lewrockwell--2020-05-13--Cash Is Trash, Especially for the Post-COVID World

There ’ s been a concerted effort recently among the oligarchs I like to call The Davos Crowd to demonize cash .
From hedge fund manager Ray Dalio pronouncing ‘ Cash is trash ’ earlier this year to the fear-mongering surrounding COVID-19 making people fearful of dealing in cash because it might be tainted the anti-cash rhetoric has been amped up to eleven .
And it ’ s been no secret that the elite of the world want us to stop transacting in cash because it is something they can ’ t track .
Sweden has flirted with the cashless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with large denomination bills the same way the U.S. has been phasing them out .
A few years ago , India created a huge stir removing the 500 and 1000 rupee note from circulation .
All of these moves have been , nominally , in service of stamping out corruption .
They are sold to the public as a way to punish criminals and money launderers .
Aftermath : Seven Secre ... Rickards , James Best Price : $ 22.12 Buy New $ 18.89 But the reality is that the push for removing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our financial dealings in databases which gives authorities a record of everything you do .
As governments around the world become increasingly bankrupt they naturally look for ways to improve tax compliance as well as create profiles of anyone they deem a threat to their continued existence .
That ’ s the real reason for why ‘ cash is trash ’ to authorities .
And the moves towards digital only versions of national currencies is an extension of the power grab currently underway as a response to the crisis of COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason for this demonization of cash has as much to do with the understanding that the current global financial system is broken and will need a global coordinated bailout .
The easiest way to effect that is to be able to create digital money at the stroke of a keyboard .
The crisis of 2008 was bigger than the Federal Reserve .
To survive it required the coordinated effort of all the major central banks along with support from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) .
So , color me not shocked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the head of the Shanghai Gold Exchange publicly make the case in favor of a transnational digital currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world ’ s trade settlement currency .
According to Wang Zhenying , quoted by Reuters , the dollar , as a weapon of US pressure and a source of vulnerability for other countries , can no longer be the standard global currency .
He admits that gold is also not an ideal means of exchange , as its quantity is limited and it can not meet the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a supranational currency for settlements independent of any country is needed .
This idea is not something new and was already promoted by China during the last financial crisis of 2008-2009 .
Then Chinese central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan proposed to reform the system of international settlements through special drawing rights ( SDR ) .
The Road to Ruin : The ... James Rickards Best Price : $ 2.58 Buy New $ 7.99 Author and commentator Jim Rickards has been making this point for more than a decade .
He ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Death of Money and Currency Wars about the plans for the IMF to assume the role as the world ’ s central bank because the crisis in process will be greater than all the central banks .
I agree with Jim on this and have for years .
The world ’ s elite have discussed these things openly .
They ’ ve written white papers on this .
But what is interesting now is that Mr. Zhenying is modifying this idea slightly , talking in terms of a hard currency of some form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , look at his argument closely and you ’ ll see the bait and switch for while he doesn ’ t believe we ’ ll get consensus on using IMF Special Drawing Rights ( SDR ) as a way to settle accounts he doesn ’ t believe gold is viable either .
So what will it be , then ?
Countries , like China , are already working on digital versions of their national currencies .
The U.S. Congress tried to slip this language into the recently-passed first CARES Act authorizing trillions in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been working on a digital as well as a cryptocurrency version of the ruble .
The EU desperately wants member states to agree to debt mutualization and fiscal integration under the auspice of the European Central Bank to create digital only euros and end physical euros once and for all .
Gold ownership in Germany is now highly suspect with the German government openly tracking all gold sales greater than 1000 euros , less than one ounce .
Financial privacy is , effectively , already a thing of the past .
Even the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to be AML ( Anti-Money Laundering ) and KYC ( Know Your Customer ) compliant to get the ability to operate with the existing financial infrastructure .
Currency Wars : The Mak ... James Rickards Best Price : $ 1.76 Buy New $ 6.46 The push for the end of cash is a real thing .
It ’ s a dangerous and worrying trend because it assumes all taxes and fees demanded by governments are legitimate .
It assumes that if you want to remain private you are a money launderer and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most worrying is that opposition to U.S. hegemonic behavior , weaponizing the dollar the way the Trump administration has , will be used as the rallying cry for an even worse system of social and financial control .
I ’ m all for the multi-polar world but we don ’ t need a global trade settlement currency as administered by governments .
Do you really think that any other country wouldn ’ t eventually come to look like the U.S. after nearly a century of dominating the world ’ s financial landscape ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are either terminally naïve or a shill .
That ’ s what this story is really all about .
The Davos Crowd never sets up a dynamic like this which leaves people with anything other than a Hobson ’ s Choice .
You can either suffer under the tyranny of the U.S. ’ s rapacious banking oligarchy or you can choose an equally bad one administered as a global one .
But that isn ’ t the only choice .
Mr. Zhenying isn ’ t wrong that something new is needed but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on antecedent value , not birthed out of thin air or backed by future labor ( debt ) .
The dollar reserve standard is in the process of dying .
The great financialization of the world and the multiple levels of credit bubbles its engendered are bursting .
People are open to alternatives .
And in the great game of global capital a country only has to be slightly better than the current dominant player to attract the lion ’ s share once the outflows begin .
The New Case for Gold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 0.25 Buy New $ 6.99 China is positioning itself to be a bigger player here but the IMF , governed and controlled by the U.S. , is not the solution .
That ’ s a ‘ meet the new boss , same as the old boss ’ scenario .
Right now gold is seeing a strong bid the world over and Bitcoin is rising into the halving of its reward pool which occurs every four years .
There has never been a better opportunity for people to reject the pronouncements and solutions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destroyed our ability to assess risk and value .
And it will be the discipline of cash tied to real assets , birthed from human toil but free from human manipulation that will return sanity to our markets and local economies .
That ’ s what a hard currency is .
That ’ s what Mr. Zhenying administers at the SGE and that ’ s what needs to come back .
The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation .
The Best of Thomas Luongo

There’s been a concerted effort recently among the oligarchs I like to call The Davos Crowd to demonize cash. From hedge fund manager Ray Dalio pronouncing ‘Cash is trash’ earlier this year to the fear-mongering surrounding COVID-19 making people fearful of dealing in cash because it might be tainted the anti-cash rhetoric has been amped up to eleven.
And it’s been no secret that the elite of the world want us to stop transacting in cash because it is something they can’t track. Sweden has flirted with the cashless society while the European Union did away with large denomination bills the same way the U.S. has been phasing them out.
A few years ago, India created a huge stir removing the 500 and 1000 rupee note from circulation. All of these moves have been, nominally, in service of stamping out corruption. They are sold to the public as a way to punish criminals and money launderers.
Aftermath: Seven Secre... Rickards, James Best Price: $22.12 Buy New $18.89 (as of 02:31 UTC - Details) But the reality is that the push for removing cash from society is to put all of our financial dealings in databases which gives authorities a record of everything you do. As governments around the world become increasingly bankrupt they naturally look for ways to improve tax compliance as well as create profiles of anyone they deem a threat to their continued existence.
That’s the real reason for why ‘cash is trash’ to authorities. And the moves towards digital only versions of national currencies is an extension of the power grab currently underway as a response to the crisis of COVID-19.
But, more than that, the reason for this demonization of cash has as much to do with the understanding that the current global financial system is broken and will need a global coordinated bailout.
The easiest way to effect that is to be able to create digital money at the stroke of a keyboard.
The crisis of 2008 was bigger than the Federal Reserve. To survive it required the coordinated effort of all the major central banks along with support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
So, color me not shocked when I see this report from Sputnik that the head of the Shanghai Gold Exchange publicly make the case in favor of a transnational digital currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s trade settlement currency.
According to Wang Zhenying, quoted by Reuters, the dollar, as a weapon of US pressure and a source of vulnerability for other countries, can no longer be the standard global currency. He admits that gold is also not an ideal means of exchange, as its quantity is limited and it cannot meet the needs of growing international trade. Therefore, a supranational currency for settlements independent of any country is needed.
This idea is not something new and was already promoted by China during the last financial crisis of 2008-2009. Then Chinese central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan proposed to reform the system of international settlements through special drawing rights (SDR). The Road to Ruin: The ... James Rickards Best Price: $2.58 Buy New $7.99 (as of 10:20 UTC - Details)
Author and commentator Jim Rickards has been making this point for more than a decade. He’s talked openly in his previous books The Death of Money and Currency Wars about the plans for the IMF to assume the role as the world’s central bank because the crisis in process will be greater than all the central banks.
I agree with Jim on this and have for years. The world’s elite have discussed these things openly. They’ve written white papers on this.
But what is interesting now is that Mr. Zhenying is modifying this idea slightly, talking in terms of a hard currency of some form to replace the U.S. dollar. But, look at his argument closely and you’ll see the bait and switch for while he doesn’t believe we’ll get consensus on using IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as a way to settle accounts he doesn’t believe gold is viable either.
So what will it be, then?
Countries, like China, are already working on digital versions of their national currencies. The U.S. Congress tried to slip this language into the recently-passed first CARES Act authorizing trillions in bailouts and stimulus money.
Russia has been working on a digital as well as a cryptocurrency version of the ruble. The EU desperately wants member states to agree to debt mutualization and fiscal integration under the auspice of the European Central Bank to create digital only euros and end physical euros once and for all.
Gold ownership in Germany is now highly suspect with the German government openly tracking all gold sales greater than 1000 euros, less than one ounce.
Financial privacy is, effectively, already a thing of the past. Even the cryptocurrency markets in the so-called first world have to be AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer) compliant to get the ability to operate with the existing financial infrastructure. Currency Wars: The Mak... James Rickards Best Price: $1.76 Buy New $6.46 (as of 09:55 UTC - Details)
The push for the end of cash is a real thing. It’s a dangerous and worrying trend because it assumes all taxes and fees demanded by governments are legitimate. It assumes that if you want to remain private you are a money launderer and a cheat.
And what’s most worrying is that opposition to U.S. hegemonic behavior, weaponizing the dollar the way the Trump administration has, will be used as the rallying cry for an even worse system of social and financial control.
I’m all for the multi-polar world but we don’t need a global trade settlement currency as administered by governments. Do you really think that any other country wouldn’t eventually come to look like the U.S. after nearly a century of dominating the world’s financial landscape?
If you do then I assert you are either terminally naïve or a shill.
That’s what this story is really all about. The Davos Crowd never sets up a dynamic like this which leaves people with anything other than a Hobson’s Choice. You can either suffer under the tyranny of the U.S.’s rapacious banking oligarchy or you can choose an equally bad one administered as a global one.
But that isn’t the only choice. Mr. Zhenying isn’t wrong that something new is needed but it needs to be a real hard currency based on antecedent value, not birthed out of thin air or backed by future labor (debt).
The dollar reserve standard is in the process of dying. The great financialization of the world and the multiple levels of credit bubbles its engendered are bursting. People are open to alternatives. And in the great game of global capital a country only has to be slightly better than the current dominant player to attract the lion’s share once the outflows begin. The New Case for Gold Rickards, James Best Price: $0.25 Buy New $6.99 (as of 11:36 UTC - Details)
China is positioning itself to be a bigger player here but the IMF, governed and controlled by the U.S., is not the solution. That’s a ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’ scenario.
Right now gold is seeing a strong bid the world over and Bitcoin is rising into the halving of its reward pool which occurs every four years. There has never been a better opportunity for people to reject the pronouncements and solutions of the very people who have so thoroughly destroyed our ability to assess risk and value.
And it will be the discipline of cash tied to real assets, birthed from human toil but free from human manipulation that will return sanity to our markets and local economies. That’s what a hard currency is. That’s what Mr. Zhenying administers at the SGE and that’s what needs to come back.
The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation.
The Best of Tom Luongo


lewrockwell--2020-05-13--Let’s Not Waste a Crisis

Let’s Not Waste a Crisis

Former Barack Obama adviser Rahm Emanuel , during a recent interview , reminded us of his 2008 financial crisis quotation , “ Never allow a crisis to go to waste.
” The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a wonderful opportunity for those of us who want greater control over our lives .
Sadly , too many Americans have already taken the bait .
We ’ ve allowed politicians and bureaucrats to dictate to us what ’ s an essential business and what isn ’ t , who has access to hospitals and who hasn ’ t , and a host of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who want to get into our pocketbooks are beginning to argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is the best argument for a wealth tax .
Let ’ s first define a wealth tax .
A wealth tax is applicable to and levied on a variety of accumulated assets that include cash , money market funds , real property , trust funds , owner-occupied housing and other wealth accumulations .
Assume a taxpayer earns $ 150,000 a year and falls in the 32 % tax bracket .
That individual ’ s income tax liability for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 150,000 or $ 48,800 .
Say the taxpayer has a net worth of $ 500,000 consisting of a business or home and the government imposes a wealth tax of 32 % , the person ’ s tax liability is $ 160,000 .
More Liberty Means Les ... Williams , Walter E. Best Price : $ 3.97 Buy New $ 18.95 The problem with most politicians is when they enact a law , they seldom ask , “ Then what ?
” They assume a world of what economists call zero elasticity wherein @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just as they behaved before the tax was imposed and the only difference is that more money comes into the government ’ s tax coffers .
The long-term effect of a wealth tax is that people will try to avoid it by not accumulating as much wealth or concealing the wealth they accumulate .
A wealth tax has become increasingly attractive because it lends itself to demagoguery about the significant wealth disparity in the United States .
The Federal Reserve reports that , in 2018 , the wealthiest 10 % of Americans owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth , and the richest 1 % owned 32 % of the wealth .
That fact gave Democratic presidential contenders such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren incentives to propose a wealth tax as a part of their campaign rhetoric .
Leftists lament that multibillionaires such as Charles Koch , Warren Buffett , Larry Ellison and Sheldon Adelson have not made charitable efforts to address the coronavirus crisis .
My questions to these political leeches are : To whom does the billionaire ’ s wealth belong ?
And how did they accumulate such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Williams , Walter E. Best Price : $ 5.00 Buy New $ 1.99 Did they accumulate their great wealth by looting , plundering and enslaving their fellow man , as has been the case throughout most of human history ?
No , they accumulated great wealth by serving and pleasing their fellow man in the pursuit of profits .
Unfortunately , demagoguery and lack of understanding has led to “ profit ” becoming a dirty word .
Profit is a payment to entrepreneurs just as wages are payments to labor , interest to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order to earn profits in free markets , entrepreneurs must identify and satisfy human wants in a way that economizes on society ’ s scarce resources .
Here ’ s a question for you .
Which entities produce greater consumer satisfaction : for-profit enterprises such as supermarkets , computer makers and clothing stores , or nonprofit entities such as public schools , post offices and motor vehicle departments ?
I ’ m guessing you ’ ll answer the former .
Their survival depends on pleasing ordinary people .
Public schools , post offices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not strictly tied to pleasing people but rather on politicians and the ability of government to impose taxes .
Some advocates of wealth taxes and other forms of taxation might argue that they are temporary measures to get us over the COVID-19 crisis .
Do not buy that argument .
The great Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman once said , “ Nothing is more permanent than a temporary government program.
” The telephone tax was levied on wealthy Americans with telephones in 1898 to help fund the Spanish-American War .
That tax was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One of the objectives of the World War II withholding tax was to bring faster revenues to fight the war .
The withholding of taxes is still with us blinding Americans on the taxes they pay .
Let us not allow a crisis to bamboozle us again .
The Best of Walter E. Williams

Former Barack Obama adviser Rahm Emanuel, during a recent interview, reminded us of his 2008 financial crisis quotation, “Never allow a crisis to go to waste.” The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a wonderful opportunity for those of us who want greater control over our lives. Sadly, too many Americans have already taken the bait. We’ve allowed politicians and bureaucrats to dictate to us what’s an essential business and what isn’t, who has access to hospitals and who hasn’t, and a host of minor and major dictates.
Leftist politicians who want to get into our pocketbooks are beginning to argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is the best argument for a wealth tax. Let’s first define a wealth tax. A wealth tax is applicable to and levied on a variety of accumulated assets that include cash, money market funds, real property, trust funds, owner-occupied housing and other wealth accumulations. Assume a taxpayer earns $150,000 a year and falls in the 32% tax bracket. That individual’s income tax liability for the year will be 32% x $150,000 or $48,800. Say the taxpayer has a net worth of $500,000 consisting of a business or home and the government imposes a wealth tax of 32%, the person’s tax liability is $160,000. More Liberty Means Les... Williams, Walter E. Best Price: $3.97 Buy New $18.95 (as of 11:12 UTC - Details)
The problem with most politicians is when they enact a law, they seldom ask, “Then what?” They assume a world of what economists call zero elasticity wherein people behave after a tax is imposed just as they behaved before the tax was imposed and the only difference is that more money comes into the government’s tax coffers. The long-term effect of a wealth tax is that people will try to avoid it by not accumulating as much wealth or concealing the wealth they accumulate.
A wealth tax has become increasingly attractive because it lends itself to demagoguery about the significant wealth disparity in the United States. The Federal Reserve reports that, in 2018, the wealthiest 10% of Americans owned 70% of the country’s wealth, and the richest 1% owned 32% of the wealth. That fact gave Democratic presidential contenders such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren incentives to propose a wealth tax as a part of their campaign rhetoric. Leftists lament that multibillionaires such as Charles Koch, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison and Sheldon Adelson have not made charitable efforts to address the coronavirus crisis.
My questions to these political leeches are: To whom does the billionaire’s wealth belong? And how did they accumulate such wealth? Liberty Versus the Tyr... Williams, Walter E. Best Price: $5.00 Buy New $1.99 (as of 02:30 UTC - Details)
Did they accumulate their great wealth by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man, as has been the case throughout most of human history? No, they accumulated great wealth by serving and pleasing their fellow man in the pursuit of profits. Unfortunately, demagoguery and lack of understanding has led to “profit” becoming a dirty word. Profit is a payment to entrepreneurs just as wages are payments to labor, interest to capital and rent to land. In order to earn profits in free markets, entrepreneurs must identify and satisfy human wants in a way that economizes on society’s scarce resources.
Here’s a question for you. Which entities produce greater consumer satisfaction: for-profit enterprises such as supermarkets, computer makers and clothing stores, or nonprofit entities such as public schools, post offices and motor vehicle departments? I’m guessing you’ll answer the former. Their survival depends on pleasing ordinary people. Public schools, post offices and motor vehicle departments’ survival are not strictly tied to pleasing people but rather on politicians and the ability of government to impose taxes.
Some advocates of wealth taxes and other forms of taxation might argue that they are temporary measures to get us over the COVID-19 crisis. Do not buy that argument. The great Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman once said, “Nothing is more permanent than a temporary government program.” The telephone tax was levied on wealthy Americans with telephones in 1898 to help fund the Spanish-American War. That tax was repealed over 100 years later in 2006. One of the objectives of the World War II withholding tax was to bring faster revenues to fight the war. The withholding of taxes is still with us blinding Americans on the taxes they pay. Let us not allow a crisis to bamboozle us again.
The Best of Walter E. Williams


lewrockwell--2020-05-13--Having Your Tonsils Removed May Increase Your Risk Of Developing 28 Types of Disease

Did you have your tonsils out as a child ?
Has a doctor given this recommendation to your child or a child you know ?
More than 530,000 tonsillectomy procedures are performed each year in the United States alone and in fact , it is one of the most common surgical procedures .
New research is now showing that this operation can put patients at risk for contracting over 28 diseases later in life .
Some might say this is simply common sense , our organs are there for a reason , so maybe we should be doing everything possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whenever possible ?
Generally , the mainstream approach to medicine is if something is broke , go in and fix it , or remove it , rarely ever looking at the root cause of the issue and trying to determine why the symptoms are manifesting this way in the first place .
This study will serve as an excellent guide for doctors to be more mindful with the recommendation of this surgery and exploring all other options first .
Who Is A Candidate For Tonsillectomy ?
Adenoids Without Surge ... Boles , Jean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that are prone to contracting throat infections and have a difficult time breathing at night because of swollen tonsils are the typical entrants .
While tonsillectomies can help to breathe during sleep and may reduce the frequency of throat infections in the short-term , Australian researchers found that the removal of tonsils or adenoids in the throat also increased the chances of allergic conditions and skin and eye diseases as well .
It is believed that this is because these tissues play a more important role that may have been previously thought by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and viruses from getting into the lungs and throat .
According to authors from the Journal of the American Medical Association , Otolaryngology , “ Risks were significant for many diseases and large for some , ” after the surgery .
The study accessed health records from 1.2 million Danish children between 1979 and 1999 , 60,400 of which had a tonsillectomy , adenoidectomy or a combined surgery .
They then looked at these same children in their 30 ’ s and found that those patients who had a childhood tonsillectomy had actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upper airways , such as colds , rhinitis and bronchitis when compared to those who didn ’ t have their tonsils removed .
The risk of asthma and pneumonia was increased by around 50 percent in those who had the surgery .
These infections are already common in the community , authors said that the extra impact of having your tonsils out was “ considerable.
” “ Our results show increased risks for long-term diseases after surgery , support delaying tonsil and adenoid removal if possible , which could aid normal immune system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later-life disease risks , ” said the study ’ s lead author , Dr. Sean Byers from the University of Melbourne .
“ As we uncover more about the function of immune tissues and the lifelong consequences of their removal , especially during sensitive ages when the body is developing.
” The removal of the adenoids — the tissue at the back of the roof of your mouth right under the nasal cavity actually doubled the risk of chronic pulmonary disease , which includes asthma and emphysema .
These conditions are much rarer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent of the general population in their 30 ’ s has a form of COPD .
Authors of the study concluded that it was “ not surprising ” that removing these key parts of the bodies immune system might make one more susceptible to contracting a respiratory or immune-related illness or disease .
Heightened susceptibility to 28 forms of the disease , which included skin diseases , eye infections , and parasitic infections .
These diseases were 78 percent more prevalent in people who had previously had these surgeries .
Fire Your Doctor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : $ 6.40 Buy New $ 1.99 Because the aforementioned diseases are unrelated to the airways it goes to show that there is a greater function to the role of the tonsils than previously thought .
“ Our results show increased risks for long-term diseases after surgery , support delaying tonsil and adenoid removal if possible , which could aid normal immune system development in childhood and reduce these possible later-life disease risks , ” said lead author Dr. Shaun Bayers , from the University of Melbourne .
“ As we uncover more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lifelong consequences of their removal , especially during sensitive ages when the body is developing.
” Tim Mitchell , a consultant otolaryngologist and council member of the Royal College of Surgeons , said the findings were interesting and “ certainly warrant further investigation ” .
“ Before opting to remove tonsils or adenoids , surgeons will always consider and discuss all treatment options , including non-surgical treatments , with patients , and parents in the case of children , ” he said .
“ There has been a significant decrease in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last few decades.
” Perhaps this is a good sign that whenever possible , we should leave the organs in the body .
The 9 Steps to Keep th ... Buttar , Rashid A .
Best Price : $ 36.68 Buy New $ 21.56 Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 25.00

Did you have your tonsils out as a child? Has a doctor given this recommendation to your child or a child you know? More than 530,000 tonsillectomy procedures are performed each year in the United States alone and in fact, it is one of the most common surgical procedures. New research is now showing that this operation can put patients at risk for contracting over 28 diseases later in life.
Some might say this is simply common sense, our organs are there for a reason, so maybe we should be doing everything possible to keep them there and avoid surgery whenever possible? Generally, the mainstream approach to medicine is if something is broke, go in and fix it, or remove it, rarely ever looking at the root cause of the issue and trying to determine why the symptoms are manifesting this way in the first place.
This study will serve as an excellent guide for doctors to be more mindful with the recommendation of this surgery and exploring all other options first.
Who Is A Candidate For Tonsillectomy?
Adenoids Without Surge... Boles, Jean Buy New $25.88 (as of 04:50 UTC - Details) Generally, children that are prone to contracting throat infections and have a difficult time breathing at night because of swollen tonsils are the typical entrants. While tonsillectomies can help to breathe during sleep and may reduce the frequency of throat infections in the short-term, Australian researchers found that the removal of tonsils or adenoids in the throat also increased the chances of allergic conditions and skin and eye diseases as well.
It is believed that this is because these tissues play a more important role that may have been previously thought by detecting and blocking the invasion of bacteria and viruses from getting into the lungs and throat.
The Study
According to authors from the Journal of the American Medical Association, Otolaryngology, “Risks were significant for many diseases and large for some,” after the surgery.
The study accessed health records from 1.2 million Danish children between 1979 and 1999, 60,400 of which had a tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy or a combined surgery. They then looked at these same children in their 30’s and found that those patients who had a childhood tonsillectomy had actually tripled their risks of infections of the upper airways, such as colds, rhinitis and bronchitis when compared to those who didn’t have their tonsils removed.
The risk of asthma and pneumonia was increased by around 50 percent in those who had the surgery. These infections are already common in the community, authors said that the extra impact of having your tonsils out was “considerable.”
“Our results show increased risks for long-term diseases after surgery, support delaying tonsil and adenoid removal if possible, which could aid normal immune system development in childhood and reduce these possible later-life disease risks,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Sean Byers from the University of Melbourne.
“As we uncover more about the function of immune tissues and the lifelong consequences of their removal, especially during sensitive ages when the body is developing.”
The removal of the adenoids — the tissue at the back of the roof of your mouth right under the nasal cavity actually doubled the risk of chronic pulmonary disease, which includes asthma and emphysema. These conditions are much rarer than typical respiratory infections, only 0.25 percent of the general population in their 30’s has a form of COPD.
Authors of the study concluded that it was “not surprising” that removing these key parts of the bodies immune system might make one more susceptible to contracting a respiratory or immune-related illness or disease. Heightened susceptibility to 28 forms of the disease, which included skin diseases, eye infections, and parasitic infections. These diseases were 78 percent more prevalent in people who had previously had these surgeries. Fire Your Doctor! How ... Andrew Saul Best Price: $6.40 Buy New $1.99 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details)
Because the aforementioned diseases are unrelated to the airways it goes to show that there is a greater function to the role of the tonsils than previously thought.
“Our results show increased risks for long-term diseases after surgery, support delaying tonsil and adenoid removal if possible, which could aid normal immune system development in childhood and reduce these possible later-life disease risks,” said lead author Dr. Shaun Bayers, from the University of Melbourne.
“As we uncover more about the function of immune tissues and the lifelong consequences of their removal, especially during sensitive ages when the body is developing.”
Tim Mitchell, a consultant otolaryngologist and council member of the Royal College of Surgeons, said the findings were interesting and “certainly warrant further investigation”.
“Before opting to remove tonsils or adenoids, surgeons will always consider and discuss all treatment options, including non-surgical treatments, with patients, and parents in the case of children,” he said.
“There has been a significant decrease in the number of tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies performed in the last few decades.”
Perhaps this is a good sign that whenever possible, we should leave the organs in the body.
Reprinted with permission from Collective Evolution.
The 9 Steps to Keep th... Buttar, Rashid A. Best Price: $36.68 Buy New $21.56 (as of 04:50 UTC - Details) Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $25.00 (as of 06:10 UTC - Details)


lewrockwell--2020-05-13--We Live in the Wikileaks Era — the Greatest Ever for Advancing Human Freedom

The Century of the Great State is behind us .
I plot that century from the 1917 Russian Revolution that ultimately empowered a state-level actor to be the messenger of the toxic ideology of Marxism , through to the death of the internationally popular dictator Fidel Castro in 2016 .
It was a century when more than 100 million died at the hands of their own governments , as those governments claimed to be doing good for their citizenry .
That is the past .
What an ugly past it was .
It can be put behind us if we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a special gift .
It is a gift called the present .
And a new era may be ahead of us .
The Revolution : A Mani ... Ron Paul Best Price : $ 1.99 Buy New $ 6.99 I can ’ t predict the future .
I have no crystal ball .
Anyone who claims otherwise is lying .
There are a lot of experts who claim to be able to know the future .
What I do see though is our present .
In our present , the great state has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and is growing in obsolescence daily .
The Tea Party , Barack Obama , and Donald Trump were all seen as coups on the status quo , by a portion of the electorate .
They were candidates intended to upend a government that people no longer trusted .
The fourth estate had become a propaganda arm of the same status quo that already controlled the government .
The Internet displaced the fourth estate significantly as sole arbiter of truth .
This notably reached a turning point in 1997 , when a no one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out that Newsweek editors had spiked a story about President Bill Clinton and a White House intern .
To this day , over two decades later , that story , instead of having successfully been spiked , is able to command front page news and make headlines .
In 2007 and 2008 , as an economy was in meltdown and as Austrian School proponent , Ron Paul , was speaking about monetary policy to packed rooms and receptive internet audiences , a cypherpunk came along and paid attention to what was being said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that our overly-academic era demands , he crossed boundaries and cross-pollinated theories between two important disciplines to solve problems that were global in scale .
Satoshi Nakamoto identified Austrian School work that pointed to the value of hard money and identified research in informatics that pointed to the value of encryption .
He combined the two concepts ( and more ) in the Bitcoin White Paper , and created a genie that will never again be bottled up .
He invented the technology for a competing currency that government can never censor .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ overnight .
That ’ s not how change usually happens .
But it may foretell a future where an oft-abused central bank – much like the one that Karl Marx , the enabler of dictators , called for in his 1848 Communist Manifesto – would be rendered incapable of working its mischief .
This technology presents a formidable challenge to a relic of the great state , the Federal Reserve Bank , the third central bank of the United States , signed into law in 1913 , that has helped grow the promising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , into the parasitic tyrant state that it is today : on its people and on the world .
It is the American people , some of them , who are free and will stand for no less than to live free .
It is the American government that is the parasitic tyrant and tolerates free men enough for the free men to tolerate it .
Today a man is in prison who has helped to further free humanity , using the tools at his disposal and his resources in life .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisons , exiles , and lockdowns .
End The Fed Ron Paul Best Price : $ 2.18 Buy New $ 5.68 Julian Assange is a hero in this young era in which we find ourselves , a key player in the period of transition , a symbol of what can be , a portent of how the future could look .
But make no mistake , Assange is not the movement .
There are untold others like him .
And every day there are more : perhaps learning programming languages like Python , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free of charge on websites like Code Academy , or even just learning to run a script .
Until May 6 , 1954 , the four-minute mile was seen as an impossibility , something beyond human capacity .
Then Roger Bannister ran a four-minute mile at Oxford ’ s Iffley Road Track .
Suddenly others started running four-minute miles , thousands to date .
Now it is seen as a perfectly normal thing for a highly trained mile runner to be able to do .
The mold had been broken .
The constraints @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Assange too broke a mold .
He struck a blow to the deep state .
He sent thousands cowering in fear that their mischief would see the light of day .
He did this as a one-man team who inspired others to collaborate .
How very special that was .
How very influential on the world .
Suddenly small-time hackers knew that a vast realm of potential was out there that had never been explored .
Data collected in their hacks now had an effective syndication channel in the mainstream .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they cornered him in an embassy , they turned him into a martyr and an exemplar , they caged him , and they drove him to the edge of sanity , where he now remains according to reports .
Is that really the worst you can do ?
Is that really the worst ?
Is anyone supposed to be scared because of how you ’ ve treated the man who has outfoxed you at nearly every turn and put on full display what an incompetent laughingstock the tyrant is ?
There are millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the chance of having exposed the tyrant for what he is .
Even the Germans are rising up , and in growing numbers – three generations raised to cower in fear of strong opinions and told to second guess themselves and especially their core beliefs , three generations raised to never truly believe in anything other than moderation and flexibility , raised to never act “ extreme , ” raised to believe their own collective guilt for a horrible past that they didn ’ t even live during .
Yes , despite being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , even the Germans are rising up .
Liberty Defined : 50 Es ... Paul , Ron Best Price : $ 1.27 Buy New $ 6.79 A great animus is being awoken in the world by the tyrannical acts of a group of people who so lack an understanding of impassioned liberty that they know not what that animus can drive men to do .
Perhaps they do not understand that passion , because they can not mathematically model its utility .
Appeals to utility , ultimately miss the reason that axioms find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoax .
It is a manufactured government crisis .
The governmental response has brought untold death and destruction to human society .
A level of corona communism has been implemented that far exceeds anything that humanity has ever known .
The response far exceeds the impact of the virus .
Every totalitarian has spent these weeks licking their chops at the amount of harm they can do to unsuspecting people if they just continue to parrot the line that every invasion of all they hold dear is being done for their own good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individually tolerated , the invasions will only get worse .
There are many ways to fight the totalitarian .
There are some classic ways and there are some new ways .
In late April 2020 , a month into the lockdowns , the world was treated to a reminder of how some of the new ways look : “ A cache of nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly belonging to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) , Wuhan Institute of Virology , Bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the coronavirus pandemic response were dumped on 4chan before appearing on several other websites , according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
” Suddenly , like that , 25,000 accounts that had been hidden from public scrutiny , but which were used to quietly shape governmental policy behind closed doors , were made available in the Internet ’ s own Freedom of Information Act .
Going forward , the tyrant may not want Bill Gates , the creator of the most malware-prone software on earth , to run the secret vaccine program .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ full disclosure for everyone else .
The natural order wants privacy for us , full disclosure for those we give the slightest hint of power to .
I don ’ t know how this inversion of nature that we are now living through will turn out , I have no crystal ball , but I know how it always has turned out : Not well for the tyrant .
Some technology is so simple to crack , that the data could very well have been accessed by a twelve-year-old .
There are limits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particular hack and data release , but it is a potent reminder of how much power to derail the tyrant exists and in how many individual hands .
The revealing 2016 Wikileaks data dumps are a reminder of how unsophisticated the many-headed tyrant really is .
Akin to the concept behind the filibuster , the veto , or unanimous juries , the current state of technology allows an individual with a strong conscientious objection to throw a wrench into government plans .
The wisdom of the ages has always told us that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mess .
The people can handle themselves just fine .
It is government action that leads to a mess .
The School Revolution : ... Paul , Ron Best Price : $ 1.56 Buy New $ 8.99 I don ’ t know what the future looks like , but I know what the present looks like .
With the technological breakthrough that is the Bitcoin White Paper , the central banks have had competing currencies forced upon them — in time the tyrant may have diminished ability to finance his ways .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to a virtual printing press with a global distribution network — the tyrant can no longer control the flow of information .
Encryption has brought privacy of all means back into the hands of all who want it — the tyrant may have little way to monitor his subjects who most demand privacy .
Wikileaks-style hacks have enabled anyone across the planet to be a history-altering investigative journalist — the tyrant may be left with nowhere to hide .
We live in the Wikileaks era .
For those who love human freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be alive .
The Bitcoin Standard : ... Saifedean Ammous Best Price : $ 17.32 Buy New $ 18.78 The Bitcoin Manifesto Allan J Stevo Best Price : $ 7.54 Buy New $ 12.73 The Best of Allan Stevo

The Century of the Great State is behind us. I plot that century from the 1917 Russian Revolution that ultimately empowered a state-level actor to be the messenger of the toxic ideology of Marxism, through to the death of the internationally popular dictator Fidel Castro in 2016.
It was a century when more than 100 million died at the hands of their own governments, as those governments claimed to be doing good for their citizenry.
That is the past. What an ugly past it was. It can be put behind us if we so wish.
And now we have a special gift. It is a gift called the present.
And a new era may be ahead of us. The Revolution: A Mani... Ron Paul Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $6.99 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details)
I can’t predict the future. I have no crystal ball. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying. There are a lot of experts who claim to be able to know the future. What I do see though is our present.
In our present, the great state has been rendered obsolete in several key ways and is growing in obsolescence daily.
The Tea Party, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump were all seen as coups on the status quo, by a portion of the electorate. They were candidates intended to upend a government that people no longer trusted.
The fourth estate had become a propaganda arm of the same status quo that already controlled the government. The Internet displaced the fourth estate significantly as sole arbiter of truth. This notably reached a turning point in 1997, when a no one from nowhere, Matt Drudge, found out that Newsweek editors had spiked a story about President Bill Clinton and a White House intern. To this day, over two decades later, that story, instead of having successfully been spiked, is able to command front page news and make headlines.
In 2007 and 2008, as an economy was in meltdown and as Austrian School proponent, Ron Paul, was speaking about monetary policy to packed rooms and receptive internet audiences, a cypherpunk came along and paid attention to what was being said. Instead of being the pigeonholed specialist that our overly-academic era demands, he crossed boundaries and cross-pollinated theories between two important disciplines to solve problems that were global in scale. Satoshi Nakamoto identified Austrian School work that pointed to the value of hard money and identified research in informatics that pointed to the value of encryption.
He combined the two concepts (and more) in the Bitcoin White Paper, and created a genie that will never again be bottled up. He invented the technology for a competing currency that government can never censor. It didn’t change the world overnight. That’s not how change usually happens. But it may foretell a future where an oft-abused central bank – much like the one that Karl Marx, the enabler of dictators, called for in his 1848 Communist Manifesto – would be rendered incapable of working its mischief.
This technology presents a formidable challenge to a relic of the great state, the Federal Reserve Bank, the third central bank of the United States, signed into law in 1913, that has helped grow the promising beacon of freedom, that America was, into the parasitic tyrant state that it is today: on its people and on the world.
It is the American people, some of them, who are free and will stand for no less than to live free. It is the American government that is the parasitic tyrant and tolerates free men enough for the free men to tolerate it.
Today a man is in prison who has helped to further free humanity, using the tools at his disposal and his resources in life. He is one of many like him in prisons, exiles, and lockdowns. End The Fed Ron Paul Best Price: $2.18 Buy New $5.68 (as of 09:55 UTC - Details)
Julian Assange is a hero in this young era in which we find ourselves, a key player in the period of transition, a symbol of what can be, a portent of how the future could look. But make no mistake, Assange is not the movement.
There are untold others like him. And every day there are more: perhaps learning programming languages like Python, which can be done in a weekend free of charge on websites like Code Academy, or even just learning to run a script.
Until May 6, 1954, the four-minute mile was seen as an impossibility, something beyond human capacity. Then Roger Bannister ran a four-minute mile at Oxford’s Iffley Road Track. Suddenly others started running four-minute miles, thousands to date. Now it is seen as a perfectly normal thing for a highly trained mile runner to be able to do.
The mold had been broken.
The constraints were not physical. They were psychological.
Assange too broke a mold. He struck a blow to the deep state. He sent thousands cowering in fear that their mischief would see the light of day. He did this as a one-man team who inspired others to collaborate.
How very special that was. How very influential on the world. Suddenly small-time hackers knew that a vast realm of potential was out there that had never been explored. Data collected in their hacks now had an effective syndication channel in the mainstream.
And in the fallout they chased him, they cornered him in an embassy, they turned him into a martyr and an exemplar, they caged him, and they drove him to the edge of sanity, where he now remains according to reports. Is that really the worst you can do? Is that really the worst? Is anyone supposed to be scared because of how you’ve treated the man who has outfoxed you at nearly every turn and put on full display what an incompetent laughingstock the tyrant is?
There are millions who would willingly accept that fate for the chance of having exposed the tyrant for what he is.
Even the Germans are rising up, and in growing numbers – three generations raised to cower in fear of strong opinions and told to second guess themselves and especially their core beliefs, three generations raised to never truly believe in anything other than moderation and flexibility, raised to never act “extreme,” raised to believe their own collective guilt for a horrible past that they didn’t even live during. Yes, despite being subject to so much individually disempowering messaging, even the Germans are rising up.
Liberty Defined: 50 Es... Paul, Ron Best Price: $1.27 Buy New $6.79 (as of 07:10 UTC - Details) A great animus is being awoken in the world by the tyrannical acts of a group of people who so lack an understanding of impassioned liberty that they know not what that animus can drive men to do. Perhaps they do not understand that passion, because they cannot mathematically model its utility. Appeals to utility, ultimately miss the reason that axioms find adherents.
The coronavirus scare is a hoax. It is a manufactured government crisis. The governmental response has brought untold death and destruction to human society. A level of corona communism has been implemented that far exceeds anything that humanity has ever known. The response far exceeds the impact of the virus. Every totalitarian has spent these weeks licking their chops at the amount of harm they can do to unsuspecting people if they just continue to parrot the line that every invasion of all they hold dear is being done for their own good. As long as the invasions are individually tolerated, the invasions will only get worse.
There are many ways to fight the totalitarian. There are some classic ways and there are some new ways. In late April 2020, a month into the lockdowns, the world was treated to a reminder of how some of the new ways look:
“A cache of nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly belonging to the World Health Organization (WHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Wuhan Institute of Virology, Bill Gates Foundation and several other groups involved with the coronavirus pandemic response were dumped on 4chan before appearing on several other websites, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.”
Suddenly, like that, 25,000 accounts that had been hidden from public scrutiny, but which were used to quietly shape governmental policy behind closed doors, were made available in the Internet’s own Freedom of Information Act.
Going forward, the tyrant may not want Bill Gates, the creator of the most malware-prone software on earth, to run the secret vaccine program.
The tyrant wants secrecy for themselves, full disclosure for everyone else. The natural order wants privacy for us, full disclosure for those we give the slightest hint of power to. I don’t know how this inversion of nature that we are now living through will turn out, I have no crystal ball, but I know how it always has turned out: Not well for the tyrant.
Some technology is so simple to crack, that the data could very well have been accessed by a twelve-year-old. There are limits to what can be identified by this particular hack and data release, but it is a potent reminder of how much power to derail the tyrant exists and in how many individual hands.
The revealing 2016 Wikileaks data dumps are a reminder of how unsophisticated the many-headed tyrant really is.
Akin to the concept behind the filibuster, the veto, or unanimous juries, the current state of technology allows an individual with a strong conscientious objection to throw a wrench into government plans. The wisdom of the ages has always told us that it is not government inaction that leads to a mess. The people can handle themselves just fine. It is government action that leads to a mess. The School Revolution:... Paul, Ron Best Price: $1.56 Buy New $8.99 (as of 01:35 UTC - Details)
I don’t know what the future looks like, but I know what the present looks like.
With the technological breakthrough that is the Bitcoin White Paper, the central banks have had competing currencies forced upon them — in time the tyrant may have diminished ability to finance his ways.
Using the Internet, everyone now has access to a virtual printing press with a global distribution network — the tyrant can no longer control the flow of information.
Encryption has brought privacy of all means back into the hands of all who want it — the tyrant may have little way to monitor his subjects who most demand privacy.
Wikileaks-style hacks have enabled anyone across the planet to be a history-altering investigative journalist — the tyrant may be left with nowhere to hide.
We live in the Wikileaks era.
For those who love human freedom, there is no greater time to be alive.
The Bitcoin Standard: ... Saifedean Ammous Best Price: $17.32 Buy New $18.78 (as of 10:45 UTC - Details) The Bitcoin Manifesto Allan J Stevo Best Price: $7.54 Buy New $12.73 (as of 05:50 UTC - Details)
The Best of Allan Stevo


lewrockwell--2020-05-13--The Twin Pillars of Russiagate Crumble

The Twin Pillars of Russiagate Crumble

House Intelligence Committee documents released Thursday reveal that the committee was told two and half years ago that the FBI had no concrete evidence that Russia hacked Democratic National Committee computers to filch the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks in July 2016 .
The until-now-buried , closed-door testimony came on Dec. 5 , 2017 from Shawn Henry , a protege of former FBI Director Robert Mueller ( from 2001 to 2012 ) , for whom Henry served as head of the Bureau ’ s cyber crime investigations unit .
Henry retired in 2012 and took a senior position at CrowdStrike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the DNC and the Clinton campaign to investigate the cyber intrusions that occurred before the 2016 presidential election .
The following excerpts from Henry ’ s testimony speak for themselves .
The dialogue is not a paragon of clarity ; but if read carefully , even cyber neophytes can understand : Trumpocalypse : The End ... Anderson , Troy Best Price : $ 13.90 Buy New $ 15.99 Ranking Member Mr. [ Adam ] Schiff : Do you know the date on which the Russians exfiltrated the data from the DNC ?
… @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Henry : Counsel just reminded me that , as it relates to the DNC , we have indicators that data was exfiltrated from the DNC , but we have no indicators that it was exfiltrated ( sic ) .
… There are times when we can see data exfiltrated , and we can say conclusively .
But in this case , it appears it was set up to be exfiltrated , but we just don ’ t have the evidence that says it actually left .
Mr. [ Chris ] Stewart of Utah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that everyone is so , you know , knowledgeable of ?
Were there also indicators that they were prepared but not evidence that they actually were exfiltrated ?
Mr. Henry : There ’ s not evidence that they were actually exfiltrated .
There ’ s circumstantial evidence … but no evidence that they were actually exfiltrated .
… Mr. Stewart : But you have a much lower degree of confidence that this data actually left than you do , for example , that the Russians were the ones who breached the security ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that that data was exfiltrated off the network .
Mr. Stewart : And circumstantial is less sure than the other evidence you ’ ve indicated .
… Mr. Henry : “ We didn ’ t have a sensor in place that saw data leave .
We said that the data left based on the circumstantial evidence .
That was the conclusion that we made .
In answer to a follow-up query on this line of questioning , Henry delivered this classic : “ Sir , I was just trying to be factually accurate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the data leave , but we believe it left , based on what we saw.
” Inadvertently highlighting the tenuous underpinning for CrowdStrike ’ s “ belief ” that Russia hacked the DNC emails , Henry added : “ There are other nation-states that collect this type of intelligence for sure , but the — what we would call the tactics and techniques were consistent with what we ’ d seen associated with the Russian state.
” Unmasking Obama : The F ... Cashill , Jack Buy New $ 27.11 Try as one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opaque .
Part of the problem is ambiguity in the word “ exfiltration.
” The word can denote ( 1 ) transferring data from a computer via the Internet ( hacking ) or ( 2 ) copying data physically to an external storage device with intent to leak it .
As the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity has been reporting for more than three years , metadata and other hard forensic evidence indicate that the DNC emails were not hacked — by Russia or anyone else .
Rather , they were copied onto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thumb drive ) by someone with access to DNC computers .
Besides , any hack over the Internet would almost certainly have been discovered by the dragnet coverage of the National Security Agency and its cooperating foreign intelligence services .
Henry testifies that “ it appears it [ the theft of DNC emails ] was set up to be exfiltrated , but we just don ’ t have the evidence that says it actually left.
” This , in VIPS view , suggests that someone with access to DNC computers “ set up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ external storage device — a thumb drive , for example .
The Internet is not needed for such a transfer .
Use of the Internet would have been detected , enabling Henry to pinpoint any “ exfiltration ” over that network .
Bill Binney , a former NSA technical director and a VIPS member , filed a sworn affidavit in the Roger Stone case .
Binney said : “ WikiLeaks did not receive stolen data from the Russian government .
Intrinsic metadata in the publicly available files on WikiLeaks demonstrates that the files @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medium such as a thumb drive.
” There is not much good to be said about the embarrassingly evidence-impoverished Intelligence Community Assessment ( ICA ) of Jan. 6 , 2017 accusing Russia of hacking the DNC .
But the ICA did include two passages that are highly relevant and demonstrably true : ( 1 ) In introductory remarks on “ cyber incident attribution ” , the authors of the ICA made a highly germane point : “ The nature of cyberspace makes attribution of cyber operations difficult but not impossible .
Every kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — leaves a trail.
” ( 2 ) “ When analysts use words such as ‘ we assess ’ or ‘ we judge , ’ [ these ] are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact .
… Assessments are based on collected information , which is often incomplete or fragmentary … High confidence in a judgment does not imply that the assessment is a fact or a certainty ; such judgments might be wrong.
” [ And one might add that they commonly ARE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as was the case with the ICA . ]
Exit from Hegemony : Th ... Nexon , Daniel Best Price : $ 48.55 Buy New $ 23.86 The intelligence-friendly corporate media , nonetheless , immediately awarded the status of Holy Writ to the misnomered “ Intelligence Community Assessment ” ( it was a rump effort prepared by “ handpicked analysts ” from only CIA , FBI , and NSA ) , and chose to overlook the banal , full-disclosure-type caveats embedded in the assessment itself .
Then National Intelligence Director James Clapper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FBI , and NSA briefed President Obama on the ICA on Jan. 5 , 2017 , the day before they gave it personally to President-elect Donald Trump .
On Jan. 18 , 2017 , at his final press conference , Obama saw fit to use lawyerly language on the key issue of how the DNC emails got to WikiLeaks , in an apparent effort to cover his own derriere .
Obama : “ The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.
” So we ended up with “ inconclusive conclusions ” on that admittedly crucial point .
What Obama was saying is that U.S. intelligence did not know—or professed not to know—exactly how the alleged Russian transfer to WikiLeaks was supposedly made , whether through a third party , or cutout , and he muddied the waters by first saying it was a hack , and then a leak .
From the very outset , in the absence of any hard evidence , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , of an Internet hack of the DNC emails , the claim that “ the Russians gave the DNC emails to WikiLeaks ” rested on thin gruel .
In November 2018 at a public forum , I asked Clapper to explain why President Obama still had serious doubts in late Jan. 2017 , less than two weeks after Clapper and the other intelligence chiefs had thoroughly briefed the outgoing president about their “ high-confidence ” findings .
Clapper replied : “ I can not explain what he [ Obama ] said or why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re , we ’ re pretty sure we know , or knew at the time , how WikiLeaks got those emails.
” Pretty sure ?
CrowdStrike already had a tarnished reputation for credibility when the DNC and Clinton campaign chose it to do work the FBI should have been doing to investigate how the DNC emails got to WikiLeaks .
It had asserted that Russians hacked into a Ukrainian artillery app , resulting in heavy losses of howitzers in Ukraine ’ s struggle with separatists supported by Russia .
A Voice of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to retract that claim .
Resistance ( At All Cos ... Strassel , Kimberley Best Price : $ 21.36 Buy New $ 12.04 Why did FBI Director James Comey not simply insist on access to the DNC computers ?
Surely he could have gotten the appropriate authorization .
In early January 2017 , reacting to media reports that the FBI never asked for access , Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee there were “ multiple requests at different levels ” for access to the DNC servers .
“ Ultimately what was agreed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us what they saw , ” he said .
Comey CrowdStrike as a “ highly respected ” cybersecurity company .
Asked by committee Chairman Richard Burr ( R-NC ) whether direct access to the servers and devices would have helped the FBI in their investigation , Comey said it would have .
“ Our forensics folks would always prefer to get access to the original device or server that ’ s involved , so it ’ s the best evidence , ” he said .
Five months later , after Comey had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the form of a few kid-gloves , clearly well-rehearsed , questions : BURR : And the FBI , in this case , unlike other cases that you might investigate — did you ever have access to the actual hardware that was hacked ?
Or did you have to rely on a third party to provide you the data that they had collected ?
COMEY : In the case of the DNC , … we did not have access to the devices themselves .
We got relevant forensic information from a private party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done the work .
But we didn ’ t get direct access .
BURR : Isn ’ t content an important part of the forensics from a counterintelligence standpoint ?
COMEY : It is , although what was briefed to me by my folks — the people who were my folks at the time is that they had gotten the information from the private party that they needed to understand the intrusion by the spring of 2016 .
In June last year it was revealed that CrowdStrike never produced an un-redacted or final @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FBI never required it to , according to the Justice Department .
By any normal standard , former FBI Director Comey would now be in serious legal trouble , as should Clapper , former CIA Director John Brennan , et al .
Additional evidence of FBI misconduct under Comey seems to surface every week — whether the abuses of FISA , misconduct in the case against Gen. Michael Flynn , or misleading everyone about Russian hacking of the DNC .
If I were attorney general , I would declare Comey a flight risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would do the same with Clapper and Brennan .
The Devil ’ s Ches ... Talbot , David Best Price : $ 3.67 Buy New $ 41.00 Schiff : Every Confidence But No Evidence Both pillars of Russiagate–collusion and a Russian hack–have now fairly crumbled .
Thursday ’ s disclosure of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee shows Chairman Adam Schiff lied not only about Trump-Putin “ collusion , ” [ which the Mueller report failed to prove and whose allegations were based on DNC and Clinton-financed opposition research ] but also about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian hacking ” of the DNC .
Five days after Trump took office , I had an opportunity to confront Schiff personally about evidence that Russia “ hacked ” the DNC emails .
He had repeatedly given that canard the patina of flat fact during an address at the old Hillary Clinton/John Podesta “ think tank , ” The Center for American Progress Action Fund .
Fortunately , the cameras were still on when I approached Schiff during the Q & A : “ You have every confidence but no evidence , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His answer was a harbinger of things to come .
This video clip may be worth the four minutes needed to watch it .
Schiff and his partners in crime will be in for much tougher treatment if Trump allows Attorney General Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham to bring their investigation into the origins of Russia-gate to a timely conclusion .
Barr ’ s dismissal on Thursday of charges against Flynn , after released FBI documents revealed that a perjury trap was set for him to keep Russiagate going , may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Given the timid way Trump has typically bowed to intelligence and law enforcement officials , including those who supposedly report to him , however , one might rather expect that , after a lot of bluster , he will let the too-big-to-imprison ones off the hook .
The issues are now drawn ; the evidence is copious ; will the Deep State , nevertheless , be able to prevail this time ?

House Intelligence Committee documents released Thursday reveal that the committee was told two and half years ago that the FBI had no concrete evidence that Russia hacked Democratic National Committee computers to filch the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks in July 2016.
The until-now-buried, closed-door testimony came on Dec. 5, 2017 from Shawn Henry, a protege of former FBI Director Robert Mueller (from 2001 to 2012), for whom Henry served as head of the Bureau’s cyber crime investigations unit.
Henry retired in 2012 and took a senior position at CrowdStrike, the cyber security firm hired by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to investigate the cyber intrusions that occurred before the 2016 presidential election.
The following excerpts from Henry’s testimony speak for themselves. The dialogue is not a paragon of clarity; but if read carefully, even cyber neophytes can understand: Trumpocalypse: The End... Anderson, Troy Best Price: $13.90 Buy New $15.99 (as of 04:55 UTC - Details)
Ranking Member Mr. [Adam] Schiff: Do you know the date on which the Russians exfiltrated the data from the DNC? … when would that have been?
Mr. Henry: Counsel just reminded me that, as it relates to the DNC, we have indicators that data was exfiltrated from the DNC, but we have no indicators that it was exfiltrated (sic). … There are times when we can see data exfiltrated, and we can say conclusively. But in this case, it appears it was set up to be exfiltrated, but we just don’t have the evidence that says it actually left.
Mr. [Chris] Stewart of Utah: Okay. What about the emails that everyone is so, you know, knowledgeable of? Were there also indicators that they were prepared but not evidence that they actually were exfiltrated?
Mr. Henry: There’s not evidence that they were actually exfiltrated. There’s circumstantial evidence … but no evidence that they were actually exfiltrated. …
Mr. Stewart: But you have a much lower degree of confidence that this data actually left than you do, for example, that the Russians were the ones who breached the security?
Mr. Henry: There is circumstantial evidence that that data was exfiltrated off the network.
Mr. Stewart: And circumstantial is less sure than the other evidence you’ve indicated. …
Mr. Henry: “We didn’t have a sensor in place that saw data leave. We said that the data left based on the circumstantial evidence. That was the conclusion that we made.
In answer to a follow-up query on this line of questioning, Henry delivered this classic: “Sir, I was just trying to be factually accurate, that we didn’t see the data leave, but we believe it left, based on what we saw.”
Inadvertently highlighting the tenuous underpinning for CrowdStrike’s “belief” that Russia hacked the DNC emails, Henry added: “There are other nation-states that collect this type of intelligence for sure, but the — what we would call the tactics and techniques were consistent with what we’d seen associated with the Russian state.”
Interesting admission in Crowdstrike CEO Shaun Henry’s testimony. Henry is asked when “the Russians” exfiltrated the data from DNC. Henry: “We did not have concrete evidence that the data was exfiltrated from the DNC, but we have indicators that it was exfiltrated.” 🤔 pic.twitter.com/TyePqd6b5P — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) May 8, 2020
Not Transparent
Unmasking Obama: The F... Cashill, Jack Buy New $27.11 (as of 04:59 UTC - Details) Try as one may, some of the testimony remains opaque. Part of the problem is ambiguity in the word “exfiltration.”
The word can denote (1) transferring data from a computer via the Internet (hacking) or (2) copying data physically to an external storage device with intent to leak it.
As the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity has been reporting for more than three years, metadata and other hard forensic evidence indicate that the DNC emails were not hacked — by Russia or anyone else.
Rather, they were copied onto an external storage device (probably a thumb drive) by someone with access to DNC computers. Besides, any hack over the Internet would almost certainly have been discovered by the dragnet coverage of the National Security Agency and its cooperating foreign intelligence services.
Henry testifies that “it appears it [the theft of DNC emails] was set up to be exfiltrated, but we just don’t have the evidence that says it actually left.”
This, in VIPS view, suggests that someone with access to DNC computers “set up” selected emails for transfer to an external storage device — a thumb drive, for example. The Internet is not needed for such a transfer. Use of the Internet would have been detected, enabling Henry to pinpoint any “exfiltration” over that network.
Bill Binney, a former NSA technical director and a VIPS member, filed a sworn affidavit in the Roger Stone case. Binney said: “WikiLeaks did not receive stolen data from the Russian government. Intrinsic metadata in the publicly available files on WikiLeaks demonstrates that the files acquired by WikiLeaks were delivered in a medium such as a thumb drive.”
The So-Called Intelligence Community Assessment
There is not much good to be said about the embarrassingly evidence-impoverished Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) of Jan. 6, 2017 accusing Russia of hacking the DNC.
But the ICA did include two passages that are highly relevant and demonstrably true:
(1) In introductory remarks on “cyber incident attribution”, the authors of the ICA made a highly germane point: “The nature of cyberspace makes attribution of cyber operations difficult but not impossible. Every kind of cyber operation — malicious or not — leaves a trail.”
(2) “When analysts use words such as ‘we assess’ or ‘we judge,’ [these] are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact. … Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary … High confidence in a judgment does not imply that the assessment is a fact or a certainty; such judgments might be wrong.” [And one might add that they commonly ARE wrong when analysts succumb to political pressure, as was the case with the ICA.] Exit from Hegemony: Th... Nexon, Daniel Best Price: $48.55 Buy New $23.86 (as of 11:50 UTC - Details)
The intelligence-friendly corporate media, nonetheless, immediately awarded the status of Holy Writ to the misnomered “Intelligence Community Assessment” (it was a rump effort prepared by “handpicked analysts” from only CIA, FBI, and NSA), and chose to overlook the banal, full-disclosure-type caveats embedded in the assessment itself.
Then National Intelligence Director James Clapper and the directors of the CIA, FBI, and NSA briefed President Obama on the ICA on Jan. 5, 2017, the day before they gave it personally to President-elect Donald Trump.
On Jan. 18, 2017, at his final press conference, Obama saw fit to use lawyerly language on the key issue of how the DNC emails got to WikiLeaks, in an apparent effort to cover his own derriere.
Obama: “The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.”
So we ended up with “inconclusive conclusions” on that admittedly crucial point. What Obama was saying is that U.S. intelligence did not know—or professed not to know—exactly how the alleged Russian transfer to WikiLeaks was supposedly made, whether through a third party, or cutout, and he muddied the waters by first saying it was a hack, and then a leak.
From the very outset, in the absence of any hard evidence, from NSA or from its foreign partners, of an Internet hack of the DNC emails, the claim that “the Russians gave the DNC emails to WikiLeaks” rested on thin gruel.
In November 2018 at a public forum, I asked Clapper to explain why President Obama still had serious doubts in late Jan. 2017, less than two weeks after Clapper and the other intelligence chiefs had thoroughly briefed the outgoing president about their “high-confidence” findings.
Clapper replied: “I cannot explain what he [Obama] said or why. But I can tell you we’re, we’re pretty sure we know, or knew at the time, how WikiLeaks got those emails.” Pretty sure?
Preferring CrowdStrike; ’Splaining to Congress
CrowdStrike already had a tarnished reputation for credibility when the DNC and Clinton campaign chose it to do work the FBI should have been doing to investigate how the DNC emails got to WikiLeaks. It had asserted that Russians hacked into a Ukrainian artillery app, resulting in heavy losses of howitzers in Ukraine’s struggle with separatists supported by Russia. A Voice of America report explained why CrowdStrike was forced to retract that claim. Resistance (At All Cos... Strassel, Kimberley Best Price: $21.36 Buy New $12.04 (as of 04:39 UTC - Details)
Why did FBI Director James Comey not simply insist on access to the DNC computers? Surely he could have gotten the appropriate authorization. In early January 2017, reacting to media reports that the FBI never asked for access, Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee there were “multiple requests at different levels” for access to the DNC servers.
“Ultimately what was agreed to is the private company would share with us what they saw,” he said. Comey described CrowdStrike as a “highly respected” cybersecurity company.
Asked by committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) whether direct access to the servers and devices would have helped the FBI in their investigation, Comey said it would have. “Our forensics folks would always prefer to get access to the original device or server that’s involved, so it’s the best evidence,” he said.
Five months later, after Comey had been fired, Burr gave him a Mulligan in the form of a few kid-gloves, clearly well-rehearsed, questions:
BURR: And the FBI, in this case, unlike other cases that you might investigate — did you ever have access to the actual hardware that was hacked? Or did you have to rely on a third party to provide you the data that they had collected?
COMEY: In the case of the DNC, … we did not have access to the devices themselves. We got relevant forensic information from a private party, a high-class entity, that had done the work. But we didn’t get direct access.
BURR: But no content?
COMEY: Correct.
BURR: Isn’t content an important part of the forensics from a counterintelligence standpoint?
COMEY: It is, although what was briefed to me by my folks — the people who were my folks at the time is that they had gotten the information from the private party that they needed to understand the intrusion by the spring of 2016.
In June last year it was revealed that CrowdStrike never produced an un-redacted or final forensic report for the government because the FBI never required it to, according to the Justice Department.
By any normal standard, former FBI Director Comey would now be in serious legal trouble, as should Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, et al. Additional evidence of FBI misconduct under Comey seems to surface every week — whether the abuses of FISA, misconduct in the case against Gen. Michael Flynn, or misleading everyone about Russian hacking of the DNC. If I were attorney general, I would declare Comey a flight risk and take his passport. And I would do the same with Clapper and Brennan. The Devil’s Ches... Talbot, David Best Price: $3.67 Buy New $41.00 (as of 10:40 UTC - Details)
Schiff: Every Confidence
But No Evidence
Both pillars of Russiagate–collusion and a Russian hack–have now fairly crumbled.
Thursday’s disclosure of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee shows Chairman Adam Schiff lied not only about Trump-Putin “collusion,” [which the Mueller report failed to prove and whose allegations were based on DNC and Clinton-financed opposition research] but also about the even more basic issue of “Russian hacking” of the DNC.
[See: “The Democratic Money Behind Russia-gate” republished today.]
Five days after Trump took office, I had an opportunity to confront Schiff personally about evidence that Russia “hacked” the DNC emails. He had repeatedly given that canard the patina of flat fact during an address at the old Hillary Clinton/John Podesta “think tank,” The Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Fortunately, the cameras were still on when I approached Schiff during the Q&A: “You have every confidence but no evidence, is that right?” I asked him. His answer was a harbinger of things to come. This video clip may be worth the four minutes needed to watch it.

Schiff and his partners in crime will be in for much tougher treatment if Trump allows Attorney General Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham to bring their investigation into the origins of Russia-gate to a timely conclusion. Barr’s dismissal on Thursday of charges against Flynn, after released FBI documents revealed that a perjury trap was set for him to keep Russiagate going, may be a sign of things to come.
Given the timid way Trump has typically bowed to intelligence and law enforcement officials, including those who supposedly report to him, however, one might rather expect that, after a lot of bluster, he will let the too-big-to-imprison ones off the hook. The issues are now drawn; the evidence is copious; will the Deep State, nevertheless, be able to prevail this time?
Reprinted with the author’s permission.