Restaurants and their allies are lobbying President Trump and Congress to press insurance companies to cover “business interruption” claims stemming from the coronavirus, even where restaurants have policies that exclude losses from pandemics.
While insurers do offer coverage, those policies are significantly more expensive than standard business-interruption policies, and few restaurants carry them, industry representatives said. But restaurants and some U.S. lawmakers say the business-shutdown orders in states and cities should constitute business interruptions under their existing policies.
Insurers are pushing back hard with the help of some Republican senators and conservative groups, saying retroactive changes to coverage policies and threats of lawsuits from restaurants could undermine the nation’s insurance system.
“Big” Bedfellows
Cheatsheet reports Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck has joined fellow renowned chefs Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Dominique Crenn to form BIG, (Business Interruption Group), a new national legal, political, and communications campaign launched in partnership with an industry-savvy insurance attorney.
The group has spoken by phone to President Trump for his assistance in communicating with insurance companies, who have, for the most part, denied restaurants assistance during the pandemic. Specifically, they are requesting the U.S. president to step in on their behalf. And it looks like Mr. Trump is sympathetic.
Puck said, “We were encouraged by our conversation with the president about the urgent need to help the restaurant industry. All of us paid business interruption insurance for years to protect the livelihood of our employees. If the restaurant industry collapses, it has a massive effect on the entire economy. . .”
Understanding the Legal Battle
Those with no business interruption policy have no claim.
Restaurants that do have business interruption policies ought to be covered unless the policy specifically excludes pandemics.
Policies cannot be changed after the fact by Congress or anyone else, except by universal agreement of all of those who the policy covers.
The disagreement is whether the shutdown is pandemic-related or government-related.
Lobbyists have taken sides.
I believe this should be up to a court of law with the decision depending on specific policy language.
It should not be up to Congress to interpret law, nor to make businesses whole for those companies with inadequate insurance, nor insurance companies who got burnt by offering pandemic insurance.
Here’s Where All 50 States Stand On Reopening Their Economies
As the debate about when, where and how to reopen the American economy rages on, here’s where all 50 states stand on reopening their economies, now that the White House has released its ‘guidelines’ and delegated ultimate authority to the governors of each state.
Here’s an (alphabetical) roundup of states’ plans:
Alabama
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s stay at home order is set to expire on April 30. The state’s Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth is in charge of a task force to decide when to reopen the state’s economy. The task force is expected to deliver a report on its findings later this week.
Ivey said April 14 she intends to work with other states and the Trump administration, but that “what works in Alabama works in Alabama.”
When the economy starts to reopen, Ivey said during a press briefing it will be a slow process over time, “segment by segment or region by region.”
Alaska
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered residents to stay at home until at least April 21. Dunleavy has said that Alaskans will be allowed to schedule elective surgeries on or after May 4; that also applies to doctors visits for non-urgent needs.
Arkansas
Arkansas is one of a handful of states that never faced a stay at home order. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has closed schools for the rest of the academic term, while fitness centers, bars, restaurants and other public spaces have been closed (though the media likes to treat these states as virtually free of any constraints).
Hutchinson told reporters on April 16 that he wants to bring back elective surgeries. “We want to get (hospitals) back to doing the important health-care delivery that is important in our communities,” he said.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom was the first governor in the nation to issue a stay-at-home order, which he did more than a month ago, on March 19. It had no set expiration date.
Last week, Newsom announced during a joint briefing with Western States that Cali had formed a pact with Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, promising that “health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions” to reopen the states.
Moving ahead to this week, Newsom outlined a framework for reopening the economy in California that he said was predicated on the state’s ability to do six things: expand testing to identify and isolate the infected, maintain vigilance to protect seniors and high risk individuals, meet future surges in hospital demand and continuing work on therapies and treatments, redrawing regulations to continue social distancing at businesses and schools and develop new enforcement mechanisms. How long that might take is anybodies’ guess.
Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis extended the state’s stay-at-home order to April 26 (it ends Sunday night).
Polis added on April 15 that the key information state officials needed to determine when parts of the economy can be reopened is likely to come within the next five days.
The governor warned that restrictions won’t all be lifted at the same time, and life will be different for some time. “The virus will be with us,” Polis said. “We have to find a sustainable way that will be adapted in real time to how we live with it.”
Connecticut
During an interview on “Squawk Box” Tuesday morning, Gov. Lamont said that May 20 is a line in the sand: He has promised that schools and businesses likely won’t start to reopen before then. “The presidential guidelines were pretty responsible,” Lamont said, adding that they gave the state “a yellow light” to start opening things up. “My instinct is we’re going to first focus on big manufacturing and outside construction – which Connecticut never closed down by the way – before we move on to retail, and opening them up on a limited basis.”
“The things that come later are the things that Georgia opened up first…those things that have close personal contact…bars, barber shops…there I think we’re going to have to wait until we have a little more testing, and more masks,” he said.
Delaware
Gov. John Carney issued a statewide stay-at-home order that will remain until May 15 or until the “public health threat is eliminated.”
Delaware has joined a coalition of six Northeastern states to coordinate the reopening of the regional economy.
The governor said April 17 that even after the state reopens, social distancing, face coverings in public, washing hands, limited gatherings and vulnerable populations sheltering in place will remain.
Washington DC
Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended the state’s lockdown until May 15.
Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for Floridians until April 30 and plans to announce plans for reopening next week. He has already allowed some beaches in the state to reopen, a controversial move that was widely criticized by the NYT and MSNBC, among others.
Southeast Florida, the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, might reopen more slowly than the rest of the state.
Gov. David Ige issued a stay-at-home order until at least April 30. He said last week that the state isn’t close to meeting the reopening criteria, and it’s not clear when that will happen.
Idaho
Gov. Brad Little amended his order April 15 to allow for some businesses and facilities to reopen for curbside pickup, drive-in and drive-thru service and for mailed or delivery services. It is now effective through the end of the month. As of now, the state’s “order to self-isolate” will expire on April 30, unless extended.
Little says the measures are working and Idaho is “truly seeing a flattening of the curve.”
Illinois
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order in effect through the end of the month unless extended.
Pritzker said during a media briefing Monday that he believes the current state in Illinois has been enough to slowly start lifting shelter-in-place orders so that some industry workers can go back to work, although he hasn’t laid out a clear timeline.
Indiana
Gov. Eric Holcomb extended his state’s stay-at-home order through May 1 to give it more time to look into what “the best way is to reopen sectors of the economy.”
He said he would work with the state hospital association to see when elective surgeries could resume. The state is also part of that “midwestern coalition” we have mentioned.
Iowa
Gov. Kim Reynolds has not declared a stay-at-home order, though she did issue a “State of Public Health Disaster Emergency” on March 17, which was tantamount to a closure order, forcing ‘nonessential’ businesses to close until the end of the month. She also formed a task force to look into how to reopen schools and the economy. Reynolds on April 16 announced that residents of the state’s hottest hot spot won’t be allowed to congregate at least until next month.
Kansas
Gov. Laura Kelly has extended the closure order until May 3, with the state’s “peak” expected by the end of April.
Kentucky
Gov. Andy Beshear issued a “Healthy at Home” order March 25 with no end date. Oddly, Kentucky is actually part of the coalition of midwestern states working to reopen their economies together.
Louisiana
Gov. John Bel Edwards extended the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30. Residents will soon be able to start getting non-emergency surgeries.
Maine
Gov. Janet Mills issued a “Stay Healthy at Home” executive order through at least April 30, and has extended a civil state of emergency until May 15.
“We are in the midst of one of the greatest public health crises this world has seen in more than a century,” Mills said in a news release. “This virus will continue to sicken people across our state; our cases will only grow, and more people will die. I say this to be direct, to be as honest with you as I can. Because saving lives will depend on us.”
Maryland
Gov. Larry Hogan issued a statewide stay-at-home order on March 30. There is no current potential end date.
The governor said during his appearance on CNN Newsroom on April 13 that the state is discussing ways to safely reopen the state with health officials.
Massachusetts
Governor Charlie Baker has issued an emergency order requiring all nonessential businesses to remain closed until May 4. Mass is also part of the northeastern coalition.
Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she “hopes” to start reopening May 1 despite her state being one of the hardest hit outside New York.
Minnesota
Gov. Tim Walz extended the state’s stay-at-home order through May 3, while extending a peacetime emergency for an additional 30 days until May 13.
Mississippi
Gov. Tate Reeves has extended a shelter-in-place order to April 27, but said some non-essential businesses could reopen by offering services via drive-thru, delivery or ‘outside’ shopping.
Missouri
Gov. Mike Parson on April 16 extended the stay-at-home order through May 3 and pledged to work with businesses and health-care providers on the reopening plan.
“Our reopening efforts will be careful, deliberate, and done in phases,” he said.
Montana
Bullock’s stay at home order for the state will expire on Friday, and the governor has said that the federal guidelines will allow it to reopen “sooner rather than later.”
Nebraska
Gov. Pete Ricketts issued the “21 Days to Stay Home and Stay Healthy” campaign on April 10, ordering all hair salons, tattoo parlors and strip clubs be closed through April 30. Nebraska is one of the states that has not issued a stay-at-home order.
Nevada
Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a stay-at-home order that expires April 30.
When asked about how he’d make his decision to reopen the economy, Sisolak said “positive testing is important but it’s not my number one parameter,” adding that “basis hospitalizations” are seen as an important metric for him.
New Hampshire
Gov. Chris Sununu issued a stay-at-home order until May 4, and told reporters that he’ll decide whether to extend it before it expires.
New Jersey
Gov. Phil Murphy issued a stay-at-home order on March 21 that has no specific end date. His state is part of the northeastern alliance.
New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extended the state’s emergency order to April 30, and said Thursday that her state is evaluating the federal guidelines but couldn’t risk putting “the cart before the horse” and are still working on developing a plan.
New York
Gov Cuomo’s “PAUSE” order is currently set to keep schools and businesses closed until at least May 15.
North Carolina
Gov. Roy Cooper issued a stay-at-home order for the state effective until April 29.
North Dakota
Gov. Doug Burgum is one of the governors who never issued a stay at home order, and has said he would like to reopen by May 1.
Ohio
Mike DeWine has said he hopes to start reopening on May 1.
Oklahoma
Gov. Kevin Stitt said April 15 that he is working on a plan to reopen the state’s economy, possibly as early as April 30.
Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order directing Oregonians to stay at home that “remains in effect until ended by the governor.”
Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf issued stay-at-home orders across the state until April 30. It is part of the coalition of northeastern states.
Rhode Island
Gov. Gina Raimondo’s emergency order to keep the state closed is set to expire May 8.
South Carolina
The state’s governor said earlier he would push to start reopening by next Tuesday.
South Dakota
Gov. Kirsti Noem hasn’t issued a stay at home order.
Tennessee
Gov Bill Lee has said he plans to start reopening businesses as soon as Monday.
Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all Texans to stay home through April 30.
Utah
Gov. Gary Herbert extended the state’s “Stay Safe, Stay Home” directive through May 1. Schools will be closed for the remainder of the year.
Vermont
Gov. Phil Scott issued a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order that has been extended until May 15.
Scott on April 17 outlined a five-point plan to reopen the state while continuing to fight the spread of the coronavirus during a news conference.
Virginia
Gov. Ralph Northam issued a stay-at-home order effective until June 10.
Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee extended Washignton’s stay-at-home order until May 4, saying “We are yet to see the full toll of this virus in our state and the modeling we’ve seen could be much worse if we don’t continue what we’re doing to slow the spread.”
West Virginia
Gov. Jim Justice issued a stay-at-home order until further notice.
“That curve is the curve we’re looking for to be able to look at the possibility of backing things off and going forward. We’re not there yet,” Justice said on April 13.
Wisconsin
Gov. Tony Evers’ stay at home order will expire May 26, making his one of the latest dates in the country, along with Connecticut and the states that haven’t set a date.
Wyoming
Wyoming doesn’t have a stay at home order, and has been relatively unscathed by the outbreak. It was the last state to receive a federal disaster declaration.
We have just witnessed an oil price crash like never before taking prices of West Texas Intermediate into deeply negative territory.
The spot price of West Texas, the US benchmark, reached minus US$40.32 a barrel and the May futures price (which is deliverable in a physical form) went to minus US$37.63 a barrel, the lowest price in the history of oil futures contracts.
There has been no better indicator of the extent of the economic impacts of coronavirus. With borders closed and much of the world’s population being urged to stay at home, transport has come to a near halt.
How can a price turn negative?
Oklahoma’s Cushing oil storage facility, the largest in the world.Crude Oil Daily
The industry has not been able to slow production fast enough to counter the drop in demand. The other mechanism that normally stabilises prices, US oil storage, appears to be nearing capacity.
West Texas Intermediate is typically stored at the Cushing facility in Oklahoma which is on the way to being full.
Cushing is said to be able to hold 62 million barrels of oil – enough to fill all the tanks of half the cars in United States.
That’s why prices have gone negative. Traders with contracts to take delivery of oil in May fear they won’t be able to store it. They are willing to pay not to have to take it and have nowhere to put it.
Not all oil contracts went negative. West Texas Intermediate contracts for June and subsequent months are still positive, reflecting a feeling that the supply and demand imbalance will soon be corrected.
Brent, the international price benchmark, remained positive, dropping to US$25.57 – a fall of about 9%. Unlike West Texas Intermediate, Brent deliveries can be put on ships and transported to storage facilities anywhere in the world.
Not confined to the US
There is no guarantee the problems of storage evident in the US won’t spread to other markets.
This is despite the decision of OPEC-Plus (the mainly Middle Eastern member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other former Soviet states) to respond to the free fall by cutting output by 9.7 million barrels per day, ending the recent duel over production levels between OPEC and Russia
Adding another element to the COVID-19 story, on March 9, the day of the Black Monday stock market crash, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a new daily record for West Texas Intermediate trading, reaching 4.8 million contracts, surpassing the 4.3 million recorded on September 2019 following the drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.The future does not look good. With rising unemployment, stuttering economies, and collapsing financial markets the prospects for substantial recovery in the oil markets seems far away
The US, these days an exporter itself through shale oil, will suffer in the same way as traditional exporters in the Middle East.
Historically, oil markets have been considered good at predicting recessions, although in this case the causation might go the other way.
At this point the industry might be starting to consider that the best place to store oil is a natural one – leaving it in the ground.
Never underestimate the intelligence or abilities of dolphins. (Photo: Matt9122/Shutterstock)
Dolphins never cease to amaze. As researchers delve into the underwater world of these brilliant cetaceans, we’re learning how full of surprises these creatures are, from their intricate social lives to their intelligence. Here are just some of the ways dolphins are exceptional, both physically and mentally.
1. Dolphins evolved from land-based animals
Dolphins didn’t always live in the water. They are what’s called reentrants. Millions of years ago, the ancestors of dolphins roamed across land. The dolphins we know today are evolved from even-toed ungulates, which had hoof-like toes at the end of each foot. But around 50 million years ago, these ancestor animals decided the ocean was a better place to live. They eventually returned to the water and evolved into the dolphins that we know today.
The evidence for this evolutionary history can still be seen in dolphins today. Adult dolphins and whales have remnant finger bones in their flippers, as well as vestigial leg bones. (For a quick refresher on homologous structures, the structures found in different species that originated from a common ancestor, read 8 uncanny examples of convergent evolution.)
2. Dolphins stay awake for weeks on end
A female dolphin with her calf. Neither of them are getting much sleep! (Photo: Jman78/iStockPhoto)
Recent research has shown the surprising capability of dolphins to stay awake for days or weeks on end — or possibly indefinitely.
On the one hand, the ability makes perfect sense. Dolphins need to go to the ocean’s surface to breathe, so they can’t simply breathe automatically like humans do. They have to stay constantly awake to take a breath and avoid drowning. How do they do this? By resting just one half of their brain at a time, a process called unihemispheric sleep.
Brian Branstetter, a marine biologist with the National Marine Mammal Foundation, and fellow researchers conducted a test with two dolphins, seeing how long they could stay alert. According to Live Science:
The scientists found these dolphins could successfully use echolocation with near-perfect accuracy and no sign of deteriorating performance for up to 15 days. The researchers did not test how much longer the dolphins could have continued. “Dolphins can continue to swim and think for days without rest or sleep, possibly indefinitely,” Branstetter said. These findings suggest that dolphins evolved to sleep with only half their brains not only to keep from drowning, but also to remain vigilant.
Breathing and not being eaten are two excellent reasons to keep at least half of the brain active at all times. But what about baby dolphins? Turns out, they don’t sleep either. For as long as a month after birth, dolphin calves don’t catch a wink of sleep. Researchers think this is an advantage, helping the calf to better escape predators, keeping the body temperature up while the body accumulates blubber, and even encouraging brain growth.
3. Most dolphins don’t chew
Dolphin do have teeth, but they aren’t used for chewing. (Photo: Alicia Chelini/Shutterstock)
If you’ve ever watched a dolphin eat, you may have noticed that they seem to gulp down their food. That’s because dolphins can’t chew. Instead, their teeth are used to grip prey, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Sometimes, they’ll shake their food or rub it on the ocean floor to tear it into more manageable pieces. One theory for why they’ve evolved to do away with chewing is because they need to quickly consume fish before dinner can swim away. Skipping the process of chewing ensures their meal doesn’t escape.
4. Dolphins have worked for the Navy since the 1960s
The idea of dolphins being employed by the military to scan harbors for enemy swimmers or pinpoint the location of underwater mines may seem like the plot of a B-rated movie, but it’s true — and has been for decades.
Since the 1960s, the U.S. Navy has been utilizing dolphins and training them to detect underwater mines. Much the same way bomb-detecting dogs work by using smell, dolphins work by using echolocation. Their superior ability to scan an area for particular objects allows them to zero in on mines and drop a marker at the spot. The Navy can then go in and disarm the mine. The echolocation abilities of dolphins far outstrip any technology people have come up with to do the same job.
Dolphins are also used to alert the Navy to the presence of enemies in harbors. There has also been much speculation about other uses of dolphins for the military, including claims they train them to kill people or plant explosives on ships. None of this has been confirmed by the military. Still, animal activists have long opposed the use of dolphins for military purposes.
5. Dolphins teach their young how to use tools
Dolphins possess several behaviors that are passed down from one generation to the next. (Photo: Joost van Uffelen/Shutterstock)
Researchers discovered that a population of dolphins living in Shark Bay, Australia, use tools, and they pass that knowledge down from mother to daughter. The behavior is called “sponging,” and the researchers found it was not only the first instance of tool use in cetaceans, but it was also evidence of culture among non-humans, according to research published by Eric M. Patterson and Janet Mann in the journal PLOS ONE.
Individuals in this small group of dolphins search for several minutes to find cone-shaped sea sponges. They tear this sea sponge free of the ocean floor, then carry it on their beaks to a hunting ground where they use it to probe the sand for hiding fish. The researchers think this helps protect their sensitive snouts while they hunt.
6. Dolphins form friendships through shared interests
This particular group of dolphins in Shark Bay have been keeping researchers busy over the years, revealing information about group culture and social habits.
Researchers from the universities of Bristol, Zurich and Western Australia discovered that the Shark Bay dolphins form friendships based on a shared interest — in this case, the sponge-hunting habit. This tool-using characteristic was found primarily in female dolphins, but by studying the behavior of the few male dolphins that exhibited the behavior, the researchers saw something new: relationships formed over shared tool technique.
“Foraging with a sponge is a time-consuming and largely solitary activity so it was long thought incompatible with the needs of male dolphins in Shark Bay — to invest time in forming close alliances with other males. This study suggests that, like their female counterparts and indeed like humans, male dolphins form social bonds based on shared interests,” Dr. Simon Allen, a co-author of the study and senior research associate at Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, told Phys.org.
When dolphins hear their names, they respond. (Photo: Tory Kallman/Shutterstock)
We know dolphins communicate, but we’re learning more about how they do this all the time.
Dolphins have names and respond when called. Dolphins within pods have their own “signature whistle,” just like a name, and other dolphins can use that special whistle to get the attention of their pod mates. Considering dolphins are a highly social species with the need to stay in touch over distances, it makes sense they would have evolved to use “names” much the same way people do.
According to the BBC, researchers followed a group of wild bottlenose dolphins, recording their signature whistles and then playing the calls back to the dolphins.
“The researchers found that individuals only responded to their own calls, by sounding their whistle back. The team believes the dolphins are acting like humans: when they hear their name, they answer.”
What’s more, they don’t respond when the signature whistles of dolphins from strange pods are played, showing that they’re looking for and responding to specific information within whistles. The research opens up whole new questions about the extent of dolphin vocabulary, and it also could reveal clues about the evolution of our own language skills.
Male dolphins synchronize their calls when they work together as a team, a behavior once thought to be unique to humans. (Photo: bluehand/Shutterstock)
More recent research takes this idea of cooperative communication even further. A team of researchers from Bristol University found that male dolphins don’t just synchronize their calls; they work together as a team, and attribute previously thought to unique to humans.
In describing the behavior of male dolphins as they work together to herd female dolphins, the researchers saw cooperative rather than competitive behavior, which is especially unusual in terms of finding a mate.
We know that pufferfish have strong toxins. Apparently dolphins know this too, and they use this for recreational benefit.
Normally, pufferfish toxin is deadly. However, in small doses the toxin acts like a narcotic. BBC filmed dolphins gently playing with a pufferfish, passing it between pod members for 20 to 30 minutes, then hanging around at the surface seemingly mesmerized by their own reflections.
Rob Pilley, a zoologist who also worked as a producer on the series, was quoted in The Independent: “This was a case of young dolphins purposely experimenting with something we know to be intoxicating … It reminded us of that craze a few years ago when people started licking toads to get a buzz, especially the way they hung there in a daze afterwards. It was the most extraordinary thing to see.”
Apparently humans aren’t the only species to knowingly dabble in strange substances to achieve an altered state of mind.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information since it was first published in June 2016.
The Facts:Professor Didier Raoult has published his early results for Hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. 973 patients out of 1063, according to him, have shown “a good clinical outcome.”
Reflect On:Why is there always so much controversy and politicization of science and treatments? Why are these treatments controversial within the mainstream, but vaccines cannot even be questioned?
In a new study performed at IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France a cohort of 1061 COVID-19 patients were treated for 3 days with the Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin (HCQ-AZ) combination. A follow-up of at least 9 days was investigated and the study found that no cardiac toxicity was observed. According to the abstract which was recently released:
“A good clinical outcome and virological cure was obtained in 973 (out of 1061) patients within 10 days (91.7%)…A poor outcome was observed for 46 patients (4.3 %); 10 were transferred to intensive care units, 5 patients died (0.47%) (74-95 years old) and 31 required 10 days of hospitalization or more…The HCQ-AZ combination, when started immediately after diagnosis, is a safe and efficient treatment for COVID-19, with a mortality rate of 0.5%, in elderly patients. It avoids worsening and clears virus persistence and contagiosity in most cases.”
It’s not clear when the complete study will be made available. But there is another side to this story, Sciencemg points out that:
The popular faith in hydroxychloroquine stands in stark contrast to the weakness of the data. Several studies of its efficacy against COVID-19 have delivered an equivocal or negative verdict, and it can have significant side effects, including heart arrhythmias. Raoult’s positive studies have been widely criticized for their limitations and methodological issues. The first included only 42 patients, and Raoult chose who received the drug or a placebo, a no-no in clinical research; the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy has distanced itself from the paper, published in the society’s International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. The second study, published as a preprint without peer review, didn’t have a control group at all.
They go on to mention that:
Raoult has dismissed the criticism and complained about the “dictatorship of the methodologists” who insist on randomization and control groups in clinical trials. In his hospital, every patient diagnosed with COVID-19 receives hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin, an antibiotic. Raoult claims this has resulted in a very low death rate, which he says he will document soon in a publication.
Raoult has also found some high-level support in the medical world. An online petition in support of hydroxychloroquine was started by cardiologist and former Minister of Health Philippe Douste-Blazy—France’s candidate to lead the World Health Organization in 2017—and Christian Perronne, head of infectious diseases at the renowned Raymond Poincaré University Hospital in Garches, near Paris. Ten other prominent figures from the medical community, including two members of the Academy of Medicine, have also co-signed the petition, which demands hydroxychloroquine be authorized in hospital settings.
This has become a highly controversial topic that’s been politicized, as with most other medications and drugs. Profit and corporate interests are at stake, and therefore mass perceptions of it are controlled using various tactics and media. Sometimes it can be hard to decipher truth.
These findings also correlate with others that have been gaining attention as well.
For example, Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a board-certified family practitioner in New York, said in a video interview that a cocktail of Hydroxychloroquine, Zinc Sulfate and Azithromycin are showing phenomenon results with 900 coronavirus patients treated. (source)
In that video he stated that he believes it’s very important to “get this information out to the American people and to the world.”
Dr. Anthony Cardillo, an ER specialist and the CEO of Mend Urgent Care, has been prescribing the zinc and hydroxychloroquine combination on patients experiencing severe symptoms associated with COVID-19. In an interview with KABC-TV, Cardillo stated:
“Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free, […] So, clinically I am seeing a resolution.”
“We have to be cautious and mindful that we don’t prescribe it for patients who have COVID who are well,” he said. “It should be reserved for people who are really sick, in the hospital or at home very sick, who need that medication. Otherwise we’re going to blow through our supply for patients that take it regularly for other disease processes.”
According to Cardillo, it’s the combination of zinc and hydroxychloroquine that does the job. “[Hydrocychloroquine] opens the zinc channel” allowing the zinc to enter the cell, which then “blocks the replication of cellular machinery.”
President Donald Trump has also been quite outspoken about this treatment in some of his recent press conferences. We’ve seen many mainstream media publications, however, downplay the potential of this treatment which may be confusing people.
Cardillo added that the drug should only be prescribed to patients who are on the more severe side when it comes to symptoms. This will help keep the limited supply of the drug ready for those who truly need it.
In New Jersey, Physicians have called for more autonomy in treatment of COVID-19
“An additional group of doctors has contacted a New Jersey State Senator calling on the State to lift restrictions on the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for the therapeutic treatment and prophylactic early treatment of COVID-19. The doctors are echoing Senator Pennacchio’s appeal for New Jersey to accumulate a stockpile of the medication….Pennacchio also wants the State to immediately compile a priority list for the HCQ distribution, ensuring enough medication for those currently prescribed for maladies including Lupus and RA, distribution to patients who have developed COVID-19, and for citizens as a preventive treatment. ‘I am optimistic these measures would decrease the severity and duration of the disease,’ said Pennacchio. ‘The goal must be breaking the pandemic so people can be allowed to return to their normal lives.’ ‘Allow doctors to be doctors. Remove the State’s unnecessary shackles, and let them save lives,’ Pennacchio urged.” (source)
In France, a large study indicates combination of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin to be effective in treating COVID-19
“In 80 in-patients receiving a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, the team found a clinical improvement in all but one 86 year-old patient who died, and one 74-year old patient still in intensive care unit. The team also found that, by administering hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin, they were able to observe an improvement in all cases, except in one patient who arrived with an advanced form…The team went on to say: ‘Thus, in addition to its direct therapeutic role, this association can play a role in controlling the disease epidemic by limiting the duration of virus shedding, which can last for several weeks in the absence of specific treatment.’” (source)
All of this, of course, continues to raise the question: why is there such a strong push for a vaccine, and perhaps a mandated one, when there are other options available now? Why is the world listening to Bill Gates and his calls for further lockdown until the vaccine is ready? Is there something else going on here? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed that things won’t go back to ‘normal’ until a COVID-19 vaccine is developed.” You can read more about that here.
Not only are the above treatments literally ignored by mainstream and not really well known about as they should be, Vitamin C is also being ignored. An article published by LiveScience, a mainstream science website, states that “Vitamin C is extremely unlikely to help people fight off the new coronavirus.” But how come Medicine in Drug Discovery, of Elsevier, a major scientific publishing house, recently published an article on early and high-dose IVC in the treatment and prevention of Covid-19. In the article, he states the following:
High-dose intravenous VC has also been successfully used in the treatment of 50 moderate to severe COVID-19 patients in China. The doses used varied between 2 g and 10 g per day, given over a period of 8–10 h. Additional VC bolus may be required among patients in critical conditions. The oxygenation index was improving in real time and all the patients eventually cured and were discharged. In fact, high-dose VC has been clinically used for several decades and a recent NIH expert panel document states clearly that this regimen (1.5 g/kg body weight) is safe and without major adverse events.
Again, all of this information should really raise some red flags and questions about what’s going on within governments, and their connection to pharmaceutical companies. They’re the largest lobbying entity in Washington D.C. They have more lobbyists in Washington D.C. than there are congressman and senators combined. They give twice to Congress what the next largest lobbying entity is, which is oil and gas… Imagine the power they exercise over both republicans and democrats. You can read more about that here.
Why do we continue to turn to and rely on federal health regulatory agencies and companies that don’t make health a priority, and put profits ahead of health?
BILL GATES’ LATEST INSTAGRAM POST HAS BEEN BOMBARDED WITH ACCUSATIONS & COMMENTS AGAINST VACCINES
by Arjun Walla
In Brief
The Facts:Bill Gates’ latest instagram post has been littered with comments accusing him of crimes against humanity and other accusations, expressing concerns about vaccinations and more. Many comments seem to continually get deleted.
Reflect On:Is humanity waking up? Are there more people who are questioning, doing their own research and thinking for themselves instead of letting big corporations/philanthropists think for them and telling them what is necessary?
Special note to readers: This is the most comprehensive investigation into both sides of the vaccine debate. Researchers, medical professionals and scientists, come together to bring you the information you need to know in order to make educated decisions about vaccines. The global viewing event for The Truth About Vaccines begins April 22.
“HOLY CRAP! Just went to @BillGates Instagram. How is no journalist reporting that millions of people from around the world are in his comments saying they want nothing to do with his corruption. Japan, Morocco, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Africa…” This is a tweet from Candace Owens published a couple of days ago, as soon as I saw it I rushed over to Bill Gates’ latest instagram post, the one where he is holding up a sign that reads “Thank you health care workers.” I was not surprised to see that Owens was correct, except for the “millions of people part,” from what I see so far there are nearly three hundred thousand comments, with many people expressing the fact that a lot of them are continuously being deleted, so perhaps Owens was right. Regardless, the number of comments that seem to question, call out, and down right accuse Bill Gates of crimes against humanity is overwhelming and interesting to say the least.
I was disappointed to see so much hate and judgement, that’s never at all needed and only reinforces what we are trying to ‘fight’ against. Every action certain people and governments take seems to spark more critical questioning within people. So instead of dwelling in fear, we now have tools that will further the awakening of humanity into empowerment and autonomy. What’s happening right now is a positive thing, various governments and those who they’re connected to will take actions, but how we respond to it is up to us.
Apart from the everyday Joe like you and me, there are multiple ‘influencers’ with millions of followers who have also left criticisms. I am looking through the comment feed right now. Candace Owens, for example, writes “Wow. Looks like your #coronavirus fame has backfired, hardcore. Going to have to pass on any vaccines you’re cooking up as well – but I do wish you well.”
Many of the people with blue check marks have millions of followers.
Many of the comments emphasize that people will not be taking a coronavirus vaccine. Perhaps this comes in response to the fact that Gates, in a recent interview on Fox News, as well as with other networks, stated that “It is fair to say that things won’t go back to truly normal until we have a vaccine that we’ve gotten out to basically the entire world.” He is funding most of those efforts. You can watch that interview and read more about it here, and why those comments are being questioned by many, including myself.
The comments on his instagram post are also calling for the arrest of Bill Gates, and many commenters are constantly asking why he’s deleted his comments, and if he pays somebody to delete them. Again, the majority of the comments deal with vaccines, and people’s desire not to take them and constantly explaining how they should not be mandatory.
This is not a surprise, in fact, vaccine hesitancy is at an all time high . In fact, many scientists presented facts about vaccines and vaccine safety at the recent Global Health Vaccine Safety summit hosted by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. One of those facts was that more scientists and doctors are becoming hesitant about vaccine safety as well. You can read more about that here.
Ask yourself, why is this happening? Is it because vaccines are actually not as safe and effective as they’re marketed to be? Why does the vaccine hesitancy movement continue to grow, and do health authorities have the right to impose mandatory vaccination measures? Organizations like the Physicians For Informed Consent, and a growing number of people around the world would say no.
Another large group of commentators also raised their voice against a supposed tracking system that is able to somehow easily be able to detect and identify who has been vaccinated, and who hasn’t been.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently posted the following statement in his latest instagram post:
A New York Times reporter asked me yesterday about the “conspiracy theory” that #BillGates is developing injectable chip to store vaccine records. Here are the facts:
The Bill and Melinda #GatesFoundation invested more than $21 million to perfect a “microneedle technology” that embeds, under the skin, a vaccination record visible by infrared light that can be read by a “minimally-adopted smartphone technology.” The technology will allow health officials to scan U.S. citizens to detect their vaccination compliance.
A study funded by the Bill and Melinda #Gates Foundation and published in December 2019 by researchers from MIT, the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Gates-funded Intellectual Ventures Laboratory in Bellevue, WA, describes how “near-infrared quantum dots” will be implanted under the skin along with a vaccine to encode information for “decentralized data storage and bio-sensing.” Gates’ technology uses a tattoo-like mechanism to inject invisible nanoparticles subcutaneously. Gates’ researchers are now testing the implant with a vaccine against the #COVID-19 virus.
The Gates-funded report boasts that the chip system will allow “house-to-house” compliance searches to be conducted by government enforcement teams with “minimal training,” and will “open up new avenues for decentralized data storage and biosensing.” The #MIT paper is titled “Biocompatible near-infrared quantum dots delivered to the skin by microneedle patches to record vaccination.” Gates began funding implantable tracking chips and ratio biotechnology in 2011 with a grant to TransDerm Inc. Gates is currently making multiple investments to develop different versions, including grants to Vaxxas Pty Ltd, Micron Biomedical Inc, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Vaxess Technologies Inc.
I urge you to contact Bill Gates on his social media. Gently explain that tagging and tracking humans may appeal to his government cronies in totalitarian China, but those activities are inconsistent with American values and traditions.
Kevin McHugh, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice put this illustration out with the following explanation:
A pattern of 1.5-millimeter microneedles that contain vaccine and fluorescent quantum dots are applied as a patch. The needles dissolve under the skin, leaving the encapsulated quantum dots. Their pattern can be read to identify the vaccine that was administered. The project was co-led by Rice University bioengineer Kevin McHugh during his time at MIT. (Credit: Second Bay Studios) (source)
Then McHugh told Reuters that,“The quantum dot dye technology is not a microchip or human-implantable capsule and to my knowledge there are no plans to use this for coronavirus.” (source)
This type of digital identification, like Gate’s ID2020 initiative, is still vague, unclear and confusing to many.
Fact-Check.org recently put out a piece titled, “Conspiracy Theory Misinterprets Goals of Gates Foundation.” In that piece, the Gates foundation told the fact checking organization that there is no truth to a system that tracks peoples movements or one that related to COVID-19. It does mention research that was funded by the Gates Foundation and published in December. In an effort to address the problem of poor record-keeping in “low-resource settings,” such as developing countries, that research proposed keeping a record of vaccination on a patient’s skin. It tested an invisible dye that could last up to five years and be read with a specially adapted smartphone. McHugh, told Fact-Check.org by email that the ink couldn’t be used as a tracking device.
The Comments on Gates’ Instagram Is One of Many Examples of Where Human Consciousness Is At
At the end of the day, there are many examples showing that a large portion of the citizenry simply do not agree with the measures that powerful philanthropists like Bill Gates are going to in the name of ‘good will’ and for ‘the sake of humanity’ as well as ‘the greater good.’ These people have unlimited amounts of power and continually try to impose their will upon the human populace, while at the same time manufacturing our consent to these measures and ridiculing and suppressing any narrative that voices any concern, or provides evidence for concern.
In today’s day in age, regardless of what narrative is constantly beamed out to the masses, we have to ask ourselves, where is human consciousness at with certain things, like vaccines, for example, and why are we here? Is it because people are misinformed, or is it because humanity is waking up to many different things and becoming aware of information that they were once not aware of? Is it because we feel like our rights and freedoms are being slowly taken away, bit by bit, under the guise of good will? Why are authority figures now censoring information and opinions on vaccines and other topics? What’s going on here? The more authoritarian measures that are put in place both in the real world as well as digitally, the more questions and concern it raises for the citizenry.
With many issues, our thoughts and perceptions are completely programmed into us and they’re not even our own, so it’s encouraging to start seeing so many people think for themselves and judging by most of the comments from Bill Gates’ instagram, this is happening with a lot of people. This kind of ‘awakening’ will only increase as we move forward, and major events like coronavirus, just like 9/11, will only contribute to humanities great awakening. It’s great to see humanity questioning in general and no longer simply following and doing what they are told to do. We are living in a special time and the more this critical questioning continues, the more those who don’t like it and are threatened by our questioning will continue to try and push measures upon us under the guise of good will.
There is no need for hate, judgement and criticism. Those are things the world needs to leave behind, and when we are commenting on these posts and creating awareness, there’s no point in using the same tactics as those who we are trying to question do. Operating from a place of peace is always crucial and necessary, and planting seeds that inspire critical questioning as to what we are really doing here on planet Earth is key.
RFK, Jr., ON WUHAN, THE NIH, AND DR GROUCHY (RHYMES WITH FAUCI)
Well… ye olde plandemick plotte thickeneth… and many thanks to those of you who provided links that led to today’s blog and articles.
If you’ve been watching the latest developments, President Trump announced that his administration was “looking into” a grant of 3.7 million dollars to China’s Wuhan lab by various government agencies connected to – you guessed it, Dr. Anthony Grouchy (rhymes with Fauci), Bill Gates of Microcrud software fame, and – yup – Hahvaahd’s recently arrested Dr. Charles Lieber. But it’s not just anyone talking about this development, it’s a Congressman (Matt Gaetz, R-Florida) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (really big D-Everywere):
Mr. Kennedy does not mince words, noting that the Obama Administration had halted Dr. Grouchy’s (rhymes with Fauci) corona virus experiments, after which the “good” doctor shifted the research to China to avoid the restrictions his boss (that would be President Obama) had taken action; here’s what Mr. Kennedy stated:
Background; following the 2002-2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, NIH a collaboration by Chinese scientists, US military virologists from the bioweapons lab at Ft. Detrick and NIH scientists from the NIAID to prevent future coronavirus outbreaks by studying the evolution of virulent strains from bats in human tissues.
Those efforts included “gain of function” research that used a process called “accelerated evolution” to create Covid Pandemic superbugs; enhanced bat born Covid mutants more lethal and more transmissable than wild COVID. Fauci’s studies alarmed scientists around the world who complained, according to a Dec 2017 NY Times article that:
“these researchers risk creating a monster germ that could escape the lab and seed a pandemic”
Dr. Mark Lipsitch of the Harvard School of Public Health’s Communicable Disease Center told the Times that Dr. Fauci’s NIAID experiments “have given us some modest scientific knowledge and done almost nothing to improve our preparedness for pandemic, and yet risked creating an accidental pandemic”
In October 2014, following a series of Federal laboratory mishaps that narrowly missed releasing these deadly engineered viruses, President Obama ordered a halt to all federal funding for Dr. Fauci’s dangerous experiments.
It now appears that Fauci may have dodged the federal restrictions by shifting the research to the military lab in Wuhan. Congress needs to launch and investigation of NIAID’s mischief in China.
Now note what the second article by Haley Kennington states:
In addition to there being zero bats sold at the Chinese wet market, white papers show that in all the years of researching, studying, and yes – editing strains of the coronavirus – the virus has not had the capability of jumping from animal to human without interference by way of genome sequencing.
In other words, the virus did not have the ability of being passed from animal to human until those working in the bioweapons lab edited elements of the virus that would make that possible. Though the Chinese want to place all blame on the virus originating from bats (in a seafood market no less), the science speaks for itself and it’s telling a different story.
The novel coronavirus COVID-19 so closely resembles two different bat SARS-like coronaviruses that it appears COVID-19 was created through “copy and pasting” the exact amino acid similarity and cannot be a natural mutation within bats or any other mammal.
Ms. Kennington goes on:
n article published in The Scientist in 2015 mentions infectious-disease researcher Ralph Baric, along with the effort of his team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s in their gain-of-function research to create a chimera, mixing the SHCO14 coronavirus spike protein from Chinese horseshoe bats with that of the SARS-CoV-1 virus.
Could this be the true reason behind NIH, under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, and during the Obama administration in 2015, awarding $3.7 million in grants to the Chinese for further research?
Toward the end of her article, Ms. Kennington mentions what I personally regard may end up being a kind of Rosetta Stone to decipher this whole mess:
But, what if China is only partially lying and the weaponization of the virus? What if it’s weaponization wasn’t done at the P4 bioweapon lab in Wuhan, but by the recently indicted Harvard Professor Charles Lieber who ran his own facility in exchange for a monthly payment of $50,000 by Wuhan University of Technology as a “Strategic Scientist”? The Chinese government also paid Lieber $1.5 million to set up and run the nearby lab, according to a court affidavit.
“The Lieber Research Group’s website identifies its principal sponsors as NIH and DoD, including the Office of Naval Research (“ONR”) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (“AFOSR”). Based upon records maintained by NIH, DoD, and Harvard University, I know that the Lieber Research Group has received more than $15,000,000 in grant funding from NIH and DoD since 2008.”
Affadavit
Lieber was working on a transistor as early as 2011 that could penetrate cell membranes. Could this have been why his research and development was so important to China, Wuhan specifically?
Now, putting all this together, what do we have? Well, for one thing, it’s beginning to look an awfully lot like certain power-hungry and rogue elements in the American deep state teamed up with certain power-hungry and rogue elements in the Chinese deep state, and that this whole plandemic is just that, for what caught my eye in this whole thing was that President Obama ceased funding of Dr. Grouchy’s project when it became clear the virus had nearly “accidentally” been released when the research was being conducted in this country. Even though it’s looking more and more likely that it was released in China, but the question is, by accident? or by incompetence? or by design? If the first two, then we’re dealing with a crisis of opportunity being used by the aforementioned ne’er-do-wells and a kind of “mass manslaughter”, and if the latter, intentional mass murder.
Either way, it’s time for the state department to suspend the passports of said ne’er-do-wells, and for Dr. Grouchy to be made to answer some tough questions in President Trump’s future press conferences…
… if there’s anyone left in the propatainment media anymore that can put tough questions.
And more importantly, these men need to be investigated to the hilt, and I mean to the hilt, and made to face civil and justice at every level, federal, state, and local, for any incompetence, accident, or deliberate planning in this whole thing that may be uncovered.
In short, lawyer up Bill and Tony, you’re gonna need ’em…
The Facts:In the second episode of The Intercept’s new weekly show, host Glenn Greenwald explores the under-discussed consequences of the coronavirus pandemic with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and how it’s being used to take away more human rights.
Reflect On:Should the government use force on their citizenry to comply, or should they simply recommend safety measures and explain why they do?
Special Note To Our Readers: We are concerned that our Facebook Page will be deleted, so we are encouraging all those who want to continue to receive and be able to find our content to sign up for our email list.
9/11 was a major event in human history, and although it was very traumatic and devastating, it served the collective in multiple ways. For example, the event raised questions and made people distrust their government. It also highlighted the massive amounts of corruption that exists within governments. Since 9/11, the masses have become aware of ‘false flag terrorism,’ which refers to the ‘powers that be’ creating, funding and even staging terrorist events in order to heighten the national security state and justify the invasion and infiltration of other countries under the guise of good will and restoring democracy. In reality, this type of infiltration is usually used for ulterior motives like resource extraction, mass surveillance and installing a puppet government that is willing to work with governments and intelligence agencies who have a tremendous amount of power.
After 9/11 we saw various leaks from whistleblowers, organizations like Wikileaks, and numerous other proofs that governments were actually funding Terrorist organizations, and again, in some cases contributing to the ‘staging’ of terrorist attacks. The chemical weapons attacks in Syria a few years ago were a great example, and it eventually got to the point where congresspeople were introducing bills to stop their own government (The United States) from funding terrorist organizations like ISIS. Just like Tulsi Gabbard did with the “Stop Arming Terrorists Act.”
Terrorism is and always has been a classic case of powerful people creating the problem, so the exact same people can propose the solution. Are we seeing the same thing with the coronavirus?
Whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and William Binney (one of the highest placed intelligence officials to ever blow the whistle), among others, have been exposing the National Security Agency (NSA) and the US Government with regards to the extent of their surveillance programs for quite a while. They’ve both leaked documents and ‘blown the whistle’ on just how far these agencies go to monitor not only their own citizens, but the citizes in other countries as well. They’ve also been quite outspoken that these programs are not put in place for our own protection, and that the ‘problems’ are simply a cover that are used to justify the implementation of these programs. According to Binney, these surveillance measures are not for our protection, but for “total population control.” (source)
What Snowden Has To Say About The Coronavirus
According to Edward Snowden, “Governments around the world are are exploiting the pandemic to monitor us like never before.” He and many others have been pointing out how society is moving fast towards an authoritarian type of existence, and how it’s already here. The enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom has been here for quite a while, and it’s done in a very clever way. Many of us are concerned about having a good job, a house, a family and many of us believe we have freedom without being aware that in many ways, we really don’t. And all of the measures that take away our freedom are done so by manufacturing our consent to these measures, or by governments simply implementing these measures without the knowledge or approval of the people. As Snowden mentions in his interview below, fear, panic and hysteria are usually the tools used to implement and justify these measures and manufacture our consent.
As authoritarianism spreads, as emergency laws proliferate, as we sacrifice our rights, we also sacrifice our capability to arrest the slide into a less liberal and less free world. Do you truly believe that when the first wave, this second wave, the 16th wave of the coronavirus is a long forgotten memory, that these capabilities will not be kept? -Edward Snowden (source)
Snowden points out that just like 9/11, the coronavirus will be used to heighten even more surveillance and security measures that won’t go away. I am sure many measures that are being put in place, just as they were put into place after 9/11, will remain classified and completely hidden from the citizenry. That’s why people like Edward Snowden are so important.
We are also seeing an authoritarian type of dictator policing the internet as well. Dr. Ron Paul had a piece that was recently flagged as ‘false news’ for simply sharing his opinion. He shares the same thoughts as Snowden to an extent:
Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them. After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security.
People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus “pandemic” could be a big hoax, with the actual danger of the disease massively exaggerated by those who seek to profit – financially or politically – from the ensuing panic.
That is not to say the disease is harmless. Without question people will die from coronavirus. Those in vulnerable categories should take precautions to limit their risk of exposure. But we have seen this movie before. Government over-hypes a threat as an excuse to grab more of our freedoms. When the “threat” is over, however, they never give us our freedoms back. – Paul (source)
Below is a very interesting interview that Snowden recently gave with Glenn Greenwald, where they explore the “under-discussed consequences of the coronavirus pandemic” and “the risk of acquiescing to more surveillance during times of peril.” In it he goes into greater detail.
Learn how to save Earth with these seven keys to surviving and thriving, and solving the many challenges we face as a species and as a planet.
How can humanity navigate its way through the current global crisis to safely reach a future Utopia? If you want to learn how to save Earth and turn the fate of the planet around, read on.
In October, The Guardian reported on a group of experts that were struggling to learn how to save earth:
A disparate group of experts from around the world will meet for the first time on Thursday for talks on what must rank as one of the most momentous decisions in human history.
The question confronting the scientists and other specialists is straightforward enough, even if the solution is far from simple. Is it time to call an end to the epoch we live in and declare the dawn of a new time period: one defined by humanity’s imprint on the planet?
It will probably be a while before the group reaches a consensus of whether or not we are living in such an epoch defined by “humanity’s imprint on the planet.” In the meantime, it is not very difficult to look around and see that a global crisis abounds: temperatures are rising (along with sea levels), global economies remain dependent on fossil fuels, perpetual war seems like it’s here to stay, civil liberties are being stripped away by mass surveillance, and social justice is being weighed against a brutal police state. We need to define a better humanity before the planet can be defined by humanity’s impact upon it.
If there is any hope of global change, it must first begin within the individual, and then the local community. Gandhi’s classic aphorism still holds true: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Want to learn how to save Earth? That’s where to start.
Below are seven ways to learn how to save Earth, radical and positive strategies that can guide humanity through the current global crisis.
1. Earthships
Earthships are sustainable homes built from recycled materials like tires and plastic bottles, designed with thermal heating and cooling, and featuring green house food sources.
2. Permaculture
In the words of one of the founders of permaculture, Bill Mollison, “[It] is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system.”
3. 3D Printing
Advances in 3D printing already show great promises in space travel and regenerative medicine. The huge potential of 3D printing to revolutionize medicine continues to reveal itself, as two exciting new research projects show.
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery and the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Sciences joined forces with leading 3D bioprinting company Organova to develop 3D printed tissues for transplant research. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Wollongong and ARC Centre for Excellence for Electromaterials Sceince (ACES) at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia have teamed up to utilize 3D bioprinting to study the human brain, with the hope of curing brain disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia, as well as repairing head injuries.
The number of donors for vital tissue and organ transplants continues to decrease worldwide, and yet the demand for transplants increases. 3D bioprinting, also known as tissue engineering, offers a solution to the longstanding and growing issue of the lack of donors needed for transplants. It could also shorten the amount of time that patients have to wait for organ and tissue transplants.
“This field may provide a unique and new opportunity where we can print 3D organs that can supplement or replace the shortage of organs out there worldwide,” said Dr. John Geibel, vice chair and director of surgical research at Yale School of Medicine.
Neuroscience could potentially see big breakthroughs thanks to 3D printing as well. A brain disorder such as schizophrenia remains difficult to understand and treat due to its inability to be studied through animal research, as the condition is unique to humans. But that might change thanks to the research being undertaken by ACES in Melbourne, Australia. 3D printing potentially lead to cures for a host of other neurological conditions, such as epilepsy, and also aid doctors in treating sever brain injuries. It could also provide transferable tissue that could be implanted into a human brain.
“We are at a very exciting time in stem cell and regenerative medicine research and technology development,” said ACES stem cell expert Associate Professor Jeremy Crook.
“With the opportunity and realisation that natural and synthetic biomaterials can be used to support and control cell and tissue engineering, I believe we can better model healthy and disease biology for understanding disease processes, drug development, and tissue replacement therapy.”
While 3D bioprinting has not yet been demonstrated on a real and measurable scale, the field is rapidly advancing. In a very short period of time we might see organ “assist” programs in which a bioprinted organ could temporarily replace a failing organ while the patient waits for a full transplant. Eventually, tissue constructs might even be used to restore tissues or organs damaged by injury, disease or even normal aging.
“We are at a very exciting time in stem cell and regenerative medicine research and technology development,” Crook said.
4. Graphene
(This section was contributed by Kevin Gamble.)
Could graphene—a super-thin substance only a single atom thick that is stronger than diamond, bendable, and usable for computer screens and solar power—revolutionize the world’s energy future? Two new discoveries suggest that might be the case.
Graphene is an allotrope of pure carbon, arranged in a honeycomb-like lattice structure, resulting in a sheet material a single atom thick. Hailed by many as a “wonder material,” and a likely successor to silicon, graphene is being set up to be the next technological milestone, especially in the fields of energy and electronics. The first potential breakthrough has shown that graphene is extremely efficient in the conversion of light into electricity, far more efficient than our current crop of solar cell technologies. The second breakthrough highlights a new graphene-based energy storage technique, which could completely transform the way we store energy and charge electronic devices (including our EV’s).
Graphene’s ability to convert light into electricity is far more efficient than originally thought. It appears that it is capable of producing multiple electrons from a single photon, thus potentially leading to solar cells far more efficient than any material we currently have.
Frank Koppens, who headed up the study, notes:
“In most materials, one absorbed photon generates one electron, but in the case of graphene, we have seen that one absorbed photon is able to produce many excited electrons, and therefore generate larger electrical signals.”
“It was known that graphene is able to absorb a very large spectrum of light colors. However now we know that once the material has absorbed light, the energy conversion efficiency is very high. Our next challenge will be to find ways of extracting the electrical current and enhance the absorption of graphene. Then we will be able to design graphene devices that detect light more efficiently and could potentially even lead to more efficient solar cells.”
PV cells have traditionally been made with silicon. While an extremely abundant resource, purifying silicon and forming it into crystals and then cutting it into sheets for solar cells is an energy and time intensive process. PV cell efficiencies using silicon have topped out at around 25% for the most widely used solar cells, while the most advanced multi-junction cells have reached only 44% efficiency. Graphene has the potential to dramatically change the PV market, through the development of highly efficient, malleable, and easily mass-producible solar cells.
This week also saw UCLA researchers Ric Kamen and Maher El-Kady announce their recent work with graphene. Using off-the-shelf commercial DVD-burners, the team has developed a simple yet profound method for producing graphene sheets. As if their methods for fabrication were not novel enough, yielding the potential to efficiently mass produce graphene sheets, it’s their “accidental discovery” which is most exciting.
By embedding electrodes into their graphene discs, El-Kady and Kaner found that the energy storage capabilities far exceeded their expectations. They speculate that if their work pans out as they hope, it may be possible to apply these super capacitors towards charging electronic devices in record time, such as getting a full charge on a Smartphone in seconds, and—more importantly—fully re-charging batteries on Electric Vehicles (EV’s) within a minute. This discovery alone could help towards solving some of the problems associated with EV’s, particularly slow-charge times, and the lack of a charge-station infrastructure. Better yet, since they are made out of pure carbon, they could be composted when they are spent.
While this new research on graphene looks to be extremely promising, it will still take some time before it will be able to be mass-produced at an affordable rate. Nevertheless, it is work like this that could do wonders for enhancing the world’s energy capabilities, moving us towards a more sustainable future.
While quick charging times is certainly helpful for everyday stress, and could help advance the spread of EVs, it is the PV applications which the world stands to benefit the most from. With the development of cheap, malleable (yet extremely strong) and transportable PV cells we could radically change our energy infrastructure, moving ever closer to a de-centralized, distributed power, where any surface, including your own body, could become a source of power generation. That’s all the more reason to increase funding into this research, and related technologies.
5. Sustainable Energy
Sustainable energy resources like wind and solar have the potential to virtually replace our dependency on fossil fuels. They can also provide developing nations with energy autonomy.
6. The Psychedelic Experience
Entheogenic substances have been known to indigenous cultures for millennia to induce mystic states and deprogram the nervous system from social maladies, and Western science has been arriving at the same findings for a number of decades.
7. Multi-Planetary Civilization
As we learn how to save Earth and heal the ills of our planet on both the local and global scales, the next step to ensure the survival of the species will be multi-planetary civilization. If we don’t figure out how to save Earth, at least we’ll have backups.
So, how to save Earth? This is only the beginning. In the words of Barbara Marx Hubbard, “The future first begins in imagination, then in will, then in reality.” We hope this guide has inspired you and shown you how to save Earth, because we need all the help we can get!
What we’re not being told about the true nature of the COVID-19 coronavirus, how it actually affects our bodies’ functions, and most importantly, how to use time-tested and proven nutritional and other therapies to dramatically reduce the seriousness of, and effectively treat this (and many other major virus illnesses,) without submitting to blanket immunizations or drastic loss of liberty.
Former FDA researcher and independent family practice doctor, Jay Nielsen MD, returns to Liberty and Finance / Healing Yourself to cut through the nonsense and share his views grounded in proven science, practical experience, and common-sense.
Interview: Dr. SHIVA Ayyadurai, MIT PhD Crushes Dr. Fauci
