Month: September 2024

Authored by Mary West via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

An animal study published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that a COVID-19 infection may leave behind certain proteins, which can trigger the process that causes cortisol levels to drop. This results in increased inflammation and immune overreaction to stress.

The effect on cortisol may underlie many changes associated with long COVID, which has many neurological and neuropsychological symptoms, such as brain fog, anxiety, sleep disturbances, fatigue, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Our study suggests that low cortisol could be playing a key role in driving many of these physiological changes that people are experiencing with long COVID,” lead author Matthew Frank, a senior research associate with the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said in a press release.

The discovery brings science one step closer to understanding long COVID, which affects 10 to 35 percent of people after contracting an infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to the researchers.

Lingering Proteins Link to Low Cortisol

Researchers in the study noted several earlier experiments that led to their recent investigation. Prior findings included:

• SARS-CoV-2 sheds antigens classified as spike proteins, referred to as S and S1.
• These proteins are immune-stimulating agents that may linger in the plasma and various organs of long COVID patients for an extended time following an infection.
• High plasma levels of S and S1 correlate with neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Based on the above, the researchers theorized that spike proteins may produce physiological effects that prolong the duration or increase the magnitude of the neuroinflammatory response to future stressors. To determine the effect of the proteins on the brain and nervous system, the researchers injected S1 into the spinal fluid of rats.

After seven days, compared to a control group, the rats given S1 showed a 31 percent decrease in corticosterone, a hormone similar to cortisol. The reduction was found in the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in learning, decision-making, and memory. After nine days the corticosterone levels dropped further to 37 percent.

Frank noted that nine days is a long time in the lifespan of rats since they usually live for only two to three years. He added that this drop has important health ramifications because of the multiple actions of cortisol:

• Inflammation reduction
• Blood pressure regulation
• Fuel-to-energy conversion
• Prevention of immune system overreaction
• Sleep-wake cycle control

“Cortisol has so many beneficial properties that, if it is reduced, it can have a host of negative consequences,” he said.

Low Cortisol Links to Long COVID Symptoms

Another part of the study involved assessing the effects of low cortisol on health. Different groups of rats were exposed to a stressor in the form of weakened bacteria. The rat group that previously was injected with the S1 protein experienced a much stronger response to the stressor, manifesting in more neuroinflammation. This group also showed more changes in behavior, heart rate, core body temperature, eating, and drinking.

“We show for the first time that exposure to antigens left behind by this virus can actually change the immune response in the brain so that it overreacts to subsequent stressors or infection,” added Frank.

While more research is necessary to fully understand and verify the study findings, Frank suggested the following happens in long COVID:

1. First, proteins from COVID trigger processes that cause cortisol to drop, which removes the brakes over inflammatory responses to stress.
2. Next, when a person encounters a stressor, which may take a myriad of forms—such as contracting a mild infection or being caught in traffic—they have an exaggerated inflammatory response.
3. This results in neurological and neuropsychological effects, such as insomnia, depression, brain fog, fatigue, and memory problems.

Cortisol and Post-Viral State

Long COVID, manifesting in fatigue, brain fog, and pain patterns, is simply another name for post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of “You Can Heal From Long COVID,” told The Epoch Times.

The study is not the first to find that a post-viral state is associated with low cortisol. “We have known of this link for over 33 years,” he said. “In fact, it was an area that I looked at with detailed cortisol testing in an earlier study published in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”

The spike proteins that sometimes persist in the body after a COVID-19 infection, which can be a potent trigger for the physiological process that lowers cortisol, is one of countless triggers, according to Teitelbaum. “However, recognizing the existence of low cortisol and the role it plays provides one more important tool for mitigation.”

How to Address Low Cortisol

Low cortisol is one of numerous pieces of the long COVID puzzle—a very helpful one that can be fairly easily addressed through treating adrenal issues, said Teitelbaum. In his practice, he uses the following to improve function of the adrenal glands—the structures that make cortisol:

HRG 80 Red Ginseng Chewable Tablets

HRG 80 red ginseng is an adrenal adaptogen, an agent that increases resistance to a wide variety of biological or physical factors. Teitelbaum published a study in the journal Pharmaceuticals examining post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia in 188 people. The results showed that red ginseng helped in 61 percent of cases with an average 67 percent increase in energy.

Increased Salt and Water and Decreased Sugar

These measures help take the strain off the adrenal glands, which regulate salt and water balance.

Supplements

Some supplements can provide additional adrenal support. These include:

• Glandulars, which are extracts of glands
• Licorice, a medicinal plant with several therapeutic properties that can treat low-cortisol conditions.
• Pantothenic acid, a B vitamin that can induce higher corticosterone levels
• Low dose dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an adrenal hormone that can treat adrenal insufficiency
• Vitamin C, which the adrenal gland uses to synthesize hormones

Ivermectin

In long COVID, including vaccine-induced long COVID, Teitelbaum, and other researchers are finding that a significant percentage of people improve within five days of taking ivermectin. This regimen usually needs to be repeated multiple times to maintain the improvement.

That ivermectin helps with the vaccine-induced variety of long COVID suggests that it is not killing an infection, Teitelbaum said,  but rather that it is mopping up (chelating) pieces of the spike protein from the vaccine RNA. The reason it is working is still theoretical, but Teitelbaum has seen it work so many times in this population that he feels the clinical effect is clear.

We found a bridge in Maine that wasn’t “built Ford tough”. 

When an overweight F-750 drove over it, ignoring signs warning about the weight limit, the bridge – one of 9 covered bridges left in the state – gave out and the vehicle plunged into the water below, according to a report from The Drive. 

The report says that Babb’s Bridge in Gorham, Maine, the state’s oldest remaining covered bridge dating back to 1840, has a strict weight limit of three tons.

Despite this, the driver of a Ford F-750, which weighs over 9,000 pounds empty and can reach a GVWR of 26,000 to 37,000 pounds with cargo, attempted to cross it. To make matters worse, the truck was hauling crushed gravel, according to the Gorham Police Department.

Even an older F-Series truck without any cargo would exceed the bridge’s weight capacity.

While there are no weight limit signs directly on the bridge, clear signs on Hurricane Road, before the bridge, indicate a 10-foot height, single-lane width, and a three-ton maximum weight limit.

These signs are large and easy to see, making it hard to believe the driver didn’t notice them. It seems the ability to read a sign doesn’t always equate to understanding or following it, the report suggested. 

Photos show the bridge collapsing almost immediately under the truck’s weight. The driver sustained minor injuries but managed to exit the vehicle unassisted. No one else was hurt, despite the bridge being a popular spot for swimmers and kayakers.

Originally built in the 1800s, Babb’s Bridge served as a vital crossing over the Presumpscot River for over a century. It was destroyed by vandals in 1973 but was rebuilt that same year using historically accurate, locally sourced materials. Now, it will require partial reconstruction again.

The Maine Department of Transportation estimates that repairs won’t be finished until next spring, as sourcing the appropriate lumber could take several months. While the bridge remains closed, other repairs will be conducted. The cost of the repairs has not been disclosed, but the truck company owner has offered to contribute to the rebuilding costs. The incident is still under investigation by local authorities.

Authored by Steve Cortes via RealClearPolitics,

After six weeks of completely hiding from the media, Kamala Harris finally appeared, with the safety valve of her running mate, in a pre-recorded, brief, and totally friendly interview with Dana Bash of CNN.

Bash did not press on the most urgent issues, nor did she follow up when Harris either obfuscated or simply refused to answer. As such, Harris still escapes the scrutiny of any real interview, even though she has applied for the most difficult and important job in the world.

Moreover, if anything, the burden of proof should be far higher for Harris given that she was elevated to nominee status by the backroom machinations of powerbrokers, rather than citizens voting.

In fact, Harris has never earned a single caucus or primary vote for president, neither in 2020, nor in 2024. Given that she came out of the Democratic Party apparatus that dominates California, in point of fact Harris has not faced serious scrutiny in her entire political career, ever.

She wants to claim all the advantages of incumbency without any of the attendant blame for her record as a sitting vice president and co-manager of the Biden agenda, especially on immigration and on inflation. Unfortunately, the corporate press seems more than willing to grant her this posture of “all the benefits/none of the costs,” in large part because leading media mavens clearly feel guilt for having deposed Biden so unceremoniously.

As part of that media fawning protection over Harris, she faces little blowback for ignoring journalists. Given this strange circumstance, next week’s debate may well provide the singular opportunity to press Harris on key questions that she simply must answer to prove herself worthy of the highest office in the land.

If ABC News wants to find a professional conscience on behalf of the profession of journalism, then these queries really should flow from the moderators, Linsey Davis and David Muir. But if ABC forgoes that ethical obligation, then President Trump should enter the debate hall ready to validly confront Harris on the following key dozen questions:

1. When did you know about Joe Biden’s cognitive issues and were you always truthful with the American people about his condition?
2. It has been reported that Biden was threatened with use of the 25th Amendment as leverage to get him to drop out. Can you speak to that issue and defend why you belong on the ballot even though no primary voters chose you?
3. You have publicly boasted about Bidenomics, but Americans hate the economy. Can you describe Bidenomics and whether you still own it?
4. President Trump did a highly confrontational town hall on CNN as a candidate this cycle. Will you do a similar town hall with someone like Laura Ingraham?
5. Why do you affect accents in front of different audiences and what does it say about your authenticity?
6. On fracking, CNN states that you never did change your own personal opinion in 2020, so can you explain when and why you did change to become pro-fracking?
7. You’ve repeatedly backed race-based reparations. Can you explain why Hispanic, Asian, and white Americans today should pay their black neighbors for racial injustices committed before they were ever even born?
8. Can you state whether or not your home state of California is a model for America?
9. How can you assure the American people that millions of migrants who poured into America will not receive amnesty and citizenship?
10. What would you say to the parents of Laken Riley?
11. Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal – you said you were the last person in the room and that you’re comfortable with the decision. Is that still the case?
12. Housing affordability has never been worse in America by some metrics, and not since the 2006 Housing bubble, according to Goldman Sachs. Why shouldn’t Americans blame you for this crisis?

Steve Cortes is former senior advisor to President Trump, former commentator for Fox News and CNN, and president of the League of American Workers, a populist right pro-laborer advocacy group.  

Get woke, go broke is not just a mantra, it’s a rule, and the epic woke failures keep piling up in 2024 as the majority of consumers continue to reject DEI in movies, streaming, marketing and gaming.  

Video games in particular have been aggressively targeted by NGOs and far-left governments for the dissemination of progressive propaganda, ostensibly because they are by far the most popular media for the younger demographic.  From childhood to early adulthood the average western consumer will spend more time on video games than all other entertainment combined, making gaming a ripe venue for ideological grooming.

As we noted in recent articles on queer activist games like Dustborn, there is a vested interest by some very powerful people to dictate messaging in the video game sphere.  The US government and the EU have been actively influencing gaming through ESG-like subsidies; offering developers millions of dollars if they plant woke content into their projects.

It’s hard to say if Sony’s latest gaming disaster, Concord, was partially paid for with ESG cash, but the content sure feels like it was drafted up by a bunch of blue-haired weirdos in the bathroom of a progressive think-tank.

Concord, a relatively generic competitive shooter with some obviously “borrowed” plot aesthetics from Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ , has all the indicators of a DEI game.  This includes pie-chart diversity, no straight white males, lots of minority women, lots of fat positivity, at least one trans-woman and plenty of gender fluid pronouns.  Sony spent at least eight years and $200 million (including marketing) on Concord with high expectations for the AAA title, only to discover no one wants to play as a clinically obese woman or a transgender.   

Concord launched with disastrous results.  Gaming service Steam logged a maximum of only 697 players for Concord and initial sales show only 25,000 units purchased.  The lack of player interest has led Sony to treat the project as a total loss and the company is scrapping the entire game – Pulling it offline after only two weeks and giving customers full refunds.  In other words, Sony just took a $200 million dollar loss on a game that they are throwing down the memory hole, possibly forever. 

For those that might not remember, movie studio Warner Bros. did something very similar in 2022 when they scrapped the $100 million ‘Batgirl’ film before its release .  Reports indicate that the flick was so woke and so unwatchable that WB decided it would hurt the company more to release it than it would hurt to dump it and move on.  

This kind of scorched Earth response to product failure is rare from media conglomerates, but it might become more frequent as customers continue to develop a zero-tolerance policy for woke content. 

Diversity in gaming seems to specifically promote the delusional premise that “anyone can be an action hero”, from grotesquely overweight fat-body females, to the disabled, to 90 pound “non-binary” beta-males.  The leftist controlled entertainment industry asserts that modern players “need to see themselves represented” in movies and games in order to relate to the characters on the screen, and if the media doesn’t provide inclusivity for every obscure minority in our society then they are somehow missing out on an untapped slice of the market.  

Activists also claim in dramatic fashion that to not include these minorities is a form of cultural genocide. 

The problem is, companies have forgotten the basic rules of the free market – Know your primary customer base and give them what they want.  Don’t try to tell your customers what you think they should want.  Don’t try to shame them into buying your product, or they will destroy your business.  The primary customer base will make or break you.

Fat positivity people can’t be action heroes and the vast majority of players don’t want trans propaganda and gender fluid pronouns shoved in their faces.  These DEI tropes will never become popular; they will never succeed.

Companies like Sony seem to have completely forgotten to follow the most fundamental rules of marketing that made them popular in the first place.  Or, they have simply chosen to ignore the rules and arrogantly assume they can make their own.    

Authored by JP Errico via RealClearHealth,

Last Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. withdrew (kind of) from the 2024 presidential race.  He didn’t have to, and in the case of 40 out of 50 states, he actually didn’t.  But, he also didn’t have to endorse Donald J. Trump, and yet he did.  As I waited for his press conference, I wondered: What could drive a lion of Democratic party royalty to side with Trump?  The answer turned out to be a trio of existential crises.  As RFK Jr. explained, he and Trump are aligned on three critical issues, and they are of such existential importance that he was willing to set aside their differences to work together.

Beyond being a refreshing break from the mind-numbing drumbeat of Trump’s opposition, RFK Jr.’s remarks were a stark reminder of why two-thirds of Americans believe the country is moving down the wrong track. He first took aim at the military-industrial complex’s perpetual provoking of foreign wars and followed up with the alarming assault on free speech.  These were, however, just the warmup acts for his primary grievance: the moral and legal corruption of the food and pharmaceutical industries, assisted by their captured agencies, e.g., the FDA and USDA.

RFK Jr. cited horrifying statistics and catastrophic trends, highlighting the surge in chronic diseases, cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, metabolic syndrome, and Alzheimer’s disease.  He then laid the blame squarely at the feet of Big Sugar, Big Ag, Big Pharma, and the cabal of government sycophants who do the bidding of their corporate sugar daddies (pun intended).  Sprinkled among the sickening stats, he made multiple references to mitochondrial dysfunction, a term many may not fully understand.  If we are going to forcibly reconstruct several industries, along with their regulatory agencies, over this medical crisis, we’d do well to understand what it is we’re battling.  So, what exactly is mitochondrial dysfunction, and why is it being blamed for such a wide range of health issues?

What Are Mitochondria?

As school children learn, mitochondria are the “power plants” of the cell.  This rudimentary description of mitochondria is a good start, but it is incomplete.  When healthy, these powerhouses also regulate many cellular functions, including growth and death.  When they are stressed or dysfunctional, the consequences span cardiovascular disease, autism, schizophrenia, dementia, cancer, and much more.

For example, conditions like atherosclerosis (the build-up of dangerous plaques in the arteries), hypertension, and diabetes, have all been associated with inflammation coupled with mitochondrial dysfunction caused by obesity.  Alzheimer’s Disease is now referred to as Type 3 diabetes, and researchers are turning their focus away from amyloid plaques, to the dysfunction of mitochondria.  Similarly, cancer has long been considered a disease triggered by genetic mutations, but recent research has revealed critical roles played by mutation-triggering free radicals made by dysfunctional mitochondria.  Even the aging process is being decoded and shown to mirror the progression of mitochondrial dysfunction.

How Do Mitochondria Become Dysfunctional?

There are several factors that contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction, some of which are influenced by lifestyle choices, but others that are the direct result of the efforts of the food and pharmaceutical industries.  Both profit from a population overeating bad foods, and taking medicines that only mask, but don’t fix, the symptoms of the chronic illnesses that result.

It is a national embarrassment that the average American diet, designed and marketed by food companies, approved by regulatory agencies, and even promoted as healthy by advocacy groups (funded by the industry), fails us miserably.  According to our own Department of Agriculture, it rates a dismal 11 out of a possible 100 points.  How is this possible, you ask?  Healthy fats are being replaced by processed carbohydrates, sugars, artificial flavorings, and synthesized oils, all of which damage mitochondria. (It has been said, and it is pitifully accurate, that America’s most successful export product has been obesity.)

There are, of course, personal lifestyle choices contributing to this health crisis, including lack of physical exercise and chronic stress.  Still, the consequence has been a meteoric rise in medical conditions from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia to autoimmunity and heart disease.  The pharmaceutical industry is filled with extremely bright scientists, many of whom are fully aware of the role of mitochondria in the initiation and perpetuation of these and other chronic diseases.  And yet, the products marketed and promoted, much less researched or developed, are seldom cures, which are deemed unprofitable by investors and pharma executives.  Worse yet, some medications, especially when used long-term, can harm mitochondria. Drugs from antibiotics to pain relievers have been shown to disrupt mitochondrial function. If mitochondrial dysfunction leads to chronic illness, but chronic medication usage harms mitochondria, a vicious cycle has been set.

What Can Be Done About It?

RFK Jr.’s call is for an overhaul of the food and pharmaceutical industries, and the agencies that regulate them.  It appears from his endorsement of Trump that the former president may agree.  One thing is for certain – the rise of mitochondrial dysfunction and related diseases is a doom spiral requiring radical individual and societal action.  The modern food industry heavily relies on processed foods that are cheap to produce, have a long shelf life, and are addictive.  They have been stripped of the nutrients that make them healthy, in favor of making them irresistible to promote overindulgence.  Chronic illness is the consequence.  Similarly, the pharmaceutical industry, and the captured agency that regulates it, rely on the progressive slide into chronic illness to sell more treatments that mask symptoms but do not treat the root causes.  The perverse economic incentives are driving mitochondrial dysfunction.

There is no doubt that we all need to exercise more, and lower our exposure to stress, but to truly battle mitochondrial dysfunction and regain our health, we need to make food and medical decisions differently.  As a nation, we need to demand leadership that will change the status quo, and, as RFK Jr. said, Make America Healthy Again.

JP Errico is a highly accomplished scientist with a diverse range of expertise as an executive, entrepreneur, and inventor. He is an expert on the Autonomic Nervous System, and he is the founder of ElectroCore, where he pioneered a non-invasive Vagus Nerve stimulator. JP has been credited as an inventor on over 250 issued US patents. He went to MIT for undergrad and holds graduate degrees in both law and mechanical/materials engineering from Duke University.

A cold front is set to sweep across the eastern half of the US, a reminder that planet Earth is not on fire as some leftist corporate media outlets repeat like a broken record for years, if not decades. Even if there is some warming, these media outlets fire up the propaganda cannons squarely at fossil fuels without, as of recently, even mentioning the 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, the largest underwater explosion ever recorded by modern scientific instruments, blasting an enormous amount of water and volcanic gases into the atmosphere that has been linked to the warming. 

“Big cold front coming this weekend. Sunday AM departure from normals here showing some areas 10+ degrees cooler. Some upper 50’s might reach the upper Gulf. Pumpkin Spice better be in stock and ready to go. Almost time to dig out the Halloween gear,” Mike’s Weather Page wrote on X. 

For the Lower 48, the 30-year, 10-year, and 5-year temperature averages peaked in mid-July and trended lower into September. 

Looking ahead, the 208th edition of the Farmers’ Almanac, titled “Wet Winter Whirlwind” and published last month, warned that “The Northeast is in the bullseye for a barrage of storms this winter…”

The weather prediction formula that Farmers’ Almanac uses revolves around a climate pattern known as La Niña, likely to emerge in September-November. 

Remember that the emergence of La Nina can impact weather conditions across the Lower 48 this coming winter season.

We suspect that as power bills become more unaffordable for working-class households, the number of folks burning wood should only increase to offset the costs. The heating season across the Lower 48 begins to emerge. 

 According to 2023 data from Angi, the average cost of a cord of wood across the US is…

Don’t worry. The far-left corporate media will blame weather cooling on… 

Strong hurricanes? Global warming

Weak hurricanes? Global warming

No hurricanes? Global warming

Hot today? Global warming

Cold today? Global warming

Raining too much? Global warming

Drought? Global warming

— Some guy from TN (@SomeguyfromTN) September 2, 2024

Folks in the Mid-Alantic and Northeast regions might have to pull out their jackets from the closet this weekend.  

Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

As Ford took steps last week to distance itself from the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) movement that has swept the corporate world in recent years, it became just one of a number of companies that are rethinking their commitments to race-based ideology.

In an Aug. 28 memo to employees, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he is “mindful that our employees and customers hold a wide range of beliefs,” and that the company is taking “a fresh look” at its DEI program.

Ford’s reversal on DEI follows that of other major corporations, including Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe’s, and most recently Molson Coors, which have reportedly revised their DEI policies, either due to public pressure or legal challenges.

In addition, 25 companies have been formally notified by shareholders since 2021 that their DEI programs constitute illegal discrimination under federal and state civil rights laws, as well as a breach of fiduciary duty to investors.

“This is a trend, for sure,” Jerry Bowyer, president of Bowyer Research, a conservative investment consulting firm, told The Epoch Times. “The rapid succession, the way it’s occurred, there’s almost a cascade effect going on.

“That whole world of ESG, stakeholder capitalism, DEI—the whole idea of companies as social engineers rather than as value producing business—had just gotten so far ahead of what customers wanted,” Bowyer said. “Shareholders were not asking for this.”

According to conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who has been posting on social media regarding his investigation of “woke” policies at numerous companies, Ford confirmed to him that it would end its participation in a number of DEI related efforts.

“One by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America,” Starbuck stated.

In response to a request by The Epoch Times for comment, a Ford spokesperson stated: “The communication to our global employees speaks for itself. We have nothing further to add.”

Starbuck’s postings went viral when they were supported by people such as SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who stated on X that “DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it.”

Taking on Customer Feedback

A number of companies that pursued DEI and other progressive programs have come under pressure from activists, shareholders, customers, and state attorneys general to end them.

Responding to consumer backlash, Tractor Supply issued a statement in June that said, “We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”

The company stated that it would no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign rating system but instead “focus on rural America priorities including ag education, animal welfare, veteran causes and being a good neighbor, and stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities like pride festivals and voting campaigns.”

It further pledged to eliminate DEI roles within the company and drop CO2 emission goals, focusing instead on land and water conservation.

Law firms are also stepping back from DEI programs. Legal suits by conservative nonprofit American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) have compelled some major law firms to allow people of all races to apply for fellowships previously reserved for people of color.

“Using someone’s race as a factor in employment decisions is unfair, polarizing, and illegal,” Edward Blum, president of AAER, told The Epoch Times.

“Significant majorities of Americans of all races do not believe someone’s race should be used by any employer to hire or promote any individual. Corporations are at risk of being sued for their DEI practices.”

On the other side, organizations that support DEI policies have had harsh words for companies that backtrack.

“Harley-Davidson’s choice to back away from the Corporate Equality Index is an impulsive decision,” Human Rights Campaign Vice President Eric Bloem said in a statement on Aug. 20. The group introduced the Corporate Equality Index as a social credit rating system for corporations.

Bloem said that activists who are pushing against DEI “believe they can bully their way into dismantling initiatives that help everyone thrive in the workplace.”

Bloem said with the LGBT community “wielding $1.4 trillion in spending power, retreating from these principles undermines both consumer trust and employee success.”

Advocates of DEI programs say that they are legal and beneficial.

“The purpose of DEI and other remedial workplace programs is to improve the process by which employment decisions are made and close the gap in opportunities among workers,” Ming-Qi Chu, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, said in a statement.

“They do not disadvantage any particular worker. This is why they have long been held lawful.”

And many companies, such as Microsoft, have reiterated their commitment to DEI programs.

“Our focus on diversity and inclusion is unwavering,” Microsoft spokesperson Jeff Jones stated in July, disputing news reports that Microsoft had fired its entire DEI staff.

Read more here…

Dollar General and Dollar Tree, with over 19,000 stores and nearly 16,800 US stores, respectively, delivered some alarming news in the past week about their crumbling core customer bases battered by elevated inflation and high interest rates—consequences of failed Bidenomics. The extensive nationwide footprint these two discount retailers have could give political strategists a glimpse into even gloomier consumer sentiment on a state-by-state basis, even potentially capturing some consumer sentiment in critical battleground states.

Last Thursday, Dollar General shares crashed the most on record after earnings underwhelmed for the second quarter, and the sales outlook for the full year was slashed on what management warned its core customers “feel financially constrained.”

About one week later, on Wednesday, Dollar Tree shares plunged after second-quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations. The discount retailer also cut its full-year outlook, pointing to mounting financial pressures on middle-income and higher-income customers.

Dollar Tree Chief Financial Officer Jeff Davis wrote in a statement that the “increasing effect of macro pressures on the purchasing behavior of Dollar Tree’s middle- and higher-income customers” was the main driver in reducing its full-year sales forecast. 

Given that Dollar General and Dollar Tree have a combined footprint of over 36,000 stores, primarily centered in the eastern half of the US, the warnings from both management teams about faltering low/mid-tier customer bases provide political strategists with deeper insight into how consumers feel ahead of the elections this fall and what topics dominate at the dinner table. We suspect Biden-Harris’ inflation storm is the most dominant topic as folks can barely afford discount retailer junk food.

A recent report from analytics firm Numerator prepared for Bussiness Insider noted about 40% of shoppers in the US buy from Dollar General. There was no data on Dollar Tree. What’s very clear is that millions upon millions of Americans shop at both of these discount retailers. Suppose average ticket sizes are sliding for junk food, such as candy, chips, and sodas, basically a one-stop-shop for diabetes. In that case, the average shopper at these discount retailers is feeling the financially crushing effects of failed Bidneomics. This type of sentiment can impact elections and make ‘inflation’ a top concern when choosing their candidate. 

Geographically, Dollar General stores are primarily centered in the eastern half of the US. Thousands of these stores are clustered in critical swing states in the region, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and some in Georgia.  

Data from Statista shows swing state North Carolina has 1,035 Dollar General Stores, Pennsylvania has 914, and Michigan 696.

For Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, most of the stores reside in the eastern half of the US. Again, given what management has said about its core customer base under pressure, the geographical locations of the stores can suggest a whole lot of gloom and doom for the working poor across critical swing states.

This gives us a much more true glimpse into souring consumer sentiment on a geographical basis, where inflation dominates household discussions ahead of the fall elections, especially in critical swing states.

Meanwhile, former President Trump has hammered VP Harris for igniting the inflation storm with President Biden. VP Harris offered communist price controls as a solution, but the entire nation was in disbelief. Folks realize they had it good under Trump’s first term, and just awful under Biden-Harris.

Two days ago when president Trump first floated the idea of a sovereign wealth fund…

… hard-core Democrats and/or socialist billionaires balked at the idea, mocking it as wannabe Saudi Arabia.

So the republican nominee, a few hours ago, said he wants to take taxpayer money and put it in a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Who thinks it’s a good idea to give Donald Trump
taxpayer money to invest in businesses that he picks ?

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 5, 2024

Trump, speaking to economic leaders on Thursday, said he envisioned the fund as a way to address persistent debt issues and said it would be funded through his plan to impose tariffs on all imports.

“We’ll be able to invest in state-of-the-art manufacturing hubs, advanced defense capabilities, cutting-edge medical research and help save billions of dollars in preventing disease in the first place,” Trump said. “And it is many of the people in this room who will be helping to advise and recommend investments for this fund.”

But expect all the leftist critics to positively love the idea now, just a few hours later, because late on Friday Bloomberg reported that the Kamala/Biden admin has stolen yet another idea from Trump (after eliminating tax on tips, and stimulating new business creation): aides to Joe Biden “have been crafting a proposal to create a sovereign wealth fund” that would allow the US to invest in national security interests including technology, energy, and critical links in the supply chain, a person familiar with the effort, told Bloomberg.

As Bloomberg admits, the “behind-the-scenes work” by NSA Jake Sullivan and his deputy, Daleep Singh, mirrors – at least in spirit – a proposal floated Thursday by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called for a government-owned investment fund to finance “great national endeavors” during a speech to the Economic Club of New York. Of course, it would look just a little suspicious if the admin of the president in absentia were to float a wealth fund idea just one day after Trump did the same, so Bloomberg had to make it seem that Biden had been working on their version of Trump’s idea “for months” and that’s precisely what it said:

Sullivan and Singh have been working on the project for months across a series of weekly brainstorming efforts, and have met with economic experts on the National Security Council to debate the size, structure, funding, leadership, and potential guardrails for a proposed fund.

It wasn’t clear if it was the “sources” that clarified on the ongoing duration of the project, or just Bloomberg’s attempt to make the latest policy theft appear a bit more organic. It gets funnier:

The work has progressed to the point where planning documents have been circulated among White House staffers and key agencies, according to the person familiar, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Sure it has: and Biden waited until 2 months before the end of his presidency to make the push… or rather waht push:

But even as the work has progressed, key details — including, critically, the fund’s structure, funding model, and investment strategy — remain unclear.

And so, just like every aspect in Kamala’s policy agenda, we’ll have to wait for Trump to reveal the details of his own plan before “sources” leak what Biden was working on before he decided to hit Rehoboth beach permanently after Nancy Pelosi’s July putsch. One thing is certain though: whether it its Trump or the puppetmasters who control Kamala, a SWF – especially one of material size in the $1+ trillion range – will lead to another sharp spike in US debt, pushing US debt sharply higher from its latest record daily print just over $35.3 trillion, and making holders of non fiat assets richer as the US careens toward a monetary and fiscal solvency crisis.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has launched a lawsuit against Snap Inc. following an undercover investigation, accusing it of creating a “breeding ground” for child sexual exploitation through its Snapchat app. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, alleges that Snapchat’s disappearing images and messages have facilitated predators in collecting sexually explicit images of children and using them for extortion.

According to the state, Snapchat has become the “predominant forum” for these “sextortion” schemes, largely because of its unique design features. The platform’s ephemeral messaging and other elements that connect users have created a “false sense of security,” making it easier for predators to target minors, the lawsuit argues.

The suit follows a months-long undercover investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice, which uncovered a “vast network” of dark websites that are sharing nonconsensual images from Snapchat. According to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office, the investigation found over 10,000 such records in the past year alone.

“Our undercover investigation revealed that Snapchat’s harmful design features create an environment where predators can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse,” Attorney General Torrez said in a statement.

Torrez blasted Snap Inc. for allegedly misleading users into believing their content would disappear after being viewed. “Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and they have created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely,” he added.

The lawsuit also argues that Snapchat’s efforts to differentiate itself from other social media platforms are misleading and potentially dangerous.

“Snap may claim that Snapchat is unlike other social media, but those claims are false and knowingly so,” the lawsuit states. “Snap’s conduct is not only dangerously deceptive; it is unlawful.”

New Mexico is not stopping with Snap Inc. The state is also suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for allegedly enabling similar child sexual exploitation activities on its platforms.

Snap Inc. responded to the allegations on Thursday, stating that they are reviewing the Attorney General’s complaint and will respond in court.

“We share Attorney General Torrez’s and the public’s concerns about the online safety of young people and are deeply committed to Snapchat being a safe and positive place for our entire community, particularly for our younger users,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement. “We have been working diligently to find, remove and report bad actors, educate our community, and give teens, as well as parents and guardians, tools to help them be safe online.”

The spokesperson added, “We understand that online threats continue to evolve and we will continue to work diligently to address these critical issues.”