Zelensky Pushes 'Buffer Zone' In Conquered Areas Of Kursk With Martial Law

 Ukrainian officials have touted that part of the success of its troop incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region is that Moscow has been forced to divert some of its soldiers from front line fighting in the Donbass to Russia's southern border oblasts.

"(The Russians) are now trying to stop our advance; they have pulled in reserves, which has benefited our defense forces in other areas, because it has become easier to work there," a Ukrainian military commander identified as Dymtro Kholod told CNN Wednesday. 

But there are conflicting claims and counterclaims, with the Russian defense ministry (MoD) announcing it the latest statement that its forces continue to "repel an attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to invade the territory of the Russian Federation" - now just after a week after the cross-border offensive began.

The ministry further explained that its ground troops, supported by air and drone strikes, had successfully prevented Ukrainian troops from making further advances "deep into Russian territory." It mentioned that it defended the small settlements of Skrylevka and Levshinka, which lie about 20km from the border. "The attempts by enemy mobile units using armored equipment to break through deeper into Russian territory have been repelled," the MoD said.

President Zelensky, however, has continued to maintain that his troops are "moving further" into Russia, which also involved major overnight drone attacks targeting four Russian airfields in the "largest attack" of its kind since the war began. 

"In the Kursk region, we are moving further. From one to two kilometers (0.6-1.2 miles) in different areas since the beginning of the day," Zelensky announced on social media. He claimed that "more than 100 Russian servicemen" have been captured in recent days of fighting and that this will "speed up the return home of our boys and girls."

Amid a lot of ongoing speculation over Zelensky's ultimate aim and motives for this cross-border operation which started on Aug.6, the Ukrainian leader unveiled on Wednesday that Ukraine is seeking to establish a "buffer zone" inside Russia to prevent attacks on Ukrainian citizens.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has outlined on Telegram "The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily enemy attacks." He said that Sumy along has seen 20,000 Ukrainians evacuated through the course of the war.

Surprisingly, Klymenko suggested the indefinite occupation of Kursk territory that Ukraine has captured over the past week. He asserted that Russian citizens in Kursk "were abandoned by Russia without the most necessary things" and that the Ukrainian military is looking to supply "the needs of the locals for drinking water, food, medicines and hygiene kits so that we can organize humanitarian aid as soon as possible…"

Similarly, Ukrainian Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk spoke the same day about establishing a "security zone" in areas which have been taken:

"There are Russian civilians within this zone. They are protected by international humanitarian law, which Ukraine fully complies with," she said, so the Ukrainian military would "conduct humanitarian operations to support civilians within the mentioned zone" as well as open corridors for civilians to evacuate, either into Ukraine or within Russia.

One of the ironies in all of this is that previously in the war President Putin himself spoke about establishing a 'buffer zone' on the other side of the Ukraine border, to prevent southern Russian settlements from coming under attack.

It seems Ukraine's offensive is coming at a very high cost, per Russian sources:

The Ukrainian armed forces lose up to 270 soldiers and 16 armored vehicles, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Wednesday.

"In the past day, the losses of the armed forces of Ukraine amounted to 270 military personnel and 16 armored vehicles, including two tanks, an armored personnel carrier Stryker, 13 armored combat vehicles, as well as 10 vehicles and a 122-mm D-30 howitzer," the ministry said, adding that Russian troops repelled six Ukrainian attacks around five settlements in the region.

Ukrainian troops lost up to 2,300 servicemen and 37 tanks during their offensive in the Kursk Region, the ministry added.

A high-risk, ultra provocative PR-driven decision of Zelensky...

But now, adding insult to injury, Zelensky is even reportedly talking about the imposition of martial law in Kursk areas under control of the Ukrainian army. He said later in the day Wednesday that there's still a "good pace" of advance into Russia.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-pushes-buffer-zone-conquered-areas-kursk-martial-law

The Shiny New Kamala Harris That Propaganda Built

 by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

Remember just over a month ago when Kamala Harris was the lowest-polling vice president in history?

Remember how she utterly failed as “border czar?”

Remember how many terrible gaffes she made, speaking in word salads and nodding her encouragement to pretend we all understood what the heck she was talking about?

Don’t worry. Now we have a shiny NEW Kamala Harris who’s prepared to be the leader of the free world.

Going back even further, who remembers her alleged inappropriate relationship with her boss that helped her to rapidly (allegedly) climb the political ladder in California? And what about her keeping black men incarcerated in California past their release dates just so they could be used as slave labor? What about her throwing the book at 2,000 people for possessing marijuana while currently laughing/cackling about how “nobody should go to jail for smoking some weed?”

But that was the OLD Kamala Harris.

You’re encouraged to forget all that. Not just encouraged, but you’re gaslit and brainwashed into forgetting it. The Shiny New Kamala Harris (SNKH) is a whole different human being.

SNKH is teleprompted and scripted. She doesn’t say anything that wasn’t already approved for her to say because the propaganda machine knows about those confusing word salads she rambles. In fact, SNKH hasn’t done a single interview since she was shoved into place for a floundering Joe Biden.

SNKH has had her entire background “disappeared” into some internet black hole. You know and I know that she was the “border czar” but all the “fact checkers” are acting like this never happened. Everything that is happening at the border and with illegal migrants now will continue to happen and even worsen if she is elected. She has a proven track record of doing… absolutely nothing about this issue. But I challenge you to find any mention of her shortcomings on the MSM.

SNKH is lauded as “Mommala” to the Gen Z-ers. But in fact, she has no children and she’s certainly not maternal when it comes to things like protecting kids from violent criminal migrant gangs. And if her step-daughter, Ella Emhoff, a radical pro-Palestinian “model,” reflects SNKH’s values, I want none of that. In fact, Ella’s dad is Jewish, and Ella has “pointedly insisted she does not consider herself Jewish,” according to an article from the NY Post.

Emhoff has also raised cash for “urgent relief for Gaza’s children” — which critics said would find its way into terrorist hands. The presumptive first stepdaughter remains “an active presence in pro-Palestinian circles,” according to the New Republic.

And that isn’t all – the candidate who everyone thought would be her Vice Presidential pick, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, was looked over for Tim Walz, a dude who turned Minnesota into a “sanctuary state” for illegals and LBGTQ kids whose parents won’t allow them to undergo “gender-affirming care.” Oh, and also, he’s lied about his military service. Repeatedly. We’re talking stolen valor level lies.

But the MSM is beating a totally different drum.

In the span of the three weeks since President Joe Biden dropped out of the election on Twitter and someone tried to assassinate former President Trump, SNKH has undergone a total transformation, courtesy of the Mainstream Media Propaganda Machine. The media appears to be colluding with the Democrats or Harris’s campaign or someone to make her a totally different and socially acceptable choice for president.

Not only have they memory-holed all mentions of “border czar-ing,” but they’ve also gotten rid of many of her former faux pas.  They have created a new Kamala Harris to present to the world in the span of just 23 days. They have created a total illusion of SNKH’s greatness and somehow completely turned the polls around.

Or have they?

I remember when we all thought Hillary Clinton was going to win back in 2016 and were shocked when Trump was announced as the 45th president. The polls then showed a strong lead for HRC, but in the end, even allegedly cheating, she lost.

Are the polls now any different? Are all these positive polls for real that show this ultra-confused woman trouncing President Trump? The same President Trump who got shot and got up pumping his fist in the air telling us to “fight!?” The same President Trump who was soundly defeating President Biden? Has it turned around that quickly or are they just telling us that it has?

I honestly think it’s the second. I have great difficulty imagining who could believe this ridiculous scheme to paint SNKH as a totally different person. Of course, I also can’t understand why people thought Joe Biden was A-OK and non-demented until his fateful debate with Trump. So perhaps I’m wrong.

The Harris Campaign is feeding the Shiny New Kamala Harris creation, too

Of course, the Harris Campaign is right up there, priming the pump for all the wonderful things SNKH has accomplished and will soon accomplish. But they don’t seem to believe the MSM is doing enough.

According to Axios, they are making up headlines and attributing them to MSM networks in their ad campaigns.

Image Courtesy of Axios

No, those aren’t real. Those are ads that will pop up when you search Google for something related to the topic of SNKH and her wannabe VP, Tim Walz. Those misleading ads are fake headlines, wild dreams, and crazy wishes that are made to look absolutely real to those who are searching for information.

Here’s more from the Axios article about this:

… Since August 3rd, nearly a dozen news companies have been used in these types of search ads from the Harris campaign, Axios found.

• Examples include The Independent UK, NPR, AP, The Guardian, USA Today, PBS, CNN, CBS News, Time and others, including local outlets like North Dakota radio station WDAY Radio.
• The ads include links to real articles from the news outlets, but the headlines and supporting text have been altered to read as though the articles support the Harris campaign’s objectives.
• For example, an ad that ran alongside an article from The Guardian shows a headline that reads “VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans – Harris Defends Repro Freedom” and then includes supporting text underneath the headline that reads, “VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.”

 

• An ad featuring a link to an NPR story reads, “Harris Will Lower Health Costs,” with supporting text that says, “Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality affordable health care.”

It’s not illegal but it’s kinda crazy how all those “disinformation” websites aren’t all over this. They red-flagged me for posting links to studies with opposing results.

What it all adds up to

In my humble opinion, here’s what we could expect from a Harris presidency:

• More crime and devolution from our leaky southern border

• More difficulty for the average REAL American to get social assistance because we’re spending billions on illegal immigrants

• Unsafe cities because of liberal ideas of “criminal justice”

• Even more inflation than we’re already facing at the grocery store

• A full-on stock market collapse as the world loses faith in America and our dollar

• More surveillance and control

• A war in the Middle East that will spill over into the rest of the world

• A globe that has no respect for Americans

• More DEI-related incompetence

• More Marxist B(aloney) S(andwiches) shoved down our throats at every opportunity

• A quick trip to communism when people can no longer survive in the inhospitable economic climate of the future

Remember, you know what you know about her. Don’t let this tomfoolery and gaslighting make you forget how inept this person is and how unsuited she is for the highest office in the United States of America.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/shiny-new-kamala-harris-propaganda-built

'CA Bill Mandates State Review of Health Care Equity Deals'

 A bill pending in California's legislature to ratchet up oversight of private equity investments in health care is receiving enthusiastic backing from consumer advocates, labor unions, and the California Medical Association but drawing heavy fire from hospitals concerned about losing a potential funding source.

The legislation, sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, would require private equity groups and hedge funds to notify his office of planned purchases of many types of health care businesses and obtain its consent. It also reinforces state laws that bar nonphysicians from directly employing doctors or directing their activities, which is a primary reason for the doctor association's support.

Private equity firms raise money from institutional investors such as pension funds and typically acquire companies they believe can be run more profitably. Then they look to boost earnings and sell the assets for multiples of what they paid for them.

That can be good for future retirees and sometimes for mismanaged companies that need a capital infusion and a new direction. But critics say the profit-first approach isn't good for health care. Private equity deals in the sector are coming under increased scrutiny around the country amid mounting evidence that they often lead to higher prices, lower-quality care, and reduced access to core health services.

Opponents of the bill, led by the state's hospital association, the California Chamber of Commerce, and a national private equity advocacy group, say it would discourage much-needed investment. The hospital industry has already persuaded lawmakers to exempt sales of for-profit hospitals from the proposed law.

"We preferred not to make that amendment," Bonta said in an interview. "But we still have a strong bill that provides very important protections."

The legislation would still apply to a broad swath of medical businesses, including clinics, physician groups, nursing homes, testing labs, and outpatient facilities, among others. Nonprofit hospital deals are already subject to the attorney general's review.

A final vote on the bill could come this month if a state Senate committee moves it forward.

Nationally, private equity investors have spent $1 trillion on health care acquisitions in the past decade, according to a report by The Commonwealth Fund. Physician practices have been especially attractive to them, with transactions growing sixfold in a decade and often leading to significant price increases. Other types of outpatient services, as well as clinics, have also been targets.

In California, the value of private equity health care deals grew more than twentyfold from 2005 to 2021, from less than $1 billion to $20 billion, according to the California Health Care Foundation. Private equity firms are tracking the pending legislation closely but so far haven't slowed investment in California, according to a new report from the research firm PitchBook.

Multiple studies, as well as a series of reports by KFF Health News, have documented some of the difficulties created by private equity in health care.

Research published last December in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed a larger likelihood of adverse events such as patient infections and falls at private equity hospitals compared with others. Analysts say more research is needed on how patient care is being affected but that the impact on cost is clear.

"We can be almost certain that after a private equity acquisition, we're going to be paying more for the same thing or for something that's gotten worse," said Kristof Stremikis, director of Market Analysis and Insight at the California Health Care Foundation.

Most private equity deals in health care are below the $119.5 million threshold that triggers a requirement to notify federal regulators, so they often slide under the government radar. The Federal Trade Commission is stepping up scrutiny, and last year it sued a private equity-backed anesthesia group for anticompetitive practices in Texas.

Lawmakers in several other states, including Connecticut, Minnesota, and Massachusetts, have proposed legislation that would subject private equity deals to greater transparency.

Not all private equity firms are bad operators, said Assembly member Jim Wood, a Democrat from Healdsburg, but review is essential: "If you are a good entity, you shouldn't fear this."

The bill would require the attorney general to examine proposed transactions to determine their impact on the quality and accessibility of care, as well as on regional competition and prices.

Critics note that private equity deals are often financed with debt that is then owed by the acquired company. In many cases, private equity groups sell off real estate to generate immediate returns for investors and the new owners of the property then charge the acquired company rent.

That was a factor in the financial collapse of Steward Health Care, a multistate hospital system that was owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management from 2010 to 2020, according to a report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit that supports the California bill. Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. "Almost all of the most distressed US healthcare companies are owned by private equity firms," according to another study by the group.

Opponents of the legislation argue it would dampen much-needed investment in an industry with soaring operating costs. "Our concern is that it will cut off funding that can improve health care," said Ned Wigglesworth, a spokesperson for Californians to Protect Community Health Care, a coalition of groups fighting the legislation. The prospect of having to submit to a lengthy review by the attorney general, he said, would create "a chilling effect on private funders."

Proponents of private equity investment point to what they say are notable successes in California health care.

Children's Choice Dental Care, for example, said in a letter to state senators that it logs over 227,000 dental visits annually, mostly with children on Medi-Cal, the health insurance program for low-income Californians. "We have been able to expand to 25 locations, because we have been able to access capital from a private equity firm," the group wrote.

Ivy Fertility, with clinics in California and eight other states, said in a letter to state senators that private investment has expanded its ability to provide fertility treatments at a time when demand for them is increasing.

Researchers note that private equity investors are hardly alone when it comes to health care profiteering, which extends even to nonprofits. Sutter Health, a major nonprofit hospital chain, for example, settled for $575 million in a lawsuit brought by then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, for unfair contracting and pricing.

"It's helpful to look at ownership classes like private equity, but at the end of the day we should look at behavior, and anyone can do the things that private equity firms do," said Christopher Cai, a physician and health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School. He added, though, that private equity investors are "more likely to engage in financially risky or purely profit-driven behavior."

https://www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/ca-bill-mandates-state-review-health-care-equity-deals-2024a1000exs

Early Look at 2025 Cost-Of-Living Adjustments and Maximum Contribution Base

 The BLS reported this morning:

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 2.9 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 308.501 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.1 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.

CPI-W is the index that is used to calculate the Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA). The calculation dates have changed over time (see Cost-of-Living Adjustments), but the current calculation uses the average CPI-W for the three months in Q3 (July, August, September) and compares to the average for the highest previous average of Q3 months. Note: this is not the headline CPI-U and is not seasonally adjusted (NSA).

• In 2023, the Q3 average of CPI-W was 301.236.

The 2023 Q3 average was the highest Q3 average, so we only have to compare Q3 this year to last year.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows CPI-W since January 2000. The red lines are the Q3 average of CPI-W for each year.

Note: The year labeled is for the calculation, and the adjustment is effective for December of that year (received by beneficiaries in January of the following year).

CPI-W was up 2.9% year-over-year in July, and although this is early - we need the data for July, August and September - my early guess is COLA will probably be around 2.4% this year, the smallest increase since 1.3% in 2021.

Contribution and Benefit Base

The contribution base will be adjusted using the National Average Wage Index. This is based on a one-year lag. The National Average Wage Index is not available for 2023 yet, although we know wages increased solidly in 2023. If wages increased 5% in 2023, then the contribution base next year will increase to around $177,000 in 2025, from the current $168,600.

Remember - this is an early look. What matters is average CPI-W, NSA, for all three months in Q3 (July, August and September).

https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2024/08/early-look-at-2025-cost-of-living.html

Half of Patients Show Prolonged IBS Post-Gastroenteritis

 Acute gastroenteritis increases the odds of developing functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with the latter lasting 1-4 years in half of patients after the infection.

METHODOLOGY:

• Disorders of gut-brain interaction, such as IBS and FD, may arise after acute infectious gastroenteritis, but data on their postinfection prevalence and persistence and the influence of pathogen type are lacking.
• Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 47 observational studies investigating the prevalence of postinfection IBS (PI-IBS) or postinfection FD (PI-FD) after acute gastroenteritis.
• The studies involved 28,170 participants across 27 countries. Only studies with patient follow-up of 3 or more months were included.
• The research team used a random effects model to estimate PI-IBS and PI-FD prevalence and odds ratios (ORs).

TAKEAWAY:

• Overall, 14.5% of participants with acute gastroenteritis developed PI-IBS, and 12.7% developed PI-FD.
• Patients with acute gastroenteritis had 4.3 times higher odds for PI-IBS and three times higher odds for PI-FD than nonexposed control individuals.
• PI-IBS rates persisted in 52.3% of participants at 1-4 years of follow-up and in 39.8% at more than 5 years. There were insufficient data to determine the persistence of FD.
• PI-IBS was most associated with parasites (prevalence, 30.1%), followed by bacteria (18.3%) and viruses (10.7%).
• In available studies, Campylobacter was associated with the highest PI-IBS prevalence (20.7%), though Proteobacteria and SARS-CoV-2 had the highest odds for PI-IBS (OR, 5.4 for both). The prevalence of PI-FD was 10% for SARS-CoV-2 and 13.6% for bacteria, with the highest prevalence after Enterobacteriaceae infection (19.4%).

IN PRACTICE:

"Generally, as acute gastroenteritis is a common disorder worldwide, our findings may be relevant for public health, and physicians should pay heed if their patients present with a recent episode of infectious gastroenteritis," the authors wrote. "Moreover, physicians should be aware that some microbes with pro-inflammatory characteristics may be associated with PI-IBS or PI-FD."

SOURCE:

The study, with first author Serena Porcari, from the Department of Translational Medicine and Surgery at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Facolta di Medicina e Chirurgia, Rome, was published online in Gut.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was limited by heterogeneity across the study designs, definitions of inflammatory bowel disease and FD, sample sizes, and length of follow-up periods. In addition, most studies came from Europe and North America, with limited data from areas with a high prevalence of acute gastroenteritis, such as the Asia-Pacific region and Africa.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was supported by the Fondazione Roma, Italian Ministry of Health, Italian Ministry of University and Research, and Italian Ministry of Research. Several authors reported consultancy, speaker, and advisory fees from numerous pharmaceutical companies.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/half-patients-show-prolonged-ibs-post-gastroenteritis-2024a1000eyc

Puma Biotech drops after patents ruled invalid in fight with AstraZeneca over Tagrisso

 Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) fell after a court ruled that some patents invalid in a patent dispute with with AstraZeneca over cancer drug.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4139922-puma-biotechnology-drops-after-patents-ruled-invalid

Genprex to refocus oncology program

 Genprex announced positive clinical study updates for its Acclaim-1 and Acclaim-3 clinical trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), respectively, and plans to re-focus its oncology clinical development program.

Genprex evaluated resource allocations to ensure streamlined, focused strategies to support expeditious regulatory submissions for REQORSA and will implement the following changes to the Company's oncology clinical development plans in order to prioritize resources and focus on the most promising aspects of the Acclaim-1 and Acclaim-3 lung cancer clinical trials.

• The Acclaim-2 clinical trial, a Phase 1/2 trial evaluating the combination of REQORSA and Merck & Co's Keytruda® in patients with late-stage NSCLC whose disease has progressed after treatment with Keytruda, will cease enrollment of new NSCLC patients. Current patients in the Phase 1 dose escalation portion of the study will continue to be treated until disease progression. The Company made this decision based on a number of factors, including enrollment challenges and delays due to competition for eligible patients with numerous other trials involving the same patient population.

• As described above, the Company will limit its enrollment efforts for the Phase 2a expansion portion of the Acclaim-1 study moving forward to patients who received only prior Tagrisso treatment and cease enrollment of the second cohort (patients who received prior Tagrisso treatment and chemotherapy). The Phase 2a expansion portion of the trial with one cohort is now expected to enroll approximately 33 patients. The Company continues to evaluate ways to optimize its clinical and research programs and operational strategies, as part of its ongoing prioritization initiative.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/genprex-announces-positive-clinical-study-132500834.html