At least seven states report mosquitoes carrying disease that can paralyze humans

Christian Spencer – July 8, 2021

Mosquito bites are annoying at best, and, at worst, can lead to illnesses like malaria, Zika virus and West Nile virus. New reports show at least six states are detecting mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus — and humans have contracted the disease in four of these places.

Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts and New York have found mosquitoes that carry the potentially paralyzing illness, according to a report from Best Life.

West Nile virus has also been detected in Colorado for the first time this season, according to health officials and reporting by Denver ABC 7.

The Colorado health department says mosquitoes are more prevalent this year thanks to hotter weather and more rain.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois and Iowa have confirmed cases in humans.

In New York, officials informed residents on July 2 that two groups of mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile virus in Rockland County. No humans have been reported as contracting the disease in New York.

The infected mosquitoes in Rockland County were found and trapped in Orangetown and Clarkstown on the week of June 21.

“This is typically the time of the year we expect to see a rise in West Nile virus activity, and these positive mosquito pools confirm that,”County Health Commissioner Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said in the statement.

https://thehill.com

The U.S. experienced 8 billion-dollar disasters in the first six months of 2021

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The first six months of 2021 brought a total of 8 billion-dollar disasters to the United States, according to data provided by the NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Disasters. The 1980 – 2020 annual average is 7.1 events (CPI-adjusted), while the annual average for the most recent 5 years (2016 – 2020) is 16.2 events (CPI-adjusted).

The United States experienced 4 severe storms with damages in excess of $1 billion in the first 6 months of 2021, including tornadoes, hail and high wind damage. The nation also had 2 flooding events with damages exceeding $1 billion, 1 winter storm with a deep freeze, and 1 heat wave-influenced drought.

The costliest event was the February 10 – 19 winter storm and cold wave in Texas that incurred direct losses of approximately $20 billion.

The next costliest disaster was the severe weather outbreak of April 27 – 28 in Texas and Oklahoma that caused $2.4 billion in damages.

The large hailstone you can see on the featured image fell on April 28, 2021, near Hondo, Texas. NCEI verified that it’s the largest hailstone on record to fall in Texas. It had a diameter of 16.29 cm (6.416 inches) and weighed 0.57 kg (1.26 pounds).

According to NOAA, these events resulted in the deaths of 331 people, but the actual number might be higher as it’s still not clear how many people died in the 2021 Texas deep freeze.

In 2020, the country had a record 22 weather and climate disasters, each causing at least $1 billion in damages. However, despite the record number of disasters in 2020, none of them made it among the costliest disasters ever to strike the U.S.

The 2021 YTD inflation-adjusted losses from all eight disasters were also at a near-record high for the first 6 months and came in at nearly $30 billion – only behind 2011, NOAA said.

The U.S. has experienced 298 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2021). The total cost of these 298 events exceeds $1.975 trillion.

https://watchers.news

Judge rejects religious freedom argument, rules school was justified in forcing out Christian teacher who refused to use students’ transgender pronouns

Phil Shiver – July 15, 2021

A federal judge in Indianapolis this week rejected an argument based on a Christian teacher’s religious liberty rights by ruling that a school was justified in forcing him to comply with the school’s transgender-affirming agenda or else resign.

Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana sided against 30-year-old John Kluge, a former orchestra teacher who claimed that in 2018 he was discriminated against by being forced to resign for refusing to refer to students by their preferred gender pronouns.

In a ruling issued on Monday, Magnus-Stinson concluded that Brownsburg Community School Corporation could not accommodate Kluge’s “religious beliefs without sustaining undue hardship,” and so it was justified in overriding his constitutional freedoms.

In support of her decision, the judge argued that Kluge’s “religious opposition to transgenderism is directly at odds with [the district’s] policy of respect for transgender students, which is grounded in supporting and affirming those students.”

She added that a public school “has an obligation to meet the needs of all of its students, not just a majority of students or the students that were unaware of or unbothered by Mr. Kluge’s practice of using last names only.”

Kluge taught orchestra at the school from 2014 to 2018, when he resigned over the transgender-affirming policies, WISH-TV reported.

According to court filings, the controversy began at the end of the 2016-2017 school year, when faculty at the school heard a presentation on “what it means to be transgender and how teachers can encourage and support transgender students.”

Soon after, the school adopted policies to promote transgenderism, one of which was the requirement that faculty and staff refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns.

But Kluge indicated to school administrators that due to his religious beliefs he would not be able to comply with the new policy.

https://www.theblaze.com

Parents File Lawsuit against Washington D.C. over Law Allowing Officials to Vaccinate Children without Parental Consent

Amanda Casanova – July 15, 2021

Parents in Washington, D.C., are suing the District over a new law that allows officials to vaccinate children in public schools without parental consent.

According to The Christian Post, the parents say they have a religious objection to the “Minor Consent to Vaccinations Act of 2020,” which was passed into law in November and went into effect in March.

The law allows children ages 11 and older to decide to receive a vaccination if they are deemed “capable of meeting the informed consent standard” and “able to comprehend … significant risks ordinarily inherent in the medical care.”

The law also allows insurance providers to seek reimbursement for the vaccination without parental consent, and insurance companies do not have to provide an “Explanation of Benefits,” which would give the vaccination details.

Four parents filed suit with support from the Children’s Health Defense and the Parental Rights Foundation.

“The D.C. Act is reckless, unconstitutional, and needlessly endangers children’s lives by stripping away parental protection and the protection of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986,” said Mary Holland, president and general counsel of the Children’s Health Defense, in a statement.

“The Minor Consent Act subverts the right and duty of parents to make informed decisions about whether their children should receive vaccinations, by both depriving them of the opportunity to make those decisions and by concealing from parents that their children have been asked to consent to vaccinations or may have indeed been vaccinated.”

District of Columbia Public Schools are not requiring the COVID-19 vaccination to enroll, but the district could vaccinate eligible students for COVID-19 under the new law.

In May, Lewis Ferebee, chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, sent an email to parents saying it was their “responsibility” to get vaccinated if they wanted to see their children back in school classrooms.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Rep. Cole Slams Democrats’ ‘Outrageous Move’ in Scrapping the Longstanding Hyde Amendment

Susan Jones – July 16, 2021

(CNSNews.com) – Pro-life advocates are expressing deep dismay after the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved the Fiscal Year 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill — omitting the Hyde Amendment for the first time in 45 years.

The Hyde Amendment, which became law in 1976, bars the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortion except to save the mother’s life or in cases of incest or rape.

The appropriations bill passed through committee on a 33-25 vote on Thursday and now goes to the full House, where some 200 Republicans already have pledged to vote against it.

Committee member Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who introduced the measure this year, said repeal of the “longstanding, bipartisan” Hyde Amendment is an “outrageous move” that “doesn’t reflect the views held by the majority of Americans who oppose publicly-funded abortions.”

During the markup, Cole told the committee, “My amendment is simple.”

Cole noted that even among Americans who support abortion, “most don’t believe tax dollars should be used for abortion. In fact, 60 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion,” he said.

Cole said scrapping the Hyde Amendment is another “overreach” by the far-left:

“But it also threatens to destabilize the entire appropriations process because this bill will never become law if this language is not included. Democrats in Congress simply do not have the majorities capable of passing this bill without Republican votes.

https://www.cnsnews.com

Pentagon Report Outlines ‘Increased Potential’ of Nuclear War

Eric Mack -July 8, 2021

A recently released Pentagon report warns of “increased potential” for nuclear war as the chief enemies of the U.S. are stockpiling nuclear weapons.

“No potential adversary has reduced either the role of nuclear weapons in its national security strategy or the number of nuclear weapons it fields,” according to the 2020 Pentagon report.

“Rather, they have moved decidedly in the opposite direction. As a result, there is an increased potential for regional conflicts involving nuclear-armed adversaries in several parts of the world and the potential for adversary nuclear escalation in crisis or conflict.”

The report, delivering “fundamental principles and guidance to plan, execute, and assess nuclear operations,” was finished in April 2020, but released publicly Tuesday, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported.

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are highlighted as the chief threats to nuclear war.

The report pointed out that the U.S. nuclear weapons program is designed as a deterrent, noting the goal will be “effectively assuring allies regarding the credibility of U.S. nuclear deterrence enables most to eschew possession of nuclear weapons, thereby contributing to U.S. nonproliferation goals.”

Failing deterrence of an attack on the U.S. or its allies, U.S. nuclear weapons will be reserved for “extreme circumstances,” according to the report.

https://www.newsmax.com

G20: Finance ministers meet to discuss global tax reform

DW – July 9, 2021

The Italian city of Venice is set to host a summit of finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 countries on Friday.

Top of the agenda is implementing a  global tax reform, spearheaded by the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, that proposes a minimum corporate income tax of 15%.

Some 130 countries already backed the plan, brokered by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The minimum tax rate would bring in an estimated $150 billion (€127 billion) in additional tax revenues globally.

Who benefits most from tax reform?

The G20 members, which comprise the world’s largest economies and account for over 80% of global GDP, are expected to be the main winners from the planned tax reform.

Tax havens that slashed their corporate taxes to incentivize multinational companies to set up headquarters there would lose out the most.

Nevertheless, many, such as Panama and Bermuda, have signed up.

Countries will have until the end of 2023 to put the proposed tax reform into law. But ministers may question the ability of the US government to get such a proposal through the hotly divided US Congress where Republicans have already fought against US President Joe Biden’s domestic tax plans.

Pockets of resistance

Not all countries have agreed to the deal, however, with EU member states Ireland, Estonia and Hungary holding back.

https://www.dw.com

WATCH: Rocks tumble down Sierra Nevada mountains after 6.0 quake & dozens of aftershocks rattle northern California

RT – July 9, 2021

A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake and dozens of aftershocks have struck the California-Nevada border area, triggering a rockslide in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and reports of shaking from San Francisco to Carson City.

The most powerful jolt, eventually upgraded by the US Geological Survey (USGS) to magnitud 6.0, happened at 3:49pm local time on Thursday, some 150 miles east of Sacramento. Within the next two hours, the area was rattled by over 50 aftershocks ranging between 2.5 and 4.6 on the Richter scale.

The quake was the “result of normal faulting in the shallow crust of the North America plate,” USGS said, noting however that there is a small chance this was a foreshock of a larger earthquake, according to CBS Sacramento.

The earthquake swarm occurred along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, but witnesses reported shaking across much of Northern California, including the Sacramento region, and even as far away as San Francisco’s Bay Area and Carson City, Nevada.

The quake also triggered rockslides and a brief closure of Highway 395, where several cars were reportedly struck by rocks, though nobody was injured, according to the California Highway Patrol. Large boulders were seen scattered along the road in footage shared on social media.

Besides the rockslides, the state’s Office of Emergency Services said there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.

https://www.rt.com

Birds are dying in the United States and no one knows why

DW – July 7, 2021

While humans and other animals continue to grapple with COVID-19, a new epidemic seems to have hit multiple bird species in North America.

Across the United States, people have been finding dead birds. The birds appear to have been hit by a wave of mysterious illnesses since April.

Ornithologists (bird experts) say the dead or ailing aviators tend to have swollen eyes as well as neurological issues that seem to be causing the birds to lose balance.

“It’s not unusual to see birds with eye problems,” says Jim Monsma, director and founder of the animal rescue center City Wildlife in Washington, D.C.

Monsma has worked in animal protection and rehabilitation within urban areas for 25 years, especially in the D.C. area.

But it took Monsma and his colleagues a while to realize that what they were seeing was “not usual.”

“We didn’t know at first we were dealing with an epidemic,” Monsma says.

Looking for the cause

They now think that multiple bird species have been contracting an odd illness for about two months. And the illness has spread at least 965 kilometers (600 miles) from the capital, across the Midwest regions of the United States and into the state of Indiana.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) published a report on the mysterious bird deaths in early June. Details remain hazy, but experts are trying to trace the epidemic back to its origins.

“The first one we saw was in April. In the beginning of June, that’s when we started sending birds to an animal center, where they were alarmed to hear our numbers at the time. Now, we’re up to just under 200 that are infected,” Monsma says.

Still no diagnosis

Animal centers have been examining the birds for a possible cause of death or illness, but tests have been inconclusive so far.

https://www.dw.com

UK-based Methodist Church votes to approve gay marriage, recognize cohabitating couples

Michael Gryboski – June 30, 2021

The Methodist Church of the United Kingdom passed resolutions to approve the blessing of same-sex unions and recognize cohabitating couples.

The London-based Methodist Conference announced Wednesday that it has voted to confirm the resolutions at its gathering held in Birmingham.

“A report on marriage and relationships, ‘God in Love Unites Us’, was received by the Conference in 2019 and the local District Synods were asked to consider the provisional resolutions and report back to this year’s Conference,” a statement detailed.

“The Conference received a report on the results of the local conferring which showed that 29 out of the 30 Synods confirmed support for the provisional resolutions.”

The conference voted 256-45 to allow its ministers to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies and for churches to be locations for such services.

The Rev. Sonia Hicks, the conference’s new president, said in a statement that the debate over the resolutions “has been conducted with grace and mutual respect.”

“As we move forward together after this historic day for our Church, we must remember to continue to hold each other in prayer, and to support each other respecting our differences,” Hicks said.

Regarding cohabitation, the conference approved a resolution stating that it “recognises that the love of God is present” either “through informal cohabitation or a more formal commitment entered into publicly.”

https://www.christianpost.com