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US fertility rate dropped to lowest in a century as births dipped in 2023

The teen birth rate reached another record low in the US in 2023, while women ages 30 to 34 had the highest birth rate, according to provisional data from the CDC.

The fertility rate in the United States has been trending down for decades, and a new report shows that another drop in births in 2023 brought the rate down to the lowest it’s been in more than a century.

There were about 3.6 million babies born in 2023, or 54.4 live births for every 1,000 females ages 15 to 44, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

After a steep plunge in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fertility rate has fluctuated. But the 3% drop between 2022 and 2023 brought the rate just below the previous low from 2020, which was 56 births for every 1,000 women of reproductive age.

“We’ve certainly had larger declines in the past. But decline fits the general pattern,” said Dr. Brady Hamilton, a statistician with the National Center for Health Statistics and lead author of the new report.

The birth rate fell among most age groups between 2022 and 2023, the new report shows.

The teen birth rate reached another record low of 13.2 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, which is 79% lower than it was at the most recent peak from 1991. However, the rate of decline was slower than it’s been for the past decade and a half.

“The highest rates have, over time, been shifting towards women in their 30s whereas before it used to be with women in their 20s,” Hamilton said. “One factor, of course, is the option to wait…

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A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate

CNN — 

When Mount Ruang in Indonesia underwent multiple explosive eruptions last week, volcanic gases were flung so high they reached the atmosphere’s second layer, tens of thousands of feet above ground.

Ruang’s eruptions ejected a massive ash plume and sent some volcanic gases more than 65,000 feet into the air, according to satellite estimates – about 25,000 feet higher than a commercial airplane will typically fly.

The eruption’s potential impacts to weather and climate are starting to come into focus, even as the danger posed by the volcano persists and evacuations continue.

It’s possible for volcanoes to have a short-term impact on the climate – including global temperature cooling – due to the gases they inject high into the upper atmosphere. But Mount Ruang’s influence on the climate will likely be minimal, according to Greg Huey, the chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

And the day-to-day weather conditions near Mount Ruang – things like temperature, clouds and rain – probably won’t be influenced by the volcano for long, Huey told CNN.

Mount Ruang, a 2,400-foot (725-meter) stratovolcano on Ruang Island in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, has erupted at least seven times since Tuesday night, the country’s volcanology agency said. Stratovolcanoes can produce explosive eruptions because their cone shape allows gas to build up, according to volcanologists.

New Delhi chokes as trash mountain fire spreads hazardous fumes

Smoke billows from a fire that broke out at the Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi on April 22, 2024.
New DelhiCNN — 

India’s capital choked on toxic fumes Tuesday, as a thick and pungent haze spread from a fire at a towering trash dump, the latest in a series of landfill blazes that authorities have struggled for years to bring under control.

Sections of the Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi burst into flames on Sunday, causing dangerous heat and methane emissions and adding to India’s growing climate challenges. By Tuesday, the blaze at the capital’s largest landfill had largely been put out, but people living nearby complained of throat and eye irritation due to lingering acrid air, according to local media reports.

The cause of the fire remains unknown; landfill blazes are often triggered by combustible gases from disintegrating garbage.

Smoke rises on April 23, following a fire that broke out at the Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi, India.
Fires burning at Ghazipur landfill site in New Delhi, India, April 22, 2024.

Every year, as mercury levels soar during New Delhi’s scorching summers, the city’s landfills burst into flames, with rotting waste adding to India’s climate-heating methane gas emissions.

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide but is a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because it traps more heat. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors emissions via satellites.

The trash mountain at Ghazipur is just one of some 3,000 Indian landfills overflowing with decaying waste and emitting hazardous gases, according to a 2023 report from the Center for Science and Environment, a nonprofit research agency in New Delhi…

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Sudan on brink of collapse and starvation as country marks one year of civil war

TOPSHOT - Sudanese security forces patrol in a commercial district in Gedaref city in eastern Sudan on April 3, 2024. Sudan's war has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 8.5 million people, according to the UN. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP) (Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)
CNN — 

As Sudan marks the grim anniversary of a year-long conflict, aid agencies have warned that the country teeters on the edge of collapse, facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that has been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Islamic Relief, a humanitarian and development agency, painted a stark picture of Sudan’s situation, warning that it is on the brink of mass famine, with young children facing the prospect of starving to death.

The situation in Sudan is dire, with over 8.4 million people, including 2 million children under the age of 5, forced to flee their homes in the wake of the conflict, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Despite these alarming figures, the international response has been woefully inadequate, with only 5% of the 2024 humanitarian response plan for Sudan funded thus far, Islamic Relief said in a statement.

The agency’s country director for Sudan, Elsadig Elnour, said: “Over the past year I’ve seen my country descend into violence, madness, and destruction, neglected by the rest of the world.”

The conflict, which has pitted the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has left millions displaced and countless civilians dead or severely injured.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned in a statement Monday of a further escalation in violence in Sudan “as parties to the conflict arm civilians, and more armed groups join the fighting.”

Since the start of the civil war, thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, and other vital civilian structures have been destroyed, “plunging the country into a severe humanitarian crisis, and creating the world’s largest displacement crisis,” his office said.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The world dumps 2,000 truckloads of plastic into the ocean each day. Here’s where a lot of it ends up

A local fisherman performs maintenance on his boat while surrounded by trash washed up on Loji Beach in West Java, Indonesia.

The western coast of Java in Indonesia is popular with surfers for its world-famous breaks. There’s a majestic underwater world to explore, too. But it’s impossible to surf or snorkel without running into plastic water bottles, single-use cups and food wrappers.

The garbage sometimes forms islands in the sea, and much of it washes ashore, accumulating as mountains on the beach.

The world produces around 400 million metric tons of plastic waste each year. Every day, 2,000 truckloads of it is dumped into the ocean, rivers and lakes.

Despite global efforts to give plastic products longer lives, only 9% of them are actually recycled. Most plastic waste goes into landfills or is shipped to places like Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations, many of which are already drowning in their own plastic pollution.

Clearing beaches of litter in Indonesia is no small task. The country is the world’s second-biggest producer of plastic waste. As the world’s longest archipelago — stretching over the same distance as London to New York — Indonesia has a vast coastline and three times the amount of sea surface area than land, making fishing an industry that 12 million people rely on.

Without adequate state services to keep the beaches clear of litter, fishing communities are on the front lines of the clean-up.

Loji Beach, on the Indonesian island of Java, is one of the most contaminated in the country.

Marsinah collects plastic on Loji Beach to try and sell it to informal recycling centers.

Plastic bottle labels are accumulated in a recycling center in Bangkok, Thailand.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US Set To Send Ukraine Patriot Missiles In Huge Escalation 

US Set To Send Ukraine Patriot Missiles In Huge Escalation 

CNN’s chief Pentagon correspondent is reporting the breaking news based on multiple anonymous US defense officials – including a senor Biden administration official – that the White House is currently finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine.

“The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine that could be announced as soon as this week, according to two US officials and a senior administration official,” CNN writes. “The three officials told CNN that approval is expected.”

Patriot missile battery, DoD via AP.

If approved, this could be a tipping point in the conflict leading to direct confrontation between nuclear-armed powers given transfer of Patriots would mark the longest-range missiles sent to Ukraine thus far.

Washington has so far been reluctant, despite Kiev officials since nearly the start of the invasion making repeat pleas for the US to help “close the sky” – as President Zelensky many months ago urged Congress.

As The Guardian reviewed of the dangers involved in sending the Patriot:

“Long sought by the Ukrainians, the missiles have a range of up to 300km, but so far the US and its allies, including the UK, have declined to supply them because they could be used to hit targets inside Russia. Supplying them would help “bring the war to an end as soon as possible”, Johnson said.

Patriots have long been deployed in neighboring Poland, but Ukrainian leaders have been persistent in requesting them on their own soil amid a major uptick in recent Russian aerial attacks. Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson this week urged in a Wall Street Journal op-ed for the West to get serious about supplying Patriots and other anti-air systems, even including military aircraft.

…click on the above link to read the rest…

European power prices shatter records as energy crisis intensifies

Power prices in Europe continue to smash records, intensifying the region’s energy crisis and fanning fears about access to electricity and heating as the weather begins to cool.

Russia is one of the world’s top producers of oil and natural gas.
German power prices for next year, which are considered Europe’s benchmark, briefly jumped above €1,000 ($999.80) per megawatt hour on Monday before falling back to €840 ($839.69) per megawatt hour.

“This is not normal at all. It’s incredibly volatile,” said Fabian Rønningen, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy. “These prices are reaching levels now that we thought we would never see.”

Prices have jumped since Russia’s Gazprom announced that it would shut down the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline for three days starting Wednesday to perform maintenance work, reigniting fears that Moscow could completely shut off gas to Europe, which is racing to stockpile supplies ahead of the winter.

When the crucial pipeline went offline for repairs for 10 days in July, many policymakers feared it wouldn’t come back. When Russia did restart operations, flows were significantly reduced.

France’s nuclear sector, which provides about 70% of the country’s electricity, is also struggling with lower output, pushing up the country’s energy prices.

The Czech Republic announced Monday that it would convene an emergency meeting of Europe’s energy ministers in Brussels next week as the region hunts for solutions.

Businesses are concerned they may have to periodically halt operations over the winter if power is in short supply, while households could struggle to pay soaring heating bills. The fallout could trigger a deep recession.

There was some reason for optimism on Monday. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the country’s gas inventories were filling up, and the country won’t have to pay the high prices currently commanded by the market.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

CNN In Meltdown Mode Over Biden-Ukraine Phone Call Fiasco

CNN In Meltdown Mode Over Biden-Ukraine Phone Call Fiasco

Update (2023ET): CNN journos doing damage control after the network’s Natasha Bertrand panicked and deleted tweets containing harsh comments reportedly made by President Biden to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky – namely that a Russian invasion was “imminent,” that the Capital city of Kyiv could be “sacked,” and to “prepare for impact.”

Now – none of that apparently happened according to CNN‘s Jim Sciutto, the White House, and apparently Ukraine itself. Of note, CNN claims their source was a “senior Ukrainian official.”

Human Events Jack Posobiec lays it out:

Bertrand apparently didn’t get the message to CNN‘s Jake Tapper and Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance, who repeated the now-disputed report.

And the White House disputes:

Now, Posobiec reports that Zelensky’s office is also denying CNN’s report.

CNN‘s Alexander Marquardt gives a master class in walking back misinformation:

*  *  *

In their Thursday afternoon phone call which the White House called “a check-in”, it seems President Joe Biden took the opportunity to continue with an alarmist posture as he told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy that a Russian invasion is “now highly certain” – according to CNN.

Further, “President Biden reaffirmed the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” according to the White House call readout. But it remains that two conflicting narratives have emerged, given just prior to the call it was being reported that Zelensky was expected to request that the US be more cautious in its messaging surrounding a potential Russian attack, per source–particularly the word “imminent,” as it risks causing panic and negative economic consequences for Ukraine. That was also according to CNN.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

NBC News Uses Ex-FBI Official Frank Figliuzzi to Urge Assange’s Extradition, Hiding His Key Role

NBC News Uses Ex-FBI Official Frank Figliuzzi to Urge Assange’s Extradition, Hiding His Key Role

The most dangerous, and under-discussed, development in corporate media is the spate of ex-security state agents now employed to deliver the “news.”

Twitter profile of former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi, now of NBC News

Two of the television outlets on which American liberals rely most for their news — NBC News and CNN — have spent the last six years hiring a virtual army of former CIA operatives, FBI officials, NSA spies, Pentagon chiefs, and DOJ prosecutors to work in their newsrooms. The multiple ways in which journalism is fundamentally corrupted by this spectacle are all vividly illustrated by a new article from NBC News that urges the prosecution and extradition of Julian Assange, claiming that the WikiLeaks founder, once on U.S. soil, will finally provide the long-elusive proof that Donald Trump criminally conspired with Russia.

The NBC article is written by former FBI Assistant Director and current NBC News employee Frank Figliuzzi, who played a central role during the Obama years in the FBI’s attempt to investigate and criminalize Assange: a rather relevant fact concealed by NBC when publishing this. But this is how U.S. security state agents now directly control corporate news outlets.

During the Cold War and then in the decades following it, the U.S. security state constantly used clandestine measures to infiltrate U.S. corporate media outlets and shape U.S. media coverage in order to propagandize the domestic population. Indeed, intelligence agencies have a long, documented record of violating their charter by interfering in domestic politics through formal programs to manipulate U.S. media coverage.

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OPEC and Russia will pump more oil in January despite price plunge

OPEC and Russia will pump more oil in January despite price plunge

Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, attends the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.

London (CNN Business)Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading oil producers have decided to stick with plans to increase supply in January despite a recent plunge in prices driven by fears of a new glut.

The agreement was reached Thursday at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and key allies, known as OPEC+. Global oil prices have fallen more than 20% since late October.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, had soared about 70% since the beginning of the year, but began falling in November when the United States and other major oil consuming nations agreed to release millions of barrels from their strategic reserves to try to cool gasoline prices and prevent a further boost to inflation.
The losses accelerated as Covid-19 cases surged in Europe and the Omicron variant emerged as a potential new threat to economic activity.
In its statement, OPEC+ said it would continue to take stock of the pandemic, monitor the oil market closely, and stood ready to make “immediate adjustments if required.” It has scheduled its next meeting for January 4.
Analysts had been expecting OPEC+ to pause an output increase of 400,000 barrels per day scheduled for January given the recent price fall and uncertainty over the trajectory of the pandemic and its impact on oil demand. Brent crude and US oil futures, which were trading higher earlier Thursday, turned negative on the announcement before recovering to trade about 1% higher at around $69 and $66 a barrel respectively…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Moment Biden Casually Committed To WW3 Over Taiwan At Last Night’s Town Hall

The Moment Biden Casually Committed To WW3 Over Taiwan At Last Night’s Town Hall

Apparently the commander-in-chief thinks that the United States has some kind of treaty or “commitment” to defend Taiwan in the scenario of an attack from China.

There is absolutely no commitment to do such a thing, but the casualness with which Joe Biden at last night’s 90-minute CNN town hall pledged that he’s ready to send young American men and women to die over an island in the Western Pacific is staggering and hugely alarming.

A Loyola student asked what President Biden would do to “keep up with China militarily” after reports of testing a hypersonic missile, and “what can you do to protect Taiwan?”

“Yes and Yes,” the president answered.

“I don’t want a Cold War with China, I just wanna make China understand – that we are not gonna step back, we are not gonna change any of our views…” – and that’s when Anderson Cooper cut in:

Cooper: “Are you saying that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked?”

Biden: “Yes. Yes, we have a commitment to do that.”

Though after this surprise emphasis on having a “commitment” to go to war on behalf of the tiny self-ruled island which lies over 7,000 miles away from the US mainland, Cooper didn’t follow up and simply moved on.

As the South China Morning Post noted in follow-up to the exchange, Biden’s words sparked immediate confusion over longstanding US policy:

Though Washington does not have official diplomatic relations with Taipei, US law requires it support the island’s efforts to defend itself, including through the sales of weapons. But the Taiwan Relations Act does not include an explicit commitment to intervene militarily in the event of an invasion of or attack on Taiwan by the mainland.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Gas prices skyrocket as the global energy crisis worsens

Gas prices skyrocket as the global energy crisis worsens

New York (CNN Business)The cost of energy was dirt cheap in the spring of 2020 as roads and airports sat nearly empty during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Energy demand is back today as the world economy reopens — but supply simply hasn’t kept up. That’s why US oil prices have skyrocketed $120 since crashing to negative $40 a barrel in April 2020. US oil prices finished above $80 a barrel on Monday for the first time in nearly seven years.
Crude gained 1.5% to end the day at $80.52. The last time oil closed above $80 was October 31, 2014.
All of this is leading to sticker shock for many Americans filling up at the pump — at a time of the year when gas prices typically cool off. The national average price for gasoline hit a fresh seven-year high of $3.27 a gallon on Monday, up by 7 cents in the past week alone, according to AAA. Gas has nearly doubled since bottoming at $1.77 in April 2020.
High gas prices will only exacerbate elevated inflation, squeeze the budgets of American families and hurt President Joe Biden’s political fortunes.
Unfortunately, prices at the pump may get lifted even higher by the global energy crisis.
Natural gas prices have skyrocketed so much, especially in Europe and Asia, that power plants and factories may increasingly turn to a relatively cheaper fuel source for electricity: crude oil.
“It’s a case of just trying to keep the lights on,” said Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst for the Americas. “This is essentially creating demand that typically isn’t there,”

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The Latest Fraud of CNN

CNN is deliberately misleading the public, and they REFUSE to do any real investigative reporting. They should be shut down as a propaganda organization that is against the national security of the United States. Anyone who would bother to just look at how that statistic was created would be ashamed to repeat it. CNN and others are intimidating scientists who are afraid to tell the truth, for they will be canceled, ridiculed, and may even lose their job.

In 2009, the University of Illinois sent a survey online to about 10,000 scientists with the following two questions:

QUESTION #1

Do you agree that global temperatures have generally risen since the pre-1800s?

QUESTION #2
Do you think that human activity is a significant contributing factor?


Only 3146 responses were received of 10,000, and of that 31%, 90% said yes to the first question but 82% said yes to the second question.


This is how the fraud was carried out by people who have used this survey. They narrowed down the responses and found that among meteorologists who responded, only 64% said yes to the second question, so about 1/3 said NO!

Then disregarding all the others of the 3146 responses, they focused on only 77 who described themselves as “climate experts” without any proof of their credentials and found that only 75 said yes to the second question.

Therefore, when we divide 75/77 we get to their claim of  97% of all scientists in the world say there is a climate emergency that warrants raising taxes and seizing property.

This was only 2.3% of those who bothered to respond, and I doubt that they would agree with the solution which is COMMUNISM!


0.0075%

If we take the 75 responses of 10,000 scientists surveyed, that means only 0.0075% agreed that there is climate change with some human causality…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Electric grid operator asks Texans to stop blasting AC as unplanned outages and heat collide

Electric grid operator asks Texans to stop blasting AC as unplanned outages and heat collide

The electric power grid manager for most of Texas has issued its first conservation alert of the summer, calling on users to dial back energy consumption to avert an emergency. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

(CNN)The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the organization that operates much of the Lone Star State’s electric grid, asked residents for a second day in a row Tuesday to conserve as much energy as possible until Friday.

The strain on the grid stems from record-high demand for electricity amid increasing summer heat and a higher than usual number of forced outages at power plants, the organization said.
“When ERCOT issued a call for conservation on Monday, Texans responded strongly by reducing electric demand during the late afternoon. ERCOT continues to encourage Texans to conserve power each afternoon during the peak hours of 3 to 7 p.m. through this Friday,” a news release by ERCOT read.
“ERCOT has been leveraging every resource at its disposal, including activating all available generating units to help serve customer demand before calling for conservation. Approximately 1,200 MW of power was regained overnight Monday when some repairs were completed. One MW typically powers around 200 homes on a summer day.”
ERCOT said Monday that energy generator owners have reported about 11,000 MegaWatts of generation are on forced outage for repairs, including about 8,000 MW of thermal energy. That’s significantly higher than on a typical hot summer day, when the range of thermal generation outages is about 3,600 MW, the organization said.
“We will be conducting a thorough analysis with generation owners to determine why so many units are out of service,” said ERCOT Vice President of Grid Planning and Operations Woody Rickerson. “This is unusual for this early in the summer season.”
Wind output was also expected to be lower than usual on Mounday, but the output was expected to increase as the week moved on, ERCOT said.
While the system’s energy capacity is lower, ERCOT customers have simultaneously been using record amounts of energy to cool their homes. According to the release, ERCOT has set a new June record for electricity demand.
“Based on preliminary data, the new record is 69,943 MW, which exceeds the 2018 June record by approximately 820 MW,” the release said. “Power plant owners continue repairs of unexpected equipment failures, and ERCOT is using all the tools in its toolbox to maintain reliability in the face of potential record-setting electricity demand.”
The National Weather Service of Fort Worth warned of a hot day Tuesday with temperatures forecast to be in the mid to upper 90s. The heat wave is expected to last through Friday.
ERCOT said last month that it anticipated record-breaking electric demand this summer due to hot and dry conditions and economic and population growth in the region. That trend is likely to continue in future years as human-caused climate change drives more extreme heat waves in Texas. A 2020 report from the Texas state climatologist concluded

CNN’s Blatant Disinformation About Russia-Ukraine Activity

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough’s belittling comments against fair and balanced Russia related journalism relate to an April 12-13 CNN airing on recent matters concerning Russia and Ukraine. The segment at issue begins with CNN reporter Matthew Chance joining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the frontline of the demarcation area between the forces of the Ukrainian government and Donbass rebels. Thereafter, CNN news anchor John Vause follows up with longtime US academic/mass media journalist Jill Dougherty.

The false spin is given that Russia increased tension by amassing troops along its border with Ukraine. In actuality, the Kiev regime’s dramatic military buildup near the Donbass rebels occurred beforehand. This oversight is in line with the aforementioned CNN segment misidentifying Ukrainian forces as being Russian.

The CNN bit gives an inaccurate psychoanalysis of what’s motivating the recent Russian military activity. Omitted, is some otherwise valid insight of what could very well be influencing Zelensky and the Russian response to him. Zelensky’s low poll numbers are in part due to the miserable socioeconomic conditions in Ukraine and some faulty decision-making on the part of his government. Unable to get a prompt delivery of Western Covid-19 vaccinations, the Ukrainian government shot down the possibility of acquiring the Russian Sputnik vaccine. That stance can be reasonably seen as a shortsighted nationalist stance. It’s not as if Russia and Ukraine don’t commercially interact. Despite the differences between their governments, Russia remains a key trading partner of Ukraine.

Zelensky won the last Ukrainian presidential election on a platform that wasn’t as confrontational towards Russia as his opponent Petro Poroshenko. The former has since done an about face with brazen comments towards Russia and the Donbass rebels…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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