Were the Witch Trials and Burnings for No Good Reason?

In research on the topic of witchcraft of the early modern era, little attention in given to those deemed witches. Feminist versions of the witch trials hold that the accused were often merely mid-wives and healers of peasant society who were burned for “no good reason” or because of poorly explained “hysteria.” Others claim it was indiscriminate prosecution of pagans or an earlier version of the shadow language term “satanic panic”.

The gimmick being employed up to the present day (including Pedogate) involves acting incredulous and slinging neuro-lingustic programming terms like “moral panic” or “ignorant haters” at those who question accepted narratives. In fact, the entire Wikipedia page on Satanism is filed with whitewashed, moral-panic accusations, canards and doth-protest-too-loudly ad hominems against those exposing the iterations of the concept of Satanism, admitted witchcraft or other forms of skulduggery.

In Defense of Carl Raschke’s ‘True Story of How Satanism is Terrorizing Our Communities’

Generally, this is a pervert justice warrior (PJW), very low-value narrative that dismisses attempts to reveal and counter Satanism, or just flat out evil as discrimination, hatred and prejudice. It is astonishing how frequently this scam is incorporated any time the awakened are asked to deny their lying eyes about the slime creatures crawling under the rocks.

No, not much attention has been given to the behavior of accused witches. The term “witchhunt” used in current vernacular implies persecution for no valid reason. But was that the case with accused witches of that period?

The reasons the church and authorities focused attention on these individuals seems centered around Maleficium (hexic activities), which is causing harm by supernatural means. The modern version of this is psychological gangstalking.

It was no novelty for peasants and people of higher rank to suspect their neighbors of harming them by occult means. In the witch-burning era, there were groups of conjurers (grifters) preying upon the vulnerable. As far back as the sixth century, the Visigoths made laws to deal with tempestarii (storm makers) who were touring the countryside and intimidating the peasants. People were paying them to spare their fields and blast the next man’s instead.

White-magic witches, called berandantes, marketed themselves as hex and curse removal specialists and conjurers of good fortune. Black magic witches were available as poisoners and disrupters. Poisoning was common practice in those days and is today as well under the cover of Pharma.

Alchemists and Early Modern-Era Organized Poisoning

Black magic witches laid curses aka damage charms on people, in a gangstalking mode. There was an underbelly of criminal parasites operating in the witch-fear business. Many thought of the benandante as good witches, who healed and protected the crops by going out on the Ember days to fight bad witches.

Most of both witch factions were lowlife swindlers, medical quacks and extortionists. That was a social reality. One white magic poser was burned in Nuremburg for false allegations against black magicians, and of selling magic wraps against sorcery. The drama in these cases can get very twisted.

Resistance toward the benandante grew due to the financial burden and anti-social rackets they placed on the community. When a desperate person desired for a loved one to be healed, the benandante may agree to heal them but only if provided some sort of payment. Of course, even with payment — since the white witches were often quacks — the person was likely not “healed.” As such, the benandante began being viewed as “clever swindlers.” In the documentation of accusations against witches (aka conjurers), it’s maleficium that predominates. Keep in mind that this was an era when criminals were hung for simple theft.

Sometimes, participating in-groups or sects engaged in Bacchic-type orgies, or devil worship, or a form of degenerate ultra-rebellion.

See “Vicious Serial Killer Israel Keyes and the Insane Clown Posse

Rome’s Own Version of an ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ Cult: Bacchanalia Runs Amok

Heresy in and of itself was problematic during this period — but when fused with sorcery and perceived evil doings, it was a red flag and threatened the social order. Many ultra-rebellionist discordians, who rejected social and religious norms, went over to the dark side. The eccentric weirdness was noted, and these individuals sometimes self-identified as witches.

Martin Le Franc’s “The Defender of Ladies” describes the witches’ sabbath. It states, “Ten thousand old women in a troop were there, as in a great assembly in the shapes of cats or goats … pleased themselves in dancing, others still in banqueting and booze.”

Burning was also used as a form of eugenics to eliminate the criminally mentally ill, as well as ultra-rebellionists, vagrants and indigents. Those with a “malignant spirit” (demons) were targeted, and this included those with schizophrenia, disassociative identity disorder, hysteria and epilepsy. And it included nasty, mean, mentally unbalanced people. Not all accused witches were women. In Russia, the large majority of the condemned were male.

They also practiced necromancy. The “Oxford English Dictionary’s” first recorded the word “necromancy” in 1456. It’s the “practice of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge, to bring someone back from the dead, or to use the deceased as a weapon.”

Since the first century, tales of witches using necromancy for power and insight have appeared in the lore of multiple cultures. Even medieval scholars and clerics believed necromancy could help them achieve many feats, including manipulating the minds of others.

Sometimes making a blood sacrifice alongside desired food and drink would encourage the entity to feed off of those offerings instead of the necromancer’s soul. It became a thin line between necromancy and Jeffrey Dahmer like necrophilia.

Necromancers addressed the dead in “a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning” that was comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans.

Were Witches Mostly Just Depraved Criminals?

The necromancer might also surround himself or herself with morbid aspects of death, which often included wearing the deceased’s clothing and consuming foods that symbolized lifelessness and decay, such as unleavened black bread and unfermented grape juice. Some also engaged in necrophilia, with the belief that sex and sexual secretions could reanimate the dead. Some necromancers even went so far as to take part in the mutilation and consumption of corpses. These ceremonies could carry on for hours, days or even weeks leading up to the eventual summoning of spirits. These went on in melancholy places, cemeteries and near battlefields or conflict zones.

All of these morbid practices were just a warm up for the eventual summoning of the spirit. To raise a physical body from the other side, the process had to occur within one year of the death, otherwise the necromancer would only be able to evoke the ghost, not the real person.

The witch-burning era was rife with warfare. The peak of burnings was during the 30 Years War (1618-1648) in Germany and Central Europe. The necromancer witches were very interested in the “restless dead,” or those who did not receive a proper burial or who died violently or too young, and who were believed to be readily accessible for necromantic rites. Necromancers preferred to summon the recently departed based on the premise that their revelations were spoken more clearly.

As a result, battlefields and wrecked towns during the 30 Years War were a boon to necromancers, who could easily recover body parts of the restless dead for their magical workings. Body snatching occurred on a vast scale. And looting the possessions of the fallen was also a prime preoccupation for zombified people otherwise impoverished and debauched by the economic breakdowns and desolation of war.

There were also incredible numbers of civilians and soldiers left dead to be defiled, snatched and looted in the 30 Years War. Such behavior was frowned upon in villages and considered a severe sin by church authorities. An apprehended perp could be burned as necromancer witch. Stripping and looting dead bodies who fought and fell for their side angered both the Protestant and Catholic factions to no end.

Smithsonian magazine in an article on a recent mass grave excavation at a battle site:

Figuring out just who the soldiers were has proved particularly difficult because it is believed the inhabitants of the Lutzen area did a thorough job of stripping the corpses of any clothing or identifying marks. Impoverished by the long-running war, Gannon reports the locals likely had little reverence for the 9,000 soldiers that died on both sides of the conflict. Killgrove reports that even the body of Sweden’s king Adolphus, whose forces had won the battle, was stripped of clothing and jewelry by the time he was found several hours after the end of the fighting.

This activity dissipated once peace was restored in 1648 and after a number of bad actors in the death business had been executed. The greatest concentration of witch burning and civilian war casualties very much overlap as seen in red on the second map below.

The witch trials were greater and more frequent in Germany and Switzerland, where religious contests and war were the most heated. More than 40 percent of Europeans executed for witchcraft were in Germany. In Catholic strongholds — where Inquisitors were busily persecuting “heretics” — witches were mostly ignored. The Spanish Inquisition executed no more than two dozen alleged witches; Portugal put to death around seven.

Percentage of civilian deaths in conflict zones
Areas in red indicate high numbers of recorded witch burnings.

In the eyes of most Christians, bringing back non-living spirits was nothing short of demon-summoning. They believed that regardless of any perceived benefit, raising the dead flew in the face of God’s authority and only led to suffering. The medieval world typically believed the resurrection of the dead required God’s help, thereby labeling all other kinds of divination as “demon magic.”

With these bizarre-acting, ghoulish people in operation and the value of life diminished, there was heightened awareness of evil within the culture. And it’s no small wonder that the Reformation and Counter-Reformation conflict became a catalyst for the witch hunt by increasing the fear of Satan.

Early modern Europeans believed “the danger that Satan presented to a person was both physical and spiritual. Everyone, even the holiest individual, could be deceived and ensnared by the cunning treachery of Satan.”

An estimated 40,000 to 60,000 burned during the peak of the Thirty Year War and Counter Reformation period

Winter Watch Takeaway

One study found that witchcraft beliefs are associated with the acceleration of antisocial attitudes and lower levels of trust in society. It wasn’t just scapegoating poor innocent pagan witches. The more extreme and twisted behaviors of witches came from the famine, deprivations and wars of that era, as did the reactions against the witches. This was a cauldron and a prime example of the nature of war and murderous conditions in which all sorts of criminal behavior emerged from many parties. Net-net, then as now, it represents a low-point in the human spirit of these impacted locales.

How to Turn the Tables on Tyrants Waging the Economic War

tyrants waging the economic war

  • The Federal Reserve recently ordered another “super-sized interest hike” — the fifth rate hike this year — in what appears to be a hopeless effort to contain runaway inflation. Additional rate hikes are also anticipated. Some fear the Federal Reserve may be pushing us too hard, which could bring us from recession into deflation

  • Data from the Bureau of Labor statistics report the highest annual increase in food prices since the 1970s, with the cost of food rising 10.9% in the last 12 months. Overall, energy prices have seen the highest increases, rising by 41.6% between June 2021 and June 2022. For comparison, the Federal Reserve’s annual inflation target is 2%

  • As bad as the economic trend appears, that’s not all we have to contend with. Financial crisis historian Adam Tooze predicts several crises may converge over the next six to 18 months, including food crises, energy crises, pandemic outbreaks, stagflation, a Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and potential nuclear war

  • Our current situation is not accidental. It’s not even the result of pure ineptitude. Once you understand the globalist cabal’s plan for a Great Reset, you realize that all of these things need to happen in order for The Great Reset to be implemented. The rational conclusion, then, is that our food, energy, medicine and financial systems are being dismantled and hobbled on purpose

  • We can’t stop these crises from happening, but we can prepare to survive the destruction and then rebuild systems to our own liking, rather than accept their slave systems

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While the White House administration has tried to downplay the seriousness of inflation, reality has a stubborn way of paying no attention to fantasies and make-believe.

As reported by several news outlets in recent days,1 the Federal Reserve (which is not federal at all but rather a private entity that prints and lends fiat currency to the government) has ordered another “super-sized interest hike” — the fifth rate hike this year — in what appears to be a hopeless effort to contain runaway inflation. As reported by NPR, September 21, 2022:2

“The Federal Reserve ordered another super-sized jump in interest rates today, and signaled that additional rate hikes are likely in the coming months, as it tries to put the brakes on runaway prices. 

The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points Wednesday, matching hikes in June and July. The Fed has been boosting borrowing costs at the fastest pace in decades. But so far, its actions have done little to curb the rapid run-up in prices.”

Higher interest rates, of course, increase the cost of borrowing, making home mortgages, car loans and credit card balances more expensive and, for many, unaffordable. And we haven’t even seen the worst of it yet. According to MSN,3 the Federal Reserve anticipates additional rate hikes after this, in the hopes of limiting stagflation, a situation in which prices rise and employment goes down.

Some, however, fear the Federal Reserve may be pushing us from recession into deflation. As reported by MSN September 21, 2022:4

“The World Bank last week raised the specter of a global recession, driven by higher rates in the U.S. and abroad. Investors are increasingly worried that disruption in the U.S. government debt market could worsen as the Fed raises borrowing costs.

The housing and stock markets are reeling. And some executives like Tesla CEO Elon Musk even say the economy is in danger of entering a period of deflation … the Fed’s policies take time to feed through the economy, meaning the central bank could end up depressing economic activity more than necessary before realizing it, given the sheer speed at which it’s jacking up rates — the fastest pace in three decades.

‘There’s the old expression that sometimes they’ll tighten until something breaks,’ said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. ‘It’s a legitimate concern at this point.’ The predicament creates an exceptional level of economic uncertainty for the country … Also at stake is the central bank’s own credibility as the nation’s chief inflation-fighting authority.”

In early August 2022, President Biden claimed the U.S. had “zero-percent inflation” in the month of July. Alas, boasting about a single-month index change was a Jedi mind trick that didn’t work on most people. The federal Consumer Price Index earlier that day published data showing an annual inflation rate of 8.5% for July, down from 9.1% in June, which was the highest rate since 1981.5

Data from the Bureau of Labor statistics also reported the highest annual increase in food prices since the 1970s, with the cost of food rising 10.9% in the last 12 months. Overall, energy prices have seen the highest increases, rising by 41.6% between June 2021 and June 2022. For comparison, the Federal Reserve’s annual inflation target is 2%.6

Later in that same speech, Biden “proceeded to accidentally step on his own message,” to quote the New York Post,7 by urging Congress to pass his Inflation Reduction Act.  

Putting his foot even further down his own throat, Biden added the bill would “keep inflation from getting better.”8 Clearly, what he meant to say was that the bill would keep it from getting worse, but he spoke the truth in this instance nonetheless.

The better-titled Inflation Act is strongly biased toward financing of “green” programs, which will be funded by additional taxes, including a new 15% minimum corporate tax and massively increased IRS enforcement. Commenting on the bill shortly after it passed the Senate, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis, said:9

“The Orwellian named ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will do no such thing, as a number of prominent experts and economic policy groups have indicated. The Penn Wharton Budget Model,10 the Tax Foundation,11 and the Congressional Budget Office12 all found the bill won’t lower inflation and may make it worse.

The IRS would more than double in size, unleashing 87,000 new enforcement agents on American families … [and the] nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that 78% to 90% of the revenue raised from misreported income would likely come from those making under $200,000.”

As bad as the economic trend appears, that’s not all we have to contend with in coming days. As detailed in “Economy Expert Explains the Impending Polycrisis of Doom,” global citizens are currently facing a whole host of intersecting and interconnected crises.

Adam Tooze, a financial crisis historian and director of the European Institute at Columbia University, predicts several crises may erupt and converge over the next six to 18 months, including food crises, energy crises, pandemic outbreaks, stagflation, a Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and potential nuclear war.

As explained by Tooze, “polycrisis” is not merely the presence of several crises at once. Rather, it’s “a situation … where the whole is even more dangerous than the sum of the parts.”13 These crises are hitting us all at once, and several of them reinforce and worsen each other. Also notable is the fact that there’s great uncertainty associated with some of them, making it extremely difficult to make predictions.

Beyond the influences highlighted by Tooze, others could also be added into the mix, such as the weaponization of the U.S. dollar, which is encouraging countries to de-dollarize and create alternative reserve currencies, NATO and U.S. meddling in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the push to expand NATO, and allowing health agencies to dictate economic policy, just to name a few.

What’s perhaps most infuriating about our current situation is that it’s not accidental. It’s not even the result of pure ineptitude. Once you understand the globalist cabal’s plan for a Great Reset, you realize that all of these things need to happen in order for The Great Reset to be implemented. Since the reset can’t happen unless all of the old systems are first destroyed, the rational conclusion is that they’re being dismantled and hobbled on purpose.

The global economic system is being dismantled to bring in a programmable central bank digital currency (CBDC), so they can monitor and control your spending from a centralized location.

The energy grids of the Western world are being dismantled and incapacitated in order to justify a new “green” economy based on carbon credits. It will also push people to the brink of despair, which makes them more likely to accept “solutions” that would normally be rejected as unacceptable.

A “green” all-electric vehicle society — were it even possible, which it’s not — would also dramatically limit your ability to travel and, in fact, all travel could then be monitored and restricted from a central location, just like your bank account. Both CBDCs and electric vehicles are tools through which a centralized cabal can control your every move.

Agriculture and the food industry, meanwhile, are being crippled in part by irrational nitrogen reduction laws that will result in less food being grown and fewer livestock being raised, and in part by no longer coincidental fires, so that a new food system can be introduced — one based on “micro livestock,” i.e., insects, cultured meat, plant-based meat alternatives and GMO plant foods.

The common denominator is that all foods need to be patentable. Lack of food, like lack of energy, also makes people more “malleable” and willing to give up rights and liberties to survive.

Health care is also being undermined and getting more dangerous by the day as doctors are being muzzled through new laws, and the World Health Organization is pushing — using biosecurity as its justification — to grant itself the power to dictate and control health care worldwide. I think the reason for centralizing health care under the WHO is to make the transition to transhumanism easier.

The WHO is diligently working on a global vaccine passport, and President Biden recently signed an executive order14 that fast-tracks mRNA shots and other gene therapies “to be able to write circuitry for cells and predictably program biology in the same way in which we write software and program computers.” So, it’s no longer a stretch to imagine a world in which you have to get regular gene therapy injections in order to be able to function in society.

And, between Biden’s executive order and the Food and Drug Administration’s new “future framework” that allows reformulated mRNA shots to be rolled out without testing, it seems humanity at large will be the guinea pigs for untold numbers of genetic experiments to see what works and what doesn’t.

“The goal is to break everything apart, and then roll out a ‘new and improved’ society consisting of a ruling class, and disposable masses that will be controlled through technology-driven social engineering and control mechanisms like surveillance, ‘biosecurity,’ CBDCs, electric cars, gene therapies, carbon credits and social credit scores.”

In the end, the transhumanist cabal intends to make themselves immortal super-humans. But they need test subjects to perfect these radical technologies — and that’s going to be all of us. I could go on, but I think you get the gist. The breakdowns we’re experiencing are not by chance. They’re intentional.

The goal is to break everything apart, and then roll out a “new and improved” society consisting of a ruling class, and disposable masses that will be controlled through technology-driven social engineering and control mechanisms like surveillance, “biosecurity,” CBDCs, electric cars, gene therapies, carbon credits and social credit scores.

The central banking cabal and its many allies have infiltrated governments and institutions across the world for many decades, slowly turning the systems against us. We are now in the final chapter of their technocratic, transhumanist takeover.

They’ve told us their plans. It’s all spelled out in white papers, reports, books and on websites. The Great Reset is the overarching plan for the global takeover, previously referred to as the New World Order. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the transhumanist piece of that plan, and the Green Agenda is the piece that will usher in essential control mechanisms.

Without a doubt, they wield formidable weapons. But before you drown in despair, remember that we still outnumber these megalomaniacs by tens of millions to one, if not more. And, believe it or not, they need our cooperation. If enough of us withhold our cooperation, their plans start falling apart. I’m not saying it will be easy. It’ll require sacrifice. But that’s nothing new. Freedom has always required sacrifice.

Two of the most important things everyone can do right now is 1) prepare ourselves and our families for hard times (if you were not a prepper before, now’s the time), and 2) start building parallel structures and systems to replace the ones that are being dismantled.  

The idea is to survive and rebuild a world of our own choosing rather than being forced to accept theirs out of sheer desperation. Strategies that can strengthen individual and local resilience to the stresses facing us include the creation of local food systems15 and the strengthening of neighborhood and community connections.

By building a strong local food system, you reduce food insecurity, and by building a community network of specialists, you reduce the effects of a crumbling financial system as you can simply barter goods and services. For those who aren’t skilled at growing food it is wise to align with local farmers that you resonate with and can add complementary skill sets. Remember it takes a community to get through this.

Social cohesion also offers many psychological benefits.16 Local food systems and community networks both also reduce individuals’ reliance on government handouts, and by extension, they’re less likely to be forced into these new Great Reset slave systems. A 2017 StrongTown article17 provides several excellent suggestions for those willing to spearhead a local food movement in their own hometown.

It’s important that you continue to prepare for the inevitable financial catastrophe and become as independent and resilient as possible. Shore up supplies and figure out how to live in an “off grid” scenario, in case daily conveniences suddenly vanish. This year I have offered many articles on how you can prepare for food, water and other crises, which you can find in my Substack library.

Aside from “investing” in storable food, a water catchment system and other essentials that will only go up in price or become unobtainable, you may also consider buying physical precious metals, which can help protect against currency devaluation. Investing in real assets, such as land could be another.

It’s hard to make definitive recommendations, as your strategy will depend on your personal situation, so take some time to think things through. If you do nothing to hedge your bets, you may one day find yourself left with nothing — which is precisely what the World Economic Forum has declared will be our lot.

It’s also essential to become as healthy as possible. A recent study showed that 93% of U.S. adults are metabolically unhealthy, and those stats were four years old. It’s likely that number is now over 95%. You want to be the 1 person in 20 who is healthy. Make it your goal to be in that group.

This is so important that I’m devising a poll to find out what that percentage is for our subscribers. It would be a bit more accurate as I’ll include metrics like vitamin one hour a day of sun exposure and exercise. So, start getting metabolically fit now.

Also prepare yourself mentally, emotionally and spiritually for what could be stressful and challenging times as the globalist cabal continues to push The Great Reset forward, which will require more “emergencies.”

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Is Technology Stealing Your Eyesight?

is technology stealing your eyesight

  • The way technology has infiltrated our lives, in many cases from morning until well into the night, has dramatically changed the way humans use their eyes in just a short blip of time

  • The prevalence of myopia (nearsightedness) has increased in recent decades, especially in East Asia, and the numbers are expected to get worse in the next 50 years

  • For some populations in Asia, especially university students, myopia prevalence is over 90%

  • When a person is nearsighted, their eyeballs become elongated, an anatomical change that’s irreversible and increases the risk of serious vision problems, including blindness

  • Home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with worsening myopia in children

  • No treatments are capable of curing myopia; prevention is a better option, and spending more time outdoors — and far less time on screens — is key, especially for children

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Myopia, or nearsightedness, causes faraway objects to appear blurry while close-up objects look clear. One of the greatest risk factors for myopia is having a parent who also suffers from this vision problem.1 As such, it’s long been considered a primarily genetic condition — until recently.

Speaking with The Atlantic, Dr. Marina Su, a New York City optometrist, noticed that more children in her practice had declining vision, even though their parents’ vision was perfect. “If it’s only genetics, then why are these kids also getting myopic?” she said.2 Myopia is on the rise worldwide — not just in New York City — and there’s debate over what’s driving the change.

A frontrunner is the theory that technology — particularly staring at screens all day — is the culprit, leading to problems with vision at younger and younger ages, which could lead to “an epidemic of blindness that’s decades down the road,” according to Dr. Michael Repka, an ophthalmology professor at Johns Hopkins University.3

The prevalence of myopia has increased in recent decades, especially in East Asia, and the numbers are expected to get worse in the next 50 years. In 2019, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) established the Task Force on Myopia to address the “substantial global increases in myopia prevalence and its associated complications.”4

In a report from the Task Force, it’s stated that the prevalence of myopia is expected to grow from 1,406 million people, or 22.9% of the population, in 2000 to 4,758 million people — 49.8% of the population, in 2050.5 Severe nearsightedness, known as high myopia, is also expected to rise, from 163 million people (2.7% of the population) in 2000 to 938 million people (9.8% of the population) in 2050.6

For some populations in Asia, especially university students, myopia prevalence is over 90%.7 Among young adults in East and Southeast Asia, 80% to 90% have myopia and 10% to 20% have high myopia. The tendency to study long hours and perform “near work” with the eyes has long been linked to poor eyesight.8 According to The Atlantic:9

“Historically, British doctors have found myopia to be much more common among Oxford students than among military recruits, and in ‘more rigorous’ town schools than in rural ones. A late-19th-century ophthalmology handbook even suggested treating myopia with a change of air and avoidance of all work with the eyes — ‘a sea voyage if possible.’”

It’s a concerning trend that goes far beyond the inconvenient need to wear glasses. The fact is, the way technology has infiltrated our lives, in many cases from morning until well into the night, has changed the way humans use their eyes dramatically in just a short blip of time.

“Long ago, humans were hunters and gatherers,” Liandra Jung, an optometrist in the Bay Area, told The Atlantic. “We relied on our sharp distance vision to track prey and find ripe fruit. Now our modern lives are close-up and indoors. ‘To get food, we forage by getting Uber Eats,’” she said.”10

The increasingly early onset of myopia in children, combined with high progression rates, paints a particularly poor picture for the future, which could easily lead to an “epidemic of high myopia” even in children as young as 11 to 13 years of age.11 When a person is nearsighted, their eyeballs become elongated, an anatomical change that’s irreversible and increases the risk of serious vision problems, especially later in life.

According to the AAO Task Force, by age 75, 3.8% of people with myopia and 39% of those with high myopia have “uncorrectable visual impairment.”12 In other words, myopia increases the risk of conditions that can cause permanent blindness, including retinal detachment, cataracts and glaucoma, even when myopia is low to moderate severity.13

The AAO task force explained that the widespread clinical and societal impacts of increasing myopia prevalence require a “coordinated global response,”14 particularly since the younger a person is at onset, the faster progression tends to be.15 AAO added:16

“It is projected that uncorrectable visual impairment resulting from myopia will increase 7 to 13 times in high-risk areas by 2055. The public health burden posed by myopia extends beyond the direct costs associated with the optical correction of refractive error and includes the socioeconomic impacts and diminished qualify of life associated with visual impairment.”

In China, large-scale changes have been implemented to combat the growing trend of myopia in children. Along with restricting video games, no written tests are given before third grade, and metal bars have even been added to school desks so children are forced to stay farther away from their schoolwork.17

With the rate of technological development continuing to grow exponentially, it’s unclear if anyone envisioned how society would become obsessed with staring at screens, such that our waking hours are dominated by them in one form or another.

Vision is suffering as a result. Writing in the journal Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, a team of experts identified intensive education (i.e., more studying) and limited time outdoors as the major risk factors in the epidemic of myopia.18 They wrote:

“The localization of the epidemic appears to be due to the high educational pressures and limited time outdoors in the region, rather than to genetically elevated sensitivity to these factors.

Causality has been demonstrated in the case of time outdoors through randomized clinical trials in which increased time outdoors in schools has prevented the onset of myopia. In the case of educational pressures, evidence of causality comes from the high prevalence of myopia and high myopia in Jewish boys attending Orthodox schools in Israel compared to their sisters attending religious schools, and boys and girls attending secular schools.

Combining increased time outdoors in schools, to slow the onset of myopia, with clinical methods for slowing myopic progression, should lead to the control of this epidemic, which would otherwise pose a major health challenge. Reforms to the organization of school systems to reduce intense early competition for accelerated learning pathways may also be important.”

AAO also stated, “Too much time spent indoors increases a child’s risk for nearsightedness. Studies show that more time outdoors in natural light reduces a child’s risk.”19 Similarly, French researchers described “outdoor activities” as one of the most promising treatments for myopia in children.20

An alarming increase was further identified in myopia in children in 2020, when home lockdowns occurred, keeping an already nature-starved population indoors even more. One study found that home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with worsening myopia in children. Myopia prevalence among children aged 6 to 8 years increased 1.4 to three times in 2020 compared to the five years prior.21

Another study, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, described digital screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic as a “risk for a further myopia boom.” “Increased digital screen time, near work, and limited outdoor activities were found to be associated with the onset and progression of myopia, and could potentially be aggravated during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak period,” they wrote in 2021.22

With nearsightedness worsening in young children, treatments aimed at myopia control, or myopia management, are becoming more popular. Myopia-control clinics have popped up in well-to-do areas throughout the U.S., and they’re also common in China. Myopia control aims to slow the rate of axial elongation that occurs in the disorder.23

Treatments include atropine eye drops, multifocal soft contact lenses and orthokeratology lenses (OrthoK), which are worn overnight. OrthoK are contact lenses that reshape the eyeball’s clear, front layer, changing the way light enters the eye and helping to improve vision.24

No treatments are capable of curing myopia, however; they’re only able to slow down its progression. Prevention is a better option, and spending more time outdoors — and far less time on screens — is key for that, especially in young children.

Technology is interfering with eyesight in multiple ways, not only because people are spending so much time focused on close-up screens but also because they’re being exposed to blue light in the process. Data presented at the 60th Annual European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology Meeting further revealed that longer exposure to blue light was associated with earlier onset of puberty in rats, along with reduced levels of melatonin, increased levels of certain reproductive hormones and changes in the ovaries.25

LEDs found in many screens have virtually no beneficial infrared light and an excess of blue light that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), harming your vision and possibly leading to age-related macular degeneration (AMD),26 which is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in the U.S. LED lights may also exacerbate mitochondrial dysfunction leading to chronic conditions ranging from metabolic disorders to cancer.

“Although not conclusive, we would advise that the use of blue light emitting devices should be minimized in prepubertal children, especially in the evening when exposure may have the most hormone-altering effects,” Dr. Aylin Kilinç Uğurlu said in a news release.

If you view screens at night, it’s therefore essential to block your exposure to blue light while doing so. In the case of your computer, you can install a program to automatically lower the color temperature of your screen. In addition, when watching TV or other screens, be sure to wear blue-blocking glasses after sundown. Better yet, eliminate the use of screens entirely after sunset, particularly in young children who are most susceptible to their deleterious effects.

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Gas prices in Los Angeles County hits new record high of $6.466 – nearly double the national average

Image: Gas prices in Los Angeles County hits new record high of $6.466 – nearly double the national average

(Natural News) Gas prices in Los Angeles County hit a record high of $6.466 per gallon on the morning of Monday, Oct. 3.

That price topped the previous record high of $6.462 per gallon set on June 14. The average price in the country is 62.6 cents more than a week ago, $1.202 higher than a month ago and $2.05 greater than last year. (Related: Gas prices to rise after midterms as Biden ends raid on national oil reserve.)

Figures from AAA and the Oil Price Information Service noted that the average price of gas in Los Angeles County has risen nonstop for the past 31 days. On Saturday, Oct. 1, the price rose by one cent, and on Thursday, Sept. 29, it rose by 15.3 cents – the largest recorded daily increase since Oct. 5, 2012, when the price rose by 19.2 cents.

Ironically, Monday’s increase in gas prices, which led to the new record high is actually the smallest rise since the half-cent increase on Sept. 19.

Los Angeles County’s price is the highest in the state, but its neighbors in Southern California have similarly high average gas prices.

Neighboring Orange and Ventura Counties have prices of $6.42 and $6.40 per gallon, respectively. Orange County broke its record on Saturday when prices rose to $6.429 per gallon.

All three counties have higher average prices than the statewide average of $6.38, which is just about five cents short of the record high set back in June.

California’s prices likely to keep increasing despite stable prices in most of the country

After nearly 100 days of consecutive decline, gas prices all over the country started creeping upward again in September.

Brighteon.TV

California’s price increases are part of a trend, especially on America’s West Coast. Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona have also seen large jumps in gas prices, especially in the last week of September.

The current national average is hovering between $3.79 to $3.8 per gallon. On the West Coast, drivers are paying an average of more than $.20 more for a gallon of gas than they were a month earlier.

By contrast, drivers in Texas are paying an average of $3.09 a gallon, a drop of three cents from last week and 70 cents less than the national average.

Andrew Gross, an AAA spokesperson, attributed much of the stark difference between the West Coast and the rest of the country to problems at refineries in the region affecting supply. At least six refineries in California are not producing due to maintenance.

AAA added that the price rise can also be attributed to the rising demand for gas. This week, demand has risen to 8.83 million barrels from 8.32 million barrels last week. If demand continues to rise and supplies remain tight, drivers could be paying even more by Saturday, Oct. 8.

Newsom blaming gas companies for price increases

Gov. Gavin Newsom has blamed rising costs in California on oil companies. In a video statement, he claimed that oil companies are ratcheting up prices while providing “no explanation” as to why. This runs contrary to AAA’s analysis, which has accounted for fuel production, supply and demand.

Newsom tried to point to the stark difference in gas prices between California and the rest of the country – especially Texas – of the supposedly extortionate attitude of oil companies with facilities in the state.

“The degree of diversion from national prices has never happened before,” claimed Newsom. “The fact is, [oil companies] are ripping you off.”

To offset the price increases, Newsom is asking refineries to switch early to their winter blend gas several weeks ahead of schedule. The winter blend is typically cheaper, but it produces more of the greenhouse emissions the state is trying to restrict.

Analysts say it is unclear how different prices will be after this order. If the state’s refineries comply, prices could reduce but only by around 25 cents and only after two weeks.

Some Californians could also see some relief in the form of gas rebate checks for state residents who filed their 2020 tax returns.

Learn more about what’s happening in California at CaliforniaCollapse.news.

Watch this clip from Fox News discussing the problems with California’s ban on the sale of new gas-fueled cars by 2035.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

US facing natural gas shortage due to record LNG exports to Europe.

California bans gas-powered water heaters and furnaces to push “green” agenda.

JPMorgan CEO: Vetoing fossil fuel projects would send US into a death spiral.

Americans to pay more for gas as EU sanctions on Russian oil take effect by end of 2022.

Cities in California are BANNING construction of new gas stations.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

ABC7.com

KTLA.com

LATimes.com

Brighteon.com

NY follows California's example, bans gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035

Image: NY follows California’s example, bans gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035

(Natural News) The state of New York is set to follow the example of California, banning new sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035 in a bid to reach its “zero-emissions target.”

A Sept. 29 announcement by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul mandated the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to “take major regulatory action that will require all new passenger cars, pickup trucks and SUVs sold in New York state to be zero emissions by 2035.”

“This is a crucial regulatory step to achieving significant greenhouse gas emission reductions from the transportation sector and is complemented by new and ongoing investments … including electric vehicle infrastructure progress, zero-emission vehicle incentives and ensuring New York’s communities benefit from historic federal climate change investments.”

The effort is being supported by hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money. According to the Daily Wire, the Empire State will spend at least $250 million in federal dollars – with about $175 million earmarked toward the construction of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Hochul’s order did not ban gasoline-powered vehicles in one fell swoop. Her mandate requires “an increasing percentage of new, light-duty vehicle sales to be zero-emission vehicles starting with 35 percent of sales by 2026, 67 percent of sales by 2030 and 100 percent of sales by 2035.”

“New pollutant standards for model year 2026 through model year 2034 passenger cars, light-duty truck and medium-duty vehicles with internal combustion engines would also be required.” (Related: Barcelona to ban cars over 20 years old in effort to fight air pollution.)

Brighteon.TV

New York’s move follows that of the Golden State, whose chief executive Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a similar ban. The prohibitions were weaved in as an amendment to a 2020 executive order that sought to “put the state on a path to carbon neutrality by 2045.”

The California order also applied a progressive phase-out of gasoline-powered vehicles. From 12 percent in the current year, sales of electric vehicles will be increased to 35 percent in 2026. It will then be increased to 51 percent in 2028 and 68 percent in 2030, before reaching 100 percent in 2035.

Banning gasoline-powered vehicles entirely a fool’s errand

During the Sept. 29 press conference where Hochul announced the ban on gasoline-powered cars, she claimed that EVs have been in New York for “over a hundred years.” The Democratic governor added that car makers built EVs in order for wives to “have some freedom [from] domestic servitude” while their husbands were at work.” Hochul added that EVs ‘”gave women the freedom to drive” as their gasoline-powered counterparts were difficult to operate.

Duggan Flanakin, a policy analyst with the free-market environmental advocacy group Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, denounced Hochul’s new order. He argued that getting rid of gas-powered cars in New York state shows how the urban elites have “contempt” for rural Americans.

“None of this march away from reliable, proven [internal combustion engines] makes any sense to rural Americans, those who live in hurricane-prone areas and anyone who drives cross-country,” he wrote.

“Farmers today can run their tractors off biodiesel made right down the road, and drive to distant towns for groceries and supplies in their 20-year-old pickups. Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural and human-caused disruptive events can shut down electric power for days in large areas.”

Flanakin ultimately issued this challenge: “Imagine if 200 million internal combustion engine vehicle owners – or even two million – decided to work together to fight against the outrageous, unworkable, anti-democratic and bankrupting mandates forcing everyone into EVs most cannot afford and do not want, and to effectively exclude billions from being allowed to drive at all.”

Watch Elijah Schaffer of Next News Network discuss New York state’s impending ban on gasoline-powered cars.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

States are emulating California’s “clean air” mandate by BANNING gas-powered vehicles.

All electric in 20 years? California lawmaker floats a bill to ban gasoline cars by 2040.

GREEN GOES STUPID: California to ban sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035.

The future of electric cars is not the future California thinks it is.

California moves to ban sales of gas-powered cars by 2035.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NYPost.com

Brighteon.com

Germans rush to buy electric heaters as natural gas shortage looms

Image: Germans rush to buy electric heaters as natural gas shortage looms

(Natural News) German officials have issued a dire warning about a possible shortage of natural gas during the winter, when demand for heating is at its highest. This has driven up sales of electric heaters as German citizens prepare their households for the coming cold.

Germany has been scrambling with rising energy costs for months, which it has blamed on Russia throttling the influx of gas supplies coming into Europe. Moscow, in turn, has blamed energy prices on Western sanctions. (Related: Energy prices in Germany soar 1,000% as companies go bankrupt.)

According to German market research company Growth From Knowledge (GFK), over 958,000 heaters have been sold in the country since the beginning of 2022. The volume of electric heater sales from January to August has jumped by 76 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

GFK noted that the overall volume of electric heater sales for the five largest economies in Europe – Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy, respectively – actually decreased by 5.1 percent, strongly suggesting that the consumer habits of Germans are bucking the trend.

“Value growth from January to August 2022 was only driven by massive growth in Germany. All other markets show a negative result in value and volume for January to August 2022 compared with the same period of the previous year,” said GFK in a statement.

Too many electric heaters could overburden Germany’s power grid

The German Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) warned that a potential consequence of too many households relying on electric heaters is that it raises the possibility of blackouts due to too much strain on the power grid.

Brighteon.TV

“Heaters can overload the power grids, for example, when many households in a district turn on their heaters at the same time on a cold winter evening,” warned BDEW.

The association noted that households will still have access to heating in the event of a gas shortage. Households, like hospitals, police stations and fire brigade facilities, have priority during gas shortages according to the law.

“We are in a very tense situation, but scaremongering is not going to help us here. Private households are among the protected customers,” said BDEW.

A spokesperson from Stadtwerke Bonn, a public energy and transport utility company, emphasized in a statement that private households and critical infrastructure “would be the last to be affected” by restrictions implemented during gas shortages.

The spokesperson added that people should buy electric blankets instead of purchasing energy-intensive electric heaters. Electric blankets require only a fraction of the power while still providing warmth.

Government trying to get households, businesses to reduce energy consumption

In a radio interview, German Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck noted that the country is in an “extremely tense situation” right now due to the energy crisis.

“If we don’t save, if households don’t reduce consumption, we still risk not having enough gas in the winter,” he said.

The Federal Network Agency, the government agency responsible for gas rationing in case of a shortage, earlier said in a statement that household consumption remains too high to be sustainable.

The agency’s president, Klaus Mueller, called for “sustained austerity efforts,” warning both households and businesses that gas consumption in the past few weeks was “well above” consumption levels in prior years, calling the figures “sobering.”

“Without significant cutbacks in the private sector, it will be difficult to avoid a gas shortage in winter,” he said. He added that curtailing consumption would still be needed even if winter wasn’t coming. He also warned that even if households and businesses decrease consumption, there’s no guarantee of a “sure-fire” way of preventing gas shortages.

Mueller said these three conditions must be met for the country to get through the winter: Germany must import more natural gas; the gas supplies of Germany’s neighbors must remain stable; and each individual must drastically cut back on gas consumption.

Learn more about the energy crisis gripping Europe at NewEnergyReport.com.

Watch this clip from Next News Network as Aldo Buttazzoni discusses the coming German power grid collapse – and who is to blame for it.

This video is from the channel News Clips on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Thousands of German protesters declare: “Without Russian gas, our economy will be dead!”

Germany to nationalize struggling energy firm Uniper amid worsening financial crisis.

Bakery owners in Germany protest sky-high energy bills amid worsening energy crisis in Europe.

Energy collapse: First blackout simulation in German district predicts 400 deaths in 96 hours.

Germans sound alarm as skyrocketing energy bills overwhelm their monthly budgets.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

DW.com

Brighteon.com