Did Biden Fed Reserve Pick Hand Out Master Account?

Ivo Fysic February 8, 2022

Biden pick under GOP scrutiny for role with fintech firm that got Fed account

From www.washingtonexaminer.com
2022-02-07 19:10:37
Zachary Halaschak
Excerpt:

Republicans are seeking answers from Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Joe Biden’s pick for a top Federal Reserve role, about how a company she directed as a board member was able to obtain “unusual access” to the Fed’s payment system.

At question is to what role, if any, Raskin, who was fresh out of a position in the Obama administration with a background at the Fed, played in helping to convince the central bank to grant Colorado-based Reserve Trust a Fed master account, which is highly coveted and hands the company an advantage over its rivals. Reserve Trust is apparently the only nonbank fintech business in the country that has been able to secure a Fed master account.

Sen. Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the banking committee, said on Monday that the Fed confirmed to his office that, prior to the prized account being awarded to Reserve Trust, Raskin called the central bank on behalf of the company. Raskin was later given…

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Biden Wants Insurers to Pay for Gender Reassignment Surgery

Ivo Fysic February 8, 2022

Biden’s Latest Proposal Would Force Insurers to Pay for Gender “Transition”

From www.heritage.org
2022-02-07 19:06:36

Excerpt:

President Joe Biden has sought to inject gender ideology into our laws since his first day in office. He might prefer a massive bill like the Equality Act that elevates the categories of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to status of race and sex. But that effort has stalled in the Senate. So, for now, his administration is looking for ways to insert sexual orientation and gender identity concepts into existing law.

The latest? In January, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would add sexual orientation and gender identity language to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. According to the department, these amendments will ensure that those who identify as LGBT receive “medically necessary” care. This includes “gender-affirming” surgeries and hormone “therapy.”

In fact, the department’s proposed rule circumvents the law and treats dubious treatments as essential health benefits in qualified health plans. This not only…

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China Warns US to Stop Criticizing Them for Olympics Disaster

Mark Clouse February 8, 2022

U.S. should not go further down the wrong path: China’s UN ambassador

From news.cgtn.com
2022-02-07 11:41:57

Excerpt:

The recent irresponsible, groundless and biased remarks against China by the U.S. related to the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xinjiang and Taiwan have seriously poisoned the China-U.S. relations, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun said on Sunday in a press statement.

He resolutely refuted the groundless accusations against China made by Linda Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to UN, in her interview with CNN.

Noting that many heads of state and organizations sent messages or called Chinese President Xi Jinping to wish Beijing Winter Olympics success and extended greetings on Chinese New Year, Zhang said the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which was attended by around 170 official representatives from nearly 70 countries and international organizations, fully showed the international community’s firm support of China.

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Fake Took Enamel Better than Real

Parker Davis February 7, 2022

It turns out that a tooth enamel that is created using biomimetic materials has greater protection than the natural tooth enamel the new material has been designed to replace. The material is being developed by Hewei Zhao and colleagues according to the press release.

New Synthetic Tooth Enamel Is Harder and Stronger Than the Real Thing

From scitechdaily.com
2022-02-06 19:14:07
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Excerpt:

Tooth enamel’s unusual combination of properties is a product of its hierarchical architecture – a complex structure made up of mostly hydroxyapatite nanowires interconnected by an amorphous intergranular phase (AIP) consisting of magnesium-substituted amorphous calcium phosphate. However, accurately replicating this type of hierarchical organization in a scalable abiotic composite has remained a challenge.

Here, Hewei Zhao and colleagues present an engineered enamel that contains the essential hierarchical structure at multiple scales. The artificial tooth enamel (ATE) was produced using AIP-coated hydroxyapatite nanowires, which were aligned using dual-directional freezing in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol. According to the authors, this allowed the engineered structures to have an atomic, nanoscale, and microscale organization like natural enamel.

In a series of tests, Zhao et al. demonstrated that the ATE nanocomposite simultaneously exhibited high stiffness, hardness, strength, viscoelasticity, and toughness, exceeding both the properties of enamel and previously manufactured materials.

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NBC Covers Bad Conditions of Athletes at Beijing Olympics

Ivo Fysic February 7, 2022

The athletes at the Beijing Olympics are not happy with their lodgings, or the general conditions they are facing. The athletes are now alleging NBC is covering up the problems to keep China happy.

NBC appears to be ignoring how badly the conditions are for Olympic athletes in China: report – Raw Story

From www.rawstory.com
2022-02-06 21:15:40
Sarah K. Burris
Excerpt:

For anyone watching the Beijing Olympics, everything looks great, but behind the scenes, it’s a disaster.

The Guardian reported Sunday that the two main issues are weather and the COVID crisis.

“The Swedes have suggested that the conditions in the mountains are perilously cold,” said the report. “A Polish skater says she was living in fear in a Beijing isolation ward and has ‘cried until I have no more tears.’ The Finns have claimed an ice hockey player is being kept in Covid quarantine for no reason. And the Germans? They are frustrated that there is no hot food at the downhill skiing.”

The main problem facing those on the mountains is that the International Ski Federation takes temperature into consideration before pausing an event, but in this case, they have ignored wind chills. The result was a horrific photo of downhill skiers collapsed at the end of the course. On Sunday, the men’s event was paused due to high winds.

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is an Axis of Putin and XI Forming Against America?

Freedomist Curator February 7, 2022

Xi and Putin tout a ‘redistribution of power in the world,’ and they aren’t shy about their ambitions

From www.cnbc.com
2022-02-06 16:51:54

Excerpt:

This is big.

The two leading authoritarians of our time have declared unprecedented common cause, perhaps even a de facto security alliance, with aspirations of shaping a new world order to replace the one fashioned by the United States and its partners after World War II.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to make sure the world didn’t miss the importance of their 38^th personal meeting in Beijing on Friday, just hours before the opening of the Winter Olympics and with more than 100,000 Russian troops threatening Ukrainian independence and sovereignty.

So, they publicly released the entirety of their audacious, 5,300-word joint statement in English this weekend, declaring that “a trend has emerged towards redistribution of power in the world” – namely toward them and away from the U.S. and its democratic partners and allies.

There’s a lot in the statement worth reading and digesting, but here’s my rough executive summary: Russia and China are…

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African Union Uncertain in Era of Coups

Freedomist Curator February 7, 2022

African Union condemns ‘wave’ of coups, suspends debate on Israel ties

From www.france24.com
2022-02-06 16:48:43
NEWS WIRES
Excerpt:

The African Union has condemned a recent “wave” of military coups that has seen an unprecedented number of member states suspended from the bloc, a senior official said Sunday, the last day of its annual summit.

The putsches were among the main issues expected to be discussed at the summit, along with the AU’s ties to Israel and its response to a grinding war in the north of host country Ethiopia.

Less than two weeks before the summit began Saturday, Burkina Faso became the fourth country to be suspended by the AU after disgruntled soldiers toppled President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Guinea, Mali and Sudan are also currently suspended.

“Every African leader in the assembly has condemned unequivocally… the wave of unconstitutional changes of government,” Bankole Adeoye, head of the AU’s Peace and Security Council, told a press conference Sunday.

“Do your research: At no time in the history of the African Union have we had four countries in one calendar year, in 12 months, been suspended,” Adeoye said.

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Mexico Sues US Gun Manufacturers, and the DNC Supports Them

Freedomist Curator February 7, 2022

U.S. gun manufacturers sued by Mexico over allegations of arms trafficking

From www.ctvnews.ca
2022-02-06 18:31:40

Excerpt:

The attorneys general of 13 states and Washington D.C. this week expressed support for a federal lawsuit by the Mexican government that accuses a group of American gun manufacturers of facilitating the trafficking of weapons to criminals in Mexico, fueling gun violence.

In a brief filed in federal court in Massachusetts, the Democratic attorneys general — including those in California, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York — argued against the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case, saying that a federal law providing legal protection to gun manufacturers does not apply in this case.

“While the law may grant firearms manufacturers some protection, it is not a free pass to knowingly allow their products to land in dangerous hands,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Tuesday.

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US Sends 3000 More Troops to Germany, Eastern Europe

Freedomist Curator February 7, 2022

US says ‘not sending forces to start a war’ with Russia

From www.news24.com
2022-02-06 22:24:23

Excerpt:

The United States said Sunday it was not sending troops to start a war with Russia after deploying 3 000 additional soldiers to Germany and Eastern Europe over the Ukraine standoff with Moscow.

President Joe Biden “has been clear for months now that the United States is not sending forces to start a war or fight a war with Russia in Ukraine,” national security advisor Jake Sullivan told Fox News Sunday.

“We have sent forces to Europe to defend NATO territory.”

Sullivan told Meet the Press on NBC that “a military escalation and invasion of Ukraine could happen at any time.

“We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response,” he said.

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Germany Looks to Send Troops to Lithuania

Freedomist Curator February 7, 2022

Germany may send more troops to Lithuania, Scholz signals

From www.channelnewsasia.com
2022-02-06 21:18:14

Excerpt:

BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signalled on Sunday (Feb 6) he was open to deploying more troops to Lithuania to bolster NATO’s eastern flank in response to a build-up of Russian troops near the borders of Ukraine.

The United States already ordered about 3,000 extra troops to bolster NATO in Poland and Romania in response to the fears of a Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic.

“We are ready to do all that is necessary to strengthen” the German-led battlegroup in Lithuania, Scholz said in an interview with ARD broadcaster shortly before his overnight flight to Washington to meet with US President Joe Biden.

The chancellor said he would discuss this with the heads of the three Baltic states who are set to visit him in Berlin next Thursday.

He nonetheless once more ruled out weapons deliveries to Ukraine due to Germany’s policy not to send arms to conflict zones – a stance rooted in the country’s bloody 20th century history that has come under scrutiny of late.

NATO deployed four multinational combat units which have some 5,000 troops in total to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in response to Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region from Ukraine in 2014.

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