuring ensuring you know how to manually open your garage to ordering an additional oxygen tank for a loved one who’s dependent on the equipment, he said.
Alaska Supreme Court hears youth ‘climate change’ lawsuit.
AP – An Alaska law promoting fossil fuel development infringes on the constitutional rights of young residents to a healthy environment, a lawyer told Alaska Supreme Court justices on Wednesday.
A lawsuit filed by 16 Alaska youths claimed long-term effects of climate change will devastate the country’s northernmost state and interfere with their constitutional rights to life, liberty and public trust resources that sustain them.
The state’s legislative and executive branches have not taken steps to lower greenhouse gas emissions and adopted a policy that promotes putting more in the air, said attorney Andrew Welle of the Oregon-based Our Children’s Trust group.
City has snowiest October in 44 years as storm strengthens over northern US
Accuweather – It may be early October, but parts of the northern United States have been transformed into a winter wonderland as an early-season snowstorm unloads record-setting snow across the region.
This is the second storm in less than two weeks to spread snow over parts of the northern U.S. However, unlike the late-September storm, this new storm is stronger and forecast to evolve into a full-on blizzard by week’s end.
Snow started to fall on Tuesday from the Cascades to the northern Rockies as the storm began to unfold.
Spokane, Washington, was one town that was hit particularly hard by the snow on Tuesday. A record-breaking 3.3 inches of snow fell, the first measurable snow in the month of October since 2001. It also made this month the third-snowiest October on record, following 3.9 inches in October of 1975 and 6.1 inches in October of 1957.

Health

WHO admits polio outbreak in the Philippines caused by polio vaccines… outbreak “caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2”
NaturalNews – The polio vaccine has caused an escalating outbreak of polio in the Philippines, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, which issued a joint statement admitting the vaccine is causing polio.
“WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement the polio outbreak in the Philippines is concerning because it is caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2,” writes the Associated Press. “The weakened virus used in vaccines replicates for a short time in children’s intestines and is excreted in their feces.”
Polio vaccines are often cited as a success story proving that vaccines work to eliminate infectious disease. In truth, nearly all the cases of polio in the modern world are caused by polio vaccines themselves.
Stated plainly, more cases of polio are caused by polio vaccines than from wild polio.
Next time you eat an avocado, don’t throw out the pit: It’s great for treating inflammation
NaturalNews – The avocado is considered one of the healthiest fruits on the planet. This superfruit is packed with nutrients and healthy fats that promote heart health. Hence, it’s no surprise that it has found its way to the top of the list of the most consumed fruits, together with apple and berries. But while the fruit is appreciated mainly for its delicious and nutritious flesh, researchers have found a health-related benefit of its inedible and often discarded pit. In a recent study, researchers from The Pennsylvania State University found that an extract obtained from avocado seed has anti-inflammatory properties. Besides being a useful food colorant, the extract also exhibited the ability to inhibit inflammation in cultured cells exposed to bacterial endotoxin. This suggests that the part of the avocado fruit commonly considered waste is actually an excellent source of plant compounds that can be used as functional food ingredients.
Oligosaccharides in cranberries can prevent UTI – study
NaturalNews – Researchers from the University of Mississippi and the University of Georgia examined the effects of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) consumption on Escherichia coli adhesion in porcine urine. The results of their study were published in the Journal of Natural Products.

  • Cranberry juice is used in traditional medicine to prevent urinary tract infections (UTI).
  • In human studies, consumption of cranberry juice can effectively prevent E.coli adhesion in urine samples, but the compounds responsible for this effect are yet to be identified.
  • To address this, the researchers fed adult female sows five grams of spray-dried cranberry powder per kilogram body weight per day and collected urine samples via catheter.
  • They tested the samples for anti-adhesion activity using a human red blood cell (A+) anti-hemagglutination assay with uropathogenic P-fimbriated E.coli.
  • They used gel filtration chromatography to isolate components from the urine samples and subjected these compounds to HPLC.
  • The researchers reported that active urine fractions contained many oligosaccharides but not proanthocyanidins.
  • They managed to isolate sufficient amounts of a single representative arabinoxyloglucan octasaccharide with sufficient purity for full characterization.
  • They found that cranberry samples also contained the same oligosaccharides, and these compounds exhibited anti-adhesion properties in preliminary testing.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that oligosaccharides structurally related to those found in cranberries are responsible for the anti-adhesion effects observed after cranberry consumption.

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