Month: May 2024

Authored by Yuhong Dong, M.D., Ph.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A low-cost, easily made natural solution can produce an antiviral and antibacterial effect that kills a wide range of microorganisms in minutes.

This potent weapon is hypochlorous acid.

Application Is Based on pH

While hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is naturally produced by our white blood cells and is a key part of our innate immune system, it can also be made from electrolyzed saline water, a process invented over a century ago in Russia.

Electrolyzed water (EW), also called electrolyzed saline or electrolyzed oxidizing water, can be categorized into different types based on its pH value, each with unique applications.

Among the various types of EW, neutral electrolyzed salt water (NEW) and slightly acid-electrolyzed water (SAEW) are particularly interesting due to their neutral or near-neutral pH levels. These types of EW are relatively safe to use on our skin, nasal and oral mucosa, and wound tissues. They are widely used across the food, agriculture, and medical industries for disinfecting and cleaning purposes. This includes treating drinking water, wastewater, food, utensils, and hard surfaces.

Hypochlorous acid is the key active ingredient of NEW and SAEW, and pH plays a critical role. A pH greater than 7 will produce more hypochlorite (OCl⁻) in the solution, whereas a strongly acidic pH, will produce toxic chlorine (Cl₂). The concentration of hypochlorous acid is most dominant when the pH is close to neutral or slightly acidic.

Ming-Yih Chang, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biomechatronics at Yilan University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times in an email, “Many factors impact the precise amount of HOCl. For example, according to a critical review in 2008, the relative distribution of the main aqueous chlorine species is produced per the graph below where the temperature and the chloride concentration are provided.”

Different From Bleach

Hypochlorite (OCl⁻), a key ingredient of liquid bleach, is similar to hypochlorous acid—both can kill viruses and germs. However, they are different chemicals with different properties and applications.

OCl⁻ is an ion commonly associated with sodium and calcium salts. When the pH is greater than 8, it’s often labeled as liquid bleach. As a strong oxidizer, it can cause corrosion, resulting in skin burns or eye damage, and can be harmful when inhaled.

HOCl is a weak, nonirritating acid that is much safer than hypochlorite. When prepared correctly, it can be used safely and widely for many clinical applications in multiple industries. As a disinfectant, HOCl is 80 to 200 times more effective than bleach, yet is nontoxic to humans.

Effective Against COVID-19

HOCl gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now recommends HOCl as a safe and effective disinfectant against COVID-19.

A randomized controlled trial, still in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, was conducted in Mexico City among 170 frontline medical staff to investigate the effectiveness of a type of neutral electrolyzed water in reducing COVID-19 risk. All trial subjects wore adequate professional protection equipment, as required by standard COVID-19 safety protocols. Participants were divided equally into a control group and a prophylactic group.

The prophylactic group participants followed a protocol using a NEW solution in the form of a nasal spray and mouth rinse three times a day for four weeks. This group had a significantly decreased incidence of COVID-19 infections with only 1.2 percent infected compared to 18.8 percent in the control group.

Of particular note is that no individual using NEW reported any side effects, as the solution is nonirritating.

Skin irritation is a particular problem resulting from alcohol-based hand sanitizers used daily in medical offices. These can cause hand dermatitis and damage the skin barrier, compromising the first line of defense. The World Health Organization recognizes that a major challenge to hand hygiene in health care is the need for safer care.

Curious scientists have conducted tests on HOCl to determine its potential benefits for COVID-19 patients.

A clinical trial was conducted with 214 ambulatory COVID-19 patients from multiple hospitals. The study involved 104 patients who were given only usual medical care. The remaining 110 patients were given both usual medical care and NEW via nebulization and/or intravenous administration.

The NEW was provided four times a day for 10 days with successive dose increases using a diluted version of electrolyzed saline with a neutral pH (6.0 to 7.5).

In addition, when COVID‑19 symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea occurred, 30 milliliters of oral electrolyzed saline was added four times a day for as long as the gastrointestinal symptoms lasted, and for two more days after the symptoms disappeared.

Overall, the NEW treatment decreased the risk of hospitalization by 89 percent and the risk of death by 96 percent. 

Patient symptoms improved rapidly after 24 hours, including fatigue, headache, sore throat, eye pain, myalgia, fever, and oxygen saturation. Inflammatory markers were also reduced.

On the fifth day, the group who received the NEW treatment had an 18-fold greater chance of achieving an acceptable symptom state than the group who received only usual medical care.

The dose-dependent response to the NEW treatment suggests a causal relationship.

The pH of the NEW solution used in the study ranged from 6.0 to 7.5, and the concentration of active chlorine and oxygen species used in these experiments was no more than 20 parts per million (ppm).

Antiviral Function

HOCl has demonstrated the ability to quickly inactivate several viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and norovirus.

The effective chloride concentration in the HBV and HIV studies was 4.2 ppm, and SARS-CoV-2 ranged from 66 to 109 ppm.

HOCl is naturally produced by our immune cells to fight infections. Our neutrophils and white blood cells release a mixture of chemicals, including HOCl, to kill germs and viruses.

Neutrally-charged HOCl easily penetrates the cell walls of pathogens to kill them from the inside out. However, bleach is negatively charged, making it rather difficult to penetrate viruses or germs. This is one major advantage of HOCl compared to bleach.

Huiwen Ji, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Princeton University and is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Utah, explained the disinfecting mechanism of HOCl.

“When saline water is electrolyzed, external electric energy is transferred to the chloride ion in the solution. As a result, the chloride anions are oxidized to HOCl with chlorine now in a relatively unstable +1 oxidation state.”

“Thus, HOCl is an oxidizing agent that tends to grab electrons from other molecules. This process can break the chemical bonds in the target molecules,” she said.

When the structure of these biomolecules is destroyed, their proteins can no longer function. Without adequately functioning proteins, viruses and germs cannot survive throughout their life cycles.

HOCl can also break the DNA or RNA of viruses and germs, rendering them harmless and unable to replicate.

When exposed to viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the timing of using an HOCl nasal spray is critical to mitigating the risk of infection.

In December 2022, scientists from Stanford University identified the nasal cavity as the main entry point for the COVID-19 virus and specified the time window for prevention.

The surface of our nasal mucosa is covered by a tightly-linked thin layer of epithelial cells that forms a complete barrier. On top of the cells is a thick and elastic three-dimensional chain-link fence composed of mucin, a sticky molecule that can trap all the debris of viruses and germs. Additionally, hundreds of spaghetti-like appendages, known as cilia, move slowly like a river to clear away all the harmful substances from the mucus layer.

Researchers found that the virus takes at least 24 hours to penetrate the surface mucus layer before it can enter deeply into the cells. Accordingly, using an HOCl nasal spray as quickly as possible within this 24-hour window could effectively disinfect the nasal passages and potentially prevent the virus from establishing an infection.

Broad Use

HOCl has been extensively used in multiple fields, including the health care industry.

A study in the Journal of Microbiology found that HOCl significantly reduced bacteria on toothbrushes. The concentration of HOCl was estimated to be 1 ppm to 30 ppm.

HOCl is often used to treat blepharitis (eyelid inflammation) by reducing the bacterial load on the surface of the periocular skin. Twenty minutes after applying a saline hygiene solution containing HOCl at 100 ppm, a greater than 99 percent reduction in the staphylococcal load was achieved.

HOCl is an effective agent for use in wound care. In a comparative study in patients with open wounds, hypochlorous acid used in a commercial solution significantly lowered the bacterial count by 10,000 to 1 million times without a rebound effect in the comparative saline group. Postoperative closure failure occurred in more than 80 percent of patients in the saline group versus 25 percent of those in the HOCl group. One of the main reasons for the failure of postoperative closure is infection.

Microorganisms can grow on the surfaces of biomaterials, such as dentures or dialysis equipment. These surface-bound microorganisms, known as biofilms, have unique characteristics with respect to gene expression and growth rate.

HOCl is effective for cleaning biofilm-contaminated dental implant surfaces. Compared to two other disinfecting substances—sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine—HOCl at 180 ppm reduced the lipopolysaccharide, a harmful substance produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis, a pathogenic bacterium associated with periodontal disease. The use of HOCl in the mouth did not result in any adverse effects.

Fogging with HOCl can disinfect large spaces such as medical and dental offices.

Recent research on mice found that applying a topical application of HOCl on the skin can prevent the development of tumors and inflammation that are caused by UV rays. This discovery suggests that HOCl may have the potential to prevent skin cancer in humans caused by sun exposure.

HOCl has also been used to disinfect drinking water and recreational fresh water.

Spraying with HOCl at 100 to 200 ppm decreased the avian influenza virus (bird flu) to an undetectable level within five seconds, suggesting that HOCl can be used in a spray to inactivate the virus at the farm level. An emerging issue in the United States is the highly pathogenic bird flu threat. HOCl spray offers a viable solution to help control the spread of this disease.

Make It Yourself

Everyone can make HOCl at home. You’ll need a 1-liter hypochlorous acid solution generator, which you can easily find online for around $100.

Depending on the type of device used, the concentration of HOCl generated will typically be between 50 to 200 ppm, a commonly used concentration for daily use applications.

Ms. Ji said, “Prepare a 0.9% NaCl solution and dilute it between a few and dozens of times, then put it into an electrolyzer. White vinegar containing acetic acid (CH3COOH) may be added to adjust the pH value to facilitate the formation of HOCl.”

According to Ms. Ji, “You must adhere to the guidelines provided by the instrument manufacturer because each machine operates with its unique formula and parameter. Typically, the process is straightforward and involves pressing a button and waiting a few minutes for the reaction to produce a desired amount of HOCl.”

For example, one particular protocol says to add 1 gram of non-iodized salt, 1 liter of water, and one teaspoon of white vinegar to the 1-liter hypochlorous acid generator, press the button and wait 8 minutes. The 1 liter of HOCl will be ready for immediate use.

Vinegar is essential to adjusting the pH to the proper value to produce the right amount of HOCl.

Parts per million (ppm) indicates the concentration of a substance in a solution. This is calculated by dividing the substance’s mass or volume by the solution’s total mass or volume and then multiplying the result by 1 million.

Using ppm is a more convenient unit of measure for describing the concentration of tiny substances in a solution. You can convert one ppm to a percentage by dividing it by 10,000. For instance, 100 ppm of HOCl is equivalent to 0.01 percent of HOCl. If you need help with the calculation, you can use this useful tool.

When choosing a device to produce electrolyzed water, Mr. Chang says, “There are many more influencing factors, such as the quality of the electrode. Better ones include platinum, iridium, and rhodium. The electricity’s duration and current size can also impact the outcome.”

At a concentration of 200 ppm, HOCl was shown to effectively decontaminate inert surfaces carrying the norovirus and other enteric viruses in one minute. At 20 ppm, it was still effective in disinfecting viruses within 10 minutes.

One study has shown that 200 ppm of available chlorine can inactivate 25 different viruses in just 10 minutes. Low concentrations, like 25 ppm, can quickly kill mycoplasma and vegetative bacteria.

Safety and Limitations

Following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acute four-hour inhalation toxicity protocol, rats inhaled a mist containing 52 ppm of HOCl for four hours. Researchers observed no adverse effects in behavior or appearance.

HOCl is generally considered safe due to the low chloride concentration in the HOCl solution. The commonly used concentrations for health care or life care are between 50 and 200 ppm for skin disinfection, 50 to 100 ppm for mouthwash, and 50 to 200 ppm for surface cleaning, with higher concentrations for wound care and food contact surfaces.

Remember, these concentrations are approximate guidelines and can vary depending on the specific application and manufacturer’s recommendations. Always follow instructions carefully, and when in doubt, consult with a health care professional or relevant authority for specific advice.

The long-term potential toxicity of a low chloride concentration is still uncertain, and further studies assessing chronic exposure to HOCl are needed.

Regarding the safety of HOCl, Ms. Ji advised, “When used within the suggested concentration range, HOCl proves to be relatively safe for household applications. Once reacted with bacteria and viruses, HOCl reverts to a highly stable chloride form, akin to other electrolyte salts in the human body. But remember that using HOCl at concentrations higher than recommended by the manufacturer can be very corrosive and mixing it with other household detergents may lead to hazardous side reactions.”

“When used at home, please always follow the precise instructions and do not exceed the recommended usage,” she added.

According to Mr. Chang, “One side effect is that [HOCl] may corrode metals, such as those in cow and pig houses, after application of the HOCl solution sprays at 200pm for a long time. But 200 pm does not harm the skin. Furthermore, a low concentration of several dozen ppm is enough for general household use.”

HOCl is less stable when exposed to UV radiation, sunlight, air, or higher temperatures (greater than 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit). Therefore, HOCl solutions should be tightly sealed and stored in a cool, dark place.

It’s important to avoid mixing HOCl with other detergents or solutions. When the pH value changes, HOCl may change to Cl₂ or OCl⁻, which is either toxic or can cause irritation.

Direct exposure to chloride (in the form of Cl₂ or OCl⁻) at low concentrations of one to 10 ppm, can cause skin and eye irritation, and inhaling it can irritate the respiratory tract.

The shelf life of HOCl is relatively short; it is effective for up to two weeks when stored properly.

Low Cost, Yet Highly Effective

How can a simple solution generated by salty water have such powerful and wide-ranging antiviral and antibacterial effects?

HOCl is highly effective, yet inexpensive and easily obtained from nature, much like sunlight, air, and water, which all profoundly impact our lives.

Because it is both environmentally friendly and relatively safe, HOCl is an excellent choice for many applications. Additionally, its affordability makes it accessible for large-scale applications.

The medical industry has implemented many decontamination methods, which are often expensive, ineffective, and can leave chemical residues, posing a risk to human health.

There are many natural remedies on Earth to cure or prevent diseases that people may not be fully aware of.

Ivermectin, derived from a microorganism in soil, has remarkable antiparasitic, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties and has helped many patients effectively treat COVID-19.

Another example is interferon, which our bodies produce to stop viral replication. The pharmaceutical industry has developed interferon to treat hepatitis B and C and COVID-19.

Nature is a bountiful source of healing for humans, generously providing numerous benefits at no cost. It is an endless source of undiscovered benefits, waiting to be explored by those willing to embrace its wonders. With its abundant resources, nature offers us infinite possibilities to improve our health and well-being.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Authored by Roger L. Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Wouldn’t it be fascinating, actually tremendously heartening, if the man who was supposedly our most divisive politician was the man who ultimately brought our broken country together—former President Donald J. Trump?

America is often, justifiably, criticized for having been built to some degree by slavery. It was not alone in that, and it still exists in some places, but America fought its most painful war to abolish the practice. Years later, it enacted the Civil Rights Act, enshrining equality in our laws. Racism was diminishing.

Yet some people have what I called in one of my books a “nostalgia for racism.” They can’t live without it for reasons that range from comfort with old assumptions to the most cynical personal gain.

Consequently, for as long as I have been alive, which is the entire post-World War II era, it has been assumed that minorities voted Democratic, whether to their advantage or not.

So I was gladdened to see, watching on television, the throng of racially mixed Americans gathered in one of my childhood haunts from Yankee Stadium to the Zoo to Van Cortlandt Park—the borough of The Bronx.

No less than one of the most reactionary forces in our culture—identity politics—was under attack in the massive show of support from that mixed-race crowd given former President Trump at his surprisingly large rally in Crotona Park in the southern part of the borough.

I used the term reactionary above quite deliberately because it was and probably still is the most supreme insult one could give anyone leaning left. It signified they were behind the times, retrograde.

And much of the left has been that since they reversed the color-blind, character-based idealism of Dr. Martin Luther King in favor of the reactionary (that word again) dictums of critical race theory and so-called anti-racism that are themselves racist to the core. The latter two assert the primacy of race over character, something that is senseless to anyone who honestly observes actual human behavior in even slightly moral terms.

Those dicta have worked to preserve or even extend racism, rather than destroy it, for reasons of power and profit. In order for society to progress, for the American Idea or, if you prefer, the American Dream, to be preserved or obtained, identity politics must be eliminated.

I don’t mean people should lose their identities, small “i.” Mexican-Americans should still celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Irish-Americans St. Patrick’s Day, and so forth, but that should not be their complete Identities (capital I deliberate).

They are citizens of a country whose founding documents proclaim we are all “created equal” no matter race, religion, ethnicity, and all the rest. Often this was and still is hard to fulfill, but that makes it all the more worthy as a goal.

During President Trump’s Bronx speech, he did the opposite of what has become conventional and offered to join New York Democratic Party officials, the state governor and city mayor, in an effort to Make New York Great Again (MNYGA).

This was, in part, good politics, reaching across the aisle in a radically divided country, something the former president has been loath to do, but it seems he is doing now. He should keep it up.

Yes, his Bronx rally had obvious electoral motives, trying to flip New York or at least make enough in-roads to force his opposition to devote more time and money to a state they normally win without effort. But as I am trying to indicate, more than electoral politics is involved. It is the soul of our nation.

Soul of the nation sounds a bit like pompous rhetoric, I admit, but I submit we should concentrate on that as this election goes forward. I know of very few of our fellow citizens who have not suffered on the most personal levels from the degree to which our society is riven. Families and friendships have broken apart across the country.

President Trump was less given to the politics of insult, humorous and/or deserved though it may be, in his Bronx speech than he normally is, concentrating instead more on bringing us together. The country needs healing more than it has in well over a century. In fact, it needs it desperately.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

A new bombshell investigation undertaken jointly by the Guardian and +972 mag has revealed that the head of Mossad conducted surveillance on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to her opening a formal investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes.

Then ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had opened the formal inquiry in 2021 to examine years of allegations of human rights abuse and war crimes against Palestinians committed by Israel’s military. The joint investigation found that then Mossad director Yossi Cohen used tactics to monitor her that amounted to “stalking”. 

Bensouda at one point was reportedly directly threatened, with one eyewitness account saying that Cohen told Bensouda, “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”

It appeared to be a spy op ordered from the highest levels, in order to protect the Israeli government’s international reputation and standing, as well as to oversee damage control. According to The Guardian report:

Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said the Mossad’s objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israel’s demands.

A third source familiar with the operation said Cohen was acting as Netanyahu’s “unofficial messenger”.

But the threats and tactics didn’t work, given that Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, pushed through an ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister and his defense chief which came this month based on the investigation Bensouda set in motion.

According to a particularly damning section in The Guardian report:

One individual briefed on Cohen’s activities said he had used “despicable tactics” against Bensouda as part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort to intimidate and influence her. They likened his behavior to “stalking”.

The Mossad also took a keen interest in Bensouda’s family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor.

This was part of what many are calling a decade-long covert “war” waged from the shadows by Israeli intelligence agencies against the Hague-based ICC.

Going back years, this created some degree of paranoia within the ICC prosecution division. There were fears that Israeli intelligence employed assets there or were able to secretly influence decision-making. The Guardian details further: 

According to two sources, there were even suspicions among senior ICC officials that Israel had cultivated sources within the court’s prosecution division, known as the office of the prosecutor. Another later recalled that although the Mossad “didn’t leave its signature”, it was an assumption the agency was behind some of the activity officials had been made aware of.

Only a small group of senior figures at the ICC, however, were informed that the director of the Mossad had personally approached the chief prosecutor.

Early this month, current ICC chief prosecutor Khan issued a strong statement condemning “all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials.”

Absolutely incredible article, revealing that the head of Mossad personally threatened the physical safety of the ICC prosecutor and her family: “You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”https://t.co/xustHwsQdh

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 28, 2024

In light of the new Guardian and +972 mag reports, this latest warning is being widely viewed as in part referencing the past history of Mossad’s stalking tactics. Pressure on a political level had also intensified against the Hague court in the weeks leading up to and after its announcing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Journalist and ex-Green Beret Jack Murphy commented on the revelations by saying of the lead-up to Oct.7: “Well, now we know what Israeli intelligence was busy doing instead of monitoring Hamas.”

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

Officials in the United States, Canada, and Europe are considering the vaccination of workers and others against the highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The U.S. government is “looking closely” at the possibility of vaccinating farm workers and others in close contact with the virus, according to Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said she has been in discussions with U.S. and Canadian officials about using vaccines to protect workers after the influenza, or bird flu, jumped from birds to cattle.

The first cases of H5N1, a strain of the flu, in cattle were detected earlier this year, although some scientists say available evidence points to the cases cropping up in late 2023.

Discussions about using vaccines to try to prevent a pandemic are ongoing at the government level and among scientists in several places, including the UK, said Wendy Barclay, chair in influenza virology at University College London, who also researches avian flu for the UK Health Security Agency.

The UK government did not comment but said it is monitoring the situation in the United States.

In the European Union, the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority is working on a joint procurement of CSL Seqirus’s vaccine to “potentially prevent a pandemic” sparked by individuals exposed to infected birds and animals, spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said.

A spokeswoman for CSL, which has contracts for pandemic influenza vaccines with 30 governments, said the company has been in talks with several governments about procuring vaccines since 2022.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a CSL influenza A vaccine in 2020, based largely on immunogenicity and safety results from a small clinical trial of 319 people.

Dr. Peter McCullough, an epidemiologist based in Texas, said on the social media platform X that without larger trials, it’s not possible to know whether the vaccine is safe or effective in humans.

The formulation for the CSL shot has been updated to more closely match the bird flu, which is an influenza A virus.

U.S. officials said recently that they’re planning to produce 4.8 million doses of the updated CSL vaccine. European health officials also said they were in talks to acquire CSL’s shot.

Canadian health officials said they have met with GSK, maker of Canada’s seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a prepandemic bird flu vaccine.

The United States is in talks with Pfizer and Moderna, which make messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, about potential pandemic vaccines.

University of Pennsylvania researchers said in a May 23 paper that their experimental mRNA bird flu vaccine performed well in preclinical testing in ferrets.

Since the bird flu cases in cattle were first detected, cases have been confirmed in 63 herds across nine states, including Colorado, Michigan, and South Dakota, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Human cases

Two cases in humans—one in Michigan and one in Texas—have also been confirmed. Both have since recovered. Analysis of virus samples from the patients showed high similarities to the virus spreading in cows.

Richard Webby, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital virologist who studies flu in animals and birds for the World Health Organization, said the situation in dairy cattle merits vaccine use.

“If we look at the exposure levels that some of these farmers are getting, it’s high,” Mr. Webby said.

The decision on how and when to use the vaccine will hinge on evidence of increased transmission, severity of disease, cases in people with no link to a dairy farm, and mutations in the virus, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said.

The agency says on its website that the government is developing bird flu vaccines “in case they are needed.”

Human exposure to the virus in poultry and dairy operations could increase the risk that the virus will mutate and gain the ability to spread easily in people. Vaccines that perform poorly can also increase that risk.

So far, only one change has been detected in the human cases, the CDC said on May 24.

“These data indicate viruses detected in both cows and the two human cases maintain primarily avian genetic characteristics and lack changes that would make them better adapted to infect or transmit between humans,” the agency stated.

For now, CDC officials say the best way to avoid bird flu is to stay away from infected animals, fluids, and feces.

Workers who must come into contact with animals are advised to wear protective equipment and monitor themselves for symptoms, which include fatigue.

People who do become sick can take influenza antivirals, which are more effective when received shortly after symptoms develop.

Health officials also recommend cooking eggs and poultry to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, cooking beef to appropriate temperatures, and only consuming pasteurized milk.

Testing of beef found a surrogate virus was still present in burgers cooked rare, according to the Department of Agriculture. High levels of bird flu virus have been detected in raw milk. Some pasteurized samples tested positive, but further testing showed no viable virus, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

More and more European officials and NATO countries are on board with allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. Among the latest to speak openly about this are NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and the government of Sweden, which is the NATO alliance’s newest member state.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday issued one of his more dire warnings yet, putting Europe on notice by commenting on their possessing small land areas and dense populations. The veiled threat is very ominous especially in light of the fact that Russia just wrapped up tactical nuclear drills near Ukraine…

More threats from Putin just now amid recent calls by European politicians to allow Kyiv to use Western weaponry to strike targets inside Russia

He says they should “remember that, as a rule, they are states with a small territory but dense population” pic.twitter.com/vCH7gAM2WY

— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 28, 2024

Putin told reporters gathered in Tashkent during an official visit to the central Asian country of Uzbekistan, which is a former Soviet Republic, “Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences.”

He also hinted at the prospect of nuclear war in posing: “If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?”

“It’s hard to say – do they want a global conflict?” Putin questioned, warning that Ukraine hitting Russian territory with externally supplied long-range weapons would make the West directly involved in the conflict.

He also appeared to reference a new agreement between Kiev and Paris which will see French military trainers be deployed to Ukrainian soil. Putin remarked that this puts the situation a big step closer to major direct confrontation between Russia and France – and ultimately the NATO alliance. That’s when he warned the following…

They… “should be aware of what they are playing with” as they had small land areas and dense populations.

“This is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory. This is a serious thing, and we are of course watching it very closely,” Putin said.

Week after week, officials in the West find new ways to escalate (also in light of Russian forces making rapid gains in Kharkiv), and given that Zelensky has said it’s ‘impossible’ to sit down at the negotiating table with Moscow so long as Putin is in power, there appears to be no off-ramp whatsoever.

Indeed we might add to Putin’s remarks that everyone is playing with fire… and this has been the case for a long time now. There are very few European leaders willing to openly resist this intensifying push to escalate at this point.

The idea that China will collapse after decades of supergrowth, despite its current challenges with a real estate crisis and a demographic winter, is ridiculous, as the most significant risk to America’s big tech empire is the potential failure of US sanctions containing Chinese tech companies. 

Chinese tech giant Huawei is a great example of the ‘Made in China’ theme ramping up, despite being blacklisted by the US. The company has produced two smartphones, the Mate 60 series and Pura 70 Pro, using advanced domestic chips. These phones have challenged Apple’s iPhone dominance in the world’s largest handset market. 

On Tuesday, at the UBS Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong, SenseTime Group co-founder Xu Bing told Bloomberg’s David Ingles that artificial intelligence chipmakers in China are quickly closing the technological gap versus international players. 

The US Gov’t has repeatedly sanctioned SenseTime due to allegations that its facial recognition technology is used in surveillance programs monitoring Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities. These sanctions are primarily aimed at curbing the country’s advances in AI. 

“There’s a shortage of resources here in Asia in general,” Bing told Bloomberg’s Ingles, adding, “It’s like a 10 times gap of the compute resources that we have here compared to the US leaders. But I think Asian markets never lack talent and never lack data.”

Bing pointed out that domestic chip manufacturing is catching up quickly with global competition. He said SenseTime is working with local semiconductor companies to accelerate compute capabilities. 

He did not mention specific companies, but Huawei has emerged in recent quarters as China’s saving grace in chip technology development. As we’ve pointed out, the company has easily navigated US sanctions, advancing its own advanced smartphone processor for its latest handsets. 

Bing wasn’t entirely clear how far China lags behind the US in AI development. Bloomberg cites some estimates as 1-3 years. He noted that China’s lag in computing power won’t be permanent. 

“Compute is a commodity,” he said, adding, “In the long run, compute won’t be a gap.”

Authored by Aaron Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A former CIA officer pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to spy for the Chinese regime over a decade in a federal court in Honolulu, the Department of Justice announced on May 24.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in 2020 and charged with conspiracy to transfer top-secret information to the Chinese regime’s intelligence officials.

Mr. Ma, who worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989, conspired with his blood relative, also a former CIA officer, to provide classified U.S. national defense information to the Chinese regime.

During his tenure at the CIA, Mr. Ma held a top-secret clearance and signed multiple non-disclosure agreements, acknowledging his duty to protect U.S. government secrets. After leaving the agency, Ma lived and worked in Shanghai, China, before relocating to Hawaii in 2001.

Notably, his blood relative had access to CIA top secret information, including “the identities of covert CIA officers,” according to a court document.

The document says the two former CIA officers conspired with Chinese intelligence officials to share classified national defense information over a decade.

Prosecutors said the espionage scheme began with three days of meetings in Hong Kong hotel rooms in 2001, where Mr. Ma and his relative met officers of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the regime’s top intelligence agency. During these meetings, the two former CIA officers provided highly classified information on the CIA’s personnel, internal structure, operations, and communication methods. Part of these meetings was videotaped, showing Mr. Ma receiving and counting $50,000 in cash for the secrets they divulged.

The plea deal showed that Mr. Ma sought employment with the FBI, aiming to regain access to classified information for Chinese intelligence. In 2003, he applied for a job as a contract linguist with the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office.

Knowing his ties to Chinese intelligence, the FBI hired Mr. Ma as part of an investigative plan to monitor his activities. From August 2004 to October 2012, he worked as a contract linguist, reviewing and translating Chinese language documents at an off-site location.

Prosecutors said over the next six years, Mr. Ma regularly copied, photographed, and stole classified documents. He took the stolen documents and images with him on frequent trips to China and handed them over to the Chinese handlers. He often returned from these China trips with substantial cash payments and expensive gifts, including new golf clubs.

According to prosecutors, Mr. Ma admitted that he convinced his CIA relative to reveal the identities of at least two individuals in photographs that were given to him by Chinese spies. Mr. Ma confessed that he was aware that the Chinese regime could use this information to harm the United States, but he deliberately did it anyway.

Court documents showed that in 2019, Mr. Ma met with an FBI undercover agent whom he believed to be a Chinese intelligence officer. During these meetings, Mr. Ma confirmed he worked for Chinese intelligence and accepted $2,000 in cash as a “small token” of appreciation for his work for the Chinese regime. He also offered to resume working for Chinese intelligence.

In a final meeting with the FBI undercover agent in Aug. 2020 before his arrest, Mr. Ma again accepted more money for his past spying efforts and expressed his willingness to support the Chinese regime, saying he wanted “the motherland” to succeed.

The plea agreement requires Mr. Ma to cooperate with U.S. authorities, including submitting to debriefings by government agencies. If accepted by the court, he will face a 10-year prison sentence.

Espionage Attempts

The case is one of many espionage attempts by the Chinese regime targeting U.S. military and intelligence personnel. In 2019, former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee received a 19-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide classified information to Chinese intelligence following his departure from the agency in 2010.

Earlier this year, a former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced to 27 months in prison for providing the Chinese communist regime with sensitive U.S. military information in exchange for bribes. In 2021, a former U.S. Navy sailor was also sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $20,000 for conspiring with her husband to send sensitive military equipment to China illegally.

These cases highlight the Chinese regime’s intelligence efforts in the United States. In 202o, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency investigated one new Chinese counterintelligence case every 10 hours. Mr. Wray also noted that the bureau had over 2,000 China-related counterintelligence investigations at the time.

The junk-food industrial complex is on notice after pumping American consumers with sugars and carbs for decades, sparking an obesity crisis that has weighed on the nation’s healthcare system. Remarkably, big pharma’s response to the obesity crisis is an injectable drug, while the federal government is nowhere to be found in promoting healthy diets and exercise to the masses.

The ongoing trading theme: “Ozempic is coming for your industry,” has been a hit with Wall Street traders. Just look at the massive outperformance of Goldman’s GLP-1 ‘Winners’ basket versus the ‘At-risk’ Pair basket… 

At a recent NYC dinner with over 800 sugar traders, Sally Lyons Wyatt, an executive at consumer researcher Circana, warned, ‘Ozempic is coming for your industry.’ 

“Does it have the ability to be huge in the future?” Wyatt asked during her speech at the New York Sugar Dinner earlier this month. She added, “It does.”

Bloomberg pointed out Wyatt’s warnings went unnoticed as the bet on supplying obese Americans with sugary drinks and snacks is still in play. 

However, the bet on sugar and junk food could sour in the coming years as more GLP-1 medications—originally designed to treat diabetes —hit the marketplace or ramp up production.  

Morgan Stanley analysts, including Pamela Kaufman, recently told clients that GLP-1s could reduce sweet demand, such as baked goods, confectionery, and soda consumption, by as much as 5% by 2035. 

Meanwhile, Carlos Murilo Barros de Mello, the head of sugar in the Americas at brokerage Hedgepoint Global Markets, admits the industry has not spent much time estimating consumption shifts due to GLP-1s suppressing food cravings, indicating the moves are “minuscule” relative to production swings. 

“The impact hasn’t been felt yet because it’s still quite far down the line,” said Kona Haque, head of research at ED&F Man, adding, “And don’t forget, this is still very much an advanced-economy, affluent-society syndrome where people are trying to tackle obesity.”

Haque noted that sugar demand is still increasing in emerging markets, where the GLP-1s will likely not be available for years because of costs. 

According to the International Sugar Organization, demand has slowed over the years, now at 1.2%, versus the 10-year average of 1.6%. 

While the GLP-1 craze will take years and must go global to spook sugar traders, the one thing these folks fear is if the US Department of Agriculture actually banned purchases of unhealthy junk food and sweetened beverages, including soda, from purchased items by recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP (read: Five Simple Policies To Reset America’s “Rigged” Health System).

*   *   * 

As a side note, obese rapper Lizzo responds to South Park by roasting her in the show “The End of Obesity.” 

Lizzo reacts to South Park roasting her: pic.twitter.com/0VH7rkjLTD

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 26, 2024

This is pretty accurate. 

South Park perfectly captures the US Healthcare System pic.twitter.com/Pn0WnVUs4F

— Dr Danish (@operationdanish) May 26, 2024

By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints

New Trier Township HS District 203’s Superintendent Paul Sally is set to retire next year and he can count on lifetime pension benefits of nearly $8 million. When he does retire, he’ll join the ranks of the Teachers Retirement System’s top pensioners.

We’ve written for years that Illinois’ pension systems are out-of-whack with what taxpayers can afford. It’s a two-class system where those in government get guaranteed lifetime pensions and other protected benefits while those in the private sector, who get no such guarantees and protections, are forced to pay for them. 

But it’s the superintendent pensions that help bring attention to just how problematic public pensions are. Sally has done nothing wrong, of course. He’s simply benefitting from the system that’s been put in place by lawmakers. The true blame falls on the politicians who created the pension system, those who continuously sweetened benefits over the decades, and today’s lawmakers who refuse reforms.

With no reforms expected in the near term, all we can do is highlight the results of Illinois’ two-class system.

Paul Sally’s exact pension will be unknown until he officially retires, but based on FOIA data and his current pensionable salary of nearly $350,000, Wirepoints estimates his starting pension will be around $255,000 a year. If Sally lives to 82 – his approximate life expectancy according to Social Security actuarial tables – he’ll end up collecting about $8 million in total benefits. By then, his pension will have grown to $476,000 per year – thanks to the automatic 3% compounded cost-of-living increase he’ll automatically get each year. 

And if he lives past 82, Sally can expect to collect over $8, $9, or even $10 million in total benefits.

Sally is already one of the highest paid superintendents in the state. His pensionable earnings are currently the state’s 9th-highest at $346,609.

Now, to be fair to New Trier, Paul Sally’s high salary is only a burden to the residents of the New Trier school district. 94% of the district’s operating costs are funded directly by the property taxes of New Trier residents.

But that’s not the case when it comes to pension costs. Teacher pensions are paid for by state income taxes, so when Paul Sally gets a multimillion lifetime pension, all Illinois taxpayers have to chip in, from Carbondale to Rockford and from Quincy to Danville.

Sally’s big pension isn’t just a one-off. There are many superintendents across the state retiring in their 50’s and collecting six-figure sums each year. The state’s top TRS pensioners, meanwhile, can all expect to collect more than $9 million in benefits.

Some of the “retired” superintendents on the list above have gone on to work other big-paying jobs out of state, all the while drawing an Illinois pension. Yet others figure out how to double dip right here in Illinois, working interim superintendent jobs while still getting their full pensions. 

The sad reality is that superintendent pensions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Illinois’ pension problems. There are more than 1 million government workers and retirees who benefit from pensions, and the costs are simply too much to bear for ordinary Illinoisans. 

For those looking to do a deep dive into just how extreme Illinois’ pension situation is, go to:

• Wirepoints’ Pension Solutions
• Illinois state pensions: Overpromised, not underfunded
• New 2023 data: Inflation can’t save Illinois from its worst-in-nation pension crisis
• Illinoisans burdened with $207 billion in official state & local pension debts, $41,000 per household
• Johnson’s next headache. Chicago’s pension funds are running out of money
• Pension reform, Illinois style: Legislation to ‘fix’ the Tier 2 problem

While the Biden administration insists Americans shouldn’t believe their lying bank accounts amid ‘strong growth and low unemployment,’ guess who’s actually been benefiting? (Regular ZeroHedge readers already know)

You guessed it – ‘the controlled influx of immigrants into the US across the southern border,’ as Trend Macrolytics CIO Donald Luskin pens in a WSJ op-ed – though his conclusion was not well received by readers.

Consider the 3.2 million increase in the foreign-born adult population in the U.S. in the 21 months since July 2022. We start at that date because it gives us a clean slate, free from the effects of the pandemic lockdown and reopening. And this period captures the full effect of the Biden administration’s loose border policies.

Over that period, foreign-born employment has increased 1.8 million—meaning that roughly 56% of the 3.2 million new foreign-born adult population became employed. Setting aside the political matter of how much of this employment is legal, the stereotype that immigrants don’t or can’t work appears to be false.

The figures, contained within the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly household survey, are collected through door-to-door census of 60,000 households in which respondents are asked whether they’re native or foreign born (but not whether they’re here illegally!). Luskin notes that illegal aliens are probably less likely to answer a knock at the door, so BLS probably undercounts them.

Even so, foreign-born individuals represent 80% of the 4.1 million increase in America’s adult population since July 2022, and 71% of the 2.5 million new jobs. In short, without new foreign-born workers, total US job growth under Biden during this period would have been roughly 86,000 less each month – or 724,000 jobs added vs. 2.52 million. So without illegal immigrants, the economy would have grown less than a third as much since July 2022.

According to Luskin;

It’s a catastrophe of lawlessness and maladministration. But it appears to have contributed to a strong labor market and to economic growth.

…

[A] border crackdown such as Donald Trump has proposed could end up leading to slower growth. Whoever is president in 2025 will need to take great care in balancing these urgent interests.

As we noted in March, there has been virtually zero job creation for native-born workers since the summer of 2018…

… and that since Joe Biden was sworn into office, most of the post-pandemic job gains the administration continuously brags about have gone foreign-born workers.

Luskin suggests, therefore, that the new, foreign-born adults are diluting the productivity of the US economy by arriving with few skills and poor English, however “the economy needs many low-skill workers, and they rapidly acquire skills on the job, so they will surely contribute to productivity growth in the future.“

So, “It would seem that in purely economic terms, and at least for the moment, the Biden administration’s loose border policy is a feature, not a bug.”

That said, the Biden administration isn’t exactly bragging about this influx of future Democrat voters.

In a February Pew poll, 77% of Americans said that the southern border is either a “crisis” or a “major problem.” Even 62% of Democrats agreed. People see the bug, not the features, because the boom in job growth from immigration is, by definition, experienced by people most Americans here already don’t know—and, presumably, who won’t be able to vote this November. And even with his own political base, it would be awkward for Mr. Biden to argue that he has produced economic growth via laissez-faire deregulation at the border.

Such a policy is unsustainable in any case. Under capitalism, economic growth depends on trust—on the ability of economic participants to rely on others’ adherence to a set of defined and stable rules. The ad hoc lawlessness of the Biden border policy undermines that, and unless it can be stabilized it will be corrosive to long-term growth prospects. On the other hand, a border crackdown such as Donald Trump has proposed could end up leading to slower growth. Whoever is president in 2025 will need to take great care in balancing these urgent interests. -WSJ

The comments section ain’t buyin’ it…

In response to Luskin, WSJ readers had some choice words:

…I’m not buying it, Mr. Luskin.  The economy boomed under Trump, when the number immigrants entering the country illegally was much lower.

The growth in the Biden economy (and the Trump economy, without inflation) is due to the positive impact and incentives provided by the significant reduction in corporate taxes put in place by Trump in 2018…

*  *  *

…There’s nothing wrong with immigration. Even lots of it. There is everything wrong with illegal immigration and millions of people coming across the border who cannot legally work and can only become burdens to the states and cities until some unknown future date when they may or may not become legal residents. Just listen to the howling cries of New York and other self declared sanctuary cities demanding millions of Federal taxpayer dollars to help them care for the illegals if you think losing control of our country’s border is beneficial. And it’s not just about immigrants. It’s about known terrorist, human traffickers and drugs pouring across the open border. Yes, legal immigrants are good. Biden is a disaster…

*  *  *

…This article makes no sense. Sounds like a backhanded defense of Biden’s open border touting an economic boom. No mention of the cost of food, housing, medical, etc. of the illegals. The Rule of Law is critical to the success of America, which with this open border is being destroyed. What about the cost of additional police with the additional 10 million that have entered the country. The economy is strong because of the still alive entrepreneural and corporations that drive the country and create wealth. The opposite has been true under Biden with his inflation that hurts everyone and his arming the bureaucracy to increase the rules that make it tougher to run a business, not even including the wasted billions on the green nonsense. This article is wrong about everything it says and it’s claiming the Biden economy is creating an economic miracle is a joke…”

*  *  *

…What a silly “conclusion:” – widespread law breaking, overstretch of welfare resources, destruction of public facilities, swamping schools that are already underperforming?  Those are the facts of Biden’s open borders, not some sort of indirect economic benefit. What are all these jobs? Housekeeping? Janitorial? Maybe farm workers? And how much is each one of these new “workers” costing us? Food, housing, healthcare, education, crime? So what is the “net benefit”?  None…

Perhaps Lusk needs to go back to the drawing board.