Justice Dept. to Review Election Tampering Conviction of Pro-Trump Clerk

The decision, revealed in a filing in a Colorado clerk’s bid to overturn her conviction, marks another example of President Trump’s Justice Department intervening to aid supporters or go after foes.

The Justice Department said on Monday that it would review the conviction of the former clerk of Mesa County, Colo., who was found guilty of state charges last summer of tampering with voting machines under her control in a failed attempt to prove that they had been used to rig the 2020 election against President Trump.

The decision was the latest example of the Justice Department under Mr. Trump’s control seeking to use its powers to support those who have acted on his behalf and to go after those who have criticized or opposed him. It also played into the president’s effort to rewrite the history of his efforts to overturn the results of the election.

Three weeks ago, the former clerk, Tina Peters, who was sentenced to nine years in prison on the state election tampering charges, filed a long-shot motion in Federal District Court in Denver effectively challenging the guilty verdict she received in August at the end of a trial in Grand Junction.

But, in a surprise move, Yaakov M. Roth, the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division, filed a court brief known as a statement of interest on Monday, declaring that “reasonable concerns have been raised about various aspects of Ms. Peters’s case.” In the filing, Mr. Roth said the federal judge who received Ms. Peters’s petition this month should give it “prompt and careful consideration.”

Mr. Roth said that the Justice Department was concerned, among other things, about “the exceptionally lengthy sentence” imposed on Ms. Peters by the judge in Grand Junction. He also questioned a decision by state prosecutors to deny her bail as she appeals her conviction as “arbitrary or unreasonable.”

The review of Ms. Peters’s case was part of a larger examination of cases “across the nation for abuses of the criminal justice process,” Mr. Roth wrote. The scrutiny of Peters case, he added, was being conducted under the aegis of an executive order that Mr. Trump issued seeking to end the “weaponization of the federal government.”

It remains unclear what lasting effect the Justice Department’s review of Ms. Peters’s case might have on the proceeding. But Mr. Roth made clear in his court papers that the evaluation was taking place to determine whether the prosecution was “oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice.”

The Justice Department has no power to directly overturn the state conviction. But its filing lobbying a federal court to intercede in the case was nonetheless a remarkable intervention in the matter.

Dan Rubinstein, the Mesa County district attorney who secured the conviction against Ms. Peters, said on Monday evening that, until Mr. Roth’s court papers were filed, he had had no idea that the Justice Department was thinking of scrutinizing Ms. Peters’s case for alleged political bias.

‘It Was Clear That No One Really Wanted to Be on the Train’

Moreover, he said, no one from the department had reached out to him before the filing to express concern about the case.

“I am happy to have a conversation with anybody in the administration as to the motivations and expectations that our community had when they overwhelmingly wanted me to bring this criminal action,” Mr. Rubinstein said.

A jury in Grand Junction found Ms. Peters guilty of seven charges stemming from her efforts to breach a voting machine manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems in the months after Mr. Trump lost the election to Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The jury determined that Ms. Peters had helped an outsider gain unauthorized access to the machine in May 2021 and to obtain information that was later made public at a conspiratorial event held to undermine trust in Mr. Trump’s defeat.

At a sentencing hearing in October, Judge Matthew D. Barrett scolded Ms. Peters from the bench, telling her that he was imposing a stiff penalty on her because she had repeatedly advanced false claims about Mr. Trump’s defeat, and that, in so doing, she had become a celebrity among those who denied that he lost the race.

“You are no hero. You abused your position, and you are a charlatan,” Judge Barrett said, adding, “You cannot help but lie as easy as you breathe.”

Since Mr. Trump’s re-election, the Justice Department has faced criticism for its conduct in a number of cases, several of which have resulted in the abrupt resignations of federal prosecutors.

Top prosecutors in New York and Washington stepped down this month in response to the department’s efforts to dismiss the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York.

In a similar fashion, the chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington recently resigned after she declined a request from her boss, Ed Martin, to freeze the assets of a government contractor, saying she had insufficient evidence to do so.

Mr. Martin has also been quietly pushing to present evidence against Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, to a federal grand jury over comments he made about Supreme Court justices in 2020, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Justice Department officials have thus far rebuffed the request, one of those people said.

https://archive.is/tJHOa#selection-1081.0-1131.264

James Harrison, blood donor whose rare plasma saved millions of babies, dead at 88

James Harrison, a prolific Australian blood donor famed for having saved the lives of more than two million babies, has died at age 88.

Harrison, whose plasma contained a “rare and precious antibody” known as Anti-D, donated blood more than 1,100 times, according to Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, which confirmed his death in a statement published Saturday.

Harrison, who was known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” died in his sleep at a nursing home north of Sydney on February 17, according to the statement.

Harrison’s altruistic mission was driven by having received multiple blood transfusions following lung surgery at the age of 14.

He started donating plasma at 18 and did so every two weeks until he was 81, the upper age limit for blood donation in Australia.

Lifeblood Chief Executive Officer Stephen Cornelissen hailed Harrison’s dedication.

“James was a remarkable, stoically kind, and generous person who was committed to a lifetime of giving and he captured the hearts of many people around the world,” Cornelissen said in the statement.

“James extended his arm to help others and babies he would never know a remarkable 1173 times and expected nothing in return.”

Harrison’s daughter, Tracey Mellowship, said her father “was a humanitarian at heart.”

“As an Anti-D recipient myself, he has left behind a family that may not have existed without his precious donations,” she said in the statement.

“He was also very proud to have saved so many lives, without any cost or pain. It made him happy to hear about the many families like ours, who existed because of his kindness.”

Anti-D is used to make a medication administered to pregnant mothers whose blood would attack their unborn babies’ blood cells, known as rhesus disease.

The condition develops when a pregnant woman has rhesus-negative blood (RhD negative) and the baby in her womb has rhesus-positive blood (RhD positive), inherited from its father.

If the mother has been sensitized to rhesus-positive blood, usually during a previous pregnancy with an rhesus-positive baby, she may produce antibodies that destroy the baby’s “foreign” blood cells.

In the worst cases, babies can be brain damaged or die.

Anti-D, produced with Harrison’s antibodies, prevents women with rhesus-negative blood from developing RhD antibodies during pregnancy.

The discovery of Harrison’s antibodies was an absolute game-changer, Australian officials said.

“In Australia, up until about 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn’t know why, and it was awful. Women were having numerous miscarriages and babies were being born with brain damage,” Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, told CNN in 2015.

“Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary at the time.”

Considered a national hero, Harrison won numerous awards for his generosity, including the Medal of the Order of Australia, one of the country’s highest honors.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/health/james-harrison-blood-donor-death-scli-intl/index.html

Linda McMahon has been confirmed (51-45) as Trump's Secretary of Education

On Monday, the Republican-led Senate voted to confirm Linda McMahon as the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

McMahon, a former professional wrestling magnate who led the U.S. Small Business Administration during President Donald Trump's first term, was confirmed by a 51-45 vote along party lines.

In a statement announcing her nomination, Trump said, as secretary of education, McMahon will "empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World."

In her confirmation hearing, which was heated at times and interrupted repeatedly by the protesters shouting about protections for students, McMahon decried a public education "system in decline" and vowed to "reorient" the U.S. Department of Education and "invest in teachers not Washington bureaucrats."

The White House has been clear that it intends to dismantle the department and that it will be McMahon's job to oversee that effort. The administration has already made cuts to department staff, programs and research, but it cannot officially close the department, as it was created by an act of Congress in 1979 and can only be closed by that same body.

A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds there isn't much public support for shuttering the agency: 63% of poll respondents opposed getting rid of the Education Department, compared to 37% in favor.

The Education Department is among the smallest of all federal agencies and one of its primary roles is to administer federal funding for K-12 schools, including through Title I (for students in lower-income communities) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, for students with disabilities).

McMahon said repeatedly at her confirmation hearing that she considers the Education Department and education funding to be two different things. The former, she said, can be dismantled without affecting the latter. "It is not the president's goal to defund the programs. It was only to have it operate more efficiently.

At the hearing, Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, expressed exasperation at McMahon and Republicans who say they want the department to use its enforcement authority to punish schools that flout the new administration's demands – including their guidance on DEI and transgender athletes in sports – while they also say they want to strip the department of this very enforcement authority. She called this "elegant gaslighting."

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has spoken out against school choice policies, asked if McMahon's primary role as education secretary would be "to support and strengthen our public schools"?

Her answer: "I absolutely do believe that our public schools are the bedrock of our education. You know, they go back to the very founding of our country."

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/03/nx-s1-5307078/trump-cabinet-linda-mcmahon-confirmed-education

Trump dashes hopes for last-minute Canada and Mexico deal ahead of 25% tariffs

-President Donald Trump said the U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on Tuesday.

-Trump is also imposing an additional 10% tariff on imports from China.

-The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed trading nearly 650 points lower after the president spoke at the White House.

President Donald Trump said that on Tuesday he will impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, dashing hopes for a last-minute deal that could avoid a trade war with two of the U.S.′ top trading partners.

Trump told reporters there was “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to negotiate an alternative to the tariffs, which he has threatened to impose for weeks.

“They’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow,” the president said at a White House event Monday.

Stock prices plunged after Trump spoke. The S&P 500 fell 1.76%, its worst day since December, putting the index into the red for the year to date.

Trump, as he has previously, cited the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the U.S. as justification for the tariffs, apparently unsatisfied with recent efforts by Canada and Mexico to strengthen law enforcement at their respective borders.

“Just so you understand, vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from Mexico, and as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico and goes to Canada,” the president said.

In addition to announcing that the tariffs on the two U.S. neighbors would go forward Tuesday, Trump on Monday imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports, doubling the 10% duty he had slapped on Beijing in early February.

Tariffs are essentially taxes on foreign goods that are paid by the importers.

Because of that, critics warn that the Trump tariffs ultimately will lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers.

But they remain Trump’s favorite way to flex America’s muscle against its adversaries and allies alike.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his country will impose retaliatory tariffs if Trump follows through on his threats.

Ottawa in February said it was prepared to slap 25% tariffs on $155 billion worth of U.S. goods, and readied an opening salvo that targeted goods produced in Republican-led states.

China announced retaliatory measures against the U.S. in February, when Trump’s first round of 10% tariffs against Beijing took hold. China has vowed additional countermeasures to address Trump’s latest round of tariffs.

Since taking office for a nonconsecutive second term, Trump has imposed a 25% duty on all U.S. imports of steel and aluminum, in addition to tariffs on Chinese imports.

He has also unveiled a plan to enact “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries that impose tariffs on imports from the U.S.

Trump’s comments Monday came during an event touting a $100 billion investment in the U.S. by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

.

Trump said that by planning to build new chip fabrication plants in Arizona, the company will avoid getting hit with import tariffs.

He admonished Canada and Mexico to do the same.

“What they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs,” Trump said.

The tariffs set to take effect Tuesday on Canada and Mexico were first ordered by Trump in an executive order Feb. 1.

But he postponed those tariffs for a month after those countries on Feb. 3 pledged to take steps toward preventing the trafficking of fentanyl across their borders into the U.S.

Mexico said it would send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. border to combat drug trafficking operations. And on Thursday, Mexico extradited 29 drug cartel members to the U.S.

But Trump last week said the tariffs would take effect Tuesday after complaining that illicit drugs are still “pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels.”

However, doubts remained that Trump would follow through on his threat.

Earlier Monday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that Trump might soften his tariff demands.

“He knows they’ve done a good job on the border,” Lutnick said in a CNN interview.

“They haven’t done enough on fentanyl. Let’s see how the president weighs that today,” Lutnick said. “We’re going to talk about it all day today, and then he’ll let everybody know tomorrow with the plans.”

Canada has emphasized that the amount of fentanyl that travels into the U.S. from the northern border is just a small fraction of what comes in through Mexico.

About 21,148 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the U.S. southwest border in fiscal year 2024, versus 43 pounds seized from the Canadian border in the same period, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/03/trump-dashes-hope-for-last-minute-canada-and-mexico-deal-ahead-of-25percent-tariffs.html

Israel might return to war in 10 days if no agreement reached

Israeli source: No expectation for Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to visit Israel • Sources say 'Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal'

Negotiations over the continued release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled, sources familiar with details of the talks told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

“Nothing is currently moving on this front,” they said.

Officials estimated that if no agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, Israel would return to fighting in Gaza in about a week and a half.

“Hamas is currently rejecting [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress,” one official said.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Witkoff’s plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the continued deal. The rest of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.

However, some claim that the terrorist organization has not rejected the proposal. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal.”

Another source said that there was no expectation for Witkoff to visit the region at the moment, adding, “He will only come to finalize a deal. And since there is no real progress right now, it is unclear when or if he will arrive.”

Without an agreement on the release of additional hostages in the coming days, sources say Israel is preparing to escalate its actions against Hamas. After the decision on Sunday to stop humanitarian aid, Israel is preparing to cut off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as well as resume fighting as early as next week.

Officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues.

“The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” a source said. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israel responded to the mediators’ request to allow a few more days of negotiations.

“If Hamas does not release the hostages soon, the gates of Gaza will be locked, and the gates of hell will be opened – we will return to fighting, and they will face the IDF with forces and methods they have never encountered before,” Katz said.

Hamas said on Monday that Israel was trying to push things back to square one by asking to extend the first phase of their Gaza ceasefire agreement.

“The occupation is pushing to return things to square one and overturn the agreement through the alternatives it is proposing,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said.

https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-844530

>>22697376

There's probably some people with super-duper blood that are immune to everything that we can study in a humane non-adrenochrome psycho fashion.

The Elon tax: Ad insiders say they're advising clients to spend on X to avoid legal and political headaches

-Some ad agencies and consultants say they're advising clients to spend on Elon Musk's X.

Industry insiders told BI they felt advertising on –X could help brands avoid some political and legal risks.

-However, many ad insiders bemoaned the way the political environment was affecting ad buys.

You might call it the Elon tax.

Some ad agency execs and consultants tell Business Insider they are begrudgingly advising clients to spend on Elon Musk's X.

Their attitude reflects a wider discomfort in the ad world.

Thirteen ad industry insiders who spoke with BI said they were bristling at the current state of play — namely that advertising on X seemed to be a cost of doing business in a politically charged era with Musk a central force in Donald Trump's White House.

Some of these insiders said they viewed spending on X as a type of insurance policy to avoid an advertiser being singled out publicly as a boycotter, sued, or saddled with some sort of regulatory scrutiny.

These insiders were a mix of marketers, agency executives, and consultants. Most of them asked for anonymity because of concerns about potential reprisals; their identities are known to BI.

On Tuesday, the research and advisory firm Forrester published a blog post that lambasted X while advising advertisers to spend on the platform to avoid potential repercussions. The analysts wrote that advertisers were "losing control of media choice" in the current political environment. They recommended advertisers "lean into non-binding advertising commitments with X" and increase spending gradually if X met specific goals.

Jay Pattisall, VP and principal analyst at Forrester, told BI that the firm heard less feedback than usual for a post weighing in on a hot industry topic.

"It's reflective of the business community at large not wanting to engage in controversy," Pattisall said. "The unique conditions of the moment and politics of the day make for the necessity to put these very common sense, practical pieces of advice out."

Some advertising agency insiders and consultants shared similar sentiments with BI.

"While Musk keeps the position he has, you just have to be a bit more careful," said an ad agency veteran of more than 20 years. "That's the reality."

"Until we get more legal guidance, keep setting aside that money," they added.

Fears of potential political reprisals for advertisers who spurn X got more credence recently with a report in The Wall Street Journal. Citing people with knowledge of the talks, the Journal reported that X CEO Linda Yaccarino and a lieutenant had pushed IPG to spend more money on X. IPG execs interpreted the message as a reminder that the Trump administration could impede a proposed merger with ad giant Omnicom, the Journal report said.

Several ad industry insiders said that if X really used these tactics, they felt it would amount to bullying.

"We do not make spending commitments on behalf of clients to any partner or platform, and decision-making authority always rests with the client," an IPG spokesperson said in a statement.

X and Yaccarino didn't respond to requests for comment.

While X has attracted advertisers, new and old, in recent months — including big names like Apple — its business doesn't seem to be booming. Marketing research company WARC estimates that X will pull in $1.96 billion in global ad revenue in 2025, down 11% from last year — and a steep fall from the $4.53 billion WARC estimated X generated in 2022, the year Musk acquired it (back when it was named Twitter). X is a private company and doesn't publicly share revenue figures.

X has not historically been a priority media buy because it doesn't provide the scale and performance that platforms like Meta and Google offer.

That said, X has a sizable audience that appeals to many advertisers, especially during high-engagement events like live sports or breaking news.

WPP CEO Mark Read, who runs one of the world's largest advertising holding companies, told the Financial Times that the company had seen more clients returning to X in recent months. He added that WPP was talking with X about how it could support the platform in communicating to advertisers that it is a safe venue to advertise on.

"The usage is definitely up and if you look at the impact that it has on world politics, you have to say it's powerful," Read said in an FT story published last week. "I think for some clients it's a good place to be."

Some advertisers are seeing a higher return on investment on X than in previous years, Michael Beach, CEO of the adtech company Cross Screen Media, told BI.

"Pre-Elon Musk, their adtech was so bad we moved spend away from Twitter," Beach said. "The technology has improved, and small advertisers understand that the inventory is undervalued versus other platforms."

Another top media buyer previously told BI that advertising money was increasingly being used to hedge against political risk — and often, these decisions were being made by the CEOs of big corporations versus the chief marketing officer.

Lou Paskalis, CEO of the marketing consultancy AJL Advisory, said this kind of fraught political situation makes the job of a CMO harder.

"If 10% of my ad budget has to be allocated" to risk mitigation, Paskalis said, "my CFO isn't going to reduce my business goals by 10% — he's simply going to say, you need to deliver your goals with the 90% of your budget that is investable 'rationally.'"

Musk's takeover of the platform in 2022 laid the groundwork for the current relationship between X and the ad industry.

A wave of advertisers pulled away from X over concerns about brand safety, ad performance, and the return of banned accounts.

But X didn't go down without a fight.

In August, X filed a lawsuit against several of its advertisers — such as Mars and CVS Health — accusing them of illegally conspiring to boycott the platform through their membership in a now-defunct industry initiative called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. X has since added several more brands to that complaint as defendants, including Colgate, Lego, and Shell. Unilever was initially named as a defendant but reached an agreement with X — the terms of which weren't disclosed by either party — and was dropped from the suit in October. Unilever said X had committed to meeting its responsibility standards around brand safety and performance.

GARM shut down days after the X lawsuit was filed, saying it was a small nonprofit with limited resources. Its parent organization, the World Federation of Advertisers, has maintained that it plans to fight the suit and didn't contravene antitrust laws. The litigation is ongoing.

Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is also investigating whether advertisers' and agencies' participation with GARM led to conservative media, including X, being demonetized. In December, Jordan wrote to the CEOs of Omnicom and IPG, asking them to provide documents and reserve records regarding their GARM membership.

"Given that your company was a member of GARM from its inception and was also an active participant in GARM during its collusive activities, the proposed merger raises potential anticompetitive concerns," the letters read.

The legal developments — as well as Musk's political rise — have put marketers on high alert.

"I've never seen anything like this before in the history of our business," said a second advertising industry veteran speaking generally about the current political environment for advertisers.

But, they added, "You've got to play defense right now."

https://archive.is/8tvmx#selection-3111.0-3163.56

InteractivePolls

@IAPolls2022

🇺🇸 National poll by Emerson

President Trump

• Approve: 48% (=)

• Disapprove: 43% (+1)

(shift vs 2/15-17)

——

2026 Generic Congressional Ballot

🔵 Democrats: 44%

🔴 Republicans: 41%

⚪ Undecided: 14%

——

Fav-unfav

🟢 Starmer: 35-17 (+18)

🟢 Zelenskyy: 45-28 (+17)

🟢 Macron: 35-18 (+17)

🟢 Trump: 46-45 (+1)

🔴 Xi Jinping: 8-60 (-52)

🔴 Putin: 12-69 (-57)

——

48% think the Trump administration is putting “America first,” while 41% think it is not,

——

Top Issues

The Economy: 41%

Threats to democracy: 18%

Immigration: 13%

Healthcare: 8%

https://x.com/IAPolls2022/status/1896675308721295787

>>22697399

Better to visit link (lots of images and formatting)

https://emersoncollegepolling.com/march-2025-national-poll/

Next generation Honda Civic to be built in Indiana instead of Mexico: Tariffs for the win

https://x.com/Reuters/status/1896559938572619851

Top ten countries for ultra processed foods

Ultra-processed foods like chips, candy, and french fries are designed to be irresistible.

Their high-calorie mix of refined carbs, fats, salt, and sugar—rarely found in nature—triggers cravings and overeating. One study shows that people consuming ultra-processed diets eat an extra 1,000 calories per day compared to those on minimally processed diets. In particular, “hyperpalatable” foods like french fries strongly activate the brain’s reward system, making them especially addictive.

This graphic shows the share of ultra-processed food in adults’ diets across select countries, based on data from the British Medical Journal via BBC.

While there is no standard definition for ultra-processed foods, they typically contain additives, sweeteners, and chemicals not found in domestic kitchens.

These ingredients include emulsifiers and high-fructose corn syrup, which was introduced in the 1960s as a cheaper replacement for cane sugar. As the table below shows, they make up 58% of American adults’ diet based on nationally representative surveys.

In response, the newly appointed secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to crack down on ultra-processed foods.

In particular, he has criticized the scale of additives in the American food supply, which have been shown to increase the risk of chronic health conditions, cancer, and fatty liver disease. He has also noted that U.S. food products often contain additives that are banned in Europe.

The UK follows closely behind America, with 57% of adults’ diets consisting of ultra-processed foods. More concerningly, this share jumps to 65% for children. Overall, the most popular ultra-processed foods in the UK are factory-made bread and pre-packaged meals.

As we can see, ultra-processed food diets are not exclusive to Western countries. In countries like South Africa, Mexico, and Japan, they make up at least 28% of total calories consumed.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ultra-processed-food-consumption-by-country/

Zelensky meets with King Charles

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1896622440920625381

Emulsifiers Make Food More Appealing. Do They Also Make You Sick?

They keep salad dressing from separating, ice cream from dripping and muffins from hardening. Emulsifiers, used to improve the texture of food, are in all sorts of products. But there is growing concern about the potential health risks from eating them.

Recent studies have found that consuming common emulsifiers is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers. Other research seems to show why: The substances change the gut microbiome in a way that can cause inflammation.

Emulsifiers may partly explain why diets high in ultra-processed foods are associated with health problems. Ultra-processed foods, which include everything from energy bars and chips to deli meat and many soups, are facing increased scrutiny by the Trump administration. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services, has said that the Food and Drug Administration will investigate food additives. Kennedy has often blamed the substances for chronic diseases in the U.S.

The new research on emulsifiers is upending what scientists thought they knew about them. Many common emulsifiers were considered safe because they aren’t readily absorbed by the body. But now researchers understand that this very quality enables emulsifiers to disrupt the microbiome.

Emulsifiers are harder to avoid than some other food additives, like artificial sweeteners and colors, because they are difficult to taste and see and their use is so widespread. The ingredients are cheap and increase stability and shelf life.

“They make the food taste exactly the same every time,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University.

Emulsifiers are commonly found in junk food, but they are also used in foods that have a healthy image—like some yogurts, whole grain crackers and breakfast cereals, said Mathilde Touvier, research director at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France. In one study by Touvier and colleagues, researchers analyzed the ingredients in 126,000 packaged food and drink products available in France: Emulsifiers were in about 54% of them.

The food industry defends their use. “Emulsifiers and thickening agents play an important role in improving food texture and consistency, and have been studied by the FDA through a rigorous scientific and risk-based process,” said Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group that includes many food makers.

There are dozens of different emulsifiers and thickeners. Some, like carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate 80, are synthetic. Others, like soy lecithin and guar gum, are derived from natural sources.

People who have higher intakes of several common emulsifiers are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to three recent studies by Touvier and colleagues. The studies, which followed about 92,000 to 104,000 people over approximately seven years, controlled for a variety of factors, including age, body-mass index and family medical history.

The research, because it is what’s known as observational, doesn’t prove that emulsifiers are causing health problems. And some of the increased risks are small. But emerging science is finding that some emulsifiers alter the gut microbiome in a way that can cause inflammation. Inflammation has been implicated in a host of diseases.

In a small study with 16 people, the microbiomes of subjects who ate the emulsifier carboxymethylcellulose for 11 days were altered: They had fewer types of bacteria, more bacteria associated with poor health and less “good” bacteria than those who didn’t get the substance. (The diets of the two groups were identical, except for the emulsifier.)

Also, two participants in the emulsifier group had bacteria that had invaded the inner mucus layer in the gut. This encroachment is thought to lead to inflammation not just in the digestive system but throughout the body, said Andrew Gewirtz, a professor at Georgia State University and an author of the study, which was published in 2022 in the journal Gastroenterology.

The study in people builds on a larger body of research in animals and in the lab. Some recent research has found that people vary in their body’s response to emulsifiers. Scientists in the U.K. and France are investigating a low-emulsifier diet as a potential treatment for Crohn’s disease.

You can avoid emulsifiers altogether by not eating ultra-processed foods. But that isn’t realistic for a lot of us.

The most concerning emulsifiers are the synthetic ones like carboxymethylcellulose, which is widely used in packaged baked goods, and polysorbate 80, which is often used in ice cream and other dairy products, says Gewirtz. He suggests avoiding the gums, like guar gum and xanthan gum, too. These substances generally aren’t digested. They pass through the large intestine, where they disrupt the microbiome, says Gewirtz.

Watch out for carrageenans, too, says Benoit Chassaing, head of the Microbiome-Host Interactions Group at Institut Pasteur in France. These are particularly common in low-fat yogurt and other low-fat dairy products. In his research, carrageenans reduce the amount of beneficial bacteria and promote the growth of bacteria associated with poor health.

The common emulsifier soy lecithin is likely less harmful, Gewirtz says, because it is a natural product that is more readily absorbed.

Touvier recommends the website and app Open Food Facts, a crowdsourced food database, that flags emulsifiers and other food additives.

The actual food you’re eating is still the most important factor in rating its healthiness, Mozaffarian notes. “If you’re consuming yogurt or a fruit dish or bean dish and it has one of these stabilizers in it, it’s still better for you than consuming bacon or, you know, candy,” he says.

https://archive.is/XngyD#selection-5943.0-5967.288

Hochul seeks to recruit laid off federal workers with ad in Washington’s Union Station

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) office is running a digital ad in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station to recruit laid-off federal employees to work for New York State amid the Trump administration’s efforts to slim down the federal government.

The ad, which started running Monday at digital director displays in Union Station, features an image of the Statue of Liberty with the caption: “DOGE said you’re fired? We say you’re hired! New York wants you!”

“Elon Musk and his clueless cadre of career killers know nothing about how government works, who it serves, and the tireless federal employees who keep it running,” Hochul said in a statement. “Here in New York we don’t vilify public servants, we value them and their efforts. So when DOGE says ‘You’re fired,’ New York is ready to say ‘You’re hired’ – and we’re making sure talented, experienced federal workers know about the many opportunities available in our state workforce.”

The ad is the latest effort from Hochul to reach out to federal employees impacted by job cuts spurred by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Hochul appealed to government employees in a recruiting video last week.

“Whatever your skills, we value public service,” Hochul said in the video. “Come join our New York State family.”

DOGE, led by Musk, has moved at a breakneck pace to reduce the size of the federal government, impacting federal workers in states across the country. While Democrats have largely condemned DOGE’s efforts, Republican governors have largely embraced DOGE and have even sought to replicate it in their own states. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) became the latest governor to seek to replicate DOGE’s efforts in his state last week.

Last week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), whose state boasts a large federal and military workforce, backed DOGE’s efforts but touted his “Virginia has jobs initiative” as a potential safety net for laid-off workers.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5172145-hochul-seeks-to-recruit-laid-off-federal-workers-with-ad-in-washingtons-union-station/amp/

Mario Nawfal

@MarioNawfal

🚨🇦🇷ARGENTINA'S ECONOMY SURGES—MILEI'S POLICIES DRIVE 7.1% GDP GROWTH PROJECTION

GDP is expected to grow 7.1% interannually in Q2 2025.

After a tough 2024, Milei’s austerity measures and economic freedom reforms are restoring confidence—just in time for the 2025 electoral cycle.

Milei’s bold strategy is proving to be the right call.

Source: Ramiro Castiñeira, @rcas1, @ArgMilei, @JMilei

https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1895931228177436713

I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸

@ImMeme0

Never forget that the Biden administration used $25 BILLION of taxpayers’ money through USAID to subsidize small businesses in Ukraine:

$2,000,000: Custom Carpet Manufacturer

$678,000: Specialty Biscuit and Confectionery Company

$733,000: Fashion Photographer, Luxury Bridal Brand, Contemporary Knitwear, designer artisanal pieces and Fashion Mission

$94,000: Condiment Manufacturer

$148,000: Pickle Maker

$255,000: Organic Coffee-Tea Producer

$89,000: Vineyard

$104,000: Artisanal Fruit Tea Company

$319,000: Meatpacking Plant

$205,000: Furniture Manufacturers

$300,000: Pet Tracking App

$300,000: Dog Collar Manufacturer

$109,000: Pet Food Packaging Producer

https://x.com/ImMeme0/status/1896273049361490072

@DataRepublican: 7,000 NGOs collect 90% of taxpayer finances; $300 billion per year (video)

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1896592468445139308

Montana, Wyoming Top List Of Fastest-Selling Real Estate Markets

Headlines across the nation are declaring Wyoming and Montana as having the fastest-selling real estate markets.

But real estate agents and mortgage lenders in these markets offer a more nuanced and detailed look at what’s happening with home sales from the Canadian border to Cheyenne.

A study recently published by ViewHomes puts Montana, Alaska and Wyoming as the top three states for fastest-selling real estate, based on 150,000 Zillow listings and what percentage are still on the market after 30 days.

In Montana, 15.6% of residential properties sat on the market for more than 30 days, according to the Zillow data, while in Alaska that number is 17.6% and in Wyoming it’s 18.24%.

These percentages come in the aftermath of less rosy news revealed in a Redfin survey that found 71% of active real estate agents did not close on a single home sale in 2024.

Ranking states by the percentage of home listings still on the market after 30 days reveals something about both the desirability of a location and the total number of homes on the market, according to Realtors and a mortgage broker contacted by Cowboy State Daily.

As much as those percentages show Montana and Wyoming among the states where “properties are selling the fastest,” these stats also reflect relatively small populations of homebuyers and limited inventory.

“There’s 3% inventory statewide,” Annie Wedgewood told Cowboy State Daily. President of Wyoming REALTORS, a statewide industry group, Wedgewood sells homes in Rock Springs and Sweetwater County, where 2.05% of existing homes are up for sale.

“Natrona is at 1.79% and Park County, however, is at 5.63%,” said Wedgewood.

While the inventory might be limited, “We still have people coming in and we still have people that are wanting to upgrade and we have first-time home buyers. That's a huge one is the population of first-time home buyers that is out there,” Wedgewood said.

Wedgewood said Montana and Wyoming might have a low percentage of homes that stay on the market past 30 days because there’s a small inventory of homes for sale. Plus, these states are attractive to those still buying homes, even with mortgage interest rates hovering between 6% and 7%.

“The people wanting to go from renting to owning so that they have that personal equity — now that's a huge one that I see as well,” said Wedgewood.

David Fetveit, a Realtor with PureWest Real Estate in Lakeside, Montana, offered a similar take.

“It’s a matter of low inventory,” said Fetveit, who said his large, statewide firm is “finally seeing an uptick in listings.”

As expected, what Fetveit called “the three Ds of real estate” continue to stimulate demand: divorce, debt and death.

“Those are the three big reasons you have to sell a house,” said Fetveit, noting that Montana’s low percentage of homes on the market past 30 days might be partially driven by would-be sellers pulling their properties off the market.

He identified homes in the $750,000 to $2 million range as “the dead zone right now.”

Broadly speaking, those homes are owned by would-be sellers who would like to upgrade or downsize, but can’t bring themselves to trade a 2% or 3% mortgage interest rate for one over 6%.

“A lot of that stuff has dropped off the market,” said Fetveit, who remains busy with three closings this week.

Montana’s place atop the list of fastest-selling real estate markets also might be driven by the steady demand for high-end second homes.

“I have heard that the luxury market is still moving quite well or starting to,” said Ed Nissan, a loan officer with CrossCounty Mortgage in Whitefish, Montana.

In addition to luxury properties on Flathead Lake and other scenic locations around Northwest Montana, Nissen is seeing homes priced under $600,000 moving well.

Montana might have the smallest percentage of homes remaining on the market past 30 days, but Nissen said describing the market as “fast-selling” doesn’t tell the whole story.

In fact, in some ways, real estate transactions have slowed down from quick clicks on a computer to face-to-face meetings with aspiring borrowers.

“Two years ago, there were over 400,000 loan officers in the country, and there's now about 95,000 loan officers,” said Nissen. “So, a lot of people have left the business.”

That means there are fewer loan officers available to work with clients. And many of those clients, said Nissen, harbor a growing distrust of information gleaned from internet searches.

That’s one reason why Nissen said he’s spending more time guiding transactions toward closing.

“I'm spending a lot of time talking through scenarios with people on how do we make it work? And so, I find that kind of interesting that the need is still out there,” said Nissen. “Some of these people I've talked to have talked to two or three other loan people, and they're not getting their answers. I think people used to maybe get their answers on the internet or they just made quicker decisions when rates were 3%, didn't ask as many questions.

“Now that rates are higher, they're taking their time. I'm also meeting with people in person. Way more zoom calls. Because it's way easier to kind of explain these complex situations to float all the payments while they move from one house to another.”

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/03/02/montana-wyoming-top-list-of-fastest-selling-real-estate-markets/

Are Trish Regan and Lara Logan related?

Dapper Detective

@Dapper_Det

JUST IN: Bulletproof glass enclosures are being installed to protect SEPTA bus drivers as crime and violence across Philadelphia rages.

Soros-installed Philly D.A. Larry Krasner hates the police and doesn’t prosecute violent thugs.

https://x.com/Dapper_Det/status/1896417197125489075

Moar AI PDJT art.

https://x.com/KCPayTreeIt/status/1896393062752092558

Reporter (and former dnc staffer) leaks details of ICE raids to warn Illegals in Fairfax county

Steve Guest

@SteveGuest

WATCH: Lawrence Jones calls out "reporter" Pablo Manriquez, a former staffer for the Democrat National Committee, for leaking ICE raids in Northern Virginia this week: "When you start to aid & abet… he's clearly trying to help those people."

Fox & Friends co-hosts agree that there needs to be consequences for Manriquez.

https://x.com/SteveGuest/status/1896553129992159283

Collin Rugg

@CollinRugg

Transgender high school track star demolishes the female competition by 8 feet in the triple jump at a track meet in California.

Wow, what an accomplishment. I’m sure it had nothing to do with being a biological male.

AB Hernandez says they plan to win 1st place in the state of California for the triple jump.

Hernandez had first-place finishes in the high jump, long jump and triple jump at the Ontario Relays last week.

“Hopefully I hit a 41 [footer] this year if it's possible. Preferably at state so that I can possibly win.”

https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1896299772752826783

Collin Rugg

@CollinRugg

Canadian man undergoes "tooth in eye" surgery to restore his sight, the first of its kind in Canada.

The procedure uses a tooth of the patient to be used as a structure for an artificial cornea.

Before the tooth can be put in the eye, it is placed in the cheek, following it being shaved into a rectangle. A hole is drilled in the tooth and a lens is placed inside.

The tooth is then implanted in the cheek for three months.

"[The tooth] doesn’t have any connective tissue that I can actually pass a suture through to connect it to the eyeball. So the point of implanting it for three months is for it to gain the layer of supporting tissue," said Dr. Greg Moloney.

Patient Brent Chapman has already had the first surgery and will be going onto phase 2 when it's time to remove the tooth from the cheek.

The second surgery will require doctors to remove Chapman's iris and lens, before sewing the tooth into his eye.

If successful, Chapman will be able to see through the small hole.

https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1896282474839146985

Kroger’s CEO abruptly resigns after probe into personal conduct

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen is resigning immediately from the grocery store chain following an investigation that found his personal conduct was “inconsistent” with the company’s ethics policies.

Last month, Kroger said it was “made aware of certain personal conduct” of McMullen, prompting the board to conduct an investigation. No additional details about what it discovered was revealed, but the company said his conduct isn’t related to the company’s “financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates.”

Ronald Sargent, who’s been on Kroger’s board of directors since 2006, will serve as its interim CEO until a permanent replacement is named.

“As interim CEO, I am committed to working alongside our proven and experienced management team and dedicated associates to ensure Kroger continues providing exceptional value for our customers,” Sargent said in a press release Monday.

McMullen has been with Kroger for nearly five decades, first joining the company as a part-time stock clerk at a Kentucky location in 1978. He worked his way up at the company and has held several leadership positions including chief financial officer and was elected to the company’s board in 2003 and became the CEO in 2014.

The changes comes a few months after Kroger scrapped its $25 billion merger with rival Albertsons amid regulatory pressure from the previous US administration.

As a result, Albertsons sued Kroger for breach of its contract agreement, alleging Kroger caused the merger to be blocked. Albertsons said that Kroger failed to exercise its “best efforts” and to take “any and all actions” to secure regulatory approval of the merger.

Kroger (KR) stock fell about 1% in premarket trading.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/business/kroger-ceo-replaced/index.html

Victoria Nuland’s son is part of a think tank working against President Trump’s efforts to end the Ukraine War

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1896546760350466181.html

MSNBC Host Jen Psaki’s sister worked for nearly a decade at Population Council International, a recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars from USAID

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1896543029437313223.html

KanekoaTheGreat

@KanekoaTheGreat

NEW: Sen. Pete Ricketts says Elon Musk and DOGE found "stunning" waste like 37,000 software licenses for a government agency with 13,000 employees.

"Many of the licenses had never been used."

"We got 2.4 million federal employees. We have 4.6 million credit cards out there. That just leads to opportunities for fraud."

"He said there are 22 million people in our Social Security system that are clearly dead. These are the kinds of things that open it up to fraud."

"Subscriptions that aren't being used."

"You have a contract officer who retired but didn't turn off the faucet. The money was still going out. Most companies getting federal dollars probably don't say anything."

"Even if they wanted to say, 'Hey, we're not supposed to get this money anymore,' you'd have almost no way to find out who to contact to get the money shut off and make sure taxpayer dollars weren't being wasted."

https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1895947923864895975

Trump will host crypto summit at the White House March 7

Trump will deliver remarks at the gathering that “will include prominent founders, CEOs, and investors from the crypto industry, as well as members of the president’s Working Group on Digital Assets,” the White House said in a statement on Friday night.

The summit will be led by venture capitalist and White House crypto czar David Sacks, and will be administered by working group executive director Bo Hines, according to the statement.

Shortly after taking office, the president signed an executive order to create the working group from key agencies that would advise the White House on digital asset policy and evaluate the creation of a stockpile.

The working group includes the Treasury and justice departments as well as the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump, who had once derided crypto as a “scam,” promised to streamline regulations, choose friendly figures to oversee the sector, support a stablecoin framework and establish a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) stockpile. After his election, the industry donated millions of dollars to his inaugural committee.

While he has not fulfilled all of those pledges, his administration’s policies and the summit itself mark a sharp departure from the Biden administration’s tough regulatory approach after the failure of FTX digital-asset exchange and other scandals. Trump has even gotten into the cryptocurrency business himself, introducing a memecoin shortly before he returned to office and supporting a project involving his sons called World Liberty Financial.

“The administration is committed to providing a clear regulatory framework, enabling innovation, and protecting economic liberty,” the White House added in the statement.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/commentary-what-elon-musks-critics-are-getting-wrong-211017163.html

>>22697454

Wizardry. A/S/L?