This Week in Historyby Dianne Hermann “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliteratetheir own understanding of their history.” George Orwell Aug. 5-11, 2024 August 5 1861 – The U.S. levies its first Income Tax (3% of incomes over $800). 1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid […] The post This Week in History: Aug. 5-11, 2024 appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Former President Donald Trump ripped into President Joe Biden on Sunday as stocks around the world dropped amid recession concerns following a dismal jobs report in the United States.   On Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped more than 12%, Germany’s DAX dropped 2.3%, France’s CAC fell 1.9%, and London’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.5%, a three-month low. The drops come as there are growing concerns over an economic recession in the United States.  CNBC reported that the Nikkei 225’s drop was the worst for the market since Wall Street’s 1987 Black Monday crash. Paired with a 5.8% fall on Friday, it was reportedly the worst two-day period for the Nikkei 225 ever.  Stocks also dropped in the United States, with the NASDAQ 100 Futures falling 4.41%, the Dow Jones Futures 2.10%, and the S&P 500 Futures more than 300%.  Trump weighed in on the plunging stock markets in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, saying that poor American leadership was causing the problems.  “STOCK MARKETS CRASHING. I TOLD YOU SO!!! KAMALA DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE. BIDEN IS SOUND ASLEEP. ALL CAUSED BY INEPT U.S. LEADERSHIP!” he posted.  Trump has been a harsh critic of Biden’s economic policies, frequently pointing to the inflation that has plagued his presidency. Investors appear to be reacting to a Friday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that U.S. unemployment in July reached its highest point since October 2021. The report showed that unemployment rose to 4.3% while just 114,000 non-farm jobs were added last month, far less than the 185,000 expected by analysts.  Analysts with banking and research company Evercore also pointed to the potential recession indicators.  “With the soft employment report, the NASDAQ correction, the plunge in bond yields, and the plunge in commodity prices, it’s possible we’re seeing recession signals coming home to roost. In any event, this week, bad news was bad news for the stock market.” WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Victoria Greene, chief investment officer at G Squared Private Wealth, told CNBC that there was a “lot of bad news getting price in.” “It’s painful,” she said. “I think there’s a lot being absorbed that happened over the weekend between Berkshire cutting Apple…you had the Japan sell-off… you have the yen spike and the end of that carry trade.” JP Morgan analysts now predict a 50-50 chance of a recession as the 10-year Treasury yield fell five basis points. 

'I will not tolerate anything of this nature in our school district'

This system is beautiful but dangerous

A video shared on Facebook purports to show former Democratic First Lady Michelle Obama wearing a necklace that reads, “MIKE” during the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC). Verdict: False The claim is false as the image is digitally altered. According to an August 2020 article from the New York Times, Obama wore a necklace that […]

By Daniela Gonzalez OK, finally, all hell’s broken loose. I won’t give more details about what exactly happened with the efforts of the guys trying to hold onto their cards castle. They couldn’t keep the gates closed, and the Patriotic Army of Venezuelans was coming their way. This being said, a lot of rumors have been in place. The situation became increasingly tense, but the election process itself was flawless. We all know the result, and even the lefties on the street accepted it. But it was the chief gang who would never accept it. Now, with the consequences. The logical turmoil resulted in all the videos you’ve seen everywhere and registered for posterity on many social media. While writing this, we (the family group) are hunkered down at home and have enough gas, camping stoves with 10 liters of fuel, and even firewood (just in case) to keep cooking for more than a month. No need to risk our integrity heading outside. We’ve been leaving a couple of times to fetch some groceries. The supermarkets are facing a situation: they’re running out of fresh products. Mainly beef (we eat a lot of meat in this family). I will add an important note here. We already lived through something like this before. As medical care personnel, my family was mostly busy, with money most of the time, while the crisis lasted. We do have private practice, too, and with the migration, many vacancies opened. Public hospitals have now a chronic lack of supplies and doctors. For us, this sequence of events couldn’t happen at a “better moment”. My family finances were in their worst shape ever. Our food storage was at a shameful minimum (will make a list of this), our vehicle was disabled, and no pantry. On the other side, the benefits of having a group are huge. My surroundings mean there are no surprises, even if there is an imminent threat. My family is well-guarded and safe. We don’t have small kids at home, which is a relief. We take care of each other and can live in groups of three or more. I knew that staying put was the right approach. We debated a little bit about this, but our resources are meager. We can’t hold it up because we know how fast a food pantry is depleted. In our “trips” that were a survival drill mixed with a little bit of camping and hiking, we learned a lot about this. Why did we decide to stay put? People are randomly detained on the streets in the cities with major turmoils, and they could start doing that in this middle/upper-class subdivision just to collect some bribe money. Which I don’t have, means that any attempt would put me in a very bad position. In the social media groups of the subdivisions, the losing gang threatens their neighbors. Go figure. When someone commanding a gang of guys with guns threatens with a bloodbath, the best you can do is hunker down. No matter where you are, this is good advice. Unless you’re way better armed, trained, and outnumbering the threat, you should hunker down. Even Dr. Azpurua, one of the stronger (and academically prepared) authors acknowledges it: Ahora que USA declaró formalmente a González Urrutia como legítimo presidente de Venezuela, no hay excusa para que su primer acto de gobierno no sea una medida ejecutiva de autorizar a la DEA a materializar las órdenes de captura que hizo Interpol y comenzar a limpiar el… pic.twitter.com/WMhoKdpsCv — Juan Carlos Sosa Azpúrua (@jcsosazpurua) August 2, 2024 Translation: Now that the USA formally declared González Urrutia as the legitimate president of Venezuela, there is no excuse for his first act of government not to be an executive measure to authorize the DEA to carry out the arrest warrants issued by Interpol and begin to clean the national territory. . Until that happens, all Venezuelans must protect themselves from street fire. Oh, and just for the record, the word in the street says this is Wagner’s “operatives.” Así de militarizado luce el centro de Caracas, en las inmediaciones de Miraflores. Maduro teme que vayan a celebrar el cumpleaños de Chávez. pic.twitter.com/iTFuMASqS7 pic.twitter.com/BtetbgNMY9 — ElObservadorBinario (@ObservadBinario) August 2, 2024 Translation: This is how militarized the center of Caracas looks, in the vicinity of Miraflores. Maduro fears that they will celebrate Chávez’s birthday. Already in Caracas. A couple of hours by plane away from the US. No bueno. Other than the emotional aspect being overwhelmingly disappointed, I have managed to keep my balance under control.  It’s out of control here. I was monitoring the news last night. The repressive forces in other cities are completely out of control. For some reason (this has always been one of their preferred lands to keep under control), I haven’t heard or seen any violent activity personally. But as things are going, this could change fast. Too much turbulency and unpredictable moves can start in a blink. This is our most major happening in 70 years and a lot of turmoil is being generated. As far as I can see…the only ones being left alone are the gangsters. What is called “serious” crime in Venezuela? Guys in their early 20s (very few of them make it past 35) armed to the teeth and sniffing substances since they were kids, grew up in the streets, and never had a chance to leave. The reason? One, they have serious firepower. The other one may be related to mutual symbiosis. There is nothing new to dig into. All corporationss have deep ties within all sorts of crimes. It is even hard to write. My eyes are in tears. Not because of the gas, but thinking of the mothers of those dragged to jail because of posting on X.com too openly, being with a sign that says “Edmundo is the winner”…or even being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right now our bugout plan is not viable: two cars with grown men, women, and supplies will be an easy target for any patrol. This is a mess. In the apartment buildings nearby, snitches got wild, reporting the innocent neighbors only because of celebrating the actual president’s victory. We plan to leave early in the morning if there is a chance. We believe that very soon they will cut the power to go after Maria C. Machado without people knowing it. They can’t afford the risk of everybody filming out in the open how they kidnap and very probably kill her team. You can see now what we are facing: a gang of soul-less murderers. There is a general feeling of danger EVERYWHERE, even if the city and the area are calmed down. A truck making the exhaust explode loudly almost gives a heart attack to the people around. Black pickup trucks without license plates, filled up with masked and armed guys in black uniforms, roam the streets of Caracas and all the major cities. But the most maddening scenario is the regular barrio people still supporting the bus driver gang. They would slit their families or children’s throats before acknowledging the victory of the so-called “right-wing candidate,” as these psychos want to put it. It’s a “scam” for them. They will stomp on any legality and crush anyone opposing their narrative. This is not your standard fanatic who will get mad over a “political” discussion. It is people who will sell you to the illegal armed cops without hesitating just because they hate being defeated within the terms of fair play. Even after the fraud has been exposed over and over and every day it is more and more evident that our president is being acknowledged by more countries, they won’t stop calling the bus driver with the position in the government he already doesn’t have. It is a dictatorship here. Even the major world media outlets are openly expressing this. Now let’s describe the atmosphere. There is what can only be described as a tense calm. The stories around are awful. One of the volunteers signing the acts was an elder lady. Not far from where we live. The responsible team of supposed policemen dragged her out of her home in underwear to “arrest her,” and she suffered a fatal stroke in the cell they threw her into. Now, she leaves behind a grandkid like 12 or 13. It’s doubtful that regular police work this way by accusing people who only signed up an act in an election process. This is a nightmare we never saw coming. Word in social media and the streets is that a foreign intervention is unlikely. However, with the psy-ops labs working 24/7, we can’t confirm nor deny this. The mechanisms are there, but sadly, our two neighboring countries are governed by a part of the same gang: Lula and Petro, and they will block any attempt to send the UN troops. Because that will expose the ugly, nasty truth: they are supporting fraud and war crimes against the Venezuelan people. The presence of Cuban troopers within the Venezuelan Armed Forces is not a secret. Many serious journalists already alerted about this years ago, and that is highly relevant right now. The psychological operation of terrorism is marching on full speed ahead. Lord have mercy. We are not Ukrainians. We were never subject to so much violence and aggression. The corps in the streets kidnapping people are incredibly soulless. We are medical personnel, but we’re not safe, either. In the worst of the demonstrations, we were also attacked for taking care of the wounded. Please support those you may know in our country. Many of our countrymen’s income sources are seriously compromised because they can’t work normally. Even business owners, like restaurants, cafes, and bakeries, are struggling: people don’t eat outside because anything could happen. Thanks for your reading, and as soon as the request for International help (it should come sooner or later) is made public, we rely on you to spread it and liberate the country of those unhinged psychos. About Daniela Daniela Gonzalez is a student of history at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. The post Here’s What It’s Like in Venezuela After the Stolen Election appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Secret Service Looks Worse--and More Guilty--Every Day

Let's Talk About RFK and the Dead Bear in the Park

Do you enjoy tasks that make you think really hard? Be honest – you probably don’t. You might do them anyway, but we'd bet it's not always a pleasant experience. A new meta-analysis has looked at many published studies and found that these feelings are not all in your head: exerting mental effort really can feel unpleasant.We humans can be a contrary bunch. According to the 170 studies the authors analyzed, while we may agree to engage in a range of activities that take mental effort – things like learning to use new technology or practicing our technique in a sport – we generally don’t actually enjoy it that much.“Managers often encourage employees, and teachers often encourage students, to exert mental effort. On the surface, this seems to work well: Employees and students do often opt for mentally challenging activities,” explained senior author Dr Erik Bijleveld of Radboud University in a statement. “From this, you may be tempted to conclude that employees and students tend to enjoy thinking hard.”“Our results suggest that this conclusion would be false: In general, people really dislike mental effort.”This had certainly been theorized in the past, but there was a lack of strong data to confirm it. The papers included in the team’s meta-analysis comprised a total of 4,670 participants in a variety of settings, including college students, healthcare workers, and the military. Twenty-seven countries were represented, with participants being asked about 358 different cognitive tasks in total.No matter the task or group of people being studied, greater mental exertion was associated with greater unpleasantness. In psychologist-speak, mental exertion is “aversive”. It turns out that, as a species, we’re really not fans of thinking hard.However, it’s also true that tasks requiring mental effort are often unavoidable, whether it’s your boss giving you an assignment at work or your sports coach laying down a training regime. Can the study authors offer any hope of making these tasks easier to bear?“When people are required to exert substantial mental effort, you need to make sure to support or reward them for their effort,” said Bijleveld. That’s more like it.“For example, why do millions of people play chess? People may learn that exerting mental effort in some specific activities is likely to lead to reward. If the benefits of chess outweigh the costs, people may choose to play chess, and even self-report that they enjoy chess,” Bijleveld continued.The authors suggest that managers, engineers, and teachers should consider this when planning tasks, designing new apps and tech interfaces, or setting schoolwork. It’s fine to ask people to put in some mental effort, but ideally, you should support them and reward them for it too.An intriguing cultural difference also emerged from the data. While people across all localities universally indicated that thinking hard wasn’t fun, this was less pronounced in studies conducted in Asia than in Europe or North America. The team theorized that this was down to a different educational environment – kids in Asia typically spend more time on schoolwork than their counterparts in Europe or North America, so they may develop greater resilience to mental exertion earlier in life.The upshot, according to Bijleveld, is that “when people choose to pursue mentally effortful activities, this should not be taken as an indication that they enjoy mental effort per se.”“Perhaps people choose mentally effortful activities despite the effort, not because of it.”The study is published in the journal Psychological Bulletin.