Sweden and Switzerland Begin Reversing Course on the Cashless Society
But 2026 Will Still Require Vigilance
December 23, 2025
“There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’; it’s an illusion. We are all human beings, and we all have a responsibility to support one another and to discover ways of wresting the power from the very, very few people who control all the cash and all the property.”
~ Roger Waters
By Breeauna Sagdal
Two European countries—Sweden, which though an EU member is not a member of the eurozone, and non-EU member Switzerland—currently provide interesting windows onto the worldwide battle to maintain cash as a meaningful payment option.
Once a leader in cashless “innovation,” Sweden is now actively reversing course to preserve cash. In 2023, it abandoned plans for an all-digital e-krona and is prioritizing payment system safety, while its Defense Ministry—citing vulnerabilities in electronic banking to potential cyberwarfare—distributes brochures advising households to keep at least a week’s supply of banknotes on hand.
But emerging circumstances prove the importance of continued vigilance in 2026. Let’s dive in.
Sweden’s Cash Inquiry
In recent years, Sweden has been a pioneer in digital payments, and mobile apps like Swish have dominated transactions, to the point where Sweden is one of the two countries in the world (along with Norway) with the lowest amount of cash in circulation (as a percentage of GDP).
In 2024, however, amid rising concerns over cybersecurity threats, power outages, and geopolitical instability, Swedish officials did an about-face and launched a “Cash Inquiry.”
One of the central proposals to have emerged from the Cash Inquiry is a requirement to accept cash for the sale of essential goods and services. This requirement would apply to supermarkets and other businesses and organizations providing essential goods, and entities like health centers that charge fees under public law.
Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, supports this measure as crucial, with Riksbank Governor Erik Thedéen stating in a press release that “People should always be able to pay for food, healthcare and medicines both digitally and with cash.”
In its submission to the country’s Cash Inquiry, the Riksbank has strongly advocated for legislative measures to protect physical money, warning that “the cash infrastructure is currently very vulnerable” and highlighting cash’s critical role in resilience. Says Thedéen, “The increasingly turbulent global situation, increased cyber attacks and also the major power outages in southern Europe show the importance of being able to make payments even when the internet is down.”
In addition, Thedéen has emphasized that banks must take greater responsibility for handling cash, including strengthening mechanisms for overnight deposits and for supplying businesses with petty cash. The Riksbank also wants banks to be legally required to provide private individuals with access to basic cash services (such as depositing banknotes)—until now, not a legal obligation.
Switzerland’s Referendum
Switzerland is another low-cash economy where mobile app and card payments are increasingly dominant. But though physical money comprises only around a quarter of transactions, the country appears to be locked in a clash over cash.
Politicians in the Liberty Movement submitted more than 100,000 signatures, enough to force a public referendum on their “Cash is Liberty ” initiative. If passed, cash acceptance would be permanently enshrined in the country’s constitution, guaranteeing the continued circulation of Swiss franc coins and banknotes.
While paying lip service to the “major importance of cash for the economy and society,” the national government opposed the initiative and introduced a counterproposal. However, the lower house of parliament overwhelmingly rejected the government’s attempt to block the constitutional amendment, and the measure is now expected to be voted on by the upper house in the coming year.
In October, the recently appointed president of the Swiss National Bank, Martin Schlegel, reaffirmed that cash remains a “widely used payment method” and unveiled plans for a new series of franc notes. Schlegel also highlighted the unique strengths of cash—most notably, its reliability during power outages and technical failures.
Vigilance Required
Both Sweden and Switzerland illustrate the tensions surfacing amid the growing recognition that fully cashless societies risk exclusion and fragility. The recent developments around cash seem to signal a broader global rethink. As digital threats mount, cash is reemerging not as a relic, but as a vital pillar of secure and accessible payment systems.
However, as nations seek to balance innovation with preparedness, the U.S. adoption of stablecoins and enabling legislation, and other digital currency developments worldwide, could tip the scales back in the other direction.
For example, though Sweden determined in 2023 that there was no societal need for an e-krona, Riksbank Governor Thedéen—closely eyeing digital currency developments in the U.S. and EU—stated in early December that Sweden might need to investigate the matter anew to avoid being left behind.
Thedéen said,
“In 2029, the digital euro will most likely be introduced. And if it has major effects on payment systems in Europe, there may be reason to take that into account, and then there may be reason to be a little more advanced than we are today…. Since [2021 and 2022], for example, stablecoins have gone from nothing to being quite a big thing, not least in US dollars. Five years from now it might be a very big change. The payment system is changing very quickly now.”
In Switzerland, with the upper house vote on constitutionally protected cash still months away, the national government continues to advance digital currency initiatives. Despite significant backlash from cash-friendly policymakers due to concerns over privacy and financial stability, the government aims to position Switzerland—home to “Crypto Valley” and over 1,000 fintech and blockchain companies—as a leader in the integration of digital currencies.
Turtling for Cash
As humanity courageously embraces a new year, it’s an important time to stop and gratefully reflect on the wins for cash in 2025. Although many hurdles lay ahead that require awareness and vigilance, it is the turtle who wins the race.
The Great Alzheimer’s Scam and the Proven Cures They’ve Buried for Billions
January 2, 2026 A Midwestern Doctor and Dr. Mercola 5
Freepik
Over 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s — equating to hundreds of billions in potential (Medicare funded) sales each year. Almost all Alzheimer’s research for decades has been directed toward eliminating amyloid that destroys brain tissue, even after the basis for much of this work was shown to stem from fraudulent research. Chronic inflammation plays a much larger role in the disease.
Last year, Alzheimer’s was estimated to cost the United States 360 billion dollars! The billions spent on amyloid Alzheimer’s research have only produced three drugs, all of which offer minuscule benefits and severe side effects. Other affordable remedies are available. DMSO, for example, has incredible neuroprotective qualities that have spared many stroke and spinal cord injury victims from a life of “incurable” disability. Decades of forgotten research also show it treats cognitive impairment and dementia.
[Note: The Need To Know News does not give medical advice, but reports the news; please consult with your own health experts before using any treatment]
amyloid plaques
[Note: this article published by Dr. Mercola is a shortened version of an article originally posted by a Midwestern Doctor – links can be found at the end of this post]
Story at-a-glance
Alzheimer’s disease is commonly thought to result from abnormal plaque buildup in the brain that gradually destroys brain tissue. Almost all Alzheimer’s research for decades has been directed toward eliminating amyloid, even after the basis for much of this work was shown to stem from fraudulent research
The billions spent on amyloid Alzheimer’s research have only produced three drugs, all of which offer minuscule benefits and severe side effects
In contrast, affordable and straightforward treatments that reduce dementia or the preceding cognitive impairment have been maligned and buried by the medical industry
DMSO for example, has incredible neuroprotective qualities that have spared many stroke and spinal cord injury victims from a life of “incurable” disability. Decades of forgotten research also show it treats cognitive impairment and dementia
This article will review the great amyloid scam and the simple therapies for cognitive decline we’re never told about
Medicine is strongly biased towards adopting biochemical models of disease as this facilitates costly therapeutics being developed for each disease and hence sustains the medical industry. Unfortunately, in many cases, the biochemical approach to disease, at best, can manage symptoms, and as a result, many conditions remain “incurable” while non-patentable natural therapies that can cure them languish in obscurity.
That’s why, despite spending an ever increasing amount of money on Alzheimer’s research (e.g., the NIH spent 2.9 billion in 2020 and 3.9 billion in 20241), we’ve still failed to make any real progress on the disease. This is particularly remarkable given the vast costs to the country (e.g., last year Alzheimer’s was estimated to cost the United States 360 billion dollars2) and the even greater social costs that accompany it.
The Amyloid Juggernaut
In 1906, plaques (of amyloid) in the brain were identified as the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. As the years have gone by, the majority of research for treating Alzheimer’s disease has been targeted at eliminating these plaques. Unfortunately, to quote a 2022 article:3
“Hundreds of clinical trials of amyloid-targeted therapies have yielded few glimmers of promise, however; only the underwhelming Aduhelm has gained FDA approval. Yet Aβ still dominates research and drug development. NIH spent about $1.6 billion on projects that mention amyloids in this fiscal year, about half its overall Alzheimer’s funding.
Scientists who advance other potential Alzheimer’s causes, such as immune dysfunction or inflammation, complain they have been sidelined by the ‘amyloid mafia.’ Forsayeth says the amyloid hypothesis became ‘the scientific equivalent of the Ptolemaic model of the Solar System,’ in which the Sun and planets rotate around Earth.”
Note: Frequently, when a faulty paradigm fails to explain the disease it claims to address, rather than admit the paradigm is flawed, its adherents will label each conflicting piece of evidence as a paradox (e.g., the French “paradox” disproves the notion cholesterol causes heart disease4) and dig deeper and deeper until they can find something to continue propping up their ideology (e.g., cholesterol reducing statins provide almost no benefit for heart disease while having significant side effects yet continue being pushed on patients).
The consistent failure of the amyloid model to cure Alzheimer’s gradually invited increasing skepticism towards it, which resulted in more and more scientists studying alternative models of the disease. Before long, they found other factors played a far more significant role in causing the disease (e.g., chronic inflammation), and by 2006, this perspective appeared poised to change the direction of Alzheimer’s research.
Join the Coalition! Become an affiliate member today! Click Here!
In response, the amyloid proponents pivoted to defending their failed hypothesis was due not to amyloid clumps, but rather toxic parts of it (oligomers) and a Nature 2006 paper appeared which identified a previously unknown toxic oligomer, Aβ*56, and provided proof that it caused dementia in rats.5
This paper cemented both the amyloid beta and toxic oligomer hypotheses (as it provided the proof many adherents to the theory had been waiting for) and rapidly became one of the most cited works in the field of Alzheimer’s research. Its authors rose to academic stardom, produced further papers validating their initial hypothesis, and billions more were invested by both the NIH and the pharmaceutical industry in research of the amyloid and toxic oligomer hypothesis.
It should be noted that some were skeptical of their findings and likewise were unable to replicate this data, but rarely had a voice in the debate:
“The spotty evidence that Aβ*56 plays a role in Alzheimer’s had [long] raised eyebrows.6 Wilcock has long doubted studies that claim to use ‘purified’ Aβ*56. Such oligomers are notoriously unstable, converting to other oligomer types spontaneously. Multiple types can be present in a sample even after purification efforts, making it hard to say any cognitive effects are due to Aβ*56 alone, she notes — assuming it exists.
In fact, Wilcock and others say, several labs have tried and failed to find Aβ*56, although few have published those findings. Journals are often uninterested in negative results, and researchers can be reluctant to contradict a famous investigator.”
The Amyloid Scandal
At the end of 2021, a neuroscientist physician was hired by investors to evaluate an experimental Alzheimer’s drug and discovered signs that its data consisted of doctored Western Blots (and therefore erroneous assessments of what oligomers were present within research subjects’ brains).7 As he explored the topic further, he discovered other papers within the Alzheimer’s literature had been flagged for containing doctored Western Blots.
Note: Western blots, used to test for proteins, are one of the few easily detectable forms of research fraud (e.g., we discovered Pfizer submitted fake Western blots to regulators to “prove” their vaccine worked). Regrettably, far more undetectable fraud exists throughout the scientific literature (e.g., independent researchers comparing regulatory submissions discovered Pfizer also submitted doctored data on where the COVID vaccine is distributed in the body8).
Before long, the neuroscientist noticed three of those suspect papers had been published by the same author and decided to investigate the author’s other publications. This led him to the seminal 2006 Alzheimer’s publication, which contained clear signs of fraud.9
As investigation then uncovered 20 doctored papers written by the author, 10 of which pertained to Aβ*56 (along with a co-researcher attesting to earlier scientific misconduct by the author).
The Amyloid Industry
One of the remarkable things about this monumental fraud was how little was done about it. For example, the NIH was notified in January 2022, yet in May 2022, beyond nothing being done, the NIH gave the suspect researcher a coveted $764,792 research grant (signed off by another one of the authors of the 2006 paper10).
In July 2022, Science published an article exposing the incident and the clear fraud that had occurred.11 Despite this, the researcher was allowed to remain in his position as a tenured medical school professor.12 It was not until June 2024 that the 2006 article was retracted at the request of the authors13 — all of whom denied being at fault and insisted the doctored images had not affected the article’s conclusions.
Eventually, on January 29, 2025, during his confirmation hearing, RFK cited the paper as an example of the institutional fraud and wasted tax dollars within the NIH, and a few days later, the suspect researcher announced his resignation from the medical school professorship (while still maintaining his innocence).14
This odd behavior (e.g., the medical field continues to insist the proven fraud has not disproven the Amyloid hypothesis) likely results from how much money is at stake — beyond the research dollars, roughly 7 million adults have Alzheimer’s — equating to hundreds of billions in potential (Medicare funded) sales each year.15
The Failed Amyloid Drugs
Recently, a monoclonal antibody that made immune cells target amyloid demonstrated limited success in treating Alzheimer’s — which was embraced as revolutionary by the medical community, the pharmaceutical industry, and drug regulators. In turn, the first new drug received accelerated approval (which the FDA proudly announced).16 The second then received a quiet backdoor approval (due to the immense controversy surrounding the first),17 and the third was partially approved a year and a half later.18
Each year, JP Morgan (Chase Bank) hosts a private conference for pharmaceutical investors that sets the tone for the entire industry. In 2023, its focus (covered in detail here) was on the incredible profitability of the new Alzheimer’s drugs and the GLP-1s like Ozempic (which the FDA has also relentlessly promoted). Most remarkably, the (widely viewed as corrupt) FDA commissioner was a keynote speaker, and a few days before the conference, had enacted the second backdoor approval.
However, despite the rosy pictures painted around the drugs (which each attacked different aspects of amyloids), they were highly controversial as:
•The FDA’s independent advisory panel, in a very unusual move, voted 10-0 (with one abstaining) against approving Aduhelm, the first amyloid drug (which targeted amyloid plaques), but the FDA approved it anyways. In a highly unprecedented move, three of the advisors then resigned, calling it “probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history.”19
•That drug was priced at $56,000 a year — making it sufficient to bankrupt Medicare, (which attracted a Congressional investigation).20
•Brain swelling or brain bleeding was found in 41% of patients enrolled in its studies.21 Additionally, headaches (including migraines and occipital neuralgia), falls, diarrhea, confusion, and delirium were also notably elevated compared to placebo.
•No improvement in Alzheimer’s was noted; rather one analysis found it slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s by 20% (although this could have been a protocol artifact rather than a real effect).
The second monoclonal antibody (which targeted amyloid precursors) had a somewhat better risk benefit profile22 (only 21% experienced brain bleeding and swelling due to reduced targeting of stable amyloid plaques), and 26.4% reduction in the progression of Alzheimer’s was detected in the trial (which for context, translated to a 0.45 reduction on a scale where a reduction of at least 1 to 2 points is needed to create an impact which is in any way meaningful for a patient).
The third monoclonal (which targeted amyloid plaques thought to be more pathologic)23 was also contested as it caused 36.8% of recipients to develop brain bleeding or swelling, like the other amyloid medications, frequently caused headaches and infusion reactions (e.g., nausea, vomiting, changes in blood pressure, hypersensitive reactions or anaphylaxis) and there were reasons to suspect the trial had greatly overstated its minimal benefits.
Remarkably, despite widespread protest against the third drug, the FDA’s new advisory panel voted unanimously in favor of it, even though it had a very similar mechanism, efficacy, and toxicity to the previously unanimously rejected amyloid drug.
It should therefore come as no surprise that, when the British Medical Journal conducted an independent investigation, it found that, within publicly available databases, 9 out of 9 (assessable) members of the advisory committee had significant financial conflicts of interest.24
Fortunately, despite the aggressive promotion of amyloid drugs and the industry’s best attempts to promote the sector, the market somewhat recognized how bad they were. The first drug had its price halved (then was withdrawn as no one wanted it — making around 5 million dollars total),25 while the other two have had very modest sales (e.g., 290 million for the most popular one26).
What Amyloids Drugs Show Us
From this, four things stand out:
•These drugs consistently damage brain tissue, indicating that their mechanism of action was inherently dangerous (e.g., it creates brain swelling by causing immune cells attacking amyloid also to attack brain tissue, or it creates brain bleeding by removing amyloid plaque that patches vessel walls and stabilizes brain tissue). Remarkably, despite this issue being recognized, it has not deterred the usage of these class drugs.
•Removing amyloid offers minimal benefit and may be counterproductive. In fact, one of the only protocols that has had proven success in treating Alzheimer’s instead views amyloid as a protective mechanism the brain uses to prevent further damage.
•An absolutely absurd amount of money and time has been wasted on this endeavor due to the medical field’s need to find a patentable drug.
•The focus on these lucrative drugs has diverted attention from other (off-patent) treatments that are more likely to help Alzheimer’s patients.
For example, a randomized controlled trial which gave MCTs derived from coconut found that over 6 months,27 80% remained stable or improved — which for context, is better than what any of the amyloid drug trials showed, and more importantly, does not cause brain bleeds (and costs a lot less than the annual rough $30,000 cost for those drugs).
Note: Numerous readers have shared that coconut oil improved their relative’s dementia.
Likewise, very few are aware of a 2022 study that should have revolutionized the entire Alzheimer’s field:28
change in cognitive performance
Save
Note: The RECODE protocol was based around identifying the underlying cause of a patient’s cognitive impairment (as five different things can cause dementia), and then providing appropriate natural therapies to address the applicable cause. Since then, many others have replicated its success in their patients.
DMSO and Dementia
Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is a naturally occurring compound that has a variety of unique healing properties that allow it to rescue tissues from dying and revive those damaged from previous injuries — best demonstrated by decades of evidence showing DMSO can heal strokes, brain bleeds, severe concussions, and spinal cord injuries and save patients from a lifetime of paralysis.
lance grindle dmso
As many of DMSO’s mechanisms directly counteract the processes that trigger dementia, I have received many accounts like these from readers:
“My uncle’s wife has dementia and has been unable to speak for over a year. My mom recently visited them and told them about DMSO. He began to give his wife DMSO orally. After two weeks she began to talk again.29
I read the article and began giving it to my 93 year old mother in her juice every morning at the end of November. She has had some form of dementia for over 15 years. Since taking the DMSO, she no longer suffers with severe sundowners. She is more ‘with it’ and can communicate and laugh with us. Her personality is back. She is crossing her legs again and lifting her pinky finger when drinking her coffee. It’s a lot of little things that make a difference.
She is able to understand when I am asking her to use the bathroom. She is more cognitive and has started coloring in her coloring books again.30
I deeply appreciate your posts on DMSO. You helped bring spontaneous interaction back into the life of my father with Alzheimer’s.”31
Numerous studies support these experiences:
•When rats had their carotid arteries surgically modified to reduce the blood going to the brain, DMSO prevented both the neuronal damage and the significant loss of spatial memory and learning that otherwise occurred.32
•In a similar study, rats who developed persistent and severe memory impairment from reduced brain blood flow received DMSO and FDP for 7 days, which improved their memory by 54%, nearly reaching the cognitive function rats whose blood flow was never cut off.33,34
•In rats, daily DMSO counteracted memory impairment induced by intracerebroventricular STZ infusions,35 while in a similar study,36 DMSO and Ginkgo biloba improved learning and memory in rats given Alzheimer’s disease.
•Drinking minute amounts of DMSO prevented the visual degeneration otherwise seen in rats engineered to have early Alzheimer’s disease.37 In another study of those rats, it protected key brain cells from disappearing and enhanced both their spatial memory and smell (while decreasing their anxiety).38 Likewise, in rats bred to develop cerebellar disorders, DMSO prevented age-related deterioration of certain cognitive functions (e.g., memory and spatial learning).
These results have also been replicated in humans:
•In 18 patients with probable Alzheimer’s after three months, DMSO greatly improved memory, concentration, and communication, alongside a significant decrease in disorientation in time and space.39
•In 104 elderly adults with dementia due to cerebrovascular diseases, concussions, or Parkinson’s, DMSO combined with amino acids significantly improved their cognition and motor function.40
•In 100 patients with cerebrovascular diseases (many of whom had dementia),41 DMSO caused almost all to have their cardiovascular parameters improve and:
“Recovery from the general symptoms was positive; there were favorable changes which were reflected in a feeling of well being, the recovery of agility, changes of mood from depressed to gay, improvement of sleeping, and clearer speech. As regards the ‘focal’ results, accelerated recovery from hemiplegia and hemiparesia was registered. A speedier recovery of speech in cases of defined or indicated aphasia took place.”
Conclusion
The Alzheimer’s story illustrates how medical science’s relentless focus on commercializable products has failed the country. This must be replaced with prioritizing understanding the root causes of the chronic illnesses we face.
Fortunately, now that MAHA can set national health policy and independent media has broken the media’s monopoly over the truth due to the lies we saw throughout COVID-19, more and more are stepping outside the medical orthodoxy to pursue therapies that can actually heal them. An opportunity like this has never existed before, and it is critical each of us brings attention to the need for real medicine before the window to fundamentally change the practice of medicine closes.
Author’s Note: This is an abridged version of a longer article which discusses the actual causes and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and the cognitive decline which precedes it. That article, along with additional links and references, can be read here. Additionally, a companion article on how DMSO treats neurological injuries (e.g., strokes, brain hemorrhages, traumatic brain injuries, spinal paralysis and developmental delay) can be read here. 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s — equating to hundreds of billions in potential (Medicare funded) sales each year. Almost all Alzheimer’s research for decades has been directed toward eliminating amyloid that destroys brain tissue, even after the basis for much of this work was shown to stem from fraudulent research. Chronic inflammation plays a much larger role in the disease.
Last year, Alzheimer’s was estimated to cost the United States 360 billion dollars! The billions spent on amyloid Alzheimer’s research have only produced three drugs, all of which offer minuscule benefits and severe side effects. Other affordable remedies are available. DMSO, for example, has incredible neuroprotective qualities that have spared many stroke and spinal cord injury victims from a life of “incurable” disability. Decades of forgotten research also show it treats cognitive impairment and dementia.
[Note: The Need To Know News does not give medical advice, but reports the news; please consult with your own health experts before using any treatment]
.
[Note: this article published by Dr. Mercola is a shortened version of an article originally posted by a Midwestern Doctor – links can be found at the end of this post]
Story at-a-glance
Alzheimer’s disease is commonly thought to result from abnormal plaque buildup in the brain that gradually destroys brain tissue. Almost all Alzheimer’s research for decades has been directed toward eliminating amyloid, even after the basis for much of this work was shown to stem from fraudulent research
The billions spent on amyloid Alzheimer’s research have only produced three drugs, all of which offer minuscule benefits and severe side effects
In contrast, affordable and straightforward treatments that reduce dementia or the preceding cognitive impairment have been maligned and buried by the medical industry
DMSO for example, has incredible neuroprotective qualities that have spared many stroke and spinal cord injury victims from a life of “incurable” disability. Decades of forgotten research also show it treats cognitive impairment and dementia
This article will review the great amyloid scam and the simple therapies for cognitive decline we’re never told about
Medicine is strongly biased towards adopting biochemical models of disease as this facilitates costly therapeutics being developed for each disease and hence sustains the medical industry. Unfortunately, in many cases, the biochemical approach to disease, at best, can manage symptoms, and as a result, many conditions remain “incurable” while non-patentable natural therapies that can cure them languish in obscurity.
That’s why, despite spending an ever increasing amount of money on Alzheimer’s research (e.g., the NIH spent 2.9 billion in 2020 and 3.9 billion in 20241), we’ve still failed to make any real progress on the disease. This is particularly remarkable given the vast costs to the country (e.g., last year Alzheimer’s was estimated to cost the United States 360 billion dollars2) and the even greater social costs that accompany it.
The Amyloid Juggernaut
In 1906, plaques (of amyloid) in the brain were identified as the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. As the years have gone by, the majority of research for treating Alzheimer’s disease has been targeted at eliminating these plaques. Unfortunately, to quote a 2022 article:3
“Hundreds of clinical trials of amyloid-targeted therapies have yielded few glimmers of promise, however; only the underwhelming Aduhelm has gained FDA approval. Yet Aβ still dominates research and drug development. NIH spent about $1.6 billion on projects that mention amyloids in this fiscal year, about half its overall Alzheimer’s funding.
Scientists who advance other potential Alzheimer’s causes, such as immune dysfunction or inflammation, complain they have been sidelined by the ‘amyloid mafia.’ Forsayeth says the amyloid hypothesis became ‘the scientific equivalent of the Ptolemaic model of the Solar System,’ in which the Sun and planets rotate around Earth.”
Note: Frequently, when a faulty paradigm fails to explain the disease it claims to address, rather than admit the paradigm is flawed, its adherents will label each conflicting piece of evidence as a paradox (e.g., the French “paradox” disproves the notion cholesterol causes heart disease4) and dig deeper and deeper until they can find something to continue propping up their ideology (e.g., cholesterol reducing statins provide almost no benefit for heart disease while having significant side effects yet continue being pushed on patients).
The consistent failure of the amyloid model to cure Alzheimer’s gradually invited increasing skepticism towards it, which resulted in more and more scientists studying alternative models of the disease. Before long, they found other factors played a far more significant role in causing the disease (e.g., chronic inflammation), and by 2006, this perspective appeared poised to change the direction of Alzheimer’s research.
Join the Coalition! Become an affiliate member today! Click Here!
In response, the amyloid proponents pivoted to defending their failed hypothesis was due not to amyloid clumps, but rather toxic parts of it (oligomers) and a Nature 2006 paper appeared which identified a previously unknown toxic oligomer, Aβ*56, and provided proof that it caused dementia in rats.5
This paper cemented both the amyloid beta and toxic oligomer hypotheses (as it provided the proof many adherents to the theory had been waiting for) and rapidly became one of the most cited works in the field of Alzheimer’s research. Its authors rose to academic stardom, produced further papers validating their initial hypothesis, and billions more were invested by both the NIH and the pharmaceutical industry in research of the amyloid and toxic oligomer hypothesis.
It should be noted that some were skeptical of their findings and likewise were unable to replicate this data, but rarely had a voice in the debate:
“The spotty evidence that Aβ*56 plays a role in Alzheimer’s had [long] raised eyebrows.6 Wilcock has long doubted studies that claim to use ‘purified’ Aβ*56. Such oligomers are notoriously unstable, converting to other oligomer types spontaneously. Multiple types can be present in a sample even after purification efforts, making it hard to say any cognitive effects are due to Aβ*56 alone, she notes — assuming it exists.
In fact, Wilcock and others say, several labs have tried and failed to find Aβ*56, although few have published those findings. Journals are often uninterested in negative results, and researchers can be reluctant to contradict a famous investigator.”
The Amyloid Scandal
At the end of 2021, a neuroscientist physician was hired by investors to evaluate an experimental Alzheimer’s drug and discovered signs that its data consisted of doctored Western Blots (and therefore erroneous assessments of what oligomers were present within research subjects’ brains).7 As he explored the topic further, he discovered other papers within the Alzheimer’s literature had been flagged for containing doctored Western Blots.
Note: Western blots, used to test for proteins, are one of the few easily detectable forms of research fraud (e.g., we discovered Pfizer submitted fake Western blots to regulators to “prove” their vaccine worked). Regrettably, far more undetectable fraud exists throughout the scientific literature (e.g., independent researchers comparing regulatory submissions discovered Pfizer also submitted doctored data on where the COVID vaccine is distributed in the body8).
Before long, the neuroscientist noticed three of those suspect papers had been published by the same author and decided to investigate the author’s other publications. This led him to the seminal 2006 Alzheimer’s publication, which contained clear signs of fraud.9
As investigation then uncovered 20 doctored papers written by the author, 10 of which pertained to Aβ*56 (along with a co-researcher attesting to earlier scientific misconduct by the author).
The Amyloid Industry
One of the remarkable things about this monumental fraud was how little was done about it. For example, the NIH was notified in January 2022, yet in May 2022, beyond nothing being done, the NIH gave the suspect researcher a coveted $764,792 research grant (signed off by another one of the authors of the 2006 paper10).
In July 2022, Science published an article exposing the incident and the clear fraud that had occurred.11 Despite this, the researcher was allowed to remain in his position as a tenured medical school professor.12 It was not until June 2024 that the 2006 article was retracted at the request of the authors13 — all of whom denied being at fault and insisted the doctored images had not affected the article’s conclusions.
Eventually, on January 29, 2025, during his confirmation hearing, RFK cited the paper as an example of the institutional fraud and wasted tax dollars within the NIH, and a few days later, the suspect researcher announced his resignation from the medical school professorship (while still maintaining his innocence).14
This odd behavior (e.g., the medical field continues to insist the proven fraud has not disproven the Amyloid hypothesis) likely results from how much money is at stake — beyond the research dollars, roughly 7 million adults have Alzheimer’s — equating to hundreds of billions in potential (Medicare funded) sales each year.15
The Failed Amyloid Drugs
Recently, a monoclonal antibody that made immune cells target amyloid demonstrated limited success in treating Alzheimer’s — which was embraced as revolutionary by the medical community, the pharmaceutical industry, and drug regulators. In turn, the first new drug received accelerated approval (which the FDA proudly announced).16 The second then received a quiet backdoor approval (due to the immense controversy surrounding the first),17 and the third was partially approved a year and a half later.18
Each year, JP Morgan (Chase Bank) hosts a private conference for pharmaceutical investors that sets the tone for the entire industry. In 2023, its focus (covered in detail here) was on the incredible profitability of the new Alzheimer’s drugs and the GLP-1s like Ozempic (which the FDA has also relentlessly promoted). Most remarkably, the (widely viewed as corrupt) FDA commissioner was a keynote speaker, and a few days before the conference, had enacted the second backdoor approval.
However, despite the rosy pictures painted around the drugs (which each attacked different aspects of amyloids), they were highly controversial as:
•The FDA’s independent advisory panel, in a very unusual move, voted 10-0 (with one abstaining) against approving Aduhelm, the first amyloid drug (which targeted amyloid plaques), but the FDA approved it anyways. In a highly unprecedented move, three of the advisors then resigned, calling it “probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history.”19
•That drug was priced at $56,000 a year — making it sufficient to bankrupt Medicare, (which attracted a Congressional investigation).20
•Brain swelling or brain bleeding was found in 41% of patients enrolled in its studies.21 Additionally, headaches (including migraines and occipital neuralgia), falls, diarrhea, confusion, and delirium were also notably elevated compared to placebo.
•No improvement in Alzheimer’s was noted; rather one analysis found it slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s by 20% (although this could have been a protocol artifact rather than a real effect).
The second monoclonal antibody (which targeted amyloid precursors) had a somewhat better risk benefit profile22 (only 21% experienced brain bleeding and swelling due to reduced targeting of stable amyloid plaques), and 26.4% reduction in the progression of Alzheimer’s was detected in the trial (which for context, translated to a 0.45 reduction on a scale where a reduction of at least 1 to 2 points is needed to create an impact which is in any way meaningful for a patient).
The third monoclonal (which targeted amyloid plaques thought to be more pathologic)23 was also contested as it caused 36.8% of recipients to develop brain bleeding or swelling, like the other amyloid medications, frequently caused headaches and infusion reactions (e.g., nausea, vomiting, changes in blood pressure, hypersensitive reactions or anaphylaxis) and there were reasons to suspect the trial had greatly overstated its minimal benefits.
Remarkably, despite widespread protest against the third drug, the FDA’s new advisory panel voted unanimously in favor of it, even though it had a very similar mechanism, efficacy, and toxicity to the previously unanimously rejected amyloid drug.
It should therefore come as no surprise that, when the British Medical Journal conducted an independent investigation, it found that, within publicly available databases, 9 out of 9 (assessable) members of the advisory committee had significant financial conflicts of interest.24
Fortunately, despite the aggressive promotion of amyloid drugs and the industry’s best attempts to promote the sector, the market somewhat recognized how bad they were. The first drug had its price halved (then was withdrawn as no one wanted it — making around 5 million dollars total),25 while the other two have had very modest sales (e.g., 290 million for the most popular one26).
What Amyloids Drugs Show Us
From this, four things stand out:
•These drugs consistently damage brain tissue, indicating that their mechanism of action was inherently dangerous (e.g., it creates brain swelling by causing immune cells attacking amyloid also to attack brain tissue, or it creates brain bleeding by removing amyloid plaque that patches vessel walls and stabilizes brain tissue). Remarkably, despite this issue being recognized, it has not deterred the usage of these class drugs.
•An absolutely absurd amount of money and time has been wasted on this endeavor due to the medical field’s need to find a patentable drug.
•The focus on these lucrative drugs has diverted attention from other (off-patent) treatments that are more likely to help Alzheimer’s patients.
For example, a randomized controlled trial which gave MCTs derived from coconut found that over 6 months,27 80% remained stable or improved — which for context, is better than what any of the amyloid drug trials showed, and more importantly, does not cause brain bleeds (and costs a lot less than the annual rough $30,000 cost for those drugs).
Note: Numerous readers have shared that coconut oil improved their relative’s dementia.
Likewise, very few are aware of a 2022 study that should have revolutionized the entire Alzheimer’s field:28
Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is a naturally occurring compound that has a variety of unique healing properties that allow it to rescue tissues from dying and revive those damaged from previous injuries — best demonstrated by decades of evidence showing DMSO can heal strokes, brain bleeds, severe concussions, and spinal cord injuries and save patients from a lifetime of paralysis.
“My uncle’s wife has dementia and has been unable to speak for over a year. My mom recently visited them and told them about DMSO. He began to give his wife DMSO orally. After two weeks she began to talk again.29
I read the article and began giving it to my 93 year old mother in her juice every morning at the end of November. She has had some form of dementia for over 15 years. Since taking the DMSO, she no longer suffers with severe sundowners. She is more ‘with it’ and can communicate and laugh with us. Her personality is back. She is crossing her legs again and lifting her pinky finger when drinking her coffee. It’s a lot of little things that make a difference.
She is able to understand when I am asking her to use the bathroom. She is more cognitive and has started coloring in her coloring books again.30
I deeply appreciate your posts on DMSO. You helped bring spontaneous interaction back into the life of my father with Alzheimer’s.”31
Numerous studies support these experiences:
•When rats had their carotid arteries surgically modified to reduce the blood going to the brain, DMSO prevented both the neuronal damage and the significant loss of spatial memory and learning that otherwise occurred.32
•In a similar study, rats who developed persistent and severe memory impairment from reduced brain blood flow received DMSO and FDP for 7 days, which improved their memory by 54%, nearly reaching the cognitive function rats whose blood flow was never cut off.33,34
•In rats, daily DMSO counteracted memory impairment induced by intracerebroventricular STZ infusions,35 while in a similar study,36 DMSO and Ginkgo biloba improved learning and memory in rats given Alzheimer’s disease.
•Drinking minute amounts of DMSO prevented the visual degeneration otherwise seen in rats engineered to have early Alzheimer’s disease.37 In another study of those rats, it protected key brain cells from disappearing and enhanced both their spatial memory and smell (while decreasing their anxiety).38 Likewise, in rats bred to develop cerebellar disorders, DMSO prevented age-related deterioration of certain cognitive functions (e.g., memory and spatial learning).
These results have also been replicated in humans:
•In 18 patients with probable Alzheimer’s after three months, DMSO greatly improved memory, concentration, and communication, alongside a significant decrease in disorientation in time and space.39
•In 104 elderly adults with dementia due to cerebrovascular diseases, concussions, or Parkinson’s, DMSO combined with amino acids significantly improved their cognition and motor function.40
•In 100 patients with cerebrovascular diseases (many of whom had dementia),41 DMSO caused almost all to have their cardiovascular parameters improve and:
“Recovery from the general symptoms was positive; there were favorable changes which were reflected in a feeling of well being, the recovery of agility, changes of mood from depressed to gay, improvement of sleeping, and clearer speech. As regards the ‘focal’ results, accelerated recovery from hemiplegia and hemiparesia was registered. A speedier recovery of speech in cases of defined or indicated aphasia took place.”
Conclusion
The Alzheimer’s story illustrates how medical science’s relentless focus on commercializable products has failed the country. This must be replaced with prioritizing understanding the root causes of the chronic illnesses we face.
Fortunately, now that MAHA can set national health policy and independent media has broken the media’s monopoly over the truth due to the lies we saw throughout COVID-19, more and more are stepping outside the medical orthodoxy to pursue therapies that can actually heal them. An opportunity like this has never existed before, and it is critical each of us brings attention to the need for real medicine before the window to fundamentally change the practice of medicine closes.
Author’s Note: This is an abridged version of a longer article which discusses the actual causes and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and the cognitive decline which precedes it. That article, along with additional links and references, can be read here. Additionally, a companion article on how DMSO treats neurological injuries (e.g., strokes, brain hemorrhages, traumatic brain injuries, spinal paralysis and developmental delay) can be read here.
Ex-Mossad head Yossi Cohen boasted during a recent podcast that Israel has “boobytrapped” and “manipulated” equipment like that used in their pager attack in Lebanon in “all countries that you can imagine.”
He said he “invented” the “manipulated equipment method” in 2002 to 2004 and had already used it in the “Second Lebanon War” back in 2006.
WATCH:
Cohen’s comments were made on the Oct 16 episode of the Zionist propaganda podcast The Brink.
I said after the pager and walkie talkie attacks on Lebanon that “any goods connected to Israel must now be assumed to be rigged with explosives until proven otherwise.”
For a country that’s so obsessed with getting laws passed in America and throughout the West to ban engaging with BDS, the decision to rig consumer goods with explosives and then boast about having boobytrapped and manipulated equipment throughout the world is truly remarkable.
“Looking ahead, Taiwan will continue to increase military investment,” Ching-te said. “This includes building capacity in the indigenous defense industry and procuring necessary weapons and technology from other countries to bolster overall combat capacities. We hope that AIPAC will lend Taiwan even greater support and assistance in this matter.”
Taiwan never gave a satisfying answer as to what Gold Apollo’s role was in that shady deal, and looking back now you have to wonder if they were in on it.
The Lachman fire that burned 8 acres in the Palisades on New Years Day was contained and on Jan. 2nd. Firefighters warned their battalion chief that “the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch” at the site. But their battalion chief, identified as Mario Garcia, ordered them to roll up their hoses and pull out of the area on Jan. 2 rather than stay and make sure there were no hidden embers that could spark a new fire. The first fire remained burning underground until the strong winds of Jan. 7 rekindled it and ignited the devastating Palisades fire.
LA Fire Department Interim Chief Ronnie Villanova said that the area had been ‘cold trailed’ twice meaning that the firemen used their hands to feel for heat, dug out hot spots, and chopped a line around the perimeter of the fire to ensure it was contained. However, officials failed to provide records that would have corroborated this story.
Although the Los Angeles Fire Department equips firefighters with thermal imaging cameras and also employs drones with similar infrared imaging, officials decided against using them.
Jimmy Dore pointed out that the 113-million gallon reservoir that hadn’t been repaired sat empty for two years and contributed to the fire that resulted in 12 deaths and massive property damage.
.
A new report in the Los Angeles Times indicates that firefighters were ordered to abandon the smoldering underground fire that later became the devastating Palisades Fire, something the crews on the ground thought was a “bad idea.”
According to text messages reviewed by the Times, firefighters told their battalion chief that “the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch” at the site of the Lachman Fire, which burned on New Year’s Day before being contained.
Despite that warning, “their battalion chief ordered them to roll up their hoses and pull out of the area on Jan. 2 — the day after the 8-acre blaze was declared contained — rather than stay and make sure there were no hidden embers that could spark a new fire,” the Times reports.
That first fire, which prosecutors say was started by an Uber driver, remained burning underground until the strong winds of Jan. 7 rekindled it.
That blaze grew into the Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and devastated the Pacific Palisades.
Mayor Karen Bass and current and former Los Angeles Fire Department officials declined or did not return the Times’ requests for comment, but officials have said that they thought the Lachman Fire had been extinguished.
Plenty of rank-and-file firefighters, however, disagreed with that assessment and made their displeasure known in the texts reviewed by the Times.
“In one text message, a firefighter who was at the scene on Jan. 2 wrote that the battalion chief had been told it was a ‘bad idea’ to leave the burn scar unprotected because of the visible signs of smoldering terrain,” the Times reports. “’And the rest is history,’” the firefighter wrote in recent weeks.”
This interview is well worth watching for several reasons, but the most important one is that it’s a classic two-dimensional example of opinion engineering. The outer dimension, which is in plain view, is interesting and mildly controversial but of no serious news value or long-term consequence. It serves mostly as bait that covers the hook. The inner dimension is where the action is but it can be seen only through the x-ray lens of analysis and is of great consequence for the survival of freedom in America.
The outer dimension involves whether the opinions of Nick Fuentes, the controversial guest being interviewed, are acceptable or unacceptable for public debate – the deciding factor being whether or not they are anti-Semitic. The hidden dimension involves whether an “America-First” policy in government is virtuous or treasonous.
It may seem that America First is obviously virtuous for Americans because it is the essence of patriotism. But what is the correct definition of patriotism? Some will say that it is an attitude expressed by the saying: “My country, right or wrong,” which means support of one’s government regardless of its actions. By this definition, the German civilians who supported the Nazi regime were virtuous patriots. My personal view is that opposition to corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism, so please note carefully that when Fuentes calls for martial law in the name of America first, he is advocating the cancelation of basic freedoms for us as well as the rioters, a condition that possibly could remain indefinitely. Also notice that his first solution to shutting down the mob is military force, not rounding up the leaders and funders of the organizations that deliver the violence. Take away their leaders, their paychecks and their buses, and the big show will cease. That course of action is not considered in this interview.
Nick Fuentes has much to say with which we can agree, but please notice that his call to action is brute force and violence – exactly what our enemies want to happen. Unfortunately, Tucker Carlson never asks him to elaborate on his statement that he was a big fan of Stalin. I guess he just didn’t recognize the inner dimension of this message. ~~ GEG
A Flock camera captures a vehicle’s make, model and license plate that police officers can view on computers. The city of Stanwood has paused use of Flock cameras while lawsuits over public records issues are sorted out. (Flock provided photo)
Stanwood pauses Flock cameras amid public records lawsuits
A public records request for Flock camera footage has raised questions about what data is exempt under state law.
EVERETT — The city of Stanwood has paused use of its Flock cameras in light of questions over whether footage is subject to public records requests under state law.
The Stanwood City Council approved its $92,000 contract with Flock Safety in November 2024. In February, the city installed 14 automatic license plate reading cameras. The cameras were operating for about four months before the city turned them off in May, City Administrator Shawn Smith said.
In April, an individual requested all Flock camera footage in Stanwood within a one-hour window on March 30. In light of the request, the city decided in June to seek a court judgment that Flock footage either is not public record or is exempt from the public records act for privacy reasons.
Stanwood is seeking the judgment along with the city of Sedro-Woolley, which also received a records request for Flock footage from the same individual, Jose Rodriguez. The cities filed the complaint in Skagit County Superior Court.
In response, Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against Stanwood in Snohomish County Superior Court, alleging the city is violating the Public Records Act by not providing the footage.
“No exemption to the PRA requirements apply in this case and public policy favors timely disclosure, and in no way hinders disclosure, of the records requested,” the complaint read.
All Flock camera footage is stored in the Flock Safety cloud system, Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley attorneys wrote in their complaint. Cities only have access to data the officers search for, the complaint read. Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley argue that Flock footage is only public record once a public agency extracts and downloads the data. The Public Records Act states that public records include information “prepared, owned, used, or retained” by an agency.
“Requiring public agencies to generate a new search in the Flock cloud system for the sole purpose of accessing and downloading data requested under the PRA, data which the agency had not previously accessed, would require the agency to create new public records not in existence at the time of the request,” the complaint read.
If a judge decides the footage is public record, the cities argue it should still be exempt from requests under the Public Records Act. The law exempts certain intelligence information that could jeopardize the effectiveness of law enforcement or a person’s right to privacy if released.
“If the data becomes public record, that would allow nefarious actors to carry out their act,” Stanwood resident Tim Schmitt said in a July interview. “So imagine tracking your ex-spouse or a person you broke up with under difficulty, it would allow all sorts of malicious mischief against innocent individuals.”
Schmitt is a member of the Stanwood City Council and said his opinions do not reflect those of the council or the city.
State law does not explicitly exempt automated license plate reader data from public records. It does have explicit exemptions for red-light camera data. In July, Stanwood City Attorney wrote a letter to State Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, asking him to sponsor or support legislation to create a specific exemption for automated license plate reader data in the Public Records Act.
Schmitt was the sole vote against the Flock contract in November 2024. Part of the reason for his vote, he said, was uncertainty over public records laws.
“I had this doubt in the back of my mind,” he said.
Schmitt also raised concerns that the contract was too expensive, especially compared to other cities, he said. For example, Mount Vernon has six Flock cameras for a population of about 35,000 and a land area of about 12 square miles. Stanwood has 14 cameras for a population of about 8,000 and a land area of about 3 square miles.
While the cameras are turned off, Stanwood is not currently making payments to Flock Safety, Smith said.
In Stanwood, Flock cameras have helped identify a shoplifter that stole $1,000 from small businesses, apprehend a suspect in a shooting in a neighboring jurisdiction and locate an elderly person with dementia within 10 minutes, the complaint read.
The litigation comes as cities across the state and country continue to sign contracts with Flock Safety. According to the company, the cameras are operating in more than 5,000 communities nationwide. Most cities in Snohomish County have implemented Flock cameras within the past year.
At a Sept.4 meeting, Mountlake Terrace City Council member William Paige Jr. expressed regret for voting for the contract in June. Last month, Flock CEO Garrett Langley wrote in an Aug. 25 statement it had pilot programs with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations. The program was intended to help combat human trafficking and fentanyl distribution, Langley said. The company has since paused the program, he said.
“We clearly communicated poorly,” Langley said. “We also didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users. I appreciate the sensitivities surrounding local and federal cooperation on law enforcement matters, and I understand that in order to allow communities to align with their laws and societal values, these definitions and product features are critical.”
At the Sept. 4 meeting, Paige said he doesn’t trust Flock Safety and no longer wants to do business with the company.
“We all heard concerns that day — and before and after that day — from the community about making sure Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection would not have access to our data,” Paige said. “We had a Flock representative right here listening to those concerns. And yet, at that same time, Flock already had a contract that allowed those federal agencies to access data. They never shared that with us.”
The splashy moves could endanger the prosperous American economy, according to aninfluential economist speaking to Politico — especially in tandem with the White House’s gutting of agencies that have historically collaborated with the private sector.
“I think the kind of capitalism Trump has is crony capitalism,” Italian economist Mariana Mazzucato told Politico. “I would describe crony capitalism as Mafia-like. You’re showing your upper hand. You’re handing out favors to some. But then divide and conquer. Picking and choosing without a particular strategy.”
“[H]e’s actually weakening the economy,” she summed up.
Mazzucato, a University College London economics professor and adviser to governments, argues that the Intel deal is poorly designed because it doesn’t have any conditions to incentivize the company to be build new products, while the government simply acts as a passive investor.
That kind of posture isn’t going to foster next-generation technology, Mazzucato said. A smarter approach, she says, would see a government put together a portfolio of companies in a sector, encourage them with subsidies and other incentives, and wait for a company or product to rise to the top via competition in the marketplace.
Mazzucato has written extensively about how governments should take equity stakes in companies, but not in the way the Trump administration is doing, which some have called a form of corporate welfare.
Corporate welfare causes monopolies to develop; monopolies are bad because consumers don’t get cheaper and better products, while companies don’t have outside pressure to innovate. If companies don’t innovate, other countries with better industrial policy and ambitious companies will eat America’s lunch.
“And I don’t think there is, under Trump’s administration, any policy that is kind of future and opportunity-oriented around innovation,” she said. “It’s just about getting companies either to come back or preventing foreign companies from selling their goods in the U.S. It’s kind of preventing stuff from happening, versus that more positive, proactive making things happen that otherwise would not have happened.”
She called Trump’s economic policy an “idiosyncratic hodgepodge” because there doesn’t seem to be a clear strategy or a holistic roadmap to bolster the industrial backbone of America, where manufacturing has faltered to China and other countries.
“Trump is not asking, ‘What are the problems that need to be solved, and how can we have public investment to solve those problems?’” she said. “He’s just kind of throwing money around and imposing tariffs and taking these equity stakes and dismantling things.”
She also argued in the interview that Trump’s gutting of agencies such as the National Institute of Health and NASA will negatively impact the country’s competitive edge because these institutions, along with their funding, help foster the creation of new technologies, products and entirely new industrial sectors.
“What’s going to happen in the future is, U.S. competitiveness will wither away because he’s dismantling the backbone of U.S. competitiveness which has been, in the past, smart, capable, strategic, outcome-oriented, mission-oriented state agencies,” she said.
The invention of the internet and GPS, for instance, wouldn’t have been possible without the government encouraging the private sector, she said.
Any outcome from the Intel deal will probably play out over the ensuing years, so we don’t know the downstream impacts yet, but we already have proof that Trump’s attack on federal agencies and their funding is impacting America’s edge in tech and science with scientists moving overseas.
(THE REAL HEADLINE SHOULD READ THAT PATIENT TAKING WEIGHT LOSS DRUG GLP-1 COLLAPSES)
Just Stands There After Man Collapses During Press Conference
One of the guests at Donald Trump’s press conference on weight loss drugs passed out during the event.
ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES
A man appeared to collapse Thursday during a press conference to debut a deal to make those drugs more affordable, while President Donald Trump simply looked on.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime talk show host Trump picked to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, rushed to help the man to the ground (Oz was a heart doctor before he became a pseudoscience-peddling daytime host). Meanwhile, Trump, who was sitting behind his desk while others ran the show, slowly stood up as he watched the man take to the floor.
As members of the press were quickly ushered out of the room, Trump turned away from the fallen man, staring off into space.
It is unclear who the man is. While some outlets reported that it was Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay, multiple sources toldThe Washington Post’s Dan Diamond that the man was a patient who uses Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 medication.
CBS journalists Jennifer Jacobs and Aaron Navarro reported that the only two Novo Nordisk executives at the event were CEO Mike Doustdar and Executive Vice President Dave Moore. A spokesperson for Eli Lilly told Navarro that the man was one of their guests.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the man was “okay” and being seen by the White House Medical Unit. Newsmax was quick to report that Trump—who was clearly not involved in the incident at all—was also okay.
A senior administration official said that under Trump’s new deal with Novo Nordisk and Elli Lily, weight-loss drugs could have an out-of-pocket cost of between $50 to $350 per month, as opposed to the current list price of more than $1000. However, prices would likely not be significantly cheaper for those whose prescriptions are covered by insurance.
TrumpRx, the president’s scheme to transform the federal government into a pharmacy, is already raising red flags for legal and health experts. They warn that the marketing gimmick isn’t likely to help the average American, and could actually expose private information to a government that clearly doesn’t know how to handle it. Already, other drug companies such as Pfizer and EMD Serono, which produces fertility drugs, have made deals to sell discounted products through TrumpRx, in exchange for being spared from the president’s sweeping tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
Immediately after October 7, a little know company shipped over 100 reconnaissance drones to Israel for use in its siege of Gaza. Having been battle-tested on Palestinian civilians, the UAVs are now being used to surveil protesters across the US.
AI-powered quadcopter drones used by the IDF to commit genocide in Gaza are flying over American cities, surveilling protestors and automatically uploading millions of images to an evidence database.
The drones are made by a company called Skydio which in the last few years has gone from relative obscurity to quietly become a multi-billion dollar company and the largest drone manufacturer in the US.
The extent of Skydio drone usage across the US, and the extent to which their usage has grown in just a few years, is extraordinary. The company has contracts with more than 800 law enforcement and security agencies across the country, up from 320 in March last year, and their drones are being launched hundreds of times a day to monitor people in towns and cities across the country.
Skydio has extensive links with Israel. In the first weeks of the genocide the California-based company sent more than one hundred drones to the IDF with promises of more to come. How many more were delivered since that admission is unknown. Skydio has an office in Israel and partners with DefenceSync, a local military drone contractor operating as the middle man between drone manufacturers and the IDF. Skydio has also raised hundreds of millions of dollars from Israeli-American venture capitalists and from venture capital funds with extensive investments in Israel, including from Marc Andreessen’s firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z.
And now these drones, tested in genocide and refined on Palestinians, are swarming American cities.
According to my research, almost every large American city has signed a contract with Skydio in the last 18 months, including Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, Cleveland and Jacksonville. Skydio drones were recently used by city police departments to gather information at the ‘No Kings’ protests and were also used by Yale to spy on the anti-genocide protest camp set up by students at the university last year.
The AI system behind Skydio drones is powered by Nvidia chips and enables their operation without a human user. The drones have thermal imaging cameras and can operate in places where GPS doesn’t work, so-called ‘GPS-denied environments.’ They also reconstruct buildings and other infrastructure in 3D and can fly at more than 30 miles per hour.
The New York police were early adopters of Skydio drones and are particularly enthusiastic users. A spokesman recently told a drone news website that the NYPD launched more than 20,000 drone flights in less than a year, which would mean drones are being launched around the city 55 times per day. A city report last year said the NYPD at that time was operating 41 Skydio drones. A recent Federal Aviation Authority rule change, however, means that number will undoubtedly have increased and more generally underpins the massive expansion in the use of Skydio drones.
Prior to March this year, FAA rules meant that drones could only be used by US security forces if the operator kept the drone in sight. They also couldn’t be used over crowded city streets. An FAA waiver issued that month opened the floodgates, allowing police and security agencies to operate drones beyond a visual line of sight and over large crowds of people. Skydio called the waiver ground-breaking. It was. The change has ushered in a Skydio drone buying spree by US police and security forces, with many now employing what is called a ‘Drone As First Responder’ program. Without the need to see the drone, and with drones free to cruise over city streets, the police are increasingly sending drones before humans to call outs and for broader investigative purposes. Cincinnati for example says that by the end of this year 90% of all call outs will be serviced first by a Skydio drone.
This extensive level of coverage is enabled by Skydio’s docking platform hardware. These launch pads are placed in locations around a city enabling drones to be remote charged, launched and landed many miles away from police HQs. After launch, all the information gathered by these flights is both saved to an internal SD card and automatically uploaded to special software configured for law enforcement. This software is made by Axon, a major financial backer of Skydio and the controversial maker of Tasers and ‘less-lethal weapons’ used by police departments in the US and across the west. The software, Axon Evidence, enables, in the words of an Axon press release, ‘the automatic uploads of photos and video footage from drones into a digital evidence management system.’
Axon’s equipment is also central to Israel’s infrastructure of apartheid, with the company providing body cameras and Tasers to Israeli police forces and prison guards who routinely torture Palestinians. Axon, which participated in a $220 million Series E round of funding in Skydio, is just one of the many entities backing Skydio who serve a Zionist agenda.
Skydio’s first investor in 2015 was Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) which provided $3 million of seed capital to the three-man team behind the drone maker. They have since invested tens of millions across numerous funding rounds. The founders of a16z, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, are both notorious Zionists. The firm was the most active venture capital investor in Israel in 2024 and this summer Andreessen and Horowitz visited Israel to meet with tech companies founded by ex-IDF and Unit 8200 war criminals.
Other Skydio investors include Next 47, which has an office in Israel headed by Moshe Zilberstein who worked in the IDF’s computer spy center Mamram, and Hercules Capital whose managing director Ella-Tamar Adnahan is an Israeli-American described by Israeli media as “Israel’s go-to tech banker in the US.”
The saturation of US police departments with drone technology so closely connected to Israel, technology used to carry out war crimes is a frightening, if not unsurprising, development. Skydio drones will be central to the rapidly advancing proto-fascism in the US and the crack down on Antifa and other so-called ‘domestic terrorists’ by the Trump administration. In this context, the bigger surprise is that the rapid expansion of Israel-linked surveillance drone technology across America has so far gone largely under the radar.
Skydio should also make it on to the agenda of Zohran Mamdani. Recently criticized for saying “when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Skydio is just another example that shows he’s right. If he has the courage of his convictions, he could do worse than use his powers as mayor to shut down the NYPD’s Skydio deal.
Skydio is also a large supplier to the Department of Defence, recently signing a contract to provide the US Army with reconnaissance drones. As a significant supplier to both military and civilian security forces, it raises questions about what information is or will be shared between the US military and domestic security agencies via the Skydio-Axon digital evidence management system.
Skydio shows once again how Gaza is the laboratory for weapons makers, the place where new surveillance and apartheid technologies are tested, before being refined and used in the West. And next year Skydio is rolling out new indoor drones. We can only speculate as to what extent these new drones were informed by the ‘learnings’ accrued via genocide.
There is much in the air right now, and you are seeing it on your internet with the things that people are saying and foreshadowing (rightly or wrongly).You need to know that one is not here to follow another’s path but to follow one’s own, even when that may seem less than… inspiring or even important.Know that as long as you are doing what is right for you, then it isimportant, more than that it is vitally important for you, for your own life. This is not time for questioning because there is so much fakery out there and every day brings more.
It is difficult at times to discover what is real and what is fake, and ultimately and some times the only wya to do so is to go within and FEEL how that person, thing, sign, whatever feels to you.Does it feel real?Does it feel as thought had been manufactured to create a result, an effect, a response?
Things are what they are in themselves and do not need to have the end or the result (we stumble on this word for the concept is much broader than that, but at the present time, the correct word in your language evades us.) implicit in the thing.
The effect that is made is because of what is written into the action.Can you understand that?When a false flag or a contrived action is done, there is written into the playbook of the event or the action what the desired outcome is to be.It is a am matter of control, oftentimes of crowd control, and a way in which they are able to direct attention away from what is really going on due to the confusion of the event that they have just perpetrated.(Hmmm, it seems we too are turning into conspiracy theorists.). Perhaps that is all conjecture is at the outset.Or even philosophy.
Has your philosophy been so skewed as to lead you to these perilous times.For yes, they are perilous, but not something that is inevitably bad, not something in which the ultimate outcome is written, for those who feel themselves to be in control have a desired outcome, but it is not a final outcome, and it is, after all, the final outcome that determines the efficacy of the event.
Ex-Mossad head Yossi Cohen boasted during a recent podcast that Israel has “boobytrapped” and “manipulated” equipment like that used in their pager attack in Lebanon in “all countries that you can imagine.”
A Flock camera captures a vehicle’s make, model and license plate that police officers can view on computers. The city of Stanwood has paused use of Flock cameras while lawsuits over public records issues are sorted out. (Flock provided photo)
