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.
‘We Cannot Afford to be Ill Prepared’: Research Hub Wants to Prepare Humanity for Potential Proof of Alien Life
November 16th, 2022Via: CTV News:
A new research hub at the University of St Andrews in Scotland is dedicated to preparing humanity for potential proof of extraterrestrial life.
“Will we ever get a message from E.T.? We don’t know,” John Elliott, the hub’s co-ordinator and a University of St Andrews computer scientist, said in a news release. “But we do know that we cannot afford to be ill prepared—scientifically, socially, and politically rudderless—for an event that could turn into reality as early as tomorrow and which we cannot afford to mismanage.”
The goal of the SETI Post-Detection Hub is to be a permanent co-ordinating centre for an international and multi-disciplinary effort to develop protocols, procedures and treaties aimed at ensuring humanity will “respond responsibly” if we find evidence of, or are contacted by, other life in the cosmos.
Target: ‘Organized Retail Crime’ Has Driven $400 Million in Extra Profit Loss This Year
November 16th, 2022Via: Yahoo:
Target stores are getting looted, and it’s taking a huge bite out of profits.
The discount retailer told reporters on a call to discuss its third quarter earnings results that inventory shrinkage — or the disappearance of merchandise — has reduced its gross profit margin by $400 million so far in 2022 compared to 2021.
“At Target, year-to-date, incremental shortage has already reduced our gross margin by more than $400 million vs. last year,” Target CFO Michael Fiddelke said on the earnings call, “and we expect it will reduce our gross margin by more than $600 million for the full year.”
The Secret Effort to Investigate Aliens
November 16th, 2022Via: Richard Dolan:
