Cancer deaths in the United States spiked in 2021 and 2022 among 15-44 year-olds “in large excess over trend,” marking jumps of 5.6% and 7.9% respectively vs. a rise of 1.7% in 2020, according to a new preprint study from deep-dive research firm, Phinance Technologies.

Extreme Events

The report, which relies on data from the CDC, paints a troubling picture.

“We show a rise in excess mortality from neoplasms reported as underlying cause of death, which started in 2020 (1.7%) and accelerated substantially in 2021 (5.6%) and 2022 (7.9%). The increase in excess mortality in both 2021 (Z-score of 11.8) and 2022 (Z-score of 16.5) are highly statistically significant (extreme events),” according to the authors.

That said, co-author, David Wiseman, PhD (who has 86 publications to his name), leaves the cause an open question – suggesting it could either be a “novel phenomenon,” Covid-19, or the Covid-19 vaccine.

Cancer deaths in US in 2021 & 2022 in large excess over trend for 15-44 year-olds as extreme events. A novel phenomenon? C19? lockdowns? C19 vaccines? Honored to participate in this work. #CDC where are you? @DowdEdwardhttps://t.co/iUV5oQiWCW pic.twitter.com/uytzaIvvor

— David Wiseman PhD, MRPharmS (@AdhesionsOrg) March 12, 2024

“The results indicate that from 2021 a novel phenomenon leading to increased neoplasm deaths appears to be present in individuals aged 15 to 44 in the US,” reads the report.

The authors suggest that the cause may be the result of “an unexpected rise in the incidence of rapidly growing fatal cancers,” and/or “a reduction in survival in existing cancer cases.”

They also address the possibility that “access to utilization of cancer screening and treatment” may be a factor – the notion that pandemic-era lockdowns resulted in fewer visits to the doctor. Also noted is that “Cancers tend to be slowly-developing diseases with remarkably stable death rates and only small variations over time,” which makes “any temporal association between a possible explanatory factor (such as COVID-19, the novel COVID-19 vaccines, or other factor(s)) difficult to establish.”

That said, a ZeroHedge review of the CDC data reveals that it does not provide information on duration of illness prior to death – so while it’s not mentioned in the preprint, it can’t rule out so-called ‘turbo cancers’ – reportedly rapidly developing cancers, the existence of which has been largely anecdotal (and widely refuted by the usual suspects).

While the Phinance report is extremely careful not to draw conclusions, researcher “Ethical Skeptic” kicked the barn door open in a Thursday post on X – showing a strong correlation between “cancer incidence & mortality” coinciding with the rollout of the Covid mRNA vaccine.

The argument is over.

The Covid mRNA Vaxx has cause a sizeable 2021 inflection, and now novel-trend elevation in terms of both cancer incidence & mortality.

Now you know who the liars were all along.

🔺Incidence = 14.8% excess
🔺UCoD Mortality = 5.3% excess (lags Incidence) pic.twitter.com/uwN9GMrHl1

— Ethical Skeptic ☀ (@EthicalSkeptic) March 14, 2024

Phinance principal Ed Dowd commented on the post, noting that “Cancer is suddenly an accelerating growth industry!”

🚨Indeed it is…Cancer is suddenly an accelerating growth industry! @EthicalSkeptic provides a chart below showing US Cancer treatment in constant dollars with a current growth rate of 14.8% (6.3% New CAGR) versus long term trend of 1.78% CAGR or $33.8 billion in excess cancer… https://t.co/RIn4R2YZZ7

— Edward Dowd (@DowdEdward) March 14, 2024

Continued:

As a former portfolio manager of of a $14 billion Large Cap Growth Equity portfolio I can definitively say Cancer treatments and the Disabilities have become growth industries that both have inflection points coincidental to the mRNA vaccine rollouts in 2021.

Chart 1 from… pic.twitter.com/TCt4X1plnM

— Edward Dowd (@DowdEdward) March 14, 2024

Bottom line – hard data is showing alarming trends, which the CDC and other agencies have a requirement to explore and answer truthfully – and people are asking #WhereIsTheCDC.

We aren’t holding our breath.

Experts are sounding the alarm on a spike in cancer diagnosis worldwide. It is still a mystery. @DowdEdward from Phinance Technologies has also been sounding the alarm for months.

We are facing a dramatic degradation of the human immune system https://t.co/CPnwP3Oj9G

— dr.ir. Carla Peeters (@CarlaPeeters3) March 15, 2024

Wiseman, meanwhile, points out that Pfizer and several other companies are making “significant investments in cancer drugs, post COVID.”

Pfizer among several companies making significant investments in cancer drugs, post COVID. @DowdEdward @Kevin_McKernan @JesslovesMJK @niki_kyrylenko https://t.co/nefEZYLW1o https://t.co/r505Sbbcq4

— David Wiseman PhD, MRPharmS (@AdhesionsOrg) March 15, 2024

Phinance

We’ve featured several of Phinance’s self-funded deep dives into pandemic data that nobody else is doing. If you’d like to support them, click here.

List of our projects following disturbing tends in deaths, disabilities and absences.

Link to projects at bottom.

✅ V-Damage Project
✅ Excess Mortality Project
✅ US Disabilities Project
✅ US BLS Absence rates Project
✅ US Cause of Death Project
✅ UK Cause of Death…

— Edward Dowd (@DowdEdward) March 16, 2024

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A large number of drone incursions are happening at the U.S.-Mexico border, a U.S. Department of Defense official said on March 14.

“It’s my understanding, there’s been a lot of drone incursions along our southern border. How many drone incursions have we had and what are they doing?” Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) asked Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot during a Senate hearing.

“I don’t know the actual number—I don’t think anybody does—but it’s in the thousands,” Gen. Guillot said.

He later added that there are likely more than 1,000 incursions happening at the border per month.

The general, who became commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in February, said he recently spoke with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Department of Justice officials learned about the surprising number of incursions. He described becoming alarmed.

Are the incursions a defense threat to the homeland?

“They alarm me from being the person responsible for homeland defense,” Gen. Guillot said. “I haven’t seen any of them manifest in a threat to the level of national defense but I see the potential only growing.”

NORAD is a United States and Canadian organization whose work includes “the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands.” NORTHCOM leads the military’s homeland defense efforts.

The hearing was held by the Senate Armed Services Committee. The subject of Mexican military incursions at the border did not come up.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman of the committee, inquired as to whether military base commanders were equipped with standard operating procedures in dealing with unmanned aircraft.

“The services do have authorities, but work remains to be done to ensure that … we have standardized operating procedures to address those threats,” Gen. Guillot said. “And also work remains to be done to be able to use especially the non-kinetic capabilities that can bring down those systems safely, without interfering with our airspace structure.”

He said he was planning to recommend to the Pentagon and Congress ways NORAD can help develop those procedures after a 90-day assessment of NORAD and NORTHCOM is finished.

Other Comments From New Commander

Gen. Guillot also touched on a number of additional subjects during the hearing, his first since taking command.

At one point, he said he was concerned about how many Chinese nationals are crossing into the United States.

“The number of Chinese that are coming across the border is a big concern of mine,” he said. “In fact, in the short period of time that I’ve been in command, I’ve gone down to the southern border to talk to the agents and leadership about that. And then I’ve also spoken with the acting commissioner of the CBP on this subject.”

He added: “What concerns me most about specifically the Chinese migrants is—one, that they’re so centralized in one location on the border. And two, is while many may be political refugees, other explanations, the ability for counterintelligence to hide in plain sight in those numbers.”

Gen. Guillot also disclosed that Russia flew bombers near U.S. and Canadian airspace earlier in March but turned back before reaching the Air Defense Identification Zone, and said Chinese planes could follow.

Gen. Guillot also told lawmakers that NORAD has improved its radars since officials allowed a Chinese balloon into American airspace in 2023.

“That has allowed us to have better domain awareness in that,” he said. Gaps in the system, he added, are slated to be address by a new radar being introduced.

Authored by Zoltan Vardai via CoinTelegraph.com,

A mysterious Bitcoin whale, nicknamed “Mr. 100,” has sparked curiosity in the cryptocurrency space after amassing over 52,996 Bitcoin, worth over $3.5 billion, on-chain data shows.

Who is Bitcoin’s “Mr. 100”?

The Mr. 100 whale wallet bought at least 1,000 Bitcoin on March 15, which is 52% of the total 1,907 BTC bought by the 10 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to an X post by HODL15Capital.

Bitcoin accumulation sheet. Source: HODL15Capital on X

This address has been continually receiving BTC since November 2022, when the FTX exchange collapsed. The wallet has been adding at least 100 BTC nearly every day since Feb. 14.

The wallet received some larger Bitcoin transfers from a secondary wallet address, which has also been adding tranches of 100 BTC since 2019. This suggests that the mysterious whale has been stacking sats since at least 2019, according to HODL15Capital, who also noted in a March 15 X post:

“What I do know is that this is NOT one of the U.S. ETFs. I have all those mapped.” 

Based on the size of the acquisitions, there’s speculation that the whale could be either a Hong Kong financial institution pre-seeding for ETFs, the Qatar Investment Authority, other Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, a cold wallet associated with South Korean Upbit exchange, or an unidentified address of a tech billionaire.

Mr. 100 continues accumulating regardless of Bitcoin price at near all-time highs, adding 400 BTC on March 12, when Bitcoin traded above the $72,000 mark.

Following the accumulation spree, the Mr. 100 wallet is currently the 14th-largest BTC holder, according to Bitinfocharts data.

Mr. 100 wallet data. Source: Bitinfocharts

Wallet linked to Upbit: Crystal Intelligence

The Mr. 100 wallet has been tagged as a cold wallet belonging to the Upbit cryptocurrency exchange, by blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence.

Based on blockchain data analyzed by Crystal Intelligence, the mysterious wallet belongs to Upbit, the firm told Cointelegraph:

“We have found that the number and value of transactions associated with this wallet are indicative of a VASP-type service. Additionally, we can confirm with high accuracy that the incoming transactions originate from Upbit, and these have maintained a consistent value since the collapse of FTX.”

Looking at the wallet’s outflows, Mr. 100 has only been sending Bitcoin transactions to a wallet tagged as an Upbit hot wallet by Arkahm’s platform. Most of the transactions were in tranches of at least 500 BTC, with two of the biggest transactions transferring as much as 3,000 BTC.

Upbit: Cold Wallet Outflows. Source: Arkham Intelligence

The analytics team behind Crystal Intelligence confirmed that the secondary wallets also belong to Upbit:

“Bitcoin is moved into three major clusters on the outgoing transaction side, and those clusters appear to be connected in subsequent transactions. We also found some evidence that the clusters that received funds from 1Ay8v belong to Upbit.”

Thus, the “Mr. 100” wallet likely belongs to Upbit, argued pseudonymous on-chain analyst Defioasis, who wrote in a March 12 X response:

“The regular movements of 100 BTC are not purchases but could be Upbit’s unique way of managing cold and hot wallet assets.”

HODL15Capital also noted that a South Korean entity is stacking large amounts of Bitcoin, in a March 15 X post, referencing the heatmap from below.

BTC global transfers heatmap. Source: HODL15Capital

All the 14 secondary wallet addresses associated with the main wallet of Mr. 100 have passed Know Your Customer  verification on Upbit exchange, wrote pseudonymous on-chain sleuth Mai in a March 15 X response:

“Mr.100 uses a small wallet address to buy $BTC. I find it very similar to what Upbit usually does with altcoins (ETH network). If we follow Upbit’s cash flow, we will see the coincidence.”

Who says nothing interesting ever happens in the world anymore? This week, in a “first of its kind” operation, a brain-dead human subject was implanted with the world’s first gene-edited pig liver transplant, according to SCMP. 

In what could be a pioneering move, Chinese scientists have transplanted a gene-edited pig liver into a human, aiming to potentially mark a solution to organ shortages, the report says.

The liver was modified to reduce rejection risks and was implanted into a brain-dead recipient, showing no rejection signs four days post-operation, as per the Air Force Medical University. SCMP writes that this procedure could significantly aid those with end-stage liver disease, possibly revolutionizing liver transplants. 

Gene editing advancements in China also promise to enhance efficiency and accessibility in plant modification, reflecting broader strides in medical innovation, the report continues.

SCMP notes that liver diseases annually claim 2 million lives globally, with China alone witnessing up to 500,000 new cases of liver failure yearly. Xenotransplantation, the process of transplanting organs across species, could be a hopeful strategy, especially for liver ailments, given the complexity and scarcity of human livers for transplantation.

While pig organs have been previously used in research, the liver’s complexity means there needs to be innovative surgical approaches, such as auxiliary transplants, to ensure effective integration and function within the body, according to SCMP. 

This development signals a critical step toward more sustainable organ transplant solutions, addressing both the technical challenges and the dire need for viable organs.

The Air Force Medical University commented: “From this perspective, xenogenic liver transplantation has great clinical application value.”

Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClear Wire,

While the Pentagon has assured Congress that no U.S. military equipment sent to Ukraine has been diverted, stolen, or otherwise misappropriated, a new report from the Government Accountability Office could not determine if the Department of Defense was tracking allegations of misuse two years into the conflict.

“If you never look, you will never find it,” a source familiar with how the report was compiled said of the worst-case possibility that aid was being misappropriated.

The report comes as President Biden struggles to keep the supply lines open to Ukraine. Although a majority of Congress supports sending further aid to help hold back the Russian onslaught, and the Senate passed a bipartisan aid package late last month, House Republicans have yet to approve the latest round of now-stalled military assistance.

The United States remains the leading supplier of munitions and other aid to Ukraine, providing more than $42 billion in assistance since Russia’s invasion. Much of it has come through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to transfer equipment from American stores directly to allies. The annual amount was limited by law to $100 million a year until Congress lifted the cap to $14.5 billion.

The sheer tonnage of supplies and the speed of its shipment, according to the GAO report, has left the Pentagon without “quality data” to assess its delivery. Ensuring munitions and materiel arrive in the right hands has led to unprecedented challenges on top of the existing chaos of war. Most officials were evacuated from Ukraine long ago, for instance, and those who remain are restricted from leaving Kyiv to ensure delivery of shipments before it is used or destroyed on the battlefield.

Department of Defense officials, however, maintain that they and their Ukrainian allies are up to the challenge. “We think the Ukrainians are using properly what they’ve been given,” Colin Kahl, formerly the Pentagon’s top policy official, told Congress over a year ago, assuring lawmakers that the DoD conducts regular audits and “we are laser-focused on this issue.”

Though a nascent democracy, Ukraine has a history of corruption. Mismanagement or graft could threaten future aid, a message that has been relayed from the White House to President Volodymyr Zelensky directly.

“Still no indication that there’s been any kind of widespread corruption or inappropriate use of U.S. capabilities,” John Kirby, a national security communications adviser to President Biden, told RealClearPolitics last October. As America reprises its role as an arsenal of democracy, the spokesman described a “hand-to-mouth” scenario where munitions are used as soon as they arrive.

“It’s a matter of days before some stuff gets there,” Kirby continued, “and then a matter of days more before it is being used on the battlefield.”

That kind of haste could very well make waste, or what the GAO report described as “end-use violations involving defense articles provided to the country.” It is precisely because so much has been provided so quickly that the nonpartisan government watchdog sees risk.

According to the report, the Pentagon “is generally not tracking” the status of vehicles and armaments that make up the majority of supplies. More sensitive items, such as night vision capabilities and certain advanced missiles, are being monitored through updated procedures to account for their delivery into hostile environments. DoD officials often cooperate with their Ukrainian counterparts, the report found, via video calls, email, and text messages to ensure the receipt and status of those supplies.

Complicating matters further, there is no shared definition of “delivered” among the branches of the U.S. military. Army officials told GAO they considered materiel delivered once they left an “Army point of origin,” though they could be days or weeks in transit before arriving in the hands of Ukrainians. The Marine Corps, by contrast, only marked items delivered once they received email confirmation from DoD officials or their Ukrainian counterparts.

“The U.S. has provided a large volume of equipment in a very short period of time, and it is unclear whether DOD guidance and processes have been adjusted to accurately account for all of these items,” warned Chelsa Kenney, the director of international affairs at GAO.

More than just shipping delays and a logistical nightmare, the greater risk is the worst-case scenario: American hardware falling into the hands of an adversary.

The Pentagon tracked one allegation that U.S. supplies had been transferred to Russian forces, a story which, according to the report, DoD officials on the ground in nearby Poland deemed not credible and “consistent with Russian disinformation.”

And yet, the GAO found that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the DoD office responsible for such shipments, had “not consistently tracked” allegations of that possibility.

“While DOD officials said there had been no credible evidence of diversion of U.S.-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine,” the report states, “it is unclear whether all allegations are being tracked.” The report also warned that without tracking those allegations, “DOD may face an increased risk of real or perceived defense article losses that can undermine Ukraine’s war efforts.”

For its part, per the GAO report, the DSCA stated the agency was “only responsible for tracking the allegations that it receives and is not required to proactively identify allegations. Further, officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense said DSCA was not responsible for tracking unverifiable claims meant to discredit Ukraine’s weapons accountability efforts.”

The GAO included in their report eight separate recommended reforms, which the DoD consented to partly or entirely. In a letter from Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense, that was included in the report, the DoD declined a recommendation to require which allegations of misuse should be recorded and tracked. According to Cooper, the DoD already has sufficient regulations in place.

This will do little to pacify Republicans eager to rein in the war funding.

“The Biden administration has spent two years deceiving the American people, claiming they’ve closely tracked the military material we’ve sent to Ukraine. The GAO’s report not only proves them wrong, it references allegations that U.S. military equipment ended up in the hands of Russian military forces,” Sen. JD Vance, an Ohio Republican and former U.S. Marine, told RCP.

“This is a major problem. I plan to immediately introduce legislation to hold the Biden administration accountable for these errors,” Vance added.

Update (1:54pm ET):  The man accused of killing three people during a violent rampage in Falls Township, Pennsylvania Saturday morning is now believed to have barricaded himself inside of a home in Trenton with hostages.

It all began on Viewpoint Lane in Falls Township around just before 9 a.m. when Falls Township police responded to reports of a shooting. There, police say Andre Gordon, 26, fatally shot two people and fled in a stolen vehicle. He then drove to a home on Edgewood Lane, also in Falls Township, where police say he fatally shot a third person around 9:15 a.m.

After fleeing that scene, police say he carjacked a driver at gunpoint outside of a Dollar General on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. He fled that scene in the driver’s dark gray Honda CRV.

A short time later, authorities confirmed that Honda was found unoccupied in Trenton and that SWAT teams were converging on a nearby home to search for Gordon.

Police say Gordon has since barricaded himself inside a home on the 100 block of Miller Street in Trenton. Authorities say they received information that Gordon may have taken multiple people hostage inside.

According to police, it is believed that Gordon knew all of the victims who were fatally shot. He is also believed to currently be homeless and has ties to Trenton.

* * *

Update (12:45pm ET): Bucks County authorities have identified a suspect in a series of deadly shootings that prompted a shelter-in-place order early Saturday morning. As Fox29 reports, police say they are searching for 26-year-old Andre Gordon, who was last seen driving a stolen vehicle.

According to police, Gordon shot and killed two people at a home on the block and fled in a stolen vehicle. He then drove to Edgewood Lane around 9 a.m. and fatally shot a third person before fleeing the scene.

Then, around 9:15 a.m., police say he carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Dollar General on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. The driver of that vehicle was not harmed.

According to police, it is believed that Gordon knew all of the victims who were fatally shot. He is also believed to currently be homeless and has ties to Trenton, New Jersey. He was last seen operating a 2016, dark grey Honda CRV with a Pennsylvania plate reading KFR-1534.

Police provided photos of the vehicle, and Gordon, who remains at large.

Shortly before noon Saturday, sources tell FOX 29’s Steve Keeley the carjacked Honda was located in Trenton, New Jersey, and that SWAT teams were responding to the scene. Falls Township police have since confirmed that the vehicle was located unoccupied in Trenton.

Keeley also reported that local authorities had requested additional resources from neighboring departments, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Police.

A shelter-in-place order was sent to residents in Falls Township by phone and by mobile alert around 9:30 a.m. and was lifted by 12:30 p.m.

The Bucks County St. Patrick’s Day Parade was canceled as a result of the shelter-in-place, and several local businesses in the area also closed temporarily.

Governor Josh Shapiro noted he was informed of the shooting and said on X that he was directing Pennsylvania State Police to work with local law enforcement, and to provide whatever support they might need.

* * *

Police in the suburban Philadelphia township of Falls Township, Bucks County issued a shelter in place warning on around 9:30am on Saturday morning after reports that several people have been shot.

Shelter-in-place order issued in Falls Township due to police activity https://t.co/PENrbodw2X

— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) March 16, 2024

LevittownNow.com reports that according to law enforcement sources three people have been killed. There are shooting scenes in the area of Viewpoint Lane and Vine Lane, as well as on Edgewood Lane, both in Falls Township’s Levittown section.

Police said it wasn’t known yet if the shootings were “targeted or random.” The suspect fled the scene and may have carjacked a vehicle along Old Route 13 near Tyburn Road.

Police said Oxford Valley Mall and Sesame Place had been told to close until further notice. The area’s Target store and other businesses had chosen to close as well.

The county’s scheduled St. Patrick’s Day parade was canceled following the shelter-in-place order.as well.

As of 10:15 a.m., police continued to search for the shooter. A New Jersey State Police helicopter was assisting Falls Township police. Police departments from around Bucks County responded to assist.

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement officials are assisting the Falls Township Police Department in an active police investigation and are urging residents in the township to shelter-in-place. Report any suspicious activity to 911.

— Bucks County District Attorney’s Office (@BucksDa) March 16, 2024

State Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D-10th dist.) said the county’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, scheduled to be held Saturday morning, was cancelled due to the emergency situation.

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement officials are assisting the Falls Township Police Department in an active police investigation and are urging residents in the township to shelter-in-place. Report any suspicious activity to 911.

— Bucks County District Attorney’s Office (@BucksDa) March 16, 2024

According to State Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1st dist.) the incident involved a carjacking and shootings in two parts of Falls Township. He said he was “in touch with law enforcement officials as they pursue the suspect.”

There is an active shooter alert in Falls Township — we are monitoring a carjacking and a shooting in two sections of Falls Township. I’m in touch with law enforcement officials as they pursue the suspect. More information to follow – please be alert of your surroundings and…

— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick 🇺🇸 (@RepBrianFitz) March 16, 2024

On social media, at about 10 a.m., the Middletown Township Police Department confirmed that there had been a shooting and they are telling people not to travel to Falls Township on Saturday morning.

“This is a fluid situation and we are asking the community to take some precautions. Do NOT travel to Falls Township until further notice. If you live in areas that border Falls, you should shelter in place until further notice,” police officials said online.

Also, police said a Target store in Langhorne has closed due to the shooting.

Developing story

Brent crude prices climbed to their highest level in four and a half months last week following attacks on multiple Russian oil refineries by Ukrainian drones. Additionally, this morning, drone strikes on two more oil refining facilities were reported deep within Russia. 

Bloomberg reports drone strikes targeted two oil refining facilities in Russia’s Samara region, more than 620 miles from the Ukrainian border. 

A petroleum product processing unit caught fire on the territory of the Rosneft PJSC oil refinery in Syzran, RIA Novosti reported, citing Dmitry Azarov, the region’s governor. The plant’s design capacity is 8.5 million barrels per year or about 170,000 barrels per day.

… other drones attacked the Novokuybyshevsk refinery, according to Russian media. -Bloomberg

Get ready to update your Russian oil refiners Bingo card! Syzran refinery, located 1000 km deep inside Russia, is currently offline. pic.twitter.com/fAtjga9xF0

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) March 16, 2024

Russian Telegram channels report drone attacks on two enterprises at once in Samara region.

Local residents say about explosions at the Syzran refinery. The area of fire is 500 square meters.

Other drones attacked the Novokuybyshevsk refinery, according to Russian media. pic.twitter.com/2uB0ILz26v

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 16, 2024

Ukraine has been ramping up drone attacks on crude processing facilities across Russia.

On Wednesday, Rosneft PJSC’s Ryazan plant near Moscow was hit by a drone attack. This refinery is one of the largest in the country. A day earlier, Lukoil refinery in western Russia was hit by a drone attack. 

BREAKING:

Ukraine continues its latest campaign of drone strikes against critical infrastructure in Russia.

Just hours ago, Ukrainian drones struck on the largest oil refineries in Russia.

Rosneft’s Ryazan facility refines 17 million tons of oil a year pic.twitter.com/PaHPy9P4ij

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 13, 2024

The wave of drone strikes on Russian crude-processing facilities started in January, with full intentions by Ukraine to cripple the fuel supply that funds Moscow’s war machine. 

Here are the major Russian refineries that drones have targeted:

Last month, Ukraine’s “drone czar,” Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, explained to Reuters that its manufacturing base can produce thousands of drones capable of hitting targets at “300, 500, 700, and 1,000 kilometers.”

The full extent of the damage caused by strikes this year isn’t clear, but the attacks caused Msocow to place a six-month ban on gasoline exports starting on Mach 1. 

This week, the Brent crude market wasted no time pricing increasing war risks by sending prices above $85 a barrel, the highest level since early November. 

Despite two years of war and relentless attacks on Russian refineries, Moscow’s energy industry has proved resilient, and flows have shifted from Europe to China and India at heavily discounted prices. 

While Ukrainians target Russian refineries, David Asher, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, recently penned a note that discusses the weaponization of crude could be the next big financial shock to the global economy. 

Given the mounting risks in the Middle East, Asher said on slide nine, “Global oil shock could trigger a crisis like 2007-2008.” 

He also noted, “Iran is Preparing For Oil War: Markets Ignore Growing Risk.” 

Asher warned: It’s only a matter of time before Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels start targeting key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. 

A perfect storm of higher crude prices continues to brew as the world’s refineries have become major targets. 

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

There is only one pathway to health and sanity: stop consuming snackables of any kind.

Everything in America has become snackable: devoid of value, easily consumed, intentionally addictive, and ultimately destructive to all that is healthy for individuals, communities and society at large.

The core features of edible snackables are self-evident yet worthy of a closer look due to the severity of the consequences:

1. The snack is made of highly processed ingredients.

2. The snack has high concentrations of sugar, salt and unhealthy oils/fats.

3. The snack has low nutritional value (empty calories) and is not beneficial to health.

4. The snack is packaged in small quantities so the price appears cheap but is revealed as expensive when converted to price per pound.

5. The snack’s “serving size” may be deceptively presented: a 4-ounce package may have a calorie count based on a “serving size” of 2 ounces, as if the package contains two servings when everyone knows a single individual will consume the entire snack.

6. The snack is a legal addictive product as the snack has been designed to hijack humans’ innate receptors for sugar, salt and fat and satisfying mouthfeel. (Bet ya can’t have just one.)

Highly processed, highly addictive, low nutritional value foods are a key driver of America’s declining health. All these foods share the same characteristics of the manufactured snackables: they are heavily marketed, highly profitable and contribute to obesity and metabolic disorders.

When only one-quarter of the adult populace is normal weight, this leads to a host of chronic health disorders including higher risks of heart disease and many cancers, as well as the spectrum of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and prediabetes. Here are the facts: over 73% of adult Americans are overweight or obese.

Given that almost 3/4 of adult Americans are overweight or obese, it shouldn’t surprise us that 52% of adult Americans are diabetic or prediabetic. This is a sobering trend, one that won’t be reversed by $1,000 a month weight-loss medications which cease to be effective once they’re no longer consumed. These medications don’t change the patients’ diets from highly processed foods to only unprocessed real food, and so the benefits are inherently narrower than advertised.

The snack and beverage aisles take up an astounding amount of space in America’s specialty-groceries and supermarkets. These are the profit-generators, and so the processed-food manufacturers and grocery retailers are constantly seeking to entice more addicts with new novelties. For example: Trader Joe’s Has Been Releasing A Ton Of New Products Lately.

Consuming this kind of high-fat, empty-calorie snack isn’t going to generate a healthy lifestyle.

The marketing of novelty is as refined and devoid of value as the snacks being manufactured and sold:

As those with any knowledge and experience of fitness know, the notion that it’s possible to burn off the empty calories of snacks with a bit more exercise is a fantasy–hence America’s bulging waistlines and declining health.

The enormous profitability of edible snacks is mirrored in all the other manifestations of America the Snackable: our daily lives are now composed of one bite-sized addictive snack of social media, novelty memes, political opinion, financial data-snacks and pundits’ opinions and snackable videos after another.

Attention spans and the ability to grasp complex issues have withered to snack-size, and whatever is being marketed as “ideas” are as devoid of value as an empty-calorie snack.

All share the same characteristics: they are addictive, bite-sized, packaged deceptively, marketed as novelty, devoid of value, destructive to human health and most importantly, astoundingly profitable. So the edible snacks generate chronic illnesses which then provide fodder for highly profitable medications, while the inherently deranging snackables of social media, videos, entertainment, political opinions and memes-du-jour fuel mental disorders which provide fodder for a vast spectrum of highly profitable medications.

There is only one pathway to health and sanity: stop consuming snackables of any kind. Yes, the only solution is cold turkey, baby, and like all addictions, it’s painful at first, and then it becomes a great relief to be freed of the addictions.

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Update (12:45pm ET) Bucks County authorities have identified a suspect in a series of deadly shootings that prompted a shelter-in-place order early Saturday morning. As Fox29 reports, police say they are searching for 26-year-old Andre Gordon, who was last seen driving a stolen vehicle.

According to police, Gordon shot and killed two people at a home on the block and fled in a stolen vehicle. He then drove to Edgewood Lane around 9 a.m. and fatally shot a third person before fleeing the scene.

Then, around 9:15 a.m., police say he carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Dollar General on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. The driver of that vehicle was not harmed.

According to police, it is believed that Gordon knew all of the victims who were fatally shot. He is also believed to currently be homeless and has ties to Trenton, New Jersey. He was last seen operating a 2016, dark grey Honda CRV with a Pennsylvania plate reading KFR-1534.

Police provided photos of the vehicle, and Gordon, who remains at large.

Shortly before noon Saturday, sources tell FOX 29’s Steve Keeley the carjacked Honda was located in Trenton, New Jersey, and that SWAT teams were responding to the scene. Falls Township police have since confirmed that the vehicle was located unoccupied in Trenton.

Keeley also reported that local authorities had requested additional resources from neighboring departments, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Police.

A shelter-in-place order was sent to residents in Falls Township by phone and by mobile alert around 9:30 a.m. and was lifted by 12:30 p.m.

The Bucks County St. Patrick’s Day Parade was canceled as a result of the shelter-in-place, and several local businesses in the area also closed temporarily.

Governor Josh Shapiro noted he was informed of the shooting and said on X that he was directing Pennsylvania State Police to work with local law enforcement, and to provide whatever support they might need.

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Police in the suburban Philadelphia township of Falls Township, Bucks County issued a shelter in place warning on around 9:30am on Saturday morning after reports that several people have been shot.

Shelter-in-place order issued in Falls Township due to police activity https://t.co/PENrbodw2X

— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) March 16, 2024

LevittownNow.com reports that according to law enforcement sources three people have been killed. There are shooting scenes in the area of Viewpoint Lane and Vine Lane, as well as on Edgewood Lane, both in Falls Township’s Levittown section.

Police said it wasn’t known yet if the shootings were “targeted or random.” The suspect fled the scene and may have carjacked a vehicle along Old Route 13 near Tyburn Road.

Police said Oxford Valley Mall and Sesame Place had been told to close until further notice. The area’s Target store and other businesses had chosen to close as well.

The county’s scheduled St. Patrick’s Day parade was canceled following the shelter-in-place order.as well.

As of 10:15 a.m., police continued to search for the shooter. A New Jersey State Police helicopter was assisting Falls Township police. Police departments from around Bucks County responded to assist.

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement officials are assisting the Falls Township Police Department in an active police investigation and are urging residents in the township to shelter-in-place. Report any suspicious activity to 911.

— Bucks County District Attorney’s Office (@BucksDa) March 16, 2024

State Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D-10th dist.) said the county’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, scheduled to be held Saturday morning, was cancelled due to the emergency situation.

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement officials are assisting the Falls Township Police Department in an active police investigation and are urging residents in the township to shelter-in-place. Report any suspicious activity to 911.

— Bucks County District Attorney’s Office (@BucksDa) March 16, 2024

According to State Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1st dist.) the incident involved a carjacking and shootings in two parts of Falls Township. He said he was “in touch with law enforcement officials as they pursue the suspect.”

There is an active shooter alert in Falls Township — we are monitoring a carjacking and a shooting in two sections of Falls Township. I’m in touch with law enforcement officials as they pursue the suspect. More information to follow – please be alert of your surroundings and…

— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick 🇺🇸 (@RepBrianFitz) March 16, 2024

On social media, at about 10 a.m., the Middletown Township Police Department confirmed that there had been a shooting and they are telling people not to travel to Falls Township on Saturday morning.

“This is a fluid situation and we are asking the community to take some precautions. Do NOT travel to Falls Township until further notice. If you live in areas that border Falls, you should shelter in place until further notice,” police officials said online.

Also, police said a Target store in Langhorne has closed due to the shooting.

Developing story

Haiti’s domestic security has rapidly deteriorated as widespread gang violence and civil unrest plague the failed state. A warning from the US Department of Defense on Tuesday explained that a “mass migration” wave from Haiti to South Florida is imminent. 

The ‘Caribbean crisis’ appears to be in the early stages of spreading to the US. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday that a migrant boat with dozens of Haitians, firearms, and drugs, along with night vision, was recently intercepted by Florida Fish and Wildlife agents just off the Florida coast, according to Fox News. 

“Our Florida Fish and Wildlife offices interdicted a vessel that had 25 illegal immigrants, potential illegal immigrants from Haiti in their boat. In their vessel, they had firearms, they had drugs, they had night vision gear, and were boating very recklessly, which would potentially endanger other folks,” DeSantis said at a press conference where he signed three pieces of legislation to deter illegal immigration. 

“That vessel was interdicted near the Sebastian Inlet and those illegal aliens were turned over to the Coast Guard for deportation,” the governor said.

🇺🇸FLORIDA OFFICERS FIND GUNS AND DRUGS ON HAITIAN REFUGEE BOAT

“In their vessel, they had firearms, they had drugs, they had night vision gear, and were boating very recklessly, which would potentially endanger other folks.”

The footage of the seizure that took place two weeks… pic.twitter.com/4acMFPUeGC

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 16, 2024

The announcement comes after the New York Post leaked an internal memo from Border Patrol that revealed agents in South Florida are preparing for an influx of Haitian migrants. 

“One landing will cripple the station and our ability to respond to other traffic,” the memo said. 

Meanwhile, Biden administration officials warned last week in a House Armed Services Committee that they’re preparing for a surge in Haitian migrants to enter the US. 

Biden about to surge in the polls https://t.co/5333KrB9o3

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 12, 2024

And the countdown to the next migration flood has already begun. 

Biden admin officials secretly cheer as these migrants will possibly be future Democrat voters.