New deadly disease dubbed VEXAS gives men fevers, blood clots, and inflammation

Strange Sounds – October 28, 2020

There are likely hundreds of men in the United States, if not more, who suffer from a just-discovered genetic disease that causes symptoms including blood clots in veins, recurrent fevers, lung system abnormalities, and — in 40% of patients — death. 

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health discovered the disease, named VEXAS, by working backwards: Rather than grouping people with similar symptoms and searching for biological explanations, they searched the genetic makeup of 2,500 people for variations that could be linked to the wide-ranging symptoms of their undiagnosed inflammatory conditions.

“We had many patients with undiagnosed inflammatory conditions who were coming to the NIH Clinical Center, and we were just unable to diagnose them,” said Dr. David B. Beck, clinical fellow at NHGRI and lead author of the paper.

“That’s when we had the idea of doing it the opposite way. Instead of starting with symptoms, start with a list of genes. Then, study the genomes of undiagnosed individuals and see where it takes us.“

Using that method, the scientists eventually identified three middle-aged men who all had the same mutations in a gene called UBA1. They later discovered 22 other men with the same mutations and similar symptoms, like blood clots and fevers.

The research team named the disease VEXAS after its key characteristics: vacuoles (unusual cavity-like structures in certain cells), E1 enzyme (which is related to UBA1), X-linked (per the chromosome it’s connected to), autoinflammatory (meaning the immune system accidentally attacks the body) and somatic (since the condition seems ot pop up sometime during the patient’s life, rather than at birth).

The researchers suspect VEXAS has only been found in men because it’s linked to the X chromosome, of which men only have one. Women’s additional X chromosome, they hypothesize, could be protective in this case.

https://strangesounds.org

Dumping Fukushima’s Water into the Ocean What could possibly go wrong?

Robert Hunziker – November 1, 2020

For nearly a decade the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has been streaming radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. As it happens, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) struggles to control it. Yet, the bulk of the radioactive water is stored in more than 1,000 water tanks.

Assuredly, Japan’s government has made an informal decision to dump Fukushima Daiichi’s radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. A formal announcement could come as early as this year. Currently, 1.2 million tonnes of radioactive water is stored.

The problem: TEPCO is running out of storage space.

Government of Japan’s solution: Dump it into the Pacific Ocean.

Third-party expert solutions: Build more storage tanks.

Environmental groups insist there is no reason why additional storage tanks cannot be constructed outside the perimeter of the plant. They accuse the government of seeking the cheapest and quickest solution to the problem. All along, authorities have promised the site will be safe in 40 years. Really, only 40 years!

According to IAEA’s Director General Grossi, who visited Fukushima in February 2020, dumping radioactive water that is mainly contaminated with tritium meets global standards of practice. (Source: Michael Jacob in Tokyo, What! Is Japan Really Planning to Dump Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into the Ocean? Sweden-Science-Innovation, June 10, 2020)

https://www.counterpunch.org

Massachusetts lawmakers seek to legalize abortion up to birth by adding it to state budget

Ryan Foley – November 11, 2020

As companion bills aimed at allowing abortion up until the moment of birth continue to be stalled, Massachusetts lawmakers are now working to insert an amendment into the state budget that would accomplish the same goal.

State Representative Claire Cronin, the co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, filed Amendment 759, which would be added to the annual budget bill. The leadership of both houses of the Massachusetts General Court have spoken out in favor of the amendment, which is similar to the ROE Act that failed.

“Following last week’s joint statement with Senate President Spika, in which we have expressed concern over the threat to women’s reproductive rights on the national level, it is urgent that the House take up an immediate measure to remove barriers to women’s reproductive health options and protect the concepts enshrined in Roe v. Wade,” state House Speaker Robert DeLeo said in a statement Monday.

DeLeo’s statement came just a week after he argued that the state budget was “not an appropriate place for major policy reform.”

Bill S.1209, “An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access” (ROE Act), was introduced on Jan. 22, 2019, on the 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.

If passed, the bill would allow abortionists to perform abortions when “the patient is beyond 24 weeks from the commencement of pregnancy and the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or physical or mental health, or in cases of lethal fetal abnormalities, or where the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.”

A companion bill, H.3220, “An Act Removing Obstacles and Expanding Access to Women’s Reproductive Health,” was introduced on the same day. Both bills were referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which has a deadline of Thursday to make a recommendation on the legislation. The deadline has already been extended twice since the bills were introduced at the beginning of the 191st General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

As Massachusetts Citizens for Life explained, the legislation has become known as the ROE Act to reflect its promise to “remove obstacles and expand access to abortion.”

https://www.christianpost.com

India’s top general says face-off with China could spark bigger conflict

Devjyot Ghoshal – November 6, 2020

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s top military commander said on Friday a tense border standoff with Chinese forces in the western Himalayas could spark a larger conflict, even as senior commanders from both sides met near the frontline for their eighth round of talks.

Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat said the situation was tense at the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in eastern Ladakh, where thousands of Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a months-long confrontation.

“We will not accept any shifting of the Line of Actual Control,” Rawat said in an online address.

“In the overall security calculus, border confrontations, transgressions and unprovoked tactical military actions spiraling into a larger conflict cannot therefore be discounted,” he said.

Brutal hand-to-hand combat in June left 20 Indian and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers dead, escalating tensions and triggering large deployments on the remote, desolate border area.

Both sides have since attempted to ease the situation through diplomatic and military channels, but have made little headway, leaving soldiers facing-off in sub-zero temperatures in Ladakh’s snow deserts.

Senior Indian and Chinese commanders were meeting on Friday in Ladakh, the eight round of talks between the military leaderships since the crisis began, officials in New Delhi said.

https://www.reuters.com

Super Typhoon “Goni” leaves 20 dead in Philippines, country’s strongest storm on record

–

Super Typhoon “Goni” (locally named Rolly) has left at least 20 fatalities and about 230 million dollars (11 billion pesos) worth of damage in the Philippines, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Thursday, November 5, 2020. Up to 1.2 million people or 300 000 families have been affected in Regions II, III, and V; CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, and NCR. It made landfall over Bato, Catanduanes, and Tiwi, Albay, on October 31, with maximum sustained winds of 225 km/h (140 mph) and gusts to 280 km/h (174 mph), making it the world’s most powerful storm of the year and the country’s strongest landfalling tropical cyclone on record.

Following its first landfall over Catanduanes, Goni brought severe flooding to wide swaths of the Bicol region, as well as lahar flow from the nearby Mayon volcano.

Goni cut a path of destruction as it smashed infrastructure, toppled trees, and caused mudslides.

At least 20 fatalities were reported, mostly from Bicol, while three others remain missing. At least 165 people sustained injuries in the storm’s onslaught.

In Camarines Sur, widespread power outages occurred as strong winds lashed the region. Flash floods overwhelmed local villages, while roads were blocked by debris from lahar flow from Mayon volcano.

Hundreds of houses were submerged, with the famous tourist destination Cagsawa Ruins heavily inundated and engulfed with mud. Significant damage was reported to Naga Airport and Legazpi Airport, along with the loss of contact with Virac Airport.

“We have experienced terrible wind speeds, lashing rains, and devastating flooding,” said Oxfam Philippines’ Country Director Lot Felizco.

“Goni knocked out mobile phone service, power lines, uprooted trees, and caused damage to critical infrastructure, including hospitals and markets. Homes made of light materials, particularly those near Mayon Volcano, were engulfed in floodwater and volcanic mudflows.”

https://watchers.news

Scientists discover ‘devastating’ NEW genetic disease that’s killed 40% of known patients by attacking lungs and immune system

RT – November 1, 2020

The new condition, which is caused by genetic mutations, has shown a particularly high death rate, as patients were not responding to any currently available treatments, the researchers said.

The disease – ‘vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory and somatic syndrome’ – has been dubbed VEXAS. It causes symptoms that include blood clots in veins, recurrent fevers, abnormalities in the lungs, and vacuoles – unusual cavity-like structures – in the myeloid cells, which play a crucial part in the human immune system.

Researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) came across the disease after analyzing the genome sequences of more than 2,500 people with undiagnosed inflammatory diseases. In comparing the data, they found that 25 adult males had particular mutations in the UBA1 gene, which is believed to be the source of VEXAS.

“Instead of looking at clinical similarities, we were instead taking advantage of shared genomic similarities that could help us discover a completely new disease,” said Daniel Kastner, the scientific director of the Intramural Research Program at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

The NIH reported that the new disease “can be life-threatening,” as 40 percent of the VEXAS patients the researchers studied have died. The high death toll revealed “the devastating consequences of the severe condition,” the team stated.

Kastner told NBC News that patients with VEXAS become “really sick,” and “don’t respond to any treatments, from high doses of steroids to various chemotherapies.”

https://www.rt.com

Christians Banned from Holding Prayer Vigils, Peaceful Protests Near UK Abortion Clinic

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. – October 9, 2020

The Manchester City Council has passed an order banning prayer vigils and peaceful protests around the Marie Stopes abortion clinic, the Christian Institute reports Friday.

The Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) has set up a buffer zone around the clinic in Fallowfield, within which people are forbidden to pray, distribute pro-life literature, or speak to anyone about abortion, measures pro-lifers have called “draconian” and an infringement on “freedom of speech.”

The one concession made by the council is a small designated space within the buffer zone where no more than three people may silently demonstrate with small placards.

Within the Restricted Area no person shall “protest, namely engage in any act of approval/disapproval or attempted act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services by any means,” the PSPO reads. “This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counseling.”

People are also prohibited from displaying or distributing “any text or images relating directly or indirectly to the termination of pregnancy,” the order adds.

Within the small Designated Zone no person may “display any individual poster, text or image, singularly or collectively greater that one sheet of A3 paper,” it establishes.

The International Director at 40 Days for Life, Robert Colquhoun, said that up to now the pro-life vigils have always been “peaceful, prayerful, and legal.” His group will comply with the law, he said, but will continue praying outside the buffer zone.

Marie Stopes International, one of the world’s largest abortion providers, has been campaigning for buffer zones around all abortion clinics in Great Britain, insisting that “the UK is a pro-choice nation.”

“We are a firmly pro-choice nation, but sadly, a small minority of people believe otherwise and would like to see the country take a backwards step on abortion,” Marie Stopes UK Managing Director Richard Bentley wrote last year.

“These anti-abortion groups who gather outside clinics have a detrimental impact on women, our team members and residents, and whether their behavior is subtle or overt, it is a form of discrimination against women and targeted street harassment,” he said.

https://www.breitbart.com

Washington D.C. Bill Allows Children 11 Years and Older to be Vaccinated Without Parental Knowledge

Dawn Richardson – November 6. 2020

On Oct. 7, 2020, during a hastily scheduled virtual meeting,1 four District of Columbia Council members making up the Health Committee2 amended and unanimously passed a minor consent bill, B23-0171.3

The bill would not only permit children aged 11 years and older to give consent for doctors and other vaccine administrators to give them vaccines without their parents’ knowledge or consent, but would also require insurance companies, vaccine administrators and schools to conceal from parents that the child has been vaccinated.

On Oct. 20, 2020,4 the entire DC Council voted in favor of the bill 12:15 on the first reading in yet another virtual online meeting6 with no public testimony. It was announced that the second reading, which will be the final vote, will take place on Nov. 10, 2020.7

NVIC issued an alert8 through the online NVIC Advocacy Portal when the bill had it’s first public hearing in June of 2019 advising opposition to the bill, which violated parental medical informed consent rights.

Testimony was taken,9 and NVIC submitted testimony against the bill.10

B23-0171 then sat for over a year untouched and unmoved.

In a revealing statement Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), the chair of the DC Health Committee which passed the bill, explained why the bill was all suddenly being revived and pushed through so quickly.

Gray was quoted in The Washington Post as saying,

“the hope of an imminent corona­virus vaccine gave the bill new urgency.”11

Primary sponsor of this bill, DC Council Member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), emphasized that coronavirus vaccines were her the main reason why she wants to remove parents from the process of vaccinating children.

Advocating for passage of her bill, she stated:

And given our ongoing pandemic and the incredible work being done to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s more important than ever I think that we reduce any and all barriers to these treatments and this legislation aims to do just that by increasing access to vaccines for minors who choose to get vaccinated but have not been unable to do so.12

If this bill passes, it is clear that minor children will be at risk of being pressured and coerced into getting a COVID-19 vaccine behind their parents’ back once it is available and added by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to the childhood vaccine schedule recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) .

https://medicalkidnap.com

When The Third Temple Is Built, These Temple Priests Will Be Ready To Serve

– October 30, 2020

Along with the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zephaniah, Rabbi Amichai Cohen of Tzfat in the Galilee is a descendant of Aaron, the first High Priest of Israel. These male descendants are known as kohanim.

I hereby take your fellow Leviim from among the Israelites; they are assigned to you in dedication to Hashem, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting;  Exodus 18:6

Among traditional Jews, the lineage of male descendants of Aaron the High Priest is carefully preserved. Interestingly, over 98% of Jewish men who identify as kohanim, and who have had their DNA tested, have a specific genetic marker in common.

Certain vestigial laws apply to kohanim today, but when Jerusalem will once again have a Temple, their priestly roles will become significantly more influential.

Cohen and his partner, Rabbi Peretz Rivkin, want to prepare the living descendants of Aaron the High Priest to be ready to step into their Biblically-mandated roles as soon as the Third Temple is operational.

https://www.israel365news.com

Japan expected to dump over 1 MILLION TONS of radioactive Fukushima water into Pacific, fishermen fear ‘catastrophic impact’

RT – 0ctober 16, 2020

The Japanese government is planning to release more than one million tons of contaminated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, angering fishermen, local media have reported.

Japan has debated what to do with the rapidly increasing store of radioactive wastewater for years, and now the decision to release it into the ocean could be confirmed by the end of the month.

Currently, Japan houses the water in more than 1,000 tanks, but with 170 additional tons of the radioactive by-product being produced every day, storage space is quickly running out.

It is estimated that all tanks will have reached maximum capacity by the summer of 2022 and Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Friday that the decision was one they could “not keep delaying,” Kyodo News reported.

The water is used to cool the Fukushima nuclear reactor core, which went into meltdown after the catastrophic 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck the plant.

The government previously considered building more tanks to house the additional water, or attempting to evaporate the water into the atmosphere, but an advisory panel recommended releasing it into the ocean as the most efficient solution. However, the release process is not expected to begin until 2022 and is likely to take 30 years to complete.

The prospect of an ocean release has reignited concerns among local fishermen who fear it could destroy their industry.

“We are terrified that if even one fish is found to have exceeded the [radiation] safety standards after the treated water is released, people’s trust in us will plummet,” Kyodo News quoted a local fisherman as saying.

https://www.rt.com