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The Hurricane spins around hotspots of tension and conflict. Feel free to suggest your stories, opinions and ideas: UIHEN@protonmail.com
Digital marketing’s stealthy assault on childhood nutrition fuels global obesity crisis
Social media platforms and algorithms aggressively target children with ads for ultra-processed foods, often disguised as organic content (e.g., influencer posts, games and quizzes). Over 70% of children encounter such ads within minutes of logging in.
Outdated regulations and voluntary corporate measures fail to curb harmful marketing. WHO warns that self-regulation has not worked, urging mandatory restrictions on unhealthy food ads targeting youth.
Children worldwide—from the U.S. to Australia—face relentless exposure via smartphones and apps. Teens see up to 189 junk food ads weekly, with tactics varying by gender (e.g., athleticism-themed ads for boys, diet quizzes for girls).
Childhood obesity linked to digital marketing increases risks for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Experts compare unchecked food marketing to tobacco—urging governments to prioritize public health over corporate profits.
#WHO #Children #Health #FindTruth
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Is "de-dollarization" on the table? BRICS summit approaches as trade war simmers
The BRICS intend to court the Mexican government at the July 2025 summit in Rio de Jeneiro and there is also talk of European nations increasing trade with China as a way to frustrate Trump’s tariff efforts. But again, China’s economy is currently flirting with deflationary disaster and there’s not a single nation or group of nations that will be able to fill the void in consumer markets left behind by the US.
Even though a Chinese-based solution is unlikely, the behavior of the BRICS indicates that there is some kind of plan afoot. China and India have been stockpiling massive gold reserves and this may be in preparation for a break from the dollar, with gold skyrocketing as the dollar falls. The ongoing shift into crypto and CBDCs might be an attempt to create a cushion for de-dollerization.
Does this mean that the US and Trump are falling into a trap? Do tariffs make it easier to justify an international shift way from the dollar? Is Trump making things easier for the globalists?
#BRICS #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Biden began to offer his services as a speaker at events
The former President of the United States asks for one speech $300 thousand, writes the New York Post.
In addition, the publication noted that in case of a speech in another city, Biden will also need a private jet and the cost of five employees.
There are still few people willing to listen to the politician. 😄
#USA #Biden #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Can the navy do something more creative with the USS enterprise than sink her?
Dismantling the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is turning out to be so expensive that the U.S. Navy is contemplating sinking it.
While sinking the USS Enterprise might make sense, over the last 30 years sinking ships instead of mothballing them has become all too common. And perhaps not coincidentally, over the same 30 years it has become de rigueur to hear U.S. Navy brass and Pentagon spokespeople discussing the difficulties in maintaining fleet size.
The premature destruction of the Navy’s’ most capable anti-submarine ship, the highly versatile and powerful Spruance destroyers, made our Navy weaker. The rationale for doing so was to “save money.”
But in reality, what the Navy did in the early 2000s was to opt for the riskiest of three future shipbuilding options that “coincidentally” gave lucrative contracts to defense contractors to design and produce grossly underperforming ships like the Littoral Combat Ship and the 14,000-ton Zumwalt destroyer, which provide far less combat power than the over two dozen Spruances that were destroyed.
Over the last three decades, the habit of sinking ships or scrapping ships instead of putting them into mothballs has become standard practice. The Navy used to maintain a sizable reserve/mothball fleet, but today the Navy’s reserve fleet is almost non-existent and has been so for decades.
#USA #Navy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Your tax refund is a total scam
Roughly two-thirds of American taxpayers receive a federal refund each year, averaging about $3,000 apiece.
But your refund is simply the US Treasury’s return of money you overpaid throughout the year — the result of a series of interest-free loans you unwittingly made to the federal government.
It’s like having your wallet stolen, losing all your cash and credit cards, yet celebrating when you find your driver’s license within the empty wallet tossed in the bushes.
Even though 80% of taxpayers sent on average a couple thousand dollars less to Washington, only 17% thought they’d gotten a tax cut — proof that many Americans gauge their tax burden not by how much they pay throughout the year, but by the size of their refund.
The automatic withholding system keeps them in the dark.
Our largely automated tax system is part of the reason few Americans are even aware of this looming tax hike.
#USA #Economy #Tax #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Public transportation environment in Lisbon, Portugal
#Portugal #Migrants #FindTruth
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Use tariff negotiations to isolate China from the rest of the world
The strategy of forcing the world into "us vs them" camps first emerged last week when Donald Trump reduced reciprocal tariffs for all countries except China, something we highlighted at the time. A few days later, this now appears to be the official strategy in the global trade war.
The Trump admin reportedly plans to use ongoing tariff negotiations to pressure U.S. trading partners to limit their dealings with China.
The idea is to extract commitments from U.S. trading partners to isolate China’s economy in exchange for reductions in trade and tariff barriers imposed by the White House. US officials plan to use negotiations with more than 70 nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries, prevent Chinese firms from locating in their territories to avoid U.S. tariffs, and not absorb China’s cheap industrial goods into their economies.
Those measures are meant to put a final stake in China’s already ‘sinking’ economy (which somewhat ironically got a boost in the first quarter) and force Beijing to the negotiating table with less leverage ahead of potential talks between Trump and President Xi Jinping.
US officials have already presented the idea in early talks with some countries, who added that Trump himself hinted at the strategy on Tuesday, telling the Spanish-language program “Fox Noticias” he would consider making countries choose between the US and China in response to a question about Panama deciding not to renew its role in the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s global infrastructure program for developing nations.
#USA #China #TradeWar #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
CDC weighing end to universal COVID vaccine recommendations
A majority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's work group on COVID-19 vaccines now supports ending the agency's pandemic-era recommendation for virtually all Americans to get vaccinated against the virus each year.
Instead of the agency's longstanding "universal" recommendation, most of the CDC's advisers and health officials favor shifting to guidance based on people's individual risk of more severe disease.
While a final decision has not yet been made, this could mean that only adults ages 65 years and older would still be recommended to get at least two doses every year, under a policy option laid out to the agency's advisers, as well as people who have an underlying health condition putting them at higher risk.
Among those backing the switch, most also want "permissive language to allow anyone wanting protection from COVID-19 vaccination to receive one," the CDC's Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos said at a Tuesday meeting of the panel.
#USA #COVID #CDC #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
EPA chief sounds alarm on rogue climate group launching sulfur dioxide balloons to geo-engineer earth
Climate activists in Northern California are launching balloons filled with sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere in an effort to manipulate the Earth's temperature. In exchange, the climate startup behind the operation sells "cooling credits" priced at $30 for a subscription or $5 to offset 1 ton of carbon dioxide. The startup's unregulated operations are causing a major stir and have drawn the attention of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
"Make Sunsets is a startup that is geoengineering by injecting sulfur dioxide into the sky and then selling "cooling credits." This company is polluting the air we breathe. I've instructed my team that we need to quickly get to the bottom of this and take immediate action," Zeldin wrote on X.
Luke Iseman, the former director of hardware at Y Combinator, launched Make Sunsets a few years ago with the backing of Boost VC, Draper Associates, Pioneer Fund, and angel investors.
Make Sunsets takes its name from the striking sunsets caused by high-altitude sulfur dioxide particles, like those observed after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which temporarily lowered global temperatures by roughly 2°C for about a year.
Allowing rogue activists to play God with the climate is a disaster waiting to happen. These aerosols increase Earth's albedo (reflectivity), causing temporary global cooling and potentially disrupting jet stream behavior.
#USA #Climate #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Chinese refiners have cut oil imports from the U.S. by 90% and are now buying record volumes of Canadian crude, Bloomberg reports. In March, shipments to China reached 7.3 million barrels.
#USA #China #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Irish Government hesitates on Dublin mayor vote over Conor McGregor fears
The government is said to be putting plans on hold for a directly elected mayor for Dublin, due to fears it could pave the way for figures like Conor McGregor to gain political power.
Although McGregor's presidential bid this year seems far-fetched, the coalition is reluctant to hold a vote on whether Dublin should have a directly elected mayor - viewed as a more achievable path to political office for the MMA fighter.
Unlike the presidency, a directly elected mayor would have considerable powers, manage a large budget, and have the capacity to increase local taxes.
And the election of independent candidate John Moran as Limerick's first directly elected mayor has reportedly amplified these concerns.
#Ireland #McGregor #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Bill Gates on the near-term prospects for artificial intelligence:
- People are scared, we're entering a whole new territory.
- So will humans themselves still be needed?
- For most tasks, no. Well, we'll solve it.
Will he solve it..?🤔
#USA #AI #Gates #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Suspect faces ’40 years in prison’ for Tesla firebombing and attack on New Mexico GOP headquarters
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed federal charges against a radical leftist who was arrested on domestic terrorism charges over recent violent attacks.
On Monday, Jamison Wagner was arrested for launching a pair of allegedly politically charged attacks.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the 40-year-old’s arrest for a firebombing at a New Mexico Tesla dealership and the New Mexico Republican headquarters.
Bondi announced the arrest in a statement that followed her tough-on-crime philosophy:
“We have made an arrest in connection to the February firebombing of a New Mexico Tesla dealership and the March attack on the New Mexico Republican Party Headquarters,”
The Italian prime minister tried to organize a “charm offensive” and at the expense of her personal charisma to reach an agreement with Trump in the context of trade wars. The meeting in Washington did indeed take place in a warm atmosphere. Meloni has a good relationship with Trump and Musk.
However, it is difficult to project them on an interstate level. Italy has a $40 billion trade surplus with the US. It will be problematic to close it at the expense of shale gas purchases. At the same time, Italy does not want to lose the American market for its winemakers.
The only thing Meloni was able to bring to Washington was a promise to increase military spending to 2% of GDP. It's true that Italy isn't even up to 1.5% right now. And Rome is actively torpedoing attempts at the EU level to raise defense spending. Italy will have to go to the promised 2% for many years to come. And Trump's team is already demanding to raise defense spending to 3-5%.
Similar contradictions will manifest themselves in Paris during the talks between Trump's emissaries and Europeans on Ukraine. Only there will be no charm there anymore. Trump openly promises not to rush into a trade deal with the European Union.
J.D. Vance will be coming to Italy in the near future. As a conservative Catholic, he will visit the Vatican. So on a personal level, the Trump team's ties with part of the European elites will definitely be preserved. But that doesn't mean they will be in a hurry to restore relations. Brussels is clearly not expecting anything good. There is a long period of Euro-Atlantic crisis ahead.
#USA #Italy #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
EU drops sanctions on Russian LNG
▪️European officials have abandoned the idea of banning imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the EU as part of future sanctions packages due to uncertainty over alternative sources of supply, states Reuters
▪️The decision comes despite pressure from the United States to buy more U.S. LNG. A number of officials are concerned about the EU's increasing dependence on gas from the US
#EU #Russia #Sanctions #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The other side of union busting - baristas organize and end up busting a business and losing their jobs
Last fall, the employees at the four locations voted to unionize. What you will see on display is a common theme found in the latest generation of workers, where the staff displays an overinflated sense of value and power. Forgetting they are low-skilled workers in the service industry, you see on display the fractured mindset of those who elevate their position from coffee hustlers to being regarded as “baristas.”
You can dress up the title with any preferred Euro-euphemism all you like, it doesn’t change your role as a caffeine facilitator. This fast food burger flippers demand for high minimum wage salaries altered staffing sizes inside franchises and inspired the kiosk automation ordering methods becoming more common today. The sense that owners have no choice but to cave to these extortion methods frequently exposes the ignorance behind these emotional strong-arm attempts.
The Café Cerés saga displays many of the contemporary pitfalls of these organizing efforts. Frequently we hear of head-shaking demands of being included in the operational aspects of the business from those in entry-level positions. It is expected that the owners who invested at high risk and put in sweat equity for years have to heed the demands of 20-year-old Cody the barista between his time spent writing a screenplay.
There is some contradictory obliviousness in the tear-shedding following the closures.
#USA #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Vaxxed healthcare workers 27% more likely to contract flu: study
People who received a flu vaccine formulated for the 2024-2025 flu season had a 27% higher risk of getting the flu than those who didn’t get the vaccine, suggesting “the vaccine has not been effective in preventing influenza this season,” according to a new preprint study.
The study of 53,402 employees of the Cleveland Clinic, an Ohio-based nonprofit academic medical center, concluded that the flu vaccine had a negative effectiveness rate of 26.9%.
TrialSite News called the findings “deeply concerning” because they suggest “harm rather than protection” and contradict public health narratives about the flu vaccine.
#COVID #Vaccines #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Since the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was established in 2010, bilateral trade volume has skyrocketed, tripling from 2010 to 2024 and nearly reaching a trillion dollars a year
#China #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Political money-grab
Sorens published a state-by-state ranking of gambling freedom across America. Nevada lets gambling flourish, while Utah, Hawaii and Georgia ban most of it. Now some politicians want to ban more. Some states ban at-home poker games, occasionally even arresting players.
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Richard Blumenthal want sports betting banned again. And in a free country, people should be allowed to take risks. The same bullies who want to ban gambling don't propose banning the worst form of it — their own state lotteries.
Slot machines are a dumb bet, yet on average, they still give you back about 90% of what's bet. Sports bettors and poker players keep more. But state lotteries take almost half of everything bet!
Worse, they take it from poor people. Lottery ticket buyers are disproportionately poor. Politicians' hunger for money is also why they forbid private gambling businesses to compete with them.
Politicians ban betting and pompously claim that they know best how we should spend our money. They destroy slot machines and arrest numbers-runners and bookies. Then they run their own betting scams, which offer much worse odds.
#USA #NCAA #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
New Pentagon chairman: U.S. lacks ability to deter adversaries
The new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Caine has warned that the U.S. military currently is unable to deter China and other adversaries and called for urgent defense reforms.
The disclosure comes as the U.S. military is facing potential conflict with China in the Taiwan Strait where the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has said China has been rehearsing for large-scale military operations against a key U.S. partner, Taiwan.
Adm. Sam Paparo, the commander, told a Senate hearing last week that China is engaged in “unprecedented aggression” against Taiwan.
Adm. Paparo said U.S. forces can deter China and prevail in a conflict but warned that “the margin is eroding.”
#USA #Pentagon #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Even King Charles won’t speak to Prince Harry anymore
King Charles has completely cut off his son Prince Harry.
A new report in People magazine, a publication to which Harry has this week given an exclusive interview and towards which his office is known to be friendly, says that the king no longer returns Harry’s calls or letters and that Harry’s only source of information about his father’s ongoing cancer battle is through what he reads in the media.
The revelation of the complete collapse of father/son contact came after Harry lashed out at his family saying they stripped him of his security to try and “control” him and to “trap” him and Meghan in the U.K.
Adding remarkable further detail, the publication stated that there have been “no private father-son conversations since.”
Less surprisingly, Prince William, who was trashed in Harry’s memoir, Spare, as was his wife, Kate Middleton, has also refused Harry’s attempts to be in contact. William’s friends have made it clear to the Daily Beast that he despises his brother for betraying his trust.
#UK #RoyalFamily #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Happy Easter!
A video of a rabbit patrolling the neighborhood with a machine gun riding a robot dog has gone viral in China's social networks
#USA #China #Easter #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
America’s $19 trillion consumer economy in one chart
To no one’s surprise, the world’s largest economy is also the world’s largest consumer economy.
But how much do Americans collectively spend on the goods and services they need? And what items draw the largest share?
America’s consumer class spent nearly $19 trillion on goods and services in 2023. This was about 68% of the U.S. GDP that year. It was also larger than China’s overall GDP that year as well ($17.8T).
Housing and utilities ($3.3T) and health care ($3.1T) were the top household expenditure categories overall.
Meanwhile, Americans spent the most money on groceries ($1.4T) in the goods category.
Tellingly, services account for nearly 70% of America’s personal consumption expenditure.
This is matched by the supply side as well: nearly 80% of America’s jobs are in the service sector.
#USA #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
A new popular trend has emerged in Britain and Germany - migrants attacking people with knives.
In Germany there are 80 such attacks a day.
Seven knife attacks in just three days took place in the UK. Knife crime is out of control there - up 78% in a decade.
#Germany #UK #Migrants #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
US tariffs reignite EU free trade agreement talks with India
The European Union has ramped up its push to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with India, with pharmaceuticals now in the spotlight.
Following the recent tariffs announcements by the US, which caught the EU and others somewhat off guard, Brussels and New Delhi have signalled they were set to wrap up negotiations by the end of 2025 after years of protracted talks.
Previously bogged down for more than a decade by disputes over digital trade, investment safeguards, the agricultural and food (agrifood) industries and environmental standards, these negotiations had been marked by stagnation.
Now, with Washington’s tariff moves throwing Europe’s supply chains into disarray, both Brussels and India expressed a new willingness to progress swiftly.
#USA #FTF #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Japan: Covid vaccines slash survival rate of cancer patients
A group of Japan’s leading oncology scientists has raised the alarm after uncovering evidence that Covid mRNA “vaccines” dramatically reduce the survival rate of cancer patients.
The findings were revealed by a research team led by Dr. Makoto Abue of the Miyagi Cancer Center in Natori, Japan.
Makoto’s team was made up of some of Japan’s most highly respected experts from the Miyagi Cancer Center Research Institute.
The team conducted a major study to investigate surges in rapidly spreading and highly aggressive cancers among people who received Covid mRNA vaccines. Some of America’s top oncologists have dubbed this phenomenon “turbo cancer.”
The study found that the prognosis in cancer patients worsened after each dose of the “vaccine.” Notably, they found dramatically worsened prognoses in patients with pancreatic cancer (PC).
The results of the study were published in the journal PrePrints.
#Japan #COVID #Vaccines #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
'Silicon Six' tech firms accused of avoiding $278bn in US taxes over decade
Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft – collectively dubbed the "Silicon Six" – are accused of avoiding almost $278bn in US corporate income tax over the past decade, according to new analysis from the Fair Tax Foundation (FTF).
The six tech giants reportedly paid an average corporate income tax rate of 18.8% over the past 10 years, significantly below the 29.7% statutory rate for US businesses earning equivalent profits.
According to the FTF, these companies earned $11tn in revenue and $2.5tn in profit during the period under review. The FTF report claims the companies have embedded tax avoidance into their corporate structures.
When excluding one-off repatriation tax payments related to historic tax avoidance, the average tax contribution drops further to 16.1%.
FTF also said the companies overstated their tax contributions by about $82bn by including contingency taxes that were unlikely to be paid.
#USA #FTF #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
Trump signs order barring illegal immigrants from receiving social security
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on April 15 directing several federal agencies to take measures to prevent Social Security payments from going to ineligible people such as illegal immigrants and fraudsters.
The memorandum was directed at the Social Security Administration inspector general, the Social Security commissioner, the attorney general, and the secretaries of labor, health and human services, and homeland security.
Meanwhile, the commissioner is directed to cooperate with the attorney general to expand the SSA’s full-time fraud prosecutor program specifically targeting identity theft and beneficiary-side fraud to at least 50 U.S. Attorney Offices by Oct. 1.
The memo also “establishes a Medicare and Medicaid fraud prosecution program in 15 U.S. Attorney offices,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing.
Department heads are ordered to prioritize the placement of prosecutors in both programs to the offices whose jurisdiction has been determined by Homeland Security to cover the top 10 largest known populations of illegal immigrants.
#USA #Migrants #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
The falling role of the dollar will be a tragedy for America
▪️ 9% is the dollar's fall since January this year. which, combined with the fall in the government bond market, has shocked investors. U.S. assets are losing confidence, major asset managers are dumping dollars,” states Britain's The Economist
▪️ The U.S. has $9 trillion of government debt to refinance this year. Falling demand for Treasury bonds will hit the budget. The only way out is to slash spending and raise taxes - that would be a powerful political hit
▪️ “The dollar system provides the stability on which today's globalized economy is built. When investors doubt America's creditworthiness, those foundations can collapse,” The Economist emphasizes
#USA #Economy #FindTruth
@uinhurricane
‘Guilfoyle-mania’ sweeps Greece: Hellenic Republic excited with Kimberly as U.S. ambassador
Kimberly Guilfoyle is already a sensation in Greece, and she has not even had her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing yet.
The top ally of President Donald Trump, who the president nominated as his U.S. Ambassador to Greece, is eagerly awaited here in the Hellenic Republic. Leaders from the Prime Minister on down through his top officials throughout government to cultural, business, and political leaders throughout the nation are excited to have such a high profile ambassador coming as soon as she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“We are looking forward to having her confirmed,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said last week. “I am looking forward to meeting her as soon as she comes to Greece. I think she will find that Greek-American relations are at an all-time high, so she is essentially coming at a time when we have a very strong relationship which we can further improve.”
Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who also serves as one of the two Vice Presidents of Greece’s governing party New Democracy, echoed that sentiment, saying he is excited for Guilfoyle’s arrival. He noted Guilfoyle’s close relationship with the president and her ability to be able to get to him directly.
#USA #Greece #FindTruth
@uinhurricane