Canadian Bank Launches Credit Card Linked to Carbon Emissions
November 18th, 2022Via: Summit News:
A bank in Canada has become the first in the country to launch a credit card that tracks a customer’s carbon emissions, amid concerns that such a scheme could one day be used to restrict purchases.
In an effort by the credit union to display its commitment to ‘climate action’, Vancity will offer a credit card that links purchases to carbon emissions, allowing customers to compare their monthly carbon footprint to the national average.
The bank will also advise customers on how to limit their carbon footprint.
Thermal Drone Video: Large Groups of Illegals Entering U.S.
November 18th, 2022Via: Summit News:
NEW: Thermal drone video from our team in Eagle Pass, TX shows a large group of migrants crossing illegally into private property early this morning.
Per CBP source, there have been over 1,400 illegal crossings in the Del Rio sector in the last 24 hours & 69,000 since 10/1. pic.twitter.com/N1FjKVVuDa— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 17, 2022
Footage captured by a thermal drone shows an army of illegal migrants entering the U.S. at Eagle Pass, Texas, yesterday with the reporter who captured the footage noting that it happens “every morning”.
The video shows scores of migrants lined up ready to cross into the U.S. under cover of darkness.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin tweeted out the footage Thursday, noting that there have been over 1,400 crossings in the Del Rio sector alone in the past 24 hours, and close to seventy thousand since the beginning of last month.
60% of Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck
November 18th, 2022Via: CNBC:
Just as the holiday shopping season gets into full swing, families are finding less slack in their budgets than before.
As of October, 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report. A year ago, the number of adults who felt stretched too thin was closer to 56%.
Association Between Vitamin D Supplementation and COVID-19 Infection and Mortality
November 18th, 2022Via: Nature:
Vitamin D deficiency has long been associated with reduced immune function that can lead to viral infection. Several studies have shown that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increases the risk of infection with COVID-19. However, it is unknown if treatment with Vitamin D can reduce the associated risk of COVID-19 infection, which is the focus of this study. In the population of US veterans, we show that Vitamin D2 and D3 fills were associated with reductions in COVID-19 infection of 28% and 20%, respectively [(D3 Hazard Ratio (HR)?=?0.80, [95% CI 0.77, 0.83]), D2 HR?=?0.72, [95% CI 0.65, 0.79]]. Mortality within 30-days of COVID-19 infection was similarly 33% lower with Vitamin D3 and 25% lower with D2 (D3 HR?=?0.67, [95% CI 0.59, 0.75]; D2 HR?=?0.75, [95% CI 0.55, 1.04]). We also find that after controlling for vitamin D blood levels, veterans receiving higher dosages of Vitamin D obtained greater benefits from supplementation than veterans receiving lower dosages. Veterans with Vitamin D blood levels between 0 and 19 ng/ml exhibited the largest decrease in COVID-19 infection following supplementation. Black veterans received greater associated COVID-19 risk reductions with supplementation than White veterans. As a safe, widely available, and affordable treatment, Vitamin D may help to reduce the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden Administration Requests Immunity for Saudi Crown Prince in Khashoggi Killing
November 18th, 2022Via: Fox:
The Biden administration declared Thursday night the official standing of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince should grant him immunity in lawsuits for his alleged role in the brutal killing of a U.S.-based journalist.
The request is a controversial one after President Biden promised “consequences” on his campaign trail for Saudi officials following the 2018 death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, and Democracy for the Arab World Now filed a lawsuit against Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for their roles in the murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
According to the Associated Press, the State Department called the decision to try to protect the Saudi crown prince from U.S. courts in Khashoggi’s killing “purely a legal determination,” citing “longstanding precedent.”
G20 Promotes WHO-Standardized Global Vaccine Passport and ‘Digital Health’ Identity Scheme
November 17th, 2022Via: Epoch Times:
Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) have issued a joint declaration promoting a global standard on proof of vaccination for international travel and calling for the establishment of “global digital health networks” that build on existing digital COVID-19 vaccine passport schemes.
The joint statement followed the conclusion of the G20 summit held in Bali, Indonesia, where leaders discussed global challenges and coordinating policies in response, including to future pandemics.
“We acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods, under the framework of the IHR (2005), to facilitate seamless international travel, interoperability, and recognizing digital solutions and non-digital solutions, including proof of vaccinations,” the G20 joint declaration reads.
…
Besides acknowledging the utility of the IHR framework, the G20 leaders said they support ongoing “international dialogue and collaboration on the establishment of trusted global digital health networks as part of the efforts to strengthen prevention and response to future pandemics.”
They added that these global digital health networks should “capitalize and build on the success of the existing standards and digital COVID-19 certificates.”
COVID-19 vaccine passports—and various other forms of digital identity schemes—have been criticized as an invasion of privacy and as having the potential to enable governments and corporations to coerce human behavior by, for instance, denying access to infrastructure or services.
More: G-20 Leaders Promote Global Vaccine Passports So ‘You Can Move Around’
“This Is Unprecedented”: Enron Liquidator Overseeing FTX Bankruptcy, “I Have Never Seen Anything Like This”
November 17th, 2022Via: ZeroHedge:
FTX’s new CEO and liquidator, John Ray III, who also oversaw the unwinding and liquidation of Enron, admits that “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”
And just in case his shock at FTX’s fraud of epic proportions was not clear enough, he adds that “from compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.”
According to Ray, he has located “only a fraction” of the digital assets of the FTX Group that they hope recover during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They’ve so far secured about $740 million of cryptocurrency in offline cold wallets, a storage method designed to prevent hacks. This is just a fraction of the $10-$50 billion in liabilities the company disclosed in its bankruptcy filing.
Oregon Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce New Gun Law, Infringes on Second Amendment
November 17th, 2022Via: Fox:
County sheriffs in Oregon are taking a stand against the state’s newly-adopted gun law and say they will not enforce a major piece of the law that sets limits on magazine capacity because it violates the Second Amendment, wastes law enforcement resources and is the product of “pure anti-gun politics.”
Measure 114, known as the Reduction of Gun Violence Act, was approved by Oregon voters in last week’s midterm election. The new law outlaws ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, and requires police to maintain an electronic, searchable database of all firearm permits, provide additional hands-on firearm training, and collect fingerprints from people before issuing permits to purchase a gun.
However, at least five county sheriffs say they will not enforce all or parts of the law, and they are focusing their opposition on language that limits magazine capacity. They argue that the provision infringes on Second Amendment rights, ignores real problems associated with gun violence in the state and will drain already-depleted law enforcement resources.
“The biggest thing is this does absolutely nothing to address the problem,” Sheriff Cody Bowen of Union County told Fox News Digital. “The problem that we have is not… magazine capacity. It’s not background checks. It’s a problem with mental health awareness. It’s a problem with behavior health illness.”
Defense Department Records Reveal U.S. Funding of Anthrax Laboratory Activities in Ukraine
November 17th, 2022Via: Judicial Watch:
Judicial Watch announced today it received 345 pages of records from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a component of the U.S. Department of Defense, revealing that the United States funded anthrax laboratory activities in a Ukrainian biolab in 2018. Dozens of pages are completely redacted, and many others are heavily redacted. The records show over $11 million in funding for the Ukraine biolabs program in 2019.
The records were obtained in response to a February 28, 2022, Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for records regarding the funding of Black & Veatch involving work of any manner with biosafety laboratories in the country of Ukraine.
New York Fed Announces Test of Digital Dollar with Major Banks
November 16th, 2022Via: Washington Examiner:
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and major banks will launch a three-month test of a digital dollar in hopes of studying its feasibility.
The initiative was announced by the regional Federal Reserve bank and nearly a dozen financial institutions on Tuesday. A news release referred to the experiment as a “proof-of-concept project” in which the banks will work with the Fed’s New York Innovation Center to simulate digital money representing the deposits of their own customers and settle them through simulated Fed reserves on a distributed ledger.
“The [project] will also test the feasibility of a programmable digital money design that is potentially extensible to other digital assets, as well as the viability of the proposed system within existing laws and regulations,” according to the news release.
