39.3 F
Chicago
Monday, January 27, 2025
Home Blog Page 27

Rental Price-Gouging & Scamming Fueling The Flames For California Wildfire Victims

0
Rental Price-Gouging & Scamming Fueling The Flames For California Wildfire Victims

Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times,

Ever since the deadly California wildfires began, Lauren Ravitz has often been jolted out of bed at 6 a.m. by phone calls from homeless fire victims desperately seeking a place to live. A realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Global Network in Los Angeles, Ravitz, has also been receiving up to 100 emails or texts daily.

“It’s a dire situation here, and it’s devastating for those who have lost everything—they’re all scrambling to find a place to rent,” Ravitz told The Epoch Times.

“Many have temporarily moved into hotels, some are living in Airbnb’s, and others are sleeping on friend’s sofas.”

To make matters even worse, some wildfire victims, according to Ravitz, have also experienced rental price gouging, despite California Penal Code section 396, which limits rent increases to 10 percent above pre-emergency levels during a state of emergency. That law applies to both existing rentals and new leases.

“Some people were so desperate to find housing that they paid the inflated rates, but now others are starting to realize this and report it,” said Ravitz.

The law states that violators can face up to $10,000 in fines and up to one year in jail. The City of Los Angeles has a separate penalty for landlords who price gauge, increasing fines to up to $30,000.

In addition, scammers have started to pop up, offering bogus properties for rent and then asking potential renters to wire them a deposit in order to hold the rental.

“People are so overwhelmed and in such a frenzy that they often send the money, only to discover that the properties don’t even exist,” Ravitz said.

In the meantime, the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs is asking residents to report price gouging and other scams to their department.

With the wildfires still uncontained, former homeowners whose properties have now been reduced to rubble are faced with the decision to either rebuild, sell the land and move to another area, or leave the state altogether.

To date, several of Ravitz’s clients have already reached out to architects and builders in hopes of returning to newly constructed homes by next year. Others are moving to nearby Manhattan Beach, where local schools are readily accepting more student enrollments.

“So many people are going through so much in addition to trying to cope with their financial losses,” she said.

“I have one client who’s starting chemo and another dealing with Parkinson’s disease. I just want to cry every day.”

Anne Russell, president of the Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors (GLAR), has already experienced being evacuated from her home but was fortunate enough to be able to return the following day. Her office in Los Angeles is also safe for the time being.

Russell told The Epoch Times that rent gouging is not uncommon, despite the law prohibiting it.

“I’ve told all of our 13,500 realtor members to be aware of this and to share it with their clients,” she said.

“Hundreds of people are now vying for rentals, and most in the area have been taken up. Many seem to be flocking to Santa Monica now, because local hotels can be very expensive.”

GLAR’s website is also cautioning local residents about additional scams involving text messages that pretend to assist people but are in fact phishing scams trying to extract personal information or ask for payments for fake charities.

“Please do not click on links from phone numbers you do not recognize,” the website warns.

Russell considers herself fortunate to have been spared so far from the raging fires.

“My previous office in Pacific Palisade is gone, and I have many friends there who have lost everything,” she said.

While six regional fires have been contained, four continue to burn in the Los Angeles area, including Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Auto. The blazes have destroyed thousands of acres and claimed at least 27 lives.

“We have wildfires here all the time, but it’s never happened that we have so many huge fires burning simultaneously,” Russell said.

“Add to that our very little rainfall, the strong Santa Ana winds, and an empty Palisades reservoir due to repairs and you have a recipe for disaster.”

GLAR meanwhile has been working with local agencies to provide gift cards for people to buy groceries, clothing, and other necessities. Both the California Association of Realtors Disaster Relief Fund and the National Association of Realtors’ Realtor Relief Fund are standing ready to assist with recovery efforts.

As for the real estate market in the regions affected, Russell noted that those with insurance and financial stability will rebuild.

“The most important thing is for them to choose architects and contractors who have had experience working with insurance claims,” she said.

Prior to the wildfires, the regional inventory had started to climb slightly, but now with all of the losses, housing will again be scarce.

“We believe it’s critical that homes are built again, but that they be built better with special fire retardant materials,” Russell said. “Still it’s going to be a real insurance battle for fire coverage.”

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 19:50

Large-Scale Deportations To Begin Tuesday With Chicago Raid

0
Large-Scale Deportations To Begin Tuesday With Chicago Raid

Just one day after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated for the second time, the new administration will kick off large-scale deportations, starting with a massive raid in Chicago, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing four anonymous individuals ‘familiar with the planning.’

The raid, expected to begin on Tuesday morning, will involve 100-200 officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (and is of course being reported in the WSJ so the migrants have ample warning to relocate).

As the Journal notes further, the Trump administration will target illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds first. Many of them had offenses ‘too minor’ for the Biden administration to pursue, however if any illegals are present during a raid or an arrest, regardless of criminal history, they will be taken and deported as well.

The transition team had been contemplating cities to target in a day-one operation as a way of making an example of so-called sanctuary cities, which adopt policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. They settled on Chicago both because of the large number of immigrants who could be possible targets and because of the Trump team’s high-profile feud with the city’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Though it isn’t clear how many people the operation will actually target, Trump’s team is planning to work with several right-leaning media outlets to amplify its efforts. -WSJ

Incoming border czar Tom Homan teased the raid last month during a visit to Chicago.

“We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois,” he said at a holiday party on Chicago’ North Side. “And if the Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside. But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien, I will prosecute him.

Tom Homan

In response, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said “I’m going to make sure to follow the law. I’m concerned that the Trump administration and his lackeys aren’t going to follow the law.”

‘Sanctuary Cities’ In The Crosshairs

In addition to Chicago, large immigrant centers such as New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami are looking at raids of their own. To carry out these actions, the Trump administration is weighing a broad mix of changes that would give sheriffs more power – and reward jurisdictions that cooperate, while financially punishing those which don’t. Homan has already threatened to throw the mayor of Denver in jail.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has already said they wouldn’t help, saying in a statement that local officials banned cooperation with ICE in 2020, and that “We are here to protect the communities we serve, not to enforce immigration laws.”

Which means they can say goodbye to potentially billions of dollars in federal grants.

Migrant rights groups are freaking out, meanwhile.

“If the intent is to instill a sense of terror and persecution, that’s what the Trump administration is doing very well,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, which says it has conducted over 140 workshops since the election to teach illegals how to avoid, and resist, the incoming Trump administration.

Under the Biden administration an official 10 million migrants have entered the US illegally – however unofficial figures peg the number north of 20 million.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 19:15

‘I See Dead Amendments’: President Biden Issues Otherworldly ERA Declaration

0
‘I See Dead Amendments’: President Biden Issues Otherworldly ERA Declaration

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

President Joe Biden wants people to know that he sees dead amendments. Just before leaving office, Biden declared that we have a 28th amendment despite dying in the ratification process years ago.

Not since the movie Sixth Sense has there been a more creepy moment. To paraphrase Cole Sear in the film, Biden does not see them in constitutional coffins but “Walking around like regular [amendments]. They don’t know they’re dead.” Neither does Biden.

Biden waited to shortly before leaving office to pander to the most delusional elements of the Democratic party in unilaterally announcing that the Equal Rights Amendment is now part of the Constitution. The farcical moment was then amplified by figures like Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) rejoicing and falsely telling women that they can now go to court and enforce the amendment to restore such things as abortion rights.

This bizarre group fantasy was triggered by the following declaration:

“In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”

Without naming them, Biden cites dozens of “constitutional experts” to support this absurd claim.

Biden’s last-minute declaration is more creepy than the movie because it requires not just the departure from the constitutional process but reality. Despite running as the champion of democracy, Biden is simply brushing aside the fact that the ERA was not ratified, as made clear by the Justice Department, various judges, and his own archivist just weeks ago.

Even the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg declared the amendment dead.

Archivist, Colleen Shogan recently explained that neither her office nor the White House have the authority to publish the amendment unilaterally or waive the deadline for ratification:

“In 2020 and again in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed that the ratification deadline established by Congress for the ERA is valid and enforceable,” she wrote. “The OLC concluded that extending or removing the deadline requires new action by Congress or the courts.”

“Therefore, the Archivist of the United States cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment. As the leaders of the National Archives, we will abide by these legal precedents and support the constitutional framework in which we operate.”

The reason is simple. The underlying argument is utterly ridiculous.

As I have previously written, the ERA is a dead as Dillinger.

The deadline for ratification of the ERA was set for March 22, 1979 — allowing seven years to secure the required approval by three-quarters of the states, or 38 states. It failed to do so. Even worse,  four states — Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky — rescinded their prior ratifications and a fifth, South Dakota, set its ratification to expire if the ERA was not adopted by the 1979 deadline.

Kentucky also had an additional problem because its Democratic lieutenant governor vetoed the resolution rescinding the ratification when the governor was out of town. However, Article V speaks of ratifications by state legislatures.

Notably, during the extended period, not a single state was added. Even assuming that the five states could be counted despite the votes to rescind their ratifications, the ERA was still three states short when it missed the second deadline.

Democrats then insisted that states could not rescind their votes, even before ratification was finalized.  So, Democrats and then-President Carter simply extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. However, in 1981, a federal district court ruled in Idaho v. Freeman that Congress could not extend the ERA’s ratification deadline. (The Supreme Court later stayed that order but then declared the matter moot.)

In 2021 federal Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that it would have been “absurd” for the Archivist to disregard the deadline and unilaterally add the unratified amendment to the Constitution. On appeal, a unanimous D.C. Circuit panel rejected the appeal of Illinois and Nevada that the Archivist should be ordered to publish the ERA, holding “The States’ argument that the proposing clause is akin to the inoperative prefatory clause in a bill is unpersuasive…because if that were the case, then the specification of the mode of ratification in every amendment in our nation’s history would also be inoperative.”

None of this matters to the defenders of democracy who ignored the votes in these states and dismissed constitutional deadlines and procedures.  Harvard Law Professors Laurence Tribe and Kathleen Sullivan ran a column declaring “The ERA is Now Law!” as if amplification and exclamation points would somehow make it true.  (This is the same Laurence Tribe that declared that Trump to be charged with the attempted murder of former Vice President Mike Pence and that the law was clear “without any doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt, beyond any doubt”).

Notably, Biden did not issue an executive order to the archivist as many activists wanted. The reason is simple: the White House knew that it could be challenged in court and would quickly collapse under judicial review. They would prefer Biden to declare Caesar-like that we have a new amendment and treat it as a fact.

With the declaration, Biden gave “the last full measure of devotion” to the radical left of his party. It was a pandering and frankly pathetic moment for a president who is currently one of the least popular presidents in leaving office.

His action on the ERA is precisely why he is viewed as a “failed” president. Biden has always sacrificed principle for the politics of the moment. This was a participation trophy given to activists that lacked any substance or basis. It is also why voters saw Biden as the greater threat to democracy than Trump.

It is chilling to think that Biden actually believes this nonsense and sees dead amendments walking around the White House. After all, insides have described the White House in the final days as a virtual “morgue.” Yet, the truth may be even scarier: He simply does not care. He sees dead amendments in the hope of restoring life to his legacy. Both, however, now belong to the ranks of the corpus mortuus.

*  *  *

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 18:40

The ‘Monkey Wrench’ Sabotage Of America Begs For An Authoritarian Response

0
The ‘Monkey Wrench’ Sabotage Of America Begs For An Authoritarian Response

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

Accidents and crime happen, all the time in fact, and generally the American public barely takes notice of the number of such events that occur on a monthly basis. The reason for this is because the vast majority of incidents don’t lead to economic and infrastructure damage on a large scale.  A disaster has to be pretty extensive to get the attention of the public and usually that attention doesn’t last long because most people are still able to go on with their day without much inconvenience.

But let’s say you are a villain; a terrorist or a social engineer (same thing).  Let’s say you are a person or group with malicious intent and you have deliberately set out to destroy a country, or a society or a civilization.  Do you try to do this with a single elaborately planned event?  Probably not.  Instead, you would coordinate and encourage thousands of smaller acts of sabotage that go largely unnoticed by the population until infrastructure breaks down and the country is in ruins.

The concept is actually rather common – We see it in the covert instigation of civil unrest and color revolutions throughout history.  We have seen it in the US with groups like the leftist/communist “Weather Underground” in the 1970s.  Such plans were executed broadly by western governments in Europe under Operation Gladio, which was exposed in the 1990s.

An interesting fictional example of this idea is the movie ‘Invasion USA’ starring Chuck Norris, about a communist network using America’s open borders to sneak thousands of foreign agents into the country.  They then coordinate a series of infrastructure and terror attacks nationwide in order to expedite a civil breakdown and economic crash.

The point is, the public doesn’t know they are under attack because all the incidents seem to be far apart and unrelated.  I believe that such a strategy is well underway within the US and parts of Europe right now, but instead of covert agents or terrorists working at the behest of some foreign adversary I argue that our OWN GOVERNMENTS are engaged in this sabotage.

I call this strategy “Monkey Wrenching”, based on the book ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang’ by Edward Abbey and published in 1975.  I touched on the concept in my article ‘Open Borders Have Created A Terror Attack Time Bomb In The US In 2025’ published last December, and then again in my article ‘Terror Attacks Kick Off In 2025 – It’s Only Going To Get Worse So Be Prepared’.

I want to go a little more in-depth on the “monkey wrench” concept because, as I predicted last year, 2025 just started and already we’ve seen multiple terror attacks including the car attack in New Orleans and the car bombing in front of Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.

These events follow some strange and disturbing incidents in 2024, including the armed invasion of Venezuelan cartels into multiple US neighborhoods and cities, two assassination attempts on Donald Trump by leftists as well as the assassination of an insurance CEO in New York by Luigi Mangione (identified as politically ambiguous by the media but widely applauded by leftists).

Then there’s the natural disaster issue.  The government displayed what appears to be total incompetence during the horrific fires in Maui, the lack of adequate federal response after Hurricane Helene in states like North Carolina, and of course there’s the absolute neglect of practical fire precautions in LA leading to one of the worst disasters in US history (more and more evidence is being released showing that these fires were, at least in part, started by a flurry of arsonists).  But what if government apathy and inaction in the face of fires and floods are just another deliberate form of monkey wrenching?

And let’s not forget about human-composed disasters like the mass illegal immigration created by the Biden Administration.  Dropping tens-of-millions of third-world aliens into the US economy in the span of a few years is a calamity bigger than anything Mother Nature could possibly produce.

But how are any of these things connected?  Aren’t they just the natural random noise of civilization?  It couldn’t possibly be maliciously planned, right?  Well, it depends – Chaos is not always directly created, but it can be encouraged into being through policy.

Is this conspiracy theory?  We’ve seen many conspiracy theories proven true over the past couple years, from the covid pandemic lockdowns, mandates and death numbers being exposed as a sham, Twitter and Facebook now outed for colluding with government officials to censor conservatives, the US government and Ukraine blowing up the Nordstream gas pipeline to Europe.  Conspiracy theorists are racking up an impressive list of wins lately.

If it seems to you as it does to me that the frequency of destabilizing events is increasing, that’s probably because it is.  It’s not a symptom of internet “information overload” as the media claims; the internet has been around a long time now and we’re used to the ease of info access.  No, this is something new.

The Monkey Wrench Gang

Edward Abbey’s politically charged book titled ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang’ portrays a group of environmentalist extremists out to stop the “pollution” of the southwestern US using sabotage of machines and infrastructure as a means to grind development to a halt.

The Monkey Wrench Gang has long been considered an inspirational work of fiction for the political left, but it is also treated as a sort of instruction manual for leftists and anarchists – A guide for bringing down the system. It depicts the destruction of minor targets like billboards and bulldozers, up to and including the destruction of bridges, the derailment of trains and the attempted bombing of a dam. It’s sort of like the leftist version of The Turner Diaries.

The idea is that one small attack alone doesn’t do much, but thousands of attacks have an accumulative effect that can result in the downfall of a country or system.

What the book does not address is the idea that a shadow government would HELP or fund these kinds of attacks.  With the government on their side as it remains passive, saboteurs can operate with impunity. They can then commit acts of sabotage in a way that avoids drawing too many questions – In other words, they would have the ability to make the events look like accidents, or commit crimes in a way that looks random.

Leftist Reactions To Losing Political Power – The Rise Of Marxist Terror

Leftists throughout modern history have a habit of engaging in destabilization efforts when they don’t get what they want.  They view their motivations as sacrosanct and beyond criticism, be it “saving democracy” or “saving the planet” or “taking down capitalists and colonists”. 

In every case where the political left had influence over social conditions and then lost that power, they revert to directed exponential disruption and violence from riots to assassination.  They claim to care about the right of the majority to have their voices heard, but in reality they don’t care at all.  When the majority goes against the leftist narrative, leftists go rogue.

If I could come up with one word to describe progressives and their behavior it’s this:  Petty.

That might sound too reserved, but there’s nothing more dangerous than people who are petty; they’re capable of justifying anything.  We saw this on a large scale after Donald Trump’s first election win in 2016 and I guarantee we’re going to see a lot more as he enters office again in 2025.  Establishment gatekeepers in the media and among globalist institutions have conjured an atmosphere in which at least 30% of the country believes that “democracy” is facing an existential threat from Donald Trump and conservatives.

They think they’re headed for concentration camps once Trump settles into the White House and that all their rights are about to be taken away.  Ironically, it’s their pettiness and propensity for sabotage that might actually end up creating the desire among conservatives for putting these people behind bars for a long time.

Establishment elites have fostered an environment in which random attacks are more easily triggered, but they also participate in the direct funding and training of Marxist extremist groups.  For anyone who thinks this kind of thing never happens, I suggest you look into the true history behind the leftist terrorists of the Weather Underground and how many of those people (who were wanted by the FBI) ended working within the government and teaching at major universities.

There WILL be a number of these groups active in the coming years.  These people will not accept failure and they will lash out any way they can.  Some of them will be given help from establishment elites with extensive resources.

The Tempting Authoritarian Response To Monkey Wrenching

The temptation in the face of mass induced sabotage of a nation is to respond with cold and calculated power.  Frankly, it’s hard to see another solution at times.  As most Libertarians will point out, government power is like the Ring of Sauron from Lord Of The Rings – You might think you can wield it for good, but ultimately it will corrupt you just as it corrupts everyone.  I tend to agree.

In the decade after WWI Germany faced a series of Marxist provocations from economic sabotage to armed violence and assassinations.  The German government and traditionalist citizens eventually responded in kind, creating militias to quell leftists and imprisoning or killing some in their leadership.  Germans were well aware of what happened under Marxism in other nations and the havoc it inspired.  Those years of instability in the 1920s and the fear they induced led to the ultimate formation of the Nazi Party and the rise of National Socialism.

Disturbingly, fascism was presented as the counter to Marxism, but even Adolph Hitler admitted on multiple occasions that fascism was inspired by Marxism. The German people, in a desperate effort to return to normalcy and prosperity, embraced a Marxist inspired political system in order to undo the chaos created by Marxist revolutionaries.

We stand at a dangerous crossroads in 2025, but this does not mean we sit back and do nothing (which, unfortunately, seems to be a common Libertarian response).  Do we form citizen militias like the Germans did and take down leftist agitators?  Or, do we let the government under Trump flirt with unconstitutional measures?  Do we arrest Democrat city or state officials that refuse to fix infrastructure problems?  Do we remove them by force if they continue protecting illegals from deportation?

Recent surveys show that nearly HALF of all federal employees plan to resist or obstruct the plans of the Trump Administration, which means they will be actively trying to sabotage the implementation of policies that most Americans voted for.  They’re telling you that the will of the voter doesn’t matter.  What should be done about these people?

These are the kinds of questions that are going to come up frequently in the next four years and we need to consider them seriously.

Some would argue that any violence of action whatsoever is authoritarian in nature, but I see little chance of reversing the damage done by globalists and leftists without some form of violence.  For example, mass deportations of millions of illegal immigrants will be presented by critics as authoritarian in nature.  Yet, this strategy is entirely necessary if our country is to be saved.

Do the ends justify the means?  In this case, yes.  When your civilization is under attack it is morally acceptable to defend it.  The problems arise when the act of retaliation against an enemy results in the loss of the very freedom and prosperity your society hopes to protect.  This is the conundrum created by the monkey wrench:  It’s an internal war, with internal enemies, and to strike at internal enemies you sometimes take the risk of striking yourself.

*  *  *

If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.  Learn more about it HERE.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 17:30

How Much Of The World’s Plastic Waste Actually Gets Recycled?

0
How Much Of The World’s Plastic Waste Actually Gets Recycled?

The United States, the world’s largest plastic polluter, recycles a mere 5% of its household plastic waste.

Around the world, the situation is slightly better, but a staggering 91% of plastic waste is still incinerated, landfilled, or mismanaged (e.g. dumped into the ocean).

As Visual Capitalist’s Nick Routley details below, the graphic below, by Rosey Eason, using OECD data (via Our World in Data), paints a clear picture of the situation. Here’s a global overview of how plastic waste is disposed of:

There is growing awareness of the world’s plastic waste challenges, so why isn’t that translating into higher rates of recycling?

The Illusion of Recycling

The recycling system itself is deeply flawed. Most plastics are incompatible, making sorting costly and inefficient. Only PET (#1) and HDPE (#2) are widely recycled. In short, once most plastic products are created and reach the end of their usefulness, they’re tough to repurpose.

The economics of recycling are also stacked against success. Virgin plastic, often subsidized by fossil fuel subsidies, is cheaper than recycled plastic. This price disparity discourages the use of recycled materials.

Furthermore, the rise of flexible packaging—those lightweight packets for snacks and food—exacerbates the problem. These multi-layered packets, while convenient, are incredibly difficult to recycle due to contamination and complex composition.

What Can Be Done About Plastic Waste?

Addressing the global plastic crisis requires systemic change. Here are some steps that could help stem the tide of plastic waste:

  • Bans on single-use and/or unrecyclable plastics

  • A global plastics treaty

  • Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies

  • Implementing and strengthening responsibility programs for plastic producers

Our day-to-day experience of using cheap and convenient plastics often supersedes any negative externalities that happen further down the chain. Solving the problem will require a fundamental shift in our relationship with plastic, driven by policy and innovation.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 16:55

It’s Time To Retire ‘Misinformation’

0
It’s Time To Retire ‘Misinformation’

Authored by Pierre Kory via The Brownstone Institute,

In a seismic political shift, Republicans have laid claim to an issue that Democrats left in the gutter – the declining health of Americans. True, it took a Democrat with a famous name to ask why so many people are chronically illdisabled, and dying younger than in 47 other countries. But the message resonated with the GOP.

We have a proposal in this unfolding milieu. Let’s have a serious, nuanced discussion. Let’s retire labels that have been weaponized against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., nominated for Health and Human Services Secretary, and many people like him. 

Start with discarding threadbare words like “conspiracy theory,” “anti-vax,” and the ever-changing “misinformation.”     

These linguistic sleights of hand have been deployed—by government, media, and vested interests—to dismiss policy critics and thwart debate. If post-election developments tell us anything, it is that such scorn may no longer work for a population skeptical of government overreach.

Although RFK has been lambasted for months in the press, he just scored a 47 percent approval rating in a CBS poll. 

Americans are asking: Is RFK on to something?

Perhaps, as he contends, a 1986 law that all but absolved vaccine manufacturers from liability has spawned an industry driven more by profit than protection. 

Maybe Americans agree with RFK that the FDA, which gets 69 percent of its budget from pharmaceutical companies, is potentially compromised. Maybe Big Pharma, similarly, gets a free pass from the television news media that it generously supports. The US and New Zealand, incidentally, are the only nations on earth that allow “direct-to-consumer” TV ads. 

Finally, just maybe there’s a straight line from this unhealthy alliance to the growing list of 80 childhood shots, inevitably approved after cursory industry studies with no placebo controls. The Hepatitis B vaccine trial, for one, monitored the effects on newborns for just five days. Babies are given three doses of this questionably necessary product—intended to prevent a disease spread through sex and drug use.

Pointing out such conflicts and flaws earns critics a label: “anti-vaxxer.”  

Misinformation?

If RFK is accused of being extreme or misdirected, consider the Covid-19 axioms that Americans were told by their government.    

The first: The pandemic started in animals in Wuhan, China. To think otherwise, Wikipedia states, is a “conspiracy theory,” fueled by “misplaced suspicion” and “anti-Chinese racism.” 

Not so fast. In a new 520-page report, a Congressional subcommittee linked the outbreak to risky US-supported virus research at a Wuhan lab at the pandemic epicenter. After 25 hearings, the subcommittee found no evidence of “natural origin.” 

Is the report a slam dunk? Maybe not. But neither is an outright dismissal of a lab leak.

The same goes for other pandemic dogma, including the utility of (ineffective) masks, (harmful) lockdowns, (arbitrary) six-foot spacing, and, most prominently, vaccines that millions were coerced to take and that harmed some. 

Americans were told, wrongly, that two shots would prevent Covid and stop the spread. Natural immunity from previous infection was ignored to maximize vaccine uptake.

Yet there was scant scientific support for vaccinating babies with little risk, which few other countries did; pregnant women (whose deaths soared 40 percent after the rollout), and healthy adolescents, including some who suffered a heart injury called myocarditis. The CDC calls the condition “rare;” but a new study found 223 times more cases in 2021 than the average for all vaccines in the previous 30 years.

Truth Muzzled? 

Beyond this, pandemic decrees were not open to question. Millions of social media posts were removed at the behest of the White House. The ranks grew both of well-funded fact-checkers and retractions of countervailing science.

The FDA, meantime, created a popular and false storyline that the Nobel Prize-winning early-treatment drug ivermectin was for horses, not people, and might cause coma and death. Under pressure from a federal court, the FDA removed its infamous webpage, but not before it cleared the way for unapproved vaccines, possible under the law only if no alternative was available.

An emergency situation can spawn official missteps. But they become insidious when dissent is suppressed and truth is molded to fit a narrative. 

The government’s failures of transparency and oversight are why we are at this juncture today. RFK—should he overcome powerful opposition—may have the last word. 

The conversation he proposes won’t mean the end of vaccines or of respect for science. It will mean accountability for what happened in Covid and reform of a dysfunctional system that made it possible.     

Republished from RealClearHealth

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 16:20

Netanyahu Says Trump “Emphasized” To Him That The Gaza Ceasefire Is “Temporary”

0
Netanyahu Says Trump “Emphasized” To Him That The Gaza Ceasefire Is “Temporary”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued some surprisingly bold assertions in a national televised address given just 12-hours before the much anticipated Gaza ceasefire is set to go into effect Sunday morning.

Both Biden and Trump have hailed and celebrated the deal, but it’s the Republican president-elect who is by and large receiving the most credit for seeing it to the finish line. Some Israeli media outlets have represented the whole thing as a ‘defeat’ for Netanyahu, who appeared to want to keep the war going until Hamas is completely eradicated.

Among Netanyahu’s most provocative words on Saturday was his claim that he has the support of President-elect Trump in the scenario Israel feels it must abandon the ceasefire and keep fighting. He says he has Trump’s full backing to resume the war, and has claimed further that Trump too agreed that the truce is just “temporary”. Watch below:

“Netanyahu also asserted that he negotiated the best deal possible, even as Israel’s far-right Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he and most of his party would resign from the government in opposition to it,” Times of Israel notes of the remarks.

And there’s some some last-minute details which threaten implementation of the ceasefire

The prime minister had warned earlier that a ceasefire wouldn’t go forward unless Israel received the names of hostages to be released, as had been agreed. His statement came almost three hours after Israel had expected to receive the names from mediator Qatar. There was no immediate response from Qatar or Hamas.

But without doubt Netanyahu is feeling the pressure, both within but even more from external allies, especially Washington – which writes the checks for the Israeli war machine.

As for Netanyahu’s talk of the deal being ‘temporary’ it’s unclear whether the Trump team agrees with this assessment. There hasn’t been any initial reaction from Trump as he prepares for the inauguration Monday.

But Trump without doubt wants a ceasefire to stick, and is likely to be celebrating its implementation during some of Monday’s inaugural remarks. He has vowed to wind down various conflict hot spots, especially Ukraine, and bring peace.

He has also warned that there will be “hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t uphold its end of the truce deal. This suggests Netanyahu could be telling the truth, or at least an interpretation of it. An initial small group of hostages are expected to be returned to Israel by Sunday evening, with hopeful families awaiting and on edge.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 15:45

TIME Magazine Suggests Leftists Form ‘Crying Groups’ On Inauguration Day

0
TIME Magazine Suggests Leftists Form ‘Crying Groups’ On Inauguration Day

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

TIME magazine has published an article offering advice to leftists who might not be able to cope on Inauguration Day Monday, suggesting that they hold group crying sessions and go ‘forest bathing.’

The publication, which begrudgingly named President Trump as its man of the year, produced a guide on what to do to avoid “spiralling” as Trump is sworn in, and its unintentionally hilarious.

The piece asks “Why so much distress after months of processing the outcome of this divisive election?”

Maybe it’s because the legacy media told fragile leftists that it would literally be the end of the country and the world if Trump won?

The article then lists 11 ways to avoid seeing Trump take the oath, consulting “experts to share their favorite science-backed suggestions.”

OK, this should be funny.

Along with smiling, dancing and journaling, it suggests blue haired people gather in groups to have a communal cry, or go ‘forest bathing.’

It’s basically, “walking aimlessly and slowly” through the woods.

Who else would pay to watch sad leftists doing this?

There is something better they could do…

TIME was getting so mercilessly mocked that they changed the headline:

It’s all a cult.

It’s over for them.

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 15:10

States Follow Musk’s Lead With Bold DOGE-Like Initiatives

0
States Follow Musk’s Lead With Bold DOGE-Like Initiatives

DOGE co-heads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are inspiring governors across a handful of states to launch their own ambitious cost-cutting initiatives ahead of President-elect Donald Trump assuming the White House for a second term.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), during her Tuesday evening address before lawmakers, announced the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the Hawkeye State aimed at cutting wasteful spending.

“I like to say that we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,” Reynolds stated. “And to build on our success, I’m launching our own state DOGE to find even greater savings and efficiencies in both state and local government.”

Emily Schmitt, general counsel of Sukup Manufacturing, will head the program, the governor said.

Last week, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) unveiled in her inauguration address plans to create a DOGE commission to dramatically reduce spending.

In just a few short years, we’ve turned our state into a national model for bold, get-it-done government. And we’re not stopping,” Ayotte said. “We need to make sure that the government is operating more like the lean process in manufacturing, where waste is eliminated each step in the process for a better result.”

“And to help us do this, because I know there is nothing harder than politicians and asking them not to spend money. So today, I’m announcing the creation of the Commission on Government Efficiency, or I like to call it the COGE,” the governor added.

In December, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) revealed plans to launch a program aimed at cutting waste and eliminating outdated regulations. He issued an executive order to create a new government efficiency body and appointed oil and gas executive Steve Orlando as the state’s first Financial Responsibility Czar.

In the same month, Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) moved to establish a DOGE-like panel called the Governmental, Oversight, Accountability and Transparency Committee (GOAT).

“I think that we can look at a lot of ideas and try to find ways to make the government do a better job than we currently are,” Vos said in an interview with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

I’m super excited that we’re going to now kind of focus on, not just how do we layer more things on, but how do we make the things that we already have work better,” the lawmaker added.

Last November, Trump appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to co-lead DOGE to slash up to $2 trillion off of the federal budget.

“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies—essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump wrote in a statement at the time. “I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans.”

While it’s unclear what measures DOGE will take come next week, Musk has expressed his intention to chop 30% of spending from the $6 trillion budget, while Ramaswamy has proposed reducing the federal workforce by half by forcing staff to report for in-office work.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 14:35

Illegal Immigrants Have Begun Deporting Themselves; Report

0
Illegal Immigrants Have Begun Deporting Themselves; Report

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Illegals in the US have started self-deporting ahead of Trump taking office according to an immigration attorney.

Rolando Vasquez told NewsNation that there has been a surge in immigrant voluntarily leaving with Trump’s promised mass deportations on the horizon and with Mexico agreeing to take non-Mexican deportees.

Another driving factor is that Cuba and Venezuela generally do not accept deportation flights from the United States but may accept them from Mexico.

“This is causing many migrants to leave on their own, knowing that they’re either going to be deported to their home country or be deported to Mexico,” Vasquez said, adding “The overwhelming majority of them do not want to be in Mexico.”

NewsNation reporter Jorge Ventura also warned sources have told him that newly deported migrants are targets for extortion or even abduction by Mexican cartels and human smugglers.

Watch:

The news comes amid rumours that the Trump administration will carry out its first large-scale deportation operation in the ‘sanctuary city’ of Chicago next Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan noted Friday “We’re going to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats right out of the gate. That’s our priority. We’re going to go for the worst first. And I find it hard to believe any elected official doesn’t want public safety threat out of their communities.”

Homan warned governors and mayors in so called ‘sanctuary’ areas not to impede the process, asserting “Just stay out of the way and we will do it. You can sit back and let us do the job. It’s going to be less efficient, it will be more dangerous without their assistance, but we’re going to do the job regardless.”

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/18/2025 – 14:00