The Internet Goes EXTINCT as Gen AI Takes Over (Video - 24mn)

   Some very important issues about the Internet that we'll soon have to solve. Who is human? How can you prove it? Who can do what? Great food for thoughts although most ideas are unfortunately dystopian.

The 3 Year AI Reset: How To Get Ahead While Others Lose Their Jobs (Prepare Now) | Emad Mostaque (Video - 20mn)

  The video is in fact 2 hours but the first 20mn are the important ones.

  Amazing food for thought.

 

Look carefully, there won't be a second chance! (Video - 40mn)

  We are just in the process of seeing Artificial Intelligence catching up and surpassing Human Intelligence. 

  This is unbelievable and happening just now at a surprising speed.  

  Mankind, if it survives, will remember 2024 forever!

 

What will the Third World War look like?

  In 1940 France was preparing for a trench warfare and to prevent a replay of the first world war had built the Maginot Line, a long line of fortifications along the German border. The Blitzkrieg went through the Ardennes forest, just North of the line, a seemingly impassable obstacle for tanks and before the French had time to take a breath, the war was already lost.

  Likewise, in 2024, the US has a collection of tanks, planes and aircraft carriers which would certainly win a battle against the Japanese in 1941 if as in the movie of 1980, "Final Countdown" they were sent back in time to fight once again the Battle of Pearl Harbor. 

  But 2024 is definitely not 1941. The world has changed drastically since. The article below explores different aspects of the 3rd World War. The most interesting parts being the non military ones. 

  In reality, like it or not, we are already deep into WW3. The difference this time is that thanks to the unacceptable risks of a nuclear conflagration, we are obliged to fight in indirect ways as can be seen currently and because of the scale of the conflict and its indirect nature, it is likely to be a protracted fight. In-between, we'll be dancing on the edge of the precipice with the music getting louder and the markets rising to infinity.      

Guest Post by Nick Giambruno

Total war between the world’s largest powers that reshuffled the international order defined the previous world wars.

Total war between the largest powers today—Russia, China, and the US—means a nuclear Armageddon where there are no winners and only losers.

That could still happen despite nobody wanting it, but it’s not the most likely outcome.

World War 3 is unlikely to be a direct kinetic war between the US, Russia, and China.

Instead, the conflict will play out on different levels—proxy wars, economic wars, financial wars, cyber wars, biological wars, deniable sabotage, and information wars.

In that sense, World War 3 is already well underway, even though most don’t recognize it.

Below, I’ll look at the seven domains World War 3 is playing out on and analyze which side has an advantage.

Domain #1: Financial Warfare

Financial warfare refers to the use of financial methods as a strategy to achieve military or political objectives.

One common tool of financial warfare is the imposition of sanctions or embargoes. This can involve freezing assets, restricting trade, or limiting access to international financial systems. The goal is to damage the target’s economy, weakening its ability to pursue certain policies or actions.

Imposing controls on the movement of capital and investments can also serve as a weapon in financial warfare. This could involve restricting foreign investments in specific sectors or limiting the ability of foreign investors to withdraw their funds.

Take, for example, the US government’s actions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The US government launched its most aggressive financial warfare campaign ever.

Exceeding even Iran and North Korea, Russia is now the most sanctioned nation in the world.

“This is financial nuclear war and the largest sanctions event in history,” a former Treasury Department official said.

He went on to say, “Russia went from being part of the global economy to the single largest target of global sanctions and a financial pariah in less than two weeks.”

Here’s a brief rundown of what has happened.

The US and European governments froze Russia’s US dollar and euro reserves—the accumulated savings of the nation—worth around $300 billion.

They kicked Russian banks out of SWIFT, the system for sending international wire transfers.

A stampede of Western companies left Russia and banned average Russian citizens from using their platforms.

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase blocked over 25,000 accounts linked to Russia.

Visa, MasterCard, and American Express have removed Russia from their networks.

These are just a few examples of how NATO & Friends cut Russia off from the US-dominated global financial system.

While BRICS+ countries are trying to build a parallel international financial system, it is not yet ready for prime time.

In financial warfare, NATO & Friends have a clear advantage today, though BRICS+ is eroding it.

Result: Advantage NATO & Friends

Domain #2: Economic Warfare

Countries can engage in economic warfare by controlling access to strategic commodities like oil, gas, rare earth elements (REEs), and major trade routes. A country can exert economic pressure on others by limiting access to these resources or influencing their prices.

BRICS+ dominates strategic commodities.

Take Russia, for example.

Politicians and the media in the US often ridicule Russia as nothing more than “a gas station with nuclear weapons,” an inaccurate cartoonish depiction.

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, lumber, wheat, fertilizer, and palladium (a crucial car component).

It is the second-largest exporter of oil and aluminum and the third-largest exporter of nickel and coal.

Russia is a major producer and processor of uranium for nuclear power plants. Enriched uranium from Russia and its allies provides electricity to 20% of the homes in the US.

Aside from China, Russia produces more gold than any other country, accounting for more than 10% of global production.

These are just a handful of examples. There are many strategic commodities that Russia dominates.

In short, Russia is not just an oil and gas powerhouse but a commodity powerhouse.

Then there are REEs.

Many are unfamiliar with REEs, a collection of 17 obscure elements on the Periodic Table, despite their indispensable role in modern life.

In short, the US military and American consumers depend entirely on these obscure elements.

China controls around 60% of REE production and 95% of REE processing. Beijing also consumes about 67% of the worldwide REE supply.

Nobody can seriously challenge China’s REE monopoly, as it can maintain lower prices longer than any competitor can remain solvent.

Then there is Iran, which dominates the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most crucial energy corridor.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, each day, more than 40% of global oil exports (around 21 million barrels) transit the Strait.

Thanks to its commanding geography and expertise in unconventional and asymmetric warfare, Iran can shut down the Strait, and there’s not much anyone can do about it.

The idea is to level the playing field against a superior enemy with swarms of explosive-laden suicide speedboats, low-flying planes carrying anti-ship missiles, naval mines, and land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles, among other low-cost but highly effective measures.

Analysts believe it would take weeks for the US military to reopen it, but nobody knows if they would succeed.

Military strategists have known about this situation for decades. But no one has found a realistic way to neutralize Iran’s power over the Strait. It’s Iran’s geopolitical trump card.

In the Red Sea, Iran’s allies in the Houthi movement in Yemen have recently shut down shipping in this vital economic corridor to all Israeli, American, and British vessels.

When you put it all together, BRICS+ has the edge in economic warfare.

Result: Advantage BRICS +

Domain #3: Cyber Warfare

Cyber warfare refers to the use of digital attacks by one nation to disrupt the computer systems of another, often aiming to cause damage, disruption, or fear.

These attacks can target various sectors, including government networks, financial systems, and utility services like electricity and water supply. For example, a successful cyber attack on a power grid could leave millions without electricity or clean water.

Attacking a nation’s financial infrastructure, like banks or stock exchanges, through cyber means is another form of cyber warfare. Such attacks can disrupt economic stability, create uncertainty, and potentially lead to significant financial losses.

The goals of cyber warfare can vary from stealing sensitive information, causing economic damage, disrupting essential services, or creating chaos and panic among the population.

Cyber warfare can be just as damaging as traditional warfare but is often cheaper, less risky, and can be conducted anonymously and remotely. This makes it an attractive option for nations wanting to cause harm while minimizing the risk of direct confrontation.

I expect cyber warfare to be prominent as World War 3 evolves.

NATO & Friends and BRICS+ are skilled at cyber warfare. However, I don’t see either side having a decisive advantage.

Result: Uncertain

Domain #4: Information Warfare

Information warfare encompasses a range of tactics aimed at influencing, disrupting, or corrupting the information landscape to affect an adversary’s decision-making process, undermine trust in institutions, or sway public opinion. It aims to influence outcomes both on the battlefield and in public opinion.

This type of warfare leverages the spread of false and misleading narratives, propaganda, and psychological operations to create confusion, sow discord, and manipulate perceptions

Information warfare can influence elections, shape public opinion on critical issues, and even incite violence or social unrest. The objective is often to destabilize an opponent from within.

With the growing reliance on social media and other digital platforms, the role of information warfare is likely to become even more significant in shaping both military and geopolitical landscapes.

The US has enormous influence over the global mainstream media, entertainment industry, and Big Tech platforms. That gives it widespread worldwide reach in a way that Russia and China do not have.

As a result, NATO & Friends have the advantage in information warfare.

Result: Advantage NATO & Friends

Domain #5: Deniable Sabotage

Sabotage refers to deliberately damaging, destroying, or hindering vital property.

Deniable sabotage is a hostile action carried out so that the perpetrator cannot be conclusively identified or linked to the attack. The identity of the aggressor remains hidden, or there is plausible deniability.

It means that although there might be suspicions or even circumstantial evidence about who is responsible for an attack, there is no concrete proof. As a result, the alleged perpetrator can credibly deny involvement.

Typical targets for sabotage include infrastructure like bridges and railways, communication systems, supply depots, ammunition stores, and essential utilities like power and water supply systems.

The destruction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the cutting of undersea fiber optic cables around Norway are likely examples of recent deniable sabotage.

NATO & Friends and BRICS+ are skilled at deniable sabotage. However, I don’t see either side having a decisive advantage.

Result: Uncertain

Domain #6: Biological Warfare

Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi to incapacitate or kill humans, animals, or plants.

The disease-causing agents can be spread through air, water, or food sources and are often difficult to trace.

The use of biological weapons dates back centuries. In medieval times, besieging armies would catapult diseased corpses over city walls.

Today, the US, China, and Russia have all signed the Biological Weapons Convention, which is supposed to prohibit biological warfare. However, I don’t expect that will prevent biological warfare as World War 3 escalates.

The Covid hysteria could have been due to an act of biological warfare.

In any case, the US, Russia, and China all maintain robust and secretive biological weapons programs. However, I don’t see any side having a decisive advantage.

Result: Uncertain

Domain #7: Proxy Warfare

Proxy wars are a method by which major powers fight their battles indirectly, using smaller nations or groups as stand-ins rather than confronting each other directly.

Major powers support, equip, and finance smaller groups or nations in a proxy war to fight against a common adversary. This support can include military training, weapons, funding, and other resources. The critical point is that the major powers do not engage directly in combat.

I expect proxy wars will be a decisive factor in who will win World War 3.

There are numerous ongoing proxy wars. However, there are three that I believe will be key in determining which side has the overall advantage.

Proxy War #1: Ukraine

Ukraine has been the arena of choice for NATO & Friends to confront Russia.

As I write this, at the beginning of 2024, the conflict in Ukraine appears to be winding down.

Ukraine has suffered serious battlefield setbacks as its much-touted 2023 counteroffensive has utterly failed.

Further weapons shipments from NATO nations are not going to deliver victory to Ukraine. At best, it will only prolong the conflict without changing the ultimate outcome while depleting NATO inventories.

US funding is also drying up. American and European voters are growing increasingly tired of the war.

When you put it all together, I suspect we will see serious movement toward a settlement this year that will largely be favorable to Russia.

Result: Advantage BRICS +

Proxy War #2: The Middle East

The Middle East is on the precipice of the biggest regional war in over 50 years.

The region is roughly divided into two different geopolitical groups.

The first is the US and its allies—Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and others.

The second group describes itself as the Axis of Resistance. It consists of Iran, Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, several Palestinian groups, including Hamas, and an assortment of militias in Iraq. Russia and China are standing behind the Axis of Resistance.

In the context of World War 3 and the global geopolitical situation, the US and its allies represent the interests of NATO & Friends, and the Axis of Resistance represents BRICS+.

If there is a regional war in the Middle East, it will undoubtedly be between these two groups.

Short of a regional war, there will likely be continued geopolitical competition and low-intensity conflict in the Middle East.

When you take a step back and put it all together, it seems clear that the geopolitical momentum is with the Axis of Resistance in the Middle East.

However, a large regional war could turn things around for the US, Israel, and its allies. NATO & Friends might try a full-scale war with Iran as a last-ditch attempt to scuttle the emergence of a multipolar world order.

It’s also more likely, though, that a full-scale war with Iran and the Axis of Resistance would end in disaster for the US and its allies. That’s probably a big reason it hasn’t happened yet, despite no shortage of hostile intentions.

In the meantime, the advantage in the Middle East goes to BRICS+.

Result: Advantage BRICS +

Proxy War #3: Taiwan

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to reunify it with the mainland by force if necessary.

Recently, Xi privately warned Biden that China will reunify Taiwan but that the timing has not yet been decided.

While not explicitly committing to Taiwan’s defense, the US has been a significant supplier of military equipment to Taiwan. A Chinese invasion could trigger a response from the US, though the extent and nature of this response are uncertain.

China has one of the world’s largest and increasingly modern militaries. Taiwan has a well-trained military, though smaller and less equipped than China’s.

It seems to me that time is on China’s side. All Beijing has to do is wait; eventually, it will be able to compel Taiwan to reunify peacefully.

In the case of a military conflict, it seems to me China has the advantage. The only way Taiwan would have a prayer is if the US directly joined the conflict. However, the US is unlikely to risk a full-scale war with China because of MAD.

When you put it all together, it seems China has the advantage.

Result: Advantage BRICS+

There will likely be other proxy wars as World War 3 progresses, but the ones I believe will prove decisive will be in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Taiwan. The other proxy wars are peripheral in comparison.

All three decisive proxy wars are trending toward a defeat for NATO & Friends. Therefore, the advantage in the overall proxy war domain—which I believe will be the most decisive domain in World War 3—is with BRICS+.

Result: Advantage BRICS+

Click here to download the PDF now.

Dr Phil’s Covid Truth Bomb STUNS The View Hosts by Russell brand (Video - 19mn)

  Finally we are starting to get the truth about the real effect of the Covid Vaccines.

 

How the CIA “Nurtures” Zelensky’s Ukraine

  Here's more applied knowledge of what the CIA really does in real life.

  It is hard to imagine what a den of devils, spies, dark money and secret pharmaceutical laboratories Ukraine has become over the last 10 years. 

  But think about it: If the US deep state, France's Macron and the UK cannot let go of the country, it has to be more than a few acres of black earth in the Dombass. Something so valuable that it is worth fighting for on the dead bodies of the last Ukrainians, sick and women included. Something they may be willing to risk a nuclear war for...

by philbutler

My lead for this story will make some of you spuke your morning coffee all over your smartphone, desktop, or tablet, so put down your cup or suffer the consequences. Uh-hum. Now, get this. The New York Times’s Adam Entous and Michael Schwirtz are convinced the CIA is a “nurturing” spy agency. Stop laughing. This is for real. It’s serious. It’s also ludicrous and dangerous, of course.

 

According to these reporters (and others down the food chain), Ukraine soldiers are being coddled, hugged, urged forward, and protected not only with the billions of dollars and euros America and the EU are providing in weapons and bribes, but by the Central Intelligence Agency. Yes, the mother of all lying, cheating, and killing organisations has set up camp in bunkers across the Russian front in Ukraine. As the NYT’s story reveals, Mommy Dearest in Langley has built a “network of secret spy bases along the Russian border” since 2014 (Operation Goldfish). Or, in other words, everything we alternative media analysts have been saying all along it's out in the open. 

The interesting thing for me (and I hope some of you) is that Russia’s Vladimir Putin alluded to the CIA and a “deep state” running U.S. presidents in his interview with Tucker Carlson some days ago. I won’t elaborate here, but Putin gave examples of American chief executives changing course after consultation with “whoever” it is standing behind the curtain. The Wizard of Oz comes to mind for a plethora of reasons. Returning to the referenced story, the award winning typists who conjured this latest horse manure, thety also gave us this:

“Since 2016, the CIA began training an elite Ukrainian commando force — known as Unit 2245 — which captured Russian drones and communications gear so that CIA technicians could reverse-engineer them and crack Moscow’s encryption systems.”

The CIA - Nurturing - And reporters who’ve been lifted up because of their fantastic tales of Russia this, or Russia that, it's sensational! Why those barbarians over yonder are against our American dream! At this point, I’d like to apologize to readers for my seemingly endless reporting with media analysis. This just occurred to me. I'll bet it’s all as dull and redundant for you as it is for me. Just for good measure,though, here’s my methodology so that all can better understand my analysis.

Surely not! 

Okay. First, “Google” Vladimir Putin (or just Putin) and then hit the “news” tab. It’s a quick way to see what lies and propaganda “they” are putting out for the numbed readership in the States. The BBC and others in Europe, The Telegraph, and so on, they also feed the NATO alliance citizenry. You may not know it, but Google delivers what The Wizard of Oz (God, where it Toto?) wants to be sent out. Your daily brain-numbing meal is there, on the first and second through the deep twentieth search pages. Smoe of you may recall those rumors the CIA made Google, Facebook. How many rumors and so-called conspiracy theories are being proven real now? Once you click the most ludicrous links, a second phase of discovery will hit each of you in the face. That is after you’ve read about two paragraphs in. This is where the “Who TF are these guys?” question will grab you. If you've the time, search out their biographies or LinkedIn profiles. 

In the current case, Adam Entous got a chip in the game by feeding American readers crap about Russia meddling in U.S. elections. As for Michael Schwirtz, he was on a team that won a Pulitzer for spewing propaganda about those pesky Russians and their intelligence operations. Given these Washington establishment bullhorn’s backgrounds, calling them “spooks” is not a stretch. Big surprise, huh? You don’t go to The European University at St. Petersburg in the middle of studying at George Washington University because of a yearning for Russian culture. Both these reporters got paid to disseminate the idea Vladimir Putin personally tried to torpedo Hillary Clinton’s White House bid, and neither one of them bothered to whine and cry about Clinton’s and the DNC’s unscrupulous activities at that time. I could go on, but you can bet anybody who refers to the CIA nurtures anything but death and destruction is either a spy, a sellout, or a complete nincompoop. And neither of these journalists fits the “idiot” description. They both seem like the groomed type.

Returning to their splendiferous article, they mention a CIA-created Ukrainian commando force known as Unit 2245. This bears mentioning, and so does their dropping dime on U.S. intelligence putting agents inside Russia and other aligned states. Yes, we did that and then went burzerk when Hillary lost, and when protesters panty raided Congress. The NYT’s piece exclusively reveals that my country turned “Ukraine into an intelligence-gathering hub.” The mention that Britain’s MI6 and the CIA were controlling Ukraine as a beachhead for operations against Moscow, also bears mightily after Mr. Putin’s recent interview with Carlsno. You all know from reading alt-media stories of Biolabs, Nazi training camps, Maginot Line-like defensive fortifications, and the coup in Kyiv in 2014. You know these are facts, but amazingly, our Western reporters and spy chiefs are ready to come clean!

I don’t know about you, but I feel like the other foot will drop on all our heads. Think about that, and finish that cup of Joe.

Another version of this story appeared in New Eastern Outlook

"Why You Shouldn't Trust Your Gut!" from a CIA former spy. (Video - 2h)

 This is a long video, almost two hours, but I have learned more in these two hours than in many less useful presentations. You should too unless of course you have done this training course of the CIA and you already know these techniques. 

 R-I-C-E (Reward / Ideology / Coercion / Ego)

 Perception vs Perspective

 SAD-RAP (Spot / Assess / Develop - Recruit / Handle / Terminate)

 Public life / Private life / Secret life

 Opening a door vs opening a window

 2 questions - 1 confirmation technique 

 People want to be Heard - Confirmed and Validated 

 And more. Amazingly interesting and instructive!

Resveratrol: A Powerful Polyphenol That Slows Cellular Aging

  I always thought that the miraculous effects of the Resveratrol molecule were well known by now. It is after all one of the major cause of the French paradox. (The fact that food high in cholesterol and fat is not negatively affecting the French.) But apparently not in which case this is a good read.

  Sure enough, more red fruits, nuts and a couple of glasses of red wine per meal will indeed keep the doctor away (more that the apple which is supposed to do the trick.) If you add olive oil and more fish to your diet, you can indeed optimize your health. Simple and effective.

Authored by Allison DeMajistre via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Resveratrol is one of the most studied natural polyphenol compounds and is found in the skins and seeds of red and purple grapes, berries, peanuts, and pistachios.

When plants face constant environmental stress such as from fungus, drought, ultraviolet radiation, and insect infestation, their intrinsic defense mechanism is to produce polyphenols.

Resveratrol was isolated by a Japanese scientist in 1939 from the roots of the white hellebore plant. It gained attention in 1992 when researchers suggested that this component found in red wine had cardioprotective qualities that might explain the “French paradox,” the observation that the French drink a lot of red wine and have low rates of heart disease despite a high-fat diet.

Since then, resveratrol has been studied more broadly and has shown tremendous protective potential at the cellular level.

“The in vitro and in vivo studies point to the exact mechanisms of how it works in terms of being cardioprotective, cancer preventative, cancer therapeutic, neuroprotective, helpful in people who are obese, [helpful for] glucose metabolism, anti-inflammatory, and an antioxidant,” Dr. Nathan Goodyear, a medical doctor and integrative cancer expert, told The Epoch Times.

Longevity and Disease Prevention

Research has shown that calorie restriction can delay or prevent many age-related diseases and extend lifespan, and resveratrol can mimic the action of calorie restriction.

Although calorie restriction has many benefits, including increased insulin sensitivity and improved overall metabolic health, most people don’t want to spend the day counting calories or fasting.

Resveratrol mimics calorie restriction by activating signaling proteins called sirtuins, which can regulate inflammation, repair DNA, promote insulin sensitivity, and help form neurons in the brain. These proteins are also associated with healthy aging and longevity.

“The sirtuin system is a complex regulatory process involving seven sirtuin genes expressed in multiple tissues,” registered dietician nutritionist Kelsey Costa told The Epoch Times by email.

Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) is one of the seven sirtuin genes activated by resveratrol. It promotes longevity through metabolic processes such as insulin release, lipid mobilization, and healthy stress response. A review published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that people who had fasted for one week had a twofold increase in the SIRT1 gene in their fat cells.

The review also mentioned studies involving resveratrol and the activation of SIRT1 that showed a 70 percent increase in yeast lifespan, life-extending potential in worms and flies, and an increase in the survival of obese middle-aged mice.

“SIRT1 is abundant in the blood vessel system, plays a crucial role in creating and growing new blood vessels, and is significantly stimulated by resveratrol,” Ms. Costa said. “Ultimately, sirtuin genes create proteins that affect heart-related functions like growing new blood vessels, decreasing hypertension, and preventing atherosclerosis, which provides a plausible explanation for resveratrol’s diverse health benefits.”

Cardiovascular Benefits

Cardiovascular disease is primarily the result of a chronic low-grade inflammatory condition that can cause atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and heart failure.

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis of six randomized controlled studies concluded that “resveratrol can be used as a potential treatment in patients with [cardiovascular disease] by reducing inflammatory conditions.” It is also a potent vasodilator that releases nitric oxide and lowers blood pressure.

According to Ms. Costa, “resveratrol decreases the serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are critical compounds involved in the body’s inflammatory response, suggesting resveratrol may be beneficial as an adjuvant therapy for chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease.”

Most studies have been performed in the lab or on animals and show the positive effects of resveratrol on the heart, prompting several randomized controlled trials in humans over the past decade to determine if the same benefits apply to both healthy and chronically ill humans. The results in humans have been variable, possibly due to inconsistent protocols and doses of resveratrol. Yet many studies have shown positive effects on coronary artery disease, including decreased arterial stiffness, hypertension, inflammation, and cholesterol.

Dr. Goodyear believes resveratrol can also protect the heart from certain types of chemotherapy that may damage it. “Although we primarily use natural and holistic treatments for cancer, we will use some conventional therapies, including chemotherapy,” he said. “If we ever use a low-dose form of chemotherapy with a potential impact on the heart or kidneys, resveratrol can be added in to protect these patients.”

May Regulate the Gut Microbiome

The gut microbiome, a community of trillions of microorganisms living in the digestive tract, is believed by many to be the most critical factor in overall health. It consists of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes; when they live in concord in the gut, all body systems work harmoniously. But when those microorganisms are unhealthy and unbalanced, it can lead to several acute and chronic illnesses, including gastrointestinal problems, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

Recent research suggests that resveratrol’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other beneficial properties can help regulate the microbiome and protect the intestinal tract from inflammation and impending disease. While researchers are still investigating resveratrol and its role in regulating overall health through the gut microbiome, they believe it can protect the intestines by strengthening the tight junctions of the intestinal wall. A strong intestinal barrier helps with nutrient absorption and prevents a “leaky gut,” which allows bacteria, toxins, and undigested food particles to pass through and enter the bloodstream.

Resveratrol’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties can also prevent pathogenic bacteria and fungi from growing inside the intestine and increase immune cells to ward off possible diseases further, including many types of cancer.

May Suppress Cancer Cells

In 1997, researchers found that resveratrol prevented cancer cell growth on the skin of mice. Since then, an overwhelming number of studies have focused on resveratrol’s anti-cancer properties.

Resveratrol affects cancer at different stages, from initiation to progression, through various signaling pathways regulating cell growth, cell destruction, inflammation, metastasis, and the development of new blood vessels. An interesting aspect of resveratrol is that it can protect normal cells while causing cancer cell death. Researchers have also found that lower concentrations of resveratrol can increase the expression of cell survival proteins, while higher concentrations stimulate cancer cell death.

A 2015 study suggests that resveratrol may inhibit the growth of gastric cancer cells and induce programmed death of potentially cancerous cells. Human gastric cancer cells were injected into mice, and resveratrol was injected near the tumor cells, significantly inhibiting their growth. The researchers suggested that even though resveratrol’s bioavailability is low in humans and it’s quickly processed and excreted by the body, it has metabolites, or byproducts, that may continue to have beneficial effects.

Another study found that resveratrol may help actinic keratosis—rough, scaly patches of skin that are potentially cancerous.

Studies have shown that resveratrol can target the p53-mediated pathway to induce apoptosis, inhibiting the growth of colorectal cancer cells. Tumor suppressor p53 is a crucial protein involved in DNA repair and apoptosis (cancer cell death). Even in tumor-suppressor p53 mutations where cancers don’t respond well to chemotherapy, resveratrol treatment was found to stop cell growth in cervical cancer. It was also shown to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth and induce apoptosis by inhibiting a major protein signaling pathway.

Clinical trials involving resveratrol and other cancers, including colon and liver cancers, are ongoing and continue to have encouraging results.

Resveratrol may also be chemoprotective, meaning that it may protect healthy cells from damage during chemotherapy treatment.

In lab studies, resveratrol demonstrates several mechanisms that induce programmed cell death in several cancer lines and shows clear anti-cancer effects. Since natural resveratrol has clear drawbacks because of its limited bioavailability, there is interest in the development of resveratrol derivatives.

Dr. Goodyear told The Epoch Times that despite the limited studies, there are advances in solving resveratrol’s problems with administration and bioavailability. Still, more studies are needed that look specifically at women with breast cancer, men with prostate cancer, people with cardiovascular disease, or those who have had a stroke.

“The problem with that is it takes time and money,” he said. “Most people who have a lot of interest in these natural therapies unfortunately don’t have the money to put into the large clinical trials we need to solve the limitations.”

May Protect Against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Unlike other antioxidants, resveratrol has the unique ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Studies are ongoing, and researchers believe there is tremendous potential for resveratrol to become a viable therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.

Five of the primary causes of Alzheimer’s disease progression have shown potential for control with targeted resveratrol treatment. These include protein misfolding, cellular metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and telomere shortening.

Synoptic view of the overlap between aging, and thus Alzheimer's disease, hallmarks, and the molecular targets of resveratrol. (Source: López-Otín et al., 2013)

Protein Misfolding

Proteins can’t work effectively when they aren’t in the correct formation. The protein misfolding in Alzheimer’s disease involves accumulating abnormally folded beta-amyloid and tau proteins. Resveratrol has been shown to inhibit beta-amyloid malformation by decreasing its production through sirtuin pathways. It interferes with the amyloid pathway via its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and reduces amyloid plaque production of free radicals and neuroinflammation.

Although the effects of misfolded tau proteins aren’t as widely studied as beta-amyloid proteins, resveratrol’s activation of SIRT1 and the following mechanisms can reduce tau levels and improve cognitive function.

Cellular Metabolism

Researchers have found that fasting can benefit cognitive performance and Alzheimer’s disease prevention by releasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which regulates cellular processes involved in normal brain function; reduced levels are often associated with degenerative brain disorders.

Just as resveratrol can benefit the heart by mimicking calorie restriction through the expression of SIRT1, it can also improve cognition by enhancing mitochondrial function, helping to boost the destruction of free radicals that promote cognitive decline.

Inflammation

Localized inflammation and microglia, the immune cells of the brain that regulate the brain’s response to illness through inflammation, contribute to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in the brain. Reducing this brain inflammation appears to be effective in slowing and even modifying the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in animal models.

Although the mechanism is still unclear, laboratory and animal studies have shown that resveratrol effectively reduces neuroinflammation.

Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Free Radicals

Mitochondria are called the “powerhouse of the cell” for good reason. Their primary function is to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the prime cellular energy source essential for muscle contraction, cell membrane potential, maintaining the proper electrical pathways between cells, and overall cellular metabolism.

Healthy mitochondria have antioxidant defense mechanisms that protect cells from free radicals that damage cells and lead to aging and disease. Mitochondria’s control over apoptosis (programmed cell death) is crucial for eliminating damaged or malfunctioning cells that may contribute to neurodegeneration.

Brain cells (neurons) have high energy requirements and contain thousands of mitochondria to generate ATP to maintain cellular metabolism and keep the brain working properly. An alteration in the mitochondrial function of neurons can start a cascade of cellular damage by inhibiting neuronal defense against free radical production. As neurons are damaged and begin to die, progression into the early stages of Alzheimer’s begins. Resveratrol can counteract free radical production by activating a pathway involving the SIRT1 protein and boosting mitochondrial energy and efficiency.

Telomere Shortening

Telomeres are the repetitive DNA sequences on the end of chromosomes that act as protective caps, preventing the loss of fundamental genetic information as cells divide. Every time cells divide, telomeres become shorter and shorter. Eventually, when they are so small and can no longer divide, they die. Although inevitable and part of aging, protecting telomeres from becoming reduced prematurely promotes more youthful cells and prevents age-related diseases.

Shortened telomeres play a significant role in Alzheimer’s by increasing the potential for DNA damage, cellular dysfunction and impaired regeneration, neuroinflammation, and eventual neuronal death.

Polyphenols such as resveratrol preserve telomere length, promoting the expression of necessary enzymes within the brain that help maintain telomeres. Resveratrol activates a SIRT1 pathway to protect DNA from free radical damage.

May Increase Insulin Sensitivity

Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a critical role in diabetes progression. Resveratrol’s potent antioxidant properties and ability to activate sirtuins, particularly SIRT1, make it a potential candidate for targeting the underlying cellular abnormalities of Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic disease.

Studies have found that resveratrol can safely reduce the chronic inflammatory properties often associated with obesity while restoring insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammatory injury to blood vessels, and attenuating oxidative stress on the pancreas as insulin levels increase. These studies also show that resveratrol can help save pancreatic beta cells and improve glucose tolerance with SIRT1 activation.

Clinical studies lasting from four weeks to one year revealed that supplementing with grape extract and resveratrol for one year had beneficial effects on Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Resveratrol supplementation for more than 45 days lowered blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, insulin levels, and insulin resistance, and even improved HDL “good” cholesterol levels.

May Relieve Joint Pain

Resveratrol’s anti-inflammatory properties have been shown to slow down or stop the degeneration of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Resveratrol has shown the potential to mediate pathways and enzymes that can inhibit the production of inflammatory molecules in the body. Its antioxidant properties can also help protect joints from rheumatoid arthritis-related oxidative stress.

One study found resveratrol effective when used in combination with methotrexate, a traditional medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, showing a synergy between the two therapeutics.

Osteoarthritis

A recent study suggests that resveratrol can potentially prevent and treat knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by reducing inflammation, apoptosis, and cartilage degeneration. The study concluded that resveratrol will become an alternative therapy for preventing and treating KOA.

A 90-day pilot study of 110 men and women with KOA treated with both meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, and resveratrol significantly reduced knee pain. The levels of inflammatory biomarkers in their blood were also reduced considerably compared to the placebo group. The researchers suggested resveratrol may be an effective adjunct supplement for patients taking meloxicam for KOA.

Potential Risks

“While resveratrol has been linked to various health benefits, it’s important to consider potential risks and adverse outcomes,” Ms. Costa said. “At high doses, resveratrol has been reported to have toxic effects, cause gastrointestinal issues, and interfere with certain enzymes, which can lead to interactions with other drugs.”

Potential medication interactions include anticoagulants and anti-platelet drugs since resveratrol may cause clotting and, therefore, may be contraindicated. It’s best to consult a physician before taking resveratrol to determine the proper dosing and potential drug interactions.

Overall, resveratrol’s adverse effects have been minor, and many studies have established that resveratrol is well-tolerated and safe for humans, though dosing levels remain inconclusive.

The Bottom Line

Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that has shown tremendous promise across extensive clinical studies in lab animals and humans, yet there’s much to learn about its potential in preventing and treating future chronic health conditions.

For instance, there is no established therapeutic dosage of resveratrol. According to Ms. Costa, “The dose of resveratrol administered in research studies is much higher than what one would typically consume in a daily diet or from drinking red wine and seems to have a more pronounced effect when taken as a daily supplement.”

Much of the research to date has been in animals and test tubes using higher levels of resveratrol than found in a normal diet. These studies have led to significant progress in identifying its mechanisms of action and how it translates into various health benefits. However, further human studies are needed to confirm its efficacy, potential adverse effects, and the dose–effect relationship.

“When you look at resveratrol broadly, it’s super exciting, and there is so much we don’t understand about it,” Dr. Goodyear said. “I think there is no doubt resveratrol will positively impact a wide spectrum of diseases preventatively and in targeted treatments.”

How The Government Used 'Track F' To Fund Censorship Tools: Report

  Get ready for the new AI censorship! It will be adjusted just for you. The result will be monitored and bench marked in real time. Oh so subtle and impossible to get through. But first marketing. The innocuous sibling of propaganda which will be made so much more potent. Then the real deal. You won't see a thing. Then you will get angry at those who highlight how you are being manipulated. It will be for your own good. Aldous Huxley was right in the end!

Authored by Mark Tapscott via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Officials from the National Science Foundation tried to conceal the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars on research and development for artificial intelligence tools used to censor political speech and influence the outcome of elections, according to a new congressional report.

The report looking into the National Science Foundation (NSF) is the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that critics claim shows federal officials—especially at the FBI and the CIA—are creating a “censorship-industrial complex” to monitor American public expression and suppress speech disfavored by the government.

“In the name of combatting alleged misinformation regarding COVID-19 and the 2020 election, NSF has been issuing multimillion-dollar grants to university and nonprofit research teams,” states the report by the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

“The purpose of these taxpayer-funded projects is to develop AI-powered censorship and propaganda tools that can be used by governments and Big Tech to shape public opinion by restricting certain viewpoints or promoting others.”

The report also described, based on previously unknown documents, elaborate efforts by NSF officials to cover up the true purposes of the research.

The efforts included tracking public criticism of the foundation’s work by conservative journalists and legal scholars.

The NSF also developed a media strategy “that considered blacklisting certain American media outlets because they were scrutinizing NSF’s funding of censorship and propaganda tools,” the report said.

NSF Responds

In a statement to The Epoch Times, an NSF spokesman categorically rejected the report’s allegations.

“NSF does not engage in censorship and has no role in content policies or regulations. Per statute and guidance from Congress, we have made investments in research to help understand communications technologies that allow for things like deep fakes and how people interact with them,” the spokesman said.

“We know our adversaries are already using these technologies against us in multiple ways. We know that scammers are using these techniques on unsuspecting victims. It is in this nation’s national and economic security interest to understand how these tools are being used and how people are responding so we can provide options for ways we can improve safety for all.”

The spokesman also denied that NSF ever sought to conceal its investments in the so-called Track F program, and that the foundation does not follow the policy regarding media that was outlined in the documents discovered by the committee.

Track F Program Funding

The $39 million Track F Program is the heart of the congressional report’s analysis of a systematic federal effort to replace human “disinformation” monitors with AI-driven digital systems that are capable of vastly more comprehensive monitoring and censoring.

“The NSF-funded projects threaten to help create a censorship regime that could significantly impede the fundamental First Amendment rights of millions of Americans, and potentially do so in a manner that is instantaneous and largely invisible to its victims,” the congressional report warned.

During NSF’s solicitation and sifting of dozens of bids it received in response to its request for proposals, a University of Michigan team, with its “WiseDex” tool, pitched federal officials on enabling the government “to externalize the difficult responsibility of censorship.”

The Michigan team was one of four Track F funding recipients spotlighted by the congressional report. A total of 12 recipients were involved in Track F funding and activities.

The second of the four spotlighted teams is from Meedan, a San Francisco-based group that describes itself as “a global technology not-for-profit that builds software and programmatic initiatives to strengthen journalism, digital literacy, and accessibility of information online and off. We develop open-source tools for creating and sharing context on digital media through annotation, verification, archival, and translation.”

In fact, according to the congressional report, Meedan’s Co-Insights Program uses AI to identify and counter “misinformation” on a massive scale.

In one illustration that the group provided to NSF in its funding pitch, was to “crawl” more than 750,000 blogs and media articles on a daily basis for misinformation and fact-checking on themes such as “undermining trust in mainstream media,” “fear-mongering and anti-Black narratives,” and “weakening political participation.”

The Co-Insights Program, according to the congressional report, was “part of a much larger, long-term goal by the nonprofit. As [Scott] Hale, the director of research at Meedan, explained in an email to NSF, in his ‘dream world,’ Big Tech would collect all of the censored content to enable ‘disinformation’ researchers to use that data to create ‘automated detection’ to censor any similar speech automatically.”

The third spotlighted team is from the University of Wisconsin and its CourseCorrect tool that received $5.75 million in NSF funding “to develop a tool to ‘empower efforts by journalists, developers, and citizens to fact-check delegitimizing information’ about ‘election integrity and vaccine efficacy’ on social media.”

The tool “would allow ‘fact-checkers to perform rapid-cycle testing of fact-checking messages and monitor their real-time performance among online communities at-risk of misinformation exposure,’” the congressional report said.

‘Effective Interventions’ to Educate Americans

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) team that developed its “Search Lit” tool with government funding was the fourth of the highlighted NSF grant recipients.

Officials with NSF asked the MIT team “to develop ‘effective interventions’ to educate Americans—specifically, those that the MIT researchers alleged ’may be more vulnerable to misinformation campaigns’—on how to discern fact from fiction online.

“In particular, the MIT team believed that conservatives, minorities, and veterans were uniquely incapable of assessing the veracity of content online,” the congressional report noted.

“In order to build a ’more digitally discerning public,' the Search Lit team proposed developing tools that could support the government’s viewpoint on COVID-19 public health measures and the 2020 election.”

In a study by one of the MIT team’s members, people who hold as sacred certain texts and documents, most notably the Bible and the U.S. Constitution, were described as “‘often focused on reading a wide array of primary sources, and performing their own synthesis,’ further alleging that, ‘unlike expert lateral readers,’ the conservative respondents made ‘no such effort’ to “eliminate bias that might skew results from search terms.”

Drastic And Irreversible Climate Geoengineering Worries Scientists

  In my previous post I warned about the madness of Climate Change. Well, here's what we are talking about. 

  To fight imaginary cataclysmic events we are about to unleash real ones.

 

Authored by Katie Spence via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Earth is too hot and only getting hotter, according to governments and global bodies such as the United Nations; and the efforts to reduce carbon dioxide aren’t having enough of an effect.

“The world is passing through the 1.5°C ceiling and is headed much higher unless steps are taken to affect Earth’s energy imbalance,” James Hansen, the previous director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, warned in January.

Thus, to buy more time, on Feb. 28, scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report detailing a solution called “intentional stratospheric dehydration,” or in layman’s terms, flying planeloads of ice to 58,000 feet and spraying ice particles into the upper atmosphere.

“It’s a very small effect,” said lead author Joshua Schwarz, a research physicist at NOAA’s chemical sciences laboratory. “Pure water vapor doesn’t readily form ice crystals. It helps to have a seed, a dust particle, for example, for ice to form around.”

The researchers report that by dispersing small particles, or what it calls ice nuclei, into areas of the atmosphere that are both “very cold and super-saturated with water vapor,” water vapor in the atmosphere will “freeze-dry” and rain out of the atmosphere as ice crystals, cooling the planet.

The proposal is known as geoengineering—and NASA and NOAA’s joint plan is far from the only idea that’s jumped from the pages of science fiction, à la the 2013 Hollywood film “Snowpiercer,” to mainstream science.

István Szapudi, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, has turned to essentially geoengineering a giant parasol, or what he calls, a “tethered solar shield” to shield the Earth from a portion of the sun’s energy.

“Any sunshield works by blocking a small fraction, circa 1–2 percent, of sunlight reaching Earth,” Mr. Szapudi told The Epoch Times. “This is an almost undetectable amount by looking at the sun, but it would still cool the atmosphere to pre-industrial temperatures according to climate models.

“Specifically, the tethered sun shield is a solution that is lighter, thus cheaper, by many orders than traditional designs.”

Technology entrepreneurs Luke Iseman and Andrew Song of Make Sunsets have already taken action and have been creating reflective, high-altitude clouds by releasing balloons full of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere, what they call stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI).

“With climate change rapidly transforming our world, it’s crucial that we prioritize action over words,” Make Sunsets states on its website.

“We believe that SAI is the immediate, necessary solution to cool the planet and buy us time to transition to a more sustainable future.”

But scientists such as Christopher Essex, emeritus professor of applied mathematics and physics at the University of Western Ontario and the former director of its theoretical physics program, said CO2 isn’t the driver of Earth’s warmer temperature and that such geoengineering measures are “extraordinarily dangerous.”

“I used to run a climate panel for the World Federation of Scientists,” he told The Epoch Times. “And we had one session where we presented on exactly why geoengineering is extraordinarily dangerous. It’s a crazy idea.”

Ian Clark, emeritus professor for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Ottawa, echoed Mr. Essex.

“Geoengineering the climate is a very scary prospect,” he told The Epoch Times.

“It’s something that should be relegated to the fantasy realm and science fiction.”

The Oxford Geoengineering Programme defines geoengineering as “the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to counteract climate change.”

Solar Shield

According to Mr. Szapudi, climate change is a looming threat, and greenhouse gases, such as CO2, are a driving cause of that threat.

He published a report on July 31, 2023, outlining his proposal for a tethered sun shield, what he calls solar radiation management.

“Solar radiation management (SRM) is a geoengineering approach that aims to reduce the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the Earth to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he wrote in his report.

“Two strategies proposed for SRM involve adding dust or chemicals to the Earth’s atmosphere to increase the reflected fraction of sunlight or reduce the incoming radiation from space with solar shades or dust.”

He’s advocating for a sun shield because he believes it is less risky.

When asked to comment on Mr. Essex’s claim that geoengineering is “extraordinarily dangerous,” Mr. Szapudi said: “Space-based geoengineering, especially if it is modular and reversible in design, carries less risk than Earth-based SRM injecting dust or chemicals into the atmosphere, and [it is] vastly less risky than doing nothing.

“Given what we know today and the known risks of climate change, a tethered sun shield near the L1 Lagrange point at 1.5 million kilometers from us would not present an obvious risk to Earth. The benefit is preventing and even reversing negative effects of climate change.”

NASA defines Lagrange points as “positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put” because of oppositional gravitational forces. The agency has identified five such points.

Mr. Szapudi acknowledged that there could be unknown risks and said that his proposal would need to undergo a more detailed scientific study, followed by a preliminary engineering study.

“Such a study would specify the location, the design, the materials, etc., that are most suitable. At that point, a quantitative and thorough risk assessment can be done, and a decision can be made [on] whether to go ahead with the implementation,” he said.

“In general, any big project would go through many layers of risk, cost, and benefit analyses as the design shapes up, and any showstoppers identified would halt the project. Ultimately, only the most cost-effective and safest design, if any, will be implemented.”

But Mr. Essex, who built his first computer climate model in the 1970s and was chairman of The Global Warming Policy Foundation’s Academic Advisory Council, said part of the problem with a sun shield is that it looks at the climate from an engineering perspective instead of a scientific one.

“You might be able to generate some plausible argument for defining the actual parasol and getting into space,” he said. “But the part you don’t understand is how climate will respond to it.

“Because we’ve been pushing this propaganda as being able to solve a problem, it starts to appear like an engineering problem where you can do trial and error and see if it works or doesn’t work. But the climate problem is not an engineering problem; it’s a fundamental scientific problem. ... It’s much more subtle and complex.”

Mr. Essex explained that solar radiation travels through the atmosphere, and while some believe that radiation causes warming at that point, that’s not what’s happening. Instead, the shortwave radiation hits the Earth, which heats the surface, and then the ground radiates that energy as longwave radiation into the atmosphere, increasing temperature.

“With the parasol, they’re trying to control shortwave radiation,” Mr. Essex said. “And it’s an indirect way of controlling what goes on with the longwave, the infrared.

“People like to think the Earth is like a brick, and it’s getting too hot, so we need to cool it down—global boiling, that’s the slogan—well, that’s ridiculous. It’s just about hyping up anxiety and fear so the people will go along with things and not question what’s going on.

“There’s so much going on in the atmosphere. It’s complex, conductive, and turbulent.”

Balloons of Sulfur

Like a sun shield, reflective aerosols fall under the definition of solar radiation management. But unlike a sun shield, reflective aerosols aren’t modular or immediately reversible.

Read more here...