Search This Blog

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Meat Called Crucial To The Human Diet - Warn Against Vegan Zealotry

 Dozens of experts were asked to look into the science behind claims that meat eating causes disease and is harmful for the planet in a special issue of a journal called Animal Frontiers.  They have warned against a widespread societal push towards plant-based diets, arguing that poorer communities with low meat intake often suffer from stunting, wasting and anemia driven by a lack of vital nutrients and protein.

Thousands of scientists across the globe have also joined The Dublin Declaration, a group stating that livestock farming is too important to society to “become the victim of zealotry.”  They say that many of the negative claims about meat in our diet are simply not true. 

The Dublin Declaration group has published a statement allowing global signatories to join them in defending meat supported diets and contradicting common claims made by establishment institutions against livestock in agriculture. In particular, the scientists stress that meats provide vitamin B12 intake in human diets, play a major role in supplying retinol, omega-3 fatty acids and minerals such as iron and zinc, as well as important compounds for metabolism, such as taurine and creatine.  There is no vegan equivalent that fills these nutritional needs and a number of supplements are often required to keep them healthy. 

Scientists note that only well resourced (wealthier) people have the means to abandon meat in their diets and consume vegetables and carbs alone.  In other words, veganism is a first world ideology that is impractical for the majority of global population.  Even India, a developing nation often cited by anti-meat activists for it's religious stance against killing animals, still has a 70% meat eating population

Previous studies (such as the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factor Study, published in The Lancet in 2020) warning against the "dangers" of meat are also being debunked.  Dr Alice Stanton, of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, one of the authors of a review of anti-meat claims, notes:

“The peer-reviewed evidence published reaffirms that [the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Risk Factors Report] which claimed that consumption of even tiny amounts of red meat harms health is fatally scientifically flawed...In fact, removing fresh meat and dairy from diets would harm human health. Women, children, the elderly and low income would be particularly negatively impacted.”

The anti-meat movement most likely finds its roots in astroturf.  Pro-vegan research tends to be funded by globalist institutions like the UN and the WEF, which have made clear that they want meat to become a "rare treat" rather than a dietary staple. 

This would be accomplished by a number of means, but a primary tool would be emissions taxation on farmers and agricultural products leading to artificially higher prices.  The UN hopes to ward much of the populace away from meat by making it unaffordable.  This is similar to the tactic they have recommended for pushing people away from "fossil fuels."  If price is a problem and you still need protein, the globalists suggest fake meat (which is more expensive than real meat for now), or shifting to a third world diet and eating bugs instead.

The UN says its goal is to enforce a completely meat and dairy free human diet by 2050 in order to "fight climate change," though they have been caught in the past greatly exaggerating how much livestock methane contributes to overall emissions. Even if you believe that there is a real climate crisis (despite there being no evidence to support the hype), there is still the fact that livestock emissions are a negligible portion of supposed "greenhouse gases."  You wouldn't be accomplishing anything to save the planet by becoming vegan.     

When climate hysteria is not effective, the same groups try to frighten people away from meat using fraudulent health concerns.  We have seen this lately in the meat issue as well as with natural gas appliances.  Baseless health risk claims are promoted using the corporate media as an amplifier, and the evidence proving the claims wrong is never addressed.   

Without regular access to meat vast numbers of people may be dependent on manufactured supplements to stay healthy.  Much of these supplements are produced in countries overseas that may become hostile and cut off exports. Not to mention, governments could also control the supplies for their own citizens as leverage.  The price factor for foods would make sustaining the current population untenable, leading to either mass starvation or deliberate population reduction. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/scientists-say-meat-crucial-human-diet-warn-against-vegan-zealotry

Rise Of Skynet? Robot Dog Gets ChatGPT Brain

 A team of artificial intelligence engineers equipped a Boston Dynamics robot dog with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Text-to-Speech voice, creating what could be a real-life Skynet-like robot. 

In a recent video posted to Twitter, machine learning engineer Santiago Valdarrama showed how the robo-dog can interact with humans via a voice interface faster than control panels and reports.

"These robots run automated missions every day," Valdarrama said in a Twitter thread, noting that each mission could be "miles-long, hard-to-understand configuration files" and "only technical people can handle them." When paired with ChatGPT and Google's Text-to-Speech voice, a user can ask simple questions to the robot about "configuration files and the mission results." 

"We can now ask the robots about past and future missions and get an answer in real time. ChatGPT interprets the question, parses the files, and formulates the answer," he said. 

The ChatGPT brain means anyone can talk to the robo-dog. 

In the short term, integrating a ChatGPT brain into robots may appear harmless. However, there's a dark risk to artificial intelligence, giving rise to intelligent robots in a Skynet-like scenario

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/rise-skynet-robot-dog-gets-chatgpt-brain

Judge Orders Hunter Biden To Provide Details On Income From Artwork, Investments, Gifts

 by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden may have paid the mother of his 4-year-old daughter up to $750,000 in child support since March 2020, said one of his attorneys at a hearing.

Hunter Biden appeared in Independence County Circuit Court in Batesville, Arkansas, on May 1 as ordered by the judge overseeing the child support dispute between the president’s 53-year-old son and Lunden Roberts. Roberts is the Arkansas woman who, according to court filings, had a relationship with Hunter and gave birth to a baby girl in August 2018. She sued for support in 2019.

At first Hunter Biden denied that the child was his, but a DNA test confirmed he is the father.

On March 12, 2020, he and Roberts agreed to an undisclosed amount in monthly child support to begin on April 1, 2020. Terms of the agreement are sealed because they contain sensitive personal information, including the amount of monthly support and each party’s source of income.

Hunter Biden asked the court to review the child support arrangement the following September because his financial status had changed.

Lawyer Reveals Monthly Payment

During a discussion of the discovery process, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe David Lowell, said his client has been paying $20,000 monthly, more than $700,000 since the support order was signed.

Judge Holly Meyer clarified during the May 1 hearing that any information discussed in open court was a matter of public record.

Lowell’s remarks came after he and attorney Brent Langdon of Dallas, Texas, complained that news outlets had published information from sealed court files. He said news reports referenced tax files, information on Hunter Biden’s cars, and other things that had been redacted.

How is it that things that are redacted in the file are released to the Daily Mail? There are matters that are being redacted that are getting out to the daily news,” Langdon said.

Meyer said that, without proof someone was illegally releasing information, there was little she could do. Journalists and the public often speculate on matters and may come close to guessing what is in a sealed file, she added.

‘Can’t Gag the World’

“If the press comes up with those things, I can’t control that. I can’t gag the world,” Meyer said.

The judge ordered Hunter Biden to provide information on his income from his artwork, investments, employment, gifts from friends, and other sources. She also ordered Roberts to provide information on the value of her property and income while working with her father’s business.

The dispute until now has been mostly a battle of lawyers, with neither of the litigants appearing in court. Hunter Biden’s lawyers have filed at least five motions to delay the process including a last-minute attempt to delay the May 1, 2023 hearing.

Meyer denied that motion.

“All parties are to physically appear for all future court hearings in this matter. The parties will no longer have their appearances excused,” Meyer wrote in her order.

Motions Must Be Filed Correctly

Roberts’ lawyers have asked the court to find Hunter Biden in contempt and jail him for refusing to comply with previous orders, and provide requested discovery information.

Meyer wrote that those matters would be dealt with once everyone was in the courtroom.

In subsequent filings, Roberts’ attorneys complained that the Biden team was dragging its feet in the discovery process. They claim Hunter Biden is living a “lavish lifestyle.”

During the May 1 hearing, Meyer said the contempt request needed to be appropriately filed. She added that she couldn’t rule on the amount of child support because neither side provided enough information in the discovery process to move ahead.

The judge went through a to-do list so each side knew what they were expected to do in order to proceed.

One issue has been the role Hunter Biden’s laptop would play in the process. Roberts’ lawyers reportedly believe the laptop contains important financial information. The Biden lawyers have refused even to acknowledge that the computer belongs to their client. Meyer said all these issues would be addressed as long as each side does what it needs to do to advance the case.

Warning the lawyers that her patience had worn thin, Meyer said she would hold them to the agreed-to schedule.

I expect this case to move. I will ride herd on you, gentlemen.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-orders-hunter-biden-provide-details-income-artwork-investments-gifts

What China Is Really Playing At In Ukraine

 by Pepe Escobar,

Beijing is fully aware the NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is the un-dissociable double of the U.S. war against its Belt and Road Initiative.

Imagine President Xi Jinping mustering undiluted Taoist patience to suffer through a phone call with that warmongering actor in a sweaty T-shirt in Kiev while attempting to teach him a few facts of life – complete with the promise of sending a high-level Chinese delegation to Ukraine to discuss “peace”.

There’s way more than meets the discerning eye obscured by this spun-to-death diplomatic “victory” – at least from the point of view of NATOstan.

The question is inevitable: what’s the point of this phone call? Very simple: just business.

The Beijing leadership is fully aware the NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is the un-dissociable double of an American direct war against the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Until recently, and since 2019, Beijing was the top trade partner for Kiev (14.4% of imports, 15.3% of exports). China essentially exported machinery, equipment, cars and chemical products, importing food products, metals and also some machinery.

Very few in the West know that Ukraine joined BRI way back in 2014, and a BRI trade and investment center was operating in Kiev since 2018. BRI projects include a 2017 drive to build the fourth line of the Kiev metro system as well as 4G installed by Huawei. Everything is stalled since 2022.

Noble Agri, a subsidiary of COFCO (China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation), invested in a sunflower seed processing complex in Mariupol and the recently built Mykolaiv grain port terminal. The next step will necessarily feature cooperation between Donbass authorities and the Chinese when it comes to rebuilding their assets that may have been damaged during the war.

Beijing also tried to become heavily involved in the Ukraine defense sector and even buy Motor Sich; that was blocked by Kiev.

Watch that neon

So what we have in Ukraine, from the Chinese point of view, is a trade/investment cocktail of BRI, railways, military supplies, 4G and construction jobs. And then, the key vector: neon.

Roughly half of neon used in the production of semiconductors was supplied, until recently, by two Ukrainian companies; Ingas in Mariupol, and Cryoin, in Odessa. There’s no business going on since the start of the Special Military Operation (SMO). That directly affects the Chinese production of semiconductors. Bets can be made that the Hegemon is not exactly losing sleep over this predicament.

Ukraine does represent value for China as a BRI crossroads. The war is interrupting not only business but, in the bigger picture, one of the trade and connectivity corridors linking Western China to Eastern Europe. BRI conditions all key decisions in Beijing – as it is the overarching concept of Chinese foreign policy way into mid-century.

And that explains Xi’s phone call, debunking any NATOstan nonsense on China finally paying attention to the warmongering actor.

As relevant as BRI is the overarching bilateral relationship dictating Beijing’s geopolitics: the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

So let’s transition to the meeting of Defense Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) earlier this week in Delhi.

The key meeting in India was between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Chinese colleague Li Shangfu. Li was recently in Moscow, and was received by Putin in person for a special conversation. This time he invited Shoigu to visit Beijing, and that was promptly accepted.

Needless to add that every single player in the SCO and beyond, including nations that are for the moment just observers or dialogue partners as well as others itching to become full members, such as Saudi Arabia, paid very close attention to the Shoigu-Shangfu camaraderie.

When it comes to the profoundly strategic Central Asian “stans”, that represents the six feet under treatment for the Hegemon wishful thinking of using them in a Divide and Rule scheme pitting Russia against China.

Shoigu-Shangfu also sent a subtle message to SCO members India and Pakistan – stop bickering and in the case of Delhi, hedging your bets – and to full member (in 2023) Iran and near future member Saudi Arabia: here’s where’s it at, this the table that matters.

All of the above also points to the increasing interconnection between BRI and SCO, both under Russia-China leadership.

BRICS is essentially an economic club – complete with its own bank, the NDB – and focused on trade. It’s mostly about soft power. The SCO is focused on security. It’s about hard power. Together, these are the two key organizations that will be paving the multilateral way.

As for what will be left of Ukraine, it is already being bought by Western mega-players such as BlackRock, Cargill and Monsanto. Yet Beijing certainly does not count on being left high and dry. Stranger things have happened than a future rump Ukraine positioned as a functioning trade and connectivity BRI partner.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-what-china-really-playing-ukraine

Haleon not surprised by Pfizer stake sale plans, says CFO

 Pfizer's plan to sell its Haleon stake is not a surprise, the consumer health company's finance chief Tobias Hestler told Reuters on Wednesday.

London-listed Haleon was carved out as an independent company in July and comprises consumer health assets once owned by GSK and Pfizer.

Pfizer, which has a 32% stake in the maker of Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers, told the Financial Times on Tuesday that it intends to offload that stake in a "slow and methodical" manner within months.

Hestler said Pfizer has long been clear about its intention to sell off the stake, suggesting that the reason the potential of the selloff has gained traction is because the selling window opens around the time that Haleon's results are announced.

"This will happen every quarter from now until they're sold off...this is just what's expected," he said, adding: "If I get a courtesy call the evening before they do it then that would be nice, but they don't even have to do that."

Shares of the world's biggest standalone consumer health business were down more than 3% in early trading.

"These stock 'overhangs' can depress share prices in the short term, but it seems unlikely anyone will not buy a pack of Advil or Tums because Pfizer are thinking of selling a non-core investment," said Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Haleon, which sells non-prescription drugs, vitamins and oral care products, on Wednesday reported a fall in quarterly adjusted profit margin, mainly because of "cost inflation and incremental standalone costs".

Like its consumer staples competitors, Haleon has been subject to cost inflation, which rose during the COVID-19 pandemic and was exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Apart from somewhat lower energy prices, most costs that make a difference to Haleon such as packaging, aluminium and labour are still rising, albeit at a slower pace, Hestler said.

"What I'm seeing right now is probably single digit cost inflation so there's still cost inflation coming through in the business, he said.

https://news.yahoo.com/haleon-q1-profit-misses-analyst-061812725.html

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Intelligent Bio Solutions Scales Reach Throughout Asia-Pacific

 Company secures new distribution and office facility to scale distribution of its Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System and significantly expand its capacity to service customers

 Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: INBS) (“INBS” or the “Company”), a medical technology company delivering intelligent, rapid, non-invasive testing solutions, today announced the recruitment of four highly experienced sales executives from across the workplace safety and supply, manufacturing, and the drugs and alcohol testing industries for its new sales force in Australia. These skilled professionals will support the Company’s efforts to scale access to its Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

In addition, INBS has secured a new distribution hub and office facility to manage sales and operations, significantly expanding its ability to service customers throughout the region.

Substance abuse is a growing concern for Australian employers, with recent studies showing an estimated 2.5 million days lost annually due to drug and alcohol abuse1. This costs Australian workplaces around A$6 billion per year in lost productivity2 and presents a large market opportunity for INBS to provide convenient testing solutions to workplaces.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/intelligent-bio-solutions-scales-reach-113000457.html

Group of EU states seeks to reduce dependency on China for pharmaceuticals

 A group of 19 European Union member states are pushing for measures to reduce the bloc's dependency on Chinese imports of pharmaceutical ingredients, a paper dated May 2 showed.

The move comes a week after the European Commission proposed an overhaul of the legislation governing its 136 billion euro ($148 billion) pharmaceuticals industry.

The Commission's proposed bill aims to revive investment, reduce shortages and boost access to affordable drugs at a time when health budgets have been drained by the costs of treating COVID-19.

However, the countries backing the paper - including Belgium, France, Spain and Germany - want the EU to take more "drastic steps" to shore up Europe's security of supply for vital drug ingredients with a Critical Medicines Act.

The countries are concerned about the global reliance on China for key ingredients and a handful of manufacturers. Less than five sites manufacture more than 50% of the ingredients that meet European standards.

"The EU is becoming increasingly dependent on imports from a few manufacturers and regions...In 2019, globally more than 40% of APIs (Active pharmaceutical ingredients) were sourced from China," the paper said.

"Furthermore, almost all API producers depend on China for intermediate inputs."

The Commission is aiming to put a list of critical medicines that will require more monitoring to ensure shortages are avoided across the bloc.

"For these medicines, the supply must be monitored, the global value chains must be mapped and (potential) suppliers and vulnerabilities identified," the paper said.

The list should start with those medications that have repeatedly been in short supply, it said.

The countries would also like to see measures that allow EU member states to rely on each other in "extreme cases where no alternative suppliers or medicines can be found".

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/group-eu-states-seeks-reduce-185326884.html