19 Strange Survival Items You Should Stockpile

Judge Blocks Biden's Title IX Changes in Four States

A group of experts working with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) have proposed a new definition for long COVID, in the hopes of bringing long-awaited clarity The previous lack of consensus when it comes to defining long COVID can be problematic in many ways, but particularly for those who experience the condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently estimated that 17.8 percent of adults in the US had experienced long COVID. Without a clear definition, those people can encounter skepticism and difficulty accessing the treatment they need.In the hopes of bringing the clarity required to resolve this problem, the committee authoring the report worked with over 1,300 participants with a variety of perspectives, including patients, caregivers, and advocacy groups, but also health care professionals, researchers, and those involved in health industry businesses.The definition they came up with is as follows: “Long COVID (LC) is an infection-associated chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least three months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems.”It was also concluded that the three-month period proposed doesn’t have to be immediately following infection; the authors acknowledged that long COVID’s onset may well occur weeks or even months after someone appears to have recovered.Importantly, the definition doesn’t list any specific symptoms that are required for a diagnosis, nor does it list any that would definitively rule it out. As such, there’s no attempt to list all of the possible symptoms of long COVID, though it does mention that studies have estimated there to be over 200, affecting multiple different organs.Some of these include symptoms we might associate with an initial COVID infection, such as coughing, shortness of breath, and more recently with the appearance of new variants, digestive issues. Other examples given that are often reported by people with long COVID are persistent fatigue, memory changes, and problems with taste or smell.Under normal circumstances, NASEM’s conclusions on a topic aim to be final. However, because it’s such a new condition, what we know about long COVID is changing all the time. As a result, the authors actively encourage that the definition be reviewed.“Words have a way of evolving from their original meaning: nice originally meant silly or foolish, and silly originally referred to things worthy or blessed,” they write. “While Long COVID is unlikely to endure such an extreme lexical conversion, its meaning can and should evolve to match the state of knowledge.”Regardless, it’s hoped the definition in its current form will bring people with long COVID much-needed recognition and support.“The lack of a consistent definition for Long COVID has hampered research and delayed diagnosis and care for patients,” said Harvey Fineberg, chair of the report’s authoring committee, in a statement. “Our committee hopes this single definition, crafted with input from across research and patient communities, will help to educate the public about this widespread and highly consequential disease state.”The report can be accessed here.

At the heart of the galaxy OJ 287 is a supermassive black hole, like almost every other galaxy, but this one is unusual. Around it orbits a smaller black hole, but one still far bigger than the one in our own galaxy. Astronomers have suspected for decades the flares from this galaxy were a product of these two enormous objects’ interactions. Only now, with the help of two space telescopes, have they made a direct observation of the smaller black hole.The supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the center of galaxies are surrounded by accretion disks made of material that is slowly spiraling down to them to be swallowed. Depending on the amount of material in the disk at any time, these can be exceptionally brilliant, and may flare up when the disk is disturbed.Usually, however, we don’t know when to expect such an outburst, but astronomers at the University of Turku have been studying OJ 287 for 40 years, and anticipated one in late 2021. Other astronomers had enough confidence in the prediction, that they diverted the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) from its primary role of finding planets around nearby stars and had it check up on OJ 287 frequently for 80 days.That decision was vindicated when TESS, along with the Swift X-ray telescope, observed the flare right on time. Along with observations made the following year, but published more quickly, these confirm the Turku model, revealing two enormous black holes in an epic dance. The previous flare occurred when the smaller SMBH passed through the larger one’s accretion disk, disrupting it in ways that produced a surge in brightness. However, in this case, the extra light came from the area around the smaller SMBH itself.OJ 287 lies 4 billion light years away, so it is astonishing how bright it is, visible in large amateur telescopes. It also has a history of odd behavior, attracting the attention of astronomers since the 19th Century, who at the time had no idea what they were looking at. Now, we know OJ 287 is a blazar, a type of quasar where the jets point straight at Earth, but there is more to it than that.OJ 287 has flared many times. For his PhD 40 years ago, Aimo Sillanpää constructed the theory that we were seeing two SMBHs, one much larger than the other. Naturally, the smaller one orbits its bigger neighbor, and the 12-year cycle of this orbit creates one of the periods Sillanpää tracked between flares. The smaller SMBH orbits at an angle to the plane of the accretion disk, so it passes through twice each orbit, the disruption leading to an outpouring of extra light.This would be a fascinating thing to see under any circumstances, but the scale of this system is staggering. The smaller black hole has a mass 150 million times that of the Sun, making it 40 times as massive as Sagittarius A*, the SMBH at the heart of our own galaxy. The bigger object is about 18 billion solar masses.Another representation of OJ 287, showing how the smaller SMBH's orbit is angled to the accretion disk, only passing through twice in 12 years.Image Credit: AAAS 2018Despite the size of the smaller black hole, there are usually obstacles to its direct detection. “The two black holes are so close to each other in the sky that one cannot see them separately, they merge to a single point in our telescopes,” said Professor Mauri Valtonen in a statement. “Only if we see clearly separate signals from each black hole can we say that we have actually 'seen' them both.”In addition to the flares Sillanpää tracked, there are other events triggered by the two SMBH’s interactions. While working on his own PhD in 2014, Dr Pauli Pihajoki developed the model further to predict the smaller SMBH would capture a richer pocket of gas in late 2021 and flare up, inspiring the observations by TESS and Swift.On November 12 at 2 am GMT, TESS observed OJ 287 brightening and tracked it for 12 hours before it faded again. Swift and ground-based instruments were also on the case, and those experiencing clear nights got to watch the flare as well.Professor Mauri Valtonen has led a project to analyze the data from all these instruments and compare it with Sillanpää and Pihajoki’s predictions.They found that for that 12-hour period the smaller SMBH outshone its bigger sibling, giving the system a yellow color rather than the usual red."Therefore, we can now say that we have 'seen' an orbiting black hole for the first time, in the same way that we can say that TESS has seen planets orbiting other stars,” Valtonen said in a different statement. “Just as with planets, it is extremely difficult to get a direct image of the smaller black hole. In fact, because of OJ 287's great distance … it will probably take a very long time before our observation methods have developed enough to catch a picture even of the larger black hole.”  The team looked back on the dates when such an event should have occurred previously, and found that telescopes powerful enough to detect the change had never been watching at the right time.Besides studying OJ 287 at all points on the electromagnetic spectrum, the University of Turku team think that two such enormous objects orbiting so close to each other should be producing gravitational waves in the nano-Hertz range. Those waves should be causing pulsars across the universe to alter their timing fractionally, and the team hope we will soon be able to measure some precisely enough to pick this up. The findings are open access in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

The outsider might not think conservation and survivalism have much common ground and that is true of pseudo-environmentalists and pseudo-survivalists. The post Where Conservation and Survivalism Overlap appeared first on Survivopedia.

The U.S. economy is headed in the wrong direction. Gross government overreach is regulating private companies out of business. Inflation is hitting Americans from all angles. It is no surprise that economic confidence is dismal at best. Grocery prices have increased by 25% over the past four years. The cost of gasoline jumped 49.6% in 2021 and has decreased less than 2% in any given year since. In Washington state, gas is up nearly 6% compared to a year ago and up more than 10% in just the past month. We often discuss learning loss, but the economic implications of school closures shouldn’t be overlooked. The inflation crippling consumers isn’t just groceries and gas. Homeowner’s insurance premiums in 2023 were up 11.3% on average nationally. In 25 states, the annual increase was at least 10%. In Florida, which has been battered by hurricanes, the rates have increased more than 40% in five years. As a result, a growing number of people have been forced to sell their homes, and others are taking gigantic risks by going without insurance, as they cannot pay the higher bills. The implications are significant for everyday Americans. As Steve Forbes explains, “The people who are hurt the most are those with the least.” Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women's Forum, argues, “Massive federal spending during the pandemic, funded by the government printing money and flooding the economy to spur spending, lit the fuse for prices to accelerate.” The policies of the Biden administration bear much of the blame for the dramatic downward economic spiral, yet who put Joe Biden and his congressional allies in office? It was the American people who voted for individuals bent on big government, with its associated tax increases, bloated regulatory agenda, and attack on enterprise. Far too many Americans have fallen prey to “equity” talking points and false promises, while in reality, they are far worse off financially as a result of Bidenomics. Consider that Americans exit their K-12 schooling around age 18, at which point they are eligible to vote. Since public education has maintained a near-monopoly for decades, most Americans have not been granted another primary and secondary schooling option than attending their residentially assigned district public school. In fact, the U.S. K-12 public education system is the largest government-controlled monopoly in the world, other than state-owned monopolies in China, with spending nearing $1 trillion per year. With roughly 52 million public-school children in America, teachers’ unions receive hundreds of millions of dollars a year in members’ dues. They use a sizeable portion of that money to exert political influence by funneling dues to Democrats’ political campaigns. For example, the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers’ union in the country with 1.72 million members, allocated more than 99% of its campaign contributions to Democrats during the 2022 election cycle. The result, of course, is a public education system that funnels enormous sums of money almost exclusively to a single political party. In turn, teachers’ unions amass tremendous political power, including protection of the public-school monopoly, which ensures a steady population of dues-paying members to fill their coffers. Teachers’ unions use their power to push irrelevant political demands, such as a moratorium on charter schools, defunding the police, and “Medicare for all.” Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they kept public schools closed for nearly three years in some parts of the country. In contrast, the vast majority of private schools returned to in-person learning by the fall of 2020, serving the best interests of their students. The school closures were devastating for children and teenagers, causing immediate harm with long-term negative consequences. We often discuss learning loss, but the economic implications of school closures shouldn’t be overlooked. According to McKinsey and Company research, students who experienced prolonged school closures “may earn $49,000 to $61,000 less over their lifetime owing to the impact of the pandemic on their schooling.” Furthermore, collectively, the “impact on the U.S economy could amount to $128 billion to $188 billion every year as this cohort enters the workforce.” Keeping schools closed to advance political agendas isn’t the only way teachers’ unions have inappropriately leveraged their substantial power. They also employ their power to influence teacher education and school curricula to produce an electorate subscribed to the ideas of a single political party. It is nothing short of a monopoly over the American mind. Ideas have consequences — for individuals and for society. Ask public-school students today about capitalism and free market enterprise, and you’ll find them condemning these economic systems that built our country while advocating and defending Marxism and socialism. As Voddie T. Baucham Jr. wisely noted, “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” That is why empowering parents with education freedom for children is vitally important. While incredible progress has occurred as 12 states have enacted universal or near-universal school choice into law over the past few years, the war is far from over. The future of our country depends on it. As Corey DeAngelis asserts, “Thirteen years of government indoctrination immensely harms society.” For a growing number of Americans, the harm has dire daily financial implications at the grocery store, gas pump, and beyond.

The House has voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio recordings of special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden. Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R) dropped one of the votes against Garland. “Leadership has been working on really making this argument to the delegation, and so I think we knew that it was going to pass,” Luna tells Sara Gonzales, noting that it was obvious, as Garland had blatantly defied two subpoenas. “I think Republicans know, especially right now with Americans realizing that there is a two-tier justice system, that we have to do something. And I’m sorry, but angry letters and these paper tigers are simply not sufficing,” she explains. If the DOJ doesn’t hold Garland accountable by June 25, Luna says she will bring up her vote to hold him in inherent contempt of Congress. “We’ll do it ourselves,” she says, adding that there are two types of contempt of Congress. “A lot of people don’t talk about inherent contempt because it was something that I think really the House of Representatives forgot that they could do because it hasn’t really been done since the early 1900s, but there is case law for it,” Luna explains. Meanwhile, many people have been getting in trouble for defying subpoenas from what Luna calls the “sham January 6 committee.” “So, if they set the precedent, we’re simply following exactly what they’ve done,” she says. Now, Garland is “starting to sweat” and claiming that what’s happening is “partisan weaponization.” Luna calls this “ironic and laughable” because partisan weaponization is much clearer in the case of Trump. If the hand is forced, holding Garland in inherent contempt will force him to produce the recordings of Biden’s interview with Hur — which Luna believes has never been more necessary. Gonzales finds the whole situation incredibly suspicious. “If we do have the transcript, and we already know what was said, why would you not release the tapes? What are you trying to hide?” she says. Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a deal Thursday in Italy on the sidelines of the G7 summit, committing the United States to deepening "security and defense cooperation [with Ukraine] and collaborating closely with Ukraine's broad network of security partners" for the next ten years. The White House characterized the pact, which further paves the eastern European nation's way toward membership in NATO, as a "powerful signal of our strong support for Ukraine now and into the future." At a joint press conference with Zelenskyy, Biden said, "Our goal is to strengthen Ukraine's credible defense and deterrence capabilities for the long term." While Biden stressed it "makes a lot of sense for Ukraine to be able to take out or combat what is going across that border," he did, however, rule out Ukraine expanding its use of American missiles in Russia. "In terms of long-range weapons ... we have not changed our position on that," said Biden, who reiterated further that American troops would also not be committed to Ukraine's defense. Although Biden's potential successor has expressed interest in a swift resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war and in European powers shouldering more of the financial burden for their own defense, Zelenskyy expressed confidence that perceived popular support for Ukraine will translate into continued fidelity to the pact. "If the people are with us, any leader will be with us in this struggle for freedom," said Zelenskyy. As the pact is only between the Biden and Zelenskyy administrations and will not be ratified by Congress, the next president could tear up the pact upon securing the White House. The agreement comes just days after the Biden administration lifted a long-standing ban on arming a controversial Ukrainian brigade founded and shaped by neo-Nazis and midway through a year in which Congress appropriated $61 billion for military and economic aide to Ukraine — $14 billion of which was for advanced weapon systems and defense equipment and $13.7 billion of which is so that Kiev can buy American defense systems. Biden has also committed to help 'develop Ukraine's capabilities to counter Russian and any other propaganda and disinformation.' The agreement also comes in the wake of the European parliamentary elections, in which several right-leaning parties critical of the EU's approach to the Russian war against Ukraine made significant gains and amid waning interest among eastern European countries such as Slovakia to continue supporting Kiev's defensive campaign. Although apparently happy to defer much of the cost to the U.S., wealthy powers at the G7 committed to a $50 billion loan to Ukraine backed by confiscated Russian assets. The pact states in its preamble that "the security of Ukraine is integral to the security of the Euro-Atlantic region," and it is necessary to "preserve and promote Ukraine’s sovereignty, democracy, and capacity to deter and respond to current and future external threats." In addition to advancing "trade and investment ties," the pact will build on the existing security partnerships facilitated under the Strategic Defense Framework between the Pentagon and Ukraine's defense ministry in 2021. This means more help with military training; increased industrial cooperation; continued joint planning "to confront threats"; help with the procurement of squadrons of modern fighter aircraft; and material and logistical assistance with the defense of Ukraine's sovereignty and borders. Biden has also committed to help "develop Ukraine's capabilities to counter Russian and any other propaganda and disinformation." This assistance would ostensibly be extra to what the Biden administration is already shelling out to help Ukrainian outfits target individuals and entities believed to be unsympathetic or antipathetic. Blaze News recently reported that the Biden State Department is funding a Ukrainian NGO that has compiled a list of American politicians, activists, and media outlets — including Blaze Media — who have allegedly shared "Russian disinformation" or made "anti-Ukrainian statements." The pact links a "just end to the war" to Ukraine's maintenance of its internationally recognized borders and territorial waters; reaffirms "Ukraine's future is in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)"; and emphasizes the importance of using sanctions and export controls against Russia, which some critics say have pushed the Slavic nation further into the arms of communist China and have proven costly for Europe. 'NATO expansion has not improved American security.' To execute this pact, the White House indicated the Biden administration will look to Congress to continue funding Ukraine "over the long term." There are apparently 15 other countries with similar security pacts with Ukraine, including Germany, Britain, and France. The response to the agreement has so far been mixed. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) suggested on X that Biden was "risking another US forever war." "By supporting Ukraine's NATO membership, he commits future US servicemembers to Ukraine's conflicts," continued Paul. "It's time to put America 1st, seek diplomatic solutions, and protect our people and economy." Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) noted that "NATO expansion has not improved American security." — (@) Others emphasized the importance of helping Ukraine see its way through to victory. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated Thursday, "The outcome of Ukraine’s fight will set the trajectory for global security for decades. We must continue to stand up to Putin's aggression and atrocities. Let me be clear: Ukraine matters to the United States and to the entire world." The State Department said the pact was "a historic show of support for Ukraine’s long-term security that furthers commitments made under the G7 Joint Declaration of Support to Ukraine in July 2023 and the President’s approval of the Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act this spring." Zelenskyy suggested earlier this year that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the outset of the invasion, although the BBC indicated U.S. intelligence suggests the number is far higher. As of April, the BBC's Russian unit indicated over 50,000 Russian soldiers had been slain. Between the two countries, there have been hundreds of thousands more combatants injured in the fighting. For two points of contrast: Pentagon data indicates that between Oct. 7, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2014, 2,354 American service members died during Operation Enduring Freedom, and 20,149 were wounded in action. Between March 2003 and August 2010, 4,431 American service members died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 31,994 were injured. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

VICTIMOLOGY: Fitness Guru Jillian Michaels Goes OFF on Woke Cali. Explaining Why She's FLEEING (Watch)

New Polling Out of Gaza and the West Bank Paints a Grim Picture of the Future