The Green Rush

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Ken
Rush toward green energy has left the United States ‘incredibly’ vulnerable to summer blackouts, expert warns
A wind farm in Glenrock, Wyoming. AP
Michael Lee

Every area of the U.S. could be in danger of experiencing power outages this summer amid a push to convert to renewable energy sources while taking traditional sources of power offline.
“I think the entire country is incredibly vulnerable, because the entire country is facing a huge energy shortage and I don’t think there is any place that is truly safe,” Daniel Turner, founder and executive director at Power the Future, told Fox News.

RECORD-HIGH GAS PRICES DRAIN TEXAS COUNTIES FUEL BUDGET
But some argue that renewable energy sources are not the problem, instead pointing to climate change-driven heat waves that stress the grid beyond its limits, regardless of what source of energy is used.
“Climate change is fueling extreme heat, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes,
which is overtaxing America’s outdated power grid,” Climate Nexus said in an analysis  earlier this month, citing a North American Electric Reliability Corporation report that argued “extreme temperatures, ongoing drought, and supply chain issues could strain
the power grid in vast regions across the country.”
The analysis noted that there is a “growing rate of record-breaking climate events,”
which it argued contributes to both climate change and the stress it places on the grid.

“Fossil fuels are both a root cause and exacerbating influence on these blackout events,” the analysis reads. “The extraction and burning of oil, gas, and coal are the primary drivers of climate change, while outdated fossil infrastructure accompanied by wild market volatility have made these fuel sources expensive and unreliable.” 
But Turner argues that there are few rewards for the environment
when grids switch over to wind and solar.
“The notion that they have baptized themselves as green is a joke,” Turner said.
“They use more fossil fuels in the production, installation, and then the redundancies
of wind and solar than if they just burn those fossil fuels directly to make electricity.
So, the idea that they’re green is just purely a lie.”
“It just amazes me that we look at this, we look at all the data, and politicians are still hell-bent on pushing renewable energy when it’s proven to be nothing but a failure,” he added.
Turned said that the U.S. was already the cleanest country in the world before the push toward renewable energy sources.

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“We all want clean air and clear water and a clean earth. No one does it better than the United States of America. By far we are the cleanest nation on Earth,” Turner said, adding that the switch from reliable energy sources will “plunge entire neighborhoods into darkness.”
He pointed to other examples of countries that have been ahead of the U.S. on switching to wind and solar such as Germany, arguing that people there have still yet to see any benefit from the transition.
“Germany pays the highest electricity price for the developed world. …
they pay almost five times what we do for electricity,” Turner said. 
The move towards renewables has also caused Germany to be dependent on Russian natural gas to fill the void in their capacity, while the country has even begun to bring some coal plants back online. They have also resorted to buying energy from neighboring France, which produced over 80% of its electricity with nuclear power.

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Turner believes nuclear energy could be a solution in the U.S. as well, but he notes that a move to more nuclear energy would receive plenty of pushback.
“Nuclear is absolutely one of the strongest solutions. Nuclear is absolutely a viable solution that has the smallest footprint,” Turner said. “The biggest problem nuclear has against it is there is a very aggressive and very effective fear campaign.”
Turner placed much of the blame for the current situation on the Biden administration, considering President Biden’s renewal of the push to switch the country over to wind and solar. But energy prices are now soaring as families already deal with decades-high inflation, leaving little hope for relief in the near future.

THIS IS AMERICAN ENERGY’S BIGGEST THREAT
“Natural gas right now is trading at probably more than three times what it should,” Turner said. “There are runs on natural gas, we have a huge shortage of it and the price
is insane. Coal is probably four times what it should be, and these are all the results of Biden’s energy policies.”
The rush to convert to renewable energy has not been limited to Democratic administrations, with Republican-run Texas having outage issues amid a transition
to wind power. A winter storm last year caused widespread outages across Texas, with many of the windmills that failed being deliberately turned off, so they wouldn’t freeze. The problem was exacerbated because the state lacked adequate backup from natural gas plants to keep the lights on in many communities.
“It’s bipartisan stupidity,” Turner said. “It was Republican governors of Texas who for years pushed renewable energy mandates. If that can happen in Texas, then we’re doomed as a country.” “There was no backup. Why? Because Republican governors bought into this lie that all we need is wind and we’ll be fine,” Turner said.

Texas’ vulnerability to outages has already started to show this year,
with the state needing to dip into power reserves already this month
amid a surge in demand. 
Grid operators in Texas insist that they have the resources in reserve to power the state through the coming summer months, while Texas Oil & Gas Association President Todd Staples said the state “has excess capacity available when plants are online and renewables are able to put power on the grid.”
But Turner is skeptical, arguing that policymakers should start pushing back against the “green agenda.”
“It takes an awful lot of political courage to say ‘this is all just a load of nonsense, right?,’” he said. “These are failed technologies, very expensive technologies, made in Chinese slave camp technologies, and they’re not green, that’s the biggest lie.
“My question for the Biden administration or any other governors is, why do you continue to go down this path?”

Build Back Better Bust: Massive Spending Halted – YouTube
The climate hawks’ list of disappointments is growing longer as the global energy crisis and Europe’s imperative to cut ties with Russia send some of the world’s greenest governments into the embrace of fossil fuels.
The war in Ukraine has required President Joe Biden and other Western leaders who support aggressive green measures to make compromises to avoid energy shortages this winter and to ensure the overall security of their energy supplies, even while they maintain that it is necessary to replace fossil energy with renewables.

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That means, at least for now, governments are seeking out more of the fossil fuels they would prefer to phase out quickly, leading to a major letdown for environmental interests.
Conclusions from the recent summit of the Group of Seven’s heads of state show that green policy preferences and, pointedly, the preferences of Biden and his fellow European leaders, are being outmatched by the demands of the global energy crisis.
The leaders’ newest Tuesday communique, which lays out how the members resolve to tackle major geopolitical problems, endorsed the public financing of natural gas projects
in limited circumstances.
The communique emphasized the “exceptional” circumstances of the energy crisis and acknowledged “that investment in [the natural gas sector] is necessary in response to the current crisis.”
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said separately that “large investments in gas infrastructure in developing countries and elsewhere” would be needed.

G-7 nations had a month earlier committed to ending direct public support for unabated fossil fuel projects internationally, meaning those unaccompanied by emissions-capturing technologies, by the end of this year. At the COP26 climate change conference in November, all of the leading industrial nations except Japan made a similar commitment.
The EU is scrambling to find ways to reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas, which over the last few years has provided more than a third of the bloc’s total gas imports, in an effort to cease funneling money to Russia and become less vulnerable to energy “blackmail.”
That effort includes seeking out new import partners, such as the United States and Qatar, that can provide Europe with more liquefied natural gas. But it also involves supporting new gas projects in the developing world, especially Africa.
The endorsement of gas sparked a backlash from green-aligned groups,
which accused the G-7 of walking back a commitment it made just a month
before and transgressing the Paris Agreement.

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About Kamila Godzinska,

I am highly ambitious, results-driven, and able to adapt to any environment.
I am a truly international individual, proficient in six languages (and learning a seventh). My higher education has provided me with an excellent understanding of the political, economic, and cultural situations and developments in the post-communist countries of Europe and Eurasia. I am experienced in conducting policy-oriented research on issues relating to the global energy transition. She conducts research and analysis to inform policy briefings, reports, and presentations, focusing on fossil fuel producing countries. 

In particular, she conducts research on Russia’s political economy and the way it shapes its energy transition and broader climate policies, as well as potential avenues for climate cooperation between the UK and Russia. Kamila has previously worked as a research assistant for the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum; the International Multimodal Communication Centre at the University of Oxford; and the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zürich. She was also a Fellow of the Monterey Summer Symposium on Russia.
Kamila holds an MPhil degree in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford and a BA in Modern Languages and Cultures (French and Russian) from Durham University. In her spare time, Kamila enjoys travelling, hiking, practicing yoga, learning languages, dancing salsa, singing, and playing the piano. 
Kamila Godzinska, a London-based researcher at independent climate change think tank E3G, called the endorsement of gas infrastructure a “short-sighted and relatively ineffective way of boosting the resilience of global energy systems.”

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Kamila Godzińska | Facebook
Kamila Godzinska (@GodzinskaKamila) / Twitter
Kamila Godzinska (@kamilasplates) • Instagram

| Powering Past Coal Alliance

Powering Past Coal Alliance Global Summit, co-hosted by Minister Wilkinson, shows global momentum toward the phase-out of coal and strengthens resolve to accelerate action | Markets Insider (businessinsider.com)

Kamila Godzinska on Twitter: “Planning and building new LNG infrastructure takes years, and the year of opportunity on the EU market is 2022, not beyond. LNG projects planned now with the EU market in mind will risk becoming stranded, and the capital invested may not be recovered due to long payback periods.” / Twitter

Kamila Godzinska, a London-based researcher at independent climate change think tank
Kamila Godzinska MPhil Student, 2018-2020 | Russian and East European Studies
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Power-Past-Coal-1.pdf (lapfforum.org)
Future of EU gas demand – E3G

Godzinska noted the general timeline for LNG terminal construction and delivery is between three and five years. “These projects will have no effect on the crisis right now,” she said.
“A focus on gas will detract attention and finance from cheaper and faster strategies that reduce gas demand and exposure to high prices. Those strategies include energy efficiency, electrification, and the expansion of renewables.”

Joe Biden’s Misguided Plan to Lower Gas Prices
The Biden administration and the G-7, as well as Europe more broadly, are pursuing
all of those green strategies more aggressively in response to the energy crisis, but not
to the exclusion of natural gas. The G-7’s communique was also one of the most explicit
endorsements favoring new gas infrastructure since the war started, but it wasn’t the first action.

Liberal media mocks Americans’ concerns on inflation – Bing video
The Biden administration and the European Commission set up a joint task force
in March with the mission of securing more LNG supplies for Europe. Biden committed
to helping supply the European Union with several hundred billion cubic meters of U.S.-produced LNG through 2030, and the task force acknowledged that new infrastructure would be built to facilitate that.
Environmental groups have been especially critical of that move for
“Locking in” more fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions with new gas projects.
The European Commission also set aside 10 billion euros for investment in “limited additional gas infrastructure” with its newest energy platform, and the commission just issued a joint statement with energy giant Norway endorsing the continued exploration and production of oil and gas on the part of the non-EU member.

Romain Louallen, a global policy lead at Oil Change International, described the agreement as a “moral failure” and said the EU’s response to the war is “leading to a new dash for oil and gas around the world at a time when the world should be urgently phasing out fossil fuels.”
In addition, governments in Europe are turning more readily to coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels, in order to conserve gas supplies ahead of winter. In the U.S., frustration among environmental groups extends beyond Biden’s response to the energy crisis.
Biden pledged on the campaign trail to restrict drilling and leasing on federal lands and waters, and he sought to get the ball rolling by pausing all new leasing after taking office, but a federal court enjoined the leasing pause last summer.

The administration is currently appealing the ruling.
The Biden administration has since scheduled and carried out multiple oil and gas lease sales, citing the court’s injunction, but its environmental constituencies say it hasn’t done enough to thwart new leasing.
“There’s nothing in that ruling that said that they had to restart new leasing now,” Nicole Ghio, a senior fossil fuel program manager at Friends of the Earth, told the Washington Examiner.

Ghio, whose group filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to stop the Interior Department’s largest-yet onshore lease sale, said the administration’s increase in leasing royalty rates and its reductions of available acreage are inadequate reforms.
“We’re seeing Biden break his climate promise,” Ghio said. “It is very true that industry benefits from huge subsidies in the leasing programs, such as artificially low royalty rates. However, raising royalties does not actually address the climate impacts of the leasing program.” The Supreme Court defined new limits to the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Environmental groups responded quickly by calling on Biden to wield his executive powers more aggressively to facilitate a faster transition away from fossil fuels and by calling on Congress to pass sweeping energy and climate legislation — something it has failed to do because of slim majorities, opposition from Republicans, and a lack of consensus among Senate Democrats.

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Dutch farmers angered by government plans that may require them to use
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protests in the Netherlands on Monday (July 4).

Lydia Laird – I’ll Be Okay (Official Performance Video)
Give me peace when I am tossed and frightened, lost among the waves
Give me hope when I’m in doubt and fears are clouding up my faith
Would You come and move the mountains?
Cause I’m too weak to climb
Promise that You’re with me in this fight
Give me peace when I am tossed and frightened, lost among the waves
Give me hope when I’m in doubt and fears are clouding up my faith
Would You come and move the mountains?
‘Cause I’m too weak to climb
Promise that You’re with me in this fight

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Grateful to be Free

Posted on July 3, 2022 by Ken
Why do we celebrate July 4th? Origin, meaning and what happened in 1776 (msn.com)

Top 10 American Anthem Performances That Will Make You Cry
Lee Greenwood has more than 30 albums to his credit over his long and distinguished career as a country singer and spoke with Fox News Digital this weekend, just ahead of
the 4th of July. Best National Anthem Performances All Time

Fox Nation explores Lee Greenwood’s career as a proud American musician – Bing video 
 Country music star Lee Greenwood is perhaps best known for his iconic and moving song, “God Bless the USA” — many people can’t hear that song without shedding a tear — yet his body of music over his long and accomplished career is extensive and his care and concern for America run very, very deep.

He spends a great deal of time helping to raise thousands of dollars on a regular basis
for charities that assist wounded veterans, law enforcement and others through Helping
a Hero, a Texas-based national organization.
Recently, just ahead of the 4th of July, he partnered with global firework manufacturer Black Cat® to introduce a 42-shot “Proud to Be an American” firework available in select locations across the country. 

4TH OF JULY QUIZ: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW INDEPENDENCE DAY?
Fox News Digital spoke to Greenwood by phone as he was kicking off a busy 4th of July holiday weekend packed with concerts and special events — including an appearance on July 5th at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. 
“As a kid, I was raised in California on a farm — we were sharecroppers,” he told Fox News Digital. 
“We didn’t take much time for holidays. I was generally working, and I have been working, on holidays since I was a kid.” Greenwood also said, “I think my message basically is to remember that freedom is not free.” 
“So, it’s not as much about the [4th of July] holiday,” he said, “as it is about reaffirming our faith that we are so grateful to be in a free country.”

“My message basically is to remember that freedom is not free.” 
And that every time we enjoy fireworks or other celebrations on the 4th, he added, we should “remember that it was paid for, in blood, by our service members — our military. That’s pretty much my message now.”

AMERICA’S MILITARY AND VETERANS WITH PTSD HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE TO HEAL 

Lee Greenwood is shown performing on stage during a Music Memorial for Jeff Carson at Nashville Palace on May 10, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.
Lee Greenwood is shown performing on stage during a Music Memorial for Jeff Carson
at Nashville Palace on May 10, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.  (Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)

What does he think about the politicization today of so much by so many?
“It’s very difficult sometimes to push away from politics,” he said.
“Of course, politics is in everything and not just [from] the politicians in Washington, D.C., who try to turn the country their way — left or right, the middle, or whatever.”

TUNNEL TO TOWERS EMBARKS ON BOLD NEW EFFORT FOR AMERICA’S HOMELESS VETERANS
Lee Greenwood is married to his wife, Kimberly Payne, a former Miss Tennessee.
They were married in Nashville in 1992 and have two sons, Dalton and Parker. 
“What I try to do,” he added, “is to stay true to my art, true to my music, true to my family and certainly true to my country.”  “Freedom brings dissension — but it also brings unity when a crisis comes.”
He described his family’s recent trip to Croatia, and also the travels of his wife, Kim, to London — and how, when she returned, she shared with him that many of the people she met or talked to their said they were surprised by reports of the unrest and dissent in America right now over so many issues. 

Meet the American Who Wrote ‘America the Beautiful ‘ – Search (bing.com)

“And I told her, Well, that’s what freedom brings. Freedom brings dissension — but it
brings unity, when a crisis comes,” said Greenwood. “I was visible and very involved in America’s rebuilding right after 9/11, as you know. And I continue to do that. I try to get rid of divisiveness and breed unity.” 
He said he focuses on family and faith — and that they are central to his life in every way.
Greenwood said he is frequently thanked by people after his concerts or other events. 
“I’m humbled by it,” he said, “and I don’t really need justification for what I do — but I’m glad that people recognize that this isn’t on the surface for me. This goes deep with me.”

Lee Greenwood takes time to talk with members of the U.S. Navy during a visit to "Fox and Friends" at the Fox News Channel studios on May 27, 2022, in New York City.
Lee Greenwood takes time to talk with members of the U.S. Navy during a visit to
“Fox and Friends” at the Fox News Channel studios on May 27, 2022, in New York City.  
(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

He said, “it’s pretty cool” for him that people take the time to thank him or share their gratitude or thoughts with him, especially about his iconic song, “God Bless the USA.” 
“And it’s people of all ages, too,” he said. “It seems like the grandparents passed it down to the parents, who passed it down to the kids.”
“That’s the way God works. You make a plan and then things change. You can’t really plan for what His plan is.
I go by that axiom.”
Greenwood said that “it’s just a simple piece of music that seems to have resonated with people. ‘God Bless the USA’ means so much to people when it’s played at the end of fireworks shows” and other events, he said.

Lee Greenwood performs during the "Fox and Friends" naturalization ceremony for Veterans Day at Fox News Channel studios on Nov. 11, 2019, in New York City.
Lee Greenwood performs during the “Fox and Friends” naturalization ceremony
for Veterans Day at Fox News Channel studios on Nov. 11, 2019, in New York City.  
(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

In 1985, “God Bless the U.S.A.” was named Song of the Year by the Country Music Awards.
Greenwood revealed that “God Bless the USA” wasn’t originally meant to be a single. 

“I’m a sharecropper farmer from California, who was in high cotton most of the time.
I had no idea that it would ever reach the pinnacle that it has. And I wrote that song for
an album cut back in 1983, back when I was with MCA. It wasn’t proposed or promised
to be a single.”
“I love singing, I love being a musician and an artist — and I love entertaining.”
“It was only the Universal Company that requested it to be the single off that album [later] — it was my fourth or fifth album with MCA at that time. And I don’t think it would have ever been heard had they not made that choice.” 
But “that’s the way God works,” said Greenwood. “You make a plan and then things change, and it’s because you can’t really plan for what His plan is. I go by that axiom.”

What keeps him going?
“I love what I do. I love singing, I love being a musician and an artist — and I love entertaining.” Lee Greenwood launched his own Patriot Awards recently — and this weekend, his group is honoring Tony Orlando. 
He is also very active with the Houston-based charity Helping a Hero — to give back to wounded and courageous American warriors. “It makes my heart swell with pride to do this,” he said. 

MEET THE AMERICAN WHO WROTE ‘THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC’

Helping A Hero is “very unique,” he said. 
“We’ve given 200 homes in 10 years — and this year we’re on a fast track to do another
100 homes,” he said, thanks to CEO Johnny Morris of Bass Pro Shops, who is supporting
the first 10 of those 100 new homes.

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Anyone can go to HelpingAHero.org or LeeGreenwood.com to help America’s
“Wounded warriors who need and deserve a home,” said Greenwood.
Greenwood has more than 30 albums to his credit. And he said when he sings
some of the songs from that incredible body of work, people say,
“Oh, yeah, I remember that one!
And I remember that one. And I remember that one, too.”

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DANCING TOMMY LLC
Incorporation Date 16 November 2021 (8 months ago)
Jurisdiction California (US)
Registered Address
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Where Doth My Love Go • Dancing Tommy (spotify.com)
Dancing Tommy is formed of siblings Gabriel (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Sonia Solorzano (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals), Tobi Solorzano (Bass Guitar/Vocals), and Rudy Hernandez (Drummer/Beat Guru). A group local to Bakersfield, CA and formed at the beginning of the year 2018 and driven to get their sound and message out to the world. Dancing Tommy’s mixed influence of punk, reggae, soul, psychedelia and alternative
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Songs like “Where Doth My Love Go” are meant to inspire to look inward and achieve
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speaks to the fact that we are all open to be whoever we choose at whatever moment,
and “Lady River” about an unbreakable love. More songs are to be recorded and also
released by the record label Squeaky Stool Records within the coming months. https://www.instagram.com/dancing.tommy/

The Times They Are a Changin – Sonia Solorzano – TV Commercial – YouTube
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About — Sonia Lee
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‘Too busy to die’

Posted on July 3, 2022 by Ken
Jace Ward (left) with his mother and older brother Blake at a fundraiser for the Cristian Rivera Foundation, which supports research into diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, the type of cancer that afflicted Jace #Tough2Gether | Facebook

Brain cancer patient and his mom save lives by pushing care in new ways
Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY  – Bing video

Lisa Ward’s Son Jace Has Been Gone for Exactly a Year Now. 
But His Impact on The Care of Children with Brain Cancer Continues.

Lisa Is Making Sure of That. 
 Jace, of Wamego, Kansas, was 20 and a sophomore at Kansas State University when he was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, DIPG, a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer that usually strikes younger children. Affecting about 300 Americans a year, DIPG spreads its tentacles through the brainstem where functions like breathing
and movement are controlled. The neurologist who diagnosed Jace said he likely had
6 to 9 months to live.

“I’m not afraid to die,” Lisa remembers Jace saying at the time.
“I’m afraid to not have enough impact before I do.” 
While many people look for a mission in life or a sign that they’re doing the right thing, once he understood the battle he was fighting, Jace had a clear vision for himself. 
Being far older than most DIPG patients, Jace could communicate with doctors in a way that provided them with insights about his experience with treatments. Between that,
his dynamic personality and a growing sense of purpose, he sought to transform DIPG’s treatment, which hadn’t changed since astronaut Neil Armstrong’s daughter died of the disease in 1962.

“Probably every day somewhere in the world, someone calls me and says ‘I want you
to know my child had a better chance because we followed what Jace did,'” said Lisa,
who with her husband, Roger, an electrician, has two older children, Blake and Brooke.
Jace didn’t dwell on his prognosis. He figured he was already living on borrowed time.
The double-vision that was his first symptom began just six weeks after a car accident
that could have been fatal. “I can’t die. I’m busy,” he’d say.

“This became his mantra,” Lisa said. And he lived up to it.
Jace traveled to Washington and took the stage at fundraisers to build awareness about DIPG and lobby for more money for pediatric brain tumor research. He fought against the traditional boundaries that kept fundraising groups separate and researchers in their silos, believing more would be accomplished by collaborating.
“His charisma was totally stunning,” said Reed Jobs,
who first met Jace on a Zoom call a few months after his diagnosis?

Steve Jobs Cancer Stanford Speech – Search (bing.com)
Jobs, whose father, Steve, famously co-founded Apple and later died of pancreatic cancer, hired Jace as an intern at Emerson Collective, a philanthropy-focused company where Jobs serves as managing director of health. “Carrying on his mantra of urgency and patient focus is one of the best lessons he ever taught me.”

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Brain tumor patient Jace Ward fought to improve his own care and that of others.
© Courtesy Lisa Ward

Plus, as a digital native
Jace intuitively understood the benefits that could come from the free flow
of medical data, said Adam Resnick, who directs the Center for Data-Driven
Discovery in Biomedicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“Rather than wait for the normal course of things to take shape, they’re pushing the limits of data generation and care that accelerates the process,” Resnick said of Jace and Lisa.
The pair insisted patients get access to and then share their data, so researchers could learn from it and use it to help the next patient, Resnick said.
They also demanded speed, so children wouldn’t die while waiting.
“They have been, and they are such a force of change,” Resnick said,
adding this shift in thinking has been crucial for DIPG, for which there is no proven,
effective care, and also has implications for other diseases.
“That’s the narrative and his legacy in a way that should become a model for all pediatric brain tumors and pediatrics as a whole.”

Transforming treatment   
In mid-2019 when Jace was diagnosed with DIPG, patients didn’t get their tumors biopsied. They were going to die anyway, so why subject them to brain surgery?
But Jace and Lisa realized that a brain biopsy could provide useful information,
both to guide an individual’s treatment and to compare how that patient fares
with others whose biology or care is similar.
That way, Resnick said, others can learn from each patient’s experience.
So Jace got a biopsy, which helped guide his treatment. And he donated the tissue to Stanford University and the Children’s Brain Tumor Network, a consortium of 30 institutions, run out of Resnick’s hospital. 
Then, Jace became among the first DIPG patients to turn down massive doses of steroids. Although steroids had been the standard therapy for decades, reducing inflammation and some symptoms, studies show they don’t improve long-term outcomes in DIPG. They do lead to tremendous weight gain, angry emotions, weak immunity and loss of balance.
“He was vain and didn’t want to change his looks,” Lisa said. Plus, Jace proved the same symptoms could be treated other ways. Last fall, a group of experts agreed and changed the standard treatment for DIPG to move away from prescribing steroids proactively. 

ONC201, – Bing video
A few months after his diagnosis and radiation treatment, doctors suggested Jace join a trial for a drug called ONC201. Then he began lobbying Chimerix Inc. of Durham, North Carolina, to make it available to every DIPG patient — an opportunity more than 400 others have since taken. When there was wasn’t enough money to pay for all those kids’ ONC201, Jace and Lisa, through their fundraising arm Tough2gether Against DIPG,
along with two other organizations raised over $1 million to give them access.
Research funding is a major issue for DIPG, which received only about $2 million from
the government the year Jace was diagnosed. With his help that annual figure has doubled since. Some of the money Lisa raises goes toward burial funds for kids whose families can’t afford the cost.
Jace and Lisa’s efforts provide hope to other families, said Laura Eicher, whose son Cole survived a different form of brain cancer and who now serves as a manager with the American Cancer Society’s Senior Childhood Cancer Initiatives.
Lisa knows all the things a family can do to fight their child’s cancer, so she can tell them what comes next and when they’ve done everything possible, Eicher said. “Imagine how wonderful that feels,” she said. “Then you can spend more time on your child.”

Using his voice for others
Turning 21 in February 2020, Jace decided to have a big birthday bash. He put the word out on Instagram, expecting about 100 friends. More than 500 showed up in his town, population 4,800. ONC201 stabilized Jace’s tumor for about a year, but in July 2020,
his double vision worsened. The left side of his face began to droop.
The pons, the part of the brainstem where DIPG tumors are located, controls facial muscles as well as limbs on the opposite side. Jace couldn’t control his right hand
or arm and struggled to walk without stumbling. He couldn’t play basketball anymore.
“As the spider web (of the tumor) builds, kids lose more and more function,” Lisa said. 
Jace invited seven of the country’s top DIPG experts to a Zoom meeting to discuss next steps. Lisa didn’t think they’d come, but they did. He’d met them through his fundraising and public speaking, and they were eager to help. “What would you do if I were your kid?”
Jace asked them.

Then, Jace pushed to make a similar tumor board available to every child with a
brainstem tumor. Lisa made it happen, bringing together 60 foundations to fund the effort. “If I had more time, it’d probably be 90,” Lisa said. Later this month, eight doctors will start hearing 10 patient cases a week. Taking his own tumor board’s advice,
Jace volunteered to become patient #2 in a clinical trial at Stanford University.
Researchers there were trying to use the immune system to help control DIPG.
They’d shown their approach was effective in mice. But they didn’t know what would happen in people. The biggest concern was that the infusion of Jace’s own re-engineered immune cells might be too much for his brain, leading to sudden death. Jace volunteered anyway. “It’s the only thing that could possibly cure me,” he told his mother. 
“I don’t want this slow, loss-of-function, loss-of-my-body death.” 
But Jace wouldn’t sign the consent form agreeing to keep quiet about the treatment.
He wanted to be free to tell everyone in the DIPG community about his experience.
“I’m doing this because I want to make this easier on other parents,
and I have every right to share my story,” he told them. 

At Stanford, a quote from Jace still hangs on the wall:
“I’m gifting you my greatest asset,” it reads, referencing his brain tissue donation. 
“Use it. Share it. Share everything you learn from it. If you don’t, I’ll haunt you.”
The researchers who led the trial get choked up when thinking about Jace.
“We loved this patient,” said Dr. Michelle Monje, a neuro-oncologist.
“An inspirational young man,” added Dr. Crystal Mackall,
founding director of the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy.
“He knew his voice was strong enough for those who couldn’t speak,”
concluded Dr. Sneha Ramakrishna, a pediatric oncologist.
“It was beautiful to see how much he wanted to use his voice for others.”

Doing ‘what’s right’ to save lives  
Another focus for Lisa over the past year has been making sure children’s brain tumors
are genetically sequenced and the data is made available to everyone. Understanding the genetics behind the disease could help predict a patient’s course and ideally lead to life-saving treatments. 
Scientists had sequenced 87 brainstem tumors but 400 more sat in freezers. With existing funding, sequencing them all would take three years — equal, Jace noted, to six times the life expectancy of a child with DIPG.
Corrie Painter, at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which conducted the sequencing, said she and others were inspired by Jace’s insistence that their work was meaningful to patients. 
The message she heard from Jace, and Lisa was, “Lay down all your petty reasons for not collaborating and sharing data and get it done before we all die,” said Painter, associate director the Broad’s Count Me In cancer-patient initiative. “This is somebody who is in the thick of it, begging us to get over the traditional academic hang-ups and do what’s right.”

Jace’s first immunotherapy treatment, in September 2020, was rough. He lost his lush, dirty blond hair from the chemotherapy needed to clear out his existing immune cells.
But he got three nearly symptom-free months.
At one point, Jace asked Lisa, “Mom, what’s going to happen if I get bad?”
“I’m going to be right beside you,” she promised.
He wasn’t worried about himself, he told her, but about what other DIPG families would do if he and Lisa weren’t available to offer them guidance.
He wanted to set up a more structured system where nurses could help parents navigate to the best centers and trials for them.
“He’s in bed in the hospital telling me what to type,” said Lisa. With help from others, she’s since hired three nurses to run the MyDIPGNavigator.org program, which rolled out the week of May 17 – National DIPG Awareness Day and the third anniversary of Jace’s diagnosis.

Jace was always an independent thinker and a risk-taker.
Back in high school, struggling to make it to first period, Jace missed
his entrepreneurship class so often, the teacher warned him he was going to fail.
“You’re teaching us to make our own way,” Jace reminded him and then offered a deal: He’d enter an entrepreneurship competition. If he won, he’d get an A in the class, if he didn’t, he’d get an F. 
Jace ended up winning the statewide Youth Entrepreneurs competition,
which earned his teacher “teacher of the year.”
In late 2020, Jace developed a cyst in his brain, a clump of dead tissue that grew bigger as fluid accumulated. It triggered lockjaw, which meant he couldn’t talk or eat his favorite foods – pizza and hamburgers.
Doctors installed an Ommaya reservoir, a small shunt placed under his scalp to drain the fluid.
Researchers were able to access tumor cells from that fluid and grow them in a lab, to better understand his cancer.
The port also allowed them to deliver immune cells directly into Jace’s brain rather than throughout his whole body, reducing symptoms. In future patients, the same kind of port eliminated the need for them to get chemotherapy before immunotherapy – avoiding hair loss and other symptoms. It’s now the standard approach for delivering DIPG immunotherapy.

When Jace Ward's brain tumor grew, his vision deteriorated and his mouth drooped on one side.
When Jace Ward’s brain tumor grew, his vision deteriorated, and his mouth drooped on one side. © Courtesy Lisa Ward

In early January 2021, with symptoms returning, his doctors won federal approval to treat him again. Jace would be just the second patient to receive a second dose of his own re-engineered immune cells.
The second treatment gave him vicious side effects. Full-body tremors. A rash.
He spiked a fever of 106. Fluid had to be drained from his brain.
Researchers learned from his experience to add the immunosuppressive drug anakinra before the therapy rather than after. Jace never suffered as much again. Nor did the other patients in the trial.
Three weeks after his treatment, Jace attended Super Bowl 2021 in Tampa.
When he entered the hospital back in January, he couldn’t walk farther than across
the room. The therapy made such a difference that in Tampa, he walked 4 miles a day. 
But the grace period between treatments was getting shorter. By March 23, 2021, it was time for another round of immunotherapy. His fourth treatment took place in late May, and he didn’t leave the hospital before his fifth treatment on June 14.
Jace was planning another big party for July 3. The Fourth of July was his favorite holiday. Tiny Wamego, Kansas, has celebrated the nation’s independence in a big way for 150 years, Lisa said. In addition to a parade, for more than 35 years the town has held one of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest. Its population swells to 80,000 for the day. 
Jace and his family returned from his treatment in California on June 30. He had dinner with his sister Brooke and some friends. Later that night, a friend who was staying over woke up Lisa and said something wasn’t right with Jace.
After rushing to the hospital in Topeka, Jace was flown to St. Louis where an MRI showed a blood vessel had burst in his brain. It might have been the tumor pressing on a vessel or the treatment inflaming his brain that caused the damage.

For a few days, unable to speak, Jace was able to spell out words by squeezing his hand. He got frustrated when his dad couldn’t spell fast enough.
“What’s so cruel about this tumor type is they are cognitively so aware of everything,”
Lisa said. “He was just trapped.”
On the morning of July 3, Corrie Painter from the Broad Institute called to say she had found the funding to sequence the 400 tumors in the freezer – not in three years, as she’d said, but in six months.
Lisa shared the news with Jace and was pretty sure he understood.
Jace had long made it clear that he didn’t want to be put on life support if there was no chance of recovery. So late on the evening of July 3, 2021, Lisa told Jace she loved him and that there wasn’t anything more anyone could do. If he wanted to stop fighting, she said she understood. 

He looked her straight in the eyes and then closed his.
“Two tears rolled down his face,” Lisa said.
It was the only time she’d seen him cry during the ordeal.
On Saturday, Lisa’s tough2gether against DIPG and another brain tumor organization hosted a fundraiser in Wamego, starting with a 5K and ending, of course, with fireworks. 
As of Thursday, the event had already raised $56,000 for research. 
Lisa said she manages her volunteering in the 25-30 hours a week she used to spend raising her three children. Her latest goal is to get tech companies to help analyze data from childhood brain tumors, looking for ways to improve treatments, quality of life, and of course, lifespan.

She also carries on her son’s urgent mantra.
“There are so many gaps to fill,” Lisa said. “We stay busy.”
Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare.
The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Too busy to die’: Brain cancer patient and his mom save lives by pushing care in new ways (msn.com)
Contact Karen Weintraub at kweintraub@usatoday.com.

Read More: ‘Achilles’ heel’ of cancer cells revealed: Research could lead to development of future drugs to eliminate the cells — ScienceDaily
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Pickett’s Charge

Posted on July 3, 2022 by Ken
159th Anniversary Special- July 3, 1863- with Deb Novotny and Bob Steenstra
 
Today marks the 159th anniversary of Pickett’s charge.
The so-called high-water mark of the Confederacy. 
General Pickett’s famous charge at Gettysburg.

The principal part of the Federal army was on the north side of the Chickahominy.
Hill’s division of the Confederate forces met this large force with impetuous courage.
Some of his brigades were broken. The National forces were steadily gaining ground.
Jackson had not arrived. It was a critical moment. Three brigades under Wilcox were ordered forward against the Federal left flank, to make a diversion in favor of the attacking columns.
Pickett’s brigade, making an independent diversion on the left of these brigades, developed the strong position and force of the Federals in Longstreet’s front.
ORDERS FOR A GENERAL ADVANCE. The latter at once resolved to change the feint into an attack, and orders for a general advance were issued.
At this moment Stonewall Jackson arrived, and the air was rent with shouts.
Pickett’s brigade, supported by part of Anderson’s brigade,
swept on to the charge with fierce grandeur.   

 Gettysburg Battlefield Bus Tour – Bing video
But the rebellion lives on. In the hearts and minds of free-thinking Americans everywhere. We know our nation was born out of rebellion. We know that we must continue to rebel since the government is ridden with tyranny and traitors who want nothing more than to see free Americans enslaved. 
The rebellion continues against George H.W. Bush’s so-called new world order. We know we need to continue the fight. In truth, the Confederacy of Lincoln’s war against the states never had a “high water mark”. 

The Confederacy is alive and well in every heart that loves freedom. In every American soul there is a seed of rebellion that must be preserved and allowed to take root in times like these. These seeds grow into millions of Liberty trees that are spread throughout our country. Now is the time for the Confederacy to finish what it started. It’s time Pickett’s charge was not remembered as a “high water mark”, but as the first wave of a rebel tsunami.

We are Americans. We are rebels. Our nation was formed by men who rebelled against
the tyranny they saw in their government. It was tempered when we rebelled against the tyranny of one man who took the power of a dictator. And now it must be wielded as a sword against the tyranny of our domestic enemies and their masters.
It is time. It is time for the return of the rebels. Good morning brothers and sisters; it’s July 4th weekend, I have to admit that I don’t much feel like celebrating. We have become a laughingstock to the world. We have turned our back on God. I don’t understand how people can mock such a good, wonderful God. He did say that in the last days it would be like the days of Noah. 

Let’s have a look at our God from the Smart Book; Psalms 118:24
[24] This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 66:1-9

New Revised Standard Version
1 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.
2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations- let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept us among the living and has not let our feet slip.

God’s eyes are on the nations, He’s watching us. We should not exalt ourselves. We shouldn’t be saying that we know better than our Creator. He gave us His Word so that we should know how to be morally right. Yet, our nation has mocked the Lord and His Word. He has kept us among the living and hasn’t let our feet slip. We must turn back to Him and His Word.
It’s pretty bad when all the earth worships Him and sings His praises and we who were created to be a light to a lost world have come to this sad state and mock the Creator.
If we’re not careful He could consider us to be an enemy and we will be cringing.
Wake up America and turn your hearts to the Lord.
The Lord blesses and keep you, His Face shine upon you,
Chaplain Loehne  

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July 4 Parade Grand Marshal Quits After Threats to Family (wayang.dedyn.io)

A former Marine slated to lead Friendswood’s Fourth of July parade backed
out Thursday after a coordinated campaign to remove her as grand marshal
led to threats of violence against her and her family, the city announced.

Haley Carter, who also chairs Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Commission Against Gun Violence, “voluntarily stepped down,” she said, after failed congressional hopeful, former RV salesman and conservative talk show host Jesse Kelly sicced his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers  on her and her family Wednesday. Kelly said he took exception to Carter’s political views and even posted a photo of her child in an effort to intimidate Friendswood officials into canceling her inclusion in the parade.

After the city announced Carter was receiving threats of violence, Kelly celebrated, saying “UPDATE: She’s gone” and declaring his actions as part of “The New Right,” described by Vanity Fair’s James Pogue as “a project to overthrow the thrust of progress, at least such as liberals understand the word.” In Kelly’s plea to his followers, he lamented that Carter was “into trans activism” and pointed out that she took her excited son to a drag show in Las Vegas to see his “favorite Queen.” 
While Kelly’s insular following applauded his maneuver, others spoke in support of Carter. Turner, who appointed her to the city of Houston’s commission in 2018, called her an “American hero” and role model. 
“Simply put, Haley is the best of us,”
Turner said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
“It is no wonder that her hometown of Friendswood chose to honor her in their Fourth
of July parade. Haley embodies everything the uniquely American holiday represents.
Freedom. Independence. Love of country. In other words, the perfect 4th of July grand marshal.
 
 “Unfortunately, some have threatened violence against Haley and her family because of her strength, her belief in equality, and her leadership in trying to reduce gun violence here in Houston,” Turner continued. “But they have failed. Haley will continue to move forward and make positive changes as she has always done.”
Kelly, who lives in a Friendswood gated community, claimed to be doing the work on behalf of the small “blood red” town by starting the campaign against Carter.
A handful of fellow residents agreed with Kelly, and challenged the idea that Carter was being threatened at all in the comments of the city’s Facebook post. 
“Threats’ or just concerned citizens wanting to ensure filth behaviors and ideas are not deemed okay nor perpetuated in our city?” asked one poster. “I’d like to consider exposing the truth about where she stands and the discontent, I presented to the city were all tasteful, non-threatening and deserved. We must put a foot down if we see things we don’t condone being literally paraded around. Not cool.”

However, a large majority of Friendswood residents commented on Carter’s defenses in the post.  “Embarrassing behavior by grown adults,” one commenter said. “I’m sad this is Friendswood resident behavior.
She had my family’s support!” “This is disgusting!” another wrote.
“We need to put the friends back in Friendswood. Or rename our town Hatewood.”
“I’m embarrassed to be a long time Friendswood resident today,” a resident posted.
“This is truly shameful behavior to threaten and berate a hometown veteran?!!

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Haley was coach for the Afghanistan Women’s National Football Team

Haley Carter: How a ‘ragtag group’ helped evacuate the Afghanistan national women’s football team from the country – CNN   Episode 50 of Give n’ Go features an exclusive interview with Haley Carter the former Head Coach of the Afghanistan Women’s Soccer Team and the trials and tribulations of garnering quality and giving the women of Afghanistan a safe place to play in a war-torn country. CEO and Founder of GSN, Jen Gruskoff had a sit down with Haley Carter to discuss all this and more! Plus host Rohtas Wadera breaks down all the latest NWSL Challenge Cup and Regular Season news and previews the Women’s Champions League Final. Give N’ Go: Haley Carter Speaks on Her Incredible Fight for the Afghanistan Women’s National Team on Apple Podcasts

Carter locked down her social media channels after Kelly posted the photo of her son.
The extent of the threats was not immediately clear, and a spokesperson for Friendswood Police Department did not immediately know if detectives were investigating the threats. Carter served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving multiple tours of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She returned home in 2013 and played as a reserve goalkeeper for the Dash.
She also served as assistant coach for teams at Huston–Tillotson University,
Sam Houston State University and the University of Houston. She was assistant coach to the Afghanistan national team from 2016 to 2018 and currently serves as goalkeeper coach for Antigua and Barbuda women’s national football team. 
In her time coaching the Afghan women’s team, Carter was instrumental in speaking
out about institutional sexual abuse from the team’s male owners. That outcry led to the eventual lifetime ban of team owner Kerim Kerramudin from FIFA play. Carter, in her role as chair of Turner’s Commission Against Gun Violence, most recently called for immediate action on gun reform from state leaders in the wake of the tragedy in Uvalde. 

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Small Town’s July 4 Parade Has Been Upended By Right-Wing Culture Warriors
Nathalie Baptiste | The Nation

Haley Carter steps down as Grand Marshal of annual 4th of July parade
in Friendswood after receiving threats online – ABC13 Houston
When the city of Friendswood, Texas, announced on Facebook that hometown hero
Haley Carter would be the grand marshal for the town’s famed Fourth of July parade,
the post was peppered with excited comments. Carter, who was in the Marines and is
a retired professional soccer player, was just the type of person residents wanted to
see lead the parade.

Then the right-wing culture warriors showed up.
Conservative radio host Jesse Kelly tweeted the same day that Friendswood had
appointed a “gun-grabber” who is “into drag” and “trans activism” to lead the parade.
Kelly is from Ohio, ran a failed congressional campaign in Arizona, and now hosts his
radio show from nearby Houston. “Communists are in blood-red areas too,” he wrote.
Soon, excited Facebook comments were accompanied by screenshots of Kelly’s tweets about Carter, some of which included a picture of her young son. She began receiving threats.
On paper, Carter seems like the kind of person conservatives who claim to love the military would support. She attended the U.S. Naval Academy and served two tours
in Iraq after graduating in 2006. She played in the National Women’s Soccer League
for the Houston Dash and served as an assistant coach for the Afghanistan Women’s
National Football Team. She has an MBA and a law degree.

But Carter is also an outspoken supporter of gun reform in her home state of Texas.
She serves as the chair of the Mayor’s Commission Against Gun Violence in Houston,
and in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, she wrote a letter demanding Texas leaders act on gun reform. She also regularly takes her son to drag events and once surprised him with a trip to Las Vegas to meet his favorite drag queen.
Just two days after she was announced as grand marshal, Carter officially stepped down from the role. No one will replace her. The city told that Carter had “voluntarily stepped down after receiving threats of harm to herself and her family.” 

If right-wing reactionaries are willing to threaten violence over a parade,
how far will they go?

The July 4 parade in Friendswood,
A city of 35,000 people about 25 miles from Houston, has been a tradition for 130 years.
The July 4th Steering Committee, which is made up of community members appointed by the City Council, picks the grand marshal. Carter was chosen because she’s a native and has a long record of service.
“Haley embodies everything the uniquely American holiday represents. Freedom. Independence. Love of country. In other words, the perfect July 4th grand marshal,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, some have threatened violence against Haley and her family because of her strength, her belief in equality, and her leadership in trying to reduce gun violence here in Houston.”
Theoretically, if you were so offended by children seeing drag queens, you could just
not take your own child to drag shows. But that’s not enough for the likes of Kelly and
the hordes of people who follow his lead.
The Friendswood parade is important to the people of the town, but it’s not exactly a national referendum. Haley Carter being the grand marshal of an Independence Day parade shouldn’t be a controversial appointment. And if right-wing reactionaries are willing to threaten violence over a parade, how far will they go?

It’s part of an alarming new trend. Conservatives are harassing people out of jobs, like
the white parents who chased a Black woman out of two education jobs or the Oklahoma teacher who resigned after parents objected to his TikTok about supporting LGBTQ kids.
Carter was harassed out of participating in the parade, but there were no consequences
for the people who launched the attacks.

In fact, Kelly bragged about his successful hate campaign.
“If you’re looking for someone to blame, Mayor, you should know that it’s me who did this,” he said in response to a tweet from Turner. “I stopped your communist friend from representing a great community. Welcome to The New Right.”

image.png
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The Global Shit Show

Posted on July 2, 2022 by Ken
The Rockefeller Bloodline: 5 Families That Secretly Control The World? – Podcast #19

I believe our food industry is all tied in with big pharma along with the deep state.
Cancer is the #1 money maker for big pharma and just in the last 20 years cancer has become rampant in the US and I think it’s linked to all the GMOs crammed into our food.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think the US is one of the very few countries if not the only country who still allows GMOs in our food. Most of the stuff we eat is not even considered food anymore…. it’s scary! 31:11 is when Rockefeller info starts!

Minnie 4 years ago 
PLEASE! Watch ‘How the elite stay in power’ – Search (bing.com) 
by a superb YouTube channel called ‘WeAreChange’ – Search (bing.com)

Jane Kornegay 4 years ago
Ugh. don’t get me started on big pharma. It’s literally ruining my life. The only response
I have ever had to my health issues was by going to a naturopathic doctor who did run a unique set of blood tests and other “tmi samples” tests which gave results on bacteria in my gut and blood, and he was the ONLY doctor that told me I wasn’t crazy, and that my acidosis was a big deal, among several other things.
Like I had to go to the hospital the other day because my throat swelled up but the nurse came in and was like, “nope this looks like regular throat anatomy to me”. I was just like awestruck jaw on the floor staring at her choking. I’m the freakishly low 1% of people that can’t have physical signs of infections because of the overpopulation of GOOD bacteria in the body but have toxic blood.
So, everything is happening within the veins. Nobody probably cares about this comment, but I just hate medicine, hospitals, insurance, and big pharma has sucked so much money out of me. It’s so freaking frustrating. Much love to those out there with chronic illness and fighting like a champ everyday despite some of the things patronizing doctors say, and the treatments they put you through. It can all get a little ridiculous. But you’re not alone <3

Salena Moffat 4 years ago
The book Titan about J.D. Rockefeller is a great read. – Bing video
Super long book, but there are parts where they touch on some of the very shady
and creepy stuff the family has done.  Ming Meow   4 years ago (edited)
We can’t do all that stuff on the moon because we have let off so much nuclear waste in
to out atmosphere, the Van Allen’s belts are real.. I’m really interested to see where this goes. It’s called the magpie bridge because it’s based off of a Chinese folktale about magpies being messengers to the moon. Speaking of moon exploration, the military sent
a satellite up to the moon to take photos of the dark side of the moon. It’s called Project Clementine if I remember correctly. It’s quite loopy and it seems very unreasonable as a conspiracy theory, I would explain it, but there is a video on YouTube that explains it well. It’s better to refer to that to understand it fully. As I was saying, the conspiracy is very
hard to believe, but at the same time, I think it makes sense. Please talk about the Golden Dragon/ Clementine mission and how we’ve never seen photos of the moon in color!

Rori MacPherson   4 years ago (edited)
I found your comment about the aboriginal man very interesting because coming from western Canada aboriginal culture is very ingrained into our lives! and while there are reserves, aboriginal life in Canada is very similar to those who are non-native.
They have bank accounts, they go to work etc.
I find it interesting that Americans don’t know native people and native culture.
I went to catholic school and every morning we acknowledge that we are on TreatySix homeland to indigenous people. (Also, this is my experience as a western Canadian and this might not be the experience for those that live in other provinces but idk MAN)
also, I love the podcast yawl it’s so great to listen to on bike rides!

Shannon Amberson1 year ago
Anyone watching this in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic and dropped their
jaw when they started talking about the theory of the Rockefeller’s creating

a virus to kill us off 🙊

The virus theory (01:27:03) sure sounds interesting in 2022 Aboriginals play
the didgeridoo (didjeridu), I have a friend who learned how to play one.

They’re really cool instruments 😊

So, I was looking into the rover’s name and looked up magpies, most have this deep black and bright white look to their feathers (dark and light side of the moon) … magpie bridge. – Search (bing.com) I also looked up the significance of bridges in China and found this quote – “it is a typical example of social productivity levels in various historical periods, showing the ability of human conquest of nature.”

Hayden Lemon 4 years ago
Pleeeaaasseee did a video on the Vatican! I’d really like to know

more about the underground archives – Search (bing.com) 👍

Patricia M 4 years ago
Hahaha that’s funny!!! John D. Rockefeller is actually
the money cheat code in Rollercoaster Tycoon 😛 Love it

Dani DIX 4 years ago
My high school was fantastic! Although the area I live in only contains high middle
class citizens, where I live it was founded and ruled by the FreeMasons! My class had the highest average ACT score of the nation! But my school went very deep into theories and retained a Socratic method! I noticed in college that most public school kids didn’t know how to interfere with things like my school taught us.
My school made it very clear that they tell us what to think but rather how to think. It is a public school, but like I said I come from an area that is very wealthy and was founded and to this day still ruled by the FreeMasons. You guys should know who they are!
It’s so interesting how that can be, but also my parents here pay very taxes for the education I have been given today. To give an idea how wealthy we are here the kids drove better cars than the staff. None of us had to worry about paying off college because our parents are taking care of it. Look up my Town Naperville, IL.

Oliver Jude 4 years ago
Have you guys ever watched ZEITGEIST: MOVING FORWARD
| OFFICIAL RELEASE | 2011 – YouTube

Some biased stuff but also a lot of info in it. Check it out!! It’s got a ton of info
on the federal reserve. When I watched that, that’s when my eyes started to open.
I watched it like 2 years ago.

Cupcakes Roar 4 years ago
We have to make decisions based on what is best for the majority, what will benefit the most people or harm the least amount of people. This is utilitarianism. When the idea of the individual in society was introduced over a group mentality, society crumbled. Being an individual is a great idea but has been a tool to break down familiar ties in society and market products, skyrocketing consumerism.
So, every time we say oh, you’re an individual you have individual needs, while that is great in theory, it dismisses society as a whole and breaks the connections and needs we have to remain a group. This we all jump down each other’s throat over the slightest disagreement.
You guys. How about the movie Eyes Wide Shut? It’s my favorite and Stanley Kubrick
died suddenly after the movie was finished. There are conspiracy theories out there
about it but I would love to hear what you think. I have watched it more times than
any movie and it is very strange and chilling. Some weird shit in the movie guys.

Ariel Sparling 4 years ago
Please cover the Sentinelese tribe and Egyptian History has barely come into contact
with the modern world and technology!

XxΞżVīCTīMxX 9 months ago (edited)
An overdose on weed is called a “whitey” because you go deathly white and puke.

I’ve seen it happen to a friend when I was a teen, and it was funny as fuck! 😂
Have you researched the movie Eyes Wide Shut? – Search (bing.com)
It is said to involve these bloodlines….. Watch Eyes Wide Shut Online Free at fpxtv.com

Monalisa Vito 4 years ago
I’ve been reading up about America during Vietnam and post-Vietnam. I’d love to see a podcast about this time because we really aren’t educated about it in schools. Also, there’s a new documentary about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. so sketchy! Those two topics combined are just so sketchy and interesting to me! Mister Justice yes Netflix:

: 😊 it’s called Bobby Kennedy for president – Search (bing.com)

The Prettiest Small Town in the South – Edenton, NC – Bing video
Recession is inevitable’: Elon Musk now thinks there’s a greater than 50-50 chance that the economy will decline. Here are 3 simple ways to protect your money (msn.com)
Fact checks: Screenshot of an Atlantic headline about Biden’s bike fall is fabricated.
A 10-year-old was forced to cross state lines for an abortion after Ohio’s ban went into place. The Indiana doctor who helped her will soon be unable to assist others.

Chinese company’s purchase of North Dakota farmland
raises national security concerns in Washington (msn.com)

The best slow-Mo moments in sports history  – YouTube
The best slow-Mo moments in sports history  | Watch (msn.com)
Biden’s GAS Alternative of the FUTURE announced ~ Try NOT To Laugh – YouTube
Gas Prices: These States Have Seen the Biggest Decrease at the Pump – CNET
Fossil fuels are far better than blackouts (msn.com)

The Hatchet JOB: Rep. Plaskett: trump “changed the permit” allowed for capitol riot.
Cassidy Hutchinson, also ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ former top aide, delivered a stunning testimony that revealed most intimate details yet about how the ex-president and his inner circle reacted during the January 6th attack on the capitol.
Former impeachment manager Rep. Stacey Plaskett tells Ali Velshi that Hutchinson’s testimony adds to what they laid out during the impeachment hearings, as well as revealed that Trump was made aware of the 1/6 crowd having weapons but egged them on anyway. We should be reminded that “Donald Trump changed the permit,” says Plaskett.
“The individuals were supposed to remain by the ellipse during the rally”
and Trump changed the permit so that they could go to the Capitol.

The January 6 Committee has retweeted a video of Donald Trump‘s presidential limo following testimony that he allegedly tried to grab the steering wheel to drive it to the Capitol Building.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to Trump’s ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows,
gave testimony in Tuesday afternoon’s last minute Jan. 6 Committee hearing.
She said Trump had been in a physical altercation with his security detail on
January 6 and demanded to go to the Capitol after the riots began.
Cassidy Hutchinson: Trump lunged at Secret Service agent,
and tried to grab the steering wheel on Jan. 6 (yahoo.com)

Q&A (msn.com)
Q&A (msn.com)

image.png
The Democratic Dozen: Top Republican November 2022 campaign targets.

image.png

Mom Keeps Seeing a Boy at Her Daughter’s Grave,
Then Asks: ‘Who are you?’ (pdfwonder.com)

image.png
A Florida state board removed a pediatrician who advocated
that children under 5 get the COVID-19 vaccine (msn.com)

NEW POLL: Whopping 68% of Fox News Viewers Blame
Jan. 6 on ‘Left-Wing Protesters Trying to Make Trump Look Bad’ (msn.com)
Biden’s Secret Arrangement Has Twitter Saying He Made A ‘Deal with the Devil’
Democrats are warning of a nationwide abortion ban. Here’s how it could happen.
The Era of ‘Self-Evident’ Truth Is Over. Today’s America Is Founded on Belief Instead
Most Americans, Across Party Lines, Say Government ‘Corrupt, Rigged’: Poll (msn.com)
Ilhan Omar: Gun violence in Minnesota worse than Somali refugee camp (msn.com)
A quarter of Americans ‘ready’ to take up arms against US government (msn.com)
Liz Cheney Goes All in on Jan. 6 Probe as GOP Primary Looms (msn.com)
Have wealthy Democratic elites abandoned the working class? (msn.com)
71 percent don’t want Biden to run for reelection: poll (msn.com)
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Sovietization of America

Posted on July 2, 2022 by Ken
Published July 2, 2022, at 7:30am
By Larry Johnson

 A note from the author:
My friends, Jim and Joe Hoft, are being attacked by some readers of this blog
because of what I am writing. Some of you (and you know who you are) accuse the Hoft boys of being “pro-Putin” or “pro-Russian.” Why? Because they allow me to write about the real situation in Ukraine that does not kow tow to the bullshit narrative being spun by Dementia Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Lloyd Austin, Hillary Clinton
& Lackey Jake Sullivan, George Soros, Mitt Romney, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.  

Now, if you are comfortable endorsing the pro-Ukraine, fight to the death of Russia messages those folks are repeating ad nausea then we are not friends. I even question if you are a real American and love this country. The people I named above epitomize the evil and corruption that infest Washington. They oppose vehemently the idea of America first. And they do not believe the Democrats stole the election from Donald Trump. I do. So, what you think is me spouting pro-Putin propaganda, it is not. 

It is my declaration of ideological war against the neo-cons and deepstaters who
are hell bent on destroying this Republic? They want to persuade you to back another phony foreign war that has nothing to do with America’s security while they do not do a goddamn thing to stop the flood of illegal aliens crossing our southern border. At least Vladimir Putin is not afraid to defend his nation’s borders.
* * * * * * * * * *
TRENDING: Pima County Arizona Democratic Party: “F*ck the 4th”
Pity the poor souls who signed on with the CIA expecting to experience the world of Sean Connery’s James Bond only to find out they are imprisoned in a gulag of asexual pronouns and a bureaucracy spawned by Dilbert. Those recruited to serve as Case Officers–i.e., the men and women who try to persuade foreigners to betray their countries and work for the United States–are in real danger of not being able to do the job of persuading well placed foreigners to become traitors because of the radical changes shaking America.
In the good old days of the Cold War, the United States enjoyed a moral advantage over the Soviet Union. We had a free press, a wide-open economy, an apolitical judicial system and a cornucopia of consumer goods. Recruiting Soviet intelligence officers was not easy, but their U.S. counterparts had a decided advantage in finding a disgruntled Soviet who could be enticed to play for team USA.

Those days are over. The United States now resembles the old Soviet Union, and, in
an ironic twist of fate, modern Russia resembles the old United States. Let’s start with leadership. Do you remember the pictures of the geriatric crowd sitting on Lenin’s tomb during the Soviet May Day parades?
By 1984, the Soviet leadership (which was composed largely of guys who played key roles in World War II) were old men at the end of their lives. Now compare that with this lineup of current American leadership:

image.png
Joe Biden Shouts ‘Get Off My Lawn!’ At Interviewer Asking About Cognitive Tests – 
THE BARBED WIRE (thebarbedwiresatire.com)

Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are older than Leonid Brezhnez was
when he occupied the big chair in the Soviet Politburo. 
 
Leaders at G7 mock bare-chested horseback rider Putin, World News - AsiaOne
We all know who runs Russia today.

Can you imagine any of the current U.S. leadership pulling off a picture like: Putin?
Which gives me an idea–if Nancy Pelosi threatened to go topless unless people paid
her not to do so, I bet the United States would have no problem reducing its burgeoning deficit. Anyway, you get the picture–literally. The United States is ruled by senior citizens who should be in assisted living while Russia still has a relatively “young” leader. 

 The most dangerous and frightening evidence of the Sovietization of America has
to do with the transformation of the FBI into the old KGB or German Stasi. The KGB and Stasi (the East German secret police) gained deserved notoriety for persecuting perceived political opponents of the Communist regime. People in the Soviet Union feared the knock on the door in the middle of the night, when they would be hauled out of their warm beds by armed thugs acting on behalf of the state and jailed for opposing the Soviet regime. Well, guess what boys and girls, the United States is now doing the same thing (just ask Roger Stone and Project Veritas) and has more political prisoners rotting in jail than Russia. 

Brittney Griner court date (if only commies knew the health benefits of Hash Oil) 🙁
As of the beginning of 2020, the number of political prisoners in Russia was estimated
at 308. The largest of those was represented by persons jailed because of the realization
of their right to freedom. Search Results for Cannabis Oil | (solitarius.org)
Since 2015, the political prisoner count in the country rose by more than six times. 
The United States has at least 700. And I am ignoring the other damning fact that the United States has more people in prison per capita than any other country in the world. Home of the Free? Not so much.

Tucker Carlson reported on this last night:  https://youtu.be/KGxp64MeQ6A
My friend, Joe Hoft, provides a list of the 700 political prisoners that have been
persecuted unjustly by the FBI–BIDEN’S AMERICA: Tucker Carlson Provides High-
Level List of Political Arrests by Biden Regime. To restate the obvious–America has
twice as many political prisoners as Russia. And it is a sickening fact that the FBI has
been politicized in a shameful, dangerous way. 

 Justice in America is no longer blind. If you are Hunter Biden cavorting with hookers, buying crack, lying on a firearms application and operating as an unregistered foreign agent you get a pass. If you are Doctor Simone Gold, who entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and DID NOT COMMIT ANY ACT OF VIOLENCE, you are arrested
and put in jail. The rich and powerful gaming the judicial and financial system for
their own gain was one of the disgusting characteristics of the corrupt Soviet Union.
Now, it is the United States that’s emulating the old Soviets. It is a dangerous time.

This kind of corrupt behavior by the Government of the United States is creating an enormous counter intelligence problem. What do I mean? The injustice and unfairness that now defines how politics are played in America makes it easier for foreign intelligence services to recruit disgruntled intelligence officers who feel betrayed by their government. The fruits of America’s Sovietization are yet to be harvested, but when those crops are collected it will be ugly. 

The final piece of evidence of America’s transformation into the sclerotic Soviet Union is the disappearance of a free press, at least among the mainstream media. Corporate media, both television and major newspapers, now controls what can and cannot be said to the American public. Truth, objective truth, no longer matters. We are told that men can have periods and that anyone who objects to this lie must be silenced. 

We have witnessed the print and electronic media working overtime to suppress the evidence of the truth of Hunter Biden’s computer while pushing the blatant lie that it is Russian disinformation. I remember a time when Americans laughed at the ridiculous lies embraced by the Soviet Pravda. Now, it is Russia laughing at us as American corporations and government institutions insist that men can get pregnant. You may hate Vladimir Putin, but give the Russians their due–they understand sex and where babies come from.

What does it mean for America that we are well on the road to Sovietization?
It means that this phase of American history is likely to end in destruction.

Just as the Soviet Union came to an ignominious end in 1991, America runs a real risk
of tearing itself asunder. I pray we find a way out of our peril, but as long as we spend
our tax dollars on foreign wars, refuse to defend our own borders and allow our major
cities to descend into drug-fueled violence, we are headed for destruction.

Source: The Sovietization of America–An American Gulag (thegatewaypundit.com)

Why Russia Doubts NATO’s “Good” Intentions
NATO Announces It Will Move Troops to Western Border of Ukraine and Other Developments
Back to the Future in Ukraine–Demilitarization and Denazification
Understanding the NY Times Article on the CIA in Ukraine

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20 Liver Warning Signs You Can’t Afford to Ignore— Best Life (bestlifeonline.com)
Speed up your ability to lose body fat Dr. Holly Lucille, ND – Search (bing.com)
New recycling method could eliminate the climate impact of plastic (msn.com)
Can Phoenix, the hottest city in America, survive climate change? (msn.com)
11 Strange Signs That Your Liver Is In Trouble – thenutritionwatchdog.com
Speed up your ability to lose body fat by PHR – Search (bing.com)
4 Warning Signs Of Damaged Liver (#2 Is Scary) (elijahlist.com)
Arsenic Levels in the Gulf of Mexico – Search (bing.com)
Liver Health Formula (perfectliverfunction.com)
4 Warning Signs Of Dying Liver – Bing video

Alito’s America: Where ’eminent’ jurists believe in witches but women are the hysterics.
With all ballots counted, L.A.’s left makes big gains; Bass is mayoral front-runner.
415 days and counting still John Kerry won’t release Climate Office details (msn.com)
The many reasons the “just vote” rhetoric from Democrats falls flat (msn.com)
Hedge Fund Billionaire Warns Something BIG Is Coming – Investing Outlook
From AM to PM, the fickle force of government is with you (msn.com)
Don’t bother me with the facts — I have ‘the truth’ (msn.com)
Ignore the wealth effect at your peril (msn.com)

There are many health benefits to not drinking or cutting back on alcohol consumption. Staying away from the sauce can reduce your risk of cancer, improve your cardiovascular  health and even prevent the hippocampus in your brain from withering away.
However, if working on the inside isn’t enough to inspire a healthy lifestyle change,
perhaps the prospect of being more attractive might help. 


Steve Jobs’ “Final Prophecy” Now Coming to Life
Altimetry

After four days off of booze, a 26-year-old student took to the r/stop drinking 
subreddit to ask for motivation about just that. They received a number of responses.
“I have lost 25 lbs. and look 10 years younger. The Stuff is poison.
Wish I had quit decades ago,” commented Vulnavia Wrick, who says they’re 1,192 days
alcohol-free. “It’s nice to be able to look in the mirror and also be okay with what I see.
My skin is clearer, and my double chin is less double y,” boasted party boy Chris Pontius on a similar thread. “My eyes aren’t as bloodshot, and my cheeks don’t
make me feel like a puffer fish.” Party boy Chris Pontius (u/partyboychrispontius)
Related video: Why Drinking Only on the Weekends May Be Hurting Your Health, according to a New Study.

A Sobering Look at How Alcohol Changes Your Face Lauren Vinopal
The Incomparable Summertime Joy of Ken Griffey Jr. – (bing.com)
Summertime comparison of the Griffey’s – Search (bing.com)
What Alcohol Does to Your Face (melmagazine.com)

These covid-fighting crustaceans have outlived dinosaurs. Now they are at risk of extinction. The sea animal has played a key role in the fight against COVID-19.
But now it’s threatened with extinction.

(1) Is enough not enough yet for the skyrocketing fuel prices?
Does not the government understand public woos and perils?

We’re now seeing ‘the most disproportionate power the Christian Right
has had in my lifetime’: Religion expert (msn.com)

Massachusetts’ restrictive gun laws are working.
The Supreme Court may have just upended that. (msn.com)
Liz Cheney Goes All in on Jan. 6 Probe as GOP Primary Looms (msn.com)

In Wisconsin, a portrait of America’s broken democracy – Search (bing.com)
Ali Velshi reports on an example in Wisconsin of Republicans abusing their position to maintain partisan power and prevent an elected democrat from performing the duties of their office.

California wildfire burns through 900 acres,
14 injured as hundreds of homes remain under threat (msn.com)
Simple Tricks Proven to Make You “Look Younger,” Science Says (msn.com)
J. Heinrich Arnold: How to be a patriot when you believe in God (msn.com)
State gas tax rises Friday to an estimated 54 cents a gallon (msn.com)
Physics Girl – It’s official: The Big Bang Was WRONG | Facebook
Fossil fuels are far better than blackouts (msn.com)
Great mysteries of the Universe (msn.com)   
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Inflation Caused by Something Sphishy

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Ken
FILE – Wallace Reid purchases fuel for the vehicle he drives to make a living using
ride-share apps, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in the Queens borough of New York.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) 

Did Corporate Greed Cause Inflation

Opinion | The Hidden Link Between Corporate Greed and Inflation | Robert Reich (commondreams.org)

WASHINGTON — Furious about surging prices at the gasoline station and the supermarket, many consumers feel they know just where to cast blame:
On greedy companies that relentlessly jack up prices and pocket the profits.
Responding to that sentiment, the Democratic-led House of Representatives
last month passed on a party-line vote — most Democrats for, all Republicans
against — a bill designed to crack down on alleged price gouging by energy producers. 
Likewise, Britain last month announced plans to impose a temporary 25% windfall tax 
on oil and gas company profits and to funnel the proceeds to financially struggling households. Yet for all the public’s resentment, most economists say corporate price gouging is, at most, one of many causes of runaway inflation — and not the primary one.
“There are much more plausible candidates for what’s going on,” said Jose Azar, an economist at Spain’s University of Navarra.
They include Supply disruptions at factories, ports and freight yards. Worker shortages. President Joe Biden’s enormous pandemic aid program. COVID 19-caused shutdowns in China. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And, not least, a Federal Reserve that kept interest rates ultra-low longer than experts say it should have.
Most of all, though, economists say resurgent spending by consumers and governments drove inflation up. 
The blame game is, if anything, intensifying after the U.S. government reported that inflation hit 8.6% in May from a year earlier, the biggest price spike since 1981.

To fight inflation, the Fed is now belatedly tightening credit aggressively. 
On June 15, it raised its benchmark short-term rate by three-quarters of a point —
its largest hike since 1994 — and signaled that more large rate hikes are coming.
The Fed hopes to achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing” — slowing growth
enough to curb inflation without causing the economy to slide into recession.
For years, inflation had remained at or below the Fed’s 2% annual target, even while unemployment sank to a half-century low. But when the economy rebounded from the pandemic recession with startling speed and strength, the U.S. consumer price index rose steadily — from a 2.6% year-over-year increase in March 2021 to last month’s four-decade high. For a while at least — before profit margins at S&P 500 companies dipped early this year — the inflation surge coincided with swelling corporate earnings. It was easy for consumers to connect the dots: Companies, it seemed, were engaged in price-gouging. This wasn’t just inflation. It was greedflation.

Asked to name the culprits behind the spike in gasoline prices, 72% of the 1,055 Americans polled in late April and early May by the Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government blamed profit-seeking corporations, more than the share who pointed to Russia’s war against Ukraine (69%) or Biden (58%) or pandemic disruptions (58%). And the verdict was bipartisan: 86% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans blamed corporations for inflated gas prices.
“It’s very natural for consumers to see prices rising and get angry about it and then look for someone to blame,” said Christopher Conlon, an economist at New York University’s Stern School of Business who studies corporate competition. “You and I don’t get to set prices at the supermarket, the gas station or the car dealership. So people naturally blame corporations, since those are the ones they see raising prices.’’
Yet Conlon and many other economists are reluctant to indict — or to favor punishing — Corporate America.
When the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business asked economists this month whether they’d support a law to bar big companies from selling their goods or services at an “unconscionably excessive price” during a market shock, 65% said no.
Only 5% backed the idea.

Just what combination of factors is most responsible for causing prices to soar “is still an open question,” economist Azar acknowledges. COVID-19 and its aftermath have made it hard to assess the state of the economy. Today’s economists have no experience analyzing the financial aftermath of a pandemic.
Policymakers and analysts have been repeatedly blindsided by the path the economy has taken since COVID struck in March 2020: They didn’t expect the swift recovery from the downturn, fueled by vast government spending and record-low rates engineered by the Fed and other central banks. Then they were slow to recognize the gathering threat of high inflation pressures, dismissing them at first as merely a temporary consequence of supply disruptions.
One aspect of the economy, though, is undisputed: A wave of mergers in recent decades has killed or shrunk competition among airlines, banks, meatpacking companies and many other industries. That consolidation has given the surviving companies the leverage to demand price cuts from suppliers, to hold down workers’ pay and to pass on higher costs to customers who don’t have much choice but to pay up.

Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston have found that less competition made it easier for companies to pass along higher costs to customers, calling it an “amplifying factor” in the resurgence of inflation.
Josh Bivens, research director at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, has estimated that nearly 54% of the price increases in nonfinancial businesses since mid-2020 can be attributed to “fatter profit margins,” versus just 11% from 1979 through 2019.
Bivens conceded that neither corporate greed nor market clout has likely grown significantly in the past two years. But he suggested that during the COVID inflationary spike, companies have redirected how they use their market power: Many have shifted away from pressuring suppliers to cut costs and limiting workers’ pay and have instead boosted prices for customers.

In a study of nearly 3,700 companies released last week, the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute concluded that markups and profit margins last year reached their highest level since the 1950s. It also found that companies that had aggressively raised prices before the pandemic were more likely to do so after it struck, “suggesting a role for market power as an explanatory driver of inflation. ″
Yet many economists aren’t convinced that corporate greed is the main culprit. Jason Furman, a top economic adviser in the Obama White House, said that some evidence even suggests that monopolies are slower than companies that face stiff competition to raise prices when their own costs rise, “in part because their prices were high to begin with.”
Likewise, NYU’s Conlon cites examples where prices have soared in competitive markets. Used cars, for example, are sold in lots across the country and by numerous individuals. Yet average used-car prices have skyrocketed 16% over the past year. Similarly, the average price of major appliances, another market with plenty of competitors, jumped nearly 10% last month from a year earlier.
By contrast, the price of alcoholic beverages has risen just 4% from a year ago even
though the beer market is dominated by AB-Inbev and spirits by Bacardi and Diageo.
“It is hard to imagine that AB-Inbev isn’t as greedy as Maytag,” Conlon said.

So, what has most driven the inflationary spike?
“Demand,” said Furman, now at Harvard University. “Lots of government spending,
lots of monetary support — all combined together to support extraordinarily high levels of demand. Supply couldn’t keep up, so prices rose.’’
Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimate that government aid to the economy during the pandemic, which put money in consumers’ pockets to help them endure the crisis and set off a spending spree, has raised inflation by about 3 percentage points since the first half of 2021.
In a report released in April, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis blamed global supply chain bottlenecks for playing a “significant role” in inflating factory costs. They found that it added a staggering 20 percentage points to wholesale inflation in manufacturing last November, raising it to 30%.Still, even some economists who don’t blame greedflation for the price spike of the past year say they think governments should try to restrict the market power of monopolies, perhaps by blocking mergers that reduce competition. The idea is that more companies vying for the same customers would encourage innovation and makes the economy more productive.
Even so, tougher antitrust policies wouldn’t likely do much to slow inflation anytime soon.
“I find it helpful to think about competition like diet and exercise,” NYU’s Conlon said. “More competition is a good thing. But, like diet and exercise, the payoffs are long term.
“Right now, the patient is in the emergency room. Sure, diet and exercise are still a good thing. But we need to treat the acute problem of inflation.”

SomethingsPhishy

Oil giant BP reports highest profit in 8 years on soaring commodity prices.
This headline doesn’t really tell us anything. It could very well be that BP has had low profits or even losses in the seven years prior to this windfall. And what does the headline mean by “profit?” Is it referring to net income? Or operating income?
Or something else?

In fact, the oil sector struggled in 2020 when the price of oil tanked to $20 a barrel.
BP revenue was $298.8 billion in 2018. That plunged to $180.4 billion in 2020 and dropped again to $157 billion in 2021.
BP’s operating income was $16.3 billion in 2018. In 2020, BP charted an operating loss of $573,000. It rebounded to $10.5 billion last year. In context, BP’s performance last year wasn’t particularly noteworthy.

Simply saying BP had the highest “profit” in 8 years doesn’t really give you any information about the company’s performance or trajectory. In fact, comparisons like this often give false impressions.

Let’s look at some other headlines. I’m not going to get into the weeds of every companies’ financials as I did for BP, but you get the idea.

Cereal maker Kellogg Co. forecast full-year profit growth above market expectations on Thursday, riding on higher product prices that helped overcome labor strike disruptions and soaring input costs in the fourth quarter.

All this tells us is that Kellogg is going to do better than expected and that the company was able to pass on at least some of its rising costs to its customers. (People like Nichols completely ignore rising costs. It seems like they might want to question why costs are rising as they analyze inflation. I suppose they just assume it’s other greedy corporations gouging these greedy corporations.) Based on this headline, it’s possible that analysts expected below-average growth or perhaps a loss. If the company now forecasts average growth, that would be “above market expectations.” I’m not sure how that is “greed.”

Procter & Gamble’s sales jump as consumers brush off rising prices.
You have to buy toothpaste and shampoo, even if the prices go up. When you see the
word sales, it either means the number of units sold, or more likely, revenue. Just because revenue goes up doesn’t mean the company is seeing a “profit.” In fact, P&G’s operating income was down 3% year-on-year in Q4 2021.

McDonald’s to raise prices despite record revenue
This is easy to misread if you don’t understand the accounting terms. If record expenses are higher than the record revenues, that’s not good news. A company will have to raise prices to cover the expenses. Or eventually, go out of business.

Amazon stock soars 15% after earnings, will hike Prime membership fee
Suffice to say, Amazon’s operating income was down 49.66% year-on-year in Q4. The company did fantastic in 2020 when everybody was locked in their houses spending stimulus money on Amazon. But the tide appears to be turning. Shipping costs are rising. Amazon’s future prospects are not particularly bright.

And this raises an important point about corporate finance. You have to be forward-looking. A company can report record “profits” today even as its business is on the verge
of tanking. The bottom line is that none of these headlines really proves greedy corporations are driving inflation.

That’s because they’re not.

In fact, producer prices have risen faster than consumer prices. That means businesses have only passed on some of their higher costs to consumers. If anything, these “greedy” corporations have allowed consumers to gouge them.

Progressives like Nichols and those who promote big government have a vested interest
in shifting the blame for inflation because the real culprit is government. As economist Daniel Lacalle explained, “Inflation is not a coincidence, it is a policy.” Much like who
pays for the illegals coming across the border to get started with just back packs?

And as economist Milton Friedman put it, “Inflation is always and everywhere
a monetary phenomenon.” It is ultimately caused by an increase in the money supply.
In fact, that is inflation, properly defined. If you have more dollars chasing the same amount of goods and services, you will see a general rise in prices.

The governments exacerbated the situation during the pandemic by shutting down the economy. That contracted supply. In the meantime, the Fed printed money and the federal government passed it out in the form of stimulus. You had more dollars chasing fewer goods and services. The inflation we’re experiencing today was entirely predictable.

The truth is the federal government needs inflation. It depends on Federal Reserve
money printing to support its borrow and spend budgeting strategy. Without the Fed’s inflationary activity, the government couldn’t finance its out-of-control spending habit. But politicians don’t want you to know that they are levying an inflation tax on you, so
they perpetuate all kinds of myths about inflation to try to make you feel better about it.

The average person is particularly susceptible to the greedy corporation myth.
People generally distrust big corporations, and they don’t understand financial accounting.
People like Nichols prey on this fact to promote their politics.

There may well be some corporations taking advantage of the current economic environment to pump up profits. But that does not explain the 7.5% consumer price
index (CPI). If you hear somebody blaming inflation on greedy corporations,
it indicates they don’t understand inflation.

Read more at:  https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article262901733.html#storylink=cpy
58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck after inflation spike — including 30% of those earning $250,000 or more (msn.com)

‘The border is closed’: White House defends policies after deaths of at least 50 migrants in Texas (msn.com)
White House says WNBA star Brittney Griner case has ‘fullest attention of the president’
Business leader optimism hits record low amid soaring inflation, labor shortages
Natural gas used in homes may contain harmful air pollutants: study (msn.com)
World pledged to cut methane. Emissions rising instead, study finds. (msn.com)

Boomers strike back: ‘We have reared a generation of selfish wimps’ (msn.com)
EXPLAINER: Why are Dutch farmers protesting over emissions? (msn.com)
Breaking: Russian Court Makes Ruling On Brittney Griner – Bing video
Breaking: Russian Court Makes Ruling On Brittney Griner (msn.com)

The burning truth about spontaneous human combustion (msn.com)
Former BOCES teacher accused of raping 13-year-old (msn.com)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Great Depression II

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Ken
President Biden points to a wind turbine size comparison chart during a meeting at the White House, June 23, 2022. Drew Angerer / Getty Images

What’s wrong with the economy? Climate change, for one.
It’s hard to wrap your head around the toll that climate change is taking on the economy. Last year, floods, wildfires, and other weather-related disasters cost the United States an eye-popping $400 million per day on average. Home insurance rates are skyrocketing as
a result, and projections show that rising seas, drought, and heat could knock as much as
9 percent off the U.S. economy within 30 years.

As these realities sink in, a new story about climate change is beginning to crystallize:
It’s a growing economic threat that’s already rattling our financial system.
“You know, we’ve talked about climate change in so many ways for so long, but we’ve talked about it as an environmental issue, or as a social issue,” said Bob Keefe, the executive director of the business group Environmental Entrepreneurs and a longtime tech journalist. “And of course, it is all of those things. But it’s also clear that climate change has become a huge economic issue.

In the new book Climate nomics: Washington, Wall Street and the Economic Battle to Save Our Planet. Keefe argues that this dollars-and-cents reality is finally forcing the kind of meaningful change that decades of protests and warnings from scientists haven’t been able to. It’s an optimistic take. Sure, Congress has yet to pass any comprehensive climate legislation, but the Biden administration has still made some significant progress on goals to reduce emissions. And, though there’s no shortage of “greenwashing,” many companies that were a huge part of the problem in the past are beginning to make real strides.
Step by step, Keefe documents how the most polluting sectors of the economy are turning away from fossil fuels. Solar and wind are now the cheapest forms of energy available, and renewables represented 70 percent of the electricity added to the grid last year.
(More than 3 million Americans now work in clean energy — three times the number of people employed in fossil fuels.) Automakers are clamoring to produce enough electric vehicles to meet demand. Even heavy industry is investing in ways to make steel and cement without emitting all the carbon. 
image.png
What’s wrong with the economy? Climate change, for one.

This turning point, however, has come at a strange time for the economy,
with inflation soaring and experts warning that we might be heading for a recession.
I chatted with Keefe over lunch in downtown Seattle to learn more about how climate change is wreaking economic havoc — and why he’s still optimistic about the future.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

Q. What does the climate have to do with the inflation and supply chain problems that we’re seeing right now?
A. I think climate change has contributed to our current economic problems a lot more than people think. Look at food costs. We all know our grocery bills are going up. Part of the reason is that when you lose crops to storms or drought or flooding, prices are going to go up. And right now, everything from cornflakes to chicken is going up. Look at what just happened in Kansas, where more than 2,000 cows were found dead on the side of the road. There’s a video out there where you see 2,000 cows with their feet up in the air because of heat stroke.
I think part of the problem is nobody ever really thought about climate change as an economic issue until recently. People start to take action when they realize something’s a pocketbook issue. What I like to say is, “Look, I don’t care if you like polar bears. I don’t care if you believe in science. I don’t care if you drive a Prius or a pickup truck. The fact of the matter is this is killing our economy. And we’ve got to do something about it.”

Q. So it’s less about getting people to agree on science and politics, and more about just doing the economically sensible thing?
A. Yeah, absolutely. You know, this isn’t something that’s happening just in red states or blue states. Globally, in 2020, six of the 10 biggest climate disasters were in the United States. You’re not going to be able to run away and hide from what’s happening.

Q. What do you think are the signs that people are finally paying attention to climate change?
A. Well, if you look at what almost every major corporation in America is doing right now, they’re shifting to renewable energy, beginning with Big Tech. Amazon, Facebook, and Google put data centers where they can get renewable energy. Why? Well, it’s the right thing to do. But I think, more importantly, to them, it’s the cheapest thing to do. When you’re one of the biggest users of electricity, you want to get it cheap.
Now, a lot of states around the country are trying to recruit these companies. These big companies aren’t going to go where they can’t get clean energy. So, they start to change policies. I mean, there’s a reason that Facebook and Apple went to North Carolina and opened up data centers there. It’s because North Carolina has the only renewable portfolio standard in the Southeast. And it was, until recently, the number two state for solar. I’ve lived in a lot of places in the South, the sun doesn’t shine any brighter in North Carolina than it does in South Carolina or Georgia, and definitely not in Florida.
Business people aren’t going to go march with Greenpeace down Main Street. You know, they’re not going to climb a tree in the Pacific Northwest to save it, but they are going to push for change when it’s impacting their bottom lines. Now climate change is impacting all of their bottom lines.

Q. Your book touches on President Joe Biden’s election. How did that change the course of things?
A. President Biden, I think, for the first time made climate action an economic issue. We’ve never had a president that said, “When I think of climate change, I think of jobs.” So, at the very least, it’s helped change the way people think about this issue.
The administration is really looking at it as a whole-of-government approach. The federal government is the biggest buyer of stuff in the world, including energy and vehicles. The president has said he wants to make all that clean. And so, when the government starts to refocus its spending on clean energy and electric vehicles, that’s going to be good for the environment. It’s going to be good for the economy, and it’s also going to stimulate the market. That’s going to bring down prices and push state and local governments to follow along. Imagine having the biggest customer in the world that suddenly wants to go 100 percent clean energy and get clean vehicles. It’s a big deal.

Q. What do you make of the fact that Biden’s climate agenda hasn’t passed yet? It got pushback over inflation and government debt — both economic concerns. Do you think some politicians are hesitant to act because it hasn’t permeated their consciousness, yet that climate change is an even bigger economic concern?
A. Oh, yeah, I think that’s absolutely right. But guess what, it’s going to permeate their consciousness when the next climate disaster hits their state. And it’s going to permeate their consciousness when they realize that the jobs of the future are going to other states instead of theirs. There are almost as many people that work in clean energy now in Republican congressional districts as working in Democratic districts.
So that’s why I say that it shouldn’t be seen as a political thing.

Q. So how are you feeling about the future?
A. You know, I was talking to somebody the other day and they’re like, “Have you seen what’s happening with these wildfires? Have you seen this heatwave? Have you seen this flooding in Yellowstone? Why are you optimistic?” And the other thing I hear a lot is, “Yeah, Bob, this all sounds great, we all want electric vehicles, but it’s not going to happen soon enough to avert this disaster.” I disagree. I remember sitting in Cupertino, California, with other journalists and Steve Jobs telling us, you know, “Someday you’re going to have a thousand songs on your phone, and someday you’re going to be able to take pictures with your cell phone.” And we’re like, “Oh, yeah, whatever.” I remember coming here to Seattle and talking to Bezos and him saying, when Amazon was just selling books, “Someday you’re going to be able to buy anything and everything off of my website, including dog food.” I was like, “OK, why the hell would I buy dog food off of a website?”
But look how quickly all those things have changed our world. Look how quickly business and technology and the economy has driven all of that, and the consumer adoption of all of that. I truly believe that we’re at the same point right now with clean energy, with clean vehicles, with energy efficiency.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline What’s wrong with the economy? Climate change, for one. on Jun 29, 2022.

Strategas: We’ve hit the historical threshold on fuel prices and interest rates where consumers say “enough” – Search (bing.com)

Don Rismiller of Strategas discusses the firm’s concept of the “Rule of 10,”
which can be used to predict a coming recession.

This Arctic community at the forefront of global warming.
Longyearbyen, Norway, is the world’s northernmost town, but it is the place
where global warming is at its fastest pace – seven times faster than elsewhere.
Merfolk Protesters Seek Ocean Protection Ahead of UN Ocean Conference – Search (bing.com)

Climate activists from the Extinction Rebellion group have made a poignant scene dressed as merfolk trapped in fishing nets and plastics on a Lisbon beach. Veuer’s Chloe Hurst has the story!

Work begins on ‘Mammoth’ plant that will pull carbon dioxide out of the air (msn.com)  
Democrats Have Forgotten the Working Class. It Will Cost Them in November | Opinion 
Does the human body replace itself every 7 years? (microsoftnewskids.com)  
Inflation: Reagan and Trump vs. Carter and Biden | Opinion (msn.com)

The European Union's 27 countries have reached a deal to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035. (Michael Sohn / Associated Press)
‘Game over for the internal combustion engine’ as EU countries approve climate measures
© (Michael Sohn / Associated Press)

SAMUEL PETREQUIN

Following protracted, hard-fought talks, the European Union’s 27 countries reached a deal Wednesday to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035.

The EU member nations came to an agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing the bloc’s greenhouse gases by at least 55% in 2030 compared with 1990 levels, rather than by a previously agreed 40%.

“A long but good day for climate action: The council’s decisions on Fitfor55 are a big step towards delivering the EU Green Deal,” Frans Timmermans, the European Commission vice president in charge of the Green Deal, said after the meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg.

The agreement on the five laws proposed by the EU’s executive arm last year paves the way for final negotiations with the European Parliament. EU lawmakers are backing ambitious bloc-wide targets. Final approval of the legislative package requires the EU-wide parliament to resolve differences with the bloc’s national governments over various details.

“The council is now ready to negotiate with the European Parliament on concluding the package, thereby placing the European Union more than ever in the vanguard of fighting climate change,” said Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French minister for energy transition.

The decision to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars and vans would in effect prohibit the sale in the 27-nation bloc of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel.

Europe’s leading clean transport campaign group, Transport and Environment, said the EU government’s agreement was “historic” because it “breaks the hold of the oil industry over transport.”

“It’s game over for the internal combustion engine in Europe,” the group said.

Greenpeace was more skeptical, saying the 2035 deadline was too late to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

The deal poses a mighty challenge for German automakers, who have long relied on sales of increasingly big, gas-guzzling vehicles for their profits.

Following intense haggling within the three-party government coalition in Berlin, particularly between the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, German officials voted in favor of the compromise overnight.

The German government said the deal would also see the European Commission make a proposal that will allow cars running exclusively on climate-neutral fuels to continue to be sold after 2035.

“This is a huge step forward and steers the transport sector onto the path of climate neutrality,” German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, a member of the Greens, said.

By declaring that only cars and light utility vehicles which emit no CO2 can be sold from 2035, “we are sending a clear signal that we need to meet the climate targets. This gives the car industry the planning security it needs.”

The EU wants to drastically reduce gas emission from transportation by 2050 and promote electric cars, but a report from the bloc’s external auditor showed last year that the bloc lacked charging stations. Transportation accounts for about 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU,

In addition to the landmark agreement on cars, the package also features a reform of the EU’s carbon market and the creation of a fund to help vulnerable households cope with the planned clean-energy revamp. That issue has become more politically sensitive as Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent fuel prices soaring.

The overall goal is to put the EU on track to become climate-neutral in 2050 and to prod other major polluters, including the United States and China, to follow suit.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Biden administration report shows massive fossil fuel industry job losses.
Newsom has a plan to keep the lights on in California — using fossil fuels.
San Antonio migrant deaths lead to slow effort to ID victims (msn.com)
Opinion | The Effing President Gets His Comeuppance (msn.com)
Weather Extra: Chances of another La Nina | Watch (msn.com)
Signs that your soul has lived a past life (msn.com)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Lauren Ashley Daigle

Posted on June 29, 2022 by Ken
Lauren Ashley Daigle (/ˈdeɪ.ɡəl/) Daigle was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, (September 9, 1991)[1][2] is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter.and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. She was influenced by zydeco, blues, and Cajun music in her environment.[4][5] Her mother called her house “the music box” because she was always singing.[6]

Daigle did not consider music seriously until contracting cytomegalovirus at age 15.
This diagnosis kept her out of school for the next two years. During that time, Daigle took voice lessons that provided her with a creative outlet.[7][8] During college prep school, she planned to enter the medical field and do mission work. Daigle attended a charter school and completed a year and a half of class work in six months, graduating early. She took a year off from school and did mission work in Brazil before attending Louisiana State University (LSU) for Child and Family Studies.[9][8]
 After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album,
 How Can It Be, in 2015. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart (“First”, “Trust in You“, and “O’Lord“).

Daigle’s third studio album, Look Up Child, was released in September 2018.
Bolstered by the pop crossover success of the single “You Say“, it went on to debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting Christian album by a woman in over 20 years, and No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart, with 115,000 album-equivalent units sold in the first week.[3] The album’s lead single, “You Say”, peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has broken the record for the number of weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart at 129 weeks for any solo artist.
The album and single earned Daigle two Grammy Awards.
In addition to two Grammy Awards, Daigle has won seven GMA Dove Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and has had four No. 1 singles on both the Billboard Christian Airplay and Hot Christian Songs chart.

Christian artist Lauren Daigle performs a live rendition of her hit song
‘You Say’ at the 2018 GMA Dove Awards.
This powerful single earned worldwide attention and even won a 2019 Grammy Award. The poignant lyrics serve as a reminder that when we feel small, God can lift us to greater heights.

“I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?
Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know”

Before writing this song, Lauren was struggling with her identity. Her previous album, How Can It Be, was a critically acclaimed success.

But now, Lauren was feeling unsure of where to go next. She told CCM Magazine, “This song for me was just a reminder of identity. It was a reminder that I know when I’m weak, He’s strong—so how do I change that and bring that into my everyday life? When I feel inadequate how is it that there’s always these moments where I feel like God just steps in and supersedes my inadequacies.”

“You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours”

The love from our father is like no other. He is our light, our strength, and our source of truth. Let these words wash over you and be reminded that you are a child of the King of kings.

Lauren Daigle – “Remember” – Live at Red Rocks 2019-09-29 – YouTube  

Lauren said she doesn’t perform this one live, but since her dad was in the audience
and he had personally requested it… she called the band at 2am and told them to “learn it” for the show the next day. =) She killed it! What an awesome show. I can’t wait for Lauren to come back to Red Rocks. It’s very, very rare to hear someone who can sing this well live. God has clearly given her an astonishing gift and praise God she is using it.
Can you imagine if she hadn’t?!?! Her songs provide me immense comfort.
The combination of the deep insightful lyrics combined with that voice; well, let’s put it this way, each song is a sermon and I’m sure people are being converted to Christ through this music!

You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for a live version of this 🤗

Remember (lyrics)
In the darkest hour, when I cannot breathe Fear is on my chest, the weight of the world
on me Everything is crashing down, everything I had known When I wonder if I’m all alone
I remember, I remember you have always been faithful to me I remember; I remember Even when my own eyes could not see You were there, always there I will lift my eyes even in the pain Above all the lies, I know you can make a way I have seen giants fall, I have seen mountains move I have seen water’s part because of You I remember (I remember)
I remember (I remember) You have always been faithful to me I remember (I remember)
I remember (I remember) Even when my own eyes could not see You were there, always there I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about Your goodness, goodness I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about Your goodness, goodness I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about Your goodness, goodness I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about I can’t stop thinking about Your goodness, goodness I remember, I remember You have always been faithful to me I remember (I remember) I remember
(I remember) Even when my own eyes could not see ~
You were there, always there, with me  

Lauren Daigle: “You Say” (49th Dove Awards) – Bing video
“You Say” Wins Song of the Year – YouTube
Be reminded of God’s love and grace with Lauren Daigle’s latest single, ‘Rescue.’ 

Lauren Daigle – Rescue (Official Music Video) – YouTube

This Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter has earned praise in both the Christian and secular music scene.
Her powerful lyrics resonate with millions of people all over the world. God is our comfort and the shelter when we feel lost.

“There is no distance
That cannot be covered
Over and over
You’re not defenseless
I’ll be your shelter
I’ll be your armor”

Lauren Daigle has truly made a name for herself as one of the most talented Christian artists of the modern era. 
Rescue’ is featured on Lauren’s 2018 album ‘Look Up Child.’ This special song is all about how we are not alone.
It truly makes me think about our relationship with God and how He stands by our side each step of the way. 
Hand your worries over to Him and He will rescue you.
“I will send out an army to find you
In the middle of the darkest night
It’s true, I will rescue you
I will never stop marching to reach you
In the middle of the hardest fight
It’s true, I will rescue you”
Whoever reading this, God knows what you are facing, He heard your cry, He is going to deliver you. Just trust in him.

Fort Wayne, IN 9/24/2021 🖤🖤🖤 || LYRICS BELOW! || I believe this was her second concert since COVID shut everything down, but we got to be the first to hear this amazing song which is now one of my absolute faves. She mentioned right before I started filming that we might see her physically looking down periodically to read the words as it was still that new to her. I can’t wait to hear the recorded version when it comes out! ~ erin♡dozois

Lauren Daigle || “You Lead Me” || New Song || 1st Performance || LYRICS! 🖤 – YouTube
Sometimes the sun feels like it keeps me in the dark Sometimes I find myself on journeys far too hard I thought You turned Your back on every hurt Til I realized that You were going in first [[ Refrain ]] You lead me Through deserts no man has walked Through waters none dare to cross When I’m afraid of where I’ll be You lead me Through flames that won’t burn me down Showing me the way to the only way out When it’s all unknown As far as I can see You lead me I close my eyes and hold on tightly to Your hand Don’t know if I’m walking on water or sinking sand Caught up in the storm of what I feel I thought You were the sword but You’re the shield [[ Refrain ]] Through the deserts Through the valleys Through the waters You lead me [[ Refrain ]]

Her songs have powerful messages. I totally relate to this song. May God bless her.

I love her voice, it’s so raw and emotional, Amen 🙏🏽🙌🏽  

Ezekiel 34:11-12 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.”  
GMA Dove Awards.

Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2015
Lauren Daigle
New Artist of the Year
Won
“How Can It Be”
Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year
Won
“How Can It Be” (46th Dove Awards) – YouTube

Song of the Year
Won
2016
Lauren Daigle
Songwriter of the Year
Won
Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year
Nominated
Artist of the Year
Won
“Trust in You”
Song of the Year
Nominated
First (Extra Official) Music Video – YouTube

Song of the Year
Nominated
Trust In You (Live) – YouTube

Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Won
2017
Come Alive (Dry Bones) – Live – YouTube

Song of the Year
Nominated
Lauren Daigle
Songwriter of the Year
Nominated
Hard Love (Lyrics) – YouTube
(Needtobreathe featuring Lauren Daigle)
Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Won
“Come Alive (Dry Bones)”
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Nominated
Behold (Full Christmas Album) – YouTube

Christmas / Special Event Album of the Year
Nominated
2018
O’ Lord w/ Lyrics (Lauren Daigle) – YouTube

Song of the Year
Nominated
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Nominated
2019
You Say – YouTube

Song of the Year
Won
Lauren Daigle
Songwriter of the Year (Artist)
Nominated
Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year
Nominated
Artist of the Year
Won
“You Say”
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Nominated
 Look Up Child (Audio) – YouTube

Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year
Won
2020
“Rescue”
Song of the Year
Nominated
Lauren Daigle
Songwriter of the Year (Artist)
Nominated
Artist of the Year
Nominated
Rescue (Official Lyric Video) – YouTube

Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Won
2021
Hold On To Me (Official Music Video) – YouTube

Song of the Year
Nominated
Lauren Daigle
Artist of the Year
Nominated
A Place Called Earth –  YouTube
(Jon Foreman featuring Lauren Daigle – Live at The Ryman)
Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Nominated
“Hold on to Me”
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Nominated
Hold on to Me
Short Form Video of the Year
Nominated
Special Guest Lauren Daigle Performs the Powerful “Hold On to Me” –
The Voice Finale Results 2021 – Bing video
Lauren Daigle Performs Her Wildly Popular Song “You Say” –
The Voice Live Finale Part 2 2020 – YouTube
Lauren Daigle – Best Songs (Audio) – YouTube
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Saber-Rattling Dictator

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Ken
A woman sits on beach with chakra illuminated
A Beginners Guide to Chakra Work

Brynna Standen (@PostcardsFromB) / Twitter
If you’ve ever watched in wonder as a circus performer — outfitted with poles on outstretched arms — managed to keep a legion of plates spinning above their head,
you might be surprised to find out that you are doing something quite similar within
the confines of your subtle body. Plate spinning, much like chakra maintenance,
is all about balance. 
Chakras, as defined by Healthline, are energy centers in the body. Disc-like spinning vortexes are positioned along the spinal column, starting at the base of the spine and ending just above the top of the head. Chakras have deep roots in the spiritual realm and have long been written off for that very reason. However, research has begun to show that certain chakras may be tethered to nerve groups and major organs. As a result, they can have a measurable impact on both our emotional and physical wellness when misaligned.
According to a paper published in Psychology Review, it’s believed that the study of the chakra system began in India between 1500 and 500 BC when the Vedas, Hinduism’s earliest scriptures, were written. However, many scholars believe the practice of chakra work was passed down as an oral tradition long before that. The philosophy of chakras, much like other traditional systems of medicine, is based on the idea of duality and the balance between feminine and masculine forces. Shakti and Shiva — creation and consciousness — make up everything in the universe, and everything in us, too. 

scale used for balance
Scale used for balance © Create Jobs 51/Shutterstock

What Does It Mean to Balance the Chakras?  
When you consider anything that requires two opposing forces to reach equilibrium — attraction and repulsion, negative and positive — the concept can be illustrated by imagining the scales of justice. When there’s too much of one and not enough of the other, one side of the scale sinks to the ground while the other shoots toward the sky. The relationship between Shiva and Shakti and their influence over our bodies is no different. Like with most things in life, we want to keep the masculine and feminine balanced. When there’s dissonance in our energy centers, it can have a tangible impact on our cognition, behavior, and physical body (per Psychology Review).
According to MindBodyGreen, there are seven chakras. When they are each balanced
and open, energy is able to flow freely between them. When stress or destructive thought processes and behaviors cause chakras to fall out of balance, it can have psychological and physiological repercussions (per Healthline). Also Yoga medicine therapeutic specialist
Dr. Diane Malaspina explained that chakras can become imbalanced when there’s too little or too much energy moving through the body. When a chakra has low energy, you will struggle to express the qualities associated with that chakra, and affiliated organ systems may also suffer. If a chakra is overactive, the qualities associated with it will be dominant to a fault. For example, if the solar plexus chakra controls feelings of personal power, an overactive third chakra could result in aggression. 

science lab
While scientific evidence has yet to support the spiritual elements of the chakra system

What Does Science Have to Say? 
 There is a growing body of research that supports the idea that chakras might correspond to specific parts of the body. A cadaver study published in Ayu found that the Muladhara, or root chakra, is closely associated with the inferior hypogastric plexus. This influences the reproductive organs and the rectum, aligning perfectly with what the root chakra is said to hold power over. Another study in the Indian Journal of Medical Research and Pharmaceutical Sciences determined that the cardiac plexus corresponds to the heart chakra, not just in location, but in functionality.

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 A review of multiple studies published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice involved biofield therapies, which measure electric and magnetic currents in the areas where chakras are positioned. It confirmed measurable frequencies emitting from said areas that went far above or below normal ranges.
This is still a growing field of research, and few studies have been conducted to measure whether or not chakra therapy works. MedicalNewsToday reports that because chakra therapy often includes meditation, yoga, and other practices that illicit introspection and evoke feelings of well-being, there are benefits to chakra-based work.
One 2020 study published in the International Journal of Social Welfare Promotion and Management was conducted on 223 people following a chakra-based meditation program. Researchers found that participants reported feeling less anxiety and an overall sense of better health. 


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A system of tree roots

The Root and The Sacrum 
Muladhara, or the root chakra, is located at the base of the spine and is associated with the color red (per MindBodyGreen). When visualizing your root chakra, imagine a spinning disc of red light near your tailbone. The root chakra’s related to survival, security, and groundedness. An imbalance has emotional implications like fear, disconnection, and financial insecurity (per Healthline). In the physical body, it can appear as constipation, kidney problems, or arthritis. To realign Muladhara, you can try a visualization meditation where tree-like roots grow from your glowing red root chakra through the chair you’re sitting on, past your floorboards, and deep into the soil, grounding you. Use grounding mantras like, “I’m safe,” and “I’m right where I need to be,” and strongly rooted yoga poses like Mountain pose.
Swadhisthana, the sacral chakra, is an orange disc in our navel that rules sexuality, creativity, and how we emote (per MindBodyGreen). When the second chakra is out of whack, Healthline says it might show up in your body as reproductive issues, urinary infections, or low libido. Emotionally, it can affect our inspiration and self-worth. A sacral chakra visualization meditation might look like the orange disc in your navel opening up and a rush of clean, cool water flowing through it. MindBodyGreen suggests a self-loving mantra. Maybe that sounds something like “I love myself and my body,” or “I am creative, capable, and inspired.” You might also try a bridge or pigeon yoga pose (per Healthline).

flowers in full bloom
Flowers in full bloom © Asharkyu/Shutterstock

The Solar Plexus and The Heart
Manipura, the yellow solar plexus chakra, is in the stomach (per MindBodyGreen).
It governs our ego, confidence, and personal power. When your solar plexus chakra is in good shape, you will feel free to be your true self. When it’s out of balance, you might find yourself feeling a great deal of shame and self-doubt. It may show up in your body as digestive problems, heartburn, ulcers, and eating disorders (per Healthline).
A meditation where you imagine a fire in your stomach burning all of your insecurities might set things straight. “I accept all parts of myself,” and “I am responsible for all areas of my life” are great Manipura mantras, along with bow and pike poses (per MindBodyGreen).
Anahata is the heart chakra and its color is green. As you might imagine, the heart chakra rules joy, peace, and our ability to give and receive love. A heart chakra imbalance might cause depression, difficulty with intimacy, and passivity. Healthline notes that while it can show up in the body as heart or lung problems and weight gain, it typically presents in one’s behavior.
Balancing the heart chakra can be done through meditation. Imagine your heart as a flower. With every inhale, the flower opens until it fully blooms. MindBodyGreen suggests loving mantras like, “I love myself and others, as I am them and they are me.” Yoga poses to open the heart chakra include camel (per Yoga Journal) and cobra (per Yoga Journal).

a figure with illuminated chakras stands in tree pose 
© Chepko Danil Vitalevich/a figure with illuminated chakras stands in tree pose

Throat, Third Eye, And Crown
Vishuddha is the throat chakra, its color is light blue, and it dictates communication. When it’s in good shape, we are able to clearly express our feelings and boundaries and understand those of others. When it’s suffering, we might struggle to find the words to express our truth, dominate conversations, or speak harshly (per Healthline).
Singing and chanting can help unblock the throat chakra, as well as a mantra like,
“I speak with intention,” and practicing the fish pose (per MindBodyGreen).
Ajna is the third-eye chakra, which sits on the forehead between the eyes. Its color is indigo, and that’s where our intuition and wisdom lie. It’s believed that a healthy Anja can see beyond what meets the eye. A closed third eye can result in headaches, eye strain, or a feeling like you are out of touch with your purpose (per Healthline). To open up your third eye, meditate on a serene place drenched in indigo. MindBodyGreen offers a mantra similar to, “I’m open to seeing the truth,” and a child’s pose.

Sahasrara is the crown chakra, located just above the top of the head, and it’s the window to enlightenment. Because it’s connected to all the other chakras, it is said when the crown’s open (which very few achieve), life feels blissful. A blockage may look like narrow-mindedness or stubbornness (per Healthline). Mantras like, “I am a vessel for love and light,” and headstands can help access the crown chakra (per MindBodyGreen). 
Source: A Beginners Guide To Chakra Work (msn.com)

For each of the following emotions / feelings,
please indicate whether over the past week or so you’ve felt them more or less than usual.
Feeling | Much more | Somewhat more | The usual amount | Somewhat less | Much less.

Sad 9% 18% 48% 12% 13%

Happy 7% 16% 55% 15% 8%

Stressed 13% 25% 44% 9% 9%

Worried 12% 25% 44% 9% 9%

Fearful 7% 16% 50% 12% 15%

Excited 5% 13% 57% 15% 10%

Based on 678,409 responses.

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‘Let’s talk about what it means to be pro-life’: Chelsea Handler slams overturning
of Roe v. Wade | Watch (msn.com)

Have violent criminal incidents been on the rise where you live?

Yes, I think so 67%

Maybe, I’m not sure 11%

No, I don’t think so 21%

Other / No opinion 1%

Based on 3,090 responses.

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